DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 473 
hair is shed, and the heel may appear but as one mass of rounded, 
red, angry excrescences which bleed on handling and are covered 
with the now repulsively fetid, decomposing discharge. During this 
time there is little or no fever, the animal feeds well, and but for 
its local trouble it might continue at work. When the malady ex- 
tends to the frog, there is a fetid discharge from its cleft or from the 
depressions at its sides, and this gradually extends to its whole sur- 
face and upon the adjacent parts of the sole. The horn meanwhile 
becomes soft, whitish, and fleshy in aspect, its constituent tubes being 
greatly enlarged and losing their natural cohesion; it grows rapidly 
above the level of the surrounding horn, and when pared is found to 
be penetrated to an unusual depth by the secreting papille, and that 
at intervals these have bulged out into a vascular fungous mass com- 
parable to the “ grapes.” 
Treatment.—tIn treatment hygienic measures occupy a front rank, 
but are in themselves insufficient to establish a cure. All local and 
general conditions which favor the production and persistence of the 
disease must be guarded against. Above all, cleanliness and purity 
of the stable and air must be obtained; also nourishing diet, regular 
exercise, and the avoidance of local irritants—septic, muddy, chill- 
ing, ete. At the outset benzoated oxid of zinc ointment may be used 
with advantage. A still better dressing is made with 1 ounce vase- 
line, 2 drams oxid of zine, and 20 drops iodized phenol. If the sur- 
face is much swollen and tender, a flaxseed poultice may be applied, 
over the surface of which has been poured some of the following 
lotion: Sugar of lead, one-half ounce; carbolic acid, 1 dram; water, 1 
quart. All the astringents of the pharmacopeia have been em- 
ployed with more or less advantage, and some particular one seems 
to suit particular cases or patients. To destroy the grapes, they 
may be rubbed daily with strong caustics (copperas, bluestone, lunar 
caustic), or each may be tied round its neck with a stout, waxed 
thread, or, finally and more speedily, they may be cut off by a black- 
smith’s shovel heated to redness and applied with its sharp edge 
toward the neck of the excrescence, over a cold shovel held between 
it and the skin to protect the skin from the heat. The cold shovel 
must be kept cool by frequent dipping in water. After the removal 
of the grapes the astringent dressing must be persistently applied 
to the surface. When the frog is affected, it must be pared to the 
quick and dressed with dry caustic powders (quicklime, copperas, 
bluestone) or carbolic acid and subjected to pressure, the dressing 
being renewed every day at least. 
