706 



MAMMILTA. 



Fig. 387. 



mals quite peculiar as relates to the construction of their locomotive 

 extremities. 



(2202.) In the Horse, for example (a creature obviously formed to 

 be an assistant to the human race), so completely has every other con- 

 sideration been sacrificed in order to ensure the utmost possible strength 

 and solidity in the structure of the foot, that all the toes appear exter- 

 nally to have been solidified into one bony mass, which, being encased 

 in a single dense and horny hoof, is not only strong enough to support 

 the weight of the quadruped, and to sustain 

 the shock produced by its most active and 

 vigorous leaps, but becomes abundantly effi- 

 cient to carry additional burdens, or to draw 

 heavy loads in the service of mankind. 



(2203.) In the anterior extremity of a 

 Soliped (fig. 387) the shoulder consists 

 only of the scapula, there being no clavicle 

 to connect it with the sternum. The hu- 

 merus is short and very strong : the radius 

 and ulna are partially consolidated toge- 

 ther, so that all movements of pronation 

 and supination are impossible. The carpus 

 is composed of seven short bones disposed 

 in two rows. The metacarpus is a single 

 bone (the cannon bone), which, from its 

 length and size, is commonly called the 

 " fore leg " of the horse, the carpo-meta- 

 carpal articulation being looked upon as 

 the " knee." Lastly, the foot consists of 

 three great phalanges ; whereof the proxi- 

 mal is named the "pastern" the second 

 the " coronary " and the distal phalanx the 

 " coffin bone." In the macerated skeleton, 

 however, the vestiges of two other toes are 

 visible ; but they are merely rudiments re- 

 sembling osseous splints attached to each 

 side of the metacarpus or cannon bone. 



(2204.) In the posterior limbs of the 

 Horse the same peculiarities are observable, 

 in the construction both of the leg and foot. 



(2205.) The RTJMINANTIA constitute an- 

 other order of quadrupeds of very great 

 importance to mankind, distinguished by 

 their remarkable habit of chewing the cud ; 

 that is, of bringing up the food again from the stomach into the mouth, 

 for the purpose of undergoing a second process of mastication. They 



Fore leg of the Horse. 



