410 VETERINARY SURGICAL THERAPEUTICS, 
VI.—Great Sciate. 
Well protected at its origin by the thick layers of the gluteal muscles, 
the great sciatic is seldom affected, yet its paralysis has been observed in 
horses and in dogs. Ordinarily due to the forced extension of the hind 
Jeg, in a slip or by a fall on the hind quarters, it is characterized by the 
inertia of the totality of the muscles of the hind leg, except the triceps, 
which is innerved by the femoral; the paralyzed muscles become atrophied 
with time. Rodet has related the observation of a horse affected with a 
special Jameness due to compression of the nerve. “The diseased leg was 
moved as if being thrown forward by a sudden jerky movement. In this 
action, so to speak automatic, the cannon and digital region were waver- 
ing; the cord of the bifemoro calcaneus being itself flabby and quivering.” 
Backing was almost impossible ; and often in walking, the anterior face ot 
the fetlock rested on the ground. At the autopsy the great sciatic was 
found pressed upon by a melanotic tumor. Moller has mentioned three 
examples of this paralysis, observed in three large dogs. 
It is not always present alone. In the horse it has been seen existing 
with paralysis of the brachial plexus of the same side (Trasbot) or of the 
opposite leg (Moller, Fries). ' 
Under the title of paralysis of the tibial nerve, some German authors, 
Moller among them, describe the paralysis of the great sciatic, below the 
lower third of the femur. At rest, in standing, the hock flexes, the leg 
drops. During exercise, all the joints flex abnormally, the foot is carried 
upwards as in springhalt; trotting is impossible. 
The treatment varies with the cause of the trouble. If the nerve is 
compressed by a tumor, extirpation of the growth alone is indicated. 
Against paralysis with unknown causes, blisterings and iodide of potassium 
should be tried first. Later, massage or faradization of the atrophied 
muscles and exercise are indicated. 
Vil—External Sciatic Popliteal. 
The small femoro popliteal or external sciatic popliteal rises from the 
sciatic on a level with the gemelli of the pelvis and runs from backwards 
forwards, from upwards downwards, towards the external face of the 
superior extremity of the tibia, where it terminates by two branches: the 
musculo-cutaneous and the anterior tibial nerve. The first ramifies in the 
lateral extensor of the phalanges and the skin. The second, the most 
important, goes to the anterior extensor of the phalanges and to the 
flexor metatarsi. It is exposed to injuries principally at its passage on the 
tibia. 
