08 CONCLUDING OBSKIIVATIONS. 



At every step of so bulky an animal as the liorse, 

 in quick movement (to say nothing of tlie addi- 

 tional weight of his rider), force being added to 

 weight, the entire base of tiie foot has a tendency 

 to dilate and increase in its diameter ; but tlie shoe 

 and nails together forbid the dilatation to a certain 

 extent, limiting it to the posterior part of the foot 

 only. Now, as in all other contests, we shall find 

 here that '' the iveakestgo to the wall:' the superin- 

 cumbent weight, combined with force, is over- 

 whelming ; the rigid shoe denies the slightest pos- 

 DispiacoiiKiit sible accommodation, and the shanks of the nails 



or the riciiclics 



a necessary oulv vicld a Httlc iu a body with the crust into 



roiiseqnence or '- ' 



methudofshoe- ^^'liich they are driven ; but this relief is accom- 

 iiig. exijiaiiicd. pji>^|ie(;i at the expense, and, more or less, displace- 

 ment, of the cleiiches, which frequently appear con- 

 spicuous after the horse has been shod in the com- 

 mon way about a fortnight, and begin to threaten 

 the loss of the shoe. 



Now the clenches in the side-naHinii- have this 

 important advantage, — there is no distressing strug- 

 gle, clench versus clench, no two being opposed to 

 each other; but, all harmoniously acting in concert, 

 they elfectually defend the organ into which they 

 are inserted, without at the same time imposing a 

 fetter ; so that these useful agents remain compa- 

 ratively quiescent, subject only to the decay of lair 

 wear and tear by attrition, realizing, in every sense 

 of the word, the motto at the headinu ol thi.s sulijeet, 

 \iz the henefit withotil I In hanc. 



