RESULT OF BEAUTIFUL PROPORTIONS. 



427 



without any rest other than the halts, at the rate of 8 kilometres, 

 600 metres per hour. He estimates, in round numbers, that each hour 

 of work represents 7 kilometres at a trotj 1900 metres at a gallop, 

 or 450 metres at a charge. One or other of these distances may be 

 travelled, at the corresponding gait, as many times as there remain 

 hours in which to perform the work. The following is therefore the 

 available power at the end of each ride : 



Finally, the weight carried is extremely burdensome to the troop- 

 horse. Under ordinary circumstances, the charge does not sensibly 

 modify the speed, but it greatly augments the fatigue and, conse- 

 quently, the waste of endurance. The proof of the latter is furnished 

 by a study of the respiration. After trotting a certain number of 

 kilometres, the respirations, in horses not on a charge, rise to a mean 

 of 60 per minute ; in the same subjects, when charging, they attain 74. 

 Whence it follows that this time of trotting has winded these horses 

 as much as the same distance would have done at a gallop. 



General Borne adds, " In the face of such a diminution of endurance, hesi- 

 tation is no longer allowable, and the horses should at once be disburdened of 

 their campaign traps. This question is so little appreciated that custom pre- 

 scribes such a weight that, by considering the undressed rider as weighing P>/> 

 kilogrammes, which is certainly not an exaggeration, and adding the harness, 

 clothing, arms, ammunition, and provisions, it aggregates 152 kilogrammes. 



