RHEUxMATIC LAMENESS. 39 



Fever in the feet is another disease having on occasions a me- 

 tastatic origin, and in this form its ordinary forerunner is pneu- 

 monia. It has, however, supervened on both bowel and brain 

 affections, of which my father has made mention in a paper he 

 sent to The Veterinarian in 1829. And yet inflammation 

 does not so frequently, I beUeve, fall from the thoracic organs into 

 the feet as into the joints or bursal structures; and if fever in the 

 feet may arise, as we have shewn it can, from other than pul- 

 monary disease, the probability is that rheumatic inflammation 

 may have other than pleuritic or pulmonary origin — may have, in 

 fact, bowel or cerebral origin : though we must confess, for our 

 own part, we have no cases of the kind to bring forward. Rheu- 

 matic lameness has, however, occurred under our observation at so 

 remote a period after influenza or pleuro-pneumonia that we have 

 felt at a loss to say whether the lameness was to be referred to 

 the foregoing constitutional affection or not — whether, in point of 

 fact, it might not sometimes have spontaneous origin, be a disease 

 sui generis, or of an idiopathic nature. The following cases, of 

 late occurrence*, will probably throw some light on the subject : — 



Mr. T w's charger, five years old, was seized on the 4th of 



February, 1845, with sore throat and fever, which in a few days 

 proved to be but the precursors of a severe pleuro-pneumonia, at 

 that time so prevalent. The horse suffered a good deal ; but about 

 the twelfth day experienced a change for the better, and a day or 

 two afterwards commenced a course of tonic medicine to recruit 

 his lost strength. One morning, a fortnight after the commence- 

 ment of tonics, the horse was found halting exceedingly upon the 

 off hind leg, the fetlock of which was swollen, and hot, and 

 tender to pressure, and gave him so much pain in using it that 

 when he was down it was with difficulty he arose upon his legs. 

 Some aperient medicine was ordered, and a warm bath, and after- 

 wards a bandage wetted with refrigerant lotion. Ten days after 

 the appearance of this lameness, the horse was found as suddenly 

 and unexpectedly to have become as lame in the near hind leg, 



* We could find in our case-book several similar ones of old date ; but 

 prefer giving the above recent cases, conceiving these will prove sufficient to 

 answer the end we have in view. 



