75 



Pricks in shoeirg usually manifest themselves shortly after the 

 horse has been shod, but occasionally there may be no sign for 

 three or four weeks. 



Treatment. — When inflammation is present the application of 

 warm water is very beneficial: this is best accomplished by plac- 

 ing the injured foot in a pail of warm water for about one hour; 

 continue this twice daily. Warm flaxseed poultices are very 

 good: a solution of creolin -4 per cent, or carbolic acid 5 per cent, 

 should be mixed with the poultice. When the inflammation is 

 reduced and the formation of pus, if any, has ceased, the hole 

 should be closed with a piece of oakum, saturated vii.th pine tar. 



QUITTOR. 



Quittor is a fistulous wound situated on the heels or hind quar- 

 ters of the hoof, generally caused by pricks, bruises, or suppur- 

 ating corns. The symptoms of quittor are lameness, swelling 

 upon the coronet, about the center of which one or more small 

 orifices are seen, discharging either a thin liquid secretion or a 

 soft, thick, perhaps cheesy, pus. From the external orifices 

 sinuses (tubes) are found, generally leading in a downward direc- 

 tion, beneath the coronary substance, lateral cartilage, and into 

 the soft tissues. In many cases the animal is extremely lame 

 and scarcely able to put the foot to the gTOund. A quittor 

 differs from a wound, or a recent abscess on the coronet, by the 

 condition of the parts, which have taken on a peculiarly un- 

 healthy action, by the character of the surrounding swelling, 

 which is hard to the touch, and by the presence of sinuses. 



Treatment. — This will depend upon the cause. If it be any- 

 thing within the foot, as a festered corn or prick, a dependent 

 opening must be made in the sole to allow the escape of pus, and 

 then treat it as a punctured wound of the sole. In a case of 

 quittor where no communication exists between the wound and 

 the plantar surface of the foot it will have to be treated by injec- 

 tions of creohn, carbolic acid, or bichloride of mercury. If after 

 a few days of this treatment the wound does not show a tendency 

 to heal the following solution can be used: Bichloride mercury 

 1 dram, water 1 ounce. One or two injections of this will cause 

 the exposed surface of the wound to cast off a thin slough and 

 leave a healthy granulating surface. Poultices assist the separa- 

 tion of the slough and tend to soothe the irritation. They should 



