DISEASES OF HORSES 263 



ures. Much can be done, however, by careful cleansing of the feet 

 and legs as soon as the animal returns from work. Warm water 

 should be used to remove the mud and dirt, after which the parts 

 are to be thoroughly dried with soft cloths. 



The means which are to be adopted for the cure of cutaneous 

 quittor vary with the stage of the disease at the time the case is pre- 

 sented for treatment. If the case is seen early that is, before any 

 of the signs of suppuration have developed the affected foot is to 

 be placed under a constant stream of cold water, with the object of 

 arresting a further extension of the inflammatory process. To ac- 

 complish this, put the patient in slings in a narrow stall having a 

 slat or open floor. Bandage the foot and leg to the knee or hock, as 

 the case may be, with flannel bandages loosely applied. Set a tub or 

 barrel filled with cold water above the patient, and by the use of a 

 small rubber hose of sufficient length make a siphon which will 

 carry the water from the bottom of the tub to the leg at the top of 

 the bandages. The stream of water should be quite small, and is to 

 be continued until the inflammation has entirely subsided or until 

 the presence of pus can be detected in the tumor. Whgn suppura- 

 tion has commenced, the process should be aided by the use of warm 

 baths and poultices of linseed meal or boiled turnips. If the tumor 

 is of rapid growth, accompanied by intense pain, relief is secured 

 and sloughing largely limited by a free incision of the parts. The 

 incision should be vertical and deep into the tumor, care being taken 

 not to entirely divide the coronary band. If the tumor is large, more 

 than one incision may be necessary. 



The foot should now be placed in a warm bath for half an 

 hour or longer and then poulticed. The hemorrhage produced by 

 the cutting and encouraged by the warm bath is generally very 

 copious and soon gives relief to the overtension of the parts. In 

 other cases it will be found that suppuration is well under way, so 

 that the center of the tumor is soft when the patient is first pre- 

 sented for treatment. It is always good surgery to relieve the tumor 

 of pus whenever its presence can be detected; hence in these cases a 

 free incision must be made into the softened parts, the pus evacuated, 

 and the foot poulticed. 



By surgical interference the tumor is now converted into an 

 open sore or ulcer, which, after it has been well cleaned by warm 

 baths and poultices applied for two or three days, needs to be pro- 

 tected by proper dressings. The best of all protective dressings is 

 made of small balls, or pledgets, of oakum, carefully packed into the 

 wound and held in place by a roller bandage 4 yards long, from 3 to 

 4 inches wide, made of common bedticking and skillfully applied. 

 The remedies which may be used to stimulate the healing process are 

 many, and, as a rule, they are applied in the form of solutions or 

 tinctures. 



Remedies which may be used with good results are sulphate of 

 copper, iron, and zinc, 5 grains of either to the ounce of water; 

 chloride of zinc, 5 grains to the ounce; carbolic acid, 20 drops dis- 

 solved in an equal amount of glycerin and added to 1 ounce of 



