STRAINS. 471 
OF STRAINS. 
THE FIBRES OF MUSCLES, LIGAMENTS, AND TENDONS, AND THE FASCIA 
eovering them, are all liable to be overstretched, and more or less 
mechanically injured. This is called a strain, the symptoms of which are 
similar to the inflammation of the part occurring ideopathically. They 
are heat, swelling, and pain on pressure or movement, shown by flinching 
in the one case, and lameness in the other. In some cases there is con- 
siderable effusion of blood or serum, the former occurring chiefly in the 
muscles, and the latter among the torn fibres of the tendons or liga- 
ments.—The symptoms and treatment will depend upon the part injured, 
which will be found described under the following heads ; but in most 
cases an embrocation composed of equal parts of laudanum, olive oul, spirit 
of turpentine, and hartshorn will be beneficial if applied after the first 
active inflammation has subsided. 
STRAIN OF THE BACK AND LOINS. 
WHEN A youNG HORSE has been hunted or ridden with hounds over 
any kind of fence, he is very apt to over-exert himself in his awkward 
attempts to clear the obstacle, and next day he will often show a stiffness 
of the loins and back, which is seated in the large muscles connecting the 
pelvis with the thorax. He is said to have “ricked his back,” in the 
language of the stable, and if the mischief is confined to the muscles 
alone, he may generally be permanently cured, though he will be more 
liable to a return than an animal which has never suffered from any acci- 
dent of the kind. If, however, the spinal cord is injured, either from 
fracture of the vertebree, or from effusion of blood or serum pressing upon 
it, the case is different, and a perfect cure is seldom obtained. It is, how- 
ever, very difficult to form a correct diagnosis between the one case and 
the other, and the treatment may generally be conducted with the hope 
that the more important organ is uninjured. When there is complete 
palsy of the hind extremities, so that the horse can neither feel nor use 
them in the slightest degree, the case is hopeless. (See Diseases of the 
Nervous System.) For the management of the strain of the loins, a full 
bleeding should be adopted, as it generally happens that the horse is 
plethoric and full of corn. Then apply a double told of thick flannel or 
serge, dipped in warm water, to the whole surface of the loins, cover this 
over with a layer of indiarubber sheeting, and let it remain on, taking 
care to renew the water if it has become dry. It generally produces a 
copious sweating from the part, followed by a slight irritation of the skin, 
both of which afford relief. In three or four days the flannel may be 
removed, and the embrocation alluded to above rubbed in two or three 
times a day, which will generally relieve the muscles so much that at 
the end of a week or ten days the horse is able to move quietly about 
in a loose box, and the cure may be left to time, aided by a charge on the 
back. 
STRAIN OF THE SHOULDER. 
SHOULDER STRAIN was formerly very often chosen as the seat of 
iameness in the fore extremity, solely because the case is so obscure thas 
it is beyond the knowledge of the unskilful examiner. Nevertheless, 
it is by no means so uncommon as is supposed by some writers, and 
