270 
REPRINTS FROM BRITISH AND AMERICAN JOURNALS. 
country. The subject was a thoroughbred brown Australian 
gelding, by “ Gondalier ” out of “ Touchstone ” mare, imported 
in August, 18811, from Gippsland, Victoria, where he was bred. 
He was admitted into hospital on the 7th February of this year, 
aged seven years off. 
The symptoms at first exhibited were as follows: sudden and 
extreme lameness in the near fore leg, which within twenty-four 
hours extended to the off fore. A careful examination revealed 
nothing to account for this, beyond a slight tenderness about the 
fetlock joints. There was no swelling and no perceptible heat, the 
internal temperature being also normal. At this stage I diag¬ 
nosed the case as a rheumatoid affection of the joints and treated 
accordingly. Fomentations afforded marked relief, and the animal 
gradually improved, until on the 27th of February he was able to 
perform a fair trot, when his owner removed him to his own 
stable. On the 9th of March I was again asked to see him, as his 
“ head had become swollen ” and he was k£ off his feed ” (his appe¬ 
tite had previously been good). It was now an unmistakable 
case of “ osteoporosis.” The raim of the lower jaw were thickened 
and tender when touched. The face had an undefined and rounded 
appearance and the incisor teeth were quite loose. The lameness 
had entirely disappeared. I recommended the owner to have 
him destroyed and this was carried out on the 17th of March by 
pithing. The fore legs were carefully examined to discover the 
cause of the severe lameness previously mentioned, but without 
result, he bones appearing quite healthy and free from disease; 
the bones of the skull alone being implicated. 
The horse since his arrival had been staying with a lar^e 
number of others at Ballyguage, the food and general conditions 
under which they lived being precisely similar. 
It would seem that the disease in this case was entirely due 
to some original inherent influence interfering with the nutrition 
of the bone tissue. Diet and surroundings would appear to have 
had little to do with it and the animal’s parentage seems good 
enough to controvert any suggestion of hereditary predisposition. 
— {Quart. Jour. Veterinary Science in India.) 
