310 
B. L. CLARK. 
tion. Relief may be obtained by making an opening at the toe, 
but sloughing and dropping off of the entire hoof is occasion¬ 
ally seen. Gangrene of the snb-horny tissue sometimes takes 
place, though seldom under the influence of excessive pressure, 
especially when there is a sub-horny exudation. When this sets 
in the violent pains suddenly cease, resting is more solid, and 
he moves without difflcnlty ; but at the same time the counten¬ 
ance is anxious and contracted, the pulse becomes small and difli- 
cnlt to count, the temperature diminishes, and the animal has an 
unsteady gait, is indifferent to excitement, and soon he dies from 
septic infection. Chronic laminitis is that condition of the foot 
when resolution has not taken place in ten to fifteen days. 
Treatment .—Give a mild purgative (aloes, I think, is best) ; 
follow with febrifuges ; aconite (the tincture or fluid extract), 
if the fever is high, may be given every two hours. Also give 
potassium nitrate, as it seems to produce good results in this 
disease. Remove the shoes and stand the horse with affected feet 
in hot water as deep as the pastern joint, and let him remain there 
for thirty to forty minutes. Then remove and apply hot soft 
linseed meal poultices. Repeat the bathing two or three times a 
day, and each time apply a fresh poultice. At the end of about 
the third day cease the bathing, and change the poultices every 
twelve hours, until relief has been afforded. At about the third 
or fourth day I think it advisable to give a laxative. Would 
also advise walking exercise, twenty to thirty minutes three or 
four times per day. At the onset of the disease the horse should 
be placed in a loose box-stall, well ventilated, and bedded deeply 
with short straw or sawdust. If the weather is cold clothe him 
warmly. If the appetite is not lost, give soft, easily digested 
food. After the effects of the disease have passed off, he maybe 
shod with a wide-web shoe, and the external wall and sole of the 
hoof should be painted three or four times per week with some 
kind of hoof ointment. During this time he may be put to 
moderate work, or better still, if in sninmer time, turn on wet 
low pasture for several months, which will soften and stimulate 
the growth of the hoof. 
