284 THE PERFECT HORSE. 



nails are not broken or displaced by the shoe becoming 

 loose : in fine, there is a more intimate contact between 

 the iron and the surface of the horn. The very fact of 

 burning or fusing the ends of the fibres insures a solid, 

 durable bed which cannot be obtained otherwise, as this 

 destroys the spongy, absorbent properties of the horn, 

 and renders it eminently calculated to withstand the 

 influence of moisture. The effects produced on horn by 

 the hot iron have been compared to those of fire on 

 pieces of wood whose ends have been superficially car- 

 bonized before being buried in the ground. Every one 

 knows that this operation contributes to the preserva- 

 tion of the wood by preserving it from the action of 

 humidity. 



"Horn is a very slow conductor of heat ; and it requires 

 a very prolonged application of the hot shoe to affect 

 the hoof to any considerable depth. Three minutes' 

 burning of the lower face of the sole has been found 

 necessary to produce any indication of increase of tem- 

 perature by the thermometer on its upper surface. It 

 is never required that the shoe should be applied longer 

 than a few seconds. 



"The hot shoe, in fusing the horn with which it comes 

 in contact, imprints itself like a seal in melted sealing- 

 wax; and in this way the two surfaces of foot and shoe 

 exactly coincide ; while, no matter how expert the work- 

 man may be in using his tools to level the horn in a cold 

 state, he can never do it so quickly or so completely as 

 may be done by making an impression with the heated 



