DISEASES. 701 



presses upon the frog, is counter-indicated. It is important to en- 

 courage the suppleness of the hoof by proper ointment, especially 

 the application of glycerine, and to have under the feet a bed- 

 ding always sUghtly damp and soft. The bedding of moist saw- 

 dust is very convenient; we prefer it to poultices, and even to the 

 tepid alkaline baths mentioned by Hertwig. At times, at inter- 

 vals of about eight days, and then during two consecutive days, 

 a good friction with bhster ointment above the coronet is advan- 

 tageous, as well as one with Lebas' oiatment. English practi- 

 tioners prefer salines; the better treatment would be to turn the 

 animal to grass. Brauell advises iodine internally, and says he 

 has found it work well. Others recommend diirretics. Setons in 

 the shoulder or chest seems to us inexpedient. We prefer the ad- 

 ministration of a purgative ball every eight days. SeweU and 

 BraueU advise a seton, running from the hollow of the coronet 

 through the plantar cushion, a little behind the tendon of the 

 perforans, and within a short distance, therefore, of the diseased 

 capsule, making its exit at the anterior third of the frog. This 

 drain is to be maintained for two, three, and even four weeks ; 

 SeweU, BraueU, Hertwig, and several other veterinarians, English 

 especiaUy, claiming much benefit from it. This seton is intro- 

 duced by means of a curved frog seton-needle; it has been used 

 but little in Prance. Bruner has recently proposed the puncture 

 of the sesamoideal capsule vsdth a trochar, introduced into the 

 hoUow of the coronet, an operation only practicable if the serous 

 collection can be felt outward. After the puncture, he recommends 

 an injection of iodine. 



Lafosse proposes after the removal of the sole, the transversal 

 incision of the plantar cushion, with removal of a part of it, down 

 to the tendon, foUowing the axis of the sesamoid; then the cau- 

 terization of the bone and its cartilage, ia imitation of what is 

 sometimes done in punctured wounds of the foot. Brauell recom- 

 mended as a useful surgical operation, the section of the perforans 

 tendon in the metacarpal region, in order to prevent friction 

 against the sesamoid groove, and to aUow an easier adhesion be- 

 tween the tendon and the bone. But it is to be feared that this 

 section, supposing that it proves successful, might so weaken the 

 tendon as to render the animal unfit for fast work. 



If navicular disease should be accompanied with deviation of 

 the wall, and contraction, true or false, the treatment will be that 



