148 ACCIDENTS TO THE GREYHOUND. 



FRACTURES. 



FKACTURES in the dog, if simple, and occurring in the long 

 bones, may be treated by wooden splints and bandages. Here 

 also a muzzle is required. If near the hip, it is better to leave 

 the case to nature, taking the precaution to confine the dog to his 

 kennel for a fortnight or three weeks, after which time a moderate 

 degree of exercise is advantageous rather than otherwise. A new 

 joint is formed in most cases, and the lameness is never quite got 

 over, but in a brood bitch or stallion sufficient exercise may be 

 taken to keep up the health of the dog. If a toe is the seat of 

 fracture, the best plan is to place a small ball of India-rubber in 

 the cleft between the pads, and bandage the whole foot. The 

 object of this is to prevent the bones uniting in such a way as to 

 destroy the arch of the foot, which is essential to the proper 

 action of the tendons of the toes, and consequently to the 

 elasticity of the dog's action. Such a case, however, requires 

 a practised hand, without which it is better left to nature. 



DISLOCATIONS. 



OF THE VARIOUS JOINTS, the knee is the most frequently dislo- 

 cated, and if simple (that is, not complicated with a wound of the 

 skin), may be easily reduced by a little steady extension. After 



