American Veterinary Review, 
r 
MARCH, 1883. 
ORIGINAL ARTICLES. 
THE HORSE'S FOOT. 
By A. Zundel. 
(Continued from page 467.) 
NAVICULAR DISEASE. 
YI.— Etiology .—To properly understand the etiology of this 
disease, one must bear in mind the part played by the anterior 
legs in the action of locomotion. Columns of support more than 
of impulsion, it is their office to sustain the weight of the body 
when it is thrown forward by the extension of the hind legs. 
The reaction of the ground is first felt at the shoulders, through 
the muscular slings which attach them to the trunk, but it is partly 
diminished in the scapulodiumeral joint, which closes, notwith¬ 
standing the resistance of the muscles implanted on its apex. 
The remaining force is transmitted to the vertical column, repre¬ 
sented by the union of the radius, the carpus and the metacarpus. 
Reaching the digital region, this force is there decomposed. 
Part of it, passing on the phalanx, loses itself and disappears in 
front of the horny box of the foot, the other being thrown upon 
the flexor tendons, and finally upon the perforans, which distrib¬ 
utes it to the posterior parts of the foot, and to the navicular 
