386 HEALTH AND DISEASE 



It is good practice, in all cases of lameness where the cause is obscure, 

 to remove the shoe and thoroughly explore the foot, and especially so 

 where the lameness is sudden in its onset or the animal has been recently 

 shod. 



Not infrequently this task is omitted because the fetlock is enlarged, 

 hot, and tender, and the conclusion is too hastily arrived at that the joint 

 has been subjected to sprain. After days of acute suffering, the -error is 

 made known by the appearance of an abscess at the coronet, when it 

 becomes clear that the swollen joint was the result of extension of inflam- 

 mation from the injured foot. 



In searching the foot every nail and nail -hole should be closely 

 examined as the shoe is removed, and any moisture upon the one or oozing 

 from the other must be taken to indicate mischief. A thin layer of horn 

 should then be removed from the sole and frog, and the foot pinched round 

 its outer edge, the operator noting at the time any flinching which may be 

 evinced at any particular point. Where a prick is found to exist, all horn 

 must be taken away from around it until the bottom is reached and the 

 sensitive structures laid bare. If it is found that a piece of nail, or glass, 

 or wire has been broken off and become embedded in the tissues, it can 

 then be removed. Any neglect or oversight in this connection is likely 

 to be followed by most serious results. 



The wound must now be treated antiseptically. In the first place the 

 foot should be immersed in a pail of warm carbolized water or a 3-per-cent 

 creolin solution and thoroughly cleansed, after which the wound should be 

 irrigated with a solution of bichloride of mercury of the strength of 2 

 parts in 1000. A thick pad of cotton-wool or some other suitable well- 

 baked dressing should then be applied to the part and secured by a bandage 

 or strips of wood stretching across from one side of the foot to the other, 

 and fixed between the shoe and the crust. The foot may now be enclosed 

 in a clean leather boot. 



Should the inflammation be severe, it is desirable to administer a dose 

 of physic, and a cold wet swab applied over the crust will be found to keep 

 the horn moist and afford relief. 



The wound will require to be dressed from time to time either with 

 carbolic solution or dry dressing in the form of iodoform alone or mixed 

 with boracic acid. 



When overlooked or neglected these penetrating wounds give rise to 

 serious complications, of which abscess in the foot is the most frequent 

 development. As a result the horn becomes separated from the sensitive 

 parts beneath, giving rise to that condition known as "quittor", which 

 is treated of elsewhere. Necrosis or sloughing of injured bone may also be 



