Hocus-pocus

“ Even the appellation of Juggler is not amiss applicable to those of their craft, considering all their tricks and mummery not a whit superior to those of these poor savages, in the eyes of common-sense. Who does not know, that the low-burlesque word of Hocus-pocus, is an humorous corruption of their Hoc est corpus meum, by virtue of which, they make a God out of a vile wafer, and think it finely solved, by calling it a mystery, which, by the way is but another name for nonsense. Is there any thing amongst the savages half so absurd or so impious? ”

“ Mr. Vaughan was engaged. Getting ready for his regular midnight hocus-pocus, perhaps!"
I took a meditative puff or two.
"Is it hocus-pocus, Godfrey?" I asked, at last. "If it is, it's a mighty artistic piece of work."
"And if it isn't hocus-pocus, what is it?" Godfrey retorted. "A spiritual manifestation?"
I confess I had no answer ready. Ideas which seem reasonable enough when put dimly to oneself, become absurd sometimes when definitely clothed with words.
"There are just two possibilities," Godfrey went on. "Either it's hocus-pocus, or it isn't. If it is, it is done for some purpose. ”

“ Special attention must be directed to the three terminal joints, which furnish highly important characteristics. The tibia (in Pocock’s sense) is sometimes provided with a “tibial spur” at its lower distal extremity. From the soft arthrodial membrane between the protarsus and tarsus may proceed one or more dark-tipped claw-like spurs, the “pedal spurs.” The terminal joint (tarsus of Pocock) is variously furnished with hairs and teeth, and always ends in a pair of well-developed movable claws beneath which a much reduced and sometimes almost obsolete third claw is distinguishable. ”

“ The hock is said to be curbed when the normal appearance, viewed from the side, is that of bulging posteriorly at any point between the summit of the calcaneum and the upper third of the metatarsus. Among some horsemen a hock is said to be "curby" whenever there exists an enlargement of any kind on the posterior face of the tarsus whether it be due to sprain, exostosis or proliferation of tissue as a result of contusion. ”

“ The distal margin of the caput overhangs a ventral groove that extends from the caudal flange around the base of the femoral head onto the cranial face of the proximal end. The accompanying groove is deep and undercuts the rounded caput. The femoral head is subequal along most of its length; being broader medially via an inflated caput. The lateral face of the greater trochanter is cranio-caudally as wide as the lateral face of the lesser trochanter. ”

“ If compelled to do so, or required to move forward, the hock being no longer capable of flexion, the muscle which effects that movement being the injured one, the opposite muscles, the extensors, acting freely, the entire lower part of the leg, from the hock down, will be suddenly, with a jerk, extended on the tibia or shank bone, and simultaneously with this the tendo Achillis, the cord of the hock, the tendons of the extensors of the hock will be put in a wrinkled and relaxed condition. ”

“ The proximal articular facet is deeply concave and divided into two by a median ridge. The articular surface for the medial condyle has a greater dorso-ventral expression than the lateral condyle. The medial face of the ungual is relatively flat in comparison to the lateral face which is rounded and possesses a deeper vascular groove. A sharp crest extends from the medial base of the flexor tuberosity and follows the concave ventral margin to the distal tip. Flexor tubercles are well developed and prominent. Lateral and medial vascular grooves are similarly well developed. ”

“ At first the hock shows a generalised doughy swelling, soon followed by dilatation of the articular synovial sac. Somewhat later four different swellings appear—two in front, separated by the tendons of the common extensor and flexor metatarsi, and two at the back, extending inside and outside to the flexure of the hock.
Diagnosis. The only precaution required in diagnosis is to avoid confusion with articular rheumatism.
Prognosis. The prognosis is rather grave in the case of working oxen, and even of bulls; often slaughter is preferable to treatment. ”

“ People send to one another to know if any of their family has a mind to have the small-pox; they make parties for this purpose, and when they are met, the old woman comes with a nut-shell full of the matter of the best sort of small-pox, and asks what vein you please to have opened. She immediately rips open that you offer her with a large needle, and puts into the vein as much matter as can lie upon the head of her needle, and after that binds up the little wound with a hollow shell, and in this manner opens four or five veins. ”

“ Etiology and Occurrence.—The hock joint is often subjected to great strain because of the structural nature of this part and its relation to the hip as well as the manner in which the tarsus functionates during locomotion. That ligamentous injuries owing to sprain frequently occur and attendant periarticular inflammations with subsequent hypertrophic changes follow, is a logical inference. Fibrillary fracture of the collateral ligaments may take place in falls or when animals make violent efforts to maintain their footing on slippery streets. ”

“ CAUSE: Faulty conformation of the hind legs; that is to say, if an
animal has crooked legs, a slight sprain from slipping or jumping will
produce Curb. In cases where an animal has well proportioned limbs, and
is afflicted with Curb, it is caused by a rupture of the small ligament
or cord situated just back of the hock.
SYMPTOMS: A swelling will be noticed on the back part of the hock. At
first the animal is lame and the enlargement is hot and painful. After a
few days' rest the inflammation will partially subside and the
enlargement can be plainly seen. ”

“ The characteristic lameness of bone spavin, as it affects the motion of the hock joint, presents two aspects. In one class of cases it is most pronounced when the horse is cool, in the other when he is at work. The first is characterized by the fact that when the animal travels the toe first touches the ground, and the heel descends more slowly, the motion of flexion at the hock taking place stiffly, and accompanied with a dropping of the hip on the opposite side. ”

“ Gout-stones are formed on inflamed membranes, like those of the kidnies above described, by the too hasty absorption of the thinner and saline parts of the mucus. Similar concretions have been produced in the lungs, and even in the pericardium; and it is probable, that the ossification, as it is called, of the minute arteries, which is said to attend old age, and to precede some mortifications of the extremities, may be a process of this kind. ”

