318 



THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



Fig. 112. — Antero-posterior and vertical section of ihe 

 hoof (internal face). 



The first, convex transversely, rectilinear from above to below, is smooth, 

 polished, and shiny. It is more oblique anteriorly than on the sides, which are 

 themselves unequally inclined and incurvated. The internal quarter is always 

 more straight and less round than the external. 



The second, concave from side to side, is covered by numerous longitudinal 

 laminae, q, of white horn {keraphyllous tissue), which are solidly dovetailed into 

 those of the podophyllous laminae on the pedal bone. 



As to the borders, the inferior (Fig. Ill), the longest, rests upon the ground, 



whose friction and wear it 

 sustains, particularly at the 

 toe and the mammae, in the 

 unshod foot. On the con- 

 trary, bearing upon the 

 superior face of the shoe in 

 the domesticated horse, this 

 border is removed by the 

 farrier at each shoeing ; and 

 the latter should, in this 

 connection, endeavor to 

 imitate the natural condi- 

 tions of wear and tear. 

 Its thickness diminishes from the toe to the heels, and then augments sud- 

 denly at this point to form the bars. Finally, it is intimately united along its 

 whole periphery to the contour of the sole. 



The superior, thin and oblique, shorter than the preceding, and bounded ex- 

 teriorly by the periople, p (Figs. 109 and 117), is transformed, inwardly, into 



a semi-cylindrical gutter, g (Figs. 

 112 and 113), which traverses its 

 entire length and lodges the cor- 

 onary band. It is at the region 

 of this gutter, called the cutigeral 

 cavity, which becomes effaced 

 towards the region of the bars, 

 that the parietal horn is elabo- 

 rated by the cutaneous thicken- 

 ing in question. 



b. The Sole. — The sole is a 

 large horny plate (Fig. Ill), 

 deeply notched behind for the 

 reception of the frog, which oc- 

 cupies the inferior face of the 

 foot. Concave inferiorly and 

 convex superiorly, it fills the interval which exists between the inferior border 

 of the wall, the bars, and the point of the frog. 



Its superior or internal face (Fig. 114, n) is studded with porosities in which 

 are embedded the numerous papillae of the velvety tissue, and receives the 

 pressure of the third phalanx. 



The inferior,/ {Fig. Ill), excavated, arch-like, and in contact only with the 

 inequalities of the ground in the wild horse, is hard, dry, and scaly. 



e J n jnmni je 



Fig. 113.— Transverse section of the hoof (anterior 

 part). 



