_Definition_.--A disease of the frog characterized by a discharge from it of a black and offensive pus, and accompanied by more or less wasting of the organ. _Causes_.--The primary cause of this affection is doubtless the infection of the horn, and later the sensitive structures, with matter from the ground. Those factors, therefore, leading to deterioration of the horn, and so exposing it to infection, may be considered here. Such will be changes from excessive dampness to dryness, or _vice versâ_; work upon hard and stony roads; prolonged standing in the accumulated wet and filth of insanitary stables, or long standing upon a bedding which, although dry, is of unsuitable material. In this latter connection may be mentioned the harm resulting from the use of certain varieties of moss litter. This we find pointed out by J. Roalfe Cox, F.R.C.V.S.[A] Tenderness in the foot was first noticed, and, on examination, the horn of the sole and of the frog was found to be peculiarly softened. It afforded a yielding sensation to the finger, not unlike that which is imparted by indiarubber, and on cutting the altered horn it was almost as easily sliced as cheese-rind. The outer surface being in this way slightly pared off, the deeper substance of the horn was discoloured by a pinkish stain. The horn of the frog was in many instances found detaching from the vascular surface, which was very disposed to take on a diseased action, somewhat allied to canker, and became extremely difficult to treat. [Footnote A: _Veterinary Journal_, vol. xvi., p. 243.] Conditions such as these, although not constituting the disease itself, certainly lay the frog open to infection, especially if afterwards the animal is called upon to work in the mud of the streets of a large town, or to stand in a badly drained and damp stable. A further cause of thrush is to be found in the condition of the frog, brought about by contraction of the heels (see p. 118). We have already seen that one of the most prominent factors in the causation of contraction is the removal of the frog from the ground by shoeing, with its consequent diminution in size and deterioration in quality of horn. This leads to fissures in the horny covering, and favours infection of the sensitive structures beneath. Thrush is, in fact, nearly always present in the later stages of contracted foot. By some thrush is believed to be but the commencement of canker. With this, however, we do not hold. We believe both to be due to specific causes as yet undiscovered, but that the cause of thrush is not the one operating in canker. In arriving at this conclusion we are guided by clinical evidence. The two conditions are quite dissimilar, even in appearance, and, while one is readily amenable to treatment, the other is just as obstinately resistant.