SECRETARY'S REPORT. 155 



the necessity of exposing the system referred to. A dray horse was 

 lame on a fore foot, and was taken to a forge and had a new shoe 

 put on. Three or four days afterwards, (the lameness in the mean- 

 time having increased,) I was called to see him. I found the cause 

 of lameness to be a suppurated corn in one of the heels, the inflam- 

 mation from which had run so high as to break out at the top of the 

 hoof, between the hair and horn. The cause of the corn was equally 

 obvious. The shoe had no toe tip to steady it on the foot, but 

 instead, had a large one turned up at each heel, (see figure 11) so 

 as completely to fix the foot and make its lower part rigid as if in a 

 vice. On inquiry, I learned that a shoe of the same kind had been 

 on before the recent shoeing, and had no doubt produced the corn 

 and lameness for which he was re-shod ; while the more complete 

 fixture of the new shoe caused the inflammation and suppuration I 

 was called to treat. 



Fig-. 11. 



Figure 11 — Is a faithful picture of the shoe found on the foot 

 in this case. It is a contrivance so absurd and hurtful under the 

 circumstances, that had I not seen it, I would not have believed that 

 any one possessing the slightest knowledge of the subject would 

 have practiced it. Happily, such blunders are now of rare occur- 

 rence among any but the most ignorant of our shoeing smiths. 



These were not singular instances ; similar ones were occurring 

 almost every day, and anything approaching to a well made shoe or 

 well shod foot was the exception rather than the rule, at the time I 

 write of. 



In the preparing of the foot for the shoe, there is also, as I have 

 already noticed, room for much amendment on the way it is prac- 

 ticed. The back parts of the hoof, having less growth and more 

 "wear on them than the fore, seldom require anything removed, except 



