112. _The HORSE_ (Equus caballus, Fig. 30) _is distinguished from every
other quadruped by having his hoofs single, and his tail covered with
long hair._
_The male has the name of_ horse, _the female of_ mare, _and the young
one of_ foal.
_Wild horses are found, in large herds, in Siberia, and several other
parts of Asia, as well as in some parts of Africa._
Endowed with the most useful qualifications, the horse is an animal of the
greatest importance to the inhabitants of all temperate climates. Though
naturally spirited, active, and intrepid, he submits with patience to carry
burthens, and to toil, for days together, along roads and in agricultural
labours. And, if treated with care and attention, he perseveringly adapts
himself to our wants and conveniences. In some parts of Tartary these
animals have even been made objects of divine worship, originating, no
doubt, in a principle of gratitude for the services they perform. By the
Arabians they are nearly as much attended to and beloved as human beings:
they live in the same tents with their owners, and participate in all the
kindnesses which this people bestow upon their own families. In Arabia,
indeed, they may be deemed the chief support of the families which possess
them; and (surrounded with foes) the very existence of the owner not
unfrequently depends upon the powers of his horse.
In no country of Europe is so much attention paid to the breeding and
training of horses as in England. The consequence has been that the British
horses are superior, both in swiftness of foot, and in strength and
perseverance in the course, to any others in this quarter of the world.
The fleetest of all the _British horses_ is, of course, the _race-horse_:
and, for short distances, none of the Arabians, which have been tried in
England, have proved in any degree equal to him. The celebrated horse
called Childers, in the year 1721, ran four miles in six minutes and
forty-eight seconds, carrying a weight of nine stone two pounds. Had the
different racing meetings at Newmarket, York, and other places, no other
view than to call together great concourses of people for amusement, their
tendency would be injurious rather than beneficial to society; but when it
is considered that such meetings are the cause of great emulation in the
breeding of a race of animals so valuable as the horse, their utility will
be sufficiently apparent.
The English _hunters_ are allowed to be among the noblest, most elegant,
and most useful animals that are known; and the value of our _hackneys_, or
road horses, may be imagined when it is stated that many of them are able
to trot at the rate of more than fifteen miles per hour.
So great is the strength of these animals, that instances have been
mentioned of a single horse drawing, for a short space, the weight of three
tons; and of others carrying a load which weighed more than 900 pounds. The
immense _dray-horses_ that are employed by brewers, and are so frequently
seen in the streets of London, though in some measure they are useful as
being able better to sustain the shock of loading and unloading than
slighter animals, are chiefly kept from a principle of ostentation. The
British _draught-horses_ are extremely valuable animals, but particularly a
chesnut-coloured race called Suffolk-horses.
In _Scotland_ there is a breed of small horses, or ponies, which are known
by the name of _galloways_. The best of these seldom exceed the height of
fourteen hands and a half,[2] and are uncommonly active, hardy, and
spirited animals. The Shetland Islands produce a race called _shelties_,
which, though exceedingly diminutive in size, are, in other respects,
highly excellent.
In _Ireland_ the cart-horses, though of sufficient size, are ill-shaped and
bad. The saddle-horses appear naturally as good as ours; but, in general,
they are ill kept, worse groomed, and still worse shod.
The _French horses_ are extremely various in their kind; but few of them
can be called fine. The best saddle-horses of France are produced in the
vicinity of Limosin, and in Normandy. The latter, though not so valuable as
hunters, are preferable to all the rest for war. Lower Normandy is famous
for fine carriage horses. A prevailing fault in the horses of France is too
great a width across the shoulders.
The _Dutch horses_ are said to be very good for carriages; and great
numbers of them are annually sent into France. The _Flemish horses_ are far
inferior to those of Holland. They have generally large heads and broad
feet; and their legs are subject to dropsical swellings.
_Germany_ affords some fine horses, but the generality of them are heavy
and thick-winded. Those of _Hungary_ and _Transylvania_, however, are very
light and fleet. The Hussars and Hungarians, it is said, adopt the cruel
practice of slitting the nostrils of their horses, with a view to improve
their wind, and prevent them from neighing in the field.
The _Danish horses_ are so large in size, and so well set, that they were
formerly preferred, as carriage-horses, to all others. They are extremely
various in colour; and many of them are pyed and spotted, which is not the
case with the horses of other countries.
In _Spain_ the horses are very beautiful and excellent. They have a long
thick neck, with a flowing mane. The head is large; the ears are long, but
well placed; the eyes full of fire; the air noble and spirited; the
shoulders thick, and the chest broad. They have great agility and
stateliness. Their prevailing colours are black and light chesnut.
