INTRODUCTION. O 



Homer, in that splendid passage in the eleventh 

 book of the ^neid, where Turnus turning out fully 

 accoutred for the fight, is compared to a horse that 

 has just broken loose from his stall : — 



*' Qualis, ubi abruptis fugit prsesepia vinclis, 

 Tandem liber equus, campoque potitus aperto, 

 Aut ille in pastus armentaque tendit equarum, 

 Aut, assuetus aqua? perfundi flumine noto, 

 Emicat, arrectisque fremit cerxicibus alte 

 Luxurians ; luduntque jubte per colla, per armos." 



It is impossible, at this distance of time, to fix 

 upon the native country of the horse, as he has 

 been found, in various forms, and of various sizes, 

 in every region of the Old World. The difference 

 in size is easily accounted for. The origin of all 

 animals of the same species was doubtless the same 

 in the beginning of time, and it is chiefly climate 

 that has produced the change we perceive in them. 

 Warmth being congenial to his constitution, and 

 cold naturally injurious to him, he is produced in 

 the most perfect form, and in the greatest vigour, 

 when subject to the influence of the one, and not 

 only diminutive, but misshapen and comparatively 

 worthless, when exposed to the evils of the other. 

 Buff"on, however, is wrong in making the horse indi- 

 genous to Arabia, as is clearly proved by a refe- 

 rence to the Sacred Writings. In the reign of 

 Saul, horse-breeding had not yet been introduced 

 into Arabia ; for, in a war with some of the Ara- 

 bian nations, the Israelites got plunder in camels, 

 sheep, and asses, but still no horses. Even at the 

 time when Jerusalem was conquered and first de- 

 stroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, Arabia appears to have 



