54 Transactions of (lie 



MEETING, October 25, 1872. 

 The Peesident in the Chair. 



The third meeting for the term was held in the Physical 

 Lecture-room on Friday, October 25. Forty-six members and 

 visitors were present. 



The President called upon J. Atkinson, Esq., to read his 

 paper on 



THE USES OF A DEAD HORSE. 



The horse {Equiis cahallus), of the family Equidce and the 

 order Solidungida, is an Old-World animal ; but the precise limits 

 of its earliest habitat cannot now be ascertained. Some part of 

 Central Asia, however, appears to be the locality from which it 

 originally spread. Mention is made of the horse in the Book of 

 Genesis, and it is figured among the hieroglyphics of Egypt, so 

 that its subjugation to man dates from the earliest times. 



The Persians, Greeks, and Eomans were all fully aware of its 

 great value, and wjd find it extensively used among them, par- 

 ticularly for the purposes of warfare. 



At the present time this all but indispensable animal is dis- 

 tributed through the greater part of the world, having been intro- 

 duced by man into the various regions into which he himself has 

 penetrated, excepting, of course, those where the cllmatal influence 

 is adverse to its existence. 



In the vast plains of America immense herds roam in a wild 

 state, the descendants of comparatively few individuals which 

 either escaped from or were let go by Europeans. Leaving out of 

 question the number of varieties which have been introduced by 

 cross-breeding, careful selection, and training, as well as the 

 peculiar aptitude of different kinds for difi'erent purposes, and the 

 successive phase each one may pass through in its checkered 

 existence, let us consider the various useful purposes to which the 

 several parts of the dead horse are applicable. This will be found 

 to be a much more interesting subject than it would at first sight 

 appear to be. 



Strong efforts have been lately made to induce us to augment 

 our supply of animal food by the introduction of horse-flesh ; and 

 indeed this has been for some time a by no means scanty article 

 of diet among our Continental neighbours. Whether hippopha- 

 gists will ever succeed in overcoming the prejudices of English 

 stomachs remains to be seen ; but there can be no doubt that if, 

 as they tell us, the flesh of the horse is fully equal to that of the 

 cow it would be a very beneficial addition to the meals of the 



