Uvvseuniof^Y- %. «?/ \ 1869 THE LIBRARY /(;4-^--i.' \^ ^ i1' T^^-'^'v^-^^-s Sl^^ ifC*..^-^ V >1 # V \ r I •♦•. v s * YOUATT'S HISTORY, TEEATIEST, AND DISEASES THE HOESE: EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF HIS INTRODUCTION AND USE IN TARIOUS COUNTRIES; GENERAL MANAGEMENT UNDER ALL PECULIAR CIRCUMSTANCES; AN ABSTRACT OF THE BEST VETERINARY PRACTICE; USEFUL MEDICINAL AND OTHER RECIPES; ARTICLES OF FOOD, ETC. % Sl^nfntijie mx grHitfjItt, and a (^d^om Jndu^, PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 18 63. CONTENTS. Page Introduction, 1 chapter i. GENERAL HISTORY OF THE HORSE, 2 Earliest records of him : appears to have heen first domesticated in Egypt, and thence propagated to other countries : the horse not cultivated in Arabia until the seventh century. CHAPTER n. DIFFERENT FOREIGN BREEDS OF HORSES 5 The wild horses of South America, method of catching and breaking them by the Gauchos: the wild horses of Tartary: the Barb: the Dongola: the Arabian, his varieties, beautiful form, fleetness, docility, affection of the Arab towards him, anecdotes of: the East Indian, his varieties: the Chinese: Persian, beauty and value of: the Toorkoman : Tartar and Calmuc: Turkish: German: Swedish, Fin- land, and Norwegian: Iceland: Flemish and Dutch: French: Spanish: Italian: American. CHAPTER HI. HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH HORSE, 22 Horse of the early Britons : crossed by the Romans : improved by Athelstan and Howell the Good: not used for the plough until the tenth century: improved by William I. and Henry II. : neglected by the Crusaders: materially improved by John, who imported many Flanders horses: by Edward II., who purchased thirty Lom- bardy horses: by Edward III., who introduced the Spanish horse, and had several running horses: more rapidly improved, however, when cumbrous armour was laid aside : the improvements arrested by the tyrannical and illiberal policy of Henry VIII., and under Elizabeth horses were diminished in number and in value: under James I. the progre.ss of improvement was hastened: Turkish and Barbary horses were introduced, and the finst Arabian horse: races were now established: Charles I. was fond of horses: even Cromwell encouraged the improvement of the breed: at the restoration a new impulse was given under Anne, Arabians were again intro duced : and about the middle of the eighteenth century the English horse had arrived at its highest state of perfection. CHAPTER IV. DIFFERENT BREEDS OF ENGLISH HORSES 29 The roadster or hackney: description of him: the horse of all work, the farmer's horse: the coach-horse, derived from the Cleveland bays: principle of draught: power of the horse: the pace killing: the heavy draught-horse: the old SufTolk: the Clydesdale: the heavy black horse, too heavy: the draj'-hor.se : the cavalry- horse: the race-horse, question of his real origin, actually superior to the Arabian. the Darley, Flying Childers, Eclipse, the Godolphin Arabian, the emulation of the race-horse, consequence of short races : the hunter, description of his proper breed and form, anecdotes of his love of the sport, usage of him, management of, when distressed, summering of: the Galloway: the Welsh pony; the New-Forester: the Exmoor pony : ;he Dartmoor : the Highland : the Shetland : the Irish horae CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. Page ZOOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE HORSE, .... ... 61 CHAPTER VI. EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE 63 The head: frontal bones: frontal sinuses, used for the discovery of glanders : the parietal : temporal : arched form of the skull : designed strength of the base of the arch: occipital, attachment of the strong ligaments of the neck to it: the sphenoid andrethmoid: the brain: medullary and cineritious portions: the nerves' spinal cord: spinal nerves, consisting of fibres of sensation and motion, and others devoted to respiration : the sympathetic or organic nerve, at the base of the skull, devoted to nutrition and circulation. The ear, beauty of, indicative of temper, folly of crop- ping or singeing; the internal ear: beautiful mechanism of, the drum, the little bones, the e.vpansion of the nerve. The eye : the lids, substitution for eye-brows, eye-lashes, tears, situation of the lachrymal gland : the haw, beautiful mechanism of it, barbarous practice of destroying it : the conjunctiva: cornea, importance oi its perfect tran.sparency, directions for examining it: the sclerotica: choroid coat, its black colour, the beautiful colour and use of the lucid carpet within the eye : the aqueous humour: iris: the wall-eyed horse: the pupil, importance likewise of care- fully examining it: the lens: vitreous humour: retina: theory of vision: shying: muscles of the eye : the one peculiar to quadrupeds to retract it from danger. CHAPTER VIL DISEASES OP THE BRAIN AND EYE, 100 Fracture of the skull : pressure on the brain ; megrims : apoplexy : stomach- staggers, arising usually from mismanagement: mad staggers: locked jaw or teta- nus: epilepsy or fits: palsy: rabies or madness : neurotomy, method of performing the operation, diseases of the foot for which beneficial. Diseases of the eye : wounds: warts: enlargement of the haw : inflammation of the eye: opacities of the cornea : cataract : gutta serena, or glass eye. CHAPTER vin. NOSE AND MOUTH, AND THEIR DISEASES, 117 Anatomy of the nose: Roman nose: cartilage of the nose: turbinated bores: wideness of the nostril, advantage of: importance of observing the colour of the membrane of the nose : discharge from the nose. Glanders, symptoms of, how dis- tinguished from strangles or cold : primarily a disease of the membrane of the no.se : connected with farcy: they are different forms of the same disease: causes of conta- gion : hot and foul stables: debilitating disease: highly contagious: preventior. : treatment. Farcy, a disease of the absorbents: farcy buds: symptoms: treament. The lips, the organs of touch: lips, how formed: bearing rein, necessity for: bones of the mouth: the palate, method of bleeding from: lampas: the lower jaw, curi- ous mechanism of the joint of, contrived to grind the food. Teeth, their growth and changes from birth, as indicative of the age: wolves' teeth: diseases of the teeth Description of the tongue: vesicles under the tongue: the salivary glands: the par- otid: the submaxillary and sublingual : strangles: canker in the mouth : woum^s in the mouth : description of the pharynx. CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX. Page. THE NECK, . . 152 Description of the neck : the po'J-evil : proper form of the neck : the splenius muscle: neck should be muscular at the bottom: the complexus major, ewe-necked, the muscles of the neck generally : arteries and veins of the neck . inflammation of the vein after bleeding : the wind-pipe : the larynx : roaring : the oesophagus or gullet. CHAPTER X. THE CHEST— CONTENTS— DISEASES, 163 The proper form of the chest : form of as much importance as capacity : depth of chest, importance of: ribbed home. Anatomy of the spine: the bones of the spine connected by highly elastic substance : consequent ease in riding : contrivances for strength : broken-backed : comparison between the long and short-backed horse : saddle-backed: weak-backed. The loins: should be broad and muscular. The withers: advantage of high withers. The muscles of the back. Fistulous withers: warbles: sitfasts: saddle-galls. The ribs. The breast: muscles of the brea.st : being all abroad. Chest-founder: dropsical swellings between the fore-legs. Inside of the chest, diaphragm : the pleura : the mediastinum. The heart and its action : inflammation of the heart. The arteries. The pulse : its standard number : when quick, hard, small, weak, or oppressed: necessity of attending to the pulse. The capillaries. Inflammation, an increased flow of blood to and through the part : local and general : treatment of : cold or warm applications. Fever, or general increased arterial action: pure fever: symptomatic fever: treatment. The veins: bog and blood spavin. Bleeding: directions for : the fleam and lancet : bleeding places. The lungs: description of: change of blood in passing through them: capacious chest, advantage of. Inflammation of the lungs: symptoms: causes: treatment: conse- quences. Pleurisy. Catarrh, or common cold. Bronchitis. Catarrhal fever. The malignant epidemic. Chronic cough. Thick-wind: broken- wind: the piper: wheezer: whistler: highblower; grunter. CHAPTER XI. STOMACH AND INTESTINES— THEIR DISEASES 197 The diaphragm. The stomach : stomach staggers : inflammation : poison : hots. The intestines: the mesentery, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, coecum, colon, rectum* spasmodic colic: calculi: intussusception: entanglement: inflammation of the bowels : over-purging : washy horses : worms : physicking : the best purgatives • rupture. The liver : inflammation of the liver : jaundice. The spleen. The pan creas. The omentum. The kidneys : diuretic medicines, use and abuse of : inflam mation of the kidney; profuse staling. The bladder: inflammation of the bladder* stone in the bladder. CHAPTER XII. PRINCIPLES OP BREEDING, 219 Form, constitution, disease inherited: causes of deterioration of half-bred horses: the mare of as much importance in breeding as the horse : shape of mare and horse ; breeding in and in: age at which the mare is capable of breeding: time of heat: time of going with foal : management of mare with foal : when she has foaled . weaning foal: treatment of foal: importance of good feeding: process of breaking' in begun from the period of weaning: actual breaking in : different steps of: )ieces- si'.y of implicit obedience, yet not enforced by cruelty : breaking in for the road or chase: bitting the ( olt : saddling: castration. yj CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. yage THE FORE-LEGS AND THEIR DISEASES, 227 The shoulder: sprain of the shoulder: slanting direction of the shoulder, import- ance of : how applicable to horses of heavy draught : muscle of the outside of the shoulder: trapesius : levator humeri: serratus : sterno-maxillaris : spinati = pec- torals: the lower bone of the shoulder: the arm: the elbow: principle of the leve applied to it: the extensor muscles : the flexors: disadvantag:e at which they act : the perforated muscle: the perforating: the arm should be long: the knee: broken knees: the leg: splent: speedy-cut: tied in below the knee: sprain of the back sinews : necessity of attention to any thickening on them : windgalls: the pasterns the suspensory ligaments: obliquity of the pasterns: rupture of the suspensory liga- ment: the fetlock : grogginess: cutting : bones of the pasterns : sprain of the coffia- joint : ring-bone : position of the legs. CHAPTER XIV. THE HINDER-LIMBS AND THEIR DISEASES 256 The haunch : being ragged-hipped: width of haunch: the thigh : muscles of the inside of tne tuigh : the sartorius : gracilis: muscles of the outside of the thigh: the glutaei: great trochanter of the thigh, importance of: sprain of the round bone: the stifle: the extensor pedis muscle: the peronaeus : the liexor pedis: thorough-pin: the hock: enlargement of the hock: curb: bog-spavin: bone-spavin: other lame- ness of the hock: the point of the hock: capped hock: mallenders and sallenders: cow-hocks : stringhalt: swelled legs; grease, cause and treatment of : washing the heels : danger of cutting the hair from the heels. CHAPTER XV. ANATOMY OP THE FOOT 280 The crust or wall of the foot : the inner heel should not he too much cut away : the coronary ligament : the coronary ring : the frog-band : the crust : colour of the bars: folly of destroying them: the frogs: the sole: the cothn-bone: the sensible sole : the sensible frog : the navicular bone : the cartilages of the foot. CHAPTER XVI. DISEASES OP THE FOOT, 289 Inflammation of the foot, or acute founder: pumiced feet: chronic founder : con- traction: the navicular joint-disease ; sand-crack : tread or over-reach : false-quarter: quittor; prick, or wound in the foot: corns! thrush: canker: ossification of the cartilages : weakness of the foot. CHAPTER XVII. ON SHOEING, 311 The concave-seated shoe: preparation of the foot: putting on of the shoe: cal- kins: clips: the hind-shoe: the hunting-shoe: the bar-shoe: tips: the expanding- shoe : felt or leather soles. CHAPTER XVIIl. OPERATIONS 3*:0 The trevis: the side-line: the hobbles t the twitch: the barnacles- Weeding- blistering: firing: setons: docking: nicking. CONTENTS. y^ CHAPTER XIX Page VICES AND BAD HABITS 330 Restiveness: Jumper the horse-breaker : King Pippin, anecdote of: Sullivan the Irish whisperer: backing or gibbing: biting: getting the check of the bit into the mouth: kicking: unsteadiness while being mounted: rearing: running away: vicious to clean : vicious to shoe: swallowing without grinding: crib-biting: wind- sucking: cutting: not lying down : overreach: pawing: quidding: rolling: shying; slipping the collar : tripping: weaving. CHAPTER XX. THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OP THE HORSE, . 345 Air: litter: light: grooming: exercise: food: manger-feeding: oats: barley: grains: wheat: beans: peas: grass: hay: tares: rye-grass: clover: lucern: saint- foin: Swedish turnip: carrots: potatoes: furze: nutritive matter in the difierent articles of food : the times of feeding should be equally divided : water : manage- ment of the feet CHAPTER XXI. SOUNDNESS, 361 The grand principle of : supposed causes of unsoundness: broken knees : capped hocks: contraction: corns: cough: roaring: wheezing: whistling: high-blowing- grunting : broken wind : crib-biting : curb : cutting : enlarged glands : enlarged hock : the eyes : lameness : neurotomy : ossification of the lateral cartilages : pumiced foot: quidding: quittor : ring-bone: sandcrack : spavin: blood spavin: splent: elringhalt: thickening of the back sinews: thoroughpin: thrush: windgalls. Form of warrantry : the horse must be unsound or vicious at the time of sale : no price will imply a warranty : a warranty after the sale invalid ; to complete the purchase there must be a transfer, a memorandum, or partial payment : notice of unsoundness not legally required, yet advisable: prudent to refrain from all medical treatment: where no warranty, an action may be brought on the ground of fraud : exchanges considered on the same ground as simple sales : the allowance of trial : laws of the principal Repositories. CHAPTER XXII. THE SKIN, 369 Hide bound: the hair: pores of the skin: moulting: clipping: colour of the horse: surfeit: mange: warts. CHAPTER XXIII. MEDICINES USED IN VETERINARY PRACTICE, 381 Aloes: alteratives: alum: hartshorn: .«al-ammoniac : anodynes: black antimo- ny: emetic tartar: antimonial powder : butyr of antimony : antispasmodics: arsenic : a.'^tringenls : balls: blisters: bole-Armeniaa : Burgundy pitch : calamine: calomel, camphor: cantharides : carraways: castor oil: catechu: caustics: chalk: camo- mile: charcoal: charger: clysters: verdegris: blue vitriol: cordials: corrosive sub- limate: cream of tartar: croton : diaphoretics: digestives: digitalis: diuretics: drinks: elder : Epsom-salts : fomentations: gentian: ginger: Goulard's extract : hel- lebore; hemlock: infusions: iodine: green vitriol: oil of juniper: lard: sugar ot lead: white lead: chloride of lime: liniments: linseed: lotions: mashes: mercurial ointment: ^thiop's mineral: mint: myrrh: nitre: spirit of nitrous aether: oil of olives: opium; palm oil: pitch: physic: poultices: powders: raking: resin: rowels, salt: sedatives: lunar caustic : chloride of soda: soap: starch: stoppings: sulphur. lar; tinctures; tobacco; tonics; turpentine; vinegar; wax; white vitriol; zinc. viJ, CONTENTS. Page ON DRAUGHT 403 The power of the horse, how calculated: difference of opinion as to wheels: dnuighl regaided as to act of drawing, and the resistance to the power employed : the moving power. Animal power is the application of the strength of an animal; and mechanical power is power employed through the intervention of machinery: horse power and that of the steam-engine compared, as to interest of first cost, decrease of value, hazard of loss or accidents, value of food, or coals and water, renewals and repairs, harness, shoeing, farriery, stabling and expense of attendance: me power of draught, or effect produced by each : the obstacles to be overcome in ;he use of machinery. The manner in which the animal adapts himself to his load : errors with regard to this in some ancient sculptures; real action of the horse in walking, trotting and galloping. Tlie resistance to draught should be rigid, and void of elasticity, but should not be constant and unremitting: ahorse pulls better when close to his work : the disadvantage of long teams. The effect of draught depends on the speed, the power of the animal, and the time employed: calculation and comparison of these: the hours of labour should not exceed six hours: the rapid reduction of the power of the horse when his speed is increased. A flat piece of road more destructive to the horse, than one with alternate rises and falls. Best direction of the traces: should be nearly horizontal, but varying with the kind of horse and nature of the work and road: inclining the traces downward, the same as throwing a part of the load on the shafts. Ancient mode of harnessing : the collar in the time of Homer: ex])lanation of the power of the South American lasso. The advantage of transporting goods by water consists in the smallness of power required: this rapidly increasing with the speed: calculation of the draught of a canal boat. The advantages and disadvantages of sledges and rollers: manner in which the rock forming the pedestal of the statue of Peter the great was moved on rollers: the best construction of the roller. Description of the ancient war-chariots: the mechanical advantage of the wheel increased in proportion to its height: the resistance depends on the friction at the axle : comj)aralive advantages of different materials as used for axles: axles working in iron boxes: calculation of the force of draught required for a four-wheeled cart on different roads; comparison between nar- row and broad wheels: description of dishing the wheels, and advantage of: com- parison between conical and cylindrical wheels : injury received by the roads by different wheels: the cylindrical wheel a little dished, and the edges rounded off, is the best: ruts form a great resistance to draught : the hind wheels should exactly follow the track of the fore ones: descrij)tion of Jones' patent wheels: the expense and weight must limit the height of the wheels : the fore-wheels usually too small : the comparative advantage of two and four-wheeled carriages: two-wheeled carts with two horses disadvantageous. Springs should never be applied to give anj' lon- gitudinal elasticity to the carriage: disadvantage of C springs on this account : advan- tage of springs: Mr. D. Giddy's theory of wheels and springs : springs particularly advantageous when much velocity is required: loading high, although dangerous, inakes the carriage run light: the safety coaches, by having the load low, very .•lisadvantageou.'i. Hardness the great desideratum in roads: great rounding of the road useless and injurious: a rise of six or eight inches in a road twenty feet wide, i^uite sufficient : hardness of surface, liow best secured: constant repairs and atten- tion, on the whole, most economical. Grea' advantage of railways : the power of the iiorse increased tenfold on a railway LIBRARY OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. THE FARMER'S SERIES. INTRODUCTION. TiiE Farmer's Series will consist of Treatise supon subjects most inter- esting to persons employed in the various branches of agriculture, and to those, generally, who reside in the country. It naturally begins with con- sidering the Animals which constitute the most valuable part of the farmer's property ; — their origin ; — their different breeds ; — their structure ; — the most economical, and profitable, and humane method of treating them ; — and the art of rendering their services more extensive and permanent, and their health and comfort more secure. It is hoped that these volumes will contribute to the amusement, the improvement, and the profit of the farmer and the cottager ; and better the condition both of himself and of the animals intrusted to his care. They may afford him a pleasant companion at his winter's fire-side, — a useful counsellor when employed in the labours of his station, — and a help to raise his mind to a serious, but delightful contemplation of the objects which Providence has spread around us for our admiration and our use. Under this first great division will be considered those animals which aid the power of man — the horse, ox, ass, mule, dog — those which supply food and clothing — horned cattle, sheep, swine, goats, poultry, rabbits, bees — those which are hurtful — the fox, weazel, rat, mole, insects. In treating the subject of domestic animals, their history, various kinds, struc- .ure and habits, feeding and treatment when young, management when worked, and diseases, will be sucessively considered. The General Principles of Agriculture will form the other great division of this series ; and under this head will be treated whatever relates to the nature of soils and manures — the rotation of crops — farm-buildings" and machinery — sheep-farming and dairy-farming, so far as these may not have Deen considered under the head of sheep and cattle — potatoes and spade husbandry — wood and timber. There is a class of subjects which, though not exclusively interesting to country people, belong more to them than to others ; brewing, baking, washing and bleaching, land-measuring, road-making, bridge- building, quarrying, lime-burning, &c. These will be discussed in treatises occa- sionally introduced in the progress of this series. At the head of those animals which have been domesticated by, or ren- dered useful to, man, — whether we regard his noble form, his great saga- city, or the manner in which he is connected with our profit and i\xt plea- sure,— stands the Horse. THE HORSE. CHAPTER I GENERAL HISTORY OF THE HORSE. Hackney. Jlrahian. Into this and the various breeds of horses, we shall enter at some Icngtli, and although the more practical division of the Treatise will be thereby necessarily postponed until the next monthly part, we shall not, even at present, forget the name of the Library to which it belongs, but endeavour to blend the useful with the entertaining. The native country of the horse cannot with certainty be traced. He has been found, varying materially in size, in form, and in utility, in all the temperate, in most of the sultry, and in many of the northern regions of the Old World. In the Sacred Volume, which, beside its higher claims to stand at the head of the Farmer's Library, contains the oldest autlientic record of past transactions, we are told that, so early as 1650 years before the birth of Christ, the horse had been domesticated by the Egyptians. When Josej)h carfied his father's remains from Egypt to Canaan, "there went up with him both chariots and horsemen."* One hundred and fifty years after- wards, the horse constituted the principal strength of the Egyptian army. Pharaoh pursued the Israelites with "six h^^di;ed chosen chariots, and with all the chariots of Egypt. "f '■ ' \ •,' If we could believe the accounts of the uninspired historians, Sc;sostri3 (the monarch probably whom Joseph served) had twenty-seven thousand chariots of war; and Scmiramis, the founder of Babylon, had one hundred tliousand chariots, and a million of horsemen ; but this was probably a great exaggeration. Fifty years after the expulsion of the Israelites from Egypt, and 14.')0 years before the birth of Christ, the horse was so far naturalized in G'-e'^;ce • Ge \ Exod. xvi. 7. ITS HISTORY. g thai the Olympic games were instituted, including chariot and horse races "We have, therefore, sufficient evidence that the horse was, at a very early period, subjected to the dominion of man, and, unfortunately, for the worst of purposes, — the business of war. From the records of the Old Testament, we are likewise enabled to ascertain the precise period of time, when in Egypt and Canaan, and the neighbouring countries, this animal began to be domesticated. 1920 years before the birth of Ciirist, when Abraham, having left Haran, in obedience to the divine command, was driven into Egypt by the famine which raged in Canaan,* Piiaraoh offered him sheep and oxen, and asses and camels. Horses would doubtless have been added, had they then existed, or had they been subdued in Egypt. When, fifty years afterwards, Abraham journeyed to Mount Moriah, to offer up his only son, he rode upon an ass, which, with all his wealth and power, he would scai'cely have done, had the horse been known. I Thirty years later, when Jacob returned to Isaac with Rachel and Leah, an account:}: is given of the number of oxen, sheep, camels, goats, and asses, which he sent to appease the anger of Esau, but not one horse is mentioned. It is not until twenty-four years after this, when the famine devastated Canaan, § and Jacob sent into Egypt to buy corn, that horses are first heai'd of. " Waggons," probably carriages drawn by horses, were sent by Joseph into Canaan to bring his father to Egypt, it would seem, how- ever, that horses had been but lately introduced, and were not numerous, or not used as beasts of burden ; for the whole of the corn, which was to be conveyed some hundred miles, and was to afford subsistence for Jacob's large household, was carried on asses. It appears, then, that about 1740 years before Christ, horses were first used in Egypt ; but they soon afterwards became so numerous as to form a considerable portion of the Egyptian army : and when the Israelites returned into Canaan, the horse had been introduced and naturalized there ; for the Canaanites " went out to fight against Israel with horses and chari- ots very many." || The sacred volume, therefore, clears up a point upon which no other record throws any light — namely, the period when the horse first became the servant of man, at least in one part of the world, and that the most ad- vanced in civiliza.tion, and before Greece was peopled. A long time must have elapsed before man was able to ascertain the value and peculiar use of the animals that surrounded him. He would begin with the more subordi- nate— those which were most easily caught, and most readily subdued ; and the benefits which he derived from their labours would induce him to attempt the conquest of superior quadrupeds. In accordance with this the writings of Moses shew us that, after the ox, the sheep, and the go:it, man subdued the ass, and then the camel, and, last of all, the horse became his servant : and no sooner was he subdued, and his strength and docility aud sagacity appreciated, than the others were comparitively disregarded, except in Palestine, where the use of the horse was forbidden by divine authority, and on extensive and barren deserts, where he could not live. ^ From Egypt the use of the horse was propagated to other and distant lands ; and, probably, the horse himself was first transmitted from Egypt • Gen. xii. 16. t Gen. xxii. 3. ; Gen. xxxii. 14, § Gen. xiv. 19. II .Toshiia xi. 4. *? When Sir Gore Ouaely travelled thruugh Persia, and the different countries of the East, he examined, among other relics of antiquity, the sculptures on the ruins of Perse ^1 THE HORSE. to several countries. The Greeks affirm, that Neptune struck the earth with his trident, and a horse appeared. The truth is, that the Thessalians, tiie first and most expert of the Grecian horseman, and likewise the inha- bitants of Argos and of Athens, were colonists from Egypt. The Bible likewise decides another point, that Arabia, by whose breed of horses those of other countries have been so much improved, was not tiie native place of the horse. Six hundred years after the time just refer- red to, Arabia had no horses. Solomon imported spices, gold, and silver, from Arabia ; * but all the horses for his own cavalry and chariots, and those with which he supplied the Phoenician monarchs, he procured from Egypt, t In the seventh century after Christ, when Mahomet attacked the Koreish near Mecca, he had but two horses in his whole army ; and at the close of his murderous campaign, although he drove off twenty-four thousand camels, and forty thousand sheep, and carried away twenty-four thousand ounces of silver, not one horse appears in the list of plunder. There is a curious record of the commerce of different countries at the close of the second century. Among the articles exported from Egypt to Arabia, and particularly as presents to reigning monarchs, were horses. In the fourth century two hundred Cappadocian horses were sent by the Roman emperor, as the most acceptable present he could offer a powerful prince of Arabia. So late as the seventh century, the Arabs had few horses, and those of iittle value. These circumstances sufficiently prove that, however superior may be the present breed, it is comparitively lately that the horse was natuaralized in Arabia. The horses of Arabia itself, and of the south-eastern parts of Europe, are clearly derived from Egypt ; but whether they were there bred, or imported from the south-western regions of Asia, or, as is more probable, brought from the interior, or northern coasts of Africa, cannot with cer- tainty be determined. polis, and he draws from them a curious and interesting' conclusion as to the manner in which the horse was gradually subdued. "There are no figures," says he, "mounted on horseback, although some travellers have mentioned horsemen among those sculptures. One would think that the simple act of mounting on a horse's back would naturally have preceded the use of wheel-carriages and their complicated harness ; yet no horsemen are found at Persepolis ; and we know Homer's horses are represented in chariots from which the warriors sometimes descended to combat on foot, but the poet has not described tliem as fighting on horseback. The absence of mounted figures might authorize an opinion thai those sculptures had been executed before the time of Cyrus, whose precepts and example first inspired the Persians with a love of equestrian exerciies, of which, before his time they were wlioUy ignorant." — vol. ii. p. 276. ♦ 2 Chron. ix. 14. + 2 Ch:on. i. 17. t The historian gives us the price of the horse and the chariot at that time. A horse brouirht from Egypt, including, probably, the expense of the jour aey, cost one hundred and fifty shekels of silver, which, at two shillings, three pence, and one half farthing earh, aniounls to about seventeen pounds two shillings. A chiriot cost six hundred shekels, or sixty-cigltt pounds, eight shillings ; a most enormous sum at that early period, but little to him who expended more than thirty-five millions of pounds, in gold alone trt ornament the Temple which he had built. ITS HISTORY— BREEDS. CHAPTER II. THE DIFFERENT FOREIGN BREED OF HORSES THE WILD HORSE. Troops of wild horses are found in the plains of Great Tartary, and also in several parts of South America. In neither, however, can we recognise an original race. The horses of the Ukraine, and those of South America, are equally the descendants of those who had escaped from the slavery of man. The Tartar horses are fleet and strong, but comparatively of an ordinary breed. Those of South America retain, almost unimpaired, the size and form of the European ancestors. In no part of America, or of the more newly-discovered islands of the Pacific, was the horse known, until he was introduced by Europeans ; and the origin of the horses of Tartary has been clearly traced to those who were employed in the siege of Azoph, in 1657, but which were turned loose for want of forage. All travellers, who have crossed the plains extending from the shores of La Plata to Patagonia, have spoken of numerous droves of wild horses. Some affirm that they have seen ten thousand in one troop. They appear to be under the command of a leader, the strongest and boldest of the herd, and whom they implicitly obey. A secret instinct teaches them that their safety consists in their union, and in a principle of subordination. The lion, the tiger, and the leopard,* are their principal enemies. At some signal, intcl- igible to them all, they either close into a dense mass, and trample their enemy to death ; or, placing the mares and foals in the centre, they form themselves into a circle and welcome him with their heels. In the attack, their leader is the first to face the danger, and, when prudence demands a retreat, they follow his rapid flight. In the thinly inhabited parts of South America it is dangerous to fall in with any of these troops. The wild horses approach as near as they dare : they call to the loaded horse with the greatest eagerness, and, if the rider be not on the alert, and have not considerable strength of arm, and sharpness of spur, his beast will divest himself of his burden, take to his heels, and be gone for ever. Captain Head gives the following account of a meeting with a troop of wild horses, where the country is more thickly inhabited. Some poor cap- tured animals are supposed to be forced along by their riders at their very utmost speed : — '* As they are thus goUoping along, urged by the spur, it is interesting to see the groups of wild horses one passes. The mares, which are never ridden in South America, seem not to understand what makes the poor horse carry his head so low, and look so weary. -j- The little innocent colts come running to meet him, and then start away fright- ened : while the old horses, whose white marks on the flanks and backs • These animals are of a different race from those which go under the same names in th« Old World, and are very inferior in streng'th. t An Englishman once attempted to ride a mare, but he was hooted and pelted by the natives, and thought himself fortunate to escape without serious injury. Sir John Carr, in his Northern Summer, p. 44, states that it is only a short time since marea began to be ridden in Russia. C THE HORSE. betray t' leii acquaintance with the spur and saddle, walk slowly away for some distance, tiien, breaking into a trot as they seek their safety, snort and look behind them, first with one eye and then with the other, turning their nose from right to left, and carrying their long tail high in the air."* The same pleasing writer describes the system of horse-management amonnd sodden, and fit for their table ; and, at all their feasts, the first and fast and most favourite dish, is a horses head. When water was not at hand, the Scythians used to draw blood from their horses, and drink it ; and the dukes of Muscovy, for nearly two hundred and sixty years, presented Tartar embassadors with the milk of mares. If any of this milk fell upon the mane of the horse, the duke, by custom, was bound to lick it off. Troops of wild horses are occasionally met with in the central parts of Africa, in the island of St. Domingo, on the deserts of Arabia, and in a few other parts of the world ; but no where do they equal the domesti- cated horse in form, strength, or even speed. (yoI. ii. p. 113,) says, that " stirrups are not in general use. The men leap on their horse on the right side. In the rig-hl hand they grasp the bridle, and in the left a very long spear, leaning on which, they jump with the impulse of both feet, and then fall right upon the horse's back." THE BARB The Godolphin Jlrahian. It has already been stated, that the earliest records we have of the horse trace him to Egypt, whence he gradually found his way to Ara- bia and Persia, and the provinces which were colonized from Egypt ; and thence to the other parts of the Old World. But Egypt is not now a breeding country, and it does not appear to possess those requi- sites which could ever have constituted it one. Without, however, enter- mg into the question whether the horse was primarily the inhabitant of some particular region, wnenco other parts were gradually supplied, or whether it was common to many countries, but differing in each ; we have stated it to be probable that the horses of Egypt, the earliest on record, were derived from the neighbouring and interior districts of Africa. Therefore, in giving a very summary account of the most celebrated and useful breeds of different countries, it is natural to begin with those of Africa. At the head of these is the Barb, from Barbary, and particularly from Morocco and Fez, and the interior of Tripoli ; and remarkable for his fine and graceful action. It is rather lower than the Arabian, seldom exceed- ing fourteen hands and an inch. The shoulders are flat, the chest round, the joints inclined to be long, and the head particularly beautiful. The Barb is decidedly superior to the Arab in form, but has not his spirit, or speed, or countenance. The Barb has chiefly contributed to the excellence of the Spanish horse ; and; when the improvement of the breed of horses began to be systemati- cally pursued in Great Britain, the Barb was very early introduced. The Godolphin Arabian, as he is called, of whom we have presented our readers with a cut, and who was the origin of some of our best racing t)lood, was a Barb; and others of our most celebrated turf-horses trace their descent from African mares. More in the centre of Africa, in the kingdom of Bournou, is a breed, which Mr. Tully, in his almost romantic history of Tripoli, reckons supevio* even to those of Arabia or Barbary ; it possesses the best qualities of both B 10 THE HORSE. those bleeds, being as serviceable as that of Arabia, and as beautifu. as lliat of Barbary. In the more southern and western districts of Africa, and particularly in the neighbourhood of the Guisiea Coast, the breed of horses is very in- I'erior. They are small, weak, unsafe, and untractable. But neither horses, nor any other produce of value, can be looked for in those unhappy countries, so long as they are desolated by tiie infernal slave- trade inflicted upon them by the most civilized, but tiuly unchristian, nations of Europe. THE DONGOLA HORSE. The kingdom of Dongola, and the neighbouring districts lying between Egypt and Abyssinia, contain a horse not at all like any other oriental. The "Dongola horses stand full sixteen hands high, but the length of the body, from the shoulders to tlie quartar, is considerably less. Their form, therefore, is opposite to that of the Arabian, or English thorough-bred, which are longer by some inches than they are high. The neck is long and slender, the crest fine, and the withers sharp and high, giving a beautiful forehead ; but the breast is to narrow, the quarters and flanks too flat, and tiie back carped. They constitute excellant war-horses, from their speed ■iiurability, and size. Several of them have lately been imported into Eu- rope, but they are little valued. Possibly, with three-part-bred mares, they might improve our cavalry horses." Bosman, whose descriptions prove him to be no bad horseman, thus speaks of them, but in somewhat to flattering a manner. " The Dongola iiovses are the most perfect in the world, being beautiful, symmetrical in their parts, nervous and elastic in their movements, and docile and affectionate in their manners. One of these horses was sold in 1816, at Grand Cairo, for a sum equivalent to lOOOA" Mr. Bruce tells us, that the best African horses are said to be descended from one of the five on which Mahomet and his four immediate succes- sors fled from Mecca to Medina, on the night of the Hegira. He thus •accounts for very singular and opposite customs among the Arabs and Africans. "No Arab ever mounts a stallion : on the contrary, in Africa they never •ride mares. The reason is plain. — The Arabs are constantly at war with their neighbours, and always endeavour to take their enemies by surprise in the grey of the evening, or the dawn of day. A stallion no sooner smells the stale of the mare in the enemy's quarters, than he begins to neigh, and that would give the alarm to the party intended to be surprised. No such thing can ever happen when they ride mares only. On the con- trary, the Funge trust only to superior force. They are in an open, plaii country — must be discovered at many miles distance — and all such sur- prises and stratagems are useless to them." THE ARABIAN. Going further eastward we arrive at Arabia, whose hories deservedly occupy the very highest rank. THE ARABIAN. 11 The WelUsly Jlrabian. A few wild horses are yet seen on some of the deserts of Arabia. They are hunted by the Bedouins for their flesh, whicli is considered a delicacy, if the animal be young ; and also to increase their stock of inferior horses, which they often palm on the merchant as descended from the sacred Dreed. They are said to be even swifter than the domesticated horse, and are usually taken by traps hidden in the sand. Mr Bruce, however, doubts whether any wild horses are now found in Arabia Deserta.* Although in the seventh century the Arabs had no horses of value, yet the Cappadocian and other horses which they had derived from tlieir neighbours, were preserved with so much care, and propagated so uniformly and strictly from the finest of the breed, that in the thir- teenth century the Arabian horse began to assume a just ana unrivalled celebrity. There are said to be three breeds or varieties of the Arabian horses : the Attexki, or inferior breed, on which they set little value, and which are found wild on some parts of the deserts ; the Kadischi, literally horses of an unknown race, answering to our half-bred horses — a mixed breed ; and the Koch/ani, horses whose genealogy, according to the Arab account, is known for two thousand years. Many of them have written and attested pedigrees extending more than four hundred years, and, with true Eastern exaggeration, traced by oral tradition from the stud of Solomon. A more careful account is kept of these genealogies than belongs to the most ancient family of the proudest Arab chief, and very singular pre- cautions are taken to prevent the possibility of fraud, so far as the written pedigree extends. The KochJani are principally reared by the Bedouin Arabs, in the remoter deserts. A stallion may be procured without much difficulty, although at a great price. A mare is rarely to be obtained, except by fraud and excessive bribery. The Arabs have found out that which the English breeder should never forget, that the female is more concerned than the male in the excellence and value of the produce ; and the geneal- ogies of their horses are always reckoned from the mothers. The Arabian horse would not be acknowledged by every judge to pos- * Brijce's Travels, vol. vi. p. 430 H2 THE HORSE. sess a jerfect form: his head, 'lowever, is inimitable. The broadness and squarf-ness of the forehead, the shortness and fineness of the muzzle, the prominence and brilliancy of the eye, the smallness of the ears, an.! the beautiful course of the veins, will always characterise the head of the Arabian horse. His body may be considered as too liijht, and his chest as too narrow ; but behind the arms the barrel generally swells out and leaves sufficien room for the play of the lungs. In the formation of the shoulder, next to that of the head, the Arab is superior to any other breed. The withers are high, and the shoulder-blade inclined backward, and so nicely adjusted, that in descending a hill the point or edge of the ham never rutlles the skin. He may not be thought sufficiently high ; he seldom stands more than fourteen hands two inches. The fineness of his legs, and the oblique position of his pasterns, may be supposed to lessen his apparent strength ; but the leg, although small, is flat and wiry ; anatomists know that the bone has no common density, and the starting muscles of tiie fore-arm and the thigh indicate that he is fully capable of accomplishing many of the feats which are recorded of him. The Barb alone excels him in noble and spirited action ; and if there be defects about him, he is perfect for that for which he was designed. He presents the true combination of speed and bottom — strength enough to carry more than a light weight, and courage that would cause him to die rather than to give up. We may not, perhaps, believe all that is told us of the Arabian. It has been remarked, that there are on the deserts which this horse traverses no mile-stones to mark the distance, or watches to calculate the time ; and the Bedouin is naturally given to exaggeration, and, most of all, when relating the prowess of the animal, which he loves as dearly as his chil- dren : yet it cannot be denied that, at the introduction of the Arabian into the European stables, there was no other horse comparable to him. The Arab horse is as celebrated for his docility and good temper as for his speed and courage. In that delightful book, 'Bishop Heber's Nar- rative of a Journey through the Upper Provinces of India,' the following interesting character is given of him, " My morning rides are very pleasant. My horse is a nice, quiet, good-tempered little Arab, who is so fearless, that he goes without starting close to an elephant, and so gentle and docile that he eats bread out of my hand, and has almost as much attachment and coaxing ways as a dog. This seems the general character of the Arab horses, to judge from what I have seen in this country. It is not the fiery dashing animal I had supposed, but with more rationality about him, and more apparent confidence in his rider, than the majority of English horses." The kindness with which he is treated from a foal, gives him an affection for his master, a wish to please, a pride in exerting every energy in obedience to his commands, and, consequently, an apparent sagacity which is seldom seen in other breeds. The mare and her foal inhabit the same tent with the Bedouin and his children. The neck of the mare is often the pillow of the rider, and more frequently, of the children, who are rolling about upon her and the foal : yet no accident ever occurs, and the animal ac- duires that friendship and love for man which occasional ill-treatment will no* cause him for a moment to forget. When the Arab falls from his mare, and is unable to rise, she will immediately stand still, and neigh until assistance arrives. If he liea Jown to sleep, as fatigues sometimes compels him, in the midst of the THE ARABIAN, I3 desert, she stands watchful over him, and, neighs and rouses him if either man or beast approaches. An old Arab had a valuable mare that had carried him for fifteen years in many a hard-fought battle, and many a rapid weary march ; at length, eighty years old, and unable longer to ride her, he gave her, and a scimitar that had been his father's, to his eldes; son, and told him to appreciate their value, and never lie down to rest until he had rubbed them both as bright as a looking-glass. In the first skir- mish in which the young man was engaged he was killed, and the mare fell into the hands of the enemy. When the news reached the old man, he exclaimed that "life was no longer worth preserving, for he had lost both his son and his mare, and he grieved for one as much as the other;" and he immediately sickened and died.* Man, however, is an inconsistent being. The Arab who thus lives with and loves his horses, regarding them as his most valuable treasure, some- times treats them with a cruelty scarcely to be believed, and not at all to be justified. The severest treatment which the English race-horse endures is gentleness compared with the trial of the young Arabian. Probably the filly has never before been mounted ; she is led out ; her owner springs on her back, and goads her over the sand and rocks of the desert at full speed for fifty or sixty miles without one moments respite. She is then forced, steaming and panting, into water deep enough for her to swim. If, immediately after this, she will eat as if nothing had occurred, her character is established, and she is acknowledged to be a genuine descen- dant of the Koch/ani- breed. The Arab is not conscious of the cruelty which he thus inflicts. It is an invariable custom, and custom will inijuce us to inflict many a pang on those whom, after all, we love. ARABIAN ANECDOTES. The following anecdote of the attachment of an Arab to his mare has often been told, but it comes home to the bosom of every one possessed of common feelings. " The whole stock of an Arab of the desert consisted of a mare. The French consul offered to purchase her in order to send her to his sovereign, Louis XIV. The Arab would have rejected the pro- posal at once with indignation and scorn ; but he was miserably poor. He had no means of supplying his most urgent wants, or procuring the barest necessaries of life. Still he hesitated ; — he had scarcely a rag to cover him — and his wife and children were starving. The sum offered was great — it would provide him and his family with food for life. At length, and reluctantly, he consented. He brought the mare to the dwelling of the consul — he dismounted, — he stood leaning upon her ; — he looked now at the gold, and then at his favourite ; he sighed — he wept. ' To whom is it,' said he, ' I am going to yield thee up ? To Europeans, who will tie thee close, — who will beat thee, — who will render thee miserable. Re- turn with me, my beauty, my jewel, and rejoice the hearts of my children.' As he pronounced the last words, he sprung upon her back, and was out of sight in a moment." The next anecdote is scarcely less touching, and not so well known. Ibrahim, a poor but worthy Arab, unable to pay a sum of money which he owed, was compelled to allow a merchant of Rama to become partner with him in a valuable mare. When the time came, he could not redeem his pledge to this man, and the mare was sold. Her pedigree could be traced on the side of sire and dam for full five hundred years. The price * Smith on Breeding, p. 80. (4 THE HORSE. was three hundred pounds ; an enormous sum in that country. Ibrahim went f'eequently to Rama to inquire after tlie mare : he would embrace her, — wipe her eyes witii his handlcerchief, — rub her with his shirt sleeves, — and give hor a tiiousand benedictions during whole hours that he remained talking to her. ' JVIy eyes !' would he say to her, ' my soul ! my heart ! must I be so unfortunate as to have thee sold to so many mas- ers and not keep thee myself? I am poor, my antelope ! I brought thee up in my dwelling as my child. I did never beat nor chide thee ; I caressed thee in the proudest manner. God preserve thee, my beloved ! thou art beautiful, thou art sweet, thou art lovely ! God defend thee from en- vious eyes !" Sir John Malcolm gives two anecdotes to the same purpose, but of a more amusing nature. " When the envoy, returning from his former mission, was encamped near Bagdad, an Arab rode a bright bay mare of extraordinary shape and beauty before his tent, until he attracted his attention. On being asked if he would sell her ; — 'What will you give me?' was the reply: 'That depends upon her age ; 1 suppose she is past five V — Guess again,' said he. 'Four?' 'Look at her mouth,' said the Arab with a smile. On examination she was found to be rising three. This, from her size and symmetry, greatly enhanced her value. The envoy said, 'I will give you fifty tomans' (a coin nearly of the value of a pound sterling.) ' A little more if you please,' said the fellow apparently entertained. 'Eighty. A hundred.' He shook his head and smiled. The offer at last came to two hundred tomans. ' Well,' said the Arab, ' you need not tempt me further ; — it is of no use. — You are a rich elchee (nobleman.) You have fine horses, camels, and mules, and, I am told, you have loads of silver and gold. Now,' added he, 'you want my mare, but you shall not have her for all you have got."* "An Arab sheick or chief, who lived within fifty miles of Bussorah, had a favourite breed of horses. He lost one of his best mares, and could not for a long while discover whether she was stolen or had strayed. Some time after, a young man of a different tribe, who had long wished to marry his daughter, but had always been rejected by the sheick, obtained the lady's consent and eloped with her. The sheick and his followers pursued, but the lover and his mistress, mounted on one horse, made a wonderful march, and escaped. The old chief swore that the fellow was either mounted upon the devil, or the favourite mare he had lost. After his return, he found the latter was the case ; that the lover was the thief of his mare as well as his daughter ; and that he had stole the one to carry off the other. The chief was quite gratified to think he had not been beaten by a mare of another breed ; and was easily reconciled to the young man, in order that he might recover the mare, which appeared an object about which he was more solicitous than about his daughter."! One of our own countrymen, the enterprising traveller. Major Denham, affords us a pleasing instance of the attachment with which the docility and sagacity of the horse may inspire the owner. — He thus relates the death of his favourite Arabian, in one of the most desert spots of CentriJ Africa. His feelings needed no apology. We naturally honour the man in whom true sensibility and undaunted courage, exerted for useful pur- poses, were thus united. " There are a few situations in a man's life in which losses of ti.H • Malcolm's Sketches of Persia, vol. i. p. 41. t Ibia. p. 45. THE ARABIAN— THE EAST INDIAN. |«; nature are feJt most keenly ; and this was one of them. It was not griet but it was something very nearly approaching to it ; and though 1 kn ashamed of the degree of derangement I sulTered from it, yet it was several days before I could get over the loss. Let it, however, be remembered that the poor animal had been my support and comfort, — nay, I may say, companion, through many a dreary day and night ; — had endured i>oth hunger and thirst in my service ; and was so docile, that he would stand still for hours in the desert while I slept between his legs, his body affordi.\g me the only shelter that could be obtained from the powerful influence of a noon-day sun : — he was yet the fleetest of the fleet, and ever foremost in the chase." Our horses would fare badly on the scanty nourishment afforded the Arabian. The mare usually has but one or two meals in twenty-four hours. During the day she is tied to the door of the tent, ready for the Bedouin to spring, at a moment's warning, into the saddle ; or she is turned out be- fore the tent ready saddled, the bridle merely taken off, and so trained that she gallops up immediately at her master's call. At night she receives a little water ; and with her scanty provender of five or six pounds of barley or beans, and sometimes a little straw, she lies down content, in the midst of her masters family. She can, however, endure great fatigue ; she will travel fifty miles witliout stopping ; she has been pushed, on emergency, one hundred and twenty miles, and, occasionally neitlier she nor her rider has tasted food for three whole days. To the Arabiah, principally, England is indebted for her improved and now unrivalled breed of horses for the turf, the field, and the road, as will be shown when we presently treat of the English horse.- THE EAST INDIAN HORSE. We will now travel further eastward, and look at the breeds of horses in our Indian possessions. First, we have the Toorky, originally from a Toor- koman and a Persian, beautiful in his form, graceful in his action, and do- cile in his temper. It is said that, when skilfully managed, the grandeur and stateliness of his carriage are equal to what the warmest imagination can conceive of the horse : his spirit rising as his exertions are required, he exhibits to his beholders an appearance of fury in the performance of his task, yet preserving to his rider the utmost playfulness and gentleness. Next comes the Iranee, well limbed, and his joints closely knit, and par- ticularly powerful in the quarters, but with scarcely sufficient spirit, and his ears large and loose. The patient and docile Cozakee is deep in the girth, powerful in the fore- arm, but with large head, and sadly cat-hammed ; hardy, and calculated for long journeys and severe service. The Mojinni.ss have spirit, beauty, speed, and perseverance. The Tazsee is slight, hollow-backed, and, for that reason perhaps, although deficient in strength, and leaving as it were his hind legs behind him, and likewise irritable in temper, yet he is sought after on account of the pecu- liar easiness of his pace. A sale of horses near the Company's stud, at Hissar, is thus described 6y an excellent judge. "Not less than one thousand horses were shewn. They were all above fourteen hands and a half in height, high-crested, and sheN^y-looking horses. The great defect seemed a want of bone below 16 THE HORSE, the kn":e, which is indeed general to all the native horses throughout India ; and also so great a tendency to fulness in the hocks, that, in England, it would be thought half of them had blood spavins." THE CHINESE HORSE. This breed is small, weak, ill-formed, without spirit, and altogether un- dcservins of notice. THE PERSIAN HORSE Returning westward we find the Persian next m estimation, and deser- vedly so, to the Arabian. The head is almost equally beautiful, the crup- per superior; he is equal in speed, but far inferior in endurance. The whole frame is more developed than in the Arabian. The Persian horses were celebrated for many a century before the Ara- bians were known, or even existed. They constituted, in ancient times the best cavalry of the East. The native Persian was so highly prized tliat Alexander considered one of them the noblest gift he could bestow, and when the kings of Parthia would propitiate their divinities by the most costly sacrifice, a Persian horse was offered on the altar. An entertaining traveller (Sir R. Ker Porter) bears testimony that they have not now de- generated. He gives the following account of this breed. " The Persian horses never exceed fourteen or fourteen and a half hands high, yet certainly, in the whole are taller than the Arabs. Those of the desert and country about Hillah run very small, but are full of bone and of good speed. General custom feeds and waters them only at sun-rise and sun-set, when they are cleaned. Their usual provender is barley and chopped straw, which, if the animals are piqueted, is put into a nose-bag and hung from their heads; but if stabled, it is thrown into a small lozenge-shaped hole left in the thickness of the mud-wall for that purpose, but much higher up than the line of our mangers, and there the animal eats at his leisure. Hay is a kind of food not known here. The bedding of tlie horse consists of his dung. After being exposed to the drying in- fluence of the sun during the day, it becomes pulverized, and, in that state, is nightly spread under him.