370 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
coffin-bone is filled by fleshy granulations. The foot, however, suffers 
permanently, and lameness is constantly present. 
Such is the structure of the foot that, even when the damage is less 
than that just described, the suppuration continues and burrows in vari- 
ous directions, seeking an outlet. Except when the inflammation and 
. suppuration are confined to a limited space in the sole of the foot, the 
discharge must escape from the crown. At some part of the coronal 
border of the hoof, swelling is perceived, which either opens of itself or - 
is opened by the knife, which is preferable. When suppuration has 
commenced, the animal should receive better and more nutritious food, 
while stimulating injections to the opening may be useful. Should the 
sinuses become chronic, it has been recommended to trace their number 
and direction with a delicate probe, and then freely lay them open. To 
do this, the hoof must be softened by soaking in warm alkaline water, 
when it may be cut easily. 
Limited suppuration of the soft tissues of the foot may occur from a 
variety of other causes, such as a wound made by the shoe of one foot 
in the coronet of the other, or by the prick of a nail driven into the 
quick or so near it as to cause inflammation by pressure, or by a bruise 
made by the heel of the coffin-bone, to which the term corn is applied. 
In all these cases suppuration may follow inflammation, and the severity 
and extent of the trouble will depend upon the locality of the injury, 
and the distance the product of suppuration has to travel to reach a 
point of exit. 
A fourth termination may be designated—that by metastasis. The in- 
flammation being situated in the fibrous tissues of the foot is liable to 
leave that locality and to seize upon similar tissues elsewhere, and under 
unfavorable circumstances we may have resulting inflammation of the 
brain or pleura, or indeed of any of the fibrous tissues. A fifth termina- 
tion may be in mortification, the result of which would be almost cer- 
tainly fatal at an early period. 
Laminitis may be sub-acute from its commencement. it is apt to take 
this form in old horses that have been subjected for a long time to hard 
work. Its approach is gradual, pain at first small, and lameness slight 
and not constant. The foot should be given the same treatment 
as in the more acute form. The warm bath should be used freely. 
Bleeding would probably be injurious, and any debilitating medicines 
must be withheld. The bowels may be loosened by fresh vegetable 
food, such as potatoes or carrots, and if pain is present one ortwo 
draughts in the day containing an ounce of suiphuric ether and a drachm 
of laudanum may be given. Plenty of good, nutritious food should be 
given. The horse should not be used on the road until all the symp- 
toms have been absent for several days. He may be gently exercised 
on a soft sward as soon as the inflammation is subdued. 
A permanent, incurable lameness often results from the contimued use » 
of ahorse suffering from some degree of inflammation of the soft tis- 
sues of the foot. Whenever this condition is detected, the animal should 
be given rest, and subjected to treatment with a view to the cure of the 
disease, 
We have spoken of a limited suppuration with sinuses between the 
hoof and the coffin-bone as the result of injury to the coronet, the prick 
of anail, or a bruise, which form an abscess at the crown of the foot. 
To certain abscesses in this region, resulting from an ulceration of the 
deeper-seated cartilages, the term quittor has been applied. The local 
condition on which this disease depends differs widely from that causing 
a similar discharge in a healthy foot by direct injury. Quittor is a deep- 
