144 LAMENESS IN THE HORSE. 



Palpation. — Probing is of little value, as the winding 

 fistulous tracts interfere with the progress of the probe ; 

 but nevertheless it establishes the presence of a fistulous 

 canal, thus helping to differentiate qnittor from simple 

 injuries to the coronet and superficial inflammation of the 

 podophyllous membrane. After a while the first fistulous 

 opening heals. Swelling, pain and lameness increase, and 

 in due time another fistula, usually anterior to the first one, 

 makes its appearance. This process repeats itself from time 

 to time until proper treatment checks it. 



4. — Punctured Wounds of Sole and Frog. 



Inspection. — The intensity of the lameness depends on the 

 seat and depth of the puncture. In inspecting the sole of 

 recent cases, the foreign body, a di'op of blood, or nothing 

 at all, is apt to be found. In cases of some standing, a 

 discharging wound is met with. 



Palpation. — The application of the hoof-tester reveals a 

 painful locality, which, when traced, shows the exact course 

 of the puncture, or even the foreign body. The groove 

 between the bars and the branches of the frog is the part 

 most frequently involved. Careful paring of the sole and 

 frog are essential to the detection of a punctured wound. 

 Not long ago the writer was called several hundred miles to 

 diagnose a case of lameness in a very valuable trotting 

 mare, which went lame shortly after a race and had been 

 treated for hip lameness, while she was actually suffering from 

 a punctured wound, running from the middle lacuna of the 

 frog obliquely upwards and backwards, as the writer found 

 on making his examination. The attending veterinarian also 

 examined the hoof when she went lame first, but omitted 

 the examination of the frog. The offending body in this 



