THE HORSE'S FOOT: SHOEING, ETC. 95 



(Plate XII., No. 2, C), which, just behind the coffin bone, acts as a 

 fulcrum for the tendon passing over it. 



173. Historical. — In paleolithic ages there is evidence to show 

 that the horse was an object of the chase and a source of food. In 

 neolithic remains representations of it appear, but still, apparently, 

 only as a creature of the chase. It is first known to have been 

 domesticated by the Egyptians, but not until a late period ; at least, 

 no evidence of its having been domesticated can be gathered from 

 the earlier monuments. In the Old Testament (in which the first 

 mention occurs in Gen. xlvii. 17, when Joseph gave his brethren 

 bread in return for horses, etc.) the horse is chiefly referred to in 

 connexion with warfare. In the Book of Job (xxxix.) the war-horse 

 is described as rejoicing in his strength and smelling the battle afar 

 off. Horses, horsemen, and chariots, and trading in horses, are 

 referred to in many places — e.g., 2 Kings xviii. 23 ; Ezek. xxvii. 14 ; 

 Zech. vi. 2, 3 — thus showing the general usefulness of the horse to 

 mankind. Even in the earliest ages man's attention had been drawn 

 to the brittle nature of the horse's hoof, for in Judg. v. 22 we find it 

 stated that, ' Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of their 

 pransings.' In the ancient Greek and Roman journals, also, we find 

 that armies had to be disbanded in consequence of the horses' hoofs 

 breaking and wearing ; while Suetonius and Pliny, as well as other 

 historians, specially record the horses' frequent incapacity to do work 

 from the wearing of the hoof. The exact time, however, when shoes 

 were applied to horses' feet is not known, but the Persians get the 

 credit of being the first to use them. In a Mosaic painting of 

 Pompeii a shoe is noticed on the foot of the war-horse of Satrapes — 

 333 B.C. In the year 1653 an iron shoe was found in the tomb 

 of Childeric, King of France, who died a.d. 481, and William the 

 Conqueror is credited with having introduced the art of shoeing into 

 this country. 



174. The horse's hoof has been a subject of deep study for cen- 

 turies ; and I know of no mechanical contrivance which the mind of 

 man can contemplate with greater wonder and admiration. If there 

 is one thing more than another which has a tendency to encourage 



