214 THE HORSE 



fact so bad, more particularly in neglected cases, that it 

 can easily be smelt as soon as the stable door is opened. 

 Grease is particularly common amongst horses of a heavier 

 class, and when it is once established it leads to permanent 

 thickening of the skin. It is a form of dermatitis, in which 

 the sebaceous glands actively participate. We have 

 already referred to grease under the heading of "Mange,'' 

 in which we spoke of this trouble as being caused by, in 

 many cases, a species of acari, known as the symbiotic 

 mange parasite — parasites which cause dermatitis in 

 the regions affected with grease. Apart from the parasiti- 

 cal cause of this trouble, the author is inchned to believe 

 that a certain percentage of cases of seborrhoea are of 

 constitutional origin, and can only be successfully treated 

 by a course of internal medication ; whereas if parasitical 

 this disease can usually be cured by local apphcations only. 

 Old standing cases of grease result in permanent enlarge- 

 ment at the seat of disease, hence the reason why one 

 occasionally sees a cart horse with a huge growth round the 

 fetlock. A common result is the formation of numerous 

 wart-like or grapy growths in the hollow of the fetlock 

 and which in days gone by the farrier used to remove by 

 the application of a hot shovel, as used in the forge. This 

 must have been an extremely painful procedure and 

 seems to be a barbarous method of dealing with a trouble 

 of this kind. All wounds in the heels are of slow healing 

 capacity, chiefly owing to the movement of the part and 

 the small amount of reparative tissue which exists. 

 Grease is much worse during the wet weather, but it 

 exists in some horses perennially, and the damage which 

 it does to the part attacked is usually proportionate to its 

 severity or otherwise. The author considers that it is one 

 of those troubles Vv^hich demand professional skill for its 

 proper treatment, but when it is due to, or thought to be 

 due to mange mites, the apphcation of hme and sulphur 

 lotion is of unquestionable service. The sulphur in the 

 lotion destro^^s these parasites, so that when the irritation 



