200 HORSES AND ROADS. 



would exert a more extended beneficence if it in- 

 duced owners to adopt the Charlier system of shoeing 

 suggested by Mr. Stevens." ' Eight days later on, 

 another contemporary published a communication on 

 the same subject, from which we give the following 

 extract : — ' All the cab proprietors, all the omnibus 

 proprietors, all railway van proprietors have pro- 

 tested against the dangers and cruelties created by 

 asphalte pavement. Falls on asphalte are not only 

 more frequent but of a graver character than on any 

 other kind of pavement. Veterinary surgeons meet 

 with fractures of the pelvis and ribs, which were 

 before almost unknown. Strains of a serious kind 

 are created in starting loads on a surface almost as 

 smooth as ice. It is a mistake to appeal to the climate 

 of Paris. The climate of Paris is not the climate of 

 London, where in five minutes a greasy fog makes 

 Cheapside one long chapter of accidents. Unfor- 

 tunately, asphalte has on its side the vested interests 

 of the City legislators. It is the least noisy, the 

 least dirty, the most easily cleaned of pavements, 

 and although it tortures the horses, it suits the 

 respectable tradesmen who pay the City rates. It is 

 to be hoped that public opinion will shortly be too 

 strong for natural but selfish legislation, and that 

 the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 

 will find some subjects for their righteous zeal of a 

 higher class than costermongers.' 



With the last part of the last paragraph we 

 heartily agree. But the Society in question, after 

 being invited to investigate the question of shoeing, 



