THE EXTERNAL CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. 3; I 
head. As we believe that this region of the head deserves 
more attention than it usually receives, a word or two concern¬ 
ing its anatomy may not be out of place here. It is composed 
of an outside covering of skin and hair, and an inside layer of 
a skin-like mucous substance called buccal membrane; between 
the skin and the membrane we will find two muscles which are 
especially worthy of our attention. The first one, called the 
buccinator , occupies that portion of cheek nearest the mouth, 
which is loose or flabby. This muscle is of interest because it is 
largely concerned in keeping the food in its proper place during 
mastication, by pressing it, as it were, between the molar teeth, 
which, figuratively speaking, are the mill stones that grind the 
corn, etc. The next muscle may almost be looked upon as 
being of more importance than the first, for again, speaking 
figuratively, it supplies the power which drives the mill stone; 
this muscle is called the masseter (one on each side of the head) 
and is situated upon the upper or posterior half of the cheek. It 
is firmly attached to the upper and lower jaw and is the princi¬ 
pal muscle of mastication, and as this is one of the important 
processes of digestion it must be thoroughly performed, or the 
animal will not remain vigorous or in a state of perfect health. 
We believe that imperfect mastication, or grinding of the food, 
is often the starting-point of indigestion and all its evil conse¬ 
quences, hence, that this act be properly performed, the masse¬ 
ter should be well developed, and we like to see them standing 
boldly out upon the cheek. 
The eye is a most important part of the head. It is regarded 
as being defective from an artistic point of view when it is small 
and concealed, reminding one of the eye of a pig, or when it is 
too large, round and prominent, like the eye of an ox. It 
should be well developed, round, and preferably of a brown 
color. 
When there is an absence of the coloring matter of the eye, 
it will be very light colored, in appearance which usually goes 
under the name of (watch) wall eye. 
The eye is frequently regarded as the index of the animal’s 
