FOUNDER. This disease is an inflammation of the 'sensitive parts of the foot, sometimes it eluding the laminae, the sole and also the foot Ifene. Hence the name laminitis, and also in flammation of the feet, and fever in the feet. In slight cases only one fore foot may be affected, but often both, and sometimes all, of the feet. The following will be found to embody all necessary to be said upon this common disease, one almost always the result of carelessness or direct abuse; it is written by one competent in every respect: Of the affections of the soft tis sues, perhaps the most common is laminitis. This term applies to inflammation not only of the laminae, but of the entire fleshy portion of the foot. It is not always the most readily detected, and in some of its more common and milder forms it entirely escapes notice. The lameness is assigned to the shoulder or some other locality; but when we refer to the position of this tissue, between a dense bone and a dense, unyielding horny envelope, and to its use to sus pend the bone and consequent entire weight of the animal from the wall, and consider that it suffers some degree of pressure at every step, we can understand how the slightest morbid condi tion of the part, the congestion of its vessels, or irritation of its nerves, may—nay, must—give rise to pain and consequent lameness. Fortun ately, in practice this is much less frequent than, theoretically, we might expect it to be. Any horse that has been driven for several hours upon a hard, or stony, or hot and sandy road, would seem to be fairly fitted for some degree of con gestion of the soft tissues of the feet. At the close of such exertion he is stabled, perhaps upon a damp floor, or where a draft of air may blow upon him. No thought is given to the condition of his feet. He is fed, and perhaps he may have been moderately groomed; but of the entire animal no part has undergone so much exposure or hardship as the feet, and no part really needs so much attention. Laminitis, or, as it has been called by writers, fever of the feet, or founder, may exist in all degrees, from the simple congestion of the part to the most severe and disorganizing inflammation. It is mainly exhibited in the fore feet, being an uncommon disease in the hind feet. This is mainly due to the different kinds and degrees of force used in the action of the fore and hind legs and feet. In movement a much greater amount of weight comes upon the fore legs and feet, the direction of the blow upon the ground is different, and the consequent strain and pressure upon the soft tis sues much greater. If acute laminitis is present in one or both fore feet, it is manifested by the very -obvious efforts of the animal to relieve itself from pressure. If one foot only is suffer ing, this is put forward and is rested upon the heel that not only is pressure taken off, but the parts are relaxed to a still greater extent by the weight of the limb, the foot is kept in continual motion. indicating extreme pain. There is heat in the hoof, and especially in the coronary band around its summit. There may also be tender ness in this tissue on pressure. If both forefeet are affected, the animal endeavors as far as possible, by settling back over the hind feet, to take off the pressure from them. This attempt may also be shown by the continuous change from one foot to the other. In severe forms of the acute disease the entire system will sympathize with the local disease. The, arteries supplying the part or parts will be found throb bing; the general arterial circulation will lke the pulse will become considerably accelerated, and the constitutional condition will be one of symptomatic fever. The disease if unchecked may go on to the destruction of the soft tissues of the foot. Cases are on record in which the entire hoof has been shed by the separation of the soft from the horny foot. This is a rare termination, but the formation of an abscess and partial separation is not so uncom mon. Before this result occurs, however, the disease has usually passed into the chronic form. Prompt resort to appropriate treatment may result in restoration to health. By no means advocating indiscriminate blood-letting, we would in this case recommend the free local abstraction of blood, either from the toe of the afflicted foot, or from the plantar vein. If the case is a very severe one, a branch of the plantar artery of one side may be divided. The foot should be placed in a large bucket of warm water, and allowed to bleed in it. Care should be taken to keep up the temperature by frequent additions of hot water. When the foot is removed, it may be placed in a large poultice, having previously been drenched about the coronary border with a liniment composed of two ounces each of the tincture of aconite root, bella donna, and opium, with six ounces of soap liniment. For the constitutional disturbance, the tincture of aconite root, fifteen to twenty drops in water, may be administered every hour or half hour until a decided impression is made upon the frequency and hardness of the pulse.
