CHAPTER III.—PART I.

DISEASES OF THE FEET AND LEGS

Lameness

The adage “No roof, no house,” is matched by “No foot, no horse,” because in either case the value of the thing is measured by the part that is wanting. So lameness or its absence is the essential part to be looked after in a horse. Fortunately it is not always necessary to decide in our practice the precise point, structure, tendon or muscle involved in order to cure, but it is always desirable. Hence the following points are suggested.

If the lameness has come on _suddenly_ during a drive or work, it suggests some accident, or other very recent cause, such as _picking up a nail_ or a _stone_, a _bruise of the sole_, an _over-reach_, or a _strain_ of a _tendon or joint_. If it has come on _slowly_ or _gradually_, it would suggest some more deep-seated or constitutional cause.

If it occurs of having been out, or worked in cold rains, or after work standing uncovered in a cold chill wind, it suggests _rheumatism_ or rheumatic lameness, or _laminitis_, “founder of the feet.”

An examination must always be made quietly. If the horse is excited you are liable to be put upon the wrong track. If the _fore feet_ are affected the hind feet will be likely to be brought far forward in order to take the weight off the sore place. If one fore foot _points_ or is advanced some inches beyond the other, it suggests some difficulty in the heel of that foot or back part of that limb; while, bending the knee and fetlock, and resting the foot or the toe without advancing it, suggests a disease of the shoulder or elbow. In all cases of lameness of _one foot_, that one will rest more lightly on the ground, and be raised more quickly than the other. In exercise when one limb is affected, that foot comes to the ground less heavily than the other, and the head and fore part of the body are elevated, when it comes down and drops again when the sound foot comes down. With lameness in _both_ fore feet the _step is short_, and the stroke on the ground weak, the shoulders stiff, head raised, and hind feet brought unnaturally forward. In lameness on _one side behind_ the rising and falling of the hip on the affected side is more marked than on the sound side. When _both sides_ behind are involved, the fore feet will be kept well back under the animal to relieve the weight. With these hints in mind the location of the trouble may be usually ascertained and the treatment by external applications facilitated. Consult also the special form of lameness or disease which the examination has indicated as the directions or hints given therein may be valuable as _sprain_, _rheumatism_, _bruises_, _corns_, _stifle_, _founder_, _spavin_, _splint_, _etc_.

TREATMENT.—In general, when the point of difficulty is known, and if recent, the place swollen, or heated, apply HUMPHREYS’ MARVEL WITCH HAZEL diluted one-half with water, two or three, or more times per day. In severe cases, put on a compress wet with diluted MARVEL, which renew as often as it gets dry, and give A.A., if there is much heat or fever in the part, a dose say four times per day. When the heat has subsided, or if there is no special fever or heat apparent, give B.B. as often at first, and later or in more indolent or chronic cases a dose morning and night. Later, and especially if the lameness is worse on first morning, give I.I. in place of B.B., or alternate the one morning and the other night.

THE VETERINARY OIL, may be used after the use of the MARVEL, or when there is local swelling, bruise, or any _chafing_, _cut_, _scratch_, or _ulceration_ or for _bruised_ or _broken hoof_ or _corn_. Apply it daily.

Laminitis, Inflammation of the Feet or Founder

This is one of the most frequent diseases of the horse, and one in which the resources of my HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES are very efficient. The sensible lamina or fleshy plates on the front and sides of the coffin-bone, are, like all other vascular structures, very liable to inflammation, particularly from violence or long continued action of the part. Hence, standing long in one position, as in sea-voyages; battering or bruising the feet in severe or long journeys; sudden changes from heat to cold, or from cold to heat, acting directly oil the feet; standing in snow or cold water after a journey, are the more common causes of this disease. It sometimes occurs as a mere transition of the disease from some other part, and occasionally from _excess of food or indigestible food_, or _food when heated_. Many cases of so called FOUNDER are really only attacks of _Acute Rheumatism_; hence consult what is said on that disease, and compare the two chapters for a better understanding of the subject.

