Book VII. 



SHOEING OF HORSES. 



993 



Mi'd. 

 Aloes, powdered, 8 drachms. 

 Oil of turpentine, 1 drachm. 



Strong. 

 Aloes, powdered, 10 drachms. 

 Oil of turpentine, 1 drachm. 



The aloes may be beaten with treacle to 

 a mass, adding, during the beiting. The 

 oil of turpentine. All spices, oil of tartar, 

 cream of tartar, jalap, &c. are useless, and 

 often hurtful additions- 



65S5. Liquid Purge. 

 Epsom salts, dissolved, 8 ounces. 

 Cas*or oil, 4 ounces. 

 W iterv tincture of aloes, 8 ounces. 



Mix. — The watery tincture of aloes is 

 made by heating powdered aloes with the 

 yolk of egg, adding water by degrees ; by 

 these means half an ounce of aloes may 

 b_' suspended in eight ounces of wat s r ; 

 and such a puTge is u-^eful when a ball 

 cannot be got down, as in partial locked 

 jaw. 



6586. Scalding Mirture for Pole Evil. 



Corrosive sublimate, finely i>o\vdered, 1 



drachm. 

 Yellow basil iron, 4 ounces. 



65S7. F«wf Stoppings. 

 Horse and cow dung, each about 2 lbs. 

 Tar, half a pound. 



G5SS. Wash for coring out, destroying 

 Fungus, or proud Flesh, 6\c, Cfc. 

 Lunar caustic, 1 drachm. 

 Water, 2 ounces. 



65*9. Wash for Mange. 

 Corrosive sublimate, 2 drachms. 

 Spirit of wine or brandy, 1 ounce. 

 Decoction of tobacco, 

 Ditto of white hellebore, of each 1 pint. 



Dissolve the mercury in the spirit, and 

 then add the decoctions. 



6590. Ointments for Healing. 



Turner's cerate, 4 ounces. 



White vitriol, powdered, half a drachm. 



Lard, 4 ounces. 



6591. For Digesting. 



2. 

 Turner's cerate, 2 ounces. 

 White vitriol, 1 drachm. 

 Yellow basilicon, 5 ounces. 



6592 For 3Iange. 



Sulphur vivum, S ounces. 

 Arsenic in powder, 2 drachms. 

 Mercurial ointment, 2 ounces. 

 Turpentine, 2 ounces. 

 Lard, 8 ounces. 



Mis, and dress with even' morning. 



6595. For Scab or Shab in Sheep, Mullen, 

 ders and Sellenders in Horses, anil frntl 

 Blotches and Eruptions in Cattle in 

 general. 



Camphor, 1 drachm. 



Sugar of lead, half a dmchm. 



Mercurial ointment, 1 ounce. 



■S^j 



840 



Sect. VIII. Shoeing of Hories. 



*fi59t. The importance of the subject of shoeing to the agriculturist is sufficiently attested by the immense 

 number of inventions which the ingenuity of philosophers and artists are every day devising, to render 



the svsteni complete. Almost every veterinary professor has his favourite 

 shoe ; and we find one of the most ingenious of the present day endeavouring 

 to force on our notice, and introduce into our stables, the French method ; 

 which, with the exception of the mode of nailing on, White observes, is 

 the verv worst he ever saw. The French shoe tig. 839 a) has a wide web 

 towards the toe, and is concave above aim convex nelow (61, on the ground 

 surface, bv which neither the toe nor heel touch the ground (r) ; but the 

 horse stands pretty much in the same way with an unhappy cat, shod by 

 unlucky boys with walnut shells. But as Blaine observes, in reference to 

 these inventions, " Xo one form of foot defence can be offered as a uni- 

 versal pattern." It is, he continues, plain that the principles of shoeing 

 ought to be those that allow as little departure from nature as circum- 

 stances will justify. The practice also should be strictly consonant to the 

 principles ; and both ought to consist, first, in removing no parts but 

 those which, if the bare hoof were applied to natural ground, would re- 

 move of themselves. Secondly, in bringing such parts in contact with the 

 ground generally speaking') as are opposed to it in an unshod state ; and 

 above all, to endeavour to preserve the original form of the foot, by fram- 

 ing the shoe thereto ; but never to alter the foot to the defence. The shoe 

 at'present made at the forges of" the most respectable smiths in the cities 

 and large towns throughout the kingdom, if it have not all the requisite?, 

 has however, bv degrees, been so improved, that with a few additional 

 alterations, neither difficult to direct or adopt, it is the one we shall hold 

 up as the most eligible for general shoeing. It is not that a better might not be offered to notice; 

