The Project Gutenberg eBook ofThe Farmer's Veterinarian: A Practical Treatise on the Diseases of Farm StockThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: The Farmer's Veterinarian: A Practical Treatise on the Diseases of Farm StockAuthor: Charles William BurkettRelease date: August 16, 2017 [eBook #55366]Most recently updated: October 23, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Charlene Taylor, Harry Lamé and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive)*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FARMER'S VETERINARIAN: A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE DISEASES OF FARM STOCK ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: The Farmer's Veterinarian: A Practical Treatise on the Diseases of Farm StockAuthor: Charles William BurkettRelease date: August 16, 2017 [eBook #55366]Most recently updated: October 23, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Charlene Taylor, Harry Lamé and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive)
Title: The Farmer's Veterinarian: A Practical Treatise on the Diseases of Farm Stock
Author: Charles William Burkett
Author: Charles William Burkett
Release date: August 16, 2017 [eBook #55366]Most recently updated: October 23, 2024
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Charlene Taylor, Harry Lamé and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FARMER'S VETERINARIAN: A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE DISEASES OF FARM STOCK ***
Please see theTranscriber’s Notesat the end of this text.
Please see theTranscriber’s Notesat the end of this text.
FARM LIFE SERIESTHE FARMER’S VETERINARIANByCharles William BurkettHANDY FARM DEVICES AND HOW TO MAKE THEMByRolfe CobleighMAKING HORTICULTURE PAYByM. G. KainsFARM CROPSByCharles William BurkettPROFITABLE STOCK RAISINGByClarence A. ShamelPROFITABLE POULTRY PRODUCTIONByM. G. KainsOther Volumes in Preparation
FARM LIFE SERIES
THE FARMER’S VETERINARIAN
ByCharles William Burkett
HANDY FARM DEVICES AND HOW TO MAKE THEM
ByRolfe Cobleigh
MAKING HORTICULTURE PAY
ByM. G. Kains
FARM CROPS
ByCharles William Burkett
PROFITABLE STOCK RAISING
ByClarence A. Shamel
PROFITABLE POULTRY PRODUCTION
ByM. G. Kains
Other Volumes in Preparation
frontispieceHEALTH
HEALTH
The Farmer’sVeterinarianA Practical Treatise on the Diseases of Farm Stock:Containing Brief and Popular Advice on the Nature, Cause and Treatment of Disease, the Common Ailments and the Care and Management of Stock when SickByCHARLES WILLIAM BURKETTEditor of American AgriculturistILLUSTRATEDNEW YORKORANGE JUDD COMPANY1914
A Practical Treatise on the Diseases of Farm Stock:Containing Brief and Popular Advice on the Nature, Cause and Treatment of Disease, the Common Ailments and the Care and Management of Stock when Sick
ByCHARLES WILLIAM BURKETTEditor of American Agriculturist
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORKORANGE JUDD COMPANY1914
Copyright, 1909Orange Judd CompanyNew York
Printed in U. S. A.
A
largeclass of people, by force of circumstances, are compelled to treat their own animals when sick or disabled. Qualified veterinarians are not always available; and all the ills and accidents incident to farm animals do not require professional attendance. Furthermore, the skilled stockman should be familiar with common diseases and the treatment of them. He should remember, too, that the maintenance of health and vigor in our farm stock is the direct result of well-directed management. Too frequently this is neither understood nor admitted, and an unreasonable lack of attention, when animals are ill or indisposed, works out dire mischief in the presence of physical disorder and infectious diseases. A fair acquaintance with the common ailments is helpful to the owner and to his stock. This leads to health, to prevention of disease, and to skill in attendance when disease is at hand.
The volume herewith presented abounds in helpful suggestions and valuable information for the most successful treatment of ills and accidents and disease troubles. It is an everyday handbook of disease and its treatment, and contains the best ideas gathered from the various authorities and the experience of a score of practical veterinarians in all phases of veterinary practice.
C. W. BURKETT.
New York, June, 1909.
