THE HORSE IN SICKNESS AND DISEASE 423 



Fracture of the Patella is occasioned by a violent kick or 

 blow. When the action of the tendons inserted into its sur- 

 faces disunites the fractured portions beyond the power of 

 veterinary surgery to bring them together, the limb is use- 

 less, having lost the antagonism to undue flexion. It will 

 be therefore of no avail to attempt a course of treatment. 



In human surgery, the treatment of dislocations and 

 fractures forms a most important branch of practice. In 

 the horse, though these separations sometimes occurs, the 

 immensity of the muscular resistance is such, and our 

 surgical machinery at present is so little calculated to make 

 resistance to the power thus exerted, that the subject may 

 be briefly dismissed in such a treatise as the present. 



ANCHYLOSIS (STIFF AND BENT JOINT). 



When bony matter is deposited within or upon the car- 

 tilaginous extremities of bones, or upon the capsular and 

 investing ligaments, so as totally to destroy the motion of a 

 joint, it is called anchylosis, from the Greek word, ankyloOy 

 to bend. This tendency is remarkably shown in the horse. 

 Few of the joints of the animal escape anchylosis, as none 

 of his bones are out of the ordinary reach of bony deposit. 

 The joints of the spinal column, particularly of the dorsal 

 and lumbar vertebrae, are frequently the seat of this aflec- 

 tion, which seems to be occasioned by heavy weights. It 

 is anchylosis which renders old horses stiff, and in some 

 instances unwilling to lie down, or when down, averse to 

 rising up again. When anchylosis of the knee or hock 

 occurs, it usually follows injuries extending into the cavities 

 of those important joints. The treatment is, of course, 

 merely palliative, promoting absorption where possible by 

 iodine and stimulants, and soothing pain, where present, by 

 wet bandages, warm and cold. 



II.-The Hock. 



STRAIN OF THE LIGAMENTS — CURB — ENLARGEMENT OF THE 

 HOCK — CAPPED HOCK — BOG-SPAVIN, BLOOD-SPAVIN, BONE- 

 SPAVIN — THOROUGH-PIN. 



Strain of the Ligaments of this important joint is by no 

 means infrequent, and, as we have said before, the injury 

 is supposed to be higher up. If taken early, the horse 



