The Opelousas courier., 1892-01-23
SPLlNTS VERSUS BULLETS,
WHY SHOULD A HORSE WHICH
BREAKS A LEG BE SHOT?
Veterinary Surgery Cares for the
Broken Limbs-Where Death is
the Only Iselief-Pullinga Tooth,

SONS~ AAN@A O~AN ~AS
Broken Limbs-Where Death is
the Only Iselief-Puilinga Tooth.
When it was announced that Uncle
Bob, the American Derby winner of
1890, who broke his leg at Garfield Park
would not be shot there was great re-
joicing among the sporting fraternity.
Several of his admirers paused a moment
while celebrating the glad tidings to pay
a passing compliment to the veterinary
surgery, which put a horses broken leg
in splints instead of putting a bullet into
his brain.
There seems to be a general impression
that the only remedy for a broken bone
in a horse is plenty of powder and lead,
~judiciously and promptly administered
TO the great majority of people the idea
that the unfortunate animal need not
give its life as q penalty for a fractured
limb was so novel as to excite wonder,
yet splints are daily placed around
broken legs Of horses.
One of the young doctors of the staff
of the Chicago Veterinary College, when
the inquiry was put "Whyis it necessary
to shoot a horse when it breaks a legY'
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 as readily as the bones ola
man, and all that is necessary to makea
union is to keep the patient quiet. Now.
that is the sum aud substance of it all.
If you can keep your horse quiet you Can
set any bone in his body, but there is
where the trouble comes in. It is i'm.
possible to make a horse keep still.
"Much depends on the locality of the
fracture. If it is below the knee and not
comminuted, that is, if the bone is MT
broken in fragments, the lag can be put
in a plaster cast, the horse placed in a
sling, and the chances are that the bone
will unite all right. 1t will take four to
six weeks to make a union and the horse
will probably go lame for three OF four
months after. A fracture below the hook
can be treated successfully, but if it is
above the bullet is the only thing to rec
ommend, for there is no way to keep the
leg fixed and the horse will not keep
still. Thus the conditions are against a
union and the broken bones keep the
animal in such agony that it is a merciful
act to kill it.
ssIf a horse had as much sense as a
dog we could treat it more successfully,
for a dog will hold its broken leg up and
travel on three legs, but a horse does not
apparently favor the injured limb, but
will rest its weight on a fractured bone
as though the bone were whole. It will
not do to sling a horse completely off its
feet, Cor 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 its weight on the
sling by simply bending the knees"
When the young surgeon had finished
talking he led the way to the operating
room, where Dr.. Sayres, assisted by DIR.
Hughes, was performing an exceedingly
nice operation in veterinary dentistry.
The tooth in the case was far back in
the upper jaw, so badly decayed that it
had disappeared from sight. The oper-
ating table had a fitting TOP moved by
d screw lever. Straps for binding the
legs, body and neck were firmly attached
to the table top, which stood on its edge,
while the blindfolded horse was strapped
securely. The wheel was turned and
the table tilted from the perpendicular
to a horizontal position, carrying the
horse with it. As there was nothing of
the tooth for the forceps to grasp it was
decided that the only way to extract the
tooth was to push it out.
After giving the seat of pain an in
lection of cocaine DR.. Sayres drilled a.
hole straight into the jawbone above the
tooth, passing through a large pus cavi-
ty and severing several small arteries,
which were carefully ligatured. The
tooth was so soft and SO rotten that large
pieces were found floating in the pus.
When the loose fragments of the tooth
had been crushed and drawn out through
the inclsion an iron bar was placed
against the roots and the tooth was driv-
en- down and out by a mallet.
During the operation the sufferer
gazed wonderingly at the doctors with
patient eyes, moaning with pain and
fright and struggling when ever a nerve
was pierced. But the removal Of the
tooth ended the pain, aud when all was
over the wound was carefully dressed
and the horse led to d stall. Sometimes
horses have their teeth filled, and ex-
tracing, filing and cleaning the teeth