DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 467 



pus from the nail holes, or if the nails themselves are not moist, we 

 must continue our examination of the foot by carefully pinching or 

 tapping it at all parts. With a little practice we can detect the spot 

 where pain is the greatest or discover the delicate line or scar left at 

 the point of entrance of the foreign body. The entire sole is then to 

 be thinned, after which we are to carefully cut down upon the point 

 where pain is greatest upon pressure, and, final!}', through the sole at 

 this spot. When the matter has escaped, the sole, so far as it was 

 undermined by pus, is to be removed. The foot must now be poulticed 

 for one or two days and afterwards dressed with a compress of oakum 

 saturated with carbolic-acid solution or other antiseptic dressing. 



If we discover a nail or other object in the foot, the principal direc- 

 tion, after having removed the offending body, is to cut away the 

 sole, in a funnel shape, down to the sensitive parts beneath. This is 

 imperative, and if a good free opening has been made and is main- 

 tained for a few days, hot fomentations and antiseptic dressings 

 applied, the cure is mostly easy, simple, quick, and permanent. The 

 horse should be shod with a leather sole under the shoe, first of all 

 applying tar and oakum to prevent any dirt from entering the wound. 

 In some instances nails m.ay puncture the fiexor tendons, the coffin- 

 bone, or enter the cofiin joint. Such injuries are always serious, their 

 recovery slow and tedious, and the treatment so varied and difficult 

 that the services of a veterinarian will be necessarj-. 



PUNCTURED WOUNDS OF JOINTS, OR OPEN JOINTS. 



These wounds are more or less frequent. The}^ are always serious, 

 and often result in anchylosis (stiffening) of the joint or death of the 

 animal. The joints mostly punctured are the hock, fetlock, or knee, 

 though other joints may, of course, suffer this injury. As the symp- 

 toms and treatment are much the same for all, only the accident as it 

 occurs in the hock joint will be described. Probably the most com- 

 mon mode of injury is from the stab of a fork, but it may result from 

 the kick of another horse that is newly shod, or in many other ways. 

 At first the horse evinces but slight pain or lameness. The owner 

 discovers a small wound scarcely larger than a pea, and paj's but little 

 attention to it. In a few daj^s, however, the pain and lameness become 

 excessive; the horse can no longer bear any weight upon the injured 

 leg; the joint is very much swollen and painful upon pressure; there 

 are well-marked symptoms of constitutional disturbance — quick pulse, 

 hurried breathing, high temperature, 103^ to 106^ F., the appetite is 

 lost, thirst is present, the horse reeks with sweat, and shows by an 

 anxious countenance the pain he suffers. He may lie down, though 

 mostl}^ he persists in standing, and the opposite limb becomes greatly 

 swollen from bearing the entire weight and strain for so long a time. 

 The wound, which at first appeared so insignificant, is now constantly 



