DISEASES OF THE LATERAL CARTILAGES 879 
cases of side-bone lameness will be relieved, if not entirely 
cured, and, should the worst happen, and no alteration 
in the lameness is noticeable, no harm will have been done 
to the foot. In this connection, the originator of the treat- 
ment says: ‘I may assure those induced to doubt either 
their diagnosis or the value of hoof section that no harm 
is done to the foot, even should the operation be of no 
value. It may do much good; it cannot do harm. The 
operation will never succeed until the inherent timidity 
of sawing or cutting into the wall is overcome. The incisions 
must be deep, and of the same depth from the coronet to the 
ground.’* 
It is well to remark here that the operation of hoof section 
cannot be expected to succeed in every case. The last man 
in the world to claim that for it would be its originator. 
Failure to relieve the lameness may be accounted for in 
a variety of ways. First, of course, will come errors in 
diagnosis. No one of us is infallible, and the lameness we 
have judged as resulting from side-bone may arise from 
another cause. There are, too, complications to be reckoned 
with, the existence or absence of which cannot always be 
definitely ascertained. Such are: Ringbone, especially that 
form of ringbone known as ‘low’; bony deposits on the 
pedal bone, either on its laminal or plantar surface, or even 
changes in the navicular bursa. 
* Journal of Comparative Pathology and Therapeutics, vol. iii., 
p. 318. 
