220 THB HORSB. 



rests upon the affected leg but a moment. When exercised he often 

 stumbles, and if the road is rough he may Jail on his knees. If he is 

 lame in both feet the gait is stilty, the shoulders seem stiff, and if the 

 patient is made to work he sweats profusely from the intense pain. Early 

 in the development of the disease a careful examination will reveal some 

 increased heat in the heels and frog, particularly after work; as the dis- 

 ease progresses this becomes more marked until the whole foot is hot to 

 the touch. At the same time there is an increased sensibility of the 

 foot, for the patient flinches from the concussion of a hammer lightly 

 applied to the frog and heels, or from the pressure of the smith's pin- 

 cers. The frog is generally shrunken, often of a pale reddish color, and 

 at times it is affected with thrush. If the heels are pared away so that 

 all the weight is received on the frog, or if the same result is attained by 

 the application of a bar shoe, the animal is excessively lame. The mus- 

 cles of the leg and shoulder shrink awaj% and of ten tremble as the animal 

 stands at rest. After months of lameness the foot is found to be shrunken 

 in its diameter and apparently lengthened; the horn is dry and brittle 

 and has lost its natural gloss, while circular ridges, developed most to- 

 ward the heels, cover the upper part of the hoof. When both feet are 

 affected the animal points first one foot then the other, and stands with 

 the hind-feet well forward beneath the body so as to relieve the fore-feet 

 as much as possible from bearing weight. In old cases the wasting of 

 the muscles and the knuckling at the fetlock become so great that the 

 leg can not be straightened, and locomotion can scarcely be performed. 

 The disease generally makes a steady progress without inclining to re- 

 covery — the remission of symptoms in the earlier stages should not be 

 interpreted as evidence that the process has terminated. The compli- 

 cations usually seen are ringbones, side-bones, thrush, contracted heels, 

 quarter-cracks, and fractures of the navicular, coronet, and pastern 

 bones. 



Treatment. But a few cases of navicular disease recover. In the 

 early stages the wall of the heels should be rasped away as directed in the 

 treatment for contracted heels, until the horn is quite thin ; the coronet 

 should be well blistered with Spanish-fly ointment, and the patient 

 turned to grass in a damp field or meadow. After three or four weeks' 

 time the blister should be repeated. This treatment is to be continued 

 for two or three months. Plane shoes are to be put on when the patient 

 is returned to work. In chronic cases the animal should be put to 

 slow, easy work. To relieve the pain, neurotomy may be performed — 



