PUMICE FOOT. 839 
donment of utter confidence. The most caustic dressings have been 
freely employed upon the most sensitive part; yet the creature which, 
when in health, seemed made up of the acutest sensibilities, has sub- 
mitted to the torture with more than mortal fortitude. Once win the 
reliance of timidity, and so beautiful, so entire, so self-nugatory is its 
confidence. 
Little can be said concerning the cure of lameness. The causes are 
various, and, of course, the remedies are as numerous as the provo- 
catives. One thing may, however, be advised: have the shoe taken off 
and the foot searched. Never mind the horn being pared away—many 
a horse limps upon a whole hoof; and it is astonishing upon how small 
a portion of horn an animal may go sound. The seat of the injury 
being ascertained, and so much of the inorganic covering removed as 
may be necessary to afford some relief, always soak the foot in the bath 
before permitting the final use of the knife. The water cleanses the 
part, favors the discharge of pus, lowers the inflammatory action, soft- 
ens the anguish, and destroys the harsh character of the dry horn. This 
last substance, as was observed, by the united action of warmth and 
moisture loses its resistant property. It cuts easily when newly re- 
leased from the bath; and if the knife be sharp, it may be excised with- 
out any of that dragging sensation which frequently provokes the animal 
to snatch away the member while it is being operated upon. 
PUMICE FOOT. 
Pumice foot is a deformity produced by hard work; it does certainly 
appear strange, when we regard the beauty and strength united in the 
frame of the horse, that man’s barbarity should exceed Nature’s inge- 
nuity. A more captivating present—heightening human pleasures, 
lessening human toil—than the horse, it is impossible to imagine; but 
its beauty seems only given for man to deface. A stronger helpmate, 
when speed is considered, it appeared beyond the most excited imagin- 
ation to fancy. But the cruelty of the master found it easy to incapa- 
citate the power so exquisitely endowed. The speed was too slow for 
the eagerness of the rider; the docility was not apt enough for the im- 
patience of the possessor; in every particular the servant seems to have 
been at fault; and now we hear men gravely lamenting the invention of 
railroads, because these will interfere with the breeding of horses. Let 
us hope the establishment of railroads may supply a deficiency which the 
willingness of flesh and blood was unable to gratify. 
Animals bred on a marshy land, and of a loose habit of body, are 
apt to have weak feet, a specimen of which is given on next page, though 
