ARTISTIC HORSE-SHOEING. 19 



omy and uses of the various parts entering- into the com- 

 position of the horse's foot, and its horny box — the hoof. 

 It may be necessary, before we pass to the consideration of 

 the latter, as a whole, to allude to the structure and uses 

 of that narrow strip of horn, whose presence every farrier 

 or veterinary surg-eon is cognizant of, but whose character 

 and functions have been strangely left out of consider- 

 ation by all anatomists hitherto. I refer to the * white 

 line' or *zone,' the slender intermediate band that runs 

 around tlie margin of the sole, and connects that plate of 

 horn so closely to the wall as to make their union particu- 

 larly solid and complete. When preparing the border of 

 the hoof for the reception of the shoe, this part is easily 

 distinguished by its lig-hter color (in a dark hoof), and by 

 its being softer and more elastic than either the sole or 

 wall, between which it is situated. It would appear to 

 be secreted by the villi which terminate the lower end of 

 the vascular laminae, and the horny leaves of the wall are 

 also received into its substance — a circumstance that ren- 

 ders the junction of the two more thorough. I think there 

 can be no doubt that the principal use of this elastic rim of 

 horn placed in such a situation, is to obviate the dang-er of 

 fracture to which the inferior part of the hoof — particular- 

 ly the sole— would be liable, if the junction between the 

 hard and comparatively inelastic sole and wall was direct- 

 ly effected without the interposition of such a body. 



*'It may be noted, that it is through this soft border of 

 horn that gravel and foreign matters usually find their 

 way to the sensitive parts of the foot, and there excite such 

 an amount of irritation as to lead to the formation of 



