110 The Management and Treatment of the Horse, 



into a dung-yard upon hot dung will become affected. 

 Many writers say that seedy toe is caused by the shoeing 

 smith putting the hot shoe upon the horse's foot to burn 

 it to a level bed, thereby depriving the horn of its 

 natural elasticity. I have never seen a case of seedy 

 toe that I could trace to that cause, and am of opinion 

 that we must look to other sources for the true cause. 

 After numerous experiments, I have come to the con- 

 clusion that seedy toe is, if I may use the term, a 

 vegetable disease, being caused by moisture fostering 

 the growth of a minute kind of fungus, which lives upon 

 the horn, just as dry rot is caused by a fungus living 

 upon the wood. Having arrived at that conclusion, I 

 have always resorted to the following treatment, and 

 never had a case that did not succumb after twice or 

 thrice dressing. First take a small searching knife and 

 cut away all the rotten horn as far as you can between 

 the sole and crust; cut away the crust to prevent it 

 breaking, then pour into the affected part carbolic acid 

 one part, sweet oil three parts, dip a piece of tow into 

 the oil, and fill the hole with it, then put on the shoe, 

 and in two or three times dressing the foot will have 

 become sound. I had a patient last summer, an ass, 

 which had its hoofs entirely eaten away with disease of 

 the seedy toe type. I dressed its feet firstly with pure 

 carbolic acid, the next day I dressed them with carbolised 

 oil, filling the space between the little outside horn it 

 had left with tow, and turned it out into the field. In 

 twice dressing I had lulled the fungus, and now its feet 

 are perfectly sound. Perhaps some of my readers who 

 have seedy toe among their horses, will place a portion 



