of the operation, and
I have selected this instance merely as a practical example.'[A]

[Footnote A: _Veterinary Journal_, vol. iii., p. 254 (W. Pallin,
M.B.C.V.S.).]

It is solely with the object of ventilating both sides of the question
that we quote the last two cases. In our opinion, the colours in which
the results of the operation are there painted are far too rosy. The
practitioner who has before him the task of satisfying a client as to what
will or what will not be the results of an operation he has suggested will
do well to weigh each side of the argument carefully, and endeavour in his
explanation to strike the happy mean.

We hold, further, that the animal who has previously been accustomed to
fast work, and to work entailing a large call upon the sense of touch when
passing over rough and uneven ground, will be far more likely, in his
neurectomized condition, to give satisfaction to his owner if put to a
slower and a more suitable means of earning his living.

CHAPTER VI

FAULTY CONFORMATION

Under this heading we shall deal with such formations of the feet as depart
sufficiently from the normal to render them serious. Faulty conformation
may be either congenital or acquired, and acquired gradually as the result
of slowly operating causes, or suddenly as the sequel to previous acute
disease. Whether congenital or acquired, serious in its nature or
comparatively of no account, the veterinary surgeon will often find that
the matter of conformation is one which will have a direct bearing on many
of his 'foot' cases, and, furthermore, that it is one upon which he will
often be called to give advice.

A. WEAK HEELS.

_Definition_.--That condition of the wall in which, owing to the softness
of the horn and the oblique direction of the horn fibres, the heels are
unable properly to bear the body-weight, and, as a consequence, curve in
beneath the sole. We give the condition first mention, not because of its
greater importance, but for the reason that it is frequently the forerunner
of the condition to be next described--namely, contracted feet.

_Symptoms_.--The extreme point of the heel is not affected unless the foot
has been greatly neglected, and the condition allowed to develop. Where,
however, the foot has been uncared for, curving in of the wall takes place
to an alarming degree, and the heels curl underneath the foot to such an
extent as to grow over the sole and the bars. By the pressure