MAYHEW, ON TIPS. 167 



should be at once abolished, because the broad web 

 has been proved by the general employment of the 

 picker rather to afford harbour to hurtful particles 

 than to protect the sole from injury. The shoe 

 should be made only just wide enough to afford 

 bearing to the wall of the hoof, and to allow suffi- 

 cient room for the nails to pierce the substance of 



the iron There can be no doubt as to 



the safety of tips Were tips more 



generally employed, this form of shoe would be 

 more highly valued.' So we see that Mayhew was 

 only short of the idea of imbedding his narrow strip 

 of iron, which idea occurred to M. Charlier shortly 

 after Mayhew wrote. 



It may not be out of place to repeat here that 

 such a narrow, weak strip of iron is not found to 

 answer when applied in the shape of a full-sized 

 shoe, as it will then either twist or break ; but in 

 the short length required for a tip, it is found that 

 it will do neither. 



Impulsive or superficial thought may suggest the 

 idea that such light tips may soon wear out. This 

 is not the case, for Mr. Douglas found by practical 

 experiment that light shoes wear the longest ; and 

 a little reflection would account for this. 



The proper width of a tip for a lady's horse 

 would be from f in. to J in., and the thickness in. 

 only. Light iron, as has been observed, only re- 

 quires light nails, and few of them, to hold it on ; 

 and as the narrowness of the web of the tip would 

 bring the nail-holes nearer to the edge of the hoof, 



