MR. BROAD IN REPLY TO MR. FLEMING. 325 
a public service were Mr. Wilkinson to see that the plan is 
carried out throughout the service. I think it unnecessary 
to refer to the two cases cited by Mr. Fleming in last month’s 
Veterinarianj as he will find his questions answered by my¬ 
self in my article in the same number. In support of the 
statements made_, I have given the name of one M.R.C.V.S.j 
and, if necessary, I will give that of another who watched 
the cases throughout. They both stated that if they had not 
seen the result, they should not have believed it. As to the 
use of heavy shoes, I refer to an article by Mr. Greaves in 
the Veterinarian of this month (page 299), as he has there 
expressed my views. When I find gentlemen ridiculing the 
practice of nailing heavy shoes on to feet which are infiamed 
and tender, I know that they are theorizing, and have never 
fairly tested the plan. 
Horses with flat weak feet always go better in stout than 
in light shoes. Does not a sportsman with his gun find that 
he can walk all day in a stout heavy pair of boots more com¬ 
fortably than in his dress boots ? Mr. Fleming states that 
he differs from me in the treatment of sunken soles.” If 
the 1865 case be quoted as a praetical example, I certainly 
shall not adopt his plan. For however much soles may be 
sunken, provided there is no suppuration or acute disease 
going on, with my plan of treatment, I expect to render the 
horse workably sound in from two to six weeks, and under 
the same system of shoeing, the feet will gradually improve. 
In nineteen cases out of twenty which are brought for an 
opinion in reference to sunken soles, the simple question is, 
‘'^Can you in a short time render this horse serviceable ? if not 
I will have it destroyed.” In mild cases of laminitis it is not 
necessary to put on special shoes, as exercise and physic are 
sufficient. In neglected cases, or when the old plan of treat¬ 
ment has been adopted unsuccessfully, and suppurative action 
is set up in the bottom of the feet, exercise is not then ad¬ 
visable. It is sometimes necessary to modify the system, in 
very acute cases, where the feet have been previously diseased, 
or the soles sunken, or in case of very large weak flat feet; 
also at any time during the progress of a case, should the 
animal appear suddenly to suffer pain in one or more feet. 
I have undertaken the treatment of cases where at the 
commencement suppuration had advanced so far that all the 
coffin bones were exposed, and separation at the coronet had 
commenced, yet the animals recovered and the soles became 
flat, under the application of my heavy shoes, and dressings 
of tar and Cupri Sulph. in from three to four months. Under 
such circumstances I do not give exercise until the new soles 
have grown strong. 
