452 
The Horse and its Historians* 
The significant figures in this table are those of the fifth period, 
extending from the end of flowering to the commencement of ripen- 
ing. It is seen that, from the beginning of growth until the forma- 
tion of its grain, the stem of the wheat-plant accumulates in its 
tissues increasing quantities of mineral matter, by the aid of which 
it builds up its organic substance. From this time onward it takes 
nothing more from the outer world ; it, in fact, ceases to grow, but 
matures its grain from the materials which it has already stored up 
in its different organs. Detached from its roots, the wheat-plant 
completes the final stage of its development equally as well as when 
still connected with the soil. Consequently, an earlier cutting in 
wet seasons can be resorted to without any detriment to the ripening 
of the grain, and it further may be made the means of protecting the 
ears from inclement weather. Placing the sheaves temporarily in 
meulons is, therefore, strongly recommended to French cultivators, 
but it is desirable that the work should, if possible, be done on a dry 
day in order to avoid including water in the sheaves. 
THE HORSE AND ITS HISTORIANS. 
Writing on this subject in the Zoologist, Mr. J. E. Harting says that 
should any one feel disposed to collect all the works that have been 
written relating to the horse he would have to provide shelf-room 
for at least 4,000 volumes. These would include works on the 
natural history, anatomy, and physiology of the horse ; its denti- 
tion, diseases, and cures ; its use and treatment in relation to agri- 
culture, cavalry, hunting, and racing ; with treatises innumerable 
on equitation, breaking, training, and stable management ; bits and 
bridles, saddles, and harness of every description. Since the days 
of Xenophon (b.c. 380) down to the issue of the volumes on hunt- 
ing and racing in the "Badminton Library" (a.d. 1886), there have 
appeared as many as 3,800 works on the horse, in eighteen different 
languages. The earliest works are in Greek, but Greece can claim 
no modern author ; of Latin works there are twenty-six, of 
which three only belong to the present century. The number of 
works on hippology in the English language does not fall far short of a 
thousand, though the names of those authors who have written for 
all time would not make a very long list. The earliest English 
works relating to the horse are concerned chiefly with hunting. 
They include The Art of Hunting, by William Twici, written ori- 
ginally in Norman-French, about the year 1307, by the huntsman 
to King Edward II. ; the treatise on hunting in the Boke of St. 
Albans, 1486 ; and Turbervile's Booke of Hunting, 1575, a second 
edition of which appeared in 1611. 
Amongst the earliest books on riding, by English writers, are 
Blundevile's Foure chief yet Offics belonging to Horsemans/iy', 1655 ; 
