426 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



Turning up of the toe. — In man}^ cases of laminitis which have become 

 chronic it is found that the toe of the foot turns up; that the heels 

 are longer than natural; while the hoof near the coronary band is 

 i-ircled with ridges like the horn of a ram. Even in cases where recover}'- 

 has taken place, and in other diseases than laminitis, these ridges may 

 be found, in the wall of the foot. But in such cases the ridges are 

 equally distant from each other all around the foot, while in turning 

 up of the toe the ridges are wide apart at the heels and close together 

 in front, as seen in the figure (Plate XXXI, fig. 4). These ridges are 

 produced by periods of interference with the growth of horn alternat- 

 ing with periods during which a normal or ncarlj' normal growth takes 

 place. When the toe turns up it is because the coronary band in front 

 produces horn very slowly, while at the heels it grows much faster, 

 causing marked deformity. 



Animals so affected alvvaj^s place the abnormally long heel first upon 

 the ground, not alone because the heel is too long, nor as in acute or 

 subacute laminitis to relieve the pain, but for the simple reason that 

 the toe is too short and lifted away from its natural position. To 

 bring the toe to the ground the leg knuckles at the fetlock joint. 



The pain and impairment of function in these cases always result in 

 marked atroplu' of the muscles of the forearm and shoulder, and to 

 some extent of the pectorals, while the position of the fore legs 

 advances the shoulder joints so far forward as to cause a sunken 

 appearance of the breast, which the lait}^ recognize as "chest founder." 



The lesions of turning up of the toe are permanent, and are the most 

 interesting pathologicall}' of all the complications of laminitis. 



Treatment. — The treatment of laminitis is probably more varied 

 than in any other disease, and yet a large number of cases recover for 

 even the poorest practitioner. 



Prevention. — To guard against and prevent disease, or to render an 

 unpreventable attack less serious than it otherwise would be, is the 

 highest practice of the healing art. In a disease so prone to result 

 from the simplest causes, especially when the soundest judgment may 

 not be able to determine the extent of the disease-resisting powers of 

 the tissues which are liable to be affected, or of what shall in every 

 instance constitute an overexcitement, it is not strange that horse 

 owners find themselves in trouble from unintentional transgression. 

 If the disease was dependent upon specific causes, or if the stability of 

 the tissues were of a fixed or more nearly determinate quality, some 

 measures might be instituted that woul(i prove generally preventive. 

 But the predisposing causes are common conditions and often can not 

 be remedied. That which is gentle work in one instance may incite 

 disease in another. That which is food to-day may to-morrow prove 

 disastrous to health, Finalh", necessar}^ medical interference, no mat- 

 ter how judicious, may cause a more serious complaint than that which 



