have its name from the fern which abounded here. It was given by Ethelbald, king of the West Saxons, to the see of Winchester; the bishops of which have generally resided in the castle here, in summer, since the reign of king Stephen, whose brother, the then bishop, first built it. It was a magnificent structure, with deep moats, strong walls, towers, and a fine park; but it is much decayed. Adjoining the park is Jay's tower, the ascent to which is by sixty-three stone steps. This was partly beaten down by Cromwell's cannon. It now contains about forty-eight rods of land on its top, which is converted into a kitchen garden. This spot was annually visited by their late majesties durin the life of the late bishop Thomas. The town, which has many handsome houses, and well paved streets, is governed by twelve masters, of whom two are bailiffs, chosen annually. They have the profits of the fairs and markets, and the assize of bread and beer; and hold a court every three weeks, which has power of trying and determining all actions under 40s. From Michaelmas to Christmas there is a good market for oats; and a considerable wheat market between All Saint's day and Midsummer; but it is diminished since the people about Chichester and Southampton have so largely communicated with London by sea. This loss, however, is amply made up by the vast growth of hops, of which there are 700 or 800 acres of plantations about this town, said to excel the Kentish grounds both in quantity and quality. This town sent members to parliament in the reign of Edward II. but never since. The market is on Thursday; fairs on Holy Thursday, June 24th, and Nov. 2nd. There is also a market for Welsh hose.

FARNOVIUS (Stanislaus), a dissenter from the other Unitarians in 1568, who was followed by several persons eminent for their learning. He was induced by Gonesius to prefer the Arian system to that of the Socinians, and consequently asserted, that Christ had been produced out of nothing by the Supreme Being before the creation. He warned his disciples against paying religious worship to the Divine Spirit. He died

in 1615.

FARO, an island of Sweden, to the north-east of Gothland, in the Baltic. It is about thirty miles in circumference; and has a chief town of the same name on the east coast. Long. 19° 32′ 55′′ E., lat. 57° 56′ N.

FARO, a sea-port and bishop's see of Portugal, in Algarve, near Cape Santa Maria. It stands in a fertile plain; is fortified, and tolerably well built. Population 7000. The harbour is almost blocked up, but the roadstead has good anchorage; and a considerable export trade is carried on with England and other countries in sumach, wine, and cork. There are packet boats between this place and Gibraltar. It suffered severely from the earthquake of 1755; and is eighteen miles south-west of Tavira, and 130 south-east of Lisbon.

FARO OF MESSINA, a strait of the Mediterranean, between Sicily and Calabria, about seven miles across; so named from Cape Faro; remarkable for its tide ebbing and flowing with great rapidity every six hours. In this strait

the French obtained a naval victory over the Spaniards in 1675.

FAROE ISLANDS. See FERROE ISLES.

FARON, a mountain of France, in the department of Var, near Toulon, with a fort and redoubt on its top, which is 1718 feet above the sea level, and almost inaccessible, being nearly perpendicular. The British troops, under lord Mulgrave, were in possession of the fort, on the 30th September, 1793, when the French, by a very daring manoeuvre, seized the redoubt, but were driven from it on the 1st October, by the combined forces, with the loss of 2000 men.

FARQUHAR (George), an ingenious poet and dramatic writer, the son of an Irish clergyman, was born at Londonderry in 1678. He was sent to Trinity College, Dublin; but his volatile disposition soon led him to the stage; where, having dangerously wounded a brother actor in a tragic scene, by forgetting to change his sword for a foil, it affected him so much that he left the Dublin theatre and went to London. Here, by the interest of the earl of Orrery, he procured a lieutenant's commission; which he held several years, and gave many proofs both of courage and conduct. In 1698 he wrote his first comedy, called Love and a Bottle; which, for its sprightly dialogue and busy scenes, was well received. In 1700, the jubilee year at Rome, he brought out his Constant Couple, or a Trip to the Jubilee: and suited Mr. Wilkes's talents so well, in the character of Sir Henry Wildair, that the player gained almost as much reputation as the poet. This induced him to continue it in another comedy called Sir Harry Wildair, or The Sequel of the Trip to the Jubilee; in which Mrs. Oldfield acquired great applause. In 1703 appeared The Inconstant, or The Way to Win him; in 1704 a farce called The Stage-coach; in 1705 The Twin Rivals; and in 1706 The Recruiting Officer, founded on his own observations while on a recruiting party at Shrewsbury. His last comedy was The Beaux Stratagem, of which he did not live to enjoy the full success. Mr. Farquhar married in 1703. Before this time his manner of life had been dissipated; and the lady, who became his wife, having fallen violently in love with him, contrived to circulate a report that she was possessed of a large fortune. Interest and vanity, therefore, got the better of Farquhar's passion for liberty, and the lady and he were united in the hymeneal band. To his honor, however, it is recorded, that though he soon found himself deceived, he was not known to upbraid his wife with it; but became a most indulgent husband. Mrs. Farquhar, however, did not long enjoy the happiness she had thus purchased by this stratagem. The involvement of her husband, and the treachery of a court patron who persuaded him to sell his commission, brought on a decline, which at length carried him off in 1707, in the twenty-ninth year of his age. His plays still continue to be represented to full houses.

