PRICU ONE SHILLIj^^G, THE HORSE: HOW TO FEED HIIVL AVO?D DISEASE, SAVE MONEY. liY .ARMATAGE, M.E.C.Y.B. 'R63G.1086f ArGA FREDERICK WARNE ^ CO BEDFORD STEEBT, COVENT GAIIDEJS^ FREDERICK WARNE & Co., PUBLISHERS. WARNE'S COMPANION LIBRARY. Under this general title will be issued, at intervals, a NEW SERIES OF CHOICE NOVELS, well printed, on good paper, in a clear l8. 20. 21. 22. LIBRARY UNIVER5ITY3?^ PENNSYLVANIA 9. ^^ittmhouseehrrry FAIRMAN ROGERS ^[, COLLECTION ON HORSEMANSHIP N^G- By ia." ided C. 2J. I [hes. 25. nwKMiMANSHIP ' 26. f 2J. 27. L.N. 28. les.) 31.* ] ^^S^ ^ .. B7 ■"M. M. Bell. ^.s. 32. SIR HARRY AND THE WIDOWS. By R. St. J. Corbet. Bedford Street^ Ccvent Garden. Frederick Warne iff Co.j Publishers, NEW READY REFERENCE BOOKS. In crown Svo, frice 35. 6d., cloth extra, 344//., OUR CONSTITUTION, AN EPITOME OF OUR CHIEF LAWS AND SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT; WITH AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. By ALEX. CHARLES EWALD, F.S.A., Of Her Majesty's Record Office. 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In large crow?i 8vo, price i6s., cloth, gilt top, iioo PAGES, TOWNSEND'S MANUAL OF DATES, A DICTIONARY OF REFERENCE TO ALL THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND, In this coiPipIetcly New Edition, which is intended to be the Standard Work on the subject, the number of original articles has been increased from 7,383 to 11,045, the whole Work completely remodelled, every date verified, and every subject re-examined from the original authorities. In crown 8vo, price xos. 6d. cloth, ncto style, DOMESTIC MEDICINE AND SURGERY, BY J. H. WALSH, F.R.C.S., ILLUSTRATED WITH FORTY-FOUR PAGE ENGRAVINGS, SIXTEEN PRINTED IN COLOURS, BY EVANS, General Heads of the Contents: Laws which Regulate Health and Disease, The Elementary Forms of Disease — Their Causes and Symptoms. The Methods Employed in the Removal of Disease. Therapeutics. The Practical Application of the Principles of the Healing Art. The Management of Children in Health and Disease. Domestic Practice of Medicine and Surgery in the Adult, Glossary and Index. Bedford Street^ Covent Garden, THE HORSE. Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2009 witii funding from Lyrasis IVIembers and Sloan Foundation http://www.arGhive.org/details/horsehowtofeedhiOOarma THE HOKSE: HOW TO FEED HIM, AVOID DISEASE, AND SAYE MONEY. BY GEORGE ARMATAGE, M.K.C.V.S., PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY AND PHXSIOLOGT IS THE GLASGOW- VETERINARY COLLEGE; LATE PROFESSOR OF MATERIA MEDICA, ETC., IS THE ALBERT VETEBINAKY COLLEGE, ETC. ETC. LONDON : FREDERICK WARNE AND CO, BEDFORD STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 1868. ., Q ■ NEW B01.T0N • LONDOK : SAVILL, EDWABDS AND CO., PfilNlEHS, CHAIfDOS STEEET, COVEIfX GABDEN. INTEODUCTION. ^ In tlie preservation of our domestic animals, A the capabilities and resoiirces of Veterinary ^ ; Science are too frequently ignored. * The question of feeding and housing is almost exclusively considered apart from the relationship Tvhich it bears to science. These have paved the way for absolute carelessness and quackery _, and almost obliterated the as- pect in which the practitioner of veterinary medicine should be regarded. It is the province of the Veterinary Surgeon to study, not only the principles by which disease runs its course, its indications and cure; but also, and especially, those means by which it is primarily induced and preveiitecl. The means by which disease is prevented- have not hitherto been generally understood^ nor have they been properly taught or studied in connection with the lower animals, hence the results in many individual cases have been mani- fest in utter ruin. It is high time that they are thoroughly per- severed in and encouraged, studied philosophi- cally by the Veterinary Surgeon, and encouraged A-^ n^ n 4- vi Iniroduction. by the public^ and suitable information disse- minated in order to place those interested on the right road towards mitigating^ if not producing a total immunity from^ unnecessary evils and mortality. It is a plan in which all owners of horses and other domestic animals are particularly interested, but are excusably ignorant. Their attention cannot be directed to a pro- found study of those laws which are ever present, and govern the principles to be understood. They require information and assistance, in order to apply it from time to time. It is the province and duty of the Veterinary Surgeon to j)i'ovide both, and I am convinced from experience that, were the disposition more frequently present, nothing would enhance so much the relations which exist between himself and employers, nor tend more to elevate our profession to that eminence which it deserves in the social economy. The public is not such a short-sighted body as is generally suj^posed, and in Avatchfulness of its interests is ever ready to embrace those means by which an advance can be made. Neither is it such a selfish body, for when valuable in- formation is ungrudgingly rendered, it quickly demonstrates its approbation, and the benefit derived is seldom allowed to pass Avithout suit- able acknowledgment and reward. In an age of sensationalism, it is almost an Introduction. vii error to be otherwise than productive of startliug fact or fiction. The idea pervades more classes than one^ andj it is to be feared,, usefuhiess is thereby frequently neglected for the purely decorative. In many circles^ the spirit crops out and displays the infection. Our limited professional arena forms no exception to the general condi- tion of affairs, and demands our sympathy rather than censure. I claim, however, to be useful in the follow- ing pages. The ornamental has been disre- garded, while old matters are reproduced and presented under featui'cs which, it is hoped, will prove instructive and interesting. In presenting this little treatise to the OT\mers of horses, I am but carrying out the wishes of many excellent friends obtained throughout my professional career in various parts of England and Scotland. To them I cannot sufficiently express the obligations which are felt for the willingness with which I have been allowed to test the accuracy of my state- ments in regard to feeding, as a means of pre- venting disease, or otherwise, the immediate adoption by themselves of the principles which have been submitted. Some with whom many lioiu's of useful con- versation on these topics have been held, are now no more — amongst them was foremost the Right Hon. the (fifth) Earl of Jersey — but their good- viii Introduction. ness still lives in memory as haloes of the past. My thanks are especially due to W. Mirfin, Esq.^ Sheffield ; to Richard Heckels_, Esq.^ Monk- wearmouth Colliery^ and George Suthern^ Esq., Hallgarth House, Diu'ham. Also to Mr. Charles Hunting, M.R.C.V.S., South Hetton, Dm-ham, and Mr.LukeScott, M.R.C.V.S.,Hetton, Durham, whose practical information, together mth numerous opportunities afforded me to visit their horses and ponies below ground, have proved in- valuable. There I have been enabled to witness the practical demonstration of that which they described, and farther testing the accuracy of o])servations previously made by myself. To several gentlemen in Glasgow, particularly my colleagues and professional brethren, I am equally indebted, and thank them one and all. It remains to be added, that the calculations as to cost of feeding have been placed in contrast in order to show that, although prices may fluctuate, and even rise considerably, by a judicious selection of grain and leguminous seeds the same amount of nitrogenous or nutritious matter may be supplied, and that too, at the same cost, or thereabouts. English weights and measures are adhered to throughout. Veterinary College, Parliamentary Road, Glasgov/. 28^/^ Fehruary, 1868. CONTENTS. PAGE Inteoduction V PART I. Mismanagement. . . . ; . Development and Maintenance : Immediate Object of Food — Development — Main- tenance— Waste or Decay — Importance of Good Food for Young Animals — Evils of an Insuffi- ciency 8 Oegans of Digestion: Enumeration — Prehension — Incisor Teetli — Tongue — Cheeks — Molars or Grinders — Pharynx — Gullet— Deglutition . 14 In salivation : Saliva — Salivary Glands — Solvent Action -— Chemical Action — Quantity of Saliva — Uses and Importance of Saliva 16 Stomach ; Peculiarities in the Horse, Ox, and Man — Broken Wind, and Chronic Cough — Rapid Digestion in the Horse — Small Stomach — Necessity for Regular Feeding 20 X Contents. PAGE Intestines : Enumeration and Division — Length — Small In- testines — Digestion in — Secretions — Chyle — Lacteals — Absorption and Assimilation — Capa- city— Large Intestines — Division — Absorption — Capacity 23 The Digestive Pkocess : A Complex Action — Gastric Digestion — Gastric Juice — Intestinal Digestion — Chyle — Formation of Blood 20 Elementary Peinciples of Food : Enumeration— Flesh Formers — Heat Producers — Salts — Acids — Fseces or Dung 28 Essential Chaeactees of Food : Nutritious Principles — Their Identity from all Sources — Non -nutritious Principles — Animal Heat— Necessity for Substances of a Mixed Character — Bulk or Volume 29 Eeeoes to be Avoided : Fluids — Cooked Food — Injurious Effect of Common Salt — Diabetes and Albuminuria — Farcy and Glanders 40 Advantages of Peopee Food and System ... 46 Kegulae Feeding 50 Calculi oe Stones: Their Origin — Different Kinds— Frequently Prove Fatal 51 Objections to the Use of Dey Food: Do Oats Pass Out Unchanged ? — Proofs — Necessity for Healthy Condition — Care Required in Feeding — Importance of a Superintendent 54 Contents. xi PART II. Vaeieties of Food: Nutrition in Each — Maize — Oats — Cost of Feeding Upon — Measure and Weight should be Combined 63 Selection and Puechase of Grain .... 68 Economy of Food : Indian Corn Injurious — Linseed — Tares — Mixtures Necessary 70 Systems Adopted on Vaeious Collieeies : Hunting on Cut Food — Hetton System .... 74 What Constitutes a Cheap Food 81 Objections to a Change of Geain 82 Bean, its Natuee, Uses, and Abuses 83 londondeeey collieey system: Mixture — Steamed Food — Waste, &c 85 FoEMS OF Admixtuee : Low Rates — High Rates 89 Geeen Food, its Benefit and Injuey .... 97 Economy in Using Chaff and Beuised Coen . 99 Pea and Bean Steaw 101 Saving to be Effected 102 Impoetance of Geooming 104 THE HORSE. PAET I. Mismanagement. Mismanagement in any department is universally acknowledged to be the precursor of evil con- sequences^ and one of the golden rules in our social economy is that which teaches how to re- cognise the one and avert the other. If there is a section of the community which languidly basks in the oblivion of misrule more than another^, it is that under whose care are placed our valuable domestic animals^ and to w^hich we trace deterioration of breed_, prevalence of disease,, and a high rate of mortality. As things at present exist in the many places to which these remarks apply^ one Avould be inclined to the opinion that the study oi system in the stable and cow-shed is unworthy the time^ trouble^, atten- tion^ or altogether useless : hence the result ; valu- able animals are left to the care of illiterate attend- ants^ who prescribe for their wants and comforts under predominate ignorance. At one time they are fed with extravagance^ and at another a nutritious meal is denied them. 2 Mismanagement, Unwarranted officionsness also too frequently provides a novel system^ and wonders are speedily developed in adverse of a desirable state^ while indisputable obstinacy and prejudice prevent the recognition of cause and effect. In ignorance of the nature of food^ principles of feeding and management^, the annual losses from indigestion and its consequences among torses and cattle arc somewhat startling^ and unfortunately too common throughout Great Britain. Even in places where we have a right to expect practical information on the laws of health and the animal economy^ confusion only remains. This is particularly the case upon some of the large colliery establishments in the north of England. Immense numbers of horses and ponies are here fed in accordance Avith principles laid down by a ^^ land agent/^ upon corn usually purchased by himself. These principles are generally original^ and resemble the laws of the '' Medes and Persians ^' in being unalterable. During one part of the year^ corn with an excess of green food is supplied; at another^ the gi-ain is spoiled by steaming ; each period being regulated in total ignorance and disregard of existing conditions^ ivithoiit instituting the least inquiry in most cases, and never making a descent of the mines to examine the animals which come in for a share of such magnanimous solicitude. Besides this functionary^ there are other mem- Mismanagement. 3 bers of the executive called ^^-iewers/^ ttIio do not forget their exalted position^ attained in some instances^ I fear^ at a speed which has not ad- mitted of the mind assuming an ad a2:)t ability to itj at leasts judging from the amount of pre- sumption with Tvhich these men vaunt their opinions upon professional matters^ and in their want of respect to others infinitely higher in the social scale. Under such principles of " grandecism/^ it is not surprising that^, with unsystematic feedings hard work unnecessarily protracted, with cruelty overlooked or connived at, mortality is excessive. The ears of reason are, however, stopped, and as some one must bear blame when it is forthcoming, he who possesses the least influence in the matter — ^the resident veterinary surgeon — receives the whole in a most ignominious manner. Happily all are not of this kind. Some of my best friends arc engaged in the management of extensive collieries, and have amply shovrn what can be done to ameliorate the life and condition of the poor creatm-es employed there. Such bear a remarkable contrast to the former class, who never recognise the efl:brts of others except when they can be appropriated as their own good deeds, by which they seek the adulation of the owner, and swamp into in- significance him who feels it an imperative duty to utter a word for reform or economy. This is the '''red-tape,^'' for the exercise of which B 2 4 Mismanagement, I presume owners wlio know it not pay ratlier dearly. It lias been known tliat reports detailing the existence of glaring evils easily remedied by a change of system, requiring no extra outlay, but insuring a highly profitable investment, drawn up by able men — veterinary surgeons — who have studied these matters for years and practised them successfully, and who, after sending them to head- quarters by desire, have been treated con- temptuously— such men have been told, "your injormation is only a parcel of figures/' or after being summoned to the office of the " viewer,''^ "you had belter not iiiterfere in such matters; things have gone along very well hitherto, and no com- plaint has been made from above ; you receive your salary, and it ivill be advisable that you should not report these things beyond myself." Existing affairs are permitted to go on as before, but the information thus obtained is put aside, in order to be applied as perfectly original matter at a time when the proper owner is not present to identify it. A few years ago, in a paper read before a certain farmers^ club, I gave the details of a system of feeding colliery horses which had been successfally carried on by the resident veterinary surgeon some years, and resulted in the annual saving of hundreds of pounds. The local newspapers gave full reports, the executive was jealous of the honour given, and Mismanaf/ement. 5 immediately took the feeding into tlieir own hands. On another occasion Mr. Huntings M.R.C.Y.S., attended the Newcastle Farmers'* Club^ in obedience to a request^ to detail the system which he had carried out successfully both as to the saving of expenditure and preventing mortality. The usual feeling of malice and jealousy prevailed here also_, for some unknown person forwarded a parcel of hay-seeds and rubbish to the chairman, with the statement that the sample was taken from the kind of provender which ]Mr. Hunting used, and was about to recommend to the meet- ing. Such is the treatment with which professional men are met upon some of the extensive colliery estates of Britain. Instructions received from " head-quarters^'' point out the necessity for sur- veillance over the provender, mode of feeding, work, &c., by the veterinary-surgeon ; but to de- tect an error and point it out as required, although an enormous saving would accrue from a change, is to render him odious in the eyes of despotism. If he wishes to hold his appoint- ment, it must be by the sacrifice of conscientious duty, an assumed blindness to, and perfect silence upon, such topics. If he persists in his coui'se, the results are known only to himself. While this treatment is permitted, it is not very likely that great improvements, or the avoidance of unnecessary expenditure, waste, and 6 Mismanagement. mortality Avill take place in the departments re- ferred to. Owners may still complain about tlie disparity between profits and expenses. Efficient veterinary surgeons (and there are men in the body of practitioners as valuable in their calling as viewers are in theirs)^ desirous of establishing necessary and profitable reformation in depart- ments esstniialhj their oivii, lose interest^ and Aveary in well-doing after repeated insults of the kind referred to are heaped upon them. They are not allowed a word in explanation^ and at length retire in disgust, and the places are filled by auto- matons— mere machines — w^ho generally occupy such posts with greater satisfaction to those who fill up the executive and revel in the exercise of despotic power. It is not only in reference to colliery animals where mismanagement occurs. We need but turn our attention to the system pursued in our large towai and farm stables ; and cattle and sheep also are found to participate in the general results. Veterinary surgeons in some districts can testify to the bulk of their cases being those Avliich arise from indigestion, and the insurance papers of many a defunct society would aftbrd doleful tales of sudden death from the same states, causing rupture of the stomach, intestines, or diaphragm, calculi (or stones), and incurable diabetes running into farcy and glanders. Farmers are fully conversant with similar results also, which find an origin in the cheap Mismanagement . 7 and inferior bean or pea straw^ musty hay^ and supposed economical system of feeding with little or no corn. Among his cattle he endui-es losses from en- gorged and ruptured stomach,, splenic apoplexy, black-leg, parturient diseases, diarrhoea, and dysentery; and among his sheep, in addition to the above, skin and parasitic diseases. The London brewers have to lament the loss of their plump dray horses from rupture and disease of the liver ; and Scotch proprietors suffer no less, though rather differently, from the use of trashy boiled mixtures of food. In the coal mines, where proper surveillance is not permitted, and stupid customs are adhered to, indigestion, with its attendant states, cames off many valuable lives, and the cause is looked upon as inducing a condition which must be endured, or the e'vdl as a manifestation of some peculiar influence, probably of a planetary character. Notwithstanding this, all busy themselves in searching for a cure, v\ithout going further to attempt a solution of the mystery, which may be interpreted by the principle of prevention. We thus go on in blindness and obstinacy, seeking after some brilliant theory, and in eager pursuit of that which is remote, neglect the highly pro- fitable and easily deciphered lessons which, already pregnant with most ample information, are com- pletely within the grasp. 8 Development and Maintenance. A discussion of tlie subject of food and its application to the animal fabric^ involves a con- sideration of scientific principles wbicb reveal the exact nature of the substances employed^ tlieir transformation within the organism^ and the offices they perform at their destination. The immediate object of food is the development and maintenance of the animal body. Development may be briefly stated to be that process by which the various parts or organs assume their relative form^ size,, and capabilities for functional activity— e.^.