616 
ACUTE FOUNDER. 
down at full length for some hours, and got up again with dif- 
ficulty: every appearance, excepting this last circumstance of 
her lying down, denotes approaching tetanus. Reverting, there- 
fore, to the recent docking, I began to consider the symptoms as 
dependent on this operation, aggravated by her having travelled 
so sharply, and almost all the way in hard rain, which might 
have chilled the spinal column, and produced these effects. 
Under this erroneous impression, I took the liberty to amputate 
an inch and a half more of the caudal extremity, according to 
old prescribed custom, being not quite clear in my view of the 
case, and willing to adopt any suggestion that was not injurious. 
The depletives were persisted in, and warm fomentations and 
clysters kept up without much intermission. The bowels are 
open, but we have not seen her stale ; and the wetness of the litter 
prevents our judging on that point. 
May 4th . — Every way much worse. A veterinary friend con- 
curs with me that it is tetanus ; the locked jaw and the twitching 
of the membrana nictitans alone are wanting to make it a per- 
fect case ; but resulting, as we imagine, from docking, it may af- 
fect the hind extremities principally at first. She stands almost 
immoveable, with the muscles hard and rigid. 
May 6th . — From appearances I observed this morning, and the 
absence of the proper tetanic symptoms, I determined to investi- 
gate the feet most thoroughly, for I began to suspect, both being 
now alike, that it might be acute founder. Accordingly, with the 
greatest difficulty, and not without throwing her down, we con- 
trived to pare out one foot; the nailing had been so safe, and the 
sole looked so white and firm, that as we removed slice after slice, 
I could hardly believe there was any ground for our search : but 
at length a slight redness was perceivable ; it increased, and 
shortly after it became palpable that the highest degree of inflam- 
mation was existing in this apparently sound and perfect organ. 
To such an extent had it proceeded, that we could procure no 
blood from the congested vessels : the podophyllous structure 
was destroyed in the front of the foot, and separated from the 
keraphylla. The other foot was found to be nearly in as bad a 
condition, under the same fair outside appearance. 
In a few hours after they were pared out and dressed, the fungou^ 
portion of the podophylla burst out at the coronets in both feet, 
like a piece of torn sponge, followed by a red ichorous discharge. 
I now gave up all thoughts of saving the mare, and ordered her 
to be destroyed next morning ; however, she died in the night, 
in great pain. I secured both feet, and some idea may be formed 
of her sufferings, and the extent of mischief, when I was enabled 
to extract one of the feet at once from the hoof, so much was the 
