136 TIPS AND TOE-WEIGHTS. 



membei'S, tliat makes me consider them responsible for much of the 

 cruelty and injury daily inflicted on horses in most provincial forges. 

 They have no right to seek to shelter themselves behind the honored 

 names of professional brethren whilst tacitly conniving at, or actively 

 perpetrating, mutilations on hoi'ses' feet, that would fill with horror 

 the men whose names they invoke, and which their own knowledge 

 and reason utterly condemn. 



That veterinians may be stirred up to a more active interference in 

 this impoi'tant and humane question is my only object in writing 

 this letter ; and no greater mistake can be made than the supposition 

 that there is any desire on my part to deny credit to the eminent 

 men belonging the profession, to whose investigations, not only on 

 this but on many kindred subjects, the world owes so much, 



"W. J. R. 



Sir, — W. J. R. might have saved himself the trouble of inditing 

 last week his little treatise on sai'casm, with quotations from Arte- 

 mus Ward and Sydney Smith thrown in. Spite of being handicapped 

 by my nationality, his sarcasm did find its way to my mind. This, 

 however, in no way necessitated that he should malign himself, if 

 indeed he knew better, by appearing to judge of a horse's foot-sound- 

 ness whilst it was going across country. With regard to the 

 animals involved in his pettish sarcasm, I may state that I never 

 i-ode better hack-hunters than I did during the five years I was at 

 Oxford, and do not recollect more than two occasions on which I 

 saw a lame horse out. 



" Impecuniosus," M. B., and Mr. Tozsr agree that " the Charlier 

 shoe, not approaching the corn place, cannot cause corns." Neither 

 can any other shoe, though the manner of shoeing may be answer- 

 able for them, inasmuch as it may cause the heels to contract and 

 lose their power of expansion. The concussion is greatly increased, 

 and the result is the rupture of bloodvessels in the sensitive sole — 

 that is, so-called corns. In cases of weak feet, corns ai-e more often 

 produced by stepping on stones. The adoption of the Charlier would 

 certainly increase danger from this source for the first few weeks, 

 but would eventually i-esult in a healthier foot, I have no doubt. 



