236 THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
to the air, and watered daily with salt water, after being 
covered with two coats of this mastic, the good effects of 
it have been thoroughly proved. 
[Bull. d@ Encour. Jan. 1830. 
From the Library of Useful Knowledge. 
THE VICES AND DISAGREEABLE OR DAN- 
GEROUS HABITS OF THE HORSE. 
SOUND THE HORN. 
A Hunting Carol. 
By C. W. Tuomson. 
Sound the horn—sound the horn, 
O merrily dawns the day, 
The birds awake with the rosy morn, 
To the chase—to the chase away. 
Hark from the hill, the bugle is swelling, 
Hark from their kennel, the hounds are yelling, 
The steeds are neighing aloud from their stall, 
Awake, arise ere the sunbeams fall. 
Mount, mount, thro’ forest, o’er vale and hill, 
Follow the sound of the bugle still, 
Follow, follow still. 
Ere yet from the mountain has gleamed the day, 
To the chase—to the chase away. 
Sound the horn—sound the horn, 
O gaily the hunters meet, 
Each on his prancing courser borne, 
For the chase—for the chase they greet ; 
Come, for the morning is on the mountain, 
Come, for the deer is at the fountain, 
The mists are melting away in the air, 
There’s not a moment of day to spare. 
On—on—the stag must yet be slain, 
Strike the spur and slacken the rein, 
Slacken the courser’s rein— 
The notes of the bugle unceasingly play, 
To the chase—to the chase away. 
Sound the horn—sound the horn, 
O swiftly flies the deer, 
Torrent and steep alike they scorn, 
For the prize—for the prize is near. 
See, the strength of the stag is waning, 
See, the hounds on his track are gaining ; 
Swiftly he flies thro’ valley and wood, 
By horse, and huntsman, and horn pursued. 
Speed—speed—ere noon has seen the sun, 
The prey must be caught—the game be won— 
The noble game be won. 
Then heed not the river, and spurn the spray, 
To the chase—to the chase away. 
(Continued from page 216.) 
KICKING IN HARNESS. 
A much more serious vice is kicking in harness. From 
the least annoyance about the rump or quarters, some 
Horses will kick at the most violent rate, and destroy the 
bottom of the chaise, and endanger the limbs of the driver. 
Those that are fidgetty in the stable are most apt to do this. 
If the reins should perchance get under the tail, the vio- 
lence of the kicker will be most outrageous; and while 
the animal presses down his tail so tightly that it is almost 
impossible to extricate the reins, he continues to plunge 
until he has demolished every thing behind him. 
This is a vice standing foremost in point of danger, and 
which no treatment will often conquer. It will be alto- 
gether in vain to try coercion here. If the shafts are very 
strong and without flaw, or if they are plated with iron 
underneath, and a stout kicking strap used, which will 
barely allow the Horse the proper use of his hind limbs 
in progression, but not permit him to raise them suffi- 
ciently for the purpose of kicking, he may be prevented 
from doing mischief; or if he is harnessed to a heavy 
cart, and thus confined, his efforts to lash out will be re- 
strained: but it is a very unpleasant thing frequently to 
witness these attempts, although ineffectual, to demolish 
the vehicle; and the shafts or the kicking strap may possi- 
bly break, and extreme danger may ensue. A Horse 
that has once begun to kick, whatever may have been the 
original cause of it, can never be depended on again; and 
he will be very unwise who ventures behind him. 
UNSTEADINESS WHILST BEING MOUNTED. 
When this merely amounts to eagerness to start, (very un- 
pleasant, indeed, at times, for many a rider has been 
thrown from his seat before he was fairly fixed in it,) it 
may be remedied by an active and good horseman. We 
have known many instances in which, while the elderly, 
and inactive, and fearful man, has been making more than 
one ineffectual attempt to vault into the saddle, the Horse 
has been dancing about to his annoyance and danger; but 
the animal had no sooner been transferred to the manage- 
ment of a younger and more agile rider, than he became 
perfectly subdued. Severity will here, more decidedly 
than in any other case, do harm. The rider should be 
