278 HORSE, SWINE AND POULTRY DISEASES 



bars are long and nearly perpendicular. The whole hoof is dry, 

 and so hard that it can scarcely be cut; the parts toward the heels 

 are scaly and often ridged like the horns of a ram, while fissures, 

 more or less deep, may be seen at the quarters and heels following 

 the direction of the horn fibers. When the disease is well advanced, 

 lameness is present, while in the earlier stages there is only an un- 

 easiness evinced by frequent shifting of the affected foot. Stumbling 

 is common, especially on hard or rough roads. In most cases the 

 animal comes out of the stable stiff and inclined to walk on the toe, 

 but after exercise he may go free again. He wears his shoes off at 

 the toe in a short time, no matter whether he works or remains in 

 the stable. If the shoe is removed and the foot pared in old cases, 

 a dry, mealy horn will be found where the sole and wall unite, ex- 

 tending upward in a narrow line toward the quarters. 



Treatment. First of all, the preventive measures must be con- 

 sidered. The feet are to be kept moist and the horn from drying out 

 by the use of damp sawdust or other bedding; by occasional poul- 

 tices of boiled turnips, linseed meal, etc., and greasy hoof ointments 

 to the sole and walls of the feet. The wall of the foot should be 

 spared from the abuse of the rasp ; the frog, heels, and bars are not to 

 be mutilated with the knife, nor should calks be used on the shoe ex- 

 cept when absolutely necessary. The shoes should be reset at least 

 once a month, to prevent the feet from becoming too long, and daily 

 exercise must be insisted on. 



As to the curative measures, a diversity of opinion exists. A 

 number of kinds of special shoes have been invented, having for an 

 object the spreading of the heels, and perhaps any of these, if prop- 

 erly used, would eventually effect the desired result. But a serious 

 objection to most of these shoes is that they are expensive and often 

 difficult to make and apply. An inexpensive method of treatment 

 consists, first, in the use of poultices or baths of cold water until the 

 horn is thoroughly softened. The foot is now prepared for the shoe 

 in the usual way, except that the heels are lowered a little, and the 

 frog remains untouched. A shoe, called a tip, is made by cutting off 

 both branches at the center of the foot and drawing the ends down to 

 an edge. The tapering of the branches should begin at the toe, and 

 the shoe should be of the usual width, with both the upper and lower 

 surfaces flat. This tip is to be fastened on with six or eight small 

 nails, all set well forward, two being in the toe. With a common 

 foot rasp begin at the heels, close to the coronet, and cut away the 

 horn of the wall until only a thin layer covers the soft tissues be- 

 neath. Cut forward until the new surface meets the old 2M> or 3 

 inches from the heel. The same sloping shape is to be observed in 

 cutting downward toward the bottom of the foot, at which point the 

 wall is to retain its normal thickness. The foot is now blistered all 

 around the coronet with Spanish-fly ointment ; when this is well set, 

 the patient is to be turned to pasture in a damp field or meadow. 

 The blister should be repeated in three or four weeks, and, as a rule, 

 the patient can be returned to work in two or three months' time. 



