386 DISEASES OF THE HOBSE. 



to the dense structure of the bones, ligaments, and tendons, the sup- 

 purative process is a slow one, and the pus is prevented from readily 

 collecting in a mass. 



Recently I made a post-mortem examination on a typical case of this 

 disease, where the animal had died on the fourth day after being 

 found on the range slightly lame. The suffering had been intense; 

 yet the only external evidences of the disease consisted in the shed- 

 ding of the hoof from the right fore foot and a limited swelling of 

 the leg to the knee. The sloughing of the hoof took place two or 

 three hours before death, and was accompanied with but little suppu- 

 ration and no hemorrhage. The skin from the knee to the foot was 

 thickened from watery infiltration (edema), and on the inside quarter 

 three holes, each about one-half inch in diameter, were found. All 

 had ragged edges, while but one had gone deep enough to perforate 

 the coronary band. The loose connective tissue beneath the skin was 

 distended, with a gelatinous infiltration over the whole course of the 

 flexor tendons and to the fetlock joint over the tendon in front. The 

 soft tissues covering the coffin bone were loosened in patches by col- 

 lections of pus which had formed beneath the sensitive laminae. The 

 coffin and pastern joints were inflamed, as were also the coffin, navicu- 

 lar, and coronet bones, while the outside toe of the coffin bone had 

 become softened from suppuration until it readily crumbled between 

 the fingers. The coronary band was largely destroyed and completely 

 separated from the other tissues of the foot. The inner lateral carti- 

 lage was gangrenous, as was also a small spot on the extensor tendon 

 near its point of attachment on the coffinbone. Several small collec- 

 tions of pus were found deep in the connective tissue of the coronary 

 region ; along the course of the sesamoid ligaments ; in the sheath of 

 the flexor tendons; under the tendon just below the fetlock joint in 

 front, and in the coffin joint. 



But all cases of tendinous quittor are by no means so complicated 

 as this one was. In rare instances the swelling is slight, and after a 

 few days the lameness and other symptoms subside, without any dis- 

 charge of pus from an external opening. In most cases, however, 

 from one to half a dozen or more soft points arise on the skin of the 

 coronet, open, and discharge slowly a thick, yellow, fetid, and bloody 

 matter. In other cases the suppurative process is largely confined to 

 the sensitive laminae and plantar cushion, when the suffering is 

 intense until the pus finds an avenue of escape by separating the hoof 

 from the coronary band, at or near the heels, without causing a loss 

 of the whole horny box. When the flexor tendon is involved deep in 

 the foot, the discharge of pus usually takes place from an opening in 

 the hollow of the heel ; if the sesamoid ligament or the sheath of the 

 flexors are affected, the opening is nearer the fetlock joint; although 

 in most of these cases the suppuration spreads along the course of the 



