156 PEINCIPLES OP VETERINERY SURGERY 



over by wagons, etc., are the direct causes. Finally, birds 

 and swine, and occasionally the cat, furnish clinical materials 

 Which bones are most frequently fractured in the horse ? 



Fracture of the pelvic bones, tibia and os suffraginis 

 represent about one-half of all fractures, the other half being^ 

 made up by the vertebrae, radius and metatarsus. 



Which hones are most frequently broken in the dog f 



The vast majority of fractures are those of the bones of 

 the legs, only ten per cent, of all fractures being made up 

 from fractures of such bones as the cranial, vertebral, ribs». 

 scapula, sternum. 



Which bones are most frequently broken in birds ? 

 Mainly the femur, humerus and tibia. 



Which points do you take into consideration in the diagnosis: 

 of a fracture? 



1. The history, that of a fall, kick, bite, runaway, etc. 



2. Diminished or lost function and pain. When th& 

 bones of the extremities are broken the animal supports very 

 little or no weight at all and is moved with great difficulty. 

 Loss of function, nevertheless, is not always marked, as, for 

 instance, in certain fractures of the pelvic bones the animal! 

 can still support weight with the affected leg ; in fractures of 

 the ribs and in some fractures of the bones of the head ther& 

 is also an absence of loss of function. Pain, as a rule, is well 

 marked, exhibited on palpation ; thus dogs cry out and the ' 

 horse will endeavor to get the affected limb out of reach of 

 the one conducting the examination. Complete loss of 

 function accompanies fracture of the vertebral column, 

 characterized by paraplegia and complete anaesthesia, nor- 

 mally enervated by that portion of the spinal column posterior- 

 to the point of fracture. 



