374 DADD'S VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 



of tlie toe of the shoe, showing that the heel is rarely or but very 

 gingerly put to the ground ; also the circumstance, often observ- 

 able by the groom, of the animal resting the lame (hind) limb in 

 the stable; on occasions, perhaps, knackling over upon it, and so 

 bearing the weight upon the toe alone. And it has happened 

 before now that, while doubt was impending as to the locality 

 and nature of the lameness, a spavin has made its appearance, and 

 dissipated all further conjecture; and with this development of 

 the spavin, the lameness, so far from being augmented, is not 

 unlikely to become better. This is an observation made so long 

 ago as the time of Solleysell. This admirable observer, in one 

 part of his chapter on spavins, says : 'At their first piercing, they, 

 generally speaking, make a horse halt, and afterward the swelling 

 growing bigger, the horse halteth no more with it.' " 



I have noticed that spavined horses are usually the subjects of 

 ill-shaped hocks; hence this peculiarity of conformation would 

 seem to indicate that such animals have a certain amount of pre- 

 disposition lurking in their systems. The ordinary exciting causes 

 are sprain or strain, and overwork. 



Now, what will cure spavin? This question was propounded 

 to the author, some time ago, and the following answer was 

 elicited. The answer is as good to-day as when first written. 

 "What will cure spavin?" I answer: Time, rest, and the appli- 

 cation of remedies adapted to the various stages of the disease. 

 The usual remedies, in the early stage, are rest, frequent use of the 

 shower-bath, and refrigerating lotions. In the chronic stage, and 

 when the disease has commenced on the articulating surfaces of 

 the hock-joint, or an ossific bony enlargement has made its ap- 

 pearance, then we resort to counter-irritation, by using some one 

 of the preparations of cantharides or iodine. " What will cure 

 spavin ?" is a tough question for a medical man to solve ; for, if 

 he has been properly educated, he knows well enough that bone 

 spavin, like hip-joint disease in the human subject, is, to all in- 

 tents and purposes, incurable — I mean in so far as the physiology 

 and pathology of the parts are concerned. Soft tissues, once 

 aaving been changed into bone, never can be remetamorphosed 

 into the original condition so as to possess their inherent qualities 

 of elasticity (contraction and expansion). At the same time we 

 are all horsemen enough to understand what the term " :ure " 

 means when applied to the disease known as spavin. It signifies 



