SHOEING. 533 



some horses, that a shoe which will serve one horse more 

 than three weeks, shall not last his companion that runs 

 beside him longer than seven days ; consequently no rule can 

 be laid down where there are such evident variations. 



Let no man be seduced into patronising any new invented 

 shoe, under the pretence that they will prevent the horn 

 from contracting. Horn is unorganized ; it has within 

 itself no power of dilatation, of contraction or of reparation 

 or of union : it is without arteries, veins, nerves, or ab- 

 sorbents ; it is wholly devoid of life or sensibihty. Then 

 how can such a substance contract ? It is to talk evident 

 nonsense, to mention horn as having any such capacity. It 

 is secreted like to human nail ; it can be cut away, but the 

 horse does not flinch ; it can be even burnt, and the animal 

 remain unconscious ; it is purely a secretion ; it is shaped 

 by the fleshy parts within, which secrete the substance. 

 The chest and cranium are formed of hard and resisting 

 bone ; but if even this unyielding substance is bent, swelled 

 out, drawn in, formed and regulated by so compressible a 

 part as the lungs, and by so pulpy a part as the brain, how 

 much more is a pliable material, like to horn, capable of 

 being moulded by a fleshy membrane, backed by a stubborn 

 bone. The gradual dilatation of the horn may give room 

 for the vascular current of the internal parts ; and this 

 is exactly that which Mr. Turner's one-sided nailing accom- 

 plishes. Therefore, where diminution has to be remedied, 

 Mr. Turner's shoe is to be adopted, and it will be some 

 years before this admirable invention is superseded. Be- 

 sides, Mr. Turner has taken out no patent. This novel 

 shoe is as cheap as any other, and with the addition of 

 leathern soles, especially to the fore feet of light horses, is 

 the very best for general use which we can point out to the 

 reader. 



There is another prejudice shoeing smiths are apt to 

 appeal to ; this is the dislike which horsemen have taken to 

 wood pavement. Every man who shoes a horse has some 

 particular form of iron, which costs only a trifle more, but 

 which will eflectually prevent all slipping. If it does not 

 perform every thing which is prophesied of its virtues, 

 another is produced which never fails. This is put on, but 

 by this time the horse has gained experience in consequence 



