444 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



Avoolen bandages which soak the skin and render it sensitive when 

 exposed next day, clipping the heels, weak heart and circulation, 

 natural or supervening on overwork, imperfect nourishment, impure 

 air, lack of sunshine, chronic exhausting, or debilitating diseases, 

 or functional or structural diseases of the heart, liver, or kidneys. 

 These last induce dropsical swelling of the limbs (stocking), weaken 

 the parts, and induce cracking. Finally the cicatrix of a preexist- 

 ing crack, weak, rigid, and unyielding, is liable to reopen under any 

 severe exertion, hence rapid paces and heavy draft are active causes. 

 Treatment. — In treatment the first step is to ascertain and remove 

 the cause whenever possible. If there is much local heat and inflam- 

 mation, a laxative (5 drams aloes or 1 pound Glauber's salts) may be 

 given, and for the pampered animal the grain should be reduced or 

 replaced altogether by bran mashes, flaxseed, and other laxative, non- 

 stimulating food. In the debilitated, on the other hand, nutritious 

 food and bitter tonics may be given, and even a course of arsenic (5 

 grains arsenic with 1 dram bicarbonate of soda daily). When the 

 legs swell, exercise on dry roads, hand rubbing, and evenly applied 

 bandages are good, and mild astringents, like extract of witch-hazel, 

 may be applied and the part subsequently rubbed dry and bandaged. 

 If there is much heat but unbroken skin, a lotion of 2 drams sugar 

 of lead to 1 quart of water may be applied on a thin bandage, covered 

 in cold weather with a dry one. The same may be used after the 

 cracks appear, or a solution of sulphurous acid 1 part, glycerin 1 part, 

 and Avater 1 part, applied on cotton and w^ell covered by a bandage. 

 In case these should prove unsuitable to the particular case, the part 

 may be smeared \\\i\\ vaseline 1 ounce, sugar of lead 1 dram, and 

 carbolic acid 10 drops. 



inflammation of the heels w^ith sebaceous secretion ( grease, or 



^ canker). 



This is a specific affection of the heels of horses usually associated 

 w ith the growth of a parasitic fungus, an offensive discharge from the 

 numerous sebaceous glands, and, in bad cases, the formation of red, 

 raw excrescences (grapes) from the surface. It is to be distinguished 

 (1) from simple inflammation in wdiich the special fetid discharge 

 and the tendency to the formation of " grapes " are absent ; (2) from 

 horsepox, in w-hich the abundant exudate forms a firm yellow in- 

 crustation around the roots of the hair, and is embedded at intervals 

 in the pits formed by the individual pocks, and in which there is no 

 vascular excrescence; (3) from foot scabies (mange), in which' the 

 presence of an acarus is distinctive; (4) from lymphangitis, in which 

 the swelling appears suddenly extending around the entire limb as 

 high as the hock, and on the inner side of the thigh along the line of 

 the vein to the groin, and in which there is active fever, and (5) from 



