SOLLEYSEL. 465 



pour le bien etre ; ' yet adds, that, in his time, kings and 

 people of quality could shoe horses : ' On a vu, de notre 

 temps, des rois sqavoir forger un fer ; et il est peu de 

 personnes de qualite qui ne sachent brocher des clous, 

 pour s'en servir dans la n^cessite.' And he now com- 

 plains that the little progress that had been made in a 

 knowledge of this branch of veterinary science ' has 

 maintained it in a state of debasement which even affects 

 the other branches ; ' farriery, when he wrote, was ' un 

 metier, ou une certaine routine, que ces ouvriers ap- 

 prenaient chez des maitres d^pourvus de tous principes de 

 leur art.' 



In a brief historical notice like the present, an analysis 

 of this treatise will not be expected ; and we can only give 

 some abridged notices from the translation made by Sir 

 William Hope, and published in London, in 1706.' 



Speaking of a journey, he says : ' Many horses as 

 soon as unbridled, instead of eating, lay themselves down 

 to rest, because of the great pain they have in their feet, 

 so that a man is apt to think them sick ; but if he look 

 to their eyes, he will see they are lively and good ; and if 

 he offer meat to them as they are lying, they will eat it 

 very willingly ; yet if he handle their feet he will find 

 them extremely hot, which will discover to him that it is 

 in that part they suffer. You must therefore observe if 

 their shoes do not rest upon their soles.' And again : 

 ' When you are arrived from a journey, immediately draw 

 the two heel-nails of the fore-feet, and if it be a large 

 shoe, then four. And two or three days after you may 

 blood him in the neck, and feed him for ten or twelve 



' The Compleat Horseman, or Perfect Farrier. London, 1706. 



30 



