THOROUGH-PIN. 237 



assistant should lift the lame leg-, and carry it forward, 

 while the surgeon presses upon the edge of the patella ; 

 the bone will then be returned to its natural situation 

 with a facility that would scarcely be expected. If 

 some hours should have passed between the dislocation 

 and its attempted reduction, the ligaments will have 

 been weakened; and the bone sometimes slips out 

 again as soon as the pressure is removed : it will 

 always, therefore, be prudent to let some one remain 

 pressing against the part for several hours, and to 

 bathe the joint with cold lotion; or to stimulate the 

 part at once, if the bone has previously been subject 

 to dislocation. Should not the ligaments even then 

 have regained sufficient strength, the cautery will 

 probably be needed. Much inflammation, and en- 

 largement of the joint, and even fracture of the patella, 

 arise from contusions received in hunting, or when a 

 horse is running away. Rest, fomentation, and, if 

 unavoidable, blistering, are the proper remedies for 

 ordinary accidents ; but fracture of the patella seems 

 to be beyond the aid of Veterinary Surgery. 



The muscles of the thigh, generally, and particu- 

 larly of the inside of it, have sometimes been severely 

 sprained in hunting, where the country is deep and the 

 fences high. Rest and fomentation, with gentle medi- 

 cines, are the remedies indicated here. 



THOROUGH-PIN. 



Above the hock we sometimes find a soft swelling. 

 It generally projects on both sides, and is therefore 

 called a thorough-pin. This tumour is situated in 

 front of the point of the hock ; and is commonly con- 



