ANATOMY OF THE HORSE. 
305 
description of horn. Sainbel ascribes all this to “a relaxation of 
the fibres composing the hoof: in which case, the diameters of 
the vessels are increased, the porosities are multiplied, and the 
fluids abound in them in too great quantities ; consequently this 
kind of foot is soft, tender, and sensible.” Small feet, on the con¬ 
trary, in general possess a close woven horn, thick in substance, 
and consequently prove strong: they are rather oval than circular 
in figure, with great depth of substance, and are found to be of a 
durable nature. 66 In feet of this description,” says Sainbel, 
“ from the too close union and too close tension of their fibres, the 
vessels destined to conduct the nutritious fluid are contracted and 
obliterated ; whence proceeds that dryness of the part which 
renders the horn brittle and liable to split # .” 
Division .—To the common observer the hoof appears to con¬ 
sist of one entire or indivisible case ; but the anatomist finds, by 
subjecting it to maceration, or coction, or even to putrefaction, 
that it resolves itself into three separate pieces : still, so long as 
the hoof maintains its integrity, such is the force of cohesion 
existing between these three parts, that we as easily rend it in 
any other place as dissever one of its jointures. These consti¬ 
tuent parts are the wail, the sole , and the frog . 
The Wall. 
The wall or crust is the part of the hoof which is visible while 
the foot stands upon the ground. It forms a circular boundary 
wall or fence inclosing the internal structures. On taking up the 
loot, we find the wall prominent all round beyond the other parts, 
making the first impression upon the ground, and evidently 
taking the largest share of bearing. It is, the part to which the 
shoe is nailed. It is, in fact, the most important division of the 
hoof; appearing to form (in the words of Mr. Clark) “ the 
basis or first principle in the mechanism of the hoof, the other 
parts being all subordinate to this.” 
Sitution and Delations .—The wall takes its beginning at the 
coronet from the terminating circular border of the skin, with 
which it is intimately united; their line of union being concealed 
by a row of overhanging hairs. From the coronet the wall 
descends in an oblique direction to the bottom of the foot, where 
it embraces the sole, and terminates in a circular projecting 
border. The anterior and lateral parts of the hoof are formed 
entirely by the wall ; but at the posterior part, instead of the 
heels of the wall being continued one into the other so as to com¬ 
plete the circle, they become inflected, first downward, afterwards 
forward and inward, and are elongated in the latter direction 
Suinbcl’s Lectures on the Elements of Farriery. 
