AND MALFORMATIONS OF THE FEET. 83 



especially if the workman is determined that it 

 shall not answer. 



It need scarcely be added that it will be in vain 

 to think of adopting ti'ps until the too common 

 practices of rasping the crust, of paring the sole, 

 and of cutting away the frog and bars, are wholly 

 discontinued. 



Though good for ordinary, valuable for con- 

 tracted feet, and most useful as a remedy for 

 thrush, tips are unsuited for weak or flat feet. 



75. Thrush or frush is, to the discredit of our Thrush or 



11 T T 1 Frush. 



stable management, a common disease. It shows 

 itself under the form of an acrid, strong-smelling, 

 unhealthy secretion issuing from the sensitive frog 

 through the cleft of the external or insensitive frog. 



The causes of the altered secretion of the in- 

 ternal structure may be summed up under two 

 heads, namely, wet and dirt, or in other words, 

 neglect — and want of use. 



The frog must be washed scrupulously clean 

 every day with a hard water-brush, and the feet 

 picked out at each stable hour. The mere fact of 

 dung being allowed to remain in the feet is suffi- 

 cient in a few days to produce thrush. Again, 

 the ammonia and other noxious gases generated by 

 dirty or decaying litter act most injuriously on the 

 structure of the frog. Continued wet has likewise 

 a mischievous effect by softening the external 



6—2 



