290 EUKEAU OF ANIMAL i:>rDUSTRY. 



It is certain that they may commonly be traced to diseases and 

 traumatic lesions of the foot, and their appearance may be reasonably 

 anticipated among the sequelae of an abscess of the coronet; or the 

 cause ma}^ be a severe contusion resulting from calking, or a deep- 

 punctured wound from picking up a nail or stepping upon any hard 

 object of sufficient!}^ irregular form to penetrate the sole. 



Moreover, a ringbone may originate in hereditA^ This is a fact of 

 no little importance in its relation to questions connected with the 

 extensive interests of the stock breeder and purchaser. 



That the hereditary transmission of constitutional idiosyncrasies is 

 an active cause with regard to diseases in general, it would be absurd 

 to claim, but wc do claim that a predisposition to contract ringbone 

 due to faulty conformation, such as long, thin pasterns with narrow 

 joints and steep fetlocks, may be inherited in many cases, and in a 

 smaller proportion of cases this predisposition may act as a secondary 

 cause in the formation of ringbone. 



The importance of this point when considered in reference to the 

 policy which should be observed in the selection of breeding stock is 

 obvious, and, as the whole matter is within the control of the owners 

 and breeders, it will be their own fault if the unchecked transmission 

 of ringbones from one equine generation to another shall be allowed 

 to continue. It is our belief that among the diseases which are known 

 for their tendency to perpetuate and repeat themselves by individual 

 succession, those of the bony structures stand first, and the inference 

 from such a fact which would exclude ever}'- animal of doubtful sound- 

 ness in its osseous apparatus from the stud list and the Ijrood farm is too 

 plain for argument. 



Symjjtoms. — Periostitis of the phalanges is an ailment requiring 

 careful exploration and minute inspection for its discovery, and is quite 

 likely to result in a ringbone of which lameness is the result. The 

 mode of its manifestation varies according to the state of development 

 of the diseased growth as affected by the circumstances of its location 

 and dimensions. It is commonly of the kind which, in consequence of 

 its intermittent character, is termed lameness when cool^ having the 

 peculiarity of exhibiting itself when the animal starts from the stable 

 and of diminishing, if not entirely disappearing, after some distance of 

 travel, to return to its original degree, if not indeed a severer one, 

 when he has again cooled off in his stable. The size of the ringbone 

 does not indicate the degree to which it cripples the patient, but the 

 position may, especially when it interferes with the free movement of 

 the tendons which pass l^ehind and in front of the foot. While a large 

 ringbone will often interfere but little with the motion of the limb, 

 a smaller growth, if situated under the tendon, may become the cause 

 of considerable and continued pain. 



A ringbone is doubtless a worse evil than a splint. Its growth, its 



