WOUNDS 221 
When met with, the track formed by the suppurative 
process should be followed up in whichever direction it has 
spread. This will often necessitate the removal of the 
greater part, if not the whole, of the horny sole. 
Having given vent to the pus, and opened up the cavity 
made by its formation, the foot should be placed in a hot 
poultice or, preferably, in a hot antiseptic bath.* 
At the end of the third or fourth day the poultice or the 
bath may be discontinued, and the opening in the sole 
dressed -with any suitable astringent and antiseptic. 
The most serious complication arising from this method 
of treatment is one of excessive granulation of the sensitive 
sole. This we find to be successfully held in check by a 
daily application of undiluted Spts. Hydrarg. Perchlor. 
(Tuson). Should the granulations become very exuberant, 
then the knife must be called to our aid, and the wound so 
made afterwards dressed with an astringent. 
When the suppuration has under-run the horny frog 
there should be no hesitation in at once removing all 
the horn that is visibly separated from the sensitive 
structures beneath. 
When the os pedis is splintered and carious, a portion of 
the sole round the wound is removed, and the bone exposed. 
The diseased portion is scraped away either with a curette 
* At the time of writing this, a certain amount of discussion is going 
on in our veterinary journals as to whether a hot or a cold bath is the 
one indicated. Itis urged against the application of heat that it favours 
organismal growth and reproduction, and tends rather to induce the 
spread of the suppurative process than to overcome it. Those who 
hold this opinion urge in support of it that cold applications are 
inimical to the life of the pus organism. At the same time, it must 
be remembered that in just so far as cold inhibits the growth of the 
invading germ, so in just the same degree does it adversely influence 
the functions of the tissues that are to fight against it. To our minds 
the question thus set up must always remain more or less a moot- 
point, and while we fully agree that cold undoubtedly checks the growth 
of septic material, we just as fully believe that warmth serves to place 
the healthy surrounding structures in a far better condition to maintain 
a vigorous phagocytosis against it. We thus continue to advise a hot 
antiseptic poultice, or, better still, a bath—Tuz Autuor. 
