294 ON THE TREATMENT OF HORSES' FEET, 



The reason Professor Coleman gives why horses 

 with such feet are not lame, is, that nature some- 

 times accommodates herself to the slow progress 

 of the disease, and as the foot contracts in breadth, 

 so it increases in length. The professor is of opinion, 

 that by these means lameness is often obviated in 

 such horses. 



But when contraction is sudden, lameness is more 

 frequently produced. This shows how necessary it is 

 to pay the strictest attention to houses' feet when they 

 first come into the stables, at which time they are in a 

 sound and perfect state, as the feet of racing colts in- 

 variably are, if they have received proper attention 

 while in their paddocks. In such situations their feet 

 are almost constantly moist ; even in the summer, their 

 feet are moistened by the dew of the grass, twelve hours 

 out of the four-and-twenty. And while they are in 

 their paddocks, they are almost always in action ; their 

 feet are exposed to the air on a soft, cool surface ; and 

 as colts are generally at this time pretty lusty, there is 

 a good deal of weight on their feet, which may much 

 assist in keeping them expanded while in the natural 

 moist state in which they are so long as they continue 

 in their paddocks. 



Before I proceed to speak of the remedies necessary 

 to be applied to horses' feet with a view to keep them 

 sound and healthy, I shall give a description of the 

 external horny covering of the horse's foot, and how it 

 is divided. I shall compress and simplify the matter as 

 much as I can. For to enter minutely into the anato- 



