5 o VETERINARY LECTURES 



99. Tibia, or leg-bone, is considered to be more liable to fracture 

 than any other bone in the body, but very often the bone is merely 

 cracked without any displacement, and with little or no lameness 

 present. A slight skin wound may perhaps be seen, or, maybe, only 

 a small enlargement felt, which is painful to the touch. 



100. Cracked Tibia, or deferred fracture, mostly occurs when 

 two horses are put into one stall, and one of them, standing a little 

 further forward than the other, kicks out and hits its companion on 

 the inside of the thigh. The best thing that can be done in a case 

 of this kind is to at once tie the injured horse up by the head with 

 two halters, one on each side, and put on the slings, not permitting 

 it to lie down, as the limb frequently gives way when the animal 

 gets up. But if it is kept working for two or three days (which it 

 may be equal to), the least exertion will cause the bone to part 

 asunder. Hence, if there is a doubt whether the horse's leg be 

 cracked or not, give the animal the benefit of the doubt, and tie it 

 up for a time. In one case under my notice the horse stood for 

 three weeks, but when turned out to grass it laid down to roll, and 

 on rising broke the bone in two. In the case of a blow on the inside 

 of the fore-leg— the radius— there is the same danger, and similar 

 treatment must be adopted. 



101. Scapula, or Shoulder-Blade, may be broken by excessive 

 muscular contraction, owing to the lower parts of the limb— par- 

 ticularly the foot— being suddenly injured. It may also be damaged 

 by the animal falling, through making too sharp a turn when 

 galloping. If the fracture be oblique, and the horse is put in slings, 

 the parts being well supported with a good pitch charge, a good 

 recovery may result ; but if the neck of the bone be broken, and 

 the joint be implicated, treatment is of little avail. 



102. Humerus can be fractured by the animal falling in its 

 gallop, or by a kick from another horse. Recovery entirely depends 

 on the nature of the injury. Treatment is the same as for the 

 shoulder-blade. 



