330 



all. The foot is very tender, and the exploring pincers of the examin- 

 ing surgeon causes much iDain. There is nothing to encourage a 

 favorable i)rognosis, and a not unusual termination is an anchylosis 

 with either the navicular bone or the coronet. 



No method of treatment needs to be suggested here, the hoof per- 

 forming the office of retention unaided. Local treatment by baths 

 and fomentations will do the rest. It maj^ be months before there is 

 anj^ mitigation of the lameness. 



Fracture of the sesamoid hones. — This lesion has been considered 

 by veterinarians, erroneously, we think, one of rare occurrence. We 

 believe it to be more frequent than has been supposed. Many obser- 

 vations and careful dissections have convinced us that fractures of 

 these little bones have often been mistaken for specific lesions of the 

 numerous ligaments that are implanted upon their suiDerior and infe- 

 rior parts, and which have been described as a "giving way" or 

 "breaking down" of these ligaments. In our 2^ost mortem examina- 

 tions we have always noted the fact that when the attachments of the 

 ligaments were torn from their bony connections minute fragments of 

 bony structure were also separated, though we have failed to detect 

 any diseased process of the fibrous tissue com^DOsing the ligamentous 

 substance. 



From whatever cause this lesion maj^ arise, it can hardly be consid- 

 ered as of a traumatic nature, no external violence having anj^ ai^par- 

 ent agency in producing it, and it is our belief that it is due to a 

 peculiar degeneration or softening of the bones themselves, a theory 

 which acquires plausibility from the consideration of the spongy con- 

 sistency of the sesamoids. The disease is a jpeculiar one, and the sud- 

 denness with which different feet are successively attacked, at short 

 intervals and without any obvious cause, seems to prove the existence 

 of some latent morbid cause which has been unsuspectedl}^ incubating. 

 It is not j)eculiar to any particular class of horses, nor to anj^ special 

 season of the year, having fallen under our observation in each of the 

 four seasons. The general fact is reported in the history of a majority 

 of cases that it makes its appearance without premonition in animals 

 which, after enjojing a considerable i)eriod of rest, are first exercised 

 or put to work, though in x^oint of fact it may manifest itself while 

 the horse is still idle in his stable. A hypothetical case, in illustra- 

 tion, will explain our theory: 



An animal which has been at rest in his stable is taken out to work 

 and it will be presently noticed that there is something unusual in his 

 movement. His gait is changed, and he travels with short, mincing 

 steps, Avithout any of his accustomed ease and freedom. This may 

 continue until his return to the stable, and then, after being placed 

 in his stall, he will be noticed shifting his weight from side to side and 

 from one leg to another, continuing the movement until rupture of 

 the bony structure takes place. But it may happen that the lameness 



