508 NAIL-HOLES, TOO MANY. [BOOK III. 



the shoe is to project beyond the outside of the hoof, 

 lest the growing state of the horn should cause the 

 shoe to imbed itself at this part, where the substance 

 is soft and the wear very little. Take good heed 

 that the inner edge of the shoe-heel bear not on 

 the ground more than the outer, but the contrary. 

 The so-much-desired expansion of the heel may be 

 promoted by making the heels thicker at the inner 

 edge than at the outer, though this be but l-32d part 

 of an inch. 



Nailing, a very important operation, requires 

 much previous study of the formation and func- 

 tions of the internal sensible parts of the foot, many 

 injuries being inflicted by penetrating those parts 

 to the quick, and thereby occasioning them to fester, 

 as we shall see presently, when treating of the 

 diseases incident to the sole, A good aphorism has 

 it thus — " If it were possible to keep the shoe in 

 position without nailing, we should then have 

 arrived at perfection in the art of shoeing ; it fol- 

 lows that the least number of nails that are driven 

 consistent with safety, is the most commendable 

 practice." It was Mr. Bracy Clark, in the plenitude 

 of his many inventions, who once proposed to 

 fasten on the shoe by enveloping the whole hoof in 

 an iron defence, and fastening it by screws; but 

 the scheme failed for a most obvious reason — its 

 weight increased the offence adverted to elsewhere 

 (page 488). But we will not speculate on novelties, 

 nor further object, simply taking the evil of punc- 

 turation as one that is inevitable, though capable 



