DISEASES OF THE BONES. 751 



by stimulating the secretions in the kidneys and skin. Small and 

 repeated doses of nitrate of potash (salt petre), bitartrate of pot- 

 ash, sweet spirits of nitre, dilute acids, etc., by their cooling action, 

 and by favoring absorption, tend greatly to reduce fever and 

 relieve inflamed parts. Nothing tends more to success in the 

 treatment of inflammation than attention to diet and regimen. 

 The comfort of the patient must be attended to ; he should have a 

 cool, roomy, loose box; and laxative, easily digested food, such as 

 green food, bran mashes, etc., should be given so as to keep the 

 bowels open. 



DISEASES OF THE BONES. 



The skeleton of a horse is made up of 242 bones; and as these 

 bones are the hard frame- work of the animal body, serving for 

 the support and attachment of the softer textures and the protec- 

 tion of delicate organs, they are consequently liable to the same 

 accidents and diseases as the other parts of the body. They are 

 composed of animal and earthy matters, in the proportion of one- 

 third of the former to two-thirds of the latter. They are' covered 

 externally by a sensitive and vascular membrane called the peri- 

 osteum, and lined internally by a similar membrane called the en- 

 dosteum. They enter into the formation of the joints, their ends 

 being held together by the ligaments, and their adjoining surfaces 

 being covered by cartilage or gristle, with a lubricating fluid be- 

 tween, called synovia, or joint oil, to prevent friction and facilitate 

 the motion of the joint. 



Diseases of the bones are not very numerous in the lower 

 animals; the most common are Exostosis, in which we have an 

 enlargement or bony tumor thrown out on the surface of tli^bone; 

 when between two bones, and uniting them together, it is called 

 Anchylosis Caries, generally defined to be an ulceration or disin- 

 tegration of the bony texture; Necrosis, which is the entire death 

 of the whole or part of a bone; Osteosarcoma, which is a disease^ 

 more particularly of the ox tribe, in which we have a tumor on 

 the bone, partly bony and partly fleshy, occurring commonly on 

 jaws or ribs; and Enchondroma, consisting of a cartilaginous or 

 gristly tumor on a bone ; it is more common in man, but is also 

 seen in cattle, and occasionally in the horse. 



