THE NATURALIST. 



MAMMALIA. 



NATURAL HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 



THE EQUID.E IN GENERAL. 



In the structure of the whole Equine family, we find slight differences in size and 

 relative proportions ; all have the same form of stomach, not adapted for rumination ; 

 . they have, with perhaps one exception, the same number and structure of teeth : that 

 is, six incisors both above and below, one cuspidate on each side in both jaws, six mo- 

 lars above, and the same number below on each side, making forty teeth in all. The 

 whole family is distinguished from all other mammalia, by the bones at the extremity 

 of the feet being lodged in a single round hoof j they have all more or less mane on 

 the neck ; the whole of their structure is remarkably strong and well balanced, being 

 in height at the shoulder and croup, about equal to the length from the breast to the 

 buttock, and the head and neck comparatively lighter in proportion than in animals 

 that bear horns j hence, above all other quadrupeds, the horse is the most symmetrical 

 for his stature j the fleetest, the strongest, and the most enduring ; for, considering that 

 his speed is always reckoned with the additional weight of a rider, that velocity which 

 gives near a mile in a minute, and four miles in six minutes and a half, has been calcu- 

 lated to be at the rate of eighty-two feet and a half, per second; exceeding what a 

 vigorous stag, or the fleetest greyhound can achieve unencumbered by any extraneous 

 weight. Such speed, with the powers of endurance, is surely superior to every other 

 quadruped ; for while we know what effect the difference of one or two pounds weight 

 produces on the velocity of the pace of racers ; horses will carry heavy riders, and keep 

 up with a running ostrich, overtake a stag, and toil at a gallop in the withering sun of 

 the desert, over sixty or eighty miles, without drawing bit. It is to the elasticity and 

 form of structure, to the inclination of the shoulder, the width of the trunk giving play 

 to the lungs, the breadth of the quarters, the vigor of the fore-arm, the consolidation of 

 the foot into one hoof, and the lightness of the head and neck, that we must chiefly 

 refer these powers. 



Equidce are essentially grazing animals ; all are tempted by thistles, thorny shrubs, 

 and brooms. They are gregarious, in common with ruminants they see well in the dark, 

 have the pupil rather elongated, the eyes being placed far apart, so as to enable them, 

 when the head is down, to view objects with facility before and behind them, as well 

 as sideways ; the length of head and neck is nearly equal to their height, giving the 

 power of cropping the herbage, by means of their flexible lips, and well-set nipping 

 teeth, to accomplish which they are nevertheless obliged to throw one of the fore-legs 

 forward and the other to the rear, while at the same time they straighten the line of the 

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