RUSSELL AN AMERICAN SHOEING SMITH. 75 



be better than anything else, ' even in the case of 

 horses that had had their feet abused for a series of 

 years.' This book, however, coming, as it does, from 

 a farrier of forty years' experience, contains note- 

 worthy remarks. Great stress is laid on the import- 

 ance of paring the crust only, leaving the frog and 

 sole to exfoliate of their own accord, and also taking 

 the greatest care to pare down the crust perfectly 

 level on all sides, so that the foot may stand quite 

 upright. * If we wish to examine a perfect foot, 

 such as Nature made it, it is generally necessary to 

 find one that has never been shod ; for the common 

 mode of shoeing is so frequently destructive, that 

 we seldom meet with a horse whose feet have not 

 lost, in some degree, their original form, and this 

 deviation from their natural shape is generally pro- 

 portioned to the length of time they have worn 

 shoes. From this circumstance, writers on farriery 

 have been led to form various opinions respecting 

 the most desirable form for a horse's foot; but had an 

 ever provident Nature been consulted, this variety 

 of opinion, it seems to me, would never have existed.' 

 It is strange that Mr. Russell, after expressing 

 himself thus, should have come to the conclusion 

 that more than a score of different patterns and 

 principles were necessary to help Nature. The fact 

 is that these various kinds of shoes are only so 

 many orthopedic instruments which he considers 

 useful for ' cripples.' So all his inventive powers 

 have been thrown away when ' four inches of iron 

 curled round the toe ' are found to answer better 



