CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 10. SOLIDUNGULA. 597 
fleet, graceful race whicli we call Arabian. Just as we find tlie sturdy German, the stout Dutch- 
man, the athletic Englishman, occupying the rich soil of Middle Europe, and the thin, lithe, elas- 
tic Arabian the plains and deserts of Africa and Asia, so we find the horses of these two sections 
of the earth — the one large, ponderous, and powerful, and the other light, swift, and elastic. 
Thus, mainly by the influence of climate and its accessories of food, the various races of the 
horse are spontaneously produced. There is, however, another principle at work, which lies at 
the foundation of all the operations of nature, the object of which is to break the uniformity of 
kinds and races by an infinite diversity in individuals. The wisdom of this system, and its admira- 
ble balance in the vast scheme of nniversal creation, may well excite our admiration, if indeed it does 
not call upon us to kneel in awe before its Omnipotent and Omniscient Author. It is a common 
observation, even with children, that amid the myriad grasses of the field two blades precisely 
alike in size, tint, and form, cannot be found. Two leaves among the millions that flutter in the 
forest, in all things the same, are never discovered. Two lilies or two roses, even on the same stem, 
identical one with another, cannot be found. As betAveen two sisters, twins if you please, even 
while the common lineaments of the father or mother show the golden links of relationship that 
bind their hearts together, there will "be something of form, air, attitude, expression, to distinguish 
them ; so, between these flowers there will ever be a difli'erence, open and palpable to observa- 
tion. This difference, let it be remembered, in the works of nature, is the foundation of our inter- 
est in them. Were all things alike, they would neither excite curiosity nor attract regard. Were 
all the children of a family precisely alike, they Avould be objects of comparative indiff'erence. 
It is the special speech, look, air, tone, manner of each, around which our interests and aflJ"ections 
cluster. It is an old adage, that variety is the spice of life. Without variety, life would be a 
blank. Everywhere it is produced, for everywhere it fixes the attention, stimulates curiosity, and 
excites admiration. The principles or provisions of nature to produce it are universal, and lie at 
the foundation of all existence. Hence variety is not superficial : it exists in the sap of plants 
and the blood of animals. It is in both so blent with life as to be transmitted to the offspring, 
and thus to spread over the face of nature a never-ending diversity. 
Nor is this the whole of that wonderful system of nature to which we allude. Beyond the 
common diversities of individuals among animals, and especially those of the higher and finer or- 
ganizations, it is provided that instances of prominent and remarkable constitutional endowments 
shall arise from time to time, not only to diversify the species, but to counteract the tendency to 
declension through commonness and impurity, and thus to maintain and exalt the race by the 
descent of superior blood. Through this provision it is that such instances occur as Bucephalus 
in the olden time, and Flying Childers, Eclipse, and Highflier in more modern ©nes. And finally, 
we may remark that it is by the careful application of the principle here laid down — that these 
superior animals stamp their character, in a greater or less degree, on their off"spring — that the 
artificial breeder seeks to improve and perfect the horse. The finest examples which nature pro- 
duces are selected, and as in the main like produces like, so in a course of years, by the union 
of chosen specimens, a whole generation or breed, combining all the possible perfections of the 
race, is obtained. 
* 
THE THOROUGHBRED, OR RAOE-HORSE. 
This is in fact the history of the English Horse, which, according to the testimony of the best 
judges, takes precedence of all others in strength, speed, and power of endurance, and also for 
the capacity of perpetuating its own qualities in its offspring. This superiority is manifested in 
various ways, and especially by beating in all trials, not only the best Turks, Arabs, and Barbs 
with which it comes in competition, but even winning, of late years in all cases, where the best 
Eastern blood had been crossed with its own, and thus proving that neither Barb, Turk, nor Ara- 
bian is equal to the English thoroughbred. A curious and interesting reason for this superi- 
ority is found in the fact that the bones of the thoroughbred horse are more solid and compact 
than those of any other kind. The bones of the cart-horse, or indeed any other, are compara- 
tively porous, light, and spongy. The shank-bone of a thoroughbred will weigh down that of 
the heaviest cart-horse, though in size the former is only half equal to the latter. 
