212 DISEASES OF THE FEET. 



green food. If there be a running stream at hand, make the 

 horse stand in it for a couple of hours, two or three times a day ; 

 care being taken that the part of the bed of the stream on which 

 he stands is soft, and that he has soft ground to walk upon, both 

 going from and returning to his stable. Earth can be used for 

 bedding; as it will tend to keep the feet cool. He may be put 

 in a darkened box by himself, so as to encourage him to lie down 

 as much as possible, which a horse that is affected by this disease 

 is usually inclined to do. If a stream be not of ready access, 

 buckets of cold water can be used for him to stand in. After a 

 fortnight apply to the coronet a mild biniodide of mercury blister, 

 say, 1 to 16 of lard. Turning the horse out into a grass meadow 

 for some time will often be of benefit. The good effect of all this 

 treatment is transient as a rule. 



PALLIATIVE SHOEING.— In confirmed cases, use shoes with a 

 broad, flat bearing surface, thickened heels, and the toes turned 

 up on the ground surface, but flat on the foot surface (Fig. 71). 

 With this form of shoe, the foot surface of the shoe will bear on 

 the sole as well as on the wall, and the concussion caused by the 

 horse striking his toe into the ground will be diminished, as much 

 as possible, by the shock being distributed over the broad, rounded 

 surface of the toe of the shoe. 



Horn Tumour {Keratoma). 



This is a new growth of horn which may begin in the coronet or 

 in the sensitive laminae. It takes up its position between the wall 

 of the hoof and the pedal bone, in which an excavation is made, in 

 course of time, by the pressure caused by its presence interfering 

 with the nutrition of the bone at that part.. It is, as a rule, found 

 at the toe, and is not always accompanied by lameness. If the 

 sole be pared, in a case of horn timiour formed by the sensitive 

 laminae, the white line which marks the union of the wall and 

 sole on the ground surface of the foot, will be found to curve 

 inwards at a point immediately underneath the tumour ; the 

 reason being that the white line which in health marks the surface 

 of union between the wall and sensitive laminae, is, in a horn 

 tumour, the inner boundary of this new growth. The tumour, 

 usually slow' in its course, may be accompanied by the formation 

 of pus, which, by reaching the coronet, may give rise to a quittor. 

 A horn tumour, extracted from a horse's foot, is described as a 

 piece of dark-coloured horn somewhat resembling a horse's incisor 

 tooth, with the crown pointing downwards, and weighing about 

 three drachms. It is instructive to note that the development of 



