DISEASES OF HORSES 217 



and outside of the hind leg. Usually a splint forms only a true 

 exostosis, or a single bony growth, with a somewhat diffuse base, but 

 neither is this invariably the case. In some instances they assume 

 more important dimensions, and pass from the inside to the outside 

 of the bone, on its posterior face, between that and the suspensory 

 ligament. This form is termed the pegged splint, and constitutes a 

 serious and permanent deformity, in consequence of its interfer- 

 ence with the play of the fibrous cord which passes behind it, becom- 

 ing thus a source of continual irritation and consequently of perma- 

 nent lameness. 



Symptoms. A splint may thus frequently become a cause of 

 lameness though not necessarily in every instance ; but it is a lame- 

 ness possessing features peculiar to itself. It is not always continu- 

 ous, but at times assumes an intermittent character, and is more 

 marked when the animal is warm than when he is cool. If the lame- 

 ness is near the kneejoint, it is very apt to become aggravated when 

 the animal is put to work, and the gait acquires then a peculiar char- 

 acter, arising from the manner in which the limb is carried outward 

 from the knees downward, which is done by a kind of abduction of 

 the lower part of the leg. Other symptoms, however, than the lame- 

 ness and the presence of the splint, which is its cause, may be looked 

 for in the same connection as those which have been mentioned as 

 pertaining to certain evidences of periostitis, in the increase of the 

 temperature of the part, with swelling and probably pain on pres- 

 sure. This last symptom is of no little importance, since its presence 

 or absence has in many cases formed the determining point in decid- 

 ing a question of difficult diagnosis. 



Cause. A splint being one of the results of periostitis, and the 

 latter one of the effects of external hurts, it naturally follows that 

 the parts which are most exposed to blows and collisions will be those 

 on which the splint will most commonly be found, and it may not 

 be improper, therefore, to refer to hurts from without as among the 

 common causes of the lesion. But other causes may also be pro- 

 ductive of the evil, and among these may be mentioned the over- 

 straining of an immature organism by the imposition of excessive 

 labor upon a young animal at a too early period of his life. 



Treatment. It is, of course, the consideration of the compara- 

 tive harmlessness of splints that suggests and justifies the policy of 

 noninterference, except as they become a positive cause of lameness. 

 And a more positive argument for such noninterference consists in 

 the fact that any active and irritating treatment may so excite the 

 parts as to bring about a renewed pathological activity, which may 

 result in a reduplication of the phenomena. 



Of course, there will be exceptional conditions which will at 

 times indicate a different course. These will become evident when 

 the occasions present themselves, and extraordinary forms and effects 

 of inflammation and growth in the tumors offer special indications. 

 But our conviction remains unshaken that surgical treatment of the 

 operative kind is usually useless, if not dangerous. We have little 

 faith in the method of extirpation except under yery special condi- 



