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with which he can avail himself of the cooperation of an assistant, who 

 can aid him by manipulating the implicated limb and placing it in va- 

 rious positions, so far as the patient will permit, while the surgeon 

 himself is making explorations and studying the eflect from within. 

 By this method he can hardly fail to ascertain the character of the 

 fracture and the condition of the bony ends. By the rectal taxis, as if 

 with eyes in the finger cuds, he will "see" what is the extent of the 

 fracture of the ilium or of the neck of that bone; to what part of the 

 central portion of the bone (the acetabulum) it reaches; whether this 

 is free from disease or not, and in what location on the floor of the 

 pelvis the lesion is situated. We have frequently, by this method, been 

 able to detect a fracture at the symphysis, which from its history and 

 symptoms and an external examination, could only have been guessed at. 



Yet, with all its advantages, the rectal examination is not always 

 necessary, as, for example, when tlie fracture is at the posterior and 

 external angle of the ischium, when by friction of the bony ends the 

 surgeon may discern the crepitation without it. 



Every variety of complication, including muscular lacerations with 

 the formation of deep abscesses and injuries to the organs of the pelvic 

 cavity, the bladder, the rectum, and the uterus, may bo associated 

 with fractures of the hip bone. 



The prognosis of these lesions will necessarily vary considerably. A 

 fracture of the most superficial part of the bone of the ilium or of the 

 ischium, especially where there is little displacement, will unite rapidly, 

 leaving a comparatively sound animal often quite free from subsequent 

 lameness. But if there is much displacement, only a ligamentous union 

 will take place, with much deformity and more or less irregularity in 

 the gait. Other fractures may be followed b^^ complete disability of 

 the patient, as, for example, when the cotyloid cavity is involved, or 

 when the reparatory process has left bony deposits in the pelvic cavity 

 at the seat of the union, which ma^^, with the female, interfere with the 

 steps of parturition, or induce some local paralysis by pressure upon 

 the nerves which govern the muscles of the hind legs. This is a con- 

 dition not infrequently observed when the callus has been formed on 

 the floor of the pelvis near the obturator foramen, pressing upon the 

 course or involving the obturator nerve. 



The treatment of all fractures of the hip bone should, in our estima- 

 tion, be of the simplest kind. Rendered comparatively immovable by 

 the thickness of the muscles by which the region is enveloped, one es- 

 sential indication suggests itself, and that is, to place the animal in a 

 position which, as far as possible, will be fixed and jiermanent. For 

 the accomplishment of this purpose the best measure, as we consider it, 

 is to i)lace him in a stall of just sufficient width to admit him, and to 

 apply a set of slings snugly, but comfortably. This will fulfill the essen- 

 tial conditions of recovery, rest, and immobility. Blistering applica- 

 tions would be injurious, though the adhesive mixture might provo in 

 some degree beneficial. 



