652 The Structure of the Horse^s Foot and Principles of Shoeing. 
speaking broadly, assert that the best men at their work knew the least 
about the foot. 
We respectfully suggest that if in future competitions examinations are 
to be held on the structure and uses of the dilierent parts of horses' feet, the 
men should be supplied, along with their entry forms, with some plain brief 
information on the subject, and that models, drawings, and preparations of 
feet should be on view during the competition. 
We further beg to suggest that seeing how much time is wasted in 
superfluous " finish " of the shoes, some limit should be fixed for each class — 
say from 30 to 45 minutes — as the period in which the work ought to be 
done. 
Your excellent Steward in this department, to whom we feel deeply 
indebted for the pains he took in making such complete arrangements for 
the carrying out of the necessary work, and for the unflagging interest he 
took in the proceedings, was present during the examinations taking notes 
of the few very simple questions put by us and the answers given, and we 
leave him to make any further remarks he may think fit on the subject. 
(Element Stephensoh'. 
Joseph M. Pakker. 
XXXIII. — The Structure of the Horse's Foot and the Principles of 
Shoeing. By Professor G. T. Brown, C.B., Principal of 
the Royal Veterinary College. 
From the title of this paper a very long and scientific account 
of the anatomy and functions of the horse's foot, with a history 
of the art of shoeing from the earliest times, might be expected. 
The writer intends, instead, to produce a very short and practical 
essay for the use of practical men, leaving the antiquarian and 
the learned inquirer into the mysteries of the art to consult the 
classical work on Horse-shoes and Horse-shoeing, by Dr. George 
Fleming. 
Most persons, when thinking or speaking ot the foot of the 
horse, have in their minds the idea of their own foot as an organ 
by the aid of which they stand, or walk, or run. But the first 
step in the inquiry must be to show that the horse does not put 
his foot on the ground at all, but only a small portion of it ; 
and that the organ which is always called the foot of the horse, 
is really the point of the toe. A few drawings will make this clear. 
In the figures in Plate 1 (page 660), a is the hind foot of 
the horse, complete with the full set of bones ; b is the foot of 
the man, with the like set of bones. A glance at the cuts is 
enough to prove that the bones of the human foot lie along the 
ground from heel to toe ; while tlie horse's heel, being in fact the 
point of the hock, is some two feet or more off the ground. 
In Plate 2, on page 661, there are two figures which show 
what would happen if the horse could or did put the whole of 
the foot on the ground as the man does, and if the man were to 
support himself with las toes only on the ground, as the ballet- 
