THE HORSE, ITS DISEASES. 443 



K». 182. 10 Dropg muriatic acid, 



20 Grains corrosive sublimate, 

 20 Grains camplior, 

 1 Ounce oil of *iirpentine. 



Mix, and apply until a sufficient blister is formed ; then wash ofp to 

 prevent blemish and keep the blister running as long as possible, by cor- 

 ering with a rag well smeared with mutton tallow. Blister again if neces- 

 sary. Or, use the means pursued in spavin, oleate of mercury, if the 

 case is not difficult. 



If the ring-bone has been of long standing, the only relief will be the 

 growth of bony matter over^the joint. There will be more or less stiff- 

 ness in the joint, but the horse may do slow work. Old horses are more 

 difficult to cure than young ones, and in any case to avoid blemish, the 

 case must be taken at the first indication. Then thorough fomentations, 

 slight blistering, a proper shoe and rest will accomplish a cure. If there 

 is simply a hardening of the integuments, oleate of mercury, in developed 

 ring-bone or spavin, will reduce so much of it as is not already bony 

 ^owth. 



Vn. Stifle. 



Any difficulty of the stifle joint, by which the animal is more or less 

 disabled from the use of the limb, is by the generality of horsemen 

 termed stifling, it being supposed to be a dislocation of the stifle bone, 

 corresponding to the knee-pan in man. Dislocation, however, is ex- 

 tremely rare. The displacement of the whirlbone of the stifle joint when 

 it occurs, will cause the animal to throw the Umb straight out behind. 

 This form often becomes chronic ; that is, occurs, and the habit is fixed 

 from ^apparently slight causes, or any cause that shall compel the animal 

 to throw the leg back farther than is usual in going at a slow gait. It is 

 often produced in the first place by catching the hind leg or hoof in some- 

 thing which forcibly holds it. 



How to know it. — The horse will hold the leg extended out behind , 

 the head will be raised and the animal will go on three legs ; there is 

 every evidence of extreme pain, but no heat nor swelling. Upon exam- 

 ining the stifle bone, the patella, corresponding to the knee pan in man, 

 will be found outside those against which it should fit. When the 

 dislocation is inward, the limb will be drawn upward. 



What to do. — Get the animal into a close place ; have him held firmly 

 by the head ; pass a rope about the fetlock and over any projection, so 

 the limb may be drawn forward. Bring the limb forward and upward, 

 and standing behind and against the hip, press the bone toward and into 



