Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-11-14
EQUINE SURGERY.
An Injured Horse IL Almost ~ Well Cared
for as an Injured Man.


for as an Injured Man.
From the Chicago News
When it was announced that Uncle Rob. the
American derby winner Of 1890, who broke his
leg last Saturday at Garfield Park, would not
be shot there was great rejoicing among the
sporting fraternity. Several of his admirers
paused moment while celebrating the glad
tidings to pay passing compliment to veteri-
nary surgery which put a horses broken leg
in splints instead Of putting bullet into his
brain.
There seems to be general impression that
the only remedy for broken bone in a horse
is plenty of powder and lead, judiciously and
promptly administered. To the great major
ity OF people the idea that the unfortunate ami
NAL need not give its life as penalty for
fractured limb was so novelas to excite wonder,
yet splints are placed daily around broken legs
OF horses.
One of the young doctors on the staff Of the
Chicago Veterinary College, when the inquiry
was put Why is it necessary to shoot horse
when ~ breaks a leg?" promptly answered:
There are plenty of fool ideas floating around
| regarding horses, but the most foolish of the
| lot is the idea that the broken bones of horse
will not unite. The plain fact is that they will
| join readily as the bones Of man, and all
! that is necessary to make union is to keep the
patient quiet. Now. that is the sum and SUBJ
stance OF it all. II you can keep your horse
quiet you can set any bone in his body. but
there is where the trouble comes in. 1t is i'm
possible to make horse keep still
Much depends on the locality Of the fracture
| II it is below the knee and not comminuted,
| that is, il the bone is not broken in fragments,
the leg can be put in plaster cast the horse
placed in sling. and the chances that the
bone will unite all right 1t will take four to
six weeks to make a union and the horse will
probably 60 lame for three or four months
after A fracture below the hook can be treated
successfully. but il it is above the bullet is the
only thing to recommend, for there is no way
| to keep the leg fixed and the horse will not
keep still. Thus the conditions against q
union and the broken bones keep the animal in
such agony that it is a merciful act to kill it.
IF horse had as much sense IA dog we
could treat 10 more successfully for dog will
hold its broken leg up and travel on three legs,
but horse apparently does not favor the IN
jured limb, but will rest its weight on a frac-
tured bone as though the bone were whole. II
will not do to sling horse completely off its
feet, for the entire weight would come on the
respiratory and digestive organs, producing
such distress that the horse would die. The
sling is used to prevent the horse lying down
and is so adjusted that the animal can put iti
weight on the sling by slightly bending the
knees"
When the young surgeon had finished talk
ing he led the way to the operating room, where
Dr. Sayres, assisted by DR.. Hughes was per-
forming an exceedingly nice operation in vet
Urinary dentistry. The tooth in the case wal
far back in the upper jaw, SO badly decayet
that it had disappeared from sight. The oper
ating table had fitting top. moved by a screw
lever. Straps for binding the legs. body ant
neck were firmly attached to the table top
which stood IN its edge, while the blindfoldet
horse was strapped securely The wheel wa
turned and the table tflted from the perpendic
ular to a horizontal position, carrying tn,
horse with it. As there was nothing Of tn
tooth for the forceps to grasp, 1t was decided
that the only way to extract the tooth was t.
push it out.
PULLING DECAYED TOOTH.
After giving the seat Of pain an injection o
cocaine DR.. Sayres drilled hole straight int
the jawbone above the tooth, passing throug
a large pus cavity and severing several SINAI
arteries, which were carefully ngatured. Tn
tooth was SO soft and SO rotten that large piece
y were found floating in the pus. When the loos
fragments Of the tooth had been crushed an
!, drawn out through the incision an iron ba
= was placed against the roots and the tooth wa
!. driven down and out by a maliet.
N During the operation the sufferer gazed wor
~ deringly at the doctors with patient eye
~ moaning with pain and fright and strugglin
~ whenever q nerve was pierced. But the n
10 moval Of the tooth ended the pain, and whe
:, all was over the wound was carefully dresse
- and the horse led to q stall. Sometimes horst
: have their teeth filed, and extracting, flin
\, and cleaning the teeth are common occurrence