AN ESSAY ON SHOEING. 
253 
man may be enabled to pitch his nails into sound portions of 
crust. The bars to remain untouched, except their exfoliations. 
It is a bad practice to rasp the surface of the crust or wall 
above the row of clenches, for the sake of a smart appearance. 
Gentlemen, gratified as I feel by the favour of the presence of 
the talented Professors and Lecturers of this Institution, my gra- 
tification is greatly enhanced by beholding also such an assem- 
blage of private practitioners of sterling worth ; and therefore in 
the presence of minds such as a Percivall, Field, and others, I 
beg you will understand that I purposely abstain from descanting 
upon all the great principles seriatim; feeling assured that, in the 
course of debate, the void will be filled to an overflow by the 
more valuable united lore of the profession at large. Practical 
horse-shoeing being a subject of great national importance, I sub- 
mit that it is the bounden duty of every member present, versed 
in this branch of our art, to join in debate for the express purpose 
of inquiring into and eliciting what are in truth the few great 
leading principles, or points, observed in shoeing at the best 
forges at the present day in town and country. 
The analysis is most easy. It cannot possibly extend beyond 
half a dozen points. Suppose we say, for the first time, that there 
are six great articles, or cardinal points, to be observed. While 
it must be remembered that there are subordinate advantages in- 
dispensable to the perfect execution of the work which are count- 
less, all of them important, the practical artificer is the individual 
most familiar with these minor appliances, but the veterinarian, 
his employer, ought also to be acquainted with them seriatim. 
The discussion is imperative upon us at this juncture. Princi- 
ples and practice of shoeing having become a hackneyed phrase, 
we ought not to separate without determining what those princi- 
ples are by which we are to be guided in successful shoeing. Far- 
riers have flourished in Britain ever since William the Conqueror’s 
day, and, doubtless, they were wise in their generation ; at all 
events, we of the present day have eagerly availed ourselves of 
all they knew, and have now been pluming ourselves under the 
style and distinction of Veterinarians exactly half a century, pur- 
suing the same occupation under all the advantages of education 
and scientific guidance. 
Therefore, I contend it is a duty w T e owe to posterity, — I mean 
to the veterinarians in prospective of 1942, — to record, by this de- 
bate within the walls of the parent Institution, the “ why and the 
wherefore” of good and bad shoeing; taking any individual horse 
upon his return from the forge, he being well or ill shod, as the 
case may be. I ask, have we ever yet in conclave during the 
course of the half century rightly understood one another, or 
