LAMENESS IN HORSES. 
547 
bind round the wall of the hoof, so that any tar or pitch plaster 
it may be deemed advisable to place in or upon the crack may be 
maintained there ; at the same time that the hoof itself is, by 
the tight binding, restricted in any tendency it may have to ex- 
pand, and thereby open wider the crack. 
A Bar-Shoe is the preferable one for a sand-cracked foot. 
By it, the bearing being taken off that part of the wall which is 
opposite to the crack, the pressure and jar — so continually split- 
ting afresh the new-formed horn over the crack at the coronet 
is put a stop to : the formation of an undivided coronary horny 
band being the commencement of the radical cure of the sand- 
crack. As I said before, horn being an inorganic substance, no 
union whatever can take place in the crack itself : permanent 
cure can be effected onl^ through obliteration by the growing out 
or down of the crack. This, I repeat, is the reason why a sand- 
crack occupies so long a time in its removal ; though, by way of 
compensation, a horse is not kept out of work while cure is being 
effected ; for, after the crack has been bound up, and the hoof 
shod with a bar-shoe, it is quite surprising to find how soundly 
and firmly the animal sometimes steps upon the foot of which 
he had but now been so lame. 
The Treatment adopted by the late Mr. Read, Y.S. 
of Crediton, carries the same object into execution through a 
different method of procedure. This, as detailed in the vo- 
lume of The Veterinarian for 1848, consists in simply iso- 
lating the fissure within the segment of a circle, by means of an 
ordinary firing-iron. The best plan is to operate with the heel of 
the iron, beginning at the coronet with either extremity of the 
segment, and bringing the iron to a finish at the centre. The 
iron should be at a strong red heat, and be carried through 
the horny crust until it touches, lightly, the sensible laminae, and 
so throughout the entire semicircle. As you recede from the coro- 
net, so in proportion you will require to deepen the fissure in the 
crust. The iron ought to be applied every week or ten days. 
The first effect desirable to be produced is a bulging of the crust 
around the coronet within the segment, and when once this 
is fairly established, the cure may be said to be effected, it 
being seldom necessary to apply the cautery afterwards. The 
old method of making a line with the iron across the fissure 
cannot prevent the opening and closure of the fissure during the 
action of the foot; whereas, isolating the fissure (or part of it) 
within the segment of a circle, completely effects the object. No 
tar-cord or strapping or alteration of the shoe is required to limit 
the motion of the crust, all motion being suspended within the 
segment, and especially after bulging has commenced. 
The Objects of Treatment, after what has been stated, 
