15 



such ; but at the same time let us append a hope that 

 nobody will do it again. 



About a year ago, talking about all defects being 

 more or less heritable, with an acquaintance who had 

 just -vdsited a great breeding establishment, he 

 informed me that on his venturing to remark on the 

 plain heads, and the indifferent limbs and feet of 

 almost all the horses, the owner coolly said " that 

 though there might not be an Arabian formed head, 

 nor a perfectly straight legged Sire or Dam, yet the 

 produce were none the worse for that," and added 

 " that he was the owner of hundreds of acres and had 

 been rearing horses all his life." My acquaintance 

 then asked me what I thought of that ? Why ! I 

 simply thought that the owner of acres was not always 

 the owner of sense, and that my acquaintance was 

 the wise man and the other the wiseacre. Roman 

 noses in men may be handsome and the said men 

 though lame the whole year round (their under- 

 standings being located in their heads) might still be 

 very useful : but Roman noses in horses are not 

 handsome, and the said horses if they only limped 

 for a quarter of that time (their understandings being 

 located in their feet and legs) might be considered 

 very useless. 



