DISEASES OP BONES 159 



soft tissues. The individual disposition toward pain varies 

 greatly in animals ; in some it is impossible to palpate the 

 limb, -while others hardly react. Twisting of the fissured 

 bone and pressure upon certain parts produce more or less 

 pain. Theoretically, there ought to be distinct pain along 

 the line of fracture; in practice this may occasionally be 

 detected, but on the whole such fractures can only be diag- 

 nosed by the train of symptoms and the history of the case 

 and by a systematic and thorough examination for all those 

 conditions which have symptoms similar to those of a frac- 

 ture ; in other words, the condition can be forcibly surmised 

 by a diagnosis by exclusion. 



What points are of importance in the prognosis offractwres ? 



1. Economic reasons. While a fracture may be curable, 

 economic reasons may forbid the treatment. Therefore, in 

 each case the first question is, Does it pay the owner to have 

 this fracture treated? If not, the slaughter of the animal 

 should be suggested. 



2. The animal species. In the horse and cattle, treatment 

 of fractures is tedious, because it is often very diflBcult and 

 sometimes impossible to adjust dressings to the broken ends 

 of the bone which hold the fragments in place. Continuously 

 resting upon three legs or the recumbent position may be 

 complicated by laminitis (comparatively rare) or by decubitus 

 and subsequent sepsis. Fractures in cattle and horses heal 

 in about one to three months ; in the dog, in three to four 

 weeks ; in birds, about fourteen days. 



3. The broken bone itself is of great importance. Thus, 

 in the horse and cattle, fracture of the vertebrae with injury 

 to the spinal cord, and, as a rule, both simple and complicated 

 fractures of the femur, tibia, scapula, humerus and radius, 

 certain pelvic fractures and comminuted fractures of the os 



