340 
WILLIAM CUTTING 
O 
wrong with the nerve tissue he turned his attention to the vessels, 
commencing with the external pastern artery. “ This to my sur¬ 
prise,” he says, “ I found plugged to the extent of an inch and a 
half with a tough fibrinous deposit of a pale straw color, firmly 
adherent to the lining membrane of the vessel. r llie artery was 
completely impervious, there being no channel left in the center 
f the plug. Upon laying open the corresponding artery over 
the inside of the pastern joint, the abnormal deposit was precisely 
the same, but the obstruction occupied a greater length.” 
In the second case the hind foot of the animal suffered a 
severe contusion, with laceration of the integument of the coronet, 
and slight ligamentous exposure. “ Upon examination of the 
vascular trunks, arteries and veins, from the hoof to the hock, they 
were found unobstructed and completely pervious throughout, 
except the inner trunk of the pastern artery, which was obliterat¬ 
ed through its whole length, from the hoof to the fetlock joint. 
The plug or obstructing medium was a white, dense, fibrous clot, 
firmly adherent to the lining coat of the artery.’ 
Reading these cases, I was curious to see if any such state of 
facts existed in my case. So, on the carcass being taken away, 1 
obtained the right fore leg, disarticulating it at the humero-radi- 
al articulation. On removing the skin I saw that the anterior 
portion of the pastern joint was bruised, the result, I thought, of 
pawing in the death agony. Posteriorly a number of yellow 
patches were present, one of them as large as a half dollar, and 
several smaller ones, likely caused in the same way. I caiefully 
dissected the pastern arteries, the outside one from the hoof to its 
union with the metacarpal ; the metacarpal artery I laid open it& 
whole length, from the pastern to the liumero-radial articulation. 
The vessel was empty, the lining membrane in a normal condition 
until I passed below the pastern joint, when I tried to pass a 
knitting needle, and did so, till I came to the branch artery passing 
in front of the suffraginous bone, the needle passing in the 
branch but not in the main channel. From the branch artery to 
the hoof, full two inches, the channel was impervions; the needle 
would not enter. There were several clots present adherent to the 
coat of the artery. First a black one, then a straw colored. There 
