240 BONE-SPAVIN. 



first symptoms have subsided, the ligaments having 

 accommodated themselves to the enlargement, beyond 

 the disfigurement it occasions, bog-spavin will gene- 

 rally be of little consequence. 



BLOOD-SPAVIN. 



This is said to have consisted of a varicose or an 

 enlarged state of the vein which crosses the front of 

 the hock. It was never seen unless bog-spavin 

 existed; for it was the distention of the upper joint of 

 the hock which, pressing upon the vein, and prevent- 

 ing the blood from passing onward to the heart, 

 causes the vessel to dilate. Medicine here was of no 

 use, and external applications were thrown away. 

 The only means of cure was to take up the vein : and 

 an operation was required. But fortunately this 

 affection is now a thing of the past. The editor has 

 never met with the practitioner who had encountered 

 a case of the kind. But should an instance of this 

 deformity be met with by any of our readers, liga- 

 tures passed around the vessel, above and below the 

 varicosity, would be indicated as the proper mode of 

 cure. 



BONE-SPAVIN. 



From a consideration of the anatomy of the leg, it 

 will be evident that the weight of the horse is not 

 equally borne by all the bones. A more than pro- 

 portionate share is cast upon the small bones on the 

 inside of the hock. These also have to bear the 

 greater part of that concussion to which the hind limb 

 is subject. The inner bones support considerably 



