Having washed and dried the limb, and reduced the fracture; the bones are held in position by assistants, while the limb is greased and enveloped in a dry roller by simple turns and figures of 8. A basin of plaster is prepared by shaking the powder into water till a thin cream is formed, which is laid on the bandage with a spoon, or the hands. Then a second but wetted roller is put on in the same way quickly before the plaster has set, and covered in its turn, until a case of sufficient thickness is procured. This bandage is much improved if the first roller be of flannel instead of calico. The flannel roller may be unrolled and loaded with dry plaster, like the muslin, and wetted before using; in this way it contains nearly as much plaster as the loose webbing rollers of muslin. In the Army Medical Reports for 1865 (1867), Mr. Moffitt describes a very ready method of employing the plaster splints for recent fractures. Instead of bandaging the limb, an envelope of Welsh flannel is fitted to the part to be supported. The flannel should envelope the limb, except for a longitudinal space about ½ inch in width between the edges of the flannel. The dotted lines in the accompanying figure show the shape of the flannel when fitted to the leg. The limb being thoroughly greased, the flannel is well soaked in thin plaster cream, and laid on a table while the creases are smoothed out of it. When ready it is applied accurately to the limb, so as to fit everywhere, but leaving a narrow open space along the whole length of the limb. The flannel must be held steadily till the plaster is set, which takes place in about five minutes, and the splint is complete. If one layer is not stiff enough, a second may be laid over the first in the same way. When the splints are fitted, they are kept in place by a roller applied lightly over them. If instead of soaking the second layer of flannel in plaster, it be thickly spread with strong solution of British gum (dextrine), and the gummed side laid next the first flannel, the splint is tough enough to stand any ordinary strain without breaking. [Illustration: Fig. 58.—Moffitt’s method of applying plaster of Paris splints. Copied from Army Medical Reports for 1865. ] Gum thickened with powdered chalk, glue, silicate of soda, Hides’ leather felt and stiffening solution, paraffine, &c., are also employed for stiffening bandages and flexible splints, after they are moulded to a limb, but none of them are as readily procured or have much advantage over starch and plaster of Paris. A detailed description of the mode of using them is unnecessary.