THEIR PATHOLOGY, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREATMENT. 35 



will be removed by attention to diet, giving a dose of physio and a few 

 cordial balls, such as the following : 



Cordial Balls.— Ground ginger foz., carraways 2dr,, gentian 2dr., oil 

 of pimento 15 drops, treacle to form a ball. 



Cracked Heels.— Cracked heeh occur from several causes, and white- 

 legged horses, and those with fleshy legs are most liable to it. The skin 

 there secretes a kind of greasy matter, which keeps it soft and pliable, and 

 assists in throwing off wet ; the hair, too, when left on, helps to prevent 

 grit and dirt reaching the skin, and exercising an irritating effect on it. 

 As wet and dirt are an active cause in producing cracked heels, we, of 

 course, most often find the horse suffering in this way in wet dirty weather ; 

 the skin, by the constant action of wet and cold, gets dried, stretches and 

 cracks, and from the cracks there is discharged a watery matter . Previous 

 to this there is heat and itching of the part, and the horse may be seen 

 rubbing one foot against the other, the heels of the hind feet being most 

 affected. Dirty stables are also a cause of cracked heels-, as they are of 

 so many other ills. A horse kept standing, with hi3 heels exposed to 

 the noxious exhalations from accumulated dung and urine is sure to 

 feel the irritating effects of the acrid gases these matters are constantly 

 giving out. Horses turned out to winter, especially on low ground, often 

 suffer severely, the skin sloughing and ulcerating; sometimes the skin 

 is considerably thickened, with deep fissures which discharge serous 

 matter. When the ulceration is superficial, only skin deep, simple 

 remedies will put matters to rights. Poultices of bran, linseed meal, o? 

 of turnips or carrots, boiled till quite soft and then beaten into a pulp, will 

 be almost a cure in themselves; if anything else is needed, an astringent 

 lotion applied two or three times a day and the heels rubbed with glycerine 

 before applying the poultice will be found beneficial. 



Astringent Lotion. — Sulphate of zinc, 3 drachms to a pint of water, or 

 a decoction of oak bark, made by boiling 2oz. in a quart of water down to 

 a pint. 



Where the sore3 are deeper and sloughing, they should be— after sponging 

 any matter out— touched with butyr of antimony or a solution of caustic, 

 1 scruple of nitrate of silver to an ounce of water, and a lotion of the 

 permanganate of potash (Condy's Fluid), may be used. 



In some cases it may be necessary to give a dose of physic and a courso 

 of cooling and alterative medicine. 



As means of prevention attention should be paid to cleanliness in the 

 stable, and very particular attention paid to the thorough drying of the 

 parts when washed ; if the heels are left wet by the groom the evapora- 

 tion that goes on in the stable robs them of their natural heat, and they 

 get dry and cracked, so that when a horse's legs are washed, they should 

 be rubbed until thoroughly dry, indeed until they glow with heat, and 

 when this cannot be insursd it is better to leave the legs unwashed and 

 let the rough of the dirt be brushed off, and when quite dry the remainder 

 brushed out. As cracked heels are supposed to be in some cases caused 



