THE 'NAVICULAR DISEASE: 499 



ignorance of the design of nature, and maltreatment of 

 the foot, every part of which is made for some purpose or 

 other — though he does not happen to know it. ... I 

 suppose it will be universally assented to, that whatever 

 method of shoeing approaches nearest to the law of 

 nature, such is likely to be the most perfect method.' 

 Agreeing perfectly with Lafosse as to the grave injury 

 inflicted on the feet by paring the soles and frog, and 

 opening the heels, he is careful in explaining the functions 

 of these parts. ' The frog, together with the bars, occu- 

 pying the hinder part of the foot, is designed by nature 

 to distend and keep it open, which, when cut away, suffer 

 the heels, the quarters, and the coronary ring to become 

 contracted, whereby another lameness is produced, which 

 shall be treated in its proper place.' 



This lameness is the ' navicular disease,' supposed to be 

 first described by Mr Turner of London some thirty years 

 ago. Osmer distinctly mentions it : 'I have seen many 

 instances of sudden lameness brought on horses in hunt- 

 ing and in racing, by a false step, which have continued 

 lame their whole life-time ; and upon examination, I have 

 found the ligaments of the nut-bone {os naviculare) ren- 

 dered useless for want of timely assistance and knowledge 

 of the cause ; from hence the cartilages of the same have 

 been sometimes ossified, and the bones of the foot have 

 been sometimes wasted, and sometimes enlarged, it being 

 no uncommon thing to meet a horse whose feet are not 

 fellows, the natural form of the injured foot being gener- 

 ally altered hereby ; and nothing can contribute more to 

 such an accident than the unequal pressure of the foot in 



our modern concave shoe.' Elsewhere he speaks of the 



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