97 



that all decided injury to the knee-joint is in- 

 curable : the horse may be restored to moderate 

 work, especially in harness ; but for the saddle he 

 is totally incapacitated. 



It follows that it is of the last importance to de- 

 tect the slightest trace of injury to the knee-joint ; 

 nor is this difficult. The first, and obvious inquiry 

 will be, whether both knees correspond in shape : 

 I the eye alone can help us here, for the form of the 

 joint does not admit of very correct measurement, 

 and even if it did, the test would be uncertain. 

 Very few men will find both their wrists of exactly 

 I the same dimensions ; if there is no visible differ- 

 I ence in shape, it should be noticed whether the 

 hair is uniformly smooth and glossy. Where no 

 injury has been sustained, there is an even, shining- 

 surface over the whole front of the knee ; where 

 there has been a blemish, there is generally an 

 interruption of the gloss, as if, at a particular spot, 

 the hair had become inverted, or grew in an 

 oblique direction. Should this be observed, the 

 foot should be taken up so as to bend the joint, 

 when the break in the hair will become more 

 apparent : by slightly parting the hair with the 

 finger, (an operation, by the way, to which all 

 dealers and ostlers have a supreme aversion,) a 

 scar may be easily detected, if any exists. A 



H 



