88 WILD TRAITS IN TAME ANIMALS. 



avail ourselves of his great muscular power for 

 the purpose of pulling loads. The only wild 

 trait upon which his value as a draught animal 

 can be said to be based is the propulsive power 

 in the thighs and loin of the wild steed which 

 enables him to jump obstacles and to gallop up 

 steep slopes when he is escaping from pursuing 

 foes. Precisely the same set of muscles as are 

 useful for such purposes are brought into action 

 when the dray-horse bends himself to his work 

 to haul a heavy load up-hill. The front legs of 

 a horse act somewhat at a disadvantage when 

 used for hauling, but still one can see that when 

 the wild ancestor of the cart-horse was climbing 

 some precipitous path he must have exercised the 

 muscles of the " arm " in a manner similar to that 

 of the draught-horse when doing his best to move 

 a heavy load. Perhaps the most happy coin- 

 cidence of all is the fact that one can fix a collar 

 on the neck of most horses in such a way as to 

 enable them to use all their most powerful muscles 

 in pulling without the pressure causing any im- 

 pediment or injury. Most young people who 

 have attempted to draw some heavy load when 

 "playing at horses" know how exceedingly diffi- 

 cult it is to arrange the band attached to the 



