286 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



membrane, and the result may be softening, degeneration, or necro- 

 sis, but more usually it is followed by the formation of the bony 

 growths referred to, on the cannon bone, the coronet, the hock, etc. 



SPLINTS. 



We first turn our attention to the splint, as certain bony enlarge- 

 ments which are developed on the cannon bone, between the knee or 

 the hock and the fetlock joint, are called. They are found on the 

 inside of the leg, from the knee, near to which they are frequently 

 found, downward to about the lower third of the principal cannon 

 bone. They are of various dimensions, and are readily perceptible 

 both to the eye and to the touch. They vary considerably in size, 

 ranging from that of a large nut downward to very small proportions. 

 In searching for them they may be readily detected by the hand if 

 they have attained sufficient development in their usual situation, but 

 must be distinguished from a small bony enlargement which may be 

 felt at the lower third of the cannon bone, which is neither a splint 

 nor a pathological formation of any kind, but merely the buttonlike 

 enlargement at the lower extremity of the small metacarpal or splint 

 bone. 



We have said that splints are to be found on the inside of the leg. 

 This is true as a general statement, but it is not invariably so, and 

 they occasionally appear on the outside. It is also true that they 

 appear most commonly on the fore legs, but this is not exclusively the 

 case, and they may at times be found on both the inside and outside 

 of the hind leg. Usually a splint forms only a true exostosis, or a 

 single bony growth, with a somewhat diffuse base, but neither is this 

 invariably the case. In some instances they assume more important 

 dimensions, and pass from the inside to the outside of the bone, on 

 its posterior face, between that and the susjoensory ligament. This 

 form is termed the pegged splint^ and constitutes a serious and per- 

 manent deformity, in consequence of its interference with the play 

 of the fibrous cord which passes behind it, becoming thus a source of 

 continual irritation and colisequently of permanent lameness. 



Symptoms. — A splint may thus frequently become a cause of lame- 

 ness though not necessarily in every instance; but it is a lameness 

 possessing features peculiar to itself. It is not always continuous, 

 but at times assumes an intermittent character, and is more marked 

 when the animal is warm than when he is cool. If the lameness is 

 near the kneejoint, it is very apt to become aggravated when the 

 animal is put to work, and the gait acquires then a peculiar character, 

 arising from the manner in which the limb is carried outward from 

 the knees downward, which is done by a kind of abduction of the 

 lower part of the leg. Other symptoms, however, than the lameness 

 and the presence of the splint, which is its cause, may be looked for 

 in the same connection as those which have been mentioned as per- 



