178 TB;E CANADIAN HOESE 



in damp filthy stables, exposed to obnoxious gases. In the 

 fall of the year it is often caused by washing the legs with cold 

 water and not carefully drying them afterwards. In other 

 cases it is the result of keeping horses in high condition, and 

 not giving them suflBcient exercise to keep the skin in a 

 healthy state. 



Symptoms. — Grease is a disease easily detected ; there is 

 generally more or less swelling of the legs, which if not 

 speedily relieved is followed by a discharge ; the hair falls 

 partly oflF, and the skin is reddened and inflamed, as can be 

 plainly seen in a white heel. The parts are very painful and 

 hot, and in many cases the least pressure of the hand will 

 make the horse twitch up his leg, and continue to hold it up for 

 some time. In other eases, when made to move about in his 

 stall, or when taken out of his stable in the morning, he will 

 keep twitching up his legs as if he ,was affected with string- 

 halt. Exercise appears to relieve the pain, as after being 

 walked for ten or fifteen mintites he goes quite free. As 

 the disease advances the skin cracks and the discharge in- 

 creases, becoming more and more purulent and offensive ; the 

 swelling increases, not being confined to the heels, but involv- 

 ing the front of the fetlock joint, and in some cases extending 

 upwards to the hock. The cracked condition of the legs and 

 heels undergoes a change of structure, and fungoid granu- 

 lations spring up similar in form to a bunch of grapes ; 

 this is called the " grapy stage," which may vary consider- 

 ably in structure — at one time being very vascular, bleeding 

 readily when touched, in other instances it looses its vascu- 

 larity and becomes hard and horny ; from between the 

 crevices of the grapes an ichorous glairy discharge continues. 



Treatment. — Without cleanliness all medicinal remedies 

 are useless. The heels should be washed with soap and 

 water every day, and the general comfort of the animal 



