ARTHRITIS. 737 



studied, it lias been popularly known as " Joint 111," and technically as 

 " Scrofulous Disease of the Joints," or " Specific " or " Constitutional 

 Synovitis." 



The disease was first described, we believe, by Brugnone {Trattato 

 delle Razze de Cavalli, Turin, 1781) ; then it was noticed by Roupp 

 {Recueil de Med. Veterinaire, 1825), Lecoq in 1828, Strauss in 1831 

 {Darrsucht der Fohlen, Vienna, 1831), Benard in 1832 {Recueil de Med. ^ 

 etc., 1832) Trager in 1839 {Fohlenkrankheiten^ Berlin, 1839), Noll in 

 1840, Darreau in 1842 {Recueil de Med., etc., 1842), Anker in 1848 {Kal- 

 berldhme, Zurich, 1848), Roloff in 1865 {Fohlenldhme, Berlin, 1865), and 

 Bollinger in 1873 {Zur Kentniss der Fohlenldhme, Virchow's Arc/iiv., Bd. 

 58, 1873), and in 1875 {Deutsche Zeitschrift fiir Thiermedicin, 1875). I" 

 England, the most valuable description of the malady which has ap- 

 peared, is to be found in a paper by Walley (" Joint 111 in Lambs," Vet- 

 erhiary journal, 1876, p. 406). It has been more particularly described 

 as it occurs in the equine race in Normandy, by Lecoq and Darreau, and 

 in Poitou by Terai ; in North Germany by Trager, Bollinger, Strauss, 

 and Roloff. In the bovine species, it has been portrayed as it prevails 

 in Bourbonnais, by Benard and Gay ; in Switzerland by Anker, and in 

 Bavaria by Bollinger. In the ovine species. Roll describes it as existing* 

 in Hungary, Haubner in Saxony, Kuers in Prussia, and Chambert and 

 Cauvet in the South of France. Walley alludes to its principal features, 

 as it is witnessed in lambs in England. 



In some years it prevails very extensively, and appears to be almost 

 enzootic in some portions of the above-mentioned countries. 



By some authorities it is supposed to be a constitutional disease, by 

 others as scrofulous in its nature ; while others, again, consider it as 

 essentially pyaemic, and a sequel of purulent omphalo-phlebitis. 



Roloff is of opinion that the affection is due to an alteration in the 

 blood — to a diminution in the amount of mineral salts in that fluid — a 

 veritable cachexia,' in fact, allied to rachitism or osteomalacia. In this 

 view, the inflammation which attacks the joints and is symptomatic of 

 the disorder, should be attributed, primarily, to a cachectic or scrofulous ' 

 diathesis, and, secondarily, to the traction exercised by the ligaments, 

 connective tissue, and periosteum imperfectly attached to the soft and 

 unequally consistent bones, when the animal movies. 



Walley defines it as an inflammatory affection of the synovial mem- 

 brane of the joints, of a specific character ; hence the terms " Specific 

 Synovitis " and " Specific Arthritis." 



Causes. 



If there is some diversity of opinion as to the etiology of this joint 

 disease of young animals, there is absolute unanimity as to its predis- 

 posing cause — the period of youth, as it only appears during lactation. 

 This fact disposes of its constitutional or hereditary nature, and has in- 

 clined some veterinary pathologists to attribute its occurrence to an al- 

 teration in the composition of the milk of the parent. 



Darreau believed that the malady is more frequent among foals which 

 do not receive the first milk, which contains colostrum ; but this view is 

 not borne out by other observers. Roloff has witnessed its advent in 

 such a manner, that he thought it must be sometimes congenital. Walley 

 states that the causes are entirely local, and can be traced to an impure 

 or anaemic condition of the milk of the dam, as the result of improper 