The _Italian horses_ were formerly much finer than they are at present, the
breeding of them having long been neglected. The kingdom of Naples,
however, still affords fine horses, especially for carriages; but they
have, in general, large heads and thick necks. They are also untractable,
and consequently are difficult to be trained; but these defects are, in
some degree, compensated by the largeness of their size, their spirit, and
the beauty of their motions.
There is a prevalent and erroneous notion that the _flesh_ of the horse is
bitter and unpalatable. In several parts of Asia wild horses are killed
almost exclusively for food; and the Calmuc Tartars, in particular, are so
partial to this kind of flesh, that they seldom eat any other. Horses'
flesh is constantly exposed for sale in the markets of Tonquin. A
celebrated British writer (Dr. Anderson) has strongly recommended the
fattening of horses as food in this country, and urges his recommendation
by declaring that horse-flesh is superior in delicacy of flavour to beef!
The Tartars drink the _milk_ of the mare, and also convert it into butter
and cheese. One of their most favourite kinds of beverage is called
_koumiss_: it is a sort of wine made of fermented mares' milk; and is
carried, by them, from place to place, in bags made of horses' hides. When
in perfection, the taste of koumiss is said to be a pleasant mixture of
sweet and sour; but it is necessary to agitate it before it is drunk. This
preparation is also considered of great utility in a medicinal view.
The _skin_ of the horse, after it is tanned, is made into collars, traces,
and other parts of harness; and, under the name of _cordovan_, is also used
for shoes. The _hair_ forms a considerable branch of trade. That of the
tail is employed for weaving the covers or seats of chairs and sofas; for
making sieves, fishing-lines, and the bows of musical instruments. The
inferior hair of the tail and mane is employed for the stuffing of bolsters
and mattresses. For this purpose it is baked, by which it is rendered one
of the most elastic substances, for couches, that are known. The short hair
of the horse is used for stuffing saddles and horse-collars.
If horses be well treated, and properly attended to, they will sometimes
live to the age of fifty years; but, during great part of this time, they
are generally so decrepid as to be unable to perform any services whatever
for their owners. To ascertain the age of a horse, reference is generally
had to the teeth. Deeply sunk eye-pits are usually considered a criterion,
though not an infallible one, of an old horse; and, for colts or young
horses, attention must be paid to the appearance of their coat, and of the
hairs of the mane and tail, as it is not until they have changed their
first teeth that any correct judgment of their age can be formed from the
mouth. The deceptions of horse-dealers in changing the appearance of the
teeth, and in various other particulars relative to the horse, render great
caution necessary in the purchase of these animals.
113. _The ASS_ (Equus asinus) _is characterized by his tail having long
hairs only towards the extremity, and the male having a blackish cross
over the shoulders._
_Wild asses associate in herds in the mountainous deserts of Tartary,
Persia, and India; and also in some parts of Africa._
This animal, which by care and attention, is rendered, in Spain and some
other countries, an elegant, tractable, and valuable servant of man, is
entirely neglected by us; and, in England, has consequently degenerated
into a stupid and inactive beast. The Sacred Writings speak of asses being
in general use throughout the Eastern countries, both for the saddle, and
as animals of draught and burthen. With the Romans they were in such
estimation that Pliny speaks of a male ass having been sold at a price
which exceeded 3000l. of our money. In Spain the best asses are sold at
very high prices, sometimes as much as 100 guineas and upwards each.
Doomed as it is with us to slavery and ill treatment, we cannot be
surprised that the ass, in many instances, should appear a stubborn and
intractable animal. But whenever it is well treated, it is remarkable for
meekness, patience, and docility; it submits quietly to chastisement, is
temperate in its food, and is contented to feed on such vegetables as most
other animals would refuse. In proportion to its size, the ass is capable
of supporting great fatigue, and of dragging and carrying heavy burthens.
Asses are chiefly employed for drawing hucksters' carts, and similar
burthens; and, if properly trained, there can be no doubt but they would
constitute the cheapest team that could be used. Being more hardy than
horses, these animals are preferred to them for journeys across the deserts
of Asia. Most of the Musselmen pilgrims use them in their long and
laborious journeys to Mecca. In the principal streets of Cairo, asses stand
ready saddled for hire, and answer the same purposes as hackney coaches in
London. The person who lets an ass accompanies him, running behind to goad
him on.
