A series of original experiments on the foot of the living horse, exhibiting the changes produced by shoeing, and the causes of the apparent mystery of this art / By Bracy Clark.

  • Clark, Bracy, 1771-1860.
Date:
1809
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A series of original experiments on the foot of the living horse, exhibiting the changes produced by shoeing, and the causes of the apparent mystery of this art / By Bracy Clark. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    scale in the frog presented to the reader is evident by the inspection of the plate, which gives a precise copy of its surface ; and so it is al- most ever found to be in the generality of frogs at the commencement of shoeing the feet, if a slice be taken away from this part, its exterior coat removed, and interior one exposed; which, being of a moister and more succulent nature, quickly dries in the air and heat of the stable, &c. and, contracting, cracks; the edges of the crack, in dry- ing, reflect or turn back, and create an uneven ragged appearance of the frog; this they remove by a deeper incision, getting nearer and nearer to the quick at each cutting; till the frog, flayed and diminished in its size, and dried and brittle, becomes too tender for the contact of hard bodies, and thus, earlier than there is any occasion, is created a source of grievance and danger in the use of the horse ;—or, at other times cracking through to the quick, wet cankers the foot; or in other cases, as we have sometimes observed, the frog contracting under this procedure more rapidly than the quarters can follow it, a sepa- ration at the commissure takes place, with destructive consequences. This recommendation, without being further explained, might ap- pear similar to the usual recommendations on this head heretofore given in most books on these subjects: there is this difference, how- ever, that their apprehensions were directed solely to the quick or living part of the frog, lest this should be too much exposed, ad- mitting at the same time the propriety of the smith's opinions about over-growth and rags, which they considered as creating a necessity for its being pared. Our view in not cutting is to preserve the exterior of the frog as entire as possible, having proved that there is no fear of its passing beyond its natural figure and assigned limits, and from its outside covering being as necessary to it as the exterior cuti- cular covering to any other part of the hoof; indeed more so, from its exposed situation to the road. Our only apprehensions in making this recommendation a general one are, that in some cases the frog may