TREATMENT OP LAMINITIS. 
273 
wound being on the inner side of the elbow-joint, the 
operation of extraction proved a difficult one. The newly- 
made incision was therefore first dilated, and an attempt made 
to divide the stake with a saw; but after cutting about three 
quarters of an inch into it, we found its division by this 
means to be all but impracticable. The orifice of the inci¬ 
sion was consequently enlarged, and the limb so extended and 
elevated, that we were enabled after a time to lay hold of 
and secure the broken end of the stake. On examination it 
proved to be a rough, knotty, and coarse piece of ash-pole 
(a portion of the fencing of the crew-yard), two feet long and 
five inches in circumference. At about two thirds of its 
length, and nearest to the end which had entered the animaks 
chest, a broken and rusty nail projected in a hook-like 
manner, having around it a quantity of hair. It appears that 
the pole, which had been originally nailed in a horizontal 
direction to the crew-yard post, had got loose at the end, and 
that a vicious cow had forced this poor animal against it 
with so much violence, that it penetrated the chest on the 
inner side of the right fore-leg, and traversed the body for a 
distance of two feet and a half, where it remained for upwards 
of two days before being extracted. 
On entering the body the stake took a somewhat upward 
course, and passing on the inner side of the elbow-joint, 
penetrated the cavity of the thorax between the costal 
cartilages of the sternum, about four inches behind the 
elbow. 'VYithin the thorax it traversed the fioor of the 
cavity underneath the right lung. It seems next to have 
penetrated the diaphragm, and to have entered the rumen, 
as at end of the stake, where a hollow exists, a small quantity 
of ingesta, about a tea-spoonful, was found. Now, the most 
wonderful part of the story is, that the animal made a good 
cure, and is at this time, about eleven weeks after the acci¬ 
dent, apparently well and in perfect health. 
THE TREATMENT OF LAMINITIS AS PROPOSED 
BY MR. T. D. BROAD, M.R.C.V.S., BATH. 
By J. G. Dickenson, M.R.C.V.S., Boston, Lincolnshire. 
Laminitis being rather a frequent affection in my district, 
cases are often brought under my care, which, either from 
neglect, or from the treatment of some quack, are ot a very 
serious description. 
