Norwegian horses, in going up or down the steep paths among the rocks, feel their way very cautiously before them, to ascertain whether the stones upon which they are about to step are firm."

The Sagacity of the Horse.

In England, where four or five horses travel in a line, the first always points his ears forward, and the last points his backwards, while the intermediate ones seem quite careless in this respect, which seems a part of policy to prevent surprize. There are some parts of a horse which he cannot conveniently rub when they itch, but he goes to another horse, and gently bites him in the part which he wishes to be bitten, which is immediately done by his intelligent friend. In the extensive moorlands of Staffordshire, the horses have learnt to stamp upon a gorse-bush

with one of their fore feet, for a minute together, and when the points are broken, they eat it without injury; which is an art other horses in the fertile parts of the country do not possess, and prick their mouths till they bleed, if they are induced by hunger or caprice to attempt eating gorse.

Man's Conduct to Animals.

The Sagacity of Horses in the Time of Danger.

THE horse in this country is not a political animal; but in the deserts of Tartary and Siberia he is political, for being there hunted by the Tartars, as hares and deers are in this country, they, for self-preservation, form themselves into a kind of community, and take joint measures for saving themselves, which they commonly do by flight, and that they may not be sur

prized by the enemy, they set watches, and have commanders who direct and hasten their flight.

Monboddo on Language.

On the Beauty of the Horse's Ear.

THE ear of the horse receives its greatest beauty from motion. The ear of no animal has that vibrating power. The ears of a spirited horse are continually in motion; quivering, and darting their sharp points towards every object that presents; and the object is still more beautiful when the ears are so well set on, that the points are drawn nearly together. But it is not only the quivering motion of the horse's ears that we admire; we admire them also as the interpreters of his passions; particularly of fear, which some denominate courage; and of anger or malice. The former he

expresses by darting them forward; the latter by laying them back.

How cruel then is it, to mutilate those beautiful creatures in the shocking manner we so frequently behold! Man's Conduct to Animals.

Sublime Description of the Horse, from the Book of Job, Chap. 39,

v. 19.

GoD, speaking to Job, asks him, "Hast thou given the horse strength? Hast thou cloathed his neck with thunder? Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? The glory of his nostrils is terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not af frighted; neither turneth he back from the sword. The quiver resteth against him, the glittering spear and the

shield. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. He saith amongst the trumpets, ha, ha: and he smelleth the batile afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting."

Imitation of the foregoing, in Verse.

How firm the manag'd war horse keeps his ground,
Nor breaks his order, tho' the trumpets sound;
With fearless eye the glittering host surveys,
And glares directly at the helmet's blaze;
The master's word, the laws of war he knows,
And when to stop, and when to charge the foes.
Oppian.

THE impatient courser pants in ev'ry vein,
And pawing, seems to beat the distant plain;
Hills, vales, and floods, appear already crost,
And ere he starts, a thousand steps are lost.

Pope's Windsor Forest.

K