136 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO ZOOLOGICAL PATHOLOGY. 
practical men towards it, and much information will be found re- 
garding it in the writings of Paletta*, Prochaskat, Dupuytren;};, 
Cruvelhier§, and Adams||. All the cases adduced by these differ- 
ent authors may be classified under three divisions, each varying 
in the nature and extent of the defect. In the first class, there is 
found deficiency in the development of the cervix femoris, and the 
articular head of the bone rests on the side of the shaft, between 
the trochanters : in this form the immediate osseous and ligament- 
ous structures are perfectly normal, and, though the limb may be 
slightly shortened, yet the functions of the joint are perfects. In 
the second division, a deficienc}' in the development of the articular 
head of the bone and the inter-articular ligament exists, and in its 
place a conical process projects from between the trochanters, 
serving the purpose of the former, and which is received into a 
correspondingly rudimentary cotyloid cavity**. The third division 
embraces that form in which the entire articular head and round 
ligament and the cervix femoris are deficient, and the superior ex- 
tremity of the shaft of the bone articulates with the ilium by an 
irregular plano-convex surface situated between its trochanters. 
Such cases are, perhaps, of the least frequency in the human in- 
dividual, as well as in the lower animals ; and as the case I wish 
to draw attention to belongs to this division, I will only describe 
its pathological appearances, without referring to the two former. 
This case occurred in the dissection of the body of the spotted cat, 
the jaguar, the cause of the sudden death of which I recorded in 
the last number of The Veterinarian. It was noticed, during 
the minute examination of the body, that there was a considerable 
disproportion in the relative lengths of the right and left hind ex- 
tremities. On a careful measurement being made, it was found 
that, on the left side, from the top of the trochanter major to the 
articular edge of the external condyle, the distance was nine inches; 
and from the top of its articular head to the corresponding point on 
the internal condyle, the distance was eight inches and three 
quarters. On the right side the corresponding measurements were 
respectively eight and seven inches, thus giving rise to a shorten- 
ing of the limb to the extent of an inch : besides this shortening, 
there was adduction and inversion of the limb, the stifle-joint 
resting upon that of the opposite side, and the points of the toes 
only coming to the ground. The capsular ligment of this articula- 
* Paletta, Exercit. de Claudicatione Congenita, p. 82. 
f Prochuska, Disquisit. Anat. Physiol. Organ. 
| Dupuytren, Repertoire General d’Anatomie. 
§ Cruvelhier, Anatomie Pathologique. 
|| Adams, Cycloped. of Anat. and Physiol., loc. cit. 
Vide Dr. Knox, in Edin. Med. Chir. Trans., vol. 3, pt. 2. 
** Vide Dupuytren, loc. cit. 
