c HOT-FITTING.' 87 



can most readily be secured by applying the shoe 

 at a high temperature, and for the briefest space of 

 time, to the part on which it is to rest. By this 

 means the inequalities in the horn can be perceived, 

 and removed by the rasp, and when quite level, 

 another brief application of the hot shoe fuses the 

 horn into a hard level surface, capable of resisting 

 the pressure of the metal during wear. 



' This " hot-fitting " of the shoe, as it is termed, 

 is perfectly harmless to the unmutilated hoof, and 

 possesses such great advantages that it is to be 

 commended. By " cold-fitting " it is impossible to 

 obtain such an intimate coaptation ; and even if it 

 could be secured, the shoe would not remain so 

 firmly attached, as wet softens the ends of the horn- 

 fibres in contact with the shoe, and they yield to 

 the pressure, the shoe loses its original bed, becomes 

 loose, and is cast. This is the experience of those 

 who have tried this kind of fitting most exten- 

 sively.' 



These directions were written by one of the first 

 authorities in veterinary science — namely, Professor 

 G. Fleming, veterinary surgeon to the 2nd Life 

 Guards. They occur in an article written for the 

 'Live Stock Journal Almanack ' of 1879. 



Any opinion of such a writer is worthy of respect, 

 but when I read these words for the first time, I 



