54 VETERINARY LECTURES 



103. Ulna. — The upper and posterior portion of this bone forms 

 the elbow, the point of which is occasionally fractured by a kick or 

 from a fall. When this happens, the limb hangs down (dropped 

 elbow) and the knee-joint bends forward as if all the muscles between 

 the back of the shoulder-blade and the elbow-point were torn 

 asunder, and recovery is very uncertain. Fracture of the first rib 

 shows similar symptoms. 



104. Radius, or Forearm, and the Cannon or Shank Bones 

 of the fore and hind legs in the horse are most subject to fractures, 

 and are very difficult to treat, owing to the limb having to hang 

 pendulous. There is great pain, and the parts swell, generally ending 

 with mortification of the soft structures and death of the patient. 

 The most humane treatment, therefore, is to destroy the animal at 

 the outset. These bones in cattle, sheep, and dogs, however, generally 

 do well when splints and bandages, as already named, have been 

 properly applied. 



105. Knee-joint. — Some of the small bones of this joint are at 

 times fractured by the animal being kicked, or by its coming in 

 contact with a stone wall, etc. Splints and bandages should be 

 applied and long rest given, but the result is invariably a stiff 

 joint. 



106. Sesamoids, or fulcrum bones, at the back of the fetlock, are 

 occasionally fractured ; when this occurs the fetlock descends and 

 the toe sticks up. The OS suffraginis, or large pastern bone, in the 

 fore-leg, seems generally to be the most subject to fracture, being at 

 times broken into a number of pieces. The same thing occurs to 

 the os coronae, or small pastern. Such cases, when the bone is not 

 too much smashed, make good recoveries when put under treatment, 

 but leave behind stiff joints. The OS pedis, or coffin bone, as well 

 as the navicular bone, are also occasionally fractured. These 

 fractures are generally caused by the horse galloping on a hard road, 

 or on rough, uneven ground, or on hard sand. (For bones mentioned 

 in pars. 91 to 106 reference should be made to Plates V ., VI., 

 and VII.) 



