ANATOMICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 27 



or suffers atrophy. The existence, therefore, of such a structure in a 

 healthy condition is always sufficient proof that the function of expan- 

 sion and of contraction was present during life ; thus we reach an abso- 

 lute certainty that the air-passages of the horse possess a property of 

 adapting themselves to the necessities of the animal. 



Then, looking at these structures, we find them not only free, but so 

 composed as to be always open, excepting when the momentary swal- 

 lowing of the food causes the larynx to close. To breathe is the primary 

 necessity of life. Health cannot be maintained unless the blood is 

 sufficiently oxygenated ; this fact makes us doubt the national wisdom, 

 which persists in thrusting the quadruped into stables, rendered close 

 and hot by the products of impurity. < Oxygen is always deficient 

 where impurity prevails; and, having seen the necessity of its presence, 

 because it is the primary requirement of existence, and not because of 

 the warmth or oppression which its absence generates, does the author 

 presume to oppose his opinion to the decision apparently approved by 

 the entire British public. 



Seeing these provisions made by nature to preserve the beauty of her 

 most graceful quadruped, and remarking how profusely, in various forms, 

 loveliness is distributed throughout this earth, we cannot slightingly 

 esteem the attribute which Perfect Knowledge has impressed, as an 

 order of merit, upon its creations. Beauty is here spoken of as distinct 

 from gaudiness. The term is employed not to represent the luster of 

 the beetle or the vividness of the tropical bird, but to portray that har- 

 mony of parts and deep-seated perfection which is present only in the 

 more elaborate works of the Creator, and which renders the horse, even 

 when deprived of its skin, a picture deserving mortal adoration. Yiew- 

 ing the world and its mhabitants, we must confess that nothing was 

 formed without its uses ; on such a basis, we may safely assert that the 

 horse was not made the most beautiful of beasts without intention. 

 This quality appeals in a most mysterious and powerful manner to the 

 human sympathies. It should influence the mind even more than it 

 gratifies the eye, and though avarice may blind humanity to its claims, 

 yet even the most hardened cannot witness the destruction of perfection 

 without a poignant pang of regret. 



In the head of the animal we discern evidences of the care bestowed 

 to preserve a harmony of form. Above the nasal chambers are certain 

 hollow spaces, indicated by the figure T. These empty chambers may 

 serve to impart depth to the voice, but as the horse is generally a silent 

 creature, such, obviously, must be only a secondary purpose. To pre- 

 serve the undulation of the outline was assuredly the primary intent, 

 though at the same time the vacancies aid the reverberation of sound, 



