66 



wind ; and should the examiner be at all doubtful as to his respira- 

 tory organs, it will be necessary to take more time, in order to 

 ascertain the true state of his lungs. Some horses are very ex- 

 citable ; the pulse does not become tranquil for some time after the 

 gallop ; nor does the respiration become quiet. 



SPAVIN. 



Blood and bog spavin are both puffy swellings, appearing on 

 the inner and fore part of the hock ; the former, being of rare 

 occurrence, is due to the enlargement of a vein ; the latter to the 

 distension of a synovial capsule. Bone or true spavin is a growth 

 of bone from bone, or exostosis, on the inside ; whereas a curb in a 

 chronic state is an exostosis on the outer and posterior part of the 

 hock. No treatment removes the exostosis, although it may modify 

 the lameness. 



Spavin is brought on by sprain, which centres in the hock joint, 

 between the two plate bones. All remedial means can only modify 

 the extent of the malady. Firing has been resorted to in many 

 cases with success. Blistering is liked by most horsemen as a 

 remedy for spavin. When a blister is applied the hair over the 

 seat of the disease should be clipped closel}^ off, the denuded part 

 bathed well with hot water, after which it must be wiped dry and 

 rubbed until the friction used has drawn the blood to the surface. 

 The blister, consisting of the biniodide of mercury or cantharides, 

 is now to be rubbed over the skin on the inside of the hock. The 

 application of a blister only once is sufficient in most cases to 

 alleviate spavin ; three or four blisterings, at intervals of a month, 

 being generally required to effect real good. The introduction of a 

 seton over the seat of spavin is good treatment : First. The skin, 

 about an inch and a half above the spavin, should be grasped between 

 the finger and thumb, and cut through with a pair of scissors made 

 for this purpose. Secondly. The seton-needle, with a piece of tape 

 attached to it, should be inserted into the cut surface, and passed 

 over the spavin to about an inch below it ; and at the place where 

 the needle points an incision must be made through the skin ; the 

 tape is now brought over the spavin, and knotted at each end. Let 

 it remain in four or five weeks, and afterwards blister twice at an 

 interval of three weeks with biniodide of mercury ointment; dur- 

 ing this period, administer every fortnight a ball containing two 

 drachms of aloes, and feed on cooling diet. It is the practice of 

 some to make an incision on the inside of the hock below the 

 spavin, and insert into the aperture thus made a plug of tow satu- 



