78 ABSORPTION : LAMENESS. [BOO£ I. 



of the joint- oil is sometimes drawn off by per- 

 spiration, that he becomes stiff in the knees, for 

 want of that softening quality which kept the parts 

 supple : we feel the same ourselves upon such 

 occasions ; and, in taking off the knee or the hough 

 of a permanently." stiff-jointed" horse, we have 

 invariably found the joint-oil affected ; in very bad 

 cases it no longer existed. During life, the escape 

 of this oil, by reason of wounds, (as bad broken 

 knees), leaves the joint stiff. Further comment on 

 its uses is unnecessary; but these facts should 

 teach his owners a practical lesson of moderation. 



On the subject of absorption of these secretions, 

 we noticed, many years ago, a very ingenious rea- 

 son assigned for " lameness of the fore legs, of 

 English horses particularly ," in the great work of 

 La Fosse, the elder, on what he calls " Hippo- 

 pathology," or the diseases of horses. He says, 

 " The fluids which hitherto lubricated the parts 

 (the shoulders) and kept them supple, being reduced 

 in quantity, the fluid flying off by sweat, the re- 

 mainder gets thicker in consequence, and the solids 

 of his limbs become stiff and dry." It happens 

 mostly in the fore limbs, and he calls it a cold or 

 chill, and says, page 267, it resembles a " stroke 

 of the shoulder," — " Chevalfroid et pris clans les 

 cpaules." A species of founder, that is clearly not 

 to be cured by external applications, (as the oils, 

 firing, &c.) but by restoring to the part the function 

 of secreting a sufficient supply of the fluid which 

 had been so exhausted. In these few words are 



