THE HORSE’S FOOT. 
431 
four centimeters, in such a way that from one heel to the other 
there was only a very thin coat, which he protected with basilic- 
on ointment. The coronet was then stimulated with a little oil 
of cantharidos. Under this treatment a new growth of hoof is 
started, not so protruding, and by paring down by degrees the 
hoof, a new foot was grown in a few months, less deformed and 
more regular. 
Meyer and Gunther say that they have obtained good suc¬ 
cess with this treatment, which nearly resembles that of Gohier 
and Dehau, except that with those the entire wall was pared 
down to a thin pellicle, flexible under the pressure of the finger. 
Silberman advised to place around the hoof, below the coronary 
band, after paring it down thin, a band of steel, two fingers wide, 
which could be tightened by a screw placed at the heels. In this 
way the secretion of the coronary band was kept, under control, 
but not that of the podophyllous tissue. 
Generally in these cases the suppleness of the hoof must be 
kept up by appropriate topics. It must be cut off when too 
thick, and a shoe must be applied sufficiently wide in the web to 
protect the anterior part of the sole as far as the point of the 
frog. This shoe must be quite hollow on the foot surface, so as 
to avoid any pressure upon the sole. It must be nailed on prin¬ 
cipally at the heels, as nails at the toe would not hold sufficiently. 
Between the shoe and the foot a piece of gutta percha, or felt or 
leather may be put on. Thus shod, a horse will still do long ser¬ 
vice, even in cities, and much more in the country. 
When there is a wound at the sole, with separation of the 
part, suppuration, caries of the os pedis, which protrudes through 
the sole, it is advised to have recourse to a surgical operation. The 
contents of the abscess under the sole must be evacuated, and the 
sole thinned down in the entire plantar region. If the bone is 
carious it is scraped, the necrosed parts are removed, and a pro¬ 
per dressing, kept up by plates under the shoe, is put on. There 
are a few cases where by this treatment horses have been enabled 
to resume their work. 
Often in chronic laminitis when, notwithstanding the opera¬ 
tion and the shoeing, the horse is unable to resume his work, ac¬ 
cording to H. Bouley, the operation of neurotomy will then be 
