Special Report on Diseases of the Horse Part 57

The following flies, among others, deposit their eggs on open sores or on wet, filthy parts of the skin, where their larvae or grubs give rise to serious trouble: _Lucilia caesar_ (bluebottle), _Cochliomyia macellaria_ (screwworm fly), _Musca vomitoria_ (meat fly), and _Sarcophaga carnaria_ (flesh fly). To prevent their attacks, wet, filthy hair should be removed and wounds kept clean and rendered antiseptic by a lotion of carbolic acid 1 part, water 50 parts, or by a mixture of 1 ounce oil of tar in 20 ounces sweet oil, or by some other antiseptic. If the grubs are already present they should be picked off and one of these dressings freely applied.

FLIES.

A number of flies attack horses and suck their blood, producing great annoyance and in some instances death. These insects not only suck the blood, but also often instill an acid poison into the skin, and in exceptional cases transfer infectious germs from animal to animal by inoculation.

Various devices are resorted to to prevent the attacks, as to sponge the skin with a decoction of walnut or elder leaves, of tobacco, to dust with Persian insect powder, to keep a light blanket or fly net on the horse, to close doors and windows with fine screens and destroy by pyrethrum any flies that have gained admission, to remove all manure heaps that would prove breeding places for flies, to keep the stalls clean, deodorize by gypsum, and to spread in them trays of dry chlorid of lime. For the poisoned bites apply ammonia, or a solution of 1 part of carbolic acid in 20 parts of sweet oil or glycerin, or one-fourth ounce bicarbonate of soda and 1 dram of carbolic acid in a quart of water may be used.

A large number of fly repellents have been recommended, but most of them must be applied daily in order to maintain the protective effect. Among the things used are carbolic solutions, pine tar, oil of tar, fish oil, laurel oil, oil of citronella, oil of sa.s.safras, oil of camphor, and cod-liver oil. These things must be used judiciously or they will result in poisoning or removal of the hair from the animal in some instances.

Ten per cent oil of tar in Beaumont oil or in cottonseed oil was found to be safe and efficacious by Graybill.

The use of the fly-maggot trap noted under stomach worms of the horse, and of the various forms of the Hodge flytrap, is recommended.

FLEAS.

The flea of man and those of poultry, when numerous, will bite the horse and give rise to rounded swellings on the skin. To dispose of them it is needful to clear the surroundings of the grublike larvae as well as to treat the victim. The soil may be sprinkled with quicklime, carbolic acid, coal tar, or petroleum; the stalls may be deluged with boiling water and afterwards painted with oil of turpentine and littered with fresh pine sawdust, and all blankets should be boiled. The skin may be sponged with a solution of 1 part carbolic acid in 50 parts of water.

Other animals should be kept free from fleas or kept away from the vicinity of the stable.

The chigoe (_Pulex penetrans_) of the Gulf coast is still more injurious, because it burrows under the surface and deposits its eggs to be hatched out slowly with much irritation. The tumor formed by it should be laid-open and the parasite extracted. If it bursts so that its eggs escape into the wound, they may be destroyed by introducing chloroform into the wound.

LICE, OR PEDICULI.

Two kinds of lice attack the horse, one of which is furnished with narrow head and a proboscis for perforating the skin and sucking the blood, and the other--the broad-headed kind--with strong mandibles, by which it bites the skin only. The poor condition, itching, and loss of hair should lead to suspicion, and a close examination will detect the lice. They may be destroyed by rubbing the victim with sulphur ointment, or with sulphuret of pota.s.sium 4 ounces, water 1 gallon, or with tar water, or the skin may be sponged with benzine. The application should be repeated a week later to destroy all lice hatched from the nits in the interval. Buildings, clothes, etc., should be treated as for fleas.

STINGS OF BEES, WASPS, AND HORNETS.

These are much more irritating than the bites of flies, partly because the barbed sting is left in the wound and partly because of the quant.i.ty and quality of the venom. When a swarm attacks an animal the result may prove fatal.

_Treatment_ consists in the application of wet clay, or of a lotion of soda or ammonia, or of carbolic acid, or permanganate of potash, 2 grains to the ounce; or of sugar of lead 2 drams, laudanum 1 ounce, and water 1 pint. The embedded stings should be extracted with fine forceps or even with the finger nails.

TARANTULA AND SCORPION.

