30 



JUDGING FARM ANIMALS 



the large face of the cart or dray horse, with the forehead 

 scarcely wider than the face. ' ' Above the eye on each side 

 are small so-called pits or depressions between the frontal 

 bones. With old age and emaciation, these pits sometimes 

 appear more depressed. The frontal bones consist of two 

 layers, giving considerable thickness to the skull. Betv/een 

 these are cavities known as frontal sinuses, connecting with 

 the nasal passages. The skull is characterized by great 

 length beyond the eye, as compared with the portion back 

 of it. Prof. H. F. Osborn calls attention^ to this long- 



Fig. 9. — The slcull of the Horse. "The skull is cbaracterized by great 

 length beyond the eye." Figs 1-6, molar teeth ; Figs. 11, 12, 13, incisors ; 

 C, canines. The jaws are slightly separated for sake of clearness. The 

 bone covering of the teeth is removed to show root extension. (Courtesy 

 Dr. S. Sisson. From Anatomy of the Domestic Animals.) 



headedness as a very ancient character, and which he states 

 is for two purposes, first, to facilitate reaching the ground 

 with the row of incisor or cropping teeth, and second, and 

 no less important, to allow space in front of the eye sockets 

 for the great row of elongate grinding teeth, the marvellous 

 dental battery of the horse. The brain cavity is very small, 

 considering the size of this animal, and the brain has an 



' The Age of Mammals, 1910, p. 18. 



