DISEASES OF THE BONES 411 
manipulating it, after its being in hot water a short time, I 
saw the fracture was complete.’ * 
Treatment of Fractures of the Bones of the Foot.—It will 
be seen at once that in most cases anything in the way of 
_ bandaging is well-nigh useless. When the os coron is 
' fractured, however, a little more may be added to the 
natural rigidity of the parts by enclosing the region of the 
_ pastern and the foot in a plaster-of-Paris bandage. The 
main treatment, however, in every case, will be a continual 
use of the slings for at least seven to eight weeks, by that 
means compelling the animal to give to the injured parts 
the necessary amount of rest. 
With fracture of the os pedis, when such is caused by 
pricks and complicated by a flow of pus, then attention 
must be given to removal of the displaced piece of bone. 
The pus track is to be followed up with the searcher, suffi- 
cient horn removed with the knife, and the broken piece of 
bone removed with a scalpel and a pair of strong forceps, 
the operation to be afterwards followed up by antiseptic 
dressings to the opening. Until this is done the wound 
refuses to heal. 
Fracture of the navicular bone, if in any way diagnosed 
with certainty, offers us an almost hopeless case, for it 
appears to be a commonly reported fact that attempts at 
reunion are rare. This, in all probability, is due to the 
pressure put upon it every now and again, when the animal’s 
weight presses the bone between the os corone and the os 
pedis above and the perforans tendon below. Even should 
reunion take place, the resulting callus, interfering as it 
does with the movements of the perforans, leaves us a case 
of incurable lameness. When the fracture is complicated 
by the formation of pus, as in the case of prick, then the 
case, with the attendant purulent synovitis and arthritis, is 
even more hopeless still. 
Diagnosis of fracture of either of the bones of the foot is, 
as we have said before, extremely difficult. It so happens, 
* §, W. Wilson, M.R.C.V.S., A.V.D., Veterinary Journal, vol. xv., 
p. 12. 
