ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS. 13 



ing away " the moment he attempted to put his 

 toe into the stirrup. Living near a river, he hit 

 on the expedient of placing the horse with his 

 off side *' broad-side on," and close to, a steep part 

 of the bank, and then attempting to mount on 

 the near side. As usual, when the man's foot 

 touched the iron, the horse swung round, and, on 

 this occasion only, fell down twenty feet into the 

 river. The effect of this lesson, which was entirely 

 harmless, was to make the animal perfectly steady 

 to mount, so long as he stood on the bank of 

 the river, in a position similar to that from which 

 he had had his tumble ; but he was just as 

 difficult to mount as ever, anywhere else. Such 

 a method, to be perfect, should be of universal, 

 and not of local, application. I may add, with 

 reference to my remarks on page 4, that my 

 friend's unruly brute of a horse would, by many, 

 be deemed a nervous creature, and a worthy 

 recipient of any amount of kindness and petting. 

 The most effective means of applying the 



