PBINCIFLES OF SHOEING. 461 



Veterinary Surgeons, even the most skilled, with the greatest possible 

 care may fail to detect latent defects, and it seems unreasonable that 

 juries should hold them pecuniarily responsible. The medical man who 

 makes a mistake with the patient who consults him is not so held respon- 

 sible ; or take another case, which is perhaps more closely allied to the 

 examination of horses for' soundness. An insurance office employs a 

 medical man to report on the constitutional and probable longevity of a 

 person wishing to be insured. The medical man is not held by the 

 insurance office to be pecuniarily responsible, if he makes, a mistake in 

 his diagnosis and the person insured dies shortly afterwar4s. 



CHAPTER 62. 



PRINCIPLES OF SHOEING. 

 Plates 47 to 57. The figures are consecutive throughout these Plates. 



940. General principles. 941. Structure of the Foot. 942. The outer 

 case of the Foot. 943. The Crust or Wall 944. Effect of rasping on the 

 Crust. 945. Why then do farriers rasp? 946. Of lowering the Crust 

 versus rasping its external surface. 947. Prevention of splitting of the 

 Crust after being lowered. 948. The Bars. 949. The Sole. 950. Of 

 undue pressure on the sensitive Sole, as a result of paring. 951. Of undue 

 pressure on the sensitive Sole from mutilation of the Crust. 952. The 

 Frog. 953. Cleanliness. 954. Shape of the Foot. 955. Size of the Feet. 

 956. Feet to be pairs. 957. Contraction and expansion of the Foot. 958. 

 Conclusion. 



940. Principles of Shoeing. 



I SHALL dismiss for the present all questions of particular patterns of 

 Shoes, though I have my own preference. At the outset I shall treat 

 only of that which is essential to all good shoeing, namely, the preserva- 

 tion of the foot in a sound and healthy state. 



Certain sorts of shoes may be adjuncts to good shoeing, but they are 

 not absolutely essential to it. Without a healthy foot any sort of shoe 

 will more or less fail. With a healthy foot, most sorts of shoes will 

 answer tolerably well. I attach far more importance to the treatment of 

 the foot than I do to the 1 shoe. 



One great principle runs through all good shoeing, namely, the pre- 

 servation of the outer case of the foot; this includes 



1st. The preservation of the Crust and Bars whole and entire. 



2nd. The preservation of the Sole. 



3rd. The preservation of the Frog. 



941. Structure of the Foot. 



The Foot is a sensitive vascular structure with a bone, or rather two 

 bones and a portion of a third, enclosed within its outer case. 



