146 FRACTURES OF THE EXTREMITIES IN THE HORSE. 
By the adoption of such means, I certainly do think that frac¬ 
tures, where there is no displacement of bone, are curable; but 
I will even go further, and state that fractures where there is a 
displacement of bone may frequently be cured. I will narrate a 
case in point. 
Towards the close of last year a horse was kicked on the out¬ 
side of the tibia. Little notice was taKen of it at the time; on 
the next day, however, the bones w'ere displaced : there was a 
simple fracture of the tibia. Having wrapped an adhesive plaster 
round the leg, I applied three splints on the outside, and three on 
the inside; the edges meeting at the back and front of the leg— 
bandaging the whole leg from the fetlock to the stifle; and the 
limb being kept constantly wet with cooling applications. Not 
one untoward symptom took place. The horse now walks with a 
slight limp, and seems going on as favourably as it is possible. 
Another case, in which the larger pastern bone was fractured and 
displaced, has likewise done well. 
1 wish to direct the attention of the profession, and the public 
at large, to the importance of these facts in veterinary jurispru¬ 
dence. It is generally believed by well-informed persons, that 
it is scarcely possible for a horse's leg to be fractured by such 
trifling occurrences as those mentioned by Mr. Friend, and that 
if it is . fractured it is impossible for him to walk, much less to 
work, without displacing the bones ; and that fractured limbs are 
incurable. It is of importance that these points should be settled 
in the mind of every veterinarian, because we may be called upon 
in a court of justice to deliver our opinion, and upon that opinion 
the case may sometimes depend. 
The truth of these remarks will be evident from the following 
fact, which occurred in this neighbourhood, and with the state¬ 
ment of which I shall close my letter. A man threw a stone at 
a horse while ploughing in a field, which hit him on the inside 
of the tibia. The animal finished his work, and walked home 
afterwards. The bones, however, became displaced in a day or 
two, for the tibia had been fractured by the blow, and the owner 
was compelled to destroy the horse. He took a warrant out 
against the individual, and brought him before the magistrates. 
The magistrates, upon hearing the case, decided against the party 
aggrieved, considering it impossible that the horse could have 
worked after the leg had become fractured. 