SYMPTOMS.—The disease generally begins with a shivering, shaking chill; the flanks heave; the breathing becomes quick and labored; the pulse full and frequent; the horse shifts his feet from one place to another; lies down and rises frequently, but does not paw the ground nor kick his belly; he will sometimes place his lips on the fevered feet, as if to tell where his pain is; he places his hind legs under him, as if to take the weight of his body from the fore-feet; he moans or groans from the severity of the pain and at last lies down, unable to stand upon the inflamed feet. The feet are intensely hot and painful. If one foot is taken up, he can scarcely stand upon the other and may tumble down. He does not like to get up from the ground, and is moved with difficulty from one place to another. If the disease be not arrested, matter may form inside the hoof, which even may be thrown off.

The disease may exist in a more chronic form, coming on by degrees, and eventually resulting in the ruin of the horse.

It is more common to see it in a milder form than the first mentioned presenting the following symptoms: The horse is feverish, out of spirits, refuses to eat, cannot raise his limbs without evincing pain, trails his feet along with difficulty; cannot readily be made to go forward, or backward scarcely at all. In the stable, horses bring the four feet near together, and there is no little difficulty in making them relinquish this attitude.

TREATMENT.—In the more severe cases, the shoes should be removed from the feet, and the hoof pared down until the horn yields to the pressure of the thumb. Give the horse rest, and allow him to lie down, wrap the hoofs in cloths soaked in water, and renew them from time to time. If the disease is from the feet having been battered by long driving or riding, bathing them with HUMPHREYS’ MARVEL WITCH HAZEL will be of great value. In some cases, a cold poultice, made of mashed turnips or carrots, is of excellent service.

The remedy is B.B., of which a dose may be given every three hours, in acute cases. In recent cases, when there is _fever_, _decided lameness_ and _heat of the foot_, and indeed in almost every case, you may better begin with A.A., of which give a dose every two hours, and after three or four doses, alternate with B.B., as often as every two hours, and after the force of the disease has abated, the B.B., may be continued alone at increasing intervals, until entire restoration.

When the disease is clearly traceable to _over-feeding_, the B.B. and J.K., may be alternated from the first, every three or four hours, in doses of fifteen drops.

In case of chronic founder, the B.B. should be given, a dose of fifteen drops, each morning and night, and the treatment continued for some time. An occasional dose of J.K. will be useful as a constitutional intercurrent remedy, and may be given at noon, while the B.B. is given morning and night.

On the Formation of Joints

Joints are formed of bones which fit into each other by unequal surfaces, whose cavities and eminences mutually correspond. As the roughness of the bones would prevent their moving freely without friction, we find an intervening smooth elastic substance called cartilage, which not only obviates this inconvenience, but in a great measure takes off the jar that would otherwise ensue when the horse moves on hard ground. To render the motion still easier, we find the cartilage covered with a fine synovial membrane, secreting a fluid of an albuminous and oily character, which acts in the same capacity as oil to machinery, namely, to prevent friction.

Besides the membranous connection of bones which enter into the formation of joints, there are strong, flexible substances of a fibrous texture called ligaments, which are the chief bond of attachment, and support the lower joints; while others are further strengthened by muscles and tendons. Bursæ mucosæ are small closed sacs which surround the tendons wherever there is friction; they are analogous in structure to the synovial membrane, and secrete a similar fluid.

Synovitis

DEFINITION.—Idiopathic or constitutional inflammation of the synovial membranes. The inflamed membranes never extend beyond a certain size, nor do they burst, nor do they terminate healthily without treatment, but remain in the same condition from year to year. The inflamed condition is most frequently observed at the hock, when it is called Bog-spavin and Thorough-pin. But it is also found affecting the knee and fetlock, and in the latter case is sometimes confounded with Windgalls, which are inflamed bursæ mucosæ.

CAUSES.—Rheumatic Fever; exposure to heat and cold; also friction from quick work on a hard road; sprains.

SYMPTOMS.—Lameness quickly succeeded by swelling of some joints, not of the surrounding fibrous texture, as in true Rheumatism; the swelling in this disease is in the synovial cavity, and the effusion is at first generally serous and unattended by the fever which ushers in the muscular or fibrous Rheumatism. As the inflammation proceeds, coagulable lymph may be thrown out and the joint be permanently enlarged, or, from adhesions, the horse be left with a stiff joint.

