FRACTURES. 299 



scalpel, and laid both orifices open in an oblique direction down- 

 wards ; then, having fomented the parts with warm water, I 

 dressed the wounds with tincture of myrrh and aloes ; and, in 

 order to apply pressure to the parts (for in this I founded all 

 my hope of success), I had two pieces of wood prepared, about 

 twelve inches lono; and three broad, thicker in the middle than 

 at the edijes, which were rounded off, and also a Ion"; flannel 

 bandage, four inches broad. I then placed two pledgets of tow 

 next the wounds, putting on the pieces of wood one on each 

 side, and then aj)plied the bandage over all, and as tightly as I 

 could, without impeding deglutition. It is necessary, while 

 putting on the bandage, to keep the nose extended, in order to 

 adapt the bandage more perfectly to the part, and apply it more 

 closely. I removed the bandage night and morning, and had 

 the parts well fomented and dressed with the tincture; and iu 

 the course of four weeks the mare was well." — Ed.] 



CHAP. LII. 



FRACTURES. 



[Fractures are much rarer in the horse than in the human 

 subject, arising, no doubt, from the gi'cater uniformity in the 

 labour of quadrupeds, and from their being much less exposed 

 to casualties than men. They are, however, by no means un- 

 frequent, and the metacarpals and phalanges are probably more 

 subject to the accident than the other bones, and they likew^ise 

 admit a better chance of cure tlian if the radius or the humerus 

 in the fore, or the tibia or femur in the hind extremity, are 

 fractured. From the powerful muscles attached to these bones, 

 and the shape of the limb, it is extremely difficult to retain the 

 parts afterwards in a proper position for union, and in the 

 generality of cases it is most prudent to destroy the horse. The 

 want of success that attends the greater number of cases of 

 fractures in the horse, is owing to the following circumstances : — 

 The restlessness of the animal ; the impossibility of making him 

 assume the recumbent position as in a man ; the difficulty of 

 slinginfi him for any length of time ; the probability of his 

 having, in many instances, used the limb after the fracture, thus 

 displacing the bones to a considei'able extent ; the fracture 

 extending into a joint, or being very complicated or severe. 

 To ensure a cure, therefore, it is necessary that the horse should 

 be tractaldc — that the fracture should not be very complicated 

 — that tlie horse should not have walked a distance after the 

 accident — and that the bones should not have been much 



