"There is nothing new but what has been forgotten," said Marie
Antoinette to her milliner, Mdlle. Bertin, and what is true of fashion
is also somewhat so of science. Shoeing restive horses by the aid of
electricity is not new, experiments thereon having been performed as
long ago as 1879 by Mr. Defoy, who operated with a small magneto
machine.
But the two photographs reproduced in Figs. 1 and 2 have appeared to
us curious enough to be submitted to our readers, as illustrating Mr.
Defoy's method of operating with an unruly animal.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--THE HORSE RECEIVING THE CURRENT.]
The battery used was a small Grenet bichromate of potash pile, which
was easy to graduate on account of the depth to which the zinc could
be immersed. This pile was connected with the inductor of a small
Ruhmkorff coil, whose armature was connected with a snaffle-bit placed
in the horse's mouth.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--THE HORSE CONQUERED.]
This bit was arranged as follows (Fig. 3): The two conductors, which
were uncovered for a length of about three centimeters at their
extremity, were placed opposite each other on the two joints of the
snaffle, and about five or six centimeters apart. The mouth-pieces of
the bit had previously been inclosed in a piece of rubber tubing, in
order to insulate the extremities of the conductors and permit the
recomposition of the current to take place through the animal's tongue
or palate.
Each of the bare ends of the conductors was provided, under a circular
brass ligature, with a small damp sponge, which, surrounding the
mouth-piece, secured a perfect contact of each end of the circuit with
the horse's mouth.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--ARRANGEMENT OF THE BIT]
The horse having been led in, defended himself vigorously as long as
an endeavor was made to remove his shoes by the ordinary method, but
the current had acted scarcely fifteen seconds when it became possible
to lift his feet and strike his shoes with the hammer.
The experimenter having taken care during this experiment to place the
bobbin quite near the horse's ear, so that he could hear the humming
of the interrupter, undertook a second experiment in the following
way: Having detached the conductors from the armature, he placed
himself in front of the horse (as shown in Fig. 2), and began to
imitate the humming sound of the interrupter with his mouth. The
animal at once assumed the stupefied position that the action of the
current gave him in the first experiment, and allowed his feet to be
lifted and shod without his even being held by the snaffle.
The horse was for ever after subdued, and yet his viciousness and his
repugnance to shoeing were such that he could only be shod previously
by confining his legs with a kicking-strap.
It should be noted that the action of the induction coil, mounted as
this was, was very feeble and not very painful; and yet it was very
disagreeable in the mouth, and gave in this case a shock with a
sensation of light before the eyes, as we have found by experimenting
upon ourselves.
From our own most recent experiments, we have ascertained the
following facts, which may guide every horse-owner in the application
of electricity to an animal that is opposed to being shod: (1) To a
horse that defends himself because he is irritable by temperament, and
nervous and impressionable (as happens with animals of pure or nearly
pure blood), the shock must be administered feebly and gradually
before an endeavor is made to take hold of his leg. The horse will
then make a jump, and try to roll over. The jump must be followed,
while an assistant holds the bridle, and the action of the current
must be at once arrested. After this the horse will not endeavor to
defend himself, and his leg may be easily handled.
(2) Certain large, heavy, naturally ugly horses kick through sheer
viciousness. In this case, while the current is being given it should
be gradually increased in intensity, and the horse's foot must be
seized during its action. In most cases the passage of a current
through such horses (whose mucous membrane is less sensitive) produces
only a slightly stupefied and contracted position of the head,
accompanied with a slight tremor. The current must be shut off as soon
as the horse's foot is well in one's hand, and be at once renewed if
he endeavors to defend himself again, as is rarely the case. It is a
mare of this nature that is represented in the annexed figures.
We know that this same system has been applied for bringing to an
abrupt standstill runaway horses, harnessed to vehicles; but knowing
the effect of a sudden stoppage under such circumstances, we believe
that the remedy would prove worse than the disease, since the coachman
and vehicle, in obedience to the laws of inertia, would continue their
motion and pass over the animals, much to their detriment.--_Science
et Nature._
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