DISEASES. 595 



the coronary band, the last point, where, in extreme cases, the 

 hoof preserves its adhesions with the tissues which form it. In 

 this condition the disease process progresses more slowly than be- 

 tween the sole and the velvety tissue, and then it seems to remain 

 stationary ; otherwise the dropping of the hoof would be possible. 



We have seen that often at the beginning, but especially as the 

 disease progresses, there are growths called fici, found principally 

 round the laminae, the frog and the sole. These are of whitish 

 color, opal, varying in size and in shape ; they constitute an 

 irregular mass, formed of those fici pressed together ; some of 

 these growths have a wide basis, others are somewhat peduncu- 

 lated ; sometimes they are single, tubercular, slightly elevated ; at 

 other times elongated bodies, true fibrous bundles. The fici are 

 nothing more than the normal viUosities of the keratogenous tissue 

 which have become tumefied and hypertrophied, and are found 

 principally where, in the normal state, the villosities of the velvety 

 tissue are themselves more numerous and more developed. Where 

 these vegetations are confluent, as upon the sharp edge of the 

 bone, they are separated from each other by a kind of deep sinu- 

 ous grooves, filled with the caseous matter secreted by the diseased 

 keratogenous structure. These growths bleed easUy and grow 

 rapidly again when excised. Those most developed, and which 

 seemed to form a homogeneous mass, constitute, however, an 

 aggregate of smaller vegetations united in a certain part of their 

 extent, and continued at their bases. 



Besides the vegetation of the Uving tissues, the plantar sur- 

 face of the foot presents, in old cankers, isolated fasciculi of solid 

 homy substance, of thready appearance, soft, analogous in their 

 form to coarse brushes whose hairs are glued together. These 

 isolated, still adherent, brushes are seen spreading toward the 

 sole ; they correspond with parts of the velvety tissue which have 

 maintained their soundness in the midst of the diseased surface, 

 and there continue to secrete healthy hoof. These horny growths 

 are ordinarily multiple, and are of various shapes, often twisted, 

 and give to the plantar surface a peculiar aspect, so much so, that 

 their brushy masses sometimes retain the mud of the streets and 

 are filled at their bases with a black and fcetid substance of an 

 ugly appearance. 



When canker has arrived at a very advanced period, it is char- 

 acterized by the deformity of the whole horny box, whose length 



