DIAGNOSIS OF HOOF LAMENESS. 135 



evince pain, the spot pressed can safely be looked upon as 

 the seat of the trouble, provided pain is not found anywhere 

 else. The jerking of the leg, following pressure upon a 

 painful spot in the hoof, is chiefly a reflex action. The 

 short, spasmodic contraction of the shoulder muscles and 

 extensors of the fore-arm may therefore serve as a guide. 

 Jerking of these muscles synchronously with the application 

 of pincers or hammer to a certain spot suggests pain in the 

 region the pressure is exerted upon. As to the relative 

 value of pincers or hammer, it is well to say that the hammer, 

 on the whole, is of more use than the pincers, and in such 

 cases as separation of the wall from the laminae, it is invalu- 

 able. 



To examine the white line, so important in the diagnosis 

 of the seat of hoof lameness, the shoe must be removed 

 and the sole and frog freed of all loose and ragged horn, to 

 allow of a minute examination of these parts. Any place 

 which has been previously established, beyond a reasonable 

 doubt, to be diseased, by the hammer and pincers, should 

 now be traced with the searching knife. But nothing is 

 more unjustifiable than to dig into the sole here and there 

 in hopes of finding something abnormal, for in that way the 

 horn is destroyed and newly injured. In following up any 

 diseased locality near the wall, it is of importance to remem- 

 ber that the wall is principally concerned in bearing weight, 

 and therefore is to be spared as much as possible, while any 

 portion of the sole can be replaced by artificial means. 



