40 FORM AND ACTION. 



extended the sphere of the base, but laterally has narrowed the 

 body, and approximated the limbs, in order that the superincum- 

 bent burthen might as little as possible incommode them in their 

 motions forwards and backwards, during progression. 



When speaking of the chest, I observed, that the wider that 

 cavity was made, the farther the two fore limbs must necessarily 

 be thrown apart. This cannot fail to have an effect both on the 

 standing and on the progression of the animal. A broad-chested 

 horse — a cart or dray horse — stands more securely than a narrow- 

 chested horse : his base of standing is wider, his props of support 

 being farther removed from the centre of gravity. But, when the 

 machine comes to be moved, the limbs thus widely separated will 

 not operate with the same effect as others more directly under the 

 centre of gravity — will not carry their load with the same advan- 

 tage, nor will they act so straight-forwardly or so harmoniously 

 together. The racer and the cart-horse, the greyhound and the 

 bull-dog, and, among bipeds, the turkey and the goose, as I before 

 stated, strikingly illustrate this point of structure in their make 

 and in the gait or action arising out of it : to mark this difference 

 we have but to compare the straight stealing-onward step of the 

 racer with the round and short step of the dray-horse ; the steady 

 smooth canter of the greyhound with the rolling gait of the bull- 

 dog ; the pointed parade-like walk of the pea-fowl or the turkey 

 with the waddle of the duck or goose. Nay, I might adduce even 

 the human body — the woman with her broad hips, the man with 

 his straight or narrow ones — to shew what a difference in the gait 

 results from the limbs being thrown apart at the axes of their 

 motions. 



LENGTH of Limb is likewise to be considered. Short legs 

 are in general preferred, because in themselves they indicate su- 

 perior strength, and because, by nature, they are associated with 

 depth of chest and carcass, and other signs of stamina and dura- 

 bility ; but the long limb possesses advantages in stride and lever- 

 age, and therefore, where speed is required, becomes a desirable 

 formation. The length of limb must very much depend on the 

 purpose the animal is destined for : a long leg would be as ill 

 adapted for a cart-horse, or a horse to carry weight, as a short one 



