358 
MISCELL AN A A. 
The clinical professor has employed a preparation of arsenic 
and iron as a cure for mange. The use of it was continued for 
a long time, and on many animals, but without success. Was 
the arsenic absorbed? Was it used in too small quantities, or 
did the iron neutralize its effects? Admitting the last supposi- 
tion to be true, there can be little hope of success in the employ- 
ment of the oxide of iron as a counter-poison ; because the 
arsenic, when used as a poison, is almost always taken in very 
large doses. 
liecueil Med . Vet., Jan. 1836. 
jftligttUantaL 
A Recipe to make a Pair of Boots from the hind 
Leg of a Horse. 
The following curious method of making the most of the skin 
of the hind leg of a horse is related by Temple, in his Travels inPeru. 
“ I have lately supplied myself with a pair of light summer 
boots, called botas de patro ; that is, boots of the skin of a colt, 
which are, I believe, peculiar to this country : but in any country 
where a horse is to be had, they also may be had without 
the necessity of employing either boot or shoemaker, for there 
is not a single seam or a single stitch used in their construe- 
tion; leg, foot, and sole, being all of one piece, and fitting 
admirably. This may appear difficult, but nothing is more 
simple. Here is the recipe : Take a horse ; cut off his hind 
legs considerably above the hocks; pull the skin down over the 
hoofs just as if you were pulling off a stocking : when off, scrape 
the hair from the skin with a sharp knife, and remove every 
particle of flesh that may have adhered to the inside; hang the 
skin to dry, and in the process of drying draw them two or three 
times on your legs, that they may take their shape, form, and 
figure. 
“ The whole operation maybe performed and the boots ready 
for use in the course of a week. The people here do not even 
sew up the end of the foot, but allow the great toes to project 
for the convenience of the stirrup, which is made so small as only 
just to admit them, and they occasionally support the whole 
weight of the body. The boots are very light, and, in every 
sense, ‘easy as a glove.’ I have seen some that had been 
tanned,, and had soles added, which render them the perfection 
of comfort.” 
