140 
IIEPOIITS MADE TO THE 
In the course of his essay the author offers a remark which 
deserves consideration. He says that, out of one hundred lame 
horses, eighty, at least, are lame on the left side, whence he con¬ 
cludes that the limbs on this side are weaker than those on the 
right side. We will not deny the fact which M. de Nanzio states, 
but we will content ourselves with saying, that we have never 
made a similar observation at Paris, where lameness, both before 
and behind, is also very frequent. As to the explanation which 
M. de Nanzio gives of this supposed fact, we doubt the suffi¬ 
ciency of it. So far as our experience has gone, the left and the 
right feet of the horse are equally lasting, and there is nothing in 
their original organization which could cause one of them to be 
weaker than the other. Perhaps it would have been better if he 
had simply stated the fact without attempting to explain the 
reason of it. 
We do not think that the wounding of the trochanter is so 
much to be dreaded as M. de Nanzio imagines; nor do we believe 
that it is possible to reach the hip-joint by this mode of cauteri¬ 
zation. The joint is very deeply seated, and is so much shel¬ 
tered by the trochanter in the horse, that it seems to be impos¬ 
sible that such an accident should occur. The author recom¬ 
mends that the incision should be made below and in front of the 
trochanter. If this advice is followed, the articulation will neces¬ 
sarily be behind and above, and cannot be injured. In both 
cases the apprehension of M. de Nanzio appear to us to be 
unfounded. 
Far be it from our intention to contest with M. de Nanzio the 
honour of the discovery of this peculiar mode of operation; but a 
sense of duty compels us to remind you, that the idea of cutting 
through the skin and cauterizing the subcutaneous cellular tissue 
belongs to the illustrious founder of our veterinary schools. It 
must, however, be confessed, that, in proposing this mode of cau¬ 
terization, the object of Bourgelat was to turn aside and preserve 
the bulbs of the hair, and thus lessen the blemish of firing; and 
that it did not once enter his mind that he was adopting the best 
method of getting rid of chronic lameness. There was as little 
analogy as therapeutic intention between the two proceedings. 
We will now relate the experiments which we have made in 
order to test the value of M. de Nanzio’s operation. 
CASE I. 
Nov, Athy 1836, M. de Nanzio himself operated on a lame 
horse belonging to the Hirondelles Company, that was believed 
to be lame in the hip^joint, and which M. Lebanc kindly placed 
