HUNTERS 



guide, because many large splints are perfectly 

 harmless, whilst a minute one sometimes acts 

 diametrically opposite. The deposit of new 

 bone represents the legacy of the preceding 

 inflammation at the seat of injury, and is thrown 

 out by the covering of the bone — the periosteum. 

 It is quite possible that repeated injuries to 

 the latter act as a cause of multiple splint, or 

 it may be that the latter has been laid down 

 at one and the same time. Here it may be as 

 well to mention a somewhat remarkable feature 

 about splint, viz., its occasional spontaneous 

 disappearance. The chief causes of this trouble 

 appear to be hereditary predisposition, con- 

 cussion, unequal distribution of pressure, and 

 external injuries arising from other causes. 

 The question is which of these factors is the 

 most important, and to this no definite answer 

 can be given. Probably concussion stands first 

 as the cause of this trouble. In the majority 

 of instances, splint lameness is concurrent with 

 active inflammation at the seat of the injury, 

 though it is not necessarily confined to that 

 period. It varies in its severity and duration, 

 and is not characterised by any peculiarity of such 



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