318 MR. PERCIVALL’S REPLY TO MR. PRITCHARD. 
will, however, find, on reference to the joint, that there are but 
seven bones in the carpus, and, in point of fact, no pisiforme bone 
in the horse’s knee. 
I am, my dear Sir, yours truly. 
Wolverhampton, April ilth, 1843. 
Mr. Percivall’s Reply to Mr. Pritchard. 
Dear Sir, — You must, in your own mind, have long ago de- 
nounced me as extremely remiss, or actually rude, for not 
noticing, in any way, your friendly communication, dated so far 
back as April the 11 th. You will, however, forgive this apparent 
negligence when I tell you that it has been caused by indisposi- 
tion, and that of a character which, for several weeks, quite 
unfitted me for business of any kind. 
I find, by reference to my u Anatomy of the Horse,” that, on 
the subject of the “ Bones of the Knee,” I have, at page 52, 
expressed myself in these words : — “ It (the knee) is composed 
of seven small bones: in some instances , an eighth has been 
found.” 
I have some recollection of the question concerning the eighth, 
or pisiforme bone being mooted at the time I was a pupil at the 
Veterinary College, and, if my memory serves me well, the bone, 
by maceration of some carpi , was, after diligent search, disco- 
vered. This circumstance constituted the ground of my asser- 
tion, that “ in some instances an eighth has been found ; ” and 
not any implicit reliance upon what was taught by Professor 
Coleman on Anatomy. Stubbs, Girard, Bourgelat, Blaine, and 
Youatt, all speak of the bone in question* ; and I cannot help 
thinking, if you will take the trouble to macerate some few carpi, 
* Bourgelat asserts, that “ these bones are disposed in two rows, four 
in the first, three in the second, and two a little out of the rank, and termed 
the pisiforme bones. These do not exist in either cattle or sheep.” 
Girard says, “In some subjects we find, at the posterior surface of the 
lower range of the bones of the knee, two very small osselets, or, sometimes, 
only one, rounded and pisiforme.” 
Blaine affirms, that “in the recent subject there is commonly, but not 
invariably, found an additamentary osselet, of the shape and size of a pea, 
situated behind the trapezoid, with which it is sometimes articulated, and, at 
others, simply adherent. When it exists, it certainly more properly deserves 
the name of pisiforme than that of trapezium. 
Youatt, in his first edition, states, that there are “six bones arranged in 
two rows, three in each row, with a seventh placed behind, to which an 
eighth is sometimes added.” In his second edition, he says nothing of this 
eighth bone. 
Percivall says, again, in his Anatomy of the Horse, “The pisiforme bone 
is not invariably present : in some instances two are found.” 
