384 



cases, all evidences of local fever are often wanting. It is in these cases 

 that the patient goes well when newly shod, for the smith cuts away the 

 sole over the seat of injury until all pressure by the shoe is removed, and 

 lowers the heels so that concussion is reduced to a minimum. If a corn 

 is suspected the foot should be examined for increased sensibility of 

 the inside heel. Tapping the heel of the shoe with a hammer and 

 grasping the wall and bar between the jaws of a pincers, with mod- 

 erate pressure, will cause more or less flinching if the disease is pres- 

 ent. For further evidence the shoo is removed and the heel cut away 

 with the drawing knife. As the horn is pared out not only the sole 

 iu the angle is found discolored, but, in many instances, this insensible 

 laminffi of the bar and wall adjacent are also stained with the escaped 

 blood. In moist and suppurative corns this discoloration is less marked 

 than in dry corn and may even be entirely wanting. In these cases the 

 horn is soft, often white, and stringy or mealy, as seen in pumiced 

 solo resulting from founder. When the whole thickness of the sole is 

 discolored and the horn dry and brittle it is generally evidence that 

 the corn is an old one and that the exciting cause has existed contin- 

 uously. A moist corn differs from the dry corn in that the injury is 

 more severe, the parts affected are more or less inflamed, and the horn 

 of the sole iu the angle is undermined by a citron-colored fluid, which 

 often permeates the injured sole and lamina?, causing the horn to be- 

 come somewhat spongy-. 



A sufjpurative corn differs from the others in that the inflammation 

 accompanying the injury ends in suppuration. The pus collects at the 

 point of injury and finally escapes by working a iiassage way between 

 the sensitive and insensible laminae to the top of the hoof, where an 

 opening is made by separation of the wall from the coronary band at 

 or near the heels. This is the most serious form of corns, for the reason 

 that it may induce gangrene of the plantar cushion, cartilaginous quit- 

 tor, or caries of the cofiin bone. 



Treatment. — Since a diversity of opinion exists as to what measures 

 must be adopted for the radical cure of corns, the author will advise 

 the use of those which have proven most efiticient in his hands. 



As in all other troubles, the cause must be discovered, if possible, and 

 removed. In the great majority of cases the shoeing will be at fault. 

 While sudden changes in the method of shoeing are not advisable, it 

 may be said that all errors, either in the preparation of the foot, in the 

 construction of the shoe, or in its application, may very properly be 

 corrected at any time. Circumstances may, at times, make it impera- 

 tive that shoes shall be worn which are not free from objections, as, for 

 instance, the shoe with a high calk ; but iu such cases it is considered 

 that the injuries liable to result from the use of calks are less serious 

 than those which are sure to happen for the want of them. 



For a sound foot, perfectly formed, a flat shoe, with heels less thick 

 than the toe, and which rests evenly on the wall proper, is the best. 



