496 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. 



the horse's foot, exhibiting some improvement in the 

 anatomical details at least, was published by Jeremiah 

 Bridges.' After enumerating the various parts of the 

 foot and their characteristics, as they were known in his 

 day, he proceeds to specify the best kinds of hoofs, and in 

 doing so casually informs us, that the horses bred in 

 Derbyshire, the mountainous parts of England and Wales, 

 as well as in the Highlands of Scotland, have good feet ; 

 while those reared on low marshy ground, such as the 

 fens of Lincolnshire, have commonly flat and soft feet, 

 arising from the moist soil, which relaxes their texture. 



'The best method to keep the foot sound is good 

 shoeing ; liberty, sometimes, in pasture ; or proper exer- 

 cise. Standing long in stables contracts the feet.' 'The 

 usefulness of a horse's shoes is too obvious to want many 

 words to explain ; they are a guard to the foot.' Among 

 the newer inventions yet spoken of, he enumerates the 

 ' screw shoe.' 'The design of this shoe is to relieve and 

 help nature, by extending the hoof and heels when drawn 

 in or contracted, to remove the causes which obstruct a 

 free and regular circulation, by restoring the parts affected 

 to their proper size and position. This it performs by 

 means of two ridges fixed on the inside of the shoe to- 

 wards the back part ; these pressing gradually and equally 

 on the inside of the hoof, the contracted horny parts are 

 mastered, and give way to the operation of the screw, 

 which opens the heels. This may be forwarded in des- 

 perate cases, when the hoof is quite contracted, and the 



' No Foot, No Horse ; an Essay on the Anatomy of the Foot of 

 that Noble and Useful Animal — a Horse. By J. Bridges, Farrier and 

 Anatomist. London, 1751. 



