-herself the greatest of mechanicians-teaches the horse to utilise his weight to the best possible advantage when she makes him throw out his head and lean over on to his collar as he pulls up hill. But the ignorant coachman knows better than Nature, and arranges that the horse shall have his head so fixed that he cannot thrust it forward and downward, but shall do all the work by sheer muscular effort unaided by the force of gravity, and to wear out his heart and his strength years before his time. It is especially on this ground that foreigners laugh at our insular conservatism and conceit. It is, however, refreshing to note that practical experience has convinced the great majority of owners of working horses, such as omnibus companies, van owners, cab proprietors, railway companies, etc., of the truth of this contention, and, with rare exceptions, the rein on such horses has been abolished. If any one is in doubt as to this point let him compare the way in which a pair of omnibus horses with two tons of omnibus and a ton of humanity behind them, handle their work on such a hill as that from Shepherd's Bush to Notting Hill Gate, with the way in which a pair of really tightly-reined carriage horses attack the same incline.

Mention of the working horses of London raises the first of the contentions as to the utility of the bearing-rein. It is claimed that it prevents falling. No greater fallacy was ever put forward. The fact that all the abovementioned classes of horses are safely driven without it, and that under far worse general conditions than the carriage horse, is of itself sufficient refutation, but it can be further shown that its use increases rather than lessens the risk of falls. It cannot prevent slipping, but it does, by the fixing of the horse's head, effectually prevent him from recovering his own balance or being helped by his driver to do so. He cannot throw out his head, and his mouth is so hardened by the constant strain that he does not respond to the check of the driver's hands as horses driven without bearing-reins are able to do.

Another claim that is made for the use of the bearing-rein is that it enables high-mettled horses to be more easily controlled. Again a fallacy. It rather produces such a constant state of nervous irritability that comparatively slight causes contribute to an accident which otherwise would not have occurred. As to the further claim that it relieves the arms and hands of the driver in case of hard-mouthed horses it is surely evident enough that the rein itself makes hard mouths, and if more humane methods of breaking were adopted there never would be any hard-mouthed horses to deal with. It is man's brutality, not Nature's caprice, which is responsible for them.

It is sometimes contended that while horses driven in double harness do not need them, those in single harness, when waiting, are apt, by thrusting the head forward, to loosen the driving rein, which may catch under the shaft, and, if unnoticed, be a cause of accident, and therefore a bearing-rein is a safeguard. Surely

it is easy to see that by passing the drivingrein through the ring below the ear (having first lengthened the strap to which it is attached) through which the bearing-rein is usually passed-or in two or three other ways (vide our hansom cabs) such a possibility of accident is averted. But the very fact of the assertion being made proves it to be recognized that it is a natural instinct in the horse as soon as at rest to assume a position of greater

ease.

It may be urged that a loose bearing-rein is not harmful. A really loose bearing-rein is no bearing-rein at all in the true sense of the word. It has no raison d'être from the upholder's point of view, but it may serve as an argument for Mr. A's coachman to use a tight one when Lady B's equipage is seen with one at all, therefore it is better to "avoid all appearance of evil," and discard what is a mere useless addition to the weight of the harness.

This brief appeal is written in the hope that every humanitarian will make the question one of personal thought and effort. It is stated that the Duke of Portland, as Master of the Horse, has issued a circular against the use of this instrument of torture, and if some strong influence could be brought to bear in the right quarter, so that horses taking part in the approaching festivities could be shown to the civilized world free from these relics of a barbaric past, the fashion would speedily die out, and this might be indeed a year of Jubilee for thousands of patient, long-suffering beings towards whom we have each and all of us a heavy burden of responsibility. For it is not those alone who keep horses who are to blame, but every man and woman who has eyes to see and heart to feel is guilty if he fears to speak, or fails to think and work for those who have no voice to plead their own enfranchisement. It is public opinion which alone can abolish the needless cruelty of the bearing-rein, and we are individually responsible for public opinion.

THE

an

EDITH WARD.

The Bearing-Rein.-Some Protests. HE DUKE OF PORTLAND has written to the London newspapers as follows:SIR,-Will you kindly allow me a small space in your valuable paper to call the attention of owners of carriages to the great disfigurement which unnecessarily tight bearing-rein is to their horses? A bearingrein, when properly fitted, is, no doubt, in a great many instances, a necessary and useful appliance, but it becomes an instrument of torture, and an hideous eye-sore, when it is too tight, or badly adjusted.-I am, sir, your obedient servant,

PORTLAND.

Welbeck Abbey, Worksop, Notts, March 19.

"A LADY HORSE BREEDER " followed this up by writing to the Standard on March 31st:

"SIR,-Not one moment too soon has the

Duke of Portland raised his voice as Master of the Horse' against the terrible suffering inflicted by tight bearing-reins. Let any one take his stand for one hour in Regent Street from four to five, during the season, and then ask himself what he thinks of the fine ladies who, reclining at ease in their beautiful carriages, allow untold agony to be inflicted on their beautiful horses. Do they ever think, do they care, or is it that they are ignorant of the awful suffering inflicted by their so-called coachmen? No man that really knows how to drive will put a cruel bit or tight bearingrein on a horse. I have bred and broken in dozens of horses, and have sold them to the highest in the land, and can truthfully and proudly say I have never used a bearing-rein in my life.

