116 HORSE AND MAN. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



The calk, or calkin Horses on pattens Two strange accidents Calks 

 in America Supposed uses of the calk Mr. Bowditch's testimony 

 Weight thrown on the edge of the coffin bone High-heeled boots 

 and their effects The battle of the shoes Recognition of defects in 

 shoeing The Goodenough shoe and its object Jointed shoes The 

 Clark jointed shoe The screw shoe Expansion and contraction 

 The effect of the screw on the hoof Tips, and how to fasten them 

 The Charlier, or ' pre^plantar ' shoe How to apply it Usually too 

 large and in danger of breaking and twisting Best length and weight 

 for a Charlier shoe Man versus Nature A series of happy thoughts 

 Their results upon each portion of the hoof. 



THERE is one portion of the shoe which must be 

 mentioned. It is the calk, or calkin i.e. a projection 

 at the heel which looks very much like the high- 

 heeled boots which have destroyed the feet and 

 broken the health of many a fashionable beauty. 

 Sometimes, as in the Manchester shoe, which I men- 

 tioned on p. 113, the calkin extends across the back 

 of the shoe, connecting the ends together, and look- 

 ing very much as if the blade of an iron scraper 

 had been fastened across the heels. Generally, how- 

 ever, there are two calks, one on each side of 

 the heel ; and, too often, the blacksmith has not 



