THE ROMNEY MARSH SHEEP. 
1B3 
CAPPED HOCKS. 
[On looking over my portfolio, I find a letter, of which the follow- 
ing is the substance. It is from a surgeon in a large market 
town, of much experience and of deserved reputation in his own 
profession. We beg him to forgive our apparent but undesigned 
neglect ; and as to the matter in dispute, we are content to leave 
it altogether to the decision of our veterinary friends. — Y.] 
In the 10th No. of the Farmer’s Series of the Library of Useful 
Knowledge, in page 273 it is remarked, inter alia, when treating 
of “ capped hocks,” that “ puncturing the tumour, & c. would be a 
most injudicious and dangerous practice.” About seven or eight 
years ago, I had a horse which had this enlargement of his hocks 
to a very considerable degree, and, after many fruitless inquiries as 
to the best mode of treatment, I determined to proceed upon the 
same principles as I would with an encysted tumour in the human 
subject, where I could not with safety remove it by the knife ; i. e. 
to empty it of its contents, and to endeavour to produce adhesive 
inflammation within the cavity of the tumour. For this purpose I 
plunged an hydrocele trocar into the sac upon each hock, and 
evacuated about two or three ounces of a viscid fluid, nearly of the 
consistence of the albumen of the egg ; after which I immediately 
put the horse between the shafts of a gig, and drove him ten or 
twelve miles without stopping, by which I brought on that very in- 
flammation which I wished for, and that to a very moderate degree. 
The result was perfectly satisfactory in every respect. I used the 
horse for three or four years afterwards ; and it was only upon a 
very minute inspection that any remains of the affection could be 
discovered, which was merely a slight thickening of the coats of 
the sac. 
THE ROMNEY MARSH SHEEP. 
[We have to thank an anonymous correspondent for the following 
correction of the account of this breed, in the work entitled 
“ Sheep.” This work, we have reason to know, is in the hands 
of the greater part of our readers ; and as our object and theirs is 
truth, we do not for a moment hesitate to insert this account from 
a practical man, and an inhabitant of the marsh. — Y.] 
The description of this breed is pretty correct ; but, generally 
speaking, a two-yearling wether, after it is shorn, will weigh from 
twelve to fifteen stone (of eight pounds), and, taking the price at 
