FISSURE IN FRONT OF THE HOOF. 591 



relief under exertion, so that treatment, aided with rest, is 

 absolutely called for in bad cases. 



As has been said, faulty position given to the limb by 

 means of the shoe is a common cause, it follows that the 

 correction of the vice must be the first step taken in the 

 treatment, and all that has been said on the proper treat- 

 ment of the foot and shoeing requires to be brought into 

 use in these cases. The sole requires to be left untouched 

 with the knife (as at all times), the wall left deep ante- 

 riorly, and the heels moderately lowered only, however, 

 to a degree to balance with the front, giving the natural 

 obliquity to the foot. Low, firm calkins are proper in the 

 case of hind feet absence of moisture, and some ointment, 

 or even mutton suet, should be rubbed well into the wall 

 of the hoof every three or four days, to exclude moisture, 

 and check drying of exposed surfaces. 



Failing to afford timely relief in this troublesome affection, 

 other complications arise, the horn seam, as mentioned in 

 the case of lateral sand-crack, is in these cases of a more 

 extended form, and a deep substance of horn is found 

 beneath the fissure at the lower part of the hoof, where a 

 corresponding cavity is formed, by absorption, in the an- 

 terior convex surface of the coffin-bone. To this state the 

 French have given the name of keraphylocele, and for which 

 they operate viz., remove the whole of the wall at the 

 front, which they do by cutting through it from top to 

 bottom, at given parts, on the inner and outer side of the 

 toe ; detaching it from the sole below they tear off the part, 

 leaving the coffin-bone exposed, with only its membranes 

 to support it. This operation is spoken of with approval, 

 which our own observations have not led us to share in. 

 We manage to cure all ordinary, and such as are believed 

 to be curable cases, in a painless and more simple way ; 



