COMMON HORSE. 



4£1 



Wild horses are found, according to Dr. Pallas, 

 in the deserts on each side the river Don, towards 

 the Palus Mceotis, but these are supposed to be 

 the offspring of the Russian horses, which were 

 employed in the siege of Asoph, in the year 1697, 

 when for want of forage they Avere turned loose, 

 and their descendants have gradually relapsed 

 into the appearance of natural wildness. Those 

 which are found in some parts of South America, 

 are well known to be the descendants of the horses 

 introduced by the Spaniards on the first discovery 

 of America, and which have so far relapsed into a 

 state of nature as to exhibit the o-eneral characters 

 of the wild animal. 



The horse, in its domestic or improved state, is 

 found in almost every part of the world, except 

 perhaps within the Arctic circle ; and its reduc- 

 tion and conquest may well be considered, as 

 Buffon properly observes, as the greatest acquisi- 

 tion from the animal world ever made by the art 

 and industry of man. 



Of ail quadrupeds," says this author, the 

 horse possesses, together with grandeur of stature, 

 the greatest elegance and proportion of parts. By 

 comparing him with the animals immediately ^ 

 above and below him, we shall find that the Ass 

 is ill-made ; that the head of the Lion is too large ; 

 the limbs of the Ox too slender and short ; the 

 Camel deformed ; and the Elephant a shapeless 

 mass. The regularity and proportion of the parts 

 of his head give him a light and sprightly aspect, 

 which is well supported by the beauty of his 



V. II. p. II. 28 



