278 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



bad worse, and exhibit its advocates in the light of barbarians. 

 It is not enough, forsooth, for the poor subject of ringbone to 

 suffer the excruciating torment attending tendinous, ligamentous, 

 or periosteal inflammation and ossification, but he must, in addition, 

 be compelled to submit to atrocities unheard of in the history of 

 human medicine, and for which the veterinary science of the 

 present day furnishes no authority, but, on the other hand, one of 

 universal disapprobation. It has been our painful duty, occa- 

 sionally, to take in charge subjects that have been most shame- 

 fully maltreated for the cure of ringbone. One case, which we 

 can never obliterate from memory, happened to a poor aged ani- 

 mal, that for a long period had been a faithful slave to his master. 

 For many years he had been the subject of this disease, and his 

 owner had long since given up all hopes of cure, till, at length, 

 one of those exotic, pestiferous specimens of inhumanity, termed 

 horse doctors, — but who Tiave no more claim to the title than a 

 maniac or a wild Indian, — undertook, for the sum of Jive dollars, 

 to cure an hereditary incurable disease. The owner, through 

 the deceptive arguments of the barbarian, consented to an opera- 

 tion, which for cruelty would have outdone an inquisitor. It 

 consisted in cutting through the integuments down to the bones, — 

 for both hind legs were operated on ; a red-hot iron was then 

 freely used over the exposed surfaces; some oil of turpentine 

 then being poured into the horrid wounds, it was set on fire ; and 

 thus the brutal operation terminated. What a pity the horse had 

 not the power to make his tormentor exchange places with him, 

 and pay him in his own coin ! The disease was not benefited by 

 the operation, as any veterinary surgeon, had he seen it, would 

 have foretold ; the case being one, not only of common ringbone, 

 but also anchylosis of the pastern and coronet joint. Without 

 occupying the reader's attention any longer in this direction, we 

 shall at once proceed to causes of ringbone, its nature and treat- 

 ment. 



Causes of Ringbone. — We have no better authority on this 

 subject than our oft-quoted Percivall, who teaches that there are 

 "three kinds of causes — hereditary, structural, and incidental." 

 Our attention was first drawn to the hereditary origin of ring- 

 bone from a remark made by an extensive dealer in horses, in 



