DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 179> 



power to turn their forward feet back pointing towards the hind legs. 

 That is because the radius and ulna have grown together and are im- 

 movable one upon the other. That power which we have, and whicb 

 the cat and other carnivorous animals possess in a wonderful degree, 

 is known to physiologists as pronation and supination. This enables, 

 us to seize anything, to grasp what we wish, in an}' shape or position. 

 The dog has the wonderful power, while digging in the ground, of 

 turning his foot either way. This power of pronation and supination, 

 therefore, belongs to animals which have a radius and ulna, but if 

 grown together there is no such motion. Cuvier found a single bone 

 of an animal, a large ulna and radius grown together, and with only 

 that to guide him, to the wonder of the world, he unhesitatingly de- 

 clared that it belonged to an herbivorous animal. When asked how 

 he dared to venture such a statement, said, "here is the ulna and 

 radius firmly united. The animal had, therefore, no power of pro- 

 nation and supination : the forward legs were used simply as pedestals 

 to stand upon ; all animals which use their forward legs for that pur- 

 pose only are herbivorous" in habit. The bear, the dog, the tiger 

 and various other animals have the power to thus turn their forward 

 feet; they can use them to apprehend their prey; employ them in 

 combat, and for various other purposes. <"'uvier's careful observa- 

 tion on that point went far to satisfy the world that he was a prophetic 

 naturalist. But to-dav that is verv familiar knowled2;e ; many a- 

 Student of anatomy would now be able to sav the same thinsf, which 

 then seemed so wonderful. The porcine race are the only animals 

 in existence where these two bones are free which have not the power 

 of pronation and supination. But the pig can use the forward feet 

 to hold the ear of corn that he mav gnaw the same. 



CARPIS OR FORWARD KNEE. 



The next joint below we call the wrist, and that corresponds to the 

 horse's forward knee. This is the carpus, made up, in our hand, 

 of eight bones but in the horse only seven, each of which has a- 

 special name. There is only one point in particular here that I need 

 to call your attention to, and that is the one most frequently seen in 

 a knee-sprung horse, which is one with a weakness in the carpal 

 joint, so that the leg has a tendenc}' to bend forward and thus ba- 

 come lame and often unfit for use. 



