THE HORSE’S FOOT. 
295 
even when their dark coloj* and softened condition indicated the 
smallness of their chance of conservation. The success of the 
operation after a first dressing, has shown the wisdom of the 
plan of non-interference; they were found covered with a new 
layer of yellowish hoof; and D’Arboval has on several occasions 
observed the same results. 
The dressing must bo methodically and carefully applied. 
Done well, a dressing greatly assists in the recovery, while many, 
when badly performed, have been the cause of serious complica¬ 
tions, which have greatly hindered the repairing process, and 
often, indeed, rendered a disease incurable, which need not to 
have been beyond remedy. In the application of the dressing, 
two points are important to consider ; first, we must dress the sub¬ 
cutaneous wound, resulting from the separation of the skin and 
the extraction of the fibro-cartilage; the other, that of the 
sub-horny wound, produced by the removal of the portion of the 
quarter. Both are important, but the second requires the greater 
care, and is more difficult and more important than the former; 
any excess in the sanguineous circulation must be prevented, 
and excessive granulations must be kept under control. The 
dressing, then, must be somewhat compressive, without being 
excessively rigid, in order to obviate possible danger of excessive 
inflammation; not too loose "and so soft as to allow hemorrhage, 
or the undue proliferation of granulations. It must be both sup¬ 
ple and firm, and of an even and uniform pressure. The proper 
material is balls of oakum for the subcutaneous wound, and pads 
of the same material for the sub-horny, the first being moistened 
with alcohol, while the others are made dry. 
It is in question whether we should aim to obtain immediate 
adhesive union of the wound resulting from the removal of the 
cartilage, or in other words, whether it is good treatment to in¬ 
troduce some material of dressing between the skin and the bot¬ 
tom of the wound. Here opinions vary. Our belief is, that ibis 
union is by no means easy to secure; and that the removal of 
the cartilage, more or less altered, prevents it at various points. 
Still, we must not raise the skin too much, and choosing a middle 
course between, only a small soft ball of oakum is now placed in 
