PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 



me to these trials were in reality my best friends, because proving the 

 best instructors to me in the world ; and the experiments upon vicious 

 horses were just what was* necessary to give me the best ppportuni- 



Fiqs. 2-4. — Extremes of Vicious Character. 



ties of observation and practice needed to master the. subject. Now, 

 in teaching classes I soon found it necessary to make such explana- 

 tions of points and conditions as I could before making experiments ; 

 and in like manner, before taking up the details of instruction, I think 

 it necessary to refer to such points as will be most suggestive in the 

 study of the subject. I may. state that this is somewhat difficult 

 herei because compelled to limit my explanations to less than one 

 half of what fhave been able to devote to it in my regular work on 

 the horse, and also to omit many chapters of much interest to the 

 general reader. . 



Many of the lower animals possess some qualities by nature that 



make them, in some respects, re- 

 ally superior to man. The dog, 

 for example, can follow the track of 

 his master through a crowd of 

 strangers, though hours behind, 

 and find him ; and he will also 

 find his way home, though distant 

 hundreds of miles — a fact that has 

 been repeatedly proved. The 

 ordinary sheep-dog will -at com- 

 mand find and bring home stray 

 sheep of the flock ; and the 

 blood-hound Can perform the still 

 more remarkable feat of taking up 

 the track of a criminal hours aft- 

 erward, by the scent of a bit of his 

 clothing, and pick', him out from hundreds of others who had been his 

 companions — a power that entitles even the commonest cur to our 

 kindest consideration. The eagle and vulture, though miles in the 



Fig. 5. — A Portrait of a Docile Family Horse. 



