THE FORE LIMB. 



back tendons are put when they are flexing the foot. Although 

 it is in no way an advantage, it is much less a detriment to 

 the cart-horse which has rarely to go out of a walk or 

 slow trot, than to the saddle-horse or fast trapper. Many 

 heavy cart-horses are ''back at the knees " (see PI. 19), which 

 is a shape of the fore limbs that is not uncommon among 

 Arab and East Indian horses. 



We know from experience that the more nearly parallel 



the back tendons are to the cannon-bone — other things being 



equal — the better able will the limb be to stand work. Why 



this should be the case I cannot say with certainty. I may, 



however, hazard the conjecture that, as this "tying-in" 



below the knee is due to the smallness of the bones which 



form the groove through which the back tendons pass, this 



condition may point to want of size in these tendons ; for " the 



function makes the organ." It appears that the calibre of 



this groove (or rather canal), which, to a great extent, is 



formed by the trapezium, is, as a rule, ample for the working 



of these tendons ; for when such " tied-in " tendons happen to 



become damaged by work, the seat of injury is very rarely 



behind the knee. Hence I think we may conclude that when 



this groove — which is dependent for its size on that of the 



bones behind the knee— is comparatively small, the tendons 



are also proportionately wanting in substance, and con- 



sequendy unduly weak. I have always remarked that, in legs 



of about the same size of cannon-bone, when the back 



tendons approached a direction parallel to the cannon-bone, 



as in Pis. 35, 40, 41 and 43 ; they were naturally larger and 



consequently stronger than those which were tied-in, as in 



Pis. 44 and 47, We should, I may observe, regard a 



large degree of backward projection in the trapezium 



