THE RACE-HOUSE. 533 



quiry, and none more than the country gentlemen of Eng- 

 land, who take pleasure in this sport of their ancestors, and 

 desire to see it freed from pollution and dishonour. 



One abuse connected with the sports of the turf remains 

 to be referred to, which does not demand the interference of 

 the law, but may be corrected by the good feeling and judg- 

 ment of the legitimate supporters of the course. 



The Race-Horse, we have seen, has been cultivated for a 

 particular end, and the purpose of the breeders has been to 

 call forth in the highest degree those characters which indi- 

 cate the power of rapid motion. These purposes have been 

 fulfilled, and the form of the animal answers the conditions 

 required ; yet this form does not wholly accord with those 

 ideas of symmetry which, without relation to the particular 

 uses of the horse, we might have formed. His length is 

 greater than consists with perfect beauty, the power of speed 

 having been sought for in a higher degree than that of strength 

 and endurance. His legs are longer and his trunk smaller 

 than the eye indicates as strictly graceful. The length and 

 depth of the hind-quarters, a point essential to the power of 

 making long strides, are extended to the degree of appearing 

 disproportionate. The chest is narrow, and the fore-quarters 

 are light, points likewise characteristic of speed. The neck 

 is straight rather than gracefully arched, and the pasterns 

 are very long and oblique. Thus may the Race-Horse not 

 only lose somewhat of that apparent harmony of parts which 

 the eye delights to trace in the animal world, but some even 

 of the really valuable properties of the horse may be sacri- 

 ficed to insure others which, with relation to mere utility, may 

 be of secondary importance. Thus, strength and the power 

 of endurance may be sacrificed for the property of speed, and 

 even soundness of constitution to the artificial uses to which 

 we destine the animal. Not only may these things be, but 

 there is reason to infer that this yet unrivalled breed has 

 already suffered deterioration. 



It is difficult to institute a precise comparison between the 



