96 IfUMBER OF NAILS. 



foot, tlian to a strong one, it is essential that the shoe be 

 applied to it hot enough to scorch the projecting portions of 

 horn, in order that thej may be seen, and removed. AVhen 

 the shoe has been carefully fitted to the foot it must be cooled 

 and back holed ; that is, the nail holes must be opened on the 

 foot surface of the shoe ; and in doing this care must be taken 

 to break down the outer edge of all the holes, so that tlie nail 

 may pass straight through the shoe without any inclination 

 inwards, and the openings should be made large and free to 

 prevent the shank of the nail becoming tied in the hole (iron 

 bound) before the head has been driven fairly home." This 

 quotation so completely exhausts this division of the subject, 

 that I have nothing further to add beyond my willingness 

 to adopt as my own, the views put forth, not only with regard 

 to the above, but also as to the 



Number of ]N"ails Necessaet to Secure the Shoe to 

 THE Foot. — From time immemorial it has been considered 

 necessary to use eight nails to fix a shoe securely to the foot ; 

 but this practice, like many others whose chief authority is 

 their antiquity, is found by experience to be generally useless 

 and unnecessary. Five is the number, which Mr. Miles 

 considers amply suf&cient to retain each shoe firmly in its place, 

 and that they should be distributed as follows, viz., three nails 

 to the outer quarter, and two to the inner. " As a general rule 

 the first nail on the outside should be placed an inch and 

 a half from the centre of the toe, the second in the middle of 

 the quarter, and the third just behind the quarter ; and on the 

 inside, the first nail should be rather more than an inch from 

 the centre of the toe, and the second about three quarters of an 

 inch behind it. By this arrangement the whole of the inner 

 quarter and heel are left unfettered and free to expand, and 

 any undue pressure on the sensitive parts of the foot, from the 

 descent of the bones into the hoof, is avoided." 



