510 



VETERINARY SURGICAL OPERATIONS 



force required to hold the leg in position thus falls upon the 

 buttock, and as this region is accustomed to breachment 

 pressure no discomfort is provoked, and the horse wears it 

 day after day without display of .opposition. 



The essential part of the treatment is to keep the leg 

 continually in a vertical, weight-bearing position until the 

 function of the paralyzed muscles is sufficiently restored to 

 enable the patient to walk about. After this time a limited 

 amount of exercise will assist in restoring the leg to its nor- 

 mal condition. As long as the leg collapses, however, when 

 the patient stands, the apparatus must be readjusted after 



Pig. 258— Schematic View of Leg Brace for Brachial Paralysis. 



each period of exercise. It is only dispensed with when the 

 patient holds the leg in the normal position unassisted. 



Local applications to the flaccid caputs,- such as fomenta- 

 tions, liniments, blisters and setons, have very little effect in 

 hastening the restorative process. 



Broken Knees. 



The phrase "broken knee" is the name applied by veter- 

 inarians and horsemen to more or less serious abrasions of 

 the anterior surface of the carpus. These injuries are sus- 

 tained by the friction of the knees against the road-bed after 

 stumbling and falling upon them. The seriousness of the 



