AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 
101 
almost imperceptible to our senses, is not, as we suppose, 
a single line, but a rope composed of at least four thousand 
strands. But to feel all the wonders of this fact, we must 
follow Leuwenhoeck in one of his calculations on the sub- 
ject. This renowned microscopic observer found, by an 
accurate estimation, that the threads of the minutest spi- 
ders, some of which are not larger than a grain of sand, 
are so fine, that four millions of them would not exceed 
in thickness one of the hairs of his beard! Now we know 
that each of these threads is composed of above 4,000 
still finer. It follows, therefore, that above 16,000 mil 
lions of the finest threads which issue from such spiders, 
are not, altogether, thicker than a human hair. 
In the earlier part of last century, Bon of Languedoc, 
fabricated a pair of stockings and a pair of gloves from the 
threads of spiders. They were nearly as strong as silk, 
and of a beautiful gray colour! 
THE HORSE. 
[Concluded from page 82.] 
The Race Horse. 
u There is much dispute with regard to the origin of 
the thorough-bred Horse. By some he is traced through 
both sire and dam to Eastern parentage; others believe 
him to be the native Horse, improved and perfected by ju- 
dicious crossing with the Barb, the Turk, or the Arabian. 
It must, on the whole, be allowed, that the present tho- 
rough-bred Horse is of foreign extraction, improved and 
perfected by the influence of the climate, and by diligent 
cultivation. There are some exceptions, as in the case of 
Sampson and Bay-Malton, in each of whom, although the 
best Horses of their day, there was a cross of vulgar blood; 
but they are only exceptions to a general rule. 
It must not be objected, that the number of Eastern 
Horses imported is far too small to produce so numerous a 
progeny. It will be recollected that the thousands of 
wild Horses on the plains of South America, descended 
from only two stallions and four mares, which the early 
Spanish adventurers left there. 
Whatever may be the truth as to the origin of the Race 
Horse, the strictest attention has for the last fifty years 
been paid to pedigree. In the descent of almost every 
modern racer, not the slightest flaw can be discovered; or 
when, with the splendid exception of Sampson and Bay- 
Malton, one drop of common blood has mingled with the 
C c 
pure stream, it has been immediately detected in the infe- 
riority of form, and deficiency of bottom; and it has re- 
quired two or three generations to wipe away the stain, 
and get rid of its consequences. 
The Racer is generally distinguished by his beautiful 
Arabian head; — his fine, and finely-set-on-neck; — his 
oblique, lengthened shoulders, — well-bent hinder-legs, — 
his ample, muscular quarters; — his flat legs, rather short 
from the knee downwards, although not always so deep as 
they should be; — and his long and elastic pastern. 
The Racer, however, with the most beautiful form, is oc- 
casionally a sorry animal. There is sometimes a want of 
energy in an apparently faultless shape, for which there is 
no accounting; but there are two points among those just 
enumerated, which will rarely or never deceive — a well- 
placed shoulder, and a well-bent, hinder leg. 
The Darley Arabian. 
The Darley Arabian was the parent of the Racing 
stock. He was purchased by Mr. Darley’s brother, at 
Aleppo, and was bred in the neighbouring desert of Pal- 
myra. His figure contains every point, without much 
show, which could be desired in a Turf Horse. 
The immediate descendants of this invaluable Horse, 
were the Devonshire or Flying Childers; the Bleeding or 
Bartlett’s Childers, who was never trained; Almanzor, 
and others. 
The two Childers were the means through which the 
blood and fame of their sire were widely circulated, 
and from them descended another Childers, Blaze, Snap, 
Sampson, Eclipse, and a host of excellent Horses. 
Flying Childers. 
The Devonshire or Flying Childers, so called from the 
name of his breeder, Mr. Childers, of Carr-House, and 
the sale of him to the Duke of Devonshire, was the fleetest 
Horse of his day. He was at first trained as a hunter, but 
the superior speed and courage which he discovered, 
caused him to be soon transferred to the Turf. Common 
report affirms, that he could run a mile in a minute; but 
there is no authentic record of this. Childers ran over the 
round course at Newmarket (three miles, six furlongs, and 
ninety-three yards) in six minutes and forty seconds, and 
the Beacon course, (four miles, one furlong, and one hun- 
dred and thirty-eight yards,) in seven minutes and thirty 
seconds. 
In October, 1741, at the Curragh meeting in Ireland, 
Mr. Wilde engaged to ride one hundred and twenty-seven 
miles in nine hours. He performed it in six hours and 
