CUTS.— FRACTURES. 467 



knee, will resist all the efforts of tlie dog to get it off, and 

 may be worn without a muzzle for weeks, taking care to re- 

 move it occasionally in order to cleanse the woimd. In this 

 way I have obtained the healing of cuts in the ball of the foot 

 in a week or two, without stoj)ping exercise a single day, 

 whereas, without a boot, the dog would have been lame, and it 

 would take months to heal the wound without resting- the do^. 



Fractures may occur in any of the bones of the dog, but 

 excepting in the legs or ribs little relief can be afforded by 

 art. They are detected by the deformity which is seen in the 

 part, an angle being presented in the interval between two joints, 

 when occurring in the limb, and a crepitus or crackling being 

 heard and felt on handling the part. When the ribs have been 

 broken, the injury is easily detected by the depression which 

 is felt, and the grating sound often produced in breathing. 

 In this case a flannel bandage may be bound tightly round 

 the chest, and the dog, after being bled, should be kept quiet, 

 and fed on low diet. A horse- girth passed twice or thrice 

 round and buckled answers the purpose pretty well, but is not 

 equal to a well-applied bandage. Fractures of the /ivihs may 

 be set by extending the broken ends, and then carefully apj^ly- 

 ing wooden or gutta percha sjilints lined with two or three 

 thicknesses of coarse flannel ; they are bound round with tapes 

 and tied, and kept on till the end of three weeks or a month, 

 re-applying them if necessary. This, however, requires some 

 practical experience to perform properly. If there is much local 

 injury, it is better to apply the splints very loosely for the 



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