Asses' _milk_ is light, easy of digestion, and so nutritious as to be
recommended in many disorders. It is particularly agreeable to the tender
stomachs of consumptive persons, is wholesome for young children, and is
chiefly drunk whilst warm from the animals; there is a mode of preparing
artificial asses' milk with eryngo root, pearl-barley, and liquorice root,
boiled in water, and mixed with new cows' milk. In some parts of the
Continent asses' milk is occasionally used as a cosmetic.
The _flesh_ of the wild ass is so much esteemed in Persia that it is
admitted even to the imperial table. The Persians have an adage expressive
of their high opinion of it. Notwithstanding this, the flesh of the
domestic ass is so bad as food, that it is said few persons would be able
to eat of it. From their hardness and elasticity, the _skins_ of these
animals are capable of being used for various purposes. They are
manufactured into shoes, heads for drums, and, when varnished over in a
peculiar manner, are cut into leaves for pocket-books. The inhabitants of
some of the Eastern countries make of asses' skin the substance called
_sagri_ or _shagreen_. At Astracan, and throughout Persia, there are great
manufactories of this article. It is not naturally granulated; this
roughness being altogether effected by art. Of the bones of the ass the
ancients are said to have made their best sounding flutes.
114. The MULE, or mixed produce betwixt the ass and the mare, is a very
hardy and useful animal. Its size is larger, its head and ears smaller, and
its coat smoother than those of the ass. In countries where the breed of
asses is sufficiently large for obtaining mules of considerable size, these
are preferred to nearly all animals for cheapness, durability, and general
convenience, as beasts of burthen. In England they have never been
propagated to any extent; and the few that have been reared in this country
have, in general, been the produce of such diminutive parents, as to
exhibit only a puny race, by no means calculated for the services of which
a well-managed breed would be capable. Yet even these, where they have been
used, have been found to possess many very estimable qualities. In the
brewhouse of Messrs. Truman, Harford, and Co. of Limehouse, mules were for
a little while used in place of the dray-horses which are employed by other
brewers. Each dray was drawn by three mules, and carried three butts of
beer, a weight precisely the same which the London drays carry with three
large horses.
115. _The HIPPOPOTAMUS, or RIVER-HORSE_ (Hippopotamus amphibius), _is an
African quadruped of immense bulk, with large head, extremely wide mouth,
strong teeth, and thick and short legs, each terminated by four hoofs._
_The body is of brownish colour, and covered with short and thinly set
hair. One of these animals, which M. le Vaillant killed in the South of
Africa, measured nearly eleven feet in length, and about nine in
circumference._
In the immediate vicinity of rivers, in several parts of Africa, even as
far south as the Cape of Good Hope, the hippopotamus is occasionally seen.
Notwithstanding his bulk and strength, he is an animal of considerable
timidity; and whenever he is surprised, he plunges into the water, and
walks about at the bottom with great ease, rising to the surface about once
every ten minutes to breathe. He feeds on plants of various kinds, and
sometimes proves very destructive in the plantations, not only by the
quantity of food which he devours, but also by treading down and crushing
with his feet much more than he eats.
The hippopotamus is one of those animals whose _tusks_ are used as ivory;
and, from their always preserving their original whiteness and purity, they
are considered superior to the tusks of the elephant. They are each from
twelve to fourteen inches in length, and weigh from six to ten pounds.
Dentists sometimes manufacture them into artificial teeth, for which they
are well adapted. Of the _hide_, which in some parts is nearly two inches
thick, the inhabitants of Africa make excellent whips, which, after a
little use, become very pliable.
The _flesh_, when the animals are in good condition, is said to be tender
and well flavoured, particularly that of the parts near the breast. It is
even sometimes admitted to the tables of the colonists at the Cape of Good
Hope. The Hottentots consider it so great a delicacy that they eat it even
in an half putrid state. Professor Thunberg states, that he one day passed
a Hottentot's tent, which had been pitched for the purpose of consuming the
body of an hippopotamus that had been killed sometime before; and says,
that the inhabitants of the tent were in the midst of such stench, that the
travellers could hardly pass them without being suffocated. The _feet_ are
considered peculiarly fine eating; and the _tongue_, when salted and dried,
is in great esteem at the Cape.
116. _The HOG_ (Sus scrofa, Fig. 16) _is distinguishable by its prominent
tusks, the flat termination of its snout, its feet being cloven, the fore
part of its back being bristly, and the tail hairy._
_The male is called_ boar, _and the female_ sow. _The appellations of_
swine _and_ pig _are given to the whole breed, though the latter is more
peculiarly applicable to the young animals._
_The parent stock of our domestic swine is the wild boar, which inhabits
the forests of France, Germany, and other parts of Europe, as well as
those of Persia and India._
Wild boars usually live in families, and are hunted, as an amusement, in
all the parts of the world where they are found. The _flesh_ of the wild
animals, if they are not old, is said to be much superior to that of our
domestic swine. That of the young ones is peculiarly delicate. Of an old
wild boar the head only is eatable.