"As I write, I am haunted by an awful act of cruelty I saw in Regent Street a few months ago-a pair of priceless cobs in a Victoria, so tightly gagged they had difficulty in standing, open mouths, distended nostrils, eyes full of pleading agony, vainly trying to get relief for their aching necks, and every few minutes a sharp cut from the whip by the so-called coachman on the box. Several people called shame, and I urged him to give them some relief, but was told with an oath to mind my own business. I waited till the occupiers or owners of the carriage came out, and pleaded with them. They smiled, and said they were not aware bearing-reins were on their horses; their coachman, no doubt, knew what was best. If a poor struggling man works a horse that is lame, or has a small sore on its shoulder, he is convicted; but the untold suffering inflicted by the servants of the wealthy goes on year after year, and hardly a hand or voice is raised against it. If you, sir, will only plead for those that cannot plead for themselves, more good will be done than by any Society for, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in the world."

preventing horses from falling, the bearing-rein is calculated to render falling more frequent. Other not uncommon results of its use are-distortion of the windpipe to such a degree as to impede the respiration ever afterwards-excoriation of the mouth and lipsparalysis of the muscles of the face, etc. It is a useless appendage, supported only by fashion."

The late Dr. J. KITCHING, York, wrote:"First. If a horse, pulling a load, has his head held in by a bearing-rein, he cannot throw his weight into his collar, and is hindered from giving his body that position which is the most natural and effective. He has to pull by the strength of his muscles only; the weight of his body is lost, and so much pulling strength thrown away. What remains is exerted at a great expenditure of the horse's powers and health, to say nothing of his comfort. The consequence is, that his limbs and muscles become strained and distorted. His knees are bowed forward, and his hocks backward. If a man pulls a load by a strap across his shoulders, he bends his head and chest forward, and relieves his legs: a horse does the same when he can, and ought to always."

MR. GEORGE FLEMING, R.E., F.R.C. Vet. Surgeons: The bearing-rein is against reason altogether. . . . I have no doubt that if the public could only realise the fact that it throws away a large portion of the horse's power altogether, and is very cruel besides, this rein would be discontinued. I have never found any one who, giving it up, has resorted to it again."

From "THE LANCET."

Opinions of Experts.

College, London, writes :-" Instead of

the horse, is likely to be given up."

A

S a most ardent squirrel lover, and one whose experience is considerable in the study of their ways, I would like to say something about keeping the pretty creatures in confinement. And, to begin with, it must be remembered that if mankind had always had the feeling of extreme tenderness towards the animal races which now obtains, even to the refusing to keep them in constraint, we should not have had a single domestic animal to be kind to. Every useful or ornamental creature which is now the property of man, be it dog, cat, horse or cow, has had to pass through the painful process of caging in some shape or other. The dog is but a reformed wolf, and more than one generation of breeding in confinement must have been needed to bring even the rabbit to complete domestication. In this interval the creature was under restraint, as painful as that which the squirrel must undergo now.

But this process of domestication of the squirrel can never be carried on in the cages in which it is the custom now to keep them, for they will never breed in them, and the caging of the most active and frolicsome creature resolves itself, therefore, into the torture of an individual for the mere pleasure of seeing it turn a wheel, and without the ulterior advantage which obtained from the imprisonment of the wild dogs, horses, goats and cows, i.e. that of having them born under our kindness, and from infancy habituated to our love.

The wire cage for the Sciurus Vul garis, at least, is torture unjustified by any ulterior advantage. There are species of the family which take to which take to relative confinement with no apparent pain, such as the Maximus (Malabar) the Great Chinese flying squirrel, and maybe others which I do not now recall or know, and which we may make happy in a room which permits only limited movement, being in their ways comparatively sluggish. But the Vulgaris is the embodiment of motion, and in this respect the American species known as Gray and Red are very like the Vulgaris, and though when taken young and allowed to roam over the house or in a room where they can climb and jump, they may be made so happy as to refuse a larger liberty, they do not help

us to the realization of what must be the dream of a squirrel lover, viz. to have the young bred by their own mothers under our eyes and kindness as are the kittens and the puppies. This would in course of time so modify the nature of the creature as to permit us to treat them as we do the domesticated creatures which are kept solely as pets.

And I am convinced that the natural endowment of the Sciurus in affection for the human race is unequalled by any family of quadrupeds now kept in domestication. What it might become under the influence of heredity is beyond any conjecture, but it is reasonable to conclude that it would be very much greater than now. I send you the photograph of one, which is so attached to his mistress, "H.C.B." (quoted in Mrs. Pike's letter in your March issue as K.C.B. by misprint), that he refuses to go away from her out of doors, and shows evident distress if left alone in the open. I had two, of whom I have told the story in the Century, which showed the same personal devotion. One of them insisted on being brought to me in my bedroom when I was ill, and both of them were attached to me personally, more than any other animal I ever had to do with. One naturally compares them with other pets, and especially with the dog, which shows the greatest attachment to its master, but it must be remembered that this is the effect in great part of untold centuries of hereditary acquisition, and the original stock of Canis Lupus is not to be so readily taught to love, and it is comparatively rarely the case that a cat shows this personal attachment, in spite of the long domestication.

