420 DISEASES ARISING FROM NEGLECT. 
which the superincumbent weight may give them. Hence we so 
often see puppies which are confined to their kennels with bandy- 
legs, which is usually the first sign of rickets. Sometimes the shins 
bend forward, producing what is called the “buck-shin,” but whether ~ 
the legs bow outwards or forwards, the cause is the same. The 
remedy for this is to be looked for in country air, exercise, and good 
food; but the quinine and steel pills, ordered for poverty of blood, will 
also be of service here, and notably when supported by cod-liver oil. 
Enlarged Joints may be merely a sign of excessive vigour in the 
formation of bone, as is sometimes seen in the early puppyhood of 
the greyhound, the mastiff, and other large dogs, between three 
and nine months old, when the knees and hocks will strike the eye 
as out of all character with the rest of the frame. Here, so long 
as the legs are not bent out of shape and there is no lameness, 
the breeder need feel no anxiety, as in course of time the enlarge- 
ment of the joints subsides, leaving only what is particularly 
desired, namely, large bony and strong joints, without any malfor- 
mation. It is extraordinary to what an extent this bony develop- 
ment sometimes goes, especially in young dogs, bitches seldom 
showing the same amount of it. Inexperienced breeders are often 
sadly puzzled to know whether such puppies are worth rearing, 
and I have often saved the lives of valuable animals, which had 
been condemned as diseased, but which ultimately turned out to 
be all that could be wished. When, therefore, such a state of 
things exists, let the patience of the owner be exercised till the 
ninth or tenth month, or sometimes still longer, and if about this 
time the limbs do not grow into shape, it will be quite early enough 
to consider what is to be done. But, again, there is to be met 
with a scrofulous enlargement of the joints which is seldom got 
rid of; but this occurs in delicate puppies, and not in the large 
overgrown animals which are the subjects of the mere “ big joints” 
above described, There is a puffy and soft feeling communicated 
to the hand on examining the leg, and usually there is a tender- 
ness on pressure, together with more or less lameness in walking 
orrunning. This scrofulous enlargement may occur in the knees, 
hocks, or stifles, but the last-named joints are most usually the 
seats of the disease. Sometimes nature rallies and throws off this 
tendency to scrofula, but more frequently the joints become larger 
and larger, the lameness increases, and, in most cases, some one 
