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pose that each peck, of which 16 constitute a boll, weighs 42 lb. These 42 lb. multiplied by 16, give the amount of pounds in a boll, viz. 672. Then multiply this product by 37, the admitted contents of one acre, and we have a total of 24,804 lb. Now, I found, that, from a peck of potatoes weighing 42 lb., the tapioca extracted, when completely ready for use, only amounted to 4 or 4 lb. In multiplying, then, 16 pecks by 4, we have 64 lb. of tapioca produced from a boll, and these 64 lb. multiplied by 37, furnish us with a result of 2368 lb. of tapioca in an acre.

Let us next try, by an unexaggerated obvious calculation, how such a quantity would probably remunerate the grower and manufacturer. In putting the tapioca on as low an estimate as possible, I would say let it be sold at 4d. a lb. Now, on multiplying the 2368 lb. by 4d, the sum given is 9472, which, reduced to sterling money, amounts to L. 39:9: 4.

This calculation is of course to be modified according to the state of the market, and the scarcity or abundance of the crop. But, taking it as now proposed, surely the superiority of the tapioca as an article of sale, over potatoes, as usually sold, must be quite evident,-for, supposing that the newly raised potatoes should fetch 12s. a boll, then allowing 37 bolls to the acre, the price of the whole would be L. 22, 4s., leaving a balance of L. 17: 5:4 in favour of the tapioca. I shall abstain from entering into any specific comparison between the expense of labour on both sides; but even giving the higher rate in the scale to the raw potato, yet I may confidently affirm that, after every auspicious consideration is included in its behalf, it will be found by far the least profitable of the two.

The price (fourpence) I have attached to the home tapioca, cannot be regarded as otherwise than reasonable, when it is known that the Brazilian tapioca, which I have shown not to be superior to the former in any one instance, is currently retailed by apothecaries and grocers at from 16d. to 18d. per lb.

It may be reckoned a circumstance of discouragement that so small a quantity of tapioca should only be obtained from so much larger a quantity of potatoes,-but it is to be recollected that the more the potato is reduced, the more nourishing is the eatable material. Limited in quantity though

that material may seem, yet when it is considered that, made into pudding or panado by soaking, a quarter of a pound is sufficient to yield a substantial and delicate repast for three or four persons, its self-recommended excellence must at once be acknowledged...

It is a species of food also that keeps uninjured for years. It is portable, made ready with ease and expedition, and not ate by vermin, nor are the offals themselves lost. The fibres of the potato, rejected during the tapioca preparation, are, when sprinkled over with a little oatmeal, greedily devoured by cattle, pigs and other live stock. This is of course a matter of some consequence to the profit side of such a manufacture.

The foregoing observations are propounded under a deep sense of the personal responsibility thus incurred by publicity. They are hazarded, however, under the shelter of successful experiment, and the consciousness of a sincere regard for the national prosperity. Should the several statements now advanced lead to further inquiry on the subject, and to the realization of even partial good, the author of this essay will consider himself amply rewarded for his pains.

ON AN ELASTIC OR SPRING SHOE, FOR PREVENTION OR CURE OF CONTRACTION IN THE FORE-FEET OE THE HORSE. Communicated by THOMAS WHYTE, Esq. of Glenesslin.

Or all the branches of veterinary science, there are none, I conceive, of so much importance as the proper management of the feet of horses,—the fore-feet I particularly allude to, the hind-feet, being generally in a moist, cool situation, are not in so much danger,—and ingenuity itself seems almost exhausted in its endeavour to devise such a plan of shoeing as will obviate the evils so long known to arise from the present system.

The elastic structure of the hoof and sole,-the functions which the internal parts have to perform,-and the alternate expansion and contraction which the foot absolutely requires for the due performance of those functions, and for keeping it in a healthy state,―have offered difficulties, which, it is almost un

necessary to say, have proved insurmountable, in any attempts hitherto made to form a shoe of practical every day use, either for prevention or cure of that universal source of lameness-Contraction.

I need not surely stop here to describe, that each time the horse throws his weight upon his foot, the internal parts of that foot are pressed down, and the hoof expands; when the foot is elevated, and the weight of the animal removed, the hoof contracts; and that the pressure which the frog, by being elastic, experiences, when thus forced in contact with the varied surfaces it is pressed against, greatly assists in this expansion.

The shoe in common use opposes and counteracts all these operations of nature; and is the means of communicating to the sole that deformed concave shape *, in which we usually find it in the feet of old horses. That the pressure upon the frog, above alluded to, has long been known as essential to the healthy state of that organ, is evident from the date of the invention for an artificial supply; but this supply, which could not but be awkwardly afforded, while the shoe bound the hoof, I fear, in most cases, did more harm than good, by its partial application, when the surrounding parts were but very limitedly allowed to

act.

