The success of treatment, in a great measure, depends upon the disorder being early detected. Get the horse immediately into slings, as was directed for acute laminitis, and proceed in the same manner with the removal of the shoe. Omit all bleeding. If the bowels are costive, allow a portion of green-meat until the evil is removed; but do not produce purgation. All medicine of a debilitating character must be withheld. Give, night and morning, a quart of stout; allow two drinks, each containing one ounce of ether, in half a pint of water, during the day. This, with half-drachm doses of belladonna as needed to allay any symptoms of pain, will constitute the whole of the treatment.

As regards food, it should consist of sound oats previously ground, and a moderate allowance of crushed, old beans. The water should be whitened, and all hay strictly withheld. The animal should not be left night or day, and gentleness should be enjoined upon its attendant. The food, however, should not be without limit; five feeds of corn are enough for one day, if the horse will eat so much.

Should dropping of the coffin-bone end the attack, it is only charity to terminate the existence. In Mr. W. Percival's admirable work the reader will find described at length a method proposed for restoring the bone to its original position. The author has seen that plan tried more than once, but never beheld any good result. The knacker has, in every case, been called in to finish the unsuccessful experiment.

The horse, however, which recovers from an attack of laminitis, either in the acute or subacute form, should ever after be shod with leather; and were this admirable practice universal, probably, by deadening concussion, it might altogether eradicate the disease. The expense is the objection to its adoption; but against the cost, the horse proprietor has to ask himself, What are a few shillings extra, at each shoeing, to secure immunity from that horrible disorder to which the servant of his pleasure is exposed?

NAVICULAR DISEASE.

This is the scourge of willing horse-flesh; it is the disease from which favorite steeds mostly suffer; it is not less fatal in its termination than vexatious in its course and painful during its existence.

The malignancy of the disorder is expended upon the substances which in health are without feeling, but which occasion the most acute anguish when affected by disease—namely, bone, tendon, and synovial membrane. Strictly confined to these structures, and frequently limited to a space not half an inch in diameter, the suffering it occasions is such as often provokes the sacrifice of the life, and invariably renders the animal next to useless.

It is confined to the interior of the foot, being, as its name implies, strictly located upon the navicular bone. The navicular bone is a small bone attached to the posterior portion of the os pedis, and resting upon the perforans tendon, which is inserted into the inferior surface of the coffin-bone. A synovial sac is placed between the navicular bone and superior surface of the tendon, on which the ossoeus structure reposes. Synovial sacs are only found in places where motion is great and almost incessant; thus the existence of this formation apprises us that the bone and tendon, in a healthy state, are designed to move freely upon each other. They do this while unaffected by disease; the foot, indeed, cannot be flexed, extended, retracted, or placed upon the ground without this busy little joint being put into motion. It is, perhaps, as essential a part—though of small size—as any of the larger structures which enter into the horse's body.

Navicular disease, however, affects only the lower surface of the bone; the upper surface shares another synovial sac, which lubricates the articulation of the coffin-bone with the lower bone of the pastern. This upper surface is never affected; the navicular bone may diminish or wither through disease, still the affection remains confined to its original situation; disease may lead to fracture of the bone or to rupture of the perforans tendon, still the superior portion of the navicular bone to the last exhibits a healthful condition.

This most annoying and terrible disorder springs from two causes. The first was a very favorite crotchet of the late Professor Coleman, who was always theorizing to the injury of the animal it was his office to cure. The disease is now largely distributed through that gentleman's favorite maxim concerning the absolute necessity that there should be pressure upon the frog. Every smith thus instructed tried to bring the frog as near the ground as possible, and the consequence was the spread of navicular disease. It is true, the frog, in a state of nature, was designed to bear pressure; but surely it is folly to talk about the natural condition of the horse when nothing like a wild horse exists. Here was Coleman's error; he legislated for the most artificial of living creatures, which consumes only prepared food, and which moves only over laboriously manufactured roads, as if it had been in an undomesticated condition, gamboling upon the unfilled earth.

