32 
SYMPTOMS AND CURE OF 
foot, and on the navicular bone, thus rendering every minute that 
the horse stands conducive to the depression of the navicular bone 
and heels of the cofin bone. But it should be observed, that I 
am not urging the patient to bear his weight on the diseased 
joint till after its inflamed vessels have been relieved by the 
blood-letting. 
The other advantage accruing from the removal of the toe is, 
the freedom which it affords to the quarters, by diminishing the 
great resisting power of the crust (which is generally morbidly 
strong at the toe in navicular lameness), and thereby favouring 
the return of the navicular bone, and heels of the coffin, to their 
natural situations in the homy box. 
Those of the old school were accustomed to rasp the crust in front 
nearly to the quick, from the coronet three-fourths down, a prac¬ 
tice which is now quite discarded, and, in my opinion, with sound 
reason, owing to a practical inconvenience which almost in¬ 
variably occurred from it, viz. a transverse fissure or cleft between 
the new foot and the old, when the crust had grown about three 
parts down, and of itself a source of pain and lameness. The plan 
I propose is exactly the reverse, and consists in removing only 
that lower portion of the crust which they as studiously retained. 
But there is another old method deserving of notice, which is, 
that of applying a high patten shoe to the sound foot, for the 
purpose of compelling the horse to stand upon the lame one, and 
which I highly approve as a principle in the treatment of these 
cases; but I much doubt whether it answers the intended pur¬ 
pose in the manner it is usually employed. It undoubtedly does 
oblige the groggy horse to bear more weight on the lame foot than 
he would have done without such constraint; but let us see how 
the suffering animal instinctively disposes of this distressing 
burthen: his coffin bone being sound, and his navicular bone being 
diseased, and perhaps carious, he will therefore naturally incline 
his weight towards the front of the foot, or fore part of the coffin 
bone : this will have no tendency to depress the heels of that 
bone, which, in my humble opinion, is of paramount importance. 
With regard to the application of blisters to the coronet, I am 
enabled to assert, that I have radically cured very numerous navi¬ 
cular cases by the aforementioned treatment without their aid; 
yet cases of this disease do occur in which I consider them im¬ 
portant auxiliaries. 
It may probably be expected that I should remark on frog 
setons : I have only to observe, that I do not adopt them; and 
I will here state my reasons.* 
As the treatment which I have recommended tends to restore 
lost functions to those highly elastic organs which are placed 
