no VETERINARY LECTURES 



carefully dressed away, following the black spot with the point of 

 the shoeing-knife, when a dirty, thin, dark-coloured fluid will 

 generally be met with (commonly called gravel) at the bottom of 

 the nail-hole. If left alone too long, this fluid sometimes works 

 under the sole, and, if not liberated, will find its way out at the top 

 of the band of the hoof or at the bulbs of the heel. After the 

 escape of the matter, the foot should be placed in a cold bran- 

 poultice, to which a tablespoonful of carbolic acid, phenyl, or any 

 good antiseptic, has been added, until all the inflammation has 

 subsided ; then, after dressing with tow and tar ointment (Sandcrack, 

 par. 7PJ),and protecting with a leather sole, the shoe may be put on. 

 Sometimes the nails are driven too near, causing pressure on the 

 sensitive parts and making the animal step short, or decidedly lame. 

 Taking off the shoe and poulticing the foot for twenty-four hours is 

 all that is necessary in such cases, for cutting into the parts does 

 more harm than good. 



189. When a horse drops suddenly lame on the road, the foot 

 must at once be examined, to see whether it has been injured by a 

 nail or a piece of wire. If this is found to be the case, remove the 

 foreign body at once, and at the first house on the road wash the 

 wound out by pouring hot water on to it, then heat the nail or piece 

 of wire in the fire, and with a pair of pincers press it into the hole 

 already made, thus cauterizing the wound ; a little hard soap may 

 then be pressed into the hole, after which, as a rule, no further 

 trouble arises ; but should the animal become lame afterwards, take 

 off the shoe and poultice the foot, as already stated. Pricks froro 

 nails are very dangerous, and should receive prompt attention, as 

 tetanus (lock-jaw) often arises from a simple prick in the foot ; 

 yet, strange to say, at the bottom of a coal-pit — where wounds in 

 the feet, from gathered nails, are of frequent occurrence — lock-jaw 

 is rarely or never seen. 



190. Corns are recognized by a blood-red stain in the horn, and 

 are caused by a bruise or injury, with subsequent infiltration of 

 blood through the pores of the born. They occur chiefly in flat- 

 footed, weak-heeled horses, and are generally found in the fore-feet, 

 principally in the inner corner of the heels, between the wall and 