The advantages derived from the breeding of swine are very great. Their
flesh, which has the appellation of _pork_, is in universal request; and is
of peculiar importance in a commercial view, as it takes salt better, and
is capable of being kept longer, than any other kind of meat that we are
acquainted with. Pork, after having been salted, is sometimes hung up to
dry in the open air; but, generally, it is smoked by being hung in a
chimney. In this state it has the general name of _bacon_. What are called
_hams_, are the thighs preserved in a similar manner. _Westphalia hams_ are
generally made from such animals as have been well fed, and allowed to
range at pleasure in the extensive moorlands of that province; and they
have a singular flavour, not so much from any great difference that there
is in the salting of them, as from their being smoked in chimneys where
only wood fires are burnt. The time of fumigation is from three to six
months, according to their size. Pork, though a wholesome food, requires a
strong stomach to digest it properly; and ham and bacon are highly improper
for persons of weak and languid habits. _Brawn_ is the flesh of the boar
pickled in a peculiar manner, and is always better tasted according to the
greater age of the animal of which it is made. After the boar is killed,
the head and legs are cut off, and the bones are carefully taken from the
remaining part. This, after having been properly salted, is rolled together
as hard as possible. It is then boiled till it becomes so tender as to be
pierced with a straw. It is afterwards set by till quite cold, and lastly
is immersed in a pickle formed of salt and bran boiled together. The usual
mode of curing pork is with common salt, or bay salt; but some persons add
saltpetre or nitre, juniper berries, pepper, and other antiseptic
substances.
The Jews and Mahometans abstain from this species of food from a religious
principle, and even consider themselves defiled by touching it. The
inhabitants of China, on the contrary, are so excessively fond of pork,
that multitudes, from this partiality alone, are said to have been
prevented from conversion to Mahometanism.
The _fat_ of swine differs, in its situation, from that of almost every
other quadruped, as it covers the animals all over, and forms a thick,
distinct, and continued layer betwixt the flesh and the skin, somewhat like
the blubber in whales (118). It is called _lard_, and is applicable to
various uses, both culinary and medicinal; and particularly to the
composition of ointments. The general mode of preparation is to melt it in
a jar placed in a kettle of water; and in this state to boil it, and run it
into bladders that have been cleansed with great care. The smaller the
bladders are the better the lard will keep. The fat which adheres to the
parts connected with the intestines differs from common lard, and is
preferably employed for the greasing of carriage wheels. The _blood_, the
_feet_, and the _tongue_, are all adopted for food.
The _skin_, when properly dressed, is used for the seats of saddles; by
book-binders, and other artisans.
In China hogs' skins are much in request by shoe-makers. All the shoes that
are sold to Europeans at Canton are made of hogs' leather, the hair having
previously been burnt off with a hot iron. In our own country, when swine
are killed for food, it is not customary to strip off the skin, but merely
to rid it of the bristles, by scalding the animals, after they are dead,
with hot water, or singeing them with lighted straw. Consequently the hogs'
skins which we use are chiefly imported from abroad. The _bristles_ of
swine are made into brushes of various kinds, and are also employed by
shoe-makers in the place of needles.
Among the other uses of swine, it may not generally be known that, in the
island of Minorca, they are employed as beasts of draught. They are
frequently yoked to the plough with asses; and one writer speaks of having
seen a cow, a sow, and two young horses, all yoked together, and of these
the sow drew the best. In some parts of Italy swine are used in hunting for
truffles, an eatable species of fungus which grow at the depth of some
inches in the ground. A cord being tied to the hind leg of one of these
animals, the beast is driven into certain pastures; and we are told that
truffles are always to be found wherever he stops and begins to turn up the
earth with his nose.
Most writers have asserted that swine are long-lived, but few instances are
allowed to occur of their attaining a great age; as it is neither
profitable nor convenient to keep them to the full extent of their time. A
gentleman in Hampshire kept a sow till she was nearly seventeen years old;
and, at this period, she began to exhibit some signs of old age by the
decay of her teeth, and ceasing to be so fertile as she had previously
been. This animal afforded an instance of the extremely prolific nature of
swine. She is calculated to have been the parent of no fewer than 300 young
ones. The great weight to which swine are sometimes fed would appear
altogether incredible had it not been well attested. In one instance a pig
was known to weigh 1410 pounds when alive; and 1215 pounds when killed and
dressed.