CHAPTER III. 

 THE MUSCULAR SYSTEM. 



COMMONLY CALLED FLESH. 



MUSCLES are the chief organs of motion, each being 

 separated from the other by a thin, delicate mem- 

 brane made up of connective tissue, which forms a 

 sheath for the muscle. A muscle is divided into two 

 parts, viz. : muscular and tendinous. The muscular part is 

 the larger of the two. It is sometimes called the belly of the 

 muscle. This portion is known as muscular tissue, and has 

 a reddish, meaty color. At both ends of the muscle there is 

 a tendinous part, or the hard, white portion of the muscle 

 which becomes attached to the bone. All muscles are at- 

 tached to two or more places on different bones, and, because 

 of their contraction, the "joints of the body are moved. They 

 are well supplied with nerves, which give strength and feel- 

 ing, and also well supplied with small blood vessels, from 

 which the muscle is fed. Muscles are found in separate 

 groups, all of which have different actions to perform. There 

 are two kinds of muscles — voluntary and involuntary. The 

 voluntary muscles are under the control of the will of the 

 animal ; example — the muscles of the legs, hip, back, head, 

 and neck. The involuntary muscles are beyond control of 

 the animal, and will act even though the animal were asleep 

 — such as those of the heart, the large muscular curtain which 

 separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity, which 

 is one of the great muscles of breathing; also the muscles 

 around the chest which assist in breathing. 



1. Voluntary Muscles are in groups. The first one we 

 call attention to, after removing the skin, is the panniculus 

 carnosus not shown in plate II. which is a thin muscle almost 

 entirely covering the body, and is sometimes accidentally 

 removed by a careless person in skinning the animal. The 

 action of this muscle is to shake the skin when flies or some- 

 thing bother the horse. This muscle is not shown in plate II., 

 it having been removed in order to show the more important 

 ones. At the head there is a group of muscles which assist 

 in chewing, or masticating, the food. Around the throat is 



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