Half a drachm of belladonna with fifteen grains of digitalis may be given every half hour, or in emergency the following draught may be given every hour until the proper impression is made on the system: Tincture aconite root and tincture belladonna fifteen drops each, and sulphuric ether and laudanum half an ounce each. Later, saline medicines, such as the nitrate of potash, will aid in preventing secondary affections. Laminitis may have a variety of terminations. First it may terminate in a complete disappear ance of all the symptoms, that is, by resolution, and there be a complete recovery. Second, it may pass into a chronic condition in which all the symptoms are of a mitigated character. When quiet, the pain is slight, and the heat is little, if any, in excess of the natural state. If the animal is allowed rest upon a soft floor, or is turned to run in a paddock, the lameness may be scarcely obvious; but attempt to drive him and, either while on the road or afterward, he becomes very lame again. This condition may continue almost indefinitely. Third, the inflammation may terminate in suppuration, which may be confined to a small region of the foot, and even tuate in a partial recovery, or it may be general and so extensive as to destroy the connection of the hoof with the soft tissues. Under the latter circumstances the hoof may be lost. When the destructive suppuration falls short of producing complete separation, it may be sufficient to per mit of a change of relation of the coffin-bone to the hoof. A portion of the anterior attachments may be destroyed so that the bone may fall away from the horn. In a flat and weak foot this may cause a bulging of the sole, producing what is called pumice foot. If the hoof is preserved, the space produced by the falling of the coffin hone is filled by fleshy granulations. The foot, however, suffers permanently, and lameness is constantly present., Such is the structure of the foot that, even when the damage is less than that just described, the suppuration continues and burrows in various directions, seeking an outlet. Except when the inflammation and suppuration are confined to a limited space in the sole of the foot, the discharge must escape from the crown. At some part of the coronal border of the hoof, swelling is perceived, which either opens of itself or is opened by the knife, which is prefer able. When suppuration has commenced, the animal should receive better and more nutritious food, while stimulating injections to the opening may be useful. Should the sinuses become chronic, it has been recommended to trace their number and direction with a delicate probe, and then freely lay them open. To do this, the hoof must he softened by soaking in warm alkaline water, when it may be cut easily. Limited sup puration of the soft tissues of the foot may occur from a variety of other causes, such as a wound made by the shoe of one foot in the coronet of the other, or by the prick of a nail driven into the quick or so near it as to cause inflammation by pressure, or by a bruise made by the heel of the coffin-hone, to which the term corn is applied. In all these cases suppuration may follow inflammation, and the severity and extent of the trouble will depend upon the locality of the injury, and the distance the product of suppura tion has to travel to reach a point of exit. A fourth termination may be designated—that by metastasis. The inflammation being situated in the fibrous tissues of the foot is liable to leave that locality and to seize upon similar tissues elsewhere, and under unfavorable circumstances we may have resulting inflammation of the brain or pleura, or indeed of any of the fibrous tissues. A fifth termination may be in mortification, the result of which would be almost certainly fatal at any early period. Laminitis may be, and some times is, subacute from its commencement. It is apt to take this form in old horses that have been subjected for a long time to hard work. Its approach is gradual, pain at first small, and lameness slight and not constant. The foot should he given the same treatment as in the more acute form. The warm bath should be used freely. Bleeding would probably be injuri ous, and any debilitating medicines must be withheld. The bowels may be loosened by fresh vegetable food, such as potatoes or carrots, and if pain is present one or two draughts in the day containing an ounce of sulphuric ether and a drachm of laudanum may be given. Plenty of good, nutritious food should be given. The horse should not be used on the road until all the symptoms have been absent for several days. He may be gently exercised on a soft sward as soon as the inflammation is subdued. A per manent, incurable lameness often results from the continued use of a horse suffering from some degree of inflammation of the soft tissues of the foot. Whenever this condition is detected, the animal should be given rest, and subjected to treatment with a view to the cure of the disease.