STUD BOOK. 123 



the division of the cord by the knife, instead of the heated 

 iron. 



Synovial or Joint Membranes 



are interposed between the divisions of the bones, and fre- 

 quently between the tendons, in order to secrete a certain 

 fluid that shall facilitate motion and obviate friction. Occa- 

 sionally the membrane is lacerated, and the synovia escapes. 

 This is termed 



Opened Joint, 



and violent inflammation rapidly ensues. The duty of the 

 practitioner is to close this opening as quickly as possible. 

 Superacetate of lead one part, and water four parts, may be 

 applied or injected into the cavity, frequently with success. 

 A great deal of inflammation and engorgement are produced 

 around the opening, partially, if not altogether, closing it, or 

 at least enabling the coagulated synovia to occupy and 

 obliterate it Perhaps, in order to secure the desired result, 

 the whole of the joint should be blistered. After this a 

 bandage should be firmly applied, and kept on as long as it 

 is wanted. If there is any secondary eruption of the synovia, 

 the cautery must be had recourse to. 



Spavin 



is an enlargement of the inner side of the hock. The splint- 

 bones support the inferior layer of those of the hock, and as 

 they sustain a very unequal degree of concussion and weight, 

 the cartilaginous substance which unites them to the shank- 

 bone takes on inflammation. It becomes bony instead of 

 cartilaginous; and the disposition to this change being set up 

 in the part, bony matter continues to be deposited, until a 

 very considerable enlargement takes place, known by the 

 name of spavin, and there is considerable lameness in the 

 hock-joint The bony tumor is blistered, and probably 

 fired, but there is no diminution of the lameness until the 

 parts have adapted themselves, after a considerable process 

 of time, to the altered duty required of them, and then the 

 lameness materially diminishes, and the horse becomes, to a 

 very considerable extent, useful Curb is an enlargement of 

 the back of the hock, three or four inches below its point It 

 is a strain of the ligament which there binds the tendons 

 down in their place. The patient should be subjected to al- 

 most absolute rest; a blister should be applied over the back 



