448 



DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT. 



which some hay has been put to form a soft foundation for the tender feet to rest on. 

 Keep them there for about an hour, then take them out and put them in warm poul- 

 tices, composed of equal parts of slippery-elm bark and linseed meal. Be sure the 

 poultices envelop the whole hoof. Have a deep, soft bed placed under the animal. 



Give a purgative, which should be one half of 

 the ordinary dose, as superpurgation is apt to 

 follow otherwise. If Barbadoes aloes be the 

 agent employed, four drachms will be found 

 sufficient. Give a dose of aconite, say ten 

 ' drops, every twenty minutes, until the animal 

 has been thrown into a profuse perspiration. 

 Cover him with warm blankets. The poultices 

 should be changed twice a day, and after tak- 

 ing them off put the feet in water, as above 

 recommended. Continue this treatment for 

 three days at )e ast. Feed no grain, simply 

 bran mashes, vegetables, and hay. "When 

 shoeing the animal, see that the shoes are 

 wide-webbed, the, hoof-surface being convex, still leaving sufficient flat surface for 

 the wall of the hoof to rest comfortably on. If it is a valuable beast, have him 

 turned out on lowland pasture in about two weeks after the commencement of the 

 attack. Should he be stabled, keep damp swabs on while he is housed. This treat- 

 ment is applicable to either acute or sub-acute, which I have here treated as one 

 disease, and which, in fact, it is. 



Fig. 771.— Showing the Direction of 



the Bone-cells as Thrown out from 



he Podophyllous Tissue. 



Fig. 772.— Position of the Bones of the Foot in a Healthy Condition. 



Dr. Hamill Advises 



if there is simply a congestion of the extremities and fever, to 

 treat as a fever locally, and generally. Give as sedatives aconite 

 and niter internally, with cooling applications locally to the feet. If 

 the inflammation is so extreme as to cause a destruction of the sus- 