GIVE A.A., four times per day at first, then B.B., morning and night.

Ulceration of Articular Cartilage

The inflammation in the synovial membrane sometimes extends to the cartilage, covering the ends of the tibia or astragalus. In such cases there is a diminution of the synovial secretion, also ulceration and wearing away of the cartilage, and a polishing of the surface of the bone, which has been erroneously called a porcelaineous deposit. We have seen this ulceration of the cartilage, and even caries of the bone, in the navicular more commonly than in the bones of the hock; but not a few cases of occult lameness in the hock may be attributed to it. Give B.B. two or three times per day.

Windgalls—Puffs

In the region of the joints, and wherever friction is likely to take place, we find the tendons supplied with little sacs (_bursæ mucosæ_) composed of membrane similar to the synovial, and secreting in health an oily fluid from their internal surface, in very small quantities; but when the tendons become strained, or increased action is set up in them from over-exertion, nature comes to the rescue by increasing the bursal secretion, and we then perceive a slight elastic tumor, called _Windgall_ or _Puff_.

CAUSES.—Tendinous sprains or over-exertion of any kind, and long continued friction from quick work on hard roads. Low, marshy pastures seem to have a tendency sometimes to produce a dropsical effusion in and around the joints of young horses, very similar to the enlarged bursæ from hard work; but they soon yield to constitutional treatment.

SYMPTOMS.—Soft, elastic, circumscribed swellings, at first about the size of a nut, but eventually becoming hard and much larger, which appear in the neighborhood of some of the joints, such as the knee, hock, or fetlock. To the latter, however, the name is usually restricted, although equally applicable to the former; so that when we say that a horse has Windgalls, we mean that he has above, or on each side of, the fetlock, or back sinew, one or more elastic tumors, usually unattended by lameness or any active inflammation. The seat of these bursal enlargements is either between the perforatus and perforans tendons, or between the latter and the suspensory ligament. There is, however, another fetlock Windgall found on the front of the joints, between it and the extensor tendon; and a similar swelling occurs at the supero-posterior part of the knee from the distension of the bursa, between the perforatus and perforans tendons.

PATHOLOGY.—These enlargements were formerly supposed to contain wind, and so obtained their absurd name; but, from what has been already stated, the reader will perceive that they consist in an increase of bursal fluid similar to joint oil, and in a majority of cases do no harm, but are rather to be considered as a beautiful provision of Nature to obviate the baneful effects of friction from over-exertion of the muscles and tendons. Morbid changes, however, do occasionally take place in the bursæ, either from inordinate increase of their contents setting up inflammation in their tissue, or from an extension of the inflammation to contiguous parts, in which not only the bursal sacs, but also the lining membrane of the tendinous sheath, participate, when we find the puffy swelling extending up the leg, above the ordinary seat of Windgall, and very tender on pressure. The effect of this inflammation on the bursæ mucosæ is to cause a thickening of the membrane and a total change in the contents of the sac; the fluid, instead of being a straw-color, becomes reddened from the effusion of blood, which, after death, we find clotted and of a dark color. Lymph also is occasionally effused, giving the tumor a firm, hard feel, which, from calcareous deposits, produces lameness.

I.I., given morning and night, often clears up these blemishes wonderfully.

Seedy Toe

This disorder, frequently a sequel to laminitis, often arises without any assignable cause. It can sometimes be attributed to the clip of the shoe pressing on a hoof predisposed to the disease from deficiency in its natural glutinous secretions, whereby the horn becomes dry and loses its cohesive property, and is unable to resist the pressure from the toe clip, which a healthy hoof would do with impunity. It may also be consequent on gravel or dirt working in at the edge of the sole.