^ secretion, excretion, and the like. Develo23ment is principally refer- able to intra-uterine life, or that period during which the future animal lies within the womb of its mother, when the various organs, as the brain, heart, lungs, liver, and in fact all parts of the body, are acquiring their j^eculiar and characteristic form. Each primitive portion gradually and con- stantly receives fresh additions, and each stage constitutes also a farther elaboration and assump- tion of higher powers. Development continues also throughout a period after birth. The long-legged, weedy-look- ing foal is an example excellently suitable for the purpose of illustration. Although as far as internal organs are concerned, development may be said to be in a measure complete, yet there Develojjment and Maintenance. 9 are important changes to be otller^yise effected. The muscles of the body are small and pale^, and the bones (so called) are very deficient in osseous material (earthy salts). A few teeth only are through the gums^ and others are lying in different stages beneath in the form of a highly vascular pulp^ quite unlike its future self. In each there are important changes to take place. The bundles of cartilage in the centre of the limbs and beneath the muscles of the body^ &C.;, gradually become harder, and lose their charac- teristic elasticity. Their structure is altered by the deposition of bony material, and by and bye we have the osseous framework or skeleton completed. The pale muscular fibres assume greater dimen- sions, and at the same time a darker colour, and power to act more forcibly on the individual bones. The tooth pulp within the gums, already pro- vided with innumerable blood vessels and nerves, gradually acquires the shape of a tooth, incisor or molar, its different layers of hard substance variously termed dentine, enamel, &c., and only at a specified time will it appear above the surface. At length the animal is " filled up,^"" '' made up,^^ or " furnished,'''' in stable phraseology, and the period of youth gives way to that which is known as the adult stage. 10 Development and Maintenance. Maintenance has been going on throiigliout the whole of this time. Functional activity is at- tended by a process of luaste or decaij of the parts implicated. This process will be hereafter expressed as metamorphosis of tissues. In no period of life can this process be said to be dormant or non-existent_, but in none so slow or so little required as in early youth. At this time the building up of the animal body by the accumulation of blood,, bone^ muscle^ hoof, horn^ teeth^ hair, &c., &c., is actively carried on, and their waste or decay comparatively small. In adult life, however, when development has gone on to completion, and great exertion is called forth, metamorphosis or change in the constitution of the tissues above mentioned is great. This requires the process of maintenance or repair to restore, dui'ing repose, that which has being constantly lost during activity or exercise. The movements of the arms or legs in walk- ing, the tongue and jaws in speaking, lungs during respiration, heart in its beating, and in- testines during contraction, — in short, any act, voluntary or involuntary, which calls forth mus- cular movements in any part of the animal body, is attended with the ex]3enditure of vital force, as shown in the change or alteration of the condi- tion, waste, decay, or metamorphosis of the com- posing material. During metamorphosis of tissue chemical Bevelopment and Mainteviance. 11 action is instituted,, and new compounds are pro- duced which are no longer useful to the body. They are called effete materials^ and after being- collected by appropriate vessels termed lymphatics, are by them conveyed to special organs for the purpose of being expelled. If retained^ they would prove highly detrimental to the body^ and even destructive to life. The waste of muscular tissue from v\ork and ordinary exercise is considerable^ that substance forming a great portion of the animal body. It is constantly in need of fresh material to restore or replace those parts which have been removed by waste, and the elements necessary are provided by the food, after undergoing im- portant changes hereafter to be mentioned under digestion. Such facts, briefly as they are detailed, and divested, as far as practicable, of technicalities, present most important points to view, and enable us to dii'ect particular attention to the application and economising of material (food) for the production of the greatest amount of actual force — strength and vigour in vrorking animals, or of fat in those destined for \i\c butcher. With these before us, the effects of some of the modes in vrhich animals are kept, v;ill be clearly understood. Under the subject of development it has been stated the process is confined to intra-uteriue 12 Development and Maintenance, life and early periods of yoiitli. It is tlien we find the great demands upon the system in order to complete the formation and building up of the whole body. Every one almost knows that much more food than ordinarily is consumed by the pregnant mare or cow^ and that the young animal consumes much food of a nutritious quality without the appearance being in all cases o])viously benefited thereby. These illustrations serve to show the great demands for bloody bone^, muscle^, skin_, hair_, lioof^ tendons^ &c. &c.^ and a moment^s reflection will cause one to pause and wonder how some persons can really expect to make a horse,, cow, or other animal upon the quantities of miserable rubbish which are put in the poor creatm'es' way when yoimg. How they can witness their colts and calves standing without cover in an empty straw-yard or bare pasture in the cold and rain during the winter^ and expect the grass of the coming sum- mer will make up for the previous starvation, is indeed a paradox. It appears quite sufficient with some that a horse should taste corn only when he is able to earn it, and cattle when they commence to give milk, or there are prospects of their being useful to the butcher. All this is mistaken policy. The young horse or ox requires ample food for the bn.ilding up of the frame, and we discern the wise provision of nature in furnishing the rich elements in the Development and Maintenance. 13 milk of the motlier. Both need highly nutri- tious food_, and when this is denied^ the owner finds he is on the siu'e road towards spoiling them. They always suffer acutely when good food is afterwards given ; the change serves only to engender serious^ if not fatal^ disease. Instances will be found in the maladies black-leg or quarter- evil, splenic apoplexy, Main, kc, of cattle and sheep. In the horse we find^ when put to work for the first time, he is " unable to stand the corn f the legs swell, coat stares, he performs his work badly, and there are other indications of a dis- ordered state within. Colic, or purpura hcemorrhagica, speedily kills him, or he is left to dole out a miserable exist- ence with protracted suffering from chronic disease of the lungs or liver, diabetes, canker, laminitis (founder), constant attacks of lymphaii- gitis (weed), and farcy, terminating, after effectually propagating the contagion, in glanders and death. As life and development proceeds, food then serves a different purpose. While it is expended in supplying fresh elements to the blood, that fluid has now to furnish elaborate materials to replace the constituents of the body lost during waste of muscle and other tissues, which are rendered visible in the shape of the products of respiration, j)6rspiration, the urine, and fseces. What formerly went to form 14 Organs of Digestion. muscle^ bonG;, &c.^ now goes to repair them. The blood in all cases is the flnicl which fui'nishes the . pabulum whence tissues derive their support. That fluid is maintained by regular additions of elements obtained from the food. The process which prepares them we have to consider shortly. Organs of Digestion. The organs of digestion comprise the mouth, teeth, tongue, salivary glands, pharijnx, oesophagus or gullet, stomach, intestines, liver, and pancreas or sweetbread. In connexion with the mouth we find aj^pro- priate muscles forming the bulk of the lips and sides for the prehension or gathering of food_, and incisor teeth or nippers — six above and l)elow in the horse^ and six only below in the ox^, sheep, deer, &c. — for the jnu'pose of cutting off the herbage. Within the mouth the tongue performs the important office of distinguishing by the peculiar sense of taste, the difference in each variety of substances introduced, and moves them from side to side in order to bring them within the pressure of the molar teeth or grinders. The tongue at length, by a contraction upon itself backwards, carries the bolus of food with it, which is then seized by the pharynx, and passes immediately along the gullet to the stomach. The cheehs on each side being formed of Organs of Digestion. 1 5 muscles, assist materially in keeping the food effectually between tlie molar teeth. Through their substance pass ducts or tubes which convey necessary lubricating and solvent fluids to the mouth. The molars or grinders are twenty-four in number, six of which are situated above and be- low upon each side of the jaws in the back part of the mouth. In order to observe them par- ticularly the mouth must be held wide open. They are large and rough upon the wearing surface, and form most perfect agents in crush- ing and grinding, or masticating the hard grain and kernels which this animal requires as natural food. The pharynx is a muscido-membranous bag or pouch which opens at the back of the mouth, and grasps the bolus of food as it is presented by the tongue. Arrived at this point, its appro- priate muscles successively contract and force onwards the pellet to the fui'ther end opening into the gullet. The food is now beyond the control of the will, and cannot be retm^ned by any effort of a natural character. The esophagus or gullet is also composed partly of muscles and membrane. It forms an elastic tube reaching from the pharynx above to the stomach below, and occupies a position in the neck upon the left side of the lower portion, A knowledge of this fact enables us to trace the passage of substances throughout its visible 16 Insalivation, course. The remaining part of the gullet passes through the chest_, and is called the thoracic por- tion. The passage of food through the pharynx and gullet is termed deglutition or swallowing. Insalivation. The mouth is abundantly supplied with fluid for the purpose of lubricating its surfaces during motion in mastication. It also possesses peculiar solvent and chemical actions upon alimentary matters introduced^ and thus effects special changes in their constitution; of vital importance to digestion and assimilation. Saliva is the name given to this fluid_, and is the produce of glands in the vicinity, the largest, the parotid gland, being placed below the ear behind the angle of the lower jaw. In addition there are others of a smaller character situated beneath the tongue, between the sides of the jaw, inside the lips and other parts ; all of which separately contribute important properties to the fluids which mix in the mouth, whence they arc conveyed by appropriate tubes or ducts. The solvent action of saliva dej)ends upon the presence of peculiar salts and a principle called ptyalin by scientific men, and is easily demon- strated by placing food within the mouth. It is also found to act efficiently when collected in suitable vessels and brought into contact with Insalivation. 1 7 certain alimentary matters. Its power of alter- ing the constitution of compounds is purely a chemical action, and is most peculiarly well marked upon those of a starchy character,, abundance of which are found in the food upon which horses and cattle subsist. Through this influence they are converted into a princij)le called dextrine, and subsequently into grape sugar. The salivary glands are under the control of the nervous system. In the human subject, the sight or smell of food of an agreeable character is sufficient to cause a copious flow to the mouth ; hence the common expression " the mouth Avaters.^^ Saliva is secreted abundantly. The exact amount of this fluid which is formed is not easily obtained. A large horse is supposed to secrete 84lbs. per day, an ox 1021bs. Mr. Hunting ob- tained half a gallon, or about five pounds in half an houi'. The uses of saliva are important and manifold. First, we have an abundant flow ; second, its peculiar solvent power ; third, its chemical action in converting starchy matters into sugar ; foiu'th, its lubricating qualities during the presence of absorbing, or coarse and rough, substances ; fifth^ it is secreted in major part during mastication, and C07itinues as long as that act is carried on. This category of properties in a simple-looking fluid like saliva must have been conferred for a beneficial purpose. 18 Insalivation. AVe find such to be a law tliroiigliout natm'e. That pui'pose is essentially the primary step in rendering the component parts of the food assimilable; i.e., converting them into constituent parts of the blood. Being secreted at the time Y^dlen the food is undergoing comminution between the teetli^ it is presented at a period when it will be most cfiective. Food, therefore, which is swallowed quickly or gTcedih^, without proper mastication, obtains little saliva, and the necessary trans- formations arc not carried out. It is impossible to supply a fluid artificially which can take the place of saliva. Mere satura- tion of the food by water does not promote digestibility as a consequence. This has been satisfactorily proved many times. If the salivary glands are prevented from discharging their contents into the mouth during mastication, and water is thrown among the mass within the stomach, digestion is retarded. We have positive evidence of this in daily practice in those establishments where owners persist in using boiled mixtures of food, which is done in utter neglect of the most important fact that the horse has perfect grinders to crush and break down everything which comes in the way of natural food, with the best solvent immediately at hand, and in unlimited quantity, to effect a primary transformation towards the production of blood, bone, muscle, hoof, hair, &c. &c. Inscdivation. 19 The practice is an attempt to set aside nature,, and miglit be excused if none of the above ap- pliances are present, or their capabilities in part destroyed. We are so accustomed to treat the horse by analogy, thus convicting him in the ex- ercise of irregular practices, errors of body and mind in common ^'ith oui'selves, that we natur- ally prescribed a mode of treatment based upon conditions supposed to exist. Even a moderate acquaintance with the or- ganized fabric of man and the higher animals leads to a different conclusion. It proves the practice imscientific, unsystematic, foreign, and unnatural. I shall have more to offer upon the question of boiled food when a description of other organs has been given. After the food has undergone the necessary processes of mastication and insalivation, and, as it passes backwards in the act of swallowing or deglutition, it becomes coated with a thick mucous or viscous secretion, thrown out fi'om glands on the inner surface of the pharynx and gullet. It accumidates as the mass descends, and forms a thick greasy kind of coating, the proceeding having for its object mainly the avoidance of aggregation and stoppage in the gullet, a condi- tion which under aggravated states constitutes choking.* * It not uncommonly happens after hard Vvork and long fasts the horse, returning weary and hungry, ravenously swallows his c 2 20 The Stomach, Descending the gullet the bolus of food at length reaches the stomach,, a pouch or dilatation of that tube. In the stomach further important changes are executed in the constitution of the food. In man this organ performs the greater por- tion of the process of digestion. In the horse and ox but little analogy exists^ and the essential points of difference will repay even a cursory examination. The ox is endowed with four stomachs^ or what is more in keeping with anatomical descrip- tion^ a quadrisect stomachy i.e.j containing four distinct comj)artmentS; each of which possesses different functions. The first compartment is one of immense capacity. It occupies three-fourths of the abdomen^ and is able to accommodate a great quantity of ingesta. The second is small^ and contains more fluid food without due mastication and insalivation. The secretions are deficient by reason of fatigue or nervous depression and other causes. The bolus is speedily despatched, almost dry, and choking is apt to occur in its worst forms. If the food reaches the stomach aggravated colic is almost certain. See my Prize Essay " On the Diseases of Farm Horses/* published in the Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, Article — " Choking." Tlie Stomach, 21 than the first_, but both act in common in mace- rating and securing successive changes in the food. The third exerts a degree of pressure, by means of its peculiar leaves, upon the alimentary matters arrested by it. The fourth is the true digestive compartment, and resembles the stomach of man and the dog principally. The ox is essentially an animal capable only of limited and not rapid exertion. The structure and arrangement of the digestive organs are clearly intended to accommodate large quantities of herbage of a mixed character, for which the functions are admirably fitted. The horse, on the other hand, being made and required for rapid exertion, could not fulfil those ends vrith the digestive organs of the ox, and, therefore, like man and the carnivora, but one stomach or compartment is provided, which is both comparatively and relatively smaller. The process of digestion is also wonderfully effective. "Whilst the ox has been known to retain food for upwards of six weeks within his stomach, little more than as many hours will suffice to ensure digestion in the horse. The process is, therefore, also wonderfully rapid. The stomach of the horse, replete with food, acts as a great impediment to the action of the lungs, hence the great number of cases of broken 22 The Stomach, tvind and chronic cough, which are known to occur from irregular principles of feeding. The horse cannot occupy himself in ru- mination or digestion almost entirely as the ox. He is required to undertake the re- moval of heavy loads^ or otherwise engaged in rapid exertion. A rapid digestion in his stomach is therefore a very v» ise provision to relieve the lungs during action. I have purposely exhibited substances of different degrees of solubility, and possessing a strong odour, to animals about to be slaughtered, and have been particularly struck with the fact that, in the short space of time which has elaj)sed between the administration of the medicine and opening the stomach, not a trace beyond the odoiu' of the substance could be detected. The paper in which it was wrapped was usually found in the stomach, but the medicine had passed several yards along the gut, frequently within one hour. Similar facts are observable with regard to food. I have known horses and ponies suddenly killed in coal mines by a fall of portions of the roof within one or two hours after a meal, and on examining the stomach it has been ob- served that digestion has progressed rapidly and effectively in that organ, only a small portion, the most indigestible, remaining behind. The more easily digestible portion had usually passed along the intestines in distances varying from ten to twenty feet or more. The Litestiues. 23 It is a rule tliat all portions of greater solu- bility in the secretions^ i.e., more digestible, first pass out from the stomach in health. Fluids also pass rapidly. They are usually carried to the c?ecum, a large gut situate about twenty yards from the stomach in large horses, twenty minutes being usually sufficient. These illustrations definitely explain why a horse occupies so much time consuming food. Put him into the sta])le after a day^s work, and he will be found eating the greater part of the night. A small stomach, capable of effectiAC and rapid action, is quickly emptied of its contents, and the desire for food, therefore, becomes almost constant. We should gather from this also the absolute necessity of a regular supply of food, and abolition of long fasts and full racks and mangers when the animal returns to the stable. The Intestines. The intestines are of two kinds, small and large. In the horse they occupy the greater portion of the cavity of the abdomen, and constitute the largest part of the alimentary track. The whole length may be estimated at about ninety feet, or ranging from twenty-six to thirty yards. 