12 THE HORSE. 



meaning into short and quaint language that it might 

 be easily understood, he calculated upon its receiving a 

 liberal construction. Still, however, the professor con- 

 sidered the above definition of unsoundness a neat and 

 concise explanation of a difficult subject. 



The exceptions may not be very numerous with regard 

 to strict soundness, but there may, nevertheless, be many 

 deviations from nature which, instead of impeding the 

 animal functions, are of great service in adapting domes- 

 ticated animals to the artificial state in which they have 

 to live. Let us take an illustration. The hands of the 

 artisan or laborer, rendered coarse and hard by his daily 

 vocations, must be considered a deviation from nature; 

 but a man with delicate hands, who occasionally goes 

 boating, is aware, from the blisters he gets on his hands, 

 of the convenience and comfort of a more horny texture 

 of skin. 



If it were customary for people, upon being taken into 

 any kind of employment, to be "warranted," could a 

 man with these hard hands be warranted sound, i. e., in 

 a natural state, or capable of doing his work properly? 

 Nevertheless, though deviating from nature, the horny 

 hand is the best adapted to hard work. 



If the hands of a man had never done hard manual 

 labor, but had always been employed in writing, his skin 

 would remain unaltered, thin, and tender, and he would 

 be adjudged sound, in consequence of his not deviating 

 from nature; but his hands must undergo an alteration of 

 structure before he could earn his food by plowing or 

 digging. It is not, therefore, the training alone, but the 

 altered structure consequent thereon, that is required; 

 yet no one will deny that the adapted structure is the 

 most valuable for performing the requisite labor. Devia- 

 tions equally slight or unimportant should not vitiate a 

 warranty in horse-flesh. Such vitiation is, however, often 

 attempted, leading to enormous expense, tedious litiga- 



