DISEASES OF HORSES 281 



of horses working on slippery roads; and the evils of jumping, fast 

 driving, etc., are to be avoided. 



When a fissure has made its appearance, means are to be adopted 

 which will prevent it from growing longer or deeper; and this can 

 only be done by arresting all motion in the edges. The best and 

 simplest artificial appliance for holding the borders of a toe-crack 

 together is the Vachette clasp. These clasps and the instruments 

 necessary for their application can be had of any prominent maker 

 of veterinary instruments. These instruments comprise a cautery 

 iron with which two notches are burned in the wall, one on each 

 side of the crack, and forceps with which the clasps are closed into 

 place in the bottom of the notches and the edges of the fissure brought 

 close together. The clasps, being made of stiff steel wire, are strong 

 enough to prevent all motion in the borders of the crack. Before 

 these clasps are applied the fissure should be thoroughly cleansed 

 and dried, and, if the injury is of recent origin, the crack may be 

 filled with a putty made of 2 parts of gutta-percha and 1 part of 

 gum ammoniac. The number of clasps to be used is to be deter- 

 mined by the length of the crack, amount of motion to be arrested, 

 etc. Generally the clasps are from one-half to three-quarters of an 

 inch apart. The clasps answer equally as well in quarter-crack if 

 the wall is sufficiently thick and not "too dry and brittle to with- 

 stand the strain. 



In the absence of these instruments and clasps a hole may be 

 drilled through the horn across the fissure and the crack closed with 

 a thin nail made of tough iron, neatly clinched at both ends. A 

 plate of steel or brass is sometimes fitted to the parts and fastened on 

 with short screws; while this appliance may prevent much gaping 

 of the fissure, it does not entirely arrest motion of the edges, for the 

 simple reason that the plate and screw can not be rendered immobile. 



If, for any reason, the above measures fail or can not be used, 

 recourse must be had to an operation. The horn is softened by the 

 use of warm 'baths and poultices, the patient cast, and the walls of the 

 fissure entirely removed with the knife. The horn removed is in the 

 shape of the letter V with the base of the coronet. Care must be 

 taken not to injure the coronary band and the laminae. The wound 

 is to be treated with mild stimulant dressings, such as creolin, a weak 

 solution of carbolic acid, tincture of aloes, etc., oakum balls, and a 

 roller bandage. After a few days the wound will be covered with a 

 new, white horn, and the oakum and bandages only will be needed. 

 As the new quarter grows out the lameness disappears, and the pa- 

 tient may be shod with a bar shoe and returned to work. 



In all cases of sand-crack the growth of horn should be stimu- 

 lated by cauterizing the coronary band or by the use of blisters. 

 In simple quarter-crack recovery will often take place if the coronet 

 is blistered, the foot shod with a tip, and the patient turned to pas- 

 ture. The shoe in toe-crack should have a clip on each side of the 

 fissure and should be thicker at the toe than at the heels. The foot 

 should be lowered at the heels by paring, and pared at the toe, ex- 