“ We may often do much good by medicine—we may moderate the fever, support the strength when languishing, bring out the eruption when it recedes, &c. But to attribute the successful termination of small pox in all cases to the remedies which have been used, would be as great an error as it would be to maintain that the poultices, and other applications made to an inflammatory swelling, are of course the cause of its suppuration and discharge—or, in other words, that they cured the inflammation. ”

“ The hips should be long and wide, with the stifle and thigh strong, long and proportionately developed, and the hind quarters well let down. The hock should have plenty of bone, and be strongly affixed to the leg, and show no signs of curb; the bones below the hock should be flat, and free from adhesions; the ligaments and tendons well developed, and standing out from the bone; the joints well formed and wide, yet without undue enlargement; the pasterns and feet similar to those of the forehand. ”

“ Thus you see the power to drive dead fluids from fascia must be much greater in smallpox than in cases of measles. Then we must see why the pulse of smallpox is so powerful during development of the pox. After killing the fluids by retention in the fascia of the skin, a greater force yet is created by hurting nerve fibers of fascia; then the motor energy appears and all the powers of life go to help the arteries force fluids through the skin and push to and leave them in the fascia of the skin to be eliminated as best it can. ”

“ The distal end is rounded in cranial profile and sub-rectangular in distal cross-section; compressed cranio-caudally, which reflects a more expanded transverse margin; transversely expanded more than the proximal end, which is only expanded medially. The ulnar ligament scar is well developed and extends proximally almost a third of the shaft. A prominent oblique ridge runs from the proximo-caudal face to the medio-distal end. The articular surface of the distal end extends across the entire distal end and up onto the lateral face. ”

“ The Hands begin to rife, when the Swelling in the Face begins to subside, which usually happens on the eleventh Day; for the Pustules in the Body, the Hands, and Feet, coming out about thirty Hours after those of the Face, they are in Proportion, as slow before they reach Maturity. An eminent Physician, that has deserved well of the Profession, by his History of the Small-Pox, and his Method of Cure; though as all human Works are, it is imperfect ”

“ Hippocrates further exposes the mistake of those who endeavour to push down the projecting bone, which, he justly remarks, cannot be effected. The part which projects, as he states, is almost universally the extremity attached to the sternum, the other portion being dragged down by the weight of the arm; and hence the mistake is obvious of those who attempt to push down the upper extremity. He recommends the patient to lie in bed until adhesion takes place, which generally occurs between the fourteenth and twentieth day. ”

“ The bones of the cranium will sometimes be widely separated by it, and the head be made so large that it cannot possibly be born till made less. The causes which produce this disease before birth are unknown.
In cases of hydrocephalus the head does not descend into the straits, owing to its size, and is felt to be full and firm, during a pain, but soft and yielding during the intervals, especially at the fontanelles and sutures, which are also very large. The bones are usually very wide asunder, or even totally separated, as if floating in the fluid. ”

“ With it any opening is probed carefully to see whether it is merely a mastoid cell, or dura mater covering the outer wall of the lateral sinus, or the middle cranial fossa, or if indeed it is the antrum itself. The chief mistake is to work too low down. If the antrum be small it may be missed, and the bone may be chiselled away too deeply in endeavouring to discover it and the facial nerve or the external semicircular canal injured. It is wiser, therefore, to work high even if the dura mater of the middle fossa is exposed by doing so. ”

“ The shaft is cranio-caudally compressed so that the medial and lateral margins form two opposing crests. Half way along the flexor surface a raised muscle scar extends to the distally expanded end. The distal condyles are asymmetrical with the cranial condyle offset ventrally to the caudal condyle which is bulbous and possesses a deep ligament pit. No deep pit occurs on the cranial side. A sharp triangular process juts out along the distal portion of the extensor crest. ”

“ Evidence for posterior prevalence in the adult is apparent; Hoxa13 is not expressed in the femur samples whilst Hoxa13 is expressed in tibial and ulnar bones which are the more distal skeletal elements.
Site-specific Hoxa cluster gene expression profiles of cultured adult bone-derived cells.Continued expression of developmental patterning Hoxa genes demonstrate posterior prevalence in adult limbs; the more distal the skeletal element, the greater the Hoxa number expression. ”

“ The tarsus is a true hinge joint and because of the great strain which it sustains, is subject to frequent injury. About seventy-five percent of cases of lameness affecting the hind leg may be said to arise from disease of the hock.
As members of locomotion the legs receive strains of two kinds: those of concussion and weight-bearing and strains of propulsion ”

“ After the heat and irritation are reduced, careful hand-rubbing and the use of I.I., at night will do much to disperse the enlargement of the bursa.
Curb At the back of the hock, three or four inches below its point, an enlargement or swelling arises which has received the name of curb. It is a strain of the ring-like ligament which binds the tendons in their place, or of the sheath itself. It comes on in consequence of a violent strain of the flexor tendons, or from a blow, kick, or contusion upon the part. ”

“ The dorsal margins of four isolated neural spines are preserved with rounded quadrangular dorsal surfaces. The neural spines are relatively stout with broad triangular bases, probably less than 20% of the total vertebral height. Each possesses complex camellate internal pneumatic structure and simplified prespinal and postspinal laminae. A ridge extends from the base of the prespinal lamina across the lateral face of the neural spine toward the expansion for the prezygopophysis. ”

“ They inoculate indifferently on any part, but if left to their choice, they prefer the outside of the arm, mid-way between the wrist and the elbow, for the males; and the same between the elbow and the shoulder for the females. ”