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than the fore to this injury. It is usually the result of a violent effort, 

 or of a sudden misstep or twisting of the leg, and may be transverse, 

 or, as has usually been the case in our experience, longitudinal, extend- 

 ing from the upper articular surface down to the center of the bone, and 

 generally oblique and often comminuted. The symptoms are the swell- 

 ing and tenderness of the region, possibly crepitation ; a certain abnor- 

 mal mobility; an excessive degree of lameness, and in some instances 

 a dropping back of the fetlock, with perhaps a straightened or upright 

 condition of the pastern. 



The difficulty of reduction and coaptation in this accident, and the 

 probability of bony deposits, as of ringbones, resulting in lameness, 

 are circumstances which tend to discourage a favorable prognosis. 



The treatment is that which has been recommended for all fractures, 

 as far as it can be applied. The iron splint which has been mentioned 

 gives excellent results in many instances, but if the fracture is incom- 

 plete and without displacement a form of treatment less energetic and 

 severe should be attempted. One case is within our knowledge in 

 which the owner of an injured horse lost his property by his refusal to 

 subject the animal to treatment, the x>ost mortem revealing only a simple 

 fracture with very slight displacement. 



Fractures of the coronet. — Though these are generally of the com- 

 minuted kind, there are often conditions associated with them which 

 justify the surgeon in attempting their treatment. Though crepitation 

 is not always easy to detect, the excessive lameness, the soreness on 

 pressure, the inability to carry weight, the difficulty experienced in 

 raising the foot, all these suggest, as the solution of the question of 

 diagnosis, the fracture of the coronet, with the accompanying realiza- 

 tion of the fact that there is yet, by reason of the situation of the mem- 

 ber, immobilized as it is by its structure and its surroundings, room 

 left for a not unfavorable prognosis. Only a slight manipulation will 

 be needed in the treatment of this lesion. To render the immobility of 

 the region more fixed, to support the bones in their position by baud- 

 aging, and to establish forced immobility of the entire body with the 

 slings is usually all that is required. Ringbone, being a common se- 

 quela of the reparative process, must receive due attention subsequently. 

 One of the severest complications likely to be encountered is anchylosis. 



Fractures of the os pedis. — Though these lesions are not of very rare 

 occurrence their recognition is not easy, and there is more of specula- 

 tion than of certainty pertaining to their diagnosis. The animal is 

 very lame, and, as much as possible, spares the injured foot, sometimes 

 resting it upon the toe alone and sometimes not at all. The foot is 

 very tender, and the exploring pincers of the examining surgeon causes 

 much pain. There is nothing to encourage a favorable prognosis, and 

 a not unusual termination is an anchylosis with either the navicular 

 bone or the coronet. 



No method of treatment needs to be suggested here, the hoof i)er- 



