NATURAL HISTORY. 



163 



There from the sunburnt hay field homeward creeps 

 The loaded wain ; while, lightened of its charge, 

 The wain that meets it passes swiftly by ; 

 The boorish driver, leaning o'er his team." DRYDEN. 



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mastication is applied, is not merely to close the jaws, but to grind, 

 or to rub the teeth both laterally and to and fro, extraordinary 

 space is provided in the jaws for the lodgment of a powerful 

 muscle which has the double action of closing the teeth, and of 

 drawing the lower jaw across the upper. 



489. Why does a " heavy shoulder " in a horse indicate that he it 

 stow, and apt to tumble? 



Because this heaviness, as it is commonly termed, results from 



the uprig'it position of 

 the shoulder blade, which 

 position prevents it from 

 revolving freely, and so 

 retards the forward mo- 

 tion of the foot. 



The main condition of 

 swiftness in a horse is 

 that the shoulderbone 

 should be oblique, as 

 shown in the illustration, 

 and that the transition 



from the neck to the shoulders instead of being abrupt, should 



display a smooth undulating surface. 



490. Why are horses with deep bellies, such as the Suffolk punch, 

 the best calculated for continuous employment ? 



Because when their bodies are thus formed, they carry their food 

 for a long time, and consequently are enabled to bear a longer 

 and a harder day's work. 



491. The Suffolk punch is particularly esteemed by the fanners of Norfolk, 

 Suffolk, and Essex ; and it is well known that in these districts where this kind of 

 horse is used, that the farmers are able to plough more land in a day than can be 

 performed in any other part of England. 



Of all creatures, the horse has the smallest stomach relatively to its size. Had 

 he the quadruple ruminating stomach of the ox, he would not have been at all 