FARR (Samuel), M. D., was a native of Taunton, Somersetshire, and born in 1741. He was educated at Warrington grammar-school, and the universities of Edinburgh and Leyden. He afterwards established himself in his native

town, and was the author of several medical tracts of merit, as An Inquiry into the propriety of Phlebotomy in cases of Consumption, 8vo.; An Essay on Acids; The History of Epidemics, translated from the Greek of Hippocrates, 4to.; The Elements of Medical Jurisprudence, 8vo. ; and Aphorismi de Marasmo, ex summis Medicis collecti, 12mo. He died in 1795. FARRA'GO, n. s. Lat. A mass formed FARRA GINOUS, adj. confusedly of several ingredients; a medley formed of different materials. Being a confusion of knaves and fools, and a furraginous concurrence of all conditions, tempers, sexes, and ages, it is but natural if their determinations be monstrous, and many ways inconsistent with truth. Browne's Vulgar Errours.

When we sleep, the faculty of volition ceases to act, and in consequence the uncompared trains of ideas become incongruous, and form the farrago of our dreams; in which we never experience any surprise, or sense of novelty. Darwin.

FARRANT (Richard), an English musical composer of eminence, held situations in the Chapel Royal and St. George's chapel at Windsor, from 1564 to 1580, and was remarkable for the devout and solemn style of his church music, much of which is found in the collections of Boyce and Barnard. His full anthem, 'Lord, for thy tender mercy's sake,' is still in use. FARRIER, n. s. & v. n. Fr. ferrier; Ital. ferraro, Lat. ferrarius, of ferrum, iron. A shoer of horses; a horsedoctor: to farrier is to practice either or both of these callings: farriery is the art or calling thus practised. Which see below.

FARRIERY.

men.

But the utmost exactness in these particulars belongs to farriers, saddlers, smiths, and other tradesDigby. There are many pretenders to the art of farriering and cowleeching, yet many of them are very ignorant. Mortimer.

If you are a piece of a farrier, as every groom ought to be, get sack, or strong-beer, to rub your horses. Swift.

Most satirists are indeed a public scourge Their mildest physic is a farrier's purge; Their acrid temper turns, as soon as stirred, The milk of their good purpose all to curd.

Cowper. FARRIER, MILITARY, is a man appointed to do the duty of farriery in a troop of horse. These troop farriers are under the immediate superintendence of a veterinary surgeon, to whom they must apply whenever a horse is ill or lame, that he may report the same to the officer commanding the troop. When the farrier goes round, after riding out, or exercise on horseback, he must carry his hammer, pincers, and some nails, to fasten any shoe that may be loose. When horses at out-quarters fall particularly ill, or contract an obstinate lameness, the case must be reported to the head-quarters of the regiment; and the veterinary surgeon must, if time and distance will permit, be sent to examine the horse. No farrier must presume to make up any medicine, or any external application, without, or contrary to, the receipt given him by the veterinary surgeon. If any farrier, through carelessness or inattention, lames a horse belonging to another troop, he ought to be

at all the expense in curing the horse so lamed. Farriers are in every respect liable to be tried according to the Articles of War.

FARRIERY. The treatment of the diseases of horses we refer to the article VETERINARY ART, fully feeling the propriety of seeking that superior professional treatment for horses of value which the English gentleman no longer expects to find either with his groom or his blacksmith. But farriery (Lat. ferrarius, from ferrum, iron) may with strict propriety describe a very useful and important employment of the latter, i.e. the shoeing of horses: we therefore propose to offer our observations on that art in this place.

Shoeing is a method of preserving the feet of horses. Some other auxiliary methods may first be noticed. For instance, when young horses are first taken from the field, their hoofs are observed to be cool, sound, and tough: but they are no sooner introduced into the stable, than their hoofs are greased or oiled two or three times a week and if they are kept much in the house standing upon hot dry litter, without being frequently led abroad, and without having an opportunity of getting their hoofs cooled and moistened in wet ground, their hoofs grow so brittle, dry, and hard, that pieces frequently break off, like chips from a hard stone; and, when driving the nails in shoeing, pieces will split off, even the nails made very fine and

then although the mahorses with brittle shattered hoofs are turned out to graze in the fields, their hoofs in time will become as sound, tough, and good, as they were at first.

Mr. Clarke of Edinburgh.ascribes this change to the wet and moisture which the hoofs are exposed to in the fields, of which water is the principal ingredient; and it is a certain fact, of which we have daily proofs, that, when all other means fail, horses, turned out to grass, will recover their decayed brittle hoofs. It is known, he observes, that the hoofs of horses are porous; and that insensible perspiration is carried on through these pores, in the same manner, and according to the same laws as take place in other parts of the body. Now every body knows, that greasy or oily medicines applied to the skin of the human body prevent perspiration, which is frequently attended with the worst consequences. The same reasoning will hold with respect to the hoofs of horses; for greasy applications close the pores of the hoof, by being absorbed into its inner substance. Hence the natural moisture, which should nourish the hoof, is prevented from arriving at its surface; which, on that account, becomes as it were dead, and consequently dry, brittle, and hard. The original practice of greasing horses' hoofs has probably taken its rise from observing, that grease or oil softens dead substances, such as leather, &c. But this will by no means apply to the hoofs of horses, as there is a very great difference between the living and dead parts of animals; the former having juices, &c., necessary for their own nourishment and support, whilst the latter require such applications as will preserve them only from dec yin and rotting.

Another practice, equally pernicious, is the stuffing up (as it is called) horses' hoofs with hot

resinous and greasy mixtures, under the notion of cooling and softening them. Various are the prescriptions recommended for this purpose, many of which are of a quite opposite nature to the purpose intended. There is likewise a great impropriety in stuffing up the hoofs with rotten dung and stale urine: this, it is true, is moisture; but of the very worst kind, on account of the salts contained in the urine, which of itself greatly contributes towards hardening and drying their hoofs, in place of softening them; besides the other bad effects which may arise to the frog, &c., from the rottenness of the dung.

Without commenting upon the various compositions or pompous prescriptions recommended in books, or those handed about as receipts for the softening and stuffing horses' hoofs, we would recommend one which is more natural, and ought not to be despised for its simplicity. This is only to cool and moisten the hoofs with water morning and evening: and, to those who are fond of stuffing, we would prescribe bran and water, or clay, &c. made into the consistency of a poultice; and in particular cases, where horses stand much in the stable, and the hoofs are disposed to be very hard, dry, and brittle, a poultice of this kind, or any other emollient composition in which water is a principal ingredient, may be applied all round the hoof; or, in imitation of some dealers, to keep a puddle of water at the watering place, which will answer equally well, if not better. From this manner of treatment, the hoofs will be preserved in their natural state, and a free and equal perspiration kept up, by which the nourishment natural to the hoof will have free access to its surface; as it is this only which causes that cohesion of the parts which constitutes a firm, sound, and tough hoof.

Horses are shod with iron to defend and preserve their hoofs. As feet differ, so should shoes accordingly. The only system of farriers,' lord Pembroke observes, is to shoe in general with excessive heavy and clumsy ill-shaped shoes, and very many nails, to the total destruction of the foot. The cramps they annex, tend to destroy the bullet; and the shoes made in the shape of a walnut shell prevent the horse's walking upon the firm basis which God has given him for that end, and thereby oblige him to stumble and fall. They totally pare away also and lay bare the inside of the animal's foot with their detestable butteries, and afterwards put on very long shoes, whereby the foot is hindered from having any pressure at all upon the heels; which pressure might otherwise still perchance, notwithstanding their dreadful cutting, keep the heels properly open, and the feet in good order. The frog should never be cut out; but as it will sometimes become ragged, it must be cleaned every now and then, and the ragged pieces pared off with a knife. In one kind of foot indeed a considerable cutting away must be allowed of, but not of the frog: we mean, that very high feet must be cut down to a proper height; because, if they were not, the frog. though not cut, would still be so far above the ground as not to have any bearing upon it, whereby the great tendon must inevitably be damaged, and consequently the horse would go lame.

