IN SEARCH OF A HORSE. 



83 



in which the two branches of the frog terminate, and 

 are also elastic and of a horny consistency. 



The purchaser will, by aid of this little preliminary 

 explanation, be very well able to understand the 

 practical demonstration which I have advised him to 

 seek from the farrier : and here I shall drop the des- 

 cription. As he may often hear of the coffin, 

 pastern, and navicular bones, it is expedient to add 

 that the first is a triangular-shaped bone that occu- 

 pies the interior of the foot, in a position correspond- 

 ing with the inclination of the hoof ; the smaller pas- 

 tern is a bone directly above it, and articulating into 

 its upper surface ; and the navicular bone is a small 

 bone which lies behind the articulation of the coffin 

 and smaller pastern, and assists in forming what is 

 called the coffin-joint. Their relative position in the 

 foot may be collected from this figure, but it is 



