140 



As preventive treatment a properly fitted boot must be 

 made and put on the foot while the animal is at work or 

 exercising. 



In bad or neglected cases of calking it may be necessary 

 to pare away the horn around the top of the hoof, in order 

 to remove the pressure, for in these instances the hoof acts 

 as a foreign substance, increasing the inflammatory action 

 of the parts affected. 



In order to save the* foot, the horn (according to the 

 severity of injury) must be cut away almost to the quick 

 around the hoof, and cooling applications continually 

 applied to stop, or at least limit, the inflammation. For 

 this purpose Goulard's extract (as above) is the best. The 

 part must then be properly bandaged, and the foot put into 

 a poultice of linseed meal twice a day. I need hardly say 

 that in all cases of the kind the shoe must be removed. 



SCRATCHES, CRACKED HEELS, MUD FEVER, ERYTHEMA, 



&c. 



This disease of the skin and surrounding tissues of the 

 horse's foot has given much trouble to horse proprietors 

 within the last three months in our large cities ; it has been 

 called by the various names here stated, according to the 

 fancies of horsemen. It is caused by long exposure to 

 extreme cold and wet, and in cities it has been intensified 

 by the salting of the streets in snowy weather. These 

 influences interfere with the proper circulation of the blood 

 in the extremities, and lead to congestion and inflammation. 



In this case the oily secretion which in health keeps the 

 skin about the heels soft and pliant is perverted or stopped. 

 When an animal is neglected in this stage of the disease it 

 may, and in many cases does, end in abnormal growths of 

 various kinds on the heels ; some of these growths are car- 

 tilaginous, while in other instances horny concretions form 

 about the heels, sadly interfering with the motion of the 

 joint, and constituting lameness. 