24 The Intestines. The small intestines commence at the stomach, and in their course receive the several names , duodenum, jejunum, and ilium, the divisions being pnrely imaginary. About five or six inches beloAV the stomach are the orifices which discharge the secretions of the liver (bile) and pancreas (a fluid resembling saliva). Besides these_, other special fluids are poured from the walls (coats) throughout the length of the canal. The walls are strong and provided with mus- cular fibres, as the gullet and stomach, to pro- duce the necessary contractions (vermicular or worm -like) in order to subject the contents (ingesta) to the action of the various fluids, as well as cause it to pass onwards. Throughout the inner surfaces of the small intestines a number of peculiar vessels are seen to enter. Their ofiice is to abstract the nutriti- ous elements of the food, Avhich after meeting with the various secretions in the tube, assumes a whitish creamy consistence, and is termed chjle. The vessels here spoken of are termed lacteals. They commimicate with other vessels and glands. In them the chyle as it passes on- wards alters its constitution, and by successive stages assumes the character of the blood with which it is afterwards mixed. This constitutes the process of assimilation. The small intestines are from fifty to sixty feet in length, and will accommodate from eight to elevens gallons of fluid. The Intestines. 25 The large intestines of the horse are very capacious organs. The first _, the ccBCum, is a large conical pouch or bag^ usually known as the hlind gut. In it are collected principally the fluids drank^ together with solid matters. The former occupy the extremity^ the latter remain at the base. Absorption of fluids takes place from the caecum in large proportion^ and its con- tents are usually alkaline from the changes which take place in starchy constituents. The colon is continued next in order to the Ccccimi. It is doubled upon itself^ both parts throughout its entire length being united by in- tervening tissue, and traverses both sides and front of the abdomen twice, terminating in the rectum near the point from which it arises from the cseciun on the right side. The Ccccum and colon do not possess such thick muscular walls as the small intestines, but strong bands run longitudinally on four sides. These being considerably shorter than the intes- tines, have the eff'ect of drawing them into puckers or folds, forming on the inner side a number of pouches, which assist in giving the characteristic form to the faeces or dung in the horse. The rectum is very strong and muscular, but not so capacious, tolerably cylindrical, and termi- nates the alimentary track at the anus or fonda- ment. Absorption from the large intestines is principally confined to the c cecum. The colon 26 The Digestive Process. and rectum minister bnt little to that process. The capacity of the large intestines greatly ex- ceeds that of the small. The csecnm vrill contain ahout fonr gallons of fluids the colon about twelve^ and the rectimi about three gallons. 77ie digestive Process. The process of digestion is most complex and important^ and deservedly receives an extended notice in all authentic works on anim.al physi- ology. It is impossible here to do more than briefly notice the leading stages^ which are in- dispensable_, but sufficient towards explaining generally the object for which these pages are wi'itten. Gastric digestion. — In the stomach the food, already incorporated with the salivary and other secretions, is subjected to peculiar movements or contractions of the muscular walls, described usually as a " churning action.^^ It is thus moved from one part to another and further in- corporated with secretions (gastric juice) derived from glands (gastric glands) situate in the walls of the organ. The gastric juice possesses acid properties, and a peculiar principle termed pepsine, which with the action of the stomach effects a reduction of the food to a uniform mass. Tlie particles are in a fine state of di^dsion, and albuminous prin- The Digestive Process. 27 ciples chiefly siiflPer chemical decomposition. At leijgth the whole becomes a thick fluid and passes throiigh the pyloric orifl.ce of the stomach to the small intestines. This fluid is called chyme. It contains nutri- tious matters in a state of mechanical suspension^ others in chemical and simple solution^ while a third variety are unacted upon from various causes. Chyme proceeds along the intestines hy virtue of the peculiar action of the organs. It first meets with fluids from special glands in the vici- nity of the outlet from the stomach. Next with those from the liver and pancreas (sweetbread). B3/ constant motion perfect incorporation is eff*ected_, and. the following outline of changes may be observed. 1st. Tlie acid character of chyme is neu- tralized— it is now alkaline. Slid. Albuminous matters escaping from the stoma,ch unchanged are transformed. 3rd. Starchy matters^ unacted upon by saliva^ are now eftectually converted into sugar. -1th. Fatty bodies are emulsified or converted into a kind of soap. 5 th. and lastly, all the nutritious principles have conferred upon them properties vrhich facilitate their absorption and pas- sage through the lacteals towards the blood, and the fluid mass now receives the name of chyle. 28 Elementary Principles of Food, Chyle passes througli the lacteals from the in- testines. Its constituents gradually form a granular-looking mass,, in which float a number of small vesicles or cells. By passage through an assemblage of bodies called mesenteric glands, the cells increase in number^, and at length ac- quire colour^ and eventually are poured into blood vessels near the heart. It is thus the blood becomes the pabulum whence all tissues are nourished. In the elements of food are found the materials which^ after assimilation^ partake of the characters of the tissues of the body ; and the circulation of the blood explains how each kind receives its share. Elementary Principles of Food. The chyle contains the whole of the elements of the food. These are of a mixed character. Firsts we have nitrogenous, so-called because they contain largely the gas nitrogen^ or albuminous principles which are strictly the elements from which muscle is developed — hence the term " flesh formers '' which is applied to them. Second, we have fatty bodies and saccharine or sugary principles — starch, g^iiij sugar, &c. — heat^ producers. Third, there are essential constituents in the form of salts — of lime, potash, soda, mag- nesia, &c. Fourth, various acids, as hydro- chloric (muriatic acid or spirits of salt), nitric Essential Characters of Food. 29 (aquafortis), sulphuric (oil of vitriol), lactic and phosphoric, &c. In a chemical point of view the acids are most powerful agents, and by union with various substances form compounds of vital importance. Lastly, there are compounds of no service whatever to the system. These are principally indigestible bodies, such as ligneous or fibrous parts of plants and foreign bodies which have gained access to the digestive organs, cells, earthy matter, and portions of undigested food which have been present in excess. Liebig has termed these the incombustible and unburned parts of food. They are the refuse from the digestive process, and together with effete or use- less parts thrown off from the system, constitute \h.Q fences or dung. Essential Characters of Food. Certain conditions are essential for the proper digestion and assimilation of food. When pro- perly understood, they indicate the principles of an economical system of feeding animals with a view towards the preservation of health and vigour under continued laborious exertion, as well as preventing an undue rate of mortality resulting from it, and at a low rate of cost. These conditions are, first, that food should be nutritious ; second, that it contains elements of 30 Ussential Characters of Food. a mixed character ; thirds that it possesses pro- portionate bulk ; fourth^ it should be regularly supplied ; and lastly,, the digestive organs gene- rally must be in a state of healthy action. It is imperative that food possess nutritious principles. This must be apparent from the fact that from it all parts of the body are built up and being constantly renovated. In order to possess this property^ bodies rich in nitrogen arc requisite^ Avhicli are denominated nitrogenous^ azotised, nutritious, or flesh-forming compounds. Examples of these are albumen, fibrine, and caseine — terms which would indicate diflerent substances. Chemically ;, however^ they are alike in composition,, but exhibit physically diflferent appearances. If wheaten flour be placed under a stream of cold water a sticky paste is left behind. This is called gluten, and is identical in chemical com- position with the flesh of man and animals. It is the nitrogenous or albuminous principle of wheat flour. If an e^g be broken a glairy fluid escapes from the shelly which becomes white and coagulates into a solid mass when heated. This is albumen — gluten in another form^ identical in composi- tion,, and is the nitrogenous principle of the egg from which the flesh,, feathers^ claws,, kc, of the bird are formed. If milk is taken and an acid added, a solid mass of curds is speedily produced. This is Bsse7itial Characters of Food, 31 caseine — or gluten^ albumen,, and fibrine in anotlier form^ supplied in the milk of the mother to young- animals^ and in peas, beans, %lc., to older ones ; from T\'hich also hoof, horn, hair, wool, skin, flesh, and feathers, &c. Src., are formed, developed, and repaired. Lastly, if blood be coagulated, the mass T^'hich separates proves itself an identical compound to flesh \i^Q\i— fibrine. The Avhole then are the various forms in which the elements are convej^ed to the blood, as found in the food upon which the animal subsists. By the action of vital processes within the system, each assumes those conditions which in themselves are vital. Their supply to the system must be constant in order to keep pace vrith the waste. Hence they are found abundantly in the food upon which man and animals live. Horses and cattle meet with them in the grass and corn which they daily consume, and man and carnivora obtain it directly by using the flesh and blood (fibrine) of animals as food. The following table shows how these substances resemble each other in chemical composition -.- — Carbon . Gluten from flour. Eoussingault. . 54-2 Caseine from peas. Scherer. 54-138 Albumen from eggs. Jones. 55-000 Hydrogen Nitrogen 7-5 . 13-9 7-156 15-672 7-073 15-920 Oxygen . . 24-4 23-034 22-007 Ox-blood. Ox-flesh. Playfair. Playfair. 54-35 54-12 7-50 7-89 15-76 15-67 22-39 22-32 100-0 100-000 100-000 100-000 100-000 32 Non-n iifritious Frin ciples. In addition to the flesli-forming constituents of food;, there are also needed others known as non-nitrogenous, non-azotised, or non-nutritious, so named in contradistinction to those which contain nitrogen. Examples are found in starch,, sugar^, gum^, and fat itself. They are composed of car- bon^ hydrogen^, and oxygen^, minus nitrogen, and are found abundantly in the different varieties of corn and vegetables used as food. Their services are required in the system equally with the albuminous compounds, but for a different purpose, t/'?>., the production of animal heat, and formation and storing up of fat within the system. Animal Heat. In order to render somewhat intelligible the principles upon which heat is developed, and maintained in the body, and the part which food plays in that process, attention must again be directed to facts. Here it must be understood that although the term " heat producer '' is applied to the saccharine principles of food, it by no means establishes an isolated fact. They are not the sole agents in the production of animal heat. I will attempt to explain. Animal Heat. 38 To those wlio have studied cliemistry^ even but a little, the rapid development of heat unbear- able in water previously cold is familiar. It is a good illustration for our purpose. A quantity of cold water is taken in a tumbler or other thin glass vessel, and held in the hand, taking care to grasp that part in contact with the water. Sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) is then added in nearly equal quantity, when by chemical action, which immediately takes place between the acid and water, intense heat is developed, rendering it an impossibility to hold the vessel in the manner adopted at the commencement. The rubbing together of certain substances, or beating of metals upon hard surfaces, also pro- duces great heat. Here the molecular disturb- ance— or the alteration of position of the ulti- mate particles composing the mass — which ensues from the concussion may not be unlike that which accompanies chemical action, although the means adopted to bring about each may be different. It is, however, an undoubted fact that heat is developed by the chemical union of substances outside the body, and similar conditions are now found to apply to substances which are contained within it. There are always met with elements and sub- stances which, in contact with vital organs and their secretions assume the power of union by chemical action. Tliey pervade the whole of the D 34 Animal Heat, tissues of the body. All tlic actions essential to life are carried on at tlie expense of the materials introduced; and those which are present as ready formed tissue. Tlieir formation and development are attended with the union and disunion of the elements of compounds present^ and their waste or decay is likewise attended with the same results. Thus Yv e have a general chemical action^ and this accounts for the equal state of tempera- ture throughout the body. Under ordinary ch'cumstances the saccharine principles of food are being constantly caused to assume the form of fat^ which under passive states,, or where little exertion is carried on^ is stored up beneath the skin^ between muscles and around various organs^ giving the animal that appearance of rotundity so much prized when intended for the butcher. If an animal in such a condition were caused to exert himself for any length of timc^ the fat is absorbed and consumed. Its consumption is an essential act^ not only in maintaining animal heat for tlie purposes of warmth^ but as an agent which facilitates the decomposition of other bodies intended for the use of the system^ in a different manner. Such an animal becomes lean. His muscles arc distinctly observed to be well mapped out beneath the skin. The same appear- ance is also brought out by illness or disorder, and is the process generally understood as ^^ wast- ing of the body.-'^ Animal Heat. 85 Tliere are a number of animals^, as tlie liedge- hog^ (hybernatmg^) which during- the summer become enormously ftit_, and sleep throughout the Tyhole of the winter. In this case, as no food is taken, the body maintains its animal heat entirely by the consumption of fat which has been stored up in the system. The bear also disposes of himself nearly in the same manner. It is also a notable fact that oiu* cattle lay on, during the summer, a great quantity of fat, which is derived from the plentiful herbage of the period. In both these instances Y>"e also perceive the provision which is ensured towards obtaining the necessary amount of warmth during cold weather, and Avhen food is either witbhehl or not very abundant. Animal heat is not maintained by saccharine bodies or fat alone. In carnivorous animals, as the lion, tiger and wolf, whose diet is confined to flesh, also the wild hunters of some coimtries who occupy their time chiefly in the saddle, sufficient fat cannot be obtained, nor are saccharine com- pounds forthcoming. Natural warmth then must be procured from another source. Wild animals in their natural state, and the hunters of uncivilised nations, are on an equality. The habits of both necessitate much exertion — activity of muscle — and consequently v\'aste or decay. Flesh, upon which they live, being purely a nitrogenous compound, would furnish none of the D 2 36 Animal Heat. materials for warmtli under other circumstances. But under active work or movements; albuminous compounds are broken up^ and tbe carbonaceous elements rendered available for the purpose. A reference to the table at page 31 will explain how this can be permitted. In farther explana- tion it may be stated^ that fatty or saccharine compounds are serviceable only for the production of heat as an adjunct to vital force ; but nitrogen- ous compounds are capable^ by peculiar action, of becoming not only usefid for the manufacture of flesh, but also for the production of the neces- sary animal heat during exercise or work. This explains why animals in high condition appear fresh and excited. There is a necessity for movement created in order to consume the highly nutritious material within the body. Wild animals confined to cages are seen to move about incessantly when awake. Here is another mode in which the system endeavours to appropriate the food, and bring about essential vital actions. Were it not thus, disease or death would be an early result, from an accumulation of deleterious principles in the blood, by which it is no longer able to support the body. Man and animals consume little food when the body is covered by fat, and exercise but sparingly taken. The muscles are not developed because they are not used, in fact such a body is not capable of much exertion, by reason of that ■want of muscular development. It is neither so Animal Heat. 37 liealthy_, and is prone to disease in consequence of tlie absence of movements which promote vital action. These facts are well known to practical horse owners^ and they in consequence always avoid fat animals for immediate active work, and delay until the place is occupied by muscle. We thus perceive that in feeding fatting animals and working horses two opposite prin- cij^les must be carried out. It would be as absurd to feed a hunter or di'aught horse on the materials given to the cow or ox in the feeding house, as to expect they should replace each other in the scale of usefulness to man. These facts dispose of the first and second propositions. We find that food is nutritious when it can minister to the formation and develop- ment of the body, and maintenance against waste ; while substances of a mixed character are needed in order to keep pace with the requirements of the body in the production of a necessary tem- perature, and assistance in the accumulation of vital force. Without materials specially provided for the latter process our working animals would be re- duced to the condition of flesh-eating or caged wild creatures, with this serious disadvantage, the work imposed might act prejudicially, as it would not, in all cases, be so nicely proportioned as to suit the wants of the system, or when taken in accord- ance with the promptings of instinct in the 38 Animal Heat. creature itself. In short, food possessing elements exclusively of one kind, too ricli in nitrogen, or too rich in carbon, at once proves insufficient to support life in a proper manner for any length of time. The experiments of Majendie and others who fed animals exclusively on one- of the sub- stances kno^Ti as sugar, gum, starch, albumen, fibrine, or caseine, set this matter at rest for ever, and we are thereby taught that the animal economy can live and thrive only upon food pro- vided naturally, and which contains all the ele- ments calculated to minister to the tissues and functions of the body. The poor inhabitants of Ireland, as well as the negroes of the Indies, also establish the truth of the principle. The former, who consume potatoes in large quantity, would exist in a poor degree of capability for exertion, were they not to add to this expensive and innutritions article of diet one of the compoimds very rich in nitrogen, viz., milk. The coolies, who eat impure sugar, receive with it also nitrogenous compoimds, gathered from the vegetable kingdom, and all the eaters of maize and rice resort to milk for the azotised principle, caseine. Food, rich in mixed characters, supplies the necessary elements without disturbing the balance of the functions, which occurs when too much of one kind is given indiscriminately. All vegetable food is of a mixed character, but each kind differs in the richness of its constituents. A Bulk or Volume. 