EXPANSION OF THE HORSE’S FOOT. 
379 
with decided benefit to the horse, as we thus relieve the distressed 
laminae ?—but as soon as ever the crust is sufficiently grown to en¬ 
able the animal to wear a shoe, the rationale of the means by which 
this horse’s feet have been brought to a more healthy state is gene¬ 
rally forgotten, and a deeply-seated shoe is again applied to the 
foot, for fear of pressing upon the sole; thus opposing the narrow 
edge of the seating of the shoe to the weak edge of the hoof, to the 
detriment or destruction of the foot. Some practitioners carry the 
principle of the sole being able to sustain a certain amount of pres¬ 
sure still farther; for in some stages of laminitis they pare the edge 
of the crust of the hoof away, so as to make the animal bear the 
principal part of his weight on the sole, and thus to relieve the la¬ 
minae. By similar reasoning, in chronic laminitis affecting large 
cart-horses, how common is it to apply a bar-shoe, made so as to 
rest principally on the frog (which in these cases is usually large 
and soft), and thus, by transferring a portion of the weight to 
this organ, the laminae are relieved, and the animal is enabled to 
work. 
24 th Experiment. 
Subject a heavy cart-horse, having a good foot, moderately 
concave. 
A very small tip was made, measuring about three inches, and 
to the toe of it, and at right angles to it, a piece of flat iron was 
welded, which would stand up perpendicularly in front of the hoof. 
This tip was applied as much on the sole as possible, and was let 
into the foot by a piece of iron being cut out, and the tip being 
heated and burned into its place. A piece of horn was also taken 
out of the toe of the foot, to allow of the iron standing straight up. 
The lower surface of the crust was made as level as possible. The 
inner surface of the upright iron was now well oiled, and the space 
between it and the anterior part of the hoof, as high as the coronet, 
was plugged up with prepared wax, and the edge of the wax pared 
even with the upright iron. The horse was now made to stand on 
the floor of the forge, which was slightly of a yielding nature, and 
he was made to support his weight on the limb, by having the 
other leg lifted, and pushing him back. [N.B. The wax should 
not be at all stiff for this experiment, else it will spring or push 
out the iron, and thus defeat the object in view.] 
Result .—Whilst the weight was being thrown upon the foot 
the wax evidently separated from the iron, as also from the ante¬ 
rior part of the hoof; so that in this particular case the wax became 
quite loose in its place. On lifting that leg, the wax was again 
firm and tight. On making the animal walk about, there was a 
considerable bulge perceptible in the wax at the coronet ; but I 
