38 THE HOKSE. 



the appearance of the hind and fore quarters. I need 

 scarcely obsei-ve, that the man who attempts to give 

 an accm-ate and faithful likeness of a horse, in any 

 other than a standing postm-e, deserves more credit for 

 imagination than discretion. 



THE MUSCLES. 



The reddish-colom-ed substance which is commonly 

 called flesh, is not thrown over the bones in an uTCgu- 

 lar and imcertain manner ; on the contraiy, eveiy fibre 

 of which it is composed takes a specific direction for a 

 specific purpose. The fleshy fibres, or threads (such as 

 may be seen in a piece of diied beef), are thrown to- 

 gether into bundles of various sizes. These bundles, 

 or masses of flesh, are called muscles. 



The muscles are very numerous, amounting to hun- 

 di-eds, and every one of them is running towards some 

 particular point, for a special use. On a cm-soiy ex- 

 amination, they may appear complicated and uTegular 

 in their aiTangement, but a more minute inspection 

 will discover the most beautiful and suitable design. 

 Theu' importance is so gTcat, that they cannot be dis- 

 pensed with ; it is by their means alone the bones are 

 put mto motion. They are frequently terminated at 

 one extremity by dense cords, called sinews. These 

 sinews are very strong, and incapable of being stretched. 

 If they were elastic, they would be quite useless. In- 



