, 414 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



place, it may be removed by an operation ; but if much of the bone 

 is affected, or if the navicular and coronet bones are invohed in the 

 carious process, the only hope for a cure is in the amputation of the 

 foot. This operation is advisable only when the aniuial is valuable 

 for breeding purposes. In all other cases in which there is no hope 

 for recovery the patient's suffering should be relieved by death. In 

 tendinous quittor much thickening of the coronary region, and some- 

 times of the ankle and fetlock, remains after suppuration has ceased 

 and the fistulous tracts have healed. To stimulate the reabsorption of 

 this new and unnecessary tissue, the parts should be fired with tlie 

 hot iron, or, in its absence, repeated blistering with the biniodid of 

 mercury ointment maj' largely accomplish the same results. 



SUBHORNY QUITTOR. 



This is the most common form of the disease. It is generally seen 

 in but one foot at a time, and more often in the fore than in the hind 

 feet. It nearly always attacks the inside quarter, but may affect the 

 outside, the band in front, or the heel, where it is of but little con- 

 sequence. It consists in the inflammation of a small part of the 

 coronary band and adjacent skin, followed by sloughing and sup- 

 puration, which in most cases extends to the neighboring sensitive 

 laminae. 



Causes. — Injuries to the coronet, such as bruises, overreaching, and 

 calk wounds, are considered as the common causes of this disease. 

 Still, cases occur in which there appears to be no existing cause, just 

 as in the other forms of quittor, and it seems fair to conclude that 

 subhorny quittor maj^ also be produced by internal causes. 



SyniptoTTis. — At the outset the lameness is always severe, and the 

 patient often refuses to use the affected foot. Swelling of the coronet 

 close to the top of the hoof causes the quarter to protrude beyond the 

 wall. This tumor is extremeh"^ sensitive, and the whole foot is hot 

 f^.nd painful. After a few days a small spot in the skin, over the 

 most elevated part of the tumor, softens and opens or the hoof sepa- 

 rates from the coronary band at the quarter or well back toward the 

 heel. From this opening, wherever it may be, a thin, watery, often 

 dark, offensive discharge escapes, at times mixed with blood and 

 always containing a considerable percentage of pus. 



Probing will now disclose a fistulous tract leading to the bottom of 

 the diseased tissues. If the opening is small, there is a tendency upon 

 the part of the suppurative process to spread downward; the pus 

 gradually separates the hoof from the sensitive laminas until the sole 

 is reached, and even a portion of this may be undermined. 



As a rule, the slough in this form of quittor is not deep, and if the 

 case receives early and proper treatment complications are generally 

 avoided ; but if the case is neglected, and, occasionally, even in spite 



