170 THE ANATOMY AND DISEASES OF 



Fracture of the nasal bones of the horse will sometimes occur from falling, 01 

 a kick from the companion, or the brutality of the attendant. It is generally 

 followed by laceration of the lining membrane of the nostrils, and by haemor- 

 rhage. The haemorrhage may usually be arrested by the application of cold 

 water externally. In spontaneous haemorrhage this does not often succeed until 

 a considerable quantity of blood is lost. 



In cases of fracture of the nasal bones, the assistance of a veterinary surgeon 

 is indispensable. He alone knows the precise anatomy of the parts, and will 

 have recourse to the elevator or the trephine, as circumstances may require. 



The owner must not be too sanguine with regard to cases of this kind, for ozena, 

 ulceration attended by a peculiar and almost insufferable stench is too often 

 the consequence, or foundation may be laid, for the appearance, of glanders. 



Spontaneous bleeding from the nose must be carefully attended to. It may 

 proceed from over- fulness of the capillaries of the membrane of the nose, or 

 determination of blood to the head, or general plethora of the system. Those 

 that are overfed and overfat are most liable to it, as troop-horses, brewers' horses, 

 and horses kept for pleasure. It is not common in young horses, or in such as 

 are out of condition, or worked hardly. It is always desirable to know whence 

 the bleeding proceeds if from the nostril alone, it will usually be confined to 

 one side: if from the lungs, the discharge is from both nostrils, and generally 

 mingled with mucus, or spume, there is also a quickened respiration, and 

 more or less cough. 



If it is apparently connected with some slight cause, a dose of physic and 

 quietness for a day or two will be sufficient, and, if necessary, a slight solution 

 of alum may be injected up the nostril. If the bleeding is apparently from the 

 lungs, a more serious evacuation will be required. 



These bones form the roof of an important cavity (see a, p. 111). The sides 

 are constituted above by the nasal bones, and, lower down, by the upper jaw- 

 bones, (superior maxillaries\ while plates from these latter bones project and 

 compose the palate, which is both the floor of the nose and the roof of the mouth 

 (, p. 111). Above (near fig. 8), not visible in our cut, is a bone called the/>a/a- 

 tine, although it contributes very little to the formation of the palate. It is the 

 termination of the palate, or the border of the opening where the cavities of 

 the mouth and nose meet (fig, 8). The frontal sinuses, &, and large vacuities 

 in the upper jaw-bone, and in the sethmoid, /, and sphenoid bones, ft, communi- 

 cate with and enlarge the cavity of the nose. 



This cavity is divided into two parts by a cartilage called the Septum (see 



ff, p. 111). It is of considerable thickness and strength, and divides the cavity 

 of the nose into two equal parts. It is placed in the centre for the purpose of 



