THE LIMBS. 201 



differences by which they can be distinguished by a 



practiced eye. The hoofs of the fore feet are broader 

 and rounder in front, those of the hind feet narrower 

 and more pointed. The right and left hoofs of either 

 limb can be distinguished by observing that the in- 

 ner edge of the wall is ilatter and the outer more 

 convex. 



It will now be clearly seeL that, in comparing the 

 under surface of the horse's foot with the tip of the 

 human finger, the free or lower edge of the; wall of 

 the former corresponds with the free edge of the nail 

 of the latter, only vastly more developed in extent, in 

 complexity of involution, and in thickness ; the frog 

 and all its accessory parts to the rounded free tip and 

 bulb of the finger, also greatly developed, so as to 

 form the heel-like projection so essential to give sta- 

 bility to the horse's foot in standing; while the sole 

 is only represented by the thin curved line between 

 the under surface of the nail and the skin covering 

 the tip of the finger. 



Comparing the horse's toe with that of a clawed 

 animal — a dog or cat, for instance — the wall of the 

 hoof represents the horny sides of the claw; the sole 

 the narrow soft under surface of the claw, where the 

 edges do not meet ; the frog and its branches and 

 glomes the smaller oval bare pad under the toe; 

 while the ergot or bare space behind the fetlock-joint 



