316 DISEASES OF THE FOOT. 



•will lead to the suspicion that the smith has been in fault ; yet no one who considers 

 the thinness of the crust, and the difficulty of shoeing many feet, will blame him for 

 sometimes pricking the animal. His fault will consist in concealing or denying that 

 of which he will almost always be aware at the time of shoeing, from the flinching 

 of the horse, or the dead sound, or the peculiar resistance that may be noticed in the 

 driving of the nail. We would plead the cause of the honest portion of an humble 

 class of men, who discharge this mechanical part of their business with a skill and 

 good fortune scarcely credible; but we resign those to the reproaches and the punish- 

 ment of the owner of the horse who too often, and with bad policy, deny that which 

 accident, or possibly momentary carelessness, might have occasioned, and the neglect 

 of which is fraught with danger, although the mischief resulting from it might at the 

 time have been easily remedied. 



When the seat of mischief is ascertained, the sole should be thinned round it, ana 

 at the nail-hole, or the puncture, it should be pared to the quick. The escape of 

 some matter will now probably tell the nature of the injur)', and remove its conse 

 quences. If it be puncture of the sole effected by some nail, or any similar body, 

 picked up on the road, all that will be necessary is a little to enlarge the opening 

 and then to place on it a pledget of tow dipped in Friar's balsam, and over that a 

 little common stopping. If there is much heat and lameness, a poultice should be 

 applied. 



The part of the sole that is wounded and the depth of the wound should be taken 

 into consideration. It will be seen, by reference to the cut in page 272, that a deep 

 puncture towards the back part of the sole, and penetrating even into the sensible frog, 

 may not he productive of serious consequence. There is no great motion in the part, 

 and there are no tendons or bones in danger. A puncture near the toe may not be 

 followed by much injury. There is little motion in that part of the foot, and the 

 internal sole covering the coffin-bone will soon heal. A puncture, however, about the 

 centre of the sole may wound the flexor tendon where it is inserted into the coffin-bone, 

 or may even penetrate the joint which unites the navicular-bone with the coffm-bone, 

 or pierce through the tendon into the joint which it forms with the navicular-bone, 

 and a degree of inflammation may ensue, that, if neglected, may be fatal. Many 

 horses have been lost by the smallest puncture of the sole in these dangerous points. 

 All the anatomical skill of the veterinarian should be called into requisition, when he 

 is examining the most trifling wound of the foot. 



If the foot has been wounded by the wrong direction of a nail in shoeing, and the 

 sole is well-pared out over the part on the first appearance of lameness, little more 

 will be necessary to be done. The opening should be somewhat enlarged, the Friar's 

 balsam applied, and the shoe tacked on, with or witlunit a poultice, according to the 

 degree of lameness or heat, and on the following day all will often be well. It may, 

 however, be prudent to keep the foot stopped for a few days. If the accident has 

 been neglected, and matter begins to be formed, and to be pent up, and to press on the 

 neighbouring parts, and the horse evidently suffers extr'^e pain, and is sometimes 

 scarcely able to put his foot to the ground, and much matter is poured out when the 

 opening is enlarsed, further precautions must be adopted. The fact must be recol- 

 lected that the living and dead horn will never unite, and every portion of the horny 

 sole that has separated from ilie fleshy sole above must be removed. The scparalion 

 must he followed as far as it reaches. Much of the success of the treatment depends 

 on this. No small strip or edge of separated horn must be suffered to press upon any 

 part ,of the wound. The exposed fleshy sole must then be touched, but not too 

 severely, with the butyr (chloride) of antimony, some soft and dry tow being spread 

 ^n the part,, the foot slopped, and a poultice placed over all if the inflammation seems 

 to require it. On the following day a thin pellicle of horn will frequently be found 

 over a part or the whole of the wound. This should be, yet very lightly, acain 

 touclied with the caustic; but if there is an ajjpearaiice of fungus sproutinof from the 

 exposed surface, the a])]ilicatinn of tlie butyr must be more severe, the tow being 

 ag<\in placed over it, so as to afford considerable yet uniftirm pressin-e. Many days do 

 not often elapse before the ww horn covers the whole of tlu^ wound. In tlu se exten- 

 sive openings the Friar's balsam will not always be successful, but the cure nnist be 

 c^ecioA by the judicious and never-too-severe use of the caustic. Bleeding at tiie 

 toe, and physic, will be resorted to as useful auxilaries when much inflarnmatior 

 arises. 



