418 FRACTURES. 



oi'dcred lier to be destroyed. On post-mortem examination, the twelftli 

 dorsal vertebra was found fractured, and the eleventh, twelfth, and 

 thu'tecnth ribs on the near side were all fractured about two inches from 

 their articulation with the vertebrEe. 



Hurtrel D'Arboval says that 'the 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 especially in leaping. 

 The fractures are generally about their middle, and, in the true ribs, 

 commonly oblique. They are occasionally broken into splinters, and if 

 those splinters are directed inward, they may seriously wound the pleura, 

 or lungs. In order most certainly to detect the situation and extent of 

 these fractui'cs, it may be necessary to trace the rib through its whole 

 extent, and, should there be any irregularity, to press firmly upon it 

 fibove and below in order to ascertain the nature and extent of the 

 injury. 



If fracture is detected, it is not often that m.uch essential good can be 

 done. If there is little or no displacement, a broad roller should be tightly 

 drawn round the chest, in order to prevent as much as possible the motion 

 of the ribs in the act of breathing, and to throw the labour on the 

 diaphragm and the abdominal muscles until the fractured parts are united. 

 If the fractured parts protrude outwards, a firm compress must be placed 

 upon them. If they are depressed, it will always be advisable to place a 

 firm bandage over the seat of fracture, although, perhaps, there niay be 

 scarcely the possibility of elevating them to any considerable degree. 

 Should much irritation be the consequence of the nature or direction of 

 the fracture, proper means must be adopted to allay the constitutional 

 disturbance that may be produced. General or local bleedings will be 

 most serviceable. 



Fracture of the pelvis. — This is not of frequent occurrence, on 

 account of the thickness of the soft pai-ts which surround the pelvis, and 

 protect it from injury, but it is of a most serious character when it does 

 take place, on account of the violence Avhich must have been necessary 

 to produce it. The usual causes are falls from a considerable height, or 

 heavy blows on the pelvis. The injury may have reference to the internal 

 or external portion of the pelvis. In the first case, the danger may not 

 be discovered until ii'reparable mischief is produced. When it is chiefly 

 external, the altered appearance of the hip speaks for itself. It is rarely 

 in our power to afford any assistance in cases like this, except when there 

 are fractured portions of the bone that may be partially or entirely 

 removed, or the projecting spine of the ilium is only partially fractured. 



M. Levi-at gives an interesting account of a case of fracture of the right 

 side of the pelvis, near the acetabulum, in leaping a wide ditch when 

 hunting. 'The lameness which it occasioned,' says he, 'was such that 

 the toe of the foot was scarcely permitted to touch the ground while the 

 motion was at all rapid. When the motion Avas slow the foot was placed 

 flat on the ground, but with great difficulty moved forward. On ap^olying 

 my right hand to the fractured part, which did not exhibit any heat, and 

 seizing with my left hand the point of the thigh, I felt a movement of the 

 ischium, which easily enabled me to judge of the fracture and its seat, 

 and to discover that none of the fractured parts were displaced. I 

 ordered her to be kept quiet for three weeks, and then permitted to wander 

 about the stable. At the end of two months she was mounted and exer- 

 cised at a foot pace, and in another month she was enabled to sustain the 

 longest day's Avork without lameness. In the following year she was 

 placed in the stud of the Baron de Stael, where she produced some good 

 foals.' 



