or a large stable will do, and then
gather up something that you know will frighten him; a red blanket,
buffalo robe, or something of that kind. Hold it up so that he can see it;
he will stick up his head and snort. Then throw it down somewhere in the
center of the lot or barn, and walk off to one side. Watch his motions,
and study his nature. If he is frightened at the object, he will not rest
until he has touched it with his nose. You will see him begin to walk
around the robe and snort, all the time getting a little closer, as if
drawn up by some magic spell, until he finally gets within reach of it. He
will then very cautiously stretch out his neck as far as he can reach,
merely touching it with his nose, as though he thought it was ready to fly
at him. But after he has repeated these touches a few times, for the first
(though he has been looking at it all the time) he seems to have an idea
what it is. But now he has found, by the sense of feeling, that it is
nothing that will do him any harm, and he is ready to play with it. And if
you watch him closely, you will see him take hold of it with his teeth,
and raise it up and pull at it. And in a few minutes you can see that he
has not that same wild look about his eye, but stands like a horse biting
at some familiar stump.

Yet the horse is never well satisfied when he is about anything that has
frightened him, as when he is standing with his nose to it. And, in nine
cases out of ten, you will see some of that same wild look about him
again, as he turns to walk from it. And you will, probably, see him
looking back very suspiciously as he walks away, as though he thought it
might come after him yet. And, in all probability, he will have to go back
and make another examination before he is satisfied. But he will
familiarize himself with it, and, if he should run in that lot a few days,
the robe that frightened him so much at first, will be no more to him than
a familiar stump.

SUPPOSITIONS ON THE SENSE OF SMELLING.

We might very naturally suppose, from the fact of the horse's applying his
nose to every thing new to him, that he always does so for the purpose of
smelling these objects. But I believe that it is as much or more for the
purpose of feeling; and that he makes use of his nose or muzzle, (as it is
sometimes called.) as we would of our hands; because it is the only organ
by which he can touch or feel anything with much susceptibility.

I believe that he i