336 Among Men and Horses. 



in two the first time any strain was put on them. The 

 Walsall men believe that much of the inefficiency of the 

 French cavalry during that war was owing to the bursting of 

 these wretched buckles. Although the process of annealing 

 greatly adds to the strength of cast iron, it cannot diminish 

 the liability of cast iron to contain bubbles, formed by escap- 

 ing gas, distributed through its substance. This tendency to 

 contract these bubbles, from the weakening effect of their 

 presence, renders even annealed iron wholly unsuitable for 

 bits. It is however largely used for their manufacture, espe- 

 cially for Liverpool bits, curbs and Pelhams, and with many 

 deplorable accidents as results of this policy of ' cutting down ' 

 prices. Cast nickel bits are for this reason also unsafe. 

 No bit which will not stand being well hammered when in a 

 cold state, is fit to trust one's life to when on or behind a 

 horse. In cheap side-saddles, the leaping-head iron is 

 usually made of malleable, instead of wrought, iron. This is 

 another terribly dangerous economy which should be made 

 penal. 



Being in town during the season, we rode a good deal in 

 the Row, and saw there the worst broken horses and the 

 feeblest riders, probably, in the world. Among other nice 

 people, we made the acquaintance of Lady Dilke, who, on the 

 appearance of my wife's book, The Horsewoman, wrote from 

 France, where she was staying, a very kind letter of encour- 

 agement, and hoped that we would call on her when she 

 returned to London. Lady Dilke rides well and dearly loves 

 horses, especially, her handsome Arab, Shihab. With all her 

 fondness for a horse, her sympathies are, as they ought to 

 be, even more strongly enlisted in the cause of suffering 

 humanity. 



Among many other horse enthusiasts to whom our 

 lectures on riding made us known, were Mr and Mrs 

 Norman. As he is assistant editor of the Daily Chronicle, 

 that paper is particularly sound in its reviews of books on 

 horses. Mrs Norman, as Miss Dowie, the authoress of A 



