134 
REMARKS ON MR. REEVE’S EXPERIMENTS. 
a state of nature, with the foot unconfined, the hoof will slightly 
yield backwards in the direction of its fibres. I suggest the adop- 
tion of the spring at the heels to accommodate, although imper- 
fectly, this action. The unshod foot on the gutta percha may be 
compared to a horse in a state of nature, without shoes, standing 
on soft ground ; and the only possible impression that could be 
made would be a deeper mark at the heels than the toe, betoken- 
ing a gradual declination of the hoof. Mr. Reeve, doubtless, found 
this; but I would remark, that if the unshod horse, with a per- 
fectly level crust, had stood on a hard and flat surface, that there 
would have been no declination of the hoof, as the heels would 
have acted as wedges to prevent it, as I fully explained in my ex- 
periments; it being contrary to the laws of mechanics, that a 
declined cylinder like the horse’s foot, when acting against a 
parallel plane, could yield on pressure being applied to its upper 
surface, excepting space were left to admit of that descent; and 
that, on pressure being continued or increased, the sides will shrink 
inwards. This is illustrated by the inside quarter of the horse’s 
foot, which is more under the centre of gravity, and generally sus- 
tains more weight, being straighter than the outside quarter; con- 
trary to the ideas generally entertained, that weight causes expan- 
sion. 
Page 65, paragraph 1. — I can only apply the last remarks to 
this experiment in clay; but I would remind Mr. Reeve, that surely, 
after taking plaster casts of the horse’s foot, when supporting 
weight and when in action, both from the impressions of the feet 
in gutta percha and clay, that here was an invaluable oppor- 
tunity at once to declare the difference, if any, in the actual 
measurement of the width of the hoof (that is, the lateral expan- 
sion) under these circumstances. As Mr. Reeve, however, is 
silent on this subject, I presume he did not find the slightest dif- 
ference : he appears too close an observer to have neglected such 
an opportunity of silencing all argument — and what better experi- 
ment could possibly be instituted ] 
Page 65, last paragraph . — Much as I approve of the principle 
of the shoe, for experimenting to ascertain whether there be any 
descent of the sole under ordinary circumstances of shoeing, yet 
am I reluctantly obliged to state, that I do not consider the shoe 
used in this experiment calculated to shew a true result. I had a 
shoe made exactly as described by Mr. Reeve, according as I un- 
derstood the description, but I found it very difficult indeed to see 
the points of the screws ; and as the pieces which were welded, or 
brazed, to the heels, and crossed the frog to the transverse bar, 
gave, as l conceived, a great strain on that bar, I was of opinion 
