120 " PARTICULAK FRACTURES. 



head against the wall, manger, &c., bruising himself in a fearful 

 manner. Seeing that he was in great agony, and the chance of 

 recovery now hopeless, he was destroyed. The i^ost mortem 

 examination revealed fracture through the body of the last dorsal 

 vertebra. I am satisfied that this case would have eventually 

 recovered if he had not been interfered with, as there was no 

 fever ; the appetite was good, and the animal cheerful before the 

 slings were used. 



Fractures of the spine occur during the performance of a 

 surgical operation when the animal is cast. 



Let it be here clearly understood that such fractures rarely if 

 ever occur during the fall, but when the horse is down on the 

 ground, and struggling from the pain of the operation, or from 

 the inconvenience of his position. Broken backs during the 

 performance of operations are much more common in Scotland 

 than in England; this arises from the different methods in 

 which horses are cast. The late Professor Dick used to say : — 

 " Fracture of the body of the bone (a vertebra), while the horse 

 is under operation, sometimes takes place; this is to be pre- 

 vented by placing a back rope on the horse before he is cast, 

 and then it is to be tied round the legs and back, to prevent the 

 animal struggling while down." ^ 



Now, with all due deference to the teaching of the late Pro- 

 fessor, I must here say that the immense number of broken 

 backs which we hear of in Scotland arises from the circumstance 

 that the animal is fastened so that he cannot struggle ; whereas 

 he should be allowed more or less freedom of motion while he is 

 confined in the hobbles. 



By using the " hack rope" as recommended by Professor Dick, 

 the great muscles of the loins, quarters, and thighs are made to 

 act upon two fixed points, namely, the spinal column on the one 

 hand, and the extremities on the other; and when muscular 

 force is exerted to such an extent as we see when an animal is 

 down, one of the points is likely to give way ; whereas, if the 

 extremities are allowed a little freedom, the force is expended in 

 moving them, and there will be but little or no danger of a 

 broken back. 



If it were possible, by so fixing the animal, to destroy mus- 

 cular action, it would be a great convenience to the operator; 



* Frcm Notes of Professor Dick's Lectures, delivered during Session 1855-6. 



