41B 
EDITORIAL REMARKS. 
This question so far settled, the inquiry that naturally followed 
was—is any, and what, expansion of the heels and quarters of the 
hoof produced by the force of action; seeing that quiescent force 
has failed to elicit any 1 In the former experiment the hoof 
remained unshod; but it was difficult to conduct the present in¬ 
quiry in the absence of the shoe; at least with that nicety and 
exactitude with which Mr. Gloag, through aid of the shoe, devised 
means of arriving at certain results. His experiments under this 
head lead to the conclusion, that in the shod foot, under the force 
of action, not the smallest expansion of the heels or quarters could 
be observed to take place. Notwithstanding, there was motion 
going on in the foot, as was plainly evinced by the descent of the 
navicular bone, shewn, by the wax composition with which the 
foot was plugged, to have taken place upon the horny frog at the 
distance of one inch posterior to its point. Several repetitions of 
experiment were directed to the solution of this point, but all 
merged into one uniform result, and that was, the non-indication 
of any expansion of the posterior parts of the wall of the hoof. 
From this being a result directly contrary to received and be¬ 
lieved opinions, we must confess it is one for which we were not 
prepared. Nay, we will venture a step further, and add, it is one 
to which we cannot, without further proof being adduced, sub¬ 
scribe our assent; and we will give our reasons why we cannot. 
Mr. Gloag’s experiments were made on shod hoofs; and, on 
that account, we do not feel ourselves warranted in drawing the 
inference, that, because no expansion could in them be detected, ergo, 
none would have taken place under similar circumstances in un¬ 
shod hoofs. Indeed, we are prepared to shew by an experiment, 
quantum valeat, not made for this but for another purpose, that 
expansion of these parts of the hoof does ensue in action. 
We happened to be engaged in making trials of the horse-san¬ 
dal when the following result several times occurred. It was pro¬ 
posed that the shoe of the sandal, for the sake of lightness and 
portability, should in every respect be made the same as a racing 
plate, save that it should be, for places of attachment for the straps, 
fitted up with outside clips. Thus constructed, it was buckled on 
the horse’s foot in the same manner in which the present horse- 
sandal is, and the horse was trotted with it on. The invariable 
