210 DISEASES OF THE JOINTS. 



CALCIFICATION OF THE SYNOVIAL FKINGES. 



In the dissection of old horses which have been stiff in their 

 joints, the synovial fringes are often found in a state of calcifica- 

 tion, the ossific or calcareous deposits varying from the size of a 

 millet seed to that of a small bean. These occasionally become 

 detached, and find their way into the interior of the articulation, 

 causing sudden and violent lameness, which disappears as sud- 

 denly as it came, by the detached body regaining its original 

 position. A condition similar to this has been termed fimbriated 

 synovial membrane by pathologists. In the horse the stifle 

 joint is that most commonly affected. 



RHEUMATOID AETHEITIS. 



The condition of the synovial membrane described in the last 

 paragraph is probably due to a peculiar inflammation, which has 

 been termed rheumatic gout or chronic rheumatic arthritis — a 

 disease differing from gout and rheumatism in many particulars, 

 although possessing some characteristics common to both. This 

 affection in man has been studied and described by Dr. Hay- 

 garth of Bath, by Cruveilhier, and more particularly by Dr. 

 Adams of Dublin. ^ By Dr. Haygarth it was called "nodosity 

 of the joints;" and by Cruveilhier, "usure des cartilages articu- 

 laires." To both of these terms Dr. Adams takes exception, 

 and says — " The term suggested by Cruveilhier, it is plain, 

 would localise the disease too much, confining it merely to one 

 of the articular textures ; whereas we know that, when fully 

 formed, most, if not all, of these textures are implicated ; and 

 as to the term ' nodosity of the joints,' the swellings of the 

 joints which we notice in this disease are by no means hard, as 

 the term nodosity would imply. On the contrary, as in its 

 early stages the swellings are principally constituted by the 

 effusion of much synovial fluid into the interior of the joint, 

 they are soft and fluctuating." 



I am sure that every veterinary surgeon of experience, when 

 he has read the following account, abbreviated from Dr. Adams' 

 work, will at once see the great resemblance it bears to many 

 cases he has met with in his practice. 



" The disease may be a constitutional or a local disorder; the 



1 A TreatUe on Rheumatic Gout, or Chronic Rheumatic Arthritis, all of the Jointi. 



