426 VETERINARY SURGICAL THERAPEUTICS. 
blame, as “he allowed the dog to run up a stoop of several steps, upon 
which the dog fell repeatedly”; but we believe that facts of defective 
consolidation and voluminous callus will always be frequent in fractures ‘'' 
of the legs treated by this “leaving alone” method. Even in dogs, and 
notwithstanding the successes of Ribaud, the process is indicated only in 
fractures of our first group. It is not applicable to large animals; their 
great weight and the tendency they have to rest on the diseased leg de-. 
mand a solid bandage. For fractures of the extremities, except for those 
interesting phalanges, contention must always be energetic and continued 
for four or five weeks in young animals, six weeks to two months in 
adults and old ones. 
In dogs, whenever there is displacement, we apply a dressing, and it is . 
only between two weeks or a month after, that, according to the age of 
the subjects and the strength of reunion in the fragments, we begin : 
passive motion or allow motion and massage of the region. This latter is 
advantageous; it “develops muscle,” stimulates the circulation, spreads 
out the peri-fractured exudates and favors their absorbtion by lymphatics. 
One of the principal conditions of success, is to know to wait for the 
time where massage is to be used. Complete immobility is in any case very 
difficult to obtain in our animals; its inconvenience is much less dan- 
gerous than in man. 
The bandage must be carefully watched. An excessive pressure may 
bring on irreparable complications. They are manifested by dulness of 
the patient, loss of appetite, reactive fever. If the dressing leaves the 
inferior part of the leg exposed, the toes are swollen, perhaps oozing 
and covered with blisters. If the apparatus is rémoved, superficial or 
deep sloughs may be found. In such cases, the injured parts should be 
left exposed for several hours, and washed with phenicated water ; little 
by little the swelling will subside, the circulation is re-established, the 
heat returns ; then another bandage moderately tight is applied. When 
a first dressing has been applied on a tumefied leg, it may happen that 
after a few days it is loose, the leg moves in it. Then it must be changed 
or a certain quantity of mixed plaster be introduced between the old one 
and the skin. 
Notwithstanding the care taken in applying the dressing, if after a certain : 
length of time it happens that it is out of good position, it must be removed : 
or consolidated. A removal will permit the surgeon to observe the condi-. 
tion of the peri-fractured structure and to be assured that the ends of the ' 
bone have assumed their normal position. 
There is no absolute rule as to the length of time the dressing must 
remain in place; this varies according to the species of animal, the age 
