38 THE HORSE. 



the appearance of the hind and fore quarters. I need 

 scarcely observe, that the man who attempts to give 

 an accm-ate and faithful likeness of a horse, in any 

 other than a standing posture, deserves more credit for 

 imagination than discretion. 



THE MUSCLES. 



The reddish-colom-ed substance which is commonly 

 called flesh, is not thrown over the bones in an iiTCgu- 

 lar and uncertain manner ; on the contraiy, every fibre 

 of which it is composed takes a specific direction for a 

 specific purpose. The fleshy fibres, or thi*eads (such as 

 may be seen in a piece of diied beef), are thrown to- 

 gether into bundles of various sizes. These bundles, 

 or masses of flesh, are called muscles. 



The muscles ai'e very nmnerous, amounting to hun- 

 di'eds, and every one of them is running towards some 

 particular point, for a special use. On a cursoiy ex- 

 amination, they may appear complicated and in-egular 

 in theii' arrangement, but a more minute inspection 

 will discover the most beautiful and suitable design. 

 Their importance is so great, that they cannot be dis- 

 pensed with ; it is by their means alone the bones are 

 put into motion. They are frequently tenninated at 

 one extremity by dense cords, called sinews. These 

 sinews are very strong, and incapable of being stretched. 

 If they were elastic, they would be quite useless. In- 