39 knowledge of this is of great value to all con- cerned in the keeping of animals. Bulk or Volume. Food should always possess an amount of bulk. Nature has not been unmindful of this when providing the nutritious principles of grain. The grain^ or kernel^ contains the nutrition in a concentrated form^ and bulky material is to be foimd in the husk or stem. Proportionate bi.dk is requisite to ensure diges- tion. The stomach cannot abstract nutrition from small quantities of concentrated food with benefit. The digestion and solution is not efficiently performed^ as the stomach lacks the stimulus of contact^ so essential to healthy action and secretion. Grass^ straw", and hay contain but little nutri- tion, and to ensure its abstraction, bulk is given to it consisting of water, ligneous matter (woody fibre), and salts. The people of uncivilised nations have exem- plified this from time remote. The Kamschatdales mix earth and sawdust with the train oil they use as food, and in other northern regions a kind of bread is made from sawdust. The natives of Ceylon use scraps of decayed wood with the honey consumed as food. Among 40 Errors to he Avoided. animals the wolf is known to appease the sensa- tions of hunger by taking into the stomach a great quantity of mud ; the dog thrives best when he obtains his food from the ground,, when it is mixed with grit and dirt, and in birds, small stones or sand is constantly being swallowed. Food thus accompanied is fully compressied by the walls of the stomach, but when adventitious matters are not present, however nutritive, it does not fulfil the wants of the economy by virtue of its elements not being extracted. Errors to be Avoided. One of the great evils attendant upon the feeding of horses, and even cattle, is the use of too bulky material. By it the wants of the system are not satisfied, the stomach is over dis- tended, and the process of chymifaction is retarded by the powers of the stomach being destroyed. The walls arc reduced in thickness, and rup- ture frequently takes place from the effects. Fluids, however nutritious, as a rule, are not so easily appropriated as solid food. No better evidence is found than where cooked food is served to horses. The soft watery mass is too rapidly SAvallowed, and becomes as imnatural as it is innutritions. It is an acknowledged fact that no process of cooking or preparation ivill render the food more Urrors to be Avoided. 41 nutritious, and there is positive proof that a mix- ture of substances, boiled to a pulp, are not so digestible as when given in a natural condition to ivorking horses. I do not expect that all wlio read this state- ment Tvill be converted to the truth it proclaims. I am^ however, certain that in the many places where the cooked system is carried out, there will be found persons desirous of successful reform and amelioration. To such I have great pleasure in addressing these pages. Others there are whom no amount of argument would con- vincCj or practical demonstration convert. Bigotry, prejudice, and a stupid adherence to old customs have blinded them. To change is considered unmanly, and, as existing affairs have probably prevailed for many years, unguided by either the light of reason or science, and having tradition only for their adop- tion and continuance, alterations woidd amount to sacrilege or disrespect to the blimdering system which is worshipped with such folly and stupidity. To resume. The stomach and intestines of the horse are not intended for sloppy food. The whole arrangement forms an assemblage of perfect organs eminently fitted for bruising, insalivating, digesting, and appropriating natural food, and unnatural slo23S and trash concocted by the device of man is attended with disease and mortality. Among horses, if we go no further 42 Errors io he Avoided, than colic alone^ tlie number of cases whicli occur where boiled food is used exceed those where attention is paid to the selection and supply of proper diet by nmetij per cent. Cooked food is open to grave objections. It weakens the digestive organs. It is swallowed rapidly, and the stomach becomes greatly dis- tended, by which secretions are prevented or altogether stopped. Little or no insalivation takes place, and the food does not undergo those important and preliminary changes which have already been insisted upon. Secretions, otherwise necessary, are of no use with such an excess of fluid food, and if poured out are too far diluted. The stomach acquires in time an immense capacity and the muscular powers are weakened. The liver becomes diseased and the natural secretions very limited or absent. The intestines now suffer from this combination of results, and colic becomes of periodical occurrence, eventually ending in death. The horses of many firms with which I am acquainted in Scotland, to whom boiled food is given, suffer very frequently from colic, and deaths are common. "Where proper systems are carried out, I have known three hundred animals belonging to one firm, doing the hardest work, kept in the best of health, and for a whole year not a single case occurs. Mr. Hunting states that 120 pit animals under Errors to be Avoided. • 43 his care, all in regular work_, contiiiued for six years without a single case of colic. The bulk given to boiled food is looked upon by some as an advantage, and in illustration of the belief, a gentleman remarked recently that the food thus supplied to his horses must be more nutritious than other kinds, as it is softer, partially digested to begin with, and every twelve pounds put into the copper are increased to forty-eight. It must, however, be remembered that thiy^ty -six pounds of this is only water. I would like to know who can conscientiously expect a horse to work well and continue in health on food which contains three hundred parts of water for every hundred of spoiled grain. It is an injus- tice to treat an animal in such a manner, Avhich deserves more consideration on account of his usefulness, and whose better judgment would enable him to take water with greater comfort and benefit than can possibly accrue from de- ceiving him to swallow unlimited quantities in the form of a mess presenting such indescribable qualities and disproportionate quantities. Cooked food for horses is a form which cer- tainly has no analogy in nature, and wherever dictated, must inevitably arise from neglect or total ignorance of the anatomy of the digestive organs, with their physiology and the laws which govern assimilation. To another objection raised against the cooked meat system, it is urged that horses so fed usually 44 Errors to he Avoided. drink as much water as those confined to the dry- meat or manger system. I believe there is truth in this as a rule^ but the fact is not favourable to the plan_, and great reasons may be assigned in the large quantities of common salt used in the mesSj which occasions an unnatural thirst. Excess of common salt taken into the system proves highly injurious and predisposes the animal to disease^ particularly of a congestive or low form_, a condition of unnatui'al plethora being established. The continued presence of sloppy food^ besides acting — like bran mashes — as a foreign body, deranges the balance and harmony of vital func- tions generally,, those of digestion primarily and particularly, and the large quantities of nutritious matter which may be present, having no admix- ture with natural secretions are not rendered assimilable. It therefore proves an expensive mode of feeding. Nutritious matters not having undergone those necessary chemical and vital changes which are ensured by the secretions of the digestive organs, are not in a fit state to enter the blood. They may be taken up, but will act as a foreign body there as they do to the intestines, and must be expelled or communicate disease. If they remain in the intestines, diarrhoea is induced by irritative action, and horses so fed void their dung much like a cow. Such a state in this animal is not proper order, and if alloAved •to go on, disease of some kind supervenes. Errors to be Avoided. 45 On the otlier liand^ if the uuassimilated prin- ciple gains access to the blood_, it is as soon as possible carried to the kidneys^ and by them ex- pelled. The animal frequently voids his nrine. It will be frequently found to contain modified albumen^ and even blood, and this accounts for the excessive number of cases of diabetes or profuse staling and albuminuria which have come under my notice during my residence in Glasgow. Such cases are so common that they are con- sidered trivial,, and no doubt are, primarily ; but when the errors of diet are allowed to proceed, they become marked by such characters as in the man wine-bibber and gourmand, or epicure, are modified, and appear as dyspepsia, biliousness, severe headache, piles, &c., a tolerable bloating of the countenance, with enlargement of the abdo- men, which generally signifies organic disease. The horse when suffering from these conditions is usually well drugged while at work, and as the same kind of feeding is persisted in, medicines repeatedly follow the aliment, the animal loses condition, and we may trace numerous instances oi farcy and glanders to this as an undoubted cause. Other terminations are dilated stomach, broken wind, congested, or schirrus liver, calculi (or stones) in the intestines, recurrent colic, organic disease of the kidneys and bladder, or probably speedy death from over-distention and fermenta- tion of the contained food, causing rupture of the 46 Advantages of proper Food and By stem, stomach, some part of the intestines, or dia- phragm (midriff). Advantages ofpiroper Food and System. My experience, and that of others Avho have de- voted attention to the conditions discussed in the preceding section, clearly shows that the secret lies in ^jrei^e/z/io^z. This is comprised in cleanli- ness, ventilation, care and attention to the quality, quantity, and regularity of feeding, and due pro- portion of work. The author is old enough to remember the effect of a journey from London to the north by stage coach, the character of animals selected for the work, and the amount they were required to perform. With such experiences he has fre- quently paused to enquire how the facts have failed to carry conviction in analogous cases at the present day. In many of the coaches which ran between London, York, and Leeds, the horses v/ere known to " do their fourteen miles out and the same number in -'■' six days in the week. Their work was testified by the wear of the shoes, which, made of the toughest metal, and not unfrequently having an admixture of steel, were worn out by the fore feet in three weeks, and replaced on the hind by new ones nearly every fourteen days. Notwithstanding this, by proper feeding, care. Advantages ofjjrojjer Food and System. 4:7 and ventilation of tlie stables,, these animals re- tained tlieir liealtli and usefnlness for years. Among them T\'as a celebrated mare^ " Old Sal/"* Slie ran in one of the above coaches as " off ^vheeler '''' for years^ was known by all upon the road^ had never been sick a single day, and when railways revolutionized the system of transit was over tvrenty years of age, and even then " as fresh as paint/'' "When the fly-boats plied between Glasgow and Edinbro^ on the Forth and Clyde Canal, an old mare named " Maggie Lauder/'' was stationed to run between Port Dundas and Glasgow Bridge, a distance of eight miles, the time allowed being one hour. After a rest of one hour the return journey to Port Dundas was made, and in the afternoon she performed the whole distance over again, thus travelling and drawing the boat thirty-two miles per day. The person fi'om whom I obtained my infor- mation rode the animal daily for seven years, during which time she was doing the work alluded to six days in the week, '' was never sick nor sorry a single day, nor ever had a day^s rest in addition to the usual Sunday.'''' When the boats were superseded by railways, '^^ Maggie Lauder " was sold at the age of twenty - nine years. A similar instance is related of a horse em- ployed in like manner on the Paisley canal. He Avas sold at the age of twenty -seven when the 48 Advantages ofprojjer Food and System. boats were discontinued^ and^ being "fresh as a lark '■' at the time^ suddenly fractiu'ed the bone of one of his legs in his gambols while being led home by his purchaser. I am aware that breeding will in a measure account for " pluck " and disjoosition to work in animals as well as in man, but it will not stand in the place of ability under any circumstances. The willingness or pluck may be always present, but ability will depend upon a condition of strength. One thorough-bred horse will resemble another very much in disposition, but differ widely in ability from mode of living. Take the first from the green pasture and run him alongside that brought direct from hard dry corn and sound hay, upon which he has subsisted months, and performed daily exertion. The effect is easily perceived ; weight or distance is scarcely an object to him, but the first is blown or lamed l^efore half a dozen fences are crossed, or has received his death summons from various causes. Harness horses, and horses used in draught, require similar treatment to produce strength and endurance. While pluck is derived from breeding, strength is derived from food and a healthy digestion. Corn and hay, transmuted within the penetralia of the living organism, becomes muscle. Manure, the refuse of digestion and the animal body, the Advantages of proper Food and System. 49 agriculturist knows^ nourishes his land^ without which he can expect no crop. In the production of artificial light^ all depends upon the supply of combustive material and agents which support or promote the process^ which, in proportion to quantity and quality, afford a good or bad kind of illumination. In the warming of buildings the maximum temperature can only be obtained by instituting an operation of the laws of com- bustion upon materials capable of undergoing that j)i'ocess, and, likewise, by the operation of laws within the animal organism, if we need strength (force), it must first be supplied in the shape of sound, diy provender. There is a very erroneous idea, at least to my perception, entertained by many, that where a draught horse is required for moving extreme weights he should be large and ponderous. If the dealer is enquired of, " You want weight,^^ says he. If a friend be appealed to, a similar recom- mendation is given. It is in this way many use- less, heavy-legged, unsightly, lugubrious, and slovenly animals are tolerated. What these are supposed to gain by sujjerior capabilities in mov- ing weights they lose in speed, and hence are seen creeping along the streets, and, as occurs in some towns, creating quite an obstruction to general traffic. It appears to me that strength is required, not absolute weight, but a good development of 50 Megular Feeding. muscle. If weight only is wanted^ it would not be so frequently remarked tliat horses " will not pull a sitting hen off her nest/-' And^ again^ if nothing but weight will suffice, then a lump of lead or any inanimate object would answer equally as well. I would refer my readers to Youatt^s excellent treatise on draughty and they will perceive that other objections are against tall animals for mo\dng loads^ particularly on four-wheeled carriages. Be^ular Feeding. It is one of the essentials of good management that horses should receive their food as regularly as possible. Without regidarity^ and especially with long fasts^ the digestive organs are pro- strated or weakened, and food^ which would otherwise be nutritious, brings about those changes already described. In coal mines, where feeding and work is dic- tated by those who know nothing about it, broken wind, colic, diabetes, organic diseases of various kinds, calculi and death by rupture, are common. When, on the contrary, attention is given, these fatalities are rare, and when they occui' are usually traced to other causes.""" * Much valuable information has from tiroe to time been de- tailed to me by my friends, Mr. Charles Hunting, M.R.C.V.S., and Mr. Luke Scott, M.R.C.V.S., whose experience in the management of pit animals is of the most extensive character in Britain, and therefore to be received with respect. 51 Calculi or Stones in the Intestines. The nature and aggregation of tlie particles wliicli compose these bodies are not Tvithoiit interest^ as affording information on the conditions which are present in the stomach and intestines. Calculi are very common in the horses and ponies of some coal mines^ and also among the horses of millers,, general carters^ and those used in large establishments where the system of feeding and work is defective. Their origin is usually considered to arise from water impregnated by the salts of lime^ which are precipitated in the same manner from solution as occurs in the steam boiler or tea kettle. It does not follow that calculi form on the use of such kind of water. It is also a most noto- rious fact that from water of precisely the same character supplied to the animals in two coal pitS;, different results are manifest. In one^ where proper care in feeding and work is observed^ there is the greatest amount of health, but in the other^, where systems are the reverse^ and especially when work is excessive and irregular, calculi exist. That the water draining from the magnesian limestone, and holding lime in solution, has not much to do with their formation, is proved by several circumstances. First : jNIany calculi which I have found in 52 Calculi or Stones in the Intestines. such animals have little or no lime in their com- position, being mainly composed of mucus, hair, dirt, coals, &c., closely matted together, and known as " dust balls.'' Second : The miners consume large quantities of the same water, but are not known to suffer from intestinal calculi. Tliird : From personal experience and residence in districts where calcareous or hard waters only can be had, I have ascertained that calculi are not more prevalent when system is observed, and Fourth : I have found calculi to exist more abundantly where water is of the purest character. Some of the largest specimens which have been obtained were from horses using soft water alone, and therefore must have another origin. To attribute their formation to any special kind of water is a false theory, and negatives the power of the intestines to remove useless matter. The presence of a nail, piece of Avood, stone, or other hard substance, is also said to insure the formation of calculi. But horses and cattle meet with these things constantly among their food, and, while many are doubtless rejected by the sensitive lips, others are swallowed, as proved by their presence in the dung during life, or in- testines after death. The origin of the material which forms the substance of a stone or calculus is undoubtedly from the food. Hard waters may assist under certain circumstances. Calculi or Stones in the Intestines. 53 They may contain a large quantity of lime^ but the food relatively contains a much larger pro- portion. It is a substance largely in demand for the wants of the system. If the animal is enfeebled by overtaxing work^ long fasts^ and supplied with food of an inferior quality, a condition known by the term bulimia, is established. This is known by an irregular, capricious, and morbid appetite, irregular bowels, staring coat, leanness, inaptitude for work, and a desire to lick the walls. Sometimes, however, these symptoms are either not well marked, or escape observation. Under such circumstances the animal swallows sticks, stones, and rubbish of all kinds, to appease the ravenous desire within. Food, under these conditions, is not properly digested, the secretions are \dtiated, or altogether deficient, and act im- perfectly. Farther derangement occurs, in which the liver particularly suffers, and affairs now assume an aggravated character. Dui'ing these conditions assimilation and ab- sorption is not carried on perfectly, and the mineral matters of food and water are deposited in the solid form, and aggregate around any rough surface or object which may be present. As the mass increases in size corresponding derangement is continued, and thus secures material for its development, or the formation of others — as many as fifty having been found in one animal. 