36 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



CHAPTER I. 



ANTERIOR FACE OF THE HEAD. 



A. — The Forehead. 



Situation; Limits; Anatomical Base. — The forehead is 

 that symmetrical region which occupies the superior part of the ante- 

 rior face of the head. It is limited above by the external occipiicu pro- 

 tuberance and the poll; below by the /ace ;^ on each side, passing from 

 above to below, by the ear, the temple, the supra-orbit, and the eye. it is 

 partly concealed by a tuft of hairs, the forelock, floating over its surface. 



It has for its osseous basis the anterior reflection of the occipital bone and 

 the corresponding portions of the frontal and the parietal bones. On each side 

 of the median line, where the frontal bone is directly covered by the integument, 

 are the temporal fossae, occupied by the temporal muscles, separated from the 

 skin by the external and internal temporo-auricularis muscles. Whatever may 

 be the general form of the forehead, there always exists over the temporal fossae 

 a convexity of variable volume which is due to these muscles ; for the remainder 

 of its extent the region is almost perfectly plane. 



This region should be examined in relation to its width and its 

 direction. 



The width of the forehead is an absolute beauty. This is an 

 incontestable fact upon which all are in accord, but to which authors 

 have very often given false interpretations. Most writers exert them- 

 selves to demonstrate that this width is in relation with the intelligence, 

 and deduce from this the indication of its beauty. That this assertion 

 may be established it is necessary to prove : 1st, that the width is in 

 direct relation with the volume of the encephalon ; 2d, that the volume 

 of the latter is proportional to the development of the intelligence. 



Relative to the first proposition, we should not forget that the 

 frontal diameter depends upon the volume of the surrounding muscles 

 as well as upon the amplitude of the frontal sinuses, filled with air 

 and comprised in the thickness of the cranial i)arietes. We may even 

 suppose that in most instances it is the resultant of both causes united, 

 and, above all, of the latter, rather than of the actual capacity of the 

 cranial cavity. What, then, becomes of the interpretation given above ? 

 Let the reader draw his own conclusion. 



Concerning the second assertion, its explanation will be of but little 



1 On a line connecting the internal canthi of the eyes. (Harger.) 



