412 DISEASES OF THE HOESE. 



is bedewed with a claiuiiiy sweat, and every respiration is accompanied 

 with a moan. The leg soon swells to the fetlock; later ihis swelling 

 gradually extends to the knee or hock, and in some cases reaches the 

 })od.y. As a rule, several days elapse before the disease develops a 

 Avell-defined abscess, for, owing to the dense structure of the bones, 

 ligaments, and tendons, the suppurative process is a slow one. and 

 the pus is prevented from readily collecting in a mass. 



I made a post-mortem examination on a typical case of this disease, 

 in which the animal had died on the fourth day after being found 

 on the range slightly lame. The suffering had been intense, yet 

 the only external evidences of the disease consisted in the shed- 

 ding of the hoof from the right fore foot and a limited swelling 

 of the leg to the knee. The sloughing of the hoof took place two 

 or three hours before death, and was accompanied Avith liut little 

 suppuration and no hemorrhage. The skin from the knee to the 

 foot was thickened from watery infiltration (edema), and on the 

 inside quarter three holes, each about one-half inch in diameter, 

 were found. All had ragged edges, while but one had gone deep 

 enough to perforate the coronarj^ band. The loose connective tissue 

 beneath the skin was distended, with a gelatinous inJBltration over 

 the whole course of the flexor tendons and to the fetlock joint over 

 the tendon in front. The soft tissues covering the coffin bone were 

 loosened in patches by collections of pus which had formed beneath 

 the sensitive laminae. The coffin and pastern joints were inflamed, 

 as were also the coffin, navicular, and coronet bones, while the out- 

 side toe of the coffin bone had become softened from suppuration 

 until it readily crumbled between the fingers. The coi-onary l)aud 

 was largely' destroyed and completely separated from the other 

 tissues of the foot. The inner lateral cartilage was gangi'enous, 

 as Avas also a small spot on the extensor tendon near its point of 

 attachment on the coffin bone. Several small collections of pus were 

 found deep in the connective tissue of the coronary region ; along 

 the course of the sesamoid ligaments; in the sheath of the flexor 

 tendons; under the tendon just below the fetlock joint in front; 

 and in the coffin joint. 



But all cases of tendinous quittor are by no means so complicated 

 as this one was. In rai-e instances the swelling is slight, and aftei- 

 a few days the lameness and other symptoms subside, without any 

 discharge of pus from an external opening. In most cases, how- 

 ever, from one to half a dozen or more soft points arise on the 

 skin of the coronet, open, and discharge slowly a thick, yellow, 

 fetid, and bloody matter. In other cases the suppurative piocess 

 is largely confined to the sensitive laminre and plantar cushion, 

 when the suffering is intense until the pus finds an avenue of escape 



