FRACTURES. 309 



on hard ground from a leap, either at the moment of the fracture 

 or before the horse can be stopped, the upper end pierces the skin, 

 and also tears or bruises the tendons which alone connect it to the 

 part below. In surgical language, the fracture is a compound one ; 

 and from the great tendency to contraction of the muscles, the 

 difficulty of bringing the disunited ends into apposition (or setting 

 them) is immense. Moreover, the horse is very unmanageable 

 when an attempt is made to confine him, and the means which are 

 adopted to keep the fracture set must therefore be very complete 

 as compared with those which will serve for the restoration of the 

 human being who has sustained a similar accident. Hence, unless 

 the animal is wanted for stud purposes alone, or unless the fracture 

 is a simple one, with little displacement, it will seldom be worth 

 the attempt to procure the union of a broken bone in the horse. 

 Many cases are on record in which after a fracture of a canna or 

 pastern bone a complete cure has been effected, but they must be 

 considered as exceptional, and not as affording as much encourage- 

 ment. 



THE SYMPTOMS OF SIMPLE FRACTURE are a greater or less 

 degree of deformity of the limb, swelling, pain on motion, and a 

 peculiar grating or jarring which is felt rather than heard, and 

 which has received the name of " crepitus." The last symptom 

 can only be made out when the broken ends of the bone can be 

 brought together ; but when this is impossible, the alteration of 

 form is in itself sufficient to lead to a detection of the nature of 

 the accident. In fractures of the head and spine there is no 

 crepitus felt, and the effect upon the brain and spinal cord of 

 pressure will be often the sole means of coming to a correct 

 diagnosis. Fractures of the pelvis are very difficult to make out, 

 unless the ala of the ilium is broken off, which is a common acci- 

 dent, for here the unnatural flatness of the hip, showing itself 

 without any great difficulty of moving the hind leg of that side, 

 plainly marks that there is no dislocation, and that the case can 

 only be one of fracture. It is always the result of a blow, either 

 when the horse is cast in a stall or in passing through a narrow 

 door-way, or from a similar cause ; and there will therefore be some 

 swelling of the soft parts which will interfere with the examination 

 at the time, but as nothing can be done to restore the broken 

 portion to its place, and as there is no doubt about the diagnosis 

 from dislocation, this is of little consequence. Fractures of the 

 ribs cannot be readily detected ; but as they almost always follow 

 a kick on the part, and as they do not require any treatment 

 unless their broken ends press upon the important viscera of the 

 thorax or abdomen, it will be well to wait for the symptoms which 

 are caused by this mechanical irritation before resorting to band- 

 ages, &c. When a fracture occurs in any of the bones of the 



