318 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



crust as well as sole, sliould be so pared down as to be at the dis- 

 tance of a quarter of an inch or more from the corresponding 

 part of the shoe.* 



melted together, and applied on tow. Some little tact is required in dis- 

 posing the tow so as to till up the vacancies we have mentioned. The ad- 

 vantages of the leather thus applied are manifold. It diminishes concussion 

 in a considerable degree by its interposition between the iron and the foot. 

 It preserves the elasticity and stimulates the growth of the sole, at the same 

 time that it protects it from the ell'ect of nails and sharp Hints. It preserves 

 the frog likewise from injury and from undue moisture, the source of thrushes. 

 It strengthens the crust in weak feet, particularly at the quarters and heels; 

 and atTords to the sole and frog, when the surface of the ground is the least 

 irreiiular, that moderate degree of pressure which it meets with in a state of 

 nature." — Ed.] 



* The Unilatei-al Shoe. — The next great improvement in the art, and one 

 which, in justice to its merits, we must characterise as the most important 

 hitherto noticed, consists in applying the nails round the toe, and on the 

 outside quarter, but leaving the inside quarter unfettered. The advantages 



Fi"'. 1. Mr. Turnei-'s Slioe (_foot .iide\ Fig. 2. Mr. Tunier''s Shoe mod! fied, having 

 showing six nail holes on the outside, an additional nail on the inside, and one 



and two only on the inside, of the toe. less on the outside, oj" the foot. 



of this method may be readily seen. The foot, we have seen, expands, or 

 ouf^ht to expand, whenever it comes on the ground ; and this expansion is 

 greatest at the heels and quarters. If, therefore, the nails on one side be 

 removed, so that those on the other have no antagonists, the same effect will 

 be produced as if they were removed on either side, on the same princlj^le as 

 a common vice operates, one side being moveable and the other fixed. A 

 shoe on this principle has been applied for many years for cases of cutting, the 

 nails being removed from the inside quarter for this purpose only ; and it was 

 from witnessing the ell'ect of this shoe in a contracted foot, though applied 

 for cutting only, that first induced !Mr. James Turner to recommend its ge- 

 neral application. The merit belonging to this shoe is, therefore, due to 

 ]\Ir. Turner quite as much as if he was its original inventor ; and the author 

 reflects with pleasure, that he was one of the first to give the plan a trial, and 

 the very first, after Mr. Turner, to make its merits known to the public. 



It would be well, perhaps, to descrilje the shoe which I make use of, as it is 

 a slight modification of that used by Mr. Turner. It is, then, a seated shoe, 

 with the flat part rather wider than common. The web of the shoe for a mo- 

 derate-sized horse, used on the road, is about an inch in Avidth, but varying 

 according to circumstances, and being narrower at the heels, where the iqiper 

 wearing surface is very slightly bevelled outwards, than at the other parts ; 

 the ground surface quite flat, sometimes fullered and sometimes stamped ; 

 but when the former plan is adopted, the fuller is not deep, or too near the 

 edoe, but somewhat wider than common. Three nails are stamped on tlie 

 inside toe and five on the outside toe and quarters, with a clip at the toe, 

 and another at the outer quarter. In light horses one or two of these nails can 

 be dispensed with, sometimes, instead of a clip at the toe, the shoe is turned 

 up in the French fiishion, as recommended by Mr. Goodwin ; this plan is 

 very advantageous where horses are in the habit of hitting the toe and trip- 



