48 
[February, 
AMERICAN AGE [CULTURIST. 
The Horse’s Foot. 
Few persons who own and use horses, are aware 
how delicate an organ is the horse’s foot. Not 
many blacksmiths or farriers, upon whom almost 
solely depends the preservation of the foot, are 
acquainted with its structure, and its sensitiveness. 
To most people, 
horse-shoers in¬ 
cluded, the hoof 
is a piece of in¬ 
sensible horn, 
that may be 
cut and hacked, 
rasped and burn¬ 
ed, bound with 
iron and nails, 
or bruised and 
\.f pounded upon 
Fig. 1.— longitudinal section, stones and rough 
roads with im¬ 
punity. This want of knowledge results in 
frequent and incurable ills to valuable horses, 
involving suffering to patient beasts, and much 
pecuniary loss to their owners. The horse’s hoof 
is a complicated structure of bones, cartilages, 
and sinews, wrapped in the most sensitive 
and delicate membranes, bound together in a 
mass with fibrous tissue, and abundantly supplied 
with blood-vessels and nerves; all of these are 
enclosed in a thin case or box of horn, the crust of 
the hoof; with which, however, all these are 
intimately connected, and interwoven by a system 
of several hun¬ 
dred acutely 
sensitive lami¬ 
nae, or thin 
leaves or plates. 
Hence an in¬ 
jury or blow 
given to the 
outer crust of 
the hoof con¬ 
veys a sensa¬ 
tion to every 
1 interior part of 
the foot, and 
thus impresses 
the whole ner¬ 
vous system of 
the animal. A 
clearer idea of 
the character of the horse’s foot, may be gather¬ 
ed from the illustrations, taken from a recent 
work, “ Chauveau’s Comparative Anatomy of the 
Domestic Animals.” 
Figure 1 is a section from above downwards 
through the foot, in which at a, is seen the lower 
portion of the first phalanx ; at b, the second 
phalanx; c, the navicular bone ; d, the plantar cush¬ 
ion ; e, the third pha¬ 
lanx ; /, the plantar 
surface of the hoof, 
and at g, the sensitive 
membrane of the third 
phalanx. Figure 2 is a 
section across the foot, 
and shows at a, the toe 
of the hoof; at b, the 
thickness of the walls; 
c, the sensitive laminae 
or leaves, which con¬ 
nect the wall of the 
hoof with the inner 
nervous and vascular 
system; d, is the inser¬ 
tion of the tendon by 
which the toe of the 
hoof is extended, (the 
extensor pedis); e, the 
os pedis, third phalanx, 
or pedal bone ; /, the 
navicular bone ; g, the 
wings of the pedal bone ; h, the lateral cartilages ; 
i, the tendon which retracts the foot, ( flexor pedis 
tendon); j, the plantar cushion ; k, the ba. ~ or the 
inflexion of the wall of the hoof ; ?, the horny frog. 
Fig. 2.— HORIZONTAL SECTION. 
Fig. 3.— LOWER FACE. 
Figure 3 shows the lower surface of the foot, after 
the outer crust of the hoof with the sole has been 
removed. At a, is the heel; b, the coronary cushion ; 
c, part of the plantar cushion; d, portion of the 
frog; c, laminae or leaves of the bars, and /, the 
velvety tissue of the sole. Our purpose is not to 
explain the offices of these organs, but simply to 
exhibit and enumerate them to enforce the neces¬ 
sity of a thorough study of the horse’s foot, in 
order that proper and intelligent care may be taken 
of it. In nothing is educated skill more necessary 
than in shoeing. It must be remembered that the 
foot is continualy growing from within outwards, 
to repair the constant loss of the hoof by wear; 
that nature has provided for every need that may 
arise from the natural wear of the hoof; that the 
outer surface of the hoof is of dense, tough, elas¬ 
tic, insensible material—horn—although it is inti¬ 
mately connected with a most sensitive interior, 
and that the real purpose of shoeing is to provide 
against an excessive wear of the crust, occasioned 
by contact with stones and rough surfaces upon 
roads, to which the animal in its wild state is a 
Fig. 4. — FOOT WITH SHOE. 
stranger. The sh'oe, in fact, should be an artificial 
crust to the hoof, and while it should be no less, it 
need be no more. It should not change the posi¬ 
tion of the foot with regard to the ground, nor 
elevate it so that the frog can not come in contact 
with the ground. It should not bind the foot with 
a rigjd ring of iron, so that the elastic crust can 
not spread when the weight of the horse falls upon 
the elastic cushion within, and thus prevent the 
exercise of one of its most useful functions, viz., 
that of a spring to relieve the pressure, and prevent 
jars which would otherwise be conveyed directly 
to the bony column of the limb. These are some 
of the rudimentary principles of a rational system 
of horse-shoeing. Upon the form of the shoe 
greatly depends whetliertliese principles 
can be carried into practice or not. 
