FITTING HOT SHOES. 551 



fitting a hot shoe to it, in order to adapt the armature more 

 accurately to the surface on which it was afterwards to be 

 nailed ; and some of these people would nevertheless in- 

 jure the hoof in a very serious manner in other respects, 

 to suit their own particular crotchets, which were probably 

 as meaningless as they were injurious. For a great num- 

 ber of years, this declamation had been stoutly maintained 

 by sundry individuals, some of whom perhaps had good 

 reason to do so, seeing the injurious manner in which the 

 feet were pared, and the likelihood that a careless work- 

 man would reach the sensitive parts through the thin 

 pellicle of horn remaining with his hot shoe ; but these 

 accidents must have been very rare, and were no doubt 

 least to be dreaded of any incidental to shoeing as it was 

 usually practised. Mr Miles notices this fear of hot fit- 

 ting : ' The danger apprehended from the shoe being 

 applied to the foot so hot as to burn the crust and cause 

 it to smoke, is utterly groundless. I would not have it 

 made to burn itself into its place upon the foot without 

 the assistance of rasp or drawing-knife, but I would have 

 it tried to the foot sufficiently hot to scorch every part 

 that bears unevenly upon it, because the advantage of 

 detecting such projecting portions is very great, and this 

 mode of accomplishing it is positively harmless ; indeed 

 it is the only one by which the even bearing necessary to 

 a perfect fitting of the shoe can be insured.' 



Some amusing stories are told of nervous old gentle- 

 men, who were not only not satisfied with having their 

 horses shod in their stables, but actually had the shoes 

 immersed for a certain period in the coldest water pro- 

 curable, in order to dispel the latent heat. So it had become 



