180 BITS AND BITTING. 



A mere inspection of these figures shows that the 

 thickness of the iron or steel is an important item ; the 

 diameter of the straight portion of the mouthpiece may 

 vary from a half to three-quarters of an inch ; and it is 

 scarcely necessary to point out that the greater the dia- 

 meter the less painful will be its action on the bars of 

 the mouth. When under half an inch it pinches to a 

 certain extent, and should therefore be only employed 

 when one is quite certain that this is desirable. In fig. 

 13 we have made the width of the port exactly 1J 

 inches, that of the whole mouthpiece being only 4, 

 which would be rather under the mark. The thickness 

 of the mouthpieces Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 is three-quarters of 

 an inch, and these range from what is considered to 

 be the very lightest form, No. 1, up to No. 4, which 

 represents a medium bit. We, however, should always 

 prefer No. 2 or No. 3 to No. 1, for the arched form of 

 the latter throws nearly the whole pressure on the 

 tongue, and the very small amount that falls on the bars 

 of the mouth does so laterally, and not from front to 

 rear. This form of mouthpiece, too, is always unsteady, 

 and we have seen many horses whose tongues have been 

 nearly cut through by its use with a tight curb. The 

 mouthpieces Nos. 5, 6, 7 are only half an inch thick, 

 which renders their action on the bars of the mouth 

 more telling ; they represent sharp bits. It will not 

 escape observation that a greater thickness of the mouth- 

 piece adds, in fact, to the height of the port ; it is like 

 placing an arch on higher buttresses, but it renders the 

 action on the bars less painful, and enables us to meet 

 the exigencies of special cases as, for instance, where 

 a horse has a thick fleshy tongue and very sensitive 

 bars, and would not bear anything like sharp bitting. 



