’ seldom be nearer each other than an inch. The 
-. suture generally ulcerates out about the third or 
- fourth day. Sutures ought not to be applied 
Bs where the wound is of great depth, or where 
they would be required to traverse the substance 
of a muscle, as, in such cases, they cannot be 
fixed with sufficient firmness, and would besides 
be a source of great and constant irritation to 
the contractile fibre. Where the suture has been 
applied, the use of strips of adhesive plaster, made 
of diachylon, and spread upon leather or strong 
cloth, will be advantageous in affording support 
to the stitches, while they remain attached, and 
in supplying their place should they have ulcer- 
ated out, or been removed on account of their 
exciting too high a degree of action, to which 
they sometimes give rise. In order to fix the 
plasters, the sides of the wound should be shaved 
or closely shorn, and the strips applied of sufli- 
cient length to pass beyond the reach of the ex- 
uding moisture, a small space being left between 
each, corresponding to the place occupied by the 
ligatures, by which means a free egress will be 
allowed to whatever matter may proceed from 
the wound,—a point which ought always to be 
attended to, whether the strips be used along 
with the suture or alone. The whole should be 
covered by a proper light bandage so as to ex- 
clude completely the contact of the air. 
The application of bandages is a subject well 
worthy the attention of the veterinary student, 
as much may be accomplished by their aid in the 
cure of wounds. Indeed, in favourable situations, 
they prove often sufficient of themselves to main- 
tain the divided parts in due approximation, so 
as to set aside the necessity of having recourse 
to either stitches or plasters, with which, espe- 
cially the former, it should always be the object 
of the dresser to dispense, where possible ; and 
that more particularly in examples where there 
is reason to dread an excess of high irritative or 
inflammatory action, which such applications 
have naturally a tendency to provoke or in- 
crease, though not, by any means, in an equal 
degree. Bandages for the purpose of promoting 
union can be conveniently applied in most wounds 
of the extremities, and sometimes in those of the 
head and trunk, while in injuries of the haunches, 
the buttocks, the shoulders, the breast, the stifle, 
the flanks, &c., they are of difficult application, 
and can only be employed as a covering to the 
part, without at all conducing to the union of 
the wound by keeping its sides in contact, which 
must be left to be accomplished by the other 
means described. The form of the uniting ban- 
dage necessarily varies according to the direction 
of the wound, whether it be longitudinal, trans- 
verse, or oblique. When it is desired to draw 
together the margins of a wound running parallel 
to the long axis of the limb, the bandage 1s com- 
posed of a single piece of cloth, of a length and 
breadth proportioned to the extent of surface to 
be covered. In the middle of this a longitudinal 
WOUND. 
177 
slit of two or three inches in length should be 
made. The bandage must then be rolled up at 
both ends, and the slit being applied over the 
wound, one of the rolled ends should be passed 
round the limb, and through the slit, when, by 
pulling the ends, the whole cut surfaces are ap- 
proximated ; and by passing the roller once or 
twice round the limb, and securing its extremi- 
ties, the parts are retained and supported in the 
proper situation. Before applying the bandage, 
a light soft pledget, thinly smeared with simple 
ointment, should be laid over the wound, and a 
compress placed at a little distance on each side. 
These compresses will receive the principal part 
of the pressure from the bandage, and will serve 
to direct it so as to push together the parts at 
the bottom of the wound. The bandaging of 
wounds whose direction is transverse or oblique 
to that of the limb becomes a process of greater 
difficulty ; and we fear that its complicated aspect 
will be found sufficient to deter many from the 
trouble of attempting it. But as there may be 
cases in which the anxious proprietor of a valu- 
able animal may rightly consider, that scarcely 
any degree of labour and attention can be ill- 
bestowed in preserving its soundness and hand- 
some appearance, we subjoin the following direc- 
tions. For the transverse or oblique wound, two 
compresses and two rolled bandages are required. 
One of the compresses should be formed of a piece 
of cotton or linen cloth, as broad as the wound is 
long, and folded to a convenient thickness, but 
having one of its extremities left free, which 
should be divided into several slips. This should 
be applied above the superior margin of the 
wound, in a line parallel to its direction, and 
fixed there by several turns of one of the rolled 
bandages, which should be continued down to 
the edge of the division. The other compress is 
to be formed in the same way, with the excep- 
tion, that instead of the free extremity being di- 
vided into slips, it should be perforated by a 
number of holes corresponding to the strips of | 
the upper one. This compress must be applied 
below the lower lip of the wound, and secured 
there by several turns of the second roller. A 
soft pledget, thinly covered with some simple oint- 
ment, such as the common or Turner’s cerate, 
is then to be laid over the wound, and the strips 
of the upper compress being passed through the 
openings in the lower one, the two ends are to 
be pulled in opposite directions, by which means 
the whole divided surfaces will be brought into 
exact contiguity. The ends of the compresses 
should then be laid flat along the limb, and held 
by an assistant until they are fixed by continu- 
ing the turns of the rollers, between which they 
should be several times folded for the sake of 
greater security. Lastly, the ends of the rollers 
are to be fastened by pins or by a few stitches at 
the lower part of that division of the limb which 
has suffered the injury. The uniting bandage 
should be applied sufficiently tight to insure its 
