310 BUREAU OF ANDIAL INDUSTRY. 



the leg, in order to avoid the possibility of interference with the cir- 

 culation of the extremity, as well as for the prevention of chafing. 

 They should be rolled from the lower part of the leg upward, and 

 carcfull}" secured against loosening. In some instances suspensory 

 bandages are recommended, but excepting for small animals our 

 experience does not justify a concurrence in the recommendation. 



These permanent dressings always need careful watching with ref- 

 erence to their immediate effect upon the region the}" cover, especially 

 during the first days succeeding that of their application. Any mani- 

 festation of pain, or any appearance of swelling above or below, or 

 any odor suggestive of sui)puration should excite suspicion, and a 

 thorough investigation sliould follow without delaj". The removal of 

 the dressing shoidd be performed with great care, and especially so if 

 time enough has elapsed since its application to allow of a probability 

 of a commencement of the healing process or the existence of any 

 points of consolidation. With the original dressing properly applied 

 in its entirety in the first instance, the entire extremity will have lost 

 all chance of mobility, and the repairing process may be permitted to 

 proceed without interference. There will be no necessity and there 

 need be no haste for removal or change except under such special con- 

 ditions as have just been mentioned, or when there is reason to judge 

 that solidiiicaiion has become perfect, or for the comfort of the ani- 

 mal, or for its readaptation in consequence of the atrophy of the limb 

 from want of use. Owners of animals are often tempted to remove a 

 splint or bandage permaturely at the risk of producing a second frac- 

 ture in consequence of the failure of the callus properh" to consolidate. 



The method of applying the splints which we have described refers 

 to the simple variety onh'. In a compound case the same rules must 

 be observed, with the modification of leaving openings through the 

 thickness of the dressing, opposite the wound, in order to permit the 

 escape of pus and to secure access to the points requiring the applica- 

 tion of treatment. 



FKACTUIIE OF DIFFERENT BONES. 

 CRANIAL BOXl-S. 



Causes. — Fractures of these bones in large animals are comparatively 

 rare, though the records are not destitute of cases. When they occur, 

 it is as the result of external violence, the sufferers being usuall}- run- 

 aways which have come in collision with a wall or a tree or other 

 obstruction; or it may occur in those which in pulling upon the halter 

 have broken it with a jerk and been thrown backward, as might occur 

 in rearing too violently. Under these conditions we have witnessed 

 fractures of the parietal, of the frontal, and of the sphenoid bones. 

 These fractures may be of both the complete and the incomplete kind, 

 which indeed is usually the case with those of the fiat bones, and they 



