326 FRACTURES. 



them 'vvith so much appetite and ease, that no one looking at him would think that he 

 had been deprived of his lower incisor teeth. On the following day, some hay was 

 given to him, which he ate without difficulty, and in a fortnight was dismissed, the 

 wounds being nearly healed.* 



In the majority of these cases of simple fracture, a cure might be effected, or should, 

 at least, be attempted, by means of well-adapted bandages around the muzzle, confined 

 by straps. It will always be prudent to call in veterinary aid, and it is absolutely 

 necessary in case of compound fracture of the lower jaw. 



Fracture of the Spine. — This accident, fortunately for the horse, is not of frequent 

 occurrence, but it has been uniformly fatal. It sometimes happens in the act of falling, 

 as in leaping a wide ditch ; but it oftener occurs while a horse is struggling during a 

 painful operation. It is generally sufficiently evident while the horse is on the ground. 

 Either a snap is heard, "indicative of the fracture, or the struggles of the hind-limbs 

 suddenly and altogether cease. In a few cases, the animal has been able to get up 

 and walk to his stable ; in others, the existence of the fracture has not been apparent 

 for several hours: showing that the vertebrae, although fractured, may remain intheir 

 place for a certain period of time. The bone that is broken, is usually one of the pos- 

 terior dorsal or anterior lumbar vertebrae. There is no satisfactory case on record of 

 reunion of the fractured parts. 



In the human being, the depressed portion of the spinal arch, and of the fractured 

 vertebrae, have been removed by a dextrous operation, and sensibility and the power 

 of voluntary motion have, in cases few and far between, been restored ; but in the 

 horse, this has rarely or never been effected. We should consider him a bold operator, 

 but we should not very much dislike him, who made one trial, at least, how far sur- 

 gical skill might be available here. 



Mr. W. C. Spooner relates an interesting case, and many such have probably oc- 

 curred. A horse had been clipped about three weeks, and was afterwards galloped 

 sharply on rough ground, and pulled up suddenly and repeatedly, for the purpose of 

 sweatino- him. After that he did not go so well as before, and would not canter 

 readily, although he had previously been nmch used to that pace. Two days before 

 he was destroyed, the groom was riding him at a slow pace, when he suddenly 

 gave way behind and was carried home, and could not afterwards stand. He had, 

 doubtless, fractured the spine slightly, when pulled up suddenly, but without dis- 

 placing- the bones. f 



INI. Dupuy was consulted respecting a mare apparently palsied. She had an uncer- 

 tain and staggering walk, accompanied by evident pain. After various means of re- 

 lief had in vain been tried during five-and-twcnty days, she was destroyed. A frac- 

 ture of the last dorsal vertebra was discovered. It had never been quite complete, 

 and ossific union was beginning to take place. 



Fracture of the ribs^ — These fractures are not always easily recognised. Those 

 that are covered by the scapula may exist for a long time without being detected, and 

 those that are situated posteriorly are so thickly covered by muscles as to render the 

 detection of the injury almost impossible. A man was trying to catch a mare in a 

 field. She leaped at the gate, but failing to clear it, she fell on her back on the oppo- 

 site side. She lay there a short time, and then got up, and trotted to the stable. She 

 was saddled, and her master, a heavy man, cantered her more than three miles. She 

 then became unusually dull and sluggish, and was left on the road. She was bled ; 

 and on the following morning an attempt was made to lead her home. She was not, 

 however, able to travel more than a mile. On the following morning she was evi- 

 dently in great pain, and a veterinary surgeon, discovering a slight depression of the 

 spinous processes of the eleventli and twelfth dorsal vertebra} anil detecting a certain 

 crepitus, ordered lu-r to be destroyed. On posl-tuortcm examination, the twelfth dorsal 

 vertebra was found fractured, and the eleventh, twelfth, and tliirteenth ribs on the 

 near side were all fractured about two inches from their articulation \\ ith the verte- 

 brae. :|: 



Hurtrel d'Arboval says tliat " tlie two ribs behind the elbow are the most subject 

 to fracture, and the false ribs, from the yielding motion which they possess, are least 

 liable." The ordinary causes of fracture are kicks and blows, or falls on the chest, and 



* Rec. de Med. Vet. Nov. 1838. t Veterinarian, vol. xi. p. 207. 



I Veterinarian, vol. iii. p. C81. 



