580 



FLAT OR CONVEXED SOLES. 



By whatever process the sole of the hoof is debilitated, 

 the wall is rendered inefficient for its functions, and either 

 bulges downwards, or collapsing and increase of convexity 

 upwards ensues, accordingly as concomitant influences pre- 

 vail. Every one who has walked with a soleless shoe, or 

 with the sole soaked by standing in wet until it became 



as soft as a sponge, knows that the upper-leather in such 

 cases becomes useless as a means of support to the foot. 

 In the case of the horse, under influences supposed, the 

 pedal bone and all the plantar structures become flattened, 

 as does the hoof, and in conformity with, and by virtue of, 

 natural laws, the most pronounced margins of the bone are 



