ON THE FOOT 133 



careful servant of my own into Leicestershire, at three 

 easy days' journey of twenty miles each. The fifth 

 day after he arrived I got on his back to ride him to 

 covert, and found he was lame. Immediately mount- 

 ing another horse I ordered my groom to get his shoe 

 off, and to put his foot into warm water, supposing 

 his lameness to proceed from some trifling cause. 

 My horse, however, was never sound again ; and 

 because I could not prove that he was lame before I be- 

 came possessed of him, I never saw a shilling of my 

 money again. 



Now I must here observe, that when I saw this 

 horse on the morning previous to my purchasing him 

 I thought he did not stand quite square on his fore- 

 legs, but that he seemed to have one of them — the 

 faulty one — a little more forward than the other. 

 I observed it again when I saw him the next day, 

 and mentioned it to his owner, who assured me that 

 it was only caused by his looking over the side of his 

 stall at another horse — adding, that as he had bred 

 him he could answer for his never having been lame 

 in his life. All this was very true. The horse never 

 had been lame ; but, at the time I am speaking of, 

 incipient disease existed in his foot, and the travelling 

 into Leicestershire produced inflammation and lame- 

 ness. The veterinary surgeon who attended him 

 declared that if he wanted to make a drawing of the 

 foot of the horse he should have been glad to have 

 taken his for a model, so perfectly was it formed in 

 all its parts and features. On dissection, two years 

 afterwards, all this fine form was obliterated, and a 



