HUM AX SAFETY. 275 



of ' nicking ' performed, and that both the description 

 and sketches were perfectly correct. 



I then found that he was Mr. Samuel Bowley, so 

 well known as an advocate of teetotalism. 



The illustration is taken from a plate in an old 

 work on horse management. In the plate several 

 horses are represented, so as to show the different 

 stages of the process. 



The reader could hardly imagine that anyone at 

 the present day could have the hardihood to give 

 any reason, except the following of fashion, for 

 docking horses. Yet, in July of this present year 

 (1884), a council of veterinary surgeons voted 

 unanimously that the docking of horses' tails was con- 

 ducive to human safety ', and therefore ought to be 

 adopted ! 



' Conducive to human safety,' forsooth ! 



What connection can there be between human 

 safety and the length of a horse's tail ? 



Certainly the connection is not very easy to 

 trace, and the train of reasoning is rather circuitous. 

 However, here it is. 



Supposing that you were driving a long-tailed 

 horse, and that you were a careless handler of the 

 reins, and let them hang too low, the horse might 

 whisk its tail over the rein so as to take it out of 

 your command, and then it might be frightened, and 



T 2 



