559 
REVIEW. 
Quid sit pulchrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non.—H or. 
A Treatise on the Structure, Functions, and Diseases 
OF THE Foot and Leg of the Horse. By W. C. Spooner, 
M.R.V. C. 
Long connected with, as an early and favorite pupil, and long 
and sincerely esteeming the author of this work, the best course 
that we can adopt in reviewing this publication is to let him speak 
for himself. “ It has been my principal object,” says he in his 
preface, to make the present work interesting and useful to the 
veterinary student and practitioner ; but it has been also my prac¬ 
tice to render it attractive to the medical practitioner, the com¬ 
parative anatomist, the sportsman, and the amateur. With these 
views, I have endeavoured to make the anatomical portion of the 
work clear and correct—the physiological division clear and com- 
prehensive—and the pathological part consistent with the best prin¬ 
ciples of medicine and surgery.” 
In order that the reader may judge in what manner he has 
fulfilled his task, we copy a portion of his observations “ On the 
Physiology of the Leg and Foot.” 
“Next to the human hand, no part of the animal system can 
better display the evidence of design in the construction of ani¬ 
mated bodies, than the foot of the horse. In no other part or animal 
can we find strength and elasticity so well combined. In the deer, 
it is true, we may witness more of the latter quality, and in the ele¬ 
phant more of the former; but the one is incapable of bearing 
burdens, the other of travelling with speed. In the camel, indeed, 
we may find these qualities admirably combined; but they can 
only be brought into requisition in the arid plain or sandy deserts 
of which this animal is a native, and to which his services are ne¬ 
cessarily confined. The hardness of our roads, and the sharpness of 
our flints, would soon destroy the soft cushion of this animal’s foot; 
and, beautiful as its construction may be, it is incapable of being 
protected with iron. It is the horse, and the horse alone, that can 
carry his rider with the speed of the wind over every variety of 
soil; surmounting each obstacle, whether brook, gate, or wall, that 
may oppose his course, with the agility of the antelope, and sup¬ 
porting his burden at the same time with the firmness and security 
of the elephant. 
“To a person altogether ignorant of anatomy, it is a matter of as¬ 
tonishment to behold the apparently slight structure of the legs of a 
well-bred horse, and yet to witness his varied and extraordinary 
