976 DISEASES OF THE LEG. 



The application of plaster or tripolith bandages is easier in small 

 ruminants and carnivora, but to be efficacious the dressing should 

 be carried below the hock, and as far upwards as possible ; by 

 including the stifle-joint the security of the dressing is greatly 

 increased, and the use of the " saddle " rendered unnecessary, other- 

 wise it can scarcely be dispensed with. It is formed by passing the 

 bandage over the back, and around the opposite limb. (See treatment 

 of fractured humerus.) 



When applying the bandage particular attention should be given 

 to the position of the limb, to prevent the fragments uniting hi faulty 

 relation to one another. If union occurs with the parts rotated, 

 movement is greatly interfered with. Before applying dressings 

 to a complicated fracture, the wound should be carefully disinfected 

 and covered with a layer of sterilised wadding. In case the parts 

 cannot be rendered aseptic, a window may be left in the plaster 

 bandage, to allow the wound to be inspected and kept relatively 

 aseptic. 



III. RUPTURE OF THE TIBIO-FIBULAR INTEROSSEOUS LIGAMENT. 



In animals fractures of the fibula have rarely been recorded ; they 

 are certainly very difficult to detect during life. In dogs, however, 

 the fibula is usually involved in cases of fracture of the tibia. Behnke, 

 in a mare, saw rupture of the interosseous ligament, with separation 

 of the fibula from the tibia, from the animal shying whilst being 

 ridden. Severe lameness at once followed, and though it gradually 

 diminished, it recurred after lying down and rising. The limb was 

 carried stiffly, and no weight was placed on it. Post-mortem 

 examination showed the fibula to have been torn away from the 

 tibia ; it lay amongst the muscles of the thigh, which it had severely 

 injured. 



IV.— RUPTURE OF THE TENDINOUS FLEXOR METATARSI. 



In the horse the tendinous portion of the flexor metatarsi muscle forms 

 an inextensible cord, which unites the stifle and hock joints in such a 

 way that movement of one joint produces movement of the other, and 

 permits the muscles of the quarter and thigh to assist in extension of the 

 hock-joint. The tendon arises from the pit between the trochlea and the 

 external condyle of the femur, in common with the extensor pedis, passes 

 over the stifle-joint, lying in front of the tibia, at the upper end of which 

 it is surrounded by a mucous bursa, and is inserted by three slips into the 

 hock and metatarsus. In ruminants the muscle is also provided with 

 much tendinous tissue, but arises from the tibia. In carnivora it is 

 replaced by a tendon which starts from the internal surface of the tibia 



