208 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF SHOEING HORSES. 
q idling into the principles of either, for the very plain reason, 
that 1 liave never yet known of horses having been shod upon 
principle, i. e. agreeable to the laws of nature, and admitting of 
no deviation. The perfection of this art, like others, would of 
necessity be that which came nearest to nature, or, strictly 
speaking, it would not be art. 
I long ago discovered , for myself at least, the sophism that 
has misled the veterinary profession upon the subject of shoe- 
ing, to be the making principles out of their practice ; and if 
we only go back to the period of the foundation of the College, 
we have had systems of shoeing enough, every one knows, but 
not one upon principle; and, we believe, no one will attempt to 
deny the definition of a principle : the result has been, that these 
systems, or, more properly speaking, modifications, have never 
come into general use. The ordinary method of shoeing is still 
practised throughout the country : the only difference I have 
observed, is more or less superiority of workmanship, for which 
difference in price is charged. It is not, therefore, altogether 
true, that the low price paid for shoeing is the cause that these 
modifications have not come into use. Do the smiths of New- 
market never get £20 for plating a winner ? and is this not 
sufficient stimulus to produce something practically useful, to 
save the feet and legs of racers over the hard heath in summer 
and frost from the effects of percussion ? 
Do not sportsmen pay high prices for shoeing hunters? Are 
coach-proprietors and others so blind to their own interests, that, 
if any of these modifications had been as advantageous as their 
proposers thought, they would not have used them also ? The 
style in which some of them do business is a sufficient answer 
that price would not be studied by them. I will not say it is 
a disgrace to the veterinary profession ; for many of its mem- 
bers have shewn an ardent desire, and this, too, at some sacrifice 
of time and money, to bring what they individually thought ad- 
vantageous into general use : all have, however, more or less 
failed. I will endeavour to explain the causes of failure upon 
the ground of principle , or, rather the want of principle, upon 
which the whole profession, with few exceptions, seem to have 
been influenced. Most of them have made principles matter of 
inference from their practice, few from direct inquiry ; and these 
have always been bewildered by practice also : having no prin- 
ciple to go upon, they could never fairly emancipate themselves; 
they were slaves of the forge — with ideas tied down by so much 
per set of shoes, leather soles, stopping and all. 
Mr. Moorcroft was well aware of the cause of the degradation 
of this art, and, with the intention of striking at the root of 
