bones: diseases and accidents. 279 



Another and perhaps the simplest of all methods is the application 

 of a plaster of Paris bandage, which is made as follows: Strips of 

 thin cheese cloth 3 inches wide and 8 or 9 feet long are laid fiat on 

 a board and on them is spread a layer of plaster of Paris about one- 

 eighth of an inch thick, then, starting at one end, roll carefully so as 

 to gather the plaster in between the layers of the bandage. It is of 

 course important that the cloth be thin and the plaster of Paris fresh 

 and active. After preparing four or five of such bandages the op- 

 erator is ready to dress the fracture, which, after the parts have been 

 brought into position, should be done by covering all that part of 

 the limb to which the plaster of Paris bandage is to be applied with 

 a single layer of the dry bandage, letting it extend both above and 

 below the part to which the plaster of Paris bandage is to be applied 

 and including under the folds of the dry bandage at each end a layer 

 of absorlx^nt cotton, which is intended to form a pad to prevent the 

 ends of the plaster of Paris bandage from chafing the skin beneath. 

 "WTien this is done one of the plaster of Paris bandages should be 

 placed in a vessel of water and allowed to remain till the air bubbles 

 have ceased to rise from it, which will generally indicate that it is 

 soaked through. Then, taking it in the hand, wind it carefully 

 around and around the limb, unrolling the bandage as it is wound 

 around the limb, occasionally smoothing down the plaster of Paris. 

 Should it form roughly or in ridges the hand may be dipped in 

 water to impart increased moisture to it. A\Tien about finished with 

 one bandage, place another one in the water, so that the winding 

 operation may be continued without delay. The bandages should be 

 applied till the cast is from one-half to three-quarters of an inch 

 thick, then gently restrain the animal for one-half or three-quarters 

 of an hour till the plaster is hardened. Any of the appliances used 

 should be so manipulated as to prevent absolutely any uiotion of the 

 detached parts. If the fracture is near a joint, it is generally best 

 to include the joint in the appliance. The part of the limb below the 

 bandage should be carefully and firmly wrapped with an ordinary 

 cotton bandage all the way from the plaster bandage down to the 

 hoof. This last bandage will tend to prevent swelling, which is 

 likely to occur, the result of the dependent position in which the 

 animal is forced by nature to keep the injured limb. 



When plaster of Paris bandages are applied to a compound frac- 

 ture the injured part may be previously dressed with a small, thick 

 pad of cotton immediately over the wound. In applying the band- 

 age the operator may with a little care so arrange it as to keep the 

 folds of the bandages off the cotton, or have only a thin layer over 

 it, which may be easily cut out and the cotton removed, leaving a con- 

 venient opening through which to dress the wound without removing 

 the bandage. The ends of the bandage or other appliance should be 



