228 REVIEW—-SHAW ON THE FOOT OF THE HORSE. 
of the ground borders of the quarters, under the impression that if 
expansion did not take place there, how could sufficient elasticity 
be produced to award (ward off) concussion from the foot.” Mr. 
Shaw, on the other hand, sets about to demonstrate, first, the im¬ 
possibility of the descent of the sole, united as it is at every point 
with the coffin bone—whose bottom surface is a facsimile of that 
of the sole—and consequent alteration in its shape from concave 
to flat, without the coffin bone undergoing similar alteration in its 
form, which, from the bone being “ a non-yielding structure,” is im¬ 
possible; secondly, he professes to shew that Nature has provided 
the foot and leg with elastic “ arrangements ” amply sufficient for 
the purpose of warding off concussion. 
“ We observe the horny sole,” he says, “ to be most aptly 
arranged for the carrying out of both functions (of protection to the 
sensitive part, and of yielding under weight); its external surface 
being hard, and very little elastic, for protection against external 
injury : from which surface, as it approaches the sensitive parts, 
its elasticity becomes remarkable, to insure their safety from 
concussion. By this wise arrangement it is capable of com¬ 
pression, or yielding to weight from above, without any descent 
whatever occurring to its lower surface. We discover a similar 
arrangement in the crust, its ground border hard and unyielding, 
in order to endure the amount of attrition to which it is subject: 
from the ground border to the coronet it is gradually becoming 
more and more elastic, at once proving to us where the greatest 
amount of motion takes place. This very important peculiarity 
with regard to the crust of the horse’s foot does not appear to have 
been sufficiently regarded in former treatises, and has, therefore, 
led to error in estimating its expansive functions.” * * * “ In the 
great mass of writings on the foot of the horse, the physiology of 
the laminse has been erroneously represented, as possessing highly 
elastic properties. My conviction is, that they do not possess any 
such function. Were such the case, the sole would be unequal to 
sustain the shocks of concussion to which it would then be ex¬ 
posed by the descent of the coffin-bone, and more especially the 
sensitive sole, situated as it is, attached to the inferior surface 
of the coffin-bone and the superior surface of the horny sole, just 
in a position, mechanically speaking, to receive such pressure. 
But reason tells us such could not be the case, it being one of 
the most vascular membranes in the animal economy, through 
the tissue of which a vigorous current of circulation of blood is 
constantly maintained ; that, were it not for the unyielding nature 
