670 
ON HOCK LAMENESS. 
point out the centre protuberance of the tibia and concavity of 
the astragalus as the parts most disposed to “ wear and tear.” 
Any mechanic would at once see, and say, when shewn the hock 
joint, that there is such an admirable adaptation of surfaces here, 
that unless some accidental circumstances — or some disease — 
occur to change the direction of motion, these surfaces, if kept 
properly lubricated, may continue to move on each other for ever, 
without one point being more affected or worn than another. 
It may be a little teasing to Mr. Spooner to be told at the 
eleventh hour, and after the lapse of seven years, that he had 
discovered a mare’s nest; but I think if he had acted wisely, and 
instead of wrapping himself up in self-assurance, had set about 
a fresh investigation, and endeavoured to prove that he was right, 
or at once have acknowledged he was wrong, it would have 
looked better than the course he has pursued. But, no ; he dis- 
dained to test his opinion by extensive investigation. Satisfied in 
his own mind that he had discovered the seat of “ obscure hock 
lamenesses,” he looks at those cases only where he supposes he 
will find what he wants, and, like many other discoverers, he 
fancies, and finds what his fancy pronounces to be the disease. 
“ Have I,” says he, “ gone to the knackers or the kennel and 
searched for hocks supposed to be diseased, and then concluded, 
as a matter of course, that the horses to which they belonged 
must have been lame? No : I have related no case ; I possess no 
specimen of the disease whose history I have been unacquainted 
with.” Quite correct. But did it never occur to Mr. Spooner 
that it might be as well to examine a few sound hocks, lest that 
which he supposes to be disease should turn out, as I have assert- 
ed, to be the healthy structure? For example, if he had not dis- 
dained the knacker’s yard or the kennel, he might have found, 
as two of my pupils did the other day, that in examining the 
hocks of seven horses, which were all they could get that day, 
they found, in six cases out of seven, more or less of what Mr. 
Spooner describes. Such a proportion might have led him to 
consider it as very odd that so many horses should have “obscure 
hock lameness some of them, perhaps, he would have learned 
had never been lame, while in others he would have found dis- 
ease in other parts of the limb sufficient to account for lameness : 
and thus by a cautious, patient, and extensive examination, he 
would have acquired correct views of the seat of disease. Had 
he thus proceeded, he would, I have no doubt, have found many 
cases where friction had really taken place, and that, too, marked 
so obviously, that no dispute could have arisen on the subject. 
And, moreover, he would have found that that friction extends 
further and deeper, although not precisely situated in the place. 
