We must therefore look round for further evidence, and we find that
those coats which bear the pair of buttons, have a slit up the middle
which gives rise to the skirts or tails. This arrangement carries us
back to the time when there were no railways and few conveyances; when
men commonly travelled on horseback and their whole attire was adapted
to this end, so that they were ready for the saddle at a moment's
notice. The division in the coat which we are considering, allowed one
tail to fall conveniently on each side of the horse after its rider had
mounted it.
