682 
A. H. BA&EK. 
* 
iar with them they are quite diagnostic. A horse in the 
incipient stage will have intermittent lameness, usually at 
first very slight; he may go out a little sore and soon warm 
out of it; he may go out sound and go slightly lame after 
going a few miles, which may last only a few minutes, or 
until he gets home. This may last a few days and pass off and 
he will go all right perhaps for a month, when it returns, 
oftentimes suddenly when driving. The foot in this early 
stage is usually cool, there is no pointing to rest it, the shoe is 
worn evenly, but close observation will notice that he puts 
that foot down more lightly than the other; this is more 
noticeable when trotting slowly on a floor, when the sore foot 
will make less noise than the sound one. When standing he 
will raise the weight partly off that foot by contracting the 
muscles of the shoulder and arm and slightly straightening 
the pastern. As the disease develops this will be more 
marked, the heels may feel warmer than normal, the foot grows 
Smaller from month to month, the soreness is more marked 
when starting out, but will usually disappear after going a 
couple of blocks, and will be still more so when starting after 
standing for half an hour. He will now wear the shoe more 
at the toes and will occasionally stumble. At first no tender¬ 
ness will be perceptible under percussion by the hammer, but 
as the above condition develops there will be increasing 
sensitiveness from week to week. To draw out an expression 
of pain rap quite heavily on the frog with a hammer of medium 
weight. When these symptoms are sufficiently developed to 
render the diagnosis certain, it is incurable or nearly so. 
Blistering the coronet, removing the shoes and giving a long 
rest at pasture will temporarily relieve it, but when brought 
in and put to work again he will soon go lame the same as 
before, gradually at first but constantly growing worse. We 
try tips, or pads giving frog pressure; he goes worse on them 
than on plain shoes, but raising the heels will give relief. 
On account of unsatisfactory results from other kinds of 
treatment we recommend the low operation of neurotomy. 
The earlier it is resorted to the better. It may be done stand¬ 
ing by giving the horse a moderate dose of chloral, applying 
