64 THE HORSE. 



H The Sternum or fore-part of the chest. 



I The Costae or ribs, seven or eight articulating with the sternum, and Called the true ribs, 



and ten or eleven united together by cartilage, called thefahe ribs. 

 J The Humerus, or bone of the arm. 

 K The Radius, or bone of the fore-arm. 



L The Ulna, or elbow. The point of the elbow is called the Olecranon. 

 M The Carjius or knee, consisting of seven bones. 

 N The metacarpal bones. The larger metacarpal or cannon or shank in front, and the 



smaller metacarpal or splent bone behind. 

 g The fore pastern and foot, consisting of the Os SufFraginis, or the upper and larger pastern 



bone, with the sessamoid bones behind, articulating with the cannon and greater 



pastern; the Os Coronte, or lesser pastern; the Os Pedis or coffin bone; and 



the Os Naviculare, or navicular, or shuttle-bone, not seen, and articulating with the 



smaller pastern and coffin bones. 

 h The corresponding bones of the hind-feet. 



O The Haunch, consisting of three portions, the Ilium, the Ischium, and the Pubis. 

 P The Femur or thigh. 

 Q The stifle joint with the Patella. 



R The Tibia or proper leg bone— behind is a small bone called the fibula. 

 S The Tarsus or hock, composed of six bones. The prominent part is the Os Calcis, or 



point of the hock. 

 T The Metatarsals of the hind leg. 



Beautiful as is the horse, and identified so much with our pleasure and 

 our profit, he has been the object of almost universal regard ; and there 

 are few persons who do not pretend to be somewhat competent judges of 

 his form, qualities, and worth. From the nobleman with his numerous 

 and valuable stud, to the meanest helper in the stable, and not excluding 

 even the mechanic who scarcely crosses, or sits behind a horse once in a 

 twelvemonth, there is scarcely a man who would not be oflended if he 

 were thought altogether ignorant of horse-flesh. There is no subject on 

 which he is so positive, there is no subject on which, generally speaking, 

 he is so deficient, and there are few horses, on some points of which these 

 pretended and self-sufficient judges would not give a totally opposite 

 opinion, 



^ The truth Is, that this supposed knowledge is rarely founded on prin- 

 ciple — or is the result of the slightest acquaintance with the actual 

 structure of this animal, or that form and connexion of parts on which 

 strength, or fleetness, or stoutness, must necessarily depend. If we were 

 constructing or examining a machine composed of levers and pulHes, and 

 by which we purposed to raise a great weight, or to set in motion certain 

 bodies with a given velocity, we should fail in our object, or expose our 

 ignorance of the matter, if we were not aware what kind of lever or con- 

 nexion of levers was necessary, and in what situation the ropes should be 

 placed, and in what direction the force should be applied, and by what 

 means we could obtain mechanical advantage, and by what peculiar con- 

 struction it would inevitably be lost. 



Now the structure of the horse, like that of the human being*, consists 

 of numerous levers in the shape of bones, with ropes attached to them in 



* See Treatise on ^' Animal Mechanics/' 



