*18 DISEASES OF THE FOOT. 



their irons, is very fallacious. If the horn is naturally thin, the horse wil. shriiu 

 under no great pressure although he has no corn, and occasionally the bars are s 

 strong as not to ^ive way under any pressure. 



The cure of old corns is difficult ; for as all shoeing has some tendency to produce 

 pressure here, the habit of throwing out this diseased horn is difficult to get rid of 

 when once contracted ; recent corns, however, will yield to good shoeing. 



The first thing to be done is well to pare out the angle between the crust and the 

 i?ars. Two objects are answered by this : the extent of the disease will be ascertained, 

 and one cause of it removed. A very small drawing-knife must be used for this pur- 

 pose. The corn must be pared out to the very bottom, taking care not to wound the 

 sole. It may then be discovered whether there is any effusion of blood or matter 

 underneath. If this is suspected, an opening must be made through the horn, the 

 matter evacuated, the separated horn taken away, the course and extent of the sinuses 

 explored, and the treatment recommended for quittor adopted. Should there be no 

 collection of fluid, the butyr of antimony should be applied over the whole extent of 

 ihe corn, after the horn has been thinned as closely as possible. The object of this 

 is to stimulate the sole to throw out more healthy horn. In bad cases a bar-shoe may 

 *e put on, so chambered, that there shall be no pressure on the diseased part. This 

 may be worn for one or two shoeings, but not constantly, for there are few frogs that 

 vvould bear the constant pressure of the bar-shoe ; and the want of pressure on the 

 leel, generally occasioned by their use, would produce a softened and bulbous state 

 of the heels, that would of itself be an inevitable source of lameness. 



Mr. Turner is in the habit of using a shoe that promises to lessen to a very material 

 degree the sufferings of the horse. The ground surface of the shoe is so bevelled off, 

 that it does not come into contact with the ground, and thus much concussion is saved 

 to the horse. A slight space, however, should be left between the heel of the foot, 

 and that of the shoe ; and which cannot be better occupied than by the leather sole, 

 preventing the insinuation of foreign bodies, and yet preserving the heel from con- 

 cussion. 



In unusually troublesome cases of corns, recourse should be had to the bar-shoe. 



Mr. Spooner, of Southampton,, very properly states, that the corns occasionally 

 fester, and the purulent matter which is secreted, having no dependent orifice, ascends, 

 torturing the animal to a dreadful extent, and breaks out at the coronet. These cases 

 are very troublesome. Sinuses are formed, and the evil may end in quittor. A large 

 and free dependent orifice must then be made, and a poultice applied ; to which should 

 succeed a solution of sulphate of zinc, with the application of the compound tai 

 ointment. 



The cause of corn is a most important subject of inquiry, and which a careful 

 examination of the foot and the shoe will easily discover. The cause being ascer- 

 tained, the effect may, to a great extent, be afterwards removed. Turning out to 

 grass, after the horn is a little grown, first with a bar-shoe, and afterwards with the 

 shoe fettered on one side, or with tips, will often be serviceable. A horse that has 

 once had corns to any considerable extent should, at every shoeing, have the seat of 

 corn well pared out, and the butyr of antimony applied. The seated shoe (hereafter 

 to be described) should be used, with a web sufficiently thick to cover the place of 

 corn, and extending as far back as it can be made to do without injury to the frog. 



Low weak heels should be rarely touched with the knife, or anything more be done 

 to them than lightly to rasp them, in order to give them a level surface. The inner 

 hel should be particularly spared. Corns are seldom found in the hind feet, because 

 the heels are stronger, and the feet are not exposed to so much concussion ; and when 

 they are found there, they are rarely or never productive of lameness. There is nothing 

 perhaps in which the improvement in the veterinary art has relieved the horse from so 

 much suffering as shoeing. Where corns now exist of any consequence, they are a 

 disgrace to the smith, the groom, and even to the owner. 



THRUSH. 



^ This is a discharge of offensive matter from the cleft of the frog. It is inflamma- 

 tion of the lower surface of the sensible frog, and during which pus is secreted toge- 

 ther with, or instead of horn. When the frog is in its sound state, the deft sinks bu 

 a little way into it; but when it becomes contracted or otherwise diseased, it extenJ 

 irt lfng v h n and penetrates even to the sensible horn within, and through this unnatn 



