672 OPEEATIONS ON THE FOOT. 



forward by the hind legs and brought closer under the centre of 

 gravity, a position which contributes also to the relief of the 

 animal whUe at rest. 



The more painful and diseased the feet become, the more the 

 animal fears the impingement of the ground. Thus, so to speak, 

 he sounds the ground before putting the foot down, and for this 

 reason the walking becomes slow, stiff and difficult, and the noise 

 of the contact of the foot louder than that of the healthy legs. 

 Sometimes the animal proceeds only by a series of jumps, or a 

 kind of rearing, while backing is especially difficult. 



The hoofs of the foundered feet give to the hand, when feeling 

 them, a sensation of heat greater than that in the physiological 

 condition ; a sensation which can be more readily detected by a 

 comparison of the fore and hind feet simultaneously examined. 

 The pains in the diseased feet are rendered more manifest, also, 

 by percussion upon the hoof with the hammer, when each blow, 

 however light, is followed by a motion of the animal in suddenly 

 withdrawing his foot on account of the pain experienced. The 

 lateral arteries of the fetlock, in the foundered legs, beat stronger 

 than in health, and can be readUy felt by the fingers. The feet 

 cannot be raised without great effort, and when raised, the animal 

 stands only with great difficulty, and makes struggHng attempts 

 to relieve himself and resume its natural mode of standing on 

 four legs. 



When laminitis affects only the fore feet, the animal will 

 sometimes remain standing for a length of time together; he may 

 retain this attitude for several days, without any displacement of 

 his body ; stiU he is observed moving surplace, from side to side, 

 especially on his fore legs, relieving one foot for a moment to give 

 the same comfort immediately afterward to the other. But when, 

 exhausted by fatigue and pain, the foundered horse lies down, it 

 is very difficult to get him on his feet again. He continues in the 

 decubital position, lying mostly flat upon his side, the fore legs in 

 constant motion, and soon complicates, his diseased condition by 

 the addition of bed sores upon the prominent parts of his body. 



The attitude of the animal is very different when the hind feet 

 are affected; then both the anterior and posterior bipeds are 

 brought to each other, the feet of the hind legs being carried for- 

 ward iinder the abdomen, so that the rest may take place upon 

 the heels ; and the anterior ones are carried backward, and nearer 



