224 HORSE, SWINE AND POULTRY DISEASES 



is the methodical and scientific introduction of heat into the structure 

 with a view to a given effect upon a diseased organ or tissue by an ex- 

 pert surgeon. The first is one of the degrees of mere burning. The 

 other is scientific cauterization, and is a surgical manipulation which 

 should be committed exclusively to the practiced hand of the veter- 

 inary surgeon. 



Either firing alone or stimulation with blisters is of great effi- 

 cacy for the relief of lameness from bone spavin. Failure to produce 

 relief after a few applications and after allowing a sufficient interval 

 of rest should be followed by a second, or, if needed, a third firing. 

 In case of further failure there is a reserve of certain special opera- 

 tions which have been tried and recommended, among which those 

 of cunean tenotomy, periosteotomy, the division of nervous branches, 

 etc., may be mentioned. These, however, belong to the peculiar 

 domain of the veterinary practitioner, and need not now engage our 

 attention. 



FRACTURES. 



In technical language a fracture is a "solution of continuity in 

 the structure or substance of a bone." It ranks among the most 

 serious of the lesions to which the horse or any animal can be 

 subject. Though of less serious consequence in the horse than in 

 man, it is always a matter of grave import. It is always slow and 

 tedious in healing, and is frequently of doubtful and unsatisfactory 

 result. 



Treatment. Considered, per Be, a fracture in an animal is in 

 fact no less amenable to treatment than the same description of in- 

 jury in any other living being. But the question of the propriety 

 and expediency of treatment is dependent upon certain specific 

 points of collateral consideration. 



The nature of the lesion itself is a point of paramount im- 

 portance. A simple fracture occurring in a bone where the ends 

 can be firmly secured in coaptation presents the most favorable con- 

 ditions for successful treatment. If it be that of a long bone, it will 

 be the less serious if situated at or near the middle of its length than 

 if it were in close proximity to a joint, from the fact that perfect 

 immobility can rarely, in the latter case, be secured without incurring 

 the risk of subsequent rigidity of the joint. 



In respect to the utilization of the animal, the most obvious 

 point in estimating the gravity of the case in a fracture accident is 

 the certainty of the total loss of the services of the patient during 

 treatment certainly for a considerable period of time ; perhaps per- 

 manently. For example, the fracture of the jaw of a steer just fatten- 

 ing for the shambles will involve a heavier loss than a similar acci- 

 dent to a horse. Usually the fracture of the bones of the extremities 

 in a horse is a very serious casualty, the more so proportionately as the 

 higher region of the limb is affected. In working animals it is ex- 

 ceedingly ^difficult to treat a fracture in such a manner as to restore 

 a limb to its original perfection of movement. A fracture of a single 

 bone of an extremity in a breeding stallion or mare will not neces- 

 sarily impair' their value as breeders. Other specifications under this 



