CANKER 381 



difficult to keep them clean — a most essential point ivith all tvounds. 

 This, together witli the class of tissues involved in quittor, and the con- 

 stant movement going on at this jjart, renders such cases very unthankful 

 ones to treat even under the most favourable circumstances; and when 

 any inattention or neglect in dressing and cleanliness takes place on the 

 part of the attendant, it makes it almost impossible to efiect a cure. 

 Again, animals so aftected are usually restive, and the attendant having 

 insufficient or no help, soon gets disheartened at the slow progress his 

 patient makes; for which perhaps there is some excuse. Whatever method 

 of treatment is adopted in these fistulous wounds, we are confident it is 

 quite as important to get an attendant (nurse) who will religiously carry 

 out the instructions given to him by the medical adviser, as it is to 

 select a proper remedy, because there is not a method or a line of treat- 

 ment that is not at times successful and at other times the opposite. 



To prevent quittor all injuries to the coronet, however slight, should 

 be placed under treatment at once, and all injuries to the sole of the 

 foot, followed by the formation of pus, should be thoroughly opened to 

 allow the free exit of the matter below, and thus prevent as much as 

 possible the probability of the matter ascending up the wall of the 

 hoof. 



CANKER 



This is a malignant disease of the feet characterized by the develop- 

 ment of a soft, spongy growth on the frog or sole, or both, attended 

 by a thick, oflfensive discharge of the consistence of soft cheese. It is more 

 common in the heavy than the light breeds, and in the hind than the 

 fore feet. The disorder may be confined to one foot alone, or it may affect 

 two, or all of them may suffer. Pathologically, it is essentially a papil- 

 loma or overgrowth of the papillae of the sensitive foot, and in this respect 

 is allied in its nature to grease, by an extension of which from the leg 

 to the foot it is sometimes produced. 



Causes. — The inducing causes are such as provoke irritation in the 

 sensitive foot, hence it commonly follows upon an attack, or more fre- 

 quently upon a succession of attacks, of "thrush". It may also arise out 

 of various forms of injury to the foot, as corns, pricks, sand crack, and 

 quittor; and, as already remarked, it sometimes results from the down- 

 ward extension of grease in the heel. By some it is regarded as a specific 

 disease, and this may ultimately prove to be the case. 



Symptoms. — A grayish -white offensive discharge, very much like 

 what is seen in thrush, is the first indication of the disease. This is 

 accompanied by a soft, spongy swelling of the sensitive frog or sole, in 



