248 
J. P. ADAMS. 
sary and as far as it applies to the art of horse-shoeing. There 
are different branehes of horse-shoeing, some requiring a greater 
knowledge of the laws governing the effect of the application of 
the shoe to shoe the heavy draft horse ; the anatomy and physi¬ 
ology of the foot alone is often all that would be necessary, but 
in the shoeing of the trotter and the gentleman’s road horse a 
more extended knowledge is required. Horses who are natur¬ 
ally fast, whose speed is not available because of some peculiar 
formation causing them to strike themselves, thus very materi¬ 
ally depreciating their value, when by mechanical appliances, 
intelligently applied, such defects may be overcome. In order 
to make the appliance intelligently it is necessary that the horse- 
shoer must understand the law of mechanics as applied to the 
action of the horse, and in order to do this he must know some¬ 
thing of the anatomy and physiology of the horse’s foot and leg. 
This knowledge, when intelligently applied, certainly does not 
interfere with the veterinarian, but in case of injury or a path¬ 
ological condition resulting from accident or otherwise, he would, 
it seems to me, be a competent counselor. 
We are living in a time of specialists, and the man who 
attempts to accomplish anything in life, in order to keep in 
line and abreast with the procession, must focus his energies 
upon a single line of action. If he attempts to cover too ninch 
ground or too large a field he will obtain only a superficial 
knowledge of each, and he will not excel in any, but to succeed 
and be judged competent, whether it be in the veterinary practice 
or as a horse-shoer, he must confine himself to the subject of his 
own profession, and instead of there being discord or distrust be¬ 
tween the veterinarian and the horse-shoer, it seems to me that 
when the two verge and come together that there will be har¬ 
mony brought about by a superior knowledge of horse-shoeing 
on the part of the veterinarian, and of the anatomy and physi¬ 
ology and the laws of locomotion of the horse’s foot and legs by 
the horse-shoer, which will redound to financial gain to the 
horse-owner and the comfort of the horse. Thanking yon for 
your kind attention, I will leave the subject with yon. 
