No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 415 



elasticit.v of the foot, increases the pressure upon the soft tissues of 

 thf heel and render lacerations more easy; long feet, which by re- 

 moving- the frog and heels too far from the ground deprive them of 

 necessary moisture, which iu turn reduces the elastic properties of 

 the horn, and diminishes the transverse diameter of the heels; weak 

 feet or those in which the horn of the wall is too thin to resist the 

 tendency to spread, and as a result the soft tissues are easily 

 lacerated. , 



Wide feet with low heels are always accompanied by a flat sole 

 whose posterior wings either rest upon the ground or the shoe, and 

 as a consequence are easily bruised; at the same time the arch of 

 the sole is so broad and flat that it cannot support the weight of the 

 body, and in the displacement which happens when the foot is rested 

 upon the ground the soft tissues are liable to become bruised or torn. 

 It is universally conceded that shoeing of the foot, either as a 

 direct or predisposing cause is most prolific in producing corns. 



One of the most serious as well as the most prominent of the 

 errors in shoeing is to be found in the preparation of the foot for 

 the shoe. Instead of seeking to maintain the integrity of the arch, 

 the first thing done is to weaken it by freely paring away the sole; 

 nor does the mutilation end here, for the frog, which is nature's 

 main support to the branches of the sole and the heel, is also largely 

 cut away. This not only permits of an excessive downward move- 

 ment of the contents of the horny box, but it at the same time re- 

 moves the one great means by which concussion of the foot is de- 

 stroyed. 



As adjuncts to the foregoing errors, must be added the faults in 

 the construction of the shoe and in the way it is adjusted to the 

 foot. An excess of concavity iu the shoe, by extending it too far 

 back on the heels, high calks, thin heels, which permit the shoe to 

 spring, short heels with a calk set under the foot, and a shoe too 

 light for the animal wearing it or for the work required of him, are 

 all to be avoided as causes of corns. A shoe so set as to press upon 

 the sole or one that has been on so long that the hoof has overgrown 

 it until the heels rest upon the sole and bars becomes a direct cause 

 of corns. Indirectly the shoe becomes the cause of corns when 

 small stones, hard earth, or other objects collect between the sole 

 and shoe. 



Lastly, a rapid gait and excessive knee-action, especially on hard 

 roads, predispose to this disease of the feet. I have become con- 

 vinced that in cases of invisible lameness, upon examination where 

 no corns were visible from the bottom of the foot, by cutting in at 

 the angles that I would almost always find corns, and in almost every 

 case examined the heels would be low, the toes high and long, either 

 by improper paring of the foot or too low heels and high toes of old. 



