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arch, may be ascertained by the aggravated lameness, the excessive 

 soreness on pressure, and perhaps a certain increase of motion, with a 

 very slight crepitation if tested for in the usual way. Displacement 

 is not likely to take place except when it is well up towards the ole- 

 cranon or its tuberosity, the upper segment of the bone being in that 

 case likely to be drawn upwards. For a simple fracture of this region 

 there exists a fair chance of recovery, but in a case of the compound 

 and comminuted class there is less ground for a favorable prognosis, 

 especially if the elbow joint has sufi'ered injury. A fracture of the 

 cubitus alone is not of serious importance, except when the same con- 

 ditions prevail. A fracture of the olecranon is less amenable to treat- 

 ment, and promises little better than a ligamentous union. 



Considering all the various conditions involving the nature and ex- 

 tent of these lesions, the position and direction of the bones of the fore- 

 arm are such as to render the chances for recovery from fracture as 

 among the best. The reduction, by extension and counter extension ; 

 the maintenance of the coaptation of the segments; the adaptation 

 of the dressing by splints, oakum, and agglutinative mixtures; in 

 a word, all the details of treatment may be here fulfilled with a 

 degree of facility and precision not attainable in any other part of 

 the organism. An important if not an essential point, however, 

 must be emphasized in regard to the splints. Whether these are of 

 metal, wood, or other material, they should reach from the elbow joint 

 to the ground, and should be placed on the posterior face and on both 

 sides of the leg. This is then to be so confined in a properly constructed 

 box as to preclude all possibility of motion, while yet it must sustain a 

 certain portion of the weight of the body. The iron splint (represented 

 in Plate XXVII) recommended by Jiourgelet is designed for fractures 

 of the forearm, of the knee, and of the cannon bone, and will prove to 

 be an appliance of great value. For small animals our preference is for 

 an external covering of gutta percha, embracing the entire leg. A 

 sheet of this substance of suitable thickness, according to the size of the 

 animal, softened in lukewarm water, is, when sufficiently pliable, molded 

 on the outside of the leg, and when suddenly hardened by the applica- 

 tion of cold water forms a complete casing sufficiently rigid to resist all 

 motion. Patients treated in this manner have been able to use the 

 limb freely, without pain, immediately after the application' of the 

 dressing. The removal of the splint is easily effected by cutting it 

 away, either wholly or in sections, after softening it by immersiug the 

 leg in a warm bath. 



Fracture of the knee. — This accident, happily, is of rare occurrence, 

 but when it takes place is of a severe character, being of the commi- 

 nuted kind, and always accompanied by synovitis, with disease of the 

 joint, requiring for treatment therefor, besides the indication of perfect 

 immobility of the joint, that of open joints, synovitis, and arthritis. 



Fracture of the femur. — The protection which this bone receives from 



