*IS NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HORSE. 



are not so well marked in countries possessing an even tem- 

 perature, nor even are they so plainly seen in horses kept in the 

 warm atmosphere of a close stable all the year round. When 

 the shedding of the coat commences, the bulbs of the old hair 

 become pale, and by the side of each a small black globular 

 body is formed, which is soon developed into the new hair. 

 Thus the matrix of the new hair is not the old bulb, but it is 

 based in another productive follicle. The long hair of the 

 mane, tail, and fetlocks is not shed at definite periods with that 

 of the body, but is replaced by a shorter and more uniform 

 process. The hair of the mane and tail will, if protected, grow 

 to an almost incredible length. 



The property of changing the color of the hair with the 

 season, possessed by many animals of the arctic region, adapting 

 them to the temperature, is also manifested in the horse, though 

 in a much less degree, for it may be seen that when constantly 

 exposed to the elements, the long winter-coat assumes a much 

 lighter hue than that of its predecessor. 



The horse in common with many other animals, is provided 

 with a thin, sub-cuticular muscle, covering the shoulders, flanks, 

 and sides, whose use is to corrugate the skin, shake off flies, 

 and dislodge other annoying substances. 



The sense of smell is so delicately acute in the horse, that 

 perhaps he is not exceeded in this function by any other animal. 

 The nose is provided with a very extensive surface for the dis- 

 tribution of the olfactory nerve, by the curious foldings of the 

 turbinated bones. It is principally by means of this faculty 

 that he is enabled to distinguish the qualities of the plants upon 

 which he feeds, and to reject such as are of a noxious or poison- 

 ous description. "Nature," said Linnaeus, "teaches the brute 



