174 CATTLE. 



otherwise enduie from several diseases* cf the foot, cut out a por- 

 tion of the nen'e of the leg. This cannot interfere with the motion 

 of the limb, because there are no muscles beneath the knee for 

 the nerve to supply ; but it cuts off the communication of the 

 feeling of pain. If a nerve concerned with feeling be divided, the 

 impressions, whether of pleasure or of pain, made on it, below the 

 division, cannot be conveyed to the brain, and therefore the animal is 

 totally unconscious of them. Many a valuable animal is thus re- 

 lieved from torture, and perhaps his services are retained for many 

 a year, and bulls useless from lameness are made fit for service. 



The working ox is subject to several diseases of the feet, the 

 consequences of shoeing and hard labor, and which are painful and 

 difficult to treat. From the division of his foot, and the hardness 

 and occasional inequality of the ground, and the consequent ine- 

 quality of pressure on the two pasterns, he is subject to sprains 

 of the fetlock joint, and injuries of the shank-bone. Enlargements 

 of the lower head of these bones are frequently found in the ox. 

 With these diseases, the animal is capable of little work, and will 

 not carry much flesh. There are diseases natural to cattle, which 

 are productive of a great deal of pain, and materially lessen the 

 profit derived from ihem. Cows have lost, for a time, full half of 

 their milk, on account of the pain of tender or diseased feet. The 

 advantage of three and four months' feeding from the same cause 

 is often lost. In the London dairies tender feet is often a most seri- 

 ous ailment, and compels the milkman to part with some of his best 

 cows. 



Why should not neurotomy be resoi ted to ? There is nothing 

 difficult in it to any one acquainted with the anatomy of the part ; 

 and its beneficial effect cannot admit of dispute. It is free from any 

 objection. 



The operation is thus performed : — The ox is cast and secured, 

 the hair being previously cut from the limb to be operated upon. 

 The leg is then to be removed from the hobbles, and distended, and 

 a tight ligature passed round it beneath the knee, to prevent bleed- 

 ing. Then, on the centre of the back of the leg, (the cut, p. 176, 

 No. 1, represents the left leg,) but a little inclining towards the in- 

 side, and about 2| inches above the fetlock, the artery will be felt 

 for. Lying immediately inside the artery, towards the other leg, is 

 the vein, and close to that the nerve ; the nerve will be found about 

 one-sixth part of an inch within the artery. The artery is recognized 

 by its pulsation — the vein by its yielding to the pressure of the fin- 

 ger, and the nerve by its being a hard, unyielding body. The opera- 

 tor then makes a cautious incision, an inch and a half in length, over 

 the nerve, taking care merely to cut through the integument. The 

 cellular substance is dissected through, and the nerve exposed. A 

 crooked needle, with silk, is next passed under it, to raise it a little ; 



