540 ART OF SHOEING. 



we have had, in number constantly multiplying during the 

 last fifty years, not only veterinarians and amateurs, but 

 ironmongers, and men possessing all sorts of knowledge but 

 such as belonged to the subject, have been alike persistent 

 in pressing their claims for patronage, in favour of some 

 peculiarly formed piece of iron, and their views on shoeing in 

 general. 



That anatomists should not have been able to establish a 

 common accord on the normal features of the coffin bone is 

 strange, and that physiologists should, by placing that bone 

 on a plain surface, try to find out its bearing points, is to our- 

 selves a mystery. The coffin bone has no bearing surfaces; 

 we know of no bone in any animal that has ; as adapted to 

 repose on the ground ; it is destined for totally different func- 

 tions, invested, as it is with other structures, and composed of 

 processes, angles, depressing extremities, and margins ; by 

 which means the strongest possible hold is given to cartilages, 

 ligaments, and all connecting and attaching tissues ; and it 

 would be as logical to look at the skeleton of the horse, 

 and try to discover that the vertebral spine is adapted to 

 bear the pressure of a saddle and the weight of the rider, as 

 to try to learn how the coffin bone can receive and transmit 

 .weight otherwise than through its natural means of connec- 

 tion. 



Bones are designed for different functions to that which 

 adaptation of their surfaces to bear external pressure would 

 imply. We will reproduce here some observations and illus- 

 trations from the Edinburgh Veterinary Review for 1863, 

 to show the connection and relative functions of the coffin 

 bone and the hoof. A large share of the functions of the 

 foot is due to the hoof; anteriorly it is such that it does 

 nothing less than sustain the whole weight and force which, 

 through the limb, are exerted on it. As we have shown, in 



