HORSES. 13 



quieting and cooling lotions, in view of arresting the conges- 

 tion or extra flow of blood to the part, that inevitably fol- 

 lows, as the result of injury, and which causes the swelling, 

 heat, and }3ain so grievous to be borne by the poor afflicted 

 animal. And as a remedy to alleviate the suffering and con- 

 trol the progress of the disease, I would earnestly recommend 

 a preparation of Colorless Iodine Liniment that I have used 

 for several years with marked success in human and veteri- 

 nary practice. Cases of hereditary ringbone that appear 

 early in a colt need no treatment, for their only cure consists 

 in hastening the anchylosis of the joint, which, of course, 

 forever obliterates the freedom of motion there, by soldering 

 the two articulating bones together in firm osseous union. 

 Even with such a cure the creature ceases to limp, because tlie 

 impaired motion of the joint that caused such excruciating 

 pain in walking has been destroyed. And though a horse 

 with such an impediment would readily stumble, and thus be 

 worthless for the turf, yet with careful usage upon light draft 

 it may be serviceable for many years. 



Percival divides the causes of ringbone into three classes, 

 as follows, "hereditary, structural, and incidental"; the first 

 and last of which we have already noticed, and the second we 

 will now consider. Though the feet and limbs of all the 

 equine family contain the same number of muscles and bones, 

 yet the form and arrangement of these parts are not always 

 the same in all the various* breeds. In the race-horse the 

 pastern bones stand quite obliquely, as is seen in the Eclipse 

 at Figure 4, in order that the foot will rebound from the turf 

 with an elastic spring when vieing for the goal. Such con- 

 structed feet are not commonly the seat of ringbone, inas- 

 much as the weight of the body is not directly felt upon the 

 coffin-bones. But on the other hand, when the pasterns are 

 nearly erect, the heft of the body in the act of trotting, falls 

 as a dead weight upon the bones of the feet, and thus a con- 

 stant irritation is kept up in the periosteum of the part, until 

 a ringbone is the result. Hoises with such formed feet should 

 be carefullij used, and then, never upon the pavements. Such 

 examples illustrate that hereditary predisposition to ringbone, 



