383
FARRIERY.
mended: and when the swelling is down, bathe with the mixtures iabove. Strains of the knees and pasterns arise frequently fromkicks.or blows: if they are much swelled, apply first the poul-tices; and when the swelling is abated, bathe with the embroca-tion, No. 34. As great weakness remains in the pasterns afterviolent strains, the best method is to turn the horse out to grass tillhe is perfectly recovered; when this cannot be complied with,the general way is to blister and fire. A lameness in the whirlbone and hip is discovered by the horse’s dragging his leg afterhim, and dropping backward on his heel when he trots. If themuscles of the hip are only injured, this kind of lameness is curedeasily; when the ligaments of the joint are affected, the cure isoften very difficult, tedious, and uncertain. In either case, at firstbathe the parts well with the cooling medicines, four or five timesa-day : in the muscular strain, this method alone may succeed;but in the ligamentous, rest and time only can restore the injuredparts to their proper tone.
Of Tumours and Imposthumf.s.
Tumours or swellings, may arise either from external injuries orinternal causes.
1. Tumours caused by externa! accidents, as blows and bruises,should at first be treated with restringents. Thus, let the part bebathed frequently with hot vinegar or verjuice ; and, where it willadmit of bandage, let a flannel wetted with the same be rolled on ;if by this method the swelling does not subside, apply, especiallyon the legs, a poultice with red v. ine lees, strong beer grounds,and oatmeal, or with vinegar, oil, and oatmeal: either of thesemay be continued twice a day, after bathing, till the swellingabates; when, in order to disperse it entirely, the vinegar shouldbe changed for camphorated spirit of wine, to four ounces ofwhich may be added one of spirit of sal ammoniac ; or it may bebathed with a mixture of two ounces of crude sal ammoniac boiledin a quart of chamber ley twice a-day, and rags dipficd in thesame may be rolled on. Fomentations are often of great serviceto thin the juices, and fit them for transpiration ; especially if theinjury has affected the joints. But in bruises, where the extra-vasated blood will not by these means be dispersed ; the shortestway is to open the skin, and let out the coagulum. Critical tu-mours which terminate fevers, should by no means be dispersed;except when they fall on the pastern or coffin joint, so as to en-danger them: in this case the disputient fomentation should beapplied three or four times a-day, and a cloth or flannel, frequentlywrung out of the same, should be bound on, to keep the joint incontinued perspiration. But all tumours tending to certain matu-ration (from whatever cause they originated) should be expedi-tiously assisted by fomentation ; and, after each time of using thefomentation, the ripening encouraged by suppurating poultices,wherever they can be applied; oatmeal boiled soft in milk, towhich a proper quantity of oil and lard is added, may answer thispurpose; or the emollient poultice, N° S‘2. These applicationsmust be regularly continued till the matter is perceived to tluc-tuate under the lingers, when it ought to be let out: for whichpurpose let the tumour be opened with a knife or strong lancet,the whole length of the swelling, if it can be done safelv ; for no-thing contributes so much to a kind healing as the matter havinga free discharge, and the opening big enough to dress to the bot-tom. Pledgets of tow or lint spread with the digestive ointment,N° 45, 11. and dipped in the same, melted with a fifth part of oil ofturpentine, should he applied to the bottom of the sore, and filledup lightly with the same, without cramming: it may be thus dressedonce or twice a-day, if the discharge is great, till a proper diges-tion is procured ; when it should be changed for pledgets spread■with the red precipitate ointment, N°45, lit. applied in the samemanner. Should the sore not digest kindly, but run a thin water" and lopk pale, foment, as often as you dress with the above fomen-tation ; and apply over this dressing the strong beer poultice, andcontinue this method till the matter grows thick, and the sore flo-rid. Wounds that look florid and fill up favourably while dressedwith lint, will probably need no other application. If dressed toolong with digestives, the flesh will rise fast, and if the sore is on apart where bandages cannot be applied, with compresses of linencloth, these methods will be necessary to keep the granulationsdown, and to-encourage the growth of the skin. The vulgar no-tion respecting proud flesh in healthy wounds, is a mischievous andvulgar error, which has led, boUi in the human and brute subject,
