OPEN SYNOVIAL CAVITIES. 417 
ing parts sympathize, and the constitution suffers from intense irri- 
tation. 
Something of this kind happens when a synovial sheath is punctured. 
The tendon comes in contact with its investing synovial membrane; but 
there are reasons why that circumstance is not so serious as when the 
lubricating fluid is released from the cavity of a joint. Tendons support 
no weight, and their motion is, with the sick, almost optional. The 
bones are the pillars on which the body rests; even while the frame is 
prostrated, a certain degree of pressure is upon them; for that reason, 
and also because tendon is more highly organized than cartilage, the 
first-mentioned substance is endowed with the greater renovating energy. 
An open joint is consequently far more serious than a punctured sheath. 
Notwithstanding the serious nature of these ac- 
cidents when wrongly treated, few injuries yield 
more kindly to proper measures than open joint. 
However, should the ordinary treatment of caustics 
and bandages be adopted, the entire limb, before 
the expiration of a week, will be hot, hard, and 
tense. The health of the animal will be seriously 
affected by the continued irritation, and the body 
will rapidly become emaciated. The foot of the 
limb will with evident difficulty be held from the 
ground. Should not death interpose—the animal 
being unable to lie down, and the entire weight 
being cast upon the sound limb—the foot attached —_ 
to the healthy member frequently becomes affected 5 En en on 
with the worst form of incurable laminitis. pple iecalemeeei aa Br 
Even should such a misfortune as laminitis not — J Upiclous EmpLorment or 
occur, the after-deformity and blemish renders the 
horse almost worthless. The bones sympathize in the general disease, 
OSSEOUS STRUCTURE HAS BEEN THROWN OUT, EXTENSIVE LOSS OF HAIR, GENERAL ENLARGEMENT OF 
CAUSING ENLARGED KNEE AND PERMANENT THE KNEE, AND ORGANIZED THICKENING OF THE 
BLEMISH—THE RESULTS OF USING BANDAGES, SCAR—RESULTING FROM THE USE OF BANDAGES. 
and a large osseous deposit is engendered to mark the surgical inapti- 
tude. When bony growth does not follow, the parts lying immediately 
27 
