THE HORSE AND ITS DISEASES. 159 



Broken Knees. 



The treatment of broken knees is a subject of much 

 importance, for many horses are blemished, and others 

 are destroyed by wounds in the knee joint. The horse, 

 when falling, naturally throws his knees forward ; they 

 receive all his weight, and are often very much lacerated. 

 The first thing to be done is, by very careful washing 

 with warm water, to cleanse the wound from gi^avel and 

 dirt ; it must then be ascertained whether the joint is 

 penetrated. The grating of the probe on one of the 

 bones of the knee, or the depth to which the probe 

 enters the wounds, will too plainly indicate that the 

 joint has been opened. 



The opening of the joint being ascertained, the first 

 and immediate care is to close the orifice, for the fluid 

 which separated, and lubricated the bones of the knee 

 being sufi'ered to escape, they will be brought into 

 contact with, and will rub upon each other ; the delicate 

 membrane with which they are covered will be highly 

 inflamed, the constitution will be speedily aff'ected, and 

 a degree of fever will ensue that will destroy the horse, 

 while, in the mean time, of all the tortures that can be 

 inflicted on the animal, none can equal that which 

 accompanies inflammation of the membranes lining the 

 joints. 



The manner of closing the orifice must be left to a 

 skilful practitioner, who alone is capable of treating such 

 a case. It may be eff'ected by a compress, enclosing 

 the whole of the wound, and not to be removed for many 

 days, or it may be touched over the lacerated part with 

 a hot iron, and a poultice of linseed meal may then be 

 placed on the part, and the case treated as a common 

 wound. Should the blemish be considerable, a mild 

 blister may be applied over the part, after the wound 

 has healed ; it will stimulate the haii^ to grow rapidly, 

 and lessen the scar. 



