DIAGNOSTIC PRINCIPLES 53 



Special Methods of Examination. 



After having coiupk'ted a general examination of a lame ani- 

 mal—obtaining tlie history of the case, noting its temperament, 

 type, size, conformation, position assumed while at repose, swell- 

 ings or enlargements if present, causing the subject to move to 

 note the degree and character of lameness manifested ; palpating 

 and manipulating the parts affected to acquire a fairly definite 

 notion of the nature of an intlannnation or to recognize crepita- 

 tion it becomes necessary in some cases to employ peculiar means 

 of examination in singular instances. This may be done by mak- 

 ing use of cocain in solution for the production of local anes- 

 thesia as in lameness of the phalanges. Such means are not, in 

 themselves, dependable but are valuable when used in conjunc- 

 tion with all other available and practical methods. 



Trial use of various shoes in order to shift the weight from 

 one part of the foot to another or to cause an animal to "breali 

 over" in a different uumner so that the gait may be changed, 

 constitutes a special test procedure. The use of hoof testers 

 or of a hammer to note the degree or presence of supersensi- 

 tiveness is another means that is of practical service. No exam- 



Pig. i_Hoof testers with special jaws of sufficient size to grasp the 

 largest foot. 



ination, in any case of lameness, is complete without having re- 

 moved the shoe and scrutinized the solar surface of the foot. 



Diagnosis by exclusion, finally, is resorted to, and, as in any 

 other case where the recognition of cause is difficult, exclusion 

 of the existence of conditions, — one at a time, by an analysis 

 of symptoms — generally enables the practictioner to eliminate all 

 but the disturbing element. 



