OUITTOR. 279 



and coronet greatly enlarge. In such a case the shoe 

 should be taken off; then the sole pared out till it is 

 so thin that the blood begins to start. While this is 

 done, the practitioner watches to discover if any por- 

 tion of the horn is discoloured ; and if it be, he cuts 

 boldly down upon it. Should none of the horn be 

 red, he feels the sole well over ; and where it springs 

 most under the thumb, or at the place where pressure 

 produces most pain, he there makes an opening, and, 

 in almost every case, matter is released. This done, 

 and every particle of the detached horn removed, he 

 places the foot into a poultice, and perhaps a few 

 simple dressings afterwards may end the business. 



In such a case, however, he will have anticipated a 

 quittor, not have cured one. There can be no quittor 

 until there are pipes or sinuses established; then 

 the heel or the coronet may be tender, and the last 

 considerably swollen. In the latter case he plunges 

 the lancet into the most yielding point of the swelling ; 

 and, the matter being evacuated, he then tries the 

 sole; and having evacuated the pus beneath it, he 

 next endeavours with the probe to discover how many 

 sinuses exist, and in what directions they run. If 

 there should be a sore or wound, he does not stab the 

 coronet ; but all else he does in the manner which has 

 been directed. 



The great object is to ascertain the direction and 

 extent of the sinuses ; so as to form some opinion as 

 to the probability of a cure. If the matter has pene- 

 trated deep through the cartilages, a cure is very 

 difficult; if it has found its way into the coffin-joint, a 

 cure is impossible. The probe, therefore, must be 



