762 FRACTURES OP THE HUMERUS. 



lie down should have a thick straw bed, otherwise they may be placed 

 in slings, and kept as quiet as possible. If in compound fractures 

 treatment be resolved on, attention should first be directed to 

 rendering the wound aseptic, and to keep it so; a dressing is 

 indispensable. 



In small animals suitable bandages are more easily applied. They 

 should include the thorax and lower part of the neck, so as to ensure 

 their remaining in position. 



II.— FRACTURES OF THE HUMERUS. 



Though fractures of the humerus are as a whole uncommon in 

 animals, they nevertheless occur with some frequency in dogs, in 

 which one or other condyle breaks away from the lower end of the 

 humerus. Peuch and others have seen double-sided fracture of the 

 humerus in horses. Fracture occasionally follows muscular exertion, 



FlG. 458. — Fracture of the humerus. (Hoddcr's case.) 



as in rearing, or even in trotting. Horses at grass may be kicked on 

 the arm. Comminuted fracture may occur without accident, while 

 the horse is trotting at a moderate pace over paved streets, and horses 

 returning from the forge after shoeing and without falling may 

 sustain fracture of both humeri. Drosse saw fracture of the " outer 

 and upper protuberance of the humerus " (ridge), and removed the 

 piece of bone ; recovery occurred in fourteen days. Six or seven 

 weeks later the animal stumbled and broke the humerus in the 

 direction of its length. 



Fractures of the diaphysis of the humerus are commonest in 

 cattle and dogs, and are produced by external violence, kicks, 

 collisions, treads, or accidental falls ; occasionally in horses by the 

 animals being suddenly wheeled round whilst being ridden. The 

 figure shows the humerus of a horse which ran away and came in 

 collision with a wall, 



