41 



THE MODERN SYSTEM 



attended him ; this occasioned a tremendous 

 hue and cry after the runaway, which made 

 the poor animal gallop about mo~t furiously ; 

 at last getting in sight of his standing in the 

 stable, he made a desperate rush into, and 

 fractured liis skull against the top bar of his 

 standing, with that violence, that he was 

 knocked down by the stunning effects of the 

 blow. The farrier-major immediately sent for 

 me. On examining the wound, which was 

 about an inch wide, I could discover no inden- 

 tation or roughness of the bone, and I consi- 

 dered it merely a wound of the skin. Fearing 

 that concussion of the brain might take place, 

 and its effects, I had the Horse bled to the 

 amount of six quarts, the head to be frequently 

 fomented with warm water, and the Horse not 

 to have any food that night. In the morning the 

 Horse appeared better ; kept up the fomenta- 

 tions, and gave him aloes, six drams. This 

 treatment was continued for two days, when 

 we commenced the healing process of the skin, 

 which was accomplished in about a week. 



It was my usual practice, when a Horse 

 had been sick, or having met with any acci- 

 dent, to keep him under my care for two or 

 three days, before ordering him to work ; at 

 the end of the third day, when I was going to 

 discharge the Horse, to my great astonishment 

 I found him attacked with locked jaw. I was 

 then certain the bone must have been frac- 

 tured, and consequently, pressure on the 

 brain. I had the Horse immediately cast, 

 and taking a scalpal, made two sections in the 

 skin, forming two sides of a triangle. On ex- 

 amining the parietal bone, I found a fracture, 

 perpendicularly, about an inch and a quarter 

 long, with a piece of bone splintered off, about 

 three quarters of an inch long, which I have 

 now by me. I then took a pair of siiarp 



pointed forceps, and extracted the splintered 

 bone, drew down the skin, and attached it by 

 half a dozen sutures, dressed as a common 

 wound, with digestives, until granulations 

 began to form ; after which it healed com- 

 pletely in aoout three weeks. In the mean- 

 time I had to attend to the locked jaw, w hich 

 yielded by degrees, to copious bleedings and 

 solution of alo-^s, day by day, until purgation 

 was produced. 



Explanation of the Plate. 



The letter A gives the situation of the pa- 

 rietal suture, which runs perpendicularly up 

 the front of the head. 



B, the fractured part, just on the suture. 



C, the skin dissected and laid back, tlie 

 upper part of which was held in its situation 

 by an assistant. 



FRACTURES OF THE RIBS. 



Fractures of the ribs frequently occur, and 

 arise either from kicks from other Horses, and 

 more especially when at grass than at any 

 other time ; though I have no doubt they fre- 

 quently may arise from blows , and very fre- 

 quently amongst poor cart horses, and those 

 in large towns, used amongst the lower cla^s 

 of people that are termed costermongers and 

 dustmen ; for, if a Horse cannot travel at the 

 rate they require, a hedgestake, or large stick 

 is soon made to play a tune on the ribs of the 

 poor animal, who may be doomed to serve 

 such a master. These fractures generally 

 unite of themselves ; Nature being all-bounti- 

 ful, sets up the healing process of herself, and 

 the accident seldom, or never comes to light, 

 until the beast becomes the property of the 

 slaughterman. 



