Horse and man : their mutual dependence and duties . king if you showed him the string ofperforated cards and a patterned ribbon, and toldhim that the holes on the cards constituted theoriginal pattern, which was reproduced in a differentform on the silk, and that a skilled weaver can readoff one from the other as a linguist can read Englishinto Greek, or vice versd. Yet all these multitudi-nous details are arranged by one master mind, andall work harmoniously together to one single end. So it is with the horses hoof. That the three kinds of horn of which the externalhoof is constructed should
Horse and man : their mutual dependence and duties . king if you showed him the string ofperforated cards and a patterned ribbon, and toldhim that the holes on the cards constituted theoriginal pattern, which was reproduced in a differentform on the silk, and that a skilled weaver can readoff one from the other as a linguist can read Englishinto Greek, or vice versd. Yet all these multitudi-nous details are arranged by one master mind, andall work harmoniously together to one single end. So it is with the horses hoof. That the three kinds of horn of which the externalhoof is constructed should be formed so as to actin concert with the infinitely more elaborate internal 40 HORSE AND MAN. hoof, seems at first sight as incredible as that theholes in the cards above the loom contain the patternwhich the machine works in coloured silks below. Yet, as I have said, the manager of the machinecan read the pattern of the silk in the cards, and heknows that if only a single card were to be removed,or even transposed, or a hole omitted, the pattern. SECTION OF FETLOCK. would be imperfect. Similarly, those who know theconstruction of the hoof are perfectly aware that allits parts, whether external or internal, are dependenton each other, and that an injury done to one willaffect all the others. I shall now endeavour to place before the readerthe interior of the hoof, and its connection with the THE NAVICULAR BONE. 41 horny covering that surrounds it, and the limb ofwhich it forms the extremity. The accompanying illustrations represent a longitu-dinal section of the lower portion of the horses foot. Beginning as before with the bones, A is the lowerpart of the cannon bone, or metacarpal; B is theLong Pastern, c the Short Pastern, and D the CoffinBone. Another bone, shown at e, now comes before
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Keywords: ., bookauthorwoo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjecthorses
