448 BUREAU OF ANIMAL I2iDUSTBY. 



CALLOSITIES. 



These are simple thickening and induration of the cuticle by reason 

 of continued pressure, notably in lying down on a hard surface. Being 

 devoid of hair, they cause blemishes; hence smooth floors and good 

 bedding should be secured as preventives. 



HORNY SLOUr.HS (siTFASTs), OR SLOUGHING CALLOSITIES. 



These are circumscribed sloughs of limited portions of the skin, the 

 result of pressure by bad!}' fitting harness or by irritating masses of 

 dirt, sweat, and hairs under the harness. The}" are most common 

 under the saddle, but may be found under collar or breeching as well. 

 The sitfast is a piece of dead tissue which would be thrown off but 

 that it has formed firm connections with the fibrous skin beneath, or 

 even deeper with the fibrous layers (fascia) of the muscles, or with 

 the bones, and is thus bound in its place as a persistent source of irri- 

 tation. The horn-like slough may thus involve the superficial part of 

 the skin only, or the whole thickness of the skin, and even of some of 

 the structures beneath. The first object is to remove the dead irri- 

 tant by disjecting it oft' with a sharp knife, after which the sore maj'' 

 be treated with simple wet cloths or a weak carbolic acid lotion, like a 

 common wound. If the outline of the dead mass is too indefinite, a 

 linseed-meal poultice will make its outline more evident to the opera- 

 tor. If the fascia or bone has become gangrenous the dead portion 

 must be removed with the horn-like skin. During and after treat- 

 ment the horse must be kept at rest or the harness must be so adjusted 

 that no pressure can come near the affected parts. 



These are essentially a morbid overgrowth of the superficial papil- 

 lary layer of the skin and of the investing cuticular layer. They are 

 mostly seen in young horses, about the lips, ej^elids, cheeks, ears, 

 beneath the belly, and on the sheath, but may develop anywhere. 

 The smaller ones ma}' be clipped off with scissors and the raw surface 

 cauterized with bluestone. The larger may be sliced off with a sharp 

 knife, or if with a narrow neck they may be twisted off and then cau- 

 terized. If very vascular they may be strangled by a wax thread or 

 cord tied around their necks, at least three turns being made round and 

 the ends being fixed by passing them beneath the last preceding turn 

 of the cord, so that they can be tightened day by day as they slacken 

 by shrinkage of the tissues. If the neck is too broad it may be trans- 

 fixed several times with a double-threaded needle and then be tied in 

 sections. Very broad warts that can not be treated in this way may 

 be burned down to beneath the surface of the skin with a soldering 

 bolt at a red heat, and any subsequent tendency to overgrowth kept 

 down bv bluestone. 



