204 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



and in only three do they amount to 10 

 per cent. 



Now it reems to us that it is a disgrace 

 to the South that they have carried out 

 Mr. Banks' ' absorption' theory to such 

 an extent that one-thirteenth of their 

 slaves have white blood in their veins, it is 

 a still greater disgrace to the Northern 

 people that they have applied the same 

 theory so far that more than one quarter 

 of the negroes among them are part 

 white ! And we say further that those 

 among whom this infamous amalga- 

 mation theory is so extensively applied, 

 and who justify it as do the black republi- 

 cans in their defence and support of Mr. 

 Banks only add to their shame by con- 

 stantly talking about the sins of the South- 

 ern people in this particular. 



« SWINNEY" IN HORSES. 



Several of our readers have requested 

 us to give some information in regard to 

 what is called " swinney," or "sweeny" 

 in horses. We have frequently seen hor- 

 ses affected with this so-called disease, 

 but having no special skill in the treat- 

 ment of ills which this species of flesh is 

 heir to, we must refer to better authortiy. 



We do not find that any disease or af- 

 fection is known by this name in Europe. 

 Percival, in his " Hippopathology," makes 

 no mention of it, though, under the head 

 of "Shoulder Lameness," he describes 

 what might be here called " swinney." 

 He says — " the shoulder, over and over 

 again, has been imagined to have suffered 

 'wrench,' or laceration or injury of some 

 sort, when all the time the seat of the 

 lameness has been the foot." He admits 

 that lameness may occur in the shoulder, 

 or more particularly in the shoulder joint, 

 but adds — "It must be borne in mind, 

 however, that for one case that is in verity 

 shoulder lameness there occur thirty that 

 are not." Again, in his diagnosis, he 

 says — " Strange as it may appear to per- 

 sons out of the veterinary profession, it is 

 notorious enough to those in it, that no 

 two kinds of lameness have so frequently 

 been confounded as foot lameness and 

 shoulder lameness ; the best explanation 

 we can offer of which seemingly unpar- 

 donable error in judgment, probably, is to 

 be found in the fact of there being ' noth- 

 ing to be seen' to account for the lame- 

 ness either in one or the other. . . . 



. . . As for ' wasting of the shoulder,' 

 a symptom by farriers and grooms in gen- 

 eral laid great stress on, it is at best but a 

 remote consequence of lameness, which 

 may be in the foot or leg, and not neces- 

 sarily in the explanation of the 1 wasting' 

 being simply the loss or diminution from 

 absorbtion of the fleshy fibres of heathful 

 exercise, and of being compelled to be 

 laid up in a state of inactivity, or even ab- 

 solute repose. Lastly, we must bear in 

 mind that the knee joint may the hidden 

 and mysterious seat of lameness, and that 

 we may be referring that to the shoulder 

 or foot which all the while lies concealed 

 •within or about the knee." 



The causes of shoulder lameness are 

 attributed by Percival to injury in some 

 form or other. He says — "We have no 

 notion of the production of lameness of 

 this description apart from some wrench, 

 sprain, stretch, laceration, or contusion of 

 the shoulder; hence a slip-up or false 

 step, an over-strained gallop or leap, — 

 anything, in fact, that may outwardly in- 

 jure himself, may prove the cause of 

 shoulder lameness." 



In regard to treatment, he observes that 

 particular attention should be paid " to 

 the history of the case submitted for treat- 

 ment, its duration, and the mode in which 

 it occuired." Repose of the lame limb is 

 regarded as indispensable. Fomentation 

 is favorably spoken of. A dose of cathartic 

 medicine is recommended, as well as 

 " topical blood-letting, so far as that can 

 be carried into effect by drawing blood 

 from the plat vein." The latter in severe 

 cases is regarded as indispensable. 



The foregoing comprises about all, 

 which would be interesting to most read- 

 ers, to be found in the work from which 

 we have quoted. In The Veterinarian for 

 1847^ however, is a letter from Charles 

 Percival, — Veterinary Surgeon to the Roy- 

 al Artillery, then stationed at Montreal, — 

 directed to his brother, Wm. Percival, ed- 

 itor of The Veterinarian, and author of 

 Hippopathology. From this letter we take 

 the following paragraph: 



"This [swinney] is a disease (if such it 

 be) peculiar to the imagination of Upper 

 Canada, it never being heard of in the 

 Lower Province. It consists in a shrink- 

 ing or wasting of the muscles of the 

 shoulder or shoulders. In the summer of 

 1845, when purchasing horses for the ar- 



