220 DISEASES OF THE HORSE’S FOOT 
of septic matters within it may be more elaborate. The 
thinning of the horn and the swabbing of the wound may, 
as before, be proceeded with. In addition, the whole foot 
may then be immersed for some hours daily in a cold bath, 
which bath should be strongly impregnated with one or 
other of the following salts: Iron Sulphate, Zinc Sulphate, 
Copper Sulphate, Aluminium Sulphate, Lead Acetate, or 
Sodium Chloride—better still, a mixture of the various 
sulphates here mentioned. If preferred, one of the more 
commonly accepted antiseptics—such as Carbolic Acid, 
Lysol, Boracic Acid, or Perchloride of Mercury—may be 
substituted. 
By the cold of the bath inflammatory phenomena are 
held in check, while its added antiseptic prevents the 
formation of septic discharges. The lameness gradually 
diminishes, and resolution is rapid. In this way deep and 
serious wounds are sometimes easily and successfully 
treated. 
When suppuration has occurred—and this, by-the-by, is 
by far the most frequent condition in which we find punc- 
tured foot—treatment must be prompt and decided. Care- 
ful search must at once be made by thinning down the 
sole, and carefully trimming the frog. On no account 
should the veterinary attendant rest content with ‘digging’ 
in one place, and upon that basing a negative opinion as to 
the existence of pus. The paring should be carried on, 
-until either pus or hemorrhage shows itself, in at least three 
positions—namely, at the most anterior portion of the sole, 
and in the sole at each side of the frog. In addition to 
this, the frog itself should be minutely examined for evidence 
of puncture, or for leaking of pus at the spot where the horn 
of the heels joins the skin. 
In many of our cases, however, this careful search is not 
so necessary. The accompanying symptoms are so decided 
as to leave no doubt as to the condition of the case. In 
such instances paring may often be commenced over the 
exact position of suppuration as previously ascertained by 
percussion. 
