ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HORSe’s FOOT. 527 
digitation with the horny laminse is due merely to simple 
Fig. ]9. — Junction of the sole and wall. a. Fibres of wall. 6. Horny 
laminae, c. Interdigitations of white line ( d ). e. Commencement of 
sole. Moderately magnified. 
agglutination, not fusion, of their respective surfaces; and 
it is the destruction of its soft cells that brings about a dis- 
union between the mass of the sole and that of the lower 
margin of the wall. The white line also adheres to the 
border of the sole by mere agglutination of its cells. 
It may be noted that, through mismanagement or disease, 
but more frequently as the result of bad shoeing, the fibres 
composing this white line are altered in their rectilinear 
direction, and become more or less irregular and undulating ; 
they lose much of their cohesiveness, are greatly increased 
in size, and at the same time the interfibrous cellular element 
is largely augmented in quantity. This exaggeration in 
width of the white line is particularly noticeable in chronic 
laminitis, and is easily accounted for. 
The reason for the interposition of this soft, tough, and 
semi-elastic horn between the hard wall and the sole around 
the plantar border of the foot has never been explained, so 
