620 PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 



and upward. In one of the hind legs the navicular bone 

 was crushed and a narrow and thin layer of its articular 

 cartilage was left attached to the posterior lateral ligaments. 

 In one of the fore-legs, there was a complete detachment 

 of the glenoid fibro-cartilage that unites with the perforatus 

 at the superior extremity of the os corona. 



In another horse, ten years old, Degive and Hendricks 

 observed a partial detachment of the plantar aponeurosis 

 of a hind-leg from a violent effort to dislodge the leg from 

 a fixed position, but this accident may be analogous to frac- 

 ture of the patella from violent muscular contraction, in the 

 human. 



The detachment of the great suspensory ligament may 

 result from the same cause, but when four legs are affected 

 simultaneously it is only reasonable to suppose that the ac- 

 cident is the result of a nutritive disorder of the osseous tis- 

 sue. Among the tendinous and ligamentous detachments 

 noticed in works on surgery there are many which result 

 from the diffuse rarefying osteitis under consideration. 

 Thus, Bayer and Frohner report that out of 287 cases ob- 

 served among horses, 81.18 per cent were cured, 9.06 per 

 cent were improved, 9.06 per cent were killed, and 0.07 per 

 cent died. It is quite certain that the last three groups con- 

 tained numerous examples of osteoporosis. The flexor ten- 

 dons are the most predisposed to these detachments. Out 

 of 214 cases it has been shown that no, or 51.40 per cent, 

 were complete lacerations of the flexor pedis perforans ; 24, 

 or 1 1. 21 per cent, were lacerations of the suspensory liga- 

 ment, and 8, or 3.74 per cent, were lacerations of the ex- 

 tensor tendons. Among the cases of ligamentous detach- 

 ments it was observed that in 153 subjects 99, or 84.71 per 

 cent, were cured; 25, or 16.34 per cent, were improved; 8, 

 or 5.23 per cent, died, and 21, or 35.25 per cent, were killed. 



