472 
W. J. MARTIN. 
ostcsis and anchylosis of the scaphoid and cuneiform bones in a 
colt but a few days old. This diseased condition can be ac¬ 
counted for in no other manner than that the diseased state 
must have taken place during the intra-uterine period of its 
existence. 
Treatment .—The treatment of spavin has varied but little 
from the fundamental methods laid down by Youatt and Perci- 
vall ; and that this method was based upon a correct scientific 
knowledge of the pathology of the disease is borne out by the 
experience of nearly every practitioner from their time to the 
present. The most essential requirement in the treatment of 
spavin as well as in all other joint diseases is rest. By rest I 
do not mean the turning of the animal out in a pasture, where 
by running and jumping in play the animal has every facility 
for keeping the diseased bones in a state of constant irritation. 
If a small box stall with a ground floor is not available, I have 
the animal placed in an ordinary single stall; bring the feet 
into proper shape by levelling and proper shoeing. There is 
no particular pattern of shoe required for this purpose beyond 
that which will place the bones of the joint upon an even surface. 
In the early stage of the disease, if there is severe inflamma¬ 
tory action present, applications of hot or cold water may be 
made to the joint, though usually I consider this a waste of val¬ 
uable time, because the majority of the cases met with have 
already passed through the acute stage. It is an incontroverti¬ 
ble fact that horses in country districts are much more easily 
treated and cured of spavin than are horses in cities also, that 
the exostosis is much smaller in the former than in the latter. 
The question is often asked, Should we make any distinc¬ 
tion in the choice of a therapeutic agent when treating ostitis 
or periostitis existing in a hock joint ? I should answer no. 
While articular arthritis existing between the astragulus and 
os calcis is a much more severe disease than where the disease 
is confined to the border of the cuneiform bones, yet the thera¬ 
peutic agent that will relieve the one will answer for the other 
equally well. 
