HUNTERS 163 



few days, for if the former has been the cause 

 the swelling will mostly have subsided except 

 over the immediate place that has been struck, 

 and here a lump will remain, at first almost the 

 size of a walnut in a severe case, and afterwards 

 reduced to the dimensions of a hazel-nut. For 

 months afterwards this can be felt, and at the 

 next growth of the coat probably a few white 

 hairs will appear at that spot ; if it has been a 

 breakdown the thickening, on the contrary, will 

 extend to the whole length of the sinew. 



Often after a blow the mud on the leg will, 

 on examination, show an altered appearance 

 where the foot has struck, and thereby indicate 

 what has taken place. 



Q. Of what use are the splint bones ? 



A. Of none now ; but the primeval horse is 

 stated to have had eight legs, and the splint 

 bones no doubt then supported the extra limbs. 

 It is possible the supplementary legs were of assist- 

 ance in traversing boggy ground and morasses, 

 which are believed to have been more plentiful 

 at that remote period than now, in the same 

 way the extra toes at the back of a cow's fetlock 

 help her in soft places at the present time. An 

 interesting example of reversion to the primitive 

 type was that of a mare which was racing in 

 1822-23, and ran in nine races, two of which she 

 won. She was first named Pincushion, which 

 was afterwards changed to Creeping Jenny. She 

 suddenly commenced to throw out a new set of 

 limbs which commenced half way below the 

 hocks, on the hind legs ; and from just above 

 the fetlock on the near foreleg. 



But as one swallow does not make a summer, 



