OPERATIONS OX THE FOOT 107 



be shot unless this piece of nerve could be found, he was 

 again thrown, and after he had been anaesthetized I deter- 

 mined to follow the course of the nerve down, until I found 

 where the accessory branch came from. This I found a 

 little below the fetlock, about ]/ 2 inch below the point where 

 the anterior plantar nerve is given off from the metacarpal 

 nerve. It was about l / 2 inch below the spot where the 

 anterior plantar nerve passes between the artery and vein 

 of the foot, and it was somewhat difficult to get at it. 



' Fig. 62 shows the exact size and distribution of the 

 nerves. After the separation of the accessory branch, 

 sensation was taken from the foot, and the horse went 

 perfectly sound/ 



Stumbling. — In addition to the sequelae we have men- 

 tioned, it is urged against the operation of neurectomy that 

 one of the first effects of depriving the foot of the sense of 

 touch is a tendency on the part of the animal to stumble. 

 From the cases we have seen we cannot regard this objection 

 as a serious one. Nevertheless, as veterinarians, with a 

 knowledge of the physiology of the structures with which 

 we are dealing, we must treat the objection with respect, for, 

 after all, we are bound to allow that stumbling, and a bad 

 form of it, would be but a natural sequence of the operation 

 we have just performed. The real fact remains, however, 

 that cases of stumbling, even immediately after the opera- 

 tion, are rare ; and that even when they do occur, the animal 

 seems easily able to accommodate himself to the altered 

 condition, and as readily uses the comparatively inert mass 

 at the end of his limb as he did previously the intact foot. 



H. ADVANTAGES OF THE OPERATION. 



From the prominence we have given to the unfortunate 

 sequelae of the operation it might possibly be inferred that, 

 while not giving it our absolute condemnation, we regard 

 neurectomy with a certain amount of distrust. That we 

 may contradict any such false impression, we state here 

 that in many cases the operation is the only measure which 