* Little of it touches his body, that being covered by his clothing, a large numviud from the ears to the tail, and bound firmly round his body by a very long surcingle. But this apparel is only for cold weather ; in the warmer season the night-clothes are of a lighter substance, and during the heat of the day, the animal is kept en- tirely under shade. " At night he is tied in the court yard. The horses' heads are attached to the place of security, by double ropes from their halters, and the heels of their hinder legs are confined by cords of twisted hair, fastened to iron rings, and pegs driven into the earth. The same custom prevailed in the time of Xenophon, and for the same reason, to secure thtin from being able to attack and maim each other, the whole stud generally consisting of stallions. Their keepers, however, always sleep on their rugs amongst * It is the usual flooring of the stable and tlie lent. The united influence ( f the sun and air deprive it of all unpleasant odour, and when from use it becomes a second time offensive, i is again exposed to the sun, and all unpleasant smell once more tak«n away. THE PERSIAN— TOORKOMAN. 17 tiiem to prevent accident ; and sometimes, notwithstanding all this care, tliey manage to break loose, and then the combat ensues. A general neighing, screaming, kicking, and snorting, soon rouses the grooms, and the scene for awhile is terrible. Indeed no one can conceive the sudden uproar of such a moment who has not been in Eastern countries to hear it. and then all who have, must bear me witness that the noise is tremendous. They seize, bite, and kick each other with the most determined fury, and frequently cannot be separated before their heads and haunches stream with blood. Even in skirmishes with the natives, their horses take part in the fray, tearing each other with their teeth, while their masters are in similar close quarters on their backs." His description of a Persian race do6s not altogether remind us of Newmarket or Doncaster. " My curiosity was fully on the spur to see the racers, which I could not doubt must have been chosen from the best in the nation to exhibit the perfec- tion of its breed before the sovereign. The rival horses were divided into three sets, in order to lengthed the amusement. . They had been in training for several weeks, going over the ground very often during that time ; and when I did see them, I found so much pains had been taken to sweat and redcce their weight, that their bones were nearly cutting the skin. The distance marked for the race was a stretch of four-and-twenty miles, and, that his majesty might not have to wait when he had reached the field, the horses had set forward long before, by three divisions, from the starting point, (a short interval of time passing between each set,) so that they might Ijegin to come in, a few minutes after the king had taken his seat. The dificrent divisions arrived in regular order at the goal, but all so fatigued and exhausted, that their former boasted fleetness hardly exceeded a moderate canter when they passed before the royal eyes." In Circassia almost every family of distinction, whether of princes or nobles, boasts of possessing a peculiar race of horses, which, when young, are burned on the buttock with a particular mark. On this occasion, they act with the most scrupulous adherence to custom, so that a person who should attempt to burn a character expressing noble descent, on a filly of a common race, would, for such forgery, forfeit his life. The most cele- brated race of Circassian horses has received the name of Shalokh, and is in the exclusive possession of the Tau Sultan family. This race is valu- able for its strength and swiftness, more than its peculiar beauty. Its dis- tinguishing mark is a full horse-shoe without an arrow. THE TOORKOMAN HORSE. Turkistan is that part of South Tartary, north-east of the Caspian sea, and has been celebrated from very early rimes, for producing a pure and valuable breed of horses. Tliey are called Toorkomcms. They are said to be preferable even to the pure Persians, for service. They are large, standing from fifteen to sixteen hands high ; swift, and inexhaustible under fatigue. Some of them have travelled nine hundred miles in eleven successive days. They, however, are somewhat too small in the barrel — too long on the legs — occasionally ewe-necked, and always have a head out ot proportion large : yet, such are the good qualities of the horse, that one of the pure blood is worth two or three hundred pounds, even in that •country. Captain Fraser, who is evidently a good judge of the horse, (in hia 13 THE HORSE. Journev to Khorasan) thus relates the impression which they made on mm. "They are deficient in compactness. Their bodies are long in proportion to their bulk. They are not well ribbed up. They are long on the legs, — deficient in muscle — falling oft' below the knee j^narrow chested — long necked, — head large, uncouth, and seldom well put on. Such was tho impression 1 received from the first sight of them, and it was not for some time that tiieir suoerior valuable qualities were apparent to me." THE TARTAR AND CALMUCK HORSE. The horses of the other parts of Tartary, comprehending the imm«;nse plains of Central Asia, and a considerable part of European Russia, are little removed from a wild state : they are small and badly made ; but capable of supporting the longest and most rapid journey, on the scantiest fare. The foals, from the earliest period, are exposed to the inclemency of the weather, have little to eat, and follow their dams in the longest excursions, and therefore, soon acquire a very great power of sustaining fatigue. They must be hardy for another reason. The Tartars live much on the flesh of horses, and, consequently, those animals that are unable to support the labour of their frequent rapid emigrations are soon destroyed, and only the more vigorous preserved. Tlie horses, which range at large over the plains, are divided into herds, at the head of wliich are placed two stallions, who carefully prevent them from intermingling with each other, and it is rarely that a foal is lost. On the approach of a strange herd, the stallions drive their own into a close body, place themselves in front, and, if necessary, attack and drive oft' the others. As the stallion-foals grow up, they are driven away from the herds, and are seen straggling about at a distance, until they are strong enough to form herds of wild mares for themselves. These horses, or those of a similar breed and habiis, were beaten by not the first-rate English blood-horses, in a race which fairly put to the test both their speed and stoutness. On the 4th of August, 1825, a race of the cruel distance of more than forty-seven miles was run between two Cossack and two thorough-bred English horses — Sharper and Mina. The most celebrated Cossack horses from the Don, the Black Sea, and the Ural, were sent; and, after numerous trials, the best were selected. On starting, the Cossacks took the lead at a moderate pace, the English fol- lowing at about three or four lengths, but before they had gone half a mile, the stirrup-leather of Sharper broke, and he ran away with his rider, followed by Mina, and they went more than a mile, and up a steep hill, before they could be held in. Half the distance was run in an hour and four minutes. Both the English horses were then fresh, and one of the Cossacks. On their return, Mina fell lame, and was taken away. The Cossack horse, likewise began to flag, when the accompanying Russians began to drag him on by the bridle, throwing away the saddle, and putting a mere child on his back. Sharper, likewise, evidently shewed the effects of the pace at which he had gone when running away, and was much distressed. The Cossacks then had recourse to foul play, and actually carried on their horse ; some dragging him on by a rope, and the bridle at his head ; and others pulJing him on by the tail, and riding alongside of his quarters to support him and relieving each other at this fatiguing work. Sharper did the whole dis- 'ance in two hours and forty-eight minutes, and the Cossack hor^e was THE TURKISH— GERMAN. ^g warped :n, eight minutes after him. At starting, the English horses car- ried full three stone more than the Cossacks; and during the latter half o< the race, a mere child had ridden the Cossack. THE TURKISH HORSE. The Turkish horses are descended principally from the Arab, crossed by the Persian and certain other bloods. The body, however, is even longer than the Arabian's, and ihe crupper more elevated. They have contribu- ted materially to the improvement of the English breed. The Byerley and the Helmsley Turk are names familiar to every one conversant with horses, and connected with our best blood. The learned and benevolent Busbequius, who was ambassador at Con- stantinople in the seventetnth century, gives the following account of the Turkish horses. Our grawis, and their masters too, may learn a lesson of wisdom and humanity from his words. " There is no creature so gentle as a Turkish horse, nor more respectful to his master, or the groom that dresses him. The reason is, because they treat their horses with great lenity. I myself saw, when I was in Pontus, passing through a part of Bithinia called Axilos, towards Cappadocia, how indulgent the countrymen were to young colts, and how kindly they used them soon after they were foaled. They would stroke them, bring them into their houses, and almost to their tables, and use them even like chil- dren. They hung something like a jewel about their necks, and a garter, which was full of amulets against poison, which they are most afraid of. The gi'ooms that dress them are as indulgent as their masters; they fre- quently sleek them down with their hands, and never use a cudgel to bang their sides, but in cases of necessity. This makes their horses great lovers of mankind, and they are so far from kicking, wincing, or growing untractable by this gentle usage, that you will hardly find a masterltsa horse amongst them. " But alas ! our Christian grooms' horses go on at another rate. They never think them rightly curried till they thunder at them with their voices, and let their clubs or horse-whips, as it were, dw^ell on their sides. This makes some horses even tremble when their keepers come into their stable ; so that they hate and fear them too. But the Turks love to have their horses so gentle, that at the word of command they may fall on their knees, and in this position receive their riders. "■ They will take up a staff or club upon the road with their teeth, which their rider has let fall, and hold it up to him again ; and whrn they are perfect in this lesson, then, for credit, they have rings of silver hung on their nostrils as a badge of honour and good discipline. I saw some horses when their master was fallen from the saddle stand stock •still without wagging a foot till he got up again. Another time I saw a groom standing at a distance in the midst of a whole ring of horses, and, •,at the word of command, they would either go round or stand still. Once [ saw some horses when their master was at dinner with me in an upper room prick up their ears to hear his voice, and when they did so they Qeighed for joy." THE GERMAN HORSE. Tne German horses are generally large, heavy, and slow. The Hun- garian may be an exception, being lighter, speedier, and giving greater 20 THE HORSE proof of Eastern blood.* Every part of the continent, however, following liie example of England, has been diligently engaged in the improvement of iis breed, and the German and Prussian horses are now better propor- ti«(necJ, and have considerable endurance, but are still deficient in speed. The Prussian, German, and the greater part of the French cavalry are procured from Holstein. They are of a dark, glossy, bay-colour, with small heads, large nostrils, and full dark eyes, the fire and clearness of which seem to denote the inward spirit of the animal. They are beautiful active and strong. THE SWEDISH, FINLAND, AND NORWEGIAN HORSE. Of the Swedish horses, Clarke, in his " Scandinavia," says, that they are small but beautiful, and remarkable for their speed and spirit. Those of Finland he describes as yet smaller, not more than twelve liands high, beautifully formed, and very fleet. The peasants take them from the forests when they are wanted for travellers. Although apparently wild, they are under perfect control, and they trot along with ease at the rate of twelve mile an hour. The following story is told of one of the Norwegian horses. His master had been dining at a neighbouring town, and, when it was time to return, had exceeded so much, that he could not keep a firm seat in his saddle. The horse regulated himself, as well as he could, according to the un- settled motion of his rider, but, happening to make a false step, the peasant was thrown, and hung with one foot entangled in the stirrup. The horse immediately stopped, and tv/ist-ing his body in various directions, en- deavoured to extricate his master but in vain. The man was severely hurt, and almost helpless ; but the shock had brought him to his senses. The horse looked at him as he lay on the ground, and, stooping, laid hold of the brim of his hat, and raised his head a little ; but the hat coming off, he fell again. The animal then laid hold of the collar of his coat, and raised him bj? it so far from the ground, that he was enabled to draw his foot out of the stirrup. After resting awhile he regained the saddle, and reached his home. Grateful to his preserver, the man did, what every good feeling bid him, — he cherished the animal until it died of old age. Many an English farmer owes a considerable debt of gratitude to his intelligent and faithful servant, who has taken care of him when he was unable to take care of himself, and, possibly, has preserved his life. Let him repay the debt by kinder usage. THE ICELAND HORSE. There are numerous troops of horses in this cold and inhospitable coun- try, descended, according to Mr. Anderson, from the Norwegian horse, but, according to Mr. Horrebow, being of Scottish origin. They are very small, strong, and swift. There are thousands of them in the mountains which never enter a stable, but instinct or habit has taught them to scrape away the snow, or break the ice, in search of tlieir scanty food. A fev are usually kept in the stable, but when the peasant wants more he catches ♦ M. de Buffon strang-ely afBrins that the Hussars atid Hungarians slit '.he nostrils of their horses with a view to increase their wind, and to prevent their neighinfr ; and that Hungarian, Croatian, and Polish horses continue to old age to have the mark in all theii for&-ieeth. JFLEMISH— FRENCH— SPANISH, &c. 2i as many as he needs, and shoes them himself, and that sometimes with a sheep's horn.* THE FLEMISH AND DUTCH HORSE. The Fleinish and Dutch horses are large, and strongly and beautifully formed. We are indebted to them for some of the best blood of ou?. draught-horses, and we still have frequent recourse to them for keeping up and improving the breed. They will be more particularly described when the cart-horse is spoken of. THE FRENCH HORSE, France contains, like England, numerous breeds of horses, and consid- erable attention has lately been paid to their improvement ; but they are far inferior to ours in beauty, fleetness, and strength. The provinces of Auvergiie and Poitou produce good ponies and galloways ; but the best French horses are bred in Limousin and Normandy. From the former district come excellent saddle-horses and hunters ; and from the latter a stronger species for the road, the cavalry, or the carriage. The Norman horses are now much crossed by our hunters, and occasionally by the thorough-bred ; and the English roadster and light-draught horse has not suffered by a mixture with the Norman. THE SPANISH HORSE. Spain was early celebrated for her breed of horses. The Andalusian charger and the Spanish jennet are familiar to all readers of romance. The subjugation of so great a portion of the peninsula to the Moorish sway, by introducing so much of the Barbary blood, mainly contributed to the undisputed excellence of the Spanish horse. One breed, long in the limbs, and graceful in all its motions, was the favourite war-horse of the knights ; while another race, carrying the esquire, although inferior in elegance, possessed far more strength and endurance. The Spanish horse of the present day is not much unlike the Yorkshire half-bred ; perhaps with flatter legs and better feet, but far inferior figure. THE ITALIAN HORSE. The Italian horses were once in hign repute, particularly the Neapoli- tans ; but like every thing else in those mismanaged countries, they have sadly degenerated. One circumstance has mainly contributed to this falling off in reputation and value, viz. that the breed has been kept up by occasional intermixture, not of Eastern, but of European blood. A few of the Neapolitan horses, from their superior size and stateliness, are well adapted for the carriage. THE AMERICAN HORSE. In the extensive territory and varied climate of the United States, several breeds of horses are found. The Canadian is found principally in Canada, and the Northern States. He is supposed to be of French descent, and many of the celebrated Ameri- can trotters are of this breed. We will speak of some of them when we describe the paces of the horse. • Eerg^elen's Voyage to tho North. 2*2 THE HORSE. The Conestoga horse is found in Pennsylvania, and the middle States— If.ng in the leg and liglit in the carcase — sometimes rising seventeen hands : used principally Ibr the cairiage ; but when not too high, and with suffi- cient substance, useful for hunting and the saddle. The English horse, witii a good deal of blood, prevails in Virginia and K( ntucky ; and is found, to a greater or less degree, in all the States. The Aitiericans have, at different times, imported some of the best English blood. It has been most diligently and purely preserved in the Soutliern States. T'he celebrated Shark, the best horse of his day, and equalled by few at any time, was the sire of the best Virginian horses ; and Tally-ho, a son of Highflyer, peopled the Jerseys. In the back-settlements, and in the south--western States, is a horse re- seml)ling the wild horse of the Pampas, already described, and evidently of the same origin. CHAPTER III. HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH HORSE. The earliest record of the horse in Great Britain is contained in the his- tory given by Julius Ca3sar of his invasion of our island. The British army was accompanied by numerous war-chariots, drawn by horses. Short scythes were fastened to the ends of the axletrees, sweeping down every thing before them, and carrying terror and devastation into the ranks of their enemies. The conqueror gives a most animated description of the dexterity with which the horses were managed. What kind of horse the Britons then possessed, it would be useless to inquire ; but from the cumbrous structure of the car, and the fury with which it was driven, and from the badness or nonexistence of the roads, they must have been both active and powerful in ^n extraordinary degree. CiEsar deemed them so valuable, that he carried many of them to Rome ; and the British horses were, for a considerable period afterwards, in great request in various parts of the Roman empire. Ilorses must at that time have been exceedingly numerous in Britain, for we are told that when the British king, Cassibellaunus, dismissed tlie main body of his army, he retained four thousand of his war-chariots for tlie purpose of harassing the Romans, when they attempted to forage. The British horse now received its first cross; but whether the breed was thereby improved cannot be ascertained. The Romans having estab- lished themselves in Britain, found it necessary to send over a numerous body of cavalry to maintain a chain of posts and check the frequent insur- ructions of the natives. The Roman horses would breed with those of tlie country, and, to a greater or less extent, change their character ; and from this time, the English horse would consist of a compound of the native and those from Gaul, Italy, Spain, and every province from which the Roman cavalry was supplied. Many centuries afterwards passed by, and we have no record of the character or value, improvement or deterioration, of the animal. It would appear probable, however, that Athelstan, the natural son of Alfred the Great, and the second in succession to him, paid some atten- tion to the improvement of the horse ; for having subdued all the rebellious portions of the Heptarchy, he was congratulated on his success by somt of THE ENGLISH. g^ the continental princes, and received from Hugh Capet of France, who solicited his sister in marriage, various presents, doubtless of a nature thai would be thought most acceptable to him ; and among them several German running horses. Hence our breed received another cross, and probably an improvement. Athelstan seems to have seriously devoted himself to this important object, for he soon afterwards decreed (a. d. 930) that no horses should bt» sent abroad for sale, or on any account, except as royal presents. This proves his anxiety to preserve the breed, and likewise renders it probable that that breed was beginning to be esteemed by our neighbours. In a ^document bearing date A. D. 1000 we have an interesting account of the relative value of the horse. If a horse was destroyed, or negligently lost, the compensation to be demanded was thirty shillings ; a mare or colt, twenty shillings ; a mule or young ass, twelve shillings ; an ox, thirty pence; a cow, twenty-four pence; a pig, eightpence ; and, it strangely follows, a man, one pound.* In the laws of Howell tbe Good, Prince of Wales, and passed a little before this time, there are some, curious particulars respecting the value and sale of horses. The value of a foal not fourteen days old is fixed at fourpence ; at one year and a day it is esiimated at forty-eight pence ; and at three years sixty pence. It was then to be tamed with the bridle, and brought up either as ?i palfrey or a serving horse ; when its value became one hundred and twenty pence ; and that of a wild or unbroken mare, sixty pence. Even in those early days, the frauds of dealers were too notorious, and the following singular regulations were established. The buyer was allowed time to ascertain whether the horse were free from three diseases. He had three nights to prove him for the staggers; three months to prove the soundness of his lungs; and one year to ascertain whether he was infected with glanders. For every blemish discovered after the purchase, one-third of the money was to be returned, except it should be a blemish of the ears or tail. The practice of letting horses for hire was then known, and then, as now, the services of the poor hack were too brutally exacted. The be- nevolent Howell disdains not to legislate for the protection of this abused and valuable servant. " Whoever shall borrow a horse, and rub the hair so as to gall the back, shall pay fourpence ; if the skin is forced into the flesh, eightpence ; if the flesh be forced to the bone, sixteen pence." One circumstance deserves to be remarked, that in none of the earliest historical records of the Anglo-Saxons or the Welsh, is there any allu- sion to the use of the horse for the plough. Until a comparitively re- cent period, oxen alone were used in England, as in other countries, for this purpose ; but about this time (the latter part of the tenth century) some innovation on this point was creeping in, and, therefore, a Welsh law forbids the farmer to plough with horses, mares, or cows, but with oxen alone. On one of the pieces of tapestry woven at Bayonne in the time of William the Conqueror, (a. d. 10G6) there is the figure of a man driving a horse attached to a harrow. This is the earliest notice we have of the use of the horse in field-labour. With William the Conqueror came a marked improvement in the ♦ According- to the Ansrlo-Saxon computation, forty-eigrht shillings made a pound, equal in silver to about three pounds of our present money, in value to fiitteen or sixteen pounds, and five pence made one shilling. •> 1 THE HORSE. British horse. To his superiority in cavalry this prince was chiefly indebted for the victory of Hastings. The favourite charger of VViiliain was a SiKiniard. His followers, both the barons and the conniion soldiers, caine principally from a country in which agriculture had made more rapid progress than in England. A very considerable portion of the kingdom was divided among these men ; and it cannot be doubted that, however unjust was the usurpation of the Norman. England benefited in its husbandry, and particularly in its horses, by the oliange of mas- ters. Some of the barons, and particularly Roger de Boulogne, earl of Shrewsbury, introduced the Spanish horse, on their newly ac- quired estates. The historians of these times, however, principally monks, knowing nothing about horses, give us veiy little information on the subject. In the reign of Henry I. (a. d. 1121) the first Arahian horse, or, at least, the first on record, was introduced. Alexander I. king of Scotland, presented to the church of St. Andrew's, and Arabian horse, with costly furniture, Turkish armour, many valuable trinkets, and a considerable estate. Forty years afterwards, in the reign of Henry II., Smithfield was cele- brated as a horse-market. Filz-Stephen who lived at that time, gives the following animated account of the manner in which the hackneys and charging steeds were tried there, by racing against one another. " When a race is to be run by this sort of horses, and perhaps by others, which also in their kind are strong and fleet, a shout is immediately raised, and the common horses are ordered to withdraw out of the way. Three jockeys, or sometimes only two, as the match is made, prepare themselves for the contest. The horses on their part are not without emulation ; they tremble and are impatient, and are continually in motion. At last, the signal once given, they start, devour the course, and hurry along with unremitting swiftness. The jockeys inspired with the thoughts of applause, and the hope of victory, clap spurs to their willing horses, brandish their whips, and cheer them with their cries." This description reminds us of the more lengthened races of the present day, and proves the blood of the English hoi'se, even before the Eastern breed was tried. Close on this followed the Crusades. The champions of the Cross cer- tainly had it in their power to enrich their native country with some of the choicest specimens of Eastern horses, but they were completely under the influence of superstition and fanaticism, and common sense and use- fulness were forgotten. An old metrical romance, however, records the excellence of two horses belonging to Richard Coeur de Lion, which he purchased at Cyprus, and were therefore, probably of Eastern origin. Yn this worlde they hadde no pere Dromedary nor destrcre, Stede, Ratjytc, ne Camniplc, Goeth none so awifie, without faylc : For a thousand pownd of golde, Ne should the one be solde. The war-steed was defended by mail or plate, much on the plan of the harness of the knight himself. His head was ornamented with a crest The head, chest, and flanks, were wholly or partially protected ; and some- times, he was clad in complete steel, with the arms of his master engraved or embossed on his bardlngs. The bridle of the horse was always as splen- THE ENGLISH. did as the circumstances of the knight allowed, and thus a horse was often called Brigliadore, from briglia d'oro, a bridle of gold. Bells were a very favourite addition to the equipment of the horse. The old Troubadour, Arnold of Marson, says, that " nothing is so proper to inspire confidence in a knight, and terror in an enemy." The price of horses at this period was singularly uncertain. In 1185, fifteen breeding mares sold for two pounds twelve shillings and sixpeni.e. They were purchased by the monarch, and distributed among his tenants, and, in order to get something by the bargain, he charged them the great sum of four shillings each. Twe«nty years afterwards, ten capital horses brought no less than twenty pounds each; and, twelve years later, a pair of horses were imported from Lombardy, for which the extravagant price of thirty-eight pounds thirteen shillings and fourpence was given. The usual price of good handsome horses was ten pounds, and the hire of a car or cart, with two horses, was tenpence a-day. To King John, hateful as he was in all other respects, we are yet much indebted for the attention which he paid to agriculture generally, and particularly to improving the breed of horses. He imported one hundred chosen stallions of the Flanders kind, and thus mainly contributed to prepare our noble species of draught-horses, as unrivalled as the horses of the turf. John accumulated a very numerous and valuable stud. He was eager to possess himself of every horse of more than usual power ; and, at all times, gladly received from the tenants of the crown, horses of a superior quality, instead of money, for the renewal of grants, or the payment of forfeitures belonging to the crown. It was his pride to render his cavalry, and the horses for the tournament and for pleasure, as perfect as possible. It could not be expected that so haughty a tyrant would concern himself much with the inferior kinds ; yet while the superior was becoming rapidly more valuable, the others would, in an indirect manner, partake the improvement. One hundred years afterwards, Edward II. purchased thirty Lombardy toar-horses, and twelve heavy draught-horses. Lombardy, Italy, and Spain were the countries whence the greater part of Europe was then supplied with the most valuable cavalry or parade horse. Horses for agricultural purposes were chiefly procured from Flanders. Edward III. devoted one thousand marks to the purchase of fifty Spanish horses ; and of such importance did he conceive this addition to the English, or rather mingled blood, then existing, that formal application was made to the kings of France and Spain to grant safe conduct to the troop. When they had safely arrived at the royfil stud, it was computed that they had cost the monarch no less than thirteen pounds six shillings and eightpence per horse, equal in value to one hundred and sixty pounds of our present money. This monarch had many running-horses. The precise meaning of the term is not, however, clear. It might be light and speedy horses in oppo- sition to the war-horse, or those that were literally used for the purpose of racing. The average price of these running-horses was twenty marks, or three pounds six shillings and eightpence. Edward was devoted to the -sports of the turf or the field, or he began to see the propriety of crossing our stately and heavy breed with those of a lighter structure and greater tpeed. There was, however, one impediment to this, which was not for a very C 28 THE HORSE. long period r park a certain number of mares, in proportion to its size, and each at least thirteen hande high should be kept, and that all his prelates and nobles, THE ENGLISH 21' ard " all those whose wives wore velvet bonnets," should keep stallions for the saddle at least fifteen hands high. These ordinances perished with the tyrant by whom they were promulgated. The reign of Henry VIII., produced the earliest English treatise oB agriculture, a^d the management of horses and cattle. It was written by Sir A. Fitzherbert, Judge of the Common Pleas, and contains much useful information. It is entitled, " Boke of Husbandry ;" and, being now ex- ceedingly rare, an extract from it may not be unacceptable. It would seem that the mare had been but lately employed in husbandry, for he says, " A husbande may not be without horses and mares, and specially if he goe with a horse-ploughe he must have both, his horses to draive ; hi.s mares to brynge colts to upholde his stocke, and yet at many times they may draive well if they be well handled." The learned judge shared the common fate of those who have to do with the horse. " Thou grasyer, that mayst fortune to be of myne opinion or condytion to love horses, and young coltes and foles to go among thy cattle, take hede that thou be not beguiled as I have been a hundred tymes and more. And first thou shalt knowe that a good horse has 54 properties, that is to say, 2 of a man, 2 of a badger, 4 of a lion, 9 of an oxe, 9 of a hare, 9 of a foxe, 9 of an asse. and 10 of a woman."* The tyrannical edicts of Henry VIII. had the effect which common sense would have anticipated, — the breed of horses was not materially im- proved, and their numbers were sadly diminished. When the bigot, Philip of Spain, threatened England, in the reign of Elizabeth, with his Invin- cible Armada, that princess could muster in her whole kingdom only three thousand cavalry to oppose him ; and Blundeville, who wrote at this time a very pleasant and excellent book on the art of riding, speaks contemp- tuously of the qualities of these horses. The secret of improving the breed had not been then discovered ; it had been attempted by arbitrary power ; and it had extended only to those crosses from which little good could have been expected : or, rather, it had more reference to the actual situation of the country, and the heavy carriages, and the bad roads, and the tedious travelling which then prevailed, than to the wonderful change in these which a few centuries were destined to effect. Blundeville describes the majority of our horses as consisting of strong, sturdy beasts, fit only for slow draught, and the few of a lighter structure being weak and without bottom. There were, however, some exceptions ; for he relates a case of one of these lighter horses travelling eighty miles in a day — a task which in later times has been too often and cruelly ex- acted from our half-bred nags. An account has been given of the racing trial of the horses in Smithfield market. Regular races were now established in various parts of England. Meetings of this kind were first held at Chester and Stamford ; but there was no acknowledged system as now ; and no breed of racing horses. Hunters and hackneys mingled together, and no description of horse was excluded. * Later writers have pirated from Sir A., but have not improved upon him. The fol- lowing- description of the horse is well known. " A good horse should have three quali- ties of a woman, — a broad breast, round hips, and a long mane ; — three of a lion, — coun- tenance, courage, and fire; three of a bullock, — the eye, the nostril, and joints, — three of a sheep, — the nose, gentleness, and patience; — three of a mule, — strength, constancy, and foot; — three of a deer, — head, legs, and short hair; — three of a wolf; — throat; neck, and hearing ; — three of a fox, — ear, tail, and trot ;— three of a serpent, — memory, sight, and turning'; — and three of a hare or cat, — running, walking, and eupplenees." 2a THE HORSE. Thfi I'e was at first no course marked out for the race, but the contest gen- erally consisted in the running of iraln-sccni across the country, and some- 'tinies the most diflcult and dangerous part of the country was selected for the exhibition. Occasionally our present sieeple chase was adopted with all its dangers, and more than its present barbarity; for persons were appointed cruelly to flog along the jaded and exhausted horses. It should, however, be acknowledged that the races of that period werg not disgraced by the system of gambling and fraud which seems to have become almost inseparable from the amusements of the turf. The prize was usually a wooden bell adorned with flowers. This was afterwards exchanged for a silver bell, and " given to him who should run the best and farthest on horseback on Shrove Tuesday." Hence the common phrase of " bearing away the bell." Horse- racing became gradually more cultivated; but it was not until the last year of the reign of James I., that rules were promulgated and generally subscribed to tor their regulation. That prince was fond of field sports. He had encouraged, if he did not establish, horse-i'acing in Scot- land, and he brought with him to England his predilection for it ; but his races were more often matches against time, or trials of speed and bottom, for absurdly and cruelly long distances. His favourite courses were at Croydon and on Enfield Chase. Although the Turkish and Barbary horses had been freely used to pro- duce with the English mare the breed which was best suited to this exer- cise, little improvement had been effected. James, with great judgment, determined to try the Arab breed. Probably, he had not forgotten the story of the Arabian, which had been presented to one of his Scottish churches, five centuries before. He purchased, from a merchant named Markham, a celebrated Arabian horse, for which he gave the extravagant sum of five hundred pounds. Kings, however, like their subjects, are often thwarted and governed by their servants, and the Duke of Newcastle took a dislike to this foreign animal. He wrote a book, and a very good one, on horse- manship, and described this .\rabian as a little bony horse, of ordinary shape, setting him down as good for nothing, because, after being regularly trained, he could not race. The opinion of the Duke, probably altogether erroneous, had, for nearly a century, great weight ; and the Arabian horse lost its reputation among the English turf- breeders. A South-Eastern horse was afterwards brought into England, and pur- chased by James, of Mr. Place, who was afterwards stud-master, or groom to Oliver Cromwell. This beautiful animal was called the White Turk, and his name and that of his keeper will long be remembered. Shortly afterwards appeared the IMmsley Turk, introduced by Villicrs, the first duke of Buckingham. He was followed by Fairfax's Morocco Barb. These horses speedily effected a considerable change in the character of our breed, so that Lord Harleigh, one of the old school, complained that the great horse was fast disappearing, and that horses were now bred light and fine for the sake of speed only. Charles I. ardently pursued this favourite object of English gentlemen, and, a little before his rupture with the parliament, established races in Hyde Park, and at Newmarket. The civil wars somewhat suspended the improvement of the breed ; yet the advantage which was derived by both parties from a light and active cavalry, sufficiently proved the importance of the change which had been effected ; and Cromwell perceiving, witli his wonted sagacity, how much these pursuits were connected with the prosperity of the country, had his stud of race-horses. THE ROAD AND FARMER'S '^Ig At tho Restoration a new impulse was given to the cultivation of the norse by the inclination of the court to patronize gaiety and dissipation The races at Newmarket were restored, and as an additional spur to emulation, royal plates were now given at each of the principal courses Charles II. sent his master of the horse to the Levant, to purchase brooa nmres and stallions. These were principally Barbs and Turks. From that period to the middle of the last century, the system of im- provement was zealously pursued : every variety of Eastern blood was occasionally engrafted on ours, and the superiority of the engrafted, above the very best of the original stock, began to be evident. Man is rarely satisfied with any degree of perfection in the object on which he has set his heart. The sportsman has now beauty of form, and speed and stoutness, scarcely an approach to which had been observed in the original breed. Still some imagined that this speed and stoutness might possibly be increased ; and Mr. Darley, in the latter part of the reign of Queen Anne, had recourse to the discarded and despised Arabian. He had much prejudice to contend with, and it was sometime before the Darley Arabian attracted notice. At length the value of his produce began to be recognised, and to him we are greatly indebted for a breed of horses of unequalled beauty, speed, and strength. This last improvement now furnishes all that can be desired : nor is this true only of the thorough-bred or turf-horse ; it is, to a very material de. gree, the case with every description of horse. By a judicious admixture and proportion of blood, we have rendered our hunters, our hackneys, our coach, nay even our cart horses, much stronger, more active, and more enduring, than they were before the introduction of the race-horse. CHAPTER IV. THE DIFFERENT BREEDS OF ENGLISH HORSES. The reader is now prepared for the history and distinguishing character of the various bi-eeds of English horses. If we were composing a treatise on the horse adapted for general readers, we should commence with the racer or thorough-bred horse, which, if it be not considered as the parent of every other breed, yet enters into, and adds, or often gives the only value to it. Remembering, however, the title of our work, we will begin with those which are occasionally or chiefly employed for agricultural purposes. First stands the Roadster, or Hackney, whether used by the farmer to ride over his grounds, or for the longer journeys of business or pleasure. The roadster varies much in different districts, and according to the whim or caprice of the rider. We have (p. 2) presented our readers with a portrait of the old English hackney, now, fortunately, little known, ye* fjie origin of our best saddle-horses, whether for the road or the field. The modern horseman will find some fault with him. We give him as he was, and shall proceed to describe a much supei'or animal. so THE HORSE. THE ROAD HORSE. The Road Horse ! more difficult to meet with in perfection than even the l.unter or the courser. There are many reasons for this. The price of lie hackney, or the horse of all-work, is so low, that he who has a good one will not part with him ; and it is by mere accident that he can be obtained. There are also several faults that can be overlooked in the hunter, but which the road-horse must not have. The hunter may start, may be awk- ward in his walk, or even his trot ; he may have thrushes or corns ; but if he can go a good slapping pace, and has wind and bottom, we can put up with him, or prize him : but the hackney, if he be worth having, must have good fore-legs, and good hinder ones too ; he must be sound on his feet ; even-tempered ; no starter : quiet in whatever situation he may be placed ; not heavy in hand ; and never disposed to say his prayers. If there be one thing more than any other, in which the possessor, and, in his own estimation at least, the tolerable judge of the horse, is in error, it is the action of the road-horse : " Let him lift his legs well," it is said, "and he will never come down." In proportion, however, as he lifts his legs well, will be the force with which he puts them down again ; the jar and concussion to the rider ; and the battering and wear and tear of the feet. A horse with too great " knee action" will not always be speedy ; he will rarely be pleasant to ride, and he will not, in the long run, be safer than others. The careless daisy-cutter, however pleasant on the turf, should indeed be avoided, unless 'the neck of the rider be previously insured ; yet it is a rule, not often understood, and sometimes disputed, but which experience will fully confirm, — that the safety of the horse depends a great deal more on the manner in which he puts his feet down, than on that in which he lifts them up : — more on the foot being placed at once flat on the ground, or perhaps the heel coming first in contact with it, than on the highest and most splendid action. When the toe first touches the ground, it may be easily supposed that the horse will occasionally topple over. An unexpected obstacle will throw the centre of gravity forward, and down he will come. If the to© dig into the ground before the foot is firmly placed, a little thiujj will caus* a trip and a fall. THE ROAD <^ Let the farmer who has a stumbler look at the shoes of his horse. In what part is the wear and tear ? — The toe of the shoe will become round, or even be altogether gone, when the heel is scarcely touched. For pleasant riding, and for safety also, a hackney should not carry his legs too high. His going a little too near to the ground is not always to be considered as an insuperable objection. The question is, does he dig his toe into the ground ? Mount him and put him to the test. Take up his feet and examine . them. If the shoe, after having been on a week, or a fortnight, is not unnecessarily worn at the toe, and you feel him put his foot flat on the ground, do not scruple to buy him, nay, esieem him a " choice-gifted hackney," although he may not have the lofty action which some have erroneously thought so necessary. Every horse, however, is liable to fall, and hence comes the golden rule of riding '■^ never trust to your horse," — always feel his mouth lightly. He does wrong who constantly pulls might and main ; he will soon spoil his horse's mouth, and render his own work always necessary. He does worse who carelessly throws the reins on the neck of the horse. Alwvys feel the mouth lightly ; you will thus be able to give the animal assistance immediately, before he is too much off his centre, and when a little check will save him. By this constant gentle feeling you will likewise induce him to carry his head well, than which few things are more conducive to the beautiful, safe, and easy going of the horse. The road-horse may, and should, like the hunter, possess different degrees of blood, according to the nature of the country, and the work re- quired of him. When approaching to thorough-bred, he may be a splendid animal, but he will be scarcely fitted for his duty. His legs will be too slender ; his feet too small ; his stride too long ; and he will rarely be able to trot. Three parts, or half, and for the horse of all-work, even less than that, will make a good and useful animal. The hackney should be a hunter in miniature, with these exceptions. His height should rarely exceed fifteen hands and an inch. He will be sufficiently strong and more pleasant for general work below that standard. He should be of a more compact form than the hunter, and have more bulk according to his height ; for he has not merely to stand an occasional although severe burst, but a great deal of every-day work. It is of essential conse I ( Coneyskins . I ': Daughter of < [ ( Daughter of ] Hutton's Grey Barb. ' Daugliter of \ Leeds Arabian. Lister Turk. { Godolphin Arabian. Regulut. . i i Bald Galloway. ( ' Daughter of ? ( Snake. } Lister Turk. ( Daughter of ^ ' ' Old Wilkes, by Hautboy. C Smith's Son of Snake. Mother Western < , ( Old Montague | Daughter of Hautboy The pedisrree of Eclip.'ic will likewi.«(e afford us another curious illustration of the un- certainty which attends thorough-lired horses. Marsk was sold at tiie sale of the Duke ff Cumberland's stud for a mere trifle, and was suffered to run almost wild on the New RACE HORSE. 47 Of the beauty, yet peculiarity of his form, much has been said. The very great size, obliquity, and lowness of his shoulders were the objects of general remark — with the shortness of his fore-quarters, his ample and finely proportioned quarters, and the swelling muscles of his fore-arm and thigh. Of his speed, no correct estimate can be formed, for he never me* with an opponent sufficiently fleet to put it to the test. He was bred by the Duke of Cumberland, and sold at his death to Mr. Wildman a sheep salesman, for seventy-five guineas. Colonel O'Kelly purchased a share of him from Wildman. In the spring of the following year, when the reputation of this wonderful animal was at its height, O'Kelly wished to become sole owner of him, and bought the remaining share for one thousand pounds. Eclipse was what was termed a thick-winded horse, and puffed and roared so as to be heard at a considerable distance. For this or some other cause, he was not brought on the turf until he was five years old. O'Kelly, aware of his horse's powers, had backed him freely on his first race, in May, 1769. This excited curiosity, or, perhaps, roused sus- picion, and some persons attempted to watch one of his trials. Mr. John Lawrence says, that " they were a little too late ; but they found an old woman who gave them all the information they wanted. On inquiring whether she had seen a race, she replied that she could not tell whether it was a race or not, but that she had just seen a horse with white legs running away at a monstrous rate, and another horse a great way behind, trying to run after him ; but she was sure he never would catch the white- legged horse if he ran to the world's end." The first heat was easily won, when O'Kelly, observing that the rider had been pulling at Eclipse during the whole of the race, offered a wager that he placed the horses in the next heat. This seemed a thing so highly improbable, that he immediately had bets to a large amount. Being called on to declare, he replied, " Eclipse first, and the rest no where !" Tlie event justified his prediction : all the others were distanced by Eclipse with the greatest ease ; or, in the language of the turf, they had no place. In the spring of the following year, he beat Mr. Wentworth's Bucephalus, Forest. He was afterwards purchased by the Earl of Abing-don, for one thousand guineas, and before his death covered for one hundred guineas. Squiht, when the property of Sir Harry Harpur, was ordered to be shot, and while he was actually leading- to the dog-- kennel, he was spared at the intercession of one of Sir Harry's grooms; and neither Bartlett's Childer's, nor Snake, was ever trained. On the side of tlie dam, Spilet: a never started but once, and was beaten : and the Godolphin Arabian was purchas»d from a waler-cart in Paris. — Smith's Breeding for the Turf, p. 5. 4ti THE HORSE. who ha 1 never before been conquered. Two days afterwards he distanced Mr. Strode's Pensioner, a very good horse ; and, in the August of the same year, he won the great subscription at York. No horse daring to enter against him, he closed his short career of seventeen months, by walliing over the Newmarket course for the king's plate, on October 18th, 1770. He was never beaten, nor ever paid forfeit, and won for his owner more tiian twenty-five thousand pounds. Eclipse was afterwards employed as a stallion, and produced the extraordinary number of three hundred and thirty-four winners, and these netted to their owners more than a hundred and sixty thousand pounds, exclusive of plates and cups. This fine animal died in 1789, at the age of twenty-five years.* More than twenty years after the Darley Arabian, and when the value of the Arabian blood was fully established. Lord Godolphin possessed a beautiful, but singularly shaped horse, which he called an Arabian, but which was really a Barb. His crest, lofty and arched almost to a fault, will distinguish him from every other horse. It will likewise be seen from our j)late (vide p. 9,) that he had a sinking behind his shoulders, almost as peculiar, and a corresponding elevation of the spine towards the loins. His muzzle was uncommonly fine, his head beautifully set on, his shoulders capacious, and his quarters well spread out. He was picked up in France, where he was actually employed in drawing a cart; and when he was afterwards presented to Lord Godolphin, he was in that nobleman's stud a considerable time before his value was discovered. It was not until the birth of Lath, one of the first horses of that period, that his excellence began to be appreciated. Pie was then styled an Arabian, and became, in even a greater degree than the Darley, the founder of the modern thorough-bred horses. He died in 1753, at the age of twenty-nine. An intimate friendship subsisted between him and a cat, which either sat on his back when he was in the stable, or nestled as closely to him as she could. At his death, the cat refused her food, and pined away, and soon died. — Mr. Holcroft gives a similar relation of the attachment between a race-horse and a cat, which the courser would take in his mouth and place in his manger and upon his back without hurting her. Chillaby, called from his great ferocity the Mad Arabian, whom one only of the grooms dared to approach, and who savagely tore to pieces the image of a man that was purposely placed in his way, had his peculiar attachment to a lamb, who used to employ himself for many an hour, in butting away the flies from him. Another foreign horse, whose portrait we have given (vide p. 11,) was the Wellesley Arabian; the very picture of a beautiful wild horse of the desert. His precise country was never determined. He is evidently neither a perfect Barb nor a perfect Arabian, but from some neighbouring province, where both the Barb and Arabian would expand to a more per- fect fulness of form. This horse has been erroneously selected as the pat- tern of a superior Arabian, and therefore we have introduced him ; few, however, of his produce were trained who can add much to his reputation. It has been imagined that the breed of racing horses has lately very considerably degenerated. This is not the case. Thorough-bred horses * The produce of Kinp- Herod, a descendant of Flyinpr Childcrs, was even mor* numerous. He g-ot no less than four hundred and ninoty-scvon winners, who gained foi their proprietors upwards of two hundred thousand pounds. Highflyer was a Bc^n '>t Kiag Herod. THE RACER. 49 were formerly fewer in number, and their performances created greater wonder. The breed has now increased twenty-fold, and supjeriority is not so easily obtained among so many competitors. If one circnmstance could, more than any other, produce this degeneracy, it would be our absurd ant^ cruel habit of bringing out horses too soon, and the frequent failure of their legs before they have come to their full power. Childers and Eclipse did not appear until they were five years old ; but many of our best horses, and those, perhaps, who would have shown equal excel- lence with the most celebrated racers, are foundered and destroyed before that period. Whether the introduction of short races, and so young horses, be ad- vantageous, and whether stoutness and usefulness may not thus be some- what too much sacrificed to speed — whether there may be danger that an animal designed for service may, in process of time, be frittered away almost to a shadow of what he was, in order that at two years old, over the one-mile course, he may astonish the crowd by his fleetness — are questions that more concern the sporting man than the agriculturist ; and yet they concern the agriculturist too, for racing is principally valuable as connected with breeding, and as the test of breeding. The horse enters into the spirit of the race as thoroughly as does his rider, and, without whip or spur, will generally exert his energies to the utmost to beat his opponent. It is beautiful to see him advancing to the starting-post, every motion evincing his eagerness. The signal is given, and he springs away — he settles himself in his stride — the jockey becomes a part and portion of him, every motion of the arms and body corre- sponding with, and assisting the action of the horse. On he goes, eager, yet husbanding his powers. At length, when he arrives at that distance from which the rider knows that he will live home at the top of his speed, the hint is given, and on he rushes. Then the race in reality begins, and every nerve is strained to head his competitor. Then, too, comes the art of the rider, to keep the horse within his pace, and with admirable give and talce, add to the length of every stride. Then, perhaps, the spur, skilfully applied, may be necessary to rouse every dormant energy. A sluggish lurching horse may need more punishment than the humane observer would think justifiable. But the natural ardour of the race-horse, roused at the moment of the grand struggle, by the moderate application of the whip and spur, will bring him through if he can win. Forrester will afford suflacient illustration of the natural emulation of the courser. — He had won many a hardly contested race ; at length, over- weighted and over-matched, the rally had commenced. His opponent, who had been waiting behind, was gaining upon him ; he overtook him, and they continued quite close to within the distance. It was a point that could scarcely be decided. But Forrester's strength was failing. He made one desperate plunge — seized his antagonist by the jaw to hold him back, and could scarcely be forced to quit his hold. In like manner, a horse belonging to Mr. Quin, in 1753, finding his adversary gradually passing him, seized him by the leg, and both riders were obliged to dismount, in order to separate the animals. Let us here pause and ask, would the butcherly whipping and cutting which seems so often to form the expected and necessary conclusion of the race — the supposed display of the skill of the rider — the exultation of the thoughtless or unfeeling spectator — would these have carried such horses over one additional inch of ground ? They would have been thrown abroad — they would have shortened their stroke —and perhaps Mould have become enraged, and suspended every exertion. 