LAMENESS : ITS CAUSES AND TREATMENT. 379 



tied short, and restrained from any backward movement by ropes or 

 boards, and should, moreover, be kept in as quiet a temper as pos- 

 sible by the exclusion of all causes of irritation or excitement. Weeks 

 must then elapse, not less, but frequently more than six, often eight, 

 before he can be considered out of danger and able to return to his 

 labor, which should for a time be light and easy, and gradually, if 

 ever, increased to the measure of a thoroughly sound and strong ani- 

 mal. If he is used too soon the newly formed tissue between the ends 

 of the muscle will be liable to stretch and leave the flexor muscle too 

 long and permanently displaced. 



SUNDRY ADDITIONAL AFFECTIONS OF THE EXTREMITIES. 



Among these there are three which will principally occupy our 

 attention, and which may be considered as forming a single group. 

 In some parts of the legs may be found certain peculiar little struc- 

 tures of a saclike formation, containing an oily substance designed 

 for the lubrication of the parts upon which they are placed for the 

 purpose of facilitating the movements of the tendons which pass over 

 them. These little sacs or muco-synovial capsules, under peculiar 

 conditions of traumatism, are liable to become subject to a diseased 

 process, which consists principally in a hypersecretion of their con- 

 tents and an increase in dimensions, and they may undergo peculiar 

 pathological changes of such character as to disable an animal, and 

 in many instances to cause serious blemishes which can but depre- 

 ciate its value. These growths, which are known as hygromata, may 

 result from external violence, as blows or bruises, and may appear in 

 the form of small, soft tumors, painless and not inflammatory in 

 character, but, by a repetition of the cause or renewal of violence, 

 liable to acquire increased severity. Severe inflammation, with sup- 

 puration, may follow, which, filling up the cavity, the walls will 

 become thickened and hard, resulting in the formation of a tumor. 



The elbow, the knee, and the hock are the parts of the body where 

 these lesions are ordinarily found, and on account of their peculiar 

 shape and the position they occupy they have received the denomina- 

 tion " capped." They will be considered in their peculiar aspect. 



CAPPED ELBOW. 



Capped elbow, or " shoe boil," is a term applied to an enlargement 

 often found at the point of the elbow. 



Cause. — ^This lesion is due to injury or pressure of the part 

 while it is resting on the ground. The horse, unlike the cow, does not 

 rest directly on the under surface of the sternum, or breastbone, on 

 account of its sharp, ridge-like formation. He rests more on the side 

 of the breastbone and chest, and consequently the leg which is flexed 



