810 
DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY. 
wad of oakum, a bandage of muslin three meters long and a 
flannel one the same length, all well soaked and wrung out 
moderately in mercuric chloride solution (one per cent.), applied 
so as to fit the form of the leg neatly and then bound with num¬ 
erous wraps of tape or cord will protect wounds of this region for 
a week or more without change. The only r.eason for changing 
such a bandage earlier would be the appearance of wound secre¬ 
tions at its surface, or in the case of haemorrhage at the time of 
application. For simple incisions, as in neurectomy, the muslin 
fabric may be tarred, for if properly performed there will be no 
perceptible secretion. 
Knee Dressings .—Broken knees from stumbling, other acci¬ 
dental wounds and tenotomy of the carpal flexors are the wounds 
of the carpus requiring occlusive dressings. For this region the 
same materials as for the fetlock are used, but the bandages 
should be at least six meters long. Short bandages are more 
likely to become loose and fall off. The patient must be kept 
in the standing position, and if the wound is sutured a wooden 
or sheet iron splint should be applied to the flexion surface. For 
broken knees the wound is first covered with a thick- layer of 
iodoform sugar, then with oakum soaked in mercuric chloride 
(one per cent.), and subsequently with tarred muslin bandages 
six meters long bound down with numerous wraps of tape. The 
oakum may be tarred or not, according to the amount of secre¬ 
tion expected. 
Forearm Dressings .—In applying dressings to this region 
the bandages should be made to cover a large area, and then 
bound with abundance of tape to retain them. The wound of 
median neurectomy cannot be bandaged, and therefore the usual 
wounds of the region are accidental ones requiring materials to 
suit each case. The patient should be kept in the standing 
position. 
Hock Dressings .—Some patients will complacently accept a 
hock bandage, while others for no visible reason will resist their 
presence by repeated and forcible flexion until the whole affair 
is hopelessly distorted. The attempt is always an experiment, 
as there is no telling which patient will or will not resist. The 
more simple wounds might be treated as well as possible with¬ 
out bandages, but when bandaging actually becomes necessary 
the strips should be narrow and long, and made to cover a large 
share of the metatarsus below and the lower portion of the tibia 
above. It should first be wound around the metatarsus, then 
gradually upward to the lower third of the tibia, and completed 
