324 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 
FRACTURES. 
In technical language a fracture is a “solution of continuity in the 
structure or substance of a bone.” It ranks among the most serious: 
of the lesions to which the horse—or any animal—can be subject. 
It is a subject of special interest to veterinarians and horse owners 
in view of the fact that it occurs in such a variety of forms and 
subjects the patient to much loss of time, resulting in the suspension 
of his earning capacity. Though of less serious consequence in the 
horse than in man, it is always a matter of grave import. It is 
always slow and tedious in healing and is frequently of doubtful 
and unsatisfactory result. 
This solution of continuity may take place in two principal ways. 
In the most numerous instances it includes the tétal thickness of the 
bone and is a complete fracture. In other cases it involves only a 
portion of the thickness of the bone, and for that reason is described 
as incomplete. If the bone is divided into two separate portions 
and the soft parts have received no injury, the fracture is a simple 
one, or it becomes compound if the soft parts have suffered lacera- 
tion, and comminuted if the bones have been crushed or ground into 
fragments, many or few. The direction of the break also determines 
its further classification. Broken at a right angle, it is transverse; 
at a different angle it becomes oblique, and it may be longitudinal 
or lengthwise. In a complete fracture, especially of the oblique 
kind, there is a condition of great importance in respect to its effect 
upon the ultimate result of the treatment in the fact that from vari- 
ous causes, such as muscular contractions or excessive motion, the 
bony fragments do not maintain their mutual coaptation, but be- 
come separated at the ends, which makes it necessary to add another 
descriptive term—with displacement. These words again suggest 
the negative and introduce the term without displacement, when 
the facts justify that description. Furthermore, a fracture may be 
intra-articular or extra-articular, as it extends into a joint or other- 
wise, and, once more, intra-periosteal when the periosteum remains 
intact. Finally, there is no absolute limit to the use of descriptive 
terminology in the case. 
The condition of displacement is largely influential in determining 
the question of treatment and as affecting the final result of a case of 
fracture. This, however, is dependent upon its location or whether 
its seat is in one or more of the axes of the bone, in its length, its 
breadth, its thickness, or its circumference. An incomplete fracture 
may also be either simple or comminuted. In the latter case the frag- 
ments are held together by the periosteum when it is intact; in that 
case the fracture belongs to the intraperiosteal class. At times, also, 
there is only a simple fissure or split in the bone, making a condition 
of much difficulty of diagnosis. 
