Cam, Marie-Thérèse

Spatula and r(h)iotes: Two Designations of the Calcaneus, a Bone of the Horse’s Hock (Chiron 589) (p. 37-42) - 2017.


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The chapter 588 of the Mulomedicina Chironis is dedicated to the symptoms related to patellar (cf. patella/ cuneolus) and possibly calcaneal (cf. spatula/ r(h)iotes) dislocations in horses. The metaphorical name spatula, up to now erroneously attributed to the round-shaped patella, possibly designates the largest bone of the hock, the shape of which resembles a paddle ; rhiotes ( riotem in the two manuscripts), hapax, modelled on the greek *ῥιώτης, “point bone”, would thus describe the prominent position of the calcaneus, which is characteristic of quadrupeds.