10 ABRASION. 
corn. M. Tillet suspected the distemper to be 
ABSENTEEISM. 
possibly produce a far worse distemper than that 
occasioned by insects ; and he observed on the { which it is intended to remove. 
sickly plants small drops of a very limpid liquid, 
which he believed to be extravasated sap. 
ABRASION. A superficial excoriation, with 
'. loss of substance, under the form of small shreds, 
in the mucous membrane of the intestines. Also, 
_ an ulceration of the skin possessing similar char- 
| acters. 
ABSCESS. A collection of pus or of other 
| matter, in a limited cavity under an animal’s 
_ skin. It is the result of a morbid process, and 
may be induced by either an external cause, 
such as a bruise, or the insertion of a nail or 
thorn, or by some internal cause, such as pecu- 
liarity of constitution or impurity of blood. It 
differs from an ulcer in this, that in the lat- 
ter the pus is formed from a surface exposed 
_ to the air. While the abscess is forming, the 
skin is usually very tender, the whole system 
is sometimes in a state of considerable irritation, 
and the part immediately affected is always the 
seat of pain, swelling, and an unusual degree of 
| heat. A watery or dropsical swelling, on being 
pressed, retains, for some time, the mark of the 
| fingers; and an emphysema, or windy swelling, 
called technically abscessus spirituosus, is even 
more yielding than the watery tumour; but a 
true abscess, though also in some degree elastic 
or impressible, resumes its former shape the in- 
stant the pressure is removed. 
Any abscess is bad in nearly the proportion of 
| its hardness, redness, and power of resisting pres- 
sure. If an abscess, in its earlier stages, be yield- 
ing and well-supplied with fluid, it soon softens, 
| Snoints,’ diminishes in pain, and approaches a 
Pp b) >) 
state of maturity. At the time of the abscess 
‘pointing,’ the matter of it can be felt more dis- 
tinctly at one particular part than in any other 
part, anda tendency appears at this particular part 
to burst, and to let out some or all of the collected 
matter. The bursting, however, “should not be 
permitted ; but at this stage, the abscess should 
be opened at the lowest part, or that which would 
admit most readily of its discharging itself. The 
opening should be large, and no dressing will be 
required except the continuance of the fomenta- 
tion, which should previously be used. It should 
be observed, that if the abscess is languid and 
slow in forming, a stimulant, such as harts- 
horn and oil, rubbed in occasionally, will be use- 
ful.’ The wound ought to be kept quite clean ; 
| the edges of it ought to be trimmed of their 
hair or wool; a bran poultice may be applied as 
a substitute for a foment ; and, if the wound _be 
very slow in healing, a liniment consisting of 
equal parts of sweet oil and spirits of turpentine 
may be injected once or even twice a-day, and the 
animal may be indulged with an increased de- 
gree of nutritiousness in its food. The stuffing 
of the wound with tallow, tow, or other mate- 
rials, as is often practised by empyrics, tends at 
best to retard the process of healing, and may 
When an abscess forms under a part of the 
skin which is thick and inelastic, or in any part 
which will not readily distend, so as to accom- 
modate itself to the collection of distempered 
matter, it is more likely, than in ordinary cases, 
to escape for a time the observation of the pro- 
prietor or his servant, and is attended with 
much more pain, far more serious consequences, 
and several additional and strongly sympathetic 
symptoms to the animal. An abscess in the foot 
of an irritable horse, for example, is sometimes a 
cause of death ; and abscesses in various other 
concealed and resisting parts of the body, occa- 
sionally baffle even a skilful veterinary surgeon 
by their intricate symptoms, and are not abso- 
lutely known to exist till the animals die of them 
and are dissected. Such exceedingly bad cases 
are happily not frequent ; and when they do oc- 
cur, they may reveal themselves to the diagnosis 
of the general practitioner, though scarcely to 
that of the mere veterinary surgeon, by the ani- 
mal’s loss of appetite, his hot skin, his constipat- 
ed bowels, his quick and hard pulse,—or, in one 
word, by his suffering a fever for which no other 
cause can be discovered. Some distempers which 
present a considerable resemblance to an abscess, 
yet really differ from it, will be noticed under 
the word Tumour. 
ABSCISSION. The act of cutting-off or lop- 
ping one soft part from another, whether in ani- 
mals or in plants. 
ABSENTEEISM. The stated residence of a 
landowner in another country or district than that 
in which hisestates are situated. The practice pre- 
vails, to some extent, throughout the United King- 
dom ; but it is especially, or on a very large scale, | 
prevalent in Ireland, and has long been regarded | 
by a large proportion of the community as one of — 
the chief causes of that country’s comparative | 
poverty and depression. The mere stated resi- | 
dence of a landowner upon his property is not | 
necessarily beneficial to his tenantry; for if he | 
take no direct interest in the advancement of their 
well-being,—if he regard them as beings of an infe- 
rior order, who have few or no sympathies and in- 
terests common or reciprocal with his own,—if he 
be ignorant of agriculture, and manifest indiffer- 
ence or contempt for its pursuits,—if he exact the 
highest possible rents, and appoint a mere man- 
receiver to collect them,—if he evince more con- 
cern for the enlargement of his income than for 
the agricultural competency of his farmers and 
the georgical improvement of his estates,—and, 
above all, if he be a spendthrift, a gambler, a 
madcap sportsman, a dissolute and domineering 
aristocrat, a contemner of sound morals, and an 
encourager of irreligion and profanity,—he is a 
sheer pest, an enormous nuisance, a mass of 
stenchy, fermenting compost in the midst of his 
people, and the sooner he is carted away from 
them, the more likely will they be to prosper. 
