DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY. 
127 
lodion or other similar substances and left to work out its own 
salvation without further attention, while the one that will ex¬ 
ude freely must, in addition, be provided with an opening which 
is then protected by some kind of antiseptic wadding. 
After Treatment of Wounds .—The wound that is protected 
with only a sticky plaster or a dry antiseptic powder needs daily 
attention. The covering must be repaired as fast as it cracks 
or falls off, and if there is a drainage wad it should be removed 
and replaced at least once a day, and the trauma cavity might 
at the same time be irrigated. 
Wounds dressed with bandages are, however, different. The 
one that is not expected to secrete a great deal should be left 
unmolested until the seventh day, at which time healing will 
have advanced to a safe point. The only reasons for changing 
such a dressing before the sixth or seventh day are : 
1. If there is evidence of failure, manifested by undue pain, 
swelling, bad odor, or undue secretion. . 
2. If the bandage became soaked with blood at the time of 
application, in which case it should be removed in twelve to 
twenty-four hours. 
3. If the bandage becomes disturbed accidentally. 
When fabrics are applied to absorb secretions as well as for 
protection they should be changed every twenty to forty-eight 
hours. It is often said that such bandages might well be left 
unmolested until the wound secretion appears at the surface, 
but the statement will not “ hold water ” in veterinary prac¬ 
tice, however safe it is in human surgery. The skin surround¬ 
ing the wound, no matter how carefully disinfected, is never 
strictly aseptic, and the organisms lurking therein find an ex¬ 
ceptionally fine media to propagate and to guide them into the 
wound. At each dressing the wound and surroundings are 
washed, sprinkled with a dry powder, and then a clean anti¬ 
septic bandage readjusted. Usually, after twelve days of such 
treatment the wound may be safely exposed, or at least it may 
be treated with less care. 
Finally, when the trauma cavity is filled with granulations 
cicatrization may be hastened by the application of astringent 
remedies, but this is seldom necessary in the case of wounds that 
have remained aseptic throughout. Exuberant granulations 
are the product of septic wounds only, but when they do occur 
it is essential to prevent them from growing beyond the skin 
level in order to lessen the size of the cicatrix. Alum powder, 
tannic acid powder or any of the well known astringent lotions 
