FRACTURES. 259 
a common table-knife. Roll the bandage as tightly as possible, being careful 
not to shake off in the operation much of the powder. Prepare as many such 
bandages as will be required and have them at hand, together with a shallow 
basin containing water to the depth of a trifle over an inch. 
After applying vaselin, sweet oil or lard to the hair on the parts to be ban- 
daged, cover those parts with a few thin sheets of cotton wadding or a soft napkin. 
Now stand a bandage in the water, and after wetting one end, reverse it and wet 
the other. Securing the free end by pressure of the thumb of the left hand, 
unroll the bandage slowly and carefully, and while doing so perfectly adjust it to 
the leg. Having put on one bandage, wet another and apply it; and so on. 
Four or five thicknesses of the bandages will doubtless be required in making a 
good firm dressing. At each turn of a bandage it should be made to overlap 
about one-half of the previous turn. Care must be taken not to have the dress- 
ing too tight nor too loose. After the bandages are all on, wet the outside of 
them well and sprinkle over freely the powdered plaster; and then, without any 
delay, after dipping the hand in water, pass it over the dressing, wetting the 
powder and laying it down smoothly. This done several times, the dressing will 
not only be substantial but sightly as well. It will dry in two or three minutes 
if a little salt be added to the water used; and meanwhile the parts covered 
must be kept perfectly motionless. The dog will be quite sure to gnaw the 
dressing, therefore must thereafter be constantly watched or some protective 
adjustment be resorted to. Quite the best device is a circular piece of sole 
leather with a hole in its centre sufficiently large to admit the neck of the patient, 
and a cut between this hole and the outer edge, that it may be passed over his 
head. The sides of this cut can be laced or kept together by means of a strap 
with a buckle. A similar adjustment is used on horses to prevent their resting 
one foot on the other. 
To remove such a bandage is tedious work if the plaster-of-Paris is not soft- 
ened by a free use of vinegar. This done, it can be cut quite easily with knife 
or scissors. Another method which has been cordially recommended is to use a 
strong solution of bichloride of mercury; simply moistening the bandage along 
the line to be cut. 
A starch dressing is made by soaking the bandages in starch prepared as for 
the laundry. Several thicknesses of them are to be applied evenly and firmly, 
and thereafter the leg be kept in splints until they are dry. 
Whether the bandages are of starch or plaster they should be started at the 
foot and nicely applied to the entire leg, the pressure throughout being equal, 
otherwise swelling will result. 
Compound fractures or others over which the skin is badly bruised or lace- 
rated, also some peculiar breaks, require much more complicated treatment, 
which however, it is not necessary to discuss herein. 
A permanent dressing should be kept in place about five weeks if possible. 
