16 Veterinary Elements. 



In ruminants (animals that chew the cud, e. g., cattle 

 and sheep) the cannon bone is split at the lower end and 

 the pastern bones are just doubled in number, the bones 

 of the foot, however, comprise two separate halves, the 

 space between forming the cleft. It is in the region of 

 this cleft that trouble occurs in the feet of cattle and 

 sheep, rarely, however in hogs, due to particles of dirt 

 and gravel which irritate the parts, or else the result of 

 infection. 



The hind limb. It is worth while noticing the difference 

 in the manner of attachment of the front and hind limbs to 

 the trunk. The fore limbs are only attached by muscles, 

 in fact, the body may be considered as slung between the 

 front limbs ; in the hind limbs a bony attachment exists 

 between the trunk and limbs. This attachment is 

 between the bones of the croup and one of the pelvic 

 bones (ilium. ) The pelvis, the large bony ring at the exit 

 from the abdominal cavity, is formed by the croup 

 (sacrum) and the os innominata, a pair of bones, each of 

 which is made up of three bones. The three bones have 

 technical names which we shall have to use in default of 

 others; they are : Ilium, ischium and pubis. The ilium 

 is fiat and is triangular in outline, two of its angles, the 

 outer and inner, can readily be seen in thin animals. 

 The outer angle is known as the hip bone or hooks in 

 dairy cattle, in which type a certain prominence is 

 desired, the opposite condition is desired in animals of 

 the meat type. Sometimes the result of an accident, 

 due to carelessness, etc., such as crowding through nar- 

 row doorways, this hip point is broken, and the animal 

 is then said to be down in the hip ; the lesion can be 



