HIP LAMENESS. 
revealed after very careful examination. Scirrhous cord, swelling of 
the inguinal glands, inguinal and femoral herniae, all interfere with 
movement, and sometimes produce lameness, simulating that due to 
disease of the hip-joint, or of the bones or muscles. Inflammation of 
the subcutis over the hip-joint may also result in lameness. 
Symptoms. Although the various forms of hip lameness, being due 
to different causes, exhibit important peculiarities in their symptoms, 
yet, taken as a whole, they show certain features of general agreement, 
Thus in all there is difficulty in advancing the limb (swinging leg 
lameness), retardation of movement and shortening of the forward stride, 
and in many a tendency to stiffen the limb during movement, and to 
drag the toe. When the hip-joint itself is diseased, there is supporting- 
leg lameness, and the animal tries to avoid throwing weight on the 
affected side—symptoms which are usually absent in the purely mus¬ 
cular forms. Lameness is marked when turning and backing, and 
appears in an aggravated form after severe exertion. Sometimes it is 
most distinct when commencing work, and gradually decreases; some¬ 
times the reverse. Though rheumatic lameness usually wears off with 
exercise, the continuance or aggravation of lameness under such circum¬ 
stances by no means points to a traumatic origin. Mechanical injury is 
a much more frequent cause of lameness than rheumatism. 
Sometimes anatomical changes, such as muscular atrophy, swelling 
and increased warmth, which can be detected, assist diagnosis, and 
render it approximately exact. The more thorough and complete the 
examination, the less common will be the diagnosis “ hip lameness,” 
which must always be regarded as a refuge for ignorance, and which 
we are only justified in delivering when careful examination shows no 
visible cause elsewhere for lameness. 
In other words, diagnosis must he arrived at by a process of exclu¬ 
sion. Cases occur, however, which even the most practised fail to 
exactly trace to their source. 
Course and prognosis. In forecasting the termination of a case, 
valuable indications are afforded by the character of the onset and 
course. Sometimes the disease appears suddenly, sometimes slowly ; 
sometimes it disappears in a short time, sometimes continues for months ; 
sometimes it appears altogether incurable. These variations are always 
important in determining diagnosis and prognosis ; indeed, the prognosis 
often depends entirely on the course. The following principles are in 
general true:— 
(1) Sudden lameness points to mechanical injury, and usually 
takes a more favourable course than that which develops slowly but 
progressively. 
(2) When improvement has once set in, complete recovery becomes 
