46 THE DOGS OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 



to the dog's tongue alone. When the granulations rise above the level of 

 the surrounding skin, a piece of bluestone may be rubbed over them daily ; 

 and if the whole sore is too red, and the granulations large and smooth, a 

 little friar's balsam may be brushed over it ; or, what is far better, a solution 

 of nitrate of silver, of the strength of from three to eight grains to an ounce 

 of distilled water. 



FEACTIJEES 



May easily be treated in -the dog by any person possessed of ordinary 

 mechanical ingenuity. The bones most commonly fractured are those of the 

 extremities ; but almost all throughout the body are at times subject to this 

 accident. 



FRACTURES OP THE BIBS are very common from the kick of a horse, or 

 from the thick boot of a man, who sometimes in his rage, at the attack of a 

 dog, administers a blow with his iron-shod toe which is sufficient to destroy 

 life, or, at all events, to break one or more ribs. When from any cause they 

 are fractured, the best plan is to apply a horse-girth round the whole chest, by 

 buckling it smoothly twice round, or, if the size of the dog will not admit of 

 this, the girth may be adapted to one circle only. This may be buckled so 

 tightly as to prevent the dog using his ribs in breathing, and to confine him to 

 the use of his diaphragm for that purpose, by which means the ribs are kept 

 quite still, and nature in about three weeks unites the broken ends. For a 

 broken shoulder-blade, or true arm, there is little to be done, nor in the case of 

 a fractured pelvis or upper thigh-bone can much good be effected by interference. 

 Nature will in all cases work a cure so far as to enable a new joint to be formed ; 

 but the animal is rendered useless for sporting purposes, and can only be kept for his 

 or her breed. 



In FRACTURES OF THE LIMBS, splints or strips of deal should be neatly 

 applied round the limb and encircled with tapes to keep them in position. The 

 first thing to be done is to adapt the splints to the leg, so that the parts shall 

 be kept in a tolerably correct position while the inflammation is being subdued ; 

 for if the fracture has been the result of much violence there will be considerable 

 swelling of the soft parts, and the tapes require constant attention to prevent 

 undue pressure. Some experience in such matters is, however, required, and a 

 surgeon should always be called in when the animal is of sufficient importance. 



DISLOCATIONS 



Consist in a displacement of the end of a bone from its connexion with the one 

 above it ; and they may occur at the hip, stifle, shoulder- joint, or knee, as well as 

 the joints of the toes. The hock is seldom dislocated without fracture, but such an 

 accident has been known to occur, and great trouble would be experienced in its 



