38 HORSE AND MAX. 



CHAPTER III. 



Internal structure of the hoof The hoof compared with the Jacquard 

 loom Longitudinal section of pastern The 'navicular' bone: its 

 origin, form, and office The tendons Flexor and extensor muscles 

 and their tendons The ' coronary ring ' and its object The hoof 

 of the horse and the nail of man The ' quick ' of the nail The 

 ' sensitive ' or ' vascular ' laminae Mutual dependence of the horny 

 and vascular laminse Analogy of laminae of whalebone and those of 

 hoof Expansive property of hoof Mr. Miles's experiments Advan- 

 tage of this property in a hunter Effect of shoes in leaping In any 

 pace the heel comes on the ground before the toe Importance of 

 this fact. 



THROUGHOUT the whole animal kingdom there is, 

 perhaps, no structure which is more elaborately 

 intricate than that of the internal hoof. 



Yet, intricate as it may be, it is based on one 

 leading idea, so that all the multitudinous details 

 subserve one single purpose. The same principle is 

 observed in many of the complicated machines 

 invented by man. Take, for example, the various 

 modifications of the Jacquard loom, especially that 

 form which produces ribbons into which various 

 patterns are woven. To the novice, nothing looks 

 more hopelessly elaborate and confusing, while to 



