170 AMPUTATION OF THE CLAWS OF RUMINANTS 



the thinly rasped horn while with the other hand the claw 

 is moved from side to side. At the lowest point of the 

 articulation push the sage knife into the joint, the concavity 

 of the knife being directed toward the leg, and make a 

 curved incision at first forward and upward to the 

 coronary band, then with strong flexion of the foot, 

 a second curved incision backward and upward which, 

 however, extends only to the navicular bone. By this in- 



FIG. 65. Amputation of the Claws of Ruminants 



d, Horny wall, rasped thin ; g, articular condyle of 2nd phalanx ; 

 a, b, c, course of incision. 



cision the operator divides the horn, the sensitive lamina, 

 the external corono-pedal ligament and the capsular liga- 

 ment of the corono-pedal articulation. Pass the knife be- 

 tween the navicular and pedal bones and extend the inci- 

 sion downward perpendicular to and, through the sole, sepa- 

 rating the navicular bone from the os pedis. In this man- 

 ner the navicular bone is preserved as well as the ball of the 

 heel, the latter of which is of special significance in healing. 