The second cause is, the parsimony of most horse proprietors. Would these gentlemen have their favorites shod with leather, the smith would be obliged to slightly raise the frog; while the leather—if good, stout, sole leather—and the stopping would protect the seat of navicular disease from injury. With regard to the first cause, it was recognized by the late W. Percival, one of Coleman's most enthusiastic pupils; and, as concerns the last, its efficacy as a preventive needs no pleading nor any reference to establish its merits.

The horse, when attacked, commonly has a good open foot—in fact, before disease commences, the foot is healthy. An animal in this condition is being ridden or slowly led out of the stable. In the last case it, being fresh, may rejoice to feel and sniff the cool air of heaven. It may prance about, and we may admire its attitudes; but in an instant it becomes dead lame. So a horse may be mounted by a kind master; the creature may be going its own pace, when, of a sudden, the movement shall change, and the rider will be made conscious that his steed is lame.

In either case the foot is examined. It is cool, quite cool; no stone appears to have injured it—nor is any pebble sticking between the web of the shoe and the sole. Yet the lameness is acute and does not pass off. Now, to explain this, let the reader turn to the illustration which was last presented.

The portion of the foot, immediately under the navicular bone, has been placed upon a stone; the stone has been forced against the foot by the immense weight of the horse imposed upon it. The stone, under this impulse, has bruised the navicular bone. But the fleshy frog and the perforans tendon would have to be passed before this effect could reach the bone. Are neither of these also hurt? Doubtless they are. But the fleshy frog is a highly organized, secretive organ, and probably, by its innate energy, soon recovers from the effect. The tendon is, on the contrary, too soft and yielding to retain any harsh impression. The bone is firm and solid; and thus that which failed to act upon either of the intervening parts, leaves a lasting injury upon the osseous structure, which, moreover, is held stationary by the coronary bone, and which is disposed to display injury, being covered by synovial membrane.

The navicular bone belongs to a peculiar class called "sesimoid, or floating bones." These are more highly organized than the generality of osseous structures—in short, quite as much, or rather more, than the human tooth. Everybody must be acquainted with the anguish occasioned by unexpectedly biting upon a hard substance. The tooth, however, is coated with crystalline enamel. The bone is covered by delicate synovial membrane. The impression is, therefore, more likely to be lasting with the last than the first.

After the expiration of a week, however, the lameness disappears, and the proprietor fondly hopes all is over. The animal may work soundly for months—sometimes it never fails again. Generally, however, after some period, extending from six to nine months, the lameness reappears. This time the treatment occupies a longer space; and the subsequent soundness is of shorter duration. Thus the malady progresses; the period occupied in curative measures lengthens, while the season of usefulness diminishes; till, in the end, the horse becomes lame for life.

The worst of it is, that the pain in the lame foot occasions greater stress to be thrown upon the sound member; the result generally is that both legs ultimately become affected with the like disease: such is ordinarily the case. The horse with a tender foot will always bring it gently to the earth; but this circumstance obliges the animal to cast the other foot to the ground with heedless impetuosity. The consequence is, the sound foot is sooner or later forced upon some stone or other inequality; from the law of sympathy, the disease subsequently makes rapid strides; for at death both feet are usually found in a similar condition.

The effect of these repeated attacks is soon shown. The anguish has been likened to toothache, only it must assuredly be a toothache twenty times magnified. All people know "there never yet was philosopher who could withstand the toothache;" but think of the poor horse with twenty toothaches compressed into one agony! The man can seek a thousand changes to divert his suffering; the simple horse cannot even drink intoxicating fluids, and has hitherto not learned to smoke. The suffering, therefore, continues. And as man strives to spare a decayed tooth by masticating on the other side of the mouth, the horse endeavors to ease an aching foot by leaning all its weight upon a sound limb. Thus it learns to point in the stable or to advance one leg beyond the center of gravity, leaving the healthy member to support the entire weight of the body.

