384 LUXATION OF THE PATELLAE OF A HORSE. 
to be termed dysentery ; yet surely it must have been, or how 
comes it that we cannot find any cases like them recorded? 
or is it what the old farmers call “ the bloody flux ?” 
LUXATION OF THE PATELLAE OF A HORSE. 
By R. H. Holloway, M.R.C.V.S., Y.S. Hon. E.I.C.S. 
A few months back, I was requested by a friend, to look 
at a horse, a five-year-old Arab, which he had a short time 
previously purchased as a hunter and “ pig-sticker,” and 
which, he informed me, had been unable to move for two or 
three days, in consequence of an attack which he considered 
to be rheumatic. 
The horse had been castrated three weeks before this ail- 
ment. My friend proceeded to relate, in detail, the symptoms 
present, such as protrusion of one of the hind limbs, tume- 
faction, and great tenderness of the stifle joint; also the 
means that had been adopted to effect a cure, namely, fric- 
tion, with a stimulating liniment, which appeared to have 
caused acute pain to the suffering animal. I listened patiently 
to the conclusion, being anxious to gain as much information 
as possible, when I did not hesitate to offer as my opinion, 
that the case had been mistaken, and, in fact, that it was in 
all probability one of dislocation of the patella. 
We shortly afterwards reached the stable where the patient 
stood. 
The stiffened traction of the whole near hind limb back- 
wards, together with the outward luxation distinctly visible, 
and the completely flexed foot and fetlock, left no room for 
further speculation. When I attempted to move the horse, 
he hopped, as it were, upon the three remaining legs, the 
near hind foot being dragged loosely along the ground after 
him. 
I directed an assistant to draw the affected limb well for- 
wards and upwards, whilst I, with steady and persistent 
pressure, endeavoured to return the luxated bone. This 
being effected, the horse moved perfectly well, but scarcely 
had he turned, before the patella slipped out again. I then 
called for a driving whip, the smack of which induced a sud- 
den and almost involuntary start on the part of the animal; 
and thus, by the extensor muscles, was the limb set again 
and again, for every fresh movement caused another displace- 
