670 
NEUROTOMY. 
But there is another use of nerve in the foot which neurotomy 
has thrown strong light upon, and that is, the horse's sense of feel- 
ing through his hoofs. 
Does the Neurotomized Horse maintain the same Step 
AND TREAD HE USED BEFORE] To this important question I 
unhesitatingly answer, no ! — he does not. There can be no doubt 
but that the horse feels the ground upon which he is treading, and 
that he regulates his action in consonance with such feeling, so as 
to render his step the least jarring and fatiguing to himself, and 
therefore the easiest and pleasantest to his rider. The tread of 
the hoof creates a certain impression — depending on the nature of 
the ground trodden upon, and the force and manner with which 
the tread is made — on the nerves (of sensation) of the foot; which 
nerves being associated above the knee, in their course to the sen- 
sorium, with motor nervous fibres, the motions excited by the 
latter will necessarily be more or less influenced, through the will, 
by the impressions they receive from the former. Such impressions 
being, in the neurotomized subject, so far as regards the feeling 
of the foot, altogether wanting, a bold fearless projection of the limb 
in action will be the result, followed by a putting down of the hoof 
flat upon the ground, such as is not pleasant in the normal state 
of the foot. And these combined alterations in action and mode 
of setting down the feet it is which give rise to the peculiarity in 
the gait of the neurotomized horse — consisting in lack of elasticity 
and consequent jarring movement — by which he is ever, when 
both fore feet have been operated on, distinguished by a rider 
experienced in such matters from other horses, as well as charac- 
terised in action and gait from what he former^ was himself. 
This acknowledged defect has been adduced, and not without 
reason, as another argument against neurotomy. It must be re- 
membered, however, that the foot for which such an operation has • 
been performed was originally a lame one ; and that, if we have 
restored it to soundness at some expense to its organization, still 
have we placed the animal thereby in a preferable condition to 
what he, as lame and useless, was in before ; and therefore the 
argument holds good only to a certain extent. It certainly would 
have been doing much better for the lame horse had we made him 
sound without detracting in anywise from the remaining perfec- 
tions of the foot : since, however, such was incompatible with the 
nature of the remedy, we ought in reason to be content with what 
has been achieved by neurotomy, and that this has amounted to 
no mean benefit I shall annex a few cases to shew; accompanying 
them with the remark, that I feel quite convinced, when the sub- 
jects for the operation shall have been properly selected, and the 
