147 



When an animal is put to inordinate and severe exer- 

 tion when too young, or especially receives concussions of 

 the joints from leaping or other causes, there is an over- 

 supply of blood driven into these parts; they become hot 

 and tender. The inflammation set up is followed by the 

 effusion of lymph, which gradually degenerates into this 

 spurious bony deposit, or Exostosis. In very many cases (as 

 seen on dissection), the inflammation extends to the articular 

 cartilage within the joint, which has resulted in the ulcera- 

 tion of that membrane. Diseases of this kind come on 

 rather slowly and insidiously, and the injury may have pro- 

 gressed considerably before any perceptible alteration of the 

 structure of the parts can be discerned. 



INJURIES AND WOUNDS IN GENERAL. 



The injuries to which the equine race are liable are many 

 in our large cities ; the majority of cases are the result of 

 accidents, while others are brutally inflicted by dastardly 

 rufiflans for various reasons. The most common and im- 

 portant wounds are the punctured, contused, lacerated, and 

 incised. 



A "wound consists in a solution of continuity, whether 

 from violence or any other cause. 



The punctured wound is the most frequent in horse prac- 

 tice, and the foot is generally the seat of the lesion. Con- 

 tused and abraded wounds are oftener seen in the neighbor- 

 hood of the coronet, from a severe tread by the opposite 

 shoe (calking). Lacerated wounds are not unfrequent from 

 violence inflicted by shafts or wheels of carriages coming in 

 collision with some part of the animal's body. Incised 

 wounds are mostly the intentional doings of revengeful men 

 with a sharp instrument, to occasion loss to the owners of 

 valuable animals. The other injuries to which the horse is 

 liable are Fractures, Dislocations, Sprains, and Burns. 



