HOKSH SKNSK. 41 



A CHAT ON LAMENESS. 

 By My Old Frienr'. Dr. Wm. Dickson. 



I could give you more than one technical definition ot what himcncss 

 is, but '"a rose" we are told, "by any other name would hUiell as sweet," 

 and as a lame horse to his owner means a iiorse he cannot use. that de- 

 scription will fill tlie bin as well, or better tiian. any other. I liave no 

 intention of wanderinii into a disciuisition on the '"isms" and ""ologies," 

 and involving myself and yi-u in a mist of unintelligable technicalities. 

 I heard a lecture the other day on "Scientific Ventilation," and I have been 

 tired of abstruce science ever since. The lecturer was excessively learned, 

 and never used a simple term when a scientific one would do. His point 

 was to show the hurtful eiYect of carbonic acid gas, which he styled 

 C-O-2, on animal life — the animal experimented on being a cat. Warm- 

 ing with his subject, the professor, a man of very imposing appearance, 

 by the way. fairly revelled in a mist of chemical technicalities — disap- 

 peared to his boots, in a cloud of scientific formulas, and all the ordinary 

 mind carried home with it was the fact that a certain amount of C-O-2 

 would kill C-A-T! 



Now, I don't propose to fall into any such a trap as this. We, none 

 of us, want lame horses, of course; but we are all of us liable to get them 

 once in a while. 



When you've got a lame horse, the first thing to determine is which 

 leg he is lame on; and this is not always as easy as it looks, except in 

 cases of severe lameness. Ninety per cent of all lameness occurs in the 

 feet. Itinerant horse c-anks, whose natural prey the confiding farmer 

 seems to be, usually have some favorite and oftentimes unlikely locality 

 to which they ascrible all lameness. Why it should be so, I don't know, 

 but the most common is the shoulder. Now, this is just the last place 

 I look for lameness, unless signs are particularly diognostic. Actual 

 shoulder lameness is easily told fro--:! any other — the horse invariably 

 advances his leg semi-circularly. as a man does his wooden leg. 



The sense of touch which can detect any unnatural heat is the best 

 means of locating trouble. 



FOOT FOUNDER, 



Or Larniniiis and Navicular disease, are largely responsible for the 

 abominable practice of cutting out the sole and paring the frog on (?) 

 approved principles in the latter; as well as the barbarous practice of 

 nailing on a shoe two sizes two small, and then chopping off the foot to 

 fit it. Does inflammation occur in the hind feet? 



It is most common in the front feet, but sometimes it occurs in all 

 four feet. If it is severe you can readily detect it by trying to back up 

 the animal, and you will find that he moves very reluctantly. 



Are aloes a good remedy for this disease? 



A violent purgative would be apt to leave you without any necessity 

 for further treatment and also without a horse. 



