lameness: its causes and treatment. 303 



tion as we proceed with the illustration of our subject and examine 

 tlif matters which it most concerns us to brin*^ under consideraticm. 

 The fdundatiun of I'atts which we have thus far prepared will be 

 found sufficiently broad, we trust, to include whatever may be neces- 

 sary to insure a ready comprehension of the essential matters whicii 

 are to follow as our review is carried forward to completion. What 

 we have said touching these elementary truths will probably be suffi- 

 cient to facilitate a clear understandinfi of the requirements essential 

 to the j)erfection and reiruhirity which charucteri/e the normal per- 

 formance of the various movements that result in the accomplish- 

 ment of the action of locomotion. So lon^ as the bones, the nniscles 

 and their tendons, the joints with their cartilages, their li<jfaments, 

 and their synovial structure, the nerves and the controlling influ- 

 ences which they exei-cise over all, with the blood vessels which dis- 

 tril)ute to every part, however minute, the vitalizing fluid which 

 sustains the whole fabric in being and activity — so long as these 

 various const itiUMits and ailjuncts of animal life preserve their 

 normal exemption from disease, traumatism, and pathological change, 

 the function of locomotion will continue to be performed with per- 

 fection and efficiency. 



On the other hand, let any element of disea.se become implanted, 

 in one or several of the parts destined for combined action, any change 

 or incgidaiity of form, dimensions, location, or action occur in any 

 portion of the a])paratus — any obstruction or misdirection of vital 

 power take place, any interference with the order of the phenomena 

 of normal nature, any loss of harmony and laclc of bidance l)e be- 

 trayed — and we have in the result the condition of lameness. 



DEFINITION OF LAMENESS. 



Physiology. — Comprehensively and universally considered, then, 

 the term lameness signifies any iiiegularity or derangement of the 

 function of locomotion, irrespective of the cause which produced it or 

 the degree of its manifestation. However slightly or severely it may 

 be exhibited, it is all the same. The nice.st ob.servation may be 

 demanded for its detection, and it nuiy need the most thoioughly 

 trained powers of discernment to identify and locate it, as in aises in 

 which the animal is said t<» be fainting, tender, or to go sore. On the 

 contiary, the j)aticnt may be so far alFected as to i^efuse utterly to use 

 an injured leg, and under compulsory motion keep it raised from the 

 grt)und, and prefer to travel on three legs rather than to in-ar any por- 

 tion of his weight upon the alllicted member. In these two extivmes, 

 and in all the intermediate degrees, the patient is simply lame — 

 ])athognomonic minutiae being considered and settled in a place of 

 their own. 