The weight of shoes must greatly depend on the quality and hardness of the iron. If the iron be very good, it will not bend; and in this case the shoes cannot possibly be made too light: care, however, must be taken, that they be of a thickness so as not to bend; for bending would force out the nails, and ruin the hoof. That part of the shoe which is next the horse's heel, must be narrower than any other; that stones may be thereby prevented from getting under it, and sticking there; which otherwise would be the case; because the iron, when it advances inwardly beyond the bearing of the foot, forms a cavity, wherein stones being lodged would remain, and, by pressing against the foot, lame the horse. The part of the shoe which the horse walks upon should be quite flat, and the inside of it likewise; only just space enough being left next the foot to put in a picker (which ought to be used every time the horse comes into the stable), and also to prevent the shoe's pressing upon the sole. Four nails on each side hold better than a greater number, and keep the hoof in a far better state. The toe of the horse must be cut short, and nearly square (the angles only just rounded off); nor must any nails be driven there: this method prevents much stumbling, especially in descents; and serves, by throwing nourishment on the heels, to strengthen them: on them the horse should in some measure walk, and the shoe be made of a proper length accordingly; by these means, narrow heels are prevented, and many other good effects produced. Many people drive a nail at the toe, but it is an absurd practice. Leaving room to drive one there causes the foot to be of an improper length; and moreover, that part of the hoof is naturally so brittle, that even when it is kept well greased, the nail there seldom stays in, but tears out and damages the hoof.

'In wet, spongy, and soft ground, where the foot sinks in, the pressure upon the heels is of course greater than on hard ground; and so indeed it should be upon all accounts. The hinder feet must be treated in the same manner as the fore ones, and the shoes the same; except in hilly and slippery countries, they may not improperly be turned up a little behind; but turning up the fore shoes is of no service, and is certain ruin to the fore legs, especially to the bullets. In descending hills, cramps are apt to throw horses down, by stopping the fore legs, out of their proper basis and natural bearing, when the hinder ones are rapidly pressed; which unavoidably must be the case, and consequently cannot but push the horse upon his nose. them, on a plain surface, a horse's foot is always thrown forwards on his toe, out of its proper bearing, which is very liable to make the horse stumble. The notion of their utility in going up hills is a false one. In ascending, the toe is the first part of the foot which bears on, and takes hold of the ground; and whether the horse draws or carries, consequently the business is done before the part where the cramps are comes to the ground. Ice nails are preferable to any thing to prevent slipping, as also to help horses up hill, the most forward ones taking hold of the ground early, considerably before the heels touch the

With

ground. They must be so made, as to be, when driven in, scarcely half an inch above the shoe, and also have four sides ending at the top in a point. They are of great service to prevent slipping on all kinds of places; and by means of them a horse is not thrown out of his proper basis. They must be made of very good iron; if they are not, the heads of them will be perpetually breaking off. From the race horse to the cart horse, the same system of shoeing should be observed. The size, thickness, and weight of them only should differ. The shoe of a race horse must of course be lighter than that of a saddle horse; that of a saddle horse lighter than that of a coach or bat horse; and these last more so than a cart, waggon, or artillery horse, At present all shoes in general are too heavy; if the iron is good, shoes need not be so thick as they are now generally made. The utmost severi y ought to be inflicted upon all those who clap shoes on hot. This unpardonable laziness of farriers, in making feet thus fit shoes instead of shoes fitting feet, dries up the hoof, and utterly destroys them. Frequent removals of shoes are detrimental, and tear the foot; but sometimes they are very necessary: this is an inconvenience to which half shoes are liable; for the end of the shoe, being very short, is apt to work soon into the foot, and consequently must then be moved.'

In a judicious treatise on this subject, by Mr. Clarke, the common form of shoes, and method of shoeing, are, with great reason, totally exploded, and a new form and method recommended, which seem founded on rational principles, and to have been confirmed by expe

rience.