The bite of the first and the sting of the second are poisonous, and may be treated like other insect venom, by carbolated glycerin, or a strong solution of ammonia, or permanganate of potash.

SNAKE BITES.

These are marked by the double incision caused by the two fangs, by the excessive doughy (dark red) swelling around the wounds, and in bad cases by the general symptoms of giddiness, weakness, and prostration. They are best treated by enormous doses of alcohol, whisky, or brandy, or by aqua ammonia very largely diluted in water, the object being to sustain life until the poison shall have spent its power. As local treatment, if the wound is in a limb, the latter may have a handkerchief or cord tied around it above the injury and drawn tight by a stick twisted into it.

In this way absorption may be checked until the poison can be destroyed by the application, of a hot iron or a piece of nitrate of silver or other caustic. A poultice of tobacco leaves is a favorite remedy, and may be used to soothe the sore after cauterization.

A treatment which has been highly recommended consists in prompt and vigorous scarification at the site of puncture and rubbing crystals of pota.s.sium permanganate into the wound.

BURNS AND SCALDS.

These subjects are discussed in the following chapter.

WOUNDS OF THE SKIN.

Wounds of the skin are fully discussed in the next chapter.

FOOTNOTES:

[3] An outbreak of quittor near Cheyenne, Wyo., which came under the author's observation, was caused by the mud through which the horses had to wade to reach the watering troughs. These troughs were furnished with water by windmills, and the mudholes were caused by the waste water.

More than 50 cases developed inside of two months, or during September and October. In these 50 cases all forms of the disease and all possible complications were presented. During the rainy season at Leadville, Colo., outbreaks of quittor are common, and the disease is so virulent that it has long been known as the "Leadville foot rot." The soil being rich in mineral matters is no doubt the cause of the outbreaks. In the city of Montreal quittor is said to be very common in the early springtime, when the streets are muddy from the melting snow and ice.

[4] Descazeaux has shown that the worms found in these summer sores are probably larval forms of the stomach worms of the horse, _Habronema megastoma_, _H. microstoma_, and _H. muscae_. Ransom has shown that the larval stage of _H. muscae_ develops in the common housefly, the fly becoming infested as a maggot in horse manure. Infestation with the adult worms in the stomach of the horse (Pl. V, fig. 4) may take place through the ingestion of such infested flies, or by the escape of the larva from the proboscis of the fly as it feeds on the moist lips of the horse. In view of this it may be surmised that summer sores may arise as the result of flies so infested feeding on the moisture on the skin of the horse. In some forms of summer sores along the abdomen there are found immature stages of _Habronema_ which apparently have just escaped from the egg and which are younger than some of the stages found in the fly. In this case it is surmised that these embryos from the manure enter the soiled skin of the horse, as it lies down on dirty bedding and manure, and develop in the skin as they would ordinarily in the fly.

Descazeaux calls these summer sores cutaneous habronemiasis.

Preventive measures consist in the removal of the adult worms from the stomach of the horse by the use of anthelmintics, the destruction of the embryos in the manure, fly-control measures, and the use of clean bedding.--M. C. HALL.

[5] Descazeaux recommends the application and injection of 2 to 3 per cent trypanblue, though he states that the only truly efficacious treatment is the early and complete ablation of the invaded tissue.--M.

C. H.

[6] Revised by M. C. Hall.

WOUNDS AND THEIR TREATMENT.

By CH. B. MICHENER, V. S.

[Revised by John R. Mohler, V. M. D., A. M.]

DESCRIPTION OF WOUNDS.

A wound is an injury to any part of the body involving a solution of continuity or disruption of the affected parts and is caused by violence, with or without laceration of the skin. In accordance with this definition we have the following varieties of wounds: Incised, punctured, contused, lacerated, gunshot, and poisoned. They may further be cla.s.sified as superficial, deep, or penetrating, and also as unclean, if hair, dirt, or splinters of wood are present; as infected when contaminated with germs, and as aseptic if the wound does not contain germs.

