INFLAMMATOEY AFFECTIONS 275 



undoubtedly is ; but it is cruelty with an aim that is truly 

 benevolent, and the object of our benevolence is the animal 

 upon whom the cruelty is practised. 



One word of advice is needed. The forced exercise must 

 be commenced early. In the later stages, when the stage 

 of congestion has passed from that to the acuter stages of 

 the inflammation and the outpouring of the inflammatory 

 exudate, then forced exercise cannot be safely commenced. 

 The loss of adhesion between the pedal bone and the horny 

 box, which we know to be then existent, negatives its 

 advisability. 



By many it is advised to always remove the shoes. From 

 w4iat we have already said, it will be seen that this is not 

 our practice. But one argument in favour of so doing 

 appears to us to carry weight, and that is that * dropping ' 

 of the sole is i:)robably prevented from becoming so marked. 

 That condition, however, is entirely dependent upon the 

 changes occurring within the horny box. It is bound to 

 occur with the animal shod or unshod, and to reach a stage 

 when only contact with the ground prevents its further 

 descent. The complication then sometimes following — 

 namely, penetration of the sole by the bone, is not prevented 

 by having the shoes removed. It may, in fact, be thus 

 rendered more likely. 



Internal treatment consists in the exhibition of suitable 

 febrifuges and the administration of a dose of aloes. 



With regard to the wisdom of the latter proceeding, 

 opinion seems to be divided. Personally, we hold an open 

 mind concerning it. This much is certain : in many 

 cases of laminitis — those cases which have their origin in 

 overfeeding with an irritating food — there is already a 

 strong predisposition to enteritis. The administration of 

 aloes in this case is extremely apt to induce a fatal super- 

 purgation. Aloes is, again, contra-indicated when the 

 laminitis is a result of excessively long journeys, and the 

 patient is already greatly exhausted. Neither can it be 

 advocated in the laminitis occurring as a sequel to septic 

 metritis or to pneumonia. 



18—2 



