29 



LECTURE III. 



THE BODY. 



" In making choice of a horse you must take care" that he has a good body, 

 and is full in the flanks ; for it is not one of the best signs when the last 

 of the short ribs is at a considerable distance from the haunch bone, or 

 when the ribs are too much straightened in their compass ; as they ought 

 to rise equal with the haunch bone, or nearly so." * * * "A narrow- 

 chested horse can never have a good body, nor breathe well, and such 

 horses as have straight ribs, and are at the same time great feeders, will 

 soon distend their bellies to such a degree, that it will be impossible for 

 their entrails to be contained within their ribs, so they will press down, 

 and form what is commonly called ' a cow's belly.' These horses are 

 difficult to be saddled, but have generally good backs ; and though their 

 croups are not so beautiful, being for the most part pointed, yet in re- 

 compence for that deficiency, they have generally excellent reins." — 

 Farrier's Dictionary. 



FOR convenience of description, the entire animal machine is 

 divided into body, neck, head, and limbs or extremities. 



The BODY, in the skeleton, appears formed by the spine, the 

 ribs, and the breast-bone : these together constitute an inclosure 

 which anatomists call the chest. ' But in the living or undissected 

 animal, we have superadded to this, another inclosure, known as 

 the belly ; which, from the circumstance of its walls being com- 

 posed of soft parts — flesh and skin — leaves no trace of its exist- 

 ence in the skeleton. Let us consider, first, 



The Chest. 



Of this inclosure the spine forms the roof, the ribs its sides, and 

 the breast-bone its floor or bottom : all which parts are more or less 

 excavated or rendered concave in their shape internally, in order 

 that its cavity may be as extensive in every direction as the 

 nature of the fabric will allow. The smooth bodies of the ver- 

 tebrse are the parts presented to the interior of the chest, from 

 which proceed, on either side, the ribs, describing in their course 

 downward so many elliptical arches abutting upon the breast-bone. 

 The foremost arches are short and straightened ; the middle, large 

 and circular ; the hindermost ones diminishing in length, and be- 

 coming straight again. Altogether, the chest presents in the skeleton 



