THE HOUSE AND ITS DISEASES. 69 



metal which in general cases were probably of iron; on 

 occasions of great magnificence appear to have been 

 sometimes made of gold, as we are told by Pliny, were 

 those used by mules of Poppaca. 



But as riding, and the use of chariots became more 

 general, so some means of obviating the inconveniences 

 of the inapt modes of fastening the defences for the 

 feet then in use, presented themselves more forcibly ; 

 yet it is probable, that it was not till about 12 or 13 

 hundi'ed years ago, that the present method of shoeing 

 with iron plates, and attaching the same by means of 

 nails was practised. 



Vegetius, who lived in the reign of Valentinian the 

 third, though he accurately enumerates every thing 

 connected with an army forge, makes no mention of any 

 apparatus for shoeing horses, nor any artificers for that 

 purpose. And from Beckman we learn that the first 

 account of the modern horse shoe that can be relied on, 

 is gathered from an account of the furniture of the 

 Emperor Leo, of Constantinople ; but the use of shoes 

 of this kind was very confined at this period, nor did 

 perhaps, any horse continue to wear such altogether, but 

 now and then only. 



The art of horse shoeing appears to have been brought 

 into England by William the Conqueror, having been 

 previously sometime practised in Ireland, as the Irish at 

 that time were considered the stars of Europe. Henry de 

 Ferrers, a favorite of William the Conqueror, came 

 over with . him as superintendent of horse shoers, and 

 from thence the future Earls of Ferrers, his descendants, 

 always have borne six horse shoes in the quartering of 

 their arms. 



But neither in Ireland, nor in England, nor in any 

 of the Continental countries, did the art make a progress 

 at all equal to its importance. It is time that many 

 writings expressly on the subject were produced, and 

 French, German, Italian, and Spanish treaties on shoeing 

 of very old date are to be met with i there are a few 



