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IKnlorcil acoonlinif to Act of CmiKrcHS, in the year 1877, by the Kural l’ublisliiiiK <!orni>any, in llio office of the Librarian of ConarcHB at War'll ingtoii.] 
from students of comparative physiognomy. In¬ 
deed, man excepted, there is probably no animal 
whose expression, especially in profile, is so va¬ 
rious, marked, and characteristic as that of a 
beautiful horse; and La vat Kit goes even so far 
as to maintain that there is as great a dilYoronco 
in equine as in human physiognomy. 
Some time ago it wan reproachfully remarked 
by The Spirit or the Times a very excellent au¬ 
thority on all equine matters—that there are 
many men who make use of horses all their lives, 
and who, nevertheless, are so destitute of obser¬ 
vation that they could not distinguish, among 
others similar in some respects, the detached 
head of a quadruped that had served them faith¬ 
fully for years. This is doubtless quite true with 
regard to tho majority of horse-owners, hut it is 
not tbo caso with tho genuine horseman. To 
him, close observation of all equine points, es¬ 
pecially of facial expression, becomes a second 
nature, and ho recognizes a horso precisely as ho 
docs a person, and after years of separation re¬ 
members tho old familiar lineaments. Moreover, 
from tbo countenance of tho animal, lie infers 
whether ho is sluggish or eagor, timorous or 
courageous, treacherous or truo, much more ac¬ 
curately than many a pretentious physiognomist 
can judge from his face concerning tho character 
of a man, for the latter is often able to conceal 
his real nature, a cunning deception of which 
the former is incapable. 
Among men, however, there are many faces 
on which the characteristics of tho owners are 
impressed so unmistakably that tho infant in its 
mother's arias, or the illiterate dullard who has 
never dreamt of wasting a thought on tho study 
of physiognomy,or even learnt tho meaning of t he 
word, is repelled or attracted by them just as dis¬ 
creetly as if ago or wisdom hod determined the 
sentiment. Similarly, there are among horses cer¬ 
tain typical countenances which obtrusively in¬ 
dicate the dispositions of the animals that hoar 
them. Ihit, while beauty in the human race is 
no criterion of moral excellence, and many a 
homely face is glorified by the gracious soul that 
irnidiatoH it, it may ho taken as a rule that ugli¬ 
ness of face in a horse betrays a proportionately 
vicious temper. Of this truth we give, in the 
accompanying engraving, half a dozen examples. 
Scarcely any one will fail to recognize in No. I 
the most vicious and dangerous of tho group -a 
brute without a single redeeming feature. No. 
‘2 is a beast of an ugly disposition, whose heels 
are as dangerous as those of an army mule. No. 
8 is a treacherous brute, capable of a sly nip or 
kick ; and No. I is stupid, but like many dullards, 
good. No. 5 is full of play and spirit, has many 
noble qualities, hut requires a master. And in 
No 0, who does not, recognize the noblest of 
thorn all—earnest, steady and faithful ? 
Among skillful physiognomists thero nromany 
who maintain that the elm me ter of a man can bo 
inferred from the configuration of other parts of 
his body almost as easily and accurately as from 
that of liis face. These declare that the lines 
and shape of the hand are peculiarly indicative 
of the disposition of its owm r ; and similarly it 
lias bceu said that tho shapo of the horse’s neck 
is highly significant with respect to its tempera¬ 
ment. IjAVATItR divides tho equine raee into 
three classes: the swan-necked, stag-necked, 
and hog-necked, each of which lias its peculiar 
countenance and character j while by blending 
them, various modifications of tlioir special 
characteristics are produced. In disposition the 
first, is cheerful, tractable, and high-spirited, 
sensitive to pain and excited by fiattery; tho 
second, courageous, and possessed of tho quali¬ 
ties suitable in a hunter ; and the third intracta¬ 
ble, slow and vicious, treacherous, obstinate and 
restive. A little more study than is now com¬ 
mon of tiie faces of the animals on tho farm as 
well as of their peculiarities, would be at once 
interest ing, instructive and profitable. 
EQUINE PHYSIOGNOMY 
From Aristotle to Darwin, dining twenty- 
two hundred years, many celebrated authors 
have written learnedly on physiognomy, the art,, 
or as some Professors insist on calling it, the 
Bcionce of discerning the general character of tho 
mind from the formation of tho countonanco. 
Tho learned Stagnate, however, did not churlish¬ 
ly confine his observations merely to the “tin¬ 
man faco divine," hut philosophically compared 
its lineaments with those of tho brute creation, 
and on this account is entitled to he considered 
tho founder of tho system of comparative physi¬ 
ognomy. In this branch of investigation he has 
had a host of followers, among the most famous 
of whom, in tho last couple of hundred years, 
are Della Porta, Cakpanklla, Lf, Hrpn, I„i- 
vater, and last hut by no moans least, Charles 
Darwin, in lus recent work, “Expression of the 
Emotions in Men and Animals.” 
Tho high degree of intclligouco possessed by 
the horse, renders his countenauco far more ex¬ 
pressive than those of duller beasts, and he lias 
therefore attracted a great deal of attention 
