I.AMKXF.SS: ITS C'Al'SF.S AND THKATMKNT, 345 



Trt(d)tuitt. — If tlu'iT is no (lisplariMut'iit. w simple iuliicsive rlress- 

 injr to strenfrthen niul iinniol)ili/,(' tlic p.iits ^vill he suHicii'iit. A coat 

 of black pitch dissolvod ^vith wax and \'t>ni(t' turpentine, and kept 

 in place o\ei' the rejiion with oakimi or linen bands, will ])e all the 

 treatment recpiired, especially if the animal is kept (piiet in the slings. 



Displacement can not be remedied, and reduction is next to impos- 

 sible. Sometimes an ii'on jilatc is ajiplicd ov<'r the parts and i-etained 

 by bandages, as in the dressing of Bourgelat ( IMate XXX) ; this may 

 l>e advantageously replaced by a pad of thick leather. In smaller 

 animals the pai'ts are retained by figiu-e-8 bandagi's, embracing both 

 the normal and the diseased shoulders, crossing each other in the 

 axilla and covered with a coating of adhesive mixture. 



FRACTURES OF THE HUMERU3. 



These are more connuon in small than in large animals, and are 

 always the result of external tiaumatism, such as falls, kicks, and 

 collisions. They ai'c generally very obliipie. are often comminuted, 

 and though more usually involving the shaft of the bone will in 

 some cases extend to the upper end and into the articular head. 



Si/ni/>fmns. — There is ordinarily considerable displacement in con- 

 seipience of the overlapping of the broken ends of the bone, and this 

 of course causes more or less shortening of the limb. There will also 

 be swelling, with difliculty of locomotion, and crepitation will be 

 easy of detection. This fracture is always a serious damage to the 

 patient, leaving him with a permanently shortened limb and an 

 incurable, lifelong lameness. 



Tnatment. — If treatment is determined on, it will consist in the 

 reduction of the fracture by means of extension and counter exten- 

 sion, to accomi)lish which the animal must be thrown. If successful 

 in the reduction, then follows the application and adjustment of the 

 a|)paratus of retention, which nnist be of the most perfect and 

 eflicient kind. Finally, this, however skillfully contrived and care- 

 fully adapted, will often fail to etl'ect any gcxxl i)urposi» whatjMcr. 



FRACTURES OF THE FOREARM. 



A fracture in this region may also involve the radius oi- the ulna, 

 the latter being broken at times in its upper portion above the radio- 

 ulnar arch at the olecranon. If the fractiire cKTurs at any pail of the 

 forearm from the radio-idnar arch down to the knee, it may involve 

 either the radius alone or the radius and the cubitus, which are thei'c 

 intimately united. 



Caitse. — liesi«les ha\ing the same etiology with most of the frac- 

 tures, those of the foiearm are, nevertheless, more commonly due to 

 kicks from other animals, esi>ecially when crowded together in large 



