a greater or
lesser extent. While at first sight such wounds may not appear to be as
serious as incised wounds, they are commonly very much more so.
Lacerations and contusions, when extensive, are always to be regarded as
dangerous. Many horses die from septic infection or mortification as a
result of these injuries. We find in severe contusions an infiltration
of blood into the surrounding tissues: disorganization and mortification
follow, and involve often the deeper seated structures. Abscesses,
single or multiple, may also result and call for special treatment.

In wounds that are lacerated the amount of hemorrhage is mostly
inconsiderable; even very large blood vessels may be torn apart without
inducing a fatal result. The edges of the wound are ragged and uneven.
These wounds are produced by barbed wire or some blunt object, as when a
horse runs against fences, board piles, the corners of buildings, or
when he is struck by the pole or shafts of another team, falling on
rough, irregular stones, etc.

Contused wounds are caused by blunt instruments moving with sufficient
velocity to bruise and crush the tissues, as kicks, running against
objects, or falling on large, hard masses.

_Treatment._--In lacerated wounds great care must at first be exercised
in examining or probing to the very bottom of the rent or tear, to see
whether any foreign body is present. Very often splinters of wood or
bits of stone or dirt are thus lodged, and unless removed prevent the
wound from healing; or if it should heal, the wound soon opens again,
discharging a thin, gluey matter that is characteristic of the presence
of some object in the part. After a thorough exploration these wounds
are to be carefully and patiently fomented with warm water, to which has
been added carbolic acid in the proportion of 1 part to 100 of water.
Rarely, if ever, are stitches to be inserted in lacerated wounds. The
surrounding tissues and skin are so weakened in vitality and structure
by the contusions that stitches will not hold; they only irritate the
parts. It is better to endeavor to obtain coaptation by means of
bandages, plasters, or collodion. One essential in the treatment of
lacerated wounds is to provide a free exit for the pus. If the orifice
of the wound is too high, or if pus is found to be burrowing in the
tissues beneath the opening, we must then make a counter opening as low
as possible. This will admit of the wound being thoroughly washed