THE HORSE’S FOOT. 
327 
corns, by weakening the region and promoting a more rapid des¬ 
iccation and contraction of the hoof. In all cases of dry and 
moist corn, one must avoid making the parts bleed, the exposure 
of the soft tissues, and all unnecessary cutting. Thinning is 
necessary in suppurative corn ; and has to be done over the whole 
extent of the separation of the horn, and a wide channel of exit 
made for the pus on the side of the sole. It is a wise plan not 
to remove the entire mass of the loosened hoof, as by this the 
dressing will be much facilitated. 
Cold baths are useful in all cases of corns; at other times 
poultices of bran or other material are preferred. Sometimes 
sulphate of iron or of copper are added to the bath, especially in 
the moist corn. In the suppurative kind, when the suppuration 
is irregular, and when complications are likely to follow, warm 
and slightly aromatic baths are better, and after this, a dressing 
with tincture of creosote, renewed the same day or the next. 
Later, cold iron or copper baths may be used again; if the sup¬ 
puration has broken out between hairs and hoofs, injections of 
Villates’ solution, after free escape of the pus by the plantar sur¬ 
face, are indicated. 
In the complicated suppurative corn these means are insuffic¬ 
ient. We must cut deeper, and for this the animal must be 
thrown. Then, when the diseased tissues are exposed by the re¬ 
moval of the loosened hoof, the nature of the lesions must indi¬ 
cate the requirements of the treatment. The velvety and podo- 
phyllous tissues, if gangrenous, must be excised as far as their 
diseased condition extends; carious bone is to be scraped ; the 
fibrous aud fibro-cartilaginous structures, if necrosed, are to be 
excised or cauterized, or sometimes left alone and watched, ac 
cording to the peculiar character and extent of their lesions and 
the extent to which they exist. Once operated on, a dressing 
with plates and bands is applied, and the animal allowed to rise. 
It is by a peculiar shoeing that, for some time, the painful 
heel must be relieved from supporting its part of the weight of 
the body, and protected from outside pressure. This is the “ bar 
shoe.” By the transverse bar, which unites both branches, it 
presents a support to the frog and protects the heels. The rest- 