50 THE HORSE. The }io-se is as susceptible of pleasure and pain as ourselves. He was coinmilied to us for our protection and our use ; he is a willing, devotee* servant. Whence did we derive the right to abuse him ? Interest speaks the same language : many a race has been lost by the infliction of wanton cruelty-* THE HUNTER. There are few agriculturists who have not a little liking for the sports of the field, and who do not fancy rich music in the cry of the hounds. To what extent it may be prudent for them to indulge in these sports circum- stances must decide, and they deserve the most serious consideration. Few can, or, if they could, ought to keep a hunter. There are tempta- tions to expense in the field, and to expense after the chase, which it may be difficult to withstand. The hunter, however, or the hunting horse, ♦ One of the severest plate-races on record, was run at Carlisle, in 1761, and in which there were no fewer than six heats, and two of them were dead heats, each of which was contested by the winner of the.plate. In 1763 at Salisbury, and over a four-mile course, there were four heats between two horses, the Duke of Grafton's Havana and Mr. Wildman's Pam. The following- table of the abbreviations used in dcsig-nating- the different courses at Newmarket, and the length of these courses, may not be unnacceptable. « Abbrcv. Miles. Furl. Yds. The Beacon course B.C. is 4 1 138 Last three miles of ditto - L.T.M. 3 0 5 F'rotn the Ditch in - - D.I. 2 0 94 From the turn of the lands in T.L.I. 0 5 184 Clermont course C.C. 1 5 217 Across the Flat A.F. 1 I 447 Two-year old course T.Y.C. 0 5 136 Yearling course Y.C. 0 2 147 Round course ... R.C. 3 6 93 Ditch mile ... D.M. 0 7 148 Abing-don mile . . . A.M. 0 7 211 Rowley mile ... R.M. 1 0 1 Two middle miles of B.C. . T.M.M. 1 7 115 A Dista:nce is the leng-th of two hundred and forty yards from the winiiincf post. In the pallery of the winning post, and in a little pallery at the di.stanco pi .-i are placed two men holding crimwon flags. As soon as the the first horse has passed the winning post, tba THE HUNTER. 51 f. e. the horse on whieh a farmer, if he be not a professed sportsman, may occasionally with pleasure, and without disgrace, follow the hounds, is in value and beauty next to the racer. He shoulg seldom be under fifteen or more than sixteen hands high ; below this standard he cannot always sufficiently measure the object befoie him, and above this, he is apt to be leggy, and awkward at his work. In proportion as the agriculture of the country is improved, the speed of the chase is increased. The scent both of the fox and hare will lie bettei in inclosed and well-cultivated ground, than on open, barren heaths ; and there is more running breast-high than when the hound is compelled to pick out the scent, carrying his nose almost close to the ground, and con- sequently going more slowly. The character of the hunter is consequently gradually changing. Stoutness is still required, but speed is becoming more necessary, and, therefore, for the fox, and the deer, and even for the hare, blood is an essential quality. In strong, thickly inclosed countries, the half-bred horse may get toler- ably well along ; but for general use the hunter should be at least three- quarters bred, perhaps seven-eighths. If he could be obtained with bone enough, and difi^erent action, a thorovgh-hred horse would form the best of all hunters : but the thorough-bred horse, with the usual action of the racer, would not, even at three-quarters speed, always carry himself sufficiently high to be aware of and to clear his fences. The first property of a good hunter is, that he should be light in hand. For this purpose his head must be small ; his neck thin ; and especially thin beneath ; his crest firm and arched, and his jaws wide. The head will then be well set on. It will form that angle with the neck which gives a light and pleasant mouth. Somewhat of a ewe-neck, however it may lessen the beauty of the race- horse, does not interfere with his speed, because, as is shown where the structure of the horse is considered, more weight may be thrown forward, and consequently the whole bulk of the animal more easily impelled ; at the same time, the head is more readily and perfectly extended, the wind- pipe is brought almost to a straight line from the lungs to the muzzle, and the breathing is freer. Should the courser, in consequence of this form of the neck, bear more heavily on the hand, the race is soon over ; but the hunter may be our companion and our servant through a long day, and it is of essential consequence that he shall not too much annoy and tire us by the weight of his head and neck. The forehand should be loftier than that of the racer. A turf horse may be forgiven if his hind quarters rise an inch or two above his fore ones. His principal power is wanted from behind, and the veVy lowness of the man drops his flag ; the other at the distance post drops his at the same moment, and the horse which has not then passed that post is said to be distanced, and cannot start again for the same plate or prize. A Feather-weight is the lightest weight that can be put on the back of a horse. A Give and Take Plate is where horses carry weight according to their height. Four- teen hands are taken as the standard height, and horse must carry nine stone (the horse- man's stone is fourteen pounds.) Seven pounds are taken from the weight for every inch below fourteen hands, and seven pounds added for every inch above fourteen hands. A few pounds additional weight is so serious an evil, that it is said, seven pounds in a mile race are equivalent to a distance. A Post Match is for horses of a certain age, and the parties possess the privilege of bringing any horse of that age to the post. A PnoDucE Match is that between the produce of certain mares in foal at the time of ihe match and to be decided when they arrive at a certain age specified. 52 THE HORSE. fore/iand vTiay throw more weight in front, and cause the whole machine to be more easily and speedily moved. A lofty forehand, however, is indis- pensal)le in the hunter ; the shoulder as extensive as the racer ; — as ob lique and somewhat thicker; the saddle will then be in its proper place, and will continue so, however long may be the run. The barrel should be rounder, to give greater room for the heart and lungs to play, and send more and purer blood to the larger frame of this iiorse ; and especially more room to play when the run may continue un- checked for a time that begins to be distressing. A broad chest is an excellence in the hunter. — In the violent and long-continued exertion of the chase, the respiration is exceedingly quickened, and abundantly more blood is hurried through the lungs in a given time than when the animal is at rest. There must be sufficient room for this, or the horse will be blown, and possibly destroyed. The majority of the horses that perish in the field are narrow chested. The arm should be as muscular as that of the courser, or even more so, for both strength and endurance are wanted. The leg should be deeper than that of the race horse (broader as you stand at the side of the horse,) and especially beneath the knee. In proportion to the distance of the tendon from the cannon or shank-bone, and more particularly just below the knee, is the mechanical advantage with which it acts. A racer may be tied beneath the knee, without per- fectly destroying his power, but a hunter with this defect will rarely have stoutness. If any objection be made to our cut of the hunter, it will be that the mare was too fine below the knee. It was the only bad point in an almost perfect form. She was the property of T. Millington, Esq., to whose kindness we are indebted for permission to copy her portrait. She would go over any thing, and was never tired. The leg should be shorter. Higher action is required than in the racer, that the legs may be clearly and safely lifted over many an obstacle, and, particularly, that they may be well doubled up in the leap. The pastern should be shorter, and less slanting, yet retaining consider- able obliquity. The long pastern is useful, by the yielding resistance which its elasticity affords, to break the concussion with which the race- horse from his immense stride and speed must come on the ground : and the oblique direction of the different bones beautifully contributes to effect the same purpose. With this elasticity, however, a considerable degree of weakness is necessarily connected, and the race-horse occasionally breaks down in the middle of his course. The hunter, from his different action, lakes not this length of stride, and therefore wants not all this elastic me- chanism ; he more needs strength to support his own heavier carcase, and the greater weight of his rider, and to undergo the fatigue of a long day. Some obliquity, however, he requires, otherwise the concussion even of his shorter gallop, and more particularly of his frequently tremendous leaps, would inevitably lame him. The foot of the hunter is a most material point. It is of consequence in the racer, yet it is a notorious fact, that many of our best thorough-bred horses have had very indifferent feet. The narrow contracted foot is the curse of much of the racing blood. The work of the racer, however, is all performed on the turf, and his bad feet may scarcely incommode him ; but the foot of the hunter is battered over many a flinty road and stony field, and if not particularly good, will soon be disabled and ruined The position of the feet requires some attention in the hMnter. They THE HUNTER. 55 should, if possible, stand straight. If they turn a little outwnrd there is nf serious objection ; but if they turn inward, his action cannot be safe, par- ticularly when he is fatigued or over- weighted. The body should be short and compact, compared with that of the race- horse, that he may not in his gallop take too extended a stride. This would be a serious disadvantage in a long day and with a heavy rider from the stress on the pasterns ; and more serious when going over clayev poached ground during the winter months. The compact short-stridea horse will almost skim the surface, while the feet of the longer-reached animal will sink deep, and he will wear himself out by efforts to disengage himself Every horseman knows how rrtuch more enduring is a short-bodied horse in climbing hills, although perhaps not quite so much in descending them. This is the secret of suiting the race-horse to his course ; and unfolds the apparent mystery of a decidedly superior horse on a flat and straight course, being often beaten by a little horse with far shorter stride on uneven ground, and with several turnings. The loins should be broad ; — the quarters long ; — the thighs musculai — the hocks well bent, and well under the horse. The reader needs not be told how essential temper and courage are. A hot, irritable brute is a perfect nuisance, and the coward that will scarcely face the slightest fence exposes his owner to ridicule. The training of the race-horse has not been touched upon. It contains too much mystery, and too much absurdity for common understandings. The principle however of preparing both the race-horse and the hunter for their work is the same, and can have no mystery about it ; viz : by physic and by exercise, to get rid of all superfluous fat and flesh, without too much lowering the animal ; and, particularly to bring him by dint of exercise into good wind, and accustom him to the full trial of his powers without over-straining or injuring him. Two or three doses of physic as the season approaches, and these not too strong ; plenty of good hard meat ; and a daily gallop of a couple of miles, and at a pace not too quick, will be nearly all that can be required. Physic must not be omitted ; but the three words air, exercise, food, contain the grand secret and art of training. Some think that even the simple process now described is not necessary, and that horses that are taken up and worked in the day, and with a feed or two of corn, and turned out at night, with an open stable or shed to run into if they please, are as active, healthy, and enduring, as those who are most carefully trained, and confined to the stable during the hunting season. Many a farmer has boasted, that he can beat the most numerous and the best appointed field, and that his horse never wants wind, and rarely tires. It is true that the farmer may enjoy a good day's sport on the horse that carries him to market, or possibly, occasionally performs more menial drudgery ; but the frothy lather with which such a horse is covered in the early part of the day evinces undeniable inferiority. There is, however, one point on which the untrained horse has the advantage. Accustomed to all weather, he rarely suffers, when, after a sharp burst, there comes a sudden check, and the pampered and shivering stabled horse is exposed with him for a considerable time to a piercing north-easter. The one cares nothing about it ; the other may carry home the seeds of dangerous disease. The hunter may be fairly ridden twice, or, if not with any very hard 54 THE HORSE. days thrt^e times in the week ; but, after a thorouglily hard day, and evi. dent distress, three or four days' rest should be allowed. They who are merciful to their horses, allow about thirty days' work in the course of the season ; with gentle exercise on each of the intermediate days, and particularly a sweat on the day before hunting. There is an account, however, of one horse who followed the fox-hounds seventy-five times in one season. This feat has never been exceeded. We recollect to have seen the last Duke of Richmond but one, although an old man, and when he had the gout in his hands so severely that he was obliged to be lifted on horseback, and both arms being passed through the reins, were crossed on his breast, galloping down the steepest part of Bow-hill, in the neighbourhood of Goodwood, almost as abrupt as the ridge of an ordinary house, and cheering on the hounds with all the ardour of a youth.* The horse fully shares in the enthusiasm of his rider. It is beautiful to watch the old hunter, who, after many a winters' hard work, is turned into the park to enjoy himself for life. His attitude and his countenance when, perchance, he hears the distant cry of the dogs, are a study. If he can, he will break his fence, and, over hedge, and lane, and brook, follow the chase, and come in first at the death. A horse that had, a short time before, been severely fired on three legs, and was placed in a loose box, with the door, four feet high, closed, and an aperture over it a little more than three feet square, and standing himself nearly sixteen hands, and master of fifteen stone, hearing the cheering of the huntsmen and the cry of the dogs at no great distance, sprung through the aperture without leaving a single mark on the bottom, the top or liie sides. Then, if the horse be thus ready to exert himself for our pleasure — and pleasure alone is here the object — it is indefensible and brutal to urge him * Sir John Malcolm (in his sketches of Persia) gives an amusing account of the im- pression which a fox-hunt in the English style made on an Arab : "I was entertained by listening to an Arab peasant, who, with animated gestures, was narrating to a group of his countrymen all he had seen of this noble hunt. ' There came the fox,' said he, pointing with a crooked stick to a clump of date trees, ' there he came at a great rate. I hallooed, but nobody heard me, and I thought he must get away; but when he got quite out of sight, up came a large spotted dog, and then another and anotlier. They all had their noses to the ground, and gave tongue — whow, whow, whow — so loud, I was frightened. Away went these devils, who soon found the poor animal. After them galloped the Foringecs (a corruption of Prank, the name given to an European over -.ill Asia,) shouting and trying to make a noise louder than the dogs. No wonder they killed the fox among them.' " The Treasurer, Burleigh, the sage councillor of Q.ueen Elizabeth, could not enter into the pleasures of the chase. Old Andrew Fuller relates a quaint story of him : "When some noblemen had gotten William Cecill Lord Burleigh to ride with them a hunting, and the sport began to be cold, ' What call you this?' said the treasurer. ' On ' now the dogs are at fault,' was the reply. ' Y^ea,' quoth tlie treasurer, 'take me again in such a fault, and I'll give you leave to punish me.' " In former times it was the fashion for women to hunt almost as often and as keenly as the men. Q,ueen Elizabeth was extremely fond vi the chase. Rowland Whyte, in a letter to Sir Robert Sidney, says : " Her majesty is well, and excellently disposed to hurt- ing; for every second day she is on horseback, and continues the sport long." This custom soon afterwards began to decline, and the jokes and sarcasms of the witty court of Charles II. contributed to discountenance it. It is a curious circumstance, that the first work on hunting that proceeded from the press, was from the pen of a female, Juliana Barnes, or Berners, the sister of Lord .BerneTg, aud prioress of the nunnery of Sopewell, about the year I4ol. THE HUNTER. 55 beyond his own natural ardour, so severely as we sometimes do, and even until nature is quite exhausted. We do not often hear of a "hard-day," without beini^ likewise informed, that one or more horses either died in the field, or scarcely reached home before they expired. Some have been thoughtless and cruel enough to kill two horses in one day. One of the severest chases on record was by the king's stag-hounds. There was an uninterrupted burst of four hours and twenty minutes. One horse dropped dead in the field ; another died before he could reach the stable ; and seven more within a week afterwards. It is very conceivable, and does sometimes happen, that, entering as fully as his master into the sports of the day, the horse disdains to yield to fatigue, and voluntarily presses on, until nature is exhausted, and he falls and dies ; but much oftenep, the poor animal has, intelligibly enough, hinted his distress ; unwilling to give in, yet painfully and faulteringly holding on. The merciless rider, rather than give up one hour's enjoyment, tortures him with whip and spur, until he drops and expires. Although the hunter may be unwilling to relinquish the chase, he who <' is merciful to his beast" will soon recognise the symptoms of excessive and dangerous distress. To the drooping pace and staggering gait, and heaving flank, and heavy bearing on hand, will be added a very peculiar noise. The inexperienced person will fancy it to be the beating of the heart; but that has almost ceased to beat, and the lungs are becoming gorged with blood. It is the convulsive motion of the muscles of the belly, called into violent action to assist in the now laborious office of breathing. The man who proceeds a single mile after this ought to suffer the punish- ment he is inflicting.* , Let the rider instantly dismount. If he has a lancet, and skill to use it, let him take away five or six quarts of blood ; or if he has no lancet, let him cut the burs with his pocket knife as deeply as he can. The lungs may be thus relieved, and the horse may be able to crawl home. Then, or before, if possible, let some powerful cordial be administered. Cordials are, generally speaking, the disgrace and bane of the stable ; but here, and almost here alone, they are truly valuable. They may rouse the exhausted powers of nature ; they may prevent what the medical man would call the reaction of inflammation ; although they are the veriest poison when in- flammation has commenced. A favourite hunter fell after a long burst, and lay stretched out, convulsed, and apparently dying. His master procured a bottle of good sherry from the house of a neighbouring friend, and poured it down the animal's * We should almost rejoice if the abused quadruped, cruelly urg-ed beyond his powers, were to inflict on his rider the punishment which a Spanish ruffian received, when mercilessly torturing-, in a similar way, a poor Indian slave, who was carrying- him on his back over the mountains. It is thus related by Captain Cochrane, (Colombia ii. 357.) — " Shortly after passing- this stream, we arrived at an abrupt precipice, which went perpendicularly down about fifteen hundred feet, to a mountain torrent below. There Lieutenant Ortegpas narrated to me the following- anecdote of the cruelty and punishment of a Spanish officer: — This inhuman wretch, having fastened on an immense pair of mule spurs, was incessantly darting the rowels into the bare flesh of the tortured eillero, who in vain remonstrated with his persecutor, and assured him he could not quicken his pace. The officer only plied his spurs th^ more, in proportion to the murmurs <>f the sillero. At last the man, roused to the highest pitch of infuriated excitement and resentment, from the relentless attacks of the officer, on reaching this place, jerked him from his chair into the immense depth of the torrent below, where he was killed, and hia body could not be recovered. Tlie sillero dashed oiT at full speed, escaped into the mouDtain, and was never after heard of." 50 THE HORSR, throat. The horse immediately began to revive; soon after, got up; walked home, and gradually recovered. The sportsman may not always be able to get this, but he may obtain a cordial-ball from the neai^est farrier, or he may beg a little ginger from some good house-wife, and mix it with warm ale, or he may give the ale alone, or strength- ened with a little rum or gin. When he gets home, or if he stops at the first stable he finds, let the horse be put into the coolest place, and then well clothed and diligently rubbed about the legs and belly. The practice of putting the animal, thus distressed, into " a comfortable warm stable," and excluding every breath of air, has destroyed many valuable horses. We are now describing the very earliest treatment to be adopted, and before it may be possible to call in an experienced practitioner. This stimulating plan would be fatal twelve hours afterwards. It will, however, be the wisest course, to commit the animal, the first moment it is practica- ble, to the care of the veterinary surgeon, if such there be in the neigh- bourhood, in whom confidence can be placed. The labours and the pleasures of the hunting season being passed, the farmer makes little or no difference in the management of his untrained horse ; but the wealthier sportsman is somewhat at a loss what to do with his. It used to be thought, that when the animal who had so long con- tributed, sometimes voluntarily, and sometimes with a little compulsion, to the enjoyment of his owner, he ought, for a few months, to be permitted to seek his own amusement, in his own way ; and he was turned out for a summer's run at grass. Fashion, which governs every thing, and now and then most cruelly and absurdly, has exercised her tyranny over this poor quadruped. His field, where he could wander and gambol as he liked, is changed to a loose box; and the liberty in which he so evidently exulted, to an hour's walking exercise daily. He is allowed vetches, or grass occasionally, but fi'om his box he stirs not, except for his dull morn- ing's round, until he is taken into training for the next winter's business. In this, however, as in most other things, there is a medium. There are few horses who have not materially suffered in iheir legs and feet, before the close of the hunting season. There is nothing so refreshing tc their feet as the damp coolness of the grass into which they are turned in May ; and nothing so calculated to remove every enlargement and sprain, as the gentle exercise which the animal voluntarily takes while his legs are exposed to the cooling process of evaporation, which is taking place from the herbage he treads. The experience of ages has shown, that it is superior to all the embrocations and bandages of the most skilful veterinarian. It is the renovating process of nature, where the art of man fails. The spring grass is the best physic that can possibly be administered to the horse. To a degree, which no artificial ap(>rient or diuretic can attain, ii carries off every humour which may be lurking about the animal ; it fines down the roundness of the legs ; and, except there be some bony enlargement, restores them almost to their original form and strength. When, however, the summer has thoroughly set in, the grass ceases to I)e succulent, aperient, or medicinal ; the ground is no longer cool and moist, at least during the day ; and a host of tormentors, in the shape of flics. are from sun-rise to svm-set persecuting the poor animal. Running and stamping to rid himself of his plagues, his feet are battered by the hard ground, and he newly, and perhaps more severely, injures his legs. Kept GALLOWAYS AND PONIES. 5T n a constant state of irritation and fever, he rapidly loses his condition, and sometimes comes up in August little better than a skeleton. Let the horse be turned out as soon as possible after the hunting season is over. Let him have the whole of May, and the greater part, or possibh the whole of June ; but when the grass fails, and the ground gets hard, and the flies torment, let him be taken up. All the benefits of turnincr out, and that which a loose box and artificial physic can never give, will have been obtained, without the inconvenience and injury which attend an injudiciously protracted run at grass, and which, arguing against the use of a thing from the abuse of it, have been improperly urged against turning out at all. The Steeple Hunt is a relic of ancient foolhardiness and cruelty. It was the form under which the horse-race, at its first establishment, was frequently decided. It is a race across the country, of two, or four, or even a greater number of miles ; and it is generally contrived that there shall be some deep lane, or wide brook, and many a stiff and dangerous fence between. It is ridden at the evident hazard of the life of the sportsman ; and it likewise puts to hazard the life or enjoyment of the horse. It is getting into gradual disuse, and no man whose good opinion is worth having would deem such an exhibition creditable to tliQ head or heart of him who was engaged in it. GALLOWAYS AND PONIES. A horse between thirteen and fourteen hands in height is called a Gal- EOWAY, from a beautiful breed of little horses once found in the south of Scotland, on the shore of the Solway Firth, but now sadly degenerated, and almost lost from the attempts of the farmers to obtain a larger kind, and better adapted for the purposes of agriculture. There is a tradition in that country that the breed is of Spanish extraction, some horses having escaped from one of the vessels of the Grand Armada, which was wrecked in the neighbouring coast. This district, however, so early as the time ©f Edward I., supplied that monarch with a great number of horses. The pure Galloway was said to be nearly fourteen hands high, and some E 58 THE HORSE. times more , of a bright bay, or brown, with black legs, small head and neck, and peculiarly deep and clean legs. Its qualities were speed, stout- ness, and sure-footedness over a very rugged and mountainous country. Dr. Anderson thus describes the galloway : *' There was once a breed of small elegant horses ii* Scotland, similar to those of Iceland and Sweden, and which were known by the name of galloways ; the best of which sometimes reached the height of fourteen hands and a half. One of this description I possessed, it having been bought for my use when a boy. In point of elegance of shape it was a perfect picture ; and in dis- position was gentle and compliant. It moved almost with a wish, and never tired. I rode this little creature for twenty-five years, and, twice in that time, I rode a hundred and fifty miles at a stretch, without stopping, except to bait, and that not for above an hour at a time. It came in at tlie last stage with as much ease and alacrity as it travelled the first. I could have undertaken to have performed on this beast, when it was in its prime, sixty miles a-day for a twelvemonth running without any ex- traordinary exertion." A galloway, in point of size, whether of Scotch origin or not we are uncertain, performed, about the year 1814, a greater feat than Dr. Anderson's favourite. It started from London with the Exeter mail, and notwithstanding the numerous changes of horses, and the rapid driving of that vehicle, it arrived at Exeter (one hundred and seventy- two miles) a quarter of an hour before the mail. We saw him about a twelvemonth afterwards, wind-galled, spavined, ring-boned, and a lament- able picture of the ingratitude of some human brutes towards a willing and faithful servant. In 1754 Mr. Corker's galloway went one hundred miles a-day for three successive days, over the Newmarket course, and without the slightest distress. A galloway belonging to Mr. Sinclair, of Kirby-Lonsdale, performed at (Jarlisle the extraordinary feat of one thousand miles in a thousand hours. Many of the galloways now in use are procured either from Wales or the New Forest, but they have materially diminished in number : there are scarcely sufficient to supply even the neighbouring districts, and they are still more materially deteriorated in form and value. Both the Welsh and the Hampshire galloways and ponies claim, however, some noble blood. Old Marsk, before his value was known, contributed to the improvement of the Hampshire breed ; and the Welsh ponies are said to be indebted to the celebrated Merlin for their form and qualities. The Wehh Pony is one of the most beautiful little animals that can be imagined. He has a small head, high withers, deep yet round barrel, short joints, flat legs, and good round feet. He will live on any fare, and can never be tired out. The New -foresters, no' withstanding their Marsk-blood, are generally ill-made, large-headed, short-necked, ragged hipped, but hardy, safe, and useful ; with much of their ancient spirit and speed, and all their old paces. The catching of these ponies is as great a trial of skill, as tlie hunting of the wild-horse on the Pampas of South America, and a greater one of patience. A great many ponies, of little value, used to be reared in Lincolnshire, in the neighbourhood of Boston, but the breed has been neglected for some years, and the inclosure of the fens will render it extinct. The Exmoor Ponies, although generally ugly enough, are hardy ana useliil. A well-known sportsman says, that he rode one of them half » GALLOWAYS AND PONIES. 5^ dozen miles, and never felt such power and action in so small a compass before. To show his accomplishments, he was turned over a gate at least eitrht inches higher than his back ; and his owner, who rides fourteeo stone, travelled on him from Bristol to South Molton, eighty-six miles, beating the coach which runs the same road. The horses which are still used in Devonshire, and particularly in the M'estern and southern districts, under the denomination of Pack-Hokses, are a larger variety of the Exmoor or Dartmoor breed. The saddle- horses of Devonshire are mostly procured from the more eastern counties. There ai-e many farms in that beautiful part of the kingdom on which there is not a pair of wheels. Hay, corn, straw, fuel, stones, dung, lime, &;c., are carried on horseback ; and in harvest, sledges drawn by oxen and horses are used. This was probably in early times the mode of con- veyance throughout the kingdom, and is continued in these districts, partly from the hilliness of the country, and more from backwardness in all matters of improvement. Light articles, as corn, straw, faggots, &;c., are carried in crooks, formed of willow poles, of the thickness of scythe-handles, bent as ox-bows, and with one end much longer than the other ; these are joined in pairs by cross-bars, eighteen inches or two feet long, and each horse has two pair of them, slung together, so that the shorter ends lie against the pack-saddle, and the longer stand four or five feet from each other, and rise fifteen or eighteen inches above the horse's back. Within and between these crooks the load is piled. Dung, sand, &c., are carried in pot^, or strong coarse panniers, slung together in the same way, and the dung ridged up over the saddle. At the bottom of the pot is a falling door, and at the end of the journey the trap is unlatched, and the load falls out. There is on Dartmoor a race of ponies much in request in that vicinity, being sure-footed, and hardy, and admirably calculated to scramble over the rough roads and dreary wilds of that mountainous district. The Dartmoor pony is larger than the Exmoor, and, if possible, uglier He exists there almost in a state of nature. The late Captain Colgrave, of the prison, had a great desire to possess one of them, of somewhat superior figure to its fellows, and having several men to assist him, they separated it from the herd. They drove it on some rocks by the side of a tor (an abrupt pointed hill) ; a man followed on horseback, while the Captain stood below watching the chase. The little animal, being driven into a corner, leaped completely over the man and horse, and escaped. The Highland Pony is far inferior to the galloway. The head is large, he is low before, long in the back, short in the legs, upright in the pasterns, rather slow in his paces, and not pleasant to ride, except in the canter. His habits make him hardy, for he is rarely housed in the summer or the winter. The Rev. Mr, Hall, in his "Travels in Scotland," says, "that when these animals come to any boggy piece of ground, they first put their nose to it, and then pat on it in a peculiar way with one of their fore- feet, and from the sound and feel of the ground, they know whether it will bear them. They do the same with ice, and determine in a minute whether they will proceed." The Shetland Pony, called in Scotland Sheltie, an inhabitant of the extremest northern Scottish isles, is a very diminutive animal, sometimes not seven hands and a half in height, and rarely exceeding nine and a half. He is often exceedingly beautiful, with a small head, good-tempered coun- tenance, a short neck, fine towards the throttle, shoulders low and thick, (in so little a creature far from being a blemish,) back short, quarters expanded 60 THE HORSE. and po^verflll, legs flat and fine, and pretty round feet. They possess immense strength for their size, will fatten upon any thing, and are per- fectly docile. One of them, nine hands or three feet in height, carried a man of twelve stone, forty miles in one day. THE SHETLAND PONY. Our cut is the portrait of a Sheltie, the property of Lord Verulam, painted by Mr. Ward. A friend of ours was, not long ago, presented with one of these elegant little animals. He was several miles from home, and puzzled how to convey his newly-acquired property. The Shetlander was scarcely more than seven hands high, and as docile as he was beautiful. " Can we not carry him in your chaise ?" said his friend. The strange experiment was tried. The Sheltie was placed in the bottom of the gig, and covered up as well as could be managed with the apron ; a few bits of bread kept him quiet ; and thus he was safely conveyed away, and exhibited the curious spectacle of a horse riding in a gig. In the southern parts of the kingdom the Shetlanders have a very pleasing appearance, harnessed to a light garden chair, or carrying an almost baby rider. There are several of them now running in Windsor park. It has been disputed whether the pony and large English horse were, or could be, originally from the same stock. The question is difficult to answer. It is not impossible that they might have one common extraction, and, if we reflect on the effect of feeding, it is not so improbable as it may at first appear. Mr. Parkinson * relates a circumstance, very much to the point, that fell under his observation. His father had a mare that brought him no less than fourteen colts, and all by the same horse, and not one of which at three years old was under seventeen hands. She was in the fifteenth foal by the same horse, when he sold her to a neighbouring farmer, reserving the foal, which was to be delivered in a twelvemonth. At her new master's she was comparatively starved, and she came back at the expiration of the year so altered as scarcely to be recognised. The foal, four months old, was very small. The little animal was put on the most luxuriant keep, but it did not reach more than fifteen hands at the expiration of the third year. • Parkinson on Breedings, and the Manag-ement of Live Stock, vol. ii. p. 139. ZOOr-OGICAL CLASSIFICATION. THE IRISH HORSE. In somft of the rich grazing counties, as Meath and Roscommon, a large, long blood horse is reared, of considerable value, but he seldom has the elegance of the English horse ; he is larger headed, more leggy, ragged- hipped, angular, yet with great power in the quarters, much depth beneath the knee, stout and hardy, full of fire and courage, and the best leaper in the world. The Irish horse is generally smaller than the English. He is stinted in his growth, for the poverty and custom of the country have imposed upon him much hard work, at a time when he is unfit for labour of any kind. For this reason, too, the Irish horse is deficient in speed. There is, however, another explanation of this. The Irish thorough-bred horse is not equal to the English. He is comparatively a weedy, leggy, worthless animal, and very little of him enters into the composition of the hunter or the hackney. For leaping the Irish horse is unrivalled. It is not, however, the leaping of the English horse, striding as it were over a low fence, and stretched at his full length over a higher one ; it is the proper jump of the deer, beautiful to look at, difficult to sit, and, both in height and extent, un- equalled by the English horse. There are very iew horses in the agricultural districts of Ireland exclu- sively devoted to draught. The minute division of the farms renders it im- possible for them to be kept. The occupier even of a tolerable sized Irish farm, wants a horse that shall carry him to market, and draw his small car, and perform every kind of drudgery — a horse of all work ; therefore the thorough draught horse, whether Leicestershire or Suffolk, is rarely found. If we look to the commerce of Ireland, there are few stage waggons, or drays with immense cattle belonging to them, but almost every thing is done by one-horse carts. In the North of Ireland, some stout horses are employed in the carriage of linen, but the majority of the garrons used in agriculture or commercial pursuits are miserable and half-starved animals. In the north it is somewhat better. There is a native breed in Ulster, hardy, and sure-footed, but with little pretension to beauty or speed. CHAPTER V. THE ZOOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE HORSE. There are so many thousand species of living beings, some so much resembling each other, and some so strangely and altogether different, that it would have been impossible to have arranged them in any order, or to have given any deer>ription that could be understood, had not naturalists dgreed on certain peculiarities of form which should characterize certain classes, and other lesser peculiarities again subdividing these classes. The first division of animals is into vertebraied and invertebrat£\i 63 THE HORSE. Verlehraltd animals are those whicli have a cranium, or bony cavity, containing the bruin, and a succession of bones, called the spine, and the divisions of it, verLebrce., proceeding from the cranium, and containing a prolongation of the brain, denominated the spinal marrow. Invert ehraled animals are those which have no vertebrae. The horse then belongs to the division vcrtebrated, because he has a era- nium or skull, and a spine or range of vertebrae proceeding from it. Tlie vertebrated animals, however, are very numerous. They include man, quadrupeds of all kinds, birds, fishes, and many reptiles. We look out then for some subdivision, and a very simple line of distinction is soon presented. Some of these vertebrated animals have mammce, or teats, with which the females suckle their young. The human female has two, the mare has two, the cow four, the bitch ten or twelve, and the sow more than twelve. This class of vertebrated animals, having mammae or teats, is called mammalia, and the horse belongs to the division vertebrata, and the class mammalia. The class mammalia is still exceedingly large, and we must again sub- divide it. It is stated (Library of Entertaining Knowledge, vol. i. p. 13) that " this class of quadrupeds, or mammiferous quadrupeds, admits of a division into two Tribes. " I. Those whose extremities are divided into fingers or toes, scientifi- cally called unguiculata, from the Latin word for nail; and II. Those whose extremities are hoofed, scientifically called ungulata, from the Latin word for hoof. " The extremities of the first are armed with claws or nails, which enable them to grasp, to climb, or to burrow. The extremities of the second tribe are employed merely to support and move the body. The extremities of the horse are covered with a hoof, by which the body is supported, and with which he cannot grasp anything, and therefore he belongs to the tribe ungulaia, or hoofed. But there is a great variety of hoofed animals. The elephant, the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, the swine, the horse, the sheep, the deer, and many others, are ungulated or hoofed ; they admit, however, of an easy division. Some of them masticate, or chew their food, and it is im- mediately received into the stomach and digested ; but in othei's, the food, previous to digestion, undergoes a very singular process. It is returned to the mouth, to be re-masticated or chewed again. These are called ruminantia, or ruminants, from the food being returned, from one of the stomachs (for they have four), called the rumen or paunch, to be chewed again. The ungulata that do not ruminate are somewhat improperly called pachydcrmata, from the thickness of their skins. The horse does not ru- minate, and therefore belongs to the order jpachydermala. The pachydcrmata who have only one toe belong to the family solipcda — singk footed. Therefore the horse ranks under the division vertebrata ; — the class mammalia; — the tribe ungulata; — the order pachydcrmata; — and the family solipeda. The solipeda consists of several s'pecies, as the horse, the ass, the mule, and the quagga. First stands the Equus Caballus, or Common Horse. Animals are likewise distinguished according to the number, description, and situation of their teeth. The horse has six incisors or cutting teeth, in the front of each jaw ; and one canine tooth or tusk. ZOOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION. 63 On each side above and below, and at some distance from the incisors, behind the canines and with some intervening space, are six molar teetb or grinders ; and these molar teeth have flat crowns with ridges of enamel, and that enamel penetrating into the substance of the tooth. The whole is thus represented by natural historians, and the reader wil. comprehend our meaning when we are speaking of other animals. 6 1—1 6—6 Horse. — Incisors — , Canine , Molar , Total, 40 teeth. 1—1 6—6 CHAPTER VI. THE EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE. A The Head. o Posterior maxillary or under jaw, b Superior maxillary or upper jaw. Opposite to the letter is a foramen, throug'h which pass the nerves and blood-vessels which chiefly supply the lower part of the face. e Orbit, or cavity containing- the eye. d Nasal bones, or bones of the nose. e Suture dividing' the parietal bones below from the occipital bones abo\e. f Inferior maxillary bone, containing the upper incisor teeth, B The Seven Cervical Vertebrse, or bones of the neck. C The Eighteen Dorsal Vertebrse, or bones of the back, D The Six Lumbar Vertebr», or bones of the loina. (84 THE HORSE. T^"'" E The Fi 'e Sacral Vcrtebrse, or bones of the haunch. F Caudal VeriobriE, or bones of the tail, generally about fifteen. G Scapula, or shoulder-blade. H Sternum or fore-part of the chest. I CosiEB or ribs, seven or eight articulating with the sternum, and called the tnu rib*, and ten or eleven united togetlier by cartilage, called ihc Jalse ribs. J Humerus, or bone of the arm. K Radius, or bone of the fore-arm. L Ulna or elbow. The point of the elbow is called the Olecranon. M Carpus or knee, consisting of seven bones. N Metacarpal bones. The krger metacarpal or cannon or shank in front, and the smaller metacarpal or splent bone behind. g Fore Pastern and Foot, consisting of the Os Suffraginis, or the upper and larger pastern bone, with the sessamoid bones behind, articulating with the cannon and greater pastern ; the Os Coronie, or lesser pastern; the Os Pedis or coffin bone; and the Os Naviculare, or navicular, or shuttle-bone, not seen, and articulating with the smaller pastern and coffin bones. h Corresponding bones of the hind-feet. O Haunch, consisting of three portions — the Ilium, the Ischium, and the Pubis. P Femur or thigh. Q. Stifle joint with the Patella. R Tibia or proper leg bone — behind is a small bone called the fibula. S Tarsus or hock, composed of six bones. The prominent part is the Os Calcia point of the hock. T Metatarsals of the hind leg. Beautiful as is the horse, and identified so much with our pleasure and our profit, he has been the object of almost universal regard ; and there are few persons who do not pretend to be somewhat competent judges of his form, qualities, and worth. From the nobleman with his numerous and valuable stud, to the meanest helper in the stable, and not excluding even the mechanic who scarcely crosses, or sits behind a horse once in a twelvemonth, there is scarcely a man who would not be offended if he were thought altogether ignorant of horse-flesh. There is no subject on which he is so positive, there is no subject on which, generally speaking, he is so deficient, and there are few horses, on some points of which these pretended and self-sufficient judges would not give a totally opposite opinion. The truth is, that this supposed knowledge is rarely founded on principle — or is the result of the slightest acquaintance with the actual structure of this animal, or that form and connexion of parts on which strength, or fleetness, or stoutness, must necessarily depend. If we were construct- ing or examining a machine composed of levers and pullies, and by which we purposed to raise a great weight, or to set in motion certain bodies with a given velocity, we should fail in our object, or expose our igno- rance of the matter, if we were not aware what kind of lever or connex- ion of levers was necessary, and in what situation the ropes should be placed, ana m what direction the force should be applied, and by what means we could obtain mechanical advantage, and by what peculiar con- struction it would inevitably be lost. Now the structure of the horse, like that of the human being,* consists of numerous levers in the shape of bones, with ropes attached to them in * See Treatise on " AuKial Meclianiu." EXTERNAL STRUCTURE. 65 the form of muscles and tendons ; and these levers are differently con- nected, and act in different directions ; and he will be the best judge of horses who, while he has loved, and lived among them, is somewhat acquainted with the circumstances in which mechanical power is gained or lost. In speaking then of the structure of this animal, and the points which guide the opinion of real judges of him, we shall, as briefly and as simply as we are able, explain those fundamental principles on which his useful- ness and beauty must depend. We require one kind of horse for slow and heavy draught, and another for lighter and quicker work : one as a pleasant and safe roadster ; another with more speed and equal continu- *ance as a hunter; and another still is wanted for the race-course. What is the peculiarity of structure — what are the particular points that will fit each for his proper business, and, to a certain degree, unfit him for every thing else ? The farmer will require a horse of all work, that can carry him to market and take him round his farm, on which he can occasionally ride for pleasure, and which he must sometimes degrade to the dung-cart or the harrow. What combination of powers will enable the animal to discharge most of these duties well, and all of them to a certain extent profitably ? Much time spent among horses, an acquired love of them, and a little, sometimes, possibly, too dearly-bought experience, may give the agriculturist some insight into these matters. We will try whether we cannot assist him in this affair ; whether we cannot explain to him the reason why certain points must be good, and why a horse without them must, of necessity, be good for nothing. Perhaps some useful rules may thus be more deeply impressed upon his memory, or some common, but dangerous prejudices may be discarded, and a considerable degree of error, disappointment, and expense avoided. It is first of all necessary to give a sketch of the Anatomy of the Horse, in which we shall endeavour to elucidate those numerous and beautiful instances of wise and benevolent design, exhibited in the structure of this valuable animal, and which will render our study of him more interesting ; while many a hint of practical utility will be gained. If we treat of this at a considerable length, let it be remembered, that the horse is our noblest servant, and that, in describing the structure and economy of his frame, we are, in a great measure, describing that of other domestic quadrupeds, and shall hereafter have to speak only of points of difference required by the different services and uses for which they were destined. And further, let it be remembered that it is only by being well acquainted with the structure and anatomy of the horse that we can appre- ciate his shape and uses, or understand the different diseases to which he is liable. VVe trust the reader who may fancy us rather prolix on this head will, before the work is finished, feel the full value of what we purpose to explain. It is from want of knowledge of the anatomy of the horse, that much of the mass of ignorance and prejudice which exists, as to the diseases, &c., to which the horse is subject, is to be referred ; and we deem it one of the most important objects of this treatise to reform this ignorance, and remove these prejudices. It will be proper here, once for all, to caution the reader, who has hitherto been unaccustomed to reading books of science, against being deterred by the sight of a few of what are termed hard names. The fact is, that science must have, to a certain extent, a new language to express minutely and accurate!) the particular parts or things to be described; and this is the 66 THE HORSE. case with every art. A carpenter could not, without this, describe with precision and clearness the different tools in use, nor could he describe the ditTerent operations to be performed, without inventing a particular language adapted to his purpose, and whereby he is enabled to express in one word what would otherwise only be accomplished by a long sentence. It is the same with anatomy, except that the names and signs have principally been adopted from the Latiri and Greek, inasmuch as those languages are usually known to scientific men in all countries. This new language becomes one common to all men pursuing the same science. We shall as we go on explain the meaning of all the words so adopted, and a very little attention will enable the reader to master them, and it will require little thought to be convinced of the advantage, in respect of clearness and certainty, derived from their use. DESCRIPTION OF THE HEAD. We begin with the head, containing the brain, and the most important organs of sense. The head may be divided into two parts, the skull and the face. The bones which compose the skull or cranium, and which contain and protect the brain, are nine in number: two frontal, a a — two parietal, c c — two temporal, d d — the occipital, g — the ethmoid and the sphenoid. The two lalter lie principally at the base of the skull, and are not seen in this cut, but will De found delineated in figs, k and I, page 68. These nine bones are separate in the foal at an early period of its existence ; but soon after the birth they are firmly united together by what anatomists call sutures, and so firm is the union, that a fracture will occur in any other part more readily than over a suture. a a The frontal bones, or. bones of the forehead. b b The supra-orbital foramina, or holes above the orbit, through which pass out the nerves and blood-vessels supplying- the forehead. The small hole beneath (of which in many horses there are several) receives ves- sels which dip into and supply the bone. c c The parietal bones, or walls of the skull. d d The temporal bones, or bones of the temples. t e The zygomatic, or yoke-shaped arch, yyThe temporal fossa, or pit above the eye. g The occipital bone, or bone of the hinder part of the head. h k The orbits, containing and defending the eye. i i The lachrymal bones, or tear-bones. j j The nasal bones, or bones of the nose. k k The niohir, or cheek bones. / I The superior maxillary, or that portion of the upper jaw containing the molar teeth or grinders. m m The infra-orbital foramen, a hole below the orbit, tlirough which pass branches of nerves and blood- vessels to supply the lower p art of the face. n n The inferior maxillary, the lower part of the upper jaw- bone, a separate bone in quadrupeds, containing the incisor or cutting teeth, and the upper tushes at the point of Union between the superior and inferior maxillaries. 0 The upper incisor or cutting teeth. p The openings into the nose, with the bones forming the roof of the palate. EXTERNAL STRUCTURE. <^ There is an evident intention in this division of the head into so many bones. When the foetus — the unborn foal — first begins to have life, that which afterwards becomes bone, is a mere jelly- like substance ; this is gradually changed into a harder material — cartilage ; and, before the birth of the animal, much of the cartilage is taken away by vessels called absorbents, and bone de- posited in its stead. In flat bones, like those of the head, this deposite takes place in the centre, and rays or radiations of bone extend thence in every direction. Then, by having so many bones, there are so many centres of radiation ; and, con- sequently, the formation of bone is carried on so much the more rapidly, and perfected at the time when the necessities of the animal require it. At the period of birth, however, this process is not completed, but the edges of the bones remain somewhat soft and pliant, and therefore, in par- turition, they yield a little, and overlap each other, and thus, by rendering the birth more easy, they save the mother much pain, and contribute to the safety of the foal. Without a change in the form of the head, from a compression and yielding of the bone of which it is composed, the animal could not be born. The first of these bones, or the first pair of them, occupying the broad expanse of the forehead, are called the frontal hemes, a a. They are united together by a most curious and intricate dove-tailing, to defend from injury the brain, which lies beneath the upper part of them. Lower down, and where the cavity of the nose is to be defended, their union is sufficient, but far less complicated. The mechanism is here, as in every part of the frame, and every part of the universe, wisely adjusted to the necessities and wants of the animal. Few things more clearly indicate the breed or blood of the horse than the form of the frontal bones. Who has not remarked the broad angular forehead of the blood-horse, giving him that beautiful expression of intelli- gence and fire, and the face gradually tapering from the forehead to the muzzle ; and then compared it with the large face of the cart or dray-horse, and the forehead scarcely wider than the face. At f, between the frontal bones, is the pit or cavity above the eye, and by the depth of which we form some idea of the age of the horse. There is placed at the back of the eye a considerable quantity of fatty substance, on which the eye may revolve easily and without friction. In aged horses, and in diseases attended with general loss of condition, much of this fat disappears ; the eye becomes sunken, and the pit above the eye deepens. It is said that some of the lower class of horse-dealers puncture the skin, and, with a tobacco-pipe or small tube, blow into the orifice, until the de- pression is almost filled up. This operation is vulgarly called puffing the glims, and, with the aid of a bishopped tooth, will give a false appearance of youth that will remain during many hours, and may deceive the unwary, though the puffing may easily be detected by pressing on the part. These bones, however, are not solid, but a considerable portion of them is composed of two plates receding from each other, and leaving numerous anti large vacuities or cells. These vacuities are called the frontal sinuses. 