IN SEARCH OF A HORSE. 99 



without testifying to .the courtesy and scientific 

 intelligence with which he has uniformly answered 

 every inquiry I have had occasion to make of him, 

 though I am scarcely entitled to call him an 

 acquaintance) — once showed me a specimen of a 

 double splent, from the collection of preparations 

 in the college. The bones of the leg had become 

 united by a secretion of ossified substance between 

 them ; if my recollection does not deceive me, for 

 it is some years since, he mentioned this as an 

 aggravated case. I believe, however, that in general 

 the splent is an enlargement of the bone, or at 

 least, an irregularity in the form of it, though 

 unattended by pain or even inconvenience, unless its 

 situation is such as to impede the motion of the 

 tendons. In this case, it is often accompanied by 

 that sudden dropping which I have already 

 described as a "misgiving" of the leg, and the 

 horse falls very abruptly; perhaps in the middle 

 of his speed. 



I lately had a horse which I had driven for 

 about two years ; I frequently rode him, and with 

 confidence : he never stumbled, or made even a 

 doubtful step. I lent him to a friend, whose servant 



