SPLINTS. 243 



well to employ a broad one, so that the whole of the growth should 

 be removed and no trimming up be required, and with this object 

 I took care to dissect the periosteum well away from the splint. I 

 also was very careful not to close the skin wound until all bleeding 

 had absolutely ceased after the tourniquet had been removed, and 

 the few cases that went wrong I attribute to neglect of this pre- 

 caution, the suggestion of which I am indebted to a friend in 

 the Indian Medical Service. In my later cases, in which this was 

 observed, the wound healed by first intention without any trouble. 



" Needless to say rigid antisepsis is necessary, but Mr. Mayall's 

 experience shows that conservation of the periosteum is not neces- 

 sary. The majority of my cases went right without any recurrence 

 of the splint, and only a slight cicatrix remaining. Those in 

 which there was any blemish were, I think, due to suturing the 

 fikin before bleeding had altogether ceased." 



This operation is very useful for removing a splint which inter- 

 feres with the action of the opposite leg. 



LEGAL ASPECT OF SPLINT.— I think I am safe in saying 

 that the large majority of experienced veterinary surgeons will 

 agree that a splint which is well away from the knee, and which 

 does not interfere with the working of the tendons or ligaments, 

 or with the action of the other leg, is not an unsoundness ; provided 

 that it does not cause lameness, and that the horse is at least six 

 years old. The limit of age might in some cases be reduced. If 

 the animal is young, and especially, if he has not done much work, 

 the fact of his having a splint, would indicate that the leg is not 

 of the proper kind to stand a good deal of "knocking about." 



From '' Margetson v. Wright " (see Moore and Scott's Cases in 

 Common Pleas, etc., vol. i., p. 622), it appears that a horse with 

 a splint can be passed sound, if the bony deposit, from its size and 

 position, would not be liable to cause lameness ; leaving out of 

 consideration what its results might be, were it to increase in size, 

 or invade other structures. Lord Chief Justice Tindal's judgment 

 on this case was as follows : — " This was an action upon a warranty, 

 in which the defendant warranted the horse to be sound in wind 

 and limb ' at the time,' that is, at the time of the wan^anty made. 

 The jury at the trial found a verdict for the plaintiff ; the learned 

 Judge requesting them to tell him distinctly whether in their 

 judgment the horse was sound; or, if they believed him to be 

 unsound, whether that unsoundness arose from the splint of which 

 evidence had been given. In answer to which inquiry, the jury 

 said, ' that, although the horse exhibited no symptoms of lameness 

 at the time when the contract was made, he had then upon him the 

 seeds of unsoundness arising from the splint.' 



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