602 
CENTRAL VETERINARY MEDICAL SOCIETY. 
[official report.] 
The usual monthly meeting of this Society was held on Thursday, 
July 6th, the President, G. Fleming, Esq., F.R.G.S., M.R.C.V.S., 
&c., in the chair. 
NEW METHOD OF HORSE-SHOEING. 
The subject of the evening was the new method of shoeing 
horses, known as the Pre-plantar system, invented some time ago 
by M. Charlier, V.S., Paris. The President introduced M. Charlier, 
jun., who is at present residing in London, and interpreted to the 
meeting the substance of his (M. Charlier’s) observations, as 
follows : 
“The foot of the colt, when in a perfectly natural state, and 
before it has ever been shod, presents a conformation beautifully 
adapted for the performance of those functions which by nature it 
is intended to fulfil ; being strong to resist wear and tear, and to 
support superincumbent weight, as well as yielding and elastic, to 
counteract the effects of concussion. 
“The principle upon which M. Charlier’s mode of shoeing is 
based, is the application of iron (or any sufficiently hard metal, 
simple or compound), to that part only of the foot of the horse 
which requires to be protected from the excess of friction which 
any animal used for saddle or draught must be exposed to when 
going rapidly, either upon a paved or macadamized road, or indeed 
on hard ground of any kind. 
“ The portion of the hoof subjected to such wear and tear being 
the lower or treading portion of the crust (that which comes into 
direct contact with the ground), M. Charlier’s plan of acting 
simply is to protect this part from injurious friction, at the same 
time preserving in its integrity the natural form and structure, and 
consequently all the functions of the horse’s foot. To this end the 
lower edge of the superficial crust (or wall) only is cut away, the 
portion removed being replaced by a metallic rim, necessarily more 
resisting than the natural wall of the foot, but precisely the same 
in form and thickness as the substance removed. 
“This metal edging or shoe lies imbedded in a groove, made by 
Charlier’s drawing knife, an instrument constructed for the purpose 
by the inventor, something resembling an ordinary moulding plane, 
and which any shoeing smith can use. The shoe thus let, as it 
were, into the foot, becomes a continuation of the natural hoof to 
the tip of the toe, but not extending beyond it ; and in a normal 
shaped foot at once (or in a weakly foot after about three months’ 
duration of this plan of shoeing, and consequent free growth of 
