OBSERVATIONS

AND

DIS COVERIES

MADE UPON

HORSES,

WITH

A New Method of Shoeing,

By the Sieur LA FOSSE,
Farrier to the King of France.

With COPPER-PLATES.

LONDON,

Printed for J. Nourse at the Lamb oppofite
Katherine- Street in the Strand,

MDCCLVT

THE

EDITOR'S PREFACE

TO THE

READER.

I N C E experimental philofophy has been
fo happily propagated by the learned of
our own nation ; it has been Spread and
adopted into all the feminaries of Europe wherever
the native curiofity of mankind,gratified and improved
by an application to the liberal arts, has prevail-
ed. It is to this we owe, this day, the benefits
arifing to mankind, from the progrefs made in
phyfic and furgery -, it is to this we owe the remov-
al of prejudices in every part of learning, ana
the replacing of it with certainties and plain
truths -, and it is in a word from this the recipro-
cal benefits accruing from one nation to another, by
their improvements and inventions, daily arife.

However negligently the difeafes of horfes have
been heretofore committed to the care of the mojl
ignorant among mankind ; the great ufe thefe ani-
mals are of in the œconomy of life has at loft point-
ed out to men of fenfe and learning to take them
into their confederation : Comparative anatomy has
excited them, and the great Similarity of part s ',
A 2 offices,

W0077G

[iv]

offices, and funtlions in the ftruïïurt of a horfe
with thofe of human nature ', was a fujjicient allure-
ment to invite gentlemen to take them under a more
mature confederation, and to refcue the noble ani-
mals from the hands of the, moft illiterate empi-
rics.

I do not intend to expatiate upon the ufe and im-
portance of thefe animals in life, as they are evi-
dent already to every obferver ; / mean only to give
fome little account of the improvements made by
the Sieur la Fojfe upon farriery in the following
treatife -, which 1 am the more ready to do that
thofe of my countrymen, whofe concerns require the
employment of horfes, may profit of it in their ma-
nagement and the cure of their difeafes.

Nor would I in the leaft forget the fen/ible trea-
tifes wrote and publifloed by our own authors Gib-
fon, Bracken, and Bartlet, who have treated the
fubjetl in a learned manner, and who made
early and ingenious fleps towards reducing it to a ra-
tional fyfl em, well knowing it was a matter of
weight enough to engage the mojl faga clous in the
improvement ofan art, from which Jo confiderable
a benefit ari/es to the greater, and indeed thefuperior,
part of mankind.

But I Jfoould think myfelf wanting in the duty I
ewe my country, if I did not propagate among
them, whatever occurred to me that might tend to
fuch laudable ends, in the mofil fpeedy and b eft manner
I could. And t here fore as foon as this valuable
little book come to ray hands, I took care to tak;

2 the

[v]

the proper meafures for communicating, to the pub*
tic, thofe ufefitl hints that appeared in it upon the
moji important points of farriery ; being additional
difcoveries to what has already been ever made in
any country.

'This author then has given the Anatomy of a
horfe's foot, and in the moji clear manner laid
down the different degrees of puntlures a horfe is
liable to, and their different confequences, which he
has carefully dcmonfirated by proper reprefentations
in copper plates, as well as amply provided for in
the method of cure, as far as human /kill and pe-
netration can go ; and in the whole, it appears
that he is very well verfed in the anatomical di-
flribution of the parts of a horfe, or has been
afftfted by fome able anatomift -, and from his ob-
fervations on the parts, he has found that farriers
were perpetually rowelling, cauterifing, and apply-
ing topical medicines to parts of horfes that had no
ailment, by their ignorance of fuch as were the
real feats of their dif orders'.

Another important difcovery of this author is
his pointing out the true feat of the glanders, which
has always been thought a difeafe of the lungs ;
Mr. Bartlet, one of our Englifh authors has ap-
proved and adopted his doclrine, and has added
fome judicious remarks of his own upon it ; by
whicb he merits the thanks of his countrymen in
general.

I /hall only take the liberty to add briefly a word

or

[vi]

or two concerning two other points of as great mo-
ment as thofe mentioned ; the firft is his applica-
tion of the powder of the Puff-balls to ftop the
blood in divided arteries, and the other is an im-
provement upon the manner of /hoeing horfes.

As to the firft he has made fuch undeniable expe-
riments in cafes of amputation of limbs and other
parts, that the certificates of the Royal Academy
cf Sciences at Paris were readily granted him, as
will be feen in the fequel of his book -, and indeed
the great benefit of this difcovery does not ftop here ;
it will be extended to cafes of amputation in man-
kind, and be capable of taking away a confiderable
part of their pain as well as other accidents that
fometimes attend the ufual methods in furgery, of
providing againft dangerous hemorrhages.

And in a word, the reader will find many cu-
rious remarks upon the methods of fijoeing, which
it were to be wifhed, our farriers will foon come
into ; and many precautions which cannot fail of
giving great fatisfatlion, as well as conduce very
much to the profit of all keepers of horfes.

We muft inform the reader •, further that (as our
ingenious author has tranflated the chief part of Mr.
Bartlet's 12th chapter upon l he difeafes of horfes in
this book, we have thought it neceffary to tran-
fcribe the Englijh original here, becaufe it contains
the fcope of the Sieur la Voffe^s difcoveries upon
the glanders ; and becaufe Mr. Bartlet, befides
trepanning as our author mentions it for this dif-
eafe, direcls keeping open another hole, which he
calls the lower hole, with a leaden hollow tent,

to,

2

[ viii ]

to let the matter run off -, this lower hole appears
by the foregoing paragraphs to be made into the
maxillary finus, by perforation in the place of a
tooth drawn for that purpofe ; and this hint is
wifely taken from the invention of Drake and
Cooper, which makes Mr. Bartlet compare the
czcena and its method of cure to the glanders, and
from thence add the keeping open this lower hole
in the manner mentioned above ; as well as that
en the horfe's cheek, opened by the trepan, as invent-
ed by the Sieur la Foffe ; nor indeed can it be
thought, in our opinion, an ufelefs addition -, we
muft further add that the inftrument referred to by
Mr. Bartlet in the adjoining paragraph, is no other
than the trepan, which this author has added to
his copy of the Sieur la Foffè' s plate of the head
of a horfe.

ERRATA.

Page Line
ii 13 for cup or. r. cut in the capfula
12 10 r. 4. the holes.
16 1 for coronary, r. coronet
Ibid. 2 for which was difcufied, r. they refolved upon

drawing the fole.
Ibid. 16 for harnefled, r. put to
27 8 for by, r. for the thread, a fpongy excrefcence
(b called

34 6 for fmear it over r. disfigure it.
Ibid. 24 for amputation r. operation.

35 4 for ample r. firm.

36 12 for contrary to nature, r. this preternatural bone.

38 15 for medicine r. farriery.

39 24 for hyppiatric r. hippiatric.
44 1 7 for fnot r. matter.

46 6 for of four r. to four.

48 4 for defcription r. defign.

%z 12 for diminifhed r. confined down.

BOOKS printed for J. Nours'e at the Lamb
oppofite Katherine-ftreet in the Strand.

A Treatise on the Difeafes incident to Children from
their Birth to the Age of fifteen -, with particular (n-
itruciions to tender Mothers", prudent Midwives, and careful
Nurfes. The Whole made familiar to every Capacity. By
the learned Dr. John Astruc, Regius ProfffTor of Medicine
at Paris, und chief 1'hyfician to his prefent Majeity the King
of France, &c. Octavo, 1746.

Academical Lectures on Fevers; in which the ef-
{ential Symptoms and Nature of the various Kinds of Fevers
are defcribed, the immediate Cautes pointed out, with the
general and particular Indications in the Method of Cure
fubjoined to each. Confirmed by the Author's fuccefsful
Pra&ice for forty Years ; read in the Royal College at Paris.
By the fame Author, Odlavo. 1747.

A Dissertation on the Food, and Discharges of
Human Bodies. By Bryan R.ouinson, M. D. Cctavo.
1748.

Boerhaave's Medical Correspondence; Containing
the various Symptoms of Chronical Diftempeis, the Profei-
for's Opinion, Method of Cure, and Remedies. To which
is added, his Practice in the Hofpital at Leyden, with his
Manner of inflrucling hu Pupils in the Cure of Difeafes.
Octavo, 1745.

In this Collection are contained many Letters, wrote
originally in Englifh, to the Dodlor by Perfons of Dillinc-
tion, Gentlemen ard Ladies, CSfr. \\ith his Anfwers ; fuch
are marked *#*, the rell are tranllated from the Latin.

The Dispensatory of the Royal College of Phyficianr,
London. Tranllated into Englifh, with Remarks, &c< by
H. Pemberton, M. D. Profeflor of Phvfic in Grefham
College, and F. R. S. Octavo 1749. The fécond Edition.

A Course of Practical Chemistry, in which are
contained all the Operations defcribed in Wil ion's complete
Ccurfe of Chemiitry, with many new and uncommon Pro-
cèdes. To each Article is given the Chemical Hiflory ;
and to moft an Account of the Quantities of Oil, Salt,
Spirits, yielded in Diflillation, &c. from Lemery, Hoff-
man, the French Memoirs, Philofophical Tranfactions,
C5V. and from the Author's own Experience; with Copper-
Plates. By William Lswis, M. B. F. R. S. Odavo.
1746.

[i]

ADVERTISEMENT.

Ij^mm H E differtations fet forth
% in the table or obierva-

v tions are the fruits of the
knowledge of anatomy. It is to that
alone I owe all my difcoveries, and
if I am fometimes obliged to devi-
ate from the common rules of prac-
tice, thefe very principles in anato-
my, and the deftruclive errors Ï for-
merly fell into, are the caufe of it.
A I never

[fi]

I never had any more knowing
mailers than thole of my own frater-
nity, and therefore am more fenfible
than any other, how far I am from
being perfect ; but however imperfect
my firft plan may be, I would, at leaft,
claim the advantage of having firft
opened the way. If my brethren
are willing to lead their children in
the fame path, and to caufe thofe
intended for the profeffion of Far-
riery to fludy anatomy in time ; I
am very confident fewer errors will
be committed, and the art will in a
little time be carried farther than
it ever yet has been.

However ,

[iii]

However, as the knowledge of
anatomy is not the only requifite for
a progrefs in our profeflion, it would
be highly neceiTary to join with it
that of medicine. How mall we cure
difeafes if we do not know them ?
how are remedies to be applied, if
we are not certainly acquainted with
either their vertues or effects ? In a
word, how are juft prognoftics to be
made upon difeafes, if we are not
truly enlightened either by our own
ftudy, or by fome able and careful
mafter ?

It is yet to be wifhed that all
A 2 who

[ iv~ ]

who undertake the cure of horfes,
were verlêd in the ftructure of that
animal, they would avoid thofè er-
rors which dugrace the farrier, and
depreciate his profcffion, which is of
fuch moment to the public.

A LIST

I S T

OF IMPORTANT

Obfervations and Difcoveries

UPON SEVERAL

Accidents that happen to HORSES.

i . ^¥^\Mi H E exact anatomy of a horfe's
miFFér- foot.

tm3^éW^> 2, A hiflory of the caufes and feat
of different difeafes, faid to be in the hip, > or
fhoulder, which lame the horfe, and are demon»
ftrated to be in the foot.

3. A train of new experiments and obferva-
tions upon the glanders.

4. A memoir prefented to the academy of

A 3 fcienceSj

[6]

fciences, upon a method of {lopping the blood in

large arteries.

5. A new method of fhooing horfes, both for
preferving their feet, and to prevent their (lipping
upon fmooth pavements.

A TABLE

[7]

A

TABLE

O F

OBSERVATIONS.

j . p I ^ H E anatomical plate of the directed
-* parts of a horfe's foot, with their feveral
figures, croffed by fix parallel right lines, the
fpace of which mews, upon every part, the im-
portance of the accidents that happen to them -,
fo that the quality and feat of each may be iuffi-
ciently known, to make a true prognoftic upon
their different kinds, without having ftudied
anatomy.

2. That the caufe of the lamenefs in horlès,
which is commonly looked for in the moulders
or haunches, is in the foot, proceeding from the
comprefiion of the flefhy fole, by the coronary
bones puihing againft it : this lamenefs often be-
comes incurable by the coalefcing of thefe bones,
for want of applying remedies as foon as per-
ceived.

3. The rupture of the great tendon called the
Tendo Achillis.

4. The fracture of the coronary bone into three
pieces, and fometimes more.

5. The fracture of the nut- bone in two, and

A 4 fometimes

I s ]

fometimes in three parts, but always fractured
with the coronary bone.

6. The fracture of the foot bone only in two.

7. A let of new experiments and obfervations
upon the glanders, as a fupplement, to a treatife
Oil that difeafe, publifhed in 1749.

8. The manner of (lopping the blood of the
great arteries cut afunder, without either ligature
or cauilic ; with the judgment of the Royal
Academy of Sciences, in confequence of the re-
ports of the committee, teftifying the experiments
made before them.

9. The method of fhooing horfes, in order to
fecure them upon a pavement in fummer, or in
winter, although quite fmooth ; and the advan-
tages attending it 5, 1. They are not lo liable to
caft their fhoes. 2. The flefhy fole is fecured
from lèverai accidents : 3d. To preferve the legs
and render their motions more eafy.

10. A note of what Dr. Bracken fays in his
tranflation of my treatife upon the glanders.

11. A tranflation of what relates to the glan-
ders, in the treatife lately pubiimed in London by
Mr. Bartlet, furgeon.

THE

191

T H F.

ANATOMICAL TABLE.

The differed parts of a horfé's foot, and their fi-
gures, croffed by fix horizontal, parallel right lines,
the fpace of which indicates, upon every part, the
importance of the accidents that happen to them ;
fo that the quality and feat of each may be fuffi-
cicntly known, to make a true prognoftic upon their
different kinds without having fludied anatomy.

EXPLANATION of the FIGURES
of the Second Plate.

TH E firft figure reprefents the bottom of a
horfe's foot.

A. is the horny fole.

B. the frog.

2. The hoof towards its lower edge, called by
the author the wall of the foot.

Figure the fécond fliews the horny fole A. raifed
from the flefhy fole C. round which is the en-
channelled flefh, 6. placed in the fulcus of the
inner furface of the hoof : 5. the horny part of
which is foft and white.

Figure the third reprefents the under part of

the fiefhy fole C. raifed from the foot bone * D.

G the covering or thee a of the Tendo Achillis, 2.

The cartilage. 6. The edge of the flefhy fole

confined in the furrow of the channelled horny

fubftance.

* The foot-bone is Gibfon's Cojpn-bone.

The

[ " 1

The fourth figure mews a back view of the kg,

y. The fkin laid open, in order to view the
inner foft parts belonging to the articulations.

3'« The- aponeurotic membrane, formed of dif-
ferent laminae, which feparate the mufcles and cu-
taneous tendons.

■\ and 3. Are partly the covering of the flex-
or f ^on of — —

5. The coronary bone '*, which ièrves as a co-
vering to the Tend© Achillis, 10.

n. The ligament of the cannon-bone, the
pallern and the coronary bones -y

16. The cup or capfula of the tendon of the co-
ron ary bone.

j 8. The canon - bone -f*.

6. The foot-bone.

Figure the fifth is the fame leg and in the
fame view»

2. The foot bone.

I. The Tendo Achillis, differed to Ihew the co-
ronary bone 6.

3. The nut-bone t.

4. The concave part of the foot-bone to which
the tendon is fixed.

7. The ligament of the foot- bone with the nut-
bone.

* The coronary bone is the little partem of Gibfnn.

-f French authors call thofe bones, Canon bones both be-
fore and behind, which Gibfon calls in the fore legs, the
'Shank bona, and in the hind legs the Injiep bones.

J 'The nut-bone called by the French Os de la mix is a
litt'e oblong bone placed acrofs at the junction of the little
and great patterns behind, which is not taken notice of by
Gibion.

8. The

[ 10 ]

8. The ligament of the tendon with the nut-
bone.

Figure the fixth reprefents the Tendo Achillis
raifed and feparated from figure 5. To fhew the
lamina 8. which ferves as a ligament to the nut-
bone of the fame figure.

Figure the feventh fhews the enchannelled flefh,
1. The wall or hoof being raifed from it; 2.
The rough border that furrounds the enchan-
nelled flefh above the hoof.

3. The cartilage of the foot.

4. The extenfor tendon of the foot.

Figure the eighth demonftrates the bone of the
foot Z. the enchannelled flefh of which is rais'd
with the cartilage.

5. The ligament of the coronary bone with
that of the foot.

3 and 4. The extenfor tendon of the foot.

The third plate, containing figures of the ojleology
and fraclure of the bones.

Figure the firft reprefents a fore view of the
leg.

3. The canon-bone cut acrofs at the upper end.

4. The paftern bone.

5. The coronary bone.

6. The foot bone.

The fécond figure is a back view of the fame
leg.

