y to do for an examination by
palpation. In such cases--if an examination does not reveal the cause of
trouble, rest must be recommended and further examination made at a
later date, whereupon any new developments may be noted, if such changes
exist.

Special Methods of Examination.

After having completed a general examination of a lame animal--obtaining
the history of the case, noting its temperament, type, size,
conformation, position assumed while at repose, swellings or
enlargements if present, causing the subject to move to note the degree
and character of lameness manifested; palpating and manipulating the
parts affected to acquire a fairly definite notion of the nature of an
inflammation or to recognize crepitation it becomes necessary in some
cases to employ peculiar means of examination in singular instances.
This may be done by making use of cocain in solution for the production
of local anesthesia as in lameness of the phalanges. Such means are not,
in themselves, dependable but are valuable when used in conjunction with
all other available and practical methods.

Trial use of various shoes in order to shift the weight from one part of
the foot to another or to cause an animal to "break over" in a different
manner so that the gait may be changed, constitutes a special test
procedure. The use of hoof testers or of a hammer to note the degree or
presence of supersensitiveness is another means that is of practical
service. No examination, in any case of lameness, is complete without
having removed the shoe and scrutinized the solar surface of the foot.

[Illustration: Fig. 1--Hoof testers with special jaws of sufficient size
to grasp the largest foot.]

Diagnosis by exclusion, finally, is resorted to, and, as in any other
case where the recognition of cause is difficult, exclusion of the
existence of conditions,--one at a time, by an analysis of
symptoms--generally enables the practictioner to eliminate all but the
disturbing element.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 4: By stride is meant the distance between two successive
imprints of the same foot. The term is not used in this work as being
synonymous with step.]

SECTION III.

LAMENESS IN THE FORE LEG.

Anatomo-Physiological Review of parts of the Fore Leg.

For supporting weight, whether the subject is at rest or in motion, the
bony column of the leg, together with attached ligaments, tendons and
muscles, is wonderfully well adapted by nature