74 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. 



have been entirely of iron, suspended to the hoof by a 

 bandage, or strap and buckle. 



It is satisfactory that Vegetius has so particularly de- 

 scribed the mode of attaching this garniture to the limb: 

 * et addita fasciola diligentissime colligabis ;' because it 

 elucidates what might have otherwise been an obscure 

 reference in Apsyrtus, a Greek veterinarian who lived 

 more than a century before Vegetius. In chapter 107 of 

 that writer's work, in the Hippiatrica, is found the heading : 

 'Apsyrtus on the injuries from foot defences or fastenings 

 of the same.' And the chapter goes on to relate : ' It 

 happens that the legs {[xsrroxuvicx., the parts from the 

 knees to the hoofs) of the horse, from the foot defences 

 or shackles (fTTTroTrsSr;^), or its fastenings by the thong or 

 cord, become injured, so that the skin is torn off or 

 destroyed, and the tendons of the fetlock are laid bare. 

 There is danger of this accident proving fatal if it happen 

 to both joints. It is proper, therefore, in the first instance, 

 to apply wine, vinegar, or brine and vinegar ; next, to use 

 the lipara and soft applications of white plasters ; and, to 

 complete the cure, of ceruss one part, of ammoniacum one 

 half, of myrtle-berries a sufficient quantity — then tritur- 

 ating the ammoniacum, mixed with the ceruss, pour upon 

 them the myrtle, and use it.'' 



' Ruellii (Hippiatr. lib. ii. p. 100) renders this passage from the Greek 

 as follows : 'Apsyrtus iis aui compedibus aut vinculis collisi 

 viTiANTUR. Usu veiiit ut suffragines, quas mesoci/nia vocant, tricis, pedi- 

 cis, vinculisque quibusdam loro vel fune districtis plerunque lacessantur, 

 quibus corium procidit, sic ut nervuli hujusce partis aperiantur, ac nudi 

 pateant : id quod vitae discrimen adfert, praesertini si in utroque flexu 

 articulorum evenerit,' etc. 



