1098 BRUISES OF THE CLAWS IN CATTLE AND SHEEP. 



first cleansed. Loose, overgrown horn should be removed with .the 

 knife, and any breach of the wall or sole carefully explored. 



In cattle it is extremely difficult to use foot-baths, which, there- 

 fore, are of little practical value. 



I.— BRUISES OF THE SENSITIVE SOLE AND BULBS OF THE FOOT 

 IN OXEN. 



In the smaller ruminants the claws are exceedingly strong in 

 comparison with the body-weight, and disease is correspondingly 

 rarer than in oxen. In the latter, the claws of the hind feet are weaker 

 than those of the fore, and therefore suffer most, while, of the two 

 claws, the inner is the oftener affected. 



The conditions comprised under the head of bruises vary greatly 

 in character, some remaining aseptic and confined chiefly to the sub- 

 cutaneous tissues, others being of an infective nature and followed 

 by suppuration or necrosis. The latter may either remain confined 

 to the superficial layers of the sensitive sole, or may extend as far 

 even as the bone of the claw or the flexor tendon. Bruises of the 

 superficial layers of the sensitive sole may be followed by bleeding, 

 varying in amount from a trifling escape to an extravasation sufficient 

 to undermine the entire sole. In the latter case a new sole may be 

 formed, between which and the old sole the partially-absorbed 

 blood forms a dark-coloured, dryish, friable cake, or, in older cases, 

 a grey, fatty mass, corresponding in nature to the dark-coloured, 

 liquid, horn " pus " seen in superficial injuries of the foot in horses. 

 When the deeper layers of the sole are injured, violent inflammation 

 often results, leading finally to necrosis. In the toe, thin pus is formed, 

 and the bone of the claw becomes necrotic ; in the bulbs severe 

 cellulitis is set up, the flexor tendons become necrotic, and the pedal- 

 joint is attacked. When the injury is still deeper seated, the skin, 

 subcutis, tendons, and tendon sheaths often become inflamed, the 

 process sometimes extending to the knee or hock -joint. The animals 

 lie continuously, and die of exhaustion. 



The primary cause of the above conditions is some mechanical 

 injury, such as unequal distribution of weight in consequence of 

 abnormal growth of the claws, softening of the sole in stalled oxen, 

 or in unshod oxen working on wet ground, bruises resulting from 

 driving fat oxen over rough roads, wearing away of the sole from 

 long journeys, careless shoeing, or the accumulation of dirt between 

 the claws. If, as is almost unavoidable in cattle, the injured tissue 

 becomes infected, there is scarcely any limit to the possible 

 complications. 