8. The canon-bone.

4. The paftern.

5. The coronary bone.

S.Th

[ ^ 1

3, Tfte nue- bone which cannot be feen In a
fare view.

6. The foot, or coffin- bone.

The third figure is another back view of the
fame leg,

16. The place -where the artery divides into two
fci? anches.

5. The diftribution of thefe two branches round
«he toot.

The holes into which thefe two branches pafs,
m the foot.

6. The foot bone.

The fourth figure is the coronary bone viewed
latcriorly, with the marks of its fractures, 1, 2, 3.
The fifth figure is the fame coronary bone in a
back view with the appearance of the fame frac-
tures, i, 2, 3.

The fixth is the nut-bone fractured into three
parts, 4, 5, 6.

The feventh fhews the fame bone fractured in
two, 4. 4.

The eighth is a figure of the foot bone viewed
on its upper furface fra<5lured in two, with the
mark of the fracture, 6, 7.

The ninth is a view of the under furface of the
fame bone, with the fracture marked 6. 7. this
bone is very fpongy»

OBSER-

[ 'M i

OBSERVAT!

UPON SUCH

ACCIDENTS

As eftm happen H horfes feet, which give then
a fudden lamenefs^ the ccufe of which cannot be
discovered.

OSSI&VATION I.

lame horfe was committed to my care, but
I could receive no manner of information
concerning his diforder ; and after Ï had drefîèd
him for eight and twenty days, without either
difcovering the caufe, or the leaft fuccefs : they
put him into the hands of another farrier, "who
alfo attended him fifteen days longer. The own-
er of the horfe feeing this man's endeavours as
fruitlefs as mine, gave him up to me, and I cut
off his leg in order for diffection \ and found the
'Tendo Achiilis ruptured near its infertion, and the
coronary bone broke into three pieces, without
any diflocation -, having as recent an appearance
as if they had been fractured but a day -, altho"
the accident happened fix weeks before. And not
being able to End out how, nor by what particular

effort

t h]

effort this bone could be broken ; nor whether if
was begun by the foot, or pattern bone ; I
fhewed it to feveral fkilful perfons, who after a
long examination appeared as much at a ftand
about it as myfelf. Nor was there any fudden
effort of the horfe obferved before it.

Observation II.

With refpect to fuch efforts, I myfelf faw a
horfe, put to a coach, fracture the coronary bone
at his firft fetting off.

Observation III.

I happened to pafs by a coach, when the
coachman, ready to put off, whipped his horfe,
who inftantiy made a fpring, and became fud-
denly lame ; having obferved it, I felt his foot,
and the rattling noile I was fenfible of, by touch-
ing him, indicated the coronary bone to be frac-
tured ; and the diifection farther proved the Ten-
do Achillis to have been ruptured near its infer-
tion, as may be feen by the figures.

Observation IV.

A horfe who was put to a coach, being at
the fame time very quiet, received a cut of a
whip from the coachman, which made him
tremble, whence lie fuddenly fell lame -, the

coach-

[ >5l

coachman faw it and looked at his foot. And
though nothing ailed him to appearance, he
put him into the fiable. Ï was called and
found the coronary- bone fractured, declaring
him incurable ; but this was doubted, becauJfe
they had not obiêrved any effort made by the
horfe before it -, however they took care of,
and dreffed him for a month, but as he grew
no better, they put him to death -, I differed
his foot to fliew them I was not miftaken ;
Ï demonftrated that the coronary-bone was
fractured into three pieces : but was furpriied
to find the nut-bone alfo broke in two, and
the Tenth Achillas entire, becaufe I never faw
fractures of this kind before, among the ma-
ny directions 1 had made.

Observation V.

Having examined a horfe, whofe fhouider
was dreiTed, which was thought the feat of his
diforder-, I aherted it was in the foot, caufed
by the compreflion of the coronary-bone -, for,
that being in motion, it raifes and puflies the
nut-bone againft the tendon, which puts the
fleihy fole in a flate of compreiîion, as if between
an anvil and hammer. It formed an inflammation
there, and therefore they ought to have imme-
diately drawn the fole ; but as they had loft
fome time, and feeing he did not mend, I faw
him again, and found a fmall fwelling at the

coronarv,

coronary, which I fhewed, and which was
difcufled by drawing the fole. They accord-
ingly drew it out, after having fired the tumor ;
but he was not cured. He remained eight
months in pain when they killed him. I found
the "Tendo Achlllis offified at its inlertion with
the coffin-bone, and this with the nut and co-
ronary-bones, round which the cartilage was
alfo coalefced, fo that all thefe parts formed
one entire body *, the pieces of which I have
yet by me. Thefe examples make it apparent
that the compreffion of the flefhy fole, for want.
of a fpeedy remedy, becomes incurable.

Observation VI.

Of a lingular fracture which happened in
1743. I was called to fee a horfe who became
fuddenly lame of his two hind feet, being har-
nefled to a coach. It was thought he had
ftrained his reins -, I examined him, and de-
clared his diforder was in his feet, and that it
was incurable, for that he had fraftures in them.
I diffected thefe two feet and found the two co-
ronaries fractured, and the two tendons of
Achilles ruptured : this horfe walked near a
quarter of a league, with thefe two bones in
that condition.

* An Ancbylofis.

Obser-

[iy]

Observation VII.

Another horfe put to a coach, without any
apparent violent motion, fractured the coro-
nary-bone in twenty pieces ; while the nut-bone,
that of the foot, and the great tendon remained
unhurt ; this was the only cafe of this kind I
ever faw.

Observation VIII.

Another horfe had been lame a confider-
able time ; and it was not known whether it
was in the foot or moulder : I examined
him, and found the coronary- bone fractured,
and affured them his cafe was incurable -, they
doubted it, but were obliged to abandon him
at the month's end ; I diiTected his foot and
accordingly found the coronary- bone fractured
in four pieces, and the nut-bone in two, the
Tendo Achillis being fafe.

B Observation

[.8]

Observation IX.

A horic was lame for four months -, he was
dreffed at firft above the leg, and afterwards in
the foot, but his fole was not drawn -, I judged
him incurable, as I fufpected an anchylofis,
and he was put to death. I differed the foot,
and found the foot or cofïïn-bone fractured in
two, in which fracture the anchylofis began to
be formed, as well as the offification between
the coronary, nut and coffin-bones. The frac-
ture croffed diametrically one of the cavi-
ties of the articulation, and ended towards
the middle of the toe or point of the foot-
bone. So that this bone appeared to be di-
vided obliquely into two unequal parts ; It is
not unlikely that the, horfe had trod upon a
ftone which raifed one fide of his foot more
than the other, and which, joined to the weight
of his body, caufed this oblique fracture ; al-
though the foot was in, a perpendicular direc-
tion: this is the fécond fracture of this fort I have
met with; and it is curable if fpeedily taken in
hand. I have already feveral feet, which are
omfied like this.

Obser-

[ 19 3

Observation X.

A horfe was lame for two months without
their knowing his cafe ; I pronounced the lame-
nefs to be in his foot, and fhewed them a fmall
fwelling at the coronet, they attended him,
but the fwelling increafed, for two years, by
neglecting to draw the fole in the beginning.
I differed this foot, and found the nut, coro-
nary, and coffin-bones ofiified together ; which
was caufed by the difcharge of the ofîèous
juice upon them -, they were fo coalefced to-
gether, that it was difficult to diftinguim the
places of the articulation of thefe three bones.

Observation XI.

An anchylofis after an inflammation. An
effort or ftrain which might not be violent
enough to fracture the coronary nor nut-bones,
nor even rupture the flexor tendon, might go fo
far as to produce an inflammation of the flefhy
fole ; if the inflammation is communicated to
the ligaments, tendons, and capfulae of the
joints. I pronounced it always incurable by
the formation of an anchylofis in the part if
not inftantly taken in hand. I have feen two
kinds of this difeafe in feet difTecled by my-
felf, an account of the pieces of which, as well
B 2 as

[ 20 ]

as of the fractured bones mentioned before,
were added to the memoir given in to the aca-
demy as a fupplement.

Observation XII.

Drawing the fole prevents fuch offifications
as I have been mentioning, and relieves the
flemy fole from prefTure -, which fole is regard-
ed as an expanfion of the mufcles and tendons
of the foot ; this operation enlarges the fpace
in the hoof, the flemy fole being no longer
prefTed, its inflammation ceafes and the foot re-
covers its natural ftate.

When a horfe's fole is drawn, care muft be
taken to let the foot bleed in order to empty the
blood -veffels and lymphatics, to apply with the
firft drefiings, turpentine and its fpirit, or
oil ; and not to bind the fplints too ftraitly,
that the inflamed parts may not be injured,
the coronet mull be bathed with oil of tur-
pentine, and the hoof drelTed up all round
with emollients, in order to moiften, extend
and foften the parts.

Obser-

[ 21 ]

Observation XIII.

The hoof of a horfe may be compared to a
fponge ; when it is dry it contracts itfelf even
to the inner parts ; if it be moiflened, it foft-
ens and dilates -, if he flands long in a fiable
without taking care to keep the hoofs moifb, he
often goes lame ; becaufe they are fufceptible
of contraction as well as dilatation. The com-
preflion in the hoof happens by the coronary
pufhing againft the nut-bone, upon which it
partly moves ; which having the action of a le-
ver, takes for its point of fupport the upper
and fore-part of the foot-bone compreflèd ;
the nut-bone which it raifes, and which pufhes
againft the Tendo Achillis, which tendon preffes
the flefhy fole againft the horny one; and all
thefe combined compreflions produce an in-
flammation upon the flefhy fole, which fpreads
over all the other parts.

Observation XIV.

I have happened to drefs the moulders of lame
horfes, becaufe the owners infifted that the caufe
was in that part ; although it really was in the
feet, and proceeded from compreffion ; thefe
horfes were cured without having any remedies
applied to the feet, but it was by great
B 3 chance,

[m 1

chance, length of time, and red -, which often
happens.

I can however afifert that I never faw nor
heard of a horfe, put to hard labour, as draw-
ing heavy carriages, or carrying heavy burdens,
fracturing the coronary-bone.

Observation XV.

Strong comprenions are diftinguifhed by
pufhing the thumb upon the coronet, it makes
a horfe feel as fliarp a pain as if there was a
fracture ; in this cafe no time mud be loft be-
fore the fole is drawn.

"When the comprefllon is not fo violent, as
that it cannot be thus known by the coronet,
it muft be examined in the foot, the horny fole
muft be pared until it becomes flexible under
the tool ; which muft be done as near the
frog as can be ; the tool muft be prefTed,
and if the horfe is fenfible of it in that place,
we may be aflured that there is a comprefllon of
the coronary-bone upon the nut- bone. The me-
thod of cure is to pare the fole to the quick, to
let him bleed at the point of the foot, and apply
a pledget with oil of turpentine to the bleeding ;
alfo an emollient pultife in the foot and round
the coronet. Above three fourths of thefe cafes
are cured without drawing the fole : but I pre-
fer bleeding in the upper part of the foot, in
expectation of the returning blood ; whereby
you will the better unload the part.

Obser-

Em]

Observation XVI.

The moll certain remedy is to draw the foie
immediately, I have cured horfes in fifteen days
by this method, that were not able to put their
feet to the ground.

Again, the length of time the comprefîion has
continued, may be known by the adhefion of
the horny to the flefhy fole, for the horfe bleeds
but little after drawing it -, becaufe of the inter-
ruption of the circulation of the fluids by the
compreffion.

Observation XVII.

A horfe, drawing a cart heavily loaden,
preffed his foot upon a piece of iron, which
fplit the foot or coffin-bone. I took off the
fhoe and drew the fole immediately ; and he
was perfectly cured. This bone fo fplit by the
iron fhews that this part, fractured by the
mere effort or action of the horfe, may unite, if
prefently taken in hand, even though the frac-
ture happens above by the coronary-bone.

The fracture of the foot- bone which has no
other motion but thofe of the flefhy and hor-
ny foles upon which it is fituated, happens
from one of the two convex fides of the lower
part of the coronary-bone, the other fide mak-
ing an unequal preffure : this fracture ought to
B 4 unite,

[ 24 ]

unite, becaufe the motion of the foot-bone upon
the flefhy fole is very imperceptible, being
flrengthened by the horny fole, enclofed all
round by the enchannelled flefh, and fecured
over all its furface, which is equally enchan-
nelled by the inner horny furface of the hoof,
which is foft and whitifh.

From all I have faid above, it may be con-
cluded, that i. The nature of the union of the
fibres of the fuperior parts, the tenfion and elaf-
ticity of which is very great in the foot, ought
to render them fufceptible of all the unhappy
confequences of compreffion ;

2. That it is to no purpofe to keep horfes
who have any fractures, except in the foot-
bone ; the fracture of this is capable of unit-
ing, becaufe of its having fo little motion, and
is fecured as I have juft faid.

I keep fome preparations as teftimonials of
cafes which prove, that if a nail penetrates to
the joint of the foot, where matter may be
formed, and by its long continuance putrify,
fo as to erode the cartilages of the joint, by its
corrofive quality, the cafe is incurable.

3. When a fudden motion or effort of a
horfe is not fufficiently violent to fracture the
articulations of the foot, the pufh of the coro-
nary-bone upon the nut-bone, muff, occafion a
ftrong compreffion upon the flefhy fole againft
the horny fole, which we look upon to be no
more than an expanfion of the nervous tufts of

the

the mufcles and tendons of the foot as we
have faid before.

4. That in all cafes of flrong compreflion
the inflammation muft offify the joints of the
foot, by the ftagnation of the fluids, efpecially
when not taken care of foon enough.

B. I have feen examples wherein, when the
nut and coronary bones have been wounded by
nails, or when matter has been long pent up,
the cartilages of thefe bones have been eaten in-
to by the fharpnefs of it ; thefe are incurable
diforders, even though all the other parts are
found.

There can be no hopes of curing the frac-
tures of the nut and coronary-bones, as we
do the ruptured Tendo Achillis, for all their
articulations are in continual motion ; and if
by chance they fhould unite, the horfe would
ftill inevitably be lame, by the callus formed
in the joint, as Mr. Morand fays in his report
given in to the academy.

B. I prefume the very ftru£ture of the foot
makes it liable to feveral accidents. The hoof
wherein the articulations of the upper parts
aiïèmble, and which, befides, has its own par-
ticular motion, has need of great ftrength and
folidity -, becaufe all the weight of the body,
bearing upon the feet, can admit neither the
bones nor tendons to vary their condition.

Oeser-

[ *6 ]

Observation XVIII.

Having dreflcd a horfe whofe fole was
drawn, from which they had cut away part of
the frog for a flreet nail that had affected it ;
being almoft cured, as he lay along, he had a
cut of a whip given him ; he ftarted up but was
lamed by the fudden fpring in rifing. I thought
at firft that it was occafioned by the prefTure of
the coronary- bone againft the nut-bone j but about
ten days after the accident, a humour appeared
about the middle of the foot -, I then thought the
nut-bone might, be fractured, but the humour
penetrated deeper ; I obferved the nut-bone in-
tire, but the tendon ruptured, and the lower
part properly attached. In five or fix days
more this part of the tendon came off piece-
meal from its adhefion, and laid the nut- bone
bare. I ufed the Fioraventi Balfam * in my
dreffings for three months which fucceeded ;
what gave me hopes, was my having ken
fome horfes, whofe tendons were cut acrofs
through ignorance, recover -, I had a mind to
know how the upper part of the tendon could
reunite at its infertion upon the foot-bone, for
this horfe was cured. And an accident hap-
pened by which he died eleven months after,
which gave me an opportunity of differing his
foot ; when I found the tendon offified with
* A vulnerary balfam, like rjie Friars Balfam.

the

[ **3

the nut-bone, and this with that of the foot,
fo as that thefe three parts were united, and the
coronary-bone had preferved the freedom of its
motion in the joint. The horfe was no longer
lame, but in walking inclined a little upon the
heel.

Observation XIX.

A horfe, upon whom the extirpation of the
frog by the thread was performed, had the
Tendo Achillis much injured; I could not well
tell whether it happened from cutting out the
thread, or from the acrimony of the topical ap-
plications; the tendon however was deftroyed
as that mentioned above, the nut-bone was laid
bare, and the tendon putrefied at its infertion.
After his cure was compleated, he died in five
or fix months. And I found the nut-bone co-
vered, by a kind of ligament, all over that
part which was connected with the upper part
of the tendon : this new tendon was as a liga-
ment, and adhered to the nut-bone, which was
ofllfled to it ; but it was more than twice as thick
as in its natural ftate. It remains to know
whether this excrefcence proceeds from the ten-
don, or from the covering of the cellular mem-
brane or from other membranes ; but it is time
andobfervations which mud lead us to the know-
ledge of this.

