C 27 3 



entertained a full confidence in its success, that 

 to preserve the foot in a healthy state, little more 

 was necessary, than to allow the frog to come 

 in contact with the ground at every step; and 

 that this might uniformly happen, it was ad- 

 vised that the shoe should be thin at the heel, 

 and gradually thicken as it approached the toe, 

 where it should be three times as thick as at the 

 heel. By means of this shoe it was believed 

 that not only would the frog, when not diseased 

 or cut away, bear on the ground at every step, 

 but, that by the iron being carried up to die heel, 

 it would possess all the good qualities of the 

 short shoe, without any of its imperfections. 

 Few objections were made to the principles of 

 this shoe on its outset, on account of the plau- 

 sibility of the theory by which it was accom- 

 panied ; but its application in a general way did 

 not completely justify the sanguine expectations 

 which were formed of its success. For it fre- 

 quently happens, when the shoe is very thin at 

 the heel, that this part is bent out of shape, or 

 broken, before the toe is half worn; and from 

 its thinness, it plays against the foot like a spring, 

 loosens the heel-nails, and is more subject to be 

 thrown ofF than the ordinary shoe. It has one 

 advantacre over the short shoe, inasmuch as it 



