DISEASES OF THE FETLOCK, AXKLE, AND FOOT. 413 



by separating the hoof from the coronary band, at or near the heels, 

 without causing a loss of the whole horny box. When the flexor 

 tendon is in^'olved deep in the foot, the discharge of pus usually 

 takes place from an opening in the follow of the heel; if the sesa- 

 moid ligament or the sheath of the flexors are affected, the opening- 

 is nearer the fetlock joint, although in most of these cases the sup- 

 puration spreads along the course of the tendons until the navicular 

 joint is involved, and extensi^'e sloughing of the deeper parts follows. 

 TreatTnent. — The treatment of tendinous quittor is to be directed 

 toward the saving of the foot. First of all an effort must be made to 

 prevent suppuration; if the patient is seen at the beginning, cold 

 irrigation, recommended in the- treatment for cutaneous quittor, is to 

 be resorted to. Later, when the tumor is forming on the coronet, 

 the linife must be used, and a free and deep incision made into the 

 swelling. Whenever openings appear, from which pus escapes, they 

 should be carefully probed ; in all instances these fistulous tracts lead 

 down to dead tissue which nature is trying to remove by the process 

 ' of sloughing. If a counter opening can be made, which will enable a 

 more ready escape of the pus, it should be done at once; for instance, 

 if the probe shows that the discharge originates from the bottom of 

 the foot, the sole must be pared through over the seat of trouble. 

 Whenever suppuration has commenced the process is to be stimulated 

 by the use of warm baths and poultices. The pus which accumulates 

 in the deeper parts, especially along the tendons, around the joints, 

 and in the hoof, is to be removed by pressure and injections made 

 with a small syringe, repeated two or three times a day. As soon as 

 the discharge assumes a healthy character and diminishes in quantity, 

 stimulating solutions are to be injected into the open wounds. When 

 the tendons, ligaments, and other deeper parts are affected, a strong 

 solution of carbolic acid — 1 to 4 — should be used at first; or strong 

 solutions of tincture of iodin, sulphate of iron, sulphate of copper, 

 bichlorid of mercury, etc., may be used in place of the carbolic; after 

 this the remedies and dressings directed for use in simple quittor 

 are to be used. In those cases in which the fistulous tracts refuse to 

 heal it is often necessary to bum them out with a saturated solution 

 of caustic soda, equal parts of muriatic acid and water, or, better 

 still, with a long, thin iron, heated white hot. 



But no matter what treatment is adopted, a large percentage of 

 the cases of tendinous quittor fail to make good recoveries. If the 

 entire hoof sloughs away, the growth of a new, but soft and imper- 

 fect hoof may be obtained by carefully protecting the exposed tissues 

 with proper bandages. When the joints are opened by deep slough- 

 ing, recovery may eventually take place, but the joint remains im- 

 movable ever after. If caries of a small part of the coffin bone takes 



