LEGS OF THE HORSE, THEIR ACCIDENTS AND DISEASES. ^"9 



What to do. — When first noticed, give a ball of purgative medicine 

 made up as directed in recipe No. 23, regulating the quantity of the aloes 

 by the size of the horse ; give from three to five drachms. Then give 

 tincture of aconite root in ten-drop doses every two hours till the purga- 

 tive begins to work ; then stop. Apply a linseed poultice, hot and soft, 

 to the inflamed part. Change it twice a day till the sloughing takes place ; 

 then wash it with a weak solution of carbolic acid — one part of carbolic 

 acid to forty parts of water — and renew the poultice ; dress it in this way 

 till the sore begins to granulate nicely, then omit the poultice, and dress 

 three times a day with lotion No. 7, washing it often enough to keep it 

 clean. 



Pf the swelling comes directly under the coronet the tension will be im. 

 mense, on account of the little elasticity in it ; the soft parts underneath 

 cannot swell, and therefore the pain will be unbearable unless it be cut. 

 So we would recommend in such cases to sever the coronet by passing a 

 probe-pointed knife in under it and cutting outwards. If it bleeds pro- 

 fusely, which it is likely to do, tie it up loosely for a while with a cotton 

 bandage. Subsequent treatment will be the same as given above. Feed 

 liberally all the time. The healing of the wound will appear to be slow, 

 but patience is required, as the skin will not form over the surface all at 

 once, but must grow over from the edges. If lotion No. 7 is well ap 

 plied there wiU be no proud flesh nor other hindrance to the healing pro 

 cess 



IX. Dislocations. 



Dislocations are very rare in the horse, except that of the stifle, which 

 is described in the article under that head. The shoulder and hip joints 

 are imbedded so deeply in muscle, and the sockets of the joints are so 

 well guarded by the cartilage that surrounds them that dislocation oi 

 those parts is seldom met with. The bones, femur and humerus, frac- 

 ture through their necks before their heads give way from their sockets. 

 The elbow, knee, hock, fetlock, pastern and cofiin joints are all so well 

 guarded by flanges, central ridges, depressions, width of joints, etc., 

 that fractures almost invariably take place before dislocations. In order 

 for a dislocation to occur, many of the strong ligaments that surround 

 and hold their joints togther would have to be ruptured and torn from 

 their attachments, which would be nearly if not quite as serious as a 

 fracture, and in most cases, except that of the stifle, destruction of the 

 horse would be the cheapest treatment ; for a great length of time would 

 be required to effect a cure, and the result would be very unsatisfactory. 



But in case of a valuable stallion or mare, that might be used for 

 breeding it would be well to give them a chance, by putting them in the 



