408 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



alkaline salts which, like the mineral substances always found in 

 the mud of cities, are more or less irritating, and it seems fair to 

 conclude that under certain circumstances mud may become an 

 important factor in the production of quittor.^ 



Wliile this disease attacks any and all classes of horses, it is the 

 large, common breeds, with thick sMns, heavy coats, and coarse legs 

 that are most often affected. Horses well groomed and cared for in 

 stables seem to be less liable to the disease than those running at large 

 or than those which are kept and worked under adverse circum- 

 stances. 



SyTTtptoTus. — ^Lameness, lasting from one to three or four days, 

 nearly always precedes the development of the strictly local evi- 

 dences of quittor. The next sign is the appearance of a small, tense, 

 hot, and painful tumor in the skin of the coronary region. If the 

 skin of the affected foot is white, the inflamed portion will present a 

 dark-red or even a purplish appearance near the center. Within a 

 few hours the ankle, or even the whole leg as high as the knee or 

 hock, becomes much swollen. The lameness is now so great that the 

 patient refuses to use the foot at all, but carries it if compelled to 

 move. As a consequence, the opposite leg is required to do the work 

 of both, and if the animal persists in standing a greater part of the 

 time it, too, becomes swollen. In many of these cases the suffering 

 is so intense during the first few days as to cause general fever, dull- 

 ness, loss of appetite, and increased thirst. Generally the tumor 

 shows signs of suppuration within 48 to 72 hours after its first ap- 

 pearance; the summit softens, a fluctuating fluid is felt beneath the 

 skin, which soon ulcerates completely through, causing the discharge 

 of a thick, yellow, bloody pus, containing shreds of dead tissue which 

 have sloughed away. The sore is now converted into an open ulcer, 

 generally deep, nearly or quite circular in outline, and with hardened 

 base and edges. In exceptional cases large patches of skin, varying 

 from 1 to 2^ inches in diameter, slough away at once, leaving an ugly 

 superficial ulcer. These sores, especially when deep, suppurate freely, 

 and if there are no complications they tend to heal rapidly as soon 

 as the degenerated tissue has softened and is entirely removed. When 

 suppuration is fully established, the lameness and general symptoms 

 subside. When but a single tumor and abscess form, the disease pro- 

 gresses rapidly, and recovery, under proper treatment, may be ef- 



1 An outbreak of quittor near Cheyenne, Wyo., which came under the author's observa- 

 tion, was caused by the mud through which the horses had to wade to reach the watering 

 troughs. These troughs were furnished with water by windmills, and the mudholes were 

 caused by the waste water. More than 50 cases developed inside of two months, or dui-ing 

 September and October. In these 50 eases all forms of the disease and all possible compli- 

 cations were presented. During the rainy season at Leadville, Colo., outbreaks of quittor 

 are common, and the disease is so virulent that it has long been known as the " Leadville 

 foot rot." The soil being rich in mineral matters Is no doubt Ihe cause of the outbreaks. 

 In the city of Montreal quittor is said to be very common in the early springtime, when 

 the streets are muddy from the melting pnow and lee. 



