422 VETERINARY SURGICAL THERAPEUTICS. 
in veterinary practice it was recommended by Bernard, in 1839. First it 
was used like the moulders do: the leg placed in a grooved splint, thick 
plaster was moulded all round it. The dressing thus obtained was very” 
heavy. To Mathysen and Van de Loo is due the credit of the fortunate. 
innovation of plastered rollers. To prepare them, bands of tarlatan. 
are taken, and on both faces plaster is dusted or rubbed in; these bands. 
are kept in metallic boxes. When they are to be used, they are first. 
sprinkled with water, or slightly moistened with wet sponges, and then. 
tolled round the region to immobilize, in layers more or less thick accord-. 
ing to the mobility of the fractured ends. To-day, bands prepared ad 
hoc are used. Generally simple bands of tarlatan, dipped in paste of plaster,. 
are employed. ‘The plaster paste must not be too thick, nor too thin; it. 
is prepared with equal quantities of water and plaster, kept perfectly dry, and 
that has not been exposed to the air. Bands impregnated with this. 
paste are rolled round the broken leg: solidification takes place in ten. 
minutes’; the dressing is so hard that-it resists the most powerful efforts. 
Circular plastering has some objections: it either presses the fracture 
too much or not enough, and does not permit examination of the injured. 
region. Actually, in human surgery, plastered splints and gutters are: 
used. The splints made of tarlatan, folded in ten, twelve or fifteen 
thickness, are covered with paste of plaster, then spread over the leg or 
the fractured region, without wrinkling, and held in place by assistants;. 
the leg is then enrolled with a band which makes the splints adapt them- 
selves well on the irregularities of the leg. When solidification is suffi- 
cient, this band is removed, the various parts of the apparatus are then 
secured by ligatures placed at various parts of its height. In this manner, 
a very firm contentive mould is obtained, which can be applied, closed. 
and removed at will. Plastered gutters are cut out on the healthy leg. 
This mode of application is the same as that of splints. 
The bandage of Beelz, excellent for large animals, is made of plastered 
bands, between which are placed coating of lint. In Germany “ tripoli” is. 
much used ; it is a mixture of plaster, carbonate of lime, of magnesia, | 
coal and sand; this mixture hardens rapidly and forms a mass more solid 
than plaster. (Moller). 
Advantageous as it may be, plaster cannot be of general use. It is not 
as convenient for fractures of the superior parts of the legs; its want of 
fixity in these cases has been a just reproach to it in those instances. 
For fractures of extremities, Simon recommends gutta-percha applied. 
as follows: the reduction made, the fractured region is envolped with 2 
pad of wadded peat, then upon that are disposed two gutters of gutta-percha, 
soldered together afterwards with a cultellar iron heated red. So as to avoid. 
excoriation of the skin, a pad of wadding should always be placed be- 
