82G DISEASES AND THEIE TEEATMENT. 



surface of the coffin-bone. I wish particularly to place this ftict on 

 record, for reasons that will hereafter appear. Beneath the bottom 

 of the coffin-bones and the thin mutilated soles of the hoofs was 

 deposited a dense layer of lymph, about one-eighth of an inch thick, 

 in which were innumerable particles of bony deposit, imparting- 

 a feeling as if sand had been sprinkled over the inner surface of the 

 hoof Such had been the rapid destruction, partly by absorption 

 and partly by casting off" of useless matter. 



As to the treatment to which the horse had been subjected, I 

 have little to say. 1 saw that the current orthodox teaching had 

 been complied with, in the form of cutting away the hoof, and soak- 

 ing the feet with moisture; every one in attendance had doubtless 

 done his best according to his intelligence, and was to be pitied 

 rather than blamed for want of the right kind of knowledge of the 

 pathological conditions. 



The specimens of disease, illustrated and briefly described in 

 this section, oifer material for much more lengthy comment. My 

 purpose in publishing these is to prove the fundamental fact that 

 lameness is a consequence of destructive causes, is associated with 

 changes of structure in the foot, and that it is only by a patient 

 and thorough inquiry into these anatomical changes, that what I 

 maybe allowed to call the natural history of lameness can be under- 

 stood, its causes prevented, and the proper remedial measures based 

 on well-defined knowledge applied. This is a line of inquiry which 

 I particularly commend to members of the veterinary profession, 

 many if not the majority of whom have grown up in the habit of 

 looking upon the hoof merely as the investing termination of the 

 limb, and not taking cognizance of the whole digit as a complex 

 organic structure, to understand which, in health and disease, dis- 

 section of a lai'ge number of specimens is indispensable. 



Laminitis, or Founder. 



Laminitis, or Founder, may be described as simply congestion 

 or inflammation in the feet. It may be severe or moderate 

 according to the degree of disturbance. If inflammation runs 

 high and is allowed to continue, it is liable to produce so much 

 disoroanization as to induce loss of the hoof, which is however 

 rare, or so much change of .structure in the feet as to make the 

 horse ultimately so stiff and sore or so much of a cripple as to be- 

 come practically worthless excepting for slow, easy work. 



There are two stages of this disease, acute and chronic. The 

 first produces a high state of excitement and inflammation of the 

 sensitive lamina, and more or less of the internal structure of the 

 foot generally. The second, a morbid or insensitive feeling of the 

 parts generally. The first or acute stage can be invariably 



