THE HOOF. 25 



the two more thorough. I think there can be no doubt 

 that the principal use of this elastic rim of horn placed 

 in such a situation, is to obviate the danger of fracture 

 to which the inferior part of the hoof — particularly the 

 sole — would be liable, if the junction between the hard 

 and comparatively inelastic sole and wall was directly 

 effected without the interposition of such a body. 



It may be noted, that it is through this soft border of 

 horn that gravel and foreign matters usually find their 

 way to the sensitive parts . of the foot, and there excite 

 such an amount of irritation as to lead to the formation of 

 matter, and cause much pain and lameness ; an accident 

 which the older farriers termed " gravelling." 



In viewing the horse's hoof as a whole, and in the un- 

 shod state, we find that it presents several salient charac- 

 teristics, the consideration of which ought to dominate or 

 serve as a guide in framing rules for the observance of far- 

 riers in the practice of their arL The first of these is the 

 direction in which the wall grows in a healthy condition. 



Viewed as it stands on a level surface, the hoof may 

 be said to be somewhat conical in shape, its upper part 

 being a little less than its base ; and although, geometri- 

 cally, its shape may be described as the frustum of a cone, 

 the base and summit of which have been cut by two ob- 

 lique planes — the inferior converging abruptly behind to- 

 ward the superior — yet the circumference of the hoof does 

 not offer that regularity which this description might im- 

 ply ; on the contrary, in a well-formed foot, we find that 

 the outline of its inferior or ground border, is notably 

 more salient on the outer than the inner side, giving it 

 that appearance which has been designated the " spread." 



A cone being intersected by two planes oblique to its 



axis, and not parallel to each other, gives a good idea, 



nevertheless, of the obliquity which forms so marked a 



feature in the hoof. The degree of obliquity of the front 



2 



