4 THE SURGICAL ANATOMY OF THE HORSE 



the pisiform is almost immediately subcutaneous — a point which is or 

 considerable surgical importance in dealing with affections of the knee 

 which require tight bandaging for any considerable length of time. In 

 such cases the pressure of the bandage should be taken off the edge of 

 the pisiform bone by applying a roll of cotton wool or tow on either 

 side ; otherwise the continuous pressure on the skin over the sharp edge 

 of the bone will lead to a serious complication in the form of the bone 

 making its appearance through the skin. 



The outermost bones of the two rows of the carpus, namely the 

 cuneiform and the unciform, should next be felt, and below the unciform 

 the head of the outer small metacarpal or " splint " bone will be detected, 

 from which without any difficulty the finger may be passed along the 

 groove which corresponds to the line of apposition of the large and outer 

 small metacarpal bones. This groove indicates the most common situa- 

 tion of splints, and particular familiarity should be made with it imme- 

 diately below the knee, for here we find what are known as " knee 

 splints," which are the most troublesome form of this affection. 



Between the knee and the fetlock it will be found that the anterior 

 aspect of the large metacarpal bone is immediately subcutaneous, but 

 towards the outer side of this aspect the tendon of the extensor pedis 

 muscle may be easily felt, and externally to that again the tendon of the 

 extensor suffraginis muscle. At a point which is distant from two 

 and a half to three and a half inches below the knee and immediately 

 behind the small metacarpal bone there will be felt a slight thickening, 

 which indicates the position where the subcarpal or check ligament 

 unites with the tendon of the deep fiexor of the digit, and which 

 thickening must not be mistaken for fibrous enlargement due to a 

 chronic sprain of the tendon. By taking up the foot and fiexino- the 

 knee, the edge of the ligament becomes much more evident to the 

 touch. 



The next step is carefully to manipulate the skin over the back 

 tendons, namely, those of the flexor perforatus and flexor perforans 



