800 



DISEASES AND THEIK TEEATJVIENT. 



ment to keep them from becoming dry and hard. There are two 

 locations for this operation, the high and the low. By dividing 

 the nerv^e above the fetlock, called the high operation, we destroy 

 all sensibility below the fetlock. The lower operation may be 



performed at a point about at the 

 middle of the large pastern bone and 

 upon the posterior pai-t of the nerve ; 

 it then acts as a cure for ossified 

 cartilages, and the forward part of 

 the foot is left to be supplied as be- 

 fore by the other branch of the 

 nerve. 



Before performing this operation, 

 the horse should have a few days' 

 rest, and proper means should also 

 be used to allay any inflammation 

 of the affected parts. The horse 

 should then be cast, the foot secured, 

 and an incision made throuGrh the- 

 skin about aninch long, and about 

 an inch and a half from the fetlock, 

 using a sponge to absorb the blood. 

 The subtissues are now scraped 

 aside with a blunt knife until the 

 nerve is exposed, which lies by the 

 a threaded needle, slightly crooked 

 is passed under the nerve. When 



Fig. 703.— Usual method of jier- 

 formiug the operation. 



side of the artery. Next, 

 and blunted at tlie point, 

 once the thread is passed undei", the main difficulty is over. 

 The needle is now taken out, the nerve gently lifted with the 

 thread, and the cellular membrane underneath Kni2:)ped away with 

 a pair of scissors or knife, so as to admit a slender, curved bistoury 

 to pass under the nerve without touching it. As soon as the 

 nerve is cleared up to the highest part of the incision, the bistoury 

 is passed along to this point, and the nerve quickly divided by a 

 drawing stroke. It is necessary that the nerve be divided with as 

 little violence as possible, for when it is done with the scissors, or 

 by lifting the knife directly up, or with a knife that does not 

 91ft well, a thickening will form at the upper extremity of the 