SYMPTOMS.—The horn at the toe (of the fore-feet of troop and riding horses, but frequently the hind feet of cart horses) becomes “seedy,” and crumbles away like so much saw-dust or the dry rot in wood; while at the junction between the wall and sole a fissure will be apparent, leading upward between the outer and inner crusts of the wall, sometimes extending up to the coronet, and in old cases laterally, so that there is some difficulty in finding a piece of horn sufficiently sound to hold a nail, and side clips become necessary in keeping the shoe on. Percussion on the wall of the hoof with a hammer will show to what extent the separation has taken place.

TREATMENT.—The whole of the crust, as far as it is separated from the horny laminæ underneath, must be cut away, and the foot bound up with tar, tow, and broad tape. VETERINARY OIL applied to the coronet will hasten the downward growth of the wall. Keep the horse standing in clay, daily anointing the hoof with VETERINARY OIL. Both means have been successfully tried. Give J.K. morning and night.

Navicular Joint Disease

This disease is far more frequent than is usually supposed, and many horses are ruined by it, the lameness being generally referred to the shoulder or to some other part not at all in fault.

Behind and beneath the lower pastern bone in the heel of the horse, and behind and above the heel of the coffin-bone, is a small bone called the navicular, or shuttle-bone. It is so placed as to strengthen the union between the lower pastern and coffin-bone, and to enable the flexor tendon which passes over it to be inserted into the bottom of the coffin-bone and to act with more advantage. It thus forms a kind of joint with that tendon. There is a great deal of weight thrown on this bone and from this navicular bone on the tendon, and there is considerable motion or play between them in the bending and extension of the pasterns.

It is easy to conceive that from sudden concussion or from rapid and over-strained motion, and at a time when, from rest and relaxation, the parts have not adapted themselves to the violent motion required, there may be excessive play between the bone and tendon, and the delicate membrane which covers the bone or the cartilage of the bone, may become bruised, inflamed and injured, or destroyed, and that all the painful effects of an inflamed and open joint may result, and the horse be incurably lame. Numerous dissections have shown that this joint thus formed by the tendon and bone, has been the frequent and almost invariable seat of these obscure lamenesses. The membrane covering the cartilage becomes inflamed and ulcerated; the cartilage itself is ulcerated and eaten away, the bone has become carious, and bony adhesions have taken place between the navicular and pastern and coffin-bones, and this part of the foot has become completely disorganized and useless.

SYMPTOMS.—The degree of lameness is various; the horse may show lameness the first hundred steps, or the first mile or two, and then less or scarcely at all; he is inclined to “point” or keep the affected foot in advance of the other when standing; he may show lameness on stone or pavement and not on turf or ground; if both feet are badly affected, the horse favors his heels, has short action, and wears away the toes of his slices, leaving the heels undiminished in thickness; the hind feet may be kept well under him to diminish the pressure upon the fore-feet; in the stable, he is mostly lying down; heat of the foot and heel, especially the heel.

TREATMENT.—In the earlier stages when there exists only irritation and inflammation, and no changes of structure or disorganizations have yet occurred, the A.A., together with cold applications kept to the foot will be sufficient. Give a dose of fifteen drops four times per day.

In more extreme or advanced cases, the sole should be pared down and the quarters rasped, and shoe worn without nails on the inner quarter, to unbind as far as possible the imprisoned bone, and the foot kept anointed with the VETERINARY OIL, and the use of B.B., the main remedy. These will be successful in the incipient or milder stages of the disease and will vastly benefit old or chronic cases.

Sand Crack, Quarter Crack

That is a separation of the fibres of the hoof from above downward—rarely crosswise. The usual treatment is to drill two holes through _each side of the crack_ and then pass copper or iron wire through them. Both ends of the wire are then drawn and clinched down and fastened in the same way as the nails in shoeing. The crack itself is then to be filled with cobbler’s wax after having been thoroughly cleaned out. Give also, ten drops of the J.K., morning and night, to promote the growth of the hoof.

