ON SANDCRACK. 
489 
practice the horn will expand and become flexible, which is a 
most desirable object in all cases of inflammation of the feet. 
Bleeding from the saphena major or pastern veins, or from the 
foot, will be found to give relief ; but, in general, an active purge 
is all that is required in the primary stage. If a case should 
remain a day unrelieved, I would at once have him in the slings. 
When our patient begins to place the foot on the ground, the 
motion must be stayed in the crack ; and that is best effected by 
placing on a shoe with a tip and no heels, which produces quite 
an opposite position of the crust, it being more oblique; the horny 
laminee in front are thrown into action, by which the sensible 
laminae are removed from between the edges of the crack, and its 
sides have a tendency to be drawn nearer together. By means of 
two plans of binding the foot, I have been enabled to suspend 
that annoying motion in the crack which is so difficult to combat. 
The first is, when the two heel nails are driven on each side, to 
turn them down without removing the points : from one of these 
points of -the nails to one on the opposite side pass a wire, and 
cross it from one to the other until a strong band is formed. The 
other two remaining points are to be treated in the same way; 
then two straps should pass over the crack, one near the coronet, 
and the other lower down. To tighten this, a wooden wedge may 
be put between the wire and hoof of each band. The shoe and 
method of binding the sandcrack I have derived the most benefit 
from is shewn in this sketch. The 
shoe has a tip (a), a clip on each side 
the crack (6), and at the heels two 
portions of iron turned upwards, the 
one on the inside being flat, similar to 
a clip, with a hole made in the superior 
part, and an opening cut into it pos¬ 
teriorly for the reception of wire ; the outer one (c) may be said 
to be reversed, in regard to the inner one; and through the per¬ 
foration of this a screw passes with a nut (J). At its opposite 
extremity there is a small hook. A hoof is thus prepared for this 
shoe: the crust is cut away at the toe, and at the superior part 
of the crack is rasped nearly to the coronary ligament, where, in 
most cases, there will be found a species of horn, filling the 
crack before you come to the living parts. 
When the shoe is nailed on, wire is lapped a few times from 
the hook on the screws to the one on the inside heel: these 
lappings are to be placed in the part excavated by the rasp (c), 
or a few of them may be passed over the crack lower down; after 
which, by turning the nut on the screw, these different foldings 
of wire may be drawn so as to fix the motion at the seat of the 
