170 HORSE AND MAN. 



on an unsound horse ; failed at first, but ultimately 

 succeeded, and, but for his premature death, he would 

 have picked out a series of horses condemned on 

 account of their hopelessly foundered condition, and 

 tried to give them another lease of life, together 

 with the power of work and the capacity of en- 

 joyment. 



In another letter, dated Sept. 13, 1884, Mr. Whit- 

 more Baker writes to me as follows : 



' There is one thing which I did not state in my 

 last, and which will perhaps interest you. Having 

 some knowledge of chemistry, I made a preparation 

 for toughening horn ; I then had my mare's shoes 

 removed, the edges neatly rasped, and the nail-holes 

 plugged up with whalebone. I then used my pre- 

 paration three times daily, gradually exercising the 

 mare over the road, and never allowing her to stand 

 on straw except for bedding. 



' Though I place great importance on the prepa- 

 ration, I do not say that a horse will not succeed with- 

 out it. But I maintain that it facilitates the process 

 by allowing the heels and frog to take a bearing before 

 sufficient horn has been worn away to make the parts 

 sensitive. I have known many instances where the 

 shoes have been taken off and nothing done to the 

 feet, and all have become lame within a month or so.' 



Mr. Whitmore Baker's idea of plugging the nail- 



