24 



be cut down upon to liberate the exudate under the periosteum ; at 

 times a good plaster bandage has a grand effect. 



72. Ostitis is inflammation of the bone, and may be due to an injury, 

 or may arise from constitutional or hereditary causes, tubercular, or 

 scrofulous, or from other diseases, such as attacks of rheumatics. 

 Sometimes a very slight injury may set up inflammation of the bone 

 and cause bony material or exudate to be thrown out, forming bony 

 enlargements such as Splint, Ringbone, and Spavin. These 

 deposits are known as Exostosis, and our endeavour should be to 

 find out the exact place aff"ected, and apply such remedies as will 

 hurry on the inflammation to resolution and consolidation, and thus 

 form a true bony deposit ; for treatment, nothing beats the application 

 of cold water. When there is no water-main, such as is found in most 

 towns, this treatment can be accomplished by elevating a large cask 

 or tub, filled with water, and connecting with it one end of apiece of half- 

 inch indiarubber piping, ten or twelve feet long, the other end of which 

 is secured to the horse's limb by a bandage or other appliance ; and 

 when this is fastened to the part requiring irrigation, it secures a 

 constant stream of water on the syphon principle— Tub and Tube 

 Irrigation. When the inflammation has abated, a smart bhster may 

 be applied, or, where applicable, the plaster bandage may be used. 



73. Should these endeavours not meet with success— as abscesses 

 rarely form in the bone itself— the disease may terminate in Caries or 

 Ulceration of the bone (which assumes a worm-eaten appearance), 

 resulting in the molecular death of some of the bony structure. There 

 is no bone in the body that is not subject to this affliction, but it 

 affects some bones more commonly than others. The pain is contin 

 uous, and wears the animal down. The strength must be supported 

 with good nutritious diet, while cold applications should, at first be 

 resorted to, followed by blisters, firing, punching, and, when prac- 

 ticable, cutting down on the part, and scraping with a bone spoon 

 thus endeavouring to bring about healthy action. These latter 

 operations should be in the hands of a professional man. If the 

 disease is near to, or m connection with, a joint, the object should be 



