130 ENGLAND S HORSES, 



kind, by which the supposition tliat tlie principle of the fore 

 legs in nature's economy was for the purpose of acting as only 

 props or supports, and not in aiding locomotion by propulsion, 

 rnay be diligently demonstrated, is demanded. 



All progressive motion in organized beings is produced by 

 alternate contraction and extension of their propelling members, 

 whether the instrument of motion be the wing of a bird, the tail 

 or fin of a fish, the annular process of the reptile, or the leg of 

 the biped or quadruped ; its erficiency equally depends upon its 

 being brought into contact with the resisting medium when in a 

 state of contraction, so that the corresponding extension, where it 

 takes place, necessarily forces the body forward in the direction of 

 the least resistance. Thus, the bird and the fish cleave a passage 

 through their media of air and water respectively, and so all 

 creatures which move on the surface of the eal-th bring their 

 propellers, or motive power, to the point of resistance from which 

 they obtain a fulcrum in a contracted state, moving their weight 

 forward with a velocity proportioned to the power exerted in the 

 subsequent extension of the contracted members. 



In the case of the sound horse, the fore leg comes to the 

 ground in an extended state, all its bones, with the exception 

 of those at the pastern joint, abutting on one another in very 

 nearly a straight line, from the point of the shoulder to the 

 extremity of the leg, so that being manifestly incapable of further 

 extension, it must be concluded, on the principles just laid down, 

 that it is incapable of exerting any propelling energy, and con- 

 sequently the only purpose it can serve is that of sustaining the 

 weight of the incumbent fore quarter during the successive 

 advances of the hind legs in their office of propulsion. Add to 

 this important consideration that the heavy structure of the fore 

 legs is joined to the rest of the frame by merely muscular attach- 

 ments, calculated not to communicate impulse, but to break 

 concussion ; and I trust it will appear that we have sufficient 

 grounds for justifying the conclusion that the propelling of the 

 horse does not reside in his fore legs. 



But when we turn to the hind legs, which, instead of like the 



