THE 
VETERINARIAN. 
VOL. XV, No. 178.] OCTOBER 1842. [New Series, No. 10. 
LECTURES ON HORSES. 
By William Percivall, M.R.C.S., Veterinary Surgeon 
First Life Guards. 
LECTURE V. 
THE ARM ( continued ). 
HAVING considered the arm in relation to the connexion sub- 
sisting between the shoulder and it, to the leverage it offers by the 
projection of the elbow, and to its form and substance, let us now 
view it in reference to its length, and to the position it has in respect 
to the body, and afterwards proceed to the examination of the knee 
and leg. 
A LONG ARM is held to be a point of excellence : it is one of 
the characteristics of speed ; the deer, the greyhound, the fox, (he 
rabbit and hare, have all of them long arms. It also denotes strength. 
A long arm includes the supposition of a short leg or cannon ; and 
shortness in a bone which simply acts as a prop of support, is a sign 
of strength ; hence the lower we descend in the limb, the shorter 
we find the bones : thus, the cannon is shorter than the arm ; the 
pastern than the cannon ; the coronet than the pastern ; the objects 
being strength, and, as much as possible, the mitigation of con- 
cussion. The arm, it is true, likewise constitutes a shaft of sup- 
port ; but, then, it is on every side surrounded by muscle, from 
which it must receive considerable sustainment : whereas, the 
bones below the knee are without any active or vital embrace ; 
are, in fact, left without any support and protection, save what little 
they derive from tendon and ligament. Again, the arm being the 
moving power, the leg, the part to be moved, length and substance 
in the former contrast advantageously with shortness and compact- 
ness in the latter : every inch added to the leg increases the weight 
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