41 



giving his countenance to a most unpliilosophical proceeding; 

 for the smith would have told him, that he was fitting a 

 shoe to the horse's foot, which the gentleman would at once 

 perceive to be impossiUe, inasmuch as he had no means at 

 hand, whereby to effect the smallest change in the form 

 of the shoe, however much it might require it ; and the truth 

 would instantly force itself upon him, that the man was fitting 

 the foot to the shoe, and not, as he supposed, the shoe 

 to the foot. To fit the shoe to the foot without the aid 

 of anvil and forge is impossible; and any one, acquainted 

 with the exactness and precision, necessary to a perfect 

 fitting, woidd not hesitate to declare tlie attempt to be as 

 absurd, as it is mischievous. Suppose, for example, the shoe 

 to be a little too wide in any particular part ; this will 

 throw the nail holes rather further out, than they ouo-ht to 

 be ; but, as there are no means of altering it, there the 

 nails must be driven; and a constant strain outwards will 

 be the inevitable consequence ; if on the contrary it be too 

 narrow, the strain will be inwards, and press upon the 

 sensitive parts of the foot ; in either case producmg uneasiness, 

 and causing the horse to move with a feeling, undecided step. 

 Agam, if the crust have not an even bearing every-where 

 upon the foot surface of the shoe, the part, so deprived of 

 support, being elastic, will be unable to resist the pressure 

 from above, or the outward thrust of the parts within, and, 

 yielding to this two-fold force, will drag upon the elastic 

 union between the hoof and the internal parts of the foot at 

 that particular place, and cause great uneasiness ; and this is by 

 no means an un frequent source of stumbling and broken knees. 



