28 FOltM AND ACTION. 



askaunt necessarily discloses more or less of the white of the eye. 

 Now this oblique or retrospective cast of the eye may certainly 

 be — and mostly is, perhaps — accompanied with some thought or 

 intention of biting or kicking ; but, on the other hand, it may be 

 the effect of habit, of a playful disposition even, and so may not 

 portend any evil. I have met with many cases of both descrip- 

 tions, where vice was and where vice was not present ; but I 

 cannot add, I have encountered such a majority of the former de- 

 scription as to pronounce " shewing the white of the eye" an in- 

 fallible indication of a vicious disposition. 



Before I conclude this Lecture, let me recommend to the notice 

 of my reader the study of horse physiognomy : it will, as a horse- 

 man or veterinarian, repay him for any time and attention he 

 may bestow upon it ; he will find in it the only infallible criterion 

 whereby to recognise an old servant or acquaintance ; to enable 

 him to distinguish one horse from another ; and, at the same time, 

 will derive from it that sort of discriminative knowledge which 

 will give him considerable insight into the propensities and qualities 

 of horses, even before any opportunity has been afforded him of 

 making trial of them. To the acquirement of such knowledge an 

 extensive field for observation is essential, with opportunities of 

 becoming acquainted with the tempers and characters of horses ; 

 and, even with these opportunities, it is only by a daily collection 

 of facts, and by deductions cautiously and tardily drawn from them, 

 that we can expect to arrive at any perfection in a science at the 

 present day so undeservedly neglected. 



