68 THE POCKET AND THE STUD. 



common ring, so far as relates to a horse pulling 

 at it in any ordinary manner. But should he get 

 a leg over the collar-shank, and consequently be 

 in dansrer of throwinsr himself down, he must of 

 course force the shank strongly downwards: in 

 such a case a spring gives way, and he gets free. 

 I had them, and found them answer the purpose 

 of any other fastening, and had I used double 

 shanks I dare say I should have proved the ad- 

 vantage of having them : they cost little, and I 

 venture to highly recommend their use. 



It is rather remarkable how careless many per- 

 sons are in some respects, while in others they 

 are provokingly careful or anxious. This arises 

 frequently from their not knowing or seeing 

 apparent danger of loss in one particular, but 

 from having a vivid sense of it in another. If a 

 man went out leaving his desk open, in which 

 there were a hundred and fifty sovereigns, although 

 he mio^ht know it was a thousand to one against 

 any one even going into the room, he would feel 

 fidgety and uneasy till he got back and found 

 his treasure safe: yet the same individual would, 

 and perhaps daily does, allow an equal sum, in 

 the shape of a horse, to be exposed to much greater 

 risk without having an uneasy thought about it, 

 till a broken leg, or some such casualty, gives him 

 reason to repent his want of foresight. He then 

 finds that from very slight causes very serious 



