24 MENTAL QUALITIES OF THE HORSE. 



that of knitting the eyebrows ; with those of the horse, that 

 of " showing the white of the eye." As we habitually do the 

 latter, but in a way different to that of the horse, and as 

 the horse is practically incapable of the former ; it is 

 reasonable to suppose that the play of our eyes would be 

 lost on him. The power of expression of a dog's features 

 resembles that of man to a certain extent. I have seen 

 dogs smile, wrinkling the skin on their noses when doing 

 so, in a manner not very unlike that by which some persons 

 show their pleasure at meeting an agreeable acquaintance. 

 We all know that a dog makes a special study of the 

 expression of his master's face. 



Sense of feeling and smell. — Although the horse's sense 

 of smell is acute, I have not observed that he, like the dog, 

 uses it to recognise persons. I certainly think that, when a 

 horse brings his muzzle up to anything he may wish to 

 examine, he does so with the object of using it more as an 

 organ of touch, than to smell the object in question. As a 

 rule, a horse which is in a doubtful mood with respect to a 

 person who wishes to approach him, will, as every horseman 

 knows, feel considerably reassured if he be allowed to touch 

 with his muzzle the hand of the man, who, unless he sees 

 the danger signal of drawn back ears, should on no account 

 pull his hand abruptly away ; for the fact of his doing so 

 will usually be regarded by the horse as a menace. The 

 smell of a camel is extremely distasteful to the horse, who, 

 as a rule, does not at all object to that of the elephant, 

 which is quite as peculiar a looking animal as " the ship of 

 the Desert." The smell from a tannery inspires almost all 

 horses with fear. 



