298 RING-BONE. 
locked together by bony union—employ the ointment already recom. 
mended for spavin :— 
Jodide oflead . 2 . . s «© © = © » » + » One ounce. 
Simple ointment . . . . . Hight ounces. 
Mix, and apply with aaa hrice es 
RING-BONE. 
The whole soul of the horse seems devoted to man’s will; who has 
not seen a team of small but sturdy horses contrive to drag a heavy load 
up a steep hill, as though nothing could afford them such content as to 
leave their hoofs behind them! What Londoner 
but has witnessed the cart-horse dig its toes into 
the stones of Ludgate Hill, and make the muscles 
bulge out upon the glossy coat as though life had 
but one object, and to that object the animal was 
straining every nerve! 
= A sight such as this, when properly contemplated, 
A HORSE straininc To ~=s cannot otherwise than teach man to esteem his fel- 
Cres oe low-laborer; for what creature on earth toils so 
willingly in the service of humanity as the horse? At any hour it is 
ready—in health it is willing, and in sickness it is obedient; even when 
worn out, entirely used up and driven to the slaughter-house, it looks 
upon its slayer with large placid eyes, stands quietly in the place 
where it is bid, with no mistrust in the kindness of its abuser, and ends 
a life of devotion by accepting the blow almost as a favor. It is the 
only animal which lives but to more than share the burden of its owner; 
yet, of all existing quadrupeds, the horse is the most ill treated. 
Ring-bone is an osseous deposit; so far it resembles splint and spavin: 
it differs, however, in the kind of horses it attacks. Splint and spavin 
are principally witnessed upon quadrupeds of speed. Ring-bone is all 
but confined to the cart-horse. It is caused by those violent efforts this 
animal makes, in obedience to the voice of the driver, when dragging a 
heavy load up some sharp ascent. The entire force is then thrown upon 
the bones of the pastern; inflammation ensues; lymph is effused; the 
lymph becomes cartilage, and the cartilage is converted into bone. Then 
an exostosis is established, and a ring-bone is the consequence. 
The disease may implicate one or more bones; it may involve one or 
more joints; it may also be confined to one bone; it may be either par- 
tial or complete. It may exist as a slight enlargement in front of the bone, 
or it may quite encircle it. On page 299 is a specimen of the disease. 
The exostosis, as in this case, was prominent during life. The disease 
