290 . DISEASES OF THE HOKSE. 



or they may be referred to bruises, blows, sprains, or other violence ; 

 or injuries of tendons, ligaments, or joints may be among the account- 

 able causes. 



It is certain that they may commonly be traced to diseases and 

 traumatic lesions of the foot, and their appearance may be reason- 

 ably anticipated among the sequelae of an abscess of the coronet; 

 or the cause may be a severe contusion resulting from calking, or a 

 deep-punctured wound from picking up a nail or stepping upon 

 any hard object of sufficiently irregular form to penetrate the sole. 



Moreover, a ringbone may originate in heredity. This is a fact 

 of no little importance in its relation to questions connected with 

 the extensive interests of the stock breeder and purchaser. 



That the hereditary transmission of constitutional idiosyncrasies 

 is an active cause with regard to diseases in general, it would be 

 absurd to claim, but we do claim that a predisposition to contract 

 ringbone due to faulty conformation, such as long, thin pasterns 

 with narrow joints and steep fetlocks, may be inherited' in many 

 cases, and in a smaller proportion of cases this predisposition may 

 act as a secondary cause in the formation of ringbone. 



The importance of this point when considered in reference to the 

 policy which should be observed in the selection of breeding stock 

 is obvious, and, as the whole matter is within the control of the own- 

 ers and breeders, it will be their own fault if the unchecked trans- 

 mission of ringbones from one equine generation to another shall be 

 allowed to continue. It is our belief that among the diseases which 

 are known for their tendency to perpetuate and repeat themselves 

 by individual succession, those of the bony structures stand first, 

 and the inference from such a fact which would exclude every ani- 

 mal of doubtful soundness in its osseous apparatus from the studJist 

 and the brood farm is too plain for argument. 



Symptoms. — Periostitis of the phalanges is an ailment requiring 

 careful exploration and minute inspection for its discovery, and is 

 quite likely to result in a ringbone of which lameness is the result. 

 The mode of its manifestation varies according to the state of de- 

 velopment of the diseased growth as affected by the circumstances 

 of its location and dimensions. It is commonly of the kind which, 

 in consequence of its intermittent character, is termed lameness when 

 cool, having the peculiarity of exhibiting itself when the animal 

 starts from the stable and of diminishing, if not entirely disappearing 

 after some distance of travel, to return to its original degree, if not 

 indeed a severer one, when he has again cooled off in his stable. 

 The size of the ringbone does not indicate the degree to which it 

 cripples the patient, but the position may, especially when it inter- 

 feres with the free movement of the tendons which pass behind and 

 in front of the foot. While a large ringbone will often interfere 



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