8 THE PRESENT CONDITION 



common Horse. Suppose we wish to understand all 

 about the Horse. Our first object must be to study 

 the structure of the animal. The whole of his body 

 is inclosed within a hide, a skin covered with hair ; and 

 if that hide or skin be taken off, we find a great mass 

 of flesh, or what is technically called muscle, being 

 the substance which by its power of contraction enables 

 the animal to move. These muscles move the hard 

 parts one upon the other, and so give that strength 

 and power of motion which renders the Horse so useful 

 to us in the performance of those services in which we 

 employ him. 



And then, on separating and removing the whole of 

 this skin and flesh, you have a great series of bones, 

 hard structures, bound together with ligaments, and 

 forming the skeleton which is represented here. 



In that skeleton there are a number of parts to be 

 recognized. This long series of bones, beginning from 

 the skull and ending in the tail, is called the spine, and 

 these in front are the ribs ; and then there are two pairs 

 limbs, one before and one behind ; and these are what 

 we all know as the fore-legs and the hind-legs. If we 

 pursue our researches into the interior of this animal, 

 ■we find within the framework of the skeleton a great 

 cavity, or rather, I should say, two great cavities, — one 

 cavity beginning in the skull and running through the 

 neck-bones, along the spine, and ending in the tail, 

 containing the brain and the spinal marrow, which are 

 extremely important organs. The second great cavity, 

 commencing with the mouth, contains the gullet, the 

 stomach, the long intestine, and all the rest of those 

 internal apparatus which are essential for digestion ; 



