396 PRICK OR WOUND IN THE SOLE OR CRUST 



direction from the heel to the anterior part, immediately under the seat of com- 

 plaint, and only as far as it extends, and rasp the side of the wall thin enough 

 to give way to the pressure of the over- distended parts, and put on a bar shoe 

 rather elevated from the frog. Ascertain with a probe the direction of the 

 sinuses, and introduce into them a saturated solution of sulphate of zinc^ by 

 means of a small syringe. Place over this dressing the common cataplasm, or 

 the turpentine ointment, and renew the application every twenty-four hours. 

 I have frequently found three or four such applications complete a cure. I 

 should recommend that when the probe is introduced, in order to ascertain the 

 progress of cure, that it be gently and carefully used, otherwise it may break 

 down the new -formed lymph. I have found the solution very valuable, where 

 the synovial fluid has escaped, but not to be used if the inflammation of the 

 parts is great." * 



PRICK OR WOUND IN THE SOLE OR CRUST. 



This is the most frequent cause of quittor. It is evident that the sole is very 

 liable to be wounded by nails, pieces of glass, or even 'sharp flints. Every part 

 of the foot is subject to injuries of this description. The usual place at which 

 these wounds are found is hi the hollow between the bars and the frog, or in the 

 frog itself. In the fore feet the injury will be generally recognized on the inner 

 quarter, and on the hind feet near the toe. In fact these are the thinnest parts 

 of the fore and hind feet. Much more frequently the laminae are wounded by 

 the nail in shoeing ; or if the nail does not penetrate through the internal surface 

 of the crust, it is driven so close to it that it presses upon the fleshy parts 

 beneath, and causes irritation and inflammation, and at length ulceration. 

 When a horse becomes suddenly lame, after the legs have been carefully ex- 

 amined, and no cause of lameness appears in them, the shoe should be taken off. 

 In many cases the offending substance will be immediately detected, or the 

 additional heat felt in some part of the foot will point out the seat of injury ; 

 or, if the crust is rapped with the hammer all round, the flinching of the horse 

 will discover it ; or pressure with the pincers will render it evident. 



When the shoe is removed for this examination the smith should never be 

 permitted to wrench it off, but each nail should be drawn separately, and ex- 

 amined as it is drawn, when some moisture appearing upon it will not unfre- 

 quently reveal the spot at which matter has been thrown out. 



Sudden lameness occurring within two or three days after the horse has been 

 shod will lead to the suspicion that the smith has been in fault ; yet no one 

 who considers the thinness of the crust, and the difficulty of shoeing many feet, 

 will blame him for sometimes pricking the animal. His fault will consist in 

 concealing or denying that of which he will almost always be aware at the time 

 of shoeing, from the flinching of the horse, or the dead sound, or the peculiar 

 resistance that may be noticed in the driving of the nail. We would plead the 

 cause of the honest portion of an humble class of men, who discharge this mecha- 

 nical part of their business with a skill and good fortune scarcely credible ; but 

 we resign those to the reproaches and the punishment of the owner of the horse 

 who too often, and with bad policy, deny that which accident, or possibly 

 momentary carelessness, might have occasioned, and the neglect of which is 

 fraught with danger, although the mischief resulting from it might at the time 

 have been easily remedied. 



When the seat of mischief is ascertained, the sole should be thinned round it, 

 and at the nail-hole, or the puncture, it should be pared to the quick. The 

 escape of some matter will now probably tell the nature of the injury, and 

 remove its consequences. If it be puncture of the sole effected by some 



* The Veterinarian, vol. i. p. 329. 



