302 SHOEING AND THE FOOT. 
equal. Not one of these acknowledged judges—wuose 
opinions, I may point out, are selected from a number of all 
shades and complexions, each one differing from the other 
in some respects—agrees with the ordinary system of using 
seven nails, four on the out and three on the inside. Yet 
this is the number and disposition approved by most practical 
men. Iam convinced it is the best, and my opinion is borne 
out by experience, and by the constant and continued general 
practice. I must not be understood to prefer one of the 
various inventions I have named to another, nor to condemn 
any one of them. They may be excellent, but the mere 
fact of their advocacy by the inventors is not a proof 
of their superiority ; and it would ill become one dealing 
professionally with facts, and not opinions, tu approve or 
condemn without a sufficient trial. But of one thing I am 
satisfied: the shoe best adapted for the generality of horses 
is the one I have described as bevelled on the inside and 
fastened with seven nails. Other kinds may suit specific 
cases, but for ordinary use nothing has yet been produced 
that can equal, and much less supersede, it. To discuss the 
many speculative theories as to the treatment of the foot 
generally, and particularly of the toe and heel, and as to 
how often the feet should be attended to, would be, in my 
opinion, a useless tax on the reader's patience. We can see 
how various and conflicting are the dogmas held on the 
subject. Were they to be comprehensively dealt with, they 
would assume a giant’s shape of contradictions causing only 
distrust of any theoretic proposition whatever. It is there- 
fore fortunate that for purposes of general utility practical 
experietice comes to our aid, and points out the shoe and 
the system of fixing it which may be adopted without fear 
of ill results. 
