492 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 
of the fetlock and back tendons is also frequently seen and is liable 
to mislead us. The foot must be carefully examined, and this can 
not be properly done without removing the shoe. The nails should 
be drawn separately and carefully examined. If there is no escape 
of pus from the nail holes, or if the nails themselves are not moist, 
we must continue our examination of the foot by carefully pinching 
or tapping it at all parts. With a little practice we can detect the 
spot where pain is the greatest or discover the delicate line or scar 
left at the point of entrance of the foreign body. The entire sole is 
then to be thinned, after which we are carefully to cut down upon 
the point where pain is greatest upon pressure, and, finally, through 
the sole at this spot. When the matter has escaped, the sole, so far 
as it was undermined by pus, is to to be removed. The foot must now 
be poulticed for one or two days and afterwards dressed with a com- 
press of oakum saturated with carbolic-acid solution or other anti- 
septic dressing. 
If we discover a nail or other object in the foot, the principal direc- 
tion, after having removed the offending body, is to cut away the 
sole, in a funnel shape, down to the sensitive parts beneath. This is 
imperative, and if a good free opening has been made and is main- 
tained for a few days, and hot fomentations and antiseptic dressings 
applied, the cure is mostly easy, simple, quick, and permanent. The 
horse should be shod with a leather sole under the shoe, first of all 
applying tar and oakum to prevent any dirt from entering the wound. 
In some instances nails may puncture the flexor tendons, the coffin 
bone, or enter the coffin joint. Such injuries are always serious, their 
recovery slow and tedious, and the treatment so varied and difficult 
that the services of a veterinarian will be necessary. 
PUNCTURED WOUNDS OF JOINTS, OR OPEN JOINTS. 
These wounds are more or less frequent. They are always serious, 
and often result in anchylosis (stiffening) of the joint or the death of 
the animal. The joints mostly punctured are the hock, fetlock, or 
knee, though other joints may, of course, suffer this injury. As the 
symptoms and treatment are much the same for all, only the accident 
as it occurs in the hock joint will be described. Probably the most 
common mode of injury is from the stab of a fork, but it may result 
from the kick of another horse that is newly shod, or in many other 
ways. At first the horse evinces but slight pain or lameness. The 
owner discovers a small wound scarcely larger than a pea, and pays 
but little attention to it. In a few days, however, the pain and lame- 
ness become excessive; the horse can no longer bear any weight 
upon the injured leg; the joint is very much swollen and painful 
upon pressure; there are well-marked symptoms of constitutional 
disturbance—quick pulse, hurried breathing, high temperature, 103° 
