597 
Review. 
Quid sit pulchrura, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non.—H or. 
The Form of the Horse, as it lies open to the Inspection of the 
Ordinary Observer. By James C. L. Carson, M.D. 
Dublin: William Robertson, 1359 5 pp* 139. 
In this little book we find much that is useful to those who 
are desirous of acquiring a knowledge of many points con¬ 
nected with the form of the horse. The author has also 
thrown out many valuable hints on breeding and on shoeing. 
His observations on the results that arise from putting horses 
to work too early, as well as from their being subjected to 
too severe work, are well worthy consideration. 
“ The severe work to which young horses are now subjected is the 
chief cause of the present great liability to disease. If they were well 
fed, and allowed to mature their constitutions before being trained, 
they would, in all probability, remain sound for a considerable time. 
This, I fear, however, is not likely to be attended to. The farmer has 
so many demands on his purse that he can scarcely afford to allow his 
horses to roam at large till they reach their fourth year; and the turfite 
finds it more profitable to race his colts at two years’ old, than to keep 
them over, at heavy expenses, until such time as humanity, and a due 
regard to the soundness of the animals, would point out as the proper 
period for their first appearance on the turf. The necessities of the 
one, and the avaricious disposition of the other, thus render it next to 
impossible to get good sound stock, either to use or to breed from.”— 
p. 2. 
Dr. Carson having made some very judicious remarks of a 
prefatory nature, commences a “ review of the points of the 
horse as they lie open to the inspection of the ordinary ob¬ 
server,” alluding first to temperament of the animal, from 
which some useful facts may be gathered. He then briefly 
considers the form of the horse, beginning with the head 
and neck, proceeding to the back, fore leg, hind leg, abdo¬ 
men, &c. An occasional paragraph, taken from some of the 
sections into which the work is divided, will serve to illus¬ 
trate its general character. 
