39^ HORSESHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. 



though with respect to the maladies of the lower animals, 

 he borrows largely from the Latin Scriptores Rei Rusticae, 

 and Jordanus RufFus, yet he appears to have been an 

 enlightened observer, and much less superstitious than 

 the majority of medical men at that time. He describes 

 several disorders the foot of the horse is liable to, and 

 points out the difference between the hoofs of horses 

 reared and employed in mountainous districts, and those 

 bred in low-lying plains. When giving directions as to 

 the management of the horse, he recommends that the 

 shoes be round, light, and narrow, so that they might 

 adhere firmly to the circumference of the feet. Thin 

 shoes, he adds, render the horse agile, and to pare and 

 lighten the hoofs makes them large and strong. When, 

 however, new shoes are applied, and fastened on with 

 either new or old nails, it is necessary the horse should 

 rest, lest harm ensue.' 



Perhaps among the most noted of the 14th-century 

 hippiatrists, stands Laurentius Rusius (Ruzzius, Russo, 



' The first and second sentences of this recommendation are from 

 the edition I have mentioned: 'Ferrari debet equus ferris sibi conve- 

 nientibus rotundis admodum ungulse lenibus, et unguhs in circuitu 

 strictis, et bene adherentibus, nam levitas ferri reddit equum agilem ad 

 levandum pedes, et ipsius strictura ungulas majores et fortiores facit.' — 

 Lib. ix. cap. 5. 



Aldrovandus, who may have had access to a more complete edition, 

 quotes this somewhat ditferently, and adds to the last sentence given 

 above — * Crescentiensis monet ut soleae sint leves, rotundae, et strictae, 

 ita ut ungulis in circuitu bene adhaereant. Nam levitas (inquit) ferri 

 reddit ecjuum agilem ad levandum pedes et strictura ejus ungulas ma- 

 jores et fortiores facit. Cum autem novae soleae inducunlur, aut veteris 

 novis clavis firmatae aliquanti per equum quiescere paliemur, ne post 

 recentem molestiam alia noxei objiciatur.' — Op. cit., p. 50. 



