ment for deleterious substances. The frog is a 

 cushion placed under the navicular bone and joint of 

 that name to ease the action at that point as also that 

 of the flexor tendon that passes under the navicular 

 and fastens on to the coffin or pedal bone. Its 

 India-rubber-like consistency, which is its condition 

 when in health, fully justifies this definition of its 

 use, and experience has shown that to be its office; 

 it exerts no influence by itself ivhatever in expanding or 

 contracting the foot. 



The Bars. 



The same may be said of the bars; they do not in 

 any way prevent contraction or prevent expansion. 

 They are placed there as a strength-giving support 

 to the "horny box," the foot, the same as are the walls 

 that they assimilate so nearly to in texture. They 

 should not therefore be removed only to such an 

 extent that they do not protrude below the surface 

 lay of the wall and need not necessarily have any 

 bearing on the shoe. In fact, in the case of contracted 

 feet care should be taken that they do not bear on 

 the shoe, as they would thus force the commissures 

 up into the sensitive foot, hurting the animal as 

 would the nails of a man's boot heels forced through 

 the inner sole and pushing up against his foot heel. 



Tbe Frog- Ag-ain. 



Now having defined the duties of the frog, it must 

 be seen that it must always be free to ''give and 

 take" as it were; it must never, therefore, under any cir- 

 cumstances be confined by a bar across the heels of 

 the shoe, by using what is commonly called one of 

 the most pernicious inventions, a "bar shoe." Neither 

 must it have a concussive blow. For two reasons this 

 last is wrong: 



First. To properly perform the duties laid down 

 for and re(iuired of it, it should not be subjected to 

 any jarring blow that can be avoided by properly pre- 

 paring the foot so that its surface shall not be too 

 close to the ground. 



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