LAMENESvS: ITS CAUSES AND TREATMENT. 351 



Xo rep:ion of the body affords bettor facilities for the ai)i)lication of 

 treatment, and the prognosis on this aeeount is usually favorable. 

 We recall a case, however, which proveil fatal, though under excep- 

 tional circumstances. The patient was a valuable stallion. of highly 

 nervous organization, with a compound fracture of one of the cannon 

 bones, and his unconcpierable resistance to treatment, excited bv the 

 intense* pain of the wound, precluded all chance of recovery, and 

 ultimately caused his death. 



Treatment. — The general form of treatment for these lesions will 

 not differ fiom that which has been already indicated for other frac- 

 tures. Iveduction, sometimes necessitating the ciisting of the ])atient; 

 coaptation, comparatively easy by reason of the subcutaneous situa- 

 tion of the bone: retention, by means of splints and bandages — 

 applied on both sides of the region, and reaching to the ground as 

 in fractures of the forearm — these are always indicated. We have 

 obtained excellent results by the use of a mold of thick gutta-percha, 

 composed of two sections and nuide to surround the entire lower part 

 of the leg as in an inflexible case. 



FRACTURE OF THE FIRST PHALANX. 



The hind extremity is more liable than the fore to this injury. It 

 is usually the result of a violent effort, or of a sudden misstep or 

 twisting of the leg, and may l)e transverse, or, as has usually l)een the 

 case in our experience, hmgitudinal, extending from the upper artic- 

 ular surface down to the center of the bone, and generally obli(|uo 

 and often comminuted. The symptoms are the swelling and tender- 

 ness of the region, possibly crei)itation; a certain abnormal mobility; 

 an excessive degi'ee of lameness, and in .some instances a dropping 

 back of the fetlock, with perhaps a straightened or upright condi- 

 tion of the pastern. 



The dilliculty of reduction and coai)tation in this accident, and the 

 proiiability of bony deposits, as of ringbones, resulting in lameness, 

 are circumstances which tend to discourage a favorable prognosis. 



The treatment is that which has been recommended for all frac- 

 tures, so far as it can l)e applied. The iron splint which has been 

 mentioned gives excellent results in many instances, but if the frac- 

 ture is incomplete and witlujut disjjlacement, a form of treatment less 

 energetic and severe should W attempted. One case is within our 

 knowledge in which the owner lost his hor.se by his refu.sal to subject 

 the aninuil to treatment, the post-mortem revealing only a simple 

 fracture with very slight displacement. 



FRACTURES OF THE SECOND PHALANX (CORONET). 



Though these are generally of the comminuted kind, there are 

 often conditions as.sociated with them which justify the surgeon in 



