364 
ANIMAL PATHOLOGY. 
animal on rising, trotted boldly and without lameness, but now 
and then stumbled with the foot operated on. The wounds healed 
in a few days, and the patient was put to grass. Some weeks after- 
wards a favourable account was received of her soundness ; but 
she was soon brought again to us, on account of a large sore on 
the bottom of the foot operated on, and extending from the point 
of the frog to the middle and back part of the pastern. The 
mare, in galloping over some broken glass bottles, had set her 
foot full upon a fragment of the bottom of one of them, and which 
had cut its way through the frog and tendon into the joint, and 
stuck fast in the joint for some seconds, while the animal con- 
tinued its course, apparently regardless of injury. The wound 
bled profusely, but the mare was not lame. Many days had 
elapsed before I saw her, and large masses of loose flesh 
were cut from the edges of the wound without the animal shewing 
the slightest sign of suffering pain. The processes usually at- 
tending sores went on with the same appearances that took place 
in sores of parts not deprived of sensibility. Such extensive in- 
jury, however, had been done to the joint, as rendered the pre- 
servation of free motion in it very improbable, even were the 
opening to close, wdiich was a matter of doubt, and therefore she 
was destroyed. It appeared clearly from this, that, by the de- 
struction of sensibility the repairing powers of the part were not 
injured ; but that the natural guard against injury being taken 
away by the division of both the nerves, an accident was ren- 
dered destructive, which, in the usual condition of the foot, might 
have been less injurious. 
“ I do not recollect the number of horses operated upon by me 
successfully after this, although it was somewhat considerable. 
Some of them were worked by myself ; but the general impres- 
sions on my mind are that horses so operated upon, when they 
did not again become lame, were more apt to stumble with the 
limb operated upon than with the other, and that this mode of 
treatment is more likely to be usefully applied to carriage horses 
than to those intended for single harness or for the saddle.” 
Neurotomy abused and getting into disrepute . — Soon after this, 
and before the beautiful operation of neurotomy had become suf- 
ficiently known and established in public estimation, and it had 
been ascertained in w 7 hat particular states and diseases of the 
foot it would be beneficial or would aggravate the evil, Mr. Moor- 
croft departed for far distant climes. It had also unfortunately 
happened, that, wdthout the slightest disparagement to his judg- 
ment, he had originally adopted it as a remedy for that disease 
of the foot in which there was not only the possibility but the 
probability of its hastening or producing a fatal result. It was 
