848 DAD.S VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 
as it is known to have on other parts of the body. “No prince 
ever died of the plague,” shows that the ablutions daily practiced 
by persons of refinement, occupying an exalted position in society, 
operate as a preventive against even a mortal malady. Yet, not- 
withstanding all this, it is proper for us to remark that some horses 
are occasionally the subjects of foot maladies, notwithstanding the 
very best system of shoeing is practiced on them ; and others, that 
never stood on a plank floor or inclined plane, are in the same pre- 
dicament; so, also, are some that have their feet washed often 
This goes to show that if animals under the very best care and 
management get hoof-bound, or contracted feet, it is due to a pre- 
disposition which they have either inherited or acquired, and, as 
the old saying is, they would not enjoy bodily health unless they 
were hoof-bound. 
It is very evident that many diseases of the feet are traceable 
to bad shoeing. Some persons seem to suppose that the foot of a 
horse is as insensible as stone; and, when we see the blacksmith 
wrenching off shoes by main force, often fracturing the hoof oz 
breaking off a portion of the bars, frog, and sole, with as little 
care as a man would rough-trim a log, and afterward applying a 
red-hot shoe to the thinned sole, we might be led to infer that tne 
foot is really insensible. The Hon. MarsHaLui P. WILDER thus 
denounces such bad practice: 
“JT know of no greater evidence of inhumanity to that noble 
animal the horse, than the almost universal custom of paring down 
the foot and burmng on the shoe. It has ever, to my mind, been 
among the barbarisms of the age, which I trust will be no longer 
countenanced by civilized society ; and I sympathize with the 
efforts of every one engaged in correcting such dangerous prac- 
tices.” 
The practice, also, of using a pair of pinchers on the feet, in 
view of discovering some real or supposed lameness, is equally 
barbarous, and often results in bruises of the sole, and should, 
therefore, be discountenanced. 
Treatment.—The blacksmith should so prepare the foot and fit 
the shoe that the frog may be brought in contact with the ground 
over which the horse travels. This not only prevents undue con- 
cussion, which would otherwise occur, but tends, also, to expand 
the heels, and preserve the natural tread and function of the foot. 
Having prepared the foot in a proper manner, we then, if the sea- 
