18 HISTORY OF HORSE-SHOEING. 



position which it occupied before 1869. Since the political 

 renaissance of Germany, and especially since the foundation of 

 an Imperial Patent Office in Berlin, the farrier's art has been 

 the subject of a great number of discoveries and inventions. In 

 every department novelties have been introduced. Iron is no 

 longer considered sufhcient for shoeing^ : oroanic materials, such 

 as leather, cloth, oakum, rubber, gutta-percha, felt, wool, straw, 

 horn, cork, wood, and so on, have been used, either alone or in 

 combination with iron, and inventions continue to be produced. 



The efforts to prevent the many evils inherent in our 

 methods of shoeing are well indicated by these devices, which 

 aim at minimising strains, slips, and injuries to the limbs. 

 Patents are exceedingly numerous. Many refer to movable 

 toepieces and heels and to nailless shoes. There are also 

 shoes to be applied with cement, shoes with special nails, and 

 shoes to insure regular distribution of weight, etc. 



The methods of shoeing have thus become so numerous that 

 the ordinary farrier, and even the veterinary surgeon, can 

 scarcely keep himself informed as to what is or is not of value, 

 the more so as no critical treatise has yet appeared on the 

 subject. Many of these discoveries are absolutely worthless ; 

 many more are exceedingly questionable. Very few are really 

 valuable or of great promise, but machine-made nails, various 

 forms of rubber pads, and, especially, machine-made shoes mark 

 undoubted advances. The reason so few of these inventions 

 are of real worth is the difficulty of exactly fitting them to the 

 foot. The majority of inventors have incorrect impressions of 

 horse-shoeing, and especially of the formation of the foot, other- 

 wise they would certainly have spared themselves the pains, 

 time, and money which they have expended. 



It is much to be regretted that the only body in England 

 claimiug to be representative of farriery, viz., the Worshipful 

 Company of Farriers of London, when in 1890-91 carrying 

 into operation a scheme for the registration of shoeing-smiths, 

 omitted to put into operation the most promising clauses of 

 their published programme, and instead of assisting practical 

 teaching or apprenticeship, or founding one or more teaching 

 schools, substituted a short theoretical examination under which 

 hundreds of farriers (sic) were enrolled. The attention of the 

 public was drawn to the matter, and a reorganisation attempted, 



