212 DRAUGHT AND HAJINESS. 



The state of the roads, too, varies very consider- 

 ably in different countries, and this requires corres- 

 ponding modifications in the details of harness, 

 draught, and the general construction of vehicles. The 

 short traces and pole-chains or straps that suit per- 

 fectly a London omnibus or a Viennese fiacre — which. 

 by the way, is an artistic specialty — would be quite 

 unfit and veiy harassing to horses that have to do their 

 work on roads full of ruts and holes, or at a gallop over 

 hill and dale like artillery-trains. Again, although 

 two-wheeled vehicles do very well and are very handy 

 in a level country like England or parts of Italy, 

 they are quite unfit for hilly districts, and punish 

 the horses very severely and unnecesssarily in going 

 down-hill. 



These things are mentioned here for the purpose 

 of showing that our dear old friend and constant 

 guide in practical matters, the highly-respected " iiile 

 of thumb," cannot be always depended on implicitly, 

 and is, in fact, by no means an infallible guide ; and 

 therefore, as a discerning British public has so favour- 

 ably received our method of inviting people to find 

 out how things should be done, by pointing out how 

 they should not be done, we shall endeavour to apply 

 the same principle to draught and harness, and pro- 

 ceed to show the wh}^ and the wherefore of these 

 matters also. 



This subject of draught and harness is one that 

 might be equally well begun upon at either end — that 

 is to say, by taking in the first place either the 

 horses or the carriage ; and this is, in the scientific 

 books, the course usually pursued. But in order to 



