AND MALFORMATIONS OF THE FEET. 01 



may be set down as the necessary cause ; but as 

 stated above, it is scarcely possible that the navi- 

 cular bone can suffer from any such causes. 



78. From navicular disease and its origin in Sprains as 

 sprain and inflammation of the tendon, we pass to shoeing. 

 sprains in general, in so far at least as they are 

 traceable to the effects of shoeing. 



The tendons most frequently sprained are the 

 flexors, which bend and thus raise the leg. It is 

 very commonly supposed that they are sprained in 

 the act of putting down the leg on the ground. 

 Yet this idea, though common, is not always true, 

 for little weight or strain usually falls on them on 

 such occasions. 



When the flexors are sprained, the injury is 

 generally done, not in putting down, but in raising 

 the leg. Hence it is that we so often find these 

 tendons suffer from the effect of deep ground, be- 

 cause the difficulty of raising the leg is increased, 

 and therefore the strain on the tendon becomes 

 greater. The lifting of the leg is the first act in 

 progression. This action is entirely due to the 

 efforts of the flexors. The further acts of pro- 

 gression are performed by the extensor tendons, 

 which straighten and thereby bring forward the 

 leg, when raised by the flexors. 



From' this consideration of the action and use of 

 flexors or, as they are popularly called, the back 



