Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1869-01-06
The Horse,

! DIR. Lemercieis, in his recent lecture
in New York, on the 'HOrse," began
by calling attention To the structure
of the horse the admirable adoption
of the various parts for quickDess and
strength the limbs. strong in them
selves, and put together 50 a to work
I to the utmost advantage. The lym-
/ phatic organs and cellular tissues,
I though somewhat developed, are not
predominant, as they do not add to
the strength of the animal. The
Doctor, as is his invariable custom,
then proceeded to rapid manipuia-
ton of his models, in which he
showed in a very short time more
than he could have described without
such aid in the course of the whole
evening. He used the skeleton of the
fOre-leg to explain the connections of
the various muscles. 1t was observed
that in the horse the bones grow until
the animal is five years old, while in
man the bones continued TO be de
velOped for 20 years. There was a
relation between the age to which
any animal might live and the num-
ber of years during which that
animal continues to grow. a man
y
and even so years. BY great attention
10 diet the life of a horse or a man
may be prolonged, but we cannot, by
any means yet discovered, extend the
period of growth. 1t is injurious to
subject horse to hard work before he
is five years old, as the liglmehts
which unite the $50 bones of the
animal are thereby hindered from
properly fixing themselves to the
frame. The muscles of a fine horse
ought to be very thick and very long.
If they are thick the animal is strong
if ut the same time they are long the
sweep of the limbs is very much eX-
tended. 1t is as important for the
comfort of a horse to have n properly
constructed harness as for man To
have properly made Shoes The
spinal column of the horse is broader
and longer than mans. The doctor
then explained the nature of reflex
action, which plays such an import
ant part i'll the nervous system of
animals. The horse, in running,
uses his head and neck to regulate the
center of gravity; it is therefore bad
to make q horse run with his head
vertical, as it throws the center of
gravity too much on the hind legs,
as well as interferes with the breath
ing. In buying n horse it is well to
consider that the best horses have
short ears ; If the ears have no express
sion the animal is deaf; blind horse
directs one ear forward and one back
ward the ears should be wide apart,
the forehead large, and the eyes well
open: a wide forehead indicates n
good brain; we shOufu ufso pay due
attention TO the animals teeth. The
horses head was then dissected, and
il was shown that he cannot breathe
through the mouth. The shoulder of
a horse can never he too high; for
like the mast or ship-the lOftier the
mast the more wind the sails catch,
and the greater the vessels speed.
The horse has no collar bone but the
muscles are directly attached to the
skeleton. The hoFse's foot was shown
to be of a most curious and complica-
ted composition. The diseases of
horses, spleen, SPAWN, &C., and their
causes, were explained. a working
horse should be fed the greater pOr-
tion of his feed at night, to be
digested next day when the animai
is working; when a horse is working
he should be fed with good food, but
III small quantities.