eOMMON HORSE. 
of them are occasioned by our wanton abuse of 
this noble animal ; and others, perhaps the greater 
number, he owes to our ill-directed fondness and 
care. He feeds upon grass and grain ; fights with 
his hoofs and teeth ; defends himself from flies 
with his tail. The skin of this animal is used for 
collars and harness, and other similar purposes ; 
and the hair for chair bottoms, floor cloths, and 
fishing lines. The flesh is eaten by some rude 
nations, among whom the animal abounds ; the 
milk of the mare is also drunk ; and the Kalmuks 
and Mongals prepare from it a spirit of considera- 
ble strength. The period of gestation is two hun- 
dred and ninety days. The mare suckles her 
foal with fondness, and defends it from injury. 
The young horse, or mare, does not acquire the 
canine teeth till the age of five years. The Voice 
of this animal is peculiar ; we call it neighing. 
Horses are known to live, when their days are not 
shortened by ill usage, commonly to the age of 
five and twenty or thirty years ; and sometimes to 
forty or fifty : such as are remarkably large sel- 
dom live so long as those of a moderate size. 
The horse, like the other tame animals, has, no 
doubt, been originally domesticated by human art. 
Wild horses are still found in various parts 
of the world. But this species of animals have 
been so long known in a domestic state, and their 
useful qualities have caused them to be diffused 
so generally over the globe, that it is impossible to 
discover, with any degree of certainty, of what 
country they were originally natives. Wild horses 
are found in the country lying around the lake 
Aral ; on the river Torn, in the southern part of 
Siberia ; in the great Mongalian deserts ; and 
among the Kalkas, north-west of China. These 
horses are smaller than the domestic ; their hair, 
particularly in winter, is very thick, and of a mouse 
