268 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



tually cured, and in a shorter space of time. In strains of the 

 ligaments and tendons what we liave principally to fear is the 

 permanent enlargement of the part, by the deposition of new 

 substance around it ; this being one of nature's methods in re- 

 lieving inflammation, but which is generally the source of great 

 weakness of the part. 



In the treatment of strains our principal object must be to 

 relieve the inflammation as quickly as possible, and thus to pre- 

 vent an enlargement from taking place ; with this view we 

 should have recourse to bleeding, locally or generally, warm 

 fomentations, poultices, and cold lotions, avoiding stimulants 

 till the inflammation is considerably abated. — Ed.] 



Shoulder Strain. 



[Some years ago the practice of the veterinary art was con- 

 fined to farriers, whose want of knowledge of morbid anatomy 

 obliged them to guess at the seat of lameness in numerous in- 

 stances ; and thus in the greater number of lamenesses in the 

 fore extremity, where no external signs were manifested, the 

 shoulder was generally pi'onounced the seat of disease. Some 

 veterinary surgeons, finding this opinion to be erroneous, have 

 in many instances flown to the opposite extreme, and declared 

 that horses Avere never lame in the shoulder. 



Shoulder lamenesses are certainly rare, but they occasionally 

 occur, and may nearly always be detected. There are several 

 parts of the shoulder liable to injury ; sometimes the muscles 

 that connect the shoulder blade and the humerus to the body 

 are strained, and this generally arises from the fore legs slipping 

 or spreading apart. Occasionally the large triceps muscle, pass- 

 ing from the back part of the scapula to the elbow, is the seat of 

 injury. — Ed.] Sometimes the lameness depends on a strain of 

 the tendon, (or an injury of the synovial cavity, or bursa 

 mucosa, through Avhich the tendon passes,) which arises from a 

 protuberance on the lower part of the shoulder blade, and slides 

 over the large grooved process at the head of the shoulder bone. 

 This process is covered with a slippery cartilage, as in other 

 synovial cavities, to prevent any friction while the limb is in 

 motion. I have seen shoulder lameness that appeared to depend 

 upon a rheumatic affection of this part. The manner of the 

 horse's going, when this part is the seat of lameness, is very 

 remarkable. In endeavouring to trot, and sometimes even in 

 walking, the fore leg suddenly gives way or bends, and it is only 

 by a considerable effort that the horse can save himself from 

 falling. I had a filly under my care for this lameness which fell 

 down several times in Avalking. The remedies I employed were 

 passing a seton over the point of the shoulder, and blistering all 



