DISEASES OF ANIMALS 



109 



recommended by Liautard consists in 

 deep and thorough cauterization. Lame- 

 ness may also be caused by broken 

 knees, inflammation of the joints and 

 dislocations, 'straining of the shoulder 

 known as sweeny, muscular strains, 

 sprains of the suspensory ligament and 

 by conditions which give rise to knuck- 

 ling of the fetlock, sprung knees, curb, 

 capped elbow, capped knee or capped 

 hock. 



Among the various troubles located 

 in the foot, ankle and fetlock of the 

 horse, mention may be made of several 

 with a brief description of a few of the 

 more important ones. Thus, the foot 

 may show a faulty conformation known 

 as flat foot, club foot or crooked foot. 

 The horse may interfere or strike one 

 foot against the opposite leg as the re- 

 sult of faulty conformation of the foot. 

 Again, a partial dislocation of the fet- 

 lock joint may lead to knuckling or 

 cocked ankles. Wounds and more or 

 less serious injuries may be produced 

 by overreaching, especially in trotting 

 and running horses, or from calk wounds 

 on either the fore or hind feet. Occa- 

 sionally, also, the feet become injured by 

 frost bite. 



Quittor is a term applied to a degen- 

 eration of certain tissues of the foot, 

 followed by the formation of pus. 

 The disease is due to bruises or wounds 

 of the coronet or other parts of the 

 foot. Quittor causes more or less se- 

 rious lameness. It may be treated most 

 successfully by a surgical operation, 

 removal of all of the degenerated mate- 

 rial, as well as pus, and treating the 

 parts in a thoroughly antiseptic man- 

 ner. 



Corns — Much trouble is sometimes 

 experienced from corns which consist 

 in injury to the horn of the foot involv- 

 ing the soft tissues beneath. Pus may 

 form and the foot may become exceed- 

 ingly sensitive. As a rule, heavy horses 

 working on rough streets are most lia- 

 ble to this disease. Mules rarely have 

 corns and this seems to indicate that 

 the mule's foot is best adapted to receiv- 

 ing bruises upon the hard pavement 

 without endangering the tissues under- 

 neath the horn of the foot. The trouble 

 may sometimes be remedied merely by 

 removing the shoes and turning the horse 

 to pasture. If pus is formed, however, it 

 is necessary to open the cavity and cleanse 

 the affected part. The feet are also sub- 



ject to sand cracks, quarter cracks, con- 

 tracted heels and founder or lammitis. 

 The last named disease is a general in- 

 flammation of the sensitive tissue of the 

 foot and may be due to bruises, wounds 

 or direct injury to the hoof, or may re- 

 sult as a sequel to some infectious dis- 

 ease. It may affect all of the feet, or one 

 or more, and may assume an acute or 

 chronic form. The treatment varies in 

 different cases according to the nature 

 of the trouble. In some cases surgical 

 interference must be resorted to, but if 

 the early stages of the disease are no- 

 ticed, cold foot baths and antiseptics 

 applied to the foot are sometimes suffi- 

 cient to correct the trouble. 

 DISEASES OF THE SKIN 

 . Eczem a is often the result of indiges- 

 tion and may be best treated by the use 

 of large doses of laxatives, followed by 

 a daily dose of 20 grains nux vomica 

 and V2 ounce gentian root. A sim- 

 ilar treatment may be adopted in the 

 case of nettle rash and scaly skin dis- 

 ease. _ In the case of herpes, which oc- 

 curs in the form of skin eruptions in 

 circular areas, zinc ointment usually 

 gives satisfactory results. Grease or 

 canker is a specific disease of the heels 

 of horses and is commonly due to a par- 

 asitic fungus. In treating this trouble 

 it is necessary to cleanse the parts thor- 

 oughly and protect them against mud 

 and filth by the application of bandages. 

 The affected parts may be dressed with 

 a mixture containing 1 ounce vaseline, 

 2 drams zinc oxide and 20 drops iodized 

 phenol. The skin of the horse is also 

 subject to erysipelas, horse pox, the 

 growth of warts, ringworm and mange. 

 The symptoms of mange are incessant 

 itching and rubbing. The treatment of 

 this disease should consist in the re- 

 moval of the scabs by means of soapsuds 

 anda thorough application of some in- 

 secticide, preferably mixtures similar to 

 the dips used for sheep scab. Ordina- 

 rily the trouble may be prevented by a 

 thorough application of a decoction of 

 V-/2 ounces tobacco in 2 pints of water. 

 Fistula i s a term used to designate 

 pipes or tubes leading from cavities in 

 the muscles to the surface of the body, 

 through which a constant discharge 

 takes place. These tubes are usually 

 lined by a false membrane and do not 

 heal. Fistula may occur on any part 

 of the body but is most common on the 

 withers or poll. In the latter situation 