To call a veterinarian or not—that is the question. Whether your horse or cow is sick enough for professional attendance, or just under the weather a little, is a problem you will always be called upon to face. And you must meet it. It has always faced the man who raises stock, and it is a problem that always will. Like human beings, farm stock have their ailments and troubles; and, in most cases, a little care and nursing are all that will be required. With these troubles all of us are acquainted; especially those who have spent much time with the flocks and the herds on the farm. Through experience we know that often with every reasonable care, some animals, frequently the healthiest-looking ones, in the field, or stable, give trouble at the most unsuspected times. So the fault is not always with the owner.
There is no reason, however, why an effort should not be made, just as soon as any trouble is noticed, to assist the sick animal to recover, and help nature in every way possible to restore the invalid to its usual normal condition. The average observing farmer, as a rule, knows just about what the trouble is; he usually knows if treatment is beyond him, and if not, what simple medical aid will be effective in bringing about a recovery with greater dispatch than nature unaided will effect.
Now, of course, this means that the farmer should be acquainted with his animals; in health and disease their actions should be familiar to him.If he be a master of his business he naturally knows a great deal about his farm stock. No man who grows corn or wheat ever raises either crop extremely successfully unless he has an intimate knowledge of the soil, the seed, the details of fertilization and culture. He has learned how good soils look, how bad soils look; he knows if soils are healthy, whether they are capable of producing big crops or little crops.
So with his stock. He must know, and he does know, something as to their state of health or ill health. With steady observation his knowledge will increase; and with experience he ought to be able to diagnose the common ailments, and not only prescribe for their treatment, but actually treat many of them himself. Unfortunately, many farmers pass health along too lightly and the common disorders too seriously. This is wrong. The man who deals with farm animals should be well acquainted with them, just as the engineer is acquainted with his engine. If an engine goes wrong the engineer endeavors to ascertain the trouble. If it is beyond his experience and knowledge he turns the problem over to an expert. It should be so with the stock raiser. So familiar should the owner be with his animals in case of trouble he ought to know of some helpful remedy or to know that the trouble is more serious than ordinary, in which case the veterinarian should be called.
All of this means that the art of observing the simple functions should be acquired at the earliest possible moment—where to find the pulse of horse or cow, how many heart beats in a minute, how many respirations a minute, the color of the healthy nostril, the use of the thermometer and where to place it to get the information, the character of theeye, the nature of the coat, the passage of dung and water, how the animal swallows, the attitude when standing, the habit of lying down and getting up—all of these should be as familiar to the true stockman as the simplest details of tillage or of planting or of harvesting.
COMMON SHEEP SCABHere is an advanced case and shows how serious the trouble may become. A very small itch mite is the cause. The mites live and multiply under the scurf and scab of the skin.
COMMON SHEEP SCAB
Here is an advanced case and shows how serious the trouble may become. A very small itch mite is the cause. The mites live and multiply under the scurf and scab of the skin.
Moreover, the stockman should be a judge of external characters, whether natural or temporary. He should have a knowledge of animal conformation. If to know a good plow is desirable, then to know a good pastern or foot is desirable. If the art of selecting wheat is a worthy acquisition, then the art of comparing hocks of different horses is a worthy accomplishment also. If experience tells the grower that his corn or potatoes or cotton is strong, vigorous and healthy or just the reverse,observation and experience ought also to tell him when his stock are in good health or when they lack thrift or are sick and need treatment.
Few farmers there are, indeed, who are not acquainted with crop diseases. Smut is readily recognized when present in the wheat or corn or oat field; so colic, too, should be recognized when your horse is affected by it. The peach and the apple have their common ailments; so have the cow and pig. In either case the facts ought to be familiar. So familiar that as soon as diagnosed and recognized prompt measures for treatment should be followed that the cure may be effected before any particular headway is at all made. Handled in this way, many cases that are now passed on to the veterinarian would never develop into serious disturbances at all.
The old saying, “Prevention is better than cure,” is both wisdom and a splendid platform on which to build any branch of live stock work. Every disease is the result of some disturbance, somewhere. It may be improper food; the stockman must know. Moldy fodder causes nervous troubles in the horse. Cottonseed meal, if fed continuously to pigs, leads to their death. Hence, food has much to do with health and disease. Ventilation of the stable plays its part. Bad air leads to weakness, favors tuberculosis, and, if not remedied, brings about loss and death. Fresh air in abundance is better than medicine; and the careful stockman will see that it be not denied.