 and, in fact, such a one we shall present to our readers; but so averse are the generality of smiths from 

 having any improvements forced on them, and so obstinately determined are they to adhere to the forms 

 handed down to them bv their forefathers, that their stupidity or malevolence, or both, frequently 

 makes the improvement itself, when seemingly acquiesced in, a source of irreparable injury. It Is for 

 these reasons we would recommend to agriculturists in general a modified shoe of the common stamp. 

 6.^5 The improved shoe fur general use (fig. 840.!, is rather wider than what is usually made. Its nail 



holes (a) extend no further towards the heels than is actually neces- 

 sary for securitv ; bv which the expansion of these parts is encouraged, 

 and contraction is avoided. To strengthen the attachment, and to 

 make up for this liberty given to the heels, the nails should be carried 

 around the front of the shoe (c). The nail holes, on the under or 

 ground surface of the shoe a), are usually formed in a gutter, techni- 

 callv called the fullering ; but in the case of heavy treading powerful 

 horses this gutter may be omitted, or if adopted, the shoe in that part 

 may be steeled. The web should be quite even on the foot or hoof 

 surface {b\ and not only be rather wider, but it should also have 

 rather miTe substance than is common : from half an inch to five 

 eighths in thickness, according to circumstance, forms a fair propor- 

 tion ; when it is less it is apt, in wearing, to bend to pressure and force 

 out the clinches. A great error is committed in setting shoes out so 

 much wider than the heels themselves : this error has been devised to 

 correct another, wh.ch has been that of letting horses go too long 

 without shoeing ; in « hich case, if the heels of the shoe were not too 

 wide originally, as the foot grew, they became lost within the heels ; 

 and were thus' bruised and produced corns : but as we will suppose 

 that few will wish to enter into a certain error to avoid an uncertain one, so we recommend that the heels 

 of the shoe should stand only wide enough to prevent the expansion of the quarters pushing the heels of 

 the feet over the outer edge of the heels of the shoe : for which purpose, it the iron project rather less 

 than a quarter of an inch, instead of three eighths, or even half an inch, as it frequently does, many 

 advantages will be gained.' Whoever attentively examines a shoe well set off at the heels, as it is termed, 

 will find only one third of its flat surface protecting the heels ; the remainder projects beyond, and serves 

 but to form a shelf to lodge dirt on ; or as a convenient clip for another horse to tread on; or Tor the 

 wearer to cut his own legs with ; or to afford a more ready hold for the suction of clayey grounds to force 

 off the shoe by. The heels of the common shoe are likewise not in general sufficiently long tor the pro 

 tection of the foot; and which defect, more than a want of width, causes the tendency topress on he 

 crust of the heels. It is further to be observed, that if the decreased width of the ° ut "/' an n dl ' 1 f n °/J 1 "l 

 heels, and the increased width of the web, should make the inner angle of the shoe heel in danger of 

 interfering with the frog, the corner may be taken off. In forging this shoe, it may be bevelled, or left 

 plain on bo^hsurfIces, B or rather nearly so, for it is usual with most smiths to * r n , t msome ^degree 

 Towards the inner edge! This shoe is applicable to most feet, is easily formed, and as such, in country 

 places is all that can be expected. 



t\L96. The ir, 

 obviate them ; _. 



3 S 



toluH^dKrtffiad shoeing would only require to be known to excite every endeavour to 

 iTand thc?e are some circumstances in the more common shoes of country sm.ths that ought 



