SPLENT
—is the term given to an ossified prominence when it appears upon the shank-bone of a horse's fore-leg: they are frequently seen upon the legs of young horses, and are sometimes known to disappear without any application whatever. If they do not make their appearance during the fourth or fifth year, they are seldom seen after that time, unless occasioned by blow, bruise, or accident. They are very rarely productive of lameness or inconvenience, unless they curve towards the back sinews, and vibrate in action. Various are the means too hastily and too rashly brought into use for their extirpation, and many times without the least necessity; for when they are not attended with pain or inconvenience, it must be more prudent to let them remain in a state of dormant inactivity, than rouse them into painful action. If some mode must be inevitably adopted, a spirituous saturnine solvent is the most safe and efficacious application.