HOESE-SHOEING. 129 



the form of exceedingly fine filaments, which endow the organ with 

 a sufficient sense of touch to enable it to perform its varied functions 

 with safety and precision. A peculiar and striking disposition of 

 this membrane can be observed around the front and sides of the 

 pedal bone, when the hoof has been removed by steeping the foot 

 for some time in water. This disposition consists in the elevation 

 of the membrane into parallel vertical leaves, which extend from the 

 coronary cushion to the lower border of the bone, and to a certain 

 distance within its wings. These leaves, which resemble in appear- 

 ance those on the underside of a mushroom, are known as the 

 "vascular" or "sensitive laminne," and number between six and 

 seven hundred. Their chief use seems to be to afford a wide and 

 close attachment for the wall of the hoof, within which, through 

 their agency, the penal bone is, as it were, suspended ; so that the 

 relations between bone and hoof are not so rigid as if they were 

 directly united to each other. These lanrinoe are exceedingly vascular 

 and sensitive, and when they become inflamed through bad shoeing, 

 excessive travelling, or other cause, the horse suffers most excruciating 

 pain, and in a large majority of cases the chronic inflammation that 

 remains produces serious alterations in the structure and formation 

 of the hoof, leading to more or less lameness and diminished 

 utility. 



Besides entering into the formation of these leaves, this membrane 

 covers the other parts of the foot within the hoof, as a sock does 

 the human foot, and endows it with a high degree of vitality and 

 secretory power. It overspreads the coronary and plantar cushions* 

 as well as the sole of the pedal bone, and its surface in these parts 

 is thickly studded with myriads of tufts or "villi," which give it 

 the appearance of the finest Genoa velvet. These minute processes 

 vary in length from one -eighth to more than one-fourth of an inch, 

 and are best observed when a foot, from which the hoof has just been 

 removed by maceration, is suspended in clear water. Examined with 

 the microscope, they are found to be merely prolongations from the 

 I 



