of moisture a thin plate would not be long in rusting to powder. And those who have had the superintendence of these disinterments have not, it is to be feared, been always careful enough to direct their attention to such an insignificant matter as the condition of the hoofs, when these were yet intact.
From their situation, and the remains accompanying the horse-shoes found in certain regions, as well as from their later history, there is every reason to believe that the Celts or Celtæ, and their chief branch, the Gauls or Gaël, were cognizant of the art of shoeing with metal and nails at a very remote period, and before they were conquered by the Romans under Cæsar.
The early history of this great nation is lost in the thick haze of antiquity. Originally a section of the Aryan family, at some very distant period they left Asia and spread themselves over various parts of Europe in their descent from the Caucasus and along the south side of the Danube. Several Celtic tribes took possession of different countries under various names; others settled on the shores of the Adriatic, along the banks of the Danube, and in the southern part of Germany; while the principal branch of the nation located itself between the Pyrenees and the Alps, the ocean and the Rhine, in the country which received its name from them; from thence they passed into Albion and Ierne (Great Britain and Ireland). Everything relating to their history at this time is so obscure, that we have sometimes little but conjecture to aid us in tracing their migrations. It would appear, nevertheless, that the eastern Gauls or Celts who passed along the Danube occasioned the migrations of whole nations, and
