STRING-HALT-ITS DOUBTFUL PATHOLOGY. 587 
I was kindly aided in tliis case by Dr. J—for many years 
connected with the city hospital_, and one of the ablest 
physicians in this city. 
Case 3.—March^ 1848.—A brown mare, aged, had been 
worked on the Harlem Railroad; very lame in off hind leg 
from spavin, string-halt in nigh leg; this animal was given 
to me by a dealer, as she was suffering from disease of the 
spavined limb. I directed her to be sent to the dock at the 
East River, and had her destroyed. She was killed before I 
got there, with a blow on the head from a hammer, which 
destroyed the brain. I commenced my dissection at the 
lumbar vertebrae, exposing the spinal marrow to the sacrum. 
There was a large amount of serum in the spinal canal, the 
membrane covering the medulla was a little paler than usual, 
otherwise it was healthy. I now traced the nerves of the off 
limb from their exit at the sacrum; for the space of five or 
six inches they appeared healthy, below that they were much 
congested, of a dirty, dingy yellow, with large patches of 
ecchymosis penetrating between the fibrillse of the nerves— 
all the muscular branches appeared more or less affected. 
I next examined the joint; the astragalus was ulcerated in 
several places, all the bones were firmly united by bone, in¬ 
cluding the large and small metatarsals. I next examined 
the other leg, commencing at the sacral plexus, which was 
found free from disease, as was also the sciatic, and crural 
nerves, nor was there any abnormal appearance about the 
muscles. On opening the hock-joint, I found but little 
synovia; the astragalus had in it a deep ragged ulcer, which 
had penetrated the substance of the bone, in the centre of 
the groove; the external trochlea had a small ulcer on it. 
The articular surface of the tibia was also ulcerated. The 
other bones of the joint were free from disease. 
Case 4.—A large bay horse, owned by a gentleman in this 
city, very fast trotter, string-halt in both legs, very bad in 
the nigh leg; was frightened, ran away, and killed. Having 
heard of the accident the following day, I called at the stable 
of his owner, and learned from the groom that he had been 
removed to the offal boat. I followed him there, and had 
him conveniently plaeed by the contraetor, for the purpose 
of making a post-mortem. I was partieularly interested in 
this case, as I had onee been his owner, at which time he was 
affected only in the nigh leg. The skin was removed 
and the contents of the abdomen and thorax taken away. 
Six or eight ribs were fractured, one of which had extensively 
