370 THE HORSE. 



as they are separated are carried off by the absorbents — the outer skin is 

 more readily got rid of, in the form of scales. The cuticle is produced by 

 the true skin, and is perforated by all its pores, whether exhalent or 

 absorbent; and it adheres to the true skin through the medium of these 

 pores, and likewise of little eminences or projections, which seem to be 

 prolongations of the nerves of the skin. 



It is doubtful whether the horse possesses to any considerable degree 

 the sense of touch, or whether he is able to ascertain the form and nature 

 of bodies by impressions made through the medium of the nerves of the 

 skin. The skin is thinner about the muzzle than at other parts, because 

 it is devoid of hair, but we never see this animal examining bodies by 

 moving or rolling them about with his muzzle. He seems to examine 

 them simply by the smell. 



Beneath the cuticle is a thin soft substance, through which the pores 

 and eminences of the true skin pass; and on which the horse depends for 

 his colour. The dandrifF or scurf of a black horse is as white as that of 

 the lightest grey; and the skin beneath is of the same hue in all. The 

 soft substance is called the rete 7nucosu7n, from its web-like structure, and 

 its soft mucous consistence. 



Under this is the true skm, very different in different breeds : thin and 

 highly sensible in the blood horse ; thick, and, fortunately for the animal, 

 endowed with far less sensibility, in the common cart horse. Over a great 

 part of the frame it lies upon a very singular muscle, peculiar to quadrupeds, 

 and more extensive and powerful in thin-skinned and thin-haired animals 

 than in those of thicker hides. It reaches from the poll over the whole 

 of the carcass, and down to the arm before, and stifle behind. By its 

 contraction the skin is puckered in every direction ; and if it acts strongly 

 and rapidly, the horse is not only enabled to shake off-any insect or fly that 

 may annoy him, but sometimes to displace a great part of his harness ; and 

 we have seen determinedly vicious horses shake themselves so violently 

 that the most expert rider could scarcely keep his seat. This muscle 

 also assists the skin in bracing that part of the frame which it covers, and 

 perhaps it gives additional strength to the muscles beneath. It is called 

 the panniculus carnosus of fleshy pinnacle or covering. 



The skin answers the double purpose of protection and strength. 

 Where it is necessary that the parts should be bound and knit together it 

 adheres so tightly that we can scarcely raise it. Thus the bones of the 

 knees and the pasterns and the tendons of the legs, on which so much 

 stress is frequently thrown, are securely tied down and kept in their places 

 It is in order to take additional advantage of this binding and strength- 

 ening power that we fire the legs of overworked horses, in whom the 

 sinews have bei;un to start, and the ligaments of the joints to swell, or be 

 displaced. We find the skin tight along the muscles of the back and 

 loins, and down the yet more powerful muscles of the quarters; but in 

 other places it seems to be destined only to protect the parts beneath, and 

 there it is loosely attached, that it may not interfere with the motions of. 

 the animal. About the brisket, and within the arms and at the flanks, it 

 hangs even in folds, to allow for the extraordinary distension of those parts 

 in rapid action. 



Of its strength we have abundant proof, both in the living and dead 

 animal. Its fibres are interlaced in a most curious and intricate man- 

 ner, so as, when living, to be scarcely lacerable. It offers considerable re- 

 sistance even to the knife, and is converted into leather after death. 



It is, while the animal is alive, one of the most elastic bodies with 

 which we arc acquainted. It not only perfectly adapts itself to the 



