t if what lies below the
horse's 'knee' thus corresponds to the middle finger in
ourselves, what has become of the four other fingers or digits?
We find in the places of the second and fourth digits only two
slender splintlike bones, about two-thirds as long as the cannon
bone, which gradually taper to their lower ends and bear no
finger joints, or, as they are termed, phalanges. Sometimes,
small bony or gristly nodules are to be found at the bases of
these two metacarpal splints, and it is probable that these
represent rudiments of the first and fifth toes. Thus, the part
of the horse's skeleton which corresponds with that of the human
hand, contains one overgrown middle digit, and at least two
imperfect lateral digits; and these answer, respectively, to the
third, the second, and the fourth fingers in man.
"Corresponding modifications are found in the hind limb. In
ourselves, and in most quadrupeds, the leg contains two distinct
bones, a large bone, the tibia, and a smaller and more slender
bone, the fibula. But, in the horse, the fibula seems, at first,
to be reduced to its upper end; a short slender bone united with
the tibia, and ending in a point below, occupying its place.
Examination of the lower end of a young foal's shin-bone,
however, shows a distinct portion of osseous matter which is the
lower end of the fibula; so that the, apparently single, lower
end of the shin-bone is really made up of the coalesced ends of
the tibia and fibula, just as the, apparently single, lower end
of the fore-arm bone is composed of the coalesced radius and
ulna.
"The heel of the horse is the part commonly known as the hock.
The hinder cannon bone answers to the middle metatarsal bone of
the human foot, the pastern, coronary, and coffin bones, to the
middle toe bones; the hind hoof to the nail; as in the forefoot.
And, as in the forefoot, there are merely two splints to
represent the second and the fourth toes. Sometimes a rudiment
of a fifth toe appears to be traceable.
"The teeth of a horse are not less peculiar than its limbs. The
living engine, like all others, must be well stoked if it is to
do its work; and the horse, if it is to make good its wear and
tear, and to exert the enormous amount of force required for its
propulsion, must be well and rapidly fed. To this en
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