CHAPPED HEELS. 531 
and extremely tender. It is not a very common disease, and merely 
requires the ordinary low treatment, by purging physic, and, if necessary, 
bleeding. Should it continue for more than two or three days after these 
are tried, an ounce of nitre may be given every night in a bran mash. 
ORDINARY SWELLING OF THE LEGS, OR (2DEMA, occurs in every degree, 
from a slight ‘‘ filling,” to which many horses are always subject, whether 
they work or stand in the stable, to an enlargement extending up to the 
stifles and elbows, sometimes rendering the legs almost as round and as 
hard as mill-posts. When horses are first brought in from grass their 
legs almost always fill more or less, and until they are regularly seasoned 
to their work there is seldom that clean condition of the suspensory 
ligaments and back sinews which one likes to see even before the daily 
exercise is given. The cedema appears to depend partly upon a deficient 
action of the kidneys, but chiefly on the vessels of the legs not acting 
sufficiently without constant walking exercise, such as is natural to the 
horse when at liberty, and which he takes at grass. Half an hour's 
walking will generally produce absorption completely, so that a daily 
remedy is forthcoming ; but as a rule, whenever there is this tendency to 
“filling” of the legs, the cellular membrane is not the only tissue in 
fault, but the tendons and joints are also liable to inflammation. The 
treatment will greatly depend on the exact cause. If the swelling is 
only due to the change from grass to the confinement of a warm stable, 
time alone is wanted, taking care not to overwork the horse in the mean- 
time. Bandages will always assist in keeping down the swelling ; but 
they should not be used without necessity, as when once the horse 
becomes accustomed to them his legs can hardly be kept fine without 
their aid. If weakness is the cause, a drachm of sulphate of iron given 
in the corn twice a day will often strengthen the system, and with it the 
legs. Diuretics may be adopted as an occasional aid to the kidneys, but 
they should be of the mildest kind, such as nitre, or they will do more 
harm, by weakening the body generally, than good by their stimulus to 
the kidneys. Indeed, they are often the sole cause of the legs filling, for 
some grooms use them so continually, whether they are wanted or not, 
that the kidneys become diseased and refuse to act, which is a sure fore- 
runner of cedema. Where swelling of the legs is confirmed, bandages 
must be regularly applied as recommended at page 252. 
CHAPPED HEELS. 
WHEN A HORSE SUFFERS FROM @pEMA of the legs, he is particularly 
prone to an eruption of a watery nature in the cleft between the heels 
and behind the lesser pastern. Those also whose legs are washed and 
not dried are still more prone to it, especially if the hair is white. The 
skin cracks, and, in bad cases, is so inflamed and swollen that the leg cannot 
be bent without great pain, and often there is a bleeding from the cracks, 
caused by the action of the limb, but only to a sufficient extent to show 
that blood has escaped. ‘The treatment must be local as well as general 
if the eruption is not entirely due to mismanagement. In any case, the 
part should be dressed with cerate of acetate of lead, a little of which 
should be rubbed in every night. Next morning some glycerine should 
be brushed on an hour at least before the exercise, and renewed before 
the daily work is commenced. This will prevent all risk of the skin 
cracking, while the ointment will act beneficially on the vessels of the 
part. In addition to these applications, the general health should be 
MM 2 
