4 ON THE NAVICULAR DISEASE. 



and progress of the navicular disease under all cir- 

 cumstances, over a hunting country, notorious for 

 the destructi m of horses by its hills and flints, viz., 

 Surrev. I have also seen the rava2:es of the disease 

 during my practice in the army, and I know practi- 

 cally the proportion of wear and tear arising from it 

 in post and coach establishments. Close observation 

 and repeated dissections have thoroughly convinced 

 me, that the navicular joint is more or less diseased 

 in every case of chronic foot lameness, where no ap- 

 parent cause exists for such lameness, except con- 

 traction. And as a large proportion of these cases 

 of lameness exhibit contraction of the hoof or exter- 

 nal foot, in a much less degree than hundreds of 

 horses daily doing fast work on the hard road and 

 in the field, notoriously sound, or at least free from 

 lameness (many of whose feet might be selected as 

 choice specimens of contraction), it occurs to me 

 that this classification or division of contraction into 

 two kinds is necessarily called for. To detect the 

 existence of this insidious disease during life in its 

 incipient state, the united tact, talent, and discri- 

 ocruit partial miuatiou of tlic experieuccd practitioner are essen- 

 pr"rui-fi,Irtona-//a/; for tlicrc arc many apparently fine, open- 



vicular disease. , , . n , ,v j \ -.i ^1 • 1 • * 1 * I ' 



jookino- teet anected with this compkimt, winch in 

 reality are treacherous feet, concealing iVom the eye 

 of a common observer a lurking evil, which is ge- 

 nerally antecedent to the navicular disease : this is 

 the occult partial contraction or pressure, the pre- 

 cise scat of which 1 shall presently point out. 



