34r TEEATMENT OF DISEASES 



An accident of the above named character is usually accompanied 

 with much pain, and it is with great difficulty that the animal can 

 be urged to leave the stall ; the limb is rigid, and it is a matter of 

 impossibility to get it off the floor, for the simple reason that the 

 stifle is thrown off its puUey-hke articulatory surface, and the action 

 of the joint is suspended. 



The liabiUty to stifle-out, or luxation of the patella^ is not so 

 great as some persons would suppose ; I have seen but very few 

 cases of the kind. Many times have I been requested to visit horses 

 said to have their stifle out, and on making examination have often 

 found them subjects of cramps, or spasms, of the flexors; others 

 have turned out to be cases of foot lameness, nail in foot, and even 

 fracture of the pelvis. 



i So thai the reader may not mistake a case of this character, I 

 ■vrould inform him that the stifle is never out, unless the bone can be 

 distinctly felt and seen, per tumor, on the outer and lower part of 

 the thigh bone, at the same time the animal when urged to move 

 does not raise the limb but drags it after him ; this accident can 

 easily be distinguished from a case of spasm or cramps, from the 

 fact that w^hen cramp sets in, the limb becomes, as it were, riveted 

 to the floor ; this condition, however, is peculiar to the cramp of the 

 flexors, or those muscles which are concerned in bendiug the affected 

 limb. 



; Means of Reducing Dislocation of the Patella or Stifle. The 

 means of reducing dislocation of the patella are very simple. The 

 patella (stifle-bone), as I have already intimated, will be found on 

 the outer side of the stifle joint. The person who proposes to 

 accomplish the reduction must with his right hand (supposing the 

 dislocation to be on the near or left limb) grasp the leg just below 

 the hock, and gradually raise it upward and forward ; the left hand 

 should, at the same time, embrace the stifle bone, then by joint 

 action of pressing the bone inwards, raising and extending the 

 limb, the stifle-bone slips into its proper position, and the reduction 

 is then effected. It will be observed that at the moment when the 

 stifle-bone slips into its proper position, a snapping sound is heard, 

 like that when the head -of one of the shaft bones is made to slip 

 into its socket. As a precautionary measure, it is highly necessary 

 that assistants should support the animal, lest he fall and injure both 

 .himself and the operator. 



j According to the above rule, it is a very easy matter to reduce a 

 recent dislocation ; and such requires very little after treatment, 

 'except rest, and the application, occasionally, of cold water. 

 I When the stifle-bone has remained unreduced for many hours, it 

 may be inferred that the ligaments, tendons, &c., have been so long 

 s-tretched or distended that they will not immediately contract, so 

 that unless we adopt measures to prevent it, a re-dislocation is very 

 apt to occur. To guard agahist this, a person has to be stationed 

 so as tokeep a hand on the stifle-bone, at the same time the region 

 of the stifle must be constantly bathed with some astringent. A 

 solution of alum will answer ; sometimes, however, it is necessary 

 to shave the ban- from the part and apply a strengthening ])laBter, 

 composed of pitch, tar and rosin — equal parts; these are to be 

 melted in a tin or iron vessel, and when the mixture is sufficiently 



