6 Veterinary Elements. 



bone of great volume and at the same time of the finest 

 quality. The number of bones varies according to the 

 animal, in the horse 191, ox and sheep 196, pig 270, etc., 

 the sacrum being reckoned as a single bone, the bones 

 of the tail (coccyx) averaging 16 for the horse, 18 for the 

 ox; and 22 for the pig (Chauveau). 



The present appearance of the various breeds of live 

 stock is due to the process of evolution and to the efforts 

 of man. For example, let us take the horse; back 

 thousands of years ago (Eocene period) the ancestor of 

 the horse was only the size of a fox and had four toes. 

 Today specimens of horses can be seen 17 hands high, 

 weighing 2,000 pounds and only one toe, as seen when 

 the structure of the foot is taken up ; in fact, the horse 

 is now classed as belonging to the single-toed class (Tin- 

 gulata) ; during the Miocene period it was the size of a 

 sheep and had three toes, while in the Pliocene period, 

 nearer the present time, it had become as large as an ass, 

 and two of the toes were disappearing, until down to the 

 present time we have the horse, with the small splint 

 bones to represent two toes possessed at one time by its 

 ancestors. The efforts of man are tending to a reduction 

 of offal and a higher development of flesh production in 

 the meat-producing animals. The gradual disappearance 

 of wolf teeth and the lengthening of the space (diastema) 

 between the front and back teeth are all quoted as evi- 

 dence of evolution in the horse. 



To render the study of the skeleton more easy it is 

 divided into regions, each being taken up separately, 

 the regions are : The head (skull), the neck (cervical), 

 the back (dorsal), the loins (lumbar), the croup (sacral), 

 the tail (coccygeal) and the limbs (appendicular). 



