5^4 DABU'S VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 



s'nould the incision be made too high on the side of the tail, tht 

 curvators may be partly or wholly severed. Then the tail will 

 Ultimately diverge laterally, or, in stable language, it will be said 

 that "the horse does not carry his tail straight." To remedy 

 this^ the curvator on the opposite side must be divided; then the 

 tail has to be forcibly drawn and kept in an o})posite direction 

 from the curved side, so as to prevent the muscle from euniting. 

 In the cou- se of a short time granulations are thrown ^ut from 

 the surface of the divided ends of the muscle. It then acquirer 

 length, and thus the tail becomes straight. 



ANATOMY OF THE TAIL. 



For the benefit of those who wish to practice the art of " nick- 

 ing or pricking " understandingly, I now propose to give a brief 

 exposition of the anatomy of the tail. 



Boms of the Tail. — The bones of the tail, numbering fifteen, 

 sometimes" sixteen, are situated at the back of the rump-bone, or 

 sacrum. They are not a continuation of the vertebral bones, but 

 are an appendage to the haunch bone. The bones entire are termed 

 coccyx (from the Greek, which signifies cuckoo., the bill of which 

 bird the appendage to the sacrum, or haunch-bone of man, is said 

 to represent) ; and, in order to prevent confusion in anatomical 

 terms, veterinary suigcons have applied the same name to the tail 

 bones of the horse. Hence, when the terms coccygis or coccygeal 

 fxe used, they have some relation to the tail. The bones are 

 'ouo-hened on their surfaces, and have depressions and eminences 

 or the insertion of ligaments, tendons, and muscles. 



Muscles of the Tail. — These muscles are divisible into four p'lirs. 

 They are most distinctly seen at the root of the tail, but, .in their 

 course toward the end of the same, they become blended one with 

 another. 



The first pair of coccygeal muscles are situated on the uppei 

 part of the tail. They are attached to the sacrum and to the 

 bones of the tail. Their action is to raise or erect the tail. 



The second pair are termed depressors coccyx, and are situated 

 at the under pirt of the tail. They are attached to the under- 

 neath part of the sacrum, and to the same locality on the bones 

 of the tail. They are antagonistic to the first pair, and their di- 

 rect action is to depress the tail. These are the muscles whicU 

 er\ould be divided in the process of pricking or nicking. 



