THE KNEE. 65 



exposed, and what must have been the consequences of a broken 

 knee 1 or how could the animal with impunity have gone down 

 upon his knees, in the act of lying down or kneeling, as he can at 

 present 1 Suppose a sort of patella or knee-pan had been placed 

 and attached in front of the knee, would that have answered the 

 purpose 1 Perhaps, as far as standing and motion are concerned, 

 it would ; and, perhaps, some such contrivances as exist in the 

 knee-joint of a man — the semilunar cartilages — might have been 

 successfully introduced for warding off concussion : still, the chances 

 both of fracture and dislocation must have been great, whereas 

 now, such accidents never happen*; and besides, the knees so 

 formed never could have undergone " the wear and tear" with the 

 impunity they are, such as they are, enabled to do. 



Nothing can exceed the complete aptitude of the joint of the 

 knee for every purpose named and required of it. Though there 

 are six bones actually entering into its composition, yet so braced 

 and bound together are they, by ligaments, in their relative situa- 

 tions, that, while they admit of every requisite motion in the joint, 

 they support the superincumbent weight with all the stability of a 

 solid structure, and are secured both against fracture and dislocation 

 under any use or abuse to which the knee may be subjected. 

 Moreover, the joint receives protection both in front and back by 

 the tendons which pass across it, and has, in addition, a general 

 enclosure of capsular ligament. 



Large knees constitute a good point in a horse ; they denote 

 strength and stability ; in action, safety and endurance ; and, as I 

 observed before, it is a great point to have a boldly projecting tra- 

 pezium. The motion of the knee-joint consists in flexion backwards 

 — none whatever in the forward direction ; and this flexion back- 

 wards is capable of being carried to the utmost extent — so far as 

 to bring the back of the leg in contact with the back of the arm. 

 Nothing illustrates this better than the strapping of the leg and 

 arm together ; an expedient not infrequently had recourse to when 



* Many years ago, when I was quartered at Chatham, and in the habit of 

 hunting with the Wouldham harriers, a person assured me he " put out his 

 horse's knee-joint" in galloping hard down the declivity of Wouldham hill. 



K 



