34 CASE OF DISLOCATION OF THE STIFLE JOINT. 
Within ten minutes I saw him. The limb was then semi-flexed 
and shortened from six to eight inches, the point of the toe hang- 
ing parallel with the fetlock joint of the other leg. He was very 
stiff, and a swelling, one-half the size of a man’s head, had be- 
come suddenly developed on the outside of and rather below the 
stifle joint, accompanied with excessive tension and rigidity of 
the muscles, fasciae, and integument of the part. On examina- 
tion, the limb could be flexed or extended on the hip joint, but 
to a very limited degree, and producing great pain. 
A suspicion of the nature of the accident was the first thought 
that glanced across my mind : the second was, a dislocation of 
the patella, a case I had never met with, but with which, through 
Mr. PercivalFs graphic cases in The Veterinarian, I felt 
quite familiar. 
This, however, would not account for the immense swelling, 
although it might for the fixed state of the limb. However, as 
being the nearest approximation to the state of the case, and as 
the mode of reduction must be somewhat similar in both, I had 
recourse to that described by him. 
The limb was extended as close to the abdomen as possible, 
but no patella could I feel to slip into its place ; and, after two 
or three attempts, which occasioned great pain to the animal, 
I desisted ; and, the owner being out of town, 1 determined on 
leaving the case until the morning, by which time my first im- 
pression would either be confirmed or disproved ; and having, by 
way of a placebo, ordered fomentations to the part, and prepara- 
tion for a dose of physic, I left him for the night. 
The next morning I found the case in statu quo . The animal 
was lying down on the near side, the off hind leg remaining in 
the same semi-flexed shortened state as when up, and, on making 
him rise, it continued so. 
I was now, therefore, satisfied that it was a case of dislocation 
of the stifle joint ; I consequently ordered the hobbles to be put 
on, had him thrown, and proceeded to the reduction. 
The limb was freed and an extra hobble placed on it, and three 
men were ordered to pull steadily and firmly forward in an ob- 
lique direction towards the fetlock joints of the fore legs, while 
I applied all the pressure I could effect on the swelling produced 
by the dislocated extremity of the femur, which was lying on the 
outside of the tibia. 
Five minutes effected the object; and on freeing the limb the 
swelling had entirely disappeared. The bone was reduced to its 
natural position, and the leg was the same length as the other. 
When loose he quietly got on his legs, stretched himself out, 
staled freely, and was at once considerably relieved. The stiff- 
