42 THE DISEASES OP HORSES, 



travel very well, and it is only when tliore is lameness from the soft exposed 

 parts being injured that absolute rest is required. To restore the coronary 

 ligament which has been divided by cut, bruise, or other cause, to its natural 

 state and enable it to renew its function of secreting horn, blistering the 

 coronet, or the application of a suitable heated iron, is advised by some 

 writers, but success is at least doubtful. When attempted, every help 

 should be given, by rest, thinning the edge of the horn at either side 

 of the crack, supporting the hoof as far as possible, drawing the separated 

 parts together, by a plaster of pitch, &c. If the blister is tried, it will 

 require repetition after the first is quite healed. Tho first symptoms of 

 success will be seen in tho growth of new united horn from the coronet 

 towards the sole. 



Farcy and Glanders.— These are tho most insidious, dangerous, 

 and malignant diseases to which our horses are subject, lying in ambush 

 behind the simulations of less harmful and more tractable ills. The 

 unwary and inexperienced owner, whose wish is often father to the thought 

 that the fell destroyer— that ha3 baffled veterinary science from the days 

 of Hippocrates to the present — is merely his more ordinary acquaintances 

 surfeit or common cold, is thereby induced to become a powerful auxiliary 

 force in spreading the dread contagion, and in the destruction of his own 

 stock, at the same time running the terrible risk of himself, servants, 

 or friends becoming the victims of the horrible disease he is unwittingly 

 fostering, which, once contracted, is almost sure to end in the most 

 painful death. So dreadfully dangerous is it recognised to be, and its 

 incurable nature, in the present state of veterinary science, so completely 

 accepted, that a special Act of Parliament exists to secure its limitation 

 to those known to be actually diseased, by making compulsory their isola- 

 tion and destruction, and the cleansing and disinfection of stables and 

 fittings, &c, where such diseased animals have been ; neglect of which 

 course is visited with pains and penalties, as described in the Contagious 

 Diseases (Animals) Act. 



Farcy and glanders are so intimately connected that they are con- 

 sidered one and the same disease in different forms or stages ; in fatal 

 cases of the former glanders always makes a prominent appearance 

 before death, and the peculiar forms assumed in farcy — tho "buttons" 

 and larger lumps which indicate it— being the result of the action of a 

 virus on the absorbent vessels, it would appear that the poison of glanders 

 must be in the system before farcy makes itself apparent. 



The first noticeable symptoms of farcy is the appearance of the small 

 lumps, in size from a shilling to half-a-crown, known as farcy buds or 

 buttons. These generally present themselves on the lips, neck, and inside 

 the arms and thighs ; and spreading, soon form a network of lumps or 

 buttons, connected with hardened cord-like veins, which are the indurated 

 or hardened lymphatic or absorbent vessels. 



These lumps are at first hard, but become soft, and when they break or 

 are opened, discharge at first a healthy matter, but this soon changes, 



