LECTURES AND ESSAYS. 473 



Mr. Blank : What is curb spavin? 



Dr. Grange : Curb is not the same as bone spavin. Curb is a rupture of 

 the ligaments on the back of the leg. With curb, horses travel pretty freely 

 on first leaving the stable, but after a few miles show lameness, which 

 increases. 



""Mr. Dillenbeck: Should splint be regarded as unsoundness, from a com- 

 mercial point of view ? 



Prof. Grange : Not as a general rule, because usually it does not interfere 

 with the animal's general usefulness, though where the disease is situated 

 so as to affect the motion of the knee joint then it is decidedly unsound- 

 ness. Sometimes, when a splint is forming, it causes lameness and of course 

 then it should be regarded as unsoundness. 



Mr. Kolston : When the stifle comes out, is there any remedy ? 



Prof. Grange: Yes, there is a remedy for the condition called stifled ; it is 

 nothing more than a dislocation of a bone which corresponds to the knee-cap 

 of a man, and called the patella, — when it slips out of joint it can be put 

 back again by a person understanding the anatomy of the parts, or by any 

 one for that matter, if they proceed in a proper manner ; but of course a 

 person having a knowledge of the anatomy, of the joint will have much 

 advantage in reducing the dislocation over one who does not. Sometimes it 

 is a pretty difficult matter to return the displaced bone, but I have always 

 found in those cases which were difficult to reduce, that the dislocation was 

 less liable to re-occur; it is those cases where the bone slips in and out upon 

 the slightest provocation that give the most trouble in the long run. 



Question: Does it require an expert to treat a case of dislocation of the 

 stifle bone? 



Prof. Grange : No, not always ; no more than it requires an expert to treat 

 a case of dislocation of the shoulder in a man. 



Dr. Bradford made some very interesting remarks with reference to the 

 similarity between the diseases described by Prof. Grange and those of the 

 bones of a man, and asked if they might be considered hereditary, or was 

 this only a theory. 



Prof. Grange stated that, from his observation and independently of the 

 opinion of others, he would consider some of the diseases of the bones of the 

 lower animals to be the result of hereditary taint, either from the style of 

 conformation transmitted from parent to offspring, or other circumstance 

 difficult to explain, and could call to mind several instances where colts were 

 affected with bone diseases before they had ever done a day's work, or been 

 subjected to the influence of the exciting cause of such diseases. 



Question : What causes contraction of the hoof ? 



Prof. Grange : To enter fully into the causes of contraction of the hoof 

 would, I am afraid, occupy a good deal more time than we have at our dis- 

 posal, but I will state that I regard the condition as the result and not the 

 cause of the disease, and find that in the majority of instances it is the 

 result of a complaint usually called navicular disease or coffin-joint lame- 

 ness, during which the internal structure of the foot wastes away, and the 

 hoof, to accommodate itself to circumstances, falls in, as it were, giving it 

 that appearance often called hoof-bound. The lameness occasioned by it can 

 generally be overcome by certain lines of treatment, but I look upon the 

 disease as of a very serious nature under almost any circumstances. To 