A yet better method is to properly prepare a _horse shoe nail_ by cutting _bards along in it_, _from head to point_. Then drive the nail from one side of the crack through to and beyond the other at least half an inch from the crack. The clinching of the point of the nail will drive the bards back and firmly fasten them, and the head and point may be filed down and smoothed off. A long crack should have two nails. The shoe should be so fitted and the hoof so pared away, as to _take the bearing off from the cracked portion_, and as the hoof again grows down, it should be again _cut away between the hoof and shoe with a saw_, so as to keep the bearing of the cracked part of the hoof free. You thus rivet the broken parts together, and by taking off the strain allow the crack to grow out, and heal up. Of course a horse with a quarter crack should only be put to the most moderate work, if any, as violent exercise or hard work will be sure to aggravate and increase the difficulty, and may render a cure impossible.

Quarter crack only occurs when some brittleness or defective horny growth is present. Correct this defect by giving the J.K., fifteen drops, morning and night, and apply HUMPHREYS’ VETERINARY OIL to the crack as often.

Corns

A corn is a bruise upon the sole of the foot at the angle between the wall and the bar, and has this resemblance to the corn in the human subject, that it is produced by pressure and results in lameness. It may be caused by contracted feet; cutting away the bars: too thick-heeled shoes or weak, flat feet; dirt getting between the shoe and heel of the foot; or from not having the foot sufficiently pared out.

SYMPTOMS.—The pressure arising from these causes produces an irritation, congestion, soreness, and even extravasation of blood under the horn, with often a reddish appearance and a softer feel than other parts of the sole. The place is painful when pressed upon, the horse flinches and is more or less lame. In bad cases matter may form, and unless a vent is made, may underrun the sole or appear at the coronet in the form of a Quittor.

TREATMENT.—In most cases, simply apply the VETERINARY OIL to the sore place night and morning after having properly cleansed the foot. See that the shoe does not press upon the sore place, but has its bearing upon the outer crust of the hoof. If matter has formed under the corn, the dead horn may be removed and a vent made and a poultice applied to soften and discharge the matter, after which apply the VETERINARY OIL until the soreness is removed. Give I.I. mornings and J.K. at night, and keep the OIL applied to the surface. Change the poultice and dressing each night and morning. In a few days the foot will be ready to shoe in the usual way, using, however, a leather sole to keep out the dirt. If a quittor has formed, it should be treated as such.

Prick in the Foot

Sharp substances, such as nails, glass, pointed stones, or similar substances, not unfrequently penetrate the foot in traveling, or the shoe may be partly torn off, and the loosened nail be thrust into the foot, or a nail may go wrong in shoeing.

When a sharp pointed object is picked up on the road, it may enter the toe of the frog and wound the navicular joint, or the flexor, at its insertion into the pedal bone, and let out the “joint oil,” in which case there is danger of permanent injury. The wound may lie further back, and be in the bulbous heels or cushion of the frog; in this case there is less danger.

In shoeing, the nail may be driven too near the laminæ, or even wound them; in the latter case the horse _will flinch_; in the former he may not feel the nail till he _puts his foot to the ground_. If on the day after shoeing he walks lame, the foot is hot to the touch, the horse flinches when the crust is tapped with a hammer, especially where there is a nail, it may be assumed that the shoeing is at fault.

SYMPTOMS.—Lameness, with heat in the foot and tenderness on pressure. In some cases, no matter will be found, but in others a black serous or purulent discharge will issue from the wound when opened, and the sole will probably be underrun.

TREATMENT.—If there is simply _heat of the foot_ and _lameness_, remove the shoe, see that all nails or parts of nails, or other foreign substance is taken out. Apply and keep the foot wet with HUMPHREYS’ MARVEL WITCH HAZEL and give the A.A., once in three hours, to reduce the inflammation. If matter has formed, LET IT OUT. Apply the VETERINARY OIL to the hole or orifice, and give A.A. and B.B., in alternation, a dose four times per day, and later the B.B. and I.I., to dry up the discharge. If the horse is required for work before the horn has covered the wound, a leather sole and the VETERINARY OIL dressing must be used.

Quittor

This is a deep, narrow ulcer, opening upon the coronet, and leading into an abscess in the foot. It may be caused by treads, or overreaches, or corns, but most commonly from prick of a nail or other sharp substance. It is attended with more or less lameness; heat and pain in the foot, and discharge of matter from the open wound. But if it has been caused by the matter from a corn, the coronet above the heel will have upon it a hard, painful swelling, which afterward becomes softer and larger.

