ON DORSO-LUMBAR SPRAIN IN THE HORSE. 99 
parallels, that I am aware of, either in general treatises on the 
subject, or in the periodical publications of veterinary medicine. 
The First Case.-—A gelding, fit for light draught, about 
twelve years old, purchased by his present master, who had not 
had him long, in the hope that, through rest and suitable treat¬ 
ment, he might be got right. 
On examining him, I found the usual symptoms in a marked 
and severe form. His autopsy displayed, in both thorax and 
abdomen, nought but healthy appearances. I remarked con¬ 
siderable engorgement along the inferior part of the fourth, fifth, 
and sixth dorsal vertebrae, which are (we all know) completely 
clothed by the thoracic portion of the long muscle of the neck. 
This muscle is altered in most of its physical properties. It 
exhibits a greyish tint, is crisp under the knife, while its cut 
presents a fibro-lardaceous aspect, and its fibres altogether seem 
as though they were homogeneous in composition. 
Within the substance of the muscles, running in a line, on 
the left side, were several small abscesses communicating with 
one principal abscess, which contained about an ounce of laud¬ 
able pus. On the right side the muscle was nowise altered 
in structure superficially, though its interior substance presented 
the same lesions as that on the left side. 
Besides these appearances, which were unusual, there were 
exostoses upon the bodies of the middle lumbar vertebrae, and 
holes through them opposite to their articulations, leading into 
the cavities of the joints, whose ball and socket surfaces were 
eroded and altogether altered. And not only these, but altera¬ 
tions were likewise perceptible both in the spinal canal as well: 
the lesions constituted a breach of continuity, {fracture dans 
le contiguite). 
The second case, perfectly analogous to the first, is that of 
an entire horse, of the heavy draught description, about twenty 
years old. This was a case in which walking was with great 
difficulty and danger performed, and the last time he was led 
out the horse fell down, unable to rise again, in consequence of 
which he was destroyed. Similar changes had taken place in 
the corresponding muscle and bones, without any alteration 
either in the spinal canal or cord running through it. 
The THIRD CASE. Entire heavy cart-horse, seventeen years 
of age, given up to the school. In his going, more particularly 
in his gallop, the wavering motion of the croup and the irregular 
motion of his hind limbs declare his complaint. On dissection, 
an osseous tumour was found opposite to the third lumbar 
vertebra, throwing the grand sympathetic nerve out of its 
course, and the lesser psoas muscle as well, though both parts 