54 Objections to the Use of Dry Food. Some time may elapse before acute symptoms are observed. Suddenly abdominal pain arises. Symptoms are continued^ and become aggravated, admitting of no relief, and the animal dies. Upon making a post-mortem examination^, one or more of tbese stones are found to have passed into a narrow part of the gut^ and become imprisoned by spasmodic action of the muscular walls which tightly enclose it on all sides. Some- times destru-ction of the gut has occurred,, and the stone is partially or wholly liberated along with the contents of the intestines."^ Ohjectiojis to the Vse of Dry Food. It is urged by many persons enthusiastic in the feeding and management of horses^ that a change * I have succeeded in obtaining a great number of these in- teresting specimens during the past sixteen years. In less than two years twenty-six were obtained from pit animals, having caused death, and many more were found in animals dying from other causes. Their composition was principally mucus, the felted down from the oat, silicious matter and carbonate of lime. The last- named substance usually formed the outer portion, while the in- terior was filled by pieces of coal mixed with the other ingredients. Many of these were presented to the museum of the Albert Veterinary College, London. Several fine specimens have recently been forwarded to me by my friend, Mr. Thomas Foreman, M.R.C.V.S., Leadgate, Dur- ham, exhibiting similar peculiarities. Of these he .has collected a great number from pit animals. Objections to the Use of Dry Food. 55 to a system of bruising and cutting of food gains only one advantage^ viz.^ the animal fills his stomach qnicker^, and is thereby enabled to take more rest. This property is pre-eminently claimed in favoiu' of cooked food^ and in addition, that it is par- tially digested for the aniinal. Experience and systematic enauiry prove the fallacy of these tenets. I have shown that digestion, T\'hen properly carried on, is vronderfuUy rapid and effective. The stomaclv, being small, is rapidly emptied again. This obtains in all horses, including those fed on the manger system. Every one knows the effects of bran mashes. How much more, then, must constant supplies of food, supposed to be half digested at commence- ment, containing much water, and being an un- natural mixture, act like a foreign body ? The laws of the animal economy render such results inevitable, for as quickly, in proportion, as the stomach is voiding the digestible portions, the sensation of hunger arises, and desire for food is appeased by taking in more. Thus it will be found, in opposition to the argument in favoiu' of a half-digested food, that the process of digestion is accelerated, and more is required. Such food always fails to give up the vrhole of its nutrition ; the animal eats more, costs also more, and gains tlie least by the method. It is thus that an equally long time is occupied 56 Objectio7is to the Use of Dry Food. in the consumption of food,, and visit him at any hour of the nighty he will be found having an appetite^ and like Oliver Twisty " looking for more/^ Rapidity of digestion is a provision established by natiire. If the stomach had been from the first intended to receive the large quantities fre- quently placed before horses^ or to perform func- tions assigned to the teeth and salivary glands in addition to its own^ the logical inference is that_, as nature^ in her development of all things^, has not studied ornament merely, the stomach would have been endowed Avith greater capacity and powers, and teeth and salivary glands in all 23r6bability absent entirely. It is also urged against the dry meat or manger system, that horses fail to masticate or grind the whole of their corn, that much in a state capable of germination or growth passes out in the excrement, and, of course, the cooked meat system supplies this deficiency. During a season of extreme scarcity in India, it has been stated,^ the famine-hunted wretches followed the English camp, and drew their princi- pal nourishment from the grains of corn extracted from the excrement of horses. I well remember an extensive firm employing many horses, whose manure was objected to by * Letter from an Indian officer to J. Curwen, M.P., quoted in Blaine's (fifth) edition of "The Veterinary Art." Objections to the Use of Dry Food. 57 several farmers because tliey obtained crops of oats ill places where they were not required^ after using it on the land. I have also observed the heap of maniu'e literally covered with green blades from the growing oats. How was this, and why has such a simple circumstance had no better effect than to induce a system of porridge feeding for an animal eminently unfitted for it ? It was in this wise. The remedy was sought for in a manner too superficially ; and in the absence of an acquaintance with the principles of management^ the horse has been compelled to suffer for the omissions of others. In such cases I have kno^Ti carpenters^ and even more unlikely men appealed to for informa- tion and a remedy. The system resembles very much that so commonly adopted under certain Acts of Parliament^, where discretion and power is given to tailors,, joiners, bailiffs, policemen et hoc genus omne, to pronounce in a magisterial court Avhat is cruelty to animals in a medical point of view, and to descant upon the patholo- gical signs which prove a carcass to be diseased, and all this in the teeth of an educated scien- tific witness. Such matters require dealing with philosophi- cally. They are not within the comprehension of every clodhopper, groom, and coachman, who fancies he knows all about a horse because he cleans him. Their duties lie in the practical ad- ministration of the brush and broom, and faithful 58 Objections to the Use of Bry Food. execution of all orders entrusted to them. Management and dictation form no part of these. The internal arrangements of the horse and all domestic animals require the assistance of brains not so illiterate^, and if they were properly sup- plied with such^ the horse and his master would enjoy a much longer acquaintance. It is important to us to enquire whether oats or any kind of grain are capable of growing after having passed through from eighty to ninety feet of intestines subjected to healthy acid^, alka- line^ and other peculiar juices which convert their starch into sugar^ separate and modify their albumen and caseinCj and dissolve out salts^ or to a temperature varying from 98° to 102° P., occupying time varying from ten to twenty-four liours ? I venture to predict not_, and to assert that very few grains will pass out unacted upon. If such were the case the whole processes of masti- cation^ insalivation^ digestion^, and that of making malt are but a farce^ and cannot be accounted for by the present deductions of science. The solution of the growing oats^ however_, was soon made apparent. The manger system had been imperfectly carried on for some time without any alteration in the size or character of the mangers them- selves. These were shallow, narrow, and not provided with cross-bars. In this way much was Objections to the Use of Dry Food. 59 wasted by the horses throwing out the corn when searching for better portions. In addition^ I entered the stables on one occa- sion when the premises were supposed to be deserted,, and observed a number of those young urchins who are always a kind of sine qua non about lorries and stables^ carrying on a mimic warfare^ the missiles in the case being oats^ ob- tained from the open corn-bin or granary. It was afterwards ascertained this had been a common practice. The successful remedy soon followed in the shape of deep and wide mangers^ with iron cross-bars^ padlocks to the corn-bin and granary door^ and institution of a proper room for mixing the corn and cut food. That the half-famished Indians picked some- thing out of the excrements of the horses I have no doubt^ and they most probably resembled oats in appearance. Birds^ especially sparrows and common fowls^ are also captivated to make such a selection for their crop. But only in outv^ard appearance would these abstracted matters re- semble the grain of oats. Few have trusted them- selves and their judgment in troubling in this matter farther than making the broad assertion on the strength of appearances. A superficial mode, and very delusive proposition to be circus,^ lated. I have tested the matter and found it to^ be an error. If the stomach and digestive organs generally are in a state of health and order, very few 60 Objections to the Use of Bry Food. grains escape their action^, and the common in- ference is that if the horses of the Indian campaign referred to really parted with so much corn as to support such a number of followers^ they must have been fed in a very imperfect manner, their digestive organs in a state of disorder_, and from the loss of the food, in a condition certainly not desirable in an enemy's country. In France the subject met with the attention of Boussingault and Papin, who instituted experi- ments, and ascertained correctly that the passage of imdigested grain from the bowels of horses in health is merely nominal. Out of eight pounds allowed per diem only one ounce of unchanged grain could be detected, and this weight included moisture. The digestive organs generally should be in a state of healthy action in order to secure the proper benefit from food. Under this head there requires little to be written. I have fully shown how disease origi- nates by false management, and how waste occurs in food supplied under such circumstances. It must, therefore, be apparent that those organs specially set apart for providing the fabric of the animal body should not be overtaxed or en- feebled. If such occurs the whole body suffers more or less. Care is especially needed after protracted hard work and long fasts, avoiding the use of large Objections to the Use of Dry Food. 61 quantities of cold water upon the contents of a well-filled stomacli^ or supplying too mucli food at one time. In fact these precautions would repay^ if followed^ at all times; neglect of them is a frequent source of derangement, and from which fatal consequences usually succeed. Where a great number of horses are kept it is far more profitable to employ a person whose sole occupation is confined to the feeding department. Corn, &c., should be transferred to his possession under proper rules for mixtm-e and use, the quantities being accurately stated in documents handed to him. In return he should furnish evidence of having carefully complied with the terms, and his papers should also afibrd particular information as to consumption under all circum- stances, regular or variable. He should be a man who will carefully notice the condition of all horses when brought to the stable, and willing to minister to their comfort in properly regulating the quantity of food each may receive without injmy. The details of such management require special attention in order to be properly applied to the various circumstances which obtain in difierent establishments. There is, however, no particular difficulty beyond a willingness that need be encountered, in order to make the whole safe, satisfactory, and profitable. In the absence of particulars it would be an 62 Objections to the 'Use of Dry Food. impossibility to attempt to lay down a plan suit- able for any particnlar establishment. An out- line must be framed on tbe principles bere given^ the work_, size^ and natm^e of animal_, &c.j being points of importance for consideration. PAET II. Varieties of Food. The food used for working horses are those cereals and leguminous seeds which, usually denominated corn, consist of oats, barley, Indian corn or maize, peas, beans, and tares, together with hay, straw, bran, and linseed. These vary much in their properties as well as nutrition, and on that ground alone arises the question '^ What kinds are best, and what pro- portion should be given V An answer will greatly depend upon circum- stances, such as the character of work imposed, together with the market price and condition of the provender. The relative proportions of nutritious matter contained in different kinds of food have been ascertained from time to time by analysis, an outline of which is as follows : — In 100 pounds. Nutritious Fat or '- matter. heat producers. Turnips 1 9 Red beet 1|- ^ Carrots 2 10 Potatoes 2 25 Hay 8 m 64 Varieties of Food. T -lAA 1 Nutritious Fat, or In 100 pounds. , , ^ l \ ^ matter. heat producers. . Maize, or Indian corn .12 67 Oats 14 68 Barley 18 68j Bran 18 4 Linseed 24 64| Beans 31 b\h Peas 32 5l| Tares, or lentils ... 33 48 Maize or Indian Corn. — By the above table it will be observed tbat maize among corn con- tains tbe least percentage of nutritions matter, and from it we gather that it is not suited as a principal article of diet for working animals. It contains a great proportion of water and starchy matters, and forms in consequence an excellent food for pigs and fatting animals, given with other varieties. Oats stand next in proportion, and by custom have been most commonly selected as a principal article of diet for horses, but prove very expen- sive as sometimes used. This is very apparent on calculation, and results are demonstrative in practice. A horse doing little work, or what actually only amounts to exercise, would be economically and advantageously fed upon hay and oats, as the demand for muscular power not being great, such articles form a very suitable diet, without causing him to become overloaded with fat and a burden to himself. Varieties of Food. 65 Estimating oats to weigh 421bs. per bushel, and costing twenty-six shillings per quarter (eight bushels)^ the cost per week for different allow- ances^ together with the amount of nutritious matter contained^ would be somewhat as fol- lows : — Azotised or Pounds Pounds nutritious matter per day. per week. Cost, s. d. 5 5 in pounds. 10 70 9-8 12 84 6 6 11-76 14 98 7 7 13-52 16 112 8 8 15-68 18 126 9 9 17-64 20 140 10 10 19-60 In addition^ sixpence must be added for each stone (141bs.) of hay consumed^ which yields 11-20 oz. of nutritious matter. Oats should be heavy in the hand,, devoid of thick husksj, and short and plump in the kernel. Good dry potato or Scotch oats^ weighing 39 to 42 pounds per bushel^ are undoubtedly cheapest to purchase at all times^ and to be j^referred to other kinds weighing from 33 to 37 pounds, even when four or five shillings extra, per quarter is paid. It is no saving to purchase corn, especially oats, made up to a certain weight. Some dealers guarantee four bushels of oats for a stated price to weigh, say 160 pounds, and when measured F 66 Varieties of Food. the quantity considerably exceeds tlie four bushels. Under such circumstances the piu'chase can- not be as beneficial as if the oats were 160 lbs. natural weight. The inference is, the grain is of an inferior quality, the kernel being light and the husks disproportionately liea^y. It is always more pi^ofitable to obtain standard measure and weight, as this proves an important item in twelve months, and particularly when animals are doing variable work. The lower priced oats may answer well for moderate exercise or work, but as soon as the labour is increased, or a change is made from standard weighing oats to others of a lower nutritious per centage, animals suddenly fall away in condition, and become liable to disease, and in ignorance of the real causes, are not unfrequently impregnated with a course of useless and even dangerous drugs. It is thus the expenses of feeding are obviously increased, as to them are to be added less ability for work, and an additional incurring of expense, while the original cost of the provender is really but a fraction below the price of good mate- rial. When the kernel of oats is small the husk preponderates, the former containing as low as eight per cent, only of nutritious matter, and the latter no better than straw itself, but for which the price of oats is paid. Mr. Hunting proved this by a set of tedious Varieties of Food. 67 but ingenious experiments. He says "^ '^ One ounce of foreign oats^ 391bs. per bushel^ was weigbed_, the same weight of old Scotch,, 401bs. per bushel^ and the same weight of Tartar oats 361bs. per bushel. The foreign oats contained 1;,112 kernels^ the Scotch oats^ 1^084^ and the Tartars^ 1^144. The husks were weighed. The husks of the 1^144 grains of Tartars weighed 120 grains ; of the 1^112 kernels of foreign oats, 126 grains ; while the husk of the 1,084 kernels of Scotch only weighed 96 grains.^^ Under these circumstances, horses fed upon three bushels of oats per week, weighing 421bs. per bushel, would receive 1261bs. total weight, of which 251bs. would be husks, having a value only of four per cent., in nutritious matter. Change this to Tartar oats at 391bs. per bushel, exactly 391bs. must be extracted for husks, and if the foreign oats are used, 361bs. would be the amount of husk in the same quantity. It must be borne in mind that the inferior kinds of oats are not only remarkable for a pre- ponderance of husk, but their nutritious matter, and consequently their feeding qualities, are con- siderably below the standard weighing Scotch oats. Similar rules should be applied to other kinds of grain or com, and their standard qualities * " On the Feeding and Management of our Domestic Ani- mals," p. 14. F 2 68 Selection and Fur chase of Grain. obtained from analyses upon which reliance can be placed^ and information will thus be easily obtained whereby to institute a system of mixtures for any purpose of feeding. Selection and Fur chase of Grain. Most persons are aware that corn should be thoroughly dry for feeding purposes_, otherwise inconveniences occur in the form of indigestion^ coliC;, weed^ grease^ or loss of condition^ &c. Besides_, in purchasing that which is not dry, or seasoned, a decided loss occurs, which buyers should avoid by securing a reduced price in accordance. Owing to this, large feeders take advantage of the markets, and purchase oats, peas, beans, barley, &c., as they are aware that in good corn the loss by a reasonable evaporation of water is an ample payment for the construction of granaries for spreading out and constantly turning ; added to which, animals are kept in better condition, and work is less interfered with by illness on that account. I have known hundreds of quarters of corn purchased imder such conditions, and with the observance of other measures, to be noticed, a balance has been shown which has cleared the cost of keeping the animals for a great portion of the time, as compared with the previous cost from another mode of feeding. Selection and Purchase of Grain. 69 Tlie purchase of grain slioiild not be referred to week, month, or year, in fact, to no period if it can be avoided. It is mucli better to store up corn and ensure it being tborouglily dry, than to depend upon purchase when it is immediately re- quired. Many good bargains are put in the way of owners who are open to purchase, and the profit obtained helps to improve the appearance of the credit side of the balance sheet. Where roomy grain floors cannot be had, it becomes a matter of greater necessity that the provender should be dry, and of guaranteed iveight and measure. Of a necessity also, a higher price must be paid for it, and even under those circum- stances it answers far better than the use of inferior kinds. To constant purchasers, dealers are to be found who will endeavour to provide what is re- quired in the shape of a regular sample, and thus difficulties are greatly overcome. These principles have been more understood of late by those who feed large numbers of horses, and whose competitive kind of work requires them to study every item of expenditure. In some instances animals are fed inexpensively, and pre- serve their health and condition with remarkable benefit from the system, even under much hardei work. 70 Economy of Food. The method of economising food consists in using a variety of grain instead of one kind^ and that exclusively oats. Some have tried the different leguminous kinds also separately,, but found them inefficient in economy^ and even injurious. A farmer of my acquaintance having about thirty horses^ purchased^, at a cheap rate, a quantity of Indian corn, under the idea that it would effect a saving in the cost of feeding. On the contrary, the health and condition were greatly sacrificed. Others, again, give a preponderance of beans, acting upon the well known fact that, being more nutritive than oats, they must be more economical. In the mode adopted, however, they have proved highly expensive as well as injurious. Linseed is also added, and with pernicious results. It is too laxative for general use in quantity, but judiciously administered proves assimilative, hastens the process of assimilation, and assists in the formation of fat and flesh. As a nutritious body it is very highly expensive. Tares, which are the most nutritious diet we can use for horses, are objectionable as being unpalatable in quantity. Similar objections may be urged against other varieties of food when exclusively used, particularly in their liability to produce disorder of the digestive organs. Economy of Food, 7 1 A mixture_, tlierefore^ should be regulated by special conditions. Due consideration is to be given to tbe nutritious matter contained in each ingredient^ and as a whole,, the amount and character of the work^ quantity allowed to each animal, and the price paid at the time. Where the consumer is compelled to go to the dealer for his week^s, fortnight^s, or montFs supply, this is particiuarly needed, as there is no room for specu- lation on the rise or fall of corn, upon which frequently large sums are to be saved. In estimating the amount of nutritious matter contained in food of different kinds, and how much is required to preserve horses in health under their work, the table given in pages 63, 64 will be found of great service. Practically, it is answered by observing the quantity of oats of standard nutrition, or other kind of food, which may be required to keep the animals in condition for work and perfect health. The amount of nutritious matter is then determined according to the per centage stated opposite each kind by simple rule of three. This done, the estimate of nutrition contained in other kinds is observed, and mixtures arranged, forms of which will shortly be submitted. It is to be next inquired, will this ensure a less cost than is incurred by the principal use of oats ? The answer is emphatically, yes, and with a greater supply of nutrition. I am indebted to a gentleman of great ex- 72 Economy of Food. perience among horses for valuable information in tlie feeding of his animals. They are employed in the town of Sheffield^ which is not unlike Glasgow for its hills. The work is severe^ and consists in removing the hea^y manufactures of steel_, stoves^ hard- ware,, &c., to and from the railway station. Drays or lorries are generally used^ and three tons is a common load. In a letter to me dated April 4th^ 1864^ he says : — '' Oui' horses^ diet is as follows : — Hay . . . . 16 pounds per day, 8 stones per ^ Oats . . . . 10 11 11 5 11 11 Beans . . . 5 11 11 2i „ Maize . . . 4 11 11 2 ll 11 Bran . . . . 2 11 11 11 11 1 11 11 Total . 37 18J „ No loose hay, all is chopped ; oats, beans, Indian corn . all crushed separately, then the whole is mixed with the chop. The hay costs 4^. per cwt., oats, \s. per stone,^ maize, \\d., beans, 1^. 2d., and bran l\d. per stone. ^^ I always buy of the best quality ^vithout regard to price, as I find that the cheapest, all points considered. As a rule, I greatly prefer English oats.t The harvest of 1862 was an * The liuiidredweiglit is 112 lbs., the stone 14 lbs. + I think the term English is here apjilied without prejudice Economy of Food. 73 exception^ and I bouglit foreign oats principally^ being in a superior condition to Englisb. In addition to tlie above — wliich is the winter scale^ tlie summer is somewhat reduced — we every Saturday nigbt give each horse a mash of linseed mixed with a small proportion of bran^ boiled altogether and given warm. ^^ This serves to lubricate and clear the bowels_, and comforts the animals. I do not know whether that is the cause ; but since its adoption we have had few^ if any^ cases of colic,, or severe inflam- mation ; prior to the adoption of that system these cases were of great occurrence.'''' It must be borne in mind that these are heavy horses^ and we have here also an evidence from an unprejudiced soui'ce^ that a considerable amount of nutritious matter is required to keep up the health and condition of the animals^ since when the inferior kinds of mixture were sup- plied^ in the shape of oats principally^ disease was common. This I can testify ;, having been in pro- fessional attendance. We are also taught practically that a loss of condition and proneness to disease is brought about by food containing too little nutrition, when the demands upon the system are excessive. to Scotch oats, but as a distinction to foreign and inferior kinds. The writer is keenly alive to the qualities of the various kinds of corn, having had unlimited experience in the feeding and manage- ment of the best draught horses in large numbers, and doing the hardest work. 74 Systems ado;pted on various Colliery Estates. Suppose these animals liad been fed exclusively upon oats and liay^ they would requii-e to con- sume weekly four-and-a-half bushels of the former^ and about ten stones of the latter^ in order to receive the same amount of nutrition,, viz. 31J pounds derived from the mixtm-e quoted^ and which would cost at the same prices about eighteen shillings and sixpence. Here is also a decided saving of three shillings and sixpence per horse per week^ by the use of tlie mixture^ which only costs fifteen shillings, and with fifty horses would realize .£8 los.^ and for a year j8455^ besides almost an immunity from disease and deaths to which they were before exposed. Systems adopted on various Colliery Estates. It is by paying particular attention to these matters that so much has been effected in the saving over former expenditure, on many colliery establishments, where the supply and mixing of grain is under the management of the veterinary surgeon. Mr. Hunting, in his pamphlet already referred to, has shown that with the number of horses and ponies employed at the various collieries of the South Hetton Coal Company — all doing the hardest work — the saving eflPected in ten years amounted to no less than the enormous sum of Cut Food in Promoting Insalivation. 75 £31^876 2s. 7Jd. by cutting tlie liay into chaff and mixing witli small quantities of straw, and sub- stituting superior kinds of beans, peas, barley, tares, &c., in lieu of oats. He also states that out of 225 horses employed in two pits, during six weeks between loth December, 1850, and 24th January, 1851, when the old system was piu'sued, there died of colic and its consequences tliree horses and ponies ; while with the same number of animals under the improved regime during seven years, there were less than three cases per annum. Cut Food as an Agent in Promoting projper Insalivation. The value of this kind of provender as an agent in causing a proper insalivation of food is undoubted. On this subject Mr. Hunting is as explicit as he is full of information regarding it. He found that a number of animals, all selected as near as possible with an average age, height, and common appetite, requii'ed much longer time to consume the same weight and measure of food cut and mixed in the manger than when it was given in the shape of long hay in the rack, and oats only in the manger, from ten to thirteen minutes more being requued. After what has been said in reference to the objects of the teeth and salivary glands and their 76 Cut Food in Fromofin^ Bisalwation. secretions^ it must be obvious that in giving food in its naturally dry state^ it serves more impor- tant uses in the animal economy. And as the quantity of saliva plays also an equally impor- tant part_, the use of cut food is here unmis- takably shown to be a A^ery desirable proceeding. At the Hetton Colliery^ Mr. Luke Scott^ M.R.C.V.S. has followed out most useful prin- ciples. His attention had been arrested in 1851 by the inefficiency of the existing system of feedings and proneness to mortality which was constant among the horses and ponies employed. The quantities allowed per pay "^ to each animal employed in connection with the estate were as follows : — Oats iu Cost. Hay iu Cost. Total. Busliels. £ s. (1. stoues. s. £ s. d. Waggon Horse . 8 1 G 0 28 14 2 0 0 Farm Horse . . G 19 G 20 10 19 6 Pit Horse . . G 19 G 24 12 1 11 G Pit Pony o 9 9 12 6 15 9 It is necessary to state^ the whole of the hay here allowed was not consumed. Much is constantly wasted in collieries by being carelessly sent down the pits^ or conveyed to the stables in large trusses^ which come in contact with water^ dirt^ and grease. The animals consequently refuse it^ and generally place it beneath tliem^ sufficient being * Colliery accounts in the county of Durham are made up once a fortnight, when wages are paid ; hence the term " pay." Cut Food in Fromoting Lisalivation. 77 frequently gathered to make a very good bed. I have seen a week^s supply of liay and corn lying exposed to the dust flying from the pit mouth_, as well as steam^ condensing as it falls from the boilers,, and^ in common instances^ to the rain of one or two nights in addition^ before being sent down. The former kind of unsystematic arrangement was of frequent occurrence at one pit^ but no kind of remonstrance succeeded in eff'ecting an alteration. Pit animals are usually kept twelve hours at work^ and in many cases^ ivithout food and water ^ or at least without a satisfactory amount of either, and seldom periods of rest. I have known animals kept from their stable thirty-six hours at a time, and when complaints have been made they have been met with a stout denial from the powers that be ; or, where denial has been useless, it has been assigned as a cause, that the veterinary surgeon has not provided a sufficient number of animals for the working of the pit, an office which he does not include among his duties without express orders.f Such long fasts act very prejudicially upon * The practice is not so common as formerly. In some pits it is abolished^ but slumbers in others. f Lord Kinnaird, in his letter to the Home Secretary on the Fearndale Colliery explosion, dated 15th November, 1867, has fully shown the aspect of colliery affairs when he quotes the words of the miner, who says, ' ' If peoples as knows dared to speak, these things would soon be stopped." 78 Cut Food in Promotin(/ Insalivation. the animal. When lie returns to tlie stable the food is seized and ravenously swallowed, and^ as a consequence, it does the least good_, but is more frequently productive of the greatest harm. By a reference to previous remarks on the estimate of nutritious matter in the various articles of food^ it will be found that the Hetton Colliery " old plan ^' of feeding was doubly ex- pensive and extravagant. It was innutritions as it yielded to the wagon horse (and others proportionately) one fourth less nutriment than the mixture given hereafter. It was expensive because it cost nineteen shillings per week, from its use much was wasted, the animals were in bad condition, and mortality great. It was decided at length, to allow Mr. Scott to regulate the system, which he did, in the following way : — His first act was to have the hay cut in trusses of sufficient size to fit a coal tub,* in w^hich they are sent down the pit, and thus totally prevented from collecting dirt and grease as before. This resulted in a saving of the amount wasted, and also supply in a better condition, which would be tui'ned to account in the animal body. The varieties of grain fixed upon to be used were bruised separately, and mixed in the follow- ing proportions : — * This plan is also earned out at all the collieries under Mr. Hunting's superintendence. Cut Food in Promoting Insalivation, 79 Weight Price Actual Grain. per bush. per qr. weight. Cos! lbs. s. lbs. s. Barley, 4 bushels . . 56 30 224 15 Oats, 4 „ . . 42 26 168 13 Peas, 2 „ . . Q>(c> 40 132 10 524 f 1 18 In order to arrive at an average number of animals to be fedj the ponies and horses in the pits are classed as follows : — All above 15 hands are called horses. Three above 13 hands,, and under 15 hands^ equal to two horses. Two above 11 hands^ and under 33 liands^ equal to one horse. Under this arrangement the whole were re- duced to an average of 130 horses. The superiority of the system is at once ap- parent by a reference to the subjoined analysis, in which the two plans are contrasted. Old System., for One Pit Horse. 6 bushels of oats per pay, at 36-. od. . 195. Qd. 24 stones of hay, at 6(:7. 125.0c?. f 1 lis. Qd. Or for 26 pays (one year) . . . £40 195. Od. Nutritious matter contained . . . 52-08 lbs. 80 Cut Food in Promoting Insalivatlon. New System, for One Pit Horse. 176 lbs. of the mixture 14i. 4d 18 stones of hay, at 6<:/. ..... 95. Od. 21 pounds of bran lid. Total per pay ... £1 45. Zd. Or for 2G pays (one year) . . . £31 10s. %d. Saving effected for one horse for one year 9 85. Qd. Cost per horse under old plan . . £40 19s. OJ. Saving in 130 horses for one year £1225 65. Od. Nutritious matter contained . . . 48*18 lbs. In the old system it will be observed that 52'081bs. of N.M. (nutritious matter) are contained in the food supplied_, against 48*18 lbs. in the new. The greater part, however, was not obtained by the animals on account of the excessive waste already mentioned in the hay, and from the greedy man- ner in which the corn was devoured. The additional 4 lbs. of N.M. supplied also proved expensive, besides useless, as it was un- available. For it the sum of 7s. 3d. per pay was being paid, as forming part of a system which engendered disease, and gave the animals even less support, although professedly, a mode which furnished a large amount. It is now a custom to allow the pit animals a portion of the hay and corn during the day. What constitutes a Cheap Food. 81 instead of causing them to fast twelve hours, as before. The result is, Mr. Scott has found that the food is more leisurely taken, masticated, and thoroughly digested. Besides the saving effected in actual expendi- ture, the reduction of disease and losses by death, is an important item. In repeated visits to the animals in the pits fed upon Mr. Scott^s princi- ple, it is due from me to state that I never saw a greater uniformity in condition while the hardest work was being imposed, and cases of indigestion, colic, and death in consequence, were the exception, and of extremely rare occm'rence. What constitutes a Cheap Food. It is usually considered a cheap mode of feed- ing, when material can be supplied for one penny per pound, and I find several owners base their calculations of cost at this rate. But it must be borne in mind that food costing only one penny per pound is not inevitably an economical food. We must look farther than mere cost. Economy does not consist in price alone, to such must be added the veterinary surgeon^s account, whose services in the main will be found to have been occasioned by the supposed economical food, and in addition, the value of the amount wasted by refusal, fermentation, or that which is hastened G 82 Objectio7is to a change of Grain. throTigli tlie bowels ill tlic state of '^ partial diges- tion/^ so much insisted upon. Again_, the amount of nutritious matter con- tained must be accurately calculated, or no reliable estimate of cheapness can be made. I am ay/are of several large firms in Glasgow who believe they are feeding economically upon one penny per pound rates, while their food yields ten per cent, less nutrition than the preceding mixtures, and cases of acute indigestion, &c., &c., are constant and numerous. These form a good comparison with the systems of Messrs. Hunting and Scott, the mixture proposed by the latter costing only niuety-eight parts of a penny per pound, with a high scale of nutritive value. Objections to a change of Grain, It is frequently urged that to adopt a total change in the kind of grain used, is to produce serious evils and fatal disorder, as exemplified by animals gaining access to the open corn bin, or to a heap of Avheat or barley, when either rupture of the diaphragm, stomach, or intestines takes place, and death speedily ensues, while at other times founders (laminitis) occurs. These certainly appear grave objections at first sight, but in reality are difficulties of no moment. We are speaking of systematic feeding, not de- liberate engorgement. Death or disease results in Nature, Uses, and Abies es of Bran. 83 one case by repletion and fermentation conse- quent upon the bolting of an unnatural quantity of food_, which, if taken under proper principles, would in the other prove nutritious and life sup- porting. The death of horses by these means is fully carried out in analogy among mankind_, with the exception that in the latter gluttony generally exerts itself a little more slowly. In no case, ivith proper caution, will evil coiise- quences ensue by a change to the dry, or manger system, from any other. It need therefore cause no apprehension. Nature, Uses, and Abuses of Bran. Bran will be found by analysis to contain from 14 to 18 per cent, of azotised matter,, equal in fact to oats or barley. In nutrition, however, it is inferior to the straw of wheat or barley, a property which appears to obtain with the husk of grain generally. Owing to some peculiar form of combination, the azotised matter is not liberated by the process of digestion ; hence those who con- sume bread in which the bran of wheat has been retained, under the idea that such is more nutri- tious, are greatly mistaken. The faeces or ex- crement are loaded with bran which has passed out almost unchanged, and horses fed upon it exhibit the same conditions. That an admixture of bran with wheaten Hour G 2 84 Nature, Uses, and Abuses of Bran. or with the provender of horses^ is useful and even profitable;, there can be no doubt. This is to be attributed to the mechanical action set up by the siliceous particles,, which obviates constipa- tion, and preserves the proper action of the digestive organs when given in a judicious man- ner. Messrs. Hunting and Scott take advantage of this property, and use it daily with their superior mixtures of corn. As a laxative, bran is justly called into requi- sition periodically as a warm mash for animals in whom there exists an innate disposition to consti- pation. I place the action of a bran mash, given occasionally , as one of the safest, most natural, and acceptable adjuncts towards the preservation of health ; which effect is produced with more benefit and less deterioration to the system than by any other means. There are few horses that will not take it when offered as a change, and I would recommend, especially in winter, that it be given at the temperature of new milk, 7iot cold, and the use of it should not be insisted upon in- discriminately, or ill eff'ects are speedily shown. Nothing can be more anomalous than the opinion entertained on the use of bran, as it ob- tains in many quarters. Believed to be non- nutritious, it is given largely during disease, to ward off" critical inflammation, which a aiet of corn might increase, but why it is persisted in with animals suff'ering from general prostration and weakening complaints is quite paradoxical. Sy stern at the Londonderry Collieries, 85 It too often occurs also^ when no appetite exists_, it is paraded continually before the creatiu'e_, and lies in the manger fouling the wood-work by fermentation^ which the animal shows his re- pugnance to by standing as far back as his chain will allow. System pursued at the Londonderry Collieries. The horses and ponies employed at the collieries of the late Marchioness of Londonderry (now Earl Vane's),, during my appointment as Veterinary Surgeon to her Ladyship^ and subse- quently for a short period to the Earl^ were fed upon oats and peas — five parts of the former to one of the latter. The mixture was^ however^ never regidated by weighing. It was quite of an extemporary character^ and entire guess work^ a dash of peas being hastily put into the bottom of a "poke" and afterwards covered to the top with bruised oats^ and the ivhole then weighed. In addition^ hay, and green food in summer, was alloT\l3d, the cost of which I find by returns in my possession, amounted to £\ 3s. 10 Jo?, per horse per pay, all ponies being classed as two equal to one horse. Under this arrangement 106 horses and 822 ponies exclusively employed in producing coal, and of coui'se below ground principally, would in round numbers give 267 horses, the cost of feed- ing each being ^31 Os. 9d. per annum. 86 By stem at the Londonderry Collieries, At first sight this appears^ and is really believed to be a very economical rate of feeding, being lower than Mr. Scott^s expenditure at Hetton-le- hole. Quality, however, is the test of cheapness, not the price alone at which the food is supplied. This allowance yields not more than 37 '53 pounds of nutritious matter — assuming the one part of peas are carefully added, which I have grave reasons to doubt — against 48*18 in Mr. Scott^'s feed_, in which 10*66 lbs. extra are supplied each pay per horse dui'ing the year, for which he in- curs a cost only of 9^. ^d., the difference per horse per year. But_, as in the case of the old system at Hetton- le-hole^ the animals do not derive the whole of even this limited amount of benefit from the corn allowed. In winter steamed food, consisting of hay, linseed^ and the one-fifth part of peas ab- stracted from the mixture, are supplied. This is sent do^vn the pits during the afternoon, and frequently before the animals reach the stable in Avhich the mess has been deposited by the horse- keeper, I have found' it undergoing fermentation. Some, in fact many, of the animals refused it even when fresh, and from these causes the most nutri- tious portions were lost to them. The process of steaming v/as conducted at separate places contiguous to a number of col- lieries, and the food conveyed in boxes or coal- tubs placed in carts, and throughout the distance a dark-coloured fluid drained in profusion^ of Sj/steni at the Londonderry Collieries, 87 course carrying with it some of the most useful soluble principles of the food.* The process of steaming food may answer well where inferior food and hay abound^ cattle are to be fed_, and aged dependants require some light employment. But as applied to good foodj and carried out in the manner alluded to_, it is a complete farce_, a useless addition to expenditm'e — which_, by the bye, is not made to appear in connection with the feeding — and deprivation to the hard-working animals. In fact, the whole system of feeding is no better, hence the number of cases of colic and indigestion, rapid falling away in condition, diabetes, &c,, &c., which occur, and not being required to be reported at head- quarters nothing is known of them. But if the gentlemen who attempt to feed horses without visiting them at their work or in their stables, and others who rule with pens and ink in a com- fortable office, had to ride off at all hours in all kinds of weather three, six,. eight, or ten miles, descend a coal-mine, remain in the heated at- mosphere several hours, and take the place of their coachman outside the conveyance in the cold night air, after influences equal to a severe * In a visit to a large estate owned by a noble earl, where feeding is supposed to be conducted upon scientific principles, steamed food forms a large item for cattle. After the process is carried sufficiently far the food is removed, and the fluid accu- mulated from the condensed steam, containing useful soluble matters, is allowed to drain away in the gutter, while the ani- mals are supplied with water for drinking. Qui bono ? 88 System at the Londonderry Collieries. vapour bath_, each would perceive the advisability of reform. As such irregularities are iu a coalpit hundreds of feet below the surface^ they do not see, and it is very useful to be determined not to see. With the exercise of common knowledge a man may be expert at purchasing corn_, and make good bargains^ but it requires a little more than that to adapt a proper system to the constantly varying Avants of a large number of animals. If the principles of dieting and management require no more philosophy^ and can be conducted with success without presence or information^ the sooner such gentlemen take up also the treatment of disease by a system of telegraphy the better_, and probably they may then make both ends meet still more satisfactorily to themselves. Erom a strict examination of all phases and conditions^ as they exist on that estate in com- mon with many others^ a more highly nutritious diet can be guaranteed — a reduction of disease and mortality therefrom to a minimum by the exercise of care and watchfulness^, and these with a saving of hundreds of pounds annually. The j)rinciple is of easy calculation. In large numbers^ say three or four hundred animals^ if two or three shillings only per week can be saved^ it is a large sum at the end of the year. With other agencies it may also be increased. But on collieries there are objections to figui'es_, except when they are used by the powers that be, and Other Forms of Admixture. 89 reports^ althougli desired^ are as waste paper. Like the plioenix, however^ these may rise from their ashes_, and_, under another name^ T^ith an official envelope^ appear as new and original creatiu'es altogether. In leaving this part of the subject^ I wonld enquii'e how it is possible for a pit horse of fifteen or sixteen hands^ with his large mnscular system — doing from twenty to tlm^ty miles a day, di-awing a train of coal tubs^ one way empty the other laden with many tons, in a highly heated and dnsty atmosphere, and persj)iiing freely — to obtain sufficient nutriment from an allowance of tAvelve pounds of oats per day. The same is allowed to many carriage horses, and. those of our cavalry regiments receive it within a fraction, for which exertion amounting to healthy and necessary exercise only, compared with the work of a pit horse, is exacted. Otlier Forms of Admixture. I have shown that nutritious mixtures of corn may be used with great advantage at a low cost. Their use and application should be guided by existing circumstances. Animals should be selected as much as possible from an average class, character, and age; but an intelligent overlooker would soon be able to perceive, even among a mixed class where any differences existed, and modification is required. 90 Oilier Forms of Admixture, Some V,' ould need a little more food tlian others — particularly aged ones — wliile there are others whose assimilative powers being more active_, wonld derive more nutrition even from a little less food^ and thus spare a trifle to their less endowed neighbours. In the studs under the care of Mr. Hunting at South Hetton^ Mm-ton^ Rhyhope^ Trimdon Grange^ Seaton Delaval, &c._, &c.^ and Mr. Scott, in the old Hetton Collieries, animals of all ages arc to be found, and, by the system carried out, are equally well provided for. If, owing to the severity of the work, a more nutritious diet is called for, it will be found in the forms as follow, which provide it at an equally cheap rate. Mixture No. 1 (^Low rates). Weight. Cost. lbs. £ s. d. Peas 4 bushels . . 264 10 0 Barley 4 „ . 224 15 0 Oats 3 „ . 126 9 9 Bran* . 98 4 1 712 £2 8 10 This mixture, divided among seven horses during one week, would allow each over 14^ pounds per day, at a cost of Qs. life?., out of which 20-14 lbs. of N.M. (nutritious matter) * The nitrogenous principle of bran is not calculated in these mixtures for reasons stated on page 83. Other Forms of Admixture. 91 would be obtained. Divided among six licrses eacb would cost 85. \\d., and obtain 23*63 lbs. of N.M. Divided among five horses^ each would * cost 9.^. 9f/., and obtain 28-36 lbs. of N.M. Mixture No. 2. Weight, lbs. Peas 4 bushels Barley 4 „ Tares 1 „ Oats 1 „ Bran ,, 264 224 67 42 98 695 Cost. s. d, 0 0 15 5 o O 4 4^^ 9 1 £2 8 21 Divided among seven horses_, each would receive over 99 lbs. per week^ costing 65. \0\d., and obtain 21-65 lbs. N.M. Six horses would receive 115 J lbs. each^ costing 85., and obtain 25*26 lbs. N.M. Five horses would receive 1 39 lbs. each^ costing 95. 7^d., and obtain 30-31 lbs. N.M. Mixtun J No. 3. Weight. Cost. lbs. £ s. cl Peas 4 bushels . . 264 10 0 Barley 4 „ . 224 15 0 Tares 2 „ . 134 10 9 Bran . 98 720 4 1 £2 9 10 92 Other For) its of Admiooture. Divided among seven horses, each would receive over 102 lbs. per week, costing Is. V\d., and obtain 23-86 lbs. N.M. Six horses would receive 120 lbs., costing 85. ?>\d., and obtain 27-84 lbs. N.M. Five horses would receive 124 lbs., costing 95. \\\d., and obtain 33-40 lbs. N.M. It must be borne in mind that good hay yields five per cent, of N.M. which must be added to the above for the quantity used. It will also be observed that peas are named in the foregoing mixtures to the exclusion of beans. They are not so productive of consti- pation as beans, which on that account enables us to use them with greater freedom. Beans are, however, unobjectionable when used with oats and bran, chaff, &c., in sufficient quantities. Prices must regulate these mixtures from time to time, due consideration being paid to the N.M. contained in the various kinds of grain. When the prices of grain are much increased, as they arc at present, such mixtures as the following must be taken, and will be found adequate at an equally low cost. From the Field of 21st September, 1867, we learn the prices current at Mark Lane were, for oats, 35^. ; barley, 43^. ; peas, 43^. ; beans, 44^. per quarter of eight bushels, and tares. Is. per bushel. Bran costs in Glasgow at the present time 65. per cwt. Other Forms of Admixture. 93 Mixture No. 4 {High rates). Peas 6 bushels . Weight, lbs. . 396 Cost £ s. 1 12 d. 3 Beans 4 3) . 264 1 2 0 Tares 2 J> . 134 14 0 Barley 1 Bran . J) . 56 . 112 5 6 6 0 962 £3 19 9 Divided among twelve horses,, each woiild receive 80 lbs. pel' week^ costing Qs. 7fcl., furnishing 211 lbs. N.M. Eleven horses would receive 87J lbs. each^ costing 7s. Sd., and obtain 23| lbs. N.M. Ten horses would receive 96 lbs. each^ costing 7s. 11 fd., and obtain 25| lbs. N.M. Nine horses would receive 106|- Ibs.^ costing Ss. did., and obtain 28i lbs. of N.M. Eight horses would receive 120 lbs. each^ costing 9s. Hid., and obtain 32^ lbs. of N.M. A fixture No. 5. Weight, lbs. Cost. £ s. d. Beans 4 bushels . 264 1 2 0 Peas 4 ?) , 264 1 1 6 Tares 2 ?j . 134 14 0 Oats 1 J3 42 4 41 Bran . * * 112 6 0 816 £3 7 lOi 94 Other Forms of Admixture. Ten horses would each receive 81J lbs., costing Q>s. 9lcl., and obtain 21 lbs. N.M. Nine horses wonld each receive 90 J lbs., cost- ing 7s. 6id., and obtain 23J lbs. of N.M. Eight horses would each receive 102 lbs., cost- ing Ss. 6d., and obtain 26J lbs. of N.M. Seven horses would each receive 106^ lbs., costing 9^. S^d., and obtain 30J lbs. of N.M. Mixture No. 6. Weight. Cost, lbs. £ s. d. Beans 4 bushels . . 264 12 0 Peas 4 „ . . 264 116 Barley 3 „ . . 168 0 16 1| Tares 2 „ . . 134 0 14 0 Bran 112 0 6 0 942 £3 19 7i Twelve horses would receive per week each, 78Jlbs., costing 6s. 7hd., and obtain 19| lbs. N.M. Eleven horses would receive each 85|: lbs., costing 7s. 2^d., and obtain 21 J lbs. N.M. Ten horses Avould receive each 94 lbs., costing 7s. Uid., and obtain 23J lbs. N.M. Nine horses would receive each 104 lbs., cost- ing 85. 9d., and obtain 26 lbs. N.M. Eight horses would receive each 117J lbs., costing 9s. llj^., and obtain 29^ lbs. of N.M. Seven horses would receive each 134^ lbs., costing Us. ild., and obtain 33| lbs. of N.M. Oilier Forms of Admixture, 95 Mixture ; No. 7. Weight. Cost, lbs. £ s. d. Beans 3 bushels . . 198 0 16 6 Peas 3 „ . 198 0 16 U Barley 1 „ . 56 0 5 6 Bran 84 0 3 9 536 £2 1 101 Eight horses Yfoiild receive each 67 lbs. per week, costing 5^. 2^d.j and obtain 16J lbs. of N.M. Seven horses would receive 76^ lbs., costing- s'. llff/,_, and obtain nearly 19 lbs. N.M. Six horses would receive 89J lbs., costing 6s. Hid., and obtain 22 lbs. of N.M. Five horses would receive 107 lbs., costing Ss. 4if/., and obtain 26^ lbs. of N.M. Foui' horses would receive 134 lbs., costing 105. 5|^., and obtain 33 lbs. of N.M. Mixture No. 8. Weight, lbs. Beans 4 bushels . . 264 Cost. £ s. 1 1 d. 6 Peas 3 „ . . 198 0 16 6 Barley 1 „ . . 56 Bran 84 0 5 0 3 6 9 602 £2 7 96 Other Forms of Admiwhire. Eight horses would receive per week 75J lbs._, costing 55. lOf^., and obtain 19f lbs. N.M. Seven horses would receive 86 Ibs.^ costing Qs. M., and obtain 21f lbs. N.M. Six horses would receive 100 lbs._, costing Is. \^\d., and obtain 25 J lbs. of N.M. Five horses would receive 120 Ibs.^ costing 95. h\d., and obtain 30J lbs. of N.M. From the foregoing arrangements and cal- culations^ it will be observed there is an increase from ten to thirteen shillings per quarter in the price of grain and leguminous seeds^ as charged in mixtures 1, %, and Z, and those which follow point out the mode of combina- tion which will secure the same quantity of N.M., or thereabouts^ with only a fractional variation of cost. The bulk will;, however^ be somewhat less, and requires to be made up by the use of hay, or hay and straw chaff. As these mixtures arc designed for hard- working animals only, it will be almost un- necessary after wliat has been said when speak- ing of animal heat, &c., to state that such food will prove pre-eminently injurious to idle animals, except given in very small quantities. To those doing no work or light exercise, oats are decidedly the safest article of diet. 97 Green Food. Among liard- working horses^ I have found the use of green food too indiscriminately adopted^ and it frequently proves as injm-ious as a mass of cooked food. That it is useful and beneficial I fully be- lieve, but this occurs under proper management. ^Mien given, it should by no means take the place of corn. This is, however, too commonly done, the animal being allowed too much. He then perspires freely, becomes weak and liable to disease. I have kno^wTi for years that among town cart and cab horses to whom grass has been allowed as described, sore throats and influenza have appeared almost simultaneously with its use, besides colic, weed, &c., &c. Tvro or three weeks^ feeding while the plants are young may answer for easily wi'ought horses, but in my opinion that state of the animaFs body which we term condition should not be so trifled with. Aptitude for work is not a condition which is obtained in a few days or hom^s. It is only obtained during weeks, and at considerable expense. Most per- sons know, or at least presume to know, what training the racer requires, and how" long a hunter is in being got ready for the field; yet we find the same people sacrifice the con- dition of a di'aught horse diu'ing a season H 98 Green Food. when he requires tlie greatest streiigtli_, by the supply of an innutritions and watery food. I maintain^ if horses are in condition and required for work^ that green food is an inter- ruption to the formation and maintenance of muscle, and it should be avoided. If he requires rest_, green food will be serviceable ; and_, like his more favoiu^ed master, he should be allowed a trip to the country, where, in a roomy loose box or covered yard, he can enjoy the green fruits of the earth, which are regularly mown and brought to him, protected from the rays of a scorching summer sun, or the pelting rains that fall, and flies which torment at this season. When these conditions are not fulfilled, green food proves expensive and unprofitable. The animal loses condition and is below the standard for work, while he becomes peculiarly liable to disease, and exhibits the greatest difficulty in taking on flesh, appearing lean, hide bound, and generally betokening want of power and activity. Similar remarks apply to the use of tui'nips or carrots. Moderately used raw in winter they prove serviceable — in excess they are positively injurious. 99 Economy of 2ishig Chaff cmd Bruised Corn. AVitli regard to the bruising of corn and cutting hay into chaff, I find the practice attended with good results. It suits a mixed class of animals better_, and causes a more perfect mixtui'e of each kind than would be derived from the food in the whole state. It is an important proceeding where boys are employed ; for where they have access to unbruised corn^ they often take out beans^ peas_, or tares for pigs^ rabbits^ poultry^ or pigeons at home. The cutting of food_, as already shown, causes a proper and continued flow of saliva — an im- portant process, in order to ensiu'e digestion of the numerous starchy elements of food upon which horses and cattle live. The cost"^ incurred is very little with proper machinery, and amply repays for the outlay in a very short time. By the addition of oat or wheat-straw j a saving is not only effected, but the food is further aided in digestion. The usual proportions are one- fourth straw and three -fourths hay, but many persons use equal parts. These are strictly non-nutritious agents as used. They are given purposely for providing * It is frequently estimated that hay costs 2s. per ton cutting, and the bruising of corn one penny per bushel. Mr. Hunting, however, informs me that the work is performed at the South Hetton colliery for half these sums. 100 Economy of Chaff and Bruised Corn. necessary bulk, and assisting in grinding down the other portions of food within the digestive organs. As an agent of nutrition hay is very expensive_, and in that respect little superior to straw, which, with other food, I have known given regularly to animals, no hay being allowed, while the condition has been all that could be desired. In all the cereals and leguminosse rij)eness of the plant is evidenced by the development and perfection of the seed in the various receptacles ; prior to that stage the stem contains the nutri- tion. Notwithstanding this fact, so apparent as it must be to every farmer that the analogy exists in each, hay is allowed to stand for days, and even weeks, before being cut, when it must be an utter impossibility for any increase to take place. Growth is completed, the j^lant ripens, as indicated by the seeds becoming plump. They contain all the nutriment, and in the main are shed upon the ground by every wind that blows, leaving the hay nothing better than a fine sample of straw. The higher price asked for this fine sample, we may infer, is to cover the loss occasioned by this species of neglect. I wish it to be understood that I am not pre- judiced to the exclusive use of cut hay and bruise.d corn. When given whole these sub- stances may be effectively masticated, and the animals wiM appear excellent and pay well for Fea and Bean Sir atv. 101 the proper selection and mixtiu'e of food. I^ nevertheless^ consider that a larger profit accrues by avoiding the waste which always happens when hay is given whole (or long), besides suiting for general purposes much better. Food so prepared will require wide and deep mangers fitted with cross bars, to prevent the animals throwing it out in their search for the more tasty portions. On this subject many investigations have taken place at home and abroad^ and the results are, without exception, favoui'able. In France, Leblanc found that animals fed upon boiled food fattened, but lost vigom- and became aff'ected with disease; while dry food had a contrary eftect. M. Charlier says, with cooked food the animals are very subject to disease, but since the regular adoption, by omnibus proprietors, of dry, bruised, and cut food, founder, colic, and illnesses generally, Avhich each week were numerous, had become quite exceptional. Fea and Bean Straw, The question has frequently been put to me, " Is pea or bean-straw useful for feeding horses T' To this an afiirmative answer may be given, when the article has been carefully gathered and housed. It should always be cut up small, and mixed with 102 Bamng to he Effected. the bruised mixtui-es of corn^ and large quantities should be avoided by using with it cut hay. Equal parts of hay and pea-straw, or three parts of hay to one of bean-straw, will answer very well for working horses, but I deprecate filling the racks with either. The many fatal cases of disease which occur from their use, is owing to the inferior condition of the straw, coupled with being in undue quanti- ties and other irregularities, w^hich too often exist in the farm stable. Saving to he Effected. Carefully carried out, these principles will effect an enormous saving, and I have no hesita- tion in stating that, among the numbers of animals employed in Glasgow and other large towns of Great Britain, it may be raised to thousands of pounds annually, and, in addition, a corresponding sum by the avoidance of disease. The farmer need not grudge his horse corn, since it can be shown that he can be fed at less cost than many now incur on inferior hay, straw^ and provender generally, and derive greater aptitude for work. The poor man may also feed better and save a few shillings weekly, which would be well applied to the formation of a fund wherewith he could replace his animal in the event of death, without Saving to be Effected. 103 resorting to tlie subscription system over his inunediate district^ wliicli is too commonly done. The principles are important to large owners^ who might also raise a fund with the savings for the same pui-pose, and to remunerate^ in some cases I could name^ those who are able, and study to apply eflFectually the system calculated to bring about the change. All food should be of the best quality and kind. If inferior kinds are purchased^ and require dis- guising by some process to make them palatable, the sooner he who purchases such is removed the better. No mixture or process of doctoring can render such available as nutritive food when the elements are not present, nor can any admixtm^e of con- dimental nonsense effect it either. The experi- ments of Mr. J. B. Lawes have definitely proved • that when animals improve their condition with the use of condiments — which in themselves have no nutrition scarcely — the result occurs from an increased consumption of corn. The proprietors of such compounds may state what they please in puffing their wares. But against their puffing it can be positively asserted, as an undoubted fact, that condiments, spicy foods, or by what- ever term they are known, do not effect any im- provement upon inferior food with which they may be mixed, and are not economical, as set against common salt, which is far superior at one-fortieth the price. On the other hand, they 104 Importance of Grooming. are expensive iarticles of diet^ and can only be looked upon as substances qnite dispensable, and of no great service in tlie feeding of animals. Within a recent period a sample of food intended for working horses, cattle^ and sheep, has been submitted to me by Messrs. Whyte and Cruikshank, Chryston Mills^ near Glasgow^ which^ although bearing the name of a *^^ Patent Prepared Pood,^^ it is only justice to state, partakes of none of the qualities of condimental or spicy foods. It is a preparation embodying, to a certain extent, the principles laid down in these pages, the whole of the ingredients being carefully selected, decorticated, ground, and baked. It is highly spoken of by several pro- prietors, and will doubtless prove a great boon to those who cannot devote attention to the selection of provender for horses, or where only one or two are kept. I, however, have no ex- perience of its use, but judging from information received as to its composition, and the respecta- bility of its inventors, have no doubt it will fulfil the ends claimed for it, and call for an extended trial. Importance of Grooming. There is one particular in the management of horses which so materially influences the effects of food upon the system, that it will not admit of being unnoticed^ although the attention be ex- ceedingly brief. This is grooming. Importance of Grooming. 105 How far this principle is -carried with many of our town dray and cab horses can be clearly ascertained by merely passing within a few yards as they stand in the street. After they have spent hours in the open air^ the odour of the stable is strongly upon them. There are, doubtless, good reasons to be assigned . for this in some instances, the most common being that of absolute laziness. There are, however, cases where a groom or horsekeeper is expected to execute multifarious duties in addition to those of the stable, and in conse- quence the horse is neglected. Another fruitful source of neglect is to be foimd in low wages, and the mean endeavour to make up the deficiency by looking after per-centages. Therefore it proves to his interest to be care- less and incur expense upon all sides, which is done to an alarming pitch in some instances. A third cause is the imreasonable number of horses which are placed under the care of horsekeepers. This is a most monstrous practice in some of the coal mines. I have found it to occur invariably, that where the animals are working in the greatest amount of heat and dust — two or even three miles from the bottom of the shaft — where they perspire most freely, and endure every ^dcissi- tude inimical to general health, there they have had the least attention. All this arose from an excess of duties. In such cases I found men having the care of 106 Importance of Grooming. almost a fabulous number of animals, and tbe only reasonable conclusion one can come to is, that such work and conditions are imposed upon the poor creatures, that it would amply repay the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and other adherents to Martinis Act, for an application to Parliament to institute special investigations into their condition, with a vicAV to an amelioration. For less than one-twentieth — aye, one-hundredth — of the physical appear- ances of a 2>it animal witnessed in a horse in our streets, the keen eyes of the policeman would have a case, but from these places in the recesses of the earth there comes no cry, and nothing is known. One horsekeeper had under his care fifteen horses and nineteen ponies ; a second, four horses and twenty-four ponies ; a third, twenty- three ponies ; a foui'th, two horses and thirty- eight ponies; a fifth, nine horses and twenty- eight ponies. Three men had the care of five horses and eighty-nine ponies in a sixth instance, and three others had the care of twenty-two horses and fifty-one ponies. These animals are to be fed, harnessed, and cleaned to go out to work at 5 a.m. by these men, who descend several hours previously in order to attempt an impossibility. If we take the mean of these numbers, we shall find that each man had an average of thirty animals to attend to. The arrangements Importance of Groomi7i(/. 107 of tlie stables are not always suited towards reducing the labours of tlie men_, being fre- quently in a continuous line of stalls arranged on one side^ wbich necessitates several journeys to eacli animal for turning to water^ ^yiiig ^V} supplying with corn and hay when they cannot be fed at the head. Estimating the trouble which these men liave_, and the risk they run for a few shillings a week^ one cannot be sur- prised that the horses and ponies do not receive their proper share of attention. The idea of cleaning them is estimated as the boy did the operation of washing his hands and face when he refused on the score of their becoming as bad again shortly. Such an esti- mate^ however^ does not render the fact as it exists less flagrant. Let each man be limited to a specified time for the execution of the various details ex- pected from him^ and it will be more apparent how absurd must be the belief that these animals can obtain one-fourth the necessary attention under their peculiar and extreme conditions. Feeding with corn, each one minute = 30 minutes. „ hay, „ = 30 „ Harnessing, with repairs, two minutes — 60 „ Turning to Avater and tying- up, one minute - 30 „ Brushing down, each five minutes =150 ,, Which occupies for thirty animals 300 ,, rw -fivA Itaiivq in nil or five hours in all. 108 Importance of Grooming. The men descend at 2 a.m.^ wliicli only leaves three hours to perform a number of duties^ the time for which, estimated as low as possible, is not sufficient to allow of their being efPected in any other than a most slovenly manner — really occupies two hours more than the men can actually bestow on them. At night they are merely stripped, watered, and fed, in order to allow them rest. To occupy more time with them would be also prejudicial, as the houi's of rest would be materially interfered with ; and consequently an average of thii'ty animals, estimated at about ^€300, are thought no more of than to value their care and management at the rate of fifteen shillings a week, or sixpence per head — the amount paid to the horsekeepers. Here, where the truth of the old maxim, " A good cleaning is equal to a feed of corn,^^ would be faithfully realized, it cannot be carried out. When complaints were made, and exact con- ditions represented, all was pooh-poohed, and any alterations it was said would cost the estate .€300 per annum, as ascertained by figures, which, emanating from the executive were reliable, but worth nothing when they arose from the mental calculations of one who Avas not a " Viewer.'' Such is the connexion which exists between the skin and digestive organs, that if these poor Importance of Grooining, 109 creatures could receive a guarauteed dressing of fifteen minutes only_, each night and mornings the effects would be marvellous. In a solitary instance^ one man had fourteen animals under his care. As he was infirm and contented himself solely with the employment as horsekeeper_, he could devote more attention to them than was possible in the other pits. Every morning and night each was well dressed with a coarse brush, and left in a much more comfortable state. His horses and ponies would have caused many owners of animals above ground to blush with shame at their superior condition and clean shining skins. They were always doing equal work with the animals of other collieries^ but suffered the least of all, and consumed the least corn. I have preferred to recite these facts rather than dictate a philosophical explanation of the uses of a brush and comb to the body of the horse. Those who are so pertinaciously obstinate as to deny him the influence of this luxury _, I am afraid are not in a condition to explain the benefits of such an application from any ex- perience of the adoption of similar means to themselves. However, these are considered to be measui'es not truly essential, and therefore, while the attempt is on the one hand to save, as these pseudo savants suppose, the sum of £300 per annum, they have not the philosophy to see. 110 Importance of Groomivg. or the honesty to allow another to show, that four times that amount could be saved in the feeding in twelve months, and as much more in a variety of ways of which they cannot form any conception. INDEX. Ability, 48. Absorption, 24. Acids of digestion, 29. Advantages of proper food and system, 42, 46. Albumen, 30. Albuminous principles of food, 28 — 30. Albuminuria, 45. Animal heat, 32. ,, not maintained by fat alone, 35. „ produced in part from nitrogenous compounds, 32. Animals hybernating, 35. Assimilation, 24. Bean and pea-straw, 101. Bran : its nature, uses, and abuses, 83. ,, as a laxative, 84. Breeding or pluck, 48. Broken wind, how caused, 21. Bruised corn, economy of, 99. Boussingault and Papin, experiments to determine whether horses pass grain unchanged, 60. Bulk or volume, 39. Calculi or stones in the intestines, 51. ,, „ their origin, 51, 52. ,, ,, usual composition, 52. ,, ,, presented by Mr. Foreman, M.R.C.V.S., 54. Capacity of lurge intestines, 26. ,, small ditto, 24. Care required in feeding after work, 60. Carrots and turnips, 98. Caseine, 30. Chaff, economy of, 99. Changes in chyme, 27. Change of grain, objections to, 82. Cheap food, what constitutes a, 81. Cheeks, 14. Choking, causes of, 19. Chronic cough, one of the causes of, 22. Chyle, 24. Chyme, 27. „ changes in, 27. 112 Index. Coal mines, feeding of horses and ponies in, 2, 79, 85. ,, neglect of horses and ponies, 77, 105. Caecum, 25. ,, principally contains fluid, 23. Colon, 25. Colliery estates, systems of feeding adopted upon, 74, 76, 79, 85. Condiments, objections to, 103. Consequences of imperfect system of feeding in coal mines, 2, 75, 76. Cooked food, 18, 42, 101. ., does not renderfood more digestible or nutritious, 41. „ diseases arising from, 45, 101. ,, is expensive. 44. ,, injurious effects of, 18, 45, 101. ,, produces liability to disease, 45, 101. „ not economical, bb. Corn, mixture of, 89. Cost of feeding horses in Sheffield, 72. Cost of feeding upon oats, 65. Cough, chronic, how caused, 22. Cut food promotes salivation, 75. Development and maintenance, 8. Deglutition, 17, 19. Diabetes, 13, 42. Digestion, organs of, 14, 108. ,, ,, should be in a healthy condition, 60. ,, acids of, 29. ,, in stomach, 22. ,, in intestines, 27. ,, rapid in borse, 22, h^. Digestive process, 26. Diseases arising from cooked food 45, 101. Do horses masticate the whole of the grain ? h^ — 60. Dry food, objections to, 54. Dung or freces, 29. Duodenum, 24. Economy of food, 71. „ of using chaff and bruised corn, 99. Effete or useless matter, 11, 29, Elementary principles of food, 28. Errors to be avoided, 40. Essential characters of food, 29. ,, qualities of oats, 65. Evil effects of insufficient food for young animals, 12. Experiments of Boussingault and Papin, 60. Fallacious ideas as to the passage of unchanged grain, 56, 58, 60< Eat or heat producers, 28, 32. Feeding in coal mines, 79, 85. Index, 113 Feeding, the manger system of, 55. „ regular, 23, 46, 50. ,, saving effected in, by Mr. Hunting, 74. ,, system of, jDursued at the Londonderry Collieries, 85. ,, ,, at the Hetton Colliery, 76. , , saving effected by Mr. Scott at the Hetton Colliery, 80 . Fibrine, 30, 31. Flesh formers, 28. Fluids, passage of, 23. Fceces or dung, 29. Food, advantages of good, 12, 42, 46. ,, economy of, 71. „ elementary principles of, 28, 29. ,, essential characters of, 29. ,, green, 97. ,, immediate object of, 8. ,, indigestible parts of, 29. ,, insufficient, effects of, on young animals, 12. ,, relative proportions of nutritious and starchy matter in, 63. ,, requires bulk or volume, 39. ,, steamed, objectionable, 87. ,, varieties of, 63. „ when cooked expensive, innutritious, and not economi- cal, IS, 42, 55, 101. ForeiBan, Thos., M.R.C.V.S., collects specimens of calculi, 54. Forms of mixture of grain, 89. Gastric juice, 26. ,, digestion, 26. Gluten, 30, 31. Grain, economy of storing, 68. ,, objections to a change of, 62. ,, se'ection and purchase of, 68. ,, does it pass unacted upon ? 57, h'^, 60. Green food, 97. „ objections to, for hard-working animals, 97. Grinders, 15. Grooming, importance of, 104. Gullet, 15. Hard work, care required in feeding horses after, 23, 60. Healthy condition of digestive organs necessary, 60. Heat, animal, 32. ,, producers, 28 — 32. ,, „ relative proportion of, in food, 63. Heavy draught horses objectionable, 49. Hetton Colliery system of feeding, 76. Horse, digestive organs not intended for cooked or sloppy food, 41. I 114 Index, Hours of work of pit animals, 77- Hunting, C, M.R.C.V.S., bis determination of the proportion- of husk in oats, 67. „ „ his saving in the feeding at 8outh Hetton, &c., &c., 74. Husk in oats, proportion in different varieties of, 67. Hybei-nating animals, 35. Identity of nitrogenous compounds from all sources, 31. Ilium, 24. Ill effects of maize, 70. Immediate objects of food, 8. Importance of grooming, 104. ,, of prevention, 4, 46. Incisor teeth, 14. Indian corn or maize, injurious effects of, 70. Indigestible parts of food, 29. lusalivation, 16. Insufficient food, evil consequences of, in young animals, 12. Intestines, stones or calculi in, 51. ,, their capacity, 26. ,, their division, 23. Introduction, v. Injurious effects of cooked food, 18, 45, 87, 101. „ ,, insufficient food in young animals, 12. Jejunum, 24. Lacteals, or absorbents, 24. Large intestines, 25, Large number of horses, importance of a superintendent for, 61. Laxative, bran as a, 84. Linseed, 71. Londonderry collieries, system of feeding adopted at, 85. Long fasts i)rejudicial, 23, 78. Longevity promoted by good food, 46. Maintenance, 10. Maize or Indian corn, injurious effects of, 70. Manger system, 55. Mastication, 15. Mesenteric glands, 28. Metamorphosis of tissue, 10, 11. Mismanagement, mortality arising from, 5, 7, 13. Mixtures of corn or grain for horses, 89. Molar teeth or grinders, 15. Mortality from mismanagement, 5, 7, 13. Mortality saved by Mr. Hunting's system, 75. ,, ,, Mr. Scott, 81. Natuee, uses, and abuses of bran, 83. Neglect of grooming pit animals, 105. Nitrogenous compounds, their identity from all sources, 30. Index. 115 Nitrogenous principles of food, 30, 63. Non-nitrogenous principles of food, 32. ,, ,, relative proportions in different kinds of food, 63. Oats, 64. ,, cost of feeding upon, 65. ,, essential qualities of, '6^. ,, straw, 99. Objections to a change of grain, 88. „ to green food, 97. ,, to the use of dry food, 54. Organs of digestion, 14, 108. Origin of calculi, 52. (Esophagus, 15. Patent baked food, 104. Pea and bean straw, 101. Pharynx, 15. Pit animals are much neglected, 77, 105. ,, their hours of work, 77. ,, horsekeepers have too many animals under their care, 105. Pluck or breeding, 48. Prehension, 14. Prejudice against system in collieries, 4, 77, 87, 108. Prevention, importance of, 4, 46. Process of digestion, 26. Profuse staling, 42. Proportion of husk in different kinds of oats, 67. Provision for maintaining warmth of the body, 35. Ptyalin, 16. Kapiditt of digestion, 22. Pectum, 25. Regular feeding, 23, 46, 50. Relative proportion of heat producers in different kinds of food, 63. ,, ,, of nutritious iiiatter in different kinds of food, 31, 63. Saccharine principles of food, 17, 28, 32, 63. Saliva, 16. „ is secreted abundantly, 17. „ chemical action of, 17. ,, flow of, promoted by cut and dry food, 75, 99. „ cannot be replaced by any artificial mode, 18. ,, quantity of, an important agent in digestion, 17, 99. ,, solvent action of, 16. „ uses of, 17, 18. Saving effected by Mr. C. Hunting, 74. by systematic feeding, 102. 116 Index, Scott, Mr. L., his system of feeding, 79. Selection and purchase of grain, 68. Sheffield, cost of feeding horses in, 72. Small intestines, 24. Spicy foods or condiments, 103. Staling profuse, 42. Steamed food objectionable, 86. Stomach of horse, ox, and man, 20. ,, small, 21. „ of ox divided into four parts, 20. Stones or calculi in intestines, 51. ,, „ their origin, 52. Storing of grain, 68. Straw of beans, 101. „ oats, 99. ,, peas, 101. ,, wheat, 99. Strength or ability derived from food, 48. ,, required, not absolute weight, for moving loads, 49. Superintendent, importance of a, 61. Swallowing, 17, 19. System of feeding in various collieries, 74. ,, ,, in the Londonderry collieries, %^. ,, ,, saving to be effected by a complete, 102. Tares, 71. Teeth, incisor, 14. „ molar, 15. Tissue, metamorphosis of, 10, 11. Tongue, 14. Turnips and carrots, 98. Undigested food, 29. „ grain, passage of, 57, 58, 60. Urination, profuse, 42. U.seless or effete matters, 11. Uses and abuses of bran, 83. „ of dry food, objections to the, 54. Uses of saccharine principles of food, 17, 28, 32. „ saliva, 17. Various forms of mixing grain, 89. Varieties of food, 63. " Want of condition, effects of a, 13, 97. Waste of animal tissues, 10, 11. Wasting of the bod}', causes of, 34. What constitutes a cheap food, 81. Young animals require good food, 12. THE END. Frederick Warm iff Co., Publishers. NEW POPULAR SERIES OF BOOKS. In /cap. 2-vo, price ONE SHILLING eac/i, zse//-,, PENNY READINGS, IN PROSE AND VERSE, TEN DISTINCT VOLUMES, For the uie of Members of Literary and Scientifc Institutions^ Recreation Societies, Mutual Impro'vement ^ssociationSy Mechanics^ Institutes^ Young Mens Societies, Working Mens Clubs, and all kindred Societies, and for the General Reader. Compiled and Edited by J. E. CARPENTER, Twelve Years Public Reader, Lecturer, and Entertainer at the Principal Literary institutions in Great Britain. A STANDARD WORK OF CHOICE READING. In f cap. S-uo, cloth boards, price ONE SHILLING each, z^S pp. Two Volumes (each sold separately). Sunday Readings^ in Prose and Verse ^ Edited and arranged by J. E. CARPENTER. Devoted in the main to Sacred Literature, but blended with Moral and Instructive Pieces of a Secular Character, all by Eminent Authors. Ifi Five Volumes crown Svo, cloth extra, each 550//., price 20s. PdPULAR READINGS, In Prose and Verse, by J. E. CARPENTER. 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It is iully illustrated with Wood Engravings of Buildings, L '■ - ^nage, Mi chinory, and Plants. Amongst tie General Oontknts viU be found- - I. Tlv! whole work r.f all kiuJs of Farms | foiTnation on Markctin-, Looalitiea, and is (iVscribod Ui montiily »u 'es.oofi, a.=i step ; Prices. „,,.,• i f . • u.,-»i ;^ Son ^ occmpifs tb. «-.tentiou of th. 1 fi./fhe U«e of all kjml; of Aumcultural ., , , .. ,. , „„^ , . ,.„.,.,,, . .. .. .,ii-\' I ;-k. Horse- F.irmer tl.voughcm < rr'jcar. . . ., • n^d 2. Tlie CuUivn'.ion : •' nil km. 5 oi )■■ ■■ ' ' •' thCii- Drairiage, Ti'- :v, and M^ii^iirin 3. Thfl C:;:ti ■' ' •" "" "■ food for man < \;^ "He, a" I^ense! soi't o? fif-vual » varieties of eacb, aimi .m tr.t- r the , ami tUc Soil, f Rej.t. Lease, t'priii;.ii'.>nt Iro- r,".)ner lor ench. . ^ ^ ,. ' '> 4, The Tsrecdintr, P.eRrrncr. and Feeding , I of all the Live 7' ■• -' ^ '"^''^^ ^-Hnd- ; Vc.....ii ^v i... inj; a fall juio, .. '■ ■ 9^ i '"^f'i^ei^"'' „ver. HorecK. CatiW, 7'-' .7. Them, 1. ■ ;;ver^^ r|6pe.:tvvepecni>:m^ - ""■r'^;^j;'^^-;„^„U,; iu refer«nce'to30 J^'^L'fdTrenX;:: ■ stations i^. England, Seotland, and ployed in the meat j:t:ii:mim:Liut;; ^Vi^.i i.i- .......ud. T.ONDOnT FREDERICK WARNE & CO.