830 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 
as possible in their normal position. The second is their retention in 
that position for a period sufficient for the formation of the provi- 
sional callus, and the third, which, in fact, is but an incident of the 
second, the careful avoidance of any accidents or causes of miscar- 
riage which might disturb the curative process. 
In reference to the first consideration, it must be remembered that 
the accident may befall the patient at a distance from his home, and 
his removal becomes the first duty to be attended to. Of course, this 
must be done as carefully as possible. If he can be treated on the 
spot, so much the better, though this is seldom practicable, and the 
method of removal becomes the question calling for settlement. But 
two ways present themselves—he must either walk or be carried. If 
the first, it is needless to say that every caution must be observed in 
order to obviate additional pain and to avoid any aggravation of the 
injury. Led slowly, and with partial support, if practicable, the 
journey will not always involve untoward results. If he is carried, 
it must be by means of a wagon, a truck, or an ambulance; the last 
being designed and adapted to the purpose, would, of course, be 
the most suitable vehicle. As a precaution which should never be 
overlooked, a temporary dressing should first be applied. This 
may be so done as for the time to answer all the purposes of the per- 
manent adjustment and bandaging. Without thus securing the 
patient, a fracture of an inferior degree may be transformed to one of 
the severest kind, and, indeed, a curable changed to an incurable 
injury. We recall a case in which a fast-trotting horse, after run- 
ning away in a fright caused by the whistle of a locomotive, was 
found on the road limping with excessive lameness in the off fore 
leg, and walked with comparative ease some 2 miles to a stable before 
being seen by a surgeon. His immediate removal in an ambulance 
was advised, but before that vehicle could be procured the horse lay 
down, and upon being made to get upon his feet was found with a 
well-marked comminuted fracture of the os suffraginis, with con- 
siderable displacement. The patient, however, after long treat- 
ment, made a comparatively good recovery and though with a large, 
bony deposit, a ringbone, was able to trot in the forties. 
The two obvious indications in cases of fracture are reduction, or 
replacement, and retention. 
In an incomplete fracture, where there is no displacement, the 
necessity of reduction does not exist. With the bone kept in place 
by an intact periosteum, and the fragments secured by the unin- 
jured fibrous and ligamentous structure which surrounds them, there 
is no dislocation to correct. Reduction is also at times rendered 
impossible by the seat of the fracture itself, by its dimensions, alone, 
or by the resistance arising from muscular contraction. That is 
illustrated even in small animals, as in dogs, by the exceeding diffi- 
