found as many advocates in this respect as the English shoe, equally plane, had, perhaps, previously found opponents in France.
Despite the opposition offered to M. Charlier's innovation, it made progress on the continent, and attracted much attention; though it has scarcely been noticed in England. The inventor, if such a designation may be applied, was liberally rewarded by the French Government, and his method of shoeing obtained for him marked honours at the Paris Exhibition of 1867. It has received the highest measure of praise from the principal veterinary teachers of France, among whom were MM. Bouley and Gourdon; in Italy, Professors Bassi and Demarchi, of the Turin veterinary school, have commended it; and in Spain, Professor Bellido, chief of the veterinary school of Cordova, has acknowledged its merits.[1]
The somewhat marvellous effects that result from allowing the sole and the posterior parts of the foot to maintain their integrity, and to assume their natural functions, appear to have astonished even those who were accustomed to study the physiology of that organ; though for that matter the same happy results had been constantly, though never generally, recognized, and in this country, at least, it was not at all uncommon to employ horses with these parts unmutilated, and wearing only thin half or whole shoes.
Fiaschi, no doubt, had noted the same beneficial
- ↑ For the original papers of M. Charlier, and the numerous letters and discussions resulting from this system, see the 'Bulletin de la Société Impériale et Central de Méd. Vétérinaire,' for 1865, 1866, and 1867. For reports of the experiments in Italy, see the journal 'Il Medico Vétérinario,' for 1867.
