826 
ON LAMINITIS. 
By Alfred Owles^ M.B.C.V.S., 6th Dragoons. 
Disclaiming all intention of joining in a controversy, I 
beg to be permitted, very briefly, to say a word upon the 
subject of pressure to the soles in cases of laminitis, because 
any opinion coming from so good an authority as Mr. Broad 
undoubtedly is upon this subject, is very likely to be accepted 
by the younger members of the profession without considera¬ 
tion. I may first state that, from a trial of Mr. Broad^s 
special shoes in three cases of chronic foot lameness, I believe 
that an animal feels greater relief from their application in 
such cases than from any other shoe known to me; with 
regard to pressure on the sole in acute laminitis, I take it, 
we who advocate it do so upon principle. The weight of the 
animal must be sustained either by the laminge or conjointly 
by the laminse, sole, and frog, or by the sole and frog alone, 
and just in proportion as pressure is thrown on the sole and 
frog are the laminae relieved of that amount of strain which, 
I think, must give relief to the original seat of disease. Mr. 
Broad^s cases recorded in your present issue appear to me to 
be far wide of the mark, for any one who has seen sawdust 
impacted into the feet of horses, and allowed to remain there, 
knows that it forms a hard cake, and exerts a constant 
pressure upon the sole, almost equal to a large stone, without 
relieving the laminse of the weight of the animal; and it does 
not surprise me that, under such circumstances, Mr. Broad^s 
patients had extensive inflammation of the soles and increase 
of the lameness. We do not say that pressure on the sole in 
inflamed feet is good in itself, but that transferring the weight 
of the animal oft’ the laminae partly to the sole, &c., is of the 
first importance, by relieving the laminae during the acute 
stage; and it is with such an object, I take it, that Mr. 
Fleming advocated the form of pressure which he did. 
I agree with Mr. Broad that any application such as tur¬ 
pentine to the skin of a horse sufficiently potent to induce the 
animal to take exercise is inflicting actual pain to bring about 
a result which, in my opinion, can be obtained in a much 
more agreeable way to the animal, by leading it about, even 
should it be necessary for an assistant to follow with a whip 
to frighten the horse at starting. 
