Select** &rtfcles. 
ART. LXIII. OBSERVATIONS ON THE CRUSTA GENU EQUINA, 
(SWEAT OR KNEE SCAB, MOCK OR ENCIRCLED HOOF KNEES, 
HANGERS, DEW CLAWS, NIGHT EYES, OR HORSE CRUST,) 
IN EPILEPSY. By John S. Mettauer, M. D. of Prince Edward County, 
Virginia. 
The grounds upon which this new agent rests, for at least 
a favourable consideration of its claims upon the profession 
are, its successful employment in the cure of some forty or 
fifty well-marked cases of epilepsy. 
The substance designated by the several appellations at the 
head of this article, is furnished by the horse ; four oval sur- 
faces, situated on the inner aspects of the extremities, near 
the knees, are the parts of the animal from which it is ob- 
tained. The secretion is poured out so gradually, and in such 
small quantities at a time, as not to be observed in its fluid, or 
even semi-fluid states. The crust is of variable colour, as well 
as density ; its exterior is always of a lighter appearance, and 
harder than the interior, which is dark and soft ; it is of a la- 
mellated and fibrous texture, and when broken, resembles 
dark, soft horn; its odour is very penetrating, diffusible, and 
peculiar ; it is deciduous, and separates gradually two or three 
times during the year ; when prematurely or forcibly remov- 
ed, the surface from which it is taken, sometimes bleeds a lit- 
tle, inflames, and becomes tender and sore. 
Our investigations in relation to the peculiar function of the 
surfaces, or the offices they subserve in the economy of the 
animals themselves, do not enable us to say much, if any thing 
on this subject. Nothing certain seems yet to have been ascer- 
tained as to their uses. Conjecture and an extremely vague 
and loose tradition, afford the only explanations. The sur- 
Vol. I, — No. 3. 25 
