14 THE HORSE AND ITS RELATIVES 



high above it — forming, in fact, in the horse the 

 so-called hock. Similarly in the fore-limb the wrist- 

 joint, or carpus, is raised to the same approximate 

 level above the ground, and constitutes the so-called 

 knee of the horse. 



The single metacarpal bone {mc in the figure 

 on page 6) in the fore-leg of the horse is known 

 as the cannon-bone ; the same name being also 

 applied to the corresponding element in the hind- 

 leg, that is to say, the metatarsal bone. The 

 remnants of the lateral metacarpals (ii., iv. in the 

 figure last cited) in the fore-leg, as well as those of 

 the corresponding metatarsals in the hind-limb, are 

 designated splint-bones. The degree of develop- 

 ment, or rather of the degeneration, of these splint- 

 bones varies considerably in different horses. In 

 many instances, as in the figure on page 6, 

 these bones represent merely the upper ends of 

 the metacarpals and metatarsals. In other cases, 

 as in the illustration of this part of the limb of a 

 shire horse (pi. i. fig. i) the whole shafts of the 

 splint-bones are retained, with remnants at the 

 lower end of the first and second toe-bones, or 

 phalanges (i, 2). This comparatively full develop- 

 ment of the splint-bones appears to be not un- 

 common in shire horses ; but remnants of the 

 toe-bones, which in all cases are firmly welded with 

 the splint-bones, are retained in the skeleton of 

 the famous racehorse " Stockwell," of which the 



