MR. BARLOW'S ANSWER TO MR. MAYHEW. 391 
may think really worthy of “ commendation,” as “ something 
new” or valuable, should any thing of such a nature appear in Mr. 
Mayhew’s forthcoming work, for which I am anxiously waiting. 
I am not, however, willing to subscribe so much to things that have 
assumed the character of “ common place,” whereof the bulk of his 
former discoveries are composed. I fear, also, that were I to gratify 
my vanity by displaying to him and the world the extent of the 
learning I possess, I should “ hurt” him, and “ infringe upon the 
property in knowledge” which his discoveries may lead him to 
consider his own. I was on this account careful not to give the 
opinions contained in my paper as being exclusively mine. 
In order to satisfy Mr. Mayhew that / should not have been 
justified in holding them up to the world as “ something new,” I 
beg leave to request his attention to a few authorities which occur 
to me, and who have long ago been acquainted with what he con- 
siders discoveries of his own. 
The first I shall adduce is Professor Dick. In an article written 
by him in the “ Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, May 1831,” that 
gentleman expresses himself as follows: — “ As the voluntary 
muscles, if kept continually in action, become fatigued, and as 
we know that the horse frequently stands even for years together, 
there must be some peculiar arrangement of parts by which he is 
enabled to support himself ; and this we find depends on the com- 
bination, arrangement, and distribution of the bones, ligaments, 
and tendons.” 
“ In the diagram of the fore leg, No. 1, it will be seen that a 
weight resting upon the top would produce a tendency, at least, 
for the limb to give way or bend at A {shoulder joint), B {elbow- 
joint), and C {fetlock joint). But the tendency to bend, which 
appears from this arrangement of the bones, is one of those means 
by which the whole is fixed. For when the foot is placed upon 
the ground it becomes the fixed point, and holds the rest above, the 
tendon of a muscle rising at a {coracoid process of scapula) and 
running to b {head of radius), others running from c {internal con- 
dyle of humerus) to d {os trapezium) and e {os pedis), and a ligament 
from d to C. Now, having fixed the toe, F, upon the ground by 
placing a weight upon the top of the limb, the pastern will run 
back and form a lever, FC. Under this passes a tendon {the 
perforans), which ascends and becomes connected by a ligament 
{the metacarpal) at the back of the leg at g, and then ascends and 
becomes fixed to the humerus above the joint at C ; others pass 
down and become fixed at d (trapezium), and pass on below C 
{fetlock). Now, it will be seen that the pressure downwards of 
the fetlock at C will force down the tendon, and it will, therefore, 
pull back the knee. And as it extends upwards over the elbow 
