98 ON DORSO-LUMBAR SPRAIN IN THE HORSE. 
It is impossible, as I have said before, to establish any exact 
relation between the intensity of the symptoms and the situa¬ 
tion and nature of the lesion ; a circumstance that renders the 
prognostic a grave one; not because the accident puts the ani¬ 
mal’s life in any immediate peril, but because he is no longer 
able to render the services expected of him. 
TREATMENT. —Garsault, viewing sprained loins as no more 
than relaxation of the muscles, treated it accordingly. Almost 
all authors, however, since him, Lafosse, Robinet, Vatel, and 
Hurtrel D’Arboval, enjoined preliminarily that the animal should 
not be permitted to lie down, for fear he might, either in lying 
down or rising, renew the mischief. With this precaution they 
recommended such remedies as are in general use for inflamma¬ 
tion, such as blood-lettings, clysters, &c.; and, lastly, to rub the 
reins with brandy, oil of turpentine, &c. 
At the present day, the same means are employed; though 
at the commencement it is usual to apply a pitch plaster, con¬ 
taining cantharides, upon the loins, or, as a last resource, to 
cauterize the loins. But, do we believe such remedies to prove 
efficacious always] Certainly not, inasmuch as such treatment 
oftentimes is applied at a distance from the seat of the disease, 
viz., upon the loins, while the disease happens to be along the 
anterior part of the dorsal region, as we shall see in the cases 
with which the present paper will be closed. 
Nevertheless, these are the therapeutic measures to which we 
should have recourse, though we may calculate that time is the 
most to be relied upon ; for in all the microscopic examinations 
I have made, I have ever observed, in actual or prospective 
operation, a repairing process, a sort of callus, destined to 
impart to the vertebral column the solidity which it had 
lost. In order to insure such repair, the essential condition is 
absolute rest ; and I believe that we should act wisely in our 
endeavours to bring about this end, were we to sling our 
patient. 
I have seen horses who, after having exhibited ricked back 
for a certain time, have been perfectly cured by the employment 
of therapeutic agents, so as to be able to resume their usual work. 
What were the nature and extent of such lesions I These are 
two questions it is impossible to answer. 
Duration. 
I have generalized the observations I have made, in regard 
to the pathological anatomy of sprained loins. They constitute 
the sum of a large number of post-mortem examinations. I 
shall therefore conclude this memoir by three cases, interesting 
on several accounts, and especially because they have no 