A foot thrown out of use decreases in size. Nature has given certain parts for certain purposes; and if these purposes are avoided, those parts diminish in bulk. Wear the arm in a sling for any extended period, and the arm will sensibly grow smaller, or become withered. So the horse's foot, spared in progression and pointed in the stable, obviously changes its shape. The quarters draw inward; the heels narrow; the frog hardens and decreases; the sole thickens and heightens; the crust becomes marked by rims and grows considerably higher. In fact, the foot, from being an open, healthy foot, becomes a strong, contracted, or diseased member.

The effect of the disease is speedily shown by the animal progressing entirely upon the toe, whereby the front of the shoe becomes much worn, as shown in the following engraving. Indeed, it is not unusual to see shoes taken from horses having navicular disease with their front edges worn positively to a cutting sharpness. When the animal is in this stage, the mode of progression is usually what is termed groggy—that is, the hind feet, which are never affected, step out as boldly as ever; but the fore feet are limited in their action. They cannot be advanced far, because extension causes the perforans tendon to press upon the navicular bone; the leg cannot be bent, because flexion moves the perforans tendon upon the navicular bone. The animal, thus doubly disabled, endeavors to make up by quickened movement for that which it lacks in perfect action. It dare not bring the heel to the ground or take long steps. It therefore progresses upon the toes, and indulges in very short but quick movements of the fore feet; and a horse thus affected may be challenged, though unseen, by the "patter, patter! clatter, clatter!" which it makes.

Navicular disease appears to the author to have been entirely mistaken as regards its treatment. It is administered to as though it consisted in violent and acute inflammation, whereas it is caused by a different process—namely, ulceration. Inflammation excites the whole system, and occurs in strong bodies: ulceration is a diseased condition peculiar to the aged and to the weakly. Navicular disease is, so far as the writer's knowledge extends, unknown in the unbroken animal. It mostly affects the adult or the aged. It is not inflammatory; for the foot, in the first instance, exhibits no heat, and, in the after-stages, never becomes more than warm. Often the warmth is so very slight that practitioners have to adopt a kind of stratagem to determine which is the more hot of the fore feet. A pail of water is brought forward, and sufficient to thoroughly wet both hoofs is thrown over the feet. The parts are then watched; and that which becomes dry the sooner is reasonably considered the warmer hoof of the two.

Moreover, the consequences of this disease are absorption, which it takes years to effect—not deposition, which is accomplished in a few days. The bone lessens in size, sometimes grows thin, till ultimately it may fracture; the tendon loses in substance, and its fibers separate, till at length they may rupture. All internal structures which enter into the composition of the foot grow less and less, till the hoof becomes obviously small or contracted; for it is a law of nature that, in the living creature, the contents should govern the covering: thus the brain controls the skull, the lungs regulate the chest, etc. etc. The horn alone increases; but it is a curious fact that Nature always endeavors to protect the part she allows to suffer from disease: thus in rickets, with children, the bones of the legs frequently curve; but Nature, true to her principles, strives, by extra deposition, to strengthen the parts which threaten to break through weakness.

All tokens declare the navicular disease to be a chronic affection, attended by symptoms of bodily weakness. The accompanying example of the disorder, taken from the body of a horse which was killed for incurable lameness, will illustrate fully this fact.

In this specimen, the navicular bone occupies its natural situation between the wings of the os pedis. That portion of the tendon which once shared and concealed the disease is turned back upon the sole of the coffin-bone. What does the inspection disclose? Three small holes within the bone, and a few stains of blood, which denote irritation upon the tendon. For, as the disease progresses, synovia ceases to be secreted, the navicular joint becomes dry, and is subject to the most torturing irritation every time the leg is moved.

That the one presented may not by the reader be supposed an extreme case, produced to support the writer's opinions, another specimen of the disease is given; but, on this last occasion, both sides of the navicular bone shall be exhibited. The upper surface appears perfectly healthy; the lower surface only displays a large clot of blood, and a small but comparatively a deep hole.