There are excellent people who oppose the keeping of pets on the bare ground that suffering humanity demands all the sympathy of the benevolent, and that what is given to the care for animals is a waste of charity! I put their case bluntly, for the experience of every child is enough to confute it. But that there are ways of keeping pets which are forms of sheer egotism is too true, and that of keeping a squirrel in a wire cage is one of the worst. It is not to the revolving wheel that the objection lies, for if the poor beastie must stay in a cage, the wheel gives him

the opportunity to obtain the maximum of exercise that can be obtained in confinement, and it is the only delight afforded the poor creature, whose life is one of the most active of all that animals can lead. Probably only the swallow exceeds the squirrel in the relative activity it displays. But in any form of confinement the conditions of life are such that its duration is generally very short, and those taken very young are likely to die in the first month or two. This might be provided against by their being put to nurse with a guinea pig, for it is very difficult to raise them on the milk of the cowthat of the goat would probably be better, but I have not been able to try it.

The natural and better method of attaining the domestication I aim at, is the

squirrel becomes an easy prey to the family cat. Shall the Sciurophile then renounce the delight of the company of his select companion amongst brutes? It is a question to which the reply is not so clear. The whole philosophy of human life is based on the direct or indirect captivity or even death of our fellow creatures of what we call the lower orders, and the process began with every creature with the wild specimen. We are in the habit of controlling the wills and the pleasures of our children, for their greater good or our greater comfort, and it seems to me that the taming of wild creatures is admissable so long as it is accompanied by the consideration which spares them unnecessary discomfort, for the mere loss of liberty is not in all cases a real injury;

continuation and completion of the system of Mrs. Pike-to tame them in their natural surroundings, giving them nesting places, where they will invite attention and food, and so familiarity with the young. Taken when they are just weaned, and given a large room to run in, with a young fir tree to climb, and always fed by hand and encouraged to familiarity, they will become tame in a short time and then if the owner (if the term can be applied to the case, which may be questioned) has a range where they can be allowed to run loose, the domestication becomes easy, and perfect familiarity, in harmony with the conditions of perfect health.

But few people are like Mrs. Pike in this respect, and so the domesticated

the greatest element is the impatience the animal shows at being confined, probably due more to the nervousness of the restraint and the fear of the keeper than to any real discomfort. Children often suffer more and suffer it longer. But some one will say we have a right over our children, and a responsibility, neither of which we have with the squirrel. To determine this question there goes a great deal of philosophy-I think we have both, and especially the responsibility, and that the slaughter of the squirrels under the pretexts put forward by the great forest owners is a violation of it. I see that it may be asubject of negatives and affirmatives.

Rome, April 27th.

AVING been told by several people that I ought in my account of Squirrel friends" in the March number to have mentioned some more of the amusing ways of these said friends, I propose now to do so.

There are nine squirrels who come to call on us, but only seven have names, and only five are very intimate friends, the others being merely acquaintances. have my particular squirrel friend who attaches him

self to me, and, strange to say, my husband's particular squirrel friend is a lady ! Her name is "Bunnie Puck." My friend's name is "Masher," because he is very trim, and neat,and lovely altogether! His tail is always combed out very fluffily and parted exactly down the middle; the tufts on his ears look

as if the curl

ing

tongs

were passed

over them

every morning, and his shirt front

I

have seen him slip and slide down the steep slate roofs, and it would be very rough landing if he fell on to the gravel walk beneath.

"Bunnie-Puck" is a funny, quiet, little squirrel, duller coloured than "Masher," and very sedate. She is very fond of sitting on my husband's arm. One funny habit the squirrels have, is that of beginning to make themselves "tidy" when I call them. They commence running quickly towards me, then when a few feet off, they sit down and deliberately comb out their pretty tails: first on one side and then on the other. They then smooth down their white shirt fronts

is snowy white. In this issue you will find his portrait, as he appeared standing on the doorstep making a morning call. Being a bold and dashing spirit Masher" is deputed by the eight other squirrels to climb up to my window in the mornings, when I am late, to announce by signs, that there is a hungry crowd on the gravel path below, waiting for breakfast. The climb is a hazardous one, as there are many wide chasms to be jumped from ledges, and the landing is all slippery, slate or stone, not at all like tree-climbing! I do not encourage my loved "Masher" to do this feat, as I

wash

with both paws their faces, as a cat does hers, and, at last feeling quite smart

and fit to go out visiting,

they scamper up to meonly three do this.

During April and May I rarely

see my squirrel friends excepting in the early morning, they are so very busy away in the trees, house-building. I suppose the notion that has got abroad, about their spoiling trees, has arisen from the fact of their using a few twigs and tiny branches with which to build their nests. All I can say is that they do no harm whatever to our trees here. We have planted thousands of young trees and have never found a single one injured by squirrels.

This part of Dorset near the sea is naturally a very bare, bleak, and treeless part of the world, but friends remark how wonderfully well our young trees grow;