920 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



the cure" to lower them, and to" thin the hoof a little around the quarters, and afterwards to put on a 

 shoe without heels opposed to the corn, or a shoe chambered opposite the weak part ; or a bar shoe may- 

 be applied, so framed as completely to leave the heel untouched. Introduce the butter of antimony once 

 or twice more, with the interval of two days between, and then turn the horse out to grass : in about 

 six weeks' time the foot will be sound. The treatment of corns, when of long standing, does not mate- 

 rially differ : for although they are never wholly eradicated, they may be rendered but little troublesome. 

 The diseased part must be carefully pared out at each shoeing, and such a shoe put on as will completely 

 free the heel from pressure. 



5855. Running thrush is always a dangerous disease, and few errors in horse management are more 

 glaring than the common one of supposing they are necessary to carry off humors. If less food, more 

 exercise, cool stables, and dry standings, were substituted to correct the fulness, instead of thrushes, 

 which invariably contract the feet whenever they continue any length of time, it would save many valuable 

 horses. To the cure, begin by clearing out all the fissures of the frog [fig. 621 a a) from loose ragged horn, and 

 then introduce to the bottom of the sinuses, by means of a thin piece of wood, some of the thrush paste 

 {Vet. Phar7n. 5885.), smeared on tow, which will enable it to be held within the cleft, especially if it be 

 guarded by splints of wood passed under the shoe ; renew the dressing daily : turning out to grass maybe 

 practised to great advantage for thrushes by this mode of dressing. 



5856. Sandcracks are fissures in the hoqfs, commonly of those before, and usually towards the inner, but 

 now and then towards the outer quarter also, from above downwards : from the crack, a little oozing of 

 blood or moisture is seen ; and the sensible parts underneath getting between the edges of horn, being 

 pressed on, lame the horse. White recommends to fire the fissure crossways, so as to destroy the con- 

 nection between the divided and the undivided parts of the hoof 



5857. Pricks or punctures in the feet are often very serious evils, either when received by nails in shoeing, 

 or by one picked up on the road, &c. The danger arises from the inflammation, which is always great from 

 any injury done to the sensible and vascular parts within the foot. This inflammation quickly proceeds 

 to suppuration ; and the matter is apt to make its way upwards, imless it find a ready vent below. When 

 it does not break out at the coronet, it will often penetrate under the sole, and finally disease the bones, 

 ligaments, or cartilages, and produce quittor. It is very seldom that a horse is pricked in shoeing, but 

 that the smith is aware of it by the peculiarity of the feel on the hammer, and by the flinching of the 

 animal. At such times werehe to immediately withdraw the nail a little, enlarge the opening, and intro- 

 duce some spirit within the puncture, nothing would occur ; but on the contrary, he sends the horse home 

 to avoid trouble, who, the next or following day, is found lame, and with his foot hot. If the nail be 

 only driven too near the sensible lamiuEe, it will only require to be removed to free the horse from his 

 evil ; but if it have been driven through, and have wounded them, then suppuration ensues, and on examin- 

 ing the foot by the pincers when the shoe is removed, he will flinch at the pressure on the diseased part. 

 It is probable, on the removal of the shoe, that matter will at once flow out at the immediate nail hole ; 

 if not, the drawing knife will soon detect the injury. If the heat be great, and instead of matter, bloody 

 dark ichor flows out, wrap the foot up in a poultice ; but if healthy matter flows out, this will not be neces- 

 sary : sometimes it is requisite to detach all the horn that is underrun by the matter ; but when the 

 injury has not proceeded to this extent, apj)ly over the part a pledget of tow steeped in friar's bateam ; tack 

 on the shoe lightly, and retain the dressing by means of splints, which are thin pieces of wood (the withy 

 which binds birch brooms, is convenient for the purpose,) passed under the shoe ; repeat the dressing daily, 

 and avoid moisture, which would encourage quittor. A nail picked up on the road, and which passes through 

 the sole, below or through the frog, is to be treated in the same manner, and also when the matter breaks 

 out at the coronet; but when a nail is picked up, and penetrates the coffin joint, which is known by the 

 synovia or joint oil appearing ; such opening should be immediately stopped by paring towards the 

 wounded joint, and then applying a heated budding-iron, not to the capsular ligament itself, but to the 

 skin immediately near it ; if this be inconvenient, put a pledget dipped in a little butter of antimony, 

 just within the opening, but do not press it into the cavity of the joint: if this be insufficient to stop 

 the flow, but more particularly if the original wound penetrated to the bone, it is probable that the 

 bone itself will become in some measure diseased, which is known by the rough grating felt at the 

 point of the probe when passed. In this case, enlarge the opening so as to be able to scrape the 

 diseased bone away. Bruises of the sole, from whatever cause, will all fall under some of these points 

 of view, according as the case may be. 



5858. Quittor and canker are the consequences of these injuries when neglected, or originally extensive. 

 In these cases either the bones, ligaments, or cartilages, or all, become diseased ; and a cure can only be 

 obtained by removing the diseased parts by the knife or by caustic. 



5859. Treads, ovei'-reach, 8;c. A wound on the coronet is not uncommon from one foot being placed 

 on the other ; or the hinder foot may strike it, &c. First wipe away the dirt, and remove any 

 loose edges that cannot unite; avoid washing, unless stones and dirt are suspected to be within, and 

 bind up, having first placed over the wound a pledget of lint or tow moistened with balsamic tincture, 

 or tincture of myrrh, or of aloes, &c. Over-reaching, or over-stepping, is often an injury done 'to 

 the fetlock joint before, by the hinder foot, or to the back sinew higher up. Sometimes it is simply 

 a violent bruise, at others the laceration is extensive, in which case treat as a tread ; and when no 

 laceration has taken place treat as a bruise or strain. 



5860. Cutting is a defect to which some horses are liable from their form, as when they turn their toes 

 out, or have bent legs. Others cut only when they are lean, which brings their legs nearer together. 

 Weak horses cut because they cross their legs when fatigued, and young unfurnished horses cut at 

 youthful periods, and grow out of it afterwards. The part in which a foot interferes with the opposed 

 limb is very different. When it strikes the shank high up it is called speedy cut, and is best remedied 

 by wearing knee boots or rollers. W^hen it is at the fetlock the cutting is at the side, or rather backward, 

 according to circumstances. Some horses cut by the edge of the shoe, others by the hoof at the quarters ; 

 and some by the point of the heels. It is to be remarked, that it is better to put up with the evil of 

 cutting, than to do as is too frequently done, which is, to pare away the hoof until it excites contraction. 

 The shoe may be feather edged, or it maybe set a little within the cutting quarter; but by no means 

 alter the size or the form of the hoofs themselves, and particularly avoid taking liberties of this kind 

 with the fore feet. Boots, or rollers, are but little trouble to put on, and when not buckled too tight 

 never injure : whereas to allow a horse to continue to cut produces a callus, and often throws the 

 animal down. 



Sect. VI. Veterinary Operations, 



5861. The general practices to be here enumerated are chiefly the treatment of wounds, 

 the application of fomentations, setons, blisters, clysters, and physicking ; and the ope- 

 i-ations of castrating, nicking, bleeding, &c. 



SuESECT. 1 . Treatment of Wounds. 



5862. A loofmrf must be treated in some measure according to the part of the horse's body in which 

 it happens ; but there are some principles to bo observed alike in all horse surgery. There are like- 

 wise a few, which, as they difffer from the principles of human surgery, should be first noticed, and 

 which should guide the practice of those who might be misled by ana'logy. The wounds of horses, 

 liowever carefully brought together and confined in their situation, as well as shut out from the sti- 



