388 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



logical lesions with allied phenomena, requiring about the same treat- 

 ment and often followed by the same results, to wit, a blemish which 

 may not only subject the animal to a suspicion of unsoundness, but 

 in some special circumstances may interfere with his ability to labor. 

 It is known as " interfering " when the location of the trouble is the 

 inside of the fetlock of either the fore or hind leg. It is called 

 " speedy cut " when it occurs on the inside of the fore leg, a little 

 below the knee, at the point of contact of that joint with the cannon. 

 It is always the result of a blow, self-inflict«d, of varying severity, 

 and giving rise to A^arious lesions. (See also p. 399.) 



Sympfo7ns. — At times the injury is too slight to be seriously 

 noticed, the hair being scarcely cut and the sldn unmarked. At other 

 times the skin will be cut through, partlj^ or wholly, and it may for 

 the time cause sufficient pain to check the motion of the animal and 

 induce him to suspened his labor through his inability to use the 

 wounded limb, traveling meanwhile for a short space on three legs 

 only. Sometimes a single blow will suffice, or again there will be a 

 repetition of lighter strokes. In the latter case the parts will become 

 much swollen, hot, and so painful to the touch that the motion of 

 the knee or the fetlock will be sufficiently disturbed to cause lame- 

 ness of a degree of severity corresponding to that of the lesion. Fol- 

 lowing the subsidence of this diffused and edematous swelling is 

 sometimes the formation of a tumor, either at the knee or the fetlock. 

 This may be soft at first or become so by degrees, with fluctuation, 

 its contents being at first extravasted blood, and later a serosity ; or, 

 if there has been a sufficient degree of inflammation, it may become 

 suppurative. The result of the fault of interfering may thus be 

 exhibited, whether at the knee or at the fetlock, as characterized by 

 all the pathological conditions which have appeared as accompani- 

 ments of capped laiee or capped hock. If, in consequence of the force 

 of the blow or blows, the inflammation has been usually severe, a 

 mortification of the skin may become one of the consequences, a slough 

 talring place, succeeded by a cutaneous ulcer on the inside of the fet- 

 lock or when the greater number of the original wounds are inflicted. 

 If the interfering has been often repeated it may be followed by 

 another condition, which has been considered in our remarks upon 

 other' affections. It is a plastic exudation or thickening of the pa.rts, 

 which are commonly said to have become "callous," and the effect 

 of it is to destroy the regularity of the outlines of the joint to an ex- 

 tent which constitutes a serious blemish, Avhich will be permanent, 

 and according to the degree of the aberration from the natural and 

 symmetrical lines will enevitably depreciate the commercial value of 

 the animal. 



An animal in interfering may thus exhibit a range of symptoms 

 which from the simplest form of a mere " touching." may succes- 



