70 THE HORSE AND ITS RELATIVES 



write a book on the treatment of their diseases. 

 Salihotra consented, and composed the greatest work 

 on veterinary science known to the Hindus. This 

 work was called Salihotra after him ; gradually this 

 Sanskrit word came to mean veterinary science in 

 general and also a horse. To-day every regiment 

 of native cavalry has its salotris" 



Later on the same author observes that " Besides 

 its use in war, the horse was important in Hindu 

 eyes as an animal of sacrifice. ... In the Vedic 

 period the sacrificial horse was first slain sacrificially 

 (i.e. by severing the head at one blow), and then 

 divided in portions, part being eaten by the 

 attendant priests, and part being offered as a burnt- 

 offering. In this age the object of the sacrifice 

 was to obtain wealth, prosperity, and male offspring. 



"The Puranas, written several hundred years 

 after the Vedas, describe the asvamedha as a sacri- 

 fice of the highest order. Performed a hundred 

 times, it elevated the sacrificer to the throne of 

 Svarga, Indra's dominion, deposing even the king 

 of the gods. . . . 



" In the succeeding epic period, z.. after 1200 B.C., 

 this sacrifice was made by kings to demonstrate 

 their claim to supremacy over neighbouring chiefs." 



What, if any, connection there may be between 

 these ancient Hindu sacrifices and the slaughter 

 of horses at the obsequies of the old Scandinavian 

 chieftains, must be left for others to determine. 



