CBUBAl, MYOTOMY. 



309 



Pig. 325.— The Biceps Femoria in Cattle. 

 Normal Position. 



Fig. 326.— The same over the 

 Trochanter. 



tuming in its normal direction. This accident has been noticed 

 and mentioned ui the remotest ages. It may result from both 

 predisposing and occasional causes. Among the former may be 

 reckoned the conformation of the animal, as when, for example, 

 the croup is short, flat and narrow, the hip joint not prominent, 

 and the trochanter high. Among the predisposing causes may 

 also be included that of leanness, as when the animal is thin and 

 ia poor condition, and the cellular tissue deficient. The combina- 

 tion of these causes renders it easy for the muscle to slip over the 

 trochanter, now relatively prominent, and it is thus that the dis- 

 location occurs. 



Occasional causes also call for mention. These include aU 

 mischances likely to bring about the excessive extension of the leg, 

 such as falls, missteps, slipping, jumping, kicking, blows, etc., 

 any of which may thus affect the Umb and produce the lesion 

 under consideration. And withal, it may take place vnthout any 

 visible, direct and efficient agency beyond the circumstance of the 

 excessively lean condition of the animal, and even if the diflfioulty 

 is remedied, and the displacement is reduced, while the same 

 state of things continues, there is a constant liability to a return 

 of the difficulty. 



