i88 



COMPARATIVE SHAPE OF HORSES. 



If, to facilitate comparison, we take the radius of 

 Eclipse and that of the Shetland pony as equal in length 

 to that of Hermit, we shall have the following propor- 

 tions : 



We thus find that there is very little difference 

 between the respective proportions of the radius, cannon 

 bone, and phalanges of these animals, and that the fore 

 legs of the Shetland pony, in this respect, more closely 

 resemble those of Hermit, than do those of Eclipse ; the 

 cannon bone being comparatively shorter in the " Sheltie " 

 and in the Derby winner, than in the famous old-time 

 race-horse . 



A comparatively short cannon bone is greatly admired in 

 hunters by experienced horsemen, but it is not a " point " 

 which is usually noticed in race-horses. Although I have 

 not tested this relative shortness of the cannon bone by 

 actual measurements, I am strongly inclined to accept its 

 existence, on account of its wide recognition and because 

 variation plays a large part in all animal structures, as 

 we may see by referring to Bateson's Materials for the 

 Study of Variation. Bearing in mind that the proportion 

 between the length of the fore-arm and that of the bones 

 below the knee is fairly constant, we must admit that if 

 the cannon bone is shorter than usual, as compared to 

 its fore-arm, the bones below the fetlock will be com- 

 paratively long. Lecoq remarks : " The length of the 

 fore-arm varies inversely as that of the cannon-bone." 

 This principle may be extended somewhat further, by 



