OBSERVATIONS ON SOUNDNESS. 449 
fected the intestines upon which the diphtheric deposit 
existed. 
These cases are very interesting to the comparative patho¬ 
logist, and 1 feel individually indebted to Mr. Peech for the 
trouble he has taken in sending them for my inspection. I 
am confident that if the diseases of pigs, and some other of 
our domestic animals—but now little regarded—were more 
fully considered by practising veterinary surgeons, our pro¬ 
fession would be more appreciated by the publie. I feel 
also that it is as much our duty to suggest preventive 
measures as it is to cure diseases when they occur. Much 
that I have seen of late convinces me of the necessity of 
more attention being paid to the quality of the food of 
animals than hitherto has been done, and also to the nature 
of their lodging, as well as the air they breathe. 
[The disease of the intestines of pigs referred to in these 
communications has been very rife in Berkshire and the 
adjoining counties for upwards of a year. Numerous speci¬ 
mens of it have been sent to the Veterinary College.]— Eds. 
OBSERVATIONS ON “SOUNDNESS.” 
By R. H. Dyer, M.R.C.V.S., Waterford. 
(Continued from p. 283.) 
The foot of the horse has been the theme of many an 
author for a century or more. All who have attempted to 
make known to the world their views have done so more or 
less to their own and to other people’s satisfaction; errors 
(not a few) have thus found their way into books. The 
plantar region of the horse is fraught with interest, more par¬ 
ticularly that belonging to the anterior extremity. If a person 
were desirous of ascertaining which is the most important 
structure in connection with the outward form of the horse, 
he would be told that the foot deserved that place, and doubt¬ 
less it would not be far from the mark. Many popular 
sayings have been handed down to us, one of which is, “No 
foot, no horse,” which, I believe, was launched by Jeremiah 
Bridges, who wrote, in 1752, on the ‘Anatomy of the Foot of 
the Horse.’ This and other similar phrases are very expressive. 
I have more than once asserted that many errors have been 
handed down from time to time with reference to the phy- 
