ON THE FOOT 149 



consistent with absolute necessity for it, and valuable 

 hunters should be kept off hard roads as much as it 

 is possible to do so.^ This applies merely to concussion. 

 Inflammation of the synovial membrane which 

 lines the joint may arise from other causes, which it 

 may be more difficult to describe. It may be well 

 to observe, that suffering horses to go a long time 

 without being shod, or removed, and thereby suffer- 

 ing the sole to become morbidly thick, may be one 

 cause of inflammation, as offering too much resistance 

 to the descent of the navicular joint. Standing long 

 in the stable, and then suddenly called into action, 

 is also very likely to derange these highly-sensible 

 parts, as indeed it is the cause of various bodily 

 complaints. 



^ On returning home from hunting with a friend of mine who 

 was riding a horse he had purchased from me, and was trotting him 

 at the rate of nine miles an hour on the high road, whilst I was 

 riding by the side of it — " Why," said I, " do you knock your horse's 

 feet about in that way when you can avoid it ? " His answer was 

 — " If they will not stand what he is now doing, he is not worth 

 what I gave you for him." This was bad logic. 



