478 The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser. 



around tlie toes; clips, small nails, artificial repairs ol 

 breaches in the hoof-waU may be resorted to, but it is 

 beyond the scope of this work to do more than hiat at 

 what can only be accomphshed by a combination ol 

 anatomical knowledge, mechanical skill and manual dex- 

 terity. 



CONTBACTION. 



This is a great bugbear of horsemen, since it exists in 

 nearly all the affections of the foot. It is usually a result 

 and symptom of disease, attending as we have seen on 

 many different maladies, in which the hoof shrinks from 

 the heat, dryness and disuse. It may also occur from 

 simple idleness in a stall ; from overgrowth of the hoof- 

 wall, which curls in for want of support from the sole and 

 moisture from the laminae ; from hardening and shrinking 

 of the heels as the result of rasping, or of alternate soak- 

 ings and drying; from undue paring of the heels, bars 

 and frog, thus removing the natural supports ; and from 

 the effects of the shoe and naUs in preventing the normal 

 expansion in growth, and in removing the frog and sole 

 from use and pressure. Thus produced it is not a direct 

 cause of lameness and feet can be shown in which the two 

 heels overlap each other without such a result. Tet such 

 contraction imphes wasting or absorption of the internal 

 sensitive structures, diminution of the basis of support, 

 witli a corresponding weakness and tendency to disease 

 under sHghter determining causes than in the healthy 

 state. The simplest treatment is to remove the shoes 

 round the edges of the hoof-waU to prevent sphtting, and 

 keep standing sixteen hours a day, for two or three weeks, 

 in a puddle of wet clay, then use hoof ointments freely, 

 and apply a shoe with equal bearing throughout and with- 

 out any bevel on its upper surface. 



TEEADS ON THE COEONET. 



These are especially common in winter when the shoes 

 are sharpened for frost. They aie dangerous because of 



