344 DISEASES OF THE HORSE’S FOOT 
must be laid aside for at least several weeks, whereas in 
this way he may be kept at work and a cure effected at the 
same time. 
The Actual Cautery.—Largely of the same empirical 
nature, yet doing something a little more calculated to 
destroy necrotic tissue and bring about its sloughing is the 
use of the cautery, both actual and potential. 
The actual cautery may be beneficially employed for the 
relief of sub-horny quittor in at least two ways. 
In the first place, it is often used—a blunt ‘ point-firing ’ 
iron being the instrument—instead of the knife as a means 
of evacuating the contents of the coronary abscess. Those 
who use it for this purpose are able to say this in its 
favour: it brings about the opening of the abscess without 
the unsightly hemorrhage attending the use of the knife, 
and at the same time just as effectually empties it. The 
opening made is not nearly so likely to close prematurely— 
that is, before a proper course of treatment of the wound has 
been carried out—and so leave necrotic tissue at its bottom. 
The intense tissue reaction it sets up is productive of a large 
slough, cast off by highly active inflammatory phenomena, 
which means that the remaining wound is one in which no 
dead tissue is left, and which is more amenable to treat- 
ment. 
We have also seen the actual cautery used in sub-horny 
quittor, where that disease has reached a chronic fistulous 
stage, as a means of cauterizing the whole length of the 
lining of each fistulous passage. 
At the present day this method is regarded as barbarous, 
and savouring \too largely of the methods and practice of 
the old empirics. There is no denying the fact, however, 
that it is at times followed by a speedy and complete cure 
of what has for months been an intractable and apparently 
incurable quittor ; and, honestly speaking, we ourselves can 
see nothing very greatly against the operation in certain 
cases save its appearance. In that it is certainly rough, 
and isnot calculated to favourably impress the more 
critical of our clientele. With the animal chloroformed, 
