368 ACUTE LAMINITIS. 
and horn is without; the heat soon dries the last and deprives it of its 
elasticity; the first is naturally unyielding; thus the secreting substance, 
largely supplied with blood, because of inflammation, and acutely en- 
dowed with sensation when swollen and diseased, is compressed between 
the two bodies as ina vice, To conceive the amount of anguish and to 
imagine the violence of the disorder, we have only to recognize the 
pathological law, that Nature is conservative in all her organizations ; 
she protects parts in proportion to their importance to the welfare of her 
creatures, and reluctantly allows injury to be inflicted on any vital organ, 
“though she may even permit deprivation of those members which are 
not essential to the animal economy. 
A man may lose a leg; he can live, enjoy life, and to a certain extent 
effect progression with a wooden substitute. Touch the heart of a man, 
however, and being ends. The heart is guarded by the ribs, and so 
securely is it protected that, even in battle, the organ is seldom punc- 
tured; the hoof of the horse is almost as important to the animal as is 
the heart to the human being. In a free state progression is necessary 
to the support of the body; when domesticated, the horse is valued 
according to its power to progress. 
Yet, the member so important to the creature is, by the nature of 
laminitis, frequently disorganized, and a valuable quadruped, by the 
affliction, may be reduced from the highest price to a knacker’s purchase 
money. 
There is some dispute about the kind of hoof most liable to this dis- 
ease. English authors incline toward the weak or slanting hoof. Con- 
tinental writers, however, suppose the strong or upright hoof is most 
exposed to the affliction. Neither party, however, assert any kind of 
hoof to be exempt; therefore, it may be supposed, were all circum- 
stances similar, every kind of foot would be equally subjected to 
laminitis. 
There is but one cause for acute laminitis—man’s brutality. Horses 
driven far and long over hard, dry roads, frequently exhibit the disease. 
Cab and post, as well as gentlemen’s horses, after a fine day at Epsom 
or at Ascot, not unfrequently display the disorder. Animals which have 
to stand and strain the feet for any period, as cavalry horses upon a long 
sea voyage, if, upon landing, they are imprudently used without sufficient 
rest, will assuredly fail with this incapacitating malady. Any extraor- 
dinary labor may induce laminitis. Hunters, after a hard run, and racers, 
subsequently to heats, are liable to be attacked; especially should the 
ground be in the state we have before intimated. 
Acute laminitis does not immediately declare itself; the pace of the 
animal, when its work is drawing to a close, may be remarkable; but 
