1)0 CONCLUDING OBSKllVATIUNS. 



of the bones upon the confines of each other within 

 Thp import- the hoof docs exist in contracted feet generally, 



aiice of a mi- ...... , ... ' 



iiutc invtstiga- surely it is hiMi time that those individuals who 



tioii by the pro- . 



fession Oh the ^lav bc iutcut ou the minute study of the horse's 



Ruojoct ot iiior- ^ ^ 



^hl'^iooibouel ^^^^ should bc in posscssiou of some guide or in- 

 troduction to these morbid phenomena ; for if I am 

 rightly informed, no such doctrine has been incul- 

 cated by either of the professors in the course of 

 their lectures at our parent establishment, the Royal 

 Veterinary College of London. 



The subject demands the most minute and sci- 

 entific investigation, as it is either an affair of no 

 moment, although proved to exist, or the destiny 

 of every individual horse (except of the cart kind) 

 is involved in it from the first hour that the owner 

 consigns him over to the shoeing forge*. 



I cannot quit this discussion without again ad- 

 verting to Profedsor Coleman s Physiologij of the 

 Foot of the Horse. His account in detail of the 

 functions of this exquisite piece of mechanism is 

 beautiful as far as it extends : it fascinates at once by 

 its simplicity and its splendour combined ; and it is, 



* It affords mc much gratification to observe that IMr. Blaine has 

 just taken favourable notice, and recommends atrial of the side-nailing' 

 process of shoeing. This acconii)Ushed writer has just favoured the 

 public with a fourth edition, much iiDjirovod, of his " Oittl'nus of the 

 Feterinarti Art." 



I have reason to know, that veterinary students have l)een in 

 the habit of perusing this gentleman's works on the anatomy and 

 physiology of the horse, and treatment of diseases generally, for a 

 period of about thirty years, with incalculable benefit to themselves, 

 and subse»iucntly to their employers. 



