ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HORSE’S FOOT. 431 
As lias been casually remarked, and as might be expected 
from their relative positions beneath the centre of gravity, as 
well as their dissimilar functions, the elastic apparatus is 
more developed in the fore than the hind extremity ; more 
particularly is this to be noted in the cartilages, their super- 
ficies and thickness being much greater in the one than the 
other. One of the peculiarities attending this increased de- 
velopment, in connection, no doubt, with the difference in 
texture, is the liability of these cartilages to become wholly 
or partially converted into bone in the fore feet, by which 
their elasticity and flexibility are lost; so that the entire 
organ is much constrained in its movements, and lameness to 
a proportionate degree is generally the result. 
In the foot of the ruminant animals, such as the ox and 
sheep, or, indeed, in the foot of any other than a soliped, 
we do not find an apparatus of this kind, the division of the 
foot into toes rendering it unnecessary. The two pedal bones 
of ruminants to some extent resemble the single one of the 
horse when they are placed together. But they do not show 
anything like the same degree of porosity for the passage of 
vessels, neither do they display to any appreciable extent the 
admirable arrangement of the bony tissue for sustaining 
weight ; they have no lateral cartilages, the basilar and 
retrossal processes are absent, so are the depressions on each 
side of the pyramidal eminence for the insertion of the lateral 
ligament, and the plantar and coronary cushions are but 
feebly developed. 
The absence of such an arrangement as we have just 
described for the horse is compensated for by the elasticity 
arising from the cloven foot, and particularly by the somewhat 
complicated disposition of the ligaments, more especially the 
interdigital, that bind the articulations of the phalanges and 
pedal bones, and are more or less closely united to the double 
tendons and fibrous structures surrounding them ; two of 
these ligaments — an interal lateral and the single anterior — 
are elastic. The disposition of the interdigital ligament in 
the ox is curious, from the numerous connections it forms 
with the tendinous and fibrous expansions of each claw. 
The ox and sheep have, of course, two navicular bones in 
each foot, one being assigned to each claw. 
The foot of the ass, and, to a varying degree, that of the 
mule, on the contrary, has this elastic combination relatively 
more highly developed than even the horse — a circumstance 
due to the peculiar shape and density of its hoof. 
{To be continued?) 
