562 ART OF SHOEING. 



should be formed. A horse-shoe nail should only be of 

 a thickness sufficient to maintain its position when driven. 

 If thick at the neck they press more or less in degree and 

 frequency on the organized structures. We find, by compar- 

 ing the three nails represented, that the French-made one is 

 the broadest and thinnest in the shank, is evenly drawn from 

 head to point, and in these respects the^old English nail, or 

 that which we adopt, and which is in general use in Scotland, 

 is similarly formed; whilst the modern English counter or 

 wedge-formed nail is narrower and thicker in the shank, 

 deviations from the form of the first two described, which 

 essentially mark the superior fitness of these and the fault 

 in the structure of the last, which would do to drive into 

 wood, where pressure was admissible on all sides. 



In submitting these illustrations of three different forms 

 of nail, all of which are intended for the same purpose, and 

 are employed in different divisions of our own country and 

 on the Continent, we do not mean to discuss the relative 

 state of the art of nail-making in the respective countries 

 where each differently formed nail is in vogue. All these 

 models are excellent specimens of workmanship and quality 

 of iron; it is the difference in systems of shoeing, of which the 

 form of the nail constitutes a part, that we are reviewing. 



The various nails taken as specimens to be drawn from, 

 were all of the best ordinary samples of their kinds ; those 

 of French make were procured in Paris, as has been stated, 

 and the rose-headed the old English nail now more ex- 

 clusively used in Scotland than in any other part of the 

 kingdom, and the Scottish makers being inferior to none in 

 making that kind of nail, the specimens were taken indis- 

 criminately from amongst those we use; they are made 

 near Stirling, with one exception, viz., Fig. 231, A, which 

 was drawn from a small nail as used for race-horses, selected 



