162 DISEASES OP THE BONES AND AJITICULATIONS. 



Iiot, and tender ; the respirations hurried ; "but the appetite re- 

 mains tolerably good for some time ; the swollen joints suppur- 

 ate; and the disease is now complicated with open joint; abscesses 

 form on various parts if the body, the patient loses flesh, be- 

 comes unable to rise, and dies, a miserable object. 



The causes are extrinsic and intrinsic. 



The extrinsic are exposure to cold, a had mother — that is to 

 say, a mother that is without sufficient milk for the foal — long 

 fasting, as in cases where the mother is put to work shortly 

 after the birth of the foal, and only allowed to suckle her 

 young two or three times a day. I have seen the disease 

 produced in pet lambs when brought up on cow's milk ; these 

 circumstances produce debility of the constitution, indigestion, 

 and mal-assimilation. 



The intrinsic cause is the scrofxdous diathesis, and this may 

 arise independently of any external circumstances. 



Pathology. — To understand this correctly, it must be re- 

 membered that the growth of the bones is very rapid in young 

 animals, and that a large quantity of blood is required in the 

 part, in order to supply the nutritive plasma for such growth ; 

 in fact, the bones, more particularly their extremities, are in a 

 state of healthy congestion. The blood supply must be abun- 

 dant in quantity, and healthy in quality ; but in this disease 

 the latter condition is absent ; and instead of supplying healthy 

 material for the growth and nourishment of the bones, it con- 

 veys a degraded form of an albuminoid matter, which is de- 

 posited in the structure of the bones, and there excites a form 

 of strumous inflammation leading on to caries, the removal of 

 the articular cartilage, and the formation of abscesses in and 

 around the joints, which make their way through the ligaments 

 and synovial membrane, and burst externally by many openings, 

 •which communicate with the joint by circuitous sinuses. 



The probabilities of effecting a cure will much depend upon 

 the severity and situation of the arthrodial inflammation. If 

 the larger joints, or those having extensive motion, as the'^true 

 hock-joint or elbow, be already opened by the suppuration, the 

 case may be looked upon as hopeless. 



If treatment is to be adopted, it must in the first place be 

 directed to the removal of all extrinsic causes ; secondly, to pro- 

 mote a better condition of the system generally ; and thirdly, 

 to modify the local manifestations of the disease. ^ 



