136 ESSAY ON SHOEING HORSES. 



and accidental causes ; therefore, it is the business of all persons 

 engaged in the art of shoeing horses to make themselves acquainted 

 with the structure and function of a horse's foot; for in the present 

 progressive era, when improvements are treading on the heels of im- 

 provement, a blacksmith cannot afford to plead ignorance on such 

 important subjects, which are vital to his success as a practical shoe- 

 ing smith. 



I cannot conscientiously close this article without offering a few 

 remarks in favor of that much-abused class of men known as " black- 

 smiths." It is my firm belief that they are often, very often, blamed 

 without any rational excuse for censure. For example, a horse is 

 recently shod, becomes suddenly lame, the lameness may be so ob- 

 scure and unaccountable that the owner and his advisers cannot, by 

 ordinary observation, determine the seat of lameness, and they come 

 to the conclusion that the mysterious lameness aas its origin in faulty 

 shoeing, which may not be the case, for very many horses are pre- 

 disposed to various diseases of the feet and lameness of limbs, 

 which, under the very bad system of shoeing, cannot be prevented. 



In regard to had shoeing, it is my opinion that many smiths do 

 not obtain a fair compensation for their services, in the prosecution 

 of their laborious and dangerous vocation ; hence, they cannot afford 

 to employ the best kind of help ; and if, under the circumstances, a 

 horse's shoes are merely tacked on to the feet, at the rate of the 

 prevalent bread-and-butter price, the owner of the horse is more 

 culpable than the smith. 



If horse-oicners have a desire to guard against the consequences 

 of faulty shoeing, and wish to see their horses shod in a satisfactory 

 manner, I advise them to pay the blacksmith a livhig price, so that 

 he can afford to employ "good help" — men who know how to per- 

 form work in a workmanlike manner. 



Taking a rational view of the whole art of shoeing, the greatest 

 wonder is how so many horses used for draught purposes on our un- 

 yielding pavements, enjoy freedom from foot lameness. 



MECHANISM OF HOESES' HOOPS. 



The hoof of a horse is considered as an epidermic appendage — 

 similar to nails and claws of other animals, and scales of fishes. 

 They are produced, in the first instance, by the growth of cells, the 

 contents of which gradually evaporate, so that the walls of the same 

 gradually approximate each other. 



In the upper part of the hoof — near its matrix (mother) — these 

 cells are to be observed ; they are somewhat flattened against each 

 Other, but still retain a rounded form. 



The hoof, nails and scales, are not traversed by nutriment vessels 

 or absorbents, as is the case in regard to the sensitive tissues ; and 

 the flattened cells, when fully developed, undergo but little change. 

 The chemical analysis of the constituents of the hoof are as follows: 



Carbon 52 parts. 



Hydrogen 7 " 



Nitrogen 17 " 



Oxygen and Sulphur 24 " 



Total 100 " 



