360 BUKEAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



undergo a change which converts it into the usual purulent product of 

 suppuration. 



The external appearance ought to be sufficient to determine the 

 diagnosis, but there arc a few signs which ma.y contribute toward a 

 nicer identitication of the lesion. The capped hock, whether under the 

 a])pearance of an acute edematous swelling, or as a bloody serous col- 

 lection, or as a simple serous cyst, does not give rise to any remark- 

 able local manifestation other than such as have already passed under 

 our survey in considering similar cases, nor will it be likel}' to inter- 

 fere with the functions which belong to the member in question, unless 

 it assumes very large dimensions and on each side of the tendons, as 

 well as on the summit of the bone. But if the inflammation is quite 

 high, if suppuration is developing, if there is a true abscess, or — and 

 this is a common complication — especiall}' when the kicking or rub- 

 bing of the animal is frequentl}^ recurring, then, besides the local 

 trouble of the cyst or of the abscess, the bones become diseased and 

 the periosteum inflamed; perhaps the superior ends of the bone and its 

 fibro-cartilage become affected, and a simple lesion or bruise, whatever 

 it may have been, becomes complicated with periostitis and ostitis, and 

 is naturally accompanied with lameness, developed in a greater or less 

 degree, which in some cases may be permanent and in others increased 

 by work. But these complications are not common or frequent. 



Treatment. — Capped hocks are in many cases amenable to treatment, 

 and yet they often become the opprobrium of the practitioner by 

 remaining, as they frequently do, an e3"esore on the top of the hock; 

 not interfering, it is true, with the work of the horse, but fixing upon 

 him the stigma of what, in human estimation, and especially in that of 

 the tribe of ''practical politicians," is a most unreliable and objection- 

 able reputation, to wit, that of being an habitual "kicker," and, worse 

 than all, one that kicks where he receives his provender. 



The maxim that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" 

 fits the present case very neatl3^ A horse whose hocks have a some- 

 what puffy look and whose skin on the front of the hock is loose and 

 flabby, justly subjects himself to a suspicion of his addictedness to 

 this bad habit. But he may easily be either convicted or exonerated— 

 a little watching will soon establish the truth. If, then, the verdict 

 is one of conviction, precautions should be immediately adopted 

 against a continuance of the evil. The padding of the sides of the 

 stall with straw mats or mattresses and covering the posts with similar 

 material, in such a manner that no hard surface shall be exposed with 

 which to come in contact, will reduce the evil to its minimum. He 

 may jar his frame when he kicks, but even then there will be less 

 force in the concussion than if it impinged upon the solid plank, and 

 cuts and abrasions can not be inflicted by a properl}' made cushion. 

 Hobbles are also rightly recommended with a view to the required 