REFLEC-

[ 23 ]

REFLECTIONS.

N reflecting upon the various motions a
horfe makes, and upon the ftructure of his
foot, we cannot be furprifed to find this part
liable to fo many accidents. Experience mews
us that for one horfe who is lamed in the
haunch or moulder, an hundred have it in the
foot, and that the knowledge of this part me-
rits all our attention : I am of opinion thefe ac-
cidents happen chiefly to draught-horfes, and
not to thcfe of the faddle j I alfo think that
it is the different attitudes of a horfe's foot over-
charged at the fame time with the weight of his
body, that caufe the different fractures of the
coronary and nut-bones -, for when the foot has
not a direct pofltion, the joints are twifted, as
when a horfe treads upon the point or toe ot
the hoof, the upper and inner part of the coro-
nary-bone, which is in an oblique pofltion,
preffed in that ftate by the burthen of his own
body, is forced to yield on one fide, and rife on
the other, its lower and back part, which now
rifes, drives the nut- bone againft the TendoAchil •
lis which fuftains it, the tendon preffes in its
turn againft the flefhy fole, which is alfo com-
preffed againft the horny fole, which is its

point

[*9 1

point of fupport •, the tendon, coronary, and
nut-bones become fractured upwards and back-
wards by the pattern, which alfo had an
oblique pofition, and downwards and forwards
by the foot or coffin bone, which here acts as a
wedge.

The nut-bone is fometimes fractured by the
lower and back part of the coronary-bone
alone : but although thefe bones are fractured
in the manner I have juft mentioned, at the in-
flant a horfe gives a fpring, there happens no
luxation of thefe bones, becaufe of the manner
of their being tied and fecured all round by the
ligaments, the tendons, cartilages, and the con-
ftruction of the hoof which inclofes them and
all that depend on them.

In all the horfes feet I difTected, immediately
after thefe accidents, I found the ïendo Acbillis
ruptured, and had a notion that the fracture of
the corcnary-bone in three pieces ought always
to be followed by the rupture of the tendon,
particularly after the foot is pared ; or that
there are froft nails or raifed heels to the fhoes,
fo that the frog is thrown up from its point of
fupport -, which will appear when we treat of
fhoeing.

We diftinguiih fractures of the coronary-
bones in railing the foot by the lower part -, the
foot muft be drawn forward, and preffed up-
on the coronet with the thumb, and if
there is a fracture, a ratling will be perceived ;

when

t§i ]

when the tendon is not ruptured, it fuftains the
bones ; and, as it is their point of fupport, the
noife is lefs lenfible, but it is better diftinguifh-
cd when the tendon is divided.

It is to be obferved, as to the fracture of the
foot-bone, that this bone is in a manner im-
moveable in its place, fupportcd in its plane by
the horny l'ole, and in its circumference by the
fides of the hoof, which keeps it univerfally
firm every way.

I never law this bone fractured but once, and
believe it curable, and what made me of this
opinion was, that I happened to attend a horfe
who had the foot-bone fplit in two, quite
through, by treading on a piece of fharp iron ;
and he was cured of it. A faddle-horfe has a
different attitude and manner of treading from
that of a draught-horfe ; the former always has
the articulated partsof his foot in a perpendicular
direction, and in their proper fituation for ac-
tion ; whereas the draught-horfe is accuftomed
to have thefe parts often in an oblique pofition j
and convenient for the attitude neceffaryin draw-
ing a carriage ; and accordingly a ftone or fault
in a pavement, happening under one fide of his
foot, which is thereby inclined to the other, the
preffure of the coronary- bone charged with the
whole weight of the body will be very capable
of caufing this kind of fracture.

THE

THE

METHOD

OF CURING

Pricks and other Accidents
That happen to HORSES Feet,

Pl ate II. upon all the lints.

Figure I.

IF a nail has only pierced the horny fole, and
but lightly touched the flelhy fole, there is
nothing to do.

But if there is room to fufpecl the bone of
the foot D figure 3. is touched ; a large open-
ing muft be made, in order to prevent drawing
the fole, by facilitating the exfoliation.

If

[a»]

If the nail has penetrated to the infertion of
the tendon 10. figure 4. great attention muft
be paid to it, dreffing it the oftener, that
the tendon be not injured ; if it pafTes in-
to the concave part 4. of the foot- bone figure
5. an exfoliation will come on, without any
bad confequences, provided matter be not left
any time to deftroy the ligament 7 upon the
line R figures 1. 2. 3. 4. If the nail has
not palfed to the tendon, the horfe will grow
well without a neceffity for drawing the fole ;
but if the tendon is wounded the fole muft be
carefully drawn, becaufe the fynovia is difcharg-
ed. If the nail has penetrated to the ligament 7
fig. 5. he muft be dreflèd lightly everyday rather
twice than once, taking care not to confine the
tent, nor let the matter remain in any time,
left it might erode the cartilaginous parts of the
nut-bone and deftroy its ligaments. When the
part is to be laid open, a channel'd director
muft be introduced to conduct the point of the
biftory, in order to make a perpendicular open-
ing, and not a tranfverfe one, becaufe the ten-
don might be cut acrofs, which would not co-
alefce again, and great mifchief might be pro-
duced.

Upon the line B. figures 1. 2. 3, 4. the fame
manner of proceeding muft be ufed, as is
marked upon the line R. but if the nail is gone
up to the nut-bone 3. figure 5. it is incurable,
becaufe this little bone cannot exfoliate, and

becaufe

[ 33 ]
becaufe the cartilaginous part of it is deilroyed
as foon as injured.

Upon the line S figures i. 2. 3. 4. the fame
mull be obferved as at the line R. but if it
reaches to the ligament 8. what is mentioned
for the line R. muft be followed, becaufe there
will be danger of corroding the lower cartila-
ginous part of the coronary-bone, which in this
cafe would become incurable.

Upon the line T. there is danger only of
the cartilage 2. figure 3. of which I fhall make
fome mention -, if the nail paries into the frog
B. figure 1. lb as not to reach the tendon, no-
thing comes of it, even though it penetrates
through to the paftern. I have made horfes
walk in this cafe, without confining them to the
fiables j but if it has touched the tendon, we
mull proceed in the method obferved before.
If the nail has touched between the line A. and
the line R. and that it has penetrated to 4
plate 3 figure 3. it may have pricked an artery j
in which cafe a proper pledget muft be applied
in order to comprefs the part and flop the blood.

For all thefe operations the balfam of fiora-
venti or fpirit of turpentine muft be ufed, and
the drefiings prepared as we fhall mention
them for drawing the fole ; but care muft be
taken when it is to be drawn, that the horny
fole be not too ftrcng, and if it be fo, to pare
it well that it become more flexible -, otherwife,
in bearing with the fpatula upon the edge of the
C hoof

t 3+]
hoof, wc ihould run the rifque of forcing and
feparating it from the enchannelled flefh, which
would produce a dangerous inflammation, of
which I have feen fome examples. You muft
obferve not to raife the fiefhy fole with the
horny fole, nor to fmear it over, as has been
done, for it prolongs the cure ; but every able
practitioner knows how to avoid thefe kinds of
dangers. When the cartilage muft be cut
away figure 7 and 8 plate II. if it be fpoiled,
part of the wall or hoof which covers it muft
alio be taken off, as alfo the enchannelled flefh
reprefented at figure 7. and then the whole car-
tilage without referve -, for if any part be left,
although found, it foon becomes morbid, and
notwithftanding all our endeavours, we fliould
be obliged to come to a fécond operation. The
ligament which joins the bone of the foot to
the coronary, and the capfula that contains the
fynovia of the joint muft be carefully avoided,
for touching thefe parts would render the dif-
order incurable, as if the lower part of the co-
ronary-bone was injured figure 1. Plate III.

In order to remedy and affift this amputa-
tion the fole muft be drawn, if there be any
matter under it, on the difeafed fide ; but if
not, it may be let alone -, for the firft and fé-
cond dreflings good firm doflils muft be made,
fome little fome big-, the fmall ones for the
bottom of the wound, the larger ones for the

outer

[ 35 ] '

outer part gradually enlarged, which mufl be
dipped in oil of turpentine ; afterwards the dof-
fils mufl be armed with common-turpentine,
and a good ample bandage put on to com-
prefs them, fo as to prevent the flefh irom
rifing above the hoof. As for the future dref-
fings they need not be fo clofely confined ; in
this cafe all foftening remedies are good, and
the whole difficulty of this amputation lies in
the cutting, and the management of the
dreffings.

I have obferved that although the operations
made upon the fore feet, be never fo well per-
formed, efpecially if the hoof be ftrong, and
however well cured, the horfe will fometimes
continue lame-, which never is the cafe with the
hind feet-, this is a fact which perhaps we may
in fome meafure account for.

If what is marked above be not punctually
followed, and the cartilage mould be taken off
piece-meal, either by cauflics, the actual cautery,
or cutting,we rifque keeping the horfe a longtime
upon his litter ; which retains the matter, fpoils
the capfula and ligament, and often deflroys
the animal.

The difTection of the feet of two horfes has
taught me an exception to this extirpation of
the cartilage abovementioned : It happens
fometimes by an extraordinary conformation,
that the horfe has little or no cartilage upon
the apophy fis of the foot- bone, and that it is a
C 2 true

[33 ]

true elongation of the fame bone, which by its
confiftence or hardnefs very well refembles the
form at the coronet of the foot. He that is
acquainted with his fubjeét will in this cafe di-
ftinguifh the want of the cartilage, in preffing
the coronet, by the moveable refiftance of
the bone -, in fuch circumstances it is to be fup-
pofed that the quarter of the hoof mult not
be cut away, but a fimple opening only muft
be made on the upper part of the apophyfis in
order to wait the exfoliation of the carious
bone. If it happens that, contrary to nature,
this bone is edged by a thin cartilage, the faid
part or quarter muft no more be taken off than
in the cafe above, for the corroded part will
feparate by being treated in the above manner,
and will come out at the opening made above.

EXTRACT

[ 37 1

EXTRACT

OF THE

REGISTERS

OF THE

Academy of Sciences.

January 20, 1750.

W T E have, by order of the Academy, ex-
* * amined a manufcript of the Sieur la
Fofîè, farrier of the king's fiables. The au-
thor fets forth, that having had frequent op-
portunities of drefîïng lame-horfes, and not
finding; the caufe of their lamenefs in either the
upper or middle parts of their limbs, he looked
for it in the feet -, and that a fmall tumor which
he obferved, pointed out the feat of the difor-
der \ the dilîèflion further demonstrated that
the coronary-bone was fractured.

After this firft obfervation the faid Sieur la
Foffe made feveral others of the fame kind ; and
what is fingular, is, that he afferts this fracture is
made without any great effort of the horfe : and
that he faw one put to a voiture, fracture the
coronary-bone at the inflant he was ready to fet
C 3 off;

[38 ]
off; thofe alio who have carried their horfes,
affected in the fame manner, to him, have allur-
ed him that the lea ft falfe flep has occafioned it.
The Sieur la Foffe remarks another fingularity,
which is, that the coronary-bone is generally di-
vided in three pieces nearly equal. Perhaps the
reafon of this may be drawn from the confidera-
tion of the manner in which the coronary-bone
is joined to the paflern and foot-bones, by their
flrong ligaments, which being three in number,
each feems to have retained its part of the bone,
and favoured its divifion into three parts.

The difcovcry of this difeafe, which has ne-
ver been treated of before by the writers of ana-
tomy, medicine, or furgery, does not lead us
to the manner of curing it, becaufe it is ab-
folutely incurable -, on the contrary it ferves to
convince us, that if it was even pofiible to keep
the bones together fo as to favour their uniting,
the fracture being in a joint, there would ftill
remain an anchylofis or callous, which would
render the horiè unfit for fervice.

But the Sieur la Foffe's obfervation is not-
withftanding of very great ufe, for it mews us
the impoffibility of curing a difeafe that was
always thought curable from their ignorance
of the matter, and confequently he has found
the means of fparing %o the owners of horfes,
taken lame, the expences of a cure attempted
in vain. He further knows how to diftinguifh
when the coronary-bone is fractured or is not i

although

[ 39 ]

although there may be no vifible appearance of
the difeafe, and the effort wherein the coronary-
bone refills the fracture, indicates the manner
of cure, when the bone is not broken, and alfo
that the horfe ought to feel in this effort very
great pain, when he flrains the fracture. We
cannot avoid giving the Sieur la Fofïè due
praifê for his zeal and capacity in his endea-
vours to perfect and extend the knowledge of
his profeffion. We think this memoir merits
being printed among the collection of the pa-
pers communicated to the academy.

Signed, Morand, Ferrein.
/ certify the prefent extracl to be conformable to
its original and to the judgment of the Academy.
Given at Paris Feb. i, 1750. «SÏ^z^Grandjean
de F 'ouchy, -perpetual fecretary to the Royal Aca-
demy of Sciences,

EXTRACT of the REGISTERS

OF THE

Royal Academy of Sciences,
Of 23 Auguft, 1752.

A/f R. Morand, who was appointed by the
*»■* Academy to examine the Hyppiatric *
obfervations of M. la Foffe, farrier to the king's

* Relating to Horfes,

C 4 fiables,

[40]
fiables, upon fix difeafes of a horfe's foot,
which appear to have never been known to au-
thors, having made his report, the Academy
judged that thefe difeafes were clearly defcribed,
that the obfervations made in confequence were
very judicious, and that the whole is rendered
Hill the more ufeful as it is accompanied with
anatomical plates, wherein the bones and adja-
cent parts are better reprefented than any where
elfe ; this memoir is judged worthy to be print-
ed among the pieces communicated by foreign-
ers.

Paris Auguft 31, 1752 -, figned Grand je an
de Fouchy, perpetual fecretary of the Royal
Academy of Sciences.

A TRAPN

A

RAIN

OF NEW

Experiments ^^Obfervations

UPON THE

GLANDERS.

fSi^jSPI H E Glanders, properly fo called, is
^\Tt^M an inflammatory difeafe which has
ffeW&k its feat in the pituitary membrane,
t$&$sé£ÉM> as I have explained it in my treatife
of 1749, to which I refer the reader.

In order to be well acquainted with this dif-
eafe, it will be neceflary to diftinguifh in it
three different periods : to wit, its beginning,
its middle and its end. In each of thefe times
it has a different name, in the firft it is called a

menacing

[42]

menacing or impending glanders ; in the fé-
cond a confirmed glanders -, and in the third
an inveterate glanders. Three fymptoms mull
alio be known in this difeafe.

i. The inflammation in the pituitary mem-
brane.

2. A fwelling of the glands under the nether
jaw.

3. ihe running of the glanders properly lb
called.

Thefe three fymptoms are mutually caufed by-
one another: the firft produces the fécond ;
the fécond produces the ulcers, whence pro-
ceeds a running of the noftril on the difeafed
fide.

In my treatife of 1749, I called a gland,
which the inflammation of the pituitary mem-
brane cauies to fwell, the [nblingual Gland ; but
it is only a lymphatic gland, the canals of
which, after fending out feveral ramifications,
go to the maxillary gland, and then to ano-
ther lymphatic gland pbced under the parotid,
from which it divides two large branches which
accompany the trachea in its whole length, on
each fide ; then again paffes between the two
bronchia, about two inches and half from the
aorta, into two lymphatic glands -, there they
part in order to crofs them, and at laft terminate
n the Vena cava.

As to the fublingual glands they are fituated
at thefymphyfis of the chin.

B. Although

[44]

B. Although I was certain the inflammation
of the pituitary gland was the firfl fymptom of
the glanders in horfes, yet in order to afcer-
tain it to myfelf I made the two following ex-
periments.

I injected one noftril of a found horfe with
a certain liquor. The pituitary membrane be-
came inflamed : this inflammation caufed a lym-
phatic gland under the jaws on the fame fide,
to fwell as I had forefeen -, the inflammation
of this membrane produced ulcers, whence the
fnot or matter of the glanders run through the
fame noftril.

I again injected both noftrils of a found horfe
with the fame liquor ; the pituitary membrane
inflamed, made the lymphatic gland on both
fides fwell ; and the fnot run from both noftrils
in a little time ; which confirmed me in the
opinion that the inflammation was the firfl fym-
ptom of the glanders properly fo called : that
the glands fwelled under the jaws was the fé-
cond, and the running the third.

OBSER-

[ 45 ]

O BSERVATIONS

UPON

Glander'd Horses.

AFTER having trepanned an old horfe
J *■ in 1749, and dreffed him, they put him
to work -, and eighteen months after he was
knocked on the head. I faw by differing his
head that the pituitary membrane was grown 6
or 7 lines thick, and cflified to the neighbour-
ing bones -, it had acquired this thicknefs and
confiitence by the ftagnation of the lymphatic
juice, caufed by the inflammation and the fpread-
ing of the ulcers.