Should there still be any doubt upon this subject, the sceptic may satisfactorily have it removed, by examining an old shoe recently taken off. There will there be seen, on the surface next to the foot, a well polished groove, extending both in depth and breadth from the last nail hold towards the heel, and this in proportion as the play of the hoof has been retarded by the last nail hole being placed farther back towards the heel, or farther forward towards the toe; evidently proving that it is the

However paradoxical it may appear, I am clearly of opinion that this concavity of the sole, and all the evils attendant upon contraction, are rapidly increased in such feet as have been more than ordinarily taken care of, by regular stopping, particularly if the disease had commenced before the appli. cation. The moisture communicated from the stopping materials softens the sole, and renders it more ready to yield to the compression of the surrounding dry horn. It must give way upward, for there are but few instances indeed (particularly in saddle-horses) where both the opposition afforded by the nails of the shoe, and the natural construction of the foot, can be thwarted, by its being forced down.

friction of the unconfined part of the hoof that has worn the groove. Should it, however, be alleged (as I have heard of its being) that this indentation is caused by the weight of the animal, then we should find the groove extending all the way round the bearing of the crust, which is not the case; neither, indeed, can it be, for it is impossible that any weight, however great, placed upon a piece of horn, could indent so thick a piece of metal.

This point, then, being taken for granted, it must follow, that the hoof of the horse, having concentric action, cannot admit of that action being impeded, without injury to the internal parts; that the inflexible ring, or shoe, now in use, nailed close to the hoof, does impede that action; and, in some instances (where a peculiarity of constitution, or conformation of the foot, is present), disease is generated, even in a first shoeing, and without any external appearance of contraction;—that the longer this practice is continued, with what is called a steep hoof, and strong wall, particularly if the horse is allowed to stand in the stable for days together upon hot fermenting litter, the crust becomes the harder and drier, and it is only the nails, or clips (if they are used), which keep it from contracting ; that, so soon as the old shoe is taken off, the restraint of the nails and clips is removed, and the dried horny matter embraces, in a degree more closely, the internal sensible parts;-that the shoe, being again fitted and nailed to the newly assumed shape of the foot, is there held till the next removal, and so on, gaining each succeeding shoeing perhaps an imperceptible degree of approximation towards the heel, but such as at last may, and very generally does, bring on that state of compression which produces corns, thrushes, inflammation of the lamina, the navicular disease or grogginess, and sandcracks in the parts of the hoof.

When lameness, from any of the above named effects of contraction, has rendered the animal unfit for work, a temporary relief to the confinement of the common mode of shoeing is sometimes afforded. The diseased foot is kept soft and moist, by immersion in warm-water, or poultices. The jointed shoe is then applied, and being furnished with a screw passing between the heels, it is thus made to expand the hoof by degrees.

It is evident, however, that this shoe is not applicable to every-day work. It can only be used when the horse is at rest,

or at grass; and I think I shall be able to make it appear, that, even under these circumstances, it can neither act as a cure nor preventive of contraction.

First, then, in the process of expanding the hoof, by means of this screw, it is plain, that, if there be but one joint in the shoe (they are seldom used with more), and that joint on the toe, the whole circumference of the hoof is not acted upon by opening the heels, but merely a small portion of it, in a perpendicular line from the joints towards the coronet, and back along the sole to the frog; whilst the segments, or quarters of the foot, which generally stand most in need of relief, are still kept in a state of compression within the inflexible portions of the shoe, which are nailed to them.

The next objection to this shoe, as a cure, is, that the heels are not permitted the smallest degree of play, either inward or outward. To whatever point they are diverged by the screw, there they must remain.

And the third and last objection to be stated is,-Suppose the lameness removed, by a month or two's vigilant attention to this stretching operation, and the foot restored to a more natural shape, yet the artificial heat, which it has been necessary to employ, has rendered the hoof more flinty, when cooled, and more liable to collapse, when the working-shoe is again had recourse to. Every one knows the effect of warm-water, or unnatural heat of any kind, when applied to a piece of horn.

I have purposely selected this anti-contraction shoe for the subject of remark, as being the one most approved, and more generally used in attempting a cure. The contrivances, however, having the same object in view, are very numerons, and many of them, in my opinion, of more merit; but none, that I have seen, of practical every-day use.

Convinced, as I am, that the present method of shoeing is injurious, I need scarcely say, that, like many others, I have thought much upon the subject, and tried many experiments. It was not till the year 1823, however, that I adopted the plan which I am now about to describe; since which period, till the month of May 1828, when I came to Edinburgh to reside, I have almost constantly used it, both upon diseased and healthy feet, with the happiest results.

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