Points of the Horse. By M. Horace Hayes. (Hurst and
Blackett. 34s.)—This is a third edition, and belongs to a class of books with which we cannot in any case deal in detail. But the circumstances in which the book now appears, as detailed in Captain Hayes's preface, call for some notice. The author made his first essay on the subject in 1884, a,nd sent the manu- script to the publisher by the hand of a friend. The friend, "by an extraordinary piece of good luck," lost it so effectually "that it was never seen again." The "good luck" came out in the fact that the author had the chance of seeing Professor Marey's "Machine Animale," and learning from it that he had been sailing On a wrong tack. After eight years of practical experience of horses over a great part of the world, he wrote the book anew. Then he found that he had still much to learn, especially about hunters ; and after three years' more study, brought out the second edition, illustrated with a hundred and forty-two photo- graphs. This was in 1897. Then followed travels in Russia, work at the Russian remount depots, work in South Africa, &O. ; and now the third edition appears with sir hundred and fifty-eight illustrations taken from animals, the horse and its congeners, of all times from the prehistoric. This is the right way to work a subject, and Captain Hayes has our best wishes for the success which he deserves.
Previous page
