ON DRAUGHT. 533 



feelings, we will take the ease of a man. We have already seen that an able- 

 bodied man is more adapted for lifting than pulling ; consequently, in his 

 case, it would be advantageous to throw a certain portion of the weight upon 

 him, by making him pull upwards, as in fig. 7, or what we are more accustomed 



Fig. 7. 



to see, and which amounts to the same thing, applying his strength to a wheel- 

 barrow, fig. 8, and we have frequently seen an ordinary man wheel 8001bs. in 

 this manner. 



If, however, we take a person unaccustomed to hard work, and consequently 

 not so strong in the legs, although he may be unable even to lift the wheel- 

 barrow which the other moved with ease, still he may, by pushing horizontally, 

 put in motion a considerable load ; and lastly, in the case of an invalid who can 

 barely carry his own weight, if he lean on the back of a garden-chair, he will 

 not only walk himself, but push on the chair; or a child who is yet too weak 

 to stand, can, if part of his weight be supported in a go-cart, not only move 

 himself, but also the frame which supports him. These are very familiar and 

 homely comparisons, but they are cases exactly similar to the three positions 

 of the traces ; and the argument will equally apply to horses as to men. It is 

 true, we rarely use for draught a horse that cannot stand ; but the case is very 

 possible that a large heavy horse, otherwise not strong, or one which it was not 

 desirable to fatigue, might pull better and longer, if part of the weight was 

 borne upon the carriage, or if, in other words, the traces inclined upwards. And 

 we know by experience, that in the case of stage-coaches, where, owing to the 

 speed, the weight of the horses body is already generally a burden to him, it is 

 disadvantageous to increase that weight by inclining the traces much downwards ; 

 on the contrary, where we wish to obtain the utmost effect of a powerful horse, or 

 of a horse that is muscular, but without much weight forward, it is highly ad- 

 vantageous to augment the effect of his gravity by inclining the traces downwards 

 even as much as ] 5°, or about 1 upon 3 ; the strain upon the traces will be then 

 considerably increased, and the effect augmented, provided always that he is able 

 to exert the necessary strength in his legs. As far, therefore, as the mere force 

 of traction is concerned, there is no particular angle which will always produce 

 the greatest effect— but it must depend upon the particular capability of the 

 horse ; and this in its turn varies, and is affected by circumstances; for the 

 same horse that upon a level road requires no addition to his weight, might be 

 materially assisted by a slight addition when ascending a hill, if not continued 

 too long; and most horses would be benefited considerably by the opposite 

 arrangement in a descent, that is, by a portion of their weight being borne up ; 

 they should at least have no additional load thrown on them while descending 

 a hill. 



There is also a time, when inclining the traces downwards is almost indispen- 

 sable : it is when dragging a four-wheeled waggon over a rough broken road. 

 If the front wheel, which is generally small, meets with an obstacle by falling 



