5° 



HORSE— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



Original inflammation of the bony tis- 

 tue is comparatively rare, while that of 

 periostial investment of the bone is quite 

 frequent. A variety of causes may ac- 

 count for this. Perhaps the most com- 

 mon is the evil of overwork. Hard driv- 

 ing on a hard road, as on a plank road, 

 on the frozen ground, or on the ice, or the 

 strain of draught at too heavy a load, 

 may excite periostial inflammation, and 

 from this as a commencement we may 

 have splint, spavin, ring-bone, nodes, etc. 



Fig. 23. - -Splint Attaching Internal Small 

 Metacarpal Bone. 



1. Internal small metacarpal bone. 



2. External small metacarpal bone. 



3. Large metacarpal bone. 



4. 4. Bony growth constituting a large splint, and 



attaching the small to the large metacarpal 

 bone. 



jt HORSE, Splint (Fig. 20) is a bony 

 tumor at some point about the cannon 

 and splint bones. The knee-joint is formed 

 at its inferior part, between the lower row 

 of carpal bones and the cannon and splint 

 bones, the two latter forming a consider- 

 able portion of the joint. As the leg is 



flexed these bones slide upon the cannon- 

 bone, contributing to the elasticity of the 

 step. When the motion is violent and long 

 continued, especially with striking upon a 

 hard surface, irritation first and inflamma- 

 tion afterward may be produced in the 

 periostial membrane covering these bones. 

 Bony matter is thrown out in the imme- 

 diate vicinity of their adjacent surfaces, 

 and the result is a sealing together of the 

 bones and the formation of a bony tumor. 

 Unfortunately the condition is frequently 

 overlooked until the change is complete 

 and the disease beyond a remedy, for 

 when the bony union is thoroughly con- 

 solidated it cannot be remedied. For a 

 time, while the deposit is fresh callus, and 

 the circulation active, measures to abate 

 the inflammation and to excite the ab- 

 sorption of the deposit may restore the 

 integrity of the part. 



HORSE, Ring-bone.— In the pathology 

 of the disease splint and ring-bone are 

 the same. They have the same causes, 

 and are preceded by the same stages of 



Fig. 24— Antero-internal View of Exos- 

 tosis constituting Spavin. 



1. Os scaphoides. 



2. Os cuneiforme parvum. 



3. Morbid growth of bone, constituting the dis- 



ease known as bone spavin. 



4. Large metatarsal or cannon bone. 



