COMPARATIVE HEIGHT AT WITHERS AND CROUP. 175 



race-horse have to carry, is still more increased by the 

 presence of a jockey on his back. Among the fleet of foot, 

 I purposely omitted mentioning the hare, whose fine 

 speed can be maintained, as we might have inferred, only 

 for a short distance on level ground ; though it is particu- 

 larly hard to catch up a hill, the difficulty of ascending 

 which is directly lessened by the fact of the fore limbs 

 being shorter than the hind ones. Any disadvantage, 

 in progression, arising from undue shortness of fore legs 



Pliolo bii] 



Fig. 276. — Foal. 



[M. n. H. 



is, more or less, compensated for, in the hare, by great 

 development of the muscles of the loins (" rearing 

 muscles," p. 67). The Ij'nx (Fig. 4), which is very high 

 behind, has an extraordinary turn of speed ; but only 

 for a short distance. Its gallop, like that of other cats, 

 is a series of leaps (p. 142). From practical observations, 

 I do not think that it is an advantage for a race-horse 

 to be higher over the croup than at the withers. With 



