188 SHOEING. [BOOK III. 



possess a tendency to brace or contract the tendons, 

 whilst coolness preserves the juices, and with it the 

 elasticity of this particular integument, when the 

 remainder of the coverings are least incommoded 

 with muscle. 



CHAPTER IV. 



SHOEING. 



Terms and phrases, in all matters connected with 

 the arts of life , should convey a good and distinct 

 notion of the thing spoken of. This does not 

 always happen in our day, formerly never, and 

 proved a vast stumbling-block to the advancement 

 of science ; but whoever termed the horse-shoe an 

 " iron defence" was a happy fellow, and deserves 

 well at our hands, inasmuch as his appellation is 

 goodly descriptive of the thing intended, and tells 

 plainly what a shoe ought to be in reality. If not 

 made of sufficient quantity, and of a proper ma- 

 terial, it proves inadequate to defend the hoof from 

 injury ; if made too heavy, or ill-shaped, the shoe 

 becomes the cause of grievous offence, of pain, heat, 

 and contraction of the horn, with its train of evils. 

 Any workman may learn by practice, and, there- 

 fore, every one ought to know, at least, when too 

 much or too little is applied. Some feet have the 



