DISEASES FROM FAULTY CONFORMATION 189 



The matter contained in the first half of the foregoing 

 paragraph explains in a large measure the rarity of corns 

 in the hind-feet. Here there is nothing to prevent a shoe 

 with branches of full length being used. The correct bearing 

 is thus maintained, even with a shoe excessively thinned with 

 wear, and the liability to injury from it decreased. An 

 exception is to be found in the case of a feather-edged shoe, 

 such as is used to prevent cutting or brushing. The thin- 

 ning by wear from above to below of the branch already 

 purposely thinned from side to side leads to the formation 

 of a thin and narrow piece of iron admirably calculated to 

 bend over and injure the sole. 



Even with a shoe of correct length, with a flat-bearing 

 surface at the heels, and other conditions favourable to 

 correct application, evil may still result from the shoe itself 

 being made too narrow. As a result of this, the branch of 

 each side is set too far under the foot, with consequent 

 injury to the sole. This is, of course, sheer carelessness 

 on the part of the smith. When practised, however, it is 

 not easy of detection, as in all cases the foot is rasped down 

 to cover what has been done. In other words, the foot is 

 made to fit the shoe and not the shoe the foot. 



Recognising this close fitting of the shoe as a cause, we 

 are able to explain in some measure how it is that corns 

 should occur with greater frequency in the inner than in 

 the outer heel. There is no doubt that the inner branch of 

 the shoe is nearly always fitted closer than is the outer. 

 In the fore-foot it is also often shorter. Take these two 

 evils and add to them the fact that the inner heel is called 

 upon to bear more of the body-weight than is the outer, 

 and the frequency of corns in the inner heel will no longer 

 be wondered at. 



Indirectly, the shoe may still be a cause of corn by 

 reason of the irritation set up by gravel and small pieces 

 of flint becoming firmly fixed between the sole and the 

 web of the shoe. In nearly every case of this description 

 the part to be injured is the white line. 



Corns may also result from the animal picking up a 



