150 
CHRONIC FOOT LAMENESS. 
lame, less or more, for above three years. He was then six. He 
had been deemed a young one of very high form by his breeder, 
and looked forward to as promising to become a likely Ledger 
horse; but when in training, or two year old, he got amiss be¬ 
fore, and was obliged to be put off work that year. When again 
trained, or three year old, he went very queer, and was again 
necessitated to be laid by. Subsequently he was sold into Ire¬ 
land, where he was ridden in some capacity or«other for a time. 
I am not, however, pertinently informed of the particulars of his 
career up to the time I first saw him, saving his having been 
ever more or less lame, and that the cause, at various times, had 
been assigned to and treated in sundry places, from his shoul¬ 
ders to his feet. I was then attending the Veterinary College as 
a pupil, but had been casually called into Scotland for a short 
period, where I saw him. Mr. Coleman's lectures on the foot, 
which prove to most so attractive, had particularly interested and 
biassed my attention. Here, by the way, I may observe, “ tem - 
pora mutantur , et nos mutamur in illis” seems to be a popular 
motto with some who are ambitious to walk only in their own 
paths, I suppose, in regard to the views of this organ their lec¬ 
turer once developed so singularly to their satisfaction; but, for 
me, I avow myself un-emancipated from my first creed. This 
horse's legs were particularly clean and fresh : his feet moderately 
sized, open-heeled, and what would be termed ordinarily good 
hoofs; and altogether the cause of the lameness seemed very ob¬ 
scure. His owner declared it was seated in the shoulders, past 
all doubt; his action, however, indicated it should be sought for 
in the feet. The supposition that a horse might be lame who 
had, to appearance, a very fine foot, from the latter being too 
strong, or from having a thick and unyielding sole (he was a very 
light-shouldered and topped horse), induced me to seek for the 
cause in the foot. The foot was a strong one, and the sole concave 
and thick; but the frog, though its outward form was good, I 
found on cutting it to be of a consistence like soft curd. I have 
seen, however, sound horses with stronger feet; but, taking one 
thing with another, I assigned this as the origin and cause of the 
lameness. I was so much struck with him as a high-bred, fine, 
large horse, that, for the sake of experiment, I bought him; 
of course, not giving any large figure. 
I had an outhouse prepared, one half of the floor covered some 
depth with clay and kept moist, and into this I put the horse. 
His soles were thinned; the hoofs and quarters rasped ; blood 
extracted from the vessels over the lateral cartilages, and a dose 
of physic given. A few days afterwards his coronets were blis- 
