THE HORSE’S FOOT. 
327 
tissue; this is called seedy toe. This double wall is observed es¬ 
pecially after laminitis of the hind feet; it is more common in 
the donkey and the mule ; it is also noticed in horses with small 
feet, as in those of Oriental breeds. 
The deformities of the horny box due to chronic laminitis 
are not in all cases identical in their character; there are 
degrees in them, and consequently they vary in their features, 
which variations are due to the duration of the disease and its 
intensity, and also, according to H. Bouly, to the primitive form 
of the diseased foot. In a case of chronic founder of the fore¬ 
feet one may often notice a difference between the deformity of 
the left and that of the right foot. The deformities may take 
place at various times, and one may find a well-marked case of 
seedy toe while as yet the wall has preserved its normal oblique 
direction and shown only rudimentary ramy appearances. Again, 
the wall may have undergone changes in its direction only at the 
new hoof, which grows from the coronary band; there is then 
formed between the old wall and the coronet a circular groove, 
sometimes called the digital cavity , the deformities of the wall 
taking place only as it grows down. At times, also, instead of 
the groove, there is a ridge of horn at the coronary band, origin¬ 
ating in the hyper-secretion of the horn, which grows also down¬ 
ward. And, again, there are cases where there is seedy toe and 
still no well-marked alteration of the shape of the wall of the 
sole. 
Chronic laminitis is always accompanied with more or less 
lameness. There are cases, however, where it is missing ; for 
example, in seedy toe. Ordinarily the foot is raised from the 
ground with a convulsive motion, as may be well observed in 
donkeys and mules, which animals rest their feet on the heels. 
This soreness diminishes with time, as the foot, assuming its new 
form, offers a wider space to the sub-ungulated tissues and presses 
less upon them, these tissues having at the same time become 
somewhat atrophied. In cases of hernia of the os pedis the rest¬ 
ing of the foot on the ground is almost impossible, the animal 
being afraid to bear his weight on the sole. The heat and the 
pain of the feet are less marked. The percussion is louder in 
