444 BUKEAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



and unyielding-, is liable to reopen under any severe exertion, hence 

 rapid paces and heav}^ draft are active causes. 



Treatment. — In treatment the first step is to ascertain and remove 

 the cause vrhenever possible. If there is much local heat and inflam- 

 mation, a laxative (.5 drams aloes or 1 pound Glauber's salts) ma}' be 

 given, and for the pampered animal the 'grain should be reduced or 

 replaced altogether bj' bran mashes, flaxseed, and other laxative, non- 

 stimulating food. In the debilitated, on the other hand, nutritious food 

 and bitter tonics may be given, and even a course of arsenic (5 grains 

 arsenic with 1 dram bicarbonate of soda 4^11}^). When the legs swell, 

 exercise on dry roads, hand rubbing, and evenly applied bandages are 

 good, and mild astringents, like extract of witchhazel, may be applied 

 and the part subsequently rubbed dry and bandaged. If there is much 

 heat but unbroken skin, a lotion of 2 drams sugar of lead to 1 quart of 

 water ma}^ be applied on a thin bandage, covered in cold weather with 

 a dry one. The same ma}- be used after the cracks appear, or a solution 

 of sulphurous acid 1 part, gl3'cerin 1 part, and water 1 part, applied on 

 cotton and well covered by a bandage. In case these should prove 

 unsuitable to the particular case, the part may be smeared with vaseline 

 1 ounce, sugar of lead 1 dram, and carbolic acid 10 drops. 



INri.AM]VIATIOX OF THK HEELS WITH SEBACEOUS SECRETION (gREASE, OR 



canker). 



This is a specific affection of the heels of horses usually associated 

 with the growth of a parasitic fungus, an offensive discharge from the 

 numerous sebaceous glands, and, in bad cases, the formation of red, raw 

 excrescences (grapes) from the surface. It is to be distinguished (1) 

 from simple inflammation in which the special fetid discharge and the 

 tendencj^to the formation of " grapes" are absent; (2) from horsepox, 

 in which the abundant exudate forms a firmycllov>^ incrustation around 

 the roots of the hair, and is embedded at intervals in the pits formed 

 by the individual pocks, and in which there is no vascular excrescence; 

 (3) from foot scabies (mange), in which the presence of an acarus is 

 distinctive; (4) from lymphangitis, in which the swelling appears sud- 

 denly extending around the entire limb as high as the hock, and on 

 the inner side of the thigh along the line of the vein to the groin, and 

 in which there is active fever, and (5) from erysipelas, in which there 

 is active fever (wanting in grease), the implication of the deeper layers 

 of the skin and of the parts beneath giving a boggy feeling to the parts, 

 the absence of the fetid, greasy discharge, and finally a tendency to 

 form pus loosely in the tissues without any limiting membrane as in 

 abscess. Another distinctive feature of grease is its tendency to impli- 

 cate the skin which secretes the bulbs or heels of the horny frog and 

 in the cleft of the frog, constituting the disease known as canker. 



Causes. — The predisposing causes of grease are essentially the same 



