350 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



and the swelling has assumed better defined boundaries, and the infil- 

 tration of the tendons or of the ligaments is all that remains of a 

 morbid state, then every effort must be directed to the object of effect- 

 ing its absorption and reducing its dimensions by pressure and other 

 methods. The medicaments most to be trusted are blisters of can- 

 tharides and frictions with ointments of iodine, or, preferably, 

 biniodide of mercury. Mercurial agents alone, by their therapeutic 

 properties or by means of the artificial bandages which they furnish 

 by their incrustations when their vesicatory effects are exhausted, 

 will give good results in some instances by a single application, and 

 often by repeated applications. The use of the firing iron must, 

 however, be frequently resorted to, either to remove the lameness or 

 to stimulate the absorption. We believe that its early application 

 ought to be resorted to in preference to waiting until the exudation 

 is firmly organized. Firing in dull points or in lines will prove as 

 beneficial in curb as in any other disease of a similar nature. 



LACERATED TENDONS. 



This form of injury, whether of a simple or of a compound char- 

 acter, may become a lesion of a very serious nature, and will usually 

 require long and careful treatment, which may yet prove unavailing 

 in consequence either of the intrinsically fatal character of the wound 

 itself or the complications which have rendered it incurable. 



Cause. Like all similar injuries, these are the result of traumatic 

 violence, such as contact with objects both blunt and sharp; a curb- 

 stone in the city; in the country, a tree stump or a fence, especially 

 one of wire. It may easily occur to a runaway horse when he is 

 " whipped " with fragments of harness or " flogged " by fragments of 

 splintered shafts " thrashing " his legs, or by the contact of his legs 

 with the wagon he has overturned and shattered with his heels while 

 disengaging himself from its wreck. 



Symptoms. It is not always necessary that the skin should be 

 involved in this form of injury. On the contrary, the tegument is 

 frequently left entirely intact, especially when the injury follows 

 infectious diseases or occurs during light exercise after long periods 

 of rest in the stable. Yet, again, the skin may be cut through and 

 the tendons nearly severed. A point a little above the fetlock is 

 usually the seat of the injury. But irrespective of this, and whether 

 the skin is or is not implicated, the symptoms very much resemble 

 those of a fracture. There is excessive mobility, at least more than 

 in a normal state, with more or less inability to carry weight. There 

 may be swelling of the parts, and on passing the hands carefully 

 along the tendon to the point of division the stumps of the divided 

 structure will be felt more or less separated, perhaps wholly divided. 

 The position of the animal while at rest and standing is peculiar and 

 characteristic. While the heels are well placed on the ground, the 



