ON LAMENESS. 595 



the touch of a delicate and difcriminating 

 hand, will generally difcover the affected part : 

 A thorough jockey, mounted upon the nag to 

 which he has been accuftomed, will even dif- 

 cover fi-om his motions, the play of his ears, 

 and his preffure upon the bit, the fmalleft de- 

 viation from his natural ftyle of going ; and 

 will be thence able to form a pretty accurate 

 prognoftic of the nature of his complaint. No 

 farrier ought to be trufted in affixing patten- 

 Ihoes to the feet of lame-horfes. Becaufe in 

 wafting and contraftion of the fmews, on one 

 fide, it was found beneficial to affix a patten, or 

 high ffioe, upon the oppofite foot, in order to 

 oblige the animal to put the other foot to the 

 ground, by which aftion the ftirunk or con- 

 tra6ted finews were habitually ftretched, and in 

 the end brought to their due tone; the ignorant 

 and undiftinguiffiing farriers a6led precifely in 

 the fame way, when the leg or fhoulder was 

 lame from the finews beino- relaxed, or over- 

 ftretched, thereby adding to the complaint, and 

 rendering the vi6lim totally incurable : If a 

 horfe was lame in the haunches, for a cure, 

 they forced him to drag the harrows. In a 

 fiioulder-lamcnefs, after the ufe of oils, they 

 direfted the horfe to be journeyed on, by way 

 of benefitting him ; a conduft equally rational 

 as the fufpending a leaden weight to a piece of 



Q Q 2 catgut. 



