554 



invented some years ago by M. Cliarlier, a well-known veterinary sur- 

 geon of Paris, France, wliicli lias never, in my opinion, received either 

 the attention or trial its merits deserve. Common sense and science 

 alike indorse it, and were the system to become more generally known 

 in this conntrj' I venture to assert that there is an extremel}' large 

 number of cases in Avhich it would be found both approx)riate and 

 beneficial. For this reason I will briefly describe it. The shoes used 

 are about one-third the weight of an ordinary shoe, and less than one- 

 half the width. In preparing the foot for the shoe and sole, frog and 

 bars are left, as they ought to be, absolutel}' untouched, and a groove 

 is cut, by means of a knife speciall}' designed for the purpose, in the 

 wall, not high enough to reach above the sole level, and less than the 

 thickness of the wall in depth. Into this groove a narrow but thick 

 band of iron is sunk and nailed to the foot by means of four to six 

 conical-headed nails, the heads being countersunk in the shoe. The 

 advantage of this method of shoeing is that the frog, bars, and a por- 

 tion of the sole come to the ground exactly as if the foot were unshod, 

 and one and all participate in weight-bearing as it was obviously 

 intended they should, while the wall is protected from wear by the 

 small rim of iron let into its ground surface. 



A modification of the system has been suggested by an enthusiast 

 who writes under the name of "Free Lance," which possesses even 

 superior advantages. Under this sj'stem onlj' tii3S or toe-pieces of 

 the Charlier pattern are used, the foot being prepared for their recep- 

 tion, as shoAvn in Plate XXXXIY, Fig. 3. The tips are made with 

 their ground surface broader than their upper face, and the outside 

 edge of the web beveled ofl so as to follow the angle of the profiles of 

 the foot. (Plate XXXXIV, Fig. 4.) 



I have used both the Charlier shoe and the tip in this country- as well 

 as in the East Indies, and I am lierfectl}' satisfied that in many respects 

 they are superior to any other model. They are infinitelj' lighter, the 

 nails are smaller and fewer in numljer — all steps in the right direction; 

 but the dominant superiority' of the device consists in the fact that 

 the frog obtains i3ressure to the extent contemplated by nature, and 

 in the case of the Charlier tip particularlj- the exercise of its double 

 function as a buffer and dilator is absolutelj' untrammeled in any 

 v/ay by the shoe. 



FINISHING TOUCHES. 



When the shoe has been fitted, the nails driven, drawn up, and 

 clinched, there should l)e nothing left to bo done. Very frequently, 

 liowever, it is just at this stage that the incompetent workman, in the 

 most uncalled-for manner, inflicts serious and lasting injury on the foot. 

 If the wall has not been sufficiently reduced in leveling the foot, or if 

 the shoe used is too small, the rasp is required to reduce the projecting 

 parts. (Plate XXXXIV, Fig. 2.) Often, indeed, when there is not 



