DISEASES OF HORSES 261 



this accident happens final recovery is secured by poulticing the foot 

 until a sufficient growth of horn protects the parts from injury. 



QUITTOR. 



Quittor is a term applied to various affections of the foot wherein 

 the tissues which are involved undergo a process of degeneration that 

 results in the formation of a slough followed by the elimination of 

 the diseased structures by means of a more or less extensive suppura- 

 tion. For convenience of consideration quitters may be divided into 

 four classes, as suggested by Girard: (1) Cutaneous quittor, which 

 is known also as simple quittor, skin quittor, and carbuncle of the 

 coronet; (2) tendinous quittor; (3) subhorny quittor; and (4) car- 

 tilaginous quittor. 



CUTANEOUS QUITTOR. 



Simple quittor consists in a local inflammation of the skin and 

 subcutaneous connective tissue on some part of the coronet, followed 

 by a slough and the formation of an ulcer which heals by suppura- 

 tion. 



It is an extremely painful disease, owing to the dense character 

 of the tissues involved ; for in all dense structures the swelling which 

 accompanies inflammation always produces intense pressure. This 

 pressure not only adds to the patient's suffering but may at the same 

 time endanger the life of the affected parts by strangulating the 

 blood vessels. It is held by some writers that simple quittor is most 

 often met within the hind feet, but in my experience more than two- 

 thirds of the cases have developed in the fore feet. While any part 

 of the coronet may become the seat of attack, the heels and quarters 

 are undoubtedly most liable. 



Causes. Bruises and other wounds of the coronet are often the 

 cause of cutaneous quittor ; yet there can be no question but that in 

 the great majority of cases the disease develops without any known 

 cause. For some reason, not yet satisfactorily explained, most cases 

 happen in the fall of the year. One explanation of this fact has 

 been attempted in the statement that the disease is due to the action of 

 cold and mud. This claim, however, seems to lose force when it 

 is remembered that in many parts of this country the most mud, 

 accompanied by freezing and thawing weather, is seen in the early 

 springtime without a corresponding increase of quittor. Further- 

 more, the serious outbreaks of this disease in the mountainous 

 regions of Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana are seen in the fall 

 and winter seasons, when the weather is the driest. It may be 

 claimed, and perhaps with justice, that during these seasons, when 

 the water is low, animals are compelled to wade through more 

 mud to drink from lakes and pools than is necessary at other sea- 

 sons of the year, when these lakes and pools are full. Add to these 

 conditions the further fact that much of this mud is impregnated 

 with alkaline salts, which, like the mineral substances always found 

 in the mud of cities, are more or less irritating, and it seems fair to 

 conclude that under certain circumstances mud may become an im- 

 portant factor in the production of quittor. 



