280 WINDGALL. 



fluence of which, fluid is emitted faster than it is absorbed, ,und 

 distention of the sac is followed by increased growth and enlarge- 

 ment of it. And we are further of opinion, that this dropsical state 

 of bursa, as it may be called, is frequently dependent upon some in- 

 creased action — not amounting to inflammation — set up in the joint 

 to which the bursa is auxiliary, in consequence of some irritation 

 v^iich it (the joint) has, from some cause or another, been the seat 

 of. Hence it happens that windgall, in its first formation, in young 

 horses in particular, is usually accompanied by fulness of the joint 

 to which the bursa is proximate, or with which it is connected. 

 This we consider to be the case in young horses especially. In old 

 and worked horses windgall, in another form, may be regarded as an 

 idiopathic affection, i.e., as a disease — if disease it is to be called — 

 independent of the joint to which it may be contiguous. Since, 

 however, some of the large bursse have, either from the time 

 of birth, or as a consequence of work — occasioning rubbing 

 and pressure upon them — communication with the cavities of 

 the joints, any distention of the joint itself, from over-secretion of 

 synovia, will of course produce distention and enlargement of the 

 burs8e in communication with the joint; a case in which the pa- 

 thology of windgall becomes identified with articular disease or 

 derangement. 



Once filled to distention, there is not much likelihood of absorp- 

 tion of the eff*used fluid taking place ; though in young and un- 

 worked horses bursal swellings do now and then, in the course of 

 growth, with repose, disappear. In adult and worked horses, how- 

 •ever, windgalls, although they may diminish, rarely completely 

 vanish. Once formed, they mostly, under continued work, be- 

 come chronic; — for months, years perhaps, remain in statu quo. 

 At length, slowly, gradually, the parietes of the bursa, from 

 being simply stretched, become thickened in substance, as well 

 as enlarged in caliber ; and the increase of growth, to which such 

 alterations are to be ascribed, may go on to render that which was 

 originally no larger than a marble of the size of an egg, and in 

 some instances even larger still. It is probable also that, while 

 such changes are going on in the size and substance of the bursa, 

 alterations in its contents will become manifest. The synovial 



