COCOANUT-MATTING. 377 



quadruped has a far larger base of support than a biped, he 

 can keep his footing much better on a rocking surface, like the 

 deck of a vessel which is rolling and pitching, provided that his 

 feet do not slip. Yet horses, as a rule, find it far more difficult 

 to keep standing on deck in bad weather than men ; because 

 of the small amount of friction that exists between the floor 

 of their box or stall and the ground surface of their feet. 

 The superiority of the four-legged form of support over 

 the two-legged one, is well shown by the ease with which 

 a dog can stand on the deck of a vessel that is rolling in 

 the most desperate manner, because the pads of his feet 

 give him abundance of grip. Therefore, to insure a sea- 

 going horse against the danger in question, we need only 

 place him on a non-slippery surface, as, for instance, thick 

 cocoanut door-matting, into the upstanding fibres of which 

 his feet can sink, and can thus obtain secure foot-hold. I 

 have frequently proved the perfect efficiency of this ma- 

 terial during terribly bad weather on voyages with horses 

 between India and England, and also in the North Sea when 

 going to Russia. The best plan for putting down this mat- 

 ting in a box, is to have a piece of it specially made, and 

 to have it a little larger in its width and length than the 

 bottom of the box, so that it could be built up into the sides 

 when the box is being constructed. Then, as long as the box 

 holds together, the matting can not become displaced. If 

 it is not convenient to have a box specially made, we might 

 employ six cocoanut door-mats of the ordinary size (about 

 3 ft. by i l /2 ft.); five to cover the floor, and one extra, so 

 that the rearmost mat can be taken out every day, cleaned 

 and dried, and the others pushed down in daily succession. 

 With a row of stalls between decks, the matting would have 

 to be fixed to the deck. The old plan of putting battens 

 across the floor is worse than useless ; because, instead of 

 using the battens as a fixed point for his toes, in the manner 



