158 On the General Treatment of the Feet. 



the Horse is precluded the greatest part of the advantage, which 

 weuld otherwise result from the coohng and refreshing effects of water 

 applied to his hoofs as he travels on the road, and in all other situations 

 where his Feet happen to be exposed to its action, unless, indeed, he 

 were to remain with them immersed in that fluid, by which means his 

 hoofs would certainly be cooled by its application though not softened 

 by its absorption. — And we may be certain that this feeling of cool- 

 ness, is highly grateful to the animal when his Feet are hot, from 

 observing that Horses will of their own choice stand in pools of wa- 

 ter, in the summer-time, for hours together, and also from the fact 

 of their instinctively choosing to pass through puddles, which they 

 meet with occasionally on the road, when travelling in very hot dry 

 weather. 



But, it is impossible that the water on the roads can have the effect 

 of cooling a Horse's Foot, thus heated in its varnished case, except 

 during the momentary space of time, which is occupied m it's trick- 

 ling off the hoof; as no portion of the water, will be arrested by the 

 varnished surface. The effects, therefore, of evaporation, which 

 are so surprisingly great, in the production of cold, must be nearly; 

 if not utterly, precluded ; and will be manifest, that in this way, and 

 upon this principle, the use of oil must inevitably contribute to heat 

 the Foot. Now, if these facts be admitted (and I do not see how 

 they can possibly be denied,) it will follow as a natural consequence 

 that the use of oil must be the means of rendering the hoof hard and 

 brittle, as well as hot. For, if the oil, operating as a varnish, pre- 

 clude the effectual application to the horny box, of the only substance 

 in nature, which is calculated to soften it, the fact is clearly made out; 

 and all wonder must cease at the frequent instances of contracted feet 



