CAUSES OF UNSOUNDNESS. 95 



the cannon, lameness being very liable to spring 

 up should the part be struck. Young horses are 

 most liable to become lame through spHnt, and it 

 is chiefly during the formative stage that lameness 

 arises, though not necessarily so. The splint repre- 

 sents the legacy of a previous inflammation, so that, 

 should any trouble arise as to the existence of this 

 deposit at the time of purchase (say, within a 

 week or ten days), there is sufficient evidence that 

 the splint was in existence at the time of sale. 

 Some veterinarians make a practice of passing horses 

 as sound, though having a small splint, provided 

 that such is situated in a position that they regard 

 as harmless. Others again will pass the animal 

 as " practically " sound, and the seller may be 

 induced — or, at any rate, he should be — to make 

 a sHght reduction in the selling price. Obviously 

 the purchaser takes all risk. A remarkable feature 

 in connection with splint, even when very large, is 

 its occasional spontaneous disappearance. Many 

 horse dealers, when they are trying to sell a horse, 

 feel very aggrieved when a veterinary surgeon 

 rejects the animal for what they choose to term a 

 trifling splint, and not uncommonly the dis- 

 appointed dealer seeks his revenge in the abuse 

 of the veterinarian's abilities. Hereditary predis- 



