I must, however, resist the temptation to wander into this attractive field. It will suffice to take an illustration by a comparison of the bones of the human lower limb with those of the hind limb of the Horse. This may be easily done by the aid of these drawings (figs. 4 and 5) in which the two limbs are placed side by side, and the corresponding bones are marked with the same letters. Notwithstanding the many points of difference the same plan will be recognised in each. There is in each the thigh(C), the leg(E), and the foot, with the tarsal and metatarsal(G) bones, and the phalanges(H, I, K). But in the HORSE two of the digits (the marginal ones, that is, the great toe and the little toe) are wanting, two are rudimentary, and the remaining one, which corresponds with the middle toe of man, in length, size, and strength, more than makes amends for the deficiency of the others. The lowermost bone, or terminal phalanx, of this huge toe, called the _coffin-bone_(K), is encased in the hoof, which corresponds with the human nail, and is the only part of the foot that rests upon the ground. In MAN the whole weight of the body has to be borne upon _two_ feet; often it is balanced upon _one_. The foot is, consequently, spread out; and all the bones, from the heel to the tips of the toes, are made to form the basis of support upon the ground. The HORSE, on the contrary, having no hands, but _four_ feet, does not require so great breadth in each foot; and the opportunity is taken to narrow the foot, and to lengthen it so as to give fleetness. The end is attained by suppressing some of the toes, by elongating one far beyond the others, and enduing it with such strength as to enable it to carry the requisite weight upon the tip of the last phalanx. The heel(F) is raised high above the ground and becomes the “hock.” To speak of a horse _kicking with his heels_ is, therefore, about as correct as to say, that he _breaks his knees_. His knee, as you perceive by the position of the “knee-cap”(D), is high up in the hind limb, near his body, quite out of harm’s way in a fall. The fact is, that he kicks with his _toes_; and, when he falls, he cuts the skin over the part in his _fore_ limbs, which corresponds with the back of our _wrists_.