Good sanitation, including cleanly quarters, wholesome water and dry stables, has its reward in more healthy animals. When not provided, the animals are frequently ill, or are in bad health more or less. As these factors—proper food, good ventilation, and effective sanitation—are introduced in stable accommodations, diseases will be lessened and stock profits will increase.
HOG HOUSE AND FEEDING FLOORThis convenient hog house is inexpensive, and the feeding floor at the side insures cleanliness and thorough sanitary conditions. A sanitary hog house should be one of the chief improvements of the farm.
HOG HOUSE AND FEEDING FLOOR
This convenient hog house is inexpensive, and the feeding floor at the side insures cleanliness and thorough sanitary conditions. A sanitary hog house should be one of the chief improvements of the farm.
As disease is better understood it becomes more closely identified with germs and bacteria. Hence, to lessen disease we must destroy, so far as possible, the disease-producing germs. For this purpose nothing is better than sunlight and disinfectants. Sunlight is itself death to all germs; therefore, all stables, and the living quarters for farm animals, should be light and airy, and free from damp corners and lodgment places for dust, vermin, and bacteria. Even when animals are in goodhealth, disinfection is a splendid means for warding off disease. For sometimes with the greatest care germs are admitted in some manner or form. By constantly disinfecting, the likelihood of any encroachment by germs is greatly lessened.
Fortunately we have disinfectants that are easily applied and easily obtained at small cost. One of these disinfecting materials is lime, just ordinary slaked lime, the lime that every farmer knows. While it does not possess the disinfecting power of many other agents, it is, nevertheless, very desirable for sprinkling about stables and for whitewashing floors, walls, and partitions. When so used the cracks and holes are filled and the germs destroyed. Ordinary farm stables should be whitewashed once or twice each year, and the crumbled lime sprinkled on the litter or open ground. It is not desirable to use lime with bedding and manure, for the reason that it liberates the nitrogen contained therein. Hence the bedding and manure should be removed to the fields as frequently as possible, where it can be more helpful to the land. Thus scattered, the sunlight and purifying effects of the soil will soon destroy the disease bacteria, if any are present in the manure.
Another splendid disinfectant is corrosive sublimate, mercuric chloride, as it is often called. Use one ounce in eight gallons of water. This makes one-tenth of one per cent solution. In preparing this disinfectant, allow the material to stand for several hours, so as to permit the chemical to become entirely dissolved. This solution should be carefully guarded and protected, since it is a poison and, if drunk by animals, is liable to cause death. If infected quarters are to be disinfected, see thatthe loose dirt and litter is first removed before applying the sublimate.
Carbolic acid is another satisfactory disinfectant. Usually a five per cent solution is recommended. It can be easily applied to mangers, stalls, and feed boxes. Enough should be applied so that the wood or iron is made wet and the cracks and holes more or less filled. Chloride of lime is a cheap and an easily prepared disinfectant. Use ten ounces of chloride of lime to two gallons of water. This makes a four per cent solution, and should be applied in the same way as the corrosive sublimate.
Formalin has come into prominence very recently as a desirable disinfectant. A five per cent solution fills the bill. Floors and cracks should be made thoroughly wet with it. By using one or more of these agents the living quarters of farm animals can be kept wholesome, sweet, and free from germ diseases. In fact, the use of disinfectants is one of the best aids of the farmer in warding off disease and in lessening its effects when once present.
Many diseases are introduced into a herd or flock by thoughtlessness on the part of the owner. I have known distemper to be introduced into stables and among horses, Texas fever and tuberculosis into herds of cattle, and hog cholera among hogs, because diseased animals, when purchased, were not separated off by themselves, for a short time at least. If this were done, farmers would lessen the chance of an introduction of disease into their healthy herds. Consequently quarantine quarters should be provided; especially is this true if newanimals are frequently purchased and brought to the farm where many animals are raised and handled. These quarantine quarters need not be expensive, and they ought to be removed far enough from the farm stock so that there may be no easy means of infection. When newly purchased animals are placed in the quarantine quarters they should be kept there long enough to determine if anything strange or unusual is taking place.
