417 



some manner dependent upon the food for its inception. Barley, 

 wheat, and sometimes corn are the grains most apt to cause this dis- 

 ease. With some horses there appears to be a particular suscepti- 

 bility to this influence of corn, and the use of this grain is followed by 

 inflammation of the feet, lasting from a few days' to two weeks' time. 

 In these aninials, to all appearances healthy, the corn neither induces 

 colic, indigestion, nor purging, and apparently no irritation whatever 

 of the alimentary canal. 



(6) Fortunately purgative medicines rarely cause inflammation of 

 the laminae. That it is, then, the result of sympathetic action is no 

 doubt more than hypothetical, for when there is no derangement of 

 the alimentary canal a dose of cathartic medicine will at times bring 

 on severe laminitis. 



(7) Most all the older authorities were agreed that metastatic lami- 

 nitis is a reality. In my opinion metastatic laminitis is nothing more 

 nor less than concurrent laminitis, and presents little in any way pecul- 

 iar outside the imperfectly understood exciting cause. The practi- 

 tioner who allows the acute symptoms of the laminitis to mislead him, 

 simply because their severity has overshadowed those of the primary 

 disease, may lose his case through unguarded subsequent treatment. 

 This form of laminitis is by no means commonly met with. It may be 

 found in conjunction with pneumonia, according to Youatt with 

 inflammation of the bowels and eyes, and according to Law and 

 Williams sometimes with bronchitis. 



Symptoms. — ^Laminitis is characterized by a congregation of symp- 

 toms, so well marked as scarcely to be misinterpreted by the most 

 casual observer. They are nearly constant in their manifestations, 

 modified by the number of feet affected, the cause which has induced 

 the disease, the previous condition of the patient, and the various 

 other influences which operate in all diseases to some extent. They 

 may be divided into general symptoms, which are concomitants of all 

 cases of the disease, subject to variations in degree only, and special 

 symptoms, or those which serve to determine the feet affected and the 

 complications which may arise. 



General symptoms. — Usually, the first symptom is the interfer- 

 ence with locomotion. Occasionally the other symptoms are pre- 

 sented first. As the lameness develops the pulse becomes accelerated, 

 full, hard, and strikes the finger strongly ; the temperature soon rises 

 several degrees above the normal, reaching sometimes 106° F. ; it 

 generally ranges between 102.5° and 105° F. The respirations are 

 rapid and panting in character, the nostrils widely dilated, and the 

 mucous membranes highly injected. The facial expression is anxious 

 and indicative of the most acute suffering, while the body is more or 

 less bedewed with sweat. At first there may be a tendency to diar- 

 H. Doc. 795, 59-2 21 



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