214 DISEASES OF THE FEET. 



Wounds and Bruises of the Coronet. 



These injuries generally appear in the form of " tread," which 

 is the term applied to a wound inflicted upon the coronet of one 

 foot by the other fore or hind foot, as the case may be. The 

 usual causes of tread are : weakness ; fatigue ; over-taxation of 

 strength ; a,nd carelessness in turning the animal, especially when 

 he is in heavy draught, and when he has been shod with " roughed 

 shoes." Tread is principally confined to cart-horses. The more 

 forward is the injury to the coronet, the greater will be the 

 danger of hurting the extensor tendon of the foot and the joint 

 formed by the pedal bone and the short pastern bone. The 

 extensor tendon of the foot runs down the front of the pastern 

 and is inserted on the upper and front portion (pyramidal process) 

 of the pedal bone (Figs. 5, 7 and 70). 



TKEATMENT.— If the wound be slight, apply a little tincture 

 of myrrh or arnica. The spirit on evaporating will leave a thin 

 resinous coating, which will effectually exclude the air. Or put 

 on burnt ahim, resin ointment, or a saturated solution of camphor 

 or of iodoform in turpentine. If the tread be severe, remove all 

 loose ends, bathe the part in warm water and apply tannoforra, 

 creolin (1 to 20 of water), or some other suitable antiseptic (p. 67). 

 If the wound begins to suppurate, poultice for a day or so, but do 

 not continue poulticing so long as to lower the vitality of the 

 structures. If, after this, the sore does not assume a healthy ap- 

 pearance, apply a fly blister (cantharides) round its edges to stimu- 

 late the part to healthy action, and continue to treat antiseptically. 

 The blister may be repeated. A neglected tread is very apt to run 

 into a quittor. - 



Pricks in Shoeing. 



These are caused by nails actually penetrating the sensitive parts, 

 or by their being driven too " close." Pain and lameness may be- 

 come manifest immediately after the accident, or may not appear 

 until next day, or even for a fortnight or longer, during which inter- 

 val pus (matter) forms. It may happen that while a nail is being 

 driven, it may split into two branches, one penetrating the sensi- 

 tive structures, the other passing through the wall in the usual 

 manner. This accident, which was not uncommon when nails were 

 hand-made, hardly ever occurs with good machine-made nails. It 

 is probable that pricks in shoeing are most frequently caused by 

 the point of a nail which, in the act of being driven, comes in 



