256 THE TRUNK. 



Tail. — As the subject of the horse's tail has been dis- 

 cussed in Veterinary Notes for Horse-Owners, many of the 

 following remarks on it have been taken from that book. 

 The chief function which the normal equine tail fulfils, 

 is to drive away flies and other irritating objects which 

 happen to alight on the hind legs, flanks, genital organs, 

 and lower part of the abdomen. We have seen that the 

 normal mane (p. 224) performs similar good service for 

 the neck ; the normal forelock (p. 212), for the head ; 

 and the muzzle, for the breast. The croup is mechanic- 

 ally protected from these causes of irritation, by a thick 

 layer of fibrous tissue which lies under the skin of that 

 part (p. 415). The skin of the shoulders and portions of 

 the trunk which are not guarded in any of the ways 

 just described, is lined with a thin and very broad 

 muscle (p. 42), which has great power of twitching, and, 

 consequently, of driving off flies and other causes of 

 annoyance. In this work, these means of protection are 

 called into play, far more in the open than in the stable, 

 and particularly during hot weather. At grass in summer 

 time, we may often see a long-tailed mare whisking in- 

 sects off the fore-hand of her foal which stands alongside 

 her. She intelligently places her hind quarters near his 

 head, so that he may get the benefit of her tail, because 

 his caudal appendage is unprovided with long hairs. 

 Also, when a foal is lying down during the day-time, in 

 the open, his long-tailed dam may sometimes be seen 

 standing close to him, and whisking away with her tail 

 any flies that are hovering about him. Such maternal 

 acts of kindness are prevented by the cruel operation of 

 docking ; although often a miserable docked mare will, 

 under the influence of instinct, try to carry them out. 

 All of us who have lived among horses in the open, and 

 especially in hot climates, know that the tails, manes 

 and fore-locks of unmutilated horses at grass, save them 

 from an immense amount of discomfort, like what we 