POULTICING THE THROATThe picture shows how to apply a poultice to the throat.
POULTICING THE THROAT
The picture shows how to apply a poultice to the throat.
The cell is the unit of growth. It is so with all forms of life—plant or animal, insect or bacterium. In the beginning the start is with a single cell, an egg, if you please. After fertilization has taken place, this single cell enlarges or grows. Many changes now occur, all rather rapidly, until the cell walls become too small, when it breaks apart and forms two cells just like the first used to be. This is known as cell division. As growth increases, the number of cells increases also—until in the end there are millions.
—The cell is very small. In most cases it cannot be seen with the naked eye. The microscope is necessary for a study of the parts, the nature and the character of the cell.
In the first place the cell is a kind of inclosed sac, in which are found the elements of growth and life. Surrounding the cell is a thin wall known as the cell membrane. In plants this cell wall is composed of cellulose, a woody substance, which is thin and tender in green and growing plants, but hard and woody when the plant is mature.
Within the limits of the cell is the protoplasm, the chief constituent of the cell; locked up in this protoplasm is life, the vital processes that have to do with growth, development, individual existence.
Embedded within the protoplasm is another part known as the nucleus and recognized under the microscope by its density. Around the nucleus iscentered the development of new cells or reproduction—for the changes that convert the mother-cell into offspring-cells are first noted in this place.
HOW A CELL DIVIDESThe simple steps in cell division are pictured here. Starting with a single cell, growth and enlargement take place, ending finally in cell division or the production of two individual cells.
HOW A CELL DIVIDES
The simple steps in cell division are pictured here. Starting with a single cell, growth and enlargement take place, ending finally in cell division or the production of two individual cells.
So much for plant cells. Is this principle different in animals? For a long time it was thought that plants and animals were different. But upon investigation it was discovered that animals were comprised of cells just as plants. And not only was this discovered to be true, but also that animal cells corresponded in all respects to plant cells. Hence in animals are to be found cells possessing the cell walls formed of a rather thick membrane, the granular protoplasm or yoke, and the nucleus established in the yoke.
The ovum, known as the female egg, is composed of the parts just described. If it is not fertilized when ripe it passes away and dies. If fertilized in a natural way, it enlarges in size and subsequently divides into two cells; and these, passing through similar changes, finally give rise to the various groups of cells from which the body is developed.
—The body is, therefore, a mass of cells; not all alike, of course, but grouped together for the purpose of doing certain special kinds of work. In this way we have various groups, with each group a community performing its own function. The brain forms one community; and these cells are concerned with mind acts. The muscle cells are busy in exerting force and action. Another group looks after the secretions and digestive functions, while another group is concerned solely with the function of generation and reproduction. And so it is throughout the body.
Both individual cells and group cells are concerned with disease. One cell may be diseased or destroyed, but the surrounding ones may go on just the same. It is when the group is disturbed that the greatest trouble results.
—The cell always possesses its three parts—membrane, protoplasm, and nucleus. But there is no rule as to the size or shape. Cells may be round or oblong, any shape. Substances pass in and out of the cell walls; and they are in motion, many of them, especially those that line the intestines and the air passages, and the white corpuscles of the blood. More than this, some cells, Dr. Jekyl-like, change their appearance and shape, send out finger-like bodies to catchenemies or food, and even travel all around in the body, often leaving it altogether.
The animal body contains five forms of tissues: Epithelial, in which the cells are very compact, forming either thin or thick plates; the connective tissue, by which many organs are supported or embedded; muscle tissue, either smooth or striated, and in which the cells are in fibers that contract and shorten; nerve-tissue, that has to do with nerve and ganglion cells by which mental impulses are sent; and blood and lymph tissue or fluid tissues.
The first group is intimately connected with the secretory organs, or those organs which secrete certain substances essential for the proper work of the body. Thus we have salivary glands, mucous glands, sweat glands, and the liver and pancreas. Connective tissue includes fibrous tissue, fatty tissue, cartilage and bone. The fibrous connective tissue is illustrated when the skin is easily picked up in folds. Fatty tissue occurs where large amounts of fat are deposited in the cells. Cartilage is found where a large amount of firm support is required. With muscle we are all familiar; it is the real lean meat of the body.
