THE HORSE. 105 



patches of bare skin called callosities. On the 

 front-legs they are above the knee, and on the 

 hind-legs below the hock. They are of no present 

 use that we can discover ; and, in spite of many 

 guesses, no theory has ever been put forward 

 that will satisfactorily account for their presence. 

 In spite of the fact that no horse is without them, 

 and although they hardly ever give rise to incon- 

 venience, certain old writers on veterinary surgery, 

 oddly enough, describe these callosities as mani- 

 festations of disease under the name of " mal- 

 lenders " or " sallenders," and actually set forth 

 several approved methods for effecting a cure ! 

 An equally ludicrous instance of want of observa- 

 tion once came directly under my notice. A 

 farm carter, who had been among horses during 

 the whole of his life, one day made his appear- 

 ance at his master's door with a very grave face, 

 stating he had just discovered that every horse 

 in his team had gfot something- wrong- with its 

 legs. The farmer on going to the stable, and 

 anxiously examining the supposed invalids, found 

 nothing whatever except these natural callosities, 

 which, for some reason or other, had &n that day 

 for the first time attracted the attention of the 

 carter ! One plausible explanation which has 

 been attempted of late is to the effect that these 



