DISEASES. 631 



place. The exploration of the part shows with certainty the nature 

 of the lesion, the direction and depth of the wound, as well as the 

 physical condition of the body which has made it, and all circum- 

 stances which allow a positive diagnosis to be made. 



Quite often the nail is no longer in the foot ; sometimes it has 

 left its mark — an opening which can be explored ; often this is 

 not visible at first sight, though the wound may be even deep ; 

 this is when the injury to the hoof has been very slight, and when 

 the hoof has retracted on itself by its elasticity or when the open- 

 ing is concealed by the dirt of the streets. It must be remem- 

 bered that sometimes the penetrating body remains broken in the 

 soft tissues after its entrance through the hoof. If the accident 

 is recent, only a little blood may be found — liquid or coagulated 

 — over the wound ; later, some serosity, more or less purulent, is 

 observed ; the pus is white or black, sometimes mixed with syno- 

 vial fluid ; sometimes there are granulations on the bodies of the 

 wound which protrude over the edges, commonly called proud 

 flesh. Such are the first objective symptoms obtained by the 

 exploration of the parts. Ordinarily they are insufiicient, for it 

 is not always easy to probe the wound. It then becomes neces- 

 sary at the beginning to pare off the hoof all around the wound, 

 and sometimes to hollow it at the point of injury, without going 

 to the sensitive structure, however. In this way the exploration 

 and the probing of the wound are rendered much easier. 



The pain, expressed by the lameness, is almost always mani- 

 fested ; it varies according to the seat of the lesion and its depth. 

 At first the intensity of the lameness does not give the exact 

 measure of the disease, and often one may be led into error by it; 

 but it gives an exact value of the lesion when a few days have 

 elapsed since the injury was received; if the pains are slight or 

 absent, they indicate that the reparative process is going on well ; 

 it is, on the contrary, interfered with by complications when, as 

 time goes on, the lameness increases instead of becoming dimin- 

 ished. Generally one can say that the injury will amount to 

 nothing when the lameness is slight, while, on the contrary, seri- 

 ous complications must be always looked for when it is great and 

 remains on long, feven when the first lesion has been sUght and 

 superficial. The wound, which has penetrated through the hoof 

 only, has no symptoms, no sequel* ; the animal is not lame from 

 it, or if he be the lameness is very sUght, the foot resting entirely 



