Mr. Joshua Brookes, the eminent anatomist, gave a lecture on Wednesday
evening, the 25th of April, 1827, at the house of the Zoological
Society, in Bruton-street, on the body of an ostrich which his majesty
had presented to the society. The lecture was attended by lord Auckland,
lord Stanley, Dr. Birkbeck, and several other noblemen and gentlemen
distinguished for their devotion to the interests of science. The
ostrich, which was a female, and had been presented to his majesty about
two years before by colonel Denham, had been kept at Windsor, and had
died about three weeks previous to the lecture, of obesity, a disease
which frequently shortens the lives of wild animals of every species,
when attempts are made to domesticate them.
Mr. Brookes commenced by observing, that when he retired from the
practice of anatomy, he did not expect to appear again before the
public; but, as the noble directors of the society had honoured him by
considering that his services might be of some use in forwarding that
most interesting science zoology, he had only to remark that he felt
great pride in adding his mite of information to the mass with which the
society was furnished from other sources. The period had arrived, when
the science of natural history bad fair to reach a height in this
country, which would enable us to rival the establishments founded for
its promotion abroad. The founder of the study of zoology in England was
the great John Hunter; and he was followed by individuals well known to
the scientific world, in Edinburgh, Gottingen, and Amsterdam. In the
latter city, the science of zoology was pursued with great success by
professor Camper, who, when he was in London, invited him (Mr. Brookes)
and a professional friend to breakfast, and treated them with bones,
consisting of the teeth of rats, mice, and deer, served up in dishes
made out of the rock of Gibraltar. The fact was, that the professor had,
shortly before, explored this celebrated rock, in search of bones, for
the purposes of comparative anatomy. The learned lecturer then entered
into a very minute account of the various peculiarities of the ostrich,
and described with great clearness the organs by which this
extraordinary bird was enabled to travel with its excessive speed. This
peculiarity he ascribed to the power of the muscles, which pass from the
pelvis to the foot, and cause the ostrich to stand in a vertical
position, and not like other birds resembling it, on the toes.
For proof of the intimate relation between muscular power and
extraordinary swiftness, Mr. Brookes mentioned that the chief professor
of the Veterinary College had informed him, that upon dissecting the
body of the celebrated racer Eclipse, one of the fleetest horses ever
seen in this kingdom, it was found that he possessed muscles of
unparalleled size. The lecturer here produced an anatomical plate of
Eclipse; for the purpose of displaying his extraordinary muscular power,
and observed, that if he had not told his hearers that it represented a
race-horse, from the size of the muscles they might conclude, that he
was showing them the plate of a cart-horse.[183]
[Illustration: ~Eclipse.~]
This engraving is from a drawing, in a treatise “on the proportions of
Eclipse: by Mr. Charles Vial de Saint Bel, professor of the Veterinary
College of London, &c.” 4to. 1791. Mr. Saint Bel’s work was written with
a view to ascertain the mechanical causes which conspire to augment the
velocity of the gallop; and no single race-horse could have been
selected as a specimen of speed and strength equal to Eclipse. According
to a calculation by the writer just mentioned, Eclipse, free of all
weight, and galloping at liberty in his greatest speed, could cover an
extent of twenty-five feet at each complete action on the gallop; and
could repeat this action twice and one third in each second of time:
consequently, by employing without reserve all his natural and
mechanical faculties on a straight line, he could run nearly four miles
in the space of six minutes and two seconds.
Eclipse was preeminent above all other horses, from having ran repeated
races, without ever having been beat. The mechanism of his frame was
almost perfect; and yet he was neither handsome, nor well proportioned.
Compared with a table of the geometrical portions of the horse, in use
at the veterinary schools of France, Eclipse measured in height one
seventh more than he ought--his neck was one third too long--a
perpendicular line falling from the stifle of a horse should touch the
toe; this line in Eclipse touched the ground, at the distance of half a
head before the toe--the distance from the elbow to the bend of the knee
should be the same as from the bend of the knee to the ground; the
former, in Eclipse, was two parts of a head longer than the latter.
These were some of the remarkable differences between the presumed
standard of proportions in a well-formed horse, and the horse of the
greatest celebrity ever bred in England.
The excellence of Eclipse in speed, blood, pedigree, and progeny, will
be transmitted, perhaps, to the end of time. He was bred by the former
duke of Cumberland, and, being foaled during the “great eclipse,” was
named “Eclipse” by the duke in consequence. His royal highness, however,
did not survive to witness the very great performances he himself had
predicted; for, when a yearling, Eclipse was disposed of by auction,
with the rest of the stud, and a remarkable circumstance attended his
sale. Mr. Wildman, a sporting gentleman, arrived after the sale had
commenced, and a few lots had been knocked down. Producing his watch, he
insisted that the sale had begun before the time advertised. The
auctioneer remonstrated; Mr. Wildman was not to be appeased, and
demanded that the lots already sold should be put up again. The dispute
causing a loss of time, as well as a scene of confusion, the purchasers
said, if there was any lot already sold, which he had an inclination to,
rather than retard progress, it was at his service. Eclipse was the only
lot he had fixed upon, and the horse was transferred to him at the price
of forty-six guineas. At four, or five years old, Captain O’Kelly
purchased him of Mr. Wildman for seventeen hundred guineas. He remained
in Col. O’Kelly’s possession, winning king’s plates and every thing he
ran for, until the death of his owner, who deemed him so valuable, as to
insure the horse’s life for several thousand guineas. He bequeathed him
to his brother, Philip O’Kelly, Esq. The colonel’s decease was in
November, 1787. Eclipse survived his old master little more than a year,
and died on the 27th of February, 1789, in the twenty-sixth year of his
age. His heart weighed 13 lbs. The size of this organ was presumed to
have greatly enabled him to do what he did in speed and strength. He won
more matches than any horse of the race-breed was ever known to have
done. He was at last so worn out, as to have been unable to stand, and
about six months before his death was conveyed, in a machine constructed
on purpose, from Epsom to Canons, where he breathed his last.
Colonel Dennis O’Kelly, the celebrated owner of Eclipse, amassed an
immense fortune by gambling and the turf, and purchased the estate of
Canons, near Edgware, which was formerly possessed by the duke of
Chandos, and is still remembered as the site of the most magnificent
mansion and establishment of modern times. The colonel’s training
stables and paddocks, at another estate near Epsom, were supposed to be
the best appointed in England.
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Besides O’Kelly’s attachment to Eclipse, he had an affection to a
parrot, which is famed for having been the best bred bird that ever came
to this country. He gave fifty guineas for it at Bristol, and paid the
expenses of the woman who brought it up to town. It not only talked what
is usually termed “every thing,” but sang with great correctness a
variety of tunes, and beat time as he sang; and if perchance he mistook
a note in the tune, he returned to the bar wherein the mistake arose,
and corrected himself, still beating the time with the utmost exactness.
He sang any tune desired, fully understanding the request made. The
accounts of this bird are so extraordinary, that, to those who had not
seen and heard the bird, they appeared fabulous.
[183] The Times.
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