—The blood is a fluid in which many cells are to be found. The fluid is known as serum or blood-plasma and the cells as corpuscles, and are both red and white. The red cells give the characteristic color. When observed under a microscope, they appear as small, round disks. They are of great importance to the body work. Because of the coloring matter in them the oxygen of the air is attracted when it comes incontact with the blood in the lungs. Oxygen is in reality absorbed, and on the blood leaving the lungs it is distributed to all parts of the body. The oxygen supply of the body is, therefore, in the keeping of the red corpuscles.
White corpuscles have a different work; they guard the body by picking up poison, bacteria, and other undesirable elements and cast these out through the natural openings of the body. Compared with the red cells, they exist in far less numbers and may wander about through all parts of the body.
Lymph is a fluid in which a few cells, lymph corpuscles, are suspended. These cells are very much like the colorless corpuscles of the blood, only no red blood cells are present. But the lymph attends to its own business; it bathes the tissues and endeavors to keep them in a healthy condition.
—Without a covering the delicate muscles would be unprotected. The skin serves in this capacity. It does still more; out of it is exuded poisonous substances, perspiration, and, at the same time, the skin is a sort of respiratory organ, through which much of the carbonic acid formed in the body escapes.
The skin possesses two general layers, the cutis and sub-cutis; in the first is contained also epidermis. Developed in the skin are the outer coverings like hair, wool, feathers, horns, claws, and hoofs.
The framework of the body undergoes a gradual development from birth to maturity. It represents the bony structure of the body; and on it all otherparts depend for support and protection. The brief summary of its parts and work that follows here has been adapted from Wilcox and Smith.
—This consists of a backbone, skull, shoulder girdle, pelvic girdle, and two pairs of appendages. The backbone may be conveniently divided into regions, each comprising a certain number of vertebræ. The cervical vertebræ include those from the skull from the first rib. In all mammals except the sloth and sea cow the number of cervical vertebræ is seven, being long or short, according as the neck of the animal is relatively long or short. The first and second cervical vertebræ, known as the atlas and axis, are especially modified so as to allow free turning movements of the head.
The next region includes the dorsal or thoracic vertebræ, which are characterized by having ribs movably articulated with them. The number is 13 in the cat, dog, ox, sheep, and goat; 14 in the hog; 18 or 19 in the horse and ass, and six or seven in domestic poultry. In mammals they are so joined together as to permit motion in several directions, but in poultry the dorsal vertebræ are more rigidly articulated, those next to the sacrum often being grown together with the sacrum. The spines are high and much flattened in all ungulates, long and slender in dogs and cats. They slope backward, forming strong points of attachment for the back muscles. Several ribs, varying in number in different animals, meet and become articulated with the breast bone or sternum. The sternum consists of seven to nine articulated segments in our domestic mammals, while in fowls the sternum is one thin high bone furnished with a keel of varying depth. The lumbar vertebræ lie between the dorsalvertebræ and the sacrum. The number is five in the horse, six in the hog, ox and goat, and seven in the sheep. The sacrum is made up of a certain number of vertebræ, which are rigidly united and serve as an articulation for the pelvic arch. The number of sacral vertebræ is five in the ox and horse, four in sheep and hogs, and 12 to 17 in birds. The caudal or tail vertebræ naturally vary in number according to the length of the tail (7 to 10 in sheep, 21 in the ox, 23 in hogs, 17 in the horse, 22 in the cat, 16 to 23 in the dog).
In ungulates the anterior ribs are scarcely curved, the chest being very narrow in front. The number of pairs of ribs is the same as the number of dorsal vertebræ with which they articulate.
—This part of the skeleton is really composed of a number of modified vertebræ, just how many is not determined. The difference in the shape of the skulls of different animals is determined by the relative size of the various bones of the skull. In hogs, for example, the head has been much shortened as a result of breeding, thus giving the skull of the improved breeds a very different appearance from that of the razorback.
