618 
GEORGE j. goubeaud. 
shoe-boil during treatment; still these cases wore no shoes. 
Secondly, I can’t understand how an animal can lie with 
comfort and ease in the recumbent position and injure his elbow 
so severely as to produce shoe-boil and its complications—even 
to a fracture of the olecranon. The skin and underlying struc¬ 
tures of the elbow region are sensitive. They will not admit of 
any pressure without the animal evincing signs of pain and dis¬ 
comfort. The animal will not lie sufficiently long upon the 
shoe or foot to cause this abnormality. The position itself is 
abnormal; the animal cannot rest with ease, and he will not lie 
in this position. Supposing, for the sake of argument, that the 
animal with shoe does lie in this position, would not the skin 
and underlying structures suffer more severely than they do by 
resulting in sloughing, due to the pressure of the skin and 
structures beneath. We will say that a pressure of 200 lbs. is 
applied to the elbow for half an hour, would we not have a large 
slough take place, due to interference with the circulation? 
Would not a slough of this region be common ? But a slough 
does not take place. It is rare. But when it does occur it is not 
the result of pressure, but of acute inflammation, terminating in 
pus formation, and the part which has become injured becomes 
gangrenous. The skin breaks, thus making an exit for the im¬ 
prisoned pus. Would not this result be common ? Would not 
the complications be grave due to the danger of septic infection ? 
Would not their removal be an uncommon procedure ? How 
often would we be called to enucleate the mass of new tissue 
which has formed ? 
I think very seldom. Suppurative inflammation would do 
that—and there would be no reason for our interference. If the 
heel of the shoe causes shoe-boil, why is it that horses which 
never had the affection become diseased after wearing pads for 
periods ranging from two months to two years? The rubber is 
soft, pliable and flexible. It cannot possibly cause an injury. 
It yields to pressure, and still these horses have shoe-boils. I 
could go still further in proving that the shoe does not, by any 
means, nor under any circumstances, cause shoe-boil, but sufli- 
