case than in another. When an abscess has formed and is
fluctuating, it should be carefully but fully opened to evacuate the
pus. If it is a serous cyst, some care is necessary in emptying it, and
the possibility of the extension of the inflammation to the joint must
be taken into consideration. When the cavities have been emptied and
have closed by filling up with granulations, or if, not being opened,
the contents have been reabsorbed, and there remains in either case a
plastic exudation and a tendency to the callous organization that may
yet exist, blisters under their various forms, including those of
cantharides, of mercury, and of iodin, are then indicated, principally
in the early stages, as it is then that their effects will prove most
satisfactory. The use of the actual cautery, with fine points,
penetrating deeply throughout the enlargement, has in our hands, when
used in the very early stages of its formation, nearly always brought on
a radical recovery with complete absorption of the thickening.

STRINGHALT.

This is an involuntary movement of one or both hind legs, in which the
foot is suddenly and spasmodically lifted from the ground much higher
than it is normally carried, with excessive flexion of one bone upon the
other. This peculiarity is usually prominent, although it may disappear
with work, only to reappear after a short rest. Sometimes it is most
apparent at a trot, sometimes at a walk, and other times only when
turned around; or it may not be affected by the gait of the horse. It
does not seem to be influenced by the horse's age, young and old being
alike affected. Its first manifestations are sometimes very slight. It
has been noticed as occurring in an animal when backing out of his
stable and ceasing immediately after. In some animals it is best seen
when the animal is turning around on the affected leg, and it is not
noticed when he moves straight forward. That this peculiar action
interferes with facility of locomotion and detracts from a horse's claim
to soundness can not for a moment be denied.

_Cause._--Veterinarians and pathologists are yet in doubt in respect to
the cause of this affection, as well as to its essential nature. Whether
it results from disease of the hock, of an ulcerative character; whether
it springs from a malformation; whether it is a shortening of the
ligaments, a chronic inflammation of the sciatic nerve, or a disease of
the spinal cord; whether it is purely a m