to an absurd and cruel practice, of employing cseharotic and caus-tic dressings w here they were not necessary. Writers on farrieryhave given in general very proper receipts to answer every inten-tion of this kind bv ryedicines ; but as they have not laid down suf-ficient rules for their application in those cases where they aremost wanted, the following general directions maybe acceptableas the difficulty in healing some kinds of sores arises frequentlyfrom the unskilful manner of dressing them. We may then ob-serve, once for all, that the cures of most sores are effected by thesimplest methods ; and that it is often of much more consequenceto know how to dress a sore, than what to dress it with. In thisindeed consists the chief art of this branch of surgery ; for the mosteminent in that profession have Jong ago discovered, that varietyof ointments and salves is not necessary in tins cure of mostwounds and sores; and they have accordingly discarded the great-est part formerly in repute tor that purpose; repeated observationshaving taught them, that, after the digestion, nature is generallydisposed to heal up the wound last enough herself; and that thesurgeon’s chief care is to prevent that luxuriancy called proudflesh; which all ointments, wherein lard or oil enters, are apt toencourage, as they keep the fibres too lax and supple; and whichdry lint alone, early applied, as easily prevents, by its absorbingquality, and light compression on the sprouting fibres. Thus,it a hollow wound or sore be crammed with tents, or thedressings be applied too bard, the tender shoots of flesh fromthe bottom are prevented from pushing up; and the sidesof the sore by this distention may in time grow hornyand fistulous ; nor has the matter by this method a free discharge.On the other hand, if sores of any depth be dressed superficially,the external parts being more disposed to heal and come togetherthan the internal, they will fall into contact, or heal too soon ; andthe sore, not filling up properly from the bottom, will break outafresh, lienee we may justly conceive how little stress is to belaid on famous ointments, or family salves, unskilfully applied ; forunless this due medium be observed, or obtained in the dressing,no hollow sore can heal tip properly. As soon then as a good di-gestion is procured, (which is known by the thickness and white-ness of the matter discharged, and the florid red colour at the bot-tom of the sore,) let the dressings be changed for the precipitatemedicine; or the sore may be filled up with dry lint alone, or dip-ped in limewater, with a little honey and tincture of myrrh, orbrandy, about a fifth part of the latter to one of the former : a .pledget of lint dipped in this mixture, should also he applied tothe bottom of the sore, which should be tilled up with others tothcsurface or edges : but neither crammed in too hard, nor appliedtoo loosely. By this method, the sore would heal up properly,and soft spongy flesh would be prevented or suppressed in time ;whereas when ointments, or salves, are too long continued, a fun-gus, or proud flesh, is thereby so encouraged in its growth, that itrequires some time to destroy and eat it down again ; a propercompress of cloth, and a linen-roller, is absolutely necessary bothfor this purpose and to secure the dressings, wherever they canconveniently he applied. If any eschar of consequence should re-main, and the hair not follow kindly, rub the part gently overynight with a small quantity of camphorated spermaceti ointment,the best article known to promote the return of the hair upon theknees or any other part.
II. 'rumoursarising from Internal Causes that require lobehere noticed, are the scrofulous, encysted, and stcalomatous.
1. Scrofulous Tumours are such atr originate in scorbutic orhereditary taints, and increase or diminish according to the stale oracrimony of the blood. For these the principal application is thestrong mercurial ointment, No. 7, which must be assisted by acourse of mercurial and antimonial alteratives.
■2. Encysted Tumours are such as originate in a cyst or bag,containing a kind of ichor, or gelatinous fluid ; which being eva-cuated, the cyst does not always submit to digestives or escharo-tics, but must be extirpated with the knife, and cured as a com-mon wound.
3. Steatomatous Tumours, are those that form under theskin, on different parts and pass under the denomination of Wens,though in fact they also are cysts: containing, when opened orextracted, a substance not unlike suet when hardly cold. Neitherof the above are expected to submit to any topi< al application,unless upon the very first observation ; when an attempt may hemade by a small portion of the above mercurial ointment rubbed