414 
EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Having, some years ago, had the good fortune to meet with the 
bones of a horse’s fore foot, which had never been shod, though 
the animal had already reached his fifth year, I macerated 
and afterwards carefully examined them, and found that, when 
placed flat upon a level table, the entire circumferential edge of 
the bone, around its base, came in contact at every point with 
the level surface; there being no visible sign whatever of 
rounding off of the toe. To this Mr. Hallen did not as- 
sent; but seemed to think that even natural coffin bones 
had rounded toes, which I contended, was nought but the 
result of absorption of the bone from repeated blows and 
pressure against it. 
Another point of much importance in the practice of 
shoeing was, Mr. Hallen thought, attention of a closer kind 
than was usually paid to the clinching of the nails and rasping 
of the hoof. The practice of rasping the clinches for the pur- 
pose of sharpening them, before turning them down, and of 
rasping them to make them smooth, after they w ere turned 
down, he thought very pernicious. Thereby, the clinch itself 
was not only weakened, but actually had its hold destroyed, 
and so the hold of the shoe upon the foot became materially 
weakened. Moreover, the practice of rasping the surface of the 
hoof which smiths are so fond of indulging in, to make their 
work look clean and fresh, is to be deprecated ; owning to its 
depriving the horse of the part of the cuticular covering 
w T hich descends upon it from the coronet, and wdiich not only 
serves to prevent evaporation of its juices, but takes a coat 
of skin off it, which admits of a polish and gloss, such as the 
fibres underneath, are not able by friction of giving out. Still, 
w r e have other points to mention, and some, perhaps, to have 
given better than we have : but our space forbids our proceed- 
ing further — we must leave off, and beg that Mr. Hallen 
himself w ill one day favour us with his own account of these 
practices. It will, we can assure him, form a very pleasing 
paper. 