An incised wound is a simple cut made with a sharp body, like a knife, producing merely a division of the tissues. The duller the body the more force is required, the more tissues destroyed, and a greater time will be required for healing. In a cut wound the edges are even and definite, while those of a lacerated wound are irregular and torn. Three conditions are present as a result of an incised wound: (1) Pain, (2) hemorrhage, (3) gaping of the wound. The first pain is due to the crushing and tearing of the nerve fibers. In using a sharp knife and by cutting quickly, the animal suffers less pain and healing occurs more rapidly. The secondary pain is usually due to the action of the air and inflammatory processes. When air is kept from the wound pain ceases soon after the lesion is produced. Hemorrhage is absent only in wounds of nonvascular tissues, as the cornea of the eye, the cartilage of joints, and other similar structures. Bleeding may be from the arteries, veins, or capillaries. In the last form of bleeding the blood oozes from the part in drops. Hemorrhage from the veins is dark red and issues in a steady stream without spurting. In arterial bleeding the blood is bright red and spurts with each heart beat. This latter variety of hemorrhage is the most dangerous, and should be stopped at once before attempting any further treatment. Bleeding from small veins and capillaries ceases in a short time spontaneously, while larger vessels, especially arteries, require some form of treatment to cause complete stoppage of the hemorrhage.

HEMOSTASIA.

By this term is meant the checking of the flow of blood. It may be accomplished by several methods, such as compress bandages, torsion, hot iron, and ligatures. The heat from a hot iron will cause the immediate clotting of the blood in the vessels, and this clot is further supported by the production of a scab, or crust, over the portion seared. The iron should be at a red heat. If at a white heat, the tissue is charred, which makes it brittle and the bleeding is liable to be renewed. If the iron is at a black heat, the tissue will stick to the iron and will pull away from the surface of the wound. Cold water and ice bags quickly stop capillary bleeding, while hot water is preferable in more excessive hemorrhages. Some drugs, called styptics, possess the power of contracting the walls of blood vessels and also of clotting the blood. A solution of the chlorid of iron placed on a wound alone or by means of cotton drenched in the liquid produces a rapid and hard clot. Tannic acid, alum, acetic acid, alcohol, and oil of turpentine are all more or less active in this respect. To check bleeding from large vessels compression may be adopted. When it is rapid and dangerous and from an artery, the fingers may be used for pressing between the wound and the heart (digital compression), but if from a vein, the pressure should be exerted on the other side of the wound. Tourniquet may also be used by pa.s.sing a strap around the part and tightening after placing a pad over the hemorrhage. The rubber ligature has now replaced the tourniquet and is bound tightly around the limb to arrest the bleeding. Tampons, such as cotton, tow, or oak.u.m, may be packed tightly in the wound and then sewed up. After remaining there for twenty-four or forty-eight hours they are removed. Bleeding may sometimes be easily checked by pa.s.sing a pin under the vessel and by taking a horsehair and forming a figure 8 by running it above and below the pin, thus causing pressure on the vessel.

Torsion is the twisting of the blood vessel until the walls come together and form a barrier to the flow of blood. It may be accomplished by the fingers, forceps, or by running a pin through the vessel, turning it several times, and then running the point into the tissue to keep it in a fixed position.

Ligation is the third method for stopping a hemorrhage. The blood vessel should be seized with the artery forceps, a clean thread of silk pa.s.sed around it, and tied about one-half inch from its end. The silk should be sterilized by placing it in an antiseptic solution so as not to impede the healing process or cause blood poisoning or lockjaw, which often follows the ligation of a vein with unsterilized material. Sometimes it will be impossible to reach the bleeding vessel, so it is necessary to pa.s.s the ligature around a ma.s.s of tissue which includes the blood vessel. Ligation is the most useful method of arresting hemorrhage, since it disturbs healing least and gives the greatest security against secondary hemorrhage.

SUTURES.

After the bleeding has been controlled and all foreign bodies removed from the wound, the gaping of the wound is noticeable. It is caused by the contraction of the muscles and elastic fibers, and its degree depends on the extent, direction, and nature of the cut. This gaping will hinder the healing process so that it must be overcome by bringing the edges together by some sort of sutures or pins or by a bandage applied from below upward. As suture material, ordinary cotton thread is good, if well sterilized, as are also horsehair, catgut, silk, and various kinds of wire. If the suture is made too tight the subsequent swelling may cause the st.i.tch to tear out. In order to make a firm suture the depth of the st.i.tch should be the same as the distance the st.i.tch is from the edge of the wound. The deeper the suture the more tissue is embraced and the fewer the number of st.i.tches required. In tying a suture the square or reef knot should be used. Closure of wounds by means of adhesive plaster, collodion, and metal clamps is not practiced to any great extent in veterinary practice.