DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 155 



foot. But we should remember that the conditions un- 

 der which the horse of to-day has to labor are totally dif- 

 ferent from those in which the horse is found in a state 

 of nature. It has therefore been found necessary to 

 use various artificial means to preserve portions of the 

 animal body from partial or total destruction. In very 

 early times it was found necessary to protect the foot of 

 the horse, and up to the present time a rim of iron has 

 been deemed the most serviceable protection for the 

 bottom of the foot. But this takes no account of the 

 outside of the hoof which is also subject to a consider- 

 able change on account of the following departure from 

 natural conditions. In a state of nature the horse trav- 

 eled on pastures continually. These pastures were 

 kept moist by frequent rain and dew, thus keeping up 

 a water or moist saturation the greater part of the time, 

 thus enabling the horn to grow tough and strong and 

 preventing any undue dryness, except in unusually dry 

 seasons, or in unusually dry and arid places. Now we 

 have the horse traveling much of the time on very dry 

 roads, covered with dust which assists in absorbing 

 the little moisture that may be near the outside of the 

 hoof, and at night a very large number of horses are 

 kept in stables where everything is dry under the feet 

 just the opposite of natural conditions. Evaporation 

 goes on continually from the surface of the wall of the 

 foot. The horn becoms dry and brittle, is subject to 

 cracks and bruises, in fact, almost the reverse of the 

 tough, moist horn found in the hoof of the horse kept 

 under natural conditions. To counteract this tendency 

 to dryness of the horn, various applications have been 

 tried, and all with varying success, until by experiment- 

 ing with various agents that had been recommended by 



