EXPANSION OF THE FOOT. 
443 
dom; viz. its single toe covered with tough and solid horn; and 
when, as I remark above, we observe the uniformity of Nature, it 
will hardly be contended that a difference of structure is provided, 
or a variety of function contemplated among the few species of 
which this genus is composed. And has it ever been supposed 
the ass possessed the power of expanding his horny hoof] or that 
the zebra or quagga, as they scour over the arid and hard soil of 
Southern Africa, or the dzigguetai (the wild mule of the ancients) 
as he roams through the deserts of central Asia, does not find 
elasticity independent of expansion of the hoof] And, if we can 
conceive such of the ass, &c. why not of the horse, who in a state 
of nature much more resembles his congeners than after we have 
stabled him, and trained him, and I may say lamed him ] When 
we begin to examine his feet with a view to a removal of his 
maladies ; and find in man, and the domestic animals we are 
most familiar with, that concussion is provided against by ex- 
pansion, we, overlooking the great difference in the conformation 
of his foot, infer that, by rendering it expansile, we remove the 
causes which have lamed and rendered useless our much-valued 
servant : with what success let the past history of veterinary 
science attest. These things considered, we may, I think, fairly 
conclude, that in the wild or natural state the foot does not expand. 
It may, perhaps, be urged, that to compare a horse or his feet in a 
state of Nature to the very artificial state in which we keep him, 
or to think to illustrate the subject by such comparison, is useless ; 
but to this I reply, there are thousands of horses now at work in 
which the feet approach very closely the natural state, both in 
hardness and form. And this it is that renders the question of 
expansion of so much importance, since upon it depends the 
practice of the art of shoeing. If the hoof is the elastic, springy, 
and expansile organ it is generally represented to be, we ought to 
pare, rasp, and soften these hard and oblong feet, leaving only horn 
enough to protect the sensible parts below; but if, on the contrary, 
the hoof was never intended to expand, we ought to leave it as 
nearly as possible as we find it, nailing on it, as simply and 
elegantly as we can, a piece of iron merely to protect it from the 
excess of wear, which on our roads and pavements is considerably 
more than the growth. I abstain from entering into the more 
difficult part of the question, viz. how is elasticity produced if not 
through expansion, because I think we ought to adhere to, and 
dispose of the question of expansion on its own merits, first. For 
the same reason I make no further remarks on shoeing, nor at- 
tempt any explanation of those phenomena which are rather 
puzzling in practice if expansion be not admitted. There yet 
remains a vast deal to be said on the subject of horses’ feet, and 
