16 PRACTICAL HORSESHOEING. 



of the elastic apparatus derives much interest, and must 

 not be overlooked by the farrier. 



Besides the elastic apparatus of the foot more immedi- 

 ately in connection with the pedal and navicular bones, 

 we have the wonderful arrangement of living membrane 

 enveloping these parts, whose office appears to be the se- 

 cretion and attachment of the horny box we designate the 

 "hoof;" to it large quantities of blood are conveyed by 

 the ultimate ramifications of the arteries proceeding to the 

 foot, and from it by a complex distribution of veins aris- 

 ing from these ultimate arterial divisions, to the great 

 venous trunks that pass up the limb. The terminal twigs 

 of the sensory nerves of the foot are also freely and wisely 

 distributed in its substance in the form of exceedingly fine 

 filaments, which endow the organ with a sufficient sense 

 of touch to enable it to perform its varied functions with 

 safety and precision. A peculiar and striking disposition 

 of this membrane can be observed around the front and 

 sides of the pedal bone, when the hoof has been removed 

 by steeping the foot for some time in water. This dispo- 

 sition consists in the elevation of the membrane into par- 

 allel vertical leaves, which extend from the coronary cush- 

 ion to the lower border of the bone, and to a certain dis- 

 tance within its wings. These leaves, which resemble in 

 appearance those on the under side of a mushroom, are 

 known as the "vascular" or "sensitive larnime," and 

 number between six and seven hundred; their chief use 

 seems to be to afford a wide and close attachment for the 

 wall of the hoof, within which, through their agency, the 

 pedal bone is, as it were, suspended ; so that the relations 

 between bone and hoof are not so rigid as if they were di- 

 rectly united to each other. These laminae are exceeding- 

 ly vascular and sensitive, and when they become inflamed 

 through bad shoeing, excessive travelling, or other cause, 

 the horse suffers the most excruciating pain, and in a 



