Ill 



he skin above the heel : if it is red and scurfy^ 



nd especially if there are any cracks, correspond- 



ig with the well-known complaint in the human 



ubject called a chapped hand, he may safely 



ionclude that there is a tendency to grease ; nor 



nil he be likely to err if he draws the same in- 



krence from a heel remarkably clean, as if it had 



]teen recently well washed with soap and water ; 



\oT it is not common to bestow such anxious atten- 



ion upon the cleanliness of the heels, unless to 



emove the symptoms of grease ; in all such cases 



jrequent washing is considered a useful precaution. 



I String-halt is a complaint so common, that every 



fian who has ever looked at a horse must at some 



iime have noticed it. It is a catching-up of the 



lind leg much above the height necessary to clear 



he ground, as if the horse had suddenly trod upon 



. bar of heated iron : it is understood to arise m a 



iseased spine, producing an affection of the nerves 



escending to the muscles of the leg, and causing 



spasmodic action of those muscles. If this pa- 



hologicalfact were well established, no doubt could 



xist that string-halt is unsoundness; but it is 



ery unfortunate for society that the veterinary art 



5 so little understood upon scientific principles, as 



render it almost impossible, in most cases, to 



Toduce to a jury any other evidence than the loose 



