RUPTURE OF THE SESAMOID LIGAMENTS. 461 



to walk with freedom. The portion removed was carefully weighed 

 afterwards, and totalled forty-nine pounds. Bleeding after removal of 

 the tourniquet was almost "totally prevented by the application of a 

 5 per cent, sterilised solution of gelatin, over which was placed alem- 

 broth antiseptic wool, the whole being bandaged. 



Three days afterwards, when the bandages were removed, it was 

 found that there had been practically no haemorrhage, and the wound, 

 which was about twelve inches square, was perfectly aseptic. Unfor- 

 tunately the surface of the growth was in such a condition, and so 

 implicated, that no skin could be dissected back wherewith to make a 

 flap. However, under careful attention an almost complete recovery 

 took place, scaly epidermis gradually covering the scar, and three 

 months afterwards the animal presented the appearance seen in the 

 third photograph, which was taken after he had served a dozen mares, 

 and shows him in good condition. The growth, when examined micro- 

 scopically, proved to be composed simply of granulation tissue of dense 

 fibrous consistency. 



jMr. J. A. Gilruth's case, Veterinarian, 1900, p. 298. 



RUPTURE OF THE SESAMOID LIGAMENTS IN BOTH FORE-LIMBS 



IN THE HORSE. 



163. The subject was a twenty-one-year-old Anglo-Norman horse, 

 still in vigorous condition, which had been blistered both on its front 

 and hind legs on account of some trifling synovial enlargements. A 

 fortnight after the second application the horse was turned out to 

 grass, and, on being set free, galloped round the field several times. 

 It was then left without further supervision. At the end of half an 

 hour it was found lying down, in great pain, and had to be assisted to 

 rise. 



It remained standing for a few seconds, the hind limbs being 

 placed far under the body, the front excessively flexed on the fetlock, 

 the ergot on which touched the ground, but soon fell. On examina- 

 tion signs of rupture of the flexor tendons were seen in both front 

 limbs, and the animal was slaughtered. 



Anatomical Changes. — The tissues surrounding the left fetlock-joint 

 w^ere swollen and hsemorrhagic. The perforatus tendon was not 

 affected. Immediately below the point where it emerges from the ring 

 formed by the perforatus, the perforans tendon, however, was partially 

 torn through. 



The external lateral sesamoidean ligament was ruptured. The sub- 

 carpal ligament and the external slip, which passes from it to the 

 extensor pedis tendon, were only slightly injured, but the internal slip 

 was ruptured at its point of origin. The capsular ligament w^as torn, 

 thickened, and infiltrated with blood. The sesamoids were freely 

 moveable, being no longer fixed to the great metacarpal, and only 

 connected with the first phalanx by the internal ligaments. The inter- 

 sesamoidean ligament was ruptured vertically. 



The fibrous expansion surrounding the tendons at the back, where 

 they pass over the gliding surface of the sesamoids, was ruptured at its 

 internal point of attachment, a portion of the bone being torn away. 



