372 THE FARM DOCTOR. 



irisfitting shoes or breaking of the hoof-wall ; injuries from nails 

 driven into the quick or picked up on the road ; a rheumatic 

 constitution ; impaired nutrition with increased elimination of 

 phosphates from the system ; or an extension of disease from 

 the digestive organs as in an over-feed of grain, or a drink of 

 cold water when hot and fatigued, etc. 



Symptoms. — Pointing the affected foot eight or ten inches in 

 advance of the other, with the heel slightly raised when stand- 

 ing quietly in the stable. This symptom may last for months 



Fig. 71. — Ulceration of the small sesamoid bone of the foot, and distorted heels 



of the coffin-bone, 



before lameness is shown. Stepping short and on the toe with 

 a great tendency to stumble when first moved from the stable, 

 which lameness may entirely disappear after going a mile or 

 two. It is worse when cooled off after a long drive, but it may 

 appear intermittently while at work, as occasional stumbling or 

 dropping on the sound foot for some time at first. The toe of 

 the shoe is more worn than other parts owing to 'the peculiar 

 gait The foot feels hot, especially in its posterior part, and 

 in acute cases the soft parts may bulge over the coronet and 

 the pastern arteries throb with unusual force. The foot too, 

 soon diminishes in size, especially in the quarters and neels» 

 where the heat, drying, and disuse are greatest. Testing the 

 »=*iirgin pf the hoof with pincers will not elicit tenderness, unle.ss 



