974 DISEASES AND THEIE TEEATMENT. 



FRACTURES. 



Owing to the difficulty experienced in keeping the bones of 

 the leg of the horse in place to enable their reunion, with the ex- 

 pense and trouble involved, in addition to the fact that if even 

 treated successfully the horse is supposed to be of but little value 

 afterwards, there is but little encouragement given by veterinary 

 authorities for the successful treatment of such cases. But the 

 success of Dr. Macbeth, of Battle Creek, Mich., in treating ordi- 

 nary fractures, has been so marked, and by such simple treat- 

 ment, too, which is, I believe, peculiar to himself, not being, so far 

 as I know, laid down in veterinary works, that I am induced to 

 give his method of treatment, which he kindly explained to me 

 with permission to publish, as it may serve to occasionally save a 

 valuable horse. 



He tells me that within the past two years he has treated three 

 cases with perfect success. The first, a yearling, was a split of 

 the ossaf raginis, or short coronary bone of the fore leg. The sec- 

 ond, a four-year-old, a fracture three inches above the fetlock- 

 joint of the off hind leg. Third, an oblique fracture, involving 

 the fetlock joint one inch above the joint of the fore leg of a seven- 

 year-old. His method of treatment is as follows: 



After providing himself with the best quality of plaster-of- 

 Paris, he prepares from three to four splints made of strips of 

 hickory- wood, about an inch and a half in width, and a fourth of 

 an inch thick, of suitable length, or pieces of band iron about one- 

 eighth of an inch in thickness, with the ends thinned down some- 

 what, and if necessary, the edges and the bar bent to fit the form 

 of the part; he next provides bandages of suitable strips of cotton 

 cloth, about three inches and a half in width. While the horse is 

 standing naturally, the limb is brought forward a little, resting 

 easily and naturally upon the ground, when the bones are held 

 gently in a proper position. The part is first covered with a ban- 

 dage of one thickness of the cloth ; next, a little of the plaster^ 

 after being prepared, is put on the cloth under the splints, so as to 

 level off the inequalities of the surface, and give an even bearing to 

 the splints. The bandage is now started from the bottom, with 

 the aid of an assistant ; a little of the plaster is laid on quickly 

 with the knife, in a layer of from one-fourth to three-eights of an 



