spAvix. 493 



sent subject — which is spavin. Coleman was possessed of 

 far more cunning than wisdom ; and he used to teach his 

 pupils, when a lameness occurred in the fore leg, to swear 

 it was in the foot ; and when in the hind, to vow it was in 

 the hock. So far as the mere fact of liability of the parts 

 to be affected is concerned, the late professor was in the 

 right. But whence spring this disposition in different parts 

 to assume disease ? Let us illustrate this by a kind of every- 

 day example. A gentleman has two walking sticks ; the 

 one is straight, the other is bent at an angle in the middle. 

 He uses this one day, and the other the next. They both 

 consequently get the same wear. The straight one will 

 become useless, because of its being battered at the point ; 

 and so the foot of the fore leg generally gives way in the 

 limb which is straight. The other will yield at the part 

 where the two lines meet, or at which the stick is bent ; 

 and so in the hind leg, the hock most feels and sustains the 

 shock of motion. The artery crosses from the inside of 

 the hock to the outer side of the hind leg, close to the 

 inner and lower part of the joint, which Mr. W. Percivall 

 defines accurately enough to be the seat of spavin. May 

 not vascularity be the predisposing, and jar the exciting 

 cause ? In the formation of the fore leg can also be dis- 

 covered a reason, for attributing to the foot greater vascu- 

 larity than that of the hind Hmb. In the fore leg, the 

 blood has only to pursue its natural course, or to fall from a 

 height downwards, to make no mention of its being nearer 

 to the heart. In the hind limb, the stream is impeded by 

 making several bends in its course to the foot, placing 

 entirely on one side the circumstance of its being further 

 removed from the centre of supply. Can any inference be 

 drawn from the foregoing statements ? The reader is left 

 to reply. 



Spavin may be characterized as exostosis of some one or 

 more of the tarsal bones, or ossific inflammation of the 

 ligaments which connect them with each other. It may 

 also be considered, that it has no determinate seat, but is 

 much more often found on the inner, than the outer side of 

 the hock. It is also true, that its effects are not to be 

 measured by the dimensions of the exostosis, as these are 

 sometimes great without coiTesponding lameness ; and that 



