394 



on a broad, plain shoe. The foot is now ready for the dressings, and 

 any of the many stimnlating and drying remedies may be used. 

 Whichever is selected at the outset, it will be necessary to change 

 frequently from one to another, until finallj^ all may be tried. 



The list from Avhicli a selection may 1)e made comprises Avood tar, 

 gas tar, i^etroleum, creosote, phenic acid, sulphates of iron, copper 

 and zinc, chloride of zinc, bichloride of mercury, calomel, caustic soda, 

 nitrate of silver, chloride of lime, carbolic, nitric, and sulphuric acids. 



In practice I prefer to give the newly shod foot a bath for an hour 

 or two in a solution of the sulphate of iron, made by adding 2 ounces 

 of the liowdered sulphate to a gallon of cold water. When the foot 

 is removed it is dressed with oakum balls, dipped in a mixture made 

 of Barbadoes tar, 1 j)art; oil of turpentine, 8 i^arts, to which are 

 slowly added 2 parts of sulphuric acid, and the mixture well stirred 

 and cooled. The diseased parts being well covered with the balls, a 

 pad of oakum, sufficiently thick to cause considerable pressure, is 

 placed over them, and all are held in place h} pieces of heavy tin 

 fitted to slip under the shoe. The whole foot is now encased in a 

 boot or folded gunny sack, and the patient turned into a loose, dry 

 box. The dressings are to be changed daily, or even twice a day, at 

 first. When they are removed all ijieces of new hornj- matter, Avhicli 

 are now tirmly adherent must be rubbed off with the finger or a tent 

 of oakum. As the secretion diminishes dry powders may prove of 

 most advantage, such as calomel, sulphates of iron, copper, etc. The 

 sulphates should not be used pure, but are to be mixed with powdered 

 animal charcoal in the proportion of one of the former to eight or ten 

 of the latter. When the soft tissues are all horned over the dress- 

 ings should be continued for a time, weak solutions being used to 

 prevent a recurrence of the disease. If the patient is run down in 

 condition, bitter tonics, such as gentian, may be given in 2-dram 

 doses, twice a day, and a liberal diet of grain allowed. 



CORNS. 



A corn is an injury to the living horn of the foot, involving at the 

 same time the soft tissues beneath, whereb}'' the capillary blood ves- 

 sels are ruptured and a small amount of blood escapes, which, by 

 I)ermeating the horn in the immediate neighborhood, stains it a dark 

 color. If the injury is continuously repeated the horn becomes altered 

 in character, the soft tissues may suppurate, causing the disease to 

 spread, or a hornj" tumor may develop. Corns always appear in that 

 part of the sole included in the angle between the bar and the outside 

 wall of the hoof. In many cases the lamiuse of the bar, of the wall, 

 or of both, are involved at the same time. 



Three kinds of corns are commonly recognized — the drj% the moist, 

 and the suppurative, a division based solely on the character of the 

 conditions which follow the i)rimary injury. 



