392 
OBSERVATIONS ON FRACTURES 
time, he now and then tried to rest his toe on the litter. Six 
weeks after the accident he began to rest some weight on the 
foot, and a few days afterwards he was able to go to a pond 
about fifty paces from his stable, where he took a foot-bath every 
day, for about an hour at a time. At the expiration of the third 
month he was mounted, and was fit for regular service, at a 
walking pace; but it was observed that he still went lame when 
he was trotted, and it is probable thatjameness continued fora 
long time. 
Case IV.—Cure of the fracture of the pastern bone, without 
suspending the horse. 
The 4th of August, 1829,1 was sent for to see a bay cherry- 
coloured cart horse, belonging to M. Delamisinne, the Lausanne 
carrier. He told me that this horse being harnessed to a cart 
loaded with wood, the wheel guard was broken at a little declivity ; 
and the horse running away, had broken the little drag chain, 
and the wheel had struck his right hind foot, and thus caused a 
fracture of the pastern bone. 
I examined the horse, and found that the right hind extremity 
was in a state of flexion, the foot in the air, with an impossibility 
of bringing it to the ground. I felt the pastern; the slightest 
movement shewed me that a complete fracture of the large pastern 
had taken place, and I judged it to be transversal, and to be 
seated in the inferior part of this bone. 
As the animal could not put his foot on the ground, I was 
obliged to think on some means of getting him to walk to the 
nearest stable w^e could find. It w^as necessary to favour the 
placing of the foot on the ground, if not so that the animal could 
rest on it, at least so that he might be able to limp on it a little. 
For that purpose I placed a strong bandage of linen in the pas¬ 
tern, and another underneath the fetlock, to form two supports 
for the extensor and flexor tendons in this region, and to prevent 
the movement of the fractured parts. In this manner the animal 
was got to the stable destined for him, where he was placed on a 
good litter, and tied to the rack by two straps ; but he was not 
slung. 
I placed three splents, enveloped in tow; one at the front, 
and the other two at the back of the fractured part. I fixed 
them on first by a layer of melted black pitch, which I put 
underneath the fetlock, and then by several rounds of strong 
bandaging. I left the band which I had placed below the fet¬ 
lock, and ordered a light regimen for the first five days after 
the accident; and took away six pounds of blood. 
The dressings stayed on for a month after the accident. At 
the expiration of that time the animal began to try to place his 
foot on the ground ; 1 then loosened the bandages, without mov- 
