CHAPTER XVIII. 

 DISEASES OE THE EOOT. 



General causes. Maxims for shoeing. Disease of tlie bony pulley and 

 flexor tendon of the foot. Pedal Sesamoiditis. Podotrochilitis. Navicular 

 disease. Coffin-joint lameness. Side-bones. Fractures of the bones of the 

 foot. Inflammation of the foot. Laminitis. Founder. Chronic Laminitis. 

 Convex soles. Pumice foot. Cracks in the hoof-wall. Sand-crack. Quar- 

 ter-crack. False quarter. Horny tumor of tlie Laminse. Corns. Bruises 

 of tlie sole. Pricks and binding with nails. Incised wound of the sole. 

 Distortions of the coffin-bone. Contraction. Treads on the coronet. Fist- 

 ula of the coronet. Quittor. Powdery degeneration of the deep parts of the 

 wall. Seedy toe. Inflammation of the secreting membrane of the frog with 

 discharge. Thrush. Canlcer. Simple foot-rot in cattle and sheep. Con- 

 tagious foot-rot. Foot-rot from Tuberculosis. 



Nearly all of these pedal diseases are directly or ia- 

 directly the result of faults in shoeing, and the absence of 

 care for the feet. Here, accordingly, it would be appro- 

 priate to describe the structure and functions of the foot, 

 and to lay down the rational principles of shoeing. But 

 our space forbids more than the merest mention of points 

 which are absolutely indispensable to the understanding 

 of what is to follow. 



The internal frame-work, or skeleton of the horse's foot, 

 consists of three bones : — the lower end of the coronet 

 (small pastern) bone, which corresponds to the upper 

 margin of the hoof ;■ the cofSn (pedal) bone, which is im- 

 bedded inside the hoof and has a similar imperfectly con- 

 ical outHne; and a long narrow pulley-like bone (small 

 sesamoid, or navicular) extended across the back part of 

 the coffin-bone, its upper aspect forming a prolongation 

 backward of the joint surface, while its lower face is cot- 

 31* 



