106 HORSE AND MAN. 



There is now before me a hoof, kindly presented 

 to me by Mr. G. Eansom (' Free Lance '), in which 

 one of the nail-holes is exactly an inch and a quarter 

 above the edge of the hoof, so that the nail must have 

 passed quite close enough to the vascular laminae to 

 cause pressure on them, and therefore to give pain. 



This hoof is peculiarly instructive, because it has 

 been shod on what in veterinary language is called 

 the ' unilateral system,' in English the one-sided, plan, 

 the shoe having been nailed only on one side and 

 on the toe. I have exhibited it throughout England, 

 Scotland, and a great part of America, and have al- 

 ways found that the spectators were greatly struck 

 with the torn and battered horn of the nailed side, 

 and the clear, firm, and beautifully grained horn of 

 the untouched side. 



Originally, the shoes had been nailed all round as 

 usual, but on the sound side all the nail- holes have 

 disappeared, with the exception of one, whose posi- 

 tion is externally indicated by the crack in the fibres 

 above it. The person who prepared the hoof has 

 unfortunately polished and trimmed it, but the 

 damage which he has thereby done to the hoof as 

 a specimen is partially compensated by the promi- 

 nence which is given to the ' grain ' of the fibres, 

 and the ease with which an injury to them can be 

 traced. 



