144 XENOPHON ON HORSEMANSHIP. 



50. (Page 53.) On the bits see note 53. 



51. (Page 54.) "Chirrup" is here used, for 

 want of a better word, to translate iroirTrva-^o^, a 

 noise made by the lips alone. It is used of a 

 kiss (Anthologia Palatina, v, 245 and 285), and 

 therefore does not mean '' whistling," as it is gen- 

 erally translated here. The sound is familiar to 

 every rider, but we use it now to start a horse. 

 By " clucking," KXwy/xos, is meant the sound 

 made by the tongue against the roof of the 

 mouth. 



52. (Page 54.) This advice looks as though 

 Xenophon were hurried, or as if a lazy horse were 

 too distasteful a subject for him to treat. He 

 could not have meant it to be followed to the 

 letter. 



53. (Page 56.) There is no evidence for a 

 curb-chain on a Greek bit, and hence Greek bits 

 had no leverage. The reins in every case acted 

 directly on the mouthpiece of the bit. Nor do 

 we hear of two bits used at the same time, nor of 

 two sets of reins. In this passage Xenophon 

 recommends two kinds of bits, — the smooth and 

 the rough ; but it is evident from his language 

 that these were not the only kinds used in his day. 

 Here, however, I am concerned only with these 

 two. What constituted the smoothness of the one 

 and the roughness of the other? Certainly not 



