130 
LECTURES ON HORSES. 
tire; and being sold to Mr. J. Nicholl for £90, who afterwards 
refused two hundred guineas for him — any price that could be of- 
fered, in fact — in consequence of his turning out about the very 
best horse in the old Berkeley hunt. 
There is a notion abroad, that a horse who shews “ the white 
of his eye” is inclined to be vicious ; and, like most other notions 
of the sort, this appears to have had some truth for its foundation, 
though the truth has been somewhat distorted in the deductions. 
Some — very few — horses shew the white of their eyes naturally*; 
many do so by a habit of turning their eyes upon any person ap- 
proaching them, and particularly in their stalls; which glance 
askaunt necessarily discloses more or less of the white of the eye. 
Now this oblique or retrospective cast of the eye may certainly 
be — and mostly is, perhaps — accompanied with some thought or 
intention of biting or kicking ; but, on the other hand, it may be 
the effect of habit, of a playful disposition even, and so may not 
portend any evil. I have met with many cases of both descrip- 
tions, where vice was and where vice was not present; but I 
cannot add, I have encountered such a majority of the former de- 
scription as to pronounce “ shewing the white of the eye” an in- 
fallible indication of a vicious disposition. 
Before I conclude this Lecture, let me recommend to the notice 
of my reader the study of horse 'physiognomy : it will, as a horse- 
man or veterinarian, repay him for any time and observation he 
may bestow upon it ; he will find in it the only infallible criterion 
whereby to recognise an old servant or acquaintance ; to enable 
him to distinguish one horse from another; and, at the same time, 
will derive from it that sort of knowledge which will give him 
considerable insight into the propensities and qualities of horses, 
even before any opportunity has been afforded him of making trial 
of them. To the acquirement of such knowledge an extensive 
field for observation is essential, with opportunities of becoming 
acquainted with the tempers and characters of horses ; and, even 
with these opportunities, it is only by a daily collection of facts, 
and by deductions cautiously and tardily drawn from them, that 
we can expect to arrive at any perfection in a science at the pre- 
sent day so undeservedly neglected. 
* Animals in general shew only the transparent part of the eye : man and 
the hog disclose the white of the eye. 
