50 



THE HORSE. 



of the new hair is not the old bulb, but it is based in another 

 productive follicle. Tlie long hair of the mane, tail and fet- 

 locks, is not shed at definite periods with that of the body, but 

 is replaced by a shorter and more uniform process. The hair 

 of the mane and tail Mill, if protected, grow to an almost in- 

 credible length. 



" The property of changing the color of the hair with the 

 season, j)ossessed by many animals of the arctic regions, adapt- 

 ing them to the temperature, is also manifested in the horse, 

 though in a much less degree, for it may be seen that when con- 

 stantly exposed to the elements, the long winter-coat assumes a 

 much lighter hue than that of its predecessor. 



" The horse, in common with many other animals, is pro- 

 vided with a thin sub-cuticular muscle, covering the shoulders, 

 flanks and sides, whose use is to corrugate the skin, shake off 

 flies and dislodge other annoying substances. 



" The sense of smell is so delicately acute in the horse, that 

 perhaps he is not exceeded in this function by any other animal. 

 The nose is provided with a very extensive surface for the dis- 

 tribution of the olfactory nerve, by the curious foldings of the 

 turbinated bones. It is principally by means of this faculty he 

 is able to distinguish the qualities of the plants upon which he 

 feeds, and to reject such as are of a noxious or poisonous de- 

 scription. Nature, said Linnaeus, teaches the brute creation to 

 distinguish, without a preceptor, the useful from the hurtful, 

 while man is left to his own inquiries. On putting the fingers 

 into the nostrils, at the upper and outward part, they pass into 

 blind pouches of considerable dimensions. These carious cavi- 

 ties have nothing to do with smelling, because they are lined 

 with a reflection of common integument, but they may possibly 

 be of use in mechanically distending the external entrance of 

 the nostrils, and thus materially facilitate respiration during 

 violent exertion. They are also brought into use, when the 

 animal neighs ; and the Hungarian soldiery* slit them up to 



* It is worthy of remark that the preference of Arabs for the mare to the horse, 

 for warHke purposes, is attributable to the fact that they do not neigh when they 

 scent the vicinity of other horses, as stalHons invariably do — the Arabs never attack- 

 ing, save by surprise. Those nations which fight by open force have no such prefer- 

 ence, but mainly use the stallion. 



