LECTURES AND ESSAYS. 465 



PREVALENT DISEASES OF BONE. 



BY E. A. A. GRANGE. 



Delivered at Institutes held at Albion, Lake Odessa and Brooklyn. 



As I am often called upon by owners of horses to advise as to the treat- 

 ment or prevention of certain bone diseases, it has appeared to me that a 

 general discussion of them at our Farmers' Institutes this winter would be 

 of interest to many, so I have selected three which I believe are oftener met 

 with than any others, viz.: 



SPLINT, RINGBONE, AND SPAVIN. 



Splint or Splent. 



In order that the description of this disease may be better understood, 

 perhaps it may be well to briefly describe the part affected. If the leg of a 

 young horse be examined after the skin is removed the part below the knee 

 and above the fetlock will be found to be composed of three bones, a large 

 one (the cannon) and two small ones (the splint bones) ; the latter are situ- 

 ated behind and towards the outside of the former, and assist in forming a 

 groove through which the back tendons play; they extend from immediately 

 below the knee, in a tapering manner, downwards, until they reach the lower 

 third of the cannon bone, where they terminate in an unattached eminence, 

 sometimes erroneously mistaken for disease. The small bones are attached 

 to the larger one, in young horses, by a fibrous, sinewy-like substance, which 

 retains the bones in their proper position until the animal comes to a certain 

 age of maturity, when the connection becomes converted into true bone. 

 So, in aged animal^ the cannon and splint bones are all one. 



There are several varieties of splints, but as they are all modifications of the 

 same complaint their difference will be better understood as we proceed. The 

 disease may be defined to be a bone tumor, situated between the knee and 

 the fetlock, which tumor literally welds or splints the bones together, and 

 as far as the nature of the disease is concerned, it is identical with spavin 

 and ring-bone, but it is not nearly so serious in ordinary cases. In the 

 majority of instances they are located on the inside of the foreleg, anywhere 

 between the knee and the lower attachment of the bones, but in horses of 

 certain conformation, they are sometimes found on the outside of the leg; 

 horses for instance whose toes turn inward, — pigeon-toed horses, as they are 

 often called, are liable to have splints on the outside of the leg on account 

 of the weight of the body being thrown in that direction, whereas in ordi- 

 nary horses the center of gravity is toward the inside. It sometimes occurs 

 on the outside of the leg also from external injury, as from a kick of the 

 boot of some rough attendant, or other blow. When the disease occurs in 

 the hind leg, as it sometimes does, it will be found as a rule on the outside. 



Splints are generally found in young horses, especially those which are used 

 for fast work upon the hard road, or the part subjected to greater strain 

 than nature has intended the fibrous structure alluded to to sustain ; the 

 consequence is, that in order to strengthen the part this bony union, or 

 splint as it is appropriately named, is thrown out, and taking this view of it, 



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