112                A TREATISE ON ELEPHANTS.

of morphia is employed instead. Injections may now be procured
made up in the form of pellets containing the correct dose of the
active principles. They are not only more convenient, but are,
when not kept too long, more reliable than made-up solutions. Good
needles are requisite ; they should be fairly long, say 3 ins. or so,
and not too thick, in fact the finer they are the better as the animals
do not resent their insertion.

The injections may be given at such places where the skin is
thin and the underlying tissues loose. A fold of skin should be
taken up with the finger and thumb of the left hand ; the needle
should then be passed through the skin obliquely under the surface.
The syringe containing the injection should then be attached to the
needle and the fluid injected slowly. Injections of serum, be they
preventive or curative, are applied in the same way. Too much care
cannot be taken in seeing that aseptic methods are observed.
Syringes and needles should be boiled before and after use, and
only water that has been filtered and boiled should be used for
dissolving pellets or other drugs to be injected. In the matter of
hypodermic injections, it is better to err on the side of being too
careful rather than run any risks.