1058 DISEASES OF THE FOOT. 



it is best to keep a protective dressing splinted on the sole for 

 some time. 



A very convenient method of applying the above dressings is by 

 means of a shoe fitted with a thin iron plate of sufficient size to fill up 

 the entire space between the limbs of the shoe, to which it is fastened 

 by screws. (See " Horse-shoeing and the Horse's Foot.") 



The best results are seen in heavy draught-horses. In carriage 

 and trotting horses slight lameness may persist for a considerable 

 time, though it seldom proves permanent. (Full clinical details of 

 several cases of resection of the flexor tendon are given in " Clinical 

 Veterinary Medicine and Surgery.") 



Partial resection of the flexor tendon is not to be recommended, 

 because the navicular bursa is generally implicated, and therefore, 

 after removal of the necrotic portion, purulent bursitis continues, and 

 leads to fresh necrosis of the tendon. For this reason reports of 

 success after partial resection of the perforans tendon are to be received 

 with caution. The fact that recovery has been described as occurring 

 in eight to fourteen days, or even earlier, shows that the cases were 

 not cases of necrosis of the flexor tendon, but only of the fibro-fatty 

 frog. In these it is often sufficient freely to scrape the parts with 

 the curette. 



III.— TREADS AND INJURIES TO THE CORONET. PURULENT 

 INFLAMMATION OF THE SUBCORONARY CONNECTIVE TISSUE. 



Tread is usually a self-inflicted injury, and produced by the heel 

 of one foot treading on the coronet of another ; in pair horse work 

 the bruise may be caused by the second horse. Contused wounds 

 of the coronet caused by carriage or omnibus wheels at first present 

 somewhat similar appearances, but affect to a greater degree the deep- 

 seated tissues, produce at a later stage distortion of the hoof, and, 

 worst of all, are apt to be followed by the formation of extensive 

 exostoses and permanent lameness. Either the coronary band, the 

 upper portion of the wall, or the skin is divided, and the injury often 

 extends to subcutaneous structures, to the tendon of the extensor 

 pedis, to the lateral cartilage, or to the os pedis, and may even open 

 the pedal-joint. The danger is increased by the fact of the wound 

 being bruised and infected from the beginning, for which reason treads 

 seldom heal by primary intention, and generally show a tendency 

 to necrosis. The structure and position of the injured part favour 

 this ; the tendon, the os pedis, and the lateral cartilage are readily 

 attacked, whilst necrosis is favoured by the surroundings of the 

 coronary band, in which acute inflammatory swellings greatly 



