4& THE HORSE. 



the horse. It is especially in the drawing of the head 

 that these defects make themselves manifest. Thus, 

 until the commencement of this century, nearly all the 

 pictures represent the eyes of horses with human forma- 

 tion and expression, even going so far as to indicate 

 strabism to the detriment of the breadth of the forehead. 



The ears are close together, and render visible a gaping 

 oral orifice, the edges of which are clipped, thus depriv- 

 ing the physiognomy of the animal of not only the bold 

 and refined appearance, but also of its sensitive and expres- 

 sive mobility. 



It will be recollected that when the head of a horse 

 is seen full face, having the orifice of this organ well 

 open towards the spectator, the boundary of the internal 

 portion of the ear is a crooked line, the reunion of which 

 would have its point touching the nape of the neck. 

 The convexity of the external line of the ear presents 

 an uniform curve from the summit to the base (fig. 26, A). 



P.-L. Courier informs us, according to Xenophon, 

 that, in the time of this horse-loving general, it was con- 

 sidered desirable to have the ears small and apart at their 

 base in order to impart a more noble aspect to the head of 

 the animal, hence the research for bucephalic horses, which 

 were specially to be found in Thessaly. The horse of 

 Marcus Aurelius, at the Capitol, offers an instance of a 

 broad forehead, reminiscent of the head of an ox, corres- 

 ponding in all probability with a voluminous brain. 



The face, in consequence of a not very capacious 

 cranium, is contracted, always arched, the nostrils flat and 

 elongated, insufficiently proximate to the end of the nose, 

 the elongation of which they render excessive. Therefore, 

 the cleft of the mouth terminates at the height of the 

 upper portion of the nostril of which the animal kingdom 

 offers no example, except the solitary instance of the 

 profile of the nose of the giraffe. 



The head of this horse is particularly long, because of 

 its leanness. Its lower termination feigns a curve con- 

 centric to the fleecy convexity of the face and forehead, 

 almost imperceptibly bowed so as to feebly indicate the 

 base of the jaw, the shape of which rounds itself without 

 protrusions or visible muscles. 



Add to this numerous teeth, set straight as in a 



