DISEASES. 675 



pain is then very great ; the blood, eontiauing to separate the tis- 

 sues, often oozes at the coronary band. 



If this last sign is absent, a groove may be made with a draw- 

 ing-knife in the region of the toe, behind the commissure of the 

 sole and of the wall. If we meet with a cavity, resulting from 

 the extravasation of the blood in the podophyllous and keraphyl- 

 lous space, or if blood flows out from it, the true nature of the 

 complication becomes at once apparent. This mode of explora- 

 tion is generally diflicult, as the animal in pain does not readily 

 allow his feet to be raised, and as the other foot cannot sustain 

 the entire weight of the body, the horse easily falls down. It is 

 sometimes necessary to throw the animal in order to make this 

 exploration, which very often becomes necessary if we would know 

 accurately the progress of the disease. 



b. — Inflammation, with fibrinous exudation, or pse ado-mem- 

 branous formation on the surface of the podophyllous tissue. 

 The transudated fibrine mixes with the hoof, secreted by the podo- 

 phyllous tissue, and this matter separates that structure from 

 the keraphyUous laminae, especially at the anterior part of the 

 region. Again, in. chronic laminitis we find this abnormal secre- 

 tion pushing the os pedis forcibly backward and separating the 

 toe of the bone from that of the hoof, and thus producing a pain' 

 stiU greater and more violent than that produced by the laminitis 

 and the hemorrhage. These pains are often so intense that they 

 give rise to an access of furious vertigo. But pains, even when 

 of an exaggerated degree, indicate simply the presence of the 

 exudative form of laminitis. It is not a positive sign; the foot 

 must be explored at the toe, where, in the vacuum which exists 

 between the horny lamellae is found, more or less abundantly, a 

 citrine serosity of a slightly reddish color. Sometimes this ser- 

 osity oozes between the hair and the hoof, in consequence of the 

 separation of the tissues at the coronary band, and appears in the 

 form of a thin, reddish foam, about the band itself. 



c. — Suppuration between the waU and the podophyllous tis- 

 sue is a complication more rare than the others, but which, how- 

 ever, has been observed, especially when laminitis is traumatic. 

 We have seen it appear under the sole and separate it entirely 

 from the tissues underneath. In these cases, the pain is always 

 very great, and the living structures are pressed beyond measure. 

 Standing is impossible, and the animal continues lying down, or, 



