820 
DISEASES OF THE FOOT. 
is produced more easily and thoroughly, whilst the daily exercise assists 
recovery. 
Such treatment is useful where the ground surface only of the hoof, 
i.e., the frog, sole, and bars, is affected, but is valueless in disease of 
the wall. The regular pressure on the new growth here plays the 
principal part. Recovery often follows this treatment. 
A somewhat similar effect is produced by using the animal on soft 
ground, especially if shoes can be dispensed with. The process makes less 
rapid progress while the horse is at regular work than during rest—a fact 
to be borne in mind. Should all other treatment fail, the animal should, 
if possible, be exercised. The effect is sometimes astonishingly good. 
Nocard some years ago recommended vigorous treatment with 
sublimate solution. After completely exposing and carefully cleansing 
the diseased spot, it is sprayed for two hours and a half with 1 per 
cent, sublimate solution. The sole is then dried, and its surface 
sprayed for ten minutes with iodoform ether. Nocard gives Fowler’s 
solution inwardly to the extent of 10 drachms in eight days. Later 
reports by this author and others show, however, that even this 
treatment sometimes fails. 
It need only be repeated that more is due to care in carrying out opera¬ 
tive treatment and skill in applying the dressings than to the selection 
of the material, though the latter plays a by no means unimportant role. 
A change of dressing is also desirable from time to time, and the local 
treatment should be supplemented by internal medication with such 
materials as arsenic or the iodides. The use of caustics should not be 
pushed to excess, and when the discharge ceases it is better to replace 
them with milder applications and with disinfectants. Although the 
principles here set forth are sufficient to guide treatment, yet close 
personal observation is necessary, and in many cases it may appear 
advisable to try certain of the other materials suggested. 
C. DISEASES OF THE CLAWS IN CATTLE 
ANE SHEET. 
Although the claws of herbivora and swine are homologous with the horse’s 
hoof, yet they differ considerably from it in their outer form, and still more in 
their internal arrangements. Lisease processes in the claws, therefore, show 
a general resemblance to diseases of the hoof, though they exhibit many special 
features, dependent chiefly on the duplicate formation of the claws, and on their 
union by ligaments and soft tissues, partly on the absence of the frog and bars, 
and on other peculiarities of formation. 
The claw consists of a horny wall surmounted by a coronary band, and of 
a horny sole with bulbs similar to those of the horse’s heel. These perform 
the function of the frog, which, with the bars, is absent in ruminants. In 
medium-sized cattle the horny wall attains, on its outer part, a thickness of 
about As of an inch, whilst the inner, which lies in contact with its fellow, is 
