As the reader has walked the streets, he surely must have seen men indulge their temper by cutting a horse over the head with the whip. The animal capers about and shakes the ears, endeavoring to avoid the chastisement; the man becomes more enraged; the reins are pulled tight, while the master stands up in the gig, and for minutes continues chastising a creature that is bound to the shafts and comparatively at his mercy. Were the horse, thus tortured, to run away, the person who abused his authority would have provoked a severe retribution; but the animal has no such intention. The fault may be far more imaginary than real. The timidity of the horse prevents it from willfully inviting the dreaded lash; possibly the offense resides more with the individual invested with trust over life than with the creature that patiently submits to most unworthy control. At all events, the thong curls about the face; now it cuts the lips, in which the sense of touch resides; the pain is maddening, the horse capers and shakes its head, striving to avoid a repetition of the torture. The next slash, however, turns sharply round the blinkers and lights upon the eye; the horse is held tight, the man feels happy, he has discovered a tender place; the whip is plied again and again, always falling true. It hits the mark. When the animal reaches home, the lid of one eye is closed, and many tears have wetted the cheek, while scars remain after the immediate consequences have passed; the vision is interfered with, and timidity becomes an inveterate shyer. Also, from the manner in which the rack is placed, a hay-seed frequently falls into the eye. The hay is always kept in the loft above the stables, and a narrow trap-door opens into the rack. This is very convenient for the groom; how could any architect be so very "maudlin" as to design a stable with the slightest consideration for a horse? At every mouthful the head has to be raised and the provender pulled out; probably, human ingenuity could not invent a machine more likely to be attended with injury. The head uplifted, the eye open to direct the bite, the dry grass shaken to pull out the morsel, of course the loose particles are dislodged, and what wonder if one of the hay-seeds should fall into the open eye? This body is small, dry, harsh, and sharp; moved about by the motion of the lid it commits fearful ravages upon the tender organ to which it has found admittance, and simple ophthalmia is the consequence.