540 
J. fl. TIMBERMAN. 
tion of the animal has taken place before we were called. 
We frequently find cases in which we are told that the animal 
picked up a nail a few days ago, it was pulled out and tur¬ 
pentine put in, and he did not go a bit lame till this morning, 
when he was found so lame that he couldn’t put his foot to 
• the floor. On examination we will find that for a considera¬ 
ble space in the vicinity of the wound the sole or frog will 
be underrun with serosity or pus, sometimes the whole of 
one side, or the frog being separated from the sensitive frog. 
I make it a rule in these cases to remove all or most of the 
sole or frog which is separated from the sensitive parts, 
especially when the seat of puncture, which is more often the 
case than otherwise, is in one of the commissures of the 
frog, not forgetting that any commissure or concavity on the 
plantar surface of the foot is a convexity or sharp eminence 
within, and the pus in seeking a depending opening will gravi¬ 
tate from such points down toward the toe, causing more and 
more destruction of tissue ; therefore in opening a foot I do 
not hesitate to remove all the separated horn, especially if 
the puncture is anywhere along the side of the frog or in any 
of the commissures, when it is imperatively necessary that 
this should be done, as a small opening around the puncture 
will not allow the escape of the pus which has already found 
a resting place nearer the ground. 
Free opening as early in the case as possible, which means 
the removal of all the separated horn, followed by sufficient 
poulticing to cleanse the parts properly, and this by proper 
antiseptic treatment, insures success in these cases. But what 
shall we say of those cases in which the puncturing substance 
has gone directly into the vicinity of the navicular articulation ? 
I once made a post mortem in a case where something in 
the shape of a boiler rivet with a medium sharp point had 
caused fracture of the navicular bone. I have also seen a 
few cases of puncture of the navicular bursa or sheath. As 
a matter of course these are grave cases, and they may or 
may not be complicated with suppuration and underrunning 
of the sole, though this is entirely lost sight of in the gravity 
of the main trouble. 
