254 FRACTURES. 



and the dog of one of them was struck on the head by a quoit, and supposed 

 to be killed. His owner took him up, and found that he was not dead, 

 although dreadfully injured. It being near the Thames, his owner took 

 him to the edge of the river, and dashed some water over him, and he 

 rallied a little. Professor Simonds detected a fracture of the skull, with 

 pressure on the brain, arising from a portion of depressed bone. The dog 

 was perfectly unconscious, frequently moaning, quite incapable of standing, 

 and continually turning round upon his belly, his straw, or his bed. It 

 was a case of coma ; he took no food, and the pulsation at the heart was 

 very indistinct. 



" I told the proprietor that there was no chance of recovery except by 

 an operation ; and, even then, I thought it exceedingly doubtful. I was 

 desired to operate, and I took him home. 



" The head was now almost twice as large as when the accident oc- 

 curred, proceeding from a quantity of coagulated blood that had been 

 effused under the skin covering the skull. I gave him a dose of aperient 

 medicine, and on the following morning commenced my operation." 



" The hair was clipped from the head, and an incision carried imme- 

 diately from between the eye-brows to the back part of the skull, in the 

 direction of the sagittal suture. Another incision was made from this 

 towards the root of the ear. This triangular flap was then turned back, 

 in order to remove the coagulated blood and make a thorough exposure 

 of the skull. I was provided with a trephine, thinking that only a por- 

 tion of the bone had been depressed on the brain, and it would be neces- 

 sary, with that instrument, to separate it from its attachment, and then 

 with an elevator remove it ; but I found that the greater part of the pa- 

 rietal bone was depressed, and that the fracture extended along the sa- 

 gittal suture from the coronal and lamdoidal sutures. At three-fourths 

 of the width of the bone, the fracture ran parallel with the sagittal 

 suture, and this large portion was depressed upon the tunics of the brain, 

 the dura mater being considerably lacerated. The depressed bone was 

 raised with an elevator, and I found, from its lacerated edges and the extent 

 of the mischief done, that it was far wiser to remove it entirely, than to 

 allow it to remain and take the chance of its uniting. 



" In a few days, the dog began to experience relief from the operation, 

 and to be somewhat conscious of what was taking place around him. He 

 still requires care and attention, and proper medicinal agents to be admi- 

 nistered from time to time ; but with the exception of occasionally turning 

 round when on the floor, he takes his food well and obeys his master's 

 call."* 



a Trans. Vet. Med. Assoc., i. 51. 



