THE CHEST. 27 



sought after as it should be in the cart-horse ; and 

 hence it is no unusual thing to see people breeding 

 from animals which are very faulty in this particular. 

 A horse with a shallow chest is not desirable for any 

 purpose. 



In proportion as we pass from the di'aught-horse, 

 through the different degrees of speed, up to the racer, 

 in the same proportion must the depth of the chest, 

 when compared wdth its roundness, increase. The 

 horse for harness should have a round and deep chest, 

 the roadster and hunter deeper still, and the racer or 

 steeple-chaser should be almost as deep as a gi-eyhound, 

 at the same time presenang a fair proportion of breadth. 

 Depth of chest is indispensable for speed combined 

 ^vith distance. 



The reason of all this is veiy obvious, for, as Mr. 

 Youatt observes, " the circular chest could not expand, 

 but every change of form would be a diminution of 

 capacity," because " the circle is a figure which con- 

 tains more than any other of equal girth and admea- 

 surement." A simple experiment will illustrate this 

 proposition. Take, for example, a piece of pasteboard, 

 and form it into a cylinder about six inches in length 

 and two inches in diameter, leaving it open at both 

 ends, so that it can be compressed equally from end to 

 end. Place one end on a table, and compress two of 

 its sides until the cavity assimaes a perfectly oval or 

 elliptical form, and then fill it accm'ately with fine shot. 