6

In preparing the foot for the shoe,' our author observes, the frog, the sole, and the bars or binders, are pared so much that the blood frequently appears. The shoe by its form (being thick on the inside of the rim, and thin upon the outside), must of consequence be made concave or hollow on that side which is placed immediately next the foot, in order to prevent its resting upon the sole. The shoes are generally of an immoderate weight and length, and every means is used to prevent the frog from resting upon the ground, by making the shoe-heels thick, broad, and strong, or raising cramps or caukers on them. From this form of the shoe, and from this method of treating the hoof, the frog is raised to a considerable height above the ground, the heels are deprived of that substance which was provided by nature to keep the crust extended at a proper wideness, and the foot is fixed as it were in a mould.

By the pressure from the weight of the body, and resistance from the outer edges of the shoe, the heels are forced together, and retain that shape impressed upon them, which it is impossible ever afterwards to remove; hence a contraction of the heels, and of course lameness. But farther, the heels, as has been observed, being forced together, the crust presses upon the processes of the coffin and extremities of the nut bone: the frog is confined, and raised so far from the ground, that it cannot have that support upon it which it ought to have: the circulation of the blood is impeded, and a wasting of the frog,

and frequently of the whole foot, ensues. Hence proceed all those diseases of the feet, known by the names of foundered, hoof-bound, narrow heels, running thrushes, corns, high soles, &c.

'I have likewise frequently observed, from this compression of the internal parts of the foot, a swelling of the legs immediately above the hoof, attended with great pain and inflammation, with a discharge of thin, ichorous, fetid matter: from which symptoms, it is often concluded, that the horse is in a bad habit of body (or what is termed a grease falling down), and must therefore undergo a course of medicine, &c. The bad effects of this practice are still more obvious upon the external part of the hoof. The crust towards the toe, being the only part of the hoof free from compression, enjoys a free circulation of that fluid necessary for its nourishment, and grows broader and longer; from which extraordinary length of toe, the horse stumbles in his going, and cuts his legs. The smaller particles of sand insinuate themselves between the shoe and the heels, which grind them away, and thereby produce lameness. All this is entirely owing to the great spring the heels of the horse must unavoidably have upon the heels of a shoe made in this form.

"This concave shoe in time wears thin at the toe, and, yielding to the pressure made upon it, is forced wider, and of consequence breaks off all that part of the crust on the outside of the nails. Instances of this kind daily occur, insomuch that there hardly remains crust sufficient to fix a shoe upon them. It is generally thought that the broader a shoe is, and the more it covers the sole and frog, a horse will travel the better. But, as has been formerly remarked, the broader a shoe is of this form, it must be made the more concave; and, of consequence, the contracting power upon the heels must be the greater, It is likewise to be observed that, by using strong broad-rimmed concave shoes in the summer season, when the weather is hot and the roads very dry and hard, if a horse is obliged to ride fast, the shoes, by repeated strokes or frictions against the ground, acquire a great degree of heat, which is communicated to the internal parts of the foot, and together with the contraction upon the heels, occasioned by the form of the shoe, must certainly cause exquisite pain. This is frequently succeeded by a violent inflammation in the internal parts of the hoof, and is the cause of that disease in the feet, so fatal to the very best of our horses, commonly termed a founder. This is also the reason why horses, after a journey of a hard ride, are observed to shift their feet so frequently and to lie down much. If we attend further to the convex surface of this shoe, and the convexity of the pavement upon which horses walk, it will then be evident, that it is impossible for them to keep their feet from slipping in this form of shoe, especially upon declivities of streets.

'It is also a common practice to turn up the heels of the shoes into what is called cramps or caukers, by which means the weight of the horse is confined to a very narrow surface, viz. the inner round edge of the shoe-rim and the points. or caukers of each beel, which soon wear round and blunt; besides, they for the most part are made by far too thick and long. The consequence

is, that it throws the horse forward upon the toes, and is apt to make him slip and stumble. To this cause we must likewise ascribe the frequent and sudden lameness horses are subject to in the legs, by twisting the ligaments of the joints, tendons, &c. I do not affirm that caukers are always hurtful, and ought to be laid aside: on the contrary, I grant that they, or some such like contrivance, are extremely necessary, and may be used with advantage upon flat shoes where the ground is slippery; but they should be made thinner and sharper than those commonly used, so as to sink into the ground, otherwise they will rather be hurtful than of any advantage.

