FBAOTUHES. 



243 



which may, with the female, interfere with the steps of parturition 

 or induce some local paralysis by pressure upon the nerves which 

 govern the muscles of the hind legs. This is a condition not in- 

 frequently observed when the caUus has been formed on the floor 

 of the pelvis near the obturator foramen, pressing upon the course 

 or involving the obturator nerve. 



The treatment of aU fractures of the hip bone should, in our 

 estimation, be of the simplest kind. Eendered comparatively im- 

 movable by the thickness of the muscles by which the region is 

 enveloped, one essential indicartion suggests itself, and that is, to 

 place the animal in a position which, as far as possible, will be fixed 

 and permanent. For the accomplishment of this purpose the best 

 measure, as we consider it, is to place him in a stall of just suffi- 

 cient width to admit him, and to apply a set of sUngs snugly, but 

 comfortably. This wUl fulfill the essential conditions of recovery, 

 rest, and immobOity. Blistering appUcations would be injurious, 

 though the adhesive mixture might prove in some degree beneficial. 



The minimum period allowable for solid union in a fractured 

 hip is, in our judgment, two months, and we have known cases 

 in which that was too short a time. 



As we have before said, there may be cases in which the 

 treatment for fracture at the floor of the pelvis has been followed 

 by symptoms of partial paralysis, the animal, when lying down, 

 being unable to regain his feet, but moving freely when placed in 

 an upright position. This condition is due to the interference of 

 the caUus with the functions of the obturator nerve, which it 

 presses upon or surrounds. We feel warranted by our experience 

 in similar cases in cautioning owners of horses in this condition 

 to exercise due patience, and to avoid a premature sentence of 

 condemnation against their invahd servants ; they are not all irre- 

 coverably paralytic. With alternations of moderate exercise, rest in 

 the slings, and the effect of time while the natiu'al process of ab- 

 sorption is taking effect upon the caUus, with other elements of 

 change that may be so operating, the horse may in due time be- 

 come able to once more earn his subsistence and serve his master. 



Fracture of the Scapula. — This bone is seldom fractured, its 

 comparative exemption being due to its free mobility and the pro- 

 tection it receives from the superimposed soft tissues. Only 

 direct and powerful causes are sufficient to effect the injury, and 

 when it occurs the large rather than the smaller animals are the 



