58o 



AMERICAN HORSES. 



horse, the animal's hind legs would be apt to hit the 

 axle. Consequently, the use of a vehicle of this kind 

 greatly diminishes the speed, by increasing the horse's 

 stability of equilibrium (p. 69). After the time of Gold- 

 smith Maid, a great advance in the construction of 

 sulkies was made, by the introduction of the arched axle, 

 which allowed a close hitch, and which was first drawn 



P/ioiobij] [SCBREIBKR& Sons, Philadelphia. 



Fig. 568. — Mr. J. Malcolm Forbes's Nancy Hanks (2.04). 



on a record-breaking journey by Rarus. Its weight in 

 his case was about 45 lbs. The sulky with which Maud 

 S. (Fig. 569), made her record, weighed 43 lbs., had a 

 roller bearing axle to diminish friction, and was made so 

 as to get a very close hitch, and had high wheels. Bicycle 

 wheels were applied to sulkies in 1892 by Mr. Stirling 

 Elliott, who was a bicycle manufacturer, and were used 

 by Nancy Hanks when she made her record. These 

 wheels were an immense success, because they reduced 



