AND HIS DISEASES. 63 



bucket of warm water, to encourage bleeding, and the 

 escape of pus or serum, the result of the inflammation. The 

 recumbent position should be encouraged, and he must be 

 well bedded up, and turned two or three times a day, to 

 prevent scalding. 



When recovery takes place, which is sometimes tedious, 

 he will become more lively ; his appetite returns, and he feels 

 inclined to stand up. The poultices may be removed, and 

 he may be turned into a clay stall or loose-box, and the 

 crust kept cut down, to remove the weight off the semi- 

 4etached laminse. 



He should not be put to work for a month, at least, else 

 descent of the sole and pumiced feet will be the conse- 

 quence. 



PUMICED FOOT. 



Some horses naturally have weak, flat feet, with thin, con- 

 vex soles ; but more commonly, pumiced foot arises in con- 

 sequence of inflammation of the feet. In cases of acute 

 laminitis, the laminae being wholly or partially separated by 

 the effusion, afford but very indifferent support to the foot. 

 The horny matter secreted is thin and soft, and the coffin- 

 bone, having lost its attachments, naturally recedes from the 

 wall, which becomes thick and projecting upward at the toe, 

 the sole at the same time becoming convex, and the whole 

 foot misshapen, giving the animal a -very peculiar and un- 

 gainly gait. 



Symptoms. — The foot is flat, the sole convex and thin, the 

 horn soft and porous ; he walks on the heels. From the 

 increased absorption going on, from the pressure on the sole, 

 and the increased tear and wear to which it is exposed, the 

 sole is thin and easily bruised, and the animal, in conse- 

 quence, unfit for road-work. The wallis marked by depressed 

 rings, which are very characteristic of recent acute founder. 



