704 
LIVERPOOL VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSO- 
CIATION. 
The twenty-fifth quarterly meeting of the Liverpool Veterinary 
Medical Association was held at the Medical Institute, Hope Street, 
on Friday evening, August 12th. 
The chair was taken by the President, Thos. Greaves, Esq., of 
Manchester; there were also present — Messrs. Morgan, Elam, 
Ackroyd, Harwood, Davies (Liverpool) ; W. H. Cartwright (Whit- 
church) ; Storrar (Chester) ; Dobie (Birkenhead) ; W. C. Lawson 
(Woolton), and the Secretary. 
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. 
The President acknowledged the receipt of a letter from Mrs. 
Lawson, of Manchester, in reply to a memorial of condolence from 
the Association. 
Mr. W. C. Lawson read the following paper on ‘‘Grease in the 
Horse,” prefacing his remarks on that disease with a clear epitome of 
the structure and functions of the skin. 
It is my unenviable lot to appear before you again in place of 
one of two of our valuable members, from whom we were led to 
expect something; their engagements however preventing them, our 
worthy Secretary at the eleventh hour wrote me, and I foolishly 
consented, that there might be a programme ; I therefore throw 
myself on your generosity, merely introducing this paper as a text 
for discussion. 
Proceeding to the consideration of the disease “grease,” we have first 
presented to our notice cracked or chapped heels, as a mild form of the 
disease ; you will, therefore, not think it unworthy your attention 
should I glance over it, for “just as the mighty oak from the tiny acorn 
grows ” so is it with cracked heels, for if not early checked they are 
liable to proceed to grease. The animals we are most likely to find 
suffering from cracked heels are not always those w r e find most liable 
to grease, they belong to a class of animals which do not generally 
suffer from grease, unless there has been the greatest possible neglect, 
I allude to the well-bred horse. I think it would be almost impos- 
sible to produce cracked heels in a young thoroughbred, except in 
very exceptional cases ; I say young because I believe age renders 
the animal more susceptible on account of a decreased vitality. We 
frequently find horses suffering from navicularthritis with hard 
segs in the pasterns, which I think proceed from two causes, viz., 
the increased vascularity of the part, extending to inflammation, 
from some predisposing cause, and in some cases the application of 
cold water, which is productive of cracks in cold weather, whether 
the former disease exist or not. I affirm, therefore, that cracked 
heels occur subject to incidental circumstances in cases where the 
balance of circulation is irregularly maintained. Another great 
cause is the continual trimming of the heels, the mode of operation of 
this cause, I hope will be touched upon in the discussion, as I am 
