584 CANKER. 



out going so far as to say that any class of horse, under 

 good management, is exempt from this disease., we can most 

 decidedly state that we have never met with a case of 

 canker amongst race-horses, hunters, or in any gentleman's 

 establishment where ordinary average grooming is found ; 

 it is a fact too, that well-bred horses whatever their class, 

 if of good stamina are seldom the victims of the diseases, 

 canker and grease, even where the common causes are not 

 altogether excluded. 



The treatment for canker consists, in the first place, of the 

 removal of all detaching horn from the affected parts, care 

 being taken, at the same time, not to cut deep, so as to cause 

 effusion of blood, which with the non-experienced operator 

 will be liable to happen, through the deceptive appear- 

 ances of the sprouting fungous surface, which assumes a 

 horny character, whilst it is endowed with considerable 

 vascularity. 



Astringent remedies and mild caustics form the proper 

 dressings. We have found nitric acid and tar the best of 

 all; taking about four ounces of the latter, placing it in an 

 iron laddie, and adding one drachm of the acid, and keep- 

 ing the mixture briskly stirred with a wooden spatula when 

 heat is evolved , the preparation is then to be spread quickly 

 over the exposed surface, the part being cleansed and dried 

 previously. The surface should then be covered with 

 dry tow and bound up ; or, in cases where the disease is 

 confined to the frog and part of the sole, a shoe may be 

 tacked on, by which means the dressing can be the better 

 retained, by splinters of wood being placed over the tow. 



Different practitioners have their favourite and special 

 dressings for the cure of canker ; and good results are attri- 

 buted to the use of a variety of agents, whilst failure not 

 unfrequently attends all our best efforts and means; in 



