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 for the function which
they perform. The several bones which go to make up the supportive
portion of the leg, are so joined at their points of articulation, that
a minimum degree of strain is put upon each attachment.

The upper third of the scapula, with its cartilage of prolongation, is
sufficiently broad and flattened that it fits snugly against the thorax
without necessity for a complicated method of attachment--the clavicle
being absent, attachment is muscular.

Smith[5] has very aptly stated that:

"It seems quite legitimate to regard the muscular union between the
thorax and forelimb as a joint. There are no bones resting on each
other, no synovia; but where the scapula has its largest range of
movement there is a remarkable amount of areolar tissue, which renders
movement easy. The whole central area beneath the scapula and humerus
not occupied by muscular attachment, is filled with this easy-moving,
apparently gaseously distended, crepitant, areolar tissue over which the