254 THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 



veterinary surgeon may advise its excision, and to him alone 

 must the operation be intrusted. 



FOUL IN THE FOOT, LOO, OB LOW. 



The foot of the ox is extremely vascular ; the bones of the 

 toes are perforated by numerous veins and arteries ; the veins 

 are larger and more tortuous than in the horse, and are very 

 conspicuous on the pastern. It is from this vascularity that 

 sprains of the foot, to which from its bifid character it is 

 peculiarly liable, are so often followed in the ox by serious 

 consequences, or that accidental wounds produce so much 

 inflammation. Scarcely a drove of cattle passes along the 

 road, among which several of the oxen are not lame ; and it 

 is on the feet that the brutal drover ever and anon strikes 

 them to hurry them along, haply to their slaughter. Often 

 have we traced the course of a herd of oxen by the blood- 

 stains on the road : the feet are not only strained, the joints 

 swelled and inflamed, but the hoof is worn to the quick or 

 wounded by sharp flints, or thorns, or pieces of fractured 

 glass. Best, fomentations, and dressings of tar ointment for 

 the hoof, will generally effect a restoration ; but if the lame- 

 ness be severe, bleeding from the veins of the coronet, and 

 that to a considerable extent, is absolutely requisite ; for in the 

 joints of the toes inflammation sometimes induces anchylosis. 

 The veins may be opened by a sharp scalpel or drawing-knife, 

 by a lancet, or a small fleam. Severe wounds of the toes, 

 after being well washed, may be dressed with Friar's balsam 

 on a pledget of lint, rag, or soft tow, bound on by stout rollers 

 or bandages. 



Thorns, nails, pieces of glass, &c., remaining unnoticed in 

 the foot, between the toes, or on the sole, often produce 

 unpleasant abscesses ; and inflammation of the parts within 

 the hoof, from over- driving on hard roads, will occasionally 

 end in the same result, especially if the horn be worn to the 

 quick. When oxen are pricked by a nail in bad shoeing (we 

 allude to working oxen), as is so frequently the case in horses, 

 abscesses and sinuses will form ; these are termed quittors 

 in the horse, and are not easily managed. 



When a travelled beast continues lame after rest, sufficient 

 for the restoration of footsore cattle, or when a beast begins 

 to limp, the lameness rapidly increasing, let it be secured and 

 the foot carefully examined. Suppose a nail or similar sub- 

 stance be found driven into the sole, or any part of the hoof, 



