140 PARTICULAE FRACTUKES. 



thought necessary, it must be a bar-shoe, made as light as pos- 

 sible, and nailed to the uninjured part ; the foot is then to be 

 enveloped in a soft dressing, consisting of fine tow, tar, and band- 

 ages. But if the bone be broken into several fragments, or when 

 it is cleft through its centre, and into the pedal articulation, it 

 will be advisable to destroy the patient. 



The second and third forms are, as a rule, incurable. The last 

 form is partial, but is always to be considered of great impor- 

 tance, although by careful and timely treatment the results may 

 be satisfactory. The symptoms are those of pricked foot, with 

 or without suppuration. At first it is impossible to say whether 

 there is a fragment or not. But let the practitioner observe 

 that, when the foot is pricked, the removal of the offending body, 

 the paring out of the foot, and giving exit to the imprisoned pus, 

 will, as a rule, give relief But if a portion of the bone be de- 

 tached, the animal will continue as lame as he was prior to the 

 treatment ; or it will be found that the pain and fever increase 

 from hour to hour, abscesses form around the coronet, and the 

 animal will die in great agony in the course of a very short time. 



The treatment must be prompt. If it be found that relief 

 does not follow the treatment appropriate for punctured foot, 

 the practitioner must cut down on the pedal bone at the seat 

 of the pain or suppuration, and explore. He will find a loose 

 fragment ; this he must remove as speedily as he can. It may 

 be no larger than a small pea, or it may be the size of a bean, 

 but out it must come. When this is effected, relief is generally 

 obtained; the after treatment being poultices, cathartics, ano- 

 dynes, and febrifuges. 



BROKEN RIBS. 



The attention of the veterinarian is but seldom called to this 

 injury, yet post mortem examinations reveal in many instances 

 that the ribs have been fractured at some time or other of the 

 animal's existence ; the method of repair being always by the 

 ensheathing callus. In none of these cases has there been any 

 record of the accident, nor indeed would there be any symptoms 

 present to indicate such, if the fracture had not been a compound 

 one. 



The causes are direct violence, such as kicks from other horses, 

 and blows. 



