304 DISEASES OF THE FOOT. 



on the foll'"\ving day. In extreme cases, a third bleeding of two quarts may be jua- 

 tifiable, and, instead of the poultice, cloths kept wet with water in which nitre has 

 been dissolved immediately before, and in the proportion of an ounce of nitre to a 

 pound of water, may be wrapped round the feet. About the third day a blister may 

 be tried, taking in the whole of the pastern and the coronet ; but a cradle must pre- 

 viously be put on the neck of the horse, and the feet must be covered after the blis- 

 ter, or they will probably be sadly blemished. The horse should be kept on mash 

 diet, unless green meat can be procured for him ; and even that should not be given 

 too liberally, nor should lie, in the slightest degree, be coaxed to eat. When he 

 appears to be recovering, his getting on his feet should not be hurried. It should be 

 left perfectly to his own discretion; nor should even walking exercise be permitted 

 until he stands firm on his feet. When that is the case, and the season will permit, 

 two months' run at grass will be very serviceable. 



It is not always, however, or often, that inflammation of the feet is thus easily 

 subdued ; and, if it is subdued, it sometimes leaves after it some fearful consequences. 

 The loss of the hoof is not an unfrequent one. About six or seven days from the 

 first attack, a slight separation will begin to appear between the coronet and tlie hoof. 

 This should be carefully attended to, for the separated horn will never again unite 

 with the parts beneath, but the disunion will extend, and the hoof will be lost. It is 

 true that a new hoof will be formed, but it will be smaller in size and weaker than 

 the first, and will rarely stand hard work. When this separation is observed, it 

 will be a matter of calculation with the proprietor of the horse whether he will suffer 

 the medical treatment to proceed. 



CHRONIC LAMINITIS. 



This is a species of founder, insidious in its attack, and destructive to the horse. 

 It is a milder form of the preceding disease. There is lameness, but it is not so 

 severe as in the former case. The horse stands as usual. The crust is warm, and 

 that warmth is constant, but it is not often probably greater than in a state of health. 

 The surest symptom is the action of the animal. It is diametrically opposite to that 

 in the navicular disease. The horse throws as much of his weight as he can, on the 

 posterior parts of his feet. 



The treatment should be similar to that recommended for the acute disease — blood- 

 letting, cataplasms, fomentations, and blisters, and the last much sooner and much 

 more frequently than in the former disease. 



PUMICED FEET. 



The sensible and horny little plates which were elongated and partially separated 

 during the intensity of the inflammation of founder, will not always perfectly unite 

 again, or will have lost much of their elasticity, and the coffin-bone, no longer fully 

 supported by them, presses upon the sole, and the sole becomes flattened, or convex, 

 from this unnatural weight, and the horse acquires a puriiced foot. This will also 

 happen when the animal is used too soon after an attack of inflammation of the feet, 

 and before the laminae have regained sufficient strength to support the weight of the 

 horse, or to contract again by their elastic power when they have yielded to the 

 weight. When the coffin-bone is thus thrown on the sole, and renders it pumiced, 

 the crust at the front of tlie hoof will "/«// ?n," leaving a kind of hollow about the 

 middle of it. 



Pumiced feet, especially in horses with large, wide feet, are frequently produced 

 ■without this acute inflannnation. Undue work, and especially much battering of the 

 feet on the pavement, will extend and sprain tliese laminae so much, that they will 

 not have the power to ctmtract, and thus the cotrin-bone will be thrown backward on 

 the sole. A very important law of nature will unfortunately soon be active here. 

 When pressure is applied to any part, the alisorbcnts become busy in removing" it; 

 so, when the coffin-bone begins to pn ss upon the sole, the sole becomes thin from the 

 increased wear and tear to which it is sut)jected by contact with the ground, and also 

 because these absorbents are rapidly takino- it away. 



This is one of the diseases of the feet for which there is no cure. No skill is 

 competent to effect a reunion between the separated fleshy and horny laminae, or to 

 restore to them the strength and elasticity c-f which they have been" deprived, or to 

 take up that hard, horny substance v.iuch speedily fills the space between the crust 



