COKNS. 223 



although recommended by some for the prevention of corns, are 

 not, as far as I have seen, efficient for that purpose; for, by 

 taking otf the pressure on the bars, they throw too much weight 

 on the wall, and hence are liable to set up irritation in the sensi- 

 tive sole at the angle between the wall and the bars. If an 

 ordinary shoe is used, the web of the shoe at the heels should be 

 broad, so that the concussion received from the ground may be 

 distributed over a large surface. In all cases, the bars should be 

 preserved intact. If the animal is peculiarly liable to corns, 

 the seat of corn may be slightly eased off. Horses which go bare- 

 foot, or which are shod with tips, hardly ever get corns. 



As a preventive measure, the feet should be kept dry, and no 

 " stoppings " should be used ; for moisture softens the sole and 

 renders it liable to injury and putrefaction. 



LAMENESS RESULTING FROM CORNS.— Corns do not 

 always produce lameness. When a horse goes lame from this 

 cause, he "works'^ worse and worse. If, however, he gets a rest 

 for a day or two, the lameness may disappear for the time being. 



When a horse suffers from a corn, he may " point." If both 

 fore feet are affected, he may show uneasiness by frequently 

 changing the position of his feet. 



THE DIFFERENT DEGREES OF CORNS.— (1) The simplest 

 form of corn, according to H. Bouley, is when the sensitive sole, 

 immediately above the seat of corn, is in such an irritable state 

 from pressure or concussion, that the horse goes lame; although, 

 on paring out the part, no alteration in the colour of the horn 

 can be perceived; increased sensibility being the only symptom. 

 (2) In the next degree of corn, some of the small blood-vessels 

 of the sensitive sole become ru^Dtured, and, consequently, blood 

 escapes from them into the rudimentary horn which has been 

 newly secreted, and which, on becoming pushed downwards by 

 the continued formation of new horn, dries and hardens, while 

 still retaining the characteristic stain from the blood. If on 

 paring out the corn, the discolouration appears only on the surface, 

 we may conclude, provided the animal goes sound, that the injury 

 is of a passing character; if only close to the quick, that it was 

 recently inflicted; if the stained horn is in layers with unaltered 

 horn between them, that it was repeated on different occasions ; 

 and, if the whole of the horn down to the quick be discoloured, 

 that the source of irritation was of a continued nature. (3) When 

 the inflammation has been so severe as to set up a certain amount 

 of inflammation short of suppuration taking place, a watery 

 exudation filters through the horn below the injured spot, render- 



