. Points of the horse; a treatise on the conformation, movements, breeds and evolution of the horse. Horses. =94 EVOLUTION OF 2HE HORSE. Still less SO than in the horse; and, consequently, that there must have been a certain amount of lateral play in them. The length, also, of the side digits would lead us to form the opinion that this animal walked on three toes. The majority of palaeontologists, I believe, consider that the Hipparion used only one toe of each foot in progression. Against this opinion I may advance the fact, not very generally known, that some horses, especially high-caste Ar
. Points of the horse; a treatise on the conformation, movements, breeds and evolution of the horse. Horses. =94 EVOLUTION OF 2HE HORSE. Still less SO than in the horse; and, consequently, that there must have been a certain amount of lateral play in them. The length, also, of the side digits would lead us to form the opinion that this animal walked on three toes. The majority of palaeontologists, I believe, consider that the Hipparion used only one toe of each foot in progression. Against this opinion I may advance the fact, not very generally known, that some horses, especially high-caste Arabs, have such a naturally large amount of " play " in the fetlock and pastern joints of the fore legs, that during the fast gallop the fetlock pad (p. 197) is liable to come down on the Uri. Fig i^T—{After Gauchy.) FORF Foot of Paloploiherium (Jrd real lengtli). Flo ^U--{After Gmuhy) Lebi Front Foot or Orohippus Aguis (fullisize). ground and get bruised. The ergot, which is in the centre of this pad, is evidently, as pointed out by Sir William Flower, the rudiment of a structure (like the pad of a dog's or cat's foot) that acted as a buffer to the fetlock at the time when the horse was a digitigrade animal, namely, one which walks on Its digits, and not as the horse now does, in unguli- grade fashion, only on their tips. In all horses which have free action, the fetlock descends a good deal in the gallop (Fig. 128). Hence, I am inclined to think that the Hip- parion, whose immediate ancestors were digitigrade animals, used the second and fourth digits, at least of its fore feet, to some extent at fast paces ; if not in slow movement. Still earlier, we find in the middle Eocene age 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. Thacke
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjecthorses, bookyear1897
