THE HORSE. 19 



see people with feet of various sizes, but they are all 

 equally capable of walking and of common exertion. 

 I never knew a fast runner or great walker amongst 

 bipeds who had an extremely large foot ; on the con- 

 trary, the feet of pedestrians, properly so called, are 

 mostly, if not of the moderate size, rather under it. 

 " Yes/' some will say, " but the human foot is not 

 confined within a box of horn, capable of yielding but 

 slightly/' Most true ; but nature fits the horn to the 

 foot, and not the foot to the horn. 



Horses, therefore, which have naturally small feet, 

 but not so small as to cause them inconvenience, may 

 without doubt be pronounced SOUND. 



Should the various reasons stated in this and pre- 

 vious articles not be convincing, I may state that some 

 of the best veterinary surgeons are of opinion that, 

 where contraction is not attended by inconvenience 

 to the animal, it ought not to be deemed an unsound- 

 ness, although it was by law decided as such many 

 years back. Some persons, however, pronounce it con* 

 sistent with soundness, in spite of that decision. Pro- 

 fessor Coleman once remarked, that he " cared not 

 what had been decided, no jury, after such evidence 

 as would now be brought into court, could decide in 

 favour of so absurd a law/' 



The statutes respecting soundness have altered, and 

 must continue to be altered, with the advance of time 

 and improved veterinary knowledge. In Xenophon's 

 o 2 



