THE horse's foot, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 229 



is nothing mysterious or incomprehensible touching 

 this matter of the horse's foot. It is as easy to under- 

 stand the several parts of the foot, and their use, as it 

 is to understand the shoulder or head. Many authors 

 begin their books in a style of expression calculated to 

 give the reader the idea that the foot of the horse is the 

 most difficult portion of his organism for people to com- 

 prehend, and that they must not expect to comprehend 

 it like a veterinary surgeon (!), and must not be surprised 

 if they do not understand it very well when they have 

 got through with reading their work. The latter sug- 

 gestion was, beyond doubt, most accurate ! Indeed, it 

 would have been a matter of great surprise to me if 

 they had understood any thing by the time they had 

 finished the book. But the incomprehensibility existed 

 not in the difficulties of the subject so much as in the 

 ignorance of those who professed to be able to teach 

 people concerning it. The plea of "mysteriousness," 

 and the "inherent and ineradicable difficulties of the 

 subject," are excellent subterfuges whereby inattention 

 and stupidity can veil their own lack of understanding : 

 but it is put forward at a terrible risk of exposure in 

 reference to the horse's foot ; for there is no part nor 

 element of the foot, there is no bone or fibre, there is 

 no duct or secretion, that a boy of twelve might not 

 readily comprehend, and that, too, easily. Indeed, every 

 part of the foot is peculiarly distinct and individual, and 

 in its own structure and location suggests, as plainly as 

 Nature can suggest any thing, its office and use. In fact, 



