THE HORSE IN SICKNESS AND DISEASE 421 



As canker, however, is a constitutional disease, local 

 applications must not be singly depended upon. It is often 

 connected with grease and with grossness of body. The 

 condition of the horse must be considered, and measures 

 adopted to improve the system. 



CHAPTER XXVI 



THE HORSE IN SICKNESS AND DISEASE 



LAMENESSES-DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE 

 HOCK, LEGS, AND HINDER FEET. 



I.-The Haunch. 



THE STIFLE — STRAIN OF THE " ROUND-BONE " — DISLOCATION 

 AND FRACTURE OF THE PATELLA — ANCHYLOSIS. 



The haunch consists of three bones : the ilium, which is 

 joined to the spine, and, when projecting at its wings, pro- 

 duces the appearance called " ragged-hip " ; the ischium, or 

 hip-bone, behind and below the ilium, and which projects on 

 each side under the tail ; and the pubis, which unites the 

 two last-named. 



Fracture of the projecting part of the ilium, or haunch- 

 bone, occasionally occurs. When it is of a simple kind, 

 adhesive inflammation is set up, and the parts reunite ; 

 owing, however, to the action of the muscular fibres inserted 

 in the loosened portion, the piece is sometimes drawn aside, 

 and no surgical application can keep it in its proper position. 

 In these cases the horse is what is called " let down in the 

 hip." 



Although the "stifle," in comparative anatomy, corres- 

 ponds with the "knee" of the human subject, yet the 

 different proportions of the bones of the horse cause the 

 parts below it to be called the " thigh " instead of the 

 "leg."_ 



As in old books of farriery " chest-founder " was the cloak 

 for almost every obscure lameness in the fore limbs, so to a 

 "strain of the round-bone," or of the "stifle," the lame- 

 nesses of the hinder limbs were conveniently referred. 

 Violence, doubtless, occasionally injures the ligaments, 



