974 LIVERPOOL VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
Mr. Barnes was nominated for election to membership by Mr. 
Storrar. 
The minutes of the preceding quarterly meeting were read and 
confirmed. 
Mr. C. W. Elam then read a paper on “ Fractures ; their Cause, 
Symptoms, and Treatment,” illustrating his subject by the exhibi- 
tion of an extensive collection of specimens. 
Mr. President and Gentlemen, — The subject 1 have chosen 
for my paper this evening is “ Fractures ; their Cause, Symptoms, 
and Treatment.” The reason I have chosen this subject in pre- 
ference to any other of the great variety that are being constantly 
brought under our notice by stock owners for our professional 
opinions and treatment, is that my attention has for the past 
four years and a half (during which time I have had under my 
charge over 1100 horses belonging to the Liverpool Railway 
Omnibus Company) been more frequently called, and my pro- 
fessional skill and knowledge of anatomy more severely taxed in 
correctly diagnosing cases of simple fracture than on any other 
single class of cases that have been brought under my notice, and 
I am sure of this (and I appeal to the experience of all old prac- 
titioners present), that there is not any lameness to which our noble 
patient, the horse, is subject (if I except the foot) that is so diffi- 
cult for a young practitioner to diagnose correctly, or one that is 
half so likely to annoy or perplex him, if not correctly diagnosed, 
as a simple fracture, more especially of the os coronae and os 
suffraginis bones. 
In treating of the first part of my subject, viz. the cause of frac- 
tures, I think it of importance that we should first glance at the 
development, structure, and composition of bones, for experience 
has proved, and chemistry has demonstrated, that the young, but 
fully developed, animal is least subject to fractures, and when frac- 
tured, the most readily cured ; but as age increases they are rendered 
more liable and proportionally more difficult of cure, in consequence 
of the increase of earthy salts, and the decrease of the gelatineous 
bases. Bones are the organs of support of the animal frame*; they 
give firmness and strength to the fabric, afford points o£ connection 
to the numerous muscles, and bestow individual character on the 
body. In the limbs they are hollow cylinders, admirably calculated 
by their conformation and structure to resist violence and support 
weight. In the trunk and head they are flattened and arched to 
protect cavities and provide an extensive surface for attachment. 
In some situations they present projections of variable length, 
which serve as levers, and in others are grooved into smoothed 
surfaces, which act as pulleys for the passage of tendons ; beside 
supplying strength and solidity, they are equally adapted by their 
numerous divisions and mutual appositions to fulfil every move- 
ment which may tend to the preservation of the creature, or be 
conducive to his welfare. According to the latest analysis by 
Berzelius, bone is composed of about one third of animal substance, 
