THE horse's foot, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 241 



him to travel over stony or pebbly roads : would he 

 Tvalk comfortably and soundly ? " 



Concerning the use of the frog, there exists much 

 disagreement of opinion among those who are supposed 

 to know all that is worth knowing about the equine 

 structure. Fleming, in his " Practical Horse- Shoeing," — 

 a book of value to the student of this subject, — thus 

 describes the frog : — 



" The liorny frog is an exact reduplication of that 

 within the hoof, described as the sensitive or fatty frog. 

 It is triangular, or rather pyramidal, in shape ; and is 

 situated at the back part of the hoof, within the bars, 

 with its point, or apex, extending forward to the centre 

 of the sole, and its base, or thickest portion, filling up 

 the wide space left between the inflections of the wall. 

 In the middle of the posterior part is a cleft, which, in 

 the healthy state, should not be deep, but rather shallow, 

 and sound on its surface. 



" In structure, this body is also fibrous, the fibres pass- 

 ing in the same direction as those of the other portions 

 of the hoof; but instead of being quite rectilinear, like 

 them, they are wavy or flexuous in their course, and 

 present some microscopical peculiarities, which, though 

 interesting to the comparative anatomist, need not be 

 alluded to here. The fibres are finer than those of the 

 sole and wall, and are composed of cells arranged in the 

 same manner as elsewhere in the hoof: they are formed 

 by the villi which thickly stud the face of the membrane 

 covering the sensitive frog. 



16 



