no DISEASES OF THE FEET. 



for the sole or frog, secretes at first a degenerate cheese-like 

 material. Later on, this assumes the character of a thin, stinking, 

 and nearly colourless discharge; its surface becoming studded 

 over with pale, fungoid growths. The sole becomes gradually 

 undermined on account of the extension of this diseased action, 

 which, in most oases, commences at the frog, and sometimes 

 extends to the Avail of the hoof. It may, however, begin by an 

 inflammatory condition of the skin at the back and lower part 

 or the pastern, i.r., from grease. The progress of canker is 

 generally very slow ; a noticeable characteristic being the com- 

 parative painlessness of the disease. 



CHANCES OF RECOVERY.— Cases of canker are serious 

 proportionately to (1) the rapidity of their course; (2) thinness 

 of the discharge; (3) implication of the sensitive laminse ; and 

 (4) number of feet affected. Although canker is a tedious disease 

 to treat and demands skill and great patience, it is, even in bad 

 cases, generally susceptible to cure. 



PREDISPOSING INFLUENCES.— The tendency of a horses 

 feet to contract canker appears to be proportionate solely to the 

 amount of their exposure to the action of wet, dirt, general neglect 

 and injury. The hind feet are more often involved than the fore, 

 seeming!}' because they suffer more frequently from unsanitary 

 influences. I do not think its occurrence is in any way influenced 

 by breed, conformation, or general health. The fact that it is 

 seen most in common cart horses may be accounted for by their 

 being more exposed to its predisposing influences than well-bred 

 animals. Modern improvements in stable sanitation have been 

 followed by a well-marked decrease in the frequency of canker. 



NATURE AND PRINCIPLES OF TREATMENT.— Although 

 purely local treatment can in almost all cases effect a cure, 

 constitutional treatment is powerless to arrest its progress, thus 

 proving that it is a local and not, as averred by some authorities, 

 a constitutional disease. Two special characteristics of the 

 inflammation of canker are the infectious influence of its dis- 

 charge on neighbouring parts of the membrane, and the fact that 

 a diseased spot can be cured only by the removal or destruction 

 of the involved tissue, or by rendering it thoroughly free from 

 pijtrefaction by the use of antiseptics. The consideration of 

 these characteristics suggests the parasitic nature of the disease, 

 which is a question that has not yet been settled. Thrush, 

 differing from canker, can often be cured by merely keeping the 



