240 Veterinary Elements. 



heredity. Horsemen often speak of curby (sickle) hocks, 

 such a conformation is especially liable to curb, and is 

 readily transmitted to the progeny by an affected sire. 

 The leverage exerted in connection with the hock joint 

 is very powerful, the ground being the fulcrum; the 

 weight, the resistance of the head of the lower thigh bone; 

 the power, the muscles of the gaskin (lower thigh) at- 

 tached to the point of the hock. The tendency to curb 

 will be increased by (1) work too severe for the strength 

 of the lever, (2) by disease or immaturity having ren- 

 dered the parts unequal to the strain, (3 ) by the surface 

 for attachment of the ligaments being too small, a tied-in 

 hock, (4) by the muscles of the gaskin being very strong, 

 (5) by the presence of a large angle formed by the direc- 

 tion of the weight and lever, as in the sickle hock. It 

 is an unsoundness and a very bad defect in stallions; is 

 probably commoner in light than heavy horses; lameness 

 is shown in the earlier stages as a rule. The applica- 

 tion of a high-heeled shoe and the red mercurial blister 

 (biniodide of mercury 1 to 4 of lard) will generally over- 

 come the trouble; if the lameness and enlargement per- 

 sist, the veterinarian should be asked to fire the parts. 



Stringhalt is a disease of a tendon of the hind limb, it 

 used to be classed as a purely nervous affection. The 

 affected parts (tendons) undergo severe contractions as 

 a result of inflammation of those tendons. The exag- 

 gerated flexing of the hock, more quickly than natural, 

 and high lifting of the foot seen when the animal is 

 backed or moved forward, render the recognition of this 

 disease quite plain; the treatment is surgical, and con- 



