is not made to receive this, and harm is bound to result.

Among other ill-fitting shoes we may mention the one with branches too
short, and the one with the extremities of the branches too pointed. In
the first case, as wear of the shoe proceeds, the thinned end is far more
likely to turn in under the seat of corn than is a shoe with branches
of ordinarily correct length. It is evident in the second case that the
pointed branch, when thinned, is a more dangerous agent than the branch
which is nearer the square at its end.

The matter contained in the first half of the foregoing paragraph explains
in a large measure the rarity of corns in the hind-feet. Here there is
nothing to prevent a shoe with branches of full length being used. The
correct bearing is thus maintained, even with a shoe excessively thinned
with wear, and the liability to injury from it decreased. An exception is
to be found in the case of a feather-edged shoe, such as is used to prevent
cutting or brushing. The thinning by wear from above to below of the branch
already purposely thinned from side to side leads to the formation of a
thin and narrow piece of iron admirably calculated to bend over and injure
the sole.

Even with a shoe of correct length, with a flat-bearing surface at the
heels, and other conditions favourable to correct application, evil may
still result from the shoe itself being made too narrow. As a result
of this, the branch of _each_ side is set too far under the foot, with
consequent injury to the sole. This is, of course, sheer carelessness
on the part of the smith. When practised, however, it is not easy of
detection, as in all cases the foot is rasped down to cover what has been
done. In other words, the foot is made to fit the shoe and not the shoe the
foot.

Recognising this close fitting of the shoe as a cause, we are able to
explain in some measure how it is that corns should occur with greater
frequency in the inner than in the outer heel. There is no doubt that the
inner branch of the shoe is nearly always fitted closer than is the outer.
In the fore-foot it is also often shorter. Take these two evils and add
to them the fact that the inner heel is called upon to bear more of the
body-weight than is the outer, and the frequency of corns in the inner heel
will no longer be wondered at.

Indirectly, the shoe may still be a cause of corn by reason of the
irritation set up by gravel and small pieces of flint becoming firm