Horse and man : their mutual dependence and duties . h one of them will exercise aninjurious influence on all the others. It has already been mentioned that elasticity isone of the leading characteristics on which thestructure of the horse is framed. How wonderfullyelastic is the hoof in its natural state, and how thehorse is injured by destroying that elasticity, hasbeen already shown. Now it is evident that anelastic hoof would be useless if the body were rigid,and therefore, as might be inferred from the hoof, theneck and backbone combine elasticity and strengthin a most wonderful manner. T
Horse and man : their mutual dependence and duties . h one of them will exercise aninjurious influence on all the others. It has already been mentioned that elasticity isone of the leading characteristics on which thestructure of the horse is framed. How wonderfullyelastic is the hoof in its natural state, and how thehorse is injured by destroying that elasticity, hasbeen already shown. Now it is evident that anelastic hoof would be useless if the body were rigid,and therefore, as might be inferred from the hoof, theneck and backbone combine elasticity and strengthin a most wonderful manner. This is not intended to be an anatomical work,and therefore I only give those details which bearimmediately on the subject. If the reader will refer to the illustration whichrepresents the seven vertebras of the neck, he willsee that they are furnished with various projections. LIGAMENT OP THE NECK. 211 Some of these are intended for the attachments ofthe wonderful piece of mechanism which is hereshown. We all know that at the back of the human neck. LIGAMENT OP THE NECK AND ITS BRANCHES. there is a strong ligament called scientifically liga-mentum nuchas. In the language of the butcher itis termed the pax-wax. With man, the weight ofwhose head is perpendicular, the ligament is, thoughstrong, comparatively small and simple, and not p 2 212 HOUSE AND MAN. intended to sustain the head in a horizontal we can realise if we have dropped some smallobject and have been hunting for it on our handsand knees. The horse, however, needs a m ch more elaborateligament. At a is the upper and rounded portion whichis attached to the head. Widening and thickeningas it passes away from the head, it reaches the upperprocesses of several vertebras of the back. In additionit sends out a series of branches which are attachedto the vertebras of the neck, as shown at B. Still carrying on the train of reasoning, an elastichoof and neck would be useless if the remaining
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Keywords: ., bookauthorwoo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjecthorses
