l86 THE HORSE. 



Upon the toe as much as possible, keeping the fetlock joint flexed so as 

 to relieve the ligament of tension. 



When both branches are torn from their attachments to the sesamoids, 

 or both are torn across, the lameness comes on suddenly and is most 

 intense; the fetlock descends, the toe turns up and, as the animal at- 

 tempts to walk, the leg has the appearance of being broken off at 

 the fetlock. These symptoms, followed by heat, pain, and swelling 

 of the parts at the point of injury will enable any one to make a 

 diagnosis. 



Treatment. Sprain of the suspensory ligament, no matter how 

 mild it may be, should always be treated by enforced rest of at least a 

 month, and the application of cold douches and cold water bandages, 

 firmly applied until the fever has subsided, when a cantharides blister 

 should be put on and repeated in two or three weeks' time, if neces- 

 sary. When rupture has taken place the patient should be put in 

 slings, and a constant stream of cold water allowed to trickle over 

 the seat of injury until the fever is reduced. In the course of a 

 week or ten days' time a plaster of Paris splint, such as is used 

 in fractures, is to be applied and left on for a month or six weeks. 

 When this is taken off blisters may be used to remove the remain- 

 ing soreness; but it is useless to expect a removal of all the thicken- 

 ing, for in the process of repair new tissue has been formed which will 

 always remain. 



Corns. A corn is an injury to the living horn of the foot, involving 

 at the same time the soft tissues beneath, whereby the capillary blood- 

 vessels are ruptured and a small amount of blood escapes, which, by 

 permeating the horn in the immediate neighborhood, stains it a dark 

 color. If the injury is continuously repeated the horn becomes altered 

 in character, the soft tissues may suppurate, causing the disease to 

 spread, or a horny tumor may develop. Corns always appear in that 

 part of the sole included in the angle between the bar and the outside 

 wall of the hoof. In many cases the laminae of the bar, or of the wall, 

 or of both, are involved at the same time. 



Three kinds of corns are co*^ monly recognized (the dry, the moist, 

 and the suppurative), a division based solely on the character of the 

 conditions which follow the primary injury. 



The fore-feet are almost exclusively the subjects of the disease, for 

 two reasons: first because they support a greater part of the body; 

 secondly because the heel of the fore-foot during progression is first 



