348 bAl>,S VKTEBINARV MEDICINE AND SURQERI. 



as it is known to have on other parts of the body. "No piinofc 

 ever died of the pUigue," shows that the ablutions daily practiced 

 by persons of refinement, occupying an exalted position in society, 

 operate as a preventive against even a mortal malady. Yet, not- 

 withstanding all this, it is proper for us to remark that some tiorsea 

 are occasionally the subjects of foot maladies, notwithstanding the 

 very best system of shoeing is practiced on them ; and others, that 

 never stood on a plank floor or inclined plane, are in the same pre- 

 dicament; so, also, are some that have their feet washed often 

 This goes to show that if animals under the very best care and 

 management get hoof-bound, or contracted feet, it is due to a pre- 

 disposition which they have either inherited or acquired, and, as 

 the old saying is, they would not enjoy bodily health unless they 

 were hoof-bound. 



It is very evident that many diseases of the feet are traceable 

 to bad shoeing. Some persons seem to suppose that the foot of a 

 horse is as insensible as stone; and, when we see the blacksmith 

 wrenching off shoes by main force, often fracturing the hoof or 

 breaking off a portion of the bars, frog, and sole, with as little 

 care as a man would rough-trim a log, and afterward applying a 

 red-hot shoe to the thinned sole, we might be led to infer that the 

 foot is really insensible. The Hon. Marshall P. Wilder thus 

 denounces such bad practice : 



" I know of no greater evidence of inhumanity to that noble 

 animal the horse, than the almost universal custom of paring down 

 the foot and burning on the shoe. It has ever, to my mind, been 

 among the barbarisms of the age, which I trust will be no longer 

 countenanced by civilized society ; and I sympathize with the 

 efforts of every one engaged in correcting such dangerous prac- 

 tices." 



Tlie practice, also, of using a pair of pinchers on the feet, in 

 view of discovering some real or supposed lameness, is equally 

 barbarous, and often results in bruises of the sole, and should, 

 therefore, be discountenanced. 



Treatment. — The blacksmith should so prepare the foot and fit 

 the shoe that the frog may be brought in contact with the ground 

 over which the horse travels. This not only prevents undue con- 

 cussion, which would otherwise occur, but tends, also, to expand 

 the heels, and preserve the natural tread and function of the foot. 

 Hav'ng prepared the foot in a proper manner, we then, if the sea- 