TREATMENT.—If the quittor arises from a wound of the sole or prick, after the wounded part has been pared out and poulticed, then with a probe gently find out the direction and number of pipes, and with a fine syringe, inject HUMPHREYS’ MARVEL WITCH HAZEL of full strength into the opening, two or three times per day. The VETERINARY OIL is better if you can get it into the opening.

When it arises from a corn in the heel, and matter has got into the coronet, the swelling must be cut into and the discharge let out; then poultice night and morning, inject the MARVEL as before, rasp down the wall of the hoof until it yields to the pressure of the thumb, and put on a bar-shoe. Roll a bandage around the coronet to keep the dirt out from the quittor.

If there is some considerable heat and fever, the A.A., may come in play giving fifteen drops four times per day. But the I.I., should be given, fifteen drops three times per day, at first, and then morning and night.

Spavin

This is an affection of the tendons, ligaments, and bursa connected with the hock. From a strain, violent exercise, or similar cause, an increased action is set up in these parts which glide upon each other, irritation results and the parts enlarge. Or, an exudation of serum occurs, tinged or not with blood, which may be absorbed afterward or remain for a long time a soft movable tumor; or by degrees an ossific or bony deposit takes place, resulting in a firm, hard, bony tumor. These several stages or degrees of the same common affection have been termed _Bog-Spavin_, _Blood-Spavin_, and _Bone-Spavin_. Windgalls and Thorough Pins are but local variations of the same essential condition—enlargements of the bursa and tendons of the joint. It usually shows itself on the inner and lower side of the hock at the lower portion of the joint. A careful comparison of the two legs with the eye and hand will best disclose the evil. “Sometimes it appears as a soft swelling of the femoral vein along the inner surface of the hock. Or, again, as a hot, painful, lameing swelling, extending from the posterior border of the hock downward, which may afterward become a hard, bony tumor, insensible, causing the animal to limp only when making some exertion. Or, the swelling extends along the inner surface of the hock, oblong, a little broader above than below, bony, sometimes involving the entire joint, and occasioning more or less limping. Or a soft round swelling over the whole internal surface of the hock, at first not impeding the horse’s gait, but afterward becoming indurated and causing a rigidity of the hock and consequent lameness. Or a hard osseous swelling at the upper and inner side of the femur, causing a lameness depending upon the extent to which the ligaments of the joints are involved.”

At first the animal seems afraid to use one or the other of the hind legs, and a little lameness is noticed on first starting off. Afterward, when returning to the stable after exertion, the horse stands on the toe of the affected limb, and limps considerably on turning around and first commencing to walk; after moving a little, the lameness disappears, and only returns again after he has been standing some time. This will soon be followed by swelling.

CAUSES.—There is a predisposition to this affection in some families of horses, and when this predisposition exists, strains, violent exertion, over-work, a blow or other injury, readily develops the spavin. Horses with high legs, from three to seven years of age, are most liable to it.

TREATMENT.—In the earlier stages, while the lameness is yet recent, and little or no swelling has appeared, bathing the joint with HUMPHREYS’ MARVEL WITCH HAZEL and giving B.B., night and morning, doses of fifteen drops, will be sufficient to remove the lameness and generally prevent the swelling. When the swelling is still soft and recent, bathing the joint with THE MARVEL and giving the B.B., night and morning, will reduce the swelling and relieve the lameness.

In all other cases of spavin, whatever may be its particular form or situation, give fifteen drops of B.B., each morning and night, see that the legs are well rubbed, with but moderate daily work or exercise. The pain, lameness, and subsequent exudation of bony matter depend upon the affection of the ligaments of the joint. This being relieved, the whole affection disappears. All recent and soft spavins may be successfully treated thus, and even the most inveterate ones will be relieved and benefited. It is not pretended or presumed that old chronic, years’ standing spavins, when there are extensive ossific dispositions or necrosis, are to be caused to disappear by this or any medicine. But all those incipient cases may be thus cured and even the old enlargements vastly improved.

