314 



THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



the integuments in direct continuity with the living parts which might, at first 

 sight, be mistaken for tissues consisting of an entirely diflerent organization. 

 Let Fig. 107 represent, by A, the normal foot before maceration ; by B, the same 



Fig. 106.— Longitudinal and median section of the foot. 



foot after prolonged soaking in water. The epidermic productions, the horn and 

 the hairs, naturally detached, leave the cutaneous covering intact. 



The latter, vulgarly known under the name fleshy envelope, flesh of the foot, 

 is remarkable for its great vascularity and the abundance of its nerves. Hence 

 it is very susceptible of congestion and inflammation as soon as the hoof, which 

 surrounds it, has lost its physiological properties. All its lesions, of whatever 

 nature they may be, are always accompanied by intense pain, the tumefaction of 

 the living parts becoming impossible, incased as they are in a resisting, almost 

 inextensible, envelope. 



