MR. REEVES 5 REPLY TO AMICUS. 67 
pansion;’” and then proceeds to inquire, “ If so, as the upper 
surface of the sole is an ellipsis with a triangular space in it, 
what would be the results of similar measurement at different 
parts of it I” 
The first questions which were suggested to my mind by the 
perusal of the above, were, Who is Amicus, that has so sud¬ 
denly sprung up after a lapse of two years ? 
Is he professional or non-professional, and what are the ob¬ 
jects of his queries? Does he quarrel with my calculations, and 
wish to enter upon a discussion thereon simply for amusement? 
Or, is it really a veterinary surgeon taking this extraordinarily 
short cut to the temple of knowledge ? Should it be the latter, 
although I cannot but feel flattered by the application to myself 
as an authority, still an innate modesty bids me decline the com¬ 
pliment and refer the gentleman to one more deserving, one who 
has often been my instructress, and who, I am sure, will afford 
every information, provided it be sought with proper humility, 
patience and perseverance—Dame Nature. 
Is Amicus ignorant of the subject of expansion? I presume 
there are horses’ legs and feet in his county; and as to “ light,” 
let him take the light of science and the spirit of investigation. 
I am altogether puzzled to comprehend him, and know not 
whether to consider him the Amicus Certos of scholastic memory, 
or an individual who ought, more properly, to have written 
W, A, G, to his patronymic. He cannot, surely, be the Simon 
Pure who could thus propose a difficult question, involving the 
admeasurement of conic sections, without being aware of its 
intricacy ; for to answer his questions would be nothing less 
than to explain what changes would take place in the ratio be¬ 
tween the chords and versed sines of all the sections that could 
be made of an elliptical dome, by depressing the crown of its 
arch. 1 must, however, be excused if I hint that such questions 
are somewhat inappropriate to The VETERINARIAN, and would 
better suit the pages of a mathematical periodical, as they do 
not carry with them evidences either of their utility or advance¬ 
ment of the veterinary science. I beg to remind “ Amicus” 
that the subject of my paper in The VETERINARIAN of April 
1850, was not that of the admeasurement of the horse’s foot, but 
of the question of its expansion,—two questions entirely dif¬ 
ferent. My paper communicated the demonstration of certain 
phenomena attending the horse’s foot when in action, and, 
amongst others, that of expansion ; and having, firstly, practically 
demonstrated the descent of the sole by direct experiment, I 
pointed out the fact that expansion necessarily became a co¬ 
rollary to that demonstration. I then proceeded to shew how 
this could be proved from certain assumed data having reference 