2. A horfe received a kick of another
horfe, which broke part of the bone of the max-
illary finus ; having examined the wound, I
found it was not mortal ; but as the finus was
injured, and the pituitary membrane inflamed, I
did not doubt but the glanders would come
on, and it was not long before the effect con-
firmed my fufpicion. The glands of the jaws
were i welled on the morbid fide, ulcers were
formed on the pituitary membrane, matter flow-
ed

[45 ]
ed thro' the noftril, and this difcharge is the
glanders properly fo called. I made frequent
injections into the noftril, the difcharge ceafed
in four months, the fuelling of the gland
was difcuffed, the injection cleanfed the low-
er part of the maxillary finus's, and that of the
cornets, which hinder the matter's lyinginthem,
and a thorough cure was made. This horfe be-
longed to Madam Fondu, a miftrefs-carrier, in
the Faux-bourg Saint Honoré.

All the authors that have wrote upon the
difeafes of horfes feem to have copied one ano-
ther, to maintain that the glanders was a dif-
charge accompanied with a very offenfive fmellj
I never found that the glanders had any ill-fmell
of itfelf, but it may when the matter is confined
in the maxillary finufes, or that the aliment has
infinuated itfelf, as I have obferved it, by the
chinks of old broken jaw-teeth and infected the
parts.

I have again found horfes whofe glanders
have flunk very much, but then they have had
the ftrangles with decay or farcy.

I have alfo feen fome with whom the running
proeeeded from a putrefadion of the lungs, to-
gether with the glanders ; and others with
whom the fmell proceeded only from the ma-
lignance of the ftrangles which they difcharged.

4. I faw a horfe belonging to a poor man
who worked him in an inveterate glanders for
fix years ; and at laft he was knocked on the

head

[46]
head on account only of his great age. I
opened this horfe to fee the ftate of the vifcera
and found them all in a found ftate, as
well as the other internal parts, except the
pituitary membrane which was thickened by ul-
cers of four or five lines broad, as well in the
frontal as maxillary finufes.

It is known that a horfe with the glanders
properly fo called can communicate the difeafe
to other horfes ; but this difeafe will alio be
catched from any caufe capable of inflaming the
pituitary membrane. For example, a horfe will
often become glandered, if after fwimming him
he is left in the cold, or his nofe expofed to the
wind -, for in two hours the glands under the jaws
will be fwelled, and the noftrils be filled with
a vifcid mucus.

I have had horfes brought to me who had
catched cold thus in the pituitary membrane,
and could perceive by their glands they were
threatened with a confirmed glanders -, I bled and
cooled them, and cured them in a very little time.

And I have lince obferved horfes thus affect-
ed in the glands from the fame caufe, for which
I propofed the fame treatment by way of pre-
vention, became abfolutely glandered for want
of thar care.

In order to prevent thefe difeafes, when horfes
are hot, they muft not be let to grow cool
without action, and therefore they fhould be
walked gently after running, to hinder their fud-

denly

L 47 ]

denly taking cold, if they cannot be walked
about, their nofes muft be covered to hinder the
fir ft fudden ingrefs of the cold air -, their tails
ftiould aifo be turned towards the wind, to pre-
vent its affecting the pituitary membrane, and
alfo care mould be taken that the delicate tex-
ture of this membrane, fo expofed to the imme-
diate contact of the air and wrind, may not have
too fudden a change from heat to cold.

But if a horfe has been affected in the glands
for a confiderable time, and has had a dis-
charge from the obftructed fide without
coughing, the glanders is confirmed even tho*
he has a good appetite, and every other fign of
health. Emollient decoctions muft be thrown
up the noftrils, being careful to pufh them to
the frontal finufes, and to repeat them three times
a day for a week -, if the running continues, it
will be very proper to ufe fumigations, which
would come more into practice, if their good
effects were better known.

To fumigate is to make a horfe receive the
vapour or fmoke of certain medicines thrown
into the fire or upon a red-hot iron. And this
fumigation produces different effects, according
to the different compofition made ufe of.

For this purpofe I thought of a kind of box
with a tube fixed to it, which may be put into
the noftril of the horfe ; this box has the ad-
vantage qî conveying the vapour as intended,

which

[48]
which by the common method is moftly waft-
ed. The mechanifm of this box is too fimple
to need a particular explanation ; the bare de-
fcription of it is eafily underftood. After pro-
per injections and fumigations, the horfe muft
be walked about without heating him, taking
care to give him nothing but bran, and keep
him warm in the (table. There is no anfwering
for the cure, for that depends upon the ftub-
bornnefs of the difeafe. But if the fymptoms
be purfued with attention, and we undertake it
in time, the glanders may be cured.

If the gland is of any {landing, and the horfe
difcharges a bloody matter, and another gland
appears to be affected on the other fide the jaw,
with difficulty of refpiration, we muft fuppofe
it proceeds from the thickening of the mem-
brane : when the glanders is inveterate the
horfe muft be trepanned, as I have mentioned
it in my treatife of 1749 ; for it is the only me-
thod to prevent the flagnation of the corrofive
humour.

Suppofe two horfes, one glandered the other
found, at the fame manger, if they are tied up
fo as that the found horfe may not receive the
breath of the diftempered one, he certainly will
not be infected.

After having explained what is a confirmed
glanders, I fhall treat of fix other kinds of dif-
charges by the noftrils, of which four are incu-
rable.

The

[49 ]

The firft of thefe four proceeds from the
lungs when they are affected, and therefore may
be called the pulmonary glanders: the fécond
is called the wafting glanders ; the third the
glanders with malignant ftrangles -, and the
fourth the farcy-glanders.

The pulmonary-glanders proceeds from one
or more abfcelTes formed in the lobes of the
lungs, the purulent matter of which gets into
the bronchia, comes up the Trachea, paries
through the nafal cavities, and is difcharged
by the noftrils like a whitifh liquor, fome^
times appearing in lumps or grumes. In this
cafe the horfe runs at the nofe without having
the glands affected ; and therefore what he dif-
charges cannot be accounted the true glanders.
If the horfe be young, he may be relieved by
making him work a little ; pectorals mull be
adminiftered, and he muft be turned to grafs
every year.

That humour which I call the wafting hu-
mour ufually feizes a horfe at the end of dif-
eafes caufed by too hard labour, which have
been thought cured ; a defluxion is made upon
the lungs which produces a whitifh humour,
fometimes tinged with yellow, which is dif-
charged by the noftrils, he eats and drinks pret-
ty well, but notwithstanding he runs out of
flefh.

The ftrangle-glanders produces humours

which nature is not able to difcharge, and they

D fall

1 50]

fall upon the lungs, where theyTorm abfeeifes ;
thefe humours take their courfe alio by the nof-
trils, and fometimes in coughing by the mouth -,
and the horfe gradually périmes.

The farcy-glanders is fo acrimonious a hu-
mour, that it feizes, at the fame time, both the
lungs and pituitary membrane -, making more
havock than the three other kinds already de-
fcribed.

The three firft kinds, as I have defcribed
them, are not catching, except when the hu-
mour has acquired an acrimony by length of
time, which patting by the noftrils is detained
in the maxillary finufes, inflames the pituitary
membrane, and fwells the glands ; a fure pro-
gnoftic of the true glanders.

But the fourth, which is the farcy kind of
glanders, being more of an eroding nature, is
apt to ulcerate both the lungs and pituitary
membrane, and is confequently infectious.

It remains to mention the two other kinds,
the one which proceeds from a horfe's being
over- heated ; he coughs, and iirft difcharges a
limpid fluid, and after, a whitifh matter; be-
caufe the cold air has laid hold on the pituitary
membrane, has condenfed the lymph in the
I'm all velfcls, which caufes an inflammation,
and fwells the throat, larynx and lymphatic
gland?.

The horfe fometimes as he coughs difcharges
the matter from his mouth, and when the

cough

is' ]

cough ceafes, and that he ftill continues to dif-
charge it for fifteen or twenty days, that the
gland under the jawhardens rather thandiminifh-
es ; this running is fufpicious and fometimes de-
generates into a true glanders -, and therefore, as
foon as a horfe is found to be overheated, he muft
be blooded, kept to white drink, kept warm,
and not worked too much -, but if he continues
ill for fifteen or twenty days, he muft be fumigat-
ed or injected, as we have mentioned it before.

The fixth kind of difcharge is the flrangles,
which every horfe ought for his health's fake
to difcharge. This is a humour which circu-
lates in the mafs of blood to a certain age, which
nature endeavours to throw off. It dif-
charges itfelf in different manners, and that
which is leaft fatiguing to the horfe, is when it
forms an abfcefs between the jaws without tak-
ing its courfe by the nofe : It fometimes is
thrown upon different parts, wrhere it produces
different effects according to the difpofition of
thefe parts. For example when it falls upon the
throat, all the part is fwelled, the arteries are
compreffed, the blood is impeded, an inflam-
mation fucceeds, and an abfcefs is formed.

In order to remedy this evil, the horfe is to
be kept warm, and as foon as the fwelling is
perceived, it muft be dreffed with a proper me-
dicine to encourage the fuppuration of the abfcefs,
which fometimes breaks of itfelf ; but it is more
eligible not to wait for this, but to open it in
D 2 order

L 5* ]

order to difcharge the malignant matter with
the pus, and the horfe does well. This is what I
call a mild kind of flrangles.

The flrangles which difcharges by the nof-
trils produces alio different effects, according to
the parts affected.

At firft the horfe begins to be dull and hea-
vy, carrying his head lower than ufual, and
fometimes falling off his ftomachj he has fome-
times alfo a little cough, and the jaws fwell a
little, by the inflammation.

At different times feveral fmall glands feem
obstructed, and in a fmall time after, a dif-
charge of the noftrils follows of a thick kind
of glanders more or lefs.

It often happens too that the noftrils run,
without any fwelling or obftruction about
the jaws ; this firft fpecies of flrangles goes
off frequently by nature, it is however necefTary
to give her fome affiftance -, wherefore the horfe
ought to be kept warm, and fome cordial me-
dicine mould be given him in order to promote
the expulfion of the humour.

When the humour falls upon the lymphatic
parts of the larynx, it caufes the fame inflam-
mation of all the parts of the pituitary mem-
brane, and fo ftraitens the refpiration of the
horfe that his breath can fcarce move the flame
of a candle held to his nofe-, and as this animal
refpires only through the noftrils, he is forced
to rattle in the throat. To affift his breath, a

piece

[53 ]
piece of wood ought to be put into his mouth, in
order to keep it conftantly open, and favour
the difcharge of the flegm caufed by the in-
flammation of the parotid and maxillary glands;
afterwards the humour of the ftrangles is thrown
off by the noftrils, which fometimes has an ill
fmell.

And as I have remarked that even this way
is not always fufficient for the difcharge of the
quantity of humours that the inflammation
caufes, one may expect that the humours will
neceffarily be thrown under the jaws, or on one
fide ; this abfcefs muft be opened to aflift that
difcharge already begun by the noftrils, and be
he never fo ill he will by this means be cured ;
but if fuch a depofite of the humours does not
form an abfcefs, it is to be feared it will fall
upon the vifcera, and the cafe is full of dan-
ger.

In order to relieve him in this cafe, cordials
muft be given him to promote perfpiration -,
but when all the paiïages are obftructed, as well
for his drink as for refpiration, a quantity of
oats muft be boiled in vinegar, put into a bag,
and applied to the region of the kidnies, cover-
ing him up warm, and the perfpiration, which
this remedy produces, will promote the expul-
fion of the humours.

What I have juft explained plainly fhews
that this ftrangles although mild enough in it-
felf, may become very dangerous with refpect to

D 3 the

[54]

the functions of the part affected, efpecially
when the inflammation feizes the œfophagus
and about the larynx ; for it often happens in
this cafe, that the horfe difcharges his meat
through his noftrils when he cannot fwallow
it.

Thefe kinds of ftrangles are the mod laudable
of all-, I call them laudable becaufe it is necef-
fary for the health of a horfe that he has and
difcharges them ; which if he does not, the hu-
mours which caufe the ftrangles are apt fooner
or later to fall upon one or more parts of the
body, where it may form tumors or abfcefîès,
and that even upon the vifcera, which we then
call the baftard ftrangles, or malignant ftrangles,
as I have called them before.

It fometimes happens, though but feldom,
that thefe two kinds of ftrangles feize a horfe at
the fame time ; that is, that he difcharges the
matter both from an abfeefs, and by the nof-
trils. I do not mention another, feventh, kind
of glanders, which horfes throw off by the
nofe, and fometimes even at the mouth when
they cough, like the whites of eggs.

I have opened horfes in thefe cafes, and
found that this kind of glanders was flopped,
and fell upon the upper part of the afpera arte-
ria, from whence it feparates and defcends with-
out any hindrance by the noftrils.

By opening horfes who difcharged a kind of
glandered matter both by the nofe and mouth,

caufed

[55]
caufed by an inflammation of the throat, I found
that it was caufed by a defluxion upon the tra-
chea; which appeared to be the effect of a quin-
zy ; this diforder lafls two or three days andfome-
times longer ; the horfe can fcarce eat or drink,
and it is known by a fmall fwelling under the
throat, which is fenfible to the touch.

A horfe difcharged a great quantity of white
thick matter by the nofe for eighteen months ;
and when he was at reft in the liable the run-
ing flopped ; but he was heard to rattle, which
alfo ceafed when they made him work -, how-
ever although he was not affected in the glands
they knocked him on the head. I opened him
and found the pituitary membrane perfectly
found, the flnus and all the internal parts of
the nofe well, the vifcera in the abdomen found;
but upon opening the thorax, I found a consi-
derable abfcefs, where the trachea divides to
fink into the fubflance of the lungs.

By this obfervation it is plain a horfe may
live and work a long while with an abfcefs in
the thorax; and yet the pituitary membranes
may remain uninjured by the matter paffing by
the trachea, crofs the nafal cavities ; and
that we mufl diftinguifh this from a true
glanders, by the ratling, tumefied glands,
and the vaft quantity of matter that runs
off.

I have faid before that it was neceffary a
horfe mould difcharge the ftrangles at a certain

D 4 time,

[56]

time, for the good of his health ; in this cafe it
is cuftomary to feparate the found horfes from
the difeafed ones, becaufe it is infectious.

I am not of the opinion of thofe who fepa-
rate horfes with the ftrangles from fuch as have
not yet had it, in the fine feafon of the year ;
on the contrary, I turn them together in order
to make them catch it of one another, to avoid
the danger they would rifque in not throwing off
the matter of that difeafe.

[57]

A N

ANATOMICAL TABLE

O F A

HORSE's HEAD.

Plate I.

BB. The boundaries of the cerebellum
which is very fmall in a horfe, as is alfo the
brain D.

CC. The beginning of the upper part of the
frontal finus with the depreffions or finkings
which terminate the lines.

D. and E. Shew a body fhaped like a chan-
nelled pear, which is the ethmoidal- bone, thro'
which the nerves pafs which go to the pituitary
membrane.

E. The beginning of the maxillary finus.
M. The fpace between thefe two lines repre-

fents the depth of the finus.

Note, the cells and windings are not marked
here to avoid confufion.

F. This white oblique line is a bony in-

clofure

[58]

clofure or partition which feparates the finus in-
to two cavities.

F. G. Two other inclofures ; fometimes
there is but one to be found in horfes.

N. The beginning of the cornets or horns.

O. Their duplication.

P. Their middle part.

Q^ Their lower extremities.

M. The bony canal which inclofes and guards
the upper maxillary nerve.

AA. The partition or feptum which divides
the nofe by a line all along to form the two
noftrils.

THE

[59]

THE
REPORT of the COMMITTEE

OF THE

Royal Academy of Sciences.

Extrafi of the Regijlers of this Academy of the
8th of January, 1752.

"D Y order of the Royal Academy of Sci-
-*-^ ences we have examined a new memoir
of the Sieur la Fofle upon the glanders in
hories.

In the firft memoir he delivered upon this
fubject, he has eftablifhed by obfervations,
confirmed by the committee of the academy,
that the pituitary membrane is the feat of this
difeafe ; which in confequence of an inflamma-
tion, ulcerates and makes an habitual difcharge
of a corrofive pus which renders the bones it
adheres to carious ; and in the memoir which is
the object of this report, he improves and brings
to perfection, his difcovery. He diftinguifhes
feven kinds of difcharges which may come from
the noftrils of horfes, lays down the fymptoms

and

[6o]

and caufes of each, and fhews the evil of their
being all confounded under one denomination :
he alfo rrfakes it evident that the true glanders
has its characteriftics, which effentially diftin-
guifh it frome very other difeafe that has been
called by the fame name.

And in order to prove that a great inflamma-
tion of the pituitary membrane is always the
caufe of the glanders, he has attempted to
bring on an inflammation upon the fame mem-
brane by a corrofive injection ; and when the
injection was only made into one fide, the max-
illary lymphatic glands were fwelled on the
fame fide, and that noflril only produced the
difcharge.

