o30 MANUAL OF ifODERN FARRIERY. 



is to have horses with long switch tails, possessing much of 

 that beauty which nature wisely intended by the formation 

 of that organ ; as also, like that of other quadrupeds, to 

 assist him in turning when going at a rapid speed, as well 

 as to defend him from the attacks of numerous insects with 

 which he is constantly annoyed when in the field. 



We wish we could pass over the subject of this barbarous 

 operation without noticing how it is performed, but as there 

 are still persons so devoid of taste and feeling as to approve 

 of it, the work would be necessarily imperfect without a 

 description of the operation. 



We have given a figure of the skeleton of the horse, 

 plate ii, and referred to it at page 189. It will be seen by 

 a reference to these that the horse has eighteen dorsal 

 vertebrae, or bones of the back or spine, extending from 

 figs. 14 to 14 ; besides five lumbar in some subjects, and in 

 others six, fig. 15, there is a continuation of these called 

 the sacrum, which consist of five bones, which are separate 

 in the colt, but which become consolidated in the adult 

 animal. To the sacrum the bones of the upper and side 

 portion of the haunch, or pelvis, are strongly articulated, so 

 much so that they resemble a solid mass rather than a 

 joint. From the lower or outer extremity of the sacrum, 

 tlie bones of the tail emanate ; these are fifteen in number, 

 extending from figs. 16 to 16, and gradually diminishing 

 in size towards the point. The spinal-marrow extends to 

 the extreme tip, as well as the continuation of the arteries 

 of the sacrum. The setting on of the tail and its particular 

 character and curvature from the loins is much looked to 

 by those who are judges of horses, as from this they dis- 

 cover the purity or impurity of the breed. The line 

 from the setting on of the tail ought to be almost 

 straight, or with a slight inclination downwards, as there 



