FKACTUKES. 581 



sling can not easily be procured and made. It is what we 

 shall call the 



PEN. (See Colt Founder.) 



When all these arrangements are completed, we are now 

 ready for the operation of 



SETTING THE BONES. 



When the fracture is a compound one, and the bones are 

 displaced, the setting should take place before he is raised to 

 his feet. The leg should be wet for some time previous in 

 hot, soapy water. Cloths applied in the hot water may be 

 wrapped around the wound, and the water then turned on 

 for twenty minutes. A rope must be fastened to his foot and 

 carried around a post or some fast body, and the leg gradu- 

 ally pulled until the bones come in place again. This can be 

 told by a gentle pressure of the hand. The wet cloths should 

 now be removed, and if the bones are all right, the leg may 

 be rubbed with the hand until it is dry. This may be done 

 by one person while ihe others are preparing the bandages. 

 These should be strips of strong cloth three inches wide, and 

 dipped in a warm adhesive mixture, made by melting equal 

 parts of burgundy pitch, beeswax, and tallow. Begin to 

 wind the strips some distance below the fracture, letting the 

 end turn up the leg four or five inches, and then wind over 

 this with the bandage to hold the end fast. Place some cot- 

 ton padding over the fracture, and wind the bandage tightly 

 over this. Let the strips lap about an inch in each winding, 

 and extend as far above the fracture as below. If the frac- 

 ture is a very bad one, splints of green wood, bent to suit the 

 shape of the leg, and so as not to press heavily upon the 

 wound, may be bound on with some more of the adhesive 

 bandages. Two pieces of soft wood, of consideiable thick- 

 ness, may be hollowed out so as not to press upon the wound, 

 and the ends shaved down thin to fit the leg, and then wound 

 with the adhesive strips. All this should be done as soon as 

 possible, and the leg relieved from the ropes. 



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