. Points of the horse; a treatise on the conformation, movements, breeds and evolution of the horse. Horses. FOOT OF STEINBOK. 301 tendency to place the weight of the limb more on one particular digit than on any other digit. The fact that the feet of the tapir have undergone, practically, no modification for several millions of years, proves that his conditions of life at the present day are nearly the same as they were when the ancestors of the horse, like those of the tapir, had four hoofs on each front foot, and three on each hind one. Feet like these, which, under the influence of pressur
. Points of the horse; a treatise on the conformation, movements, breeds and evolution of the horse. Horses. FOOT OF STEINBOK. 301 tendency to place the weight of the limb more on one particular digit than on any other digit. The fact that the feet of the tapir have undergone, practically, no modification for several millions of years, proves that his conditions of life at the present day are nearly the same as they were when the ancestors of the horse, like those of the tapir, had four hoofs on each front foot, and three on each hind one. Feet like these, which, under the influence of pressure, had the faculty of spreading out, were admirably suited for going through soft ground similar to that over which the tapir still â mr^ c. Fig. 395.â{After Gatidry^ FOOT OF SxElNBOK roams in a wild state; for the increase of the area of support thus offered by the feet, was a direct help in preventing the animal from sinking too deeply in the mud over which he travelled. It is evident that this lateral play of the digits entailed loss of speed for progression on hard ground, on account of expenditure of muscular power required to restore them to their normal state, and from increased friction. The less lateral play the digits would have, the faster would the. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Hayes, M. Horace (Matthew Horace), 1842-1904. London, W. Thacker & co
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjecthorses, bookyear1897
