80 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON 



ject in a case I sent to The Veterinarian] and the year following 

 1 had the gratification to learn that my lannented friend, Mr Castley, 

 confirmed my observations in a paper containing a fuller and more 

 graphic account of the same*. That there occurs, under certain 

 circumstances, the opposite morbid condition, viz. a dry state of 

 joint from a lack of synovia, is a view both theory and observa- 

 tion would lead us to entertain, though it may be difficult to adduce 

 examples of it. 



Of suppuration, we have the best examples afforded by open 

 joints. Along with the flux of synovia we often have purulent 

 matter discharging, and in some cases the purulent will gain the 

 ascendancy over the synovial secretion. And when, from negli- 

 gent or improper treatment, or from the severity of the injury, in- 

 flammation runs intensely high, we shall not only have pus, but 

 lymph as well, poured out into the cavity of the joint; ending in 

 thickening of the membrane, or else in ulceration and ultimate 

 destruction of it. Ulceration, however, is much more commonly 

 seen in the reflected portion of the membrane — that part which is 

 delicatelv thin and, comparatively, little endowed with vitality, 

 and consequently the more prone to take on the ulcerative pro- 

 cess. We shall probably find, in addition to this one of organi- 

 zation, a cause for this propensity to ulceration connected with the 

 situation the reflected membrane occupies in the joint; it being, 

 while the capsular part of the membrane is loose and free from 

 pressure, subject to constant compression and occasional contusion. 

 The joints and sinews of horses become the especial seats of 

 lameness. If a horse fails in his work, or gets sprained by acci- 

 dent, we look to his joints or to his sinews as the parts that have 

 suffered, knowing that they sustain the brunt of the wear and tear. 

 Thence it is that we think it of so much consequence to possess a 

 horse with large well-formed joints, and wiry well-knit sinews. 

 The custom of racing horses at such tender ages as two and three 

 years old, and of backing half-breds before they have come to 

 their strength, has proved fruitful sources of failure in these struc- 

 tures. For a horse to acquire maximum strength of joint and 



* For these accounts see vols, ii and iii of The Veterinarian. 



