DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 381 



also as simple quittor, skin quittor, and carbuncle of the coronet; (2) 

 tendinous quittor; (3) subhorny quittor; and (4) cartilaginous quittor, 



CUTANEOUS QUITTOR. 



Simple quittor consists in a local inflammation of the skin and sub- 

 cutaneous connective tissue on some part of the coronet, followed by a 

 slough and the formation of an ulcer which heals b}^ suppuration. 



It is an extremely painful disease, owing to the dense character of 

 the tissues involved; for in all dense structures the swelling which 

 accompanies inflammation alwaj^s produces intense pressure. This 

 pressure not onl}- adds to the patienfs sufl'ering, but may at the same 

 time endanger the life of the aflfected parts by strangulating the blood 

 vessels. It is held by some writers that simple quittor is most often 

 met with in the hind feet, but in m}^ experience more than two- 

 thirds of the cases have developed in the fore feet. While any part 

 of the coronet may become the seat of attack, the heels and quarters 

 are undoubtedly most liable. 



Causes. — Bruises and other wounds of the coronet are often ihQ 

 cause of cutaneous quittor; yet there can be no question but that in 

 the great majorit}^ of cases the disease develops without any known 

 cause. For some reason, not je,i satisfactorily explained, most cases 

 happen in the fall of the year. One explanation of this fact has been 

 attempted in the statement that the disease is due to the injurious 

 action of cold and mud. This claim, however, seems to lose force 

 when it is remembered that in many parts of this country the most 

 mud, accompanied b}" freezing and thawing weather, is seen in the 

 early springtime without a corresponding increase of quittor. Fur- 

 thermore, the serious outbreaks of this disease in the mountainous 

 regions of Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana are seen in the fall and 

 winter seasons, when the w^eather is the driest. It may be claimed, 

 and perhaps with justice, that during these seasons, when the water is 

 low, animals are compelled to wade through more mud to drink from 

 lakes and pools than is necessary at other seasons of the year, when 

 these lakes and pools are full. Add to these conditions the further 

 fact that much of this mud is impregnated with alkaline salts, which, 

 like the mineral substances always found in the mud of cities, are more 

 or less irritating, and it seems fair to conclude that under certain cir- 

 cumstances mud maj^ become an important factor in the production pf 

 quittor.^ 



«A recent outbreak of quittor near Cheyenne, Wyo., which came under the 

 author's observation, was caused by the mud through which the horses had to wade 

 to reach the watering troughs. These troughs were furnished with water by wind- 

 mills, and the mud holes were caused by the waste water. More than fifty cases 

 developed inside of two months, or during September and October. In these fifty 

 cases all forms of the disease and all possible complications were presented. During 



