HORSESHOEING. 43 



a), is all that portion of the pododerm on which there are fleshy 

 leaves. This leafy tissue covers the anterior surface of the os 

 pedis and the lower portion of the external surface of the lateral 

 cartilages. At the bulbs of the heels it turns inward at a sharp 

 angle and extends forward and inward, between the bar portion 

 of the coronary band and the posterior part of the velvety tissue 

 of the sole, nearly to the middle of the solar surface of the foot, to 

 form the lamince of the bars (Fig. 25, a). The fleshy wall and fleshy 

 bars are not covered with villi, but with numerous prominent, 

 parallel, fleshy leaves placed close together, each of which runs in 

 a straight line downward and forward from the coronary band to 

 the lower border of the os pedis. Between the fleshy leaves are 

 deep furrows in which, in a foot which has not been deprived of 

 its horny capsule, lie the horny or insensitive leaves of the wall. 

 The fleshy leaves (podophyllous laminae) are related to one 

 another somewhat as the leaves of a book ; their posterior bor- 

 ders are attached to the body or basement membrane of the 

 fleshy wall, while their anterior borders and sides are free. At 

 their upper ends immediately below the coronary band the 

 leaves are quite narrow, but they gradually increase in width 

 down to the middle, and thereafter maintain that breadth to the 

 lower border of the os pedis, where they terminate in free, 

 fleshy villi, which differ in no respect from those of the fleshy 

 sole. The number and length of the fleshy leaves vary ; in a 

 medium-sized foot there are about five hundred, while in a large 

 foot there may be as many as six hundred. On the anterior sur- 

 face of the OS pedis the leaves are thickest and longest ; on the 

 sides and quarters they gradually decrease in length, while in 

 the bar region they are the shortest and gradually disappear 

 near the anterior ends of the bars. The width of the leaves 

 decreases as they become shorter. Viewed with the naked 

 eye the leaves appear flat and smooth, but under the micro- 

 scope one can see on both sides of a fleshy leaf numerous 

 small, fleshy leaflets parallel to one another and extending 

 lengthwise with the larger leaf The large ones are called prm- 



