442 CANKER. 



not very creditable — is it to encounter one of canker. Nothing can 

 set in a stronger or more satisfactory light than this the utility 

 of veterinary surgeons in large horse establishments ; shewing, 

 as the fact does, that their art is available no less in the cure 

 than in the prevention of disease. 



Horses of coarse and heavy Breed, and particularly 

 those that have much hair upon their legs, and have broad 

 and flat feet, are said to be most obnoxious to canker; and I 

 believe not without reason : at the same time I think it will 

 appear, as we proceed in our inquiry, that, in situations where 

 it is prevalent among them, the habits of such horses have much 

 influence in the production of this disease. 



The Hind Feet are oftener affected than the fore. 

 This, no doubt, arises from the situation they occupy, as com- 

 pared with those of the fore feet, in the stall or stable. While 

 the hind feet are all day long, or a great part of the day, ex- 

 posed to wet, and that of a putrescent character, from the lodg- 

 ments of dung and urine, and from that cause alone are apt to 

 engender frush, something may be said of their increased 

 liability to diseases in general, such as frush and canker and 

 grease, in consequence of the greater distance they are removed 

 from the centre of circulation. 



The Seat of Canker, ordinarily, is the frog of the foot, 

 and, as has been remarked already, the hind frog in par- 

 ticular. If allowed, however, to progress, the disease is not 

 long before it spreads from the frog to the sole of the foot. 

 But frog and sole may both be in a state of disease, and yet 

 the horse, while standing before us, shew no sign of ailment 

 until his foot be lifted off the ground. From the sole, the 

 disease, continuing to spread, extends around the circum- 

 ference of the toe and quarters, at the place of junction of 

 the laminae with the sensitive sole ; and here it is that the 

 fungous growths appear to flourish with a peculiar luxuriance ; 

 which, we. shall find, as we proceed, arises out of the na- 

 ture of the tissues existing at this particular part. The fore 

 feet are not often cankered without one or both of the hind par- 

 ticipating in the disease. Nay, it not unfrequently happens 



