6 ON THE NAVICULAR DISKASK. 



violation of Nature's law as the common shoe or in- 

 flexible ring of iron ailixed to the foot with nails, 

 which, accordino; to Mr. Bracv Clark, is the onlv 

 bane, 1 am led to this conclusion from observing 

 that the unshod foot in a state of nature is never 

 subjected to this restraint, as the daily wear 

 keeps pace with the growth, and the heels w iden 

 in proportion as the toe is shortened, and vice 

 versa. 



2dly, The next deviation from nature, and which 



I conceive to be the harbinger of the evil, is \\\^ims- 



Deprivation of slve statc to which the feet of horses are subjected 



motion to the , i i r> • i • i • 



foot in the by the usual mode ot tymg the animals to a post in a 



stable. 11 I • I • 



stall, which, even in a well-regulated stable, is fre- 

 quently from twenty-one to twenty-three hours out 

 of the twenty-four. Tliis, however, is not the worst, 

 as it is by no means unusual for a horse to stand in 

 his stall two or three days together, when not re- 

 quired to work. 



If we calculate these vacant hours, and compare 



them with the very few that a horse in pasture is in 



a quiescent state (he being always in quest of the 



best herbage), we need not be surprised at linding. 



Stationary po- by the cud of a year, that certain important parts of 



sition ill the 



stiiii, a most the horny box have chano;ed their position and cha- 



prolilic soiiiTc o i 



of toiiiiaction. ractcr, from the deprivation of this natural pressure 

 and motion conjointly. The particulars of (his I 

 shall presently explain ; and I firmly believe, that, if 

 every valuable horse in this kingdom were to be 

 forthwith turned loose into a large box niiiht and 



