CANKER. 583 



liorse in a safe and salutary condition with such an offen- 

 sive state of the frogs as thrushes present ; nor is a horse 

 in the possession of his full power with that organ in 

 such a state of ulceration, wasting of the foot being the 

 usual concomitant of diseased frog. In most cases, when 

 all the conditions of the foot have been attended to, healthy 

 action succeeds ; in others, such as when horses have been 

 bred on uncongenial ground, it takes a long time to induce 

 the normal functions, and especially so, before the tone of 

 the secreting surfaces can be brought about. 



CANKER. 



Canker of the foot of the horse is a diseased state of very 

 peculiar character, in which, primarily, the same local struc- 

 tures are affected as in the case of thrush ; and it has by 

 some been described as another stage, or one arising out of 

 a neglected and inveterate state of that disease. It is, 

 however, quite distinct, rapidly extending from the frog 

 to the sole, and even the laminated structures become in- 

 volved in the offensive and rapidly destructive ulceration. 



The characteristic symptoms of this disease are so strongly 

 marked, that they can never be mistaken by any one who 

 has seen a case before. Distinguishable from an ordinary 

 thrush, by the frog being large, flattened, and spongy to 

 the feel and appearance, giving off a copious secretion of 

 most offensively-smelling limpid matter, resembling in kind 

 and copiousness that which is seen in the worst cases of 

 grease, to which, in all respects, canker of the foot bears a 

 resemblance so strong, that the two may be called twin 

 diseases, often co-existing, and always common to the 

 same class of low-bred, poor-conditioned horses, such as are 

 ill cared for, and exposed to wet and filthy stabling. With- 



