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point of the shoulder blade. Its lo wer extremity which is directed back 

 ward, terminates in two condyles receiving between them the head of 

 the forearm, 'which is composed of the radius (g), and the elbow or ulna, 

 The latter bone has a long projection above and behind the upper joint 

 and forms the point of the elbow, to which some powerful muscles are 

 attached for extending the arm. 



The knee or carpus is a complicated joint, uniting the forearm to 

 the cannon bone, and is composed of six small bones, (i-q) interposed be- 

 tween the upper and lower portions of the front leg. They are: The pisi- 

 form (/), lunar (w), cuneiform (&), scaphoids (/), trapezoides (o), magnum 

 (p), and uncif orme («). 



The true earpal bones are seven in number, six of them being placed 

 in two rows, each containing three bones, in front of the joint and the 

 seventh, the pisiform, being situated behind them, forming the point 

 of attachment for some of the muscles of the arm, and otherwise aiding 

 in the protection of the tendons running down behind the leg. Besides 

 the advantage of distributing a shock over several distinct parts, there 

 is another object to be gained by the interposition of these small bones. 

 The bending of the leg at this point can be carried so far that a very 

 wide opening between the bones of the forearm and the cannon bone 

 would necessarily be the result ; and this would take place at a part ex- 

 tremely liable to external injury. By the presence and arrangement of 

 the interposed carpal bones, this wide opening is replaced by three nar- 

 row ones, which are well protected from all ordinary dangers by being 

 covered with a capsular ligament, extending from the radius above, to 

 the shank below them. A large flat knee has always been considered a 

 valuable point in a horse, and from what we have shown of the action 

 of this joint, the advantages of its possessing a considerable extent of 

 "-rface will be sufficiently evident. 



r 



