142 ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HORSE , S FOOT. 
even young animals partook of them with impunity, and 
there is no doubt that nearly all the losses which occurred 
would have been avoided if care had been taken to prevent 
animals living almost exclusively on acorns for many days in 
succession ; but, in fact, there was so little of ordinary food 
to spare in the autumn of 1868 and 1870 that stock-feeders 
were too ready to accept the apparent advantage which the 
abundant crop of acorns presented to them, and the animals, 
in a state of chronic hunger, were quite prepared for any sort 
of provender that fell in their way. 
It may still be urged with truth that no poisonous principle 
has been discovered in acorns, but the same thing is true in 
respect of herbage growing under certain conditions, or on 
particular soils. The grass from the scouring lands of Somer- 
set, or from the meadows on which “ splenic apoplexy” or 
Cf black leg” prevails, does not present to the chemist any cha- 
racters to which its noxious qualities can he certainly referred. 
In many parts of the kingdom young cattle cannot graze on 
pastures which are harmless or beneficial to older stock, and 
practical men speak of “ land which is too strong” or “ herb- 
age which is too rank” for young stock. Science has not yet 
furnished the clue to these mysteries, but observation has 
shown that provender which in some seasons is wholesome 
in others is deleterious, and we should at least he wise to 
accept the facts, and pursue the course which experience 
indicates, without waiting for a complete answer to the 
question, wherefore ? 
Many problems in physiology present themselves for solu- 
tion, and among them that most important in its hearings 
upon the well-being of our flocks and herds is the exploration 
and clear definition of the conditions under which the food 
which should support the organism becomes the poison which 
destroys its vitality. 
OBSERVATIONS ON THE ANATOMY AND 
PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HORSE’S FOOT. 
By George Fleming, M.R.C.V.S., Royal Engineers. 
[Continued from vol. xliii, p. 730.) 
External Parts of the Foot. 
The Iloof. — We have compared the exquisitely organised 
envelope containing the hones, vessels, nerves, and other 
