LATERAL FACES OF THE BODY. 167 



the movements of the flank, nor too much discredit all the more or less 

 specious reasons which the seller never fails to give, in such cases, in 

 opposition to any unfavorable assertions concerning the horse. 



Diseases and Defects. — The flanks may be the seat of tumors of diverse 

 nature. Sometimes these are indurations of the skin, a kind of callosities pro- 

 duced by the ring of the breeching in shaft-horses; at other times they are 

 abscesses, which are caused by the continual rubbing of that part of the harness. 

 They may be the result of a ventral hernia, a portion of the intestine being 

 expelled from its cavity on account of a rent in the abdominal walls. Finally, 

 they are due to the presence oi farcy-buds or lymphatic cords which cross the 

 flank to reach the ganglia of the inguinal region. 



" The frequent expulsion of gas from the anus, which takes place in emphy- 

 sematous horses, has induced ignorant horsemen to make an artificial fistula 

 above or upon the side of the anus, by which they pretend to relieve the horse 

 of the great quantity of air which he has in his body. At present this ridiculous 

 operation, which formerly annulled the redhibitory action in regard to horses 

 upon which it had been practised, is abandoned." ' 



The special object of this procedure, of which we have seen some examples, 

 was to prevent the noisy expulsion of gas through the anus by giving it a more 

 direct outlet, in order to conceal to a certain extent the severe emphysema of 

 which it is one of the symptoms. 



C— The Groin. 



Situation; Limits; Anatomical Base. — The groin, which 

 until now has not been comprised among the regions of the exterior, 

 nevertheless deserves to be pointed out, on account of the examination 

 which should be made of it. 



It corresponds on each side to the cutaneous fold extending from the abdomen 

 to the thigh, and has for its base the inferior inguinal ring, which, as we know, 

 gives passage, in the male, to the testicular cord and the external pudic vessels, 

 and, in the female, to the mammary nerves and vessels. The superficial inguinal 

 ganglia are also seen here on the side of the abdomen ; much more deeply, and on 

 the side of the thigh, the elongated group of deep inguinal ganglia, less directly 

 explorable than the preceding ; finally, the part is covered by a fine skin, with 

 downy hairs, oily to the touch, usually black and very pliable. 



Limited in front by the abdomen, behind and externally bv the 

 superior and internal extremity of the thigh, internally by the scrotum, 

 or the mammce, this region presents, properly speaking, neither beauties 

 nor defects. We need only assure ourselves of the absence of blemishes. 



In undertaking its exploration, some precautions must be taken, 

 especially in irritable horses. In examining the right side, for instance, 

 the observer, after having warned the animal, will station himself 



1 Lecoq, Traits de I'exterieur du cheval, 5e 6d., p. 92. 



