DISEASES OF THE BONES 411 



manipulating it, after its being in hot ^\ater a short time, I 

 saw the fracture was complete.'* 



Treatment of Fractures of the Bones of the Foot. — It will 

 be seen at once that in most cases anything in the way of 

 bandaging is well-nigh useless. When the os coronae is 

 fractured, however, a little more may be added to the 

 natural rigidity of the parts by enclosing the region of the 

 pastern and the foot in a plaster-of-Paris bandage. The 

 main treatment, however, in every case, will be a continual 

 use of the slings for at least seven to eight weeks, by that 

 means compelling the animal to give to the injured parts 

 the necessary amount of rest. 



With fracture of the os pedis, when such is caused by 

 pricks and complicated by a flow of pus, then attention 

 must be given to removal of the displaced piece of bone. 

 The pus track is to be followed up with the searcher, suffi- 

 cient horn removed with the knife, and the broken piece of 

 bone removed with a scalpel and a pair of strong forceps, 

 the operation to be afterwards followed up by antiseptic 

 dressings to the opening. Until this is done the wound 

 refuses to heal. 



Fracture of the navicular bone, if in any way diagnosed 

 with certainty, offers us an almost hopeless case, for it 

 appears to be a commonly reported fact that attempts at 

 reunion are rare. This, in all probability, is due to the 

 pressure put upon it every now and again, when the animal's 

 weight presses the bone between the os coronse and the os 

 pedis above and the perforans tendon below. Even should 

 reunion take place, the resulting callus, interfering as it 

 does with the movements of the perforans, leaves us a case 

 of incurable lameness. When the fracture is complicated 

 by the formation of pus, as in the case of prick, then the 

 case, with the attendant purulent synovitis and arthritis, is 

 even more hopeless still. 



Diagnosis of fracture of either of the bones of the foot is, 

 as we have said before, extremely difficult. It so happens, 



* S. W. Wilson, M.R.C.V.S., A.V.D., Veterinary Journal, vol. xv., 

 p. 12. 