The shoulder girdle consists of a shoulder blade, collar bone and coracoid on either side. The fore leg (or wing, in case of birds) articulates with the socket formed by the junction of these three bones. In all the ungulates the shoulder blade is high and narrow, the coracoid is never much developed, and the collar bone is absent. In fowls all three bones of the shoulder girdle are well developed, the collar bone being represented by the “wish bone.”
—This consists of three bones on either side, viz., ilium, ischium, and pubis. The first two are directly articulated to the spinalcolumn, while the pubic bones of either side unite below to complete the arch. The three bones of each side of the pelvis are present in all our domestic animals, including the fowls.
BONES OF THE SKELETON OF A HORSE1 Face Bones, 2 Neck Bones or Cervical Vertebræ, 3 Scapula or Shoulder Blade, 4 Humerus or Arm Bone, 5 Radius or Bone of Forearm, 6 Carpus or Knee, 7 Shank Bone or Cannon, 8 Upper Pastern, 9 Lower Pastern, 10 Coffin Bone, 11 Ulna or Elbow, 12 Cartilages of the Rib, 13 Costæ or Ribs, 14 Dorsal Vertebræ or Bones of Back, 15 Lumbar Vertebræ or Bones of Loin, 16 Candal Vertebræ or Bones of Tail, 17 Haunch, 18 Femur or Thigh Bone, 19 Stifle Joint, 20 Tibia, 21 Tarsus or Hock, 22 Metatarsal Bones, 23 Upper Pastern Bone, 24 Lower Pastern Bone, 25 Coffin Bone.
BONES OF THE SKELETON OF A HORSE
1 Face Bones, 2 Neck Bones or Cervical Vertebræ, 3 Scapula or Shoulder Blade, 4 Humerus or Arm Bone, 5 Radius or Bone of Forearm, 6 Carpus or Knee, 7 Shank Bone or Cannon, 8 Upper Pastern, 9 Lower Pastern, 10 Coffin Bone, 11 Ulna or Elbow, 12 Cartilages of the Rib, 13 Costæ or Ribs, 14 Dorsal Vertebræ or Bones of Back, 15 Lumbar Vertebræ or Bones of Loin, 16 Candal Vertebræ or Bones of Tail, 17 Haunch, 18 Femur or Thigh Bone, 19 Stifle Joint, 20 Tibia, 21 Tarsus or Hock, 22 Metatarsal Bones, 23 Upper Pastern Bone, 24 Lower Pastern Bone, 25 Coffin Bone.
—There is one formula for the bones of the fore and hind legs of farm animals. The first segment is a single bone, the humerus of the fore leg, femur of the hind leg. In the next segment there are two bones, radius and ulna in the fore leg, tibia and fibula in the hind leg. In the dog, cat, and Belgian hare the radius and ulna are both well developed and distinct. In ungulates the humerus is short and stout, while the ulna is complete in the pig, rudimentary and behind the radius in ruminants and firmly united with the radius in the horse. Similarly with the hind leg the fibula is a complete bone in the pig, while in the horse there is merely a rudiment of it, attached to the tibia.
—The mammalian skeleton has undergone the greatest modification in the bones of the feet. In the horse there are only six of the original ten wrist or carpal bones, and, since there is but one of the original five toes, the horse has also but one metacarpal or cannon bone. Splint-like rudiments of two other metacarpal bones are to be found at the upper end of the cannon bone, or at the “knee” joint. Below the cannon bone, and forming the shaft of the foot, we have the small cannon bone, coronary bone, and coffin bone—the last being within the hoof with the navicular bone behind it. The stifle joint of the horse corresponds to the knee of man. The “knee” of the horse’s fore leg corresponds to the hock of the hind leg, both being at the upper end of the cannon bone. The fetlock joint is between the large and small cannon bones,the pastern joint between the small cannon or large pastern bones, and the coffin joint between the coronary and coffin bones. The horse walks upon what corresponds to the nail of the middle finger and middle toe of man.
In pigs four digits touch the ground, the first being absent and the third and fourth larger and in front of the second and fifth. In ruminants the third and fourth digits reach the ground, while the second and fifth do not. In dogs the first digit appears on the side of the leg, not in contact with the ground.