Volume 1

The horse : its treatment in health and disease with a complete guide to breeding, training and management / edited by J. Wortley Axe.

Date:
[1906]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The horse : its treatment in health and disease with a complete guide to breeding, training and management / edited by J. Wortley Axe. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    not only varies in form and size in different animals, but also in the same animal at different periods of life. In the young it presents a striking prominence, but it becomes less marked as the animal grows older, and as the frontal sinuses open out and their bony walls expand. The Nose.—The nose forms the greater portion of the lower division of the front of the face. It is formed by the union of a number of bones, and consists of two elongated cavities separated from each other by a thick plate of cartilage (septum nasi) and communicating behind with the larynx or upper part of the windpipe, and also with the pharynx, or throat. It is broad and expanded, where it joins the ; forehead, and gradually narrows as it proceeds Vy downward. It ends in two crescentic openings —the nostrils, between which is a slight pro- minence, the “nasal peak”. Laterally it is limited by the eyes. and cheeks. The form of the nose, like that of the forehead, is subject to variation with age. The bones on either side of it, into which are implanted the fangs of the molar teeth, subside as the latter descend, giving to the face a sharp angular appearance, and to the nose increased promi- nence. This characteristic is especially marked in old horses, and serves to distinguish them from more youthful specimens. The Nostrils.—The nostrils are two crescent-shaped openings situated at the lower ition een aE STN cea Tse extremity of the head, right and left of a cen- hen EA Sprlahs Trta aaa tral prominence, designated the “tip” of the »Nostri, 29 Upper Lip. nostril or the “nasal peak”. They com- municate with the right and left nasal passages respectively, along which the air enters and leaves the lungs in the act of breathing. In conse- quence of the long and pendulous condition of the soft palate (fig. 5), which shuts off the mouth from the windpipe, respiration in the horse can only take place through the nostrils. These orifices and the passages into which they lead are very capacious. Around the former are scattered a few long coarse hairs, the roots of which are connected with nerves of sensation. Like the hairs of the lips, they play the part of “feelers”. It frequently happens, however, in our better-bred horses, that these tactile organs are removed as a part of the equine toilet. If the nostrils be opened (fig. 7) by drawing apart their edges, or, as they are technically termed, alze, with the thumb and finger, there will be found, in addition
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