CHAP. III.] GENITALS, &C — HOW NOURISHED. 169 



sharply forward : asleep, as well as under other cir- 

 cumstances of easy watchfulness, one ear turns for- 

 ward, the other backward ; but, when roused sud- 

 denly, they alternately change position. Who, 

 then, would destroy these useful appendages of the 

 horse's organ of hearing? Who would singe off 

 the hairs, which, passing from side to side of the 

 cavity, catch the sounds, and convey to his rider 

 the first notice of danger from wild beasts, as well 

 as pleasure from the cry of the hounds ? The wily 

 Arab knows, by his horse's ears, of the approach of 

 enemies ; but the wise Englishman relies too securely 

 upon his own comparatively imperfect hearing, and 

 cuts off those better intelligencers of distant occur- 

 rences ; or, he more assiduously abridges their 

 utility, by clipping away the inside lining ; or, 

 worse still, by applying flame to the part, he ren- 

 ders the horse skittish ever after. These are the 

 only disorders of the ears of horses (and they are 

 inflicted ones, with a vengeance !) ; if, for want of 

 this hairy defence, premature didness of hearing, 

 occasioned by rain, dust, and other substances en- 

 tering these organs, be not another. 



That the genitals draw off from the system and 

 store up a noble secretion, for the purpose of con- 

 tinuing the kind, is certain ; but we shall pursue the 

 matter no further than to notice the change to 

 which the coats of geldings are subject as to colour, 

 compared to those of perfect horses ; and all the in- 

 ference we mean to draw from that fact is, the still 

 further corroboration of our previously maintained 



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