368 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
of ulceration of the bone, ever recovers. Treatment in the earlier stages, 
by rest, by foot-baths, by tonic and alterative medicines, and by good, 
nutritious food, may arrest the disease and restore health to the part. 
There is another form of disease which is produced by the irritation 
of hard driving upon a hard road-bed, or by the constant strain of 
moving heavy loads, and especially in heavy horses. I refer to the ossi- 
fication of the cartilages of the feet. (Fig. 26.) During the trans-. 
formation from cartilage to bone, any unusual exercise may produce 
some degree of lameness. Fullness, heat, and a doughiness of the part 
may be detected by careful manipulation. Later, in place of the soft, 
elastic feeling of the healthy foot, we find the solidity of bone. As the 
change becomes complete, there is but little direct lameness, but the 
part becomes stiff. The animal is unfitted for the saddle and rapid 
driving, but may still be useful for draught. Before the bone is fully 
formed, and especially during the earlier stage of inflammation, the 
trouble may sometimes be prevented. The measures to be adopted are 
similar to those previously mentioned—rest, abundant warm-water bath- 
ing in the earlier stages; stimulating friction, and the use of the iodide 
of lead ointment in the later stages. 
Of the affections of the soft tissues, perhaps the most common is 
laminitis. This term applies to inflammation not only of the laminze 
but of the entire fleshy portion of the foot. It is not always the most 
readily detected, and in some of its more common and milder forms it 
entirely escapes notice. The lameness is assigned to the shoulder or 
some other locality; but when we refer to the position of this tissue, 
between a dense bone and a dense unyielding horny envelope, and toits 
use to suspend the bone and consequent entire weight of the animal 
from the wall, and consider that it suifers some degree of pressure at 
every step, we can understand how the slightest morbid condition of the 
part, the congestion of its vessels, or irritation of its nerves may—nay, ’ 
must—give rise topain and consequent lameness. Fortunately, in prac- 
tice this is much less frequent than, theoretically, we might expect it to 
be. Any horse that has been driven for several hours upon a hard, or 
stony, or hot and sandy road would seem to be fairly fitted for some 
degree of congestion of the soft tissues of the feet. At the close of 
such exertion he is stabled, perhaps upon a damp floor, or where a 
draught of air may blow upon him. No thought is given to the condi- 
tion of his feet. He is fed, and perhaps he may have been moderately 
eroomed; but of the entire animal no part has undergone so much 
exposure or hardship.as the feet, and no part really needs so much 
attention. 
Laminitis, or, as it has been called by writers, fever of the feet, or 
“ founder,” may exist in all degrees, from the simple congestion of the 
part to the most severe and disorganizing inflammation. It is mainly 
exhibited in the fore feet, being an uncommon disease in the hind feet. 
This is mainly due to the different kinds and degrees of force used in 
the action of the fore and hind legs and fect. In movement a much 
ereater amount of weight comes upon the fore legs and feet, the direction 
of the blow upon the ground is different, and the consequent strain and 
pressure upon the soft tissues much greater. 
If acute laminitis is present in one or both fore feet, itis manifested by 
the very obvious efforts of the animal to relieve itself from pressure. If 
one foot only is suffering, this is put forward and is so rested upon 
the heel that not only is pressure taken off, but the parts are relaxed to 
a still greater extent by the weight of the limb. At the same time, the 
foot is kept in continual motion, indicating extreme pain. There is heat 
