552 CONFORMATION OF HORSES* FEET. 
said, “ Every time a horse puts his foot upon the ground the 
hoof expands and the sole descends. 5 * But he has distinctly 
stated that the part where the hoof expands is opposite 
where the nails are usually put, and consequently the part of 
the sole that descends must be opposite, at its thinnest part ; 
for he said,— 
“The horny sole is a powerful spring to the horse. The 
small posterior bone, instead of conveying its weight to bones 
that are fixed, conveys it to two that have, from their attach¬ 
ments, the power of elongating for that function to be per¬ 
formed. Suppose the horny sole to be made a fixture, the 
insensible laminae, though capable of ever so great an elon¬ 
gation, could not elongate even the breadth of a hair; it must 
therefore be in proportion as the horny sole has the power of 
motion. The foot, by pressure, is necessarily expanded, and 
occupies a larger space, the sole presses against the inside of 
the crust, and these parts must give way” These parts have been 
before distinctly stated to be on either side the toe , i. e. quarters , 
and not the heels; the heels would, however, widen also if 
not receiving pressure. Again he said: 
“ If, from any circumstance, the lower quarters of the hoof 
are kept fixed, the horny sole cannot descend, the coffin bone 
cannot descend, and the laminae cannot elongate. Why 
should the sole be thinnest at the inside quarter ? Because 
there is the greatest weight. The reason why nails should be 
kept from the heels is, that if they are placed near the heels, 
the hoof would not expand, and all the motions of the foot 
would be stopped. 55 Here he did not say the heels, but the 
hoof would not expand, and refers to the jmrts he has before 
said did expand opposite nails. It is perfectly clear he did 
not mean eccentric expansion, of which he was known as an 
opponent, though some have read heels. 
I consider the physiology of the foot of so much import¬ 
ance to the veterinary student, that I trust to your indulgence 
for insertion of these lengthy extracts. 
To test the correctness of the late Professor’s theory, I 
directed the farrier-major of the Body Guard to shoe several 
horses with pieces of old German flattened native cavalry 
shoes at the heels only, with three nails. I drove these 
horses for experiment about Calcutta, over made roads, for 
two years. The pieces always retained the situation exactly 
to which they had been applied, the shelving of the hoof not 
carrying them forward. If a tip or divided tip was applied 
in juxta-position to the heel-pieces, the shelving of the hoot 
separated these from the heel-pieces, and from each other. 
1 have in my possession nails taken from a low-heeled horse 
