348 DISEASES OF THE HORSE'S FOOT 



Probably the best solution for use in this way is the old- 

 fashioned Villate's solution (see p. 199). 



This liquid should be injected at least every day, and, in 

 a bad case, even two or three times daily. Practical hints 

 to be borne in mind when attempting to cure quittor by 

 means of injections are these : 



If the fistulas are numerous, the fluid should be injected 

 into their various orifices. 



In order to force the fluid to the bottom of each diseased 

 track, it is necessary, when injecting one opening, to firmly 

 close all others. 



Several injections should be made at each time of in- 

 jection. In other words, we must not be content with just 

 forcing fluid in. It must be forced in, and again forced 

 out by a further syringeful. The fistulous tracks must, in 

 fact, be washed in the liquid. 



The effect of the injection during the first eight or ten 

 days is to render suppuration more abundant and whiter. 

 After two weeks of the treatment sloughing of the inside of 

 the sinuses occurs, and healing of the wound commences. 

 Signs that this is occurring are — slight haemorrhage at the 

 end of each injection, and a gradually increasing difficulty 

 in forcing in the fluid. 



The Making ofCoiinter-openings to the Fistulas. — Although 

 Villate's solution or any other caustic used in the manner 

 we have described often effects a cure, many practitioners 

 insist on the fact that a counter-opening to the fistula must 

 also be made. 



The ])robe is used and the direction and depth of the 

 fistula ascertained. Through the wall is then made an 

 opening at exactly opposite the lowest point found by the 

 probe, or through the sole if the probe should there lead us. 

 This opening is best made with a sharp-pointed iron, and 

 may afterwards be kept large enough by an occasional 

 trimming with the knife. Many of the older authors, and 

 with them writers of the present day, declare that unless this 

 is done the ordinary injection is likely to fail in a great many 

 instances where it would otherwise have been successful. 