But on the other hand, when both noflrils
were injected, thefe fymptoms appeared on both
fides.

The author produced, with his memoir, a
fection of fome of the bones of the head,
comprehending a portion of the maxillary and
frontal bones : thefe pieces had on their inner
furface very remarkable vefciges of a caries, and
are in many places become more thick than in
their natural ftate -, which feems to have been
produced by the continuance of a fuperabundance
of vitiated mucous matter, which foftened and
injured the texture of thefe bones.

The firfl memoir prefented by the Sieur la

Foflfe was confined to a bare defcription of the

difeafe, and only a propofal of a method of

i cure

I6i ]

cure by way of project -, but in this, he certifies
that he has cured feveral glandered horfes by
means of his injections and fumigations thrown
into the noftrils.

Although he has not yet found out fuch in-
jections as will fucceed in the greater number
of cafes that come before him, there is room
to hope that end will yet be attained ; nor can
we withhold our approbation of the enquiries he
is incefTantîy making, in order to bring the mat»
ter to perfection.

Signed Morand and Bouvard.

I do certify the prefent extra ft to be conforma-
ble to his original memoir ', and to the judgment of
the academy. Paris January 12, 1752. Signed
Grandjean de Fouchy, perpetual fecretary to
the Royal Academy of Sciences.

REMARKS

[& ]

R E M A R K S.

r^\ R. Brachen an Englifh phyfician has
*-^ wrote a treatife on the difeafes of horfes ;
and has alfo tranflated^ my treatife upon the
glanders into Englifh. The following is an ex-
trad of what he fays about it.

" I agree with Monf. La FofTe that the feat
" of the glanders is in the pituitary membrane,
" and not at all in the vifcera ; that drenches are
" of no manner of ufe in this cafe ; and that
'* injectious thrown into the finufes is a judi-
" cious practice."

Thç

[*3]

The Twelfth Chapter

Of Mr. BART LETT'S Book

UPON THE

DISEASES of HORSES,

Being this author's àoBrine of the Glanders^ which
is tranjlated by the Sieur la Fojfe into French
in this work.

' I H E caufe and feat of the glanders has
-*• till lately been fo imperfectly handled,
and fo little underftood by the writers on this di-
ftemper, that it is no wonder it ihould be rank-
ed among the incurables : but a new light
having been thrown on this whole affair by the
ftudy of M. la Foffe, the King of France's Far-
rier, who has been at the pains to trace out,
and difcover by diffections, the fource and caufe
of this diforder ; we hope the method he
has propofed, with fome further experiments
and improvements, will foon bring to a certain-
ty of cure (in moft cafes at leaft) a diftemper
fo dangerous to our horfes, and that hitherto
has eluded the force of art.

Before

[ '-»> ]

Before we make mention of this work, which
has the approbation of the Royal Academy of
Sciences, it will not be unacceptable to our read-
ers, we apprehend, to have a more particular
account of the fymptoms of this diforder than
M. la FofTe has laid down, that we may the
better judge of the merit of our author and his
difcoveries.

The matter then difcharged from the noftrils
of a glander'd horfe is either white, yellow, or
greenifh, fometimes ftreaked or tinged with
blood -, when the difeafe is of long (landing, the
matter turns blackifh, and becomes very fetid,
and is always attended with a fwelling of the
kernels or glands under the jaws ; in every
other refpect the horfe is generally healthy and
found till the diflemper has been of fome con-
tinuance.

From thefe fymptoms and fome obfervations
made by Bracken and Gibfon, it is plain they
were not abfolute ftrangers to the feat of this
diforder, though they neglected pufhing their
enquiries to the fountain-head, and coniequent-
ly were at a lofs to know how to apply the re-
medy to the parts affected.

But our author after examining by diffection the
carcafes of glander'd horfes, and making a ftricl:
fcrutiny into the ftate of the vifcera, amfted for
that pnrpofe by ingenious and expert anatomifts
for ten years together, affirms this difeafe to be
altogether local -, and that the true feat of it is

in

[•s]

in the pituitary membrane, which lines the par-
tition along the infide of the nofe, the maxillary
finufes or cavities of the cheek-bones on each
fide the nofe, and the frontal finufes or cavities
above the orbits of the eyes -, that the vifcera,
as liver, lungs, &c. of glandered horfes are in
general exceeding found -, and confequently that
the feat of this diforder is not in thofe parts, as
has been afferted by mofl authors -, nor indeed
is it probable it mould ; for how could fuch
horfes preferve their appetite, their good ap-
pearance, (leek and mining coats, in a word
all the figns of health for many years together
(which many glandered horfes are known to
enjoy) with fuch diilempered bowels.

But on nicely examining the heads of fuch
horfes he found the cavities abovementioned*
more or lefs, filled with a vifcous (limey mat-
ter, the membrane which lines both them and
the noftrils inflamed, thickened, and corroded
with fordid ulcers, which, in fome cafes, had
cat into the bones. Thefe finufes or cavities
will be better underftood by referring to the an-
nexed plate.

He obferves that when glandered horfes dis-
charged matter from both noftrils, both fides of
the membranes and cavities were affected -9 but
when they run at one noftril only, that fide on-
ly was found diftempered.

It is a curious remark of our author, that the
Sublingual glands, or the kernels fituajed un-

E der

[66]

der the jaw-bone, which are always fwelied in
this diftemper, do not difcharge their lymph in-
to the mouth, as in man, but into the nof-
tril ; and that he conftantly found their obftruc-
tion agreed with the difcharge -, if one gland
only was affected, then the horfe difcharged
from one noflril only, but if both were, then
the difcharge was from both.

He fometimes, though rarely, found the
bony partition of the nofe carious and rotten ;
but that the fpongy bones about this part mull
fuffer from the acrimony of matter long pent
up, is not at all to be doubted, though the
more folid ones may efcape.

The feat of this diforder thus difcovered, our
author with great ingenuity has paved the way for
the cure, by trepanning thefe cavities, and taking
out a piece of bone, by which means the parts
affected may be warned, with a proper injection,
and, in line, the ulcers deterged, healed, and dried
up.

This operation he has performed on three
horfcs, one of whom difcharged from one nof-
tril only, and the third from both. The two
firft he trepanned on that fide of the head which
was affected ; and to the other he performed it
on both : and found that the wound and per-
foration filled up with good flefh in twenty-fix
days, and that the horfes fuffered no inconve-
nience from the operation. Though after this
experiment they were knocked on the head.

The

[ 67]
The directions and orders of the civil go-
vernment of France, which hindered people
from keeping glandered horfes long, prevented
M. la Foffe repeating his attempts, and pufhing
his experiments further ; but it is to be hoped
that fo ufeful a project will be purfued to its ut-
moft extent, as it feems fo promifing in the
execution, and is fo important in its confe-
quences: to which end we ihall beg leave to
animadvert upon what has been faid, and offer
our opinion both in relation to the difeafe, the
operation, andthe manner of conducting the cure.
The original fource and caufe then of this
diforder feems to be an inflammation of the
glands and membrane that lines the noflrils
and thefe cavities ; which if not difperfed in
time, will form matter and ulcerate and erode
the bones, for want of a free difcharge to un-
load the cavities ; and of proper applications
to cleanfe and deterge the ulcers : violent colds
or a feverifh tranflation fettling here, may alio
occafion the fame complaint, and are commoiv
ly the general caufes.

There is a diforder in men called Ozœna that
has great fimilitude to this in horfes, and arifes
often from an inflammation in the maxillary fi-
nufes, or cavity of the cheek-bones 5 from
whence enfues a collection of matter : which
when the cavity is full, or the head properly
inclined, runs over into the nofe, and would
constantly difcharge thence like a glandered
E 2 horfe

[68]

horfe was the head continued in the fame por-
tion. The iurgical cure is the taking out one
or more teeth from the upper-jaw, and perfo-
rating the cavity with a proper infiniment in
order to make a depending orifice for the matter
to flow through -, and to make way for fyring-
ing the parts affected with proper injections,
which in this cafe are thrown thro' the cavity
into the nofe.

The fimilarity of thefe two cafes, with the
method of cure, and the fuccefs attending the
furgical treatment, (which was firfl invented
by our countrymen Drake and Cooper) un-
doubtedly gave the firfl hint for trepanning
and fyringing thefe cavities in horfes : and it is
moft probable, that when the operation is at-
tempted in time, before the bones become rot-
ten, it will be attended with equal fuccefs ; but
after opening the cavities, mould it by probing
be difcovered that the bones are in that ftate,
the bell way then would be to difpatchthe horfe,
to prevent unneceffary trouble and expence.

The parts fixed on for applying the trepan
are pointed out in the plate, and the manner of
fawing out the bone will eafily be underflood by
a view of the initrument, and the explanation
annexed.

The perforations being made, our next bufi-
nefs is to prevent their filling up too fall : as it
may be necelTary to keep them open for fome
weeks, before a cure can be effected} for which

purpofe,

[%]

purpofe, after the ufe of the injection, let the
upper one be filled up with a piece of cork
waxed over and adapted exactly to its fize ; the
lower one may be filled up with a hollow lead-
en tent, and both kept on with a proper ban-
dage.

If this method mould not prevent the granu-
lations or moots of flefh, from filling up fo fall,
as to choak up the perforation, and by that
means hinder the injections paffing freely ; they
mud be fuppreffed by rubbing with cauftic me-
dicines, or touching with the actual cautery -,
as may alfo the bony edges ; which by obliging
them to exfoliate or fcale off, will retard the
healing.

The injections firft made ufe of mould be of
a deterfive nature ; as a decoction of birth -
wort, gentian, and centaury -, to a quart of
which, if two ounces of asgyptiacum, and
tincture of myrrh are added, it may be as
proper as any ; and when the difcharge is
obferved to abate, and the colour alter to
a thick white matter, the injection may
be changed for barley water, honey of rofes
and tincture of myrrh; and finally to dry
up the humidities, and recover the tone of the
relaxed glands, Bates's alum-water, or a folu-
tion of colcothar, vitriol, lapis medicamentofus,
or the like, in lime-water will mofl probably
complet the cure.

E 3 But

[ 70 ]

But whoever is at all acquainted with practi-
cal furgery, weli knows that without the afiift-
ance of internals, efpecially in glandular difor-
ders, the cure is not fo eafily effected, nor ren-
dered complete and lading -, I therefore advife a
ftrong decoction of guaiacum chips to be given
every day to a quart or three pints throughout
the cure, and when the matter leffens, to purge
at proper intervals and put a rowel into the
horle's cheft in order to divert the fluids from
their old channel.

If thefe fhould not fucceed, mercurials may
be given with the phyfic-, and the alterative
powders with lime-water may be taken for a
time, if the horfe is worth the expence. Vide
chap, on alteratives.

My treatife upon the glanders has been tranf-
lated into Englifh by Dr. Bracken, author him-
felf of feveral treatifes upon the difeafes of
horfes, and was alfo approved of by Mr. Bart-
let an Englifh furgeon. My difcovery made
upon this difeafe and my method of cure have
been approved of in England. But 1 ought to
declare that I have lead Mr. Bourgelat, author
of a book entitled Element d'Hyppiatrique into
an error, where I fpeak of the fublingual
glands, upon which he has expatiated with a
credulity that does me honour, for which he
has my thanks -, but unhappily it was a mif-
rake in me, for I acknowledged it fince, and re-
tracted

[ 7' ]

traded that opinion that horfcs have no glands
but under the fymphyfis of the chin. And I freely-
own that I called them fublingual glands very
improperly -, they are lymphatic glands that the
inflammation of the pituitary membrane caufes
to fwell, the canals of which after having
thrown off feveral ramifications pafs under the
maxillary gland and fixes under the parotid ;
from whence two large tubes iffue which ac-
company the trachea on each fide for its whole
length, and ends in the vena cava.

Mr. Bourgelat, a good anatomift, ought to
have known this error, and to conclude from
thencë, that he fhould not be in fo much hafte
to criticife as to approve.

E4 A ME«

T^^^^^^^^^r- S%?i7&f&ZF?FG%>CFS&l%?&: ë&Sg®

MEMOIR

PRESENTED TO THE

ROYAL ACADEMY of SCIENCES

November iS, 1750.

Upon a mcfl fpeedy and infallible remedy to flop
blood in large divided arteries 'without a liga-
ture.

IN order to flop the blood in accidental hae-
morrhages of the fmall vefTels, I had a no-
tion to try what effect the dufl of a certain
wild mufhroom, commonly called in France
VefTe-de-loup *, and botanically Lycoperdon,
could have upon great divided arteries ; in the
cafe of accidents in bleeding, and in performing
amputations of limbs ; I propofed therefore to
make my experiments on horfes.

Having chofen proper fubjects, I laid the
temporal artery bare in one, and di ided it
traniverfely half way -, the blood ftarted out

* In Englaod puff-balls.

with

[ 73 1

with great impetuofity -, I applied fome of this
duft of the puff-ball, which I confined to the
part, by only the palm of my hand, for about
twelve or fifteen minutes ; and the blood
flopped.

I pricked, in the fame manner, the artery in a
horfe's leg -, I drefîèd it with the fame duft, and
the blood Hopped in like manner.

I cut off the fore-leg of another horlè at its
upper part, near the thorax, and applied the
powder or duft to the (lump, without any
other dreffing than a bladder to keep it on,
and the blood flopped -, notwithftanding the
ftruggles of the horfe to relieve himfelf, for he
was thrown, in order to make the operation.

I afterwards cut off the tail of the fame horfe
at the place of its firft joint ; and the blood of
the four arteries flopped like the other cafes by
the fame treatment.

I caufed this horfe to be knocked on the
head on the fourth day after, and diffecled the
divided arteries -, when I found that a mem-
branous inclofure was formed, which was half
tranfparent and exactly flopped their orifices,
the center of each of which had a little grume
of blood like a nipple.

It muft be obferved here that as I examined
the flump of this horfe while he was yet alive, I
faw with great pleafure, the blood force againft
the faid inclofing membrane, which being up-
on the level with the fiefh, made it eafy for

me

[ 7+]
me to obferve very diftin&ly the extremity of
the artery by its pulfation.

Having feparated the flefh from the artery,
I flit it up longitudinally, and found that the
little grume of clear blood was of a firm con-
fiftence, of a lively red, in form of a cone or
fugar-loaf, the bafis of which adhered to the
little inclofing membrane which fhut up the
artery without -, the point of which floated in
the cavity of the reffel -, and I further found
the coats grown thicker at their extremities.

At length, in order to try whether the fuppu-
ration of the wound would not open the orifices
of the arteries again, which were juft flopped
up by the remedy, I let the firft horfe live,
which was the more vigorous of the two, un-
til a perfect fuppuration was eftablifhed, which
proved that it did not, in the leaft refpect, hin-
der the cicatrifing of the arteries.

EXTRACT

I 75]
EXTRACT of the REGISTERS

OF THE

Royal Academy of Sciences,
December 23, 1750.

TH E Sieur la FofTe, Farrier to the king's
fiables, in the lafl memoir he prefented
to the academy, aflerts, 1. That by applying
the powder or dufl of the lycoperdon or puff-
balls to very confiderable divided arteries in horfes
the blood was flopped in a few minutes ; and the
arteries cicatrifed by this means alone, without
any fucceeding haemorrhage.

2. That about twenty hours after the appli-
cation of this remedy, a membrane, or rather a
pellicule, or thin fkin, was obfervsd to cover
the extremity of the divided artery, with a
fmall grume which fhut up the mouth of the
fame artery.

3. That the pulfation of the artery was very
diftinctly perceived in the place.

4. That this grume was fhaped like a cone,
the bafis of which flopped up the orifice of the
divided veffel, and the point was turned inward
in the veffel .

Thefe

[76]

Thefe are the fads which the academy or-
dered us to confider and verify. In order to
try the experiment we caufed M. la FofTe to cut
oft the tail of a mare as near the root as he
could, the blood flew out of the four arteries
with great force ; he applied this puff-ball pow-
der to the flump with a cap of a pig's bladder
to keep it on ; he took off this dreffing in a
quarter of an hour, and three of the arteries
were flaunched, but the fourth continued to
bleed very fail ; and by applying a pinch of
the powder to the bleeding artery, which he
kept to it only with his finger, the blood was
aJfo flopped in this veffel in fix minutes.

