CLARK'S SPECIMENS. 245 



nail as much obliquely outwards as he wished, which a 

 more confined aperture, or greater thickness of metal, 

 would not have allowed him so readily to do. Now these 

 stamp-pits must have been done with a very rough, clumsy 

 tool, for the rim or outer margin of the shoe has been 

 terribly disturbed by it, and thrown out into bulges of a 

 surprising size, disfiguring the shoe very much, and also 

 endangering the horse's legs. The heels of the shoes are 

 provided with very prominent calkins, made by doubling 

 or turning over the iron, and lapping and welding it ; 

 finding, no doubt, the great advantages which attended 

 this plan. The wearing line of the shoe at the toe in No. i 

 (fig. 80) was considerably worn away, but in No. 2 (fig. 81) 

 hardly so much. These shoes, generally speaking, are 

 thickest forwards, and go declining in thickness till reach- 

 ing the calkins. Their insides are thicker than the outside. 

 The nail-heads are very remarkable for their size, and pro- 

 jecting high from the shoes ; and that part of the head 

 next the aperture in the shoe is formed with a very abrupt 

 broad shoulder, and nearly straight, but a little inclining, 

 however, towards the shank. The sides of the head of 

 the nail are nearly straight and perpendicular, forming an 

 obtuse angle to the former line ; upwards it passes by 

 another converging line towards the summit, or top of 

 the nail, which is made flat, and is of the length of about 

 a quarter of an inch, for receiving the blows of the ham- 

 mer ; the head itself stands beyond the shoe, and if em- 

 braced by the finger is flat, and shows a thickness of only 

 about, or perhaps less than, the eighth of an inch. The 

 shank of the nail is short, compared with modern nails, 

 and is square, tapering all the way to the point, but is 



