113 



DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



[Chap. I. 



" Take of honey, twelve ounces ; yellow beeswax, four ounces ; conipouiul 

 galbanuin plaster, six ounces ; sweet oil, half a pint. Put the lioney into a 

 jar l)y the fire, then molt the other ingredients and mix them together ; 

 spread very thin on linen, and aj)j>ly twice every day." 



102. llorse-Shoeiug. — It is wonderful how little the mass of smitlis wlio 

 shoe liorses know of the anatomy of a liorse's foot ; of its delicate organiza- 

 tion, and susceptibility to injury by improper paring of the hoof, formation 

 of the shoes, and attachment of the same ! liorses are peculiarly sensitive 

 to lameness, and it is obvious that great care in the particuhirs mentioned 

 should be observed, in order that a iinn, positive, and comfortable tread 

 shoild be given the feet, so as to make them capable of exerting the won- 

 derful degree of muscular strength of which they are possessed without 

 injury to tlie exquisitely constructed parts which ai-e brought into play. In 

 one of the nunil )ers of the Duhl'in Afjricultural Revievo we find a long article, 

 Avritten by "William Miles, extracted from the Journal of the lioyal Agri- 

 cultural Society of London. We heartily comi.'iend this able production to 

 the perusal of those of our readers interested in this important subject. It 

 commences as follows : 



" If I were asked to account for my horses' legs and feet being in better 

 order than those of my neighbors, I shoaild attribute it to the four following 

 circumstances : First, that they arc all shod with few nails, so placed in the 

 shoe as to permit the foot to expand every time they move ; secondly, that 

 they all live in boxes instead of stalls, and can move whenever they ])]ease ; 

 thirdly, that they have two hours' daily walking exercise when they are not 

 at work ; and fourthly, that I have not a head-stall or rack-chain in my 

 stable. These four circumstances comprehend tlie whole mystery of keeping 

 horses' legs fine, and their feet in sound working condition np to a good old age. 



" All that is really required is, to take one anatomical and one pliys- 

 iological fact on trust, and believe that the horse's hoof is lined by a very 

 sensitive membrane which must on no account ever be wounded, and that 

 the hoof itself is elastic, and expands M'hen the M'eight of the horse is tlirown 

 on the foot, and contracts when it is taken ofl:' again ; all the rest is purely 

 mechanical, and merely calls for the exercise of a little thought and patience 

 to understand the principle and apply it. 



"The result of the numberless experiments I have made at various times 

 on all sorts of horses doing every kind of work is, that there is but one prin- 

 ciple to be observed in horse-shoeing which Avill admit of no variation or 

 compromise : the shoe must fit the foot, whatever the sliape of the foot may 

 happen to be, and it must be nailed to the lioof in such a manner as will 

 ])ermit the foot to expand to the weight of the horse ; this latter condition 

 will be best complied with by placing three nails in the outer limb of the 

 shoe, and two in the inner limb between the toe and the commencement of 

 the inner quarter ; a larger number than five nails can never be required in 

 any shoe of any size, or imder any circumstances, excepting for the sole pur- 

 pose of counteracting defective and clumsy fitting. 



