WOUNDS, FRACTURES & DISLOCATIONS 225 



sheltered in position, is liable to be fractured, and it is 

 surprising how apparently trifling an accident may be, 

 and yet the injury out of all proportion to the latter. A 

 fracture can be produced by direct or by indirect violence, 

 and the bone may be broken across transversely, longitu- 

 dinally, obliquely, or comminuted, i.e. broken into a 

 variable number of small particles. The author has 

 seen both these accidents in the cannon-bone and the 

 long pastern produced in a very simple manner. Direct 

 violence consists of a kick from another horse, contact 

 with a shaft from a cart, or against some other hard and 

 unyielding body, such as a lamp-post, wall, etc., whereas 

 indirect violence may be sudden muscular contraction, 

 as when a horse is pulled to a standstill in a very violent 

 manner. We have seen the radius, or forearm, fractured 

 in this way during polo playing. The arm, forearm, 

 and cannon are occasionally broken by a kick from 

 another horse, but the commonest fracture of all is that of 

 the second thigh, or tibia. In nine cases out of ten it is 

 the result of direct violence, and the bone is usually 

 broken about four or five inches above the hock. The 

 kick is generally delivered from the opposite side to that 

 upon which the injury is inflicted, and nearly always on 

 the inner side of the lim.b. The fracture is sometimes 

 transverse and sometimes it is oblique, and no matter 

 whether transverse or oblique there is usually considerable 

 displacement of the fractured part. If so, the sooner the 

 animal is destroyed the better for all concerned. It is 

 not an injury where there need be any hesitation, but if 

 there is no displacement, yet the animal is very lame and 

 fracture suspected, its destruction should be deferred. 

 Meanwhile it should be placed in the slings and pro- 

 fessional assistance obtained. 



There is another fairly common fracture, viz. spilt 

 pastern, usually produced by direct concussion. Some- 

 times it is quite an easy matter to ascertain whether this 

 injury has or has not occurred, but usually it is difficult 



