CHAP. V.] STRAINS, WHERE SEATED. 533 



the foot does not consist in a strain of the joint 

 within the hoof, but is referrible to general concus- 

 sion of all the parts, and is rather a strain of the 

 back sinew at its conjunction with the bottom of 

 the coffin-bone. Inflammation and accelerated cir- 

 culation follow, and numbness of the foot suc- 

 ceeds : these, if not remedied betimes, are followed 

 by ossification of the tendon, of the ligament of the 

 small pastern, and the cartilaginous process (at f), 

 fig. 2, plate 2, also becomes bone. That the joint 

 of the coffin-bone with the pastern-bone within the 

 foot may be strained, is very probable ; but no in- 

 jury, blow, or concussion, can affect it, which does 

 not at the same time affect all the component parts 

 of the foot. Horses which have thin hoof and sole 

 are most liable to this injury. 



Symptoms. — Sudden lameness, that is always in- 

 creasing, and has scarcely an intermission, without 

 any appearance to account for it on the limb ; and 

 the persons who permit the horse to incur this dis- 

 order by their carelessness seldom have the candour 

 to acknowledge that they know the cause to be a 

 tread, a rolling stone or a stumble, and the doctor 

 is left to " find it out." Almost every one imagines 

 the lameness to reside higher up, as in the shoulder 

 or the hip joint. Great heat and tenderness of the 

 part soon come on ; the latter symptom may be as- 

 certained by striking the hoof in front with a key 

 or small stone, when the animal will flinch consi- 

 derably more than when the corresponding foot is 

 struck in the same manner. When the horse would 



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