386 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



found on the range slightly lame. The suffering had been intense; 

 yet the only external evidences of the disease consisted in the shed- 

 ding of the hoof from the right forefoot and a limited swelling of 

 the log to the knee. The sloughing of tlie hoof took place two or 

 tlirec hours before death, and was accompanied with but little suppu- 

 ration and no hemorrhage. The skin from the knee to the foot was 

 thickened from watery infiltration (edema), and on the inside quarter 

 three holes, each about one-half inch in diameter, were found. All 

 had ragged edges, while but one had gone deep enough to perforate 

 the coronary band. The loose connective tissue beneath the skin was 

 distended, with a gelatinous infiltration over the whole course of the 

 flexor tendons and to the fetlock joint over the tendon in front. The 

 soft tissues covering the coffiubone were loosened in patches.by col- 

 lections of pus which had formed beneath the sensitive laminte. The 

 coffin and pastern joints were inflamed, as were also the coffin, navicu- 

 lar, and coronet bones, while the outside toe of the coffinbone had 

 become softened from suppuration until it readily crumbled between 

 the fingers. The coronary band was largely destroyed and completely 

 separated from the other tissues of the foot. The inner lateral carti- 

 lage was gangrenous, as was also a small spot on the extensor tendon 

 near its point of attachment on the coffinlwne. Several small collec- 

 tions of pus were found deep in the connectiv^e tissue of the coronary 

 region; along the course of the sesamoid ligaments; in the sheath of 

 the flexor tendons; under the tendon just ])elow the fetlock joint in 

 front, and in the coffin joint. 



But all cases of tendinous quittor are by no means so complicated 

 as this one was. In rare instances the swelling is slight, and after a 

 few days the lameness and other symptoms subside, without any dis- 

 charge of pus from an external opening. In most cases, however, 

 from one to half a dozen or more soft points arise on the skin of the 

 coronet, open, and discharge slowly a thick, yellow, fetid, and bloody 

 matter. In other cases the suppurative process is largely confined to 

 the sensitive laminai and plantar cushion, when the suffering is intense 

 until the pus finds an avenue of escape Iw separating the hoof from the 

 coronary band, at or near the heels, without causing a loss of the whole 

 horny box. When the flexor tendon is involved deep in the foot, the 

 discharge of pus usually takes place from an opening in the hollow of 

 the heel; if the sesamoid ligament or the sheath of the flexors are 

 affected, the opening is nearer the fetlock joint; although in most of 

 these cases the suppuration spreads along the course of the tendons 

 until the navicular joint is involved, and extensive sloughing of the 

 deeper parts follows. 



Treatment. — The treatment of tendinous quittor is to be directed 

 toward the saving of the foot. First of all an effort must be made to 

 prevent suppuration; and if the patient is seen at the beginning, cold 



