620 
GEORGE J. GOUBEAUD. 
a case? This animal could not bring his elbow in contact with 
the foot because of the presence of the pad, neither could he rest 
upon his frog or heel, and still his case presented a well-developed 
tumor of the elbow. I have not as yet heard that a horse can 
lie upon his toe or sole. It is possible that he might do so, but 
I have not seen that kind of horse. Now, supposing that the 
horse does rest the elbow upon the foot, and supposing that the 
weight upon each foot is ioo lbs. Take a hoof pincer and 
squeeze the foot to about a 25-pound pressure. Watch how he 
yields and squirms. Continue the pressure ; watch how he jerks 
away the foot. Continue the pressure, and, unless you are heav¬ 
ier than I, you will dangle in the air like the tail end of a kite 
befoie a stiff bieeze. \ou will say that this kind of pressure is 
too localized. Well, place an inch and one-half iron plate on 
the wall and one upon the sole and bars. I can assure you that 
if the animal has a sensitive foot and is nervous you will do it 
only once. Compress both walls, or the inside heel, and the 
outside quarter, and you have the same result. Now, suppose 
that the animal s foot is devoid of sensation, and two large poul¬ 
tices of bran are placed upon his feet. He could not lie upon 
his feet because of the largeness of the poultices. The poul¬ 
tices are anything but hard, and still this horse develops two 
large shoe-boils over night. Now, suppose you had a case of 
sloughing of the plantar cushion, and your patient had a poul¬ 
tice of bran upon his foot that extended almost to the knee. It 
was sufficiently large to make three ordinary poultices, and this 
horse develops shoe-boil. Now, how could the hoof cause shoe- 
boil in these two cases, when the elbow and foot were over three 
inches apait, and separated by a soft pad or cushion ? Still these 
two cases had shoe-boils. In order to keep the foot and shoe 
away fiom the elbow the shoe-boil ring is ordered. It is made 
twice the average size, and placed above the foot every night. 
The one ling is put on to prevent a recurrence, and the other is 
placed above the foot to act as a preventive. The owner sends 
for you three months afterwards, and you find a well-developed 
tumor upon the elbow of the leg which had not been previously 
