154 SHOEING. 



proof of its '' dfying, separating, and scaling 

 away J' The fact is not literally so, as may- 

 be corroborated by any judicious observer ac- 

 customed to examine the feet of horses with 

 the degree of accuracy and nice distinction ne- 

 cessary to jicstifij or disprove any opinion that 

 may be promulgated for public investigation 

 or improvement. It is a matter too well knowu 

 to admit of momentary cavil, that the foot, by 

 being permitted to remain too long in its na- 

 tural state without reduction, acquires in its 

 several parts the appearance of deformity ; 

 the hoof grows long, narrow^ and u^eak ; the 

 sole, as he says, separates, (but in part only) 

 and comes away in partial scales, leaving 

 a rough, hard, uneven surface of cTzri/Ze^ and 

 projections ; the frog becoming bruised, rag- 

 ged and putrefied, even to different degrees 

 of lameness. This being the exact represen- 

 tation of a foot left to growth in a rude and 

 unimproved state, the propriety or impro- 

 priety of judiciously \)dixmg each part, to pro- 

 mote a corresponding firnmess, and preserve 

 the necessary uniformity, ca:n never become 

 the subject of disputation, but among those 

 whose intellectual faculties are absorbed in 



