REPORTS OF CASES. 
241 
to convince him that an entire recovery is an utter impossibilty, 
and asked him to notify me when he was ready to dispose of him. 
He accordingly, on the second of July, requested me to come 
out to his place to destroy the horse, which long-sought-for oppor¬ 
tunity, I was exceedingly eager to accept, and allowed him no time 
for a reconsideration. On this visit I find that he has continued 
to improve. He walked upon his toe without displaying any 
great amount of lameness. His limb is resuming a more erect 
position. The contour of the stifle joint is as extensive, and 
firmer than ever. The external fragment of the patella is mov¬ 
able upwards and downwards about an inch, the internal frag¬ 
ment apparently stationary. Still ignoring the possibility of a 
radical cure, I had him led to his burial place, and injected 
half an ounce of cyanide of potash, dissolved in one ounce of water, 
into his jugular vein at one injection, which caused his death in 
one and a half minutes. 
After removing the integument and muscles from the femoral 
and tibial region, I sawed the femur through at its upper third, 
and disarticulated the tibia from the tarsus. A great mass of dense 
fibrous tissue is surrounding the stifle joint. Disarticulating the 
joint gave vent to a copious flow of synovia. The appearance of 
the joint is glistening and roughened on the rubbing surfaces of 
the fractured fragments, and the corresponding abnormal artic- 
culating surface of the femur. The external fragment of the 
patella is oval and articulates with the femur on the external 
lateral surface of the trochlea. The internal fragment is triangu¬ 
lar and is resting in the fossa between the trochlea and internal 
condyle of the femur. It does not have as much freedom of 
motion as the external fragment has. The hypertrophied lig¬ 
aments surrounding the stifle joint, in combination with the ad¬ 
ventitious tissue, form a powerful fibrous band extending from 
one fragment to the other, measuring four inches from side to 
side, five inches from above and downwards, and varying from 
one half to one inch in thickness. This fibrous structure serves to 
connect the two pieces of bone which are firmly adherent to it, 
also to fill up the vacant spaces created by the subsequent sep¬ 
aration of the two fragments. Although very remote from per- 
