86 
CONFORMATION AND ACTION, &C. 
the best “ practical judges" of “ shape and make" are to be sought 
after rather among' horse-dealers, and persons connected with 
the turf, than among those who pretend to make a science of it; 
tor the one will, at a single glance, point out a well-shaped 
horse ; while the inexperienced other will not, with all his “ pro¬ 
portions" at his tongue’s end, be able to judge half so correctly 
or half so speedily. For all this, however, it must be admitted 
that, even in such an indefinite form, all geometric rule ought by 
no means to be disregarded. For my own part, I should cer-' 
tainly say, that the unerring' practical eye would be assisted by 
such a knowledge ; and that the tyro, beginning* with it, would 
have decided advantage over any other competitor in the field. 
My reasons for bringing the works of Bourgelat and Sainbel 
forward in this place, have been, to glean such knowledge from 
them, as I conceived could be made practically useful: at the 
same time I wish it to be understood that, in my humble opinion, 
these authors have placed more weight and importance in their 
“ scales of proportions" than they seem to be deserving of; and 
have, in attending so much to their geometrical admeasurement, 
neglected, or at least disregarded, that necessary and indispen¬ 
sable concomitant of “ proportion," position • by which, of 
course, I mean relative position. 
Proportion and position are, however, far from being the only 
considerations with one who is about to estimate the capabili¬ 
ties of an animal body: we must look to materiel or texture, to 
organization, and to nervous influence; which three relations 
seem comprehended, in the vulgar sense, under the head of 
breed or race. For instance, when we say that horses require 
to be w ell-bred, in order to combine speed and bottom with 
strength, we mean that the texture of their bodies should be of 
a finer and superior description to that of others; that their or¬ 
ganization should be correspondently better wrought; and that 
their nervous or vital influence should be of a higher caste. 
These constitute the corporeal differences between the race¬ 
horse and the cart-horse—between an animal of breeding and 
one of no breeding. It is a curious but well-ascertained fact, 
that portions taken from any correspondent bones in the bodies 
of these respective animals, are, with all their difference in mag¬ 
nitude, of nearly equivalent weights: proving that one contains as 
much materiel as the other; the difference being, that in the 
one it is more densely and better wrought together, and conse¬ 
quently better adapted for the purpose of quick motion, while 
it still possesses unrivalled strength and resistance. So it is 
with muscle ; so with every other texture. 
The organization of such an animal—the system whereby 
