The Hawaiian gazette., 1882-03-22
The Horse. Neck and Rsnring.ret....

Hast thou given the horse streugth2 Hast
ihou clothed his neck with thundcr?' Who
tCan he inscusible TO the magnificent utterauccs
which, even in a language incapable Of roudeg-
ing the full beauty of The original tongue
| throw all our modern poetry into the shade
! Yet NAH seems to think that the Creators idea
| Of the horses neck was very imperfect one,
| and just as he neutralizes by iron fshoes the
natural elasticity Of the hooi, he by means of
various contriyances renders uugatory the OK
/ quIsite mechanism of the bones, muscles, and
iigaments from the neck to the shoulder.
wonder whether any of our readers have ever
though about the structures which enable the
| horse TO hold his head up without fatigue.
We could not 90 1t, aud If we were placed on
all tours we should soon find our heads droou-
ing from sheer fatigue In order to see how
this Is accomplished, we must make disscc-
ton Of the horses neck. If we place hand
Oh the back Of our neck and bend the head
forward, we shall feel a strong ligamen!. III
the skin be removed from the neck of a human
being, this ligament is seen 10 be chord-lke,
and not TO present any very remarkable pccu-
liarity Of structure. In the horse, however
1t Is developed into most wonderful elastic
mechanism. Tapping over the back of the
neck, it throws out a set of projections, each
Of which is fastened to one Of the vertebr;c Of
q -
gives support TO that particular yertebr;p, il
works simultaneously with the others. Thus,
the animal can toss or shake its head, turn it
round TO its TANKS, or depress it to its knees,
the powerful and highly elastic ligamguts
permitting all these movements, and by their
own residence restoring the head and neck 10
their normal position when the muscles are
relaxed. The weight of the head and neck is
very considerable, and by their movements the
balance Of the body is naturally aided, q. H.,
in walking up a steep hill the horse, when at
liberty, throws his head and neck well for
ward, so as 10 keep the weight as much as
possible in front Of the forc-feet In descend
ing the same hill the horse holds his head and
neck rs far back as he can, so as TO throw the
weight behind the fore feet. Man, however,
is pleased to fancy that this freedom of action
looks mean and spiritloss, and that a horse
ought to hold his bead up, no matter whether
he IS ascending OF descending hill, standing
sill, Halking, tTotting or .-'i0n Ills
model seems 10 be the wooden Harsa r. lGc
toy-shpps, and .. nearer approach .aat Ul
can rIlsl o." Ode SID r--r.lt .. OBJ. ..e- -..sg
.a .ltt-r be- s rIg.s.t .g ir.-a...
. .s-a- Hl even auLs tscurHo short. I
d. aa ily expression IS, -r 3D.. Ia make [
F. Took IKE ."a strip e.. iHE glued .H .lc lll.sa
Che wooden H.s- So, besides mc reius,
.a.... .s .r lal So lg4tHern strip called
--r-su -. suppose because it is hard
a- horse to bear-and fastens il to the
saddle, SO as TO render The animal incapable Of
lowering its head beyond a certain point, &C
oording to the length Of tie rein. Not con-
tcEt with this, still more severe instrument
was invented, and is known by the name of |
the gag" or Beiouin bcariug-roin-Th e Re-. |
is q. lYO0d lt cool IP0rk.