MODERN FARRIERY.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 158, 13 May 1873, Page 2

MODERN FARRIERY.

The remarks Below appear in an article on a recent publication entitled " Unasked Advice," a series of articles on " Horses and Hunting,",by " Impecuniosus " :—: — Let tis instance the art of farriery in illustration of tbe densely ignorant treatment of tbe horse. Tbe farrier starts with this fixed conviction that however well Nature may have managed, tht creation of the world generally, the made a signal mistake in the management of the horse's foot, which mistake he, the farrier, will forthwith proceed to rectify. Accordingly, having laid down the axiom that the foot must be altered 1 to suit the shoe, not the shoe shaped to suit the foot, he rasps and shaves, and pares the hoof of his unhappy victim until the natural protection of the foot is greatly diminished, and then he nails into what i» left of a ereat lump of iron, the hammering and forgiug of which ke news as a considerable triumph of art. "When 1 the poof animal falls lame, tbete is something the matter with tbe shoe ; and more hammering and forging goes on, and mere rasping and paring of the hoof, and a fresh instrument of torture ii forced on the foot, and the lameness increases, till at length it becomes incurable. In the words of " Impecuniosus," who writes with extreme good cense on this subject, the groom and the blacksmith " are never satisfied 1 until they hare altered the natural foot into a form of their own, which they think the right one ; and though lameness usually attends their efforts, they ascribe it to every caute but the right one, and indeed' resigp themselves complacently to the presence of many diseases confessedly caused by their treatment." And again: — "Navicular disease is an affliction common to all horses, and it will be so long m the frog which is meant to protect the navioular bone, is pared away, or allowed to diminish of its own accord, which it will do when the foot is improperly treated and shod." The writer passes in review the principal varieties of shoes that have been introduced during the last half century, and pre nounces strongly in. favour of the Charlier shoe, as being the only one that " places the foot at once in the position of unahod nature's." Without anticipating the decision which can only be given by long experience a» to the excel-lence-of this shoe, tbe soundness of its principle, that the horae's- foot is to be left as Hi is, and that the artificial pro* tection must bo shaped to suit it, cannot be denied. And> if the conviction of the-eminent veterinary surgeon, Mr Stanley, of Leamington, that " horses shod a la Cha-rlier will ncrer have navicular disease," is- correct, there can be- no twoopinions about the superiority of this particular shoe to any that has bden 1 hitherto introduced. We do not exactly gather whether the Charlier shoe, as at present constructed, is suitable to harness horses, more especially in town ; but we a/ro satisfied that if once the monstrous system of hacking and hewing the foot is abolished in the case of ridinghorses, their brethren in harness will not long be subjected to a similar fate. The importance of the subject is proportionate to the importance of the horse to our daily life, whether for business or pleasure. —Saturday Review-

TnE Wreck of the Noethflkkt. — Tho notion that tb° vessel which had run down the Northfleet was itself lying deep under the waters of Dungenness Bay is dissipated by the apparently authentic intelligence that the steamer MuriHo r which passed Lisbon without delivering cargo, has been ascertained, on. its arrival at Cadiz, to be really the delinquent. This vessel belongs to a line of steamers trading between tho Thames' and Cadiz, and sometimes, as in the present case, visiting other European ports. To account for her not stopping at Lisbon it re said that a despatch had be< n sent, giving directions that, if she had been in collision, she should at once proceed to Cadiz, and the did so. On the arrival of the steamer at Cadiz the Spanish authorities instituted an inquiry into tho matter. Ar. English passenger and tho 6econd engineer were in the same cabin on baardthe Mi}nllo. They state they heard a noise on deck as though something unusual were about happen. XJpo» going on deck the collision nmnediatiately took place. The steamer was then at quarter bpeed, with engines already reversed when tho collision occurred. ' Both tho second engineer and the passenger distinctly heard tho cries of the people, and the voices of women and children- One voi«e, they iav, asked the steamer ten or twelve times to stand by and send boats, and they replied that this- should be done. They were horror-struck when they found that no assistance was to be rendered to the .vessel that had been run into. The chief engineer came on deck, but returned immediately to his duties. Tho parties intercstecT in the steamer say they did not run into the Northfleer, though they admit having been in colFision with some- vessel. Spanish law is proverbially slow, but if any sign of desire to burk inquiry should be shown, the authorities might, by the law of nations, be asked to surrender the perpetrators of this outrage up to English justice. Du. Bbight's PnospiioDTNE.— Multitudes of people are hopelessly suffering from Debihtj, Nervom and Liver Complaints, Depression of Spirits, Delusions, Unfltness for Business or Study, Failrrre of Hearing, Sigkt, and Memory, Latitude, Want of Power, &c., whose cases admit of permanent cuae by th« new remedy Phosphoric ne (Oxonic Oxygen), which at once allays all irritation and oxcitement, imparts new energy and life to the enfeebled constitution, and rapidly cure* every stacje of these hitherto incurable alid distresbing maladies. Sold by all Chemists imd Storekeepers througout the colonies, from whom puinphlt ts containing testimonials may bo obtained. — Caui ion . lie particular to auk for Pr. Bright* Phonphod # \ ne iw imitation* are nbroad; and avoid purchasing single ottli«s, tho genuine article being sold in cases only. — AovT. A TuK-U'iucAL PkesClUFtion. — Change of sceuo.