48 TlH'^ IIUK8K. 



" The disproportionate length of the foal's* legs, which is 

 so strikingly up[)arent, when compared with those of the adult 

 animal, is thought bj some naturalists to be provided by pre- 

 scient nature to enable the young animal to keep pace with its 

 dam during flight from any menacing danger. Linnaius at- 

 tempted to ascertain the future height of the colt by admeasure- 

 ment of its legs ; but so much is found to depend on the quan- 

 tity and character of the nutriment with which it is provided 

 during tlie important period of its growth, that little reliance 

 can be placed on early experiments of this kind. The historian, 

 the warrior, and the horseman, Xenophon, had long ago alluded 

 to the same subject in his treatise on horsemanship. ' I now 

 explain,' said he, 'how a man may run the least risk of being 

 deceived, when conjecturing the future height of a horse. The 

 young horse which, when foaled, has the shank bones longest, 

 invariably turns out the largest. For, as time advances, the 

 ehank bones of all quadrupeds increase but little ; but that 

 ^he rest of the body may be symmetrical, it increases in pro- 

 portion.' 



" Puberty commences in both sexes as early as the second 

 year, but all the structures continue to be gradually developed 

 till the end of the fifth year, by which time the changes in the 

 teeth arc perfected, and the muscles have acquired a growth 

 and tone M'hich give to the form the distinctives of adolescence. 

 It is during the term, which elapses between this period of adult 

 age and tliat of confirmed virility, that a farther progressive 

 change takes place in the aninial economy ; the powers of the 



Cream — Ewe's, woman's, goat's, cow's, ass's, mare's. 



Butter — Ewe's, goat's, cow's. 



Clieese — ^Ewe's, goat's, cow's, ass's, woman's, mare's. 



" He could not make any butter from the cream of woman's, ass's, or mare's 

 milk, and that from the ewe he found always remained soft. From their general 

 properties he divided them into two classes, one abounding in serous and saline parts, 

 which included ass's, mare's, and woman's ; the other rich in caseous and butyra- 

 ceous parts, as the cow's, goat's, and ewe's. 



* " The word foal is indiscriminately applied to the young of both sexes, but as 

 they increase in age they are distinguished from each other by appropriating the 

 term colt to the male, and filly to the female ; and on the period of adolescence, 

 about the fifth year, the former assuines the title of stallion or horse — gelding if cas- 

 trated — and the latter that of viare. In America, the word colt is often vrrongly 

 used for foal, as applied to either sex, whereas it is invariably masculine. 



