PROCEEDINGS OF THE VETERINARY SCHOOL AT ALFORT. 31 
wound may have been ; while with those that were not operated 
on until three or four or five days after the accident, the treat¬ 
ment has always been long, and the cure seldom perfect. Fibrous 
exfoliations, caries of the navicular and pedal bones, softening of 
the tendon, the establishment of fistulge and of abscesses in the 
pasterns, have been the complications that have delayed or 
prevented the cure. 
Neurotomy. —In the report of the last year, we spoke of 
the happy results obtained by neurotomy in our school. This 
success has been continued through the session which has just 
closed. Twelve horses, whose fore feet had been so contracted, 
and the heels so narrowed, that they were of no service to their 
owners, have been operated upon, and rendered free from lame¬ 
ness. Three, among others, of a valuable breed, having been 
operated upon successively on the two fore feet, have been made 
quite right. 
It has been said, that after the complete section of the two 
nerves above the fetlock, the flexor tendons of the foot, below the 
point of operation, is liable to be ruptured during the exertion of 
much speed, or when the horse is put to unusually heavy draught. 
This accident has happened, during the present year, to two 
cabriolet horses that had been operated upon eight months 
before. One of these animals was brought to the school, and 
destroyed there. The foot w^as dissected with much care, and 
the softening of the tendon was observed, reaching some dis¬ 
tance above and below the laceration. There w’as, besides, a 
transverse fracture of the navicular bone. The owner of this 
horse, how^ever, had two others, which have been operated upon 
more than two years, and who work well every day, and are not 
in the least degree lame. 
The horse that was the subject of the second accident, was at 
the school a lew days ago. He presented the same appearances 
as the former one. It is probable that the rupture w^as produced 
in both by similar lesions. 
These are the only accidents that have occurred during the 
four years that neurotomy has been practised at our school; and 
we have operated on twenty-one patients. They are so few in 
number, that they prove nothing against the operation ; and 
.both the proprietors acknowledged that they were attributable 
to their abuse of their horses. Were they, however, more nu¬ 
merous, we should persist in asserting, that neurotomy is a 
most important and valuable operation ; because it restores to 
usefulness many horses that were rendered almost incapable 
of service, and for which we at present know not of any remedy. 
Roaring. —Some observations made and published by M. 
