Cattle 1853 - Lewis Family Farm

FRACTURE OF THE HORN. 149
The bone of the horn is exceedingly vascular ; the most vascular
in the whole frame, for it has not only vessels for its own nourishment,
but for that of its covering ; it is much roughened on its surface,
and is perforated by innumerable vessels. It is on this account
that when it is broken the bleeding is so great—it would scarcely be
more profuse from the amputation of a limb.
FRACTURE OF THE HORN.
Young bullocks will often too early use their horns. In this way
the horn occasionally gets fractured. If the bone of the horn is
broken, but the external covering is not displaced, nothing is necessary
but to fix splents to the part, and bind well up, so that the
fractured edges shall be kept securely in place, and in a few weeks
all will be well.
Sometimes the horny covering is torn off. If the bone is not frac-
tured, it will be best to leave it to nature. There will be a great deal
of haemorrhage at first ; but this ceasing, leaves the bone covered by
coagulated blood This hardens and forms a temporary case for the
bone. In the meantime another process commences at the base of
the bone. A dense flexible substance is found there, and this begins
rapidly to thicken and harden, and to assume the character of good
horn ; it then runs up the bone, displaces the crust of coagulated
blood as it grows, and covers the bone completely and, much "resembles
and is nearly as strong as the original horn.
At other times, after the horny covering has been torn on?, the
bone will be found to be fractured, but the parts not perfectly separated.
They must be brought in exact apposition, bound-carefully up,
and confined with splents, or strong bandages. Union between the
edges of the bone will speedily take place, new horn grow over, and
there will be scarcely a mark of the accident.
At other times, not only is the horny covering torn off, but the
bone is also perfectly separated. The bone will never be reproduced
nature will often attempt it, and a rude mass will be formed, .half
bony and half cartilaginous. To prevent this, the horn must be
sawed off level below the fracture, and the nearer the head the better,
because it will be the sooner covered by a prolongation of the cuticle.
The hot iron must be frequently passed over the level surface, after
which this reproduction will seldom be attempted ; or, if it is, may
be easily destroyed by the cautery. As soon as the bone has been
sawed off level, and the bleeding stopped, and the cautery applied to
the exposed surface, the part must be bound up as quickly as possible
with one tar-cloth above another, so as completely to exclude the air
for the air being now admitted unrestrained to the frontal sinuses, so
irritable, it may produce dangerous inflammation. Cases are frequent
in which inflammation of the brain or lock-jaw have followed a broken
: ;