THE 



ANATOMY OF THE HORSE. 



SECTION I. 

 OSSEOUS SYSTEM. 



OF THE SKELETON. 



THE SKELETON is the simple, jointed, bony frame, divested 

 of the soft parts and dried. There are two kinds : — 



L The natural skeleton is that in which the bones remain 

 attached to each other by their natural connections, denomi- 

 nated ligaments. 



2. The artificial skeleton is made by separating the bones 

 from all their connections, by macerating or boiling, and after- 

 wards joining them again in their natural order and relative po- 

 sition, by wire or other means, so as to imitate as nearly as 

 possible the natural one ; over which it possesses the advantages 

 of cleanliness, distinctiveness, and more or less artificial mobi- 

 lity of the joints. 



Construction. Leaving the head and neck out of considera- 

 tion, the entire frame will be found to come with sufficient prox- 

 imity within the limits of a square, formed by drawing perpen- 

 diculars, touching the extreme parts before and behind, from a 

 horizontal line level with the surface of the ground, to another 

 parallel to it touching the summits of the back. A line extend- 

 ed perpendicularly through the middle of this square, divides 

 the frame into two nearly equal parts, and falls upon the ground 

 (represented by the inferior horizontal line) equidistant from the 

 four points of tread ; a line drawn in the horizontal direction 

 through its middle, includes the trunk within the upper divi- 

 sion of the square, the space formed by the limbs, as well as 

 the limbs themselves, within the lower section. The limbs re- 

 present four columns supporting the body, the bones composing 

 which, though many of them are obliquely placed, are found, 

 on taking the aggregate of their directions, to maintain their 

 bearing in lines parallel to the common centre of gravity, which 



