65 ON THE CECONQMY OF THB STABLE. 



any flable attempts to amend feet become 

 tboroLighl^^ bad, becaufe fuch meafures are ge- 

 nerally deceptious, and becaufe defeftive feet 

 may be cured fo much more cheaply and effec- 

 tually abroad, in any feafon : nor, when it is 

 attempted in the ftable, have I much opinion 

 of the hazardous operation of the rafp and 

 buttrefs, or of the various applications to pro- 

 mote the reproduftion of the horn, v/hich may 

 be made: to grow as fa ft as it really ought, by 

 the fimple ufe of water : could w^e artificially 

 impel nature to premature efforts, I fee not 

 how we fliould be gainers, unlefs indeed in the 

 way of trade. From the days of Solleyfel to 

 the prefent, and longer for aught I can tell, 

 tar, cold or boiling hot, applied to the coronet 

 or fole, h?s been a favourite noftrum either to 

 promote the grov/th oF horn, or difcufs flag- 

 nant humours. I muff acknowledge I can fay 

 notliing of its merits, in either refpccl, from 

 my town experience. It may be neceffary to 

 remind fome readers, that ihe growth of hoof, 

 as of all other imgular fubftances, muft be pro- 

 Vrelfive from the root downwards; in confe- 

 quence any medicament intended to promote 

 the crrowth of the hoof, ought to be applied 

 above, that is, upon and around the coronary 



nno^. 



RuN'N I NG-Tii RUSHES, it hath already been 

 remarked, arc a natural defeft, of courfe, in 



fuch 



