CHAPTER II 



NATURAV HISTORY AND GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS 



SVNONYMS AND CLASSIFICATION IN THE SCALE OF CREATION— HABITS— EXTERNAL FORM A3 

 INDICATED BY POINTS — PROPORTIONS — PERIOD OF MATURITY — AVERAGE AGE — 

 PERIODICAL MOULTING— MENTAL DEVELOPMENT— SMALL STOMACH. 



SYNONYMS AND CLASSIFICATION 



The Horse, in English, is synonymous with lttttos, Greek ; eqims, Latin ; 

 p/erd, German ; cheval, French ; paard, Dutch ; heist, Swedish ; hest, 

 Danish ; eavallo, Itahan ; cahallo, Spanish ; loschad, Russian ; kon, Polish ; 

 sukh, Turkish ; hysdn, Syriac ; hozan, Arabic ; al, Toorkman ; ma, Siamese ; 

 fur or pzir, Bornou ; harree, Timbuctoo ; as, Pustoo. 



In the classification adopted by modern natural historians he belongs 

 to the division Vertehrata, class Mammalia, tribe Ungulata, order PacJiy- 

 dcrmata, family Solij)eda, and genus Eqims. 



His dental formula is as follows : — Incisors f, canine (in the male only) 

 ^ \, molars f f, total 40. 



HABITS 



The Habits of the horse in a wild or free state are similar to those of 

 most of the gregarious and graminivorous animals. That is to say, he 

 places his safety in flight ; but when compelled to make a stand against 

 any of the larger carnivora, he fights strongly with his heels and teeth. In 

 all countries he feeds upon grass (green, or dried as hay), straw or grain ; 

 and those succulent plants generally called " roots," as swedes, mangels, 

 parsnips, carrots, kohlrabi, etc. None of the brassicas come amiss to him 

 when confined to the stable. The leaves of trees and young shoots are 

 particularly relished in some seasons. The habits of the horse may be so 

 modified by circumstances, that it has been seriously proposed to make cakes 

 containing a proportion of animal food for convenience of transport over 

 desert places and for use in beleaguered cities. Although the editor has 

 seen samples of such food, he is not aware of any practical trial having been 

 given to what certainly seems a wholly unnatural food for a graminivorous 

 animal. Camels' milk is given to horses in Arabia in times of scarcity of 

 other food. 



Forage. — In a free state, where the horse has to travel far for his food, 



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