The Chinese are said to account a small foot an ornament in their women, and for that purpose, when young, their feet are confined in small shoes. This, no doubt, produces the desired effect; but must necessarily be very prejudicial to them in walking, and apt to render them entirely lame. This practice, however, very much resembles our method of shoeing horses; for if we looked upon it as an advantage to them to have long feet, with narrow low heels, and supposing we observed no inconvenience to attend, or bad consequence to follow it, we could not possibly use a more effectual means to bring it about than by following the method already described.

In shoeing a horse, therefore, we should in this, as in every other case, study to follow nature and certainly that shoe which is made of such a form as to resemble as near as possible the natural tread and shape of the foot, must be preferable to any other. But it is extremely difficult to lay down fixed rules with respect to the proper method to be observed in treating the hoofs of different horses: it is equally difficult to lay down any certain rule for determining the precise form to be given their shoes. This will be obvious to every judicious practitioner, from the various constructions of their feet, from disease, and from other causes that may occur; so that a great deal must depend upon the discretion and judgment of the operator, in proportioning the shoe to the foot, by imitating the natural tread, to prevent the hoof from contracting a bad shape. In order, therefore, to give some general idea of what may be thought most necessary in this matter, I shall endeavour to describe that form of shoe and method of treating the hoofs of horses, which from experience I have found most beneficial.

'It is to be remembered that a horse's shoe ought by no means to rest upon the sole, since this it will occasion lameness; therefore it must rest entirely on the crust; and, in order that we may imitate the natural tread of the foot, the shoe must be made flat (if the height of the sole does not forbid it); it must be of an equal thickness all round the outside of the rim. For a draught horse about half an inch thick, and larger in proportion for a saddle horse. And on that part of it which is to be placed immediately next the foot, a narrow rim or margin is to be formed, not exceeding the breadth of the crust upon which it is to rest, with the nail-holes placed exactly in the middle; and from this narrow rim the shoe

is to be made gradually thinner towards its inner edge. See plate FARRIERY, fig. 1.

The

The breadth of the shoe is to be regulated by the size of the foot, and the work to which the horse is accustomed; but, in general, should be made rather broad at the toe, and narrow towards the extremity of each heel, in order to let the frog rest with freedom upon the ground. The necessity of this has been already shown. shoe being thus formed, and shaped like the foot, the surface of the crust is to be made smooth, and the shoe fixed on with eight or at most ten nails, the heads of which should be sunk into the holes, so as to be equal with the surface of the shoe. The sole, frog, and bars, as I have already observed, should never be pared, farther than taking off what is ragged from the frog, and any excrescences or inequalities from the sole. And it is very properly remarked by Mr. Osmer, That the shoe should be made so as to stand a little wider at the extremity of each heel than the foot itself; otherwise as the foot grows in length, the heel of the shoe in a short time gets within the heel of the horse; which pressure often breaks the crust, and produces a temporary lameness, perhaps a corn.' This method of shoeing horses I have followed long before Mr. Osmer's treatise on that subject was published; and for these several years past I have endeavoured to introduce it into practice. But so much are the farriers, grooms, &c., prejudiced in favor of the common method of shoeing and paring out the feet, that it is with difficulty they can even be prevailed upon to make a proper trial of it.

"They cannot be satisfied unless the frog be finely shaped, the sole pared, and the bars cut out, in order to make the heels appear wide. Wide open heels are looked upon as a mark of a sound good hoof. This practice gives them a show of wideness for the time; yet that, together with the concave form of the shoe, forwards the contraction of the heels, which, when confirmed, renders the animal lame for life. In this flat form of shoe, its thickest part is upon the outside of the rim, where it is most exposed to be worn; and being made gradually thinner towards its inner edge, it is therefore much lighter than the common concave shoe: yet it will last equally as long, and with more advantage to the hoof; and as the frog or heel is allowed to rest upon the ground, the foot enjoys the same points of support as in its natural state. It must therefore be much easier for the horse in his way of going, and be a means of making him surer footed. It is likewise evident that, from this shot, the hoof cannot acquire any bad form; when, at the same time, it receives every advantage that possibly could be expected from shoeing. In this respect it may very properly be said, that we make the shoe to the foot, and not the foot to the shoe, as is but too much the case in the concave shoes, where the foot very much resembles that of a cat's fixed into a walnut-shell.

It is to be observed, that the hoofs of young horses, before they are shoed, for the most part are wide and open at the heels, and that the crust is sufficiently thick and strong to admit of the nails being fixed very near the extremities of each. But, as I have formerly remarked, from