INTRODUCTION 



The disease known universally among Amer- 

 ican veterinarians as fistula of the withers is 

 described at much greater length in the follow- 

 ing pages than has ever been done before in 

 veterinary literature. Most of the authors of 

 surgical subjects have dismissed this affliction 

 with a few w^ords, referring to it only incident- 

 ally as an occasional complication of harness 

 galls or other forms of trauma about the crest 

 of the neck and withers, but always without 

 dignifying it as an entity w^orthy of special 

 notice. Its frequent origin in the bursse on the 

 thoracic spines of the region and its develop- 

 ment independent of any apparent injury have 

 only recently attracted attention. In fact, 

 there are many who still entertain the opinion 

 that it is but a complication of a contusion in- 

 flicted by the collar, by rolling upon hard 

 ground, by striking against a low stable beam, 

 by rubbing against branches of trees while at 

 the pasture, or by bites from other horses. 

 Without ever having been able to attribute any 

 given typical fistula of the withers to a given 

 traumatism, the theory of traumatic origin 

 has been indifferently accepted as ample expla- 



