SANDCRACK— FALSE QUARTER. 399 



SANDCRACK. 



In the anatomical description of the foot, at page 291, 

 it will be seen that the crust is composed of fibres, running paral- 

 lel to each other in a direction from the coronet to the ground sur- 

 face. These fibres are glued together firmly in a sound and strong 

 hoof; but, in a weak one, it sometimes happens that the gelatinous 

 matter is not in sufficient quantity, and then the fibres separate, 

 and leave a crack of greater or less extent, according to circum- 

 stances. This, called a sandcrack, happens at the thinnest part, 

 which is the inner quarter in the fore foot, and the toe in the hind. 

 To cure it, the foot must be rested, or at least that part of it where 

 the crack occurs, which in the fore foot may be effected by the use 

 of a bar-shoe, throwing the pressure entirely on the frog, as recom- 

 mended in the last section on corns, and taking care that the crust 

 behind the crack is not in contact with the shoe. By adopting 

 this plan, I have succeeded in curing sand-cracks during moderate 

 work ; but if it happens in the hind foot, complete rest must be 

 given, as the toe cannot be relieved by any possible contrivance. 

 The next thing to be done is to open the crack slightly, so that 

 any grit getting into it shall not cause its further expansion ; and 

 in doing this, if there is any little cellular cavity, it should be ex- 

 posed. If the crack extends to the coronet, which it rarely does, 

 nothing can be done until it has grown out for at least half an 

 inch from that part, when the point of a hot iron may be applied 

 to the angle of the crack for a second, so as to keep out water, 

 which has the effect of causing the fibres to split by the capillary 

 attraction which is exercised. The burn should be very slight, 

 aud should not be carried deeply into the substance of the horn. 

 A fine nail should then be driven from below through the crust, 

 the shoe being removed ; and when brought out at the usual place, 

 should be left projecting. The shoe should be put on, and the 

 innermost nail also left projecting. These two should then be 

 firmly bound together by fine wire, so as to bring the edges of the 

 crack together ; and the foot should be left in this state for at least 

 a month or five weeks, when the shoe may be taken off, and the 

 operation repeated. This is far better than binding wire or twine 

 round the whole foot, as it acts more completely on the crack, 

 without confining the growth of the remainder of the foot. Of 

 course, after the wire is twisted on, the nails must be clenched, and 

 there will be a greater projection than usual; but this is of no im- 

 portance whatever. In cracks of the hind foot the nails in each 

 quarter will keep the two sides from separating, but the horse can. 

 not be worked. 



FALSE QUARTER. 



When, from an accident, the coronary substance is perma- 

 nently injured, it ceases to secrete souud horn, and a stripe of the 



