ECLIPSE AND PERSIMMON 171 



deed, one of the few unsatisfactory features of 

 that horse. 



" Finally, an interesting point arises in connection 

 with the diseased condition of the left side of the 

 pelvis and the left femur in Persimmon's skeleton, 

 for if this necrosed condition had developed when 

 the horse was three and a half years old it would 

 account for his rather sudden falling off after his 

 Derby. Although this is a question on which 

 veterinary experts are alone capable of giving an 

 opinion worth having, it may be permissible to 

 mention that the severe character and lars^e ex- 

 tent of the necrosis seems to indicate that the 

 disease was of long standing previous to the 

 accident which led to the death of the horse, 

 and not a result of that accident. 



" Indeed, when you consider that more is known 

 about the performance and conformation of his 

 ancestors than about any other animal, man in- 

 cluded, the scarcity of accurate knowledge about 

 the horse is surprising. His speed has most 

 decidedly increased. Ascetic's Silver did the 4 

 miles 856 yards of the Grand National, with thirty 

 fences, in 9 min. 34 2-5 sec. in 1906, a far greater 

 pace than was ever shown for that distance over 

 the flat a hundred years ago. At shorter courses 

 the improvement is just as marked. In the Coro- 

 nation Cup of 1905 Pretty Polly did the Derby 