Supposing the reader to be convinced of the justness of the writer's views, the treatment which these recommend shall be stated. Ulceration in any form proves the body to be weak or exhausted. Feed liberally, chiefly upon crushed oats and old beans. Attend to any little matter in which the horse's body may be wrong; but do little to the foot beyond, every other night, soaking it one hour in hot water, for the first fortnight. Afterward apply flannel bandages to the leg, put tips upon the hoofs, and wrap the feet up in a sponge boot, having first smeared the horn with glycerin. This, with a very long rest, is all it is in our power to accomplish. The rest, however, should be proportioned only to the proprietor's pocket or to his powers of endurance. In the first instance, six months' rest in a well-aired stable, and three subsequent months at slow agricultural employment, will not be thrown away, but will be likely to prevent future annoyances. After one relapse, the treatment is all but hopeless. The horse may be again restored to soundness; but the disease, which has with time gained strength, will be all but certain to reappear.

This, probably, may be the fittest place for stating the writer's reason for objecting to the treatment generally adopted.

Bleeding from the toe is decidedly objected to, because there never are any signs of inflammation present, but rather those symptoms which favor the belief that too little blood circulates within the foot. Blistering the coronet is more likely to augment the crusts than to reach the disease; and the tendency of navicular derangement is to thicken the horn. The same reasoning applies to paring out the foot and placing the hoof in poultices; it is more likely to act upon, and lead to activity in, the secreting membrane, which is near the surface, than to operate beneficially upon a remote joint. Objection is taken to the feet standing in clay, because the cold produced by evaporation is disposed to drive blood from the parts, which already have too little.

In extreme cases, neurotomy, or division of the nerve, is the only resort. For a detailed account of that operation the reader is referred to the next chapter. It permits the horse to be of some service to the master, and allows the animal an escape from the agonies of a cruel disease; it is, however, not final. It conceals the lameness; it rarely cures the disorder. The internal ravages may still go on; and, though the nerve of the leg has been properly divided, yet at an uncertain period nerves generally reunite, and the part which was deprived of sensation may become once more sensitive to pain. Moreover, no eye can look upon the internal ravage. Sensation destroyed in a foot tempts the horse to throw even more than its proportion of weight on a part weakened by disease. The bone has fractured, or the tendon has ruptured, under too sudden a test of their integrity.

For the above reasons, neurotomy is always most successful when early performed. In the primary state of the disorder, a restoration of the foot to its healthy functions has seemed to banish the affection. Pressure being given to the neurotomized organ, health has occasionally returned; and when the time has arrived for the reunion of the nerve, that event has been signalized by no reappearance of lameness.

But when the disorder has continued so long as to weaken the structures of the foot, operation is always attended with hazard. The nerve may be properly divided; the operation shall be admirably performed; still the parts, weakened by the joint actions of active disease and of long rest, have become disorganized. Pressure being suddenly restored, the debilitated structures could not sustain the restoration of that burden they were originally formed to endure. Rupture or fracture was the result; and the veterinary surgeon, despite his admirable talent, is disgraced by being obliged to order the immediate destruction of that animal which it was intended he should have benefited.

For the above reasons, and because the sound member is always disposed to exhibit the disorder which incapacitates one foot, never delay adopting the only chance of certain relief. If from pecuniary motives, or from better but mistaken feelings, the proprietor hesitates to subject his dumb companion to the surgeon's knife, never afterward should he repent of such a resolve. With delay the opportunity of benefit has passed; the operation, to be successful, should be resorted to upon the second appearance of acute and decided lameness.

CHAPTER XIV.

The horse is most at ease when the position takes the strain off the flexor tendons. That end is accomplished when the hind legs are the higher portion of the body, or when the ground slants in precisely the opposite direction to which the flooring of all present stables incline. The animal, finding the slope which is most convenient for the builder's purposes adverse to its comfort, endeavors to compound the matter by hanging back upon the halter, thus getting the hind feet into the open drain which always divides the stalls from the gangway.

