MK^SHAPEN FEET, HOW ACQUffiED. 165 



mud thu« promote the regeneration of healthy horn. He should also accuctom 

 himself to reflect on the various breeds of horses that are brought under hia 

 care, their limbs and hoofs, produced in certain situations, climates, or coun 

 tries, as we hear them denominated, each of which requires some peculiar 

 contrivance or adaptation. Thus, horses bred in swampy situations have long 

 flabby limbs and large flat hoof?, to say nothing more of their long washy car- 

 cases, that predispose them to contract certain ills which come shortly to '^e 

 enumerated. All those "countries" where ague prevails among mankind arc 

 unfit for breeding good horses, as is proved by the thick spongy heel and soil 

 foot. It was to this peculiar climate I objected some years ago, when I first 

 printed the advice given at page 18, which has since been corroborated by the 

 opinion of M. Dupuy, as quoted before at page 130. Brittle hoof is produced 

 by a hot, sandy breeding country, as much as by the heat and dryness of the 

 animal's constitution. But, to whichever extreme the individual belongs that 

 may come under consideration, mis-shapen hoof is visible from the earliest 

 years. Tnis increases as the animal is worked, and disease of one descri|> 

 iion or another follows, which requires the care of the shoeing-smith to modi- 

 fy, or of the doctor to cure. Thus the combination of ferrier (or iron-work 

 er) and veterinary surgeon in the same person is not so very incongruous as 

 at first sight may be imagined. 



In the anatomical treatise that occupies the first chapter in this volume, the 

 reader will observe (at page 11) how strenuously I insisted on the proper shape 

 or e.evation of the hoof; and he will not overlook the great service our shoeing- 

 emith, ox ferrier proper, may derive from duly considering this shape and ex- 

 ternal form, and of adapting his shoe to each deviation from the true form, as 

 I shall show presently in detail. For that attendant upon and assistant to 

 nature, who is neglectful of her deviations, or ignorant of the causes which 

 produce them, is ill calculated for his office, whether that be ferrier or doctor; 

 in fact, he is ever the most prizable workman of either class who is best ac- 

 quainted with those deviations, accidents, or errors that, for the most part, are 

 inflicted we know not how. The boot and shoe maker, for example, who can 

 best suit the bumble-footed man, is a more ingenious mechanic than he who 

 is wholly employed in making his cordovans for perfect-footed persons only. 

 But then, the "shoe maker" of either genus should not be ignorant of well- 

 turned feet, and the symmetry of the horse's foot should form an especial part 

 in the education of an intelligent shoeing-smith ; else, how is he to work for 

 ',he })reservation of the proper shape, of its restoration when time or circum- 

 stances may have eflfected those alterations we deplore, and strive to amend if 

 we can not fully restore? 



Let him examine nature itself in its fastnesses; let him investigate the 

 njinute parts that constitute the whole foot, to which his operations are calcu- 

 lated to aflJbrd support, or to eflfect alterations in its form. To aid him in his 

 inquiries, I have annexed hereto the section of a foot of nearly perfect shape, 

 prepared by myself, and })ublished some time l)efore these sheets, in order ta 

 meet and correct the blunders intelligent shocing-smiths were every day led 

 into by relying upon the misrepresentation of the subject contained in certain 

 {»i!blications of the present day. I lamented this the more, because it is im- 

 |M)ssible to withhold approbation from the leading parts o( the work in which 

 the ill-conceived picture appeared, and therefore it is very likely to have diifu- 

 ssed error more extensively than a less popular author could possibly inflict. 

 As an antidote to all mistakes on this interesting topic, I would recommend 

 every one who has occasion to meddle with horses' feet, as owner, groom, or 

 IG 



