OBSERVATIONS ON THE FRACTURES OF BONES. 389 
a liorse of his. The horse came into-’s possession 
three months ago ; and ever since has shewn a tendency to loose¬ 
ness of the howelsf or scouring. He has been, for the abovemen- 
tioned period, on hard meat, four feeds per day; and for the 
last three weeks has had beans with his corn; but no alteration 
has taken place. The horse is otherwise in good spirits, and 
carries flesh, and is always ready to feed, but is, of course, soft 
in condition; and as he is a hunter of some value, he is not able 
to use any freedom with him in the field. -supposed, as the 
water is rather hard, that he would be better when accustomed 
to it; and, indeed, has attempted every expedient he could 
think of, short of giving medicine, or restoratives, which he has 
not as yet done; and he now' wishes-’s advice as to 
what w'ould be best to be done towards stopping this looseness: 
the evacuations, how^ever, are 7iot unnaturally frequent j but al- 
w'ays in a state of looseness. 
Observations on Fractures of some of the 
Bones of Horses. 
By M. Levrat. 
It is no longer believed by veterinary practitioners, that frac¬ 
tures of the bones of horses are incurable : time and experience 
have done away with the ridiculous ideas which were formerly 
held on that subject. All veterinarians know that a fracture is 
reducible, and there is a chance of curing it when it is situated 
in a bone which has little motion, and is accessible to the mani¬ 
pulations of the operator and to the pressure of bandages, and 
especially when the splinters have not been displaced. But it 
appears to me that some modern authors have committed 
an error in advising, that on account of the uncertainty of the 
result, and the necessary expense of treatment, only ^horses of 
great value or of the choicest breed should be submitted to sur¬ 
gical care. In reality (and I am now alluding to fractures of the 
extremities), it is very seldom, however skilfully the operation 
may have been performed, that the animal is made perfectly 
sound : there remains lameness and weakness, to a greater or less 
degree, in the limb which has been fractured ; and sometimes 
there is a slight deformity. In this state, therefore, it is seldom 
that the animal can be ridden or driven in a carriage long or 
rapidly without going sensibly lame; and such are generally the 
uses to which high-bred and valuable horses are put. They 
w'ill then be, if not absolutely unfit for their w'ork, at least very 
VOL. VI. ■ :3 1) ^ 
