164 THE REASON WHY : 



" And early with thy team the glebe in furrows turn, 

 That, while the turf lies open and unbound, 

 Succeeding suns may bake the mellow ground." DIIYDEN. 



times ready for exertion; the traveller could n ; : have baited his steed, and resumed 

 his journey. The stomach of the horse is not so capacious, even when distended, 

 as to impede his wind and speed; and the food passes onward with a greater 

 degree of regularity than in any other animal. If a horse drinks a pail of water, 

 in eight minutes none of this water is in the stomach ; it is rapidly passed off into 

 the large intestine, &c. 



492. Why has the horse no gall-bladder? 



Because the process of digestion in the horse is almost incessant, 

 and the bile passes off as rapidly as it is formed. In other cases 

 there is a gall-bladder, in which the bile is stored until required 



Where the digestive process is performed in a large stomach, 

 and the food descends in large quantities, and at long intervals, a 

 gall-bladder is necessary ; and there is the sympathy between the 

 stomach and gall-bladder, that they are filled and emptied at 

 the same time* 



493. Why have aged horses cavities just above their eyes ? 



Because in old horses most of the fat of the body, which is more 

 superficially placed in the young, becomes absorbed ; in this way, 

 the eye, which is usually embedded in a large quantity of this 

 matter, losing its assistance, sinks within the orbits, and thus the 

 cavities, called eye-pits, show themselves. 



494. Why may the age of a horse be judged by the appearance 

 of the teeth? 



Because on the upper surface of the incisors a hollow is to be 

 seen in the young tooth, which, not extending through the whole 

 substance, naturally wears out with the wear of the tooth, and as a 

 considerable degree of regularity occurs in the wearing away in all 

 horses, it has been adopted as the general criterion of age. 



495. Why should the grain which is given to horses be 

 previously crushed ? 



Because, owing to the unsuitableness of the 1 3eth for masticating 



Paley's " Natural Theology." 



