

FRACTURES. 25 1 



I then had the hair cut close, and covered the loins and back with a pitch- 

 plaster. At the expiration of six days the plaster was getting somewhat 

 loose, and was replaced by another with which a very small quantity of 

 powdered cantharides was mingled. At the expiration of the fifth week 

 she was quite well. 



III. The thigh-bone had been broken a fortnight. It was a com- 

 pound fracture : the divided edges of the bone protruded through the 

 integuments, and there was no disposition to unite. It is not in one case 

 in a hundred that an animal thus situated can be saved. We failed in our 

 efforts, and the dog was ultimately destroyed. 



IV. The femur vvas^ broken near the hip. I saw it on the third day, 

 when much heat and swelling had taken place. I ordered the parts to be 

 frequently bathed with warm water. The heat and tenderness to a con* 

 siderable degree subsided, and the pitch plaster was carefully applied. At 

 the expiration of a week the plaster began to be loosened. A second one 

 was applied, and when a fortnight longer had passed a slight degree of 

 tenderness alone remained. 



V. The following account is characteristic of the bull terrier. The 

 radius had been broken, and was set, and the bones were decidedly united, 

 when the dog, in a moment of frantic rage, seized his own leg and crushed 

 some of the bones. They were once more united, but his wrist bent under 

 him in the form of a concave semicircle, as if some of the ligaments of 

 the joint had been ruptured in the moment of rage. It was evident on the 

 following day that it was impossible to control him, and he was destroyed. 

 VI. A spaniel, three months old, became fractured halfway between the 

 wrist and the elbow. A surgeon bound it up, and it became swollen to an 

 enormous size, from the adhesive plaster that had been applied and the 

 manner of placing the splints. I removed the splints. On the following 

 morning I had the arm frequently fomented : a very indistinct crepitus 

 could be perceived at the point of the humerus : I applied another plaster 

 higher up, and including the elbow. The hair not having been cut suffi- 

 ciently close, the plaster was removed, applied much more neatly and 

 closely, and the original fracture was firmly bound together. No crepitus 

 vvas now to be perceived. 



I saw no more of our patient for four days, when I found that he had 

 fallen, and that the elbow on the other side was fractured within the 

 capsular ligament. A very distinct crepitus could be felt, and the dog 

 cried sadly when the joint was moved. 1 would have destroyed him, but 

 he was a favourite with his master, and we tried what a few days more 

 would produce. I enclosed the whole of the limb in a plaster of pitch, 

 and bound it up without splints. Both the bandages remained on nearly 

 a fortnight, when the fractures were found to be perfectly united, and the 

 lameness in both legs gradually disappeared. 



VII. July 22, 1843. A spaniel was frightened with something on the 

 bed, and fell from it, and cried very much. The instep, or wrist, of the 

 right leg before was evidently bowed, and there was considerable heat and 

 tenderness. It was well fomented on the two following days and then set, 

 and adhesive plaster was tightly applied, and a splint bound over that. 

 24th. The foot began to swell, and was evidently painful. The outer ban- 

 dage was loosened a little, but the inner bandage was not touched. Aug. 4. 

 The bandage, that had not been meddled with for eleven days, now appeared 

 to give him some pain. For the last two days he has been gently licking 



