a74 DADDS VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SELIGERY. 



cf the toe of tlni shoe, showing that the heel is rarely or but verj 

 gingerly juit to the grouiul; also the circuiostance, often observ- 

 able by the groom, of the animal resting thi3 lame (hind) limb in 

 the stable ; on Ci^casions, perhaps, knackling over upon it, and so 

 Dealing the weight upon the toe alone. And it has happened 

 before now that, while doubt was impending as to the locality 

 and nature of the lam-aness, a spavin has made Its appearance, and 

 dissipated all further conjecture; and with this development of 

 the spavin, the lameness, 30 far from being augmented, is noi 

 unlikely to become better. This is an observation made so long 

 ago as the time of SoUeysell. This admirable observer, in one 

 part of his chapter on spavins, says : 'At their first piercing, they, 

 generally speaking, make a horse halt, and afterward the swelling 

 growing bigger, the horse halteth no more with it.' " 



I have noticed that spavined horses are usually the subjects of 

 ill-shaped hocks; hence this peculiarity of conformation would 

 seem to indicate that such animals have a certain amount of pre- 

 disposition lurking in their systems. The ordinaiy exciting causes 

 are sprain or strain, and overwork. 



Now, v.hat will cure spavin? This Question was propounded 

 to the anthor, some time ago, and the following answer was 

 elicited. The answ(ir is as good to-day as when first written. 

 " WHiat will cure spaviu?" I answer: Time, rest, and the appli- 

 caticn of remedies a^lapted to the various stages of the disease. 

 The usual i^emedies, in the early stage, are rest, frequent use of the 

 8ho\\ er- bath, and nifiige rating lotions. In the chronic stage, and 

 when the disease Las commenced on the articulating surfaces of 

 the liock-joint, or iin ossific bony enlargement has made its ap- 

 pearance, then we resort to counter-irritation, by using some one 

 of the preparatiouu of cantharides or iodine. " What will cure 

 spavin?" is a tough question for a medical man to solve; for, if 

 he has been propeily educated, he knows well enough that bone 

 spavin, like hip-joint disease in the human subject, is, to all in- 

 tents and ]>urposes, in !urable — I mean in so far as the physiology 

 and pathology of th(j parts are concerned. Soft tissues, oncfl 

 oaviiig been changed into bone, never can be remetamorphosed 

 into the original condition so as to possess theii inherent qualities 

 of elasticity (contraction and expansion). At the same time wj 

 are all liorsemen enough to understand what the term "jure" 

 means when applied to the disease known as snavin. It siguifie* 



