ANTERIOR EXTREMITY OF THE BODY. 147 



Blemishes. — The most common blemishes of the breast are traces of 

 Setons, but these need not arouse any apprehension, because people are in the 

 habit of inserting these counter-irritants for the most trifling causes. More or 

 less extensive cicatrices or denudations are also met here, which result from the 

 application of revulsives and blisters in the treatment of diseases of the respira- 

 tory apparatus. 



Finally, in draught-horses it is common to observe excoriations or cicatrices 

 which extend from the inferior border of the neck to the anterior border of 

 the shoulders, following the direction of the collar. These have no important 

 significance, and are even utilized by the horse-merchant to indicate to the buyer 

 a proof that the animal settles freely into the collar. 



B. — The Inter-axilla. 



Situation ; Limits ; Anatomical Base. — The inter-axilla 

 is a synimetrical region limited in front by the breast, behind by the 

 xiphoid region, and on each side by the axillary space. It responds to 

 the inferior border of the sternnm and to the origin of the sterno- 

 humeralis and sterno-aponenroticus muscles. 



Having a variable conformation, concave or convex, according to 

 the volume of the muscles, it presents nothing remarkable as regards the 

 exterior. Setons are applied in this region, to which, in the majority of 

 cases, no more importance need be attached than to the cicatrices which 

 follow them. 



C— The Axilla. 



Situation ; Limits ; Anatomical Base. — The axilla corre- 

 sponds in situation with the point of junction of the supero-internal 

 extremity of the forearm with the trunk. 



Limited in front by the breast, behind by the elbow and the xiphoid region, 

 internally by the inter-axilla, and externally by the forearm, the axilla has for its 

 anatomical base the sterno-aponeuroticus muscle and the muscular interstice 

 situated between the adjoining borders of the sterno-humeralis and mastoido- 

 humeralis, in which the vein of the axilla (brachio-cephalic trunk) is lodged. The 

 skin is soft, pliable, and mobile. 



Little importance is attached to this region, viewed from the exte- 

 rior. Nevertheless, in certain thin-skinned and fat horses whose skin 

 in the axilla offers numerous folds, it presents, during the summer and 

 after a long march on dusty roads, excoriations, accompanied by redness 

 and great sensibility, which may prevent them from performing their 

 duties for several days. This accident, frequent in cavalry horses, and 

 generally of no grav^ity, is called fraying of the axilla. 



We may also allude to bloodletting from the brachio-cephalic vein, 

 which is sometimes followed by a thrombus. 



