HORSES AND MULES. 333 



ever strike a horse with any hard or heavy instrument, and to 

 kick a lior.se in the abdomen is brutal. 



Fractures of the Limbs are simple when broken only in 

 one place, and compound, when broken in two or more places ; 

 in which case they will protrude. A simple fracture if taken at 

 once can be made to heal. Pads of cotton should be laid upon 

 the leg and bound tightly to it with strips of cloth. These 

 should be soaked with arnica tincture and water, half and half; 

 keep them wet for several hours at a time every day. 



The next thing is to sling the horse to prevent his lying down. 

 Get six or more yards of bagging, according to the width of the 

 stall. Fasten one end to one side of the stall, run it under the 

 horse's belly, and draw it up on the other side till it takes him 

 nearly off his feet. Any contrivance that will answer this pur- 

 pose is all that is required. He must be fastened in front, so 

 that he cannot pull himself out of the sling. When the frac- 

 ture is a compound one, and the bones are displaced, the setting 

 should take place before he is raised to his feet. The leg should 

 be wet for sometime previous in hot soapy water. Cloths may 

 be wrapped around, and hot water poured on for twenty min- 

 utes. A rope must be fastened to his foot and carried around a 

 post or some fast body and the leg gradually pulled until the 

 bones come in place again. This can be told by a gentle press- 

 ure of the hand. The wet cloths should now be removed, and 

 if the bones are all right the leg may be rubbed with the hand 

 until it is dry. This may be done by one while others prepare 

 the bandages, three inches wide, and dipped in a warm mixture 

 of equal parts of pitch, beeswax, and tallow. Begin to wind 

 below the fracture, place cotton padding over the fracture, and 

 wind the bandage tightly over this. Wind as far above the 

 fracture as below it. Two pieces of green wood may be hol- 

 lowed out so as not to press upon the wound, and the ends 



