THE 



MODERN FARRIER. 



1. Introduction. 



XhE term Farrier is derived from the French 

 verb Jer7'€9\ to sJioe a horse ^ and which seems to be 

 derived from the \^^\h\JerrKm, ' iron' And as the 

 persons who shod horses were, for a long period, the 

 only horse-doctors, the term Farriery came to sig- 

 nify the art of curing the diseases of horses. The 

 veterinary art is now considered as synonymous 

 with Farriery. Veterinary is also derived from 

 the Latin, and is used by ancient w riters to denote 

 a horse-doctor or cattle-doctor. ^ 



The lives and limbs of our valuable domestic ani- 

 mals have long been at the mercy of the most illite- 

 rate quacks ; and unfortunately there has existed an 

 obstinate prejudice in favour of bold and presump- 

 tuous empirics. But the age of delusion is now 

 past, and no rational man will rely on the pernicious 

 nostrums which were formerly puffed off in every 

 newspaper. Much yet remains to be done ; but the 

 veterinary art has lately acquired an importance, 

 and received such improvements, as predicts a great 

 revolution in this branch of human kno\A'ledge. 



It is remarkable, that the art of farriery never 

 made any considerable progress, or assumed any 



