238 STATE BOAllD OV AGRICULTURE. 



lainiiue, and they descend along the surface of the cells separating them from 

 the sensitive lamina'. A ])roof of the theory that the coronet alone secretes 

 the wall of the hoof, may be found in the manner in which tlie growing horn 

 conducts itself in case of wounds of the foot. During the winter we often 

 meet with wounds in the coronet, caused by the sharp calkins used in this coun- 

 try in shoeing horses, and in such cases it is usually necessary to cut away the 

 liorn of the wall, from the wound downward, in this way allowing the inflamed 

 tissues to swell and providing a free outlet for the products of inflammation. 

 When the inflammation has subsided somewhat and the healing process has 

 commenced we lind that there is formed a thin film of soft horn covering parts 

 of the wound. This film increases in thickness, and being exposed to tlie air, 

 becomes hard ; but it has none of the characters of the horn we have removed. 

 It is rough, having the different forms the Avound may have had in its inflamed 

 condition, and if we examine it with the microscope we will find the longitudi- 

 nal canals wanting; but as the healing process goes on we find at the coronets 

 a new growth of horn taking a downward direction, crowding the roughened 

 horn we have described before it towards the lower border of the hoof, to be 

 cut away in shoeing; and after a few months Ave will find that the hoof has 

 much the same appearance that it had before the accident, and the horn the 

 same structure, when examined with the microscope. The fact that the horn 

 is secreted by the coronet is a most important one to the surgeon, as in all 

 cases of accidents or operations upon the foot the coronet must be carefully 

 preserved. The hoof of the horse, considered as a whole, represents a sort of 

 box that envelopes the inferior extremity of the digit to which it is united in 

 the most intimate manner, as we have seen. Its general shape is that of a 

 half of a cylinder, cut obliquely across its middle, and resting on the surface 

 of the section ; but in nearly all feet it is slightly conical. Prolonged macera- 

 tion separates the hoof into three parts, namely, the wall, the sole, and the 

 frog. The wall is that part of the foot which we see when it is placed on the 

 ground. The center of the anterior face of the wall is called the toe, and the 

 parts on each side of the central portion are known as the outside and inside 

 toes. The portions of Avail found between the middle of the side of the Avail 

 and the points of reflection of the wall onto the plantar surface of the foot are 

 called the outside and inside quarters ; and the points at Avhich the wall is 

 reflected are called the outside and inside heels. Tlie sole of the hoof is that 

 portion of the inferior face situated between the inside of tlie Avail and the frog 

 and the reflected portions of the Avail, while these portions of the Avail receive 

 the name of bars of the foot. The frog is the pyramidal body that Ave find 

 between the bars and Avhich projects into a notch in the center of the sole. 

 Before leaving this subject I may be permitted to remark that the smooth and 

 often polished appearance presented by the Avail of the horse's foot is not due 

 to a varnish of any kind, as is often claimed to be the case by horsemen, but 

 is due to a thin and very compact layer of horn secreted at the superior border 

 of the coronet. Having hastily glanced at the anatomy of the horse's foot Ave 

 come next to study some of the diseases that affect it and the means of keep- 

 ing it in health. 



The disease commonly knoAvn as ring-bone is often located within the region 

 of the footj its seat in this case being the second phalanx and sometimes 

 involving the cofhn joint; it is then known as a '*low ring-bone." Tiie high 

 ring-bone is found on the first phalanx or "jjostei'ii botie." A Ioav ring-bone 

 is always a serious affair, and it is rarely that treatment relieves the lameness. 

 The high ring-bone is often found in horses without interfering Avith the action 



