THE 
VETERINARIAN. 
VOL. XL 1 V. i\/r a v 10/71 Fourth Series. 
No. 521. MAY, 1871. No. 197. 
Communications and Cases. 
OBSERVATIONS ON THE ANATOMY AND 
PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HORSE’S FOOT. 
By George Fleming, M.R.C.V.S., Royal Engineers. 
[Continued from p. 252.) 
Physical and Chemical Properties and Minute Structure 
of the Hoof. 
We have now surveyed the external covering of the horse’s 
foot, and examined the different parts which enter into its 
composition. The hoof has been shown to be made up of 
fibres generally lying parallel to each other, and in a direction 
best suited to support weight and sustain the effects of strain 
in movement, in addition to resisting attrition. These fibres 
are composed of horny matter, and vary in density not only 
in the different divisions we have enumerated as making up 
this protecting envelope, hut even in each of these divisions — 
variations depending upon the remoteness from, or proximity 
of the fibres to, the vital textures within. So that, in regard 
to its physical properties, we might state that the horn of the 
hoof is a solid, tenacious, fibrous material, dense and rigid in 
some parts, less so in others, and soft and elastic in particular 
situations. 
Taking the density of water at 1000, that of this horn has 
been estimated as equal to about 1T90; this estimate, however, 
will vary according to circumstances. The faculty of the horn 
for absorbing water, or its hygrometricity, is somewhat great, 
though this again varies in different parts of the hoof ; some, 
as the frog and periople, taking up more than the sole and 
becoming soft and swollen, while the wall is less hygrometric 
xliv. 23 