The rope should be stout which has to sustain the huge weight of the horse; in proportion to that weight, of course, must be the pressure upon the seat of poll evil. Pressure, as a natural consequence, stops circulation. Upon circulation being freely performed, health, secretion, and even life itself is dependent. The flow of blood to any part of the body cannot be long prevented without unpleasant sensations being engendered. Numbness and itching are the first results. The horse tries to master these by rubbing its head violently against the trevise or division of the stall. Friction, when applied to an irritable place, is never a soothing process; when instituted by the huge strength of a horse, its probable ill effects may be easily surmised. It is, therefore, no legitimate cause for wonder if some of the fleshy substances, compressed between the external wood and the internal bones of the neck, become bruised, and deep-seated abscess is thus provoked.

This, however, is not the sole cause; there are others equally potent and generally springing from the same source—namely, from human folly. How much of animal agony might be spared if man, in the pride of superiority, would deign to waste an occasional thought upon the poor creatures which are born and live in this country only by his permission and to labor in his service! Stable doors are commonly made as though none but human beings had to pass through them. The tallest of mankind, probably, might enter a stable without stooping; but does it therefore follow that a horse can pass under the beam without assuming a crouching position? Many horses learn to fear the doorway. They shy, rear, or prance, whenever led toward it. Man, however, refuses to be instructed by the action of his mute servant; those symptoms of fear, which are the bitter fruits of experience, are attributed to the patient and enduring quadruped as exhibitions of the rankest vice.

Low doors, such as usually belong to stables, are among the most frequent causes of poll evil. The horse, when passing through them, is either surprised by something it beholds outside the building, or checked by the voice of the groom. The sudden elevation of the head is, in the animal, expressive of every unexpected emotion. Up goes the crest and crash comes the poll against the beam of the doorway. A violent bruise is thereby provoked, and a deep-seated abscess is the sad result.

The horse likewise suffers from the representatives in brutality of him for whose benefit it wears out its existence. Carters display their ignorance by getting into violent passions with their teams. "Whooay" and "kum hup" are shouted out; the huge whip is slashed and snaffle jagged, till mute intelligence is fairly puzzled. Were mortals in the like position, subject to the same terrible chastisement, and, at the same time, forbid to inquire the wishes of their commander, they would be in no better condition. The panting, sweating, and starting of the poor, confused quadrupeds announce their terror. The driver, too enraged to understand himself, and too impatient to delay punishment upon the objects of his wrath, resorts to the butt-end of his heavy whip. Some wretched animal is struck upon the poll, for the head is always aimed at when stupidity quarrels with its own ignorance, and a dreadful disorder is established.

All the causes of poll evil may, however, be reduced to one—namely, to external injury. The first result of such a cause is pain whenever the head is moved. Motion enforces the contraction of the bruised muscles; and the agony growing more and more acute, the sufferer acquires a habit of protruding the nose in a very characteristic manner long before the slightest symptom of the malady can be perceived. When forced to bend the head toward the manger, it generally hangs back to the length of the halter; for although so doing occasions pain, the position renders the necessary angle of the head upon the neck as little acute as possible. The anguish attendant upon the earlier stages of the disease is exemplified by the length of time occupied in emptying the manger. At this stage nothing is apparent; at this period also great cruelty is too often exercised when the collar is forced over the head regardless of the struggles of the acutely-diseased animal.

Should the seat of poll evil at this stage of the disease be particularly examined, the most lengthened inspection, when prompted by expectation, may fail to detect even an indication of probable enlargement. Pressure, or enforced motion of the head, excites resistance. A few weeks in some cases, and the swelling becomes marked or prominent. In others, the enlargement is never well developed: instances of this last kind invariably are the most difficult to treat, for in them the seat of the disorder is always most deeply seated. The size of the tumor is therefore always to be hailed as a promise that the injury is tolerably near the surface, and, consequently, more under the influence of remedial measures.

After pressure has been made, the agony occasioned causes the animal to be difficult of approach. The common method of examination is, however, very wrong. No good is done by inflicting torture. Something, on the contrary, is concealed. Place the fingers lightly on the part, and allow them to remain there till the fear, excited by a touch upon a tender place, has subsided. Then, and not till then, gradually introduce pressure. The more superficial the injury, the more speedy will be the response. The longer the time and greater the force requisite to induce signs of uneasiness, the deeper, as a general rule, will be the center of the disease.

