REPORTS OF HORSE CAUSES. 
441 
them was a yellowish-white soft matter, apparently albumen, coa¬ 
gulated by the alcoholic injection. They exhibited gangrenous 
spots, and had the characteristic foetor. There was found a com¬ 
munication between the sacs and the hock joint of above an inch 
in diameter. The synovial membrane lining the hock joint pre¬ 
sented the same aspect as the lining of the sacs. The middle pro¬ 
tuberance of the tibia and the trochlea of the astragalus, which 
had a yellowish tint, had (from absorption) lost their cartilaginous 
coverings, the bones being bare and soft*. 
An ingenious method of operating on encysted tumours—into 
which it is so desirable to prevent the ingress of air—was devised 
some years ago by Mr. Worgrove, a surgeon. Writing t on the 
treatment of what surgeons call “ house-maid’s knee,” he directs, 
after the exhibition of a brisk purge, that an operation be per¬ 
formed on the dropsical tumour, as follows:—Make an incision 
one-eighth of an inch in length along the outer margin of the 
tumour; then introduce a very small bistoury obliquely into the 
cyst, at such a distance from the cutaneous incision as prevents the 
escape of any fluid. With the bistoury in the sac, scarify the 
interior in several places; then withdraw the instrument, and 
empty the cavity of its contents. Afterwards, apply a compress 
and bandage, so as to prevent the possibility of any influx of 
air. Whenever we entertain any thoughts of operating on bur¬ 
sal tumour in the horse, some such method of procedure appears 
to me safer than the common operation, and particularly when that 
is to be followed by injection, as well as quite as likely, in the end, 
to prove effectual. 
REPORTS OF HORSE CAUSES. 
By “Rhesus.” 
Dear Sir,— EXCUSE this familiarity in my address; for, though 
personally unknown to you, through the medium of your writings 
I recognize in the Editor of The VETERINARIAN, as it were, an 
old acquaintance. I have been long meditating an epistle to 
you on divers subjects, but inveterate indolence and an antipathy 
to the irksome toil of writing have hitherto overcome my feebler 
will. Your imprint, faithfully transcribed from The Times , of the 
Horse Cause “ Hyde v. Davies,” determined me at once to pro- 
* Fuller accounts of these two cases will be found in The Veterinarian 
for 1847, vol. xx, p. 280-5. 
t In “ The Dublin Medical Press,” 26th September, 1842. 
