NINTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X 449 
time wasted in the treatment of purely imaginary ailments very many 
cases of bone spavin might be arrested in their incipiency and their 
victims preserved for years of comfort for themselves and valuable labor 
to their owners. 
Treatment. — To consider a hypothetical case: An early discovery of 
lameness has been made; that is, the existence of an acute inflammation — 
of periostitis — has been detected. The increased temperature of the parts 
has been observed, with the stiffened gait and the characteristic pose of 
the limb, and the question is proposed for solution. What is to be done? 
Even with only these comparatively doubtful symptoms — doubtful with 
the nonexpert — we should direct our treatment to the hock in preference 
to any other joint, since of all the joints of the hind leg it is this which 
is most liable to be attacked, a natural result from its peculiarities of 
structure and function. And in answer to the query. What is the first 
treatment indicated? We should rest — emphatically, and as an essential 
condition, rest. Whether only threatened, suspected, or positively dis- 
eased, the animal must be wholly released from labor, and it must be no 
partial or temporary quiet of a few days. In all stages and conditions 
of the disease, whether accompanied by the complication of arthritis, there 
must be a total suspension of effort until the danger is over. Less than 
a month's quiet ought not to be thought of — the longer the better. 
Good results may also be expected from local applications. The vari- 
ous lotions v.'hich cool the parts, the astringents which lower the tension 
of the blood vessels, the tepid fomentations which accelerate the circula- 
tion in the engorged capillaries, the liniments of various compositions, the 
stimulants, the opiate anodynes, the sedative preparations of aconite, the 
alternative friction of iodine — all these are recommended and prescribed 
by one or another. We prefer counter-irritants, for the simple reason, 
among many other, that they tend by the promptness of their action to 
prevent the formation of the bony deposits. The lameness will often 
yield to the blistering action of cantharides, in the form of ointment or 
liniment, and to the alterative preparations of iodyne or mercury. And 
if the owner of a "spavined" horse really succeeds in removing the lame- 
ness, he has accomplished all that he is justified in hoping for; beyond 
this let him be well persuaded that a "cure" is impossible. 
For this reason, moreover, he will do well to be on his guard against 
the patented "cures" which the traveling horse doctor may urge upon 
him, and withhold his faith from the circular of the agent who will 
deluge him vvith references and certificates. It is possible that nostrums 
may in some exceptional instances prove serviceable, but the greater 
number of them are capable of producing only injurious effects. The 
removal of the bony tumor can not be accomplished by any such means, 
and if a trial of these unknown compounds should be followed by com- 
plications no worse than the establishment of one or more ugiy hairless 
cicatrices, it wall be well for both the horse and his owner. 
Rest and counter-irritation, with the proper medicaments, constitute 
then, the prominent points in the treatment designed for the relief of 
bone spavin. Yet there are cases in which all the agencies and methods 
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