lameness: its causes an0 treatment. 377 



with the disposition of the patient; the natural opposition of the 

 animal, sometimes ill-tempered and fractious at best, under the 

 necessary restraint causing at times much embarrassment to the 

 practitioner in applying the necessary treatment. Without the nec- 

 essary immobility there can be no close connection of the ends of 

 the tendons. To fulfill this necessary condition the posterior part of 

 the foot and the fetlock must be supported and the traction per- 

 formed by them relieved, an object which can be obtained by the use 

 of the high-heeled and bar shoe, or possibly better accomplished with 

 a shoe of the same kind extending about 2 or 2^ inches back of the 

 heels. The perfect immobility of the legs is obtained in the same 

 way as in the treatment of fracture, with splints, bandages, iron 

 apparatus, plaster of adhesive mixtures, and similar means. So 

 long as the dressings remain in place undisturbed and no chafing 

 or other evidence of pain is present, the dressings may be continued 

 without changing, the patient being kept in the slings for a period 

 sufficient to insure the perfect union of the tendons. For a com- 

 pound lesion when there is laceration of the skin some special care 

 is necessary. The wound must be carefully watched and the dress- 

 ings removed at intervals of a few days or as often as may be 

 needful, all of which additional manipulation and extra nursing, 

 however indispensable, still adds to the gravity of the case and 

 renders the prognosis more and more serious. Wlien the tendons 

 have sloughed in threads of various dimensions, or if in the absence 

 of this process of mortification healthy granulations should form 

 and fill up the wound, still very careful attention will be required, 

 the granulating ends of the tendons having a tendency to bulge 

 between the edges of the skin and to assume large dimensions, 

 forming bulky excrescences or growths of a warty or cauliflower 

 appearance, the removal of which becomes a troublesome matter. 

 The union of the tendons will at times leave a thickening of vary- 

 ing degree near the point of cicatrization, the absorption of which 

 becomes an object of difficult and doubtful accomplishment, but 

 which may be promoted by moderate blistering and the use of alter- 

 ative and absorbent mixtures or perhaps the fire iron. A shoe with 

 heels somewhat higher than usual will prove a comfort to the animal 

 and aid in moderating and relieving the tension of the tendons. 



RUPTURE OF THE FLEXOR METATARSI. 



This is a muscle of the anterior part of the shank. It is situated 

 in front of the tibia, and is of peculiar formation, being composed of 

 a muscular portion with a very powerful tendon, which are at first 

 distinct and separate, to be intimately united lower down, aiid termi- 

 nating iat the lower end by a division into four tendinous bands. It 

 is a powerful muscle of the hinder shank bone, and also acts as a 



