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so slight as to present a mere line resembling a fissure, or the 

 whole quarter may be an imperfectly formed one from the self- 

 same cause, namely, interruption or suspension of the process 

 of secretion, by which the fibrous portion of the wall is secreted. 

 We may have, therefore, the semblance of a crack without the 

 reality of one ; or a part, or the whole of the quarter in a weak, 

 soft, and almost yielding condition, that can barely afford pro- 

 tection to the laminated structures, and besides, is ill-calculated 

 to sustain the strain imposed upon it by those structures to 

 which it should give support, and from which it derives what 

 little strength or substance it possesses. 



TREATMENT. 



If but a mere line resembling a crack is present it is of little 

 moment, excepting that if the causes and conditions that pro- 

 duce Quarter-crack, are present, this line being the weakest 

 part, a crack through this line is liable to occur at any time. 

 This may always be prevented, by counteracting the causes 

 and removing the conditions referred to, by the judicious appli- 

 cation of the Dilator, as this, by expanding the area of the bear- 

 ing surface toward the ground, prevents the internal frog-tissues 

 from pressing unduly upon the lateral cartilages and the coron- 

 ary band. 



If, however, the secreting properties of the ligament Have 

 been destroyed, by local lesions or the application of power- 

 ful caustics, as is sometimes the case, there is no cure for such 

 a condition, but it can be palliated by removing the bearing of 

 the shoe completely from the affected quarter and distributing 

 it over every other part of the foot. 



SHELLY FOOT. 



is a condition of the external wall of the foot in which the outer 

 portion appears more like a scale or shell, and doubtlessly 

 results from an imperfect secretion of the horny matrix that 

 agglutinates together the fibrous constituents of the wall. That 

 lack of healthy development may be, and usually is the result 



