266 OPERATIONS ON BONES. 



action will often be all that is required to spring the patella into 

 place, when the flexion of the leg at the hock ends the trouble for 

 the time. But this is not always suiEcient, and a true reduction 

 may still be indicated. To efi'ect this the leg must be drawn well 

 forward by a rope attached to the lower end, and the patella, 

 grasped with the hand, forcibly pushed forward and inward and 

 made to sHp over the outside border of the trochlea of the femur. 

 The bone suddenly slips into positiou, the excessive rigor of the 

 leg ceases with a spasmodic jerk, and the animal may walk or trot 

 away without suspicion of lameness. But though this may end 

 the trouble for the time, and the restoration seem to be perfect 

 and permanent, a repetition of the entire transaction may subse- 

 quently take place, and perhaps from the loss of some portion of 

 tensile power which would naturally follow the original attack in 

 the muscles involved, the lesion might become a habitual weakness. 

 Warm fomentations and douches with cold water will often 

 promote permanent recovery, and liberty in a box-stall or in the 

 field will in many cases insure constant relief. The use of a high- 

 hepled shoe is recommended by European veterinarians. The use 

 of stimulating liniments, with frictions, charges or even severe 

 blisters, may be resorted to in order to prevent the repetition of 

 the difficulty by strengthening and toning up the parts. 



AMPUTATIONS. 



To amputate is simply . to cut off. In veterinary surgery it 

 comprehends the removal from the body of an animal of one or 

 more of its projecting parts, as a portion of a leg, or an entire ex- 

 tremity; the horns, the ears, the penis, the tail, etc. From the 

 nature of the case it involves a degree of deformity, greater or less, 

 with a loss of the function of the severed member. 



The difference between amputation and extirpation has respect 

 only to the organs or members which become subject to the opera- 

 tion. The parts already referred to are amputated ; the organs or 

 members liable to extirpation have theii' seat in the interior regions, 

 as the testicles, the ovaries, and even the uterus, in females, and 

 any other non-vital organs or morbid growths, including some of 

 the glandular structures, more particularly the lymphatic. 



Amputations in domestic animals are of two classes : In one 

 case they are performed at the dictate of a capricious fashion, for 



