MEDICAL TRKATMHXT OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 469 



" which is thrown on the inner heel, and from the weakness of the 

 " quarter there, the horn usually wears away considerably faster 

 " than it would on the outer one ; and if an equal portion of horn 

 " were pared from it, it would be left lower than the outer heel. 

 " The smith should therefore accommodate his paring to the com- 

 " parative wear of the heel, and be exceedingly careful to leave 

 *' them precisely level." 



Miles recommends that the frog of the hoof be left entirely to 

 itself, and never touched with the knife at all, for the reason that, 

 as fast as the superfluous horn is formed, it will be removed by a 

 natural shelling, and its raggedness can do no harm. Within a 

 {ew months after the paring of the frog has ceased, it will have the 

 character of the frog of a horse at pasture, which is always, when 

 in a state of health, sound and smooth. 



The necessity for applying to a veterinary surgeon, or for adopt- 

 ing any of the remedies which writers on the horse have given to 

 the world, will depend, accidents aside, almost exclusively upon 

 the extent to which the requirements of health have been neglected 

 in the management of the horse upon the road and in the stable. 

 With a clean skin and abundance of pure air, protection against 

 cold drafts, and suitable food administered regularly and in proper 

 quantity, it will be but rare that horses of good constitution will 

 require any further remedy than the curry-comb, the bran-bin, and 

 warm water afford. 



HORNED CATTLE. 



In the treatment of dairy stock and other horned cattle, the 

 extent to which it becomes necessary to resort to medical or surgi- 

 cal treatment, except for very simple ailments, will be, in a great 

 degree, in proportion to the observance or neglect of the funda- 

 mental principles of breeding and management. Long-continued 

 in-and-in breeding, or the breeding from sires and dams tainted 

 with hereditary diseases, or weakened by neglect or ill-treatment, 

 will inevitably result in the deterioration of the stock ; and medi- 

 cal treatment will become more and more necessary, while such 

 injurious breeding is continued. Deprivation of pure air, pure 