In either case there is little good accomplished by those applications which are recognized as mild measures. Fomentations and poultices commonly waste valuable time, and, at last, prove of no avail. Therefore, blister over the place. Obviously, the employment of more active treatment is at present forbidden. Do not, however, give the carter so much liquid blister, to be rubbed in by his heavy and coarse hand; but lightly paint over the seat of the supposed hurt with spirituous or acetous tincture of cantharides. Do this daily till copious irritation is produced, and, before that dies away, repeat the dressing. Keep up the soreness, but do no more. Never apply the tincture upon active vesication, otherwise a foul sore, ending in a lasting blemish, may be the result. Make the poll merely painful. An additional motive will thereby be instituted to keep the head perfectly quiet, for constant motion provokes the worst consequences of poll evil, causing the confined pus to burrow, or to form sinuses.

The foregoing treatment has been proposed because the tincture, when applied by means of a brush, penetrates the hair more quickly, acts quite as energetically, and is less likely to run down upon other parts than the oil of cantharides, which the heat of the body always renders more liquid. It is advised to be used, because it establishes an external inflammation. Inflammations in living bodies, like fires preying upon inanimate substances, have an attraction for each other. All injuries which lead to suppuration likewise have a tendency to move toward the surface; and these two laws, acting together, very probably may tend to the speedier development of poll evil, thereby shortening the sufferings of the animal. Should they not have that effect, the vesicatory is beneficial. About the head of the horse are numerous layers of thin tendon, which are termed fascia. Through this substance matter absorbs its way with difficulty. It is, therefore, almost imprisoned, and motion always disposes the pus to seek new outlets. Thus pipes or sinuses are formed; these constitute one of the worst symptoms attendant upon poll evil.

As soon as the swelling appears, watch it attentively. Wait till some particular spot points, or till it feels softer, if it be not more prominent than the surrounding substance. Then have the animal cast. Being down, take a keen knife and open the spot before indicated. That being accomplished, pause while the secretion flows forth. Afterward insert into the cut a small, flexible probe. When its progress is impeded, employ the knife with a director. Continue doing this till the seat or center of the disease has been gained.

Remember, however, you are not hacking at the family loaf; it is living and sensitive flesh you are wounding. Therefore, be very careful your knife is thoroughly sharpened, and is of sufficient size; mind, also, that all the cuts run smoothly into one another, so as to leave clean surfaces for the healing process to unite. Having reached the heart of the disorder, proceed to empty out all the concrete matter. That done, wash out the part with a syringe and the coldest spring water. Afterward examine the cavity. Excise any loose pieces of tendon or of ligament, and cut until a healthy aspect is everywhere presented. Then rub the sides of the deep-seated wound with lunar caustic. Let the horse rise, giving orders that the sore is to be thoroughly moistened thrice daily with the solution of the chloride of zinc, one grain to the ounce of water, and, placing a rag dipped in a solution of tar over the wound to keep off the flies, return the horse to the stable.

If the disease be left to run its course, the swelling generally increases, while numerous openings at last disfigure the enlargement. From such drain a glairy discharge. This adheres to the surrounding parts, and, joined to the miserable expression of the countenance, gives to the horse a peculiarly unpleasant appearance. The flesh wastes under the perpetual anguish, and the half-conscious aspect of the creature justifies a suspicion that the brain is affected.

In that case, proceed as before directed concerning casting the horse and the knife with which you operate. Have the blade rather too large than too small. Most veterinary instruments are mere adaptations of those employed by the human surgeon. The author never remembers to have seen anything approaching to the magnitude of a proper horses operating knife in the hands of his fellows. A small blade compels numerous small cuts. The part is rather snipped asunder than divided by one clean incision. The recovery is thereby materially delayed; and the lengthened operation greatly deteriorates from its chances of success, not to dwell upon the increased suffering occasioned to the quadruped.

The horse being down, do not attempt any display of your proficiency. Look well and long at the part intended to be operated upon. Decide in your own mind the course in which the knife is to move. That course should be influenced by the direction in which you may probably separate the greater number of sinuses. In the engraving inserted below there are four holes, each indicating the presence of a sinus. The supposed direction of the knife is laid down by dotted lines. The primary and lower incision includes three of the pipes. That made, another connects the other sinus with the longer incision; the after-labor necessitates the cleaning of the central sac, removing all the hanging pieces, also probing the sinuses, and making sure all are fairly opened. If any are found unopened, a director should be inserted, and the channel should be connected with the chief wound by means of a smaller knife.

Two cautions are necessary to be given with regard to the treatment of poll evil: Never permit the knife to be applied upon the root of the mane. Underneath the hair which decorates the neck of the horse lies an important ligament, by means of which the head is chiefly supported. All the evils which might be anticipated may not spring from the division of that development; but it is well to spare it, although the prostrate animal should have to be turned over, and the operation have to be continued on the other side. Also, when working the creature subsequent to its recovery, never use a collar. Wounds, although perfectly healed, are apt to remain morbidly sensitive; serious accidents, over which the reader would deeply grieve, may occur from the harness touching the part which once was diseased. A breast strap is, therefore, to be much preferred.

There are several popular methods of treating this disease. All, however, are cruel; one is barbarous; when properly conducted, none are efficient under the direction of a person possessing the smallest feeling. The injection of potent caustics in solution, or violent compression upon an exquisitely tender swelling even until the force employed amounts to that power which can bring the sides of a distant internal cavity together, drive out the corruption, and hold the part in that position while healing is established, have been largely advocated. Whoever could increase the suffering of a mute and patient life to that degree which the last method necessitates would merit a much severer punishment than the writer can afford space to detail. Of these modes of cure the author can profess no experience. He has, however, seen injections used; in no instance have they been successful. The time which they occupied was enormous, and the expense with which they were attended by no means small. The man who hopes to eradicate this disease should never have recourse to them.

Another process, formerly very popular, consisted in slicing the living flesh in a very coarse and vulgar manner; that, however, was merely preparatory. The chief dependence was placed in boiling liquor, which was inhumanly poured into the wounds. After such a method were all sinuous sores treated by an ignorant and uneducated quack, who especially delighted in eradicating such forms of disease. The writer has heard terrible descriptions given of the agony produced, and equally revolting has been the picture of the filth employed by this unqualified horse doctor. While, however, the course which has been mentioned is reprobated, our heaviest condemnation should alight upon those persons who could so violate the sacredness of their trusts as to surrender any creature to the torments of so horrible a remedy.

In poll evil, the only certainty reposes on the knife. When properly employed, the operation is brief; the temporary agony bears no proportion to the years of subsequent relief thereby secured. To be properly employed, however, it should be used as though the person invested with it was, for the time, divested of all feeling. He who accepts it must think only upon what he is about to perform, and must summon resolution to do it quickly. In surgery, hesitation is positive cruelty; the knife, to be curative, should be gracefully moved through the living flesh. All notching and hacking are tortures, and worse than folly; the blade should sweep through the substance; and, to prevent the struggles of the quadruped from interfering with the intentions of the surgeon, all that will be necessary is for some person to sit upon the cheek of the prostrated animal.

FISTULOUS WITHERS.

This disease, in its chief characteristics, closely resembles poll evil. It, however, differs from that disorder in one fortunate particular; poll evil must come to maturity before its cure can be attempted with any hope of success. Injury to the withers is easiest eradicated when attacked upon its earliest appearance; both, however, in their worst periods, proceed from pus being confined, from it decomposing and its establishing numerous sinuses. When disease has reached this stage, the only certain cure is the free but skillful use of the knife.

