HANCOCK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. HORSES. 2T 



To Miss Barret, of Surry, for two very superior Yarn Socks, 

 $0,50. 



To Major Ray, of Bluchill, for a Plough, and a Broad Axe, a 

 Narrow Axe and Adze which could not be surpassed, ^3. 



The Committee on Stock, awarded to Reuben Dodge, Esq., for 

 the best two-year old Heifer exhibited, $3. 



To Samuel Parker, a discretionary premium, for a four-year old 

 Bull, ,$2. 



To Isaac Harden, a discretionary premium, for a two-year old 

 Bull, $1. 



ON THE HAW, OR THIRD EYE-LID OF THE HORSE ; 



BONES OF HIS FEET, &C. 



Loretto. Va. Oc/. 31, 1827. 

 Dear Sir, — The following extracts from a very popular scienti- 

 fic work now publishing in England, and called " The Library of 

 Useful Knowledge," will save, I hope, many a poor horse from 

 much sulfering; and injury. With this view 1 take the liberty to 

 otfer them for publication in your very useful paper. 



Yours, witli regard, 



James M. Garnett. 



Speaking of the eye-lids of birds, the writer remarks : " A third 

 eye-lid of the same kind is found in the horse, and called the haw ; 

 it is moistened with a pulpy substance, (or mucilage,) to take hold 

 of the dust on the eye-ball and wipe it clean off, so that the eye is 

 hardly ever seen with any thing upon it, though greatly exposed 

 from its size and posture. The swift motion of the haw is given 

 to it by a gristly, elastic substance, placed between the eye-ball 

 and the socket, and striking obliquely, so as to drive out the haw 

 with great velocity over the eye, and let it come back as quickly. 

 Ignorant persons, when this haw is inflamed from cold and swells 

 so as to appear, which it never does in a healthy state, often mis- 

 take it for an imperfection, and cut it off; so nearly does ignorance 

 produce the same mischief as cruelty ! They might as well cut 

 off the pupil of the eye, taking it for a black spot." 



The other extract relates to the horse's hoof, and is as follows : 

 " The bones of the pjot are not placed directly under the weight ; 

 if they were in an upright position, they would make a firm pillar,' 

 and eVQsy motion would cause a shock. They arc placed slant- 

 ing, or oblique, and tied together by an elastic binding on their 

 lower surfaces, so as to form springs as exact as those which we 

 make of leather or steel for carriages. Then the flatness of the 

 hoof which stretches out on each side, and the hog coming down 

 in the middle between the quarters, adds greatly to the elasticity 

 of the machine. Ignorant of this, ill-informed farriers nail the 

 shoe too far back, tixing the quarters, and causing permanent con- 

 traction — so that the contracted hoof loses its elasticity ; every 

 step is a shock : inflammation and lameness ensue." — [Am, Farm, 



