AGRICULTURAL MECHANICS AND RURAL ECONOMY. 37 



flashy appearance to a team of lively horses, or the shoes may be enamelled jet-black when 

 intended for white or gray animals. One practical advantage to be derived from this style 

 of shoes is the facility with which they may be removed or exchanged, so that a skilful 

 hostler may exchange the shoes, or rather the soles, on every occasion when the presence of 

 ice or the like renders it desirable, and it may even be expedient, in extreme cases of ex- 

 haustion, as with race-horses, to remove the shoes altogether for a time, and allow of a more 

 refreshing rest. 



Elastic Horse-Shoes. — Mr. J. 0. Jones, of Boston, Mass., has invented and patented a new 

 style of horse-shoe. It is not any way peculiar in its external appearance, but has a piece 

 of India-rubber inserted between the two surfaces of steel or Swedish iron (the latter pre- 

 ferred on pavements) from either side of the heel most of the way to the toe. These give 

 the shoe an elasticity elsewhere unknown ; diminish the force and abruptness of each concus- 

 sion when the shoe strikes on rock or other solid ; induce the animal to put his foot down 

 firmly and fearlessly ; prevents bruises and consequent tenderness, resulting in lameness ; and 

 sometimes cures diseases of the foot already contracted. The nibber is never displaced, and 

 the shoe is durable of itself, besides making the horse so. 



Towers' Improved Horse-Shoe. — An invention has been patented, during the past year, by 

 W. H. Towers, of Philadelphia, for an improved method of fastening horse-shoes. The in- 

 vention consists in the construction of inclined flanges, or lips, rising from the front sides of 

 the shoe corresponding in form with the parts of the hoof against which they are made to 

 bear when fitted. One of the side-flanges is made separate, and fastened by sliding into a 

 recess in the side of the shoe, and secured by means of a screw, thus entirely dispensing 

 with the use of nails, and avoiding any liability to injury by pricking. 



Irresistible Bit for Refractory Horses. 



Messrs. Titus & Fenwick, of Brooklyn, N. Y., have recently patented a contrivance for 

 governing refractory horses, which seems to be a great and very desirable improvement in 

 certain hard cases, while it will not be an expensive or cumbrous addition to an ordinary 

 harness for general purposes. Stopping the breath has been sufficiently proved by experi- 

 ment to be a sure and very rapid means of arresting the progress of an animal ; but, instead 

 of tightening a cord around the neck, as invented by somebody a few years ago, these gen- 

 tlemen simply cover the nostrils with pads of leather. The bit itself is a little longer than 

 usual, and carries at each side a slender metallic lever with a pad. Suitable coiled springs 

 hold these levers away from the nose, in which position they are of no particular service, 

 being, both for convenience and ornament, about on a par with the rings in the noses of pigs 

 or in the ears of boarding-school misses. There are two methods proposed for operating 

 these levers and pressing the pads upon the nostrils : one by employing a separate rein — the 

 other, by attaching the ordinary reins to the lever in such manner that they will move them 

 when pulled with great violence. The first method is undoubtedly the surest and least liable 

 to derangement, in consequence of the weakening of the springs or the like ; but the second 

 is less troublesome to the driver, and will, we presume, be generally preferred. When ar- 

 ranged according to the second method, the springs must be sufficiently stiff to allow of the 

 reins being held at the usual tension without affecting them, and the horse is guided without 

 recognising their existence ; but the moment the animal commences to be unmanageable, the 

 pull is increased, and his breath and speed instantly stopped. 



Duplex Safety Rein. 



This invention, by Mr. W. A. Holwell, of Quebec, is designed to afford security against the 

 running away of horses when under saddle or in harness. It is a very simple contrivance, 

 and in this lies its merit. There have been a good many methods for controlling horses, or 

 escaping from the dangers of runaway animals, such as the slipping off of the harness by a 

 slide rein, and the disconnection of the traces by other means ; in both cases the design being 

 to let the horse out of and free from the vehicle, to go whither he will, while the carriage 



