30 STRUCTURES OF THE BODY. 



Carbine (the New Zealand son of Musket), for example, 

 were all muscular horses. St. Simon (Figs. i6 and 17) was 

 a notable example of a horse of the highest class being of 

 remarkably light build. He had, however, marvellously 

 good shoulders and loins. 



We know from experiment that muscles of the same 

 thickness are stronger in animals of one species than the}" 

 are in those of another kind ; and we may reasonably 

 infer that even among individual horses the same rule 

 holds good. In fact, we may take for granted that the 

 *' quality " of muscle, tendon and ligament, as well as of 

 bone, is better in some horses than in others ; the great 

 factors in producing strong tissue appearing to be : here- 

 dity ; residence in a dry, temperate climate ; food obtained 

 from a limestone soil (p. 404 et seq.) ] and exercise. 



Ligaments. — The ends of the bones that form 

 joints are held together by white ligaments^ which are 

 similar in structure to tendons ; but, unlike them, they 

 serve to connect bones with bones, and, in a few cases, 

 bones with tendons. They have no direct connection 

 with muscles. There are, also, yellow ligaments^ which 

 are elastic. Several of the ligaments aid in supporting 

 bodily weight without fatigue to the animal. 



Dr. Bland-Sutton {Ligaments, Their Nature and 

 Morphology) points out, that hgaments, like tendons, may 

 arise from a degenerative change in muscles, and, also, 

 from degeneration of bone and cartilage. 



Connective Tissue. — The skm, which covers and 

 protects the body, is largely composed of a strong, fibrous 

 structure called connective tissue, which, proceeding in- 

 wards from the skin in the form of, more or less, thick 

 layers and bands, furnishes a supporting network for the 

 component parts of the other tissues. Thus, if we compare 

 a slice from the under-cut of a sirloin of beef with one 

 from a round of beef, we shall see that the relative coarse- 



