IN SEARCH OF A HORSE. 125 



of the disease that he is likely to be taken in. To 

 ascertain whether there is any menace of the com- 

 plaint, he should notice in the first instance' whether 

 there is generally an enlarged and full appearance of • 

 the legs — not confined to the back, sinews, or the 

 joints, but extending over the lower part of the entire 

 limb. This appearance is called technically a swelled 

 leg, and is the usual proximate cause of grease. 

 Should there be any indication of the kind, he should 

 next examine the color of the skin above the heel : 

 if it is red and scurfy, and especially if there are 

 many cracks, corresponding with the well-known 

 complaint in the human subject called a chapped 

 hand, he may safely conclude that there is a ten- 

 dency to grease ; nor will he be likely to err if he 

 draws the same inference from a heel remarkably 

 clean, as if it had been recently well washed with 

 soap and water ; for it is not common to bestow such 

 anxious attention upon the cleanliness of the heels, 

 unless to remove the symptoms of grease ; in all 

 such cases frequent washing is considered a useful 

 precaution. 



String-halt is a complaint so common, that every 

 man who has ever looked at a horse must at some 



