THE FOOT OF THE HORSE. 
101 
our evenings—that it was a subject the greater part of which must 
of necessity be hastily passed over, and that we unfortunately oc¬ 
cupied ourselves with points of comparatively inferior value. It 
will be a lesson to us. We have had many a debate highly cre¬ 
ditable to us, and we will have them again. We have now felt 
that the eye of the public is upon us, and we will not forfeit the 
honours which in our first year we won. 
What a desideratum among us at the present moment, and from 
a man perfectly versed in the anatomy of the organ—the mecha¬ 
nical use and power of its different parts—their exquisite mutual 
adaptation and bearing—the means by which either the perfec¬ 
tion of the instrument may be preserved, or the occasional inju¬ 
ries which it receives to a very considerable extent alleviated ;— 
a man who writes from love and admiration of the subject, and 
not for the sake of supporting his own just or unjust claims ;— 
what a desideratum among us we say, at the present moment, 
would be a treatise on the foot of the horse! It is really disgrace¬ 
ful that so many years should have passed away since the esta¬ 
blishment of the Veterinary College, and there should be so much 
and increasing difference between us as to the design and func¬ 
tion of many parts of the foot. 
The Veterinary Medical Association may be of essential service 
in preparing for this, by debating on certain stricthj dejuied por¬ 
tions of this beautiful machine. Blaine, Clark, Coleman, Good¬ 
win, Percivall, Turner, and possibly, to a very slight degree, the 
author of ‘‘The Horse” may have partially laid the foundation 
for such a work ; but some of them could enter only briefly into 
the subject, because it formed a mere part of a more extensive 
treatise ; and others were advocating peculiar views of their own, 
instead of taking that deep, and broad, and unprejudiced contem¬ 
plation of the whole, which alone could render their labours es¬ 
sentially useful. There is a crown of unfading honour for him 
who will execute this task; but the foundation must be science, 
candour, and forgetfulness of self. 
Among other letters which we received, is one from “a 
Stranger,” and “who has never written to us before.” The mo- 
VOL. XI. 
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