SECRETARY'S REPORT. 175 



" Lead him forth, the sightless hero ! 

 Hound him group the noblest steeds ; 

 He will match the proudest horses 

 Of the famous racing breeds. 

 Now he hears the hum of voices — 

 Voices blending in his praise ; 

 And he longs to meet the glances 

 Of the eyes that on him gaze." 



The average length of the life of horses in Massachusetts is 

 variously estimated by those who have responded to the inquiry 

 respecting it, at from seventeen to twenty years, and mares are 

 thought to live about three years longer than geldings. It is 

 well known that horses have often been quite serviceable at 

 thirty years of age, and sometimes even at forty, and it is very 

 probable that the average life is longer than is generally sup- 

 posed, as it is absolutely impossible to determine the exact age 

 of an old horse, except from his history. It is a curious fact that 

 horses seem to advance in age very gradually after becoming 

 nine years old, and those which, in the opinion of their owners, 

 are more than twelve, are very rarely seen. 



But, finally, the most plausible arguments in favor of work- 

 ing oxen are, that yokes are cheaper than harnesses, which 

 cannot be denied ; and that the ox at last is turned over to 

 the butcher. 



In Hamburg, Vienna, Paris and other cities of Europe, there 

 are markets for the sale of horse-beef, and it must be confessed 

 that no good reason can be adduced against the practice of 

 eating it. The horse is the most dainty animal in the world 

 respecting both food and drink, and the objection that he does 

 not, like the ox, throw up the contents of his stomach and eat 

 it over again, is not important. 



The Kalmucks, of Siberia, live almost exclusively upon the 

 raw flesh of the horse cut into slices, and made tender by being 

 bruised and steamed under the saddle for lialf a-day. Tiie juice 

 of the dead horse is thus intimately mingled with that of the 

 living one, and the flavor becomes exquisitely " horsey." This 

 meat is washed down by copious draughts of fermented mare's 

 milk, taken from a bottle of horse-hide which is never rinsed. 

 The principal dishes at a grand Tartar feast are roasted horses' 

 heads and sucking colts. 



