84 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. 



Heusinger/ whose profound acquaintance with ancient 

 literature, particularly with that pertaining to the early 

 Greek and Roman hippiatrists, few will dispute, declares 

 that shoeing was not known to the Romans ; that the 

 writings of the ancient veterinarians are full of remedies 

 for preventing and remedying undue wear of the horn ; 

 and that old authors were well acquainted with the use of 

 shoes for diseased feet, but never make mention of the 

 modern iron shoes in the treatment of such. 



Mr Rich^ asserts of the soleoe ferreas, that ' they were a 

 protection for the feet of mules employed in draught, in- 

 tended to answer the same object as the modern horse- 

 shoe, though differing materially in its quality and manner 

 of fixing ; for the concurrent testimony of antiquity, both 



sul-General at Naples, in order to ascertain if the recent investigations 

 at Pompeii had afforded any additional evidence as to the absence of 

 horse-shoes, that gentleman writes to the following effect, on the 24th 

 January, 1869 : ' I have been informed by the Director of the Museum 

 at Naples and of the excavations at Pompeii, that two pieces of bronze 

 have recently been found which may have been used as shoes for a 

 horse, but no other indications of horse-shoes having been in use have 

 been met with. On the other hand, pieces, or rather small plates, of 

 iron have been found, which are believed to be tips or half-shoes, as used 

 at present, as a protection to the hoofs of oxen.' 



I have caused further inquiry to be made, and have also applied for 

 drawings of these objects. Should anything satisfactory arrive before 

 the publication of this work, it will be inserted as an appendix. 



' Recherches de Pathologic Comparoe, vol. i. p. 9. ' On ne trouve 

 aucun indice de la ferrure chez les anciens Romains.' ' Les ouvrages 

 des anciens veterinaires sont remplis de remedes pour prevenir et guorir 

 I'usure de cornes 5 mais les suites de la ferrure sont seulement mention- 

 nees dans les ouvrages modernes. Les anciens auteurs connoissent bien 

 des sabots pour les pieds malades (soleas sparteas, etc.), mais jamais ils 

 ne font mention des fers dans la cure des pieds malades.' 



* Companion to the Latin Dictionary and Greek Lexicon, p. 60S. 



