examination I first thought the bone was only
partly fractured or cracked, but on manipulating it, after its being in hot
water a short time, I saw the fracture was complete.'[A]

[Footnote A: S.W. Wilson, M.R.C.V.S., A.V.D., _Veterinary Journal_, vol.
xv., p. 12.]

_Treatment of Fractures of the Bones of the Foot_.--It will be seen at once
that in most cases anything in the way of bandaging is well-nigh useless.
When the os coronae is fractured, however, a little more may be added to the
natural rigidity of the parts by enclosing the region of the pastern and
the foot in a plaster-of-Paris bandage. The main treatment, however, in
every case, will be a continual use of the slings for at least seven to
eight weeks, by that means compelling the animal to give to the injured
parts the necessary amount of rest.

With fracture of the os pedis, when such is caused by pricks and
complicated by a flow of pus, then attention must be given to removal of
the displaced piece of bone. The pus track is to be followed up with the
searcher, sufficient horn removed with the knife, and the broken piece of
bone removed with a scalpel and a pair of strong forceps, the operation to
be afterwards followed up by antiseptic dressings to the opening. Until
this is done the wound refuses to heal.

Fracture of the navicular bone, if in any way diagnosed with certainty,
offers us an almost hopeless case, for it appears to be a commonly reported
fact that attempts at reunion are rare. This, in all probability, is due
to the pressure put upon it every now and again, when the animal's weight
presses the bone between the os coronae and the os pedis above and the
perforans tendon below. Even should reunion take place, the resulting
callus, interfering as it does with the movements of the perforans, leaves
us a case of incurable lameness. When the fracture is complicated by
the formation of pus, as in the case of prick, then the case, with the
attendant purulent synovitis and arthritis, is even more hopeless still.

Diagnosis of fracture of either of the bones of the foot is, as we have
said before, extremely difficult. It so happens, therefore, in those cases
caused by violent blows, that anything approaching an accurate opinion
cannot be given until some months after the injury. After some time we are
met with unmistakable changes in the form of the foot, and are able to
assume that the persisting lameness is due to pressure of a reparative
callus