u 



It is not less the duty and the interest of the horse-shoer, 

 who aspires to superiority in his important and useful calling, 

 to acquire a correct, if not a profound knowledge of the nature 

 and functions of the structures he is called upon to operate, in 

 order — 



i. That he might the more intelligently co-operate with the 

 owner of the horse, or the veterinary surgeon having a case in 

 his charge. 



2. That he may justly be entitled to the confidence of his 

 employer who may be unable, or unwilling, if able, to give 

 any special directions in the matter. 



3. That he may be able to distinguish between normal and 

 abnormal developments, or healthy and unhealthy conditions, 

 to become familiar with, so as to be able to detect readily 

 the first advances of a departure from healthy conditions, or 

 the natural conformation of the organ it is his particular pro- 

 vince to conserve and protect ; and moreover that he may have, 

 and be able to apply that special knowledge which will enable 

 him to counteract and check such advances. 



The shoeing-smith who possesses these qualifications has in 

 his hands a powerful lever of personal advancement in his call- 

 ing, and the whip hand of his fellow craftsman not so well in- 

 formed, upon the road to distinction and wealth. 



A clear understanding of the subject can be gained by any 

 intelligent smith in the course of a few hours private, or other 

 instruction, by the aid of specimens, diagrams, etc. His oppor- 

 tunities for demonstration are of course the best, as he can be 

 instructed and initiated into the modus operandi in his own 

 workshop. Every smith, if possessed of candor, after witness- 

 ing the results of the operation for Contracted Feet, Corn, 

 Quarter-crack, and in Founder and Navicular Disease are so 

 pleased and surprised that they exclaim in the spirit, if not in 

 the precise language of the philosophic Hamlet : 



" There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, 

 Than are dreamt of in our philosophy.'' 



I claim no special merit on the score of originality as to the 

 facts and the main feature of the practice on which my methods 



