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well as of the loss of time to wliicli it subjects the patient, and the 

 consequent suspension of his earning capacity. Though of less seri- 

 ous consequence in the horse than in man, it is always a matter of 

 grave import. It is always slow and tedious in healing, aud is fre- 

 quently of doubtful and unsatisfactory result. 



This solution of continuity may take place in two x>rincipal ways. 

 In the most numerous instances it includes the total thickness of the 

 bone and is a complete fracture. In other cases it involves a portion 

 only of the thickness of the bone, and for that reason is described as 

 incomplete. If the bone is divided into two separate portions, and 

 the soft parts have received no injury, the fracture is a simple one; 

 or it becomes compoimd if the soft jmrts have suffered laceration, and 

 comminuted if the bones have been crushed or ground into fragments, 

 many or few. The direction of the break also determines its further 

 classification. Broken at a right angle it is transverse; at a different 

 angle it becomes oJjUque, and it may be longitudincd or lengthwise. 

 In a complete fracture, especially of the oblique kind, there is a con- 

 dition of great importance in respect to its effect upon the ultimate 

 result of the treatment in the fact that from various causes, such as 

 muscular contractions or excessive motion, the bony fragments do not 

 maintain their mutual coaptation, but become separated at the ends, 

 and this fact has made it necessary to add another descriptive term 

 in the words ivifli displacement. And this term again suggests its 

 negative, and introduces the fracture without displacement, when the 

 facts justify that description. Again, a fracture may be intraarticu- 

 lar ov extraarticular, as it extends within a joint or otherwise, and 

 once more, intra-periostecd, when the periosteum remains intact. 

 And, finally, there is no absolute limit to the use of descriptive ter- 

 minology in the case. 



The condition of displacement is largely influential in determining 

 the question of treatment, and as affecting the finalresult of a case 

 of fracture. This, however, is dependent upon its location or whether 

 its scat be in one or more of the axes of the bone, in its length, its 

 breadth, its thickness, or its circumference. An incomplete fracture 

 may also be either simple or comminuted, the periosteum, in the latter 

 case when it is intact, keeping the fragments together, the fracture in 

 that case belonging to the intra-periosteal class. At times, also, there 

 is only a simple fissure or split in the bone, making a condition of 

 much difficulty of diagnosis. 



Two varieties of originating cause may be recognized in cases of 

 fracture. They are the precZ/s^Jos/nr/ and iha occasional. As to the 

 first, different species of animals differ in the degree of their liability. 

 That of the dog is greater than that of the horse, and, in horses, the 

 various questions of age, the mode of labor, the season of the year, 

 tlic portion of the body most exposed, and the existence of ailments, 

 local and general, are all to be taken into account. 



