84< 



HOBTf TUBES. 



strange as the statement may appear, stands and travels upon 

 thousands of cylinders, all arranged with extreme regularity, and 

 held together by a common glutinous medium, in which is 

 deposited the peculiar pigment ginng colour to the hoof. 

 Attached to the lower border (ground border) of the crust, is 

 the sole which, like the hoof, consists also of cylinders. This 

 may be readily demonstrated upon a living animal. If the 

 reader will take the trouble to raise the foot of a horse, and 

 free the sole from dirt by washing it, he may easily perceive by 

 the aid of a common pocket magnifier the innumerable pores of 

 which it is composed. 



Fig. 10. 



A JPerpendicular Section of the Hoof of the Sorse, slieioing the Coronary 

 Concavity^ tlie Horny Lamince, the Tubular Structure of the Sole, and 

 the open mouth of the Horn Tubes or Fores of the Sole. 



aaa The Coronary Concavity. 

 hb Tlie Laminse. 

 c Tlie Crust. 



dd Tlie Horn Tubes of the inner 

 surface of the Frog and Sole. 

 ee The Crust. 



In illustration of this, Figure 10 affords a view of the hoof 

 divided perpendicularly : the commencement of the horn tubes 

 within the coronary concavity, together with the laminse and 

 the horn tubes of the sole, are all exactly delineated according 

 to their natural proportions. 