The Goodenough shoe, of which fig. 4 
is an illustration, is designed for this 
rational system of shoeing. It is light, 
having no surplus weight to encumber 
the foot. The foot surface is rolled 
witli a bevel, by which the shoe bears 
only upon the wall or crust of the hoof, 
entirely relieving the sole from pres¬ 
sure. The ground surface has also a 
bevel by which the inner part of the 
shoe is brought to a thin edge. The 
outer portion lias a thick edge cut into 
calks, by which secure foot-hold is 
obtained, without elevating the foot and 
without changing the natural bearing of 
its surface. To apply the shoe to a 
horse’s foot, no preparation is needed further than 
to level the surface of the wall of the hoof, to get 
an even bearing, and to remove unnecessary worn- 
out horn. The frog under this system is never 
touched by the farrier’s knife. It comes to the 
ground as it naturally should, and performs its 
proper office in supporting the inner organs of the 
foot, as a spring or cushion. No greater recom¬ 
mendation of this form of shoe, or of the system 
of shoeing here advocated, can be furnished, than 
that several of the largest horse-railroads of New 
York and Brooklyn use it, and have used it for 
years with satisfaction and success; there can be 
no severer test than this. Several farmers of our 
acquaintance, whose judgment is unquestioned, 
have long used this shoe and continue to use it. 
A New Squash.—The Butman. 
Several years ago, in a correspondence with our 
friend Jas. J. H. Gregory, of Marblehead, Mass., 
we had some jocular remark about titles ; he stated 
that he did not care about M.D., L.L.D., and all the 
rest, it was sufficient honor for him to be known as 
“ The introducer of the Hubbard Squash.” If honors 
are in proportion to the merit of one’s deeds, then 
it is a high honor to have introduced the Hubbard, 
for its good results were felt all over the country, 
and the whole people have enjoyed an article of 
food, vastly better in every respect, than anything 
of its kind they ever had before. But Mr. Gregory 
is not one to repose on his laurels, as good as the 
Hubbard was, he showed us that the Marblehead 
was better, and now he comes with the Butman, 
which is—shall we say it ?—better than either or 
both. Some weeks ago there came to our office a 
box, containing numerous halves of squashes. 
Coming from New England, where they draw their 
poultry for market, we admired the forethought, 
which eviscerated the squashes —probably to keep 
them from spoiling on the way. (N. B.—Mr. G. is 
a seedsman.) These squashes, or parts thereof, 
were distributed to several for trial. The trial was 
an impartial one, and the unanimous verdict was : 
guilty—of being the best squash the jury ever tried. 
We tested it alone, and in comparison with the 
Hubbard, and deliberately pronounce it the best 
squash we have ever eaten—dry, fine, sweet, de¬ 
licious. The engraving shows the shape of the 
Butman, which is much like that of the Hubbard, 
and it is said to be similar to that in productive¬ 
ness ; it however differs in color, it being of a bright 
green, intermingled with white ; some of the speci¬ 
mens might be described as white, mottled with 
green; in external color it is very distinct and 
striking ; it has the thick shell of the Hubbard, and 
is thick-fieshed, the flesh being a very lively light 
salmon color. Mr. Gregory says that it keeps 
equal to the Hubbard, but is in its prime from 
October to January. This variety was originated 
by Mr. Clarendon Butman, of Maine, who produced 
it by crossing the Hubbard with a Japanese variety, 
and by several years of careful selection and cross¬ 
ing, he has succeeded in establishing a distinct va¬ 
riety, in which the good qualities are permanently 
fixed. According to Mr. G. all our standard va¬ 
rieties of squash originated abroad, and this is the 
first instance in which a purely American variety 
BUTMAN SQUASH. 
of squash has been produced. We congratulate 
Mr. Butman upon his success, and at the same 
time give our sympathy to Mr. Gregory, as he 
has slight chance of introducing another squash 
that shall be better than all that preceded it. 