He cut off the leg of another horfe about
ten inches above the knee ; and as the arteries
did not bleed, he handled them for half a quar-
ter of an hour in order to force them, but to no
piirpofe : however he applied the powder fecur-
cd by a pledget and proper bandage ; and there
was not any bleeding for three days after, al-
though the horfe had moved himfelf very much,
and was often put to pain after the operation.
The horfe was ordered to be killed, and hav-
ing opened the principal artery of the flump
longitudinally, we found a body of a conic fi-
gure about four fingers breadth above the ex-
tremity, the bafé of which adhered flrongly all
round to the internal coat of the artery, its
other extremity turned inward into the veffel ;
when this conic body was macerated in water,

k

t 77 ]

ic appeared very diftinctly to be a kind of mem-
branous fack, like a funnel filled with blackifa
grumous blood : the internal convex furface of
the lack, mewed, in tufts, a great number of
granulations like thofe of a wound beginning
to incarn -, as to the reft, all that interval of
the artery comprehended within the place
where the fack adhered to the divided extremity
was filled with grumes of lymph and blood,
without any regular order or figure, which had
neverthclefs fome adhefions to the artery. In
this cafe, the matter does not exactly anfwer
the Sieur la Fofle's narrative; but there is the
greateft reafon to fuppofe that the agitations of
the horfe after the amputation, had interrupted
the efforts of nature to form the grume -, and
indeed this obfervation ought to be looked up-
on as an exception to thofe we mail give the
following account of.

In eight days after the amputation of the tail
of a young mare, there appeared no manner of
haemorrhage ; and when we directed M. la Folïa
to cut off the thigh of the fame mare, about
ten inches above the ham, the blood fpurted
out with great rapidity from feveral arteries ;
and in order to try whether an application of
armenian. bole would not flop it as well as the
puff-ball powder, we armed a pledget with the
bole, and applied it, fecuring it with a proper
bandage-, two hours and a half after, though
the animal had not ftirred3 the blood dill iffued
3 out 5

[ 7« ]

out ; the drefiings were taken off, and then the
blood fprung out with great force -, the
aforefaid powder of the lycoperdon was ap-
plied, which was gently confined by his
hand only, for fix minutes, when upon taking
away his hand, the crural artery only bled
through the layer of powder upon the ftump ;
but this little ftream was two thirds fmaller
than before, by the application, but it grew no
bigger though let alone for fix minutes longer ;
then the Sieur la FofTe applied a pinch of the
powder to that little ftream, which he held on
with his finger about four minutes longer, and
the bleeding was flopped. In its place a little
elevation was very clearly obferved, pufhing
and retiring fuccefiively, and exactly corre-
fponding with the arterial pulfation. This ob-
fervation lafted a quarter of an hour, without
the leafl haemorrhage from any part -, the ftump
was then dreffed up with pledgets of tow, and
three days after we obferved at the extremity
of the artery a grume which plug'd up the
orifice, and over the grume a white tranfparent
fkin -, when this veffel was opened longitudi-
nally, we obferved the grume intire as it was -, it
was formed into a cone, the bafe of which was to
the divided end of the artery, which it clofed
exactly, the point or apex being turned inward,
and was elongated like a ftilet floating in the
arterial tube. The bafis projected about a line

beyond

3

[79]

beyond the extremity of the artery, and was
fungous and rounded like a nipple, and cover-
ed with granulations like the little membranous
lack mentioned before. The point had a fmooth
furface, and was nearly equal to the internal
furface of the artery in confidence ; the middle
part, which might be called the body of the
grume, was more red than the extremities,
which had but a very faint tincture of the fame
colour : but it was firm, and was fo ftrongly at-
tached to the artery, that we could not pull them
afunder without tearing, and leaving a consi-
derable quantity of its fubftance behind, which
conftituted one body with the veifel. We or-
dered another amputation of a horfe's fhoulder,
and every thing anfwered in the fame manner,
as in the former experiment, except in a few
trivial circumftances ; which feemed indeed to
depend only upon the horfe's having died twenty
fix hours after the amputation : the grume in
this cafe was redder at the extremities, fhorter,
and lefs folid, nor did it adhere fo firmly to the
artery : but it is very plain that it wanted only
the horfe's living two days longer to have been
exactly parallel to the former cafe.

From what has been laid down, it may be
concluded that the Sieur la Foffe has advanced
nothing but the truth ; we agree, however, that
the ufe of this powder of the puff-balls for
flopping of blood was not wholly unknown,
but it is not certain that the blood which the

moil

[ So]

molt confiuerable arteries could discharge, was
ever attempted to be flopped by this remedy-
before, which it did in the ipace of fix minutes -,
this author's explanation of the formation of the
grume, differs from that of Monf. Petit, it
opens to philofophers an opportunity of making
ufeful difcoveries upon this iubjed:, or at leaft
fuch as are very curious -, figned

Bernard de Jussieu, and Bouvart.

JT certify that the prefent extracl is conformable
to its original and to the opinion of the Academy.
Paris Feb. i, 1750. Signed Gkaud]!. au de Fou-
chy, perpetual fecretary to the Royal Academy of
Sciences.

A NEW

n.

A NEW

METHOD

O F

SHOEING

BOTH

COACH and SADDLE-HORSES,

In order to render them more fecure upon their feet
at all times , upon even the fmoothejt pavements.

EVERY country has its different method
of fhoeing horfes -, but as I do not intend
to make a critical examination into either the er-
rors or perfections of their methods, I lhall on-
ly give a fhort account of the practice of lèverai
countries, that the reader himfelf may judge
how nearly the method of fhoeing in our time
comes to perfection, or how far from it,

F In

[ 82 ]

In Pruflia they only fhoe before and not be-
hind.

In Germany they fhoe both before and be-
hind -, and commonly put three cramps upon
each lhoe.

In France they cramp them only behind.

In England the fhoes have no cramps either
before or behind, and the fhoes are thin, broad,
and have very ftrong heels in order to hinder
the frog's bearing upon the ground.

In Spain the heels of the fhoes are thin, and
partly diminifhed upon the heels of the horfe.

In Turky the horfe's heels and foles are co-
vered with a plate which ferves them inftead
of fhoes, wherein they contrive an opening
to let part of the frog come through. All thefe
feveral kinds are represented in the fourth
table.

As" to the manner of paring the foot, it only
differs according to the greater or lefs quantity
of the foles being taken off.

It muft, however, be obfcrved, with refpecl
to the cramps, that our anceftors put them on
the fore-feet; though there is no treatife that
makes any mention of it-, but over the dcor of
the church of St. Severin there is a number of
fhoes fixed to the wall with two cramps on each,
which were certainly the fhoes before the laft age.
Some of chemhad been worn and others not, but
it is plain they were thofe in ufe at that time.

Fox

[H]

For feveral years paft the method of cramps
have been left off, inflead of which ftrong heels
have been brought into ufej but the more
able farriers perceiving the abufe of fuch, now
keep the heels equal to the reft of the fhoe.

Every nation thought themfelves right, and
believe fo flill ; nor will any of them change
the manner of fhoeing. The foreigners who
are lovers of horfes, and who come into this
kingdom, are a ftrong proof of this-, for almoft
all of them bring with them a farrier of their
own country ; being ftrongly of opinion that
their methods are preferable to ours.

But we are pretty even with them in our opi-
nions of them, for we generally ufe the fame
precaution when we travel into their coun-
tries.

It muft not be fuppofed that the difference
of the ground, caufes any manner of difference
in the methods of fhoeing, which I have fome-
times heard mentioned as a caufe -, for we daily
fee here horfes fhod in the Englifh, German,
and Spanifh manner, and yet go upon our
ground neither better nor worfe than thofe fhod
in the French method -, but only that this prac-
tice is fcarce better in one country than ano-
ther, and that in all places it is rather a matter
of fancy and cuftom than of confideration and
reafon.

It appears to me that the cuftom of fhoeing

horfes was a good one, and even neceffary up-

F 2 Qn

[ '4 ]

on a pavement, but it is upon their form and the
manner of fetting them on, that not only the
prefervation of the foot, but alfo the fafety of
their legs, and the eafe of their motions depend.

And in effect, the more eafy our fhoes fet
upon us, the more active we are ; fo a large,
long, thick Ihoe ought to have the fame effecl;
upon horfes, that wooden fhoes have upon us,
that is, make them heavy, unweildy, and
hobling.

Let us now obferve the going, as well as the
external and internal ftructure of a horfe's foot.

The horfe who draws, preffes firft upon the
toe, then fuccefiively upon the fides, to eafe
the toe -, and then the horfe's heel yields upon
the heel of the ihoe, from which it immediately
rifes again.

The laddie or pack-horfe places the toe but
lightly ; which is the only difference in their
going ; fo that in both cafes, the point of fup-
port is fixed neither upon the heel nor toe, but
between both ; which it is eafy to demonftrate
anatomically, figure the firft, plate III.

The canon- bone 3. preffes upon the paftern 4.
this upon the coronary 5. the coronary upon
the coffin or foot- bone 6. and upon the nut-
bone 3. fig. 2.

By this difpofition of the bones, we mould
obferve two efiential things, which lay open
the faults in the prefent method of fhoeing,
and point out the means of being able to re-
medy
I

[85 ]

medy them for the future : one is that the effort
of the weight of a horfe does not bear either
upon the toe or the heel, but on the middle be-
tween both ; the other fhews that the greater
the diftance of the fole from the ground, or
from whatfoever point of fupport, the more the
pufhing of the coronary-bone upon the nut-
bone, will fatigue the nerve or tendon upon
which it refis, by the inordinate diftenfion it
undergoes at every ftep the horfe takes *.

We find therefore that in our prefent method,
a long fhoe is not only perfectly nfelefs, but it is
even very prejudicial -, in the firfl place it will be
lefs folid •,— — fecondly, the horfe's heels coming
to fink upon thofe of the fhoes, the longer the
lever, the greater will be the drag upon the
clinches of the nails at the toe ; and we often
fee horfes, having long fhoes, flrike them off
in walking upon the befl ground.

They often alfo lofe their fhoes in fliff or
tough clay, for they are apt to flick the fafler
for being fo long.

Again when the fhoe-heel happens between
two pavement flones, the fhoe comes off.

The fame thing very often happens when
they pafs into the doors of coach houfes, which
have commonly bars of iron along the thre-
fhold.

An old colonel of horfe told me that horfes

* See the anatomical plates, which {hew the ftrufture of
a horfe's foot.

F 3 very

[ 86]

very frequently lofe their fhoes in pafllng over
the draw-bridges of fortified towns, becaufe
they are ftrengthened with crofs parallel iron-
bars. He feemed convinced of the convenience
of the new method cf fhoeing I propofe.

Horfes frequently too knock off their fhoes
by hitting the toe of the hind-foot upon the
heel of the fore-fhoe when they trot, efpecially
when they are too apt to over-reach ; and alfo
lofe them by happening to put one foot upon
another, while in the fiable, from the length of
the fhoe.

The longer a fhoe is, and the more it covers
the fole, the more liable the horfe will be to
fall, trip, and hobble in his walk -, particular-
ly if he goes upon a pavement, becaufe the
furface being formed of round parts, and the
fhoe having a large uniform hard face, he can
fcarce have above two or three points of fup-
port.

The Englifli who pradtife this kind of fhoeing
take care therefore not to bring their horfes upon
a flat pavement without an abfolute necefli-
ty. The length of the fhoe caufes yet another
ill accident to fome horfes, which they (eel all
their lives -, and it is to thofe efpecially that lie
down as a cow ufually does ; for in this pofture
the fore-legs are fo bent under them backward,
as that the heels of the fhoes wound their elbows,
and caufe a kind of abfcefs in the part.

It

[87 1

It is thought that ftrong fhoe-heels are an
eafe to the weak heels and fetlocks of horfes,
as if the body of the fhoe was flexible enough
to yield to the horfe's heel, and under this no-
tion, they raife the fhoe-heel, and leave a va-
cant fpace between that and the horfes's heel.

Neverthelefs the direct contrary happens.

i . It is the hoof that by its flexibility yields
to the fhoe-heel, which is quite inflexible.

2. The thicker the fhoe-heel is, and the more
fubject that of the horfe is to meet it.

3. Inftead of being eafed, the horfe's heel be-
comes more comprefTed, becaufe it has always
the fame point of fupport.

Let us but remember what I have faid above
concerning the horney fole -, that it is from the
flefhy fole it receives its nourifhment -, that its
connection and juicy parts confift in its thick-
nefs -, and that it hardens, and receives lefs nou-
rifhment in proportion as it is thinned. We
even fee horfes grow lame by the habit of paring
the fole.

The air, when it is in this thin ftate, pene-
trates and dries it to fuch a degree, that if
when a horfe Hands dry, they neglect moiflening
his feet, they contract, and comprefs the flefhy
fole, fo as to lame the animal.

But let us go on: what dangers does not a

horfe run, when his fole is almoft gone by be*

ing pared too clofe ? if he fhould happen to

tread upon flumps, pieces of bottles, or nails,

F 4 they

[88 ]

they will cafily penetrate to the flefhy fole,
lame the horfe for a confiderable time, and
ibmetimes for his life.

Suppofe a horfe lofes a (hoe, which often
happens, when his foot's but newly pared ; he
cannot go an hundred paces before he grows
lame ; becaufe, as in this ftate the fole is hol-
lowed away, the horfe is fuftained only upon
the walls of the hoof, which having no alîift-
ance of fupport from the horny fole, is imme-
diately worn and battered by the weight of the
horfe's body -, and the fooner he treads upon
any hard fubftance, the fooner he grows quite
lame.

But this cannot happen to a horfe, whofe fole
is left intire in its full ftrength ; for when the
fhoe happens to fall off, the fole and frog bear
upon the ground, eafe the walls of the hoof of
part of the weight of the body, and the horfe
thus unfhod, will purfue his journey, and come
in fafe and found.

It is molt certain that all horfes, except fuch as
have their feet overgrown j or fuch as may have
a particular occafion of being fhod topreferve the
fole, may, at any rate, go without lhoes ; and
we have examples among ourfelves, (without
mentioning the cuftoms of Arabia, or Tartary)
of horfes who are at daily work in the country,
without the leaft need of being ever fhod. But
as we employ all our care and addrefs to hol-
low the foot by paring it even to the quick ;

and

[*9]

and to form an exact fine frog, in ftiort fuch an
one as, we fay in France, is neatly put out of
hand, it is abfolutely neceflary to fet fhoes on
them.

I therefore warn all lovers of horfemanfhip to
fecure their horfes, as much as may be, from
the perfection of fuch work. Perhaps it may
be afked what becomes of the horny fole if it
be not pared ? they may be afraid of its be-
coming too large by its growing ; not at all, for
in proportion as it grows, it dries, fcales, and
falls off in flakes.

Again if the horny fole be left intire, there
would be no fear of thofe inflammations, arifmg
from the dangerous comprenions mentioned in
this treatife. For by its connection, thicknefs,
and flexibility, as well as its contexture, it
would feem to be wholly deftined, by nature,
to ferve as a cufhion to the flefhy fole and ten-
don which reft upon it ; in order to break the
violent fhocks of a pavement, ftone, or any
kind of flump, &c.

There is a fact which we mufl alfo be convinc-
of, and that is, that a horfe very feldom goes
eafy, or efcapes being foon jaded, if the frog
does not bear upon the ground ; and as it is the
only point of fupport to the tendon; if you keep
it at any diftance from the ground by paring it
away, an inordinate diftenfion will happen to
the tendon, caufed by the preffure of the corona-
ry-bone upon the nut-bone (as we have faid

already)

[ 90}

already) which diftenfion being repeated at
every ftep he goes, tires it, and caufes an in-
flammation, whence proceed relaxation, de-
fluxions and tendinous fwellings, efpecially after
longjournies or hard riding. Thefe accidents
proceed lefs from the length of the journey which
is the common notion than from the bad cuftom
of paring the fole.

Thecommon methods of fhoeing have another
general inconvenience upon journies ; which is that
fand and gravel get in, and are ground between
the fole and fhoe, and again between the horfe's
heels and thofe of the fhoe -, and not coming
out again readily, they caufe comprenions, in-
flammations, and at length a collection of mat-
ter which putrifles and ruins the cartilage,
forming in this latter cafe, callous horny ex-
crefcences, and in the former bruifes and com-
prenions of the fole.

Thefe laft accidents are alfo very often the
effects of a (tone's being wedg'd in between
the fhoe heels -, and although this is foon per-
ceived becaufe the horfe fuddenly goes lame,
yet in endeavouring to knock it out, you run
the chance of either hurting and laming the
horfe, or ftriking off the fhoe.

Let this circumftance be well attended to,
that the more a horfe's foot is pared, the more
he is expofed to the danger of meeting fuch ac-
cidents : It is in the firft place, depriving him
of the defence provided by nature againft hard

fharp

[CM]

fharp bodies, which he may chance to tread up-
on -, and in the fécond place of a more impor-
tant advantage both for his own, as well as his
rider's fake, which is, that in not paring away
the fole, nor fetting on any more fhoe than is
neceffary to preferve the horny fole, he will no
more be fubject to flip, neither upon the win-
ters icy pavement, nor upon the dry fmooth
one of the fummer feafon, which I (hall now
proceed to demonstrate.

i. In making a horfe walk upon the frog
and partly upon the heel, the former being
ftrongly rubbed and pufhed againft the ground
or pavement, as it were, imprefTes itfelf, by
the weight of the horfe's body into the inequali-
ties and interfaces, it happens to meet in its way.

2. By its flexibility it eafily receives the im-
preffions of fuch inequalities, fo as that the foot
refting upon a great many more parts which
mutually eafe it, by multiplying the points of
fupport, gives the animal a flronger adherence
and more fecurity upon the plane he goes upon.
It may even be afferted, that the frog acquires
a kind of fenfation, by its correfpondence with
the flefhy fole, and of this with the nerve j
which though I will not compare it with what
we feel in going barefoot -, yet this fenfation is
fully fufficient to give him proper warning of
the counterpoife he ought to put his body into,
for maintaining his equilibrium to keep himfelf

from {tumbling and falling.

The

F 9*]

. The end and denVn of moeing horfes could
not have been aimed at upon any other c-
ca, .'it, by whomfoever firft put in practice,
but as a prefervative and defence for the hoof
as well as the fole ; but he could not think at
the fame time that it was neccffary to pare away
what he wanted to preferve by the ufe of the
fhoes, I will not even fay to that excefs that
we ufe in paring them, but not at all ; becaufe
that would be to act contrary to his firft prin-
ciple, and deftroy his own work.

This precaution could never be recommended
but in cafes where the horny fole is uneven, in-
fomuch that the fhoe could not bear equally
upon it -, which would take off" from its necef-
fary firmnefs -, in fuch a cafe it may be rcafon-
able, otherwife it would be very abfurd.

I have often fpoke to fuch lovers of horfe-
manfhip as take great care to have their hories
feet well pared ; but none of them could give
me any demonftration either of the neceffity or
propriety of it. But at length convinced by
my reafons againft it, I never could have any
fatisfaction from them, but that it was an efta-
blilhed cuftom, and that it muft be allowed to
be by far the mod genteel method.

I will offer but one word more upon this per-
nicious practice, which is, that the greater part
of the farriers, ».i order to pare their horfes the
neater, pufh the buttrefs even to the very

blood,

C 93 1
blood, and then in order to flop it, have re-
courfe to a red hot iron.

When this operation is finifhed he returns
lame to the fiable : the owner afks the rfeafon
of it, but cannot be informed, becaufe both
farrier and groom are either equally ignorant, or
rather equally difcreet upon this article.

I will venture to fay, as a fact, that if a horfe
lofes fhoes ten times a day, a farrier will as of-
ten pare his foot, fo excefTively obftinate is the
cuflom, and fo pofitively thought neceffary by
the generality of the farriers.

I do not take upon me to inveigh againft
able and fkilful farriers, I have refpect for thefe,
and do them all the juftice imaginable ; I only
ftrike at that ignorance alone, which has re-
duced a method of fhoeing, which is in itfelf
fimple, eafy and ufeful, in its principle -, to a
work which is pernicious in its ufe, and meerly
a mark of dexterity and neatnefs in its execu-
tion.

From what has hitherto been faid, it is plain
that our kind of fhoeing, and the manner of
our application of it, far from being ferviceable
to horfes, ruins, fatigues, and renders them
unweildy and hobling -, expofes them to ftreet
nails, makes them take up their limbs aukward-
ly, fubjecls them to comprenions of the fole,
callous excrefcences, tender- footednefs, and ob-
ftrudtions and fwellings of the tendon. But by a
new manner of fhoeing, which will make them

more

[94]

more alert and agreeable in their going, we
mall be able to prevent the crowd of accidents
mentioned ; and it is from its Simplicity, and
the great eafe of performing it, that all its ad-
vantages arife.

I cannot but wonder others have never
thought of it before, and I have, indeed, ibme
difficulty to perfuade myfelf, that I am the in-
ventor -, and I am more ready to believe, that it
is no more than copying that which was prac-
tifed by the firft artift, who thought of fetting
fhoes on horfes.

If I am right in my fufpicion, its having
been forgotten, proves nothing againft its per-
fection •, becaufe neither a good nor bad method
has any more right the one than the other, to
fix our inclination from varying. We grow
weary of every thing -, and one, in order to im-
prove upon the other, has invented fhoes of
different forms, lengths, and thickneffes, to
which he has been fure to attribute many ufe-
ful properties. The world, more credulous
than well inftructed, are eafily convinced, and
from hence fprung the ufe offome long fhoes,
others thick, others with cramps, at length
others with thick ftrong heels, and in fine,
others with thin ones. It is not unlikely that
if the poor animals themfelves were able to give
their opinions, nothing of all this would be
put in execution ; they would be kept to their
antient method of being fhod, which being in-
vented

[95 1

vented to preferve the hoof, had certainly none
of the inconveniencies that attend our prefent
method.

In order to give a ftriking example of this,we
need only to obferve a draught- horfe, when he
draws a loaded cart, at a time when the pave-
ment happens to become flippery -, we fhall fee
the pain and torment the poor animal fuffers,
his feet having no purchafe, he attempts in
vain, to claw the pavement -, every flep is a
flip, for which he is often whipt without de-
ferring it ; the back, breaft, moulders, legs,
and all are {trained, all upon the rack -, to
which may be added, the perpetual fear of the
whip, at every falfe ftep he makes upon a pave-
ment, which it is impofîible to draw a load up-
on ; under thefe circumftances the horfe fuffers
more in one league, than if had drawn ten
leagues upon the road ; the foundering, inflamed
lungs, fevers, and every other accident of a drain-
ed horfe are the confequences, -yhich are often
attributed toother caufes : but what is dill more
dreadful, that the very worft jades do not fufrer
fo much as the befl horfes, who put all their
ftrength forward, and yet are not the more
fpared for their willingnefs.
: I Ihouldnot omit mentioning here, that one of
the principal reafons that determined me to feek
a means of reforming the old manner of Ihoeing,
was the difficulty that horfes have to keep their
feet upon the pavement of Paris in a very dry
2 feafon *

[g6]

feafon ; the more elegant the pavement of this
capital is, which is wonderfully kept in repair,
and the more advantageous to the citizens, the
more prejudicial it is to the horfes. And the
ofterier the pavement is fwept the more eafily
it grows flippery, and the more thefe animals
are expofed to dangers. But above all we muft
without controul yield to what is convenient to
men, and accommodate the arts to them, which
made me think of this new method, I proceed
to propofe.

A TRAIN

[97]

THE

Manner of Shoeing.

^nr^ H E fole nor frog muft never be pared,
-*- for the reafons given before ; we ought
to be content with only taking down the edge
of the hoof, as ufual, if it be thought too long j
and then to fet on a fhoe in form of a half-
moon *5 thinning the heels, and making them a
little longer for fuch horfes as have weak hoofs ;
for when the feet are good they muft only reach
the middle of the hoof.

Eight fmall nails made in the old way, that
is, having very fmall heads, are incrufted in the
holes which are made, as the head is, in an ob-
long form -, the figures both of the fhoe and
nail are to be feen in the fourth plate.

This is the whole of the myftery ; I own
this method does not feem to be in tafte -, it is
even a general reproach which they who make
the trial for the firft time offer me. But the
greater part of thofe who have tried this way3
continue it, they find it fo advantageous.

As to the reft, if the reader does not find
my reafons fufficient to convince him of the
* See the plate of the fhoes.

G imper-

[ 9« ]

imperfection of the common method of (hoe-
ing, and of the advantage of the new way, I
refer him to making the experiment ; afluring
him he is very much miftaken, if he takes all
I have faid, for a fimple project, which would
have no other merit than to have been formed
from a meer rational theory. I aflert to him that
my notions have more folidity, and that in
praiflng my new method of fhoeing, I declare
nothing but a fact a long time ago put in ex-
ecution, and confirmed by practice.

The marquis de L. O *** colonel of horfe,
and a lover of horfes, to whom I mentioned
this new way of ihoeing in October 1753,
knowing the ftructure of a horfe's foot, told
me he thought it an ufeful and good way, and
that he had a mind to have his horfes mod fo ;
in fhort he had it done, and tried it upon
fmooth pavements as well as upon ice -, and
although the roads were almoft impaflable this
year 1754, his horfes never Humbled; and he
recommended to me to go on with the fame
method.

I have fhod in this manner for a great num-
ber of houfes in Paris ; the firft effay was made
upon my own horfe, who draws my carriage
to this day ; he ufed to flip frightfully in go-
ing, though he was mod with cramps all round.
But as foon as I had mod him in my new way,
he became as fure footed, as if he always
walked upon good ground. I even proved in

the

[99]
thelaftfroft, oflaft winter, that the fame horfe,
being mod in this manner and only two frofl
nails at the toe went firm and lure even upon the
ice.

i . I have obferved before that all kinds of
fhoeing went well upon every fort of ground ;
it is necefTary however, to mention a word or
two more about it.

In the German fhoeing, the fafhion is to
have two cramps to each lhoe -, and is only fit
for going upon the ice ; upon all other grounds
it is hurtful to the legs, which are raifed up,
as if upon ftilts.

2. The Spanifh method hurts the horfes heels
by the length of the lhoe they fet on, and with
which they confine the heels upon the two
quarters of the horfe's heel, which joins the co-
ronet, in fuch a manner that the foot becomes
tormented and preffed fo as not to be capable
of fpreading, which makes almoft all the Spa-
nifh horfes grow narrow heeled.

3. The Englifh manner of fnoeing is to keep
the fhoe-heels large and high in order to fave
the frog -, by this means they deprive them of
the liberty of going with eafe upon a pave-
ment ; becaufe the fhoe does not bear upon the
level, and produces an effect like that of a pi-
vot, upon the middle of the fhoe-heels and the
vault or hollow.

4. The Turkifh horfes have alfo a great deal
to do to keep themfelves fafe upon a pave-
ment, becaufe the ihoe covers all the foot.

G 2 5. The

[ loo ]

5- The French method of moeing has the
fault I obferved before, of making their fhoes
too long ; of paring the feet and fetting on one
cramp on each fhoe behind, which makes them
go fideling ; it would be better that they had two
cramps to each fhoe, but they make but one
for fear the horfe mould go lame -3 I allow that
cramps are ufeful, efpecially in defcents, and
in backing, but this cramp in a few days is
worn, it flips upon a pavement, and has no ef-
fect but jufl when it is new -, again, does not
the pavement alfo wear, while the flones grow
convex in the middle, and make it flip from
one to another, having no hold nor purchafe
between both ?

It is therefore very effential to leave off the
cramps and to fhoe the horfe in fuch a manner
that the frog may bear upon the ground, in or-
der to enable him to flop fhort, and make him
more fure-footed than with cramps : the frog
will ferve horfes to go upon the fmooth pave-
ment, as felts enable men to go upon the
ice.

It muft be owned that the French method of
fhoeing is the beft and mod folid of all for
flat-feet.

As to thofe horfes who have tumors within the
feet, and fiiTures without, or weak quarters,
they muft be (hod in the femilunar manner ; that
is, fo as that the outer- heel of the fhoe may be
fomethjrig longer, the inner very fhort, in order to
i prevent

[ *» ]

prevent the weights bearing upon the affected
or painful part; there are lèverai expedients
which produce the fame effect; we may even
think of many others, for it is the bufmefs of
the artift; but to this time I know of none bet-
ter, more ready, nor more certain, than the half
moon fhoe.

I wifh for the benefit of fociety that my at-
teftation and experience were convincing enough
to caufe a reformation in a pernicious practice,
which is fubject to fuch great inconveniencies ;
it would be the moil agreeable recompence I
could defire.

This is what I had to fay upon this new
method of fhoeing ; there are already fome of
my fraternity who practife it ; and many gentle-
men of knowledge approve of it, and all I have
done myfelf in it for fix months, confirms to me
more and more that it is a good method ; yet I
every day bear many contradictions from all ranks
of people ; fome condemn it from prejudice, others
thro' ignorance, and others thro malice. Some
farriers, and feveral coachmen and grooms are
againft this method ; I therefore think it my du-
ty, to anfwer in a few words, all the objections
which have come to my knowledge about it.

Gbj£C

[ 102 ]

Objection I.

They fay that this kind of flioeing will caufe
drains, bruifes, and other ailments in the
heel.

Answer. I have already demonftrated that
the fhoe- heels never yield as was thought -, that
the weight of the horfe forces the hoof to come
upon the fhoe- heel -, by which the horfe's-heel
is bruifed, as if in a prefs ; and confequently
having the fhoe- heels fhort, he will be lefs fub-
je£t to thefe diforders by this fhort fhoeing,
becaufe the horfe's-heel will but lightly touch
the pavements, bearing the weight of the body
intirely upon the middle of the foot, and upon
the frog.

'&•

Objection II.

Some pretend the horfe's-heel wears away.

Answer. To prove without reply, that this
is falfe, that the heel can never be worn to the
quick, and that its fubftance is of fuch a nature
as to grow more than it wears ; it is that we are
obliged to take it down every time we fet on a
fhoe : but it is only in fuch horfes as have the
heels ftrong.

Objec-

[ i03 ]

Objection III.

It is faid that I never open the heel, and that
that is the caufe of diforders.

Answer. There arethree forts of diforders, the
firft comes from a ftrain ; to which I have anfwer-
ed, the fécond from not opening the heel well ;
but when ever I fee them difpofed that way, I
pare them, leaving the frog in its full ftrength ;
and the third fort proceeds from the natural ftruc-
ture of the foot ; and in this cafe whether the foot
be pared or not, they will equally come on.

Objection IV.

They fay that the frog ought to be fatigued,
becaufe the horfe goes upon it.

Answer. I could rigoroufly appeal for this
to experience : no horfe fhod in this new me-
thod has to this day fhewed the leaft fign of
the fatigue of the frog, or of its fenfibility;
and I even do not believe that any one can fay
he ever faw horfes lamed, having old fhoes
on, for having travelled upon the frog ; and
it will be feen that it is fcarce poflible, when
we reflect upon the whole particular ftructure
of this part as I have given it in this work. It
is a foft, fpongy, flexible fubftance, which by
its natural elafticity yields to the weight of the
G 4 body

[ 104 ]
body the inftant the horfe prefTes his foot againft
the pavement, and immediately recovers again.
There is, however, a cafe wherein a horfe
may become lame, by going upon the frog ;
but which never was objected to me -, which is
when it is hard and dry. The obfervation and
anatomy of the foot have fhewed me that it may
caufe lamenefs, becaufe the horfe in bearing
upon the ground forces this hard part againft
the expanfion of the tendon which is attached
to the foot bone, and the horfe may become
lame from the great fenfibility of this part : but
if I take off the little end of the frog with the
buttrefs, he ought not to be lame.

Objection V.

It is faid the frog will be more fubject to
have fpongy excrefcences.

Answer. That happens only to fuch horfes
as are full of humours -, and if there appears any
difpofition towards it, the frog may be pared,
and the horfe will go upon his heels, if they
be ftrong, as fafely, upon a fmooth pave-
ment.

Objection VI.

They fay the nerve is wearied, that is, that
the Tendo Achillis is ftretched or dragged ;
and fuffers by this mort fhoeing, becaufe the
frog bears upon the ground.

Answer. It is juft the very contrary.

Let

[ io5 ]

Let us obferve the effects of the weight of
the body upon the Tendo Achillis in the fol-
lowing circumftances.

If a horfe be mod with cramps, then there
is a great diftance between the frog and the
pavement : the weight of the body bears upon
the cramps -, the frog which is now free in the
air yields downwards, the tendon is ftretched,
and if the horfe makes a fudden violent, motion,
the rupture of the tendon is almoft inevitable :
becaufe the frog cannot reach the ground
to eafe the tendon, to which it ought to be the
point of fupport-, if the tendon is not ruptured,
yet the horfe will be lame a long time after,
becaufe of the great diftenfion of the fibres
which were fo much upon the ftretch as to be
near breaking.

If we fet on fhoes with only ftrong heels,
the frog is not fo high from the ground j the
weight of the body may indeed force the frog
to touch the middle of a paved (lone, and
thereby prevent the great diftenfion of the ten-
don ; but as the thicknefs of thefe heels hinders
the fubftance of the frog to bear upon the
ground, to yield and reftore itfelf as much as
it is capable of by its natural elafticity, the
tendon muft fnap, by any violent and fudden
fpring, every other circumftance being equal.

But if a horfe is fhod without fhoe-heels,
the frog which bears all the horfe's weight
gives way at every ftep, and by ic^ elafticity is
reftored to its natural ftate ; the tendon is never

dragged

[ io6]

dragged or {trained -, its fibres will not be fuf-
ceptible of any violent diftenfion, in cafe of
any fudden violent motion.

I dare affirm before hand that a rupture of
the tendon will never happen upon the middle
of a paved ftone ; and if it ever mould, it could
only be ruptured in the interftice between two
of thefe paved (tones. From what I have faid,
two things plainly appear : that all the different
degrees of violence that one can imagine from
its total rupture, to the molt flight diftraction
of its fibres that can lame a horfe, may happen
to the tendon -, and that it is upon the frog alone
that all thefe degrees depend, as it is more parti-
cularly laid down in the hiftory of the fracture
of the coronary- bone, and in the anatomy of a
horfe's foot.

Objection VII.

It is faid, the horfe will be more fubjecl: to
be injured by ftreet nails, and to other acci-
dents which proceed from pricking the flefhy
fole.

Answer. As in this method the foot is
not pared, the horny fole will always have its
full natural ftrength ; and confequently will be
lefs liable to be penetrated, than when it is made
extremely thin.

Objection VIII.
They fay that the horfe is not mod to be
cafy, that he goes in pain, and mult be lame.

Answer,

[ io7 ]

Answer. If the horfe goes uneafy, or is
lamed, it cannot happen from the fhoeing,
however fhort the fhoe may be ; if it be not
from the different accidents that often proceed
from the common methods of fhoeing, and
which may as well happen in the new way :
which are i . The foot being too much ftraiten-
ed ; 2. Accidental pricks: 3. The fhoe nails
may bind the enchannelled flefh too much. 4.
The fhoe may bear too much upon the fole.
5. When the fhoe heels prefs upon the weak
heels of the horfe. 6. When the fole is burnt.
7. Wounds of the flefhy fole made by the
buttrefs.

In my way of fhoeing I avoid four of thefe
accidents. 1. The heel is never drained, be-
caufe I put no part of the fhoe upon it : 2. I
prefer ve the fole intire, to which I never ufe
the buttrefs. 3. The flefhy fole can never be
burnt, nor wounded by the buttrefs, fince it
never is touched with it. Let the three other
accidents abovementioned be taken care of, and
I defy them to lame a horfe that has a good
foot, let the fhoe be never fo fhort.

Objection IX.

It is faid that the horfe is liable to lofe his
fhoes, becaufe they are fet on with only fmall
nails.

Answer. It is mod certain that a fhort

fhoe

[ >°8 ]

fhoe with fmall nails, will hold on better than
a long fhoe with large nails ; that it has lefs
weight ; that the lever is fhorter, which has yet
lefs weight of the fhoe, and by confequence it
flrains the clinches the lefs ; and does not di-
vide the hoof like a large nail. Moreover I
refer to the experiment. As to thofe who are
no friends to the new method of fhoeing, let
them only clinch the nails in a carelefs manner,
and the horfe will caft his fhoes, as they
pleafe.

Objection X.

It is faid that the horfes that are not mod
with cramps are mofl fubje<5t to flip.

Answer. I can affirm that the more dry
and more fmooth the pavement, and the more
the frog or horfes heel bears upon the ground,
the horfe will be the more fecure -, and he will
flip much lefs than if he had cramps ; even tho'
he goes down very fteep places, or backs
ftrongly. What is mofl: certain is, that the
Itû fhoe a horfe wears the lefs he flips, becaufe
if it were poffible he could do v/ithout any, he
would not at all be liable to flipping.

I do not, however, engage that the fhoeing
I propofe would have the fame effect upon a
moid or greafy pavement, or that the horfes will
hold on them fo fecurely, efpecially on the hind
feet -, I think indeed that large nails would in
fuch places be of ufe -, which might alfo happen
upon a flippery foil.

I have

[ io9 ]

I have obferved that the common fhoe wears
away almoft half more than that I propofe ; if
for example, I let on a fhoe of two pounds
weight, it will be half worn off by its fervice,
upon a pavement ; and the fame horfe going
the fame ground, and in the fame fpace of time,
if he is mod with the half- moon fhoe, it will
not be diminished above a third part : the fhoes
may be weighed before they are fet on, and af-
terwards, by which the truth of what I advance
may be judged of, and we mail be convinced
by that, that a horfe (hod according to my me-
thod, goes more lightly.

My new manner, which I repeat again, has
nothing but prejudice againfl it ; anatomy
which has taught me the Structure of the foot,
laid open to me all its advantages, and experi-
ence has confirmed them.

I hope, by the fequel, it will be more re-
li-fhed; and that they will return from a preju-
dice, which has no other foundation, than be-
ing an old cuftom ; as of a multitude of anci-
ent bad practices, which often turn out dan-
gerous or ufelefs, of which I think I ought to
give a fhort account for the good of fociety,
while the work I am about ferves to make
them the more public.

Error I.

I have feen a horfe whofe jugular vein was
divided, perifh by the ignorance of the opera-
tor,

[ no ]
tor, who not knowing the circulation of the
blood, made a ligature upon the lower part,
inftead of the upper-part of the vein from
whence the blood flowed ; and whilft he tried to
(top it in the part from which it did not flow,
the horfe died.

I faw the fame fault committed upon horfes
in whom the faphena was divided ; among
others upon one who died while they were
Hopping the vein, becaufe they made the liga-
ture above, inftead of making it below. Such
as are more timorous than ordinary ufually make
two ligatures and divide them in the middle ;
but there muft never be but one upon what-
foever vein.

Error II.

They Hop up veins for different caufes, un-
der a notion that they are the vehicles for cer-
tain humours i I faw the jugulars flopped up
in horfes, who became blind ; and that muft
be very prejudicial to every other part, becaufe
thereby they flop the courfe of the fluids. But
there is yet fomething more, which is, that I
am perfuaded that this operation, independent
of the accidents it occafions, is ever ufelefs, for
it is falfe that the veins carry any nourifhment to
the parts, for they ought to know that the ar-
teries do that office.

Error

Error III.

When horfes are foundered they flop the
circulation of the blood without knowing it,
with bands of ftraw, which they roll round the
legs before and behind, or with a ribbon, and
bind it very tight, for fear the difeafe fhould
defcend to the feet. I have feen horfes who
had gangrenes upon thefe parts, by fuch com-
prenions.

Error IV.

It is a very bad method to fufpend horfes
who cannot ftand on their feet ; for while they
leave them on the (lings a gangrene happens
where thefe prefs. The reafon of this is plain,
it is becaufe they flop the courfe of the fluids.

Error V.

There are fome who pretend that the gripes
in a horfe are caufed by the vives *, and in
order to cure it they open the maxillary glands
which they vulgarly call the Avives, and, by
this opening, often deftroy the maxillary ca-
nals which carry the faliva to the mouth j and
fometimes the fore becomes fiflulous, and the

* Swellings of the glands under a horfe's ears,

fluid

[ 112 ]

fluid is loft by this opening inftead of going to
the mouth, and deftroys the horfe.

Error VI.

There are ibme who take out the lampas -, I
have feen a horfe who bled to death after this
operation, for they were never able to flop the
blood.

They perform this operation under a notion
that this production of the roof of the mouth
is preternatural : they burn out one or two of
the ridges of the roof, which they call the bean
or lampas, with a red-hot iron, and confequent-
ly make a fore upon the part.

It mull therefore be obferved, that it is a ge-
neral rule that all young horfes have their
mouths more or lefs full of what are called
lampas ; and fometimes they rife higher than
the fore-teeth ; now in proportion as a horfe
grows older, the roof flattens of itfelf, and the
teeth then appear to rife.

Error VII.

Some horfes fall off their ftomachs, and it is
pretended their lofs of appetite is caufed by
ibme teeth grown above the reft, but this is a
meer imagination -, for I have feen many horfes
who had fome of their teeth confiderably higher
than others, and yet chewed their aliment the

better.

better. I have proved that, in attempting to
file thefe pretended overgrown teeth, they make
all the upper and under-jaws, and frequently-
even caufe inflammations by the violent mocks
of the files they ufe to lower the eminences :
and this operation, far from making him feed
with eafe, prevents it. I have even feen teeth
which were broken off by this operation.

Error VIII.

They take out what is thought a nerve at the
end of the nofe for different reafons, which
anfwers no end, and does more harm than good;
I have ken horfes become blind upon it, and
others feized with a gangrene, and that by
the great inflammation that happens from this
method upon the part. Our old practitioners
pretend that this a is nerve which begins at the
end of the nofe, and extends to the laft vertebra
of the back (a meer error) -, for it is the two
elevator mufcles of the upper-lip which take
their origin or attachment under the eyes, and
terminate at the end of the nofe ; from which
nothing but a tendon is the refult i the opera-
tion conflits in making an opening at the end
of the nofe, and raifing the tendon with a wild
goat's horn ; dividing the two mufcles near
their infertion, and pulling them forcibly out ;
this operaticn is performed for feveral difeafes.

H Error

C "4 ]

Error IX.

They fay there are horfes troubled with the
vertigo, and therefore run a red-hot- iron thro*
the foretop and mane, near the occipital bone;
which fometimes falls upon the cervical liga-
ment which is inferted into the pofterior creft
or ridge of the occipital- bone, this operation is
intended to deftroy a live worm which beyond
difpute is a meer chimera -, for I opened feveral
of thefe horfes, attacked (as they faid) with the
fame diforder, and never faw any worms, nor
any perfon who faid he ever found any. I be-
lieve this diforder to be nothing but an inflam-
mation of the brain. I faw a horfe cured of this
inflammation, but he was plagued for four
months with the application of the cautery, and
not being able any longer to hold up his head,
he was abandoned. I found that the cautery
had deftroyed the cervical ligament, which
confirms what I have faid above.

Error X.

I faw a horfe into whofe throat they had
thruft a leek, imagining he had fwal lowed a fea-
ther, which made him cough ; they thruft it to
the very trachea and feveral of its fragments re-
mained behind, which made him cough more
and more : they then thruft in an oxe's fmew

down

[ ns ]

down his throat which they forced yet farther,
and the node was fuffocated ; I opened him
and found the fragments of the leek as far
down as the Bronchia.

As to the notion of a horfe's cough proceed-
ing from feathers fwallowed down, it is very
falie, for before they can reach the cefophagus
they are moiftened by the faliva, which is al-
ways in great abundance in horfes -, I more
than once made the experiment ; for I gave to
fome greedy horfes feathers of different fizes to
eat among their hay, which never did them any
harm -, they very often eat them in farms where
there is poultry, and nothing happens to them
from it.

Error XL

I once faw a horfe who was thought lame in
the fhoulder, and was forced to go on the part
affe&ed, by tying up the other foot to the leg
with a cord -, this is called fwimming on dry
land ; fome time after there appeared a fwelling
on the coronet, which fhewed the feat of the
lamenefs to be in the foot, and that it was very
injudicious to have forced him to move upon the
difeafed part. This horfe, inftead of being re-
lieved, continued lame.

Error XII.

They perform, what is called drawing the
thorn, upon lame horfes, being perfuaded that

H 2 the

[ »6 ]

the head of the thigh-bone is diflocated, with
an intention confequently of reducing it.

Let us fuppofe it was fo, (which I never yet
faw) I have actually Ctçn the femur and its head
fractured in its cavity, andeventhe ofla ilia, but
never obferved it to be diflocated, nor has any
one ever pretended to me to have feen it ; but
in this fuppofition, I fay, I do not believe it is
pcflible to reduce it.

To draw the thorn ^ is to tie one end of a
rope to the fetlock of the difeafed limb, and
the other to a flexible tree, from which they
make the horfe pull by whipping him ; I
have feen fome who were but a little lame,
and after this torture, became more lame, and
remained fo all their lives.

Error XIII.

For the cure of drags and ftrains they have
recourfe to the fkin as ir it was the feat of the
diforder ; it was never feen that a horfe was
lame from cutaneous difeafes, except fometimes
by a fixing of the farcy -, whicli comprennes the
mufcles and hinders their motion ; or by fome
abfeefs formed upon them.

The common remedy for thefe dilbrders is to pafs
fêtons or rowels between the fkin and cutaneous
mufcles, made either of fimple cords or mixed
with hair -, or of ribbon, or leather -, they alfo
J)ut in ftraw and twigs of birch or other wood ;

there

f IT7 3

there is an Infinite number of other remedies, but
it would be too tedious to enumerate them, all
which tend to promote fuppuration in fome
part or other, and produce no other effect than
to puniih the horie to no manner of purpofe.
Thefe operations mould be regarded as kinds
of cauftics which are of no other ufe than to
caufe a difcharge of humours.

I once was obliged by the importunities of
the owner to fire his lame horfè (as it is yet in
practice) who, he faid, had a ftrain ; he made
me apply the cautery to a great many points
which penetrated to the mufcles ; a great in-
flammation came on, and the animal became
more lame than he ever was before; the whole
thigh was dried up, and was lamed by it for
ever. I performed this operation againft my
will -, but as I was fubject to his orders for that
time, I was obliged to latisfy him.

Error XIV.

There is yet a method which in my opinion
is another error, which is bleeding horfes in
the month of May, even though they are in
perfect health -, I cannot fee upon what this
cuftom is founded, efpecially as they are well ;
indeed I have feen many become ill by it.

I fhall add this laft fhort reflection upon horles
faid to be cold in the moulders, or feized in the
ihoulders.

I think it is in the joints of the foot, and not

in

L us j

in the fhoulders, the caufes of laming horfes
ought to be looked for.

What leaves no manner of room to doubt
that the origin ot this dileale is not folely in the
articulations, is, that after having dirTected
horfes whom they thought cold in the moul-
ders, I found that the fynovia of the joints in
the foot was diminiihed and changed. I be-
lieve that when a horfe is very hot, the fweat
which falls from the fhoulders and neck upon
the legs, in proportion as it defcends from the
trunk grows cold upon the lower extremities,
which moreover cannot be fo warm as the
mufcles.

It is to this diftance, to this organifation, and
to the cooling of the fweat upon thefe parts we
may attribute the diminution and alteration cf
the fynovia which firft caufes the foot to chop
or crack and then lames the horfe.

This evil may be prevented by walking a
horfe gently after hard riding, that he may cool
by degrees, till he is well dried ; he is then to
have his legs well rubbed down, to be covered
and kept very warm, in his cloths for an hour ;
no rifque is run in carrying him to the water to
wafh him, if he is fplafhed with dirt, though
he is in a fweat -, care muft only be taken not to
let him drink, and to walk him before you put
him into the ftable, that he may not grow fud-
deply cold ; the cuftom of rubbing the legs
with ftraw is falutary, being intended to refrefh

the

r<«9]

the parts, and fo is that of keeping them warm,"
in as much as it prevents foundering, glanders,
and other accidents.

The fubjects would be inexhauftible if I
fliould enlarge upon all thofe that are the objects
of this book ; but I leave it to thofe of m y frater-
nity who are more learned and fkilful than my-
felf to publifh what Ï may have forgot : and hope
that the little light I have thrown upon our art,
which is yet in too much obfcurity, will engage
them to bring it to perfection ; and for my part,
I declare I fhall be ilncerely obliged not only
to thofe of my profeffion, but alfo to all lov-
ers of horfemanfhip, if they will be fo kind as
to fhew me my errors, as well as communicate
their own reflections and difcoveries.

It appears to me that the Englifh farriers
have neither more knowledge nor experience
than we have in the fubjecl, and particularly in
that of the circulation of the blood ; nor Indeed
in a vail number of difeafes, for which they
generally apply the fame remedies without di-
ilinction, and without endeavouring to be cer-
tainly acquainted with the true caufe.

Here is the manner in which Mr. Bart-
let, a lurgeon of London, explains himfelf up-
on the matter -, who has publifhed a book this
year, which I have caufed to be tranflated, en-
titled : The Gentle-man's Farriery, or a practical
Treatife on the Difeafes of Horfes : wherein. he has
pointed out the beft authors who have written
upon the fubject. He

[ 120 J

He fays, in the 4th chap.which treats of fevers,
that he cannot recover from his amazement,
that farriers are fo ignorant in the knowledge of
thepulfe-, the following are his words : " A due
*' attention to the pulfe is fo important an ar-
" tide, in order to form a proper judgment in
" fevers, that it would appear amazing it has
" fo much been neglected, if one did not re-
" collect that the generality of farriers are fo
" egregioufly ignorant that they have no man-
'-' ner of conception of the blood's circulation,
'" nor in general have they ability enough to di-
" tinguifh the difference between an artery and
" a vein. With fuch pretty guardians do we
" intruft the health of the moll valuable of ani-
" mais !"

I forbear mentioning certain difcoveries,
cures and operations, of which Mr. Bartlet gives
the account in his book -, which appeared, to me,
fo much the more juft, as they are founded up-
on an exact knowledge of the anatomy of a
horfe, till I mall be able to mention with cer-
tainty his method of docking a horfe, and of
the defcription of the machine he has invented
for performing that operation.

As I have laid down to myfelf a plan of ne-
ver giving any thing to the public but what is
certain and confirmed by infallible experiments,
I will firft prove it to myfelf before I communi-
cate it.

FINIS.

A 000 090 018 3

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