Splint

In consequence of an injury a bony tumor arises in the inside of the fore-leg below the knee; sometimes, though rarely, it is seen on the outside, and even on the hind legs. After having existed some time, they seldom occasion lameness, except so situated as to interfere with the action of the tendons or ligaments of the legs. During the forming stage, the horse is lame because the periosteum or covering of the bone is inflamed, but after this has subsided and the bony exudation is thrown out, it disappears, except in the case above mentioned. In some cases, in the beginning, the feet are hot and painful, the animal likes to remain lying down; and if only the fore-feet are affected, he puts them down with great care and evident pain, and there is general fever and suffering, which passes off with the more decided local manifestation. If the tumor is of some standing, it may be quite difficult or impossible to cause its disappearance. But happily these old hardened tumors seldom interfere with the essential usefulness of the animal.

TREATMENT.—In most cases if there is heat and feverish excitement of the system, give fifteen drops of A.A., and B.B., alternately, five times per day, that is, a dose of B.B. morning, noon and night, and a dose of A.A., at say ten o’clock in the forenoon and at three in the afternoon, until the heat and lameness are partially subdued, and then give B.B., morning and night, until the lameness and irritation have entirely subsided. Old cases may only require a dose every day.

Ring Bone

Consists of an enlargement and ossific deposit (near the fetlock joint) in consequence of a strain and inflammatory action. It may appear on one or both sides of the foot, or completely surround it, giving rise to the name. One or more feet may be affected by it. It is generally recognized by a mere bony enlargement on one or both sides of the pastern, and the lameness is not very considerable.

TREATMENT.—At the commencement bathe the part with HUMPHREYS’ MARVEL WITCH HAZEL or VETERINARY OIL from day to day, and give fifteen drops of B.B., three times a day. In chronic cases, give a dose morning and night, or even only once per day. Cases of considerable standing will materially improve, and recent or fresh cases may be permanently restored.

Thrush and Canker

This disease is an inflammation of the lower surface of the sensible frog, which secretes matter of a peculiar offensive smell, instead of healthy horn. The matter issues from the cleft of the frog. In a sound frog the cleft is shallow, but when contracted or otherwise diseased, the cleft deepens even to the sensible horn within, and through this the matter issues. Afterwards the discharge becomes more abundant and offensive; the frog wears off and a fresh growth of horn fails to appear. It then becomes thin, shriveled, contracted and fissured; and as the disease extends, the matter becomes still more fetid, and may terminate in a yet more unmanageable form of disease, namely, _canker_. In Thrush, the frog is painful when pressed upon by the thumb or pincers, or when the animal treads upon a stone. As a consequence of neglected thrush, the horn may separate from the sensible part of the foot, and unhealthy vegetations, proud flesh, fungous matter spring up, occupying a portion or the whole of the sole of the frog, and finally involving frog, sole and bars, in a mass of putrefaction, constituting the worst form of _canker_.

TREATMENT.—As thrush is often caused by uncleanliness and constant moisture of the feet, the greatest care must be taken to keep them dry and clean, and especially from dung and urine. If connected with contracted fore-feet, particular care must be given to shoeing.

The frog should be carefully pared down and all loose, ragged portions removed in order to prevent the accumulation of matter and dirt. The discharge wiped off by means of a tow pressed down into the cleft with a thin piece of wood. Then smear the frog and cleft with a mixture composed of half an ounce of _sulphate of copper_ (blue vitriol) and six ounces of tar made into a paste or the VETERINARY OIL. A small piece of tow dipped in this mixture should also be placed in the cleft, or in whatever part of the frog a sinus, hole or cleft exists. In bad cases, repeat the dressing daily; in others, once in two or three days is sufficient. If the dressing is properly applied it will not fall out or admit the entrance of dirt. Should the frog be extensively diseased, a bar-shoe may be necessary, and the dressing will then be kept in place by the cross bar of iron, or a leather sole may be used under the shoe.

Throughout the treatment give fifteen drops of I.I., each morning and fifteen drops of J.K., every night, for the growth of healthy hoof.