68 THE HORSE. They commu* icate with the cavities of the nose, and likewise with those of the sphenoid, ethmoid, and upper jaw bones, and like the windings of a French horn, increase the clearness and loudness of the neighing. They are sufficiently evident at I in the following cut. SECTION OF THE HEAD. PRINCIPAL BONES, LIGAMENTS, ETC. a Nasal bone, or bone of the nose. b Frontal bone. The cavities or cells beneath are called the frontal sinuses. c Crest or ridge of the parietal bones. d Tentorium, or bony separation between the cerebrum and cerebellum. e Occipital bone. f Ligament of the neck, or ■pack-wax, by which the head is chiefly supported. g Atlas, sustaining or carrying, or first bone of the neck. A Dentata, tooth-like, or second bone of the neck. i Cuneiform, or wedge-shaped process, or base of the occipital bone. Between it and the other porti m of the occipital bone, e, lies the great foramen or aperture through which the prolon5,ation of the brain — the spinal marrow — issues from the skull. k Sphenoid, wedge-like, bone, with its cavities. I Ethmoid, sieve-like bone, with its cells. m Cerebrum, or brain, with the appearance of its cortical ana medullary sv oatance. n Cerebellum, or little brain, with its beautiful aborcscent appearance. 0 A portion of the central medullary, marrow-like, substance of the brain, and the pro- longation of it under the name of the crus cerebri, leg of the brain, and from which many of the nerves take their origin. p Medulla oblongata, — the prolongation of the brain after the medullary substance oi the cerebrum and cerebellum have united, and forming the commencement of th« spinal marrow. The columnar appearance of this portion of the brain is repre- seuted, and tlie origins of the respiratory nerves. EXTERNAL STRUCTURE. gg- q Spinal marrow, extending throug-h a canal in the centre of the bonea of the neck back, and loins, to the extremities of the tail, and from which the nerves of feeling and of motion, that supply every part of the frame, except the head, arise. r Septum narium, or cartilaginous division between the nostrils. s The same cut oft' at the lower part, to show the spongy, turbinated, turban-shaped. bones filling the cavity of the nostril. * Palate. u Molar teeth, or grinders. V Inferior maxillary bone, containing the incisor teeth or nippers. The canine tooth, or tush, is concealed by the tongue. w Posterior maxillary, or lower jaw with its incisors. X Lips. y Tongue. z A portion of the os hyoides, or bone of the tongue, like a Greek u, v. 1 Thyroid, helmet-shaped, cartilage, inclosing and shielding tlie neighouring parts. 2 Epiglottis, or covering of the glottis, or aperture of the wind-pipe. 3 Arytenoid, funnel-shaped, cartilages, having between them the aperture leading int« the trachea or wind-pipe. 4 One of tlie chordce vocales, cords or ligaments concerned in the formation of the voice 5 Sacculus laryngis, sac or ventricle of the larynx, throat, to modulate the voice. 6 Trachea or wind-pipe, with its different rings. 7 Soft palate at the back of the mouth, so constructed as almost to prevent the possi bility of vomiting. 8 Opening from the back part of the mouth into the nostril. 9 Cartilage covering tlie entrance into the Eustachian tube, or communication between the mouth and internal part of the ear. 10 (Esophagus, or gullet. 11 Cricoid, ring-like, cartilage, below and behind the thyroid. 12 Muscle of the neck, covered by the membrane of the back part of the mouth. REMARKS ON THE BONES OF THE HEAD, ETC. In the sheep and occasionally in the ox, rarely in the horse, the larvae of maggots produced by certain species of flies, crawl up the nose, lodge themselves in these sinuses, and produce intolerable pain. Veterinary surgeons have availed themselves of these sinuses, to detect the existence of glanders, that disease so infectious and so fatal. They may suspect that a horse respecting which they are consulted is glandered. It is of great consequence to be sure about it. The safety of the whole team may depend upon this. It may be a puzzling case. There may be no ulceration of the nose within sight. The glands under the jaw may not be close to, and seemingly sticking to the bone, which is a common symptom, yet for a considerable time there may have been a discharge from the nostril, and the horse is out of condition. On the other hand, some slight ulceration may be detected in the nostril, but the horse eats well, works well, and is in good plight. From the closest examination of the animal, no horseman, and no veterinary surgeon can give a decided opinion. If, however, the horse be glandered, there will probably be considerable ulceration in the upper part of the cavity of the nose, and a collection of matter there. To detect this, the veterinary surgeon sometimes makes an opening into these sinuses. He may do this with perfect safety. On that part of the frontal bone, which lies between the eye and the pit above it, and above the inner corner of the eye, there is, on either side, a small depression or hole (see fig. b b, cut, p. 66), which may be easily felt in the living 70 THE HORSE. horse. It is what anatomists call a foramen — the supra-orbital foramen. It gives passage to the blood-vessels and nerves of the forehead. Suppose a line to be drawn across the forehead, from one of these depressions to the other ; on that line, and about half an inch from the centre of it, either on the one side or the other, the frontal sinuses will be found an inch in depth (compare fig. h, pp. 66 and 68). There a perfo- ration may be easily and safely made. A little way above, the i»rain would be endangered, and a Utile below this line, the cavity of the nose would be pierced. Some warm water may then be thrown into this bole, with a common squirt, and it will run out at the nose. If there be matter in the frontal sinuses, or any part of the cavity of the nose, it will appear mixed with the water, and the owner may be assured that the horse is glandered ; but if the water flow uncoloured, or simply mixed with blood or mucus, the horse may be considered as free from this disease. The thick creamy consistence of pus, its sinking in water, and its capability of being perfectly, although not readily mixed with water, will distinguish it sufficiently from the natural running of the nose, which is ropy, lighter than water, and when mixed with it still preserves a kind of stringiness. And this is one of the surest modes of distinguishing between the matter and the natural running of the nose. The inner plate of the frontal bone forms a considerable proportion of the roof the cavity which contains the brain (m in the last cut). The bones immediately above the frontal, and extending from the frontal to the poll, are called the parietals, (c c, pp. 66 and 68,) from the Latin word paries, a wall. They are two, united together by a suture when the animal is young, but that suture soon becomes obliterated. They have the occipital, g, p. 66, above, the f rentals, a a, below, and the temporals, d d, on either side. They are of a closer and harder texture than the frontals, because they are more exposed to injury, and more concerned in defending the brain. A very small portion only of the parietals is naked, and that is composed of bone even harder than the other part, and with an additional layer of bone rising in the form of a crest or ridge externally. Every other part of these bones is covered by a thick mass of muscle, the tetnporal muscle, which is pi'incipally concerned in chewing the food, but which likewise by its yielding resistance speedily and eflectually breaks the force of the most violent stroke. A blow on the calf of the leg is comparatively disregarded, while one, half as heavy, received on the shin, gives excessive pain. A wool-pack hung over the wall of a fortress, when the enemy is battering to effect a breach, renders the heaviest artillery almost harmless. So the yielding resistance of the temporal muscle affords a sure defence to the brain, however sudden or violent may be the blow which falls on the parietal. These benevolent provisions will not be disregarded by the reflecting mind. On the side of the head, and under the parietals, are placed (d d, p. 66) the temporal bones, one on each side. These again are divided into two parts, or consist of two distinct bones ; the petrous portion, so called from its great or stony hardness, and containing the wonderful mechanism of the ear, and the squamous portion, from the appearance of its union with the parietal, overlapping it like a great scale. From the latter there projects a portion of bone, e, which unites with the frontal, and forms a strong arch distinctly to be felt at the side of the head immediately above the eye. This arch is designed to protect the upper part of the lower jaw, the motion of which inay very plainly be seen beneath it when the horse is eating. It is very strong, and it ought to be, lest tLe EXTERNAL STRUCTURE. 71 motion should by accident be impeded, and the horse should starve. If only one species of violence were considered to which this arch is too frequently exposed, it would require to possess no common strength ; we mean, the brutal manner in which the collar is forced over the head. At the base of the arch is an important cavity, not visible in our cut, receiving into it, and forming a joint with the head of the lower jaw : we shall have to speak of it presently. Having reached the base of the temporal bone, we find it united to the parietal, not by a simple suture, as the lower part of the frontals, or the bones of the nose (see fig. a and j, p. 66), nor by a dove-tailed suture, as the upper part of the frontals (see the same cut), but it is spread over the parietal in the form of a large scale, and hence, as before observed, called the squamous portion of the temporal bone. In fact, there are two plates of bone instead of one. Was there design in this ? Yes, evidently so. In the first place, to increase the strength of the base of the zygomatic arch. This extensive union between the temporal and parietal bones answers to the buttress or mass of masonry attached to the base of every arch to counteract its lateral pressure. The concussion likewise which might be communicated by a blow to the top of the arch, is thus spread over a large surface, and consequently weakened, and rendered compara- tively harmless ; and that surface is composed of the union of two bones of dissimilar construction. The hard slony structure of the parietal is very different from the tougher material of the temporal ; and thus, as a finger fects on a sounding glass, the vibration communicated to the temporal is at once stopped, and the brain receives no injury. But there is yet more admirable design. Where is this squamous por- tion of the temporal bone situated ? On the side of the head. And what is the figure of the cranium or skull, and principally that part of it which contains the cerebrum or brain ? It is an elliptical or oval arch (see fig. m, n, 0, p. 68). If pressure be made on the crown of that arch — if a blow be received on the suture between the parietals, sufficient to cause the elastic materials of which the skull is composed to yield — the seat of dan- ger and injury is at the side. If a man receive a violent blow on the crown or back part of the head, the fracture, if there be any, is generally about the temple, and the extravasation of blood is oftenest found there. The follow- ing figure will explain this. Let the line ABC represent an elliptical arch, composed of elastic ma- terials. Some force shall be applied at B, sufficient to cause it to yield. We cannot compress it into smaller compass ; but just in proportion as it yields at B, will it spur or bulge out at D, and give way sometimes as represented at E. In a dome, the weight of the materials constantly acting may be considered as representing the force applied at B ; and so great is the lateral pressure, or tendency to bulge out (vide D and E), that it is 72 THE HORSE. necessary either to dove-tail the materials into one another, or to pass strong iron chains round them. For want of sufficient attention to this, " the dome of St. Sopliia in Constantinople, built in the time of the Emperor Jus- tinian, fell three tiuies during its erection; and the dome of the cathedral of Florence stood unfinished an hundred and twenty years for want of an architect." Nature, in the construction of the horse's head, has taken away the pressure, or removed the probability of injury, by giving an additional layer of bone, or a mass of muscle, where alone there was danger, and has dove- tailed all the mgfterials, and to make assurance doubly sure, has placed this effectual girder at the base, in the overlapping of the squamous portion of the temporal bone. In the ox, where, to give a secure base to the horn, the frontal bone spreads over the whole fore-part of the head, and the cranial cavity is suffi- ciently secured by the beautiful mechanism between the two plates of that bone, the temporal bone does not overlap the parietal. Nature gives every thing essential to the protection and welfare of the animal, but nothing superfluous. Above the parietals, and separated from them by a suture (fig. g, pp. 66 and 6S, and fig. c, p. 66), is the occipital bone. Superiorly it covers and protects the smaller portion of the brain, the cerebellum ; and as it there constitutes the summit or the crest of the head, and is not protected by mus- cles, and particularly exposed to danger, it is interesting to see what thick- ness it assumes. The head of the horse does not, like that of the human being, ride upright on the neck, with all its weight supported by the spinal column, and the only office of the muscles of the neck being to move the head forward or backward, or horizontally on its pivot; but it hangs in a slanting position from the extremity of the neck, and the neck itself pro- jects a considerable distance from the chest, and thus the whole weight of the head and neck are suspended from the chest, and require very great power to support them. In addition to the simple weight of the head and neck, the neck projecting from the chest, and the head hanging from the extremity of the neck, act with enormous mechanical force, and increase more than a hundred-fold the power necessary to support them. It requires a strong man to lift a small table from the ground at arm's length. The farmer's steelyards show that a weight of a few pounds, at the extremity, will counterbalance or act with a* force equal to a hundred weight near the hook or centre. The head and neck of the horse, and particularly of some horses of a coarse breed, are of no little bulk and weight. We shall hereafter have to show in what breeds, and for what purposes a light or heavy head and neck are advantageous; but it may be safely affirmed, that, projecting so far from the chest, and being consequently at so great a distance from the fulcrum or support, the lightest head will act or bear upon the joint be- tween the last bone of the neck and the first rib, with a force equal to many thousand pounds. How is this weight to be supported ? Is the power of muscle equal to the task ? The muscles of the animal frame can act for a certain time with extraordinary force ; but as the exertion of this power is attended with the consumption of vital energy, the period soon arrives when their action is remitted or altogether suspended. Muscular power is altogether inadequate to the constant support of the head of the horse. A provision, however, is made for the purpose, simple and complete. EXTERNAL STRUCTURE. 7^ From the back of the occipital bone (fig. f^ p. 68), and immediately below the crest, proceeds a round cord of considerable bulk, and composed of a ligamentous substance, and which is carried down and securely at- tached to the spines of the vertebrae, or bones of the back ; and by this lig- ament (the Ugamentum colli, ligament of the neck, commonly called the pack-wax) the head is supported. There are, however, some admirable contrivances connected with this ligament. As it proceeds from the head, it is in the form of a round cord. It passes over the alias, or the first bone of the neck, without touching it, and then attaching itself strongly to the second bone, principally supports the head by its union with this bone. The mechanical disadvantage is in- creased, but the head is turned more freely on the first and second bones. The principal sti'ess is on the deniala or second bone, so much so, that, in poll-evil, this ligament may be divided without serious inconvenience to the horse. It then suddenly sinks deeper, and communicates with all the other vertebrjE. Each of these communications becomes a separate point of support, as they'approach nearer to the prop, or the centre of motion, the mechanical disadvantage, or the force with which the weight of the head and neck presses and acts, is materially lessened. The head, then, without any aid fi-om muscular energy, is, while the animal is in a state of rest, supported by this ligament. There is, however, something yet wanting. The head must not be always elevated. The horse has his food to seek. In a state of nature this food lies principally on the ground, and the head must be lowered to enable the animal to get at it. How is this effected ? This ligament, as we call it, because it resembles in appearance the other ligaments of the body, pos- sesses a property which they have not, and which they must not have, or they would be useless. No well-knit joint could exist if 'it had this pro- perty. The pack-wax is elastic. It will yield to a force impressed upon it, and it will resume its natural dimensions when that force is removed. It sustains perfectly the weight of the head. That portion of tenacityor strength is given to it, which will not yield to the simple weight of the head, but will yield to a very little additional weight. Its resting power is so admirably adjusted to that which it has to sustain, that when certain muscles, whose action is to depress or lower the head, begin to act, and add their power to the previous weight it had to bear, the ligament stretches, and when the horse is browsing, it is full two inches longer than when the head is erect. When the animal has satisfied himself, these depressing muscles cease to act, and other muscles, which are designed to assist in raising the head, begin to exert themselves; and, by their aid (but more by the inherent elasticity of the ligament), the head is more elevated, and remains so with- out the slightest exertion of muscular power. This is one of the many applications of the principle of elasticity which we shall have to observe and admire in the construction of the animal frame. The ligament of the neck is inserted into the centre of the back part of the occipital bone, and immediately below the vertex or crest of that bone ; and, therefore, the bone is so thick at this part (see fig. e, p. 68). Many, and large, and powerful muscles, however, are necessary to turn the head in various directions, and to assist in raising it when depressed. The occipital bone, as will be seen in this cut, presents a spine running down the centre, B, and a large roughened surface for the attachment of these muscles C C. Lower down, and still at the back of the occipital bone, are two rounded F protuberances, D D, by which the head is connected with the atlas, or upper, or first vertebra, or bone of the neck, and these are called the condyloid, cup-shaped, processes of the occipital bone. All the motions of the head are partly, and many of them wholly, performed by this joint. Between them is a large hole, called the foramen magnum, or great aperture, E, through which the continuation of the brain, called the spinal cord or marrow, passes out of the skull. As an additional contrivance to support the great weight of the head, are two other projections of the occipital bone, peculiar to animals whose heads are set on in a slanting direction, and into which powerful muscles are inserted ; they are called the ceracoid, beak-like, processes or prolongations, F F, of ihe occipital bone. Running forward, and forming outwardly a part of the base, and inwardly n, portion of the floor of the skull, is what, from its wedge-like shape, is called the cuneiform process of the occipital bone (fig. i, p. 68). It is thick, strong and solid ; and placed at the bottom of the skull, not only to be a prqper foundation for, and to give additional strength to the arch on each side, but speedily to break and stop all vibration and concussion. At the base of the skull, and anterior to, or below the occipital, lies the sphenoid, wedge-like bone (fig. k, p. 68). Its body, likewise called the cuneiform or wedge-shaped process, is a continuation of the same process of the occipital, and like it is thick and solid, and for the same important purpose. This bone branches out into four irregular bodies or plates, two of which are called the wings, and two running to the palate, the legs. They could not be represented in the cut, and there is nothing important belonging to them so far as our work is concerned. Internally (fig. k), the sphenoid forms a portion of the cavity of the skull. Of the ethmoid, sieve-like, bone little can be seen outwardly. A small portion is found in the back part of the orbit, and in the cavity of the cra- nium; but the most important part of it is that which is composed of a great number of thin plates, forming numerous cavities or cells (fig. /, p. 68) lined with the membrane of the nose, and entering into the cavity of the uose. The upper portion is called the cribriform, or sieve-shaped plate, from its being perforated by a multitude of little holes, through which the nerve connected with the smelling passes and spreads over the nose. Altogether, these bones form a cavity of an irregular oval shape, but the tentorium penetrating into it, gives it the appearance of being divided into two {d, p. 68). The cavity of the cranium may be said to be arched all round. The b'tilder knows the strength which is connected with the form of the arch. EXTERNAL STRUCTURE. 75 If properly constructed, it is equal to a solid mass of masonry. The arc>» of the horse's skull has not much weight to support, but it is exposed to many injuries from the brutality of those by whom he should be protected, and from accidental causes. The roof of the skull is composed of two plates of bone : the outer, hard and tough, and the different parts dove-tailed together, so as not to be easily fractured ; the inner plate is elastic, and by the union of these two sub- stances of different construction, the vibration is partly damped or destroyed. By means of the elasticity of the inner plate, the force or influence which might reach it through the outer plate, and, notwithstanding its difference of structure, affect it, is spread over the whole of the roof; and the inner plate is not dove-tailed like the outer, because the dove-tailing would impede the spread of the vibration. The brain of the horse corresponds with the cavity in which it is placed (m, p. 68). It is a flattened oval. It is divided into two parts, one much larger than the other, the cerehrum or brain, and the cerehellum or little brain (n, p. 68). In the human being the cerebrum is above the cerebel- lum, in the quadruped below ; and yet in both they retain the same relative situation. The cerebellum is nearer to the foramen or hole, through which the brain passes out of the skull {ii, p. 68), and to the continuation of the cerebrum passes under the cerebellum (j>. p. 68) to ari-ive at this foramen. In the human head this foramen is at the base of the skull, but in the quadruped, in whom the head is placed slanting, it is necessarily elevated. It would occupy too great a portion of our time fully to consider the wonderful and mysterious functions discharged by the brain, but some diseases to which the horse is subject, and a very useful operation, the divi- sion of the nerve of the leg, for foot lameness, could not be understood with- out a slight account of this important organ. When the brain is cut it presents two distinct substances (m, p. 68), one principally on the outside, grey, or ash-coloured, and therefore called the cortical (bark-like, or rind-like) from its situation, or the cineritious (ash- like), from its colour ; and one more in the centre, and its fibres running towards the centre, and white and pulpy, and from its consistence called the medullary (narrow-like) part. This latter portion seems to be collected and condensed towards the centre or base of the brain, and all the nerves derive their origin from it. The medullary portion then is evidently connected with the nervous system ; and the nerves are concerned in the discharge of all the offices of life. They give motion to the limbs ; they supply with energy the heart, the lungs, the stomach, and every part connected with life: and being the medium through which sensation is conveyed, they supply the mind with materials to think and work upon. The cineritious part has a different appearance, and is evidently differently constituted ; and some have supposed it to be the residence of the mind, receiving the impressions which are conveyed to the brain by the nerve of sensation, and directing the operation and action of those which give motion to the limbs. In accordance with this it happens that where supcior intel- ligence is found, the cineritious prevails, and where little beside brutal strength and appetite exist, the medullary portion is enlarged. From the medullary substance proceed certain cords or prolongations, called nerves, by which the animal is enabled to receive impressions from surrounding objects, and to connect himself with them, and to possess many pleasurable or painful sensations. One is spread over the membrane of the nose, and gives the sense of smell j another expands on the back of the eye, / 75 THE HORSE. and tlio faculty of sight is gained ; and a third goes to the internal struc- ture of the oar, and the animal hears. Other nerves proceeding to different parts of the head give the faculty of motion to those parts ; and another class bestows the power of feeling. One division of nerves {h, p. 68) springing from a prolongation of the brain, and yet within the skull, wander to ditlerent parts of the frame, for important purposes connected with respiration or breathing ; and as the act of breathing is essential to life, and were it to cease, the animal would die — these are nerves of involuntary motion ; so that, whether he is awake or asleep, conscious of it or not, the lungs heave and life is supported. Lastly, from the spinal cord, q, (a further prolongation of the brain, and running through a cavity in the bones of the neck, back, and loins, and extending to the very tip of the tail,) other nerves are given off at certain intervals. This cut delineates one pair of them. The spinal cord, a, is combined of six distinct columns or rods, running through its whole length — three on either side. The two columns (the portion of the spinal marrow repre- sented in our cut, is supposed to be placed with its inner or lower surface towards us) proceed from those tracks of the brain devoted to sensation. From these come out abruptly distinct fibres from the column, and which connect together, and passing through a little ganglion or enlargement, d, (an enlargement of a nervous cord is called a ganglion,) become a nerve of sensation. From the lower or inner side, (a prolongation of the track devoted to motion,) proceed other fibres, which also collect gradually together, and form a nervous cord, c, giving the power of motion. Beyond the ganglion the two unite, and form a perfect spinal nerve, b, possessing the power both of sensation and motion ; and the fibres of the two columns proceed to their destination, enveloped in the same sheath, and apparently one nerve. Each portion, however, continues to be wrapped in its own membrane. They are united, yet distinct ; they constitute one nerve, yet neither their substance nor their office is confounded. Our cut, closely examined, b, will give some idea of the manner in which these distinct fibres are continued ; — each covered in its own membrane, but all envel- oped in a common covering. All these nerves are organs of sensation and motion alone ; but there are others whose origin seems to be outside of and below the brain. The.se are the sympathetic, so called from their union and sympathy with all the others, and identified with life itself. They proceed from a small ganglion or enlargement in the upper part of the neck, or from a collection of little ganglions in the belly. They go to the heart, and it beats, and to the stomach, and it digests. They form a net-work round each blood-vessel^ EXTERNAL STRUCTURE. 77 and the current flows on. They surround the very minutest vessels, and the frame is nourished and built up. They are destitute of sensation, and they are perfectly beyond the control of the will. The reader, we trust, will now comprehend this wonderful, yet simple machinery, and be able, by and by, to refer to it the explanation of several diseases, and particularly of the operation to which we have referred. Two of the senses have their residence in the bones of the cranium, those of hearing and sight. They who know any thing of the horse pay much attention to the size, setting on, and motion of the ear. Ears rather small than large, placed not too far apart, and erect, and quick in motion, indicate both breeding and spirit ; and if a horse is frequently in the habit of carrying one ear forward, and the other backward, and especially if he does so on a journey, he will generally possess both spirit and continuance. The stretching of the ears in a contrary direction shows that he is attentive to every thing that is taking place around him, and, while he is doing this, he cannot be much fatigued, or likely soon to become so. It has been remarked that few horses sleep without pointing one ear forward and the other backward, that they may receive notice of the approach of objects in every direction.* The ear of the horse is one of the most beautiful parts about him, and by few things is the temper more surely indicated than by its motion. The ear is more intelligible even than the eye, and a person accustomed to the horse, and an observer of the horse, can tell by the expressive motion of the ears almost all that he thinks or means. It is a common saying that when a horse lays his ears flat back upon his neck, and keeps them so, he most assuredly is meditating mischief, and the stander-by should beware of his heels or his teeth. In play the ears will be laid back, but not so decidedly, nor so long. A quick change in their position, and more particularly the expression of the eye at the time, will distinguish between playfulness and vice. The external ear is formed by a cartilage of an oval or cone-like shape, flexible, yet firm, and terminating in a point. It has, directed towards the side, yet somewhat pointing forward, a large opening, extending from the top to the bottom. The intention of this is to collect the sound, and convey it to the interior part of the ear. The hearing of the horse is remarkably acute. A thousand vibrations of the air, too slight to make any impression on the human ear, are readily perceived by him. It is well known to every hunting-man, that the cry of the hounds will be recognised by the horse, and his ears will be erect, and he will be all spirit and impatience, a considerable time before the rider is conscious of the least sound. Need anything more be said to expose the absurdity of cropping ? Fortunately for this too-often abused animal, crop- ping is not now the fashion. Some thoughtless or unfeeling young men endeavoured, a little while ago, to introduce it, but the voice of reason and humanity prevailed. This cartilage, the conch or shell, is attached to the head by ligaments, and sustained by muscles, on which its action depends. It rests upon another cartilage, round without and irregular within, called the annular, -mg-like, cartilage, and conducting to the interior of the ear ; and it is • " When horses or mules march in company at nig-ht, those in front direct their ears forward ; those in the rear direct them backward ; and those in the centre direct them laterally c across; the whole troop seeming: thus to be actuated by one feeling, which watches the general safety." — Ahnott's Elements of Physics, vol. i. p. 478. 78 THE EiORSE. likMM'se supported and moved by a third small cartilage, placed at the fore part ot" tlie base of the conch, and into which several muscles are inserted. The car is covered by a skin thinner than in most other parts of the body, and altogetiier destitute of fat, that it may not be too bulky and heavy, and n-.av be more easily moved. Under the skin lining the inside of the car- tilage are more numerous glands, that secrete or throw out a scaly, white, greasy matter, which may be rubbed off with the finger, and which is des- tined to supple this part of the ear, and to keep it soft and smooth. Below this are other glands, which pour out a peculiar, sticky, bitter fluid, the wax, probably displeasing to insects, and therefore deterring them from crawling down the ear and annoying the animal : or by its stickiness arresting their progress. The internal part of the conch is covered with long hair, which stands across the passage in every direction. This likewise is to protect the ear from insects, that would with difficulty penetrate through this thick defence. The cold air is likewise prevented from reaching the interior of the ear, and the sound is moderated, not arrested ; penetrating readily, but not violently ; and not striking injuriously on the membrane covering the drum of the ear. Can these purposes be accomplished, when it is the custom of so many carters and grooms to cut the hair out of the ear so closely and indus- triously as they do ? The groom who singes it to the roots with a candle must either be very ignorant or very brutal. It can scarcely be accom- plished without singeing the ear as well as the hair. Many a troublesome sore is occasioned by it ; and many a horse that was perfectly quiet before, rendered difficult to handle or halter ; and even disposed to be otherwise vicious from a recollection of the pain which he suffered during the absurd and barbarous operation. The sound collected by the outer ear, passes through the lower or anmilar, ring-shaped cartilage, and through irregularities which, while they break and modify it, carry it on to another canal, partly cartilaginous and partly bony, conducting immediately to the internal mechanism of the ear. This canal or passage is called the external auditory passage, a ; and at the base of it is placed, stretching across it, and closing it, a thick and elastic mem- brane, called the membrane of the drum, h. This membrane is supplied with numerous fibres, from the fifth pair, or sensitive nerve of the head, for it is necessary that it should possess extreme sensibility. The mechanism of the ear is so exquisite that we cannot refrain from entering into a minute description of it, although we feel that we are some- wiiat trenching on the comprehensive subject of animal physiology. Sound is produced by certain vibrations or undulations communicated to the air, by the concussions or tremblings of things around, and which vibrations spread through the air, and fall upon the ear. The striking of a glass, and the souiW of a large bell, are sufficient illustrations of the manner in which sound is propagated by distinct vibrations or waves of the air. These vibrations reach the conch of the ear. From its hollow form and peculiar shape, and the faculty of being directed to every quarter whence the vibrations proceed, they are collected, and condensed, and con- veyed down the outer passage, and fall upon the membrane, b. That membrane, tightly stretched, and elastic, receives the impression made upon it, and vibrates in perfect unison. This membrane covers the entrance into a cavity, called the tympanum or drum of the ear, I, from its supposed resemblance to a drum. It is of an irregular shape. The walls or sides are composed of bone, lined with a EXTERNAL STRUCTURE. 78 delicate membrane, with several apertures or holes, h, f, k, the principal of which we shall describe. STRUCTURE OF THE EAR EXPLANATION OF THE PRINCIPAL PARTS, WITH THKIE ANATOMICAL TERMS. a Meatus extermts, or outer passage. b Memhrana tympani, or membrane stretched over the entrance to the drum of tl»« ear. c Malleus, or hammer, the first of the ossicuM (little bones), and resting' upon the membrana tympani. d Incus, or anvil. e Orbiculare, or round bone. X Stapes, or stirrup bone, resting" on the membrane which covers the Jhramcn ovale, or oval window, and which conducts to the labyrinth of the ear. g One of the muscles of the tympanum attached to the stapes. h Vestibule or hall, the first portion of the labyrinth of the ear. t Semicircular canals. k Openinsrs into the canals. / 'Tympanum, or drum of the ear. in Cochlea, or shell-like portion of the labyrinth. n Meatus auditoHus internus, or internal passapfe, through which both divisions of the seventh pair of nerves enter the ear. At the end of it is the cribriform sieve- like plate, through which the portio mollis, or soft portion of the seventh pair of nerves, and which is the auditory nerve, or nerve of hearing, enters to spread over the cochlea and vestibule. 0 Eustachian tube, or communication between the tympanum and the mouth, so called from its discoverer. p Cord, or nerve of the ear, corda tympani, a branch of the portio dura, hard portion, of the seventh pair of nerves, united to a portion of the fifth pair, running across the tympanum, and ramifying on it and on the membrane. J Exit of the portio dura from the temporal bone, to spread over the face. 50 THE HORSB. Between the membrane at which we have arrived, h, and a smaller one almost opposite, f, leading to the still interior part of the ear, and on which the nerve of hearing is expanded, are four little bones, c, d, e, f, united to these membranes and to each other. Their office is to convey, more perfectly than it could be done through the air of the cavity, the » ibrations which have reached the membrana tympani. The first of these little bones [ossiculi) is called the malleus, c, from its supposed resemblance to a hammer. The longer arm of the hammer is attached to the edge of the membrane, and reaches to its centre, and is so strongly united to it, as to draw it down into a kind of funnel-shape. It is the bracing of the parchment of the soldier's drum ; and it must be sufficiently evident, that every vibration given to the membrane must be communicated to the hammer bone. From the hammer, the vibration is communicated to the incus, d, so named from its imagined likeness to a blacksmith's anvil, although it is a great deal more like a molar tooth or grinder, with two fangs, and one of them much lengthened and curved. The hammer, however, is so formed and placed, that the impression or vibration is not merely conveyed, but considerably increased. Between the extremity of the handle of the hammer and its head, resting on the anvil, is a sharp process, received into a hollow in the bony wall of the drum, and which is evidently the fulcrum, or centre of motion, on which the hammer turns ; and this is much nearer the head of the bone than the extremity of the handle. It is then a lever, and it acts upon the principle of the lever. The point of the handle is the place where the vibration is received, or the power applied ; the little process is the fulcrum or prop, or turning point ; and the head of the bone is the extremity of the other arm, where the weight is to be hung, or the effect produced. Now, in proportion (as we shall have again and again to demonstrate, when we speak of the construction of the limbs) as the distance of the power from the fulcrum exceeds that of the weight, so will be the mechanical advantage gained, or so will the effect be increased. Here the extremity of the hammer is twice as far from the centre as the head ; and, therefore, the effect will be doubled, and the vibration received by the extremity of the handle, will be conveyed with double intensity to the anvil. The bodies of these bones are elastic ; and the heads of all bones are covered by a substance, cartilage, elastic in the highest degree : therefore, the impression or vibration communicated from the hammer to the anvil, will not be deadened, but rather increased by the collision of these elastic bodies. The anvil d is another lever, and not only would the vibration be com- municated undiminished through its substance, but one of the projections or fangs being received into an opening in the wall of the drum, and the distance of the point at which the impression was received, or the power resides, being greater from the centre than that where the impression is to be conveyed or given up to the next bone, or, in other words, where the effect is to be produced, mechanical advantage is here, likewise, gained, and the effect on the next bone, e, may fairly be reckoned at three times the intensity of the original vibration. The round bone, e, a very minute one, is the next in order. It is the smallest bone in the body ; and its use seems to be, to form a more complete and moveable joint between the anvil and the stirrup, and to cause the impulse or vibration to be communicated to the slirrup-bone in a perpendicular direction. EXTERNAL STRUCTURE. Q\ The last of these four little bones, is the stapes or stirrup-bone. It closely resembles a stirrup in form, and it is placed on the membrane of the fenestra ovalis, the oval window, or opening into the most interior part of the ear, and the immediate and actual seat of hearing. The stirrup being retained in a perpendicular direction on this membrane,, by the round bone, not only is the full impression which had been communicated to the first membrane conveyed to the other, but it is trebled by the beautiful mechanism of the bones. Sound, we have said, is produced by vibrations conveyed to the ear, and exciting similar vibrations in certain parts of the ear. These vibrations, once excited, do not immediately cease. A glass continues to sound, and the prolonged undulations of the deep-toned bell are familiar to every one. The pulses of sound succeed each other with great rapidity. In speaking, the words quickly follow each other, and each syllable produces a separate impulse on the external membrane of the ear. Unless, however, one pulsation or vibration had ceased before the next was communicated, language would be unintelligible, and a confused and endless noise would prevail. The finger placed on the edge of a glass immediately stops the vibration. The damper applied to the piano-forte effects the same purpose, and gives distinctness of sound and tone. There is in the ear an admirable contrivance to accomplish the same object. Muscles are attached to these little bones, and particularly to the hammer and stirrup, which are in contact with the membranes. One belonging to the stirrup is given in our cut, g. They are placed there, according to some physiologists, to tighten or relax the chain of bones, in order to produce greater or less intensity of sound. We would rather say that they were intended as dampers, to prevent the otherwise unavoidable confusion of sound. No sooner is an impression conveyed to these bones, or a vibration communicated down them, than the muscles contract, and by that contraction tighten the chain of bones, and by that tightening, destroy, and not increase the vibration. The heads of the bones are pressed one on the other, so that, like the finger on the edge of the glass, the vibration is not only immediately arrested in these bones, but in the membranes above and below to which they are attached. The air in the drum of the ear is not always of the same warmth. In fever, or in consequence of inflammation in a neighbouring part, or during the excitement of exercise, the air in the drum may attain a degree of heat far above the natural standard ; the consequence of which would be that it would expand. All bodies expand with heat ; and this air expand, ing would press on every part of the cavity. The bony walls of the cavity would not yield, but the membrane might be so violently distended, as to be incapable of vibrating. Under the cold fit of fever, the air would collapse, or would diminish in bulk. All bodies contract by the application of cold. Then the external air, endeavouring to enter the partial vacuum, and pressing the membranes inward, might produce precisely the same effect. To prevent all this, and to preserve a proper balance between the heat of the air in the tympanum, and that of the other parts of the body, or the atmosphere, there is a passage communicating with the mouth ; and by means of the mouth, with the external air. See p in this cut, and 9 in the cut, page 68, which gives the cartilage that covers the entrance of this passage, the Eustachian tube, into the mouth. The Eustachian tube commences in the drum of the ear, by a mere slit in the bony wall, which, passing through the stony portion of the temporal bone, and part of the sphenoid bone, becomes cartilaginous, and then expands, g2 THE HORSE. and ends in a large pouch or bag. The cartilage, p, protects the mouth of this bao-, and prevents the food from entering it ; and likewise enables it occusionally to unclose for purposes connected with the faculty of hearing. The impression, then, has been conveyed by the mechanism of \he bones, from the membrane of the drum, b, to the membrane on which ihe stirrup rests, f; and which closes the fenestra ovalis, or oval window, or opening into the labyrinth of the ear. This mechanism, however, deeply seated as it is in the head, and guarded by the stony hardness of the temporal bone, is liable to injury, and we are next led to admire many provisions for preserving the sense of hearing, even when much mischief has been done to the machine. The membrane may be punctured or ruptured. It is occa- sionally so by accident or violence, and lately purposely done in the human subject, to remedy deafness produced by obstruction of the Eustachian tube. Tiie vibrations of the external air would proceed down the passage a, and be communicated, although imperfectly, to the little bones at the bottom, c, d, e, and carried on the oval window, f, and hearing would remain. Supposing that the three first of the little bones were diseased or removed, the vibration of the external air would be communicated to the air in the drum, and by that to the stirrup, f, and the animal would not be entirely deaf: or even if the whole of the little bones were destroyed, yet the membrane of the oval window remaining, some vibration might be communicated to it, and some sound perceived. Passing the oval window, f, we arrive at the true seat of hearing. A strangely irregular cavity, h, presents itself, filled with an aqueous fluid, while the substance or pulp of the portio mollis or soft portion of the seventh pair of nerves, the auditory nerve, expands on the membrane which lines the walls of this cavity. Why is this cavity filled with a liquid? First, that the membrane which covers the passage into it, might always be pre- served in a proper state to receive and communicate vibrations. If the labyrinth had contamed a fluid possessed of much expansibility, in the considerable changes of temperature to which the frame is subject, this membrane might be stretched beyond the power of vibrating, and almost to bursting by the increased bulk of that fluid. Air is highly expansible. That is of no consequence in the drum of the ear, Z, because, as it expanded, it would rush out of the Eustachian tube ; but in the labyrinth it would be highly injurious, because that is a closed cavity. These interior chambers then are filled with water instead of air, because it is not one-hundredth part so expansible as air. If, however, the labyrinth be completely filled with this aqueous fluid, how can any undulation or vibration take place ? Undulation supposes a change of figure, an enlargement in some direction ; but there can be no enlargement in a bony cavity completely filled. This was not forgotten in the wonderful construction of the ear, and, therefore, at the base of the shell, m, and between the stirrup and the shell, is an opening, covered likewise with membrane, called the round window, or communication between the drum and the labyrinth. When any force, then, is impressed on the membrane under the stirrup, this membrane yields to the impression, and sufl^ers the vibration to be propagated through the whole of the labyrinth. When the vibration ceases, and the fluid is at rest, the membrane over this opening returns to its natural situation, and is ready to yield to the next impression. There is another important reason why these cavities are filled with aqueous fluid. The principal object of the mechanism of the little bones, we have seen to be, perfectly to convey, and even to increase the effect of, the vibration first conmiunicated to the membrane of the drum. The vibra- EXTERNAL STRUCTURE. ^ tion reaches the oval window, trebled in intensity. The same object is pursued within the labyrinth. A liquid is placed there, because sound ia propagated through it with greater rapidity. While sound travels through air at the rate of 1132 feet in a second, it passes through water at the rate of more than 4000 feet in the same time. The impulse communicated to the water by the membrane, is thus more suddenly spread over the whole of the labyrinth. There is, besides, a law regulating the pressure of fluids, by which this impulse must be spread over the whole of the labyrinth, and every portion of the expansion of the nerve will be affected by it, which would not be the case in a fluid so rare and expansible as air. The strongest reason, however, remains to be stated, — the impression or vibration is rendered more intense by travelling through water. That sound which would scarcely be heard in the air, is almost deafening under water. It is a common practice for boys when they bathe, to dive with a stone in each hand, and the rubbing of them together under water produces a rumbling sound of extraordinary loudness. This is contrary to the old opinion ; and even philosophers, of no mean repute, have denied that fishes had ears, because they were placed in a medium through which sound could scarcely be conveyed, and where their ears would be of little use to them. Later and better observers have proved that sound is propagated far more intensely through water than through air; and therefore an aque- ous .fluid occupies those chambers of the ear, on the walls of which the auditory nerve is expanded. The oval window opens into the labyrinth, which is divided into three compartments. First is the vestibule, h, the hall of entrance, not more than a quarter of an inch wide in the actual subject, but magnified in our cut, for the purpose of illustration. Over the whole of the membrane by which it is lined, there are spread expansions of the soft portion of the seventh pair of nerves. On the upper side are several foramina or holes, k, which conduct to the semi-circular canals, i, containing also water, lined by the same membrane, and that membrane likewise covered, although not so thickly, with nervous pulp. The posterior one is a perfeqt semi-circular canal, with two openings into the vestibule. The other two run into each other in a part of their course, and have one common opening, and one peculiar to each ; so thai these canals open into the vestibule by five apertures. These canals contain a singular mechanism. In the part of the vestibule at the openings of the canals, k, is suspended a little bag, filled with a very clear fluid, and from which branches go into, and occupy the canals, not filling them, but floating in the fluid which they contain ; and on these bags the portion of the nerve belonging to the canal is pTincipally distributed. The membrane composing these bags is exceedingly thin. Thus floating in the fluid of the canals, and richly supplied with nervous matter, the slight- est vibration or motion communicated to ihe fluid by the stirrup on the oval window, will be immediately and powerfully felt. On the other side is, if possible, a more complex mechanism. At m is the cochlea, so termed from its likeness to the convolutions of a shell. It, however, more resembles a spiral lamina, or narrow and thin plate, partly bony, and partly membranous, running round a column in the centre. It is a spiral stair-case in a round tower. The base of it rests on the internal passage, n, through which both portions of the seventh pair of nerves pass into the ear. Its apex, or top, approaches the Eustachian tube, o. The soft, or auditory portion of the nerve, penetrates through the cribriform or sieve-like termination of the passage, and a part of it runs up the central 84 THE HORSE. column or bone, which is hollow and spongy, and, through a thousand apertures in it, ramifies on the lamina of bone, twining spirally around the column, and on the membranous fringe which floats in the fluid with which the shell is filled, and the whole is covered by a tliick expansion of nervous matter. The cribriform plate extends beyond the base of the shell to the vestibule, and those portions of nerve there enter, which spread over the vestibule and the semi-circular canals ; but the principal part of it seems to be given 10 the cochlea. What is the distinct and peculiar offices of these parts, so curiously and yet so differently constructed, we know not. They are both admirably adapted to render the sense of hearing fully equal to every possible want of the animal. In the horse the cochlea is much larger, compared with the canals than it is in the ox or sheep ; but for what especial purpose, we are unable to determine : nor can we account for the large pouch-shaped opening of the Eustachian tube in the horse, (fig. 9, p. 68), nor for the small developements of the mastoid cells in the horse, while they ar© exceedingly large in the ox. There are many parts of the frame, the pre- cise use or function of which we cannot ascertain ; but, as far as we do understand the mechanism of the various animals which pass under our notice, all is fittest and best ; and the study of the animal frame, with a view to discover the evidences of design, is pleasing and improving^. The Eye is a most important organ, and comes next under consideration, as inclosed in the bones of the skull. The eye of the horse should be large, and somewhat (but not too) prominent, and the eyelids fine and thin. If the eye be sunk in the head, and apparently little (for there is actually a very trifling difference in the size of the eye in animals of the same species and bulk, and the seeming diflerence arises from the larger or smaller opening between the lids), and the lid be thick, and especially if there be any puckering towards the inner corner of the lids, that eye either is diseased, or has been lately subject to inflammation ; and, particularly if one eye is smaller than the other, it has been, at no great distance of time, inflamed. The eye of the horse enables us pretty accurately to guess at his temper. If much of the white be seen, the buyer should pause ere he completes his bargain ; because, although it may, yet very rarely, happen that the cornea or transparent part is unnaturally small, and therefore an unusual portion of the white of the eye is seen, and especially when the horse is looking sideways, or backward, yet experience has shown that this display of white is dangerous. The mischievous horse is slyly on the look out for opportu- nities to do mischief, and the frequent backward direction of the eye, when tlie white is most perceptible, is only to give surer effect to the blow which he is about to aim. We will give a cursory description of the eye, and the uses of its difTer- ent parts. The eyes are placed at the side of the head, yet a little pointing forward, to give the animal a more extended field of vision. He needs this in his wild state to detect the approach of his enemies, and it is useful to him when employed in our service. The eye is supported behind by muscles attached to different parts of the bony orbit, and it is embedded in a vast mass of fat, upon which it may be readily moved, and without friction ; and that fat being absorbed in sickness or old age, the eye is retracted and sinks into the orbit. In front, the eye is supported and covered by the lids, which, closing EXTERNAL STRUCTURE, 85. rapidly, protect it from many an injury that threatens; — supply it witi? that moisture which is necessary to preserve its transparency ; in tne momentary act of closing, they give a certain and sufficient respite to a del- icate organ, which would otherwise be fatigued and worn out, by the con- stant glare of day ; when the eye labours under inflammation, defend it l"rom the stimulus of light; and, gradually drooping, permit the animal to enjoy that repose which nature requires. Extending round both lids, and, it may be almost said, having neither origin nor insertion, is a muscle called the orbicularis, or circular muscle. Its office is to close the lids in the act of winking or otherwise, but only while the animal is awake. When he sleeps, this is effected by another and very ingenious mechanism, for no voluntary muscle will continue in action during sleep. The natural state of the eyelids is that of being closed ; and they are kept open by the energy of the muscles, whose office it is to raise the upper lid. As sleep steals upon the animal, these muscles cease to act, and the lids close by the inherent elasticity of the membrane of which they are composed. The skin of the lid is, like that of the ear, exceedingly fine, to prevent unnecessary weight and pressure on such a part, and to give more easy and extensive motion. The lids close accurately when drawn over the eye, and this is effected by a little strip of cartilage, at the edge of each of them, which may be easily felt with the finger, and which preserves them in a hoop-like form, and adapts them closely to the eye and to each other. The lower cartilage, however, does not, as a moment's observation will show, present towards the inner corner of the eye, the whole of its flat surface to the upper, but it evidently slopes inward, and only the outer edge of the under lid touches the upper, and, by this means, a little gutter is formed, by which the superfluous moisture of the eye flows to the inner corner, where there is a canal to convey it away, and therefore it neither accumulates in the eye, nor unpleasantly runs down the cheek. Along the edges of the lids are placed numerous little hollows, which can be plainly distinguished even in the living horse by slightly turning down the lid. These are the openings into numerous small cells, containing a thick and unctuous fluid, by means of which the eyes are more accu- rately closed, and the edges of the lids defended from the acrimony of the tears. The horse has no eyebrows, and the eyelashes are very peculiarly ar- ranged. The rows of hair are longest and most numerous on the upper lid, and especially towards the outer or temporal corner, because the light comes from, above ; and, as the animal stands, and particularly when he is grazing, and from the lateral situation of his eyes, the greater portion of the light, and the attacks of insects, and the rolling down of moisture, would chiefly be from the outside or temples. Towards the inner corner of the eye there is little or no eyelash, because there is no probable danger or nuisance in that direction. Only a small quantity of light can enter from below, and therefore the lashes are thin and short ; but as, in the act of grazing, insects may more readily climb up and be troublesome to the eye, towards the inner angle, there the principal or only hair is found on the lower lid. These apparently trifling circumstances will not be overlooked by the careful observer. They who are unacquainted with the absurdities of stable management, or who have not carefully examined the abuses which may exist in their own establishments, can scarcely conceive the foolish and cruel practices of some carters and grooms. We know that when the groom is anxious- 8G THE HORSE. that his horse should .be as neat and trim all over as art can make him, the very eye-lashes are generally sacrificed. What has the poor animal suf- fered, when, travelling in the noon of day, the full blaze of the sun has fallen upon his eyes ! and how many accidents have probably happened, from his being dazzled by the light, but which have been attributed to other causes. If the horse has no eyebrow, there are several hairs or bristles scattered on the upper eyelid, and there is a projecting fold of the lid which dis- charges nearly the same office. It is more conspicuous in old horses than in young ones. Some horsemen do not like to see it, and associate the idea of it with weakness or disease of the eye. This is perfectly erroneous. It is a provision of nature to accomplish a certain purpose, and has nothing to do either with heallh or disease. On the lower lid is a useful provision to warn the horse of the near approach of any object that might incommode or injure him, in the form of long projecting hairs or bristles, and which are plenteously embued with nervous influence, so that the slightest touch shall put the animal on his guard. We would request any of our readers, by whom the experiment never has been made, to touch very slightly the extremity of one of these hairs. They will be surprised to observe the sudden convulsive twitching of the lid, rendering the attack of the insect absolutely impossible. Those ignorant grooms, however, who cut away the eye-lashes, do not spare these useful feelers. The eye is exposed to the action of the atmospheric air, and the process of evaporation, destructive of its transparency, is continually going on. The eye of the horse, or the visible part of the eye, is, likewise, more prominent and larger than in the human being, and the animal is often sub- ject to extreme annoyance from dust and insects, while he has no hands or other guard to defend himself from the torture which they occasion. W^hat is the provision of nature against this ? Under the lid, and a little within the outer corner of the upper lid, is a large irregular body, the lachrymal gland, comparatively larger than in the human being, secreting an aqueous fluid, and which fluid slowly issuing out from the gland, and, more especially, pressed out of it by the act of winking, flows over the eye, supplies it with moisture, and washes off all impurities. Human ingenuity could not have selected a situation from which the fluid could be conveyed over the eye with more advantage for this purpose. When this fluid is secreted in an undue quantity, and flows over the eye, it is called tears. An increased flow of tears is produced by any thing that irritates the eye, and, therefore, a constant accompaniment and symptom of inflammation. A horse with any degree of weeping, or the flowing of the tears down the cheek, should be regarded with much suspicion. In the human being an unusual secretion of tears is often caused by bodily pain, and emotions of the mind ; and so it is occasionally in the horse. We have seen it repeatedly, under acute pain or brutal usage. John Lawrence, speaking of the cruelty exercised (and we know still too often exercised) by some dealers, in what they call " firing" a horse before he is led out for sale, in order to arouse every spark of mettle, says : " More than fifty years have passed away, and I have before my eyes a poor mare stone blind, exquisitely shaped, and showing all the marks of high blood, whom I saw unmercifully cut with a whip a quarter of an hour before the sale, to bring her to the use of her stiffened limbs, xcldle the tears were trickling down her cheeks J ^ Having passed over the eye, the fluid is conveyed by the little canal of EXTERNAL STRUCTURE. S7 whicii we have spoken, formed by the sloping of the under lid, towards tlie corner of the eye ; and there are two little orifices, that conduct it to a small leservoir within, and at the upper part of the lachrymal bone, (fig i, p. t)6). A little protuberance of black or pied colour, called the caruncle^ placed In the very corner of the eye, and to be seen without opening the lids, is situated between these orifices, and guides the fluid into them. From this reservoir the tears are conveyed by a long canal, the fachrymal duct, partly bony and partly membranous, to the lower part of the nose. A little within the nostril, and on the division between the nostrils, is seen the lower opening of this canal ; the situation of which our readers should carefully mark, and bear in mind its real use, for not only horsemen, but even some careless veterinary surgeons, have mistaken it for a glanderous ulcer, and have condemned a useful and valuable animal. It is found just before the skin of the muzzle terminates and the more delicate membrane of the nostril commences. * The opening of the canal is placed thus low because the membrane of the nose is exceedingly delicate, and would be irritated and made sore by the frequent or constant running down of the tears. This canal is sometimes obstructed in the human being, and the reservoir is distended and bursts ; an ulcer is then formed, very difficult to heal, and only healed by a metal style or pin, penetrating into the duct, being worn for a considerable time. Fortunately the lachrymal duct is rarely obstructed in the horse, for, if it were, and ulceration were to follow, no mechanical contrivance could retain the style or pin in its place. The dog is subject to obstructions of this canal, and the ulcer formed by the bursting of the sac is never healed. There is, however, something yet wanting. We have a provision for supplying the eye with requisite moisture, and for washing from off the transparent part of it insects or dust which may annoy the animal. What becomes of these impurities when thus washed off'? Are they carried by the tears to the corner of the eye, and so pass down this duct, and irritate and obstruct it ; or do they accumulate at the inner angle of the eye ? There is a beautiful contrivance for disposing of them as fast as they enter the eye. Concealed within the inner corner of the eye, or only the margin of it, black or pied, visible, is a triangular-shaped cartilage, the haw, with its broad part before. It is concave within, exactly to suit the globe of the eye ; and it is convex without, accurately to adapt itself to the membrane lining the lid; and the base of it is reduced to a thin or almost sharp edge. At the will of the animal this is suddenly pro- truded from its hiding-place, passes rapidly over the eye, and shovels up every nuisance mixed with the tears, and then, being speedily drawn back, the dust or insect is wiped off as the cartilage again passes under the corner of the eye. How is this managed ? This cartilage has no muscle attached to it, and the limbs, and the different parts of the body, when put in motion by the influence of the will, are moved invariably by muscles. The mechanism is simple and effectual. There is a great mass of fat at the back of the eye, that the eye may be easily moved ; and this fat is particularly accumulated about the inner corner of the eye, and beneath, and at the point of this car- tilage. The eye of the horse has likewise very strong muscles attached to it, and one, peculiar to quadrupeds, of extraordinary power, and by whose aid, if the animal has not hands to ward off" a danger that threatens, he is at least enabled to draw the eye back almost out of the reach of that danger. 88 THE HORSE. Dust, or gravel, or insects shall have entered the eye, and annoy the horse. This peculiar muscle suddenly acts. The eye is forcibly drawn back, and presses upon the fatty matter. That may be displaced, but can- not be squeezed into less compass. It is forced violently towards the inner corner of the eye, and it drives before it the haw ; and the haw having like- wise some fat about the point of it, and being placed between the eye and an exceedingly smooth and polished bone, and being pressed upon by the eye as it is violently drawn back, shoots out with the rapidity of lightning, and, guided by the eyelids, projects over the eye, and thus carries off the offending matter. In what way shall we draw the haw back again without muscular action ? Another principle is called into play, of which we have already spoken, and of which we shall have much to say, elasticity. It is that principle by which a body yields to a certain force impressed upon it, and returns to its former state as soon as that force is removed. It is that by which the liga- ment of the neck (p. 68), while it supports the head, enables the horse to graze, — by which the heart expands after closing on and propelling forward Tlie blood in its ventricles — by which the artery contracts on the blood that has distended it, and by which many of the most important functions of life are influenced or governed. This muscle ceases to act. The eye resumes its natural situation in the orbit. There is room for the fatty matter to return to its place, and it immediately returns by the elasticity of the membrane by which it is covered; and it draws after it this cartilage with which it is connected, and the return is as rapid as the projection. The old farriers strangely misunderstood the nature and design of the haw, and many of the present day do not seem to be much better informed. When from sympathy with other parts of the eye labouring under inflam- mation, and becoming itself inflamed, and increased in bulk, and the neigh- bouring parts likewise thickened, it was either forced out of its place, or voluntarily protruded to defend the eye from the action of light, and could not return, they mistook it for some injurious excrescence or tumour, and proceeded to cut it out. The "/law in the eyes," is a disease well known to the majority of grooms, and this sad remedy for it is deemed the only cure. It is a barbarous practice, and if they were compelled to walk half a dozen miles in a thick dust, and without being permitted to wipe or to cleanse the eye, they would feel the torture to which they doom this noble animal, when afterward* employed in their service. A little patience having been exercised, and a few cooling applications rnade to the eye while the inflammation lasted, and, afterwards, some mild astringent ones, and other proper means employed, the tumour would have disappeared, the haw would have returned to its place, and the animal would have discharged the duties required of him, without inconvenience to himself, instead of the agony to which an unguarded and unprotected eye must frequently expose him. The loss of blood occasioned by the cutting out of the haw may fre- quently relieve the inflammation of the eye ; and the evident amendment which follows, induces these wise men to believe that they have performed an excellent operation ; but the same loss of blood, by scarification of the overloaded vessels of the conjunctiva, would be equally beneficial, and the animal would not be deprived of an instrument of admirable use to him. The eye is of a globular figure, yet not a perfect globe. It is rather composed of parts of two globes. The half of the one, f, smaller and transparent in front, and of the other, f, larger, and the coat of it opaque behind. We shall most conveniently begin with the coats of the eye. EXTERNAL SUBSTANCE. SO STRUCTURE OF THE EYE, WITH AN EXPLANATION OF THE PSINCIPAL ANATOMICAL TEEMS. A B. A supposed object viewed by the animal, and an inverted image of which, o l> is thrown on the retina at the back of the eye. e «. Points where the rays, having passed the cornea and the lens, converge by the refractive power of the lens. d e Rays proceeding from the extremities of the object to the eye. f The coi-nea, or horny and transparent part of the eye, covered by the conjunctiva, uniting different parts together. g The crystalline (crystal or glassy) lens, behind the pupil, and in front of the vitreoua humour. h h Muscles of the eye. i Optic nerve, or nerve of sight. k The sclerotica (hard firm coat) covering the whole of the eye, except the portion occu- pied by the cornea, and being a seeming prolongation of the covering of the optic nerve. I The choroides (receptacle or covering), or choroid coat, covered with a black secre- tion or paint. m m The iris, or rainbow-coloured circular membrane, under the cornea, in front of the eye. and on which the colour of the eye depends. The duplicature behind is the uvea, from being coloured like a grape. The opening in the centre is the pupil. n n The ciliary (hair4ike) processes, 0 The retina, or net-like expansion of the optic nerve, spread over the whole of the choroides as far as the lens. p The vitreous (glass-like) humour filling the whole of the cavity of the eye behind the lens. q The aqueous (water-like) humour filling the space between the cornea and the lens. The conjuctiva, f, is that membrane which lines the lids, and covers the fore part of the eye. It covers all that we can see or feel of the eye, and even its transparent part. It is itself transparent, and transmits the colour of the parts beneath. It is very susceptible of inflammation, during which tiie lining of the lid will become intensely red, and the white of the eye will be first streaked with red vessels, and then covered with a complete mesh of them, and the cornea will become cloudy and opaque. It is the seat of various diseases, and particularly in it commences the sad inflammation of the horse's eye, which bids defiance to the veterinary surgeon's skill, and, almost invariably, terminates in blindness. The examination of the conjunctiva, by turning down the lid, will enable us to form an accurate judgment of the degree of inflammation which exists in the eye. Horsemen and farriers, however, seem to think that it likewise indicates the degree of inflammation in almost every other part, or, at least, of the general fever which may accompany local inflammation. There i.s a part which much more clearly indicates mis, and especially if the general disturbance be accompanied or produced by any affection of the lungs — a G 00 THE HORSE. part which will rarely deceive, and which is more easily got at, viz : the membiane lining the nose. If the edge of the nostril be lifted up, the colour of the nostril will faithfully indicate the degree of chest atfection, and of general inflammation or fever. Covering the back part of the eye, and, indeed, four-fifths of the globe of the eye, is the sclerotica, k. It is an exceedingly strong membrane, composed of fibres interweaving with each other, and almost defying the possibility of separation. An organ so important and delicate as the eye, requires secure protection. This is a highly elastic membrane. It is necessary that it should be so, when we consider that the eye is surrounded by several, and very power- ful muscles, which must temporarily, and even for the purposes of vision, alter its shape. The elasticity of the sclerotica is usefully exhibited by its causing the globe of the eye to resume its former and natural shape, as soon as the action of the muscle ceases. The sclerotica has very few blood-vessels ; is scarcely sensible ; and its diseases, except when it participates in general disturbance or disorganiza- tion, are rarely brought under our notice. We therefore pass on to the cornea. The cornea is, or we should wish it to be, the only visible part of the horse's eye, for we repeat, that the exhibition of much white about it is a symptom of wickedness. The cornea fills up the vacuity which is left by the sclerotica, in the fore part of the eye, and although closely united to the sclerotica, may be separated from it, and will drop out like a watch- glass. It is not round, but wider from side to side than from top to bot- tom ; and the curve rather broader towards the inner than the outer corner of the eye, so that the near eye may be known from the off, after it is taken from the head. The convexity or projection of the cornea is a point of considerable importance. The prominence of the eye certainly adds much to the beauty of the animal, but we shall see presently, when we consider the eye as the organ of sight, that by being too prominent, the rays of light may be ren- dered too convergent, and the vision indistinct ; or, if the cornea be small and flat, the rays may not be convergent enough, and perfect vision de- stroyed ; and in either case, the horse may unpleasantly start, or suddenly and dangerously turn round. An eye neither too prominent nor too flat will be nearest to perfection. It ought to be perfectly transparent, and any cloudiness or opacity is the consequence of disease. It is an exceedingly firm and dense membrane, and can scarcely be pierced by the sharpest instrument. The cornea is composed of many different plates, laid over one another, and, between each, at least in a state of health, is a fluid, which is the cause of its trans- parency ; and the evaporation of which, after death, produces the leaden or glazed appearance of the eye. When it appears to be opaque, it is not -■'ften, and never at first, that the cornea is changed. It is the conjunctiva, the membrane that spreads over it, that now carries through its numerous vessels white blood instead of that which is perfectly pellucid or clear; or there is a secretion of a milky fluid, over or through the conjunctiva, leaving the cornea beneath unaffected. If, however, the inflammation of the conjunctiva continues, a thick fluid is at length thrown out, between the plates of the cornea, and the cloudiness is converted into pe/fect opacity. There is nothing which deserves so much attention from the purchaser of a horse, as the perfect transparency of the cornea over the whole of its EXTERNAL STRUCTURE. g\ Burface. The eye should be examined for this purpose, both in front and with the face of the examiner close to the cheek of the horse, under and behind the eye. The latter method of looking through the cornea is the most satisfactory, so far as the transparency of that part of the eye is con cerned. During this examination, the horse should not be in the open air, but in the stable, standing in the door-way and a little within the door. If any small, faint, whitish lines appear to cross the cornea, or spread over any part of it, they are assuredly the remains of previous inflammation ; or, although the centre and bulk of the cornea should be perfectly clear, yet if round the edge of it, where it unites with the sclerotica, there should be a narrow ring or circle of haziness, the conclusion is equally true, but the inflammation occurred at a more distant period. Whether, however, the inflammation has lately existed, or several weeks or months have elapsed since it was subdued, there is every probability that it will recur. There is one little caution to be added. The cornea in its natural stale is not only a beautiful transparent body, but it reflects, even in proportion to its transparency, many of the rays which fall upon it, and, if there be a white object immediately before the eye, as a very light waistcoat or much display of a white neckcloth, the reflection may puzzle an experienced observer, and has misled the careless one. The coat should be buttoned up and the white cravat carefully concealed. Within the sclerotica, and connected with it by innumerable minute fibres and vessels, is the choroid coat, I. It is a very delicate membrane, and extends over the whole of the internal part of the eye, from the optic nerve to the cornea. It secretes a dark-coloured substance or paint, by which it is covered ; the intention of which, like the inside of our telescopes and microscopes, has been supposed to be, to absorb any stray rays of light which might dazzle and confuse. The black paint, pigmentum nigrum, seems per- fectly to discharge this function in the human eye. It is placed immediately under the retina or expansion of the optic nerve. The rays of light fall on the retina, and, penetrating its delicate substance, are immediately absorbed or destroyed by the black covering of the choroides underneath. For the perfection of many of his best pleasures, and particularly of his intellectual powers, man wants the vivid impression which will be caused by the admission of the rays of light into a perfectly dark chamber ; and when the light of the sun begins to fail, his superior intelligence has enabled him to discover various methods of substituting an artificial day after the natural one has closed. Other animals, without this power of kindling another, although inferior light, have far more to do with the night than we have. Many of them sleep through the glare of day, and awake and are busy during the period of darkness. Our servant the ox occupies some hours of the night in grazing; the sheep does so when not folded in his pen; and the horse, worked during the day for our convenience and profit, has often little more than the period of night alloted to him for nourishment and repose. Then it is necessary that, by some peculiar and excellent contrivance, these hours of comparative or total darkness to us should be partially, yet sufficiently, illuminated for them ; and, therefore, in the lorse, the dark brown or black coat of the choroides does not extend over the whole of the internal part of the eye ; or, rather, it is not found on any part on which the rays proceeding from the objects could fall. It is not found in any part of what may be called the field of vision ; but. in its place, a bright, variegated green is spread, and more over the upper part than the lower, because the animal's food, and the objects whicli it is o/ consequence for him to notice, are usually below the level of ids head : 92 > THE HORSE. thus, by suffering the impression to remain longer on the retina, or by some portion of light reflected from this variegated bed on which the retma reposes, or in some other inexplicable but efficient way, enabling the animal, even in comparative darkness, to possess a power of vision equal to his wants. The reader may see in the dusk, or even when duskiness is fast yielding to utter darkness, the beautiful sea-green reflection from the eye of the horse. It is that lucid, variegated carpet of which we are now speaking. Who is unaware that, in the fading glimmering of the evening, and even in the darker shades of night, his horse can see surrounding objects much better than his rider? and who, resigning himself to the guidance of that sagacious and faithful animal, has not been carried in safety to his journey's end, when he would otherwise have been bewildered ? If our reader has not seen this beautiful pigment in the eye of the horse, we would entreat him to take the earliest opportunity of examining it, and he will be convinced what care that Being, who gave all things life, has taken that each shall be fitted for his situation. The horse has not the intelligence of man, and may not want, for any purpose of pleasure or improvement, the vivid picture of surrounding objects, which the retina of the human being presents. A thousand minute, but exquisite, beauties would be lost upon him. He has not the faculty to appreciate, or to profit by them. If, therefore, his sense of vision may not be so strong during the day, it is made up to him by the increased power of vision in the dark. Perfectly white and cream-coloured horses have a peculiar appearance of the eyes : the pupil is red instead of black. They have no black paint or brilliant carpet. It is the choroid coat itself which we see in them, and not its covering: and the red appearance is caused by the numerous blood- vessels which are found on every part of that coat. When we come to treat of other domestic animals, we shall tell how this carpet is varied in colour, to suit the situation and necessity of each. In the ox, it is of a dark green. He has not many enemies to fear, nor much difficulty in searching for nourishment, and the colour of the eye is adapted to his food. In the cat, and all his varieties, it is yellow. We have heard of the eyes of the lion appearing like two flaming torches in the night. It is the reflection of the little light about him, concentrated on the yellow carpet. There are few of our readers who have not seen the same singular glare from the eyes of the domestic cat. In the wolf, and likewise in the dog, who, in his wild state, prowls chiefly at night, it is grey. In the poor, unjustly persecuted badger, who scarcely dares to crawl forth at night, although sheltered by the thickest darkness, it is white ; and the ferret, who is destined to hunt his prey through all its winding retreats, and in what would be to us absolute darkness, has no paint on the choroides. Tracing the choroides towards the fore part of the eye, we perceive that it is reflected from the side to the edge of the lens, n, and has the appear- ance of several plaits or folds : they are actually foldings of the membrane. It is not diminished in size, but it has less space to cover, and, therefore, there must be these duplicatures or plaits: they are very usefully employed in the place in which we find them : they prevent the passage of any ravs of light on the outside of the lens, and wtiich, proceeding forward in various directions, and uncondensed by the power of the lens, would render vision confused or imperfect. These folds of the choroides are called the ciliary processes. Of ihe last and innermost coat of the eye, the retitia, for which all the EXTERNAL STRUCTURE. ^ otliers were constructed, we shall be better able to speak when we have explained the contents of the eye. Within the cornea, and occupying the fore part of the eye, is the aqueotis humour, p, so termed from its resemblance to pure water. It is that by which the cornea is preserved in its protuberant and rounded form. It extends to the crystalline lens, q, and therefore a portion of it, although a. very small one, is behind the iris (?«, p. 89). Floating in this fluid is a mem- brane, with an oblong aperture, called the iris. It is that which gives colour to the eye. The human eye is said to be black, or hazel, or blue, according to tlie colour of this membrane or curtain ; and it is called the iris, or rainbow, from its beautiful intermingling hues. The colour varies but little in the horse, and always bears some analogy to that of the skin. We rarely see it lighter than a hazel or darker than a brown. The spark- ling black of the human being is never found. Horses perfectly white, or cream-coloured, have the iris white and the pupil red. When horses of other colours, which are usually pied, have a white iris and a black pupil, they are said to be wall-eyed. Vulgar opinion has decided that a wall-eyed horse is never subject to blindness, but this we believe to be altogether erroneous. There is no difference of structure which can pi'oduce this exemption ; but the wall-eyed horse, from this singular and unpleasant appearance, and his frequent want of breeding, may not be exposed to many of the usual causes of inflammation. The aperture in the iris is termed the pupil, and through it light passes to the inner chamber of the eye. The pupil is oblong, and variable in size. It varies with the intensity or degree of light which falls upon the eye. In a dark stable, the pupil is expanded to admit a great proportion of the light which falls upon the cornea ; but when the horse is brought towards the door of the stable, and more light is thrown upon the eye, the pupil con- tracts, in order to keep out that extra quantity which would be painful to the animal and injurious to vision. When opposed directly to the sun, the aperture will almost close. This alteration of form in the pupil is effected by the muscular fibres which enter into the composition of the iris. When these fibres contract, it is plain that the pupil must enlarge. The membrane itself must be drawn into less compass, and therefore the aperture in the centre must be greater. When the fibres are relaxed, the pupil must proportionably diminish. The motions of the iris are not at all under the control of the will, nor is the ani- mal sensible of them : they are produced by sympathy with the state of the retina. When a quantity of light, sufficient to dazzle or give pain, falls upon the retina, it is exhausted ; the fibres of the iris sympathize with it, and relax, and the curtain falls. When a deficient portion of light reaches the retina, and vision is indistinct, we are conscious of an apparent effort to bring the object clearly into view ; the fibres then contract, and the aper- ture enlarges, and more light is admitted. This dilatation or contraction of the pupil gives a useful method of ascertaining the existence of blindness in one eye or in both. There is a description of blindness, which a close examination of the eye, even by a person accustomed to horses, will not always detect. The cornea and crystalline lens remain perfectly transparent, but the retina is palsied, and is not affected by light; and good judges have been deceived when l)lind- ness of this description has been confined to one eye. A horse blind in both eyes will usually have his ears in constant and rapid motion, directing them in quick succession to every quarter ; he will likewise hang back in lis halter in a peculiar way ; and will lift his feet high, as if he were stepping 94 THE HORSE. over some obstacle, when there is actually nothing to obstruct his passage ; unci there will be an evident uncertainty in the putting down of his feet : these things, however, have been overlooked by the careless and inexpert, and a blind hor,sc has been bought as a sound one. In blindness of one eye, little or nothing of this characteristic gait or manner can be perceived ; yet, although a one-eyed horse may not be absolutely condemned for the common biisiness of the carriage or the road, he is generally worthless as a hunter, for he cannot measure his distances, and will run into his leaps.* Many a sportsman, puzzled and angry at the sudden blundering of his horse, or injured by one or more stunning falls, have found a very natural, although unexpected explanation of it in the blindness of one eye, and that perhaps produced through his own fault, by overriding his willing and valu- able beast, and causing a determination of blood to the eye, which proved fatal to the delicate texture of the retina. Even for the carriage or the road, he is, however, sadly deteriorated ; for, his eyes being placed laterally, his field of observation must be materially lessened. Let the size of both pupils be carefully noticed before the horse is removed from the stable ; and, as he is led to the door, observe whether they both contract, and equally so, with the increase of light. If the horse should be first seen in the open air, let it be observed whether the pupils are precisely of the same size ; then let the hand be placed over each eye alternately, and held there for a little while, and let it be observed whether the pupil dilates with the abstraction of light, and equally dilates in each eye. Hanging from the upper edge of the pupil of the horse, are found two or three round black bodies, as large as millet-seeds. When the horse is sud- denly brought into an intense light, and the pupil is closed, these bodies present a singular appearance, being squeezed out from between the edges of the iris. An equal number, but much smaller, are attached to the edge of the lower portion of the iris. Their general use is probably to intercept portions of light which would be troublesome or injurious; but their prin- cipal function is accomplished during the act of grazing. They are larger on the upper edge of the iris, and are placed on the outer side of the pupil, evidently to discharge the same function which we have attributed to the eyelashes, to obstruct the light in those directions in which it would come with greatest force, both from above and even from below, while at the same time the field of view is perfectly open, so far as it regards the pasture on which the horse is grazing. Our cut, m, gives a duplicature of the iris, or the back surface of it. This is called the uvea, and it is covered with a thick coat of black mucus, to arrest the rays of light, and to prevent them from entering the eye in any other way than through the pupil. The colour of the iris is, in some unknov/n way, connected with this black paint behind. Wall-eyed horses, whose iris is white, have no uvea. We now arrive at a body on which all the important uses of the eye mainly depend, the crystalline lens, g, so called from its resemblance to a piece of crystal or transparent glass. It is of a thick jelly-like consistence, thicker and firmer towards the centre, and convex on each side, but more * Mr. W. Percivall, however, in his excellent "Lectures on Veterinary Art," vol. iii. p. 201, says: — "The loss of one eye does not enfeeble sight, because the other acquires greater energy, though it much contracts the field of vision. It is said to render the conception erring ; and the case of mis-judgment of distances is the one commonly brought forward to show tliis. All I can say on this point is, that the best hunter 1 ever possessed — a horse gifted with extraordinary powers for leaping — was a one-eyed horse; and this animal carried me through a hunting- season, without to my recollec*ion making •ne single blunder in leaping." EXTERNAL STRUCTURE. ^ convex on the inner than the outer side. It is inclosed in a delicate trans parent bag or capsule, and is placed between the aqueous and the vitreoua humours, and received into a hollow in the vitreous humour with which it exactly corresponds. It has, from its density, and its double convexity, the chief concern in conveying the rays of light which pass into the pupil. The lens is very apt to be affected from long or violent inflammation of the conjunctiva, and either its capsule becomes cloudy, and imperfectly transmits the light, or the substance of the lens becomes opaque. The examination of the horse, with a view to detect this, must either be in the shade, or at a stable-door, where the light shall fall on the horse from above and in front ; and in conducting this examination we would more particularly caution the intended purchaser against a superfluity of white about his neck. Holding the head of the horse a little up, and the light coming in the direction which we have described, the condition of the lens will at once be evident. The confirmed cataract, or the opaque lens of long standing, will exhibit a pearly appearance, which cannot be mistaken, and will frequently be attended with a change of form, a portion of the lens being forced forwards into the pupil. Although the disease may not have proceeded as far as this, yet if there be the slightest cloudiness of the lens, either generally, or in the form of a minute spot in the centre, and with or without lines radiating from that spot, the horse is to be condemned ; for in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the disease will proceed, and cataract, or complete opacity of the lens, and absolute blindness, will be the result. Cataract in the human being may, to a very considerable extent, be remedied. The opaque lens may be extracted, or it may be forced into the vitreous humours, and there existing as a foreign body it will soon be absorbed and disappear. These operations are impossible in the horse, for in the first place there is a muscle of which we have already spoken, and to be presently described, peculiar to quadrupeds, and of such power as generally to draw back the eye too far into its socket for the surgeon to be enabled to make his incision ; and, could the incision be made, the action of this muscle would force out the greater part of the contents of the eye, and this organ would almost waste away. If, however, the opaque lens could be withdrawn or depressed, and the mechanism of the eye were not otherwise injured, the operation would be totally useless, for we could not make the horse wear those spectacles, whose converging power might compensate for the loss of the lens. Behind the lens, and occupying four-fifths of the cavity of the eye, is the vitreous humour (glassy, or resembling glass). It seems, when first tajven from the eye, to be of the consistence of a jelly, of beautiful transparency ; but if it is punctured, a fluid escapes from it as limpid and as thin as water, and when this has been suffered completely to ooze out, a mass of mem- braneous bags or cells remains. The vitreous humour then consists of a • watery fluid contained in these cells, but the fluid and the cells form a body of considerably greater density than the aqueous fluid in the front of the eye. Last of all, between the vitreous humour and the choroid coat, is the retina, 0, or net-like membrane. It is an expansion of the substance, g, of the optic nerve. When that nei've has reached the back of the eye, and penetrated through the sclerotic and choroid coats, it first enlarges into a little white prominence, and from that proceed radiations or expansions of nervous matter, which spread over the whole of the choroid coat, and form the third investment of the eye. The membrane by which this nervous Dulp is supported, is so exceedingly fine and delicate, that it will tear with the slightest touch, and break even with its own weight. The 96 THE HORSE. membrane and the pulp are perfectly transparent in the living animal. The pupil appears to be black, because in the day time it imperfectly reflects the colour of the clioroid coat beneath ; in the dusk it is greenish, because, the glare of day being removed, the actual green of the paint appears. On this expansion of nervous pulp, the rays of liglit from surrounding objects, condensed by the lens and the humours, fall, and producing a certain image corresponding with these objects, the animal is conscious of their existence and presence. Lii'ht consists of particles, which, proceeding from the sun or other luminous bodies, fall on different objects, and being again reflected from them, and entering the eye, render these objects visible. If we are in a dark room, which we know to be filled with furniture, we see it not, and were it not for our previous knowledge of it, or did we not touch it, we should not be conscious of its existence ; but if a candle be brought into the room, or if one of the shutters be opened, the light from the candle, or that admitted through the window, falls upon, the different articles of furniture, and a portion of it being reflected from them, and reflected in every direction, some of the light enters the pupil of the eye, and we see the objects around us. It proceeds from these objects to us in straight lines, and except it were impeded, or driven, or drawn out of its course by some body, it would continue to travel on for ever in straight lines. It passes through some bodies with perfect ease, as glass, and crystal, and water, but it is obstructed in its passage by others, as metals and wood. These substances through which it readily passes are said to be transparent : those by which its course is arrested are called opaque. It has an attraction for all bodies, stronger for some than for others. By the opaque body the greater part of it is absorbed ; and although it passes through the transparent body, it feels and is affected by the attraction of that body. It is bent out of its way, although not detained. This is called the refraction of light ; and it is on the knowledge of this simple fact that all our optical instruments are constructed, and that we are enabled to explain the wonderful construction of the eye. This little figure will make it sufficiently evident. A ray of light, a, shall fall on a smooth or level piece of glass, in the direction a h, and that course, if it were not acted upon by the glass, it would pursue. But ex- perience teaches us that it does not. It no sooner enters the glass, than it is bent out of its original course, and takes the direction d. It had been acted upon by two forces, the first impulse in the direction a b, and the THE EYE. giji attraction of the glass, in a perpendicular direction, as it approached it j and, obeying both forces, it took a new path, f, between the two forces, and more towards a line, c, drawn perpendicular to the surface of the glass. This new path it continued to pursue, until it had penetrated through the glass ; and then, being about to quit the glass, it was once more acted upon by two forces ; — this combined impulse in an oblique direction, and tlie attraction of the lower surface of the glass in a perpendicular one ; — and as before, obeying both, it again traversed a new path, e, between both forces, and in a direction from the perpendicular. The degree and kind of deviation from the original line will depend on the difference in density between the air and the glass, or water, or what- ever substance may be used, and likewise on the surface of the refracting body. Passing through a transparent substance, with a plain and level surface above and below, the rays will be bent out of their first direction, but will continue parallel to each other. Passing through a concave glass (a glass hollowed on one or both sides), the rays will diverge or separate ; and traversing a convex one (rounded on one or both sides), they will converge or approach each other, and tend to a point ; and the degree of convergence or divergence will depend on the degree of convexity or concavity. Let us apply this to the mechanism of the eye of the horse (vide p. 89). We have spoken of the cornea, f, and the aqueous humour, q, and the crystalline lens, g, and the vitreous humour, h; but although possessed of different refractive powers, according to their form and density, (and the cornea from its convexity, and the crystalline lens from its density, being the principal agents), they are so fitted to each other, that we may consider them as composing one exceedingly convex lens, and of such power, that the rays entering the pupil, m, are brought to a point within the very sub- stance of the lens. The place of distinct vision, however, will not be at this point, but a little way behind. If the glass of a spectacle, such as those generally worn by old people, be held between a candle and a piece of paper, the rays of light will converge by the convexity of the glass, and be brought to a very small surface or point on the paper ; but on that point, thei'e will be no distinct picture of the candle, and the paper must be gradually removed from the light, until a distance be found at which the image of the candle will be seen most vivid and distinct, although inverted. So (see the cut, p. 89) the retina which is spread over the internal coat of the eye is placed at a little distance behind the point where the rays meet and cross. If the eye be too convex, and its converging power too great, the rays will cross too soon, and the image will be formed, brightest and best, before they reach the retina, and the vision or sight will be imperfect and obscure. If the eye is not sufficiently convex, and consequently does not possess converging power enough, the rays will not cross until they are too near the retina, and the picture would be most luminous and distinct behind the retina; and thus, likewise, the sight would be imperfect and obscure.* * " In considering' vision aa achieved by means of an image formed at the bottom of the eye, we can never reflect without wonder on the smaUness, yet correctness of tlie picture, the subtilty of the touch, and the fineness of the lines. A landscape of five or six square legues is brought into a space of half an inch in diameter; yet the multitude of objects which it contains arc all preserved, are all discriminated in their rnaarnitudes, positions, figures, colours. A stage-coach passing at its ordinary speed, for several min- «tee, passes in the eye only over one-twelfth of an inch, yet is the change of place in the linage distinctly perceived throughout its whole progresa."— "Pa/ey'« Nat. Theology, p. 32. 9S THE HORSE. We are of course unable to ascertain when the horse experiences either of these kinds of indistinct vision, nor are we able to offer any remedy for them : but nolliing can be more certain than that his sight is frequently very imperfect from one of these causes. There is a shying, often the result of cowardice or playfulness, or want of work ; but at other times proving, beyond contradiction, a defect of sight. A horse will manifestly mistake the nature of the object before him ; he will run against that which he should have seen ; or he will be terrified by a tree or bird, which should not have caused alarm. This defect of sight is more dangerous than blindness. A blind horse will resign himself to the guidance of his rider or driver; but against the misconception and starting of a shying horse there is no defence. That horses grow shy as they grow old, no one accustomed to them will deny ; and no intelligent person will be slow in attributing it to the right cause — a decay in the organ of vision, — a loss of convexity in the eye, lessening the convergency of the rays, and throwing the perfect image beyond, and not on the retina. There is a striking difference in the convexity of the cornea in the coll and the old horse ; and both ,of them, probably, may shy from opposite causes ; the one from a cornea too prominent, and the other from one too flat. We do not think that, in the usual examination of the horse previous to purchase, sufficient attention is paid to the con- vexity of the cornea. The remedy for shying will be considered when we speak of the vices of horses. There is a provision yet wanting. The horse has a very extended field of view, but many persons are not perhaps aware how little of it he can command at a time. There is not one of our readers who can make out a single line of pur treatise without changing the direction of the eye. It is curious to follow the motion of the eyes of a rapid reader. To .move the head and neck in order to adapt the eye to the whole scene before us, would be awkward and fatiguing, and Nature has adopted a simpler and better method. She has given no fewer than seven muscles to the horse, to turn this little but important organ ; and that they might act with sufficient power and quickness, no less than six nerves are directed to the muscles of the eye generally, or to particular muscles ; and the eye rests on a mass of fat, that it may be turned with little exertion of power, and without friction. MUSCLES OF THE EYE. There are four straight muscles, three of which are represented in our cut, d, e, and /", rising from the back of the orbit, and inserted into the ball of the eye, opposite to each other, and at equal distances from each other. One, d, runs to the upper part of the eye, just behind the transparent and visible portion of it, and its office is clearly to raise the eye. When it con- MUSCLES OF THE EYE. 99 tracts, the eye must be drawn upward. Another, J, is inserted exactly opposite at the bottom of the eye ; and its office is as clearly to depress tlie eye, or enable the animal to look downwards. A third, e, is inserted at the outer corner, and by means of it the eye is turned outward, and, from the situation of the eye of the horse, considerably backward ; and the fourth is inserted at the inner corner, turning the eye inward. They can thus rotate or turn the eye in any direction the animal wishes. If the upper and outer muscles are called into action, the horse looks upward and outward, and more upward than outward in proportion as the upper muscle acts, at the will of the animal, more powerfully than the outer ; and thus, by the action of one of them, or the combined action of any two of them, the eye may be immediately and accurately directed to every point. These muscles, however, have another duty to discharge. They support the eye in its place. In the usual position of the head of the horse, they must be to a certain degree employed for this purpose ; but when he is grazing or feeding, the principal weight of the eye rests upon them ; and then, lest from this slanting and downward position of the head, when the horse is so often and so long employed in feeding, they should be fatigued, another muscle is added, peculiar to quadrupeds, called the retractor (drawer-back), or the suspensorius (suspensory) muscle, g. It arises from the edge of the foramen or hole through which the optic nerve enters the orbit — surrounds the nerve as it proceeds forward, and then, partially dividing into four parts, is attached to the back part of the eye. Its office is evidently to support the eye generally, or, when it is suddenly called into powerful action, and assisted by the straight muscles, it draws the eye back out of the reach of threatening danger, and in the act of drawing it back causes the haw to protrude in the manner which we have already described, as an additional defence. The power of this muscle is very great. It has been proved, in attempted operations for cataract, to exert a force equal to more than twenty pounds ; and it renders an operation on the eye almost impossible. It is an admira- ble substitute for the want of hands, to defend the eye from many things that would injure it; and, being partially separated into four divisions, it is also enabled to assist the straight muscles in turning the eye. These muscles discharge another and a most important office. If we examine near and distant objects through a telescope, we must alter the focus, i. e. we must increase or diminish the length of the tube. We must shorten it a little when we examine distant objects, because vhe rays coming to us from them, in a less divergent direction, are sooner brought to a point by the power of the lens ; so the straight and retractor muscles drawing back the eye, and forcing it upon the substance behind, and thus in a slight degree flattening it, bring the lens nearer to the retina, and adapt the eye to the observation of distant objects. Still, however, being employed in supporting the weight of the eye, these muscles might not be able to turn it so rapidly and so extensively as the wishes or wants of the animal might require ; therefore, two other muscles are given, which are used solely in turning the eye. They are called oblique muscles, because their course is obliquely across the eye. The upper one is most curiously constructed, a, h. It comes from the back part of the orbit, and takes a direction upward and toward the inner side, and there, just under the ridge of the orbit, it passes through a perfect mechan- ical pulley, and, turning round, proceeds across the eye, and is inserted rather beyond the middle of tha eye, towards the outer side. Thus the globe of the eye is evidently directed inward and upward. Something 100 THE HORSE. more, however, is accomplished by this singular mechanism. The eye is naturally deep in the orbit, that it may be more perfectly defended ; but it may be necessary, occasionally, to bring the eye forward, and enlarge the field of vision. The eye is actually protruded under the influence of fear: not only are the lids opened more widely, but the eye is brought more for- ward. How can this possibly be accomplished ? There are no muscles anterior to, or before the eye — there is no place for their insertion. The object is readily effected by this singular pulley, h, c. By the power of this muscle, the trochlearis, or pulley-muscle, and the straight muscles at the same time not opposing it, or only regulating the direction of the eye, it is really brought somewhat forward. The lower oblique muscle rises just within the lachrymal bone (i, p. 66), and, proceeding across the eye, is fixed into the part of the sclerotica, opposite to the other oblique muscle, and it turns the eye in an opposite direction, assisting, however, the upper oblique, in bringing the eye forward from its socket. CHAPTER VII. INJURIES AND DISEASES OF THE SKULL— THE BRAIN— THE EARS— AND THE EYES. We have now arrived at a convenient resting-place in our somewhat dry, but necessary description of the structure of the horse, and we willingly turn to more practical matter. We will consider the injuries and diseases of the parts we have surveyed. In entering, however, on this division of our work, we would premise, that it is impossible for us to give the farmer such an account of the nature and treatment of the diseases of horses as will enable him with safety to practise for himself, except in the commonest cases. The causes of most diseases are so obscure, their symptoms so variable, and their connexion with other maladies so complicated and mys- terious, that a life devoted to professional study will alone qualify a man to become a judicious and successful practitioner on the diseases of the horse and other domestic animals. Our object will be to communicate sufficient instruction to the farmer, to enable him to act with promptness and judg- ment when he cannot obtain professional assistance — to qualify him to form a satisfactory opinion of the skill of the veterinary surgeon whom he may employ, and, more especially, to divest himself of those strange and absurd prejudices which, in a variety of cases, not only produce and prolong dis- ease, but bring it to a fatal termination. FRACTURE. We have described the cavity of the skull of the horse as being so defended by the hardness of the parietal bones, and those bones as so covered by a mass of muscle, and protected above by an additional layer of bone, and the occipital bone as so exceedingly thick (see cut, p. 68), that a frac- ture of the bones of the skull is almost impossible. It can only occur from brutal violence, except that, when a horse falls in the act of rearing, the occipital bone is sometimes fractured ; when he falls forward, and the head comes in contact with the ground, the muzzle or jaws will receive the principal or whole force of the blow. When, however, fracture of the skull does occur, it is almost invariably fatkl. A blow of sufficient violence to MEGRIMS. 101 break these bones, must likewise irreparably injure the delicate and import- ant organ which they protect. The ridge, or outer and upper part of the orbit of the eye, is occasion- ally fractured. It happens from falling, or much oftener from violent blows. The slightest examination will detect the loosened pieces, but a protessiona'. man alone can here render effectual assistance. All, however, that he can do will be gently to replace the parts in their natural situation, and contrive to confine them there by adhesive plasters; to obviate inflammation by bleed- ing, physic, and low diet, and leave the rest to nature. We proceed then to the diseases of the head, and the first of these is PRESSURE ON THE BRAIN. This may be produced by some fluid thrown out between the membranes, or occupying and distending the ventricles of the brain. In the grown horse this rarely occurs, but it is well known to breeders as an occasional disease of the foal, under the name of " water in the head." The head is either very much enlarged, or strangely deformed, or both ; and the animal dies either in the act of foaling, or a few days after the birth. MEGRIMS. There is another kind of pressure on the brain, resulting from an unu- sual determination or flow of blood to it. This organ requires a large supply of blood to enable it to discharge its important functions. It is sup- posed that ten times more blood flows through the brain than through any other part of the frame of equal bulk. Nature, in the horse more than in many other animals, has made some admirable provision to cause this great quantity of blood to flow into the brain without much velocity, and thereby to lessen the risk of suddenly overloading it or rupturing its vessels. The arteries pursue their course to the brain in a strangely winding and circuit- ous manner ; and they enter the skull through bony holes which will admit of the enlargement of the vessel only to a very limited extent : yet, from various causes, of which the most common is violent exercise in a hot day, and the horse being fat and full of blood, more than the usual quantity will be sent to the head : — or from some negligence about the harness, as the collar being too small, or the curb-rein too tight, the blood will be prevented from returning from the head : and thus the larger vessels of the brain will be too long and injuriously distended, and, what is of more consequence, the small vessels which run through the substance of the brain will be enlarged, and the bulk of the brain will be increased, and it will press upon the origins of the nerves, and produce, almost without warning, loss of power and consciousness. The mildest affection of this kind is known by the name of Megrims. It comparatively rarely happens when the horse is ridden ; but should he be driven, and, perhaps, rather quickly, he may perform a part of his journey with his usual cheerfulness and ease, when all at once he will stop, shake his head, be evidently giddy, and half unconscious. In a minute or two this will pass over, and he will go on again as if nothing had happened. Frequently, however, the attack will be of a more serious nature. He will fall witliout the slightest warning, or suddenly run round once or twice, and then fall. He will either lie in a state of complete insensibility, or struggle with the utmost violence. In five or ten minutes he will begin gradually to come to himself; he will get up, and proceed on his journey, yet somewhat dull, and evidently affected and exhausted by what had hap- pened, although not seriously or permanently ill. This is a verv dangerous disease — dangerous to the horse, which will i(,2 THE HORSE. occasionally die on the spot, and peculiarly dangerous to those who drive nim, for there will frequently be no warning or opportunity to escape. It likewise happens, that whether the vessels have been weakened by this vio- lent distension, and afterwards offer less resistance to the flow of blood, or, whatever be the cause, a horse that has once been attacked by megrims is very subject to a return of the complaint. No prudent man will drive a horse that has had a second attack, especially if, in the intermediate time, he has taken proper means to prevent a recurrence of the fit. At the moment of attack, a person who is able to bleed should take three or four quarts of blood from the neck ; or any one can cut the barr of the palate in the manner explained where we describe the palate, and whence a considerable and sufficient quantity of blood may be readily obtained. The driver should pat and soothe the animal, and carefully examine the harness, and pursue his journey as gently as circumstances will permit. When he gets home, a dose of physic* should be administered, if the horse can be spared, and the quantity of dry food lessened, and mashes given, or green meat, or the horse should be turned out at night, or turned out altogether for two or three months. APOPLEXY. . The attack sometimes assumes a still more violent form. The horse falls and dies at once. It then rather resembles, or is the same with apoplexy in the human being. To this more serious form of the disease he is subject in the stable, and even at pasture ; but there is generally some warning. He will be seen with the head low, extended almost to the ground, and •supported against the manger. He staggers as he stands. If moved, he appears as if he would fall. His sight and hearing are evidently affected. This is not mad-staggers, for no inflammation of the brain is found ; nor stomach-staggers, for there is no distension of the stomach. The horse will continue in this way from one hour to twelve. He then falls ; — grinds his teeth ; — his eyes are open, protruded, and fixed — the pupil is dilated ; — there are twitchings about the frame ; — the muzzle is cold ; — the vein of the neck is evidently swelled ; — he is unable to swallow ; — the drink is returned by the nostril or the mouth, and the dung often voided involuntarily ; — the twitchings increase to strong convulsions, and death speedily closes the scene. If there be time for medical treatment, the course to be pursued is plain enough. Bleed copiously ;f — take at once eight or ten quarts. Bleed from a vein in preference to an artery, for an artery which supplies the brain cannot be got at. Bleed from the jugular or common neck- vein, for that returns the blood from the brain, and a large quantity rapidly drawn from this vein may possibly give relief. Next back-rake, or remove the dung from the lower intestine with the hand, and give a dose of physic : but the case is usually hopeless, and the most decisive and skilful treatment alone can avail. We decidedly object to two methods of cure adopted by sonrie farriers, and farmers too. The first is to blow pepper (and Cayenne pep- per if they can get it) up the nostrils of the horse. The violent sneezing that will be produced, if the animal is not too insensible, must probably, or almost certainly, rupture some of the vessels already over-distended. The other practice is to give spices and bark to rouse the animal. The effect • By physic, whenever the word occurs in this Treatise, we mean purgrafive medicine, + Full directions for bleeding will be given when we describe the various operatioM which it may be necessary to perform on the horse. STOMACH-STAGGERS. IO3 •f these would be to quicken the circulation, and to send yet ma"e blood to that organ which already had a great deal too much. STOMACH-STAGGERS. A disease not much unlike this is known under the name of Staggers. There are two varieties of it — the sleepy or stomach-staggers, and the mad- staggers ; frequently, however, they are only dilferent stages of the same disease, or varying with the cause that produced them. In Stomach-Sta&- GERS the horse stands dull, sleepy, staggering ; when roused, he looks vacantly around him ; perhaps seizes a lock of hay, and dozes again with it in his mouth ; at length he drops and dies : or the sleepiness passes olf, and delirium comes on, when he falls, rises again, drops, beats himself about, and dies in convulsions. The cause of this is sufficiently evident ; and the disease never occurs, except by the fault of those who have the management of the horse. It arises from over-feeding. The horse has been permitted to get at a too great quantity of food, or food of an improper nature. When he has been kept for some hours without eating, and has been worked hard, and has become thoroughly hungry, he falls ravenously upon every kind of food he can get at ; swallowing it faster than his small stomach can digest it ; and no water being given to soften it, and to hasten its passage, the stomach becomes crammed, and having been previously exhausted by long fasting, is unable to contract upon its contents. The food soon begins to ferment and to swell, causing great distension ; the brain sympathizes with this overloaded organ, and staggers are produced. We can easily imagine this, when we remember the sad headaches occasionally arising from an overfilled or disordered stomach. Sometimes the stomach is ruptured. We have little to say of the treatment of the disease so far as medicine IS concerned, except that as it is almost or quite impossible for the person most accustomed to horses to distinguish between the early stage of sto- mach and mad staggers (distension of the stomach, and inflammation of the brain), we should be most diligent and minute in our inquiry into the history of the horse for the preceding twenty-four hours — whether he could have got at an undue quantity of food, or had been worked hard and kept long fasting. Some say that there is a yellowness of the eye, and twitcl)- ings about the breast in the early stage of sleepy or stomach-staggers. A¥e have seen a great many cases of stomach-staggers without this yellowish- ness, or these catchings, and we believe that no one can certainly distin- guish between the two, and that we must be guided entirely by the history of the case. Bleed very largely ; — that cannot do harm, and in mad staggers is indis- pensable. Give a good dose of physic — that also cannot do harm, although in stomach-staggers it cannot do much good, for it can scarcely find its way into the over-distended stomach, and it certainly cannot find its way through it. Keeping the horse from all food will be a very proper proceeding, whichever be the disease. Some good judges have affirmed that a horse was never cured of stomach- staggers. It was formerly a very difficult thing, but the stomach-pump has done wonders in cases of poisoning in the human being, and, by means of a larger and somewhat altered pump, (which every veterinary surgeon, and, we think, every large proprietor of horses, should have on his premises,) this enormous mass of food may, without difficulty, be washed out. If, however, we can say but little of the treatment of stomach-staggers, we have much to say of its prevention. It attacks old horses oftener than 104 THE HORSE. otliers, and horses that have been hardly worked, or that have been workea for many hours without food. Let no farmer delude himself with the idea that it is contagious. If his horses have occasionally slight fits of the staggers, or if the disease carries off several of .them, he may be assured that there is something wrong in his management. One horse may get at the corn-bin, and cram himself to bursting ; but if several are attacked, it is time for him to look about him. The cause will generally be found to be, too voracious feeding ; too much food given at once, and perhaps without water, after hard work and long fasting. Nothing is lost by tbe habitual use of the nose-bag, and a more equal division of the hours of labour and the times of feeding. • Some careless and thoughtless people suffer their horses to go from morning to night without being fed, and then they wonder if sometimes the horses hang their heads, and droop, and can- not work. No horse should be worked more than four or five hours without being baited. There is one consequence of this improper treatment, of which persons do not appear to be aware, although they suffer severely from it. A horse that has frequent half-attacks of the staggers very often goes blind. It is not the common blindness from cataract, but a peculiarly glassy appearance of the eye. If the history of these blind horses could be told, it would be found that they had been subject to fits of drooping and dullness, and these produced by absurd management respecting labour and food. Staggers have been known to occur when the animal was at grass ; but this usually happens in poor, hard-worked, half-starved animals, and soon after they have been turned out, either in rich pasture, or in a salt marsh, and in hot weather. There are, however, few diseases of the horse that are not occasionally epidemic, or produced by some influence of the atmosphere, of the nature of which we are ignorant ; and stomach-staggers sometimes prevails in par- ticular districts, where there is nothing remarkably wrong in the treatment of the horse. There is at that time something in the atmosphere which weakens the stomach, and disposes it to indigestion, and causes a little error in feeding to be dangerous, or produces considerable disease under the com- mon circumstances of feeding. When this is the case, the proprietors of horses should be particularly on their guard, for in most horses which then die, the distended stomach will be observed, and will be the actual cause of death. It is very possible that, at certain seasons, some poisonous plants may prevail, or that the hay may not be so nutritive or digestible, and thus the stomach may be weakened. The farmer will weigh all these things in his mind, and act accordingly. MAD-STAGGERS. Mad-Staggers (inflammation of the brain, brain fever) can, as we have said, be at first with difficulty distinguished from the sleepy, or stomach- staggers ; but, after a while, the horse suddenly begins to heave at the flanks; — his nostrils expand; — his eyes unclose; — he has a wild and vacant stare, and delirium comes rapidly on. He dashes himself furiously about ; there is no disposition to do mischief, but his motions are sudden and violent, and accompanied by perfect unconsciciusness ; and he becomes a terrifying and dangerous animal. This continues either until his former stupor returns, or he has literally worn himself out in frightful struggles. There are only two diseases with which it can be confounded, and from both of them it is very readily distinguished, viz: colic and madness. In colic the horse rises and falls, but not witli so much violence ; he sometimes TETANUS, OR LOCKED-JAW. 10ft plunges, but he more often rolls himself about ; he looks frequently at uia flanks wit.i an expression of pain, and he is conscious. In 7uadness there may be more or less violence ; there is sometimes a determination to do mischief; and there is always consciousness. Over-exertion when tlie horse is too fat or full of blood, or especially during hot weather, is a frequent cause of inflammation of the brain ; but what- ever will produce general fever, may be the cause of mad-staggers. The treatment adopted by the best practitioners is too often unsuccess- ful. The horse should be bled until he faints or drops ; or if he be down, until he is evidently faint and weak. Both the neck-veins should be opened at once, and the fullness of the stream, or the quickness with which it is taken, is almost as important as the quantity. Physic should then be given. • The purge that acts most quickly is the best, and that is the croton nut, powdered at the time, and given in a drink, in tlie dose of a half drachm, and followed by smaller doses of ten grains each, every six hours, with plenty of injections of warm soap and water, until the bowels are well opened. If the crotou is not at hand, aloes may be given, but dissolved in hot water — an ounce of aloes at the first dose, and afterwards, a quarter of an ounce every four hours, until purging is produced. This being ef- fected, those medicines should be given which have a tendency to lessen the force of the circulation, and consequently, the determination of blood to the head. The most powerful of these are the foxglove, and the tartar emetic, in doses of a drachm each, three or four times in the day. Helle- bore should not be given on account of the previously too great determina- tion of blood to the brain. The head should be blistered, but rowels and setons give useless pain, for the horse is either cured or dead before they perceptibly begin to act. TETANUS, OR LOCKED-JAW. We have described the nerves as proceeding from the brain and spinal marrow, and conveying the power of feeling and motion to the whole frame. This power may best be conceived by considering it as an influence proceeding from tlie brain to every part. In a state of health, it is regu- larly and uniformly distributed ; but it is much affected by disease. It may rush on violently and without interruption, and we have cramp, and tetanus, or locked-jaw : or the stream may be rapid, but with considerable suspen- sions, and we liavc fits ; or it may be quite suspended, and we have palsy. Tetanus is one of the most dreadful and fatal diseases to which the horse is subject. It is called the Locked-Jaw, because the muscles of the jaw are earliest and most powerfully affected. Tetanus is a constant spasm of all the voluntary muscles, and particularly of the neck, the spine, and the head. It is generally slow and very treacherous in its attack. The horse for a day or two does not appear to be quite well ; he does not feed as usual ; partlj^ chews his food and drops it ; and gulps his water. The owner at length finds out that the motion of the jaws is considerably limited, and some saliva is drivelling from the mouth. If he tries the mouth, he can open it only a very little w'ay, or the jaws are perfectly and rigidly closed ; and thus the only time in which the disease could have been successfully combated is lost. We have, therefore, given a cut of a horse labouring under this disease, which the reader will do well carefully to examine as we proceed with the symptoms, that he may be enabled to recognise it in its very earliest stage ; at the moment he does recognise it, he will do well to apply for the very best advice he can get. Most of the peculiarities delin- H 106 THE HORSE. eated in the cut wD be sufficiently apparent before the jaws are locked, and while medicine can be administered with tolerable ease. The jaws are unnaturally fixed, and then he observes that there is a stiffness of the neck, a difficuliy in bringing ihe head round, and a promi- nence, and hardness, and unyieldingness of all the muscles of the neck, with an unusual protrusion of the head. It next occurs that the poor ani- mal cannot bend his head. The retractor muscle (fig. g, p. 98) is affected by spasm, and the eye is drawn into the socket — squinting outward — and tlie haw protruding over a portion of it. The nostril is expanded, the ear erect, and the countenance anxious ; — the back and loins are stiff, and if he is turned in his stall, the whole body turns at once like an unbending piece of wood. The muscles of the belly are also affected by spasm, and he is tucked up (his belly contracted and drawn up) to a strange degree. The tail is erect, and constantly quivering. The extremities are singularly fixed; — the hind-legs straddling ; — the fore-legs projecting forward and out- ward (as some one has aptly described it) like the legs of a stool. The pulse at first not much affected, but soon becomes quick, and small, and irregular ; the breathing more laborious as the disease proceeds, and the countenance wild and haggard, and expressive of extreme agony. The pain which attends the cramp of one limb will enable us to judge of that which must accompany universal spasm. If a person goes near the horse, or touches him in the slightest way, although he may be unable to move, yet the sudden quickening of the pulse will tell what the animal feels and fears. So the disease goes on for nine or ten days, until the animal is exhausted by the expenditure of nervous energy, and the continuance of torture. If, from strength of constitution or medical treatment, he should recover, the first favourable symptom is a slight and short remission of the spasm ; the time of remission gradually lengthening, and the jaws a little relax- ing ; but the progress of cure is exceedingly slow, and the horse is left very weak. Tetanus is evidently an affection of the nerves. A small fibre of some nerve has been injured, and the effect of that injury has spread to the origin of the nerve ; the brain has become affected, and universal diseased action speedily follows. Locked-jaw generally arises from a wound, and oftenest a wound of a tendinous or ligamentous part ; but depending not TETANUS, OR LOCKED-JAW. |0«^ either upon the extent of the wound, or the degree of inflammation which may be excited. The time of the attacic is uncertain, and may be post- poned until the wound is nearly or quite healed. It occasionally follows nicking, docking, cropping, whether well or ill performed — whether properly attended to afterwards, or neglected. It has been traced to worms, and particularly to hots ; but we do not think that there is any proof of this. Exposure to cold is a frequent cause; water dropping upon the back through the decayed roof of a stable ; or the storm pelting upon the uncovered and shivering animal, while the thoughtless owner has sheltered himself. The rational method of cure would seem to be, first to remove the local cause ; — but this will seldom avail much. The irritation is become general, and the spasmodic action constitutional. The habit is formed, and will continue. It is well, however, to endeavour to discover the local cause. If it be a wound in the foot, let it be touched with the hot iron or the caustic, and kept open with digestive ointment. The new irritation thus produced, may lessen or remove the old one. If it follows nicking, let the incision be made deeper, and stimulated by digestive ointment ; — and if it arise from docking, let the operation be repeated higher. In treating the constitu- tional disease, efforts must be made to tranquillize the system, and the most powerful agent is bleeding. We have known twenty pounds of blood taken at once and with manifest advantage. There is not a more powerful means of allaying general irritation. Temporary relaxation of the spasm will at least follow, and that will give the opportunity to do another thing in order to reduce and quiet the disturbed system, and that is, to give physic. Here again, that physic is best which is speediest in operation, and will lie in the smallest compass. The croton has no rival in this respect. The first dose should be half a drachm, and the medicine repeated every six hours, in doses of ten grains, until it operates. The bowels, in all these nervous affections, are very torpid, and there is little danger of inflammation from an over dose of physic. The operation of the physic may be assisted by frequent injections, each containing a drachm of aloes dissolved in warm water, — or, by means of the pump, to which we referred in page 103, whole pailfuls of warm water, or very thin gruel, may be thrown up. Then, as it is a diseased action of the nerves proceeding from the spinal marrow, the whole of the spine should be blistered — three or four inches wide. The horse should be placed in a warm stable, yet with pure air, and should be clothed with two or three additional rugs, or, what is much better, sheep-skins warm from the animal, with the raw side inward ; and changed as soon as they become dry or putrid. Having bled largely, and physicked and blistered, we seek for other means to lull the irritation, and we have one at hand, small in bulk and potent in energy — opium. Give at once a quarter of an ounce, reduced to powder, and made into a drink with gruel, or in a small ball, (in its crude state it would be too long in dissolving in the stomach) : and give an addi- tional drachm every six hours. If the jaw should be quite fixed, administer it in injections. The bowels must be attended to during the exhibitiorji of the opium, and aloes given in small doses, to keep them in a lax state. Camphor and assafostida may be given by those who please ; — we are not aware that they will do injury, but opium is the sheet-anchor of the vete- rinary practitioner. Great caution and patience are requisite in administering the drinks, ^r the elevating of the head seems to be exceedingly painful to the horse; A ball mav be divided into small pieces, and with a piece of cane or whale- |0>5 THE HORSE. bone conveyed to the back part of the mouth, where it will be disso! vea, and must be swallowed. As soon as possible the strength should be supported by nutritive .ood. The appetite seldom fails in this disease ; and it is painful to see the repeated eager etlorts of the poor animal to allay his hunger. When liis jaws are most finijly fixed, he will sometimes be able to suck in the liquid from a moist mash ; — if he has the slightest command over them, he will contrive to swallow the greater part of the mash : and should lliere be room to intro- duce the mouth of a small horn, he will thankfully take as much gruel as his attendant will give him. Until the jaws are firmly locked, he may be suffered to have hay, although he should only cliew it and drop it from the mouth ; for this action of the muscles of the jaws may delay or prevent their total closure. Little medicine will be wanted as he gets better ; nourisliing food, not too liberally administered, will constitute the best tonic; and should tlie weather be sufficiently warm, few things will do him more good than to turn him out for two or three hours in tlie middle of the day. It will extend the muscles. of his neck, and bring him to the use of his limbs. Against one mode of treatment we enter our protest, from its cruelty and its inutility — tlie application of cold. Some turn the animal out uncovered in a frosty night. We have no faith in the practice of this : but placing the poor horse under a pump, and letting the water flow upon his spasmed limbs for hours together, or dashing it violently upon him, while he crouches and groans all the while, is both cruel and useless. FITS, OR EPILEPSY. The stream of nervous influence is sometimes rapid, but the suspen- sions are considerable, and this is the theory of Fits, or Epilepsy. For- tunately the horse is not often afflicted with this disease, although it is not unknown to the breeder. The attack is sudden. The animal stops; — trembles; — looks vacantly around him, and falls. Occasionally the convulsions which follow are slight ; at other rimes they are terrible. The head and fore part of the horse are most atfected, and the contortions are most singular. In a few minutes the convulsions cease ; he gets up ; looks around him with a kind of stupid astonishment; shakes his ears; urines; and eats or drinks as if nothing had happened. The only hope of cure consists in discovering the cause of the fits ; and an experienced practitioner must be consulted, if the animal be valuable; generally speaking, however, the cause is so dithcult to discover, and the habit of "fits is so soon formed, and they will so frequently return, even at a great distance of time, that he who values his own safety, or the lives of his family, will cease to use an epileptic horse. PALSY. The stream of nervous influence is sometimes stopped, and thentP results Palsy. The power of the muscle is unimpaired, but the nervous energy is deficient. Palsy in the horse is usually confined to the hinder limbs. Wlien purging has been too suddenly stopped, he becomes paralytic. It is sometimes the consequence of violent inflammation of the bowels. It is produced by falls, blows on the loins, injury *n casting, and turning in a narrow stall. In these latter cases the spine has been evidently injured. Old carriage-horses, and horses of draught of every kind, although not absolutely paralyzed, have often great stiffness in their gah, and difliculty of turning. Possibly they can RABIES. 109 turn one way and not the other. They are unwilling to lie down, from experience of the difficulty they would have in rising again. These are evident injuries of the spine, and a loss of some of the joints of the loins or back, and are without remedy ; and so, often, is palsy. Bleeding, physicking, antimonial medicines, and stimulating embrocations, are the most likely means of cure. RABIES, OR MADNESS. There is another disease of the nervous system, of which we must speak — Rabies, or Madness — that incurable malady .which results from the bite of a rabid or mad animal. The poison of the saliva remains in the wound for an uncertain time, varying from three to eight weeks in the horse, and then begins to produce its dreadful effects on the system. The attack of rabies (or hydrophobia as it is commonly, but very improperly called in the horse and other quadrupeds, for they have no dread of water) is usually very sudden. The animal will go to work apparently well : all at once he will stop, tremble, heave, paw, stagger, and fall. Almost im- mediately he will rise ; draw his load a little farther ; again stop, look about him, and once more fall. This cannot be confounded with megrims, because the horse is perfectly sensible. The sooner he is led home the better, for the progress of the disease is most rapid, and if he is not im- mediately destroyed, he should be slung, for sometimes a state of the highest excitation speedily ensues. The horse kicks and plunges in the most violent manner; attempts furiously to seize and bite the other horses, or his attendants ; " and will level with the ground every thing before him, himself sweating, and snorting, and foaming, amidst the ruins." In both the ferocious and the harmless variety of the disease, staggering and palsy of the hinder extremities soon follow. We remember to have seen a beauti- ful mare, sitting on her haunches, and unable to rise, yet pawing furiously with her fore-feet, and striking at every thing within her reach. The thirst is excessive, and the act of swallowing is usually performed with a forced, gulping effort, and the head is, in a few instances, snatched violently from the pail. The disease rarely extends beyond the third day. After death there is uniformly found inflammation at the back part of the mouth, and at the top of the windpipe, and likewise in the stomach, and on the membrane covering the lungs, and where the spinal marrow first comes from the brain. When the disease can be clearly connected with a previous bite, the sooner the animal is destroyed the better, for there is no cure. If the symptoms bear considerable resemblance to rabies, although no bite be suspected, the horse should at least be slung, and the medicine, if any be administered, given in the form of a drink, and with the hand well pro- tected ; because, if it should be scratched in baHing the horse, or the skin should have been previously broken, the saliva of the animal is capable of communicating the disease. Several farriers have lost their lives from being bitten or scratched in the act of administering medicine to a rabid horse. It is always dangerous to encourage dogs much about the stable, and especially if they become fond of the horses, and are in the habit of jump- ing up and licking them. The corners of horses' mouths are often sore from the pressure of the bit ; and when a coach-dog in a gentleman's stjble — and it is likely to happen in every stable, and with every dog — becomes rabid and dies, the horse too frequently follows him at no great distance of time. If a horse should be bitten by a dog under suspicious circumstances, ho jjO THE HORSE. shouli.1 be carefully examined, and every wound, and even the slightest scratch, well burned witli lunar caustic (nitrate of silver), and tlie scab should be removed and the operation repeated on the third day. The iiot iron does not answer so well, and other caustics are not so manageable. In the spring of 1827, four horses were bitten near Hyde park, by a mad do"-. To one of them the lunar caustic was severely and twice applied — ho lived. The red hot iron was unsparingly used on the othei's, and thev died. The caustic must reach every part of the wound. At the expiration of the fourth month, the horse may be considered to be safe. NEUROTOMY, OR CUTTING THE NERVE. To enable the horse to accomplish many of the tasks we exact from him, we have nailed on his feet an iron defence. Without the shoe, he would not only be unable to travel over our hard roads, but he would speedily become useless to us. While, however, the iron protects his feet from being battered and bruised, it is necessarily inflexible. It cramps and confines the hoof, and, without great care, entails on our valuable servant disease and torture. Among the different modes of palliating or removing the extreme pain, veterinary surgeons have lately resorted to the division of the nerve which goes to the foot. We shall now perhaps be able to understand the reason and the effect of the operation. The nerve of the leg, we have said, is derived from the union of several of the spinal nerves, and consequently it is a nerve of combined feeling and motion. The fibres connected with motion, however, are directed only to those parts which are concerned in the production of motion, and these are the muscles. By the contraction of the muscles, caused by the influence of the nerves, the limbs are moved. The bones, the blood-vessels, and other parts, are merely passive. Now the muscles of the leg of the horse do not extend below the knee. No part concerned in the production of motion is found below the knee, and the fibres of the nerve which are connected with motion are all distributed above this joint ; and when we divide the nerve either on the pastern, or above the fetlock, we do not touch a single fibre connected with motion. Those which are connected with feeling are continued to the very extremity of the foot, and these are the fibres which we divide in the operation of neurotomy, or nerve-cutting. We cannot possibly interfere with the motion of the limb, but we take away the sensibility or feeling of the foot, and relieve the animal from torture ; and, doing this, we not only render him a service in return for the many we have received from him, but we often and speedily abate the inflammation of the part, and give time for the use of remedies, which we should otherv/ise have been unable to apply, and thus possibly retain his services for many a year. It is long before a new operation or practice, however useful or judicious it may be, is generally adopted, and, probably, the majority of our readers are some of the last to shake off the prejudices and errors of their fore- fathers. We have heard it said by many a farmer, and by many a farrier, too — " Wiuit ! cut the nerve of the limb ! Is not the nerve the very life of the limb? Does not the limb derive all its support from the nerve? Will not the foot waste away, and even the hoof drop off?" When this operation has been improperly performed, and where common sense would have forbidden it, and the horse, not only freed from psiin, but from feeling too, has buttered and bruised his foot, which the sensation of pain would not tiave permitted, and thus the structure of the foot has been injured or NEUROTOMY. Ill destroyed, and the hoof has actually dropped off after the division of the nerve — every prejudice has been strengthened, and the operation has been .censured and neglected. Now, although we have shown that every part of the animal frame is dependent on nervous energy, we have also shown that we do not and cannot, by this operation, injure those nerves on which nutrition depends : — these are the ganglial nerves, which wind round the arteries and veins, and their minutest branches, and enable them to discharge their functions ; and they are not, and cannot be touched in the operation of unnerving ; nor can the slightest portion of nutriment be taken away from the limb. We divide only the nerve of sensation ; and if we have used a little common sense, and considered whether it be a case that admits of the operation, and will probably benefit by it, we shall give relief to him who well deserves it, and will amply repay it. NERVE AND BRANCHEg OF THE LEG. WITH THEIR LOCALITY, ETC. Nerve on the inside of the ofF-leg-, at the edge of the shank bone, and behind the nerve and artery. Continuation of the same nerve on the pastern, and pro- ceeding- downward to supply the back part of the foot with feeling'. Division of the nerve on the fetlock joint. Branch which supplies with feeling the fore-part of the foot. Artery between the vein and nerve. Continuation of the artery on the paatern, close to and before the nerve. Vein before the artery and nerve. Same vein spreading over the pastern. One of the flexor tendons, the ptrforatus (perforated). Deeper flexor tendon, the perforans (perforating, contained within the other). Tendinous bands in which the flexors work. One of the extensors of the foot. Internal or sensible frog. Posterior lateral ligament. Fleshy or sensible lamina, covering the cofiBn-bone, the horny crust being removed. Horny crust. Sole. Our cut gives a view of the nerve on the inside, as it approaches the fertlock, and goes over the pastern. It will be seen that branches are given off above the fetlock, which go to the fore-part of the foot, and supply it with feeling. The continuation of the nerve below the fetlock is given principally to the quarters and hinder-part of the foot. The first consider ation, then, with the operator is. Does he wish to deprive the whole of the foot of sensation, or is the cause of lameness principally in the hinder-part of the foot, so that he can leave some degree of feeling in the fore-part, and prevent that alteration in the tread and going of the horse which the good horseman immediately detects. The horse is cast and secured, and the limb to be operated on removed from the hobbles, and extended — the liair having been previously shaved fron: the part. The operator then feels for the throbbing of the artery, or the round firm body of the nerve itself, on the side of the shank-bone, or the larger pastern. The vein, artery, and nerve, here run close together; the vein nearest to the front of the leg, then the artery, and the nerve behind. He cautiously cuts through the skin, for an inch and a half in 112 THE HORSE. length. The vessels will then be brought into view, and the nerve will be distinguished from them, by its being behind, and by its whiteness. \ crooked needle, with silk, is passed under it, to raise it a little ; it is dis- sected from the cellular substance beneath, and about three-quarters of an inch of it cut out ; the first incision being made at the upper part, in which case the second cut will not be felt. The horse must then be turned, and the operation performed on the other side, for there is a nervous trunk on both sides. The wounds are now closed with strips of adhesive-plaster, a bandage placed over them, the head tied up for two days, and the animal kept rather low, and as quiet as possible. The incisions will generally rapidly heal, and in three weeks or a month, and sometimes earlier, the horse will be fit for work. For ring-bone : — the side cartilages becoming bony, and partial stiffness of the pastern and cofliin-joints, the operation of nerving will probably be useful. The sense of pain being taken away, the animal will use these parts more, and partly recover their natural action and motion. For the same reason, in old contraction of the feet, it is highly beneficial. The torture occasioned by the pressure of the horny crust on the sensible parts within being no longer felt, and the foot coming fully and firmly in contact with the ground, not only is lameness relieved, but the elasticity and form of the foot partially restored. Where there has long existed lameness, unattended with heat of the foot or alteration of shape, and the seat of which could not be ascertained, although probably existing between the shuttle-bone and the back tendon which plays over it, neurotomy may be resorted to with decided advantage. Mischief, however, will result from the operation if the pastern or coffin joints are perfectly stiff, because the concussion occasioned by the forcible contact of the foot with the ground, and unbroken by the play of the joints, must necessarily still more injure the bone. When the sole of the foot is con- vex or pumiced, the effect of neurotomy will be most destructive. The sole, scarcely able to bear the pressure of the coffin-bone forced below its natural situation, even when pain induces the animal to put his foot as gently as possible on the ground, would now be probably worn through and destroyed. So if inflammation existed, although its pain might be removed, yet its progress would be quickened by the bruising to which the parts might be subjected, and more especially would this be the case if there were any ulcer- ation of the ligaments or cartilages. How many cases will this include ! To how many poor coach and cart-horses and hackneys might some years of usefulness and enjoyment thus be added ! The value of the operation, or the unpleasant consequences which may follow from it, depend upon the judgment of the surgeon ; and that judg- ment being duly exercised, we regard this operation as one of the most important discoveries in horse practice in modern times. DISEASES OF THE EYE. The diseases of the eye constitute a very important, but a most unsatis- factory division of our work; for the maladies of this organ, although few in number, are frequent in their appearance; they are sadly obstinate, and baffle all skill. The eve of the horse appears to be naturally more disposed to disease than that of any other animal with which we are acquainted ; and most assuredly there is no domestic animal, the treatment of whose diseases is so much at vai'iance with common sense. We have spoken of Fracture of the orbit, and its treatment. Occa- sionally av/ouND is inflicted by a passionate or careless servant. The ey« INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE. 113 itsolf is rarely injured. It is placed on a mass of fat, and it turns most readily, and the prong of the fork glances ofi'; but the substance ai'ound the eye may be deeply wounded, and very considerable inflammation may ensue. Thi? should be abated by poultices, and bleeding, and physic ; but no probe should be used, under the foolish idea of ascertaining the depth of the wound; for, from the constant motion of the eye, it is almost impossible to pass the probe into the original wound, and the effort to accomplish it will give a great, deal of pain, and increase the inflammation. The horse has occasionally a scaly eruption on the edges of the eyelids, attended with great itching, in the effort to allay which, by rubbing the part, the eye may be blemished. The nitrated ointment of quicksilver, mixed with an equal quantity of lard, may be slightly rubbed on the edges of the lids with considerable good effect. Warts are sometimes attached to the edges of the lids, and are a source of great irritation. When rubbed, they bleed; and the common opinion is true, that they are propagated by the blood. They may be taken off with a sharp pair of scissors, and their roots touched with lunar caustic. The Haw may be thickened, and project on the fore part of the eye. The eye is drawn back by the retractor muscle, to relieve it from the pain- ful influence of the light ; and the haw being thus pushed forward and thickened, and the neighbouring parts thickened, is unable to retract. Cooling applications, and bleeding and physic, will generally set all right. The farrier who talks of cutting out this important organ must be exceed- ingly ignorant. In a very few instances, long-continued inflammation of the haw is fol- lowed by ulceration and eating away of the cartilage. If the Goulard lotion, and that succeeded by the white vitriol, fail to abate the inflammation, or to •retract the part, it may be necessary to extirpate it. The horse must be cast, and the aid of a veterinary surgeon is indispensable; for he alone can determine how much of the neighbouring membranes must likewise be removed. COMMON INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE. The conjunctiva is the seat of the worst disease, and which is too often destructive to the eye. We may consider inflammation of the eye under two forms — the common and manageable, and the specific and fatal. The common inflammation is generally sudden in its attack. The lids will be found swelled, the eyes partially closed, with some weeping. The inside of the lid will be I'ed, some red streaks visible on the white of the eye, and the cornea slightly dim. This is usually connected with some degree of catarrh or cold ; but it is as often unaccompanied by this, and depends on external irritation, as a blow, or the presence of a bit of hay-seed or oat-husk within the lid, and towards the outer corner, where the haw cannot reach it: therefore the lids should always be carefully examined as to this possible source of the complaint. The health of the animal is generally not at all affected : he feeds well, and performs his work with his usual spirit. Cool- ing applications to the eye, as the Goulard's extract in the proportion of a drachm, or half an ounce of the tincture of opium, to a pint of water, with rnash-diet, and gentle physic, will usually get rid of this ; or the inflamma- tion will subside without medical treatment. SPECIFIC OPHTHALMIA, OR MOON-BLINDNESS. Should three or four days pass, and the inflammation not be abated, we mav begin to suspect that it is the true Ophthalmia, especially if the eye 1 14 THE HORSE. be very impatient of light, and the cornea be considerably clouded : the aqueous humour then often loses its transparency, even the iris changes ita colour, and the pupil is exceedingly contracted. We have now an obsti- nate disease to combat, and one which will generally maintain its ground in spite of all our efforts. For three, or four, or five weeks, the inflammation will remain undiminished, or, if it appears to yield on one day, it will return with redoubled violence on the next. At length, and often unconnected with any of the means we have been using, the eye begins to bear the light, the redness on the membrane of the lid and the white of the eye somewhat suddenly disappears, the cornea clears up, and the only vestige of disease which remains is a slight thickening of the lids and apparent uneasiness when exposed to a very strong light. If we imagine that we have got rid of the disease, we shall be sadly dis- appointed ; for in the course of six weeks or two months, either the same eye undergoes a second and similar attack, or the other eye becomes affected. All again seems to pass over, except that the eye is not so perfectly restored, and a slight, deeply-seated cloudiness begins to appear ; and after repeated attacks, and alternations of disease from eye to eye, the affair ter- minates in opacity of the lens or its capsule, attended with perfect blindness either of one eye or both. This affection was formerly known by the name of moon-hlindness, from its periodical return, and some supposed influence of the moon. That planet, however, has not, and cannot have, any thing to do with it. What is the practitioner doing all this while ? He is an anxious and busy, but almost powerless spectator. He foments the eyes with warm water, or applies cold lotions with the extract of lead or opium, or poultices to which these drugs may be added ; he bleeds, not from the temporal artery — for that does not supply the orbit of the eye — but from the angular vein at the inner cornerof the eye, or by scarifying the lining of the lid, or by subtracting a considerable quantity of blood from the jugular. The scarifying of the lids, which may be easily accomplished without a twitch, by exposing the inside of the lids, and drawing a keen lancet slightly over it, is the most effectual of all ways to abate inflammation ; for we are then immediately unloading the distended vessels. He places his setons in the cheek, or his rowels under the jaw ; and he keeps the animal low, and physics, or gives fever medicine — digitalis, nitre, and emetic tartar ; or, as some have done, considering it as a constitutional disease, administers the corrosive sublimate daily, in doses of a scruple. The disease, however, ebbs and flows, retreats and attacks, until it reaches its natural termination, blindness of one or both eyes. The horse is more subject to this disease from the age of four to six years than at any other period. He has then completed his growth : he is full of blood, and liable to inflammatory complaints, and the eye is the organ attacked from a peculiar predisposition in it to inflammation, the nature or cause of which cannot be explained. Every affection of the eye appearing about this age must be regarded with much suspicion. It is a common opinion that black horses are more subject to blindness than others. We have con- siderable doubt about this, or rather we believe that colour has no influence either in producing or aggravatmg the disease. As this malady so frequently destroys the sight, and there are certain periods when the inflammation h;is seemingly subsided, and the inexpe- rienced person would be deceived into the belief that all danger is at an end, the eye should be most carefully examined at the time of purchase. and the examiner should be fuUv aware of all the minute indications of INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE. 1 ] « orevious or approaching disease. They are a slight thickening of the lids, or puckering towards the inner corner of the eye ; a difference in the appa" rent size of the eyes ; a cloudiness, although perhaps scarcely perceptible, of the surface of the cornea, or more deeply seated, or a hazy circle round its edge; a gloominess of the eye generally, an^^ dullness of the iris ; or a minute, faint, dusky spot in the centre, with or without little fibres or lines diverging from it. The cause of this inflammation is undoubtedly a strong predisposition to it in the eye of the horse, but assisted by the heated and poisoned air of many stables. Some of our readers, whose stables are not too air-tight, see frequently a great deal of this disease ; but if they knew its ravages, where several horses are crowded together, and scarcely a breath of air admitted, they would deem themselves comparatively fortunate. The heated air has much to do with the production of the disease ; — the poisoned air a great deal more ; for every one must have observed, on entering a close stable early in the morning, strong fumes of hartshorn, which were painful to his eyes, and caused them to water. What must be the constant action of this on the eyes of the horse ? The dung of the horse, and the litter of the stables, when becoming putrid, give out fumes of volatile alkali or harts- horn ; but besides this, the urine of the horse, for some purpose unknown to us, possibly to teach us to take better care of this useful servant, begins very soon after it is voided to give out immense quantities of pungent gas. If we are scarcely able to bear it when we stand in the stable for only a few minutes, we need not wonder at the prevalence of inflammation in the eye of the stabled horse, nor at the difficulty of abating inflammation while the eye continues to be exposed to such painful excitement. Stables are now much better ventilated than they used to be, and this disease is not so prev- alent as it was fifty years ago. The farmer may not be aware of another cause of this disease, to which his horse is more particularly exposed, viz: confinement in a dark stable. Many stables in the country have no glazed windows, but there is a flap which is opens for a few hours in the day, or while the carter is employed in the stable, and when that is shut down almost total darkness prevails. Let our readers consider what are his sensations when be suddenly emerges from a dark room into the full glare of light ; he is dazzled and bewildered, and some time passes before his vision is distinct. Let this be repeated several times in the day, and what will be the consequence ? The sight will be disordered, and the eye irreparably injured. Then let him think of his poor horse, who often stumbles and starts through no fault of his own, although he is corrected for so doing, but because his eyes are necessarily weakened by these sudden transitions, and disposed to take on this sad inflammation with all its fatal results. The propagation of various diseases, and this probably more than any other, from the sire to his progeny, has not been sufficiently considered by breeders. Let a stallion that is blind, or whose sight is defective, posses* every other point and quality that can be wished, yet he is worse than use- less ; for a very considerable portion of his offspring will most assuredly Liherit his weak eyes, or become totally blind. There is no fact better f^fitablished than this. The most frequent consequences of this disease are cloudiness of the eye and cataract. The cloudiness is singular in its nature. It will change in twenty-four hours from the thinnest film to the thickest opacity ; and as suddenly the eye will nearly regain its perfect transparency, but only to lose it, and as rapidly, a second time. The most barbarous methods have 11^ THE HORSE. been r jsortcd to for the purpose of removing this cloudiness. Chalk, and salt, and suo-ar, and even pounded glass, have been introduced into the eye mechanicull}' to rub off the film. It was forgotten that the cloudiness was the efffct of inflammation, and that means so harsh and cruel were very likely to recall the inflammation ; that these rough and sharp substances must of necessity inflict excruciating pain ; and that, after all, it generally is not a film on the surface of the cornea, but a dimness pervading its sub- stance, and even sinking deep within it, and therefore not capable of being rubbed off. Where the cloudiness can be removed, it will be best effected by first abating inflammation ; and then exciting the absorbents to take up the grey deposit, by washing the eye with a very weak solution of corro- sive sublimate, containing not more than a grain of sublimate to an ounce of water. Opacity of the lens is another consequence of inflammation. A white speck appears on the centre of the lens, which gradually spreads over it, and completely covers it. It is generally so white and pearly as not to be mistaken : at other times more hazy, deceiving the inexperienced, and occasioning doubt in the mind of the professional man. We have seen maay instances in which the sight has been evidently affected or almost lost, and yet a duferent opinion has been given by very fair judges. The eye must be exposed to the light, and yet under the kind of shelter to which we have previously referred, in order lo discover the defect. The pupil of the horse is seldom black, like that of the human being, and its greyish hue conceals the recent or thin film which may be spreading over the lens. Cataract in ttie eye of a horse admits of no remedy, for two obvious reasons : the retractor muscle draws the eye back so powerfully and so deeply into the socket, that it would be almost impossible to perform any operation ; and, could an operation be performed, and the opaque lens removed, the sight would be so imperfect, from the rays of light not being sufficiently converged, that the horse would be worse to us than a blind one. The man who has undergone the operation of couching, may put a new lens before his eye in the form of a convex spectacle, but we could not adapt spectacles to the eye of the horse, or fix them there. GUTTA SERENA. Another species of blindness, and of which we spoke when describing the retina, is Gutta Serena, commonly called the glass eye. The pupil is more than usually dilated ; — it is immoveable, and bright and glassy. This is the palsy of the optic nerve, or its expansion, the retina ; and is usually produced by a determination of blood to the head. We have described it as a consequence of staggers. So much pressure has been occasioned on the base of the brain, that the nerve has been injured, and its function destroyed. The treatment of Gutta Serena is quite as difficult as that of cataract. We have heard of successful cases, but we never saw one ; nor should we be disposed to incur much expense in endeavouring to accom- ^iiisli impossibilities. Reasoning from the cause of the disease, we should bleed, and physic, and rowel. If we succeed, it must be by constitutional treatment; but in the majority of cases, the pressure would have long ceased, although the mischief which it had effected remained. As to local treatment, the seat of disease is out of our reach. ANATOMY OF THE NOSE. J \t CHAPTER VIII. THE ANATOMY AND DISEASES OF THE NOSE AND LIOIIIH. We now proceed to a description of the face of the horse, so called 'P contradistinction from the upper part of the head, containing the braiu. The nasal bones, or bones of the nose (j j, page 66, and a, p. 68), are con- nected with the frontal bones above, and with the lachrymal, i i, and the bones of. the upper jaw, 1 1, on either side; they are united together by a plain suiure, which is a continuation oi^ the frontal, and they terminate in a point at the nostril (f, p. 63). They are rounded and arched above, because they are exposed to occasional violence and injury, vviiich the arch-form will enable them best to resist ; and at the base of the arnh, where the main strength should be, they are overlapped by the upper javv'bone, as we have described the temporal bone overlapping the base of the parietal. These bones form a principal part of the face ; and the length, or shortness, and the character of the face depend upon them. The largeness and length of these bones constitute the striking ditference between the head of the cart- horse and of the blood-horse. In some horses, this arch is more than usually developed, and there is, beside, a prominence or increased archedness about half-way down the nasal bones. These horses are said to have Roman noses, because this arch of the nose distinguishes the profile of some of the most celebrated of the ancient Romans. We cannot say that the breed of horses in which the Roman-nose usually occurs, possesses superior sagacity or courage ; they are generally easy, good-tempered horses, excellent feeders, and hardy con- stitutioned, but possessing little blood. Many thorough-bred liorses have a peculiarity the reverse of the Roman-nose. There is a depression or hollow about the middle of the nasal bones. Although this be a characteristic of breeding, it often accompanies an uncontrollable and vicious temper. These bones form the roof of an important cavity (see a, p. 68). The sides are constituted above by the nasal bones, and, lower down, by the upper jaw-bones [superior maxil/wies), while plates from these latter bones project and compose the palate, which is both the floor of the nose, and the roof of the mouth, (/, p. 68). Above (near fig. 8), not visible in our cut, is a bone called the palatine, although it contributes very little to the formation of the palate. It is the termination of the palate, or the border of the opening where the cavities of the mouth and nose meet (fig. 8). The fron- tal sinuses, h, and large vacuities in the upper jaw-bone, and in the cethmoid, I, and the sphenoid bones, k, communicate with and enlarge the cavity of the nose. This cavity is divided into two parts by a thick cartilage (r, p. 68). When we open the nostril, we see the membrane by which/the cartilage, and the whole of the cavity of the nose is lined, and by the colour of which, much more than by that of the lining of the eyelids, we judge of the degree of fever, and particularly of inflammation of the lungs or any of the air passages. By the sore places or ulcerations discovered on this membrane, we likewise determine on the existence of glanders. This cavity is, on either side, occupied by two bones, which, from their being rolled up some- what in the form of a turban, are called the turbinated or turban-shaped bones s s ; part of the cartilage is cut away to display them. They are as thin as gauze, and perforated, like gauze, with a thousand holes. Between them are left suflScient passages for the air. 118 THE HORSE. If they were unrolled they would present a very considerable surface ; and on every part of them is spread the substance or the pulp of the olfac- >jory, or first pair of nerves. These bones, lined with delicate membranes, and covered by the olfactory nerves, are the scat of smelt : and they are thus expanded, because the sense of smell in the horse must, to a very considerable degree, supply the place of the sense of touch and the lessons of experience in the human being. By this alone is he enabled to select, among the nutritive and poisonous herbage of the meadow, that which would support and not destroy him. The troops of wild horses are said to smell the approach of an enemy at a very considerable distance. In his domestic state the horse does not examine the different food which is placed before him, with his eye, but with his nose ; and if the smell displeases him, no coaxing will induce him to eat it. He examines a stranger by the smell, and, by very intelligible signs, expresses the opinion which he forms of him by this inquisition. The horse will evidently recognise his favourite groom when he has nothing else to indicate his approach but the sense of smell. These cavities are likewise organs of voice. The sound reverberates through them, and increases in loudness, as through the windings of a French horn. The exteusion of the nostrils at the lower part of these cavities is an important part of the face, and intimately connected with breeding, courage, and speed. The horse can breathe only through the nose. All the uir which goes to and returns from the lungs must pass through the nostrils. la the common act of breathing, these are sufficiently large ; but when the animal is put on his speed, and the respiration is quickened, these passages must dilate, or he will be much distressed. The expanded nostril is a strik- ing feature in a blood-horse, especially when he has been excited and not over-blown. The sporting man will not forget the sudden effect which is given to the countenance of the hunter, when his ears become erect, and his nostrils dilate as he first hears the cry of the hounds, and snorts, and scents them afar off; and the painful and spasmed stretching of this part, in the poor over-driven post-horse, will show how necessary it is that the passage to the lungs should be free and open. The nostril should not only be large, but the skin and substance which covers the entrance into nose should be thin and elastic, that they may more readily yield, when the necessity of the animal requires a greater supply of air, and afterwards return to their natural dimensions. Therefore, nature, which adapts the animal to his situation and use, has given to the cart-horse, that is seldom blown, a con- fined nostril, and surrounded by much cellular substance, and a thick skin ; and to the horse of more breeding, whose use consists in his speed and his continuance, a wider nostril, and much more flexible. The inhabitants of some countries were accustomed to slit the nostrils of their horses, that they might be less distressed in the severe and long- continued exertion of their speed. The Icelanders do so to the present day. There is no necessity for this, for nature has made ample provision for all the ordinary and even extraordinary exertions we can require from the horse.* Some very powerful muscles proceed from different parts of the face, to the neighbourhood of the nostrils, to draw them back and dilate them. Foui of them are given in this cut, which is introduced here to complete our * De Grey, whoee " Complete Horseman" was published in 1657, recommends that a Btumbling or crippled horse should have hie nose cut open, and tlie two tendons which g0- to the lip divided; and "this," says he, "will g-ive him the use of his leg-s so perfectly, as that he will seldom or never trip any more." Farriers adopt many absurd and cruei practicea now.a-days, but nothing half so barbarous as this. ANATOMY OF THE NOSE AND LIPS. 119 present subject, and which will be often referred to in the course of our work ; /, m, o, and p, are muscles employed for this purpose. THE MUSCIiES, NERVES, AND BLOOD-VESSELS OF TDE HEAD AND UPPER PART OF THE NECK. a Upper part of the ligament of the neck. b LiCvator humeri (elevator of the shoulder), rising- from the tubercle of the occiput, tha mastoid (nipple-shaped) process of the temporal bone, and the transverse processes (cross projections) of the four first bones of the neck, and the lig-ament of the neck, and going to the muscles of the shoulders, and the upper bone of the arm ; to draw forward the shoulder and arm ; or turn the head and neck ; and, when the two leva- tors act, to depress the head. t Tendon common to the complexus-major (larger complicated), and aplenius (splint-like); to the mastoid process of the temporal, to hold up the head, or the muacles on one side alone acting, to turn it. d Sterno-rruucillaris (belonging to the breast-bone), and upper jaw, from the cartilage in front of the chest to the angle of the lower jaw; to bend the head, or, if one only act, to bend it on one side. e Stylo-maxillaris, from the styloid (pencil-shaped) or coracoid (beak-shaped) process of the occiput, to the angle of the jaw ; to pull the jaw backward and open it. f Subscapulo hycndeus, from under the shoulder-blade, to the body of the os Iryoides (the bone at the root of the tongue, formed like a Greek u, u) ; to draw back that bone. g Ma'iscter (chewing) ; a most powerful muscle, constituting the cheek of the horse ; from the upper jaw-bone into the rough surface round the angle of the lower; in conjunction with the temporal muscle to close the mouth and chew the food. h Orbicularis (circular) surrounding the eye and closing the lids. T Zygomaticua, from the zygomatic arch and masseter to the corner of the mouth ; to draw back the angle of the mouth. h BucciTiator (trumpeter), from the inside of the mouth and cheeks, to the angle of the mouth, to draw it back. I Nasalis lahii superioris (belonging to the nose and upper lip), from a depression at the junction of the superior maxillary and malar bones to the angle of the nostril ; to raise the lip and dilate the nostrils. tn Dilator naris lateralis (side dilator of the nostril); reversed to show the vessels and nerves which it covers, going from the covering of the nasal and frontal bones to the angle of the mouth and side of the nostril ; to retract the upper lip and dilate the nostrils. It Dilator ■miignus (great dilator), assisting in the same office. • Depressor labii itiferioria (puller down of the under lip), to the sides of the under lip to pull it down. 120 THE HORSE. p Orbicidarts oris (circular muscle of the mouth), surrounding' the mouth; to close the lips, aiie slight febrile tendency in the constitution generally, as when a young horse has lately been taken up from grass, and has been over-fed, or not suffi- ciently exercised. in the majority of cases the swelling will soon subside without meditul THE LOWER JAW. 135 treatment ; or a few mashes, and gentle alteratives, will relieve the animal. A few slight cuts across the bars with a lancet or penknife, and taking cari.- to avoid the principal artery and the vein of the palate, the situation of which has just been pointed out, will relieve the indamnialion, and cause the swelling to subside ; indeed, this scarification of the burs will seldom do harm, although it is far from being so necessary as is supposed. To the brutal custom of the farrier, who sears and burns down the bars with a red-hot iron, we do most peremptorily object. It is torturing the horse to no purpose ; and it is rendering that part callous, on the delicate sensi- bility of which all the pleasure and safety of riding and driving depend. It may be prudent in case of lampas to examine the grinders, and more particularly the tushes, to see whether either of them is endeavouring to make its way through the gum. If with the gum-lancet, or penknife, two incisions across each other be made on the tooth, the horse will experience immediate relief. THE LOWER JAW. The posterior or lower jaw may be considered as forming the floor of the mouth (a, p. 63, or w, p. 68). The body or lower part of it contains the under cutting teeth and the tushes ; the sides are two flat pieces of bone, containing the grinders. On the inside, and opposite to a, p. 63, is a hole through which blood-vessels and nerves enter to supply the teeth, and some of which escape again at another hole on the outside, and near the nippers. The branches are broader and thinner, rounded at the angle of the jaw, and terminating in two processes. One, the coracoid, from its sharpness or supposed resemblance to a beak, passes under the zygomatic arch, (see p. 63,) and the temporal muscle, arising from the whole surface of the pari- etal bone (see p. 70), is inserted into it, and wrapped round it ; and by its action, principally, the jaw is moved, and the food is ground. The other, the condyloid, or rounded process, is received into the glenoid (shallow) cav- ity of the temporal bone, at the base of the zygomatic arch, and forms the joint on which the lower jaw moves. This joint is easily seen in the cut at page 63 ; and being placed so near to the insertion of the muscle, or the centre of motion, the temporal muscle must act with very considerable mechanical disadvantage, and must possess immense power. This joint is admirably contrived for the purpose which the animal requires. It will admit freely and perfectly of the simple motion of a hinge, and that is the motion of the jaw in nipping the herbage and seizing the corn. But the grass, and more particularly the corn, must be crushed and bruised before it is fit for digestion. Simple champing, which is the motion of the human lower jaw, and that of most beasts of prey, would very imperfectly break down the corn. It must be put into a mill; it must be actually ground. It is put into a mill, and as perfect a mill as imagination can possibly conceive. The following cut represents the glenoid cavity in a carnivorous, or flesh- eating, and herbivorous, or grass-eating animal, viz : the tiger and the horse : the one requiring a simple hinge-like motion of the lower jaw to tear and crush the food : the other a lateral or grinding motion to bring it into a pulpy form. First examine this cavity in the tiger, represented at B. At the root of the zygomatic process, D, is a hollow with a ridge along the greater part of the upper and inner side of it, standing to a considerable height, and curling over the cavity. At the lower and oooosite edge of 130 THE HORSE. the cavity, but in the outside, is a similar ridge, E, likewise rising abruptly and curling over. At C is another and more perfect view of this cavity in a diuerent direction. The head of the lower jaw is received into this hol- low, and presses against these ridges, and is partially surrounded by them, and Jotms with them a very strong joint, where dislocation is scarcely possiijie, and admitting the hinge-like or cranching motion to its fullest exteni; permitting the animal violently to seize his prey, to hold it firmly, and to crush it to pieces ; but, from the extent and curling form of the ridges, forbidding, except to a very slight degree, all lateral and grinding motion, and this because the animal does not want it. The food of the horse must be ground — simple bruising and champing would not reduce it sufficiently small for the purposes of digestion. Then observe the different construction to effect this. A gives the glenoid cavity of the horse. First, there is the upper ridge assuming a rounded form, F, and therefore called the mastoid process ; and, a peculiarity in the horse, the mastoid process of the sqxiainous portion of the temporal bone : suffi- ciently strong to support the pressure and action of the lower jaw when cropping the food or seizing an enemy, but not encircling the head of that bone, and reaching only a little way along the side of the cavity, where it terminates, having its edges rounded off, so as to admit, and to be evi- dently destined for a circular motion about it. Then, at the other and lower edge of the cavity, and on the outside, G, is placed, not a curling ridge, as in the tiger, but a mere tubercle : and for what reason ? evi- dently to limit this lateral or circular motion ; to permit it, as far as the necessities of the animal require it, and then to arrest it: but how ? not suddenly or abruptly ; but this tubercle, of which we have already spoken as strengthening this portion of the zygomatic arch, yet now discharging another office, has a smooth and gradual ascent to it, up which the lower jaw may climb to a certain extent, and then, by degrees be stopped. We speak not now of the moveable cartilage which is placed in this cavity, and between the bones, to render the motion easier and freer. It is found in this joint in every quadruped; and it is found wherever motions are rapid and of long continuance. So great is the conformity between the structure of the animal and his destination, that a tolerable student in natural history, by the mere inspec- tion of the glenoid cavity, will at once determine whether the animal to which it belonged was carnivorous, and wanted no lateral motion of the iaw ; or omnivorous, living occasionally on all kinds of food, and requiring some degree of grinding motion ; or herbivorous, and needmg the constant use of this admirably-constructed mill. At g, page 119, is represented the maweier muscle, an exceedingly THE TEETH. 137 strong one, constituting the cheek of the horse arising from the superior maxillary under the ridge continued from the zygomatic arch, and inserted into the lower jaw, and particularly round the rough border at the anglft of the jaw. Tliis acts with the temporal muscle in closing the jaw, and in giving the direct cutting or champing motion of it. Inside the lower jaw, on each side, and occupying the whole of the hoi lowed portion of them, and opposite to the masseters, are the pterygoid muscles, going from the jaws to bones more in the centre of the channel, likewise shutting the mouth, and also, by their alternate action, giving that grinding motion which we have described. The space between the branches of the lower jaw, called the channel, is of considerable consequence. It may be a little too wide, and then the face may have a clumsy appearance ; but if it be too narrow, the horse will never be able to bend his head freely and gracefully ; he will be always pulling and boring upon the hand, nor can he possibly be well reined in. The jaws contain the teeth, which are the millstones employed in this operation. The mouth of the horse at five years old contains forty teeth, viz: six nippers or cutting teeth in front, a tush on each side, and six molars, or grinding teeth, above and below ; they are contained in cavities in the upper and lower jaws, surrounded by bony partitions, to which they are accurately fitted, and by which they are firmly supported. For a little way above these bony cavities, they are surrounded by a hard substance, called the gum, so dense, indeed, and adhering so closely to the teeth and the jaws, as not to be separated without very great difficulty ; singularly compact, that it may not be wounded by hard or sharp particles of the food, and almost devoid of feeling, for the same purpose. Seven or eight months before the foal is born, the germs or beginnings of he teeth are visible in the cavities of the jaws. The tooth grows, and presses to the surface of the gum, and forces its way through it ; and at the time of birth the first and second grinders have ap- peared, large compared with the size of the jaw, and seemingly filling it. In the course of seven or eight days the two centre nippers are seen as here repre- sented. They likewise appear to be large, and to fill the front of the mouth, although they will afterwards be found to be small, compared with the permanent teeth that follow. In the course of the first month the third grinder appears above and below, and not long after, and generally before six weeks have expired, another incisor above and below will be seen on each side of the two first, which have now considerably grown, but not attained their perfect height. This cut will then represent the appearance of the mouth. At two months, the centre nippers will have reached their natural level, and between the second and third month the second pair will have overtaken them. They will then begin to wear a little, and the outer edge, which was at first somewhat raised and sharp, is brought to a level with the inner edge, and so the mouth continues until some time between the sixth and ninth month, when another nipper begins to appear on each side of the two first, making six above and below, and completing the coWs K 138 THE HORSE. mcuih ; after which, the only observable difference, until between the second and third year, is in the wear of these teeth. The term nipper is familiar to the horseman and the farrier, and much better expresses the action of these teeth than the word incisor or cutter, which is adopted by anatomists. Whoever has observed a horse in the act of browsing, and the twitch of the head which accompanies the separation of each portion of grass, will perceive that it is nipped or torn rather than cut off. These teeth are covered with a polished and exceedingly hard substance, called the enamel ; indeed, it is so hard that it almost bids defiance to the action of a file. It spreads over that portion of the teeth which appears above the gum, and not only so, but as they are to be so much employed in nipping the grass, and gathering up the animal's food, and in such employ- ment even this hard substance must be gradually worn away, a portion of it, as it passes over the upper surface of the teeth, is bent inward, and sunk into the body of the teeth, and forms a little pit in them ; and the inside and bottom of this being blackened by the food, constitutes the mark of the teeth, by the gradual disappearance of which, in consequence of the wearing down of the teeth, we are enabled for several years to judge of the age of the animal. Dealers often talk of the filling up of the tooth. This is altogether a vulgar eiTor. The mark never fills up. The peculiar cementing substance, which occupies the funnel or pit made by the dipping in of the enamel, never grows up, but the ridge of enamel around it is worn down, and then the blackness at the bottom is rubbed off. The colt's nipping teeth are rounded in front, somewhat hollow towards Ibe mouth, and present at first a cutting surface, with the outer edge rising in a slanting direction above the inner edge. This, however, soon begins to wear down until both surfaces are level, and the mark, which was originally long and narrow, becomes shorter, and wider, and fainter. At six months the four nippers are beginning to wear to a level. The annexed cut will convey some idea of the appearance of the teeth at twelve months. The four middle teeth are evi- dently level — the corner ones becoming so. The mark in the two middle teeth is wide and faint j in the two next teeth it is darker, and longer, and narrower; and in the corner teeth it is darkest, and longest, and narrowest. We may now speak of the back teeth or grinders. They will not guide us far in ascertaining the age of the animal, for we cannot easily inspect them ; but there are some interesting particulars connected with them. The foal is born with two grinders in each jaw, above and below, or they appear within three or four days after the birth ; and before the expiration of a month they are succeeded by a third, more behind. The grinders are, like the cutting teeth, covered with enamel on the sides, but not on the top, though several portions of enamel enter into their substance. They have a great deal more to do than the nippers, and are employed in grinding down the hardest portion of the food ; nature has, therefore, made an additional provision for their strength and endurance. This cut represents a grinder sawn across. It seems to be a most i» Teg THE TEETH. 139 ular and intricate machine ; but the explana- tion of it is not difficult. The tooth is ^rmed and prepared in cavities within the jaw-bones. A delicate membranous bag, containing a jelty- like substance, is found, in the unborn animal, in a little cell within the jaw-bone. It assumes, by degrees, the form of the tooth that is to appear, and then the jelly within the membrane begins to change to bony matter ; and a hard and beautiful crystallization is formed on the membrane without, and so we have the cutting tooth covered by its enamel. In the formation, how- ever, of each of the grinders of the horse, there are originally five of these membranous bags in the upper jaw, and four in the lower, filled with jelly. This jelly, by degrees, gives place to bony matter, which is thrown out by little vessels penetrating into it, and is represented by the darker portions of the cut with central black spots. The crystallization of enamel can be traced around each, and so there would be five distinct bones or teeth. A third substance, however, is now secreted, (which is represented by the white spaces,) and is a powerful cement, uniting, all these distinct bones into one body, and making one tooth of the five : this being done, another coat of enamel spreads over the sides, but not the top, and the tooth is completed. By no other contrivance could we have the grinding tooth, capable, without injury and without wearing, to rub down the hay, and oats, and beans, which constitute the stable food of horses. The teeth of the animal who lives on flesh, and the upper part of whose teeth alone are covered with this enamel, and even the nipping teeth of the horse, with the simple well of enamel running a certain way down their centre, would soon be rubbed down and destroyed. It is necessary to have columns of enamel penetrating through the whole substance of the tooth. There is another advantage : the bony matter, and cement by which the different shells are united, and which occupy the spaces between the columns of enamel, soon begin to wear away, while the enamel remains; and thence results the irregular surface of the grinding teeth, being that kind of surface which it is necessary for them to possess, in order to effect the purpose for which they were intended. The grinders in the lower jaw, having originally but four of these bags or shells, are smaller, and narrower, and more regular, than the upper ones. They are not placed horizontally in either jaw ; but in the lower, the higher side is within, and shelving gradually outward ; in the upper jaw the higher side is without, shelving inward, and thus the grinding motion is most advantageously performed. There is also an evident difference in the appearance and structure of each of the grinders, «o that a careful observer could tell to which jaw every one belonged, and what situation it occupied ; but we should depart from the object of our work if we entered into these minutiae. At the completion of the first year, a fourth grinder usually comes up, and the yearling has then, or soon afterwards, six nippers, and four grinders above and below in each jaw, which, with the alteration in the appearance of the nippers we have just described, will enable us to calculate prettv nearly the age of the foal, subject to some variations, arising from the period of weaning and the nature of th^food. At the age of one year and a half, the jmark in the central nippers will be much shorter and fainter ; that in the nvo other pairs will have under- gone an evident change, and all the nippers will be flat. U(f THE HORSE. i'T At two years all this will be more manifest. The accompanying cut d» serves attention, as giving an accurate representation of the nippers in the lower jaw of a two-year-old colt. About this period a 'fifth grinder will push out, and now, likewise, will commence another process. The first teeth are adapted to the size and wants of the young animal. They are sufficiently large to occupy and to fill the colt's jaws ; but when the jaws are expanded with the increasing growth of the animal, the teeth are separated too far from each other to be useful, and another and larger set is required. Evident provision is made for these, even before the colt is foaled. In cav- ities in the jaw, beneath the first and tempo- rary teetli, are to be seen the rudiments of a second and permanent set. These gradually increase, and some with greater rapidity than others, and pressing upon the roots or fangs of the first teeth, the consequence of this pressure is, not that the first teeth are forced out, but the portion pressed upon gradually disappears ; it is absorbed, taken up, and carried away, by numerous little vessels, whose office it is to get rid of the worn out or useless part of the system. This absorption continues to proceed as the second teeth grow and press upon Iheir predecessors, until the whole of the fang is gone, and the crown of the tooth, or that part of it which was above the gum, having no longer firm hold, drops out, and the second teeth appear, larger and stronger, and per- maiient. In a few instances, however, the second teeth do not rise imme- diately under the temporary or milk teeth, but somewhat by their side ; and then, instead of this gradual process of absorption and disappearance from the point of the root upwards, the root being compressed sideways, dimin- ishes throughout its whole bulk ; the crown of the tooth diminishes with the root ; and the whole is pushed out of its place, to the forepart of the first grinder, and remains for a considerable time under the name of a wolf^a tooth, causing swelling and soreness of the gums, and frequently wounding the cheeks. These would be gradually quite absorbed, but the process might be slow and the annoyance would be great ; and therefore it is proper to get rid of these diminutive teeth, either by punching them out or drawing them as soon as they are perceived. This change of teeth commences in those which earliest appeared, and, the"( fore, the front, or first grinder gives way at the age of two years, and is succeeded by a larger and permanent tooth. Now, likewise, seriously commences, in too many cases, the roguery of horse-dealers and breeders. A colt rapidly increases in value, as his age and growili increase. A three- year-old colt is worth twenty-five per cent, more than a two-year-old one; and if a dealer has a strong and likely colt, that was dropped early in the year, and whose form and points might deceive the unwary, he is anxious to pass him if he can for a three-year-old. To accomplish this, he must give him a three-year-old mouth ; and between two years and a half and three years, the two middle nippers are displaced, and succeeded by two permanent teeth. During the period between the*falling out of the central milk nippers and the coming up of the permg^ent ones, the colt, having a broken mouth, may have some difficulty in grazing. If he should fiil! away considerably in condition, he should be fed with mashes and corn, or cut meat. THE TEETH. 141 This cut will represent a three-year- old mouth. The central teeth are larger than the others, with two grooves in the outer convex surface, and the mark is long, narrow, deep and black ; and not having yet attained their full growth, they are not so high as the others. The mark in the two next nippers is nearly worn out, and it is wearing away in the corner nippers. Is it possible to give this mouth to an early two-year-old? The ages of all horses are reckoned from May, but some are foaled even so early as Jan- uary, and being actually four months over the two years, if they have been well nursed and fed, and are strong and large, they may, with the inexpe- rienced have an additional year put upon them. The central nippers are punched or drawn out, and the others appear three or four months earlier than tliey otherwise would. In the natural process, they could only rise by long pressing upon, and causing the absorption of the first set. The first set mechanically oppose their rising, and that opposition being removed, it is reasonable to imagine that their progress will be more rapid. Three or four months will be gained, and these three or four months may enable the l)reeder to term him a late colt of a preceding year. To him, how- ever, who is accustomed to horses, (although it is long practice alone which could give this facility of judgment,) the general form of the animal, the little development of the forehand, the continuance of the mark on the next pair of nippers, its more evident existence in the corner ones, some enlargement or irregularity about the gums from violence used in forcing out the teeth, the small growth of the first and fifth grinders, and the non-appearance of the sixth grinder, which, if it is not through the gum at three years old, is swelling under it, and preparing to get through, any or all of these circumstances, carefully attended to, will be a sufficient security against deception. It is so unusual to look at the teeth in the upper jaw of a young horse, that the dealer who wishes to give a false appearance of age, frequently confines his operations to the lower jaw, and, in consequence of this, when the teeth of the lower jaw are thus made to push out, they are still below the gum in the upper jaw, although, in the natural process, they are cut a little sooner in the upper than in the lower jaw. It may, therefore, be good policy always to examine both jaws. A horse then at three years old ought to have the central permanent nippers growing, the other two pairs wasting, six grinders in each jaw, above and below, the first and fifth molars level with the others, and the sixth protruding. The sharp edge of the new incisors, although it could not be well expressed in our cut, will be very evident when compared with the neighbouring teeth. As the permanent nippers grow, and press upon the teeth at their side, those teeth will begin gradually to diminish. Not only will the mark be wearing out, but the crowns of the teeth will be considerabl)' smaller. At three years and a half, or between that and four, the next pair of iiippers will be changed, and the mouth at that time cannot be mistaken. The central nippers will have attained nearly their full growth; a vacuity vi\] be left where the second stood, or they will begin to peep above the gum, and the corner ones will be diminished in breadth, worn down, 14^ THE HORSE. \, and tne mark becoming small and faint. At this period, likewise, the second pair of grinders will be shed, and previous to this, will be the atlem,)t of the dealer to give his three-year-old colt an additional year, but the fraud may be detected by an examination similar to that whicli \ye have already described. At four years the central nippers will be fully developed ; the sharp edge somewhat worn off; the mark shorter, wider and fainter: the next pair will be up, but they will be small, with the mark deep, and extending quite across them ; and the corner nippers, larger than the inside ones, yet smaller than they were, flat, and the mark nearly effaced ; the sixth grinder will have risen to a level with the others, and the tushes will begin to appear. Now, more than at any other time, will the dealer be anxious to put an additional year upon the animal, for the difference between a four-year-old colt and a five-year-old horse, in strength, utility and value, is very great ; but the want of wear in the other nippers, the small size of the corner ones, the little growth of the tush, the small- ness of the second grinder, the low forehand, the legginess of the colt, and the thickness and little depth of the mouth, will, to the man of common experience among horses, at once detect the cheat. The tushes (see p. 134) are four in number, two in each jaw, situated between the nippers and the grinders, much nearer to the former than the lat- ter, and nearer in the lower jaw than in the upper, but this distance increasing in both jaws with the age of the animal. In shape it somewhat resembles a cone ; it protrudes about an inch from the gum, and has its extremity sharp-pointed and curved. At the age of which we are now speaking, the tushes are almost peculiar to the horse, and castration does not appear to prevent or retard their development. All mares, however, have the begin- nings of them in the chambers of the jaw, and they appear externally in the majority of old mares. Their use is not evident : perhaps in the wild state of the animal they are weapons of offence ; so as that he can more firmly seize, and deeply wound his enemy. The breeder often attempts to hasten the appearance of the tush, and he cuts deeply through the gum to remove the opposition which that would afford. To a little extent he succeeds. He may possibly gain a few weeks, but he cannot gain more ; for the resistance of the gum is not like that of a solid and firmly-fixed tooth, and is much more easily overcome by the regular process of nature. After all, there is much uncertainty as to the appearance of the tush, and it may vary from the fourth year to four years and six months. It belongs, in the upper jaw, both to the inferior and superior maxillary bones (see n, p. 66) ; for, while its fang is deeply im- bedded in the inferior maxillary, the tooth penetrates the process of the snperior maxillary at the union of those bones. At four years and a half, or between that and five, the last important change takes place in the mouth of the horse. The corner nippers are ghed, and the permanent ones begin to appear; the central nippers are considei ably worn, and the next pair are beginning to show the marks of usage. The tush has now protruded, and is generally a full half inch ia THE TEETH. 143 height ; externally it nas a rounded prominence, with a groove on either side, and within it is evidently hollowed. Our readers need not be told that from the rising of the corner nipper the animal changes its name ; the colt becomes a horse, and the filly a mare. At five yeacs the horse's mouth is almost perfect. The corner nippers are quite up with the long deep mark irregular on the inside ; and the other nippers bearing evident tokens of in- creasing wearing. The tush is mucK grown ; the groves have almost, or quite disappeared ; and the outer sur face is regularly convex : it is still aa concave within, and with the edge nearly as sharp as it was six months before ; the sixth molar is quite up, and the third molar is wanting. This last circumstance, if the general ap- pearance of the animal, and particularly before, and the wearing of the centre nippers, and the growth and shape of the tushes, be likewise care- fully attended to, will prevent deception, if a late four-year-old be attempted to be substituted for a five. The nippers may be brought up a few months before their time, and the tushes a few weeks, but the grinder is with difia- culty displaced. The three last grinders and the tushes are never shed. At six years the mark on the centre nippers is worn out. There will still \ '"^4 /^^^^^I'^i^^^^^^'^^^^^L^ ^® ^ difference of colour in the centre V^ \ Z^^^wi^^^^^ '^^^^^ of the tooth. The cement filling the hole made by the dipping in of the enamel will present a browner hue than the other part of the tooth, and it will be evidently surrounded by an edore of enamel, and there will even remain a little depression in the centre, and also a depression round this case of enamel ; but the deep hole in the centre of the teeth, with the blackened surface which it presents, and the elevated edge of enamel, will have disappeared. Persons not much accustomed to horses have been sadly puzzled here. They expected to find a plain surface of an uniform colour, and knew not what conclusion to draw when there was both discolouration and irregularity. In the next incisors the mark is shorter, broader, and fainter ; and in the corner teeth the edges of the enamel are more regular, and the surface is evidently worn. The tush has attained its full growth, being nearly or quite an" inch in length, convex outward, concave within, tending to a point, and the extremity somewhat curved. The third grinder is fairly up, and all the grinders are level. Now, or perhaps at the period of six months before, the horse may be said to have a perfect mouth. All the teeth are produced, fully grown, and have hitherto sustained no material injury. During these important changes of the teeth the animal has suffered less than could be supposed possible. With children, the period of teething is fraught with danger. 444 THE HORSE Dogs are subjpct to convulsions, and hundreds of them die, from the irrita- tion caused by the cutting or shedding of their teeth : but the horse appears to feel little inconvenience. The gums and palate are occasionally somewhat hot and swollen, but the sliglUest scarification will remove this. The teeth of the horse are more necessary to him than those of the other animals are to them. The child may be fed, and the dog will bolt his victuals, but the food of the horse must be well ground down, or the nutri- ment cannot be extracted from it. . At seven years, the mark, in the way in which we have described it, is worn out in the four central nippers, and fast wearing away in the corner teeth ; and the tush is beginnmg to be altered. It is rounded at the point j rounded at the edges; still round with- out ; and beginning to gel round inside. At eight years old, the mark is gone from all the bottom nippers ; the tush is rounder in every way ; and the mark is now said to be out of the mouth. There is nothing remaining in the bottom nippers which can after- wards clearly show the age of the horse, or justify the most experienced examiner in giving a positive opinion. Dishonest dealers have been said to resort to a method of prolonging the mark in the lower nippers. It is called bishojnng, from the name of the scoun- drel who invented it. The horse of eight or nine years old is thrown, and with an engraver's tool a hole is dug in the now almost plain surface of the corner teeth, and in shape and depth resembling the mark in a seven-year- old horse. The whole is then burned with a heated iron, and a permanent black stain is left : the next pair of nippers are sometimes lightly touched. An ignorant man would very easily be imposed on by this trick; but the irregular appearance of the cavity, the diffusion of the black stain around the tushes, the sharpened edges and concave inner surface of which can never be given again, and the marks on the upper nippers, together with the general conformation of the horse, can never deceive the careful examiner. Horsemen, after the horse is eight years old, are accustomed to look to the nippers in the upper jaw, and some conclusion has been drawn fronn the appearances which they present. It cannot be doubted that the mark remains in them some years after it is obliterated from the nippers in the lower jaw ; because the hard substance, or kind of cement, by which the pit or funnel in the centre of the tooth is occupied, does not reach so high, and there is consequently a greater depth of tooth to be worn away m order to reach it ; and because the upper nippers are not so much exposed to friction and wear as the under. The lower jaw alone is moved, and pressed forcibly upon the food ; the upper jaw is without motion, and has only to resist that pressure. THE TEETH. 145 There are various opinions as to the intervals between the disappearance of the marks from the ditierent cutting teeth. Some have averaged it at two years, and others at one. We are inclined to adopt the latter opinion, and then the age would be thus determined: at nine years the mark will be worn from the middle nippers — from the next pair at ten, and from all the upper nippers at eleven. During these periods the tush is likewise undergoing a manifest change : it is blunter, shorter, and rounder. In what degree this takes place in the different periods, long and most favour able opportunities for observation can alone enable the horseman to decide, or rather we believe that the tush alone will not enable us to form a very accurate judgment. The tushes are exposed to but little tear and wear. The friction against them must be slight, proceeding only from the passage of the food by them, and from the motion of the tongue, or from the bit ; and their altera- tion of form, although generally as we have described them, is frequently uncertain. The tush will sometimes be blunt at eight, and remain pointed at eighteen ; and occasionally, according to the direction which they take, or degree in which they rub against each other, the tushes on the different sides will present an apparent variation of one or two years. The upper tush, although the latest in appearing, is soonest worn away. Are there any circumstances to guide our judgment after this ? There are those which will prepare us to guess at the age of the horse, or to approach within a few years of it, until he becomes very old : but there are none which will enable us accurately to determine ; and the indications of age must now be taken from the shape of the upper surface of the nippers. At eight, they are all oval, the length of the oval running across from tooth to tooth ; but as the horse gets older, the teeth diminish in size, and they at first diminish in width, and not in thickness. They become a little apart from each other, and their surfaces are rounded. At nine, the centre nippers are evidently so ; at ten, the others begin to have the oval shor- tened. At eleven, the second pair of nippers are quite rounded, and at thirteen, the corner ones have that appearance. At fourteen, the faces of the central nippers become somewhat triangular. At seventeen, they are all so. At nineteen, the angles begin to wear off, and the central teeth are again oval, but in a reversed direction, viz: from outward, inward; and at twenty-one, they all wear this form. This is the opinion of some continental veterinary surgeons, and Mr. Percivall first presented them to us in an English dress. We believe the statement is correct to a very considerable extent, but we leave our readers to form their own judgment. It would be folly indeed to expect accuracy at this advanced age of the horse, when we are bound to confess, that the rules we have laid down for determining this matter at an earlier period, although they are recognised by horsemen generally, and referred to in courts of justice, will not guide us in every case. Stabled horses have the mark sooner worn out than those that are at grass, and a crib-biter may deceive the best judge by one or two years. The age of the horse likewise, being uniformly calculated from the 1st of May, it is sometimes exceedingly difficult, or almost im- possible, about that time to determine whether the animal be a late foal of one year, or an early one of the next. At nine or ten, the bars of the mouth become less prominent, and their regular diminution will designate increasing age. At eleven or twelve, the lower nippers change their original upright direction, and project forward or horizontally ; and they become yellow and covered with tartar. They are yellow, because the teeth n ust grow to answer to the wear and tear of them ; but the enamel 1 46 THE HORSE. which covered their surface when they were first produced cannot be repaired, and that which wears this yellow colour in old age is the part which, in youth, was in the socket, and therefore destitute of enamel. The upper nippers become arched, and project over the lower ones, wearing down the outer edge, and gradually making that the lowest, which was at first considerably the highest. The general indications of old age, independent of the teeth, are deep- ening of the hollows over the eyes — grey hairs, and particularly over the eyes, and about the muzzle ; thinness and hanging down of the lips ; sharpness of the withers ; sinking of the back ; lengthening of the quar- ters ; and the disappearance of windgalls, spavins, and tumours of every kind. Of the natural age of the horse we should form a very erroneous esti- mate, from the early period at which he is now worn out and destroyed. Mr. Blaine tells us of a gentleman, who had three horses, which died at the ages of thirty-five, thirty-seven and thirty-nine. Mr. Cully mentions one that received a ball in his neck, at the battle of Preston, in 1715, and which was extracted at his death, in 1758 ; and Mr. Percivall gives an account of a barge horse that died in his sixty-second year. There cannot be a severer satire on the English nation, than that, from tlie absurd practice of running our race-horses at two and three years old, and working others in various ways, long before their limbs are knit, or their strength come, and cruelly exacting from them services far beyond their powers, their age does not average a sixth part of that of the last- mentioned horse. The scientific author of the " Animal Kingdom" declares, that "it may be safely asserted, that more horses are consumed in England, in every ten years, than in any other country in the world, in ten times that period, except those which perish in war." This point has with the English been too long considered as one of mere profit and loss ; and it has been thought to be cheaper to bring the young horse early into work, and in a short time to exhaust his whole strength, than to maintain him for a long period, and at a considerable expense, almost useless. The matter requires much consideration, and we think much reformation too. DISEASES OF THE TEETH. Of the diseases of the teeth in the horse, we know little. Carious or hollow teeth have occasionally, but not often been seen ; but the edges of the grinders, from the wearing off of the enamel, or the irregular growth of the teeth, become rough, and wound the inside of the cheek ; it is then necessary to adopt a summary but effectual method of cure, namely, to rasp them smooth. Many bad ulcers have been produced in the mouth, by tlic neglect of this. The teeth sometimes grow irregularly in length, and this is particularly the case with the grinders, from not being in exact opposition to each other, when the mouth is shut. The growth of the teeth still going on, and there being no mechanical opposition to it, one of the back teeth, or a portion of one of them, shoots up half an inch or more above the otheis. Sometimes it penetrates the bars above, and causes soreness and ulceration ; at other tinaes, it interferes partially, or altogether, with the grinding motion of the jaws, and the animal pines away without the cause being suspected. Here the saw should be used, and the projecting portioa re- duced to a level with the other teeth. The horse which has once been THE TONGUE. 147 subjected to this operation should afterwards be frequently examined, and especially if he lose condition ; and, indeed, every horse that gets thin or out of condition, without fever, or any other apparent cause, should have his teeth and mouth carefully examined, and especially if he quids (partly chewing and then dropping) his food, without any indication of sore throat, or if he holds his head somewhat on one side, while he eats, in order to get the food between the outer edges of the teeth. A horse that has once had very irregular teeth is materially -lessened in value, for, although they may be sawn down as carefully as possible, they will project again at no great distance of time. THE TONGUE The tongue is the organ of taste, and employed in disposing the food for grinding between the teeth, and afterwards collecting it together, and con- veying it to the back part of the mouth in order to be swallowed. It is also the main instrument in drinking, and the canal through which the water passes in the act of drinking. The root of it is firmly fixed at the bottom of the mouth, by a variety of muscles; the fore part is loose in the mouth. It is covered by a continuation of the membrane which lines the mouth, and which, doubling beneath, and confining the motions of tl>e tongue, is called its franum or bridle. On the back of the tongue, this membrane is thickened and roughened, and is covered with numerous conical ■pa'pillcz^ or little eminences, on which the fibres of a branch of the fifth pair of nerves expand, and on which the sense of taste depends. The various motions of the tongue are accomplished by means of the ninth pair of nerves. The substance of the tongue is com- posed of muscular fibres, with a great deal of fatty matter interposed between them, and which gives to this organ its peculiar softness. DISEASES OF THE TONGUE. The tongue is sometimes exposed to injury, from carelessness or violence in the act of drenching, or administering a ball, being pressed against, and cut by the edges of the grinders. A little diluted tincture of myrrh, or alum, dissolved in water, or even nature unassisted, will speedily heal the wound. The horse will bite his tongue — most frequently in his sleep. If the injury be trifling, it requires little care ; hut in some instances, a portion of the tongue will be torn or nearly bitten off, and the assistance of a veterinary practitioner will be needed. Bladders will sometimes appear along the under side of the tongue, which will increase -to a considerable size, and the tongue itself will be much enlarged, and the animal will be unable to swallow, and a great quantity of ropy saliva will drivel from the mouth. This disease often exists without the nature of it being suspected. It resembles what is called the hlain in the cow, which is a very serious complaint in that tmimal, frequently connected with much fever, and terminating in suffo- cation. If the mouth of the horse be opened, one large bladder, or a suc- cession of bladders, of a purple hue, will be seen to extend along the whole of the under side of the tongue. If they be lanced freely and deeply, from end to end, the swelling will very rapidly abate, and any little fever that remains may be subdued by cooling medicine. The cause of this dis- ease is not clearly knowr It usually proceeds, perhaps, from indigestion, connected with a general tendency to mflammation. THE HORSE. THE SALIVARY GLANDS. In order that the food may be properly ground down to prepare it for di"estion, it is necessary that it should be previously moistened. The food of the stabled horse, however, is dry, and his meal is generally concluded without any fluid being offered to him. Nature has made a provision foi this. It iias placed in the neighbourhood of the mouth, various glands, to secrete, and that plentifully, a limpid fluid, somewhat salt to the taste : this fluid is conveyed from the glands into the mouth, by various ducts in the act of chewing, and being mixed with the food, renders it more easily ground, more easily passed afterwards into the stomach, and better fitted for digestion. The principal of these is the parotid gland (see cut, p. 119). It is placed in the hollow which extends from the root of the ear to the angle of the lower jaw. A portion of it, q., is represented as turned up, to shdw the situation of the blood-vessels underneath. In almost every case of cold, connected with sore throat, the parotid gland is enlarged, and is immediately evident to the feeling and even to the eye. It is composed of a great number of small glands connected together, and a little tube proceeding from each, to carry oflf the secreted fluid. These tubes unite in one common duct. At the letter u, the parotid duct is seen to pass under the angle of the lower jaw, together with the submaxillary artery, and a branch of the jugular vein, and they come out again at w. At r, the duct is seen separated from the other vessels, climbing up the cheek, and piercing it to discharge its contents into the mouth opposite to the . second grinder. The quantity of fluid thus poured into the mouth, from each of the parotid glands, amounts to a pint and a half in an hour, during the action of chewing ; and sometimes, when the duct has been accidentally opened, it has spirted out to the distance of several feet. The parotid gland sympathizes with every inflammatory affection of the upper part of the throat, and therefore it is found swelled, hot, and tender, in almost every catarrh or cold. The cold is to be attacked by the usual means ; and a stimulating application, almost amounting to a blister, well rubbed over the gland, will best subdue the inflammation of that body. In bad strangles, and sometimes in violent cold, this gland will swell to a great size and ulcerate, or an obstruction will arise in some part of the duct, and the accumulating fluid will burst the vessel, and a fistulous ulcer will be formed, very difficult to heal. A veterinary surgeon alone will be competent to the treatment of either case ; and the principle by which he will be guided, will be to heal the abscess in the gland as speedily as he can; or, if the ulcer be in the duct, either to restore the passage through the duct, or to form a new one, or to cut oflT the flow of the saliva by the destruction of the gland. The second source of the saliva is from the submaxillary glands, or the glands under the jaw. One of them is represented at s, p. 119. The sub- maxillary glands occupy the space underneath, and between the sides of the lower jaw, and consist of numerous small glands, each with its proper duct, which unite together, and form on each side a common duct or vessel, that pierces through the muscles at the root of the tongue, and opens in little projections or heads, upon the frcenum or bridle of the tongue, about an inch and a half from the front teeth. When the horse has catarrh or cold, these glands, like the parotid gland, enlarge. This often takes place after strangles, and several distinct kernels are to be felt under the jaw. We have already stated, that they may be distinguished from those STRANGLES. I49 swellings which accompany or indicate glanders, by their being larger, generally not so distinct, more in the centre of the channel or space between the jaws, and never adhering to the jaw-bones. The farriers call them ViVES, and often adopt cruel and absurd methods to disperse them : such as burning them with a lighted candle or hot iron, or even cutting them out. They will, in the majority of instances, gradually disperse, as the disease which produced them subsides; or they will yield to slightly stimulating embrocations; or, if they are obstinate in their continuance, they are of no further consequence, than as indicating that the horse has laboured under severe cold or strangles. During catarrh, or inflammation of the mouth, the little projections marking the opening of these ducts, on either side of the bridle of the tongue, are apt to enlarge; and the mouth under the tongue is a little I'ed, and hot and tender. The farriers call these swellings Barbs or Paps, and as soon as they discover them, mistaking the effect of disease for the cause of it, set to work to cut them close otf. The bleeding which follows this operation someM'hat abates the local inflammation, and affords temporary relief: but the wounds will not speedily heal ; the saliva continues to flow from the orifice of the duct, and running into the irregularities of the wound, cause it to spread and deepen ; and even when it heals, the mouth of the duct being frequently closed, and the saliva continuing to be secreted by the submaxillary gland, it gradually accumulates in the duct, until that vessel bursts, and abscesses are formed, which eat deeply under the root of the tongue, and long torment the poor animal, and when closed, after a great deal of trouble, are very apt to break out again for months and years afterwards. All that is necessary with regard to these paps or barbs is to abate the inflammation or cold which caused them to swell, and they will very soon and perfectly subside. He who ever talks of cutting them out is not fit to be trusted with a horse. A third source of saliva is from glands under the tonglie (the siiblingual glands), which open by many little orifices under the tongue, resembling little folds of the skin of the mouth, hanging from the lower surface of the tongue, or found on the bottom of the mouth. These likewise sometimes enlarge during cold or inflammation of the mouth, and then they are called g/gs, and bladders, and Jlaps in the mouth. They have the appearance of small pimples, and the farrier is anxious to burn them offer cut them down. The better way is to let them alone ; for in a few days they will generally disappear. Should any ulceration follow them, a little tincture of myrrh, or a solution of alum, will readily heal them. Besides these three principal sources of saliva, there are little glands to be found thickly studded on every part of the mouth, cheeks, and lips, which pour out a considerable quantity of fluid, to assist in moistening and preparing the food. Connected with these glands, and particularly with the submaxillary and parotid glands, and being either an inflammation of them, or of the cellular substance immediately around them, is • THE SI'RANGLES. This is a disease pnncipally incident to young horses ; usually appear- ing between the fourth and fifth year, and oftener in the spring than in any other part of the year. It is always preceded by cough, and cai7. at first be scarcely distinguished from common cough, except that there is 150 THE HORSR more discharge from the nostril, of a yellowish colour, mixed with matter, but generally without smell ; and likewise a considerable discharge of ropy fluid from the mouth, and greater swelling than usual under the throat. This swelling increases with uncertain rapidity, accompanied by some fever, and disinclination to eat, partly arising from the fever, but more from the pain the animal feels in the act of chewing. There is considerable thirst; but after a gulp or two, the horse ceases to drink, yet is evidently desirous of more. In the attempt to swallow, and sometimes