INJURIES PRODUCED BY STRIKING, AND THEIR COMPLICATIONS. 765 
Many farriers still favour the idea that striking is prevented by lowering 
the inner wall, and thus perpetuate one of the most frequent causes of 
striking. Bad fitting, allowing the inner edge of the shoe to project 
beyond the wall of the foot, or leaving the clenches too long, may also 
produce the same result; but, in comparison with unskilful paring of 
the hoof, these only play a subordinate part. 
Symptoms. The cause of these injuries is indicated by their position 
on the fetlock-joint, coronet, metacarpus, or knee. Sometimes the hair 
is only roughened or rubbed off, sometimes the skin is excoriated, its 
surface being covered with blood or discharge, but more often there is a 
wound penetrating the cutis. Provided injury he confined to the surface 
of the skin, there is little or no pain, swelling, or lameness, and animals 
continue at work. 
But immediately inflammation extends to the subcutis, a circumscribed 
swelling develops, which is followed by suppuration. The pain becomes 
severe, the animal goes very lame, and sometimes it is unable to bear 
weight on the limb. In extreme cases the entire body is wet with 
perspiration, and fever runs high. In such cases the plantar nerve may 
be inflamed, though more frequently the symptoms are due to cellulitis 
in the subfascial tissues. The condition then becomes very grave, on 
account of the possibility of pus breaking into the fetlock-joint or sheath 
of the flexor pedis perforans. When the tendon sheath is attacked, the 
limb is held as in gonitis, the swelling extends upwards over the meta¬ 
tarsus or metacarpus, and any attempt to flex the lower joints of the 
limb produces great pain. There is almost always fever. 
The injury may be followed by diffuse subcutaneous cellulitis, in 
which case the swelling extends to the hock, or to the knee, invading 
more particularly the inner surface of the limb. The lymph vessels 
are generally swollen, the lymph glands enlarged, and fever is present. 
This condition, which may also be caused by other injuries, is termed 
lymphangitis. The vena saphena may be involved, and thrombosis 
result, but this complication is not so frequent as was formerly sup¬ 
posed ; it seems probable that swelling of the lymph vessels was mis¬ 
taken for thrombosis. The condition has been confused with erysipelas, 
from which it is distinguished by the fact that the subcutaneous 
connective tissue, and not the cutis, is the seat of disease. 
When accompanied by localised necrosis of skin, the affection becomes 
identical with gangrenous grease, dermatitis gangrenosa (which see). 
Finally, wounds caused by striking may produce a chronic dermatitis, 
already described as “verrucous grease.” Wounds due to brushing, 
when not infected, generally heal rapidly, unless the injury is repeated. 
The course taken by injuries due to striking varies very greatly. 
Provided the processes so set up remain aseptic, and the injury be not 