Fistulous withers, in the first instance, is an injury to one of the superficial burst which nature has provided to facilitate the movement of the vertebral, points spinal under the skin. The hurt is occasioned by badly-made saddles, but more especially by the ladies' saddles. Some fair equestrians delight to feel their bodies lifted into the air, and enjoy the trivial shock of the descent; such movements, however, necessitate the weight should be leaned upon the crutch and stirrup. This kind of exercise is never indulged in by good female riders, as no saddle, however well constructed, can resist the constant strain to one side. Friction is produced; a bursa is irritated, and the animal will, under the best treatment, be rendered useless for a fortnight. Rolling in the stalls is also reported to have occasioned this affection; so likewise is the heavy hammer of the shoeing smith, intemperately employed to chastise the transient movement of an observant horse.

When first produced, the remedy is certain and easy. A swelling about the size of an egg appears near the withers, upon the off side of the body. Go up to the horse upon that side; have with you a keen-edged and sharply-pointed knife of pocket dimensions. Stand close to the animal; then impale the tumor, and, having the back of the blade toward the quadruped, cut quickly upward and outward. Mind, and stand very close to the center of the body, as the pain of this trivial operation is apt to make the creature lash out and prance. At the spot indicated a person is perfectly safe; neither hoof nor leg will touch that particular place, or even come near it. Rest one hand on the back, and by your voice reassure the startled creature.

The swelling being divided, exchange the knife for a lunar caustic case; smear over the interior well with the cautery, and all the business is over. Never, however, attempt to pass by the heels of a steed which has been pained. The animal may suspect your motives, and the hind feet of the horse are the most powerful weapons of offense and of defense. Have the creature backed from the stall ere you attempt to quit it. Subsequently keep the wound moist with the lotion composed of chloride of zinc—one grain to the ounce of water; also have the part covered with a rag, moistened with solution of tar. In nine or ten days the incision will have healed, and after the lapse of a fortnight the animal may return to its ordinary employment.

Should this remedy be neglected, pus is soon formed within the enlargement, and the formation is accompanied by swelling, heat, and pain. The horse is useless, and continues thus till the affection is eradicated. The animal cannot wear a collar; it cannot endure a saddle; at length numerous holes are formed upon the enlargement. These are the mouths of so many sinuses, and from each exudes a foul discharge. The poor quadruped evidently suffers greatly; it will almost stand still and starve rather than brave agony by violent motion.

The only remedy is by operation; make an incision so as to embrace the greatest number of holes. Then cut from the other openings into the main channel; this done, have the sides of the wound held back, while the center of corruption is cleaned out. Such is a very filthy and unpleasant office; if the bones are affected, all the diseased parts must be removed. When slight, the tainted portions may be scraped away; when of long standing, the spines of the vertebræ have been sundered with the saw and thus taken from the body. At any risk, none but healthy bone must be suffered to remain; all discolored or white portions of the bony structure must be extirpated, and none but that which, is of a healthy pink color suffered to continue. If a particle of unhealthy, osseous growth is left behind, the wound may close, but it will break out again, and the disease become as bad as ever.

The cleansing being accomplished, apply the cloth over the wound, and keep wet with the lotion formerly directed to be used.

Sometimes the sinuses will take a dangerous direction, and, favored by the action of the shoulder, will burrow from the withers to the chest or elbow. Then the knife cannot be employed. Should a pipe incline to this course, but be of comparatively short extent, insert a little bichloride of mercury down the channel. This is best done by powdering some of the salt. Dip the elastic probe, which has recently been down the sinus, into the powder. Reinsert it, and continue to repeat this action till all the bichloride is expended.

If the sinus should have run its entire course, but not have found an exit below, then employ a long guarded seton needle, such as can be purchased at all veterinary instrument makers. Insert this in its guarded state, and, having pushed it as far as it will go, give, upon the end of the handle, a moderately sharp blow; this will force out the cutting edge and drive the point through the flesh. Pass a long tape, with a knot at the further end of it, through the opening near the point, and withdraw the instrument, leaving the tape in after another knot has been tied at the other extremity.

Thus a seton is established, and a depending orifice is instituted. The tape will act as a drain to the morbid secretion, while the irritation produced by it will also remove the callous lining of the pipe. A healthy action will thereby be established; and so soon as the inferior wound discharges a full stream of thick, creamy pus, the seton may be cut out, with a conviction that its office is fulfilled.