218 DISEASES OF THE FEET. 



the puncture with a fine searcher from the ground surface, taking 

 care to keep away from the sensitive parts so as to avoid injuring 

 them ; for if they bleed, it will be almost impossible to follow 

 up the course which the nail took. When the point of the 

 offending nail, however, has come out through the wall, I prefer 

 cutting, with the searcher, from the outside, straight down on 

 the passage which the nail has made, than to excavate it from 

 the ground surface; for, by the former plan, there is a minimum 

 of horn removed; the risk of getting too close to the sensitive 

 structures is avoided; and the injured part is left exposed for 

 the application of suitable remedies : conditions which are not 

 obtained by the latter method. We can cut down on the nail 

 before removing the shoe; but if the nail has been pulled out, 

 a piece of wire or a thin nail may be passed through the hole to 

 act as a guide. In deciding which of these two methods it is best 

 to adopt, the temporary question of appearance must be taken 

 into consideration. 



Peuch and Toussaint remark that the colour of the pus (matter) 

 found in the puncture may be black, yellow, yellowish-red, or 

 purple. The black colour indicates that the wound is only super- 

 ficial, in which case, when vent has been given to the matter, the 

 pain resulting from the compression on the sensitive parts, will 

 disappear; and that recovery may soon be expected. The yellow, 

 or yellowish-red colour points to a more serious injury. But if 

 the discharge is of a purple colour and putrid smell, we may con- 

 clude that death of some of the soft parts and of a portion of the 

 pedal bone has commenced, and that there is probably, also, 

 fracture of the pedal bone. The presence of a portion of dead 

 bone in the part may be known from the fact of the discharge 

 tingeing a silver probe black, by the formation of sulphide of 

 silver. Our surmise as to the existence of some very serious in- 

 jury within the foot, will be placed beyond all doubt, if, after the 

 puncture has been pared out and vent given to the matter, the 

 animal still continues to suffer great pain. 



TREATMENT. — ^If the lameness is slight, we may conclude that 

 it is due only to the nail having been driven too '' close," in 

 which case the shoe should be removed ; the nail-hole filled with 

 an antiseptic, such as turpentine ; and the horse rested for three 

 or four days, for the lameness to pass off. If the lameness con- 

 tinues, or if, in the first instance, it is in an aggravated form, we 

 should open out the puncture in the manner already described, and 

 should apply some suitable antiseptic, such as turpentine. Or 

 we might place the foot in a solution of 1|^ oz. of Jeyes' Fluid 

 (creolin or carbolic acid), or 2 oz. of sulphate of copper, to a 



