334 DISEASES OF THE lIOIiSE. 



pound of tar), may be sufficient to effect a cure. Should this 

 fail in bringing on a healthy appearance, let some butty r of 

 antimony be applied, or add to two ounces of the solution of 

 blue vitriol ten drops of sulphuric acid. A solution of blue 

 vitriol in vinegar may be tried. Whatever caustic may be found 

 necessary for the cure of canker, some preparation of tar is 

 useful in promoting the reproduction of horn * ; pressure on the 

 diseased parts is conducive to the cure, and may be applied by 

 means of tow dipped in the melted tar ointment, or tar and 

 sulphuric acid, and kept in by ti'ansverse slips of wood, or 

 splints as they are termed, confined under the shoe. It would 

 be difficult to enumerate all the remedies or means that have 

 been employed for the cure of canker, and most commonly with- 

 out success : for the disease after some time appears to penetrate 

 to the ligaments, cartilages, and bones ; and those who have been 

 most successful have been, in general, most free in the use of 

 the drawinsf- knife and caustic. In two bad cases that I have 

 seen cured, after a considerable time and mucli labour, the 

 horses were rendered irremediably lame. Mr. Leigh, Veteri- 

 nary Surgeon of Bristol, had a carriage horse under his care 

 with a canker in the hind foot. After a little time the horse 

 became so troublesome that it was found almost impossible 

 to dress him, and pare out the foot projoerly. He therefore 

 threw him down and performed the nerve operation upon the 

 leg; after which the foot was dressed without resistance, and 

 the canker soon got well. When I heard of this case, the horse 

 had been in work four yeai^s after the operation.! The only 

 caustic I have not seen tried in canker is arsenic, or some pre- 

 paration of that poisonous mineral: I have known it applied 

 with success in fistula of the withers and poll-evil, also for the 

 removal of warts, still I should be afraid to apply it in canker, 

 as its destructive influence cannot be limited. I have seen the 

 actual cautery applied, and, I think, with good effect ; also oil 

 of vitriol, nitrous acid, corrosive sublimate, quicklime, tar and 

 sulphuric acid nearly boiling hot, quicksilver, or red precipitate, 

 dissolved in nitrous acid, and many other caustic preparations. 



* An excellent application in this disease is formed by nitric acid, verdi- 

 gris, and Barbadoes tar. — Ed. 



f The advantage afTorded by this operation is not simply the convenience 

 of dressing the foot, but also that it enables the animal to bear freely on the 

 diseased parts, pressure being of the greatest service. The operation is, 

 therefore, very useful in bad cases. It is, indeed, by pressure, caustic, and 

 the knife that a cure is effected. It must, however, be borne in mind that in 

 this disease the pressure may be too great instead of too little, in which case 

 formidable inflammation may supervene in the joints, and the navicular bone 

 may ulcerate with the flexor tendon, a result which I have known to follow 

 the operation of neurotomy in canker, and which is more likely to occur if 

 the operation has been performed than if not. — Ed. 



