380 



POINTS. 



intelligible, it will be necessary the author should point out the import- 

 ance of certain structures, and explain the uses which appertain to par- 

 ticular oi'gans or parts of the animal economy. 



The skeleton is the framework of the trunk and of the limbs. The 

 vertebrge are the base, toward which all the other bones concentrate, or 

 from which all the other osseous parts originate. Therefore, to start 

 from the commencement, we see at one end of the back-bone the skull is 

 situated ; while at the other extremity the tail is pendent. The arrange- 

 ment exactly accords with the system observed in every well-regulated 

 vessel. The sailor wlio is appointed to look out, stands forward ; while 



THE SPECIAL CSE OP THE HEAD, MANE, AND TAIL, WHEN EMPLOYED TOGETHER. 



the individual who steers is always stationed at the poop. The tail, in 

 the quadruped, principally directs the course. Hence we perceive the 

 folly of those people who, to gratify a whim, excise or mutilate the 

 motor integrity of so important a part : thus sacrificing positive safety 

 to a false notion of improved appearance. 



The animal, gazing' in the direction which it desires to proceed upon, 

 inclines the body toward that point ; while the tail, being likewise moved 

 in an opposite course, sways the trunk into the proper track. The 

 flowing hair, operated upon by the wind, gently favors the inclination. 

 By understanding this, the reader will comprehend the reason why a 

 short tail is rarely compatible with perfect safety. The appendage, 

 which mankind regard as chiefly of service to switch away the flies, 

 therefore has a higher and far more important function assigned to it. 



