328 



swollen, and painful. What further proof is necessary? Is it not 

 evident that a fracture has occurred, first sui^erficial — a mere sj)lit in 

 the bony structure which, fortunately, has been discovered before 

 some extra exertion or a casual misstep had developed it into one of 

 the complete kind, j)OSsibly with complications'? What other inference 

 can such a series of symptoms thus repeated establish? 



The ijrognosis of fracture of the tibia must, as a rule, oe unfavor- 

 able. The diflficultj'^ of obtaining a union without shortening, and 

 consequently without lameness, is proof of the futility of ordinary" 

 attemjits at treatment. But though this may be ti-ue in respect to 

 fractures of the complete kind, it is not necessarily so with the incom- 

 plete variety, and with this class the simple treatment of the slings 

 is all that is necessary to secure consolidation. A few weeks of this 

 confinement will be sufficient. 



With dogs and other small animals there are cases Avhich may be 

 successfully treated. If the necessarj^ dressings can be successfully 

 applied and retained, a cure will follow. 



Fractures oftheliock. — Injuries of the astragalus have been recorded 

 which had a fatal termination. Fractures of the os calls have also 

 been observed, but never with a favorable prognosis, and attempts to 

 induce recovery have, as might have been anticipated, ijroved futile. 



Fractures of the cannon hones. — Whether these occur in the fore or 

 hind legs they appear either in the body or near their extremities. If 

 in the body, as a rule the three metacarj)al or metatarsal are also 

 affected, and the fracture is generally transverse and oblique, and 

 often compound, one of the segments protruding sharjily through the 

 skin. Having only the skin for a covering the diagnosis is easy. 

 There is no displacement, but excessive mobility, crepitation, inability 

 to sustain Aveight, and the leg is kept off the ground by the flexion of 

 the upper joint. 



No region of the body affords better facilities for the application of 

 treatment, and the prognosis is, on this account, usually favorable. 

 We recall a case, however, which proved fatal, though under excep- 

 tional circumstances. The patient Avas a valuable stallion of highly 

 nervous organization, with a compound fracture of one of the cannon 

 bones, and his unconquerable resistance to treatment, excited by the 

 intense pain of the wound, precluded all chance of recovery, and ulti- 

 mateh^ caused his death from nervous fever. 



The general form of treatment for these lesions will not differ from 

 that which has been already indicated for other fractures. Reduc- 

 tion, sometimes necessitating the casting of the patient; coaptation, 

 comparatively easy by reason of the subcutaneous situation of the 

 bone; retention, by means of splints and bandages — applied on both 

 sides of the region, and reaching to the ground as in fractures of the 

 forearm — these are always indicated. We have obtained excellent 

 results bv the use of a mold of thick gutta percha, composed of two 



