20 
OBSERVATIONS ON SOUNDNESS. 
about effecting some improvement in that branch of our lite¬ 
rature. With reference to the pathology of splint, I think 
we have arrived at a satisfactory solution of the disease, so 
far as this is concerned; but with regard to the effects pro¬ 
duced by splint we are not so happy in our remarks. It has 
been said that splint seldom produces either lameness or 
defective action. To this observation I cannot subscribe; as 
in many cases I have found both splint and other bony growths 
about the metacarpal bones produce lameness and defective 
action likewise. If we take into consideration the anatomy 
of the metacarpal bones, and then reflect upon the phy¬ 
siology of the same parts, we shall, I think, ascertain that 
both lameness and irregular or defective action are often the 
result of these deposits. I have several morbid specimens in 
my possession which display unmistakable evidences of in¬ 
flammation having been centred in the bones themselves. 
In all these, lameness was of course apparent, and so bad in 
some of them, that I advised the animals should be destroyed. 
I am of opinion a deposit of bony matter cannot exist be¬ 
tween the small and large metacarpi without interfering in 
some degree with the action of the limb. Take, for example, 
a splint situated midway down the small bone; all the regu¬ 
lar courses have passed away, and a portion of the fibro-car- 
tilaginous matter has been substituted by osseous matter ren¬ 
dering it as firm as if a nail had been passed through it. 
Now, if the action of the inner small metacarpal bone be 
what a mechanic would be led to believe it is on examination, 
namely, a downward movement, and perhaps a little out¬ 
wards also ; then a tie or bind midway must of necessity pro¬ 
duce some change in the action of the limb. If to a board 
a small splinter of wood were fixed by means of a piece of 
indja-rubber, and a weight placed upon the upper part of the 
small splinter, in a precisely similar manner to what is per¬ 
formed upon the bones of the living horse, it will give a fair 
idea how small a liberty may be taken in nailing the small 
piece of wood to the larger, and what the result will be. I 
have every reason to believe that, as the situation of the 
ossific matter is changed, so will a change take place in the 
action of that part of the fore leg of the horse. For many 
years I have paid especial attention to the action of horses 
having splints. As these deposits approach toward the 
carpus, the more do they alter the action of the limb, and in 
some cases they produce an irregular or stilty movement of 
the whole leg. The shape of the ossific deposit will exercise 
much influence in producing lameness. I have always 
found that when these deposits are sjgiculatecl , they produce 
