98 THE STOCK owner's ADVISER. 



FOOT. 



In equine anatomy the word "foot" implies the hoof, together 

 with the bones and soft structures contained therein. The foot 

 is of the greatest practical importance, owing to the many dis- 

 eases and injuries to which it is liable. The protective portion, 

 or wall of the foot, closely resembles the epidermis. It is, in 

 fact, a modification of that structure, consisting of hard and thin 

 layers of cells on the surface and round, moist cells beneath. 

 The highly sensitive secreting portion is also a modification of 

 the skin. The hoof of the horse corresponds to the finger-nail of 

 man, but is developed over the sides, forming a protective, horny 

 case, enveloping the inferior extremity of the digit. The wall 

 is that part visible when the hoof rests on the ground; the sole 

 forms the inferior portion of the hoof; and, lastly, the frog is the 

 interior horny substance. 



In speaking of the wall, we designate its different parts, as the 

 toe, quarters, heels, and bars. The toe forms the front of the 

 hoof, and is the deepest and thickest part of the wall, which 

 gradually declines in height as it passes backwards to form the 

 quarters; these occupy the space between the toe and heels. The 

 wall decreases in thickness from the front, being not more than 

 one-third as thick on the sides. At the back or posterior part of 

 the foot the wall takes on each side a sudden bend, forming an 

 acute angle, and is continued inwards to the center of the foot, 

 where the two parts unite with the sole. The angles of the in- 

 flections are called the heels, the inflections themselves the bars, 

 the latter forming stays to the quarters. The external surface of 

 the wall is, in a state of nature, covered by a kind of epithelial 

 varnish, termed the periople, which is thickest at the top of the 

 wall, just under the hair. This, which is a natural varnish pro- 

 vided to check evaporation and consequent cracking of the sub- 

 jacent horn, is generally rasped away by the shoeing smith. The 

 internal surface of the wall is traversed in a vertical direction 

 by the series of horny laminae, numbering about five or six hun- 



