576 PROGRESS OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ART. 
attending to him closely, and at last the half-starved animal 
was destroyed. Mascher had the good fortune to obtain the 
limbs and examine them most carefully. 
“ As the flexors of the foot,” says M. Mascher, “ were 
turned back, a singular alteration of the sesamoid bones 
fell into view, which appeared similar to the lesions of the 
navicular bone through chronic navicular disease. I forgot 
not thereupon to examine closely the navicular bones. The 
one I found strangely atrophied or sunken in the middle, and 
so affected in the anterior margin of the surface in contact 
with the tendon, that a segment two lines in length and one 
and a quarter broad was broken off, and only attached to the 
principal portion of bone by a few white fibres.” 
The navicular bone of the other limb was not so far 
destroyed, still the appearances of disease were likewise 
discovered. 
The sesamoid bones were discovered, on both legs, to be 
ulcerated over a surface the size of a large pin’s head, and 
around this spot the membranous covering of the bone was 
strongly injected with blood. The tendons of the pedal 
flexors were likewise thickened and injected with blood. 
Since the above case happened, in chronic lamenesses 
which have been treated, and which it is well known often 
occur amongst cavalry horses, Mascher never forgot, when 
the lameness was of that nature that its seat might be sup- 
posed to be in the joints of the foot, to examine closely the 
fetlock joint. He has thus found, during seventeen years’ prac- 
tice — fourteen of which were passed in the army — but princi- 
pally during the last seven that he has been veterinary surgeon 
to a regiment, and hence had to supervise and treat the 
diseased animals — that the seat of many of the lamenesses 
was not to be found in the navicular bone, but at the fetlock. 
Sometimes one, sometimes the other sesamoid bone was 
affected, but never both with equal intensity. 
Referring to the diagnosis of the disease, M. Mascher 
says, that rarely at the beginning was there any change in 
the outer form of the parts, but in three weeks or a month, 
or even more, it happened rarely but that a moderate amount 
of swelling supervened. Respecting the action of horses 
thus lame, he says that in walking, the lame leg is sent out 
as far as the healthy one ; and it is only on uneven ground that 
the animal appears to go stiff, or on passing over a furrow, 
or depression in the ground, a short step is made with the 
lame leg, and the whole weight is thrown on the sound one. 
In trotting, the lame limb is not thrown out like the healthy 
one, and is brought precipitately to the ground. 
Mascher goes on to state that the symptoms are more 