when not drinking, a convulsive cough comes on, which almost threatens to suffocate the animal, and thence probably the name of the disease. The tumour is about the centre of the channel under the jaw, it soon fills the whole of the space, and is evidently one uniform body, and may thus be distinguished from glanders, or the enlarged glands of catarrh. At length the centre of it becomes more prominent and softer, and it evidently contains a fluid. This rapidly increases, the tumour bursts, and a great quantity of pus is dis- charged. As soon as the tumour has broken, the cough subsides, and the horse speedily mends, although some degree of weakness may hang about him for a considerable time. Of the cause of the disease we can say but little. Few horses, possibly none, escape its attack ; but, that attack having passed over, the animal is free from it for the remainder of his life. Catarrh may precede, or may predispose to the attack, and undoubtedly the state of the atmosphere has much to do with it, for both its prevalence and its severity are connected with certain seasons of the year and changes of the weather. There is no preventive for the disease, nor do we believe that there is any thing conta- gious in it. Tliere are strange stories told with regard to this ; but the explanation of the matter is, that when several horses on the same farm or in the same neighbourhood have had strangles at the same time, they have been exposed to the same powerful but unknown exciting cause. The treatment of strangles is very simple. As the essence of the disease consists in the formation and suppuration of the tumour under the jaw, the principal, or almost the sole attention of the practitioner should be directed to the hastening of these processes : therefore, as soon as the tumour of strangles evidently appears, the part should be actively blis- tered. Old practitioners used to recommend poultices ; which, from the thickness of the horse's skin, must have very little effect, even if they could be confined on the part ; and from the difficulty and almost impossibilty of this, and their getting cold and hard, they must weaken the energies of nature, and delay the ripening of the tumour. Fomentations are little more effectual. A blister will not only secure the completion of the process, but hasten it by many days, and save the patient much pain and exhaustion ; and it will produce another good effect — it will, previous to the opening of the tumour, abate the internal inflammation and soreness of the throat, and thus lessen the cough and wheezing. As soon as the swelling is soft on the top, and evidently contains matter, it should be deeply and freely lanced. It is a bad, although frequent practice, to suffer the tumour to burst naturally, by which a ragged ulcer is formed, very slow to heal, and diflicuk of treatment. If the incision is deep and large enough, no second collection of matter will be formed ; and that which is already formed may be suffered to run out slowly, all pressure with the fingers being avoided. The part should be kept clean, and a little friar's balsam daily injected into the wound. The remainder of the treatment will depend on the symptoms. If there b much fever, and evident affection of the chest, and which should care- WOUNDS IN THE MOUTH. ]5] fully be distinguished from the oppression and choking occasioned by the pressure of the tumour, it will be proper to bleed. In the majority of cases, however, bleeding will not only be unnecessary, but injurious. It will delav the suppuration of the tumour, and increase the sul^sequent debility. A few cooling medicines — as nitre, emetic tartar, and perhaps digitalis — may •be given, as the case requires. The appetite, or rather the ability to eat, will return with the opening of the abscess. Bran-mashes, or fresh-cut grass or tares, should be liberally supplied, which will not only afford suffi- cient nourishment to recruit the strength of the animal, but keep the bowels gently open. If the weakness be not great, no further medicine will be wanted, except a dose of mild physic, to prevent the swellings or eruptions which sometimes succeed to strangles. In cases of debility, a small quantity of tonic medicine — as camomile, and gentian with ginger, in doses of a couple of drachms — may be administered. As strangles seem to be a disease from which few horses escape, and which, although attended with little danger, is sometimes tedious in its progress, and accompanied by much debility, some foreign veterinary sur- geons have endeavoured to produce a milder'disorder by inoculating, either with the matter from the tumour or the discharge from the nose ; and it is said that a disease, with all the characters of strangles, but shorter and milder in its course, has supervened. English practitioners have not, we believe, tried the experiment. CANKER AND WOUNDS IN THE MOUTH. The mouth is injured much oftener than the careless owner suspects, by the pressure of a sharp bit. Not only are the bars wounded and deeply ulcerated, but the lower jaw, between the tush and the grinders, is some- times torn even to the bone, and the bone itself affected, and portions of it come away. It may be necessary to have a sharp bit for the headstrong and obstinate beast, yet if that be severely and unjustifiably called into exer- cise, the animal may rear, and endanger himself and his rider ; but there can be no occasion for a thousandth part of the torment which the trappings of the mouth often inflict upon a willing and docile servant, and which either render the mouth hard, and destroy all the pleasure of riding, or cause the horse to become fretful or vicious. Small ulcers are sometimes found in various parts of the mouth, said to be produced by rusty bits, but oftener arising from contusions inflicted by the bit, or from inflammation of the mouth. If the curb-bit is in fault, a snaffle or Pelham-bit should be used ; if there be inflammation of the mouth, a little cooling medicine may be administered ; and to the ulcers themselves, tincture of myrrh, diluted with an equal quantity of water, or an ounce of alum, dissolved in about twenty times the weight of water, may be applied with the greatest advantage. THE PHARYNX Proceeding to the back of the mouth, we find the Pharynx [carrying or conveying the food towards the stomach). It begins at the root of the tongue (see 7, 8, and 9, p. 68) ; is se])arated from the mouth by the soft palate (7), which hangs down from the palatine bone at 8, and extends to the epiglottis, or covering to the windpipe. When the food has been sufB- ciently ground between the teeth, and mixed with the saliva, it is gathered together by the tongue, and then bv the action of the cheeks and tongue and 152 THE HORSE. Dack part of the mouth, forced against the soft palate, which, giving way, and beino- rai-sed upwards towards the entrance into the nose, prevents the food from foiuc; that way. It passes to the pliarynx ; and the soft palate, fallin"- down again, prevents its return to the mouth, and prevents likewise, except in extreme cases, the act of vomiting in the horse. A\'hatever ia returned from the stomach of the horse, passes througli the nose, as the cut will make evident. The sides of the pharynx are lined with muscles, which now begin power, fully to contract, and by that contraction the bolus is forced in until it reaches the gullet (10), which is the termination of the pharynx. Before, however, the food reaches the gullet, it has to pass over the entrance into the windpipe (3); and should any portion of it enter into that tube, much inconvenience and danger might result: therefore this opening is not only lined by muscles by which it may be closed at the pleasure of the animal, but it is likewise covered by a heart-like elastic cartilage, the epiglottis (2), with its back towards the pharynx and its hollow towards the aperture. The epiglottis yields to the pressure of the bolus passing over it, and lies flat on the entrance into the windpipe, and prevents the possibility of any thing entering into it ; and no sooner has the food passed over it, than it rises again by its own elasticity, and leaves the upper part of the wind- pipe once more open for the purpose of breathing. The voice of animals is produced by the passage of air through this aperture, communicating certain vibrations to folds of the membrane covering the part, and these vibrations are afterwards modified in their passage through the cavities of the nose. To understand the diseases of these parts, we must consider the anatomy of the neck generally. CHAPTER IX. ANATOMY AND DISEASES OF THE NECK AND ADJACENT PARTS. The neck of the horse and of every animal belonging to the class mam- malia, except one species, is composed of seven bones, called vertchrcp, moveable or turning upon each other (see cut, p. 631. They are connected together by strong ligaments, and form so many distinct joints, in order to give sufficiently extensive motion to this important part of the body. The bone nearest to the skull is called the atlas, (see cut, p. 63, and g, p. 68,) because, in the human being, it supports the head. In the horse, the head is suspended from it : it is a mere ring-shaped bone, with broad projoctions sideway ; but wiihout the sharp and irregular processes which are found oti all the others. The pack-wax, or ligament by which the head is principally supported, (/, p. 68,) and which is strongly connected with all tlie other bones, passes over this without touching it, by which means the head is much more easily and extensively moved. The junction of the atlas with the head is the seat of a very serious and troublesome ulcer, termed POLL-EVIL. From the horse rubbing and sometimes striking his poll against the lower edge of the manger, or hanging back in the stall, and bruising the THE POLL-EVIL, I53 part with tho lialter ; or from the unfrequent and painful stretching of thfl ligaments and muscles, by unnecessary tight reining, and occasionally, wt fear, trom a violent blow on the poll, carelessly or wantonly inflicted, inflanmaation comes on, and a swelling appears, hot, tender, and painful. We have just stated, that the ligament of the neck passes over the atlas, or first bone, witliout being attached to it, and the seat of the inflammation is between the ligament and the bone beneath ; and, being thus deeply situ- ated, it is of course serious in its nature, and consequently very difficult of treatment. The first thing to be attempted is to abate the inflammation by bleeding, physic, and the application of cold lotions to the part. By these means the tumour will sometimes be dispersed. This system, however, must not be pursued too far. If the swelling increases, and the heat and tender- ness likewise increase, matter will form in the tumour ; and then our object will be to hasten its formation by warm fomentations, poultices, or stimulating embrocations. As soon as the matter is formed, which may be known by the softness of the tumour, and before it has time to spread around and eat into the neighbouring parts, it should be evacuated : and now comes the whole art of treating the poll-evil; the opening into ths tumour must be so contrived that all the matter shall run out, and continue afterwards to run out as it is formed, and not collect at the bottom of the ulcer, irritating and corroding it. This can be effected by a seton alone. The needle should enter at the top of the tumour, penetrate through its bot- tom, and be brought out at the side of the neck, a little below the abscess. Without any thing more than this, except frequent fomentation with waroj water, to keep the part clean, and to obviate inflammation, poll-evil, in its early stage, will frequently be cured. If the ulcer has deepened and spread, and threatens to eat into the ligaments of the joints of the neck, it may be necessary to stimulate its surface, and perhaps painfully so, in order to bring it to a healthy state, and dispose it to fill up ; and, in extreme cases, even the scalding mixture of the farrier may be called into requisi- tion. This, however, will be ineffectual, except the pus or matter is enabled, by the use of setons, perfectly to run out of the wound ; and the application of these setons will require the skill and anatomical knowledge of the vete- rinaiy surgeon. In very desperate cases, the wound may not be fairly exposed to the action of our caustic applications, without the division of the ligament of the neck, by which we have described the head as being almost entirely supported. This, however, may be done with perfect safety, for although the ligament is carried on to the occipital bone, and some strength is gained by this prolongation of it, the main stress is on the second bone ; and the head will continue to be supported, although the ligament should be divided between the second bone and the head. The divided ligameat will soon unite again, and its former usefulness will be restored when the wound is healed. The second bone of the neck is the dentata, having a process like a tooth, by which it forms a joint with the first bone. In the formation of that joint, a portion of the spinal marrow, which runs through a canal in the centre of all these bones, is exposed, or covered only by ligament ; and by the division of the marrow at this spot, an animal is instantly and humanely destroyed. The operation is called pithing, from the name (the pith) given by butchers to the spinal marrow. The other neck, or rack bones, as they are denominated by the farrier, B. p. 63, are of a strangely irregular shape, yet bearing considerable resem- blance to each other. They consist of a central bone, perforated for the L 154 THE HORSE. passage of the spinal marrow, with a ridge on the top for the attachment of the ligament of the neck, and four irregular plates or processes from the sides for the attachment of muscles ; at the base of one of which, on either side, are holes for the passage of large arteries and veins. At the upper end of each, is a round head or ball, at the lower end, a cavity or cup. and the head of one being received into the cup of the other, they are united too-ether, forming so many joints. They are likewise joined together by ligaments from these processes, as well as the proper ligaments of the joints, and so securely, that no dislocation can take place between any of ihem, except the first and second, the consequence of which would be the immediate death of the animal. The last, or seventh bone, has the elevation on the back or top of it con- tinued into a long and sharp prolongation (« spinous process) ; and is the beginning of that ridge of bones denominated tlie withers (see cut, p. 63) ; and as it is the base of the column of neck-bones, and there must be great pressure on it from the weight of the head and neck, it is curiously contrived to rest upon and unite with the two first ribs, which also we shall presently describe as being peculiarly and strongly constructed. THE MUSCLES AND PROPER FORM OF THE NECK. The bones which we have just mentioned serve as the frame work to which are attached numerous muscles concerned in all the motions of the head and neck. The power of the ligament of the neck is precisely adapted to the weight of the head and neck. They are supported by it, without muscular aid, and without fatigue to the animal ; but to raise the head higher, or to lower it, or to turn it in every direction, a complicated system of muscles was necessary. Those whose office it is to raise the head, are most numerous and powerful, and are placed on the upper and side part of the neck. Our cut, p. 119, gives a few of them. c marks a tendon common to two of the most important of them, the splenius, or splint-like muscle, and the complexus major, or larger compli- cated muscle. The splenius constitutes the principal bulk of the neck above, rising from the ligament of the neck all the way down it, and going to the processes of all the bones of the neck, but the first, and flat tendons running from the upper part of it, to the first bone of the neck, and to a pro- cess of the temporal bone of the head. Its action is sufficiently evident, namely, very powerfully to elevate the head and neck. '^^^ MWUr The principal beauty of the neck depends on this muscle. It was most admirably developed in the horse of whose neck the an- nexed cut gives an accurate de- lineation. If the curve were quite regu lar from the poll to the withers, we should call it a perfect neck. It is rather a long neck, and we do not like it the less for THE FORM OF THE NECK. I55 that. In the carriage-horse, a neck that is not half concealed by the collar is indispensable, so far as appearance goes ; and it is only the horse with a neck of tolerable length, that will bear to be reined up, so as to give this part that arched and beautiful appearance which fashion demands. It is no detriment to the riding-horse, and there are few horses of extraordi- nary speed which have not the neck rather long. The race-horse at the top of his speed not only extends it as far as he can, that the air-passages may be as straight as he can make them, and that he may therefore be able to breathe more freely, but the weight of the head and neck, and the eifect increasing with their distance from the trunk, add materially to the rapidity of the animal's motion, by throwing his weight considerably for- ward. It has been said, that a horse with a long neck will bear heavy on the hand. We do not believe that either the length of the neck, or even the bulk of the head, has any influence in causing this. They are both counterbalanced by the power of the ligament of the neck. The setting on of the head is most of all connected with heavy bearing on the hand, and a short-necked horse will bear heavily, because, from the thickness of the lower part of the neck, consequent on its shortness, the head cannot be rightly placed. The head and neck, however, should be proportioned to each other. A short head on a long neck, or a long head on a short neck, would equally offend the eye. Connected with this splenitis muscle, and partly produced by it, we would direct the attention of the reader to the thickness and muscularity of the neck in this cut, as it springs from the shoulders ; the height at which it comes out from them, forming nearly a line with the withers; and thff manner in which it tapers as it approaches the head, and this muscle diminishing in size. The neck of a well formed horse, however fine at the top, should be muscular at the bottom, or the horse to which it belongs will generally be weak and worthless. Necks devoid of this muscularity are called loose necks by horsemen, and are always considered a very serious objection to the animal. If the neck be thin and lean at the upper part, and be otherwise well-shaped, the horse will usually carry himself well, and the head will be properly curved for beauty of appearance and ease of riding. When an instance to the contrary occurs, it is generally to be traced to very improper management, or to the space between the jaws being un- naturally small. The splenius muscle, although the main agent in raising the head and neck, may be too large, or covered with too much cellular substance or fat, and give an appearance of heaviness or even clumsiness to the neck. This peculiarity of form constitutes the distinction between the perfect horse and the mare, and also the gelding, unless castrated at a very late period. Horses with thick, heavy crests are usually slow and sluggish. This tendon, c, belongs also to another muscle, which makes up the principal bulk of the lower part of the neck, and is called the complexus viajor, or larger complicated muscle. It arises partly as low as the trans- verse processes of the four or five first bones of the back, and from the five lower bones of the neck ; and the fibres from these various sources uniting together, form a very large and powerful muscle, the largest and strongest in the neck. As it approaches the head, it lessens in bulk, and terminates partly with the splenius in this tendon, but is principally inserted into the back part of the occipital bone, by the side of the ligament of the neck. fn our cut, p. 154, almost its whole course can be distinctly traced. Its dffice is to raise the neck and elevate the head ; and being inserted mto such a part of the occiput, it will more particularly protrude the nose, 166 THE HORSE. while it raises tlie bead. Its action, however, may be too powerrul f it may be habitually so, and then it may produce deformity. The back of the head being thus pulled back, and the muzzle protruded, the iiorse cannot by possibility carry his head well ; he will become what is techni- cally called a star-gazer; heavy in hand, lx)ring upon the bit, and unsafe. To remedy this, recourse is had, and in a majority of cases without avail, to the martingale, against which the horse is continually fighting, and Avhich is often a complete annoyance to the rider. Such a horse is almost useless for harness. Inseparable from this is another sad defect, so far as the beauty cf the horse is concerned; he becomes ctve-necked ; he has a neck like a ewe; not arched above, and straight below, until near to the head, but hollowed above and projecting below ; and the neck rising low out of the chest, even lower sometimes tiian the points of the shoulders. There can scarcely be any thing inore unsightly in a horse. The head of such a horse can never be got down; and the bearing rein of harness must be to him a source of constant torture. Among the muscles employed in raising the head, are the complexus minores, smaller, complicated, and the recti, straight, and the oblique mus- cles of the upper part of the neck, and belonging principally to the two first bones of the neck, and portions of which may be seen under the tendon of the splenius c, and between it and the ligament a. Among the muscles employed in lowering the head, some of which are given in the same cut, is the steruo-maxiliaris, d, belonging to the breast- bone and the upper-jaw. It can likewise be traced, although not quite dis- tinctly, in the cut, page 154. It lies immediately under the skin. It arises from the cartilage projecting from, or constituting the front of the breast- bone, (H, p. 63), and proceeds up the neck, of no great bulk or strength; for when the weight of the head is so nicely balanced by the power of the ligament, a little addition to that weight will pull it down ; whereas the muscles that raise the head must necessarily have very great strength, for they will have all its weight to support. About three-fourths of its length upward, it changes to a flat tendon, which is seen (d, p. 119) to insinuate itself between the parotid and submaxillary glands, in order to be inserted into the angle of the lower jaw. It is used in bending the head towards the chest. Another muscle, the termination of which is seen, is the levator humeri, raiser of the shoulder, b. This is a much larger muscle than the last, because it has more duty to perform. It rises from the back of the head and four first bones of the neck and the ligament of the neck, and is carried down to the shoulder, mixing itself partly with some of the muscles of the shoulder, and finally continued down to and terminating on the humerus (J, p. 63). Its office is double : if we suppose the horse in action, and the head and neck fixed points, the contraction of this muscle will draw forward the shoulder and arm: if the horse be standing, and the shoulder and arm be fixed points, this muscle will depress the head and neck. Little more of a practical nature could be said of the muscles of the neck, although they would be proper and interesting studies for tiie anato- mist; and therefore we will only observe that they are all in pairs. One of them is found on each side of the neck, and the office which we have attributed to them can only be accomplisiied when botii act together ; but supposing that one alone o^ the elevating muscles should act, the head would be raised, but it would at the same time be turned towards that side. BLOOD-VESSELS OP THE NECK. I57 If only one of the depressor muscles were to act, the head would be bent down, but it would likewise be turned towards that side. Then it will b& easily seen that by this simple method of having the^muscles in pairs, pre vision is made for every kind of motion, upwards, downwards, or on either side, for which the animal can possibly have occasion. This is the proper place to speak of the mane, that long hair which covers the crest of the neck, and adds so much to the beauty of the animal. It sometimes grows to a considerable length. There is a horse in the king's stables, the hair of whose mane is more than a yard in length ; and it is said that a horse was once exhibited with a mane three or four yards long. The mane is apt to become entangled, if it be not regularly combed. The teeth of the comb should be large and sufficiently far apart. There never can be occasion to pull the mane, as grooms are too much accustomed to do, tugging it out in little parcels. It will then never lie smooth. A "strong comb, with only two or three teeth in it, will keep it sufficiently thin and smooth. THE BLOOD-VESSELS OF THE NECK. Running down the inner part of the neck are the principal blood-vessels going to and returning from the head with the windpipe and gullet. Our cut could not give a view of the arteries which carry the blood from the heart to the head, because they are too deeply seated. The external arteries ai'e the carotid, of which there are two. They ascend the neck on either side, close to the windpipe, until they have reached the middle of the neck, where they somewhat diverge, and lie more deeply ; they are covered by the sterno-maxillaris muscle, which we have just described; and are separated from the jugulars, by a small portion of muscular sub- stance. Having reached the larynx, they divide into two branches, the external and the internal ; the first goes to every part of the face and the second to the brain. The vertebral arteries run through canals in the bones of the neck, supplying the neighbouinng parts as they climb, and at length enter the skull at the large hole in the occipital bone, and ramify on and supply the brain. We can conceive few cases in which it would be either necessary or jus- tifiable to bleed from an artery. Even in mad-staggers the bleeding is more practicable, safer, and more effectual, from the jugular vein than from the temporal or any other artery. If an artery be opened in the direction in which it runs, there is sometimes very great difficulty in stopping the bleed- ing ; it has even been necessary to tie the vessel in order to accomplish this purpose. If the artery be cut across, its coats are so elastic that the two ends are immediately drawn apart under the flesh on each side, and are thereby closed ; and after the first gush of blood, no more can be obtained. THE VEINS OF THE NECK. The external veins which return the blood from the head to the heart are the jugulars. The horse has but one on either side. The human being and the ox have two. It is the principal vessel by which the blood is conveyed from the head. The jugular is said to take its rise from the >)ase of the skull ; it then descends, receiving other branches in its way towards the angle of the jaw, and behind the parotid gland ; and emergmg from that as seen at t, p. 150, and being united to a large branch from tho; 158 THE HORSE. i face, 11 dkes its course down the neck. Veterinary surgeons and horse- men hAve agreed to adopt the jugular, a little way below the union of tliese two branches, as the place for bleeding; and a very convenient one it is ; for it is easily got at, and the vessel is large. Of the manner of bleeding, and the states of constitution and disease in which it is proper, we shall speak hereafter, confining ourselves at present to an occasional consequence of bleeding, namely, INFLAMMATION OF THE VEIN. It is usual and proper, after bleeding, to bring the edges of the cut care, fully together, and to hold them in contact by inserting a pin through tlie skin with a little tow twisted round it. In ninety-nine cases out of a hun- dred the wound quickly heals, and gives no trouble; but in a few instances, fiom using a blunt instrument, or a dirty or rusty one ; or striking too hard, and bruising the vein with a thick part of the fleam ; or pulling the skin too far from the neck, and suffering some blood to insinuate itself into the cellular texture ; or neglecting to tie the horse up for a little while, and thereby enabling him to rub the bleeding place against the manger, and tear out the pin ; or from the animal being worked immediately afterward, and the collar pressing the blood against the orifice ; or the reins or the bridle rubbing against it ; or having several blows clumsily given, and a large and ragged wound made ; or from some disposition to inflammation about the horse, for the bleeder is not always in fault, the wound does not heal. The edges of it separate, and are swelled and red ; a discharge of thin bloody fluid proceeds from the cut, followed perhaps in a few days by mat- ter; the neck swells, and is hot and tender; the vein, particularly above the wound is hard and cordy ; the cordiness of the vein increases more and more upward ; and little abscesses begin to form about the original wound. This is sometimes a very serious case, for the inflammation con- tinues to spread upwards, and destroys the horse. It is easy to imagine why it spreads upward, because the blood has run off below the wound, and nothing remains there to irritate ; but the vein becoming thickened in its coats, and diminished in its capacity, and at length quite closed by the inflammation, the blood descending from the head, and pressing upon the closed part, will coagulate ; and that clot of blood will gradually increase, and the obstruction, and the inflammation produced by that obstruction will increase, and that necessarily upward. Human surgeons say that inflammation of a vein spreads towards the heart. In the horse, and we will venture to say in every animal, it spreads in the direction in which the coagulation is formed, and that in the jugular must be upward, although from the heart. In the veins of the arm and leg it will likewise spread upward, and then towards the heart, because the coagulation takes place in that direction. The application of the hot iron to the orifice of the wound will sometimes stimulate it and cause its edges to unite. When this fails, and the swelling is large, and abscesses have formed, it is for the veterinary surgeon to decide how far he will introduce setons into them, or inject a caustic liquid, or dis- sect out the diseased portion of the vein. Should the vein be destroyed, the horse will not be irreparably injured ; and perhaps, at no great distance of time, scarcely injured at all ; for nature is ingenious in making provision to carry on the circulation of blood. All the vessels conveying the blood from the heart to the different parts of the frame, or bringing it back again to the heart, communicate with each othe? by 30 THE WINDPIPE. 159 many channels, and in such various ways, that it is impossible by the closure or loss of any one of them materially, to impede the flow of the vital cur- rent. If the jugular be destroyed, the blood will circulate through other vessels almost as freely as before. THE WINDPIPE. In the fore part of the throat (b, p. 68) is placed a curiously constructed tube, extending from the back part of the mouth to the lungs, and designea for the conveyance of air to and from these organs. The 'windpipe of the horse is composed of nearly sixty rings of cartilage, connected together by strong and elastic ligaments. The rings are broad in front, narrowing behind, and there overlapping each other, so as to be capable of considera- ble extension and contraction; and across the posterior part run strong muscular fibres, which give to that portion of the tube a power of action, depending not indeed on the will, but on sympathy with other parts con- cerned in breathing. This singular and beautiful mechanism deserves serious attention. It is necessary for the comfort, and even the existence of the animal, that this air-tube should be free from compression, and always open ; and it is attached to the neck, long, and capable of the most varied motion. Would any tube composed of a uniform substance, however elastic, maintain its form and size amidst all these complicated motions ? When the horse is browsing, the windpipe is an inch or more longer than when the neck is arched ; there is, therefore, the ligamentous substance between the circular rings, which will lengthen the tube when required, and immediately con- tract to its former dimensions when the force that caused the elongation is removed. When the head is bent, and the neck is arched, and in various positions of the neck, a portion of the windpipe is violently pressed upon; Jierefore there are the cartilaginous rings — cartilaginous that they may yield to pressure, and immediately recover their form when the pressure is removed ; and lapping over each other, that the difference of calibre or size in the tube may be as great as the necessities of the animal may occasion- ally require, and muscular at the back, that all these powers of elasticity may be exerted to the fullest extent. The cartilaginous rings, again, are broad and strong in front, where danger may threaten, aud softer and more yielding behind, where the bones of the neck afford secure protection. The windpipe is lined by a membrane, likewise curiously contrived. It is smooth and plain in front under the broad cartilaginous rings, and where little change of dimension can take place ; but behind, it is puckered into several folds, running down the windpipe, and not across it, and adapting itself easily to any change in the size of the tube. Then it is easy to imagine that the windpipe of a good horse should be large, to admit the passage of a greater quantity of air; and in horses from which speed is required, as is in the blood-horse, the windpipe is compara- tively larger than in other breeds devoted to slower work. The windpipe should project from the neck. It should be as it wete detached from the neck, for two important reasons; first, that it may easily enter between the channels of the jaw, so that the horse may be reined up without suffering inconvenience ; and next, that being more loosely attached To the neck, it may more readily adapt itself to the changes required, than if it were enveloped by fat or muscle, to a certain degree unyielding : there- fore, in every well-formed neck, and it will be seen in the cut, (p. 154,) it Is indispensable that the windpipe should be prominent and loose on the neck. f0Q THE HORSE. We do not require this in the heavy cart-horse, and we do not often find it because he is not so much exposed to those circumstances which will hurry respiration, and require an enlargement in the size of the principal air-tube. THE LARYNX. At the top of the windpipe is placed the larynx, which has been partially described. It is situated where from the sudden bending or motion of the head it is liable^ to more frequent and to greater injury than the windpipe; and therefore it is composed of stronger cartilages than that tube. First is the thyroid, or helmet-shaped cartilage, forming the front and side parts of the larynx, and protecting the other parts of the larynx (see l,p. 68). Its bulk and strength are apparent on the slightest handling. Immediately below the thyroid, and with its broad part behind, is the cricoid, ring-like cartilage (11, p. 68). This is likewise for the purpose of strength in a part so exposed to injury, but not so strong as the thyroid because so much danger cannot threaten from behind. Of the epiglottis, or covering of the entrance into the wind-pipe (2, p. 08), and of the aryte- noid, or funnel-shaped cartilages forming that opening (3, p. 68), we have already spoken. ROARING. The larynx and upper part of the windpipe are subject to various dis- eases. The first we shall mention is Roaring ; so called from a peculiar sound uttered by the horse when briskly trotted or galloped, particularly up hill. In moderate exercise it is scarcely or not at all perceived, but when tlie animal is in brisk exercise it may be heard at the distance of several yards. It may easily be detected by striking the horse suddenly, or even threatening him with a stick, when he will utter a singular grunt or groan. It is usually explained as the consequence of inflammation of the part. A fluid, rapidly changes into a tough viscid substance, is thrown out, and adheres to the sides of the larynx and upper part of the windpipe, materi- ally obstructing the passage, and sometimes running across it in bands. When the horse is blown, or his breathing much hurried, the air whistles through these obstructions. We believe this to be the most general cause of the disease, and a roarer is evidently unsound, for he is incapable of the exertion which may not only be occasionally, but ordinarily required of him. Much light, however, has lately been thrown on other causes of this com- plaint. Many roarers have been examined after death, and no vestige of these bands have been found ; but some have had the shape of the larynx and the upper part of the windpipe materially deformed, crooked and com- pressed; and others have presented no appearance of disease. Then we have been compelled to look out for other causes of roaring, and some very probable ones have been readily found. The parts may have been subject to inflammation, and some parts of the air-tube may have become thickened and inelastic. In this way the inflammation of strangles may have been communicated to the larynx or windpipe, followed by some alteration of structure. Roaring is no unusual consequence of strangles. A more frequent cause, and previously unsuspected, is tight reining. There can be no doubt that many more carriage-horses become roarers, than those that are used for the saddle alone ; and the explanation of this at once presents itself in the continued and painful pressure on these parts, caused by reining in the carriage-horse, and teaching him to bedj himself ROARING. 161 Well. We have seen the larynx, and that portion of the windpipe imme.- dialely beneath it, flattened, and bent, and twisted in the strangest way, which could not have been produced by disease, but by mechanical injury alone. The mischief is usually done with young horses. The arched neck and elevated head of the carriage-horse is an unnatural posi- tion, from which the animal most habituated to it is eager to be relieved- Horse-breakers, and coachmen, and carters, should be made to understand, that when the horse's head is first confined by the bearing-rein, great gen- tleness, and care, and caution, are necessary. Injury must be done if the throat be violently pressed upon, and especially when it is exposed to addi- tional danger, from the impatience of the animal, unused to control, and suf- fering pain. The head of the riding-horse is gradually brought to its proper place by the hands of the teacher, who skilfully increases, or relaxes the pres- sure, and humours and plays with the mouth ; but the poor carriage-horse is confined by a rein that never slackens, and his nose is bent in at the expense of the larynx and windpipe, and the injury is materially increased, if the head be not naturally well set on, or if the neck be thick, or the jaws narrow. The shape of the larynx and windpipe will occasionally be altered, if they be thus squeezed between the jaws, and the bones of the neck ; or the muscles which expand the opening into the windpipe for the purpose of natural breathing, and especially of quick or hurried breathing, will be so compressed, that they will be incapable of full action, and by degrees will lose the power of action, even when not pressed upon, and, in fact, become palsied ; and therefore, the opening not being sufficiently enlarged during the rapid breathing of the animal, moving with speed, the air will rush violently through the diminished aperture, and the sound termed roaring will be produced. It is a common opinion that crib- biting frequently terminates in roaring. There is nothing in crib-biting that can possibly lead to roaring ; but there is a method adopted to cure crib-biting, than which nothing can be more likely to produce it : we mean the straps which are so tightly buckled round the upper part of the neck, and which must compress, and sometimes distort or paralyze the larynx. The habit of coughing a horse, to ascertain the state of his wind, is an occasional cause of roaring. The larynx or trachea is violently and pain- fully squeezed in this operation; and the violence being often repeated, inflammation and injury may ensue. The treatment of roaring is very unsatisfactory. If we have been correct in our account of the natui'e and cause of the disease, a cure seems to be perfectly out of the question. If it arise from a distorted larynx, there is no mechanical contrivance that can restore the natural and perfect struct- ure ; if from a band or ring of lymph diminishing the size of the passage, we know not by what means that can be removed ; or if the muscles of the larynx be palsied, we know not the stimulus that can rouse them again to action, or the manner in which that stimulus is to be applied. In the early stage of the disease, whether it proceed from violent pressure on the part by improper curbing, or be connected with, or consequent on catarrh or strangles, or the enlargement of some neighbouring part, inflam- mation will be present, and we shall be justified in having recourse to those measures which will abate inflammation. Bleeding will not be improper if roaring is the consequence of previous disease ; it will be indispensable, if it be connected with present disease of the chest. The degree to which the bleeding should be carried will depend on the degree of general or local inflammation. To bleeding should succeed purging, and to this, medicines ihat will lessen the force of the circulation — as nitre, emetic-tartar, and 162 THE HORSE. . digitalis These should be followed by blisters, to remove the inflammation, if possible, from an internal and important part to the skin. The blisters may at lirst be confined to the upper part of the throat, but, if unsuccessful tliere, they should extend over the whole length of the windpipe. In extreme cases, and where the obstruction seems to threaten suffocation, we may be justified in cutting into the windpipe, and either introducing a tube into the opening, or cutting out a portion of one of the rings. This operation, however, the agriculturist will scarcely dare to perform, although it is simple enough to him who understands the anatomy of the neck. It is called hronchoiomy . By means of it, the animal will be enabled to breathe through an aperture below the seat of inflammation, or the distorted and obstructed part ; and time will be given for the adoption of other modes of relief or cure. Some practitioners have talked of cutting into the wind- pipe, to extract the band or ring of coagulated matter that obstructs the passage ; we can only say, that if they happen to hit upon the precise situa- tion of this ring or band, they will be more fortunate than their folly deserves. Another circumstance should be mentioned, and the breeder should not forget it, that the roarer, whether horse or mare, will often entail this disease on its progeny. This entailment of disease by the parent on oflTspring is a subject which has not suffiiciently engaged the attention, or entered into i^e calculation, of the agriculturist. THE ESOPHAGUS, OR GULLET. The gullet extends from the back part of the mouth to the stomach, and conveys the food from the one to the other. At the top of the neck, it is immediately behind the windpipe, but it soon inclines to the left, and runs down the neck close to the windpipe, and on its left ; therefore when we give a ball to a horse, we watch the left side of the neck to see whether it passes down the gullet. Having entered the chest between the first two ribs, the gullet passes along the upper part of it, and then piercing the diaphragm, or midriff, enters the stomach. It is composed of three coats — the outer one of slight loose cellular substance : the middle one mus- cular, and divided into two distinct layers, the outermost layer having the fibres lengthways, by which the gullet may be shortened, and in shortening, widened for the reception of the food ; the fibres of the inner layer running circularly round the tube, so that the portion immediately above a pellet of food, will by contraction force the food downward, and by successive actions drive it into the stomach. The inner coat, which is a continuation of the membrane of the pharynx, lies in folds or plaits, extend- ing lengthways. The muscular coat being highly elastic, readily gives way to the pressure of the food, and these plaits enable the inner or cuti- cular coat, likewise sufficiently to dilate. The gullet has in a few cases been strictured, or contracted in some part, so that the food could only be swallowed in small quantities, and with great difficulty. If the stricture be near the entrance into the stomach, there is no remedy, for the part cannot be got at. If it be higher up, a veterinary surgeon alone can determine how far relief is practicable. Sub- stances have sometimes stuck in the gullet. Bran and chaff swallowed greedily, or in too large or hard a ball, having remained in some part of the gullet, and caused very alarming symptoms. The tube used for the hove in cattle, will sometimes dislodge this foreign substance: but should this 6e impracticable, the gullet must be opened, which a scientific practitioner alone is competent to perform. THE CHEST. 163 CHAPTER X. THE CHEST AND ITS CONTENTS— THE HEART AND THE LUNGS. ^ CUT OF THE CHEST. oh A The first rib. h Dartilag-es of the eleven hindermost or falst ribs, connected together, uniting with that of the seventh or last true, rib. c The breast-bone. d The top or point of the withers, which are formed by the lengthened spinous or upright processes of the ten or eleven first bones of the back. The bones of the back are eighteen in number, e The ribs, usually eighteen on each side ; the seven first united to the breast-bone by cartilage ; the cartilages of the remaining eleven united to each other, as at h. J That portion of the spine where the loins commence, and composed of five bones. g The bones forming the hip or haunch, and into the hole at the bottom of which tha head of the thigh-bone is received. \ The portion of the spine belonging to the haunch, and consisting of five pieces. The bones of the tail, usually thirteen in number. The form of the chest is of the greatest importance. It contains the heart and the lungs : — the one employed in circulating the blood, and the other in restoring to it the power of supporting life ; and on the size and the soundness of these organs, the health and the strength of the animal princi- pally depend. The speed and wind of the horse are most intimately con- nected with the size of the lungs. In proportion to the quantity of air which they contain, and the less frequent necessity of renewing that air by the act of breathing, will the animal be at his ease, or distressed, when violent exertion is demanded of him. Therefore, one of the first things which the judge of the horse examines, is the capacity of the chest ; and if he finds considerable depth in the girth, and roundness behind the point of the elbow — the horse carrying, what is called a good barrel — he is satis- fied as to the capacity of the chest. The form of the chest has as much to do with the value of the horse as its capacity. An ox may have a chest rounded before as well as behind, and then there will be room enough for the heart to circulate, and the lungs to purify sufficient blood to clothe him with all the muscle and fat he was intended to yield : we require from him no speed, and, therefore, his legs will not fail him, should too much weight be thrown on them, nor will he be disposed to stumble and fall. One prin- cipal quality of the horse, however, is his speed ; and if undue weight be thrown before, his legs and feet will be battered, and injured, and worn out by the unavoidable concussion to which they will be exposed in the trot or the gallop ; and likewise the centre or bulk of his weight will be too easily thrown beyond the natural situation of his feet, and as a matter of course he will be rendered exceedingly unsafe. Therefore, for the light carriage 164 THE HORSE. and tlie saddle, although we want capacity of chest, we want it not too much before. A moderate breadth, with depth at the girth, and a swelling out or barrelliniT behind the elbow, will be the most desirable form. Horses with narrow chests may have plenty of spirit, and willingness for work ; but they have not the appetite or the endurance of those whose breast is moderately wide. The heavy cart or dray-horse, whose power of draught is equal to the weif^ht which he can throw into the collar, requires the broad chest, not only that his weiifht may be thrown more before, but that by the increased capa- city of his chest he may obtain that bulk and size which will enable him to press with the requisite force upon the collar. Depth of chest has another advantage : it not only gives increased capa- city to the cavity within it, but increased room for the insertion of those muscles on and between the ribs, by the action of which the chest is alter- nately expanded and contracted in the act of breathing, and the action of which is so necessary when the breathing is quickened by exercise. Again, depth of chest will admit of a great deal more increased expan- sion than will a chest approaching to a circular form. That which is some- what straight may be easily bent into a circle ; but that which is already rounded, can scarcely be made more so : therefore it is that the heavy horse, with all his capaciousness of chest, is easily blown, and incapable of speed, because all this expanse was employed in the accumulation of flesh and fat, and can be very little increased when exertion causes the flow and the change of blood to be considerably more rapid. The flatter chest may be readily expanded, as the circumstances of the animal may require. A well-qualified judge of the horse never likes to see a chest too high from the ground and legs too long. The animal may be free and speedy, but there 13 not suflicient capacity of chest to render him a good feeder, or to give him much endurance. The next point of consequence, regarding the capacity of the chest, is the length or shortness of the carcase, or the extent of the ribs from the elbow backward. Some horses are what is called ribbed home; there is but little space (see cuts, pp. 63 and 163) between the last rib and the hip-bone. In others the distance is considerably greater, which is evident by the falling in of the flank. The question here is, what is the service required from the horse ? If he have to carry a heavy weight, and much work to do, let him be ribbed home ; let the last rib and the hip-bone be almost close to each other. There is more capacity of chest and of belly ; there is less distance between the points of support ; and there is more strength and endurance. A hackney (and we would almost say a hunter) can scarcely be too well ribbed home. If speed, however, be required, there must be room for the full action of the hinder limbs ; and this can only exist when there is sufficient space between the last rib and the hip-bone. The owner of the horse must make up his mind as to what he wants from him, and be satisfied if he obtains that ; but let him be assured that he cannot have every thing : this would require those differences of conformation that cannot possibly exist in the same animal. The thorax, or chest, is formed by the spine, /, above ; the ribs, e, on either side ; and the sternum, or breast-bone, c, beneath. THE SPINE AND BACK. The spine or back-bone consists of a chain of bones from the poll to the extremity of the tail. We have described the bones of the neck, and we >viU THE SPINE. 165 now proceed to that portion of the spine wliich forms the roof of the e])L"5t and belly. It consists of twenty-three bones from the neck to the hauncn ; eighteen, called dorsal veterhrce., composing the back; and five lumbar vcr- tebrcc, occupying the loins. On this part of the animal the weight or bur- den is laid, and there are two principal things to be considered, easiness of carriage and strength. If the back were composed of unyielding materials, if it resembled a bar of wood or iron, the jar or jolting, in the rapid motion of the animal, could not possibly be endured. To avoid this, as well as to assist in turning, the back is divided into num.erous bones ; and betweea each pair of bones, there is interposed a cartilaginous substance, most highly elastic, which will yield and give way to every jar, not so much as to occasion insecurity between the bones, or to permit considerable motion between any one pair; yet forming altogether an aggregate mass of elas- ticity, so springy that the rider shs almost undisturbed, however high may be the action, or however rapid the pace. Strength is as important as ease ; therefore these bones are united togeth- er witii peculiar firmness. The round head of one is exactly fitted to the cup or cavity of that immediately before it ; and between them is placed the elastic ligamentous substance we have just described, so strong, that in endeavouring to separate the bones of the back, the bones will break sooner than this substance will give way. Beside this there are ligaments run- ning along the broad under surface of these bones; ligaments between each of the transverse processes, or side projections of the bones; and ligamenty between the spinous processes or upright projections; and a continuation of the strong ligament of the neck, running along the whole course of the back and loins above these, lengthening and contracting, as in the neck, with the motions of the animal, and forming a powerful bond of union between the bones. By these means the hunter will carry a heavy man without fatigue or strain through a long chase ; and those shocks and jars are avoided which would be annoying to the rider, and injurious and speedily fatal to the horse. These provisions, however, although adequate to common or even severe exertion, will not protect the animal from the consequences of brutal usage; and, therefore, if the horse be much overweighted, or violently exercised, or too suddenly pulled upon his haunches, these ligaments are strained: inflammation follows ; and the ligament becomes changed to bone, and the joints of the back lose their springiness and ease of motion ; or rather in point of fact cease to exist. On account of the too hard service required from them, and especially before they have gained their full strength, there are few old horses, that have not some of the bones of the back or loins ancliylosed, united together by bony matter, and not by ligament. When this exists to any considerable extent the horse is not pleasant to ride; he turns with difficulty in his stall ; he is unwilling to lie down, or when down to rise again; and he has a curious straddling action. Such horses are said to be broken backed, or chinked in the chine. Fracture of the bones of the back rarely occurs, on account of their being so strongly united by ligaments, and defended by muscular substance. If a fracture of these bones does happen, it is during the violent struggles after the horse has been cast for an operation. The length of the back is an important consideration. A long-backed horse will be easy in his paces, because the increased distance between the fore and hind legs, Avhich are the supports of the spine, will afford greater room for the play of the joints of the back. A long spring has much more play than a short one, and will better obviate concussion. A long-backed horse is likewise formed for speed, for there is room for him to bring hia 185 THE HORSE. hinder legs more under him in the act of gallopping, and thus more power» fully propel or drive forward the body : but, on the other hand, a long- Dacked horse will be weak in the back, and easily overweighted. A long spring may be easily bent and broken. The weight of the rider, likewise, placed further from the extremities, will act with mechanical disadvantage upon them, and be more likely to strain them. A short-backed horse may be a good hackney, and be able to cany the heaviest weight, and possess great endurance ; but his paces will not be so easy, nor his speed so great, and he may be apt to overreach himself. The comparative advantage of a long or short carcase depends entirely on the use for which the horse is intended. For general purposes the horse with a short carcase is very properly preferred. He will possess health and strength ; for horses of this make are proverbially hardy. He will have sufficient ease not to fatigue the rider, and speed for every ordinary- purpose. Length of back will always be desirable when there is more than usual substance generally, and particularly when the loins are wide, and the muscles of the loins large and swelling. The two requisites, strength and speed, will then probably be united. The back should be depressed a little immediately behind the withers ; and then continue in an almost straight line to the loins. This is the form most consistent with beauty and strength. Some horses have a very con- siderable hollow behind the withers. They are said to be saddle-hacked. It seems as if a depression were purposely made for the saddle. Such horses are evidently easy goers, for this curve inward must necessarily increase the play of the joints of the back ; but in the same proportion they must be weak, and liable to sprain. To the general appearance of the horse, this defect is not in any