SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
137 
ciation for the candidates : Jas. L,. Otterman, W. N. Hobbs, and 
W. Ross Cooper. 
The resignation of Hr. Burgess, who had removed from St. 
Joseph to Louisville, Ky., where he could not attend the meet¬ 
ings of the association, was tendered and duly accepted. 
A paper on the u Injuries of the Flexor Metatarsi ” was pre¬ 
sented by Dr. R. C. Moore, as follows : 
INJURIES TO THE FEEXOR METATARSI. 
This muscle being the sole flexor of the metatarsal region, 
as well as a check ligament to the same, renders lesions to it of 
particular importance. Their occurrence in the horse is far 
from being rare and is sometimes noted in bovines. In herbi- 
vora this muscle is composed of two quite distinct parts attached 
to each other by tendinous intersections. The one part is mus¬ 
cular with tendinous insertions, the other a tendinous structure 
that might well be considered a check ligament. The tendin¬ 
ous portion arises with the extensor pedis from the distal end of 
the femur from a depression just above the articular margin be¬ 
tween the external condyle and trochlea, passes down through 
the superior tibial groove, clothed by a reflection of one of the 
synovial membranes of the stifle joint, passes down over the ex¬ 
ternal and anterior face of the tibia, where it contacts and 
exchanges numerous fibres with the muscular portion and ex¬ 
tensor pedis. Gaining the anterior face of the astragalus it 
forms a ring for the passage of the tendon of the muscular part, 
and bifurcates, sending one tendon externally to the cuboid and 
one downward to the head of the large metatarsal. This portion 
forms a ligamentous connection between the femur and tarsus 
and metatarsus, and acts as a stay to prevent undue extension of 
the metatarsus on the tarsus and the tarsus on the tibia. 
Some authors ascribe as a part of its action the flexion of the 
tarsus and metatarsus during extension of the stifle, but they 
are, to my mind, in error, as extension of the stifle cannot in¬ 
crease the distance between its point of origin and insertion, but 
it is probable that it may possess this action to a limited degree 
during flexion of the stifle. The fleshy portion, or the real 
muscle, arises from the supero-external part of the tibia just be¬ 
low the groove, becomes tendinous at the distal end, passes 
through the ring formed by the tendinous part and bifurcates, 
sending a large, strong tendon to the head of the large metatar¬ 
sal and a small one internally to the cuneiform parvum. 
These structures are subject to injuries, extending all the 
way from a slight strain of the fibres of some part of their 
