136 
REMARKS ON MR. REEVE’S EXPERIMENTS. 
drive them in. Having objected to so many of the preliminaries, 
I cannot be answerable for the result, as stated in page 66, 
paragraph 4 ; but I will only mention, that I have experi- 
mented on the heavy cart-horse, and have not found the slightest 
descent of sole [see my experiments at the end of this paper]. At 
the same time, I am fully persuaded that Mr. Reeve only states 
what occurred under the particular circumstances attending that 
trial. 
Page 66, last paragraph, and page 67. — The description of the 
shoe used for ascertaining the fact whether there be any lateral 
expansion of the foot at its lower circumference, is given with great 
clearness, and, as far as any shoe can be made for the purpose of 
shewing the existence of this motion, 1 think nothing better could 
be contrived. Yet I have many objections to make to this mode of 
proceeding Those who are not accustomed to trials of this nature 
may think these remarks are perhaps trifles; but when a great 
fact is to be ascertained by these means, and the results, however 
insignificant, are to be taken in evidence, every thing tending 
against a truthful conclusion must be minutely inquired into. In 
page 67, paragraph 6, Mr. Reeve says, that “each pin was 
screwed into its place until its point came into contact with the 
side of the crust.” Now, if Mr. Reeve means that the point came 
in contact, it would leave its mark ; but I contend that neither 
Mr. Reeve’s eyesight nor mine could tell accurately when the ex- 
tremely fine point of such a screw actually touched. Again, if 
any screw was not correctly tapped and did not go in perfectly 
straight, or if the point of the screw was not exactly in the centre 
when the screw was driven inwards, the point being in a false 
position would inevitably describe a small circle, and mark any 
projecting part of the hoof, which might cause an erroneous con- 
clusion to be arrived at ; and this is a circumstance I have had 
particularly to guard against. Mr. Reeve did not burn a dead 
seating. There is a strong objection to this shoe which must, more 
or less, interfere with the result, and 1 know not how it is to be 
overcome, which is this, — that on account of the shoe not being 
fastened to the foot on the outside quarter, when a horse is put 
to quick motion, the shoe springs more or less, and a scratching 
of the hoof will be produced at any projecting part either above or 
below the point of the screw; above the point of the screw, if the 
shoe does not fit perfectly close to the foot when off the ground, but 
the scratch will extend slightly above and below the screw from 
the springing motion of the shoe when the horse is in action. 
The foot becoming gradually larger as it grows downwards, it will 
be most observable in the upper and back screws ; and I ask Mr. 
Reeve, whether he has not noticed, when a mark has been left, that 
