PUMICED FEET. 291 



already described;— poultices of linseed meal, made very soft, should cover 

 the whole of the foot and the pastern, and be frequently renewed, which will 

 promote evaporation from the neighbonrino- parts, and possibly through the 

 pores of the hoof, and, by softening and suppling the hoof, will reheve its 

 painful pressure on the swelled and tender parts beneath. More fully to 

 accomplish this last purpose, the shoe should be removed, the sole pared 

 as thin as possible, and the crust and particularly the quarters well rasped. 

 All this must be done gently, and with a great deal of patience, for the poor 

 animal can scarcely bear his foot to be meddled with. There is doubt as to 

 the propriety of administering physic. The horse may find it difficult or 

 impossible to rise, in which case much inconvenience will ensue from the 

 operation of physic : or there may be danger, from the intense character 

 which fever in the feet often assumes, of producing a change of inflamma- 

 tion to the bowels or lungs, in which the irritation of physic would probably 

 be fatal. Sedative and cooling medicines should be diligently adminis- 

 tered, consisting of digitalis, nitre, and emetic tartar, in the proportions 

 already recommended. 



If no amendment be observed, three quarts of blood should be taken 

 from each foot on the following day, and, in extreme cases, a third bleeding 

 of two quarts may be justifiable, and, instead of the poultice, cloths kept 

 wet with water in which nitre has been dissolved immediately before, and 

 in the proportion of an ounce of nitre to a pound of water, may be wrapped 

 round the feet. About the third day a bhster may be tried, taking in the 

 whole of the pastern and the coronet ; but a cradle must previously be put 

 on the neck of the horse, and the feet must be covered after the blister, or they 

 willprobably be sadly blemished. The horse should be kept on mash diet, 

 unless green meat can be procured for him ; and even that should not be 

 given too liberally, nor should he, in the slightest degree, be coaxed to eat. 

 When he appears to be recovering, his getting on his feet should not be 

 hurried. It should be left perfectly to his own discretion ; nor should even 

 walking exercise be permitted until he stands firm on his feet; when, if 

 the season will permit, two months' run at grass will be very serviceable. 



It is not, however, always, or often, that inflammation of the feet is thus 

 easily subdued ; and, if it be subdued, it sometimes leaves after it some 

 fearful consequences. The loss of the hoof is not an unfrequent one. About 

 six or seven days from the first attack, a slight separation will begin to 

 appear between the coronet and the hoof. This should be carefully 

 remarked, for the separated horn will never again unite with the parts 

 beneath, but the disunion will extend, and the hoof will be lost. It is true 

 that a new hoof will be formed, but it wiU be smaller in size and weaker 

 than the first, and will rarely stand hard work. When this separation is 

 observed, it will be a matter of calculation with the proprietor of the horse 

 whether he will suffer the medical treatment to proceed. 



PUMICED FEET. 



The sensible and horny little plates which were elongated and partially 

 separated during the intensity of the inflammation will not always perfectly 

 unite again, or will have lost much of their elasticity, and the coffin-bone, 

 no longer fully supported by them, presses upon the sole, and the sole 

 becomes flattened, or even convex, or projecting, by this unnatural weight, 

 and the horse acquires a pumiced foot. This will also happen when the 

 animal is used too soon after an attack of inflammation of the feet, and 

 before the little plates have regained sufficient strength to support the 

 weight of the horse, or to contract again by their elastic power when they 



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