432 FRUSH. 



the horse is shod, or shoeing with thick or high-heeled shoes, 

 has precisely the same effect : in fine, every mode of shoeing 

 and paring the foot which, directly or indirectly, deprives the frog 

 of its natural bearing and pressure upon the ground, must be 

 regarded as a predisposing cause of frush, contraction in such 

 cases being the excitant. Not content with cutting away the 

 frog, that they may give it a shape pleasing to their own eye, 

 however injurious to the horse, farriers will very often, at the 

 same time, what they call " clean out" the cleft. This means 

 not merely removing any appearance of ruggedness and dirt 

 there may be, but making a fresh or " clean" chasm in it, which 

 must necessarily prove a harbour for more dirt, and probably 

 will alio w of its still deeper insinuation into the cleft, thus giving 

 origin to irritation and frush. In addition to which I may men- 

 tion, en passant, farriers have an offensive habit of grooving along 

 the sides of the frogs, and often to that depth that grazes the 

 sensitive parts, the consequence of which is the issue of a dis- 

 charge afterwards from them not very dissimilar to frush. 



Heat of Stable, and perhaps foulness of stable as well, 

 conduces to the production of frush ; operating either through 

 the general system, or, locally, on the foot or frog itself. Any 

 thing that will dispose to heat of foot, such as lack of moisture 

 to the hoof, standing for hours together upon dry and heated 

 litter in a hot atmosphere, or standing in dung and urine, may 

 tend to produce this feverish state of foot ; while, at the same time, 

 the latter may exert some effect in irritating the frog itself. Cole- 

 man used to say, he could at any time create a frush in twenty- 

 four hours, by putting on a high-heeled shoe, so as to raise the 

 frog off the ground ; and placing the horse at the same time in a 

 hot and impure stable, where he would be standing all the while 

 upon heated litter, saturated with dung, urine, &c. Here, it is 

 evident, the Professor depended for the success of his experi- 

 ment upon more agents than one. There were in simultaneous 

 operation heat and non-pressure, both tending to contraction ; and 

 heat and moisture, and, it is probable, pestilential vapour from 

 the horse's bed as well, to assist in the production of frush. 



Continued Exposure to Wet and Dirt, notwithstanding 



