283 



nothing' of the considerations which are always forcibly negative in any 

 question of the intiictiou of pain and the unnecessary use of the knife. 



If an acute periostitis of the cannon bone has been readily discovered, 

 the treatment we have already suggested for that ailment is at once 

 indicated, and the astringent lotions may be relied upon to bring about 

 beneficial results. Sometimes, however, preference may be given to a 

 lotion possessing a somewhat diifereut quality, the alterative consisting 

 of tincture of iodine applied to the inflamed spot several times daily. 

 If the lameness persists under this mild course of treatment it must of 

 course be attacked by other methods, and we must resort to the can- 

 tharidal ointment or Spanish-fly blister, as we have before recommended. 

 Besides this, and producing an analogous effect, the compounds of 

 biniodide of mercury are favored by some. It is prepared in tlie form 

 of an ointment, consisting of 1 dram of the biniodide to 1 ounce of 

 either lard or vaseline. It forms an excellent blistering and alterative 

 application, and is of special advantage in newly formed or recently 

 discovered exostosis. 



It remains a pertinent query, however, and one which seems to be 

 easily answered, whether a tumor so diminutive in size that it can only 

 be detected by diligent search, and which is neither a disfigurement nor 

 an obstruction to the motion of the limb, need receive any recognition 

 whatever. Other modes of treatment for siilints are recommended and 

 practiced which belong strictly to the domain of operative veterinary 

 surgery. Among these are to be reckoned actual cauterization, or the 

 application of the fire-iron and the operation of periosteotom}'. These 

 are frequently indicated in the treatment of splints which have resisted 

 milder means. 



The mode of the development of their growth ; their intimacy, greater 

 or less, with both the large and the small cannon bones ; the possibility 

 of their extending to the back of these bones under the suspensory 

 ligament 5 the dangerous complications which may follow the rough 

 handling of the parts ; with also a possibility, and indeed a probability, 

 of their return after removal, these are the considerations which have 

 influenced our judgment in discarding from our practice and our ap- 

 proval the method of removal by the saw or the chisel, as recommended 

 by certain European veterinarians. 



RIXGBONES. 



This peculiar term forms the designation of the exostosis which is 

 found on the coronet, ia the digital, and also in the phalangeal region, 

 probably because it extends quite around the coronet, which it encircles 

 in the manner of a ring, or perhaps because it often forms upon the 

 back of that bone a regular osseous circlet, through which the back 

 tendons obtain a passage. The dimensions which may be attained by 

 these tumors and the places where they are usually developed have 



