Ixxvi 



INTRODUCTION. 



namely, (1.) the sesamoid bones, g, behind the joint commonly 

 termed the fetlock ; and, (2.) the navicular bone, #, placed 

 behind the common Joint of the coronet and coffin bones. 

 Over these small bones pass, from the cannon-bone, a liga- 

 ment and tendons, which, being connected with the bones 

 of the foot, give surpassing elasticity combined with strength, 



Fig. 3. 





to these parts. In the an- 

 nexed section of the foot, L 

 is the ligament, T the ten- 

 dons, and N the navicular 

 bone. The hoof, by which 

 the foot is covered, is of a 

 substance tough and elastic 

 in an eminent degree. 



Directing attention to the 

 hinder part of the vertebral 

 column, Fig. 1, there is the 

 pelvis, p, formed by two large 

 bones, one on each side of 



the spine, and firmly united to it. The upper part of each 

 pelvic bone, termed the ilium, forms the haunch-bone, or 

 hip-bone ; and into a cavity in the lower part of the same 

 bone is inserted the round head of the first of the bones of 

 the posterior limbs, namely, the femur, q, or great bone of 

 the thigh. The femur is not vertical, like the thigh-bone in 

 man, but it has an oblique direction from behind forward. 

 It corresponds with the thigh-bone in man, but being covered, 

 in the horse, with the thick muscles employed in moving it, 

 it appears to be a part of the trunk. The size of this bone 

 is connected, in an important degree, with the power of pro- 

 gression of the animal ; for, being extended backwards by 

 the action of the muscles, while the foot remains fixed, it 

 forces the body forward. 



In front of the lower extremity of the femur is the patella, 

 or stifle-bone, r, which corresponds with the pan of the knee 

 in man. It is one of the class of bones termed sesamoid, and 



