Where the dressing is desired to be kept applied to the sole and frog only,
there is no method more satisfactory than the shoe with plates.

[Illustration: FIG. 55.--THE SHOE WITH PLATES. _A_, The plates in position;
_B_, the plates separated from the shoe.]

[Illustration: FIG. 56.--THE QUITTOR SYRINGE.]

The plates are of metal, preferably of thin sheet iron or zinc, and are
slipped between the upper surface of the shoe and the foot after the manner
shown in Fig. 55. The plates themselves are shaped as depicted in Fig.
55, _a, b, c, a_ and _b_ curved to meet the outlines of the shoe, and _c_
shaped so as to wedge tightly over the posterior ends of the side plates,
and between them and the shoe. A distinct advantage of the plate method of
dressing is that a certain amount of pressure may be maintained on the sole
and frog, a very important consideration in connection with some of the
diseases with which we shall later deal.

When dealing with sinuous wounds of the foot, another favourite mode of
applying dressings is by means of the syringe, and no better instrument for
all cases can be found than that known as a quittor syringe (Fig. 56).

A further mode of applying dressing, and one frequently practised
in connection with the foot, is known as 'plugging.' This is almost
sufficiently indicated by its name. It consists in rolling portions of
the dressing into little cylinders, wrapped round with thin paper, and
introduced into a sinus or other position where considered necessary.