INTRODUCTION 



"Only the introduction! That may very well be passed over" — is a 

 not uneonimon exclamation from the reader, and even a more frequent 

 unuttered impression in his mind. In opposition to this idea of the reader, 

 the writer ventures to press the author's view of the question in the hope 

 of being able to show that a synopsis such as the present introduction is 

 intended to present is a very useful, indeed it might even be designated an 

 indispensable, preparation for the study of what is to follow. Certainly it 

 cainiot be otherwise than helpful to a reader to have spread before him in 

 one view the outline of the work to which he intends to devote his attention. 

 No one disbelieves in the value of a plan of a building, or a map of a 

 country, and in the present case the object is to indicate as briefly as 

 possible, in a preliminary sketch, the chief features of the work on the 

 Horse, so that the reader may be informed of its scope and intention at the 

 outset. 



It may be observed that the division of the literary work into sections 

 by different writers was obviously a necessity, and the book is consequently 

 the outcome of the knowledge and experience of a considerable number of 

 contributors, each one of whom has been selected for his special qualifications 

 in his own department. The object which has been carefully kept in view 

 throughout is to fill a hiatus in the literature relating to horses, l)y pro- 

 ducina; a book of the horse which shall contain information on all the 

 points which are constantly the subject of enquiry among owners of horses, 

 and at the same time to present this information in a form which will not 

 demand a previous study of technical or scientific works to render it 

 intelligible to the unscientific reader. Not because in this work the 

 teachings of science are ignored or treated in a slovenly manner, but 

 because the method is here adopted which is happily becoming very general 

 among scientific writers, of using plain words to express ideas, and so losing- 

 nothing of accuracy in regard to the facts of science, while gaining the 

 great advantage of leaving no shadow of doubt to obscure the meaning. 



Dealing of necessity with a multiplicity of subjects, the importance of 

 conciseness of diction has from tlie first been recognized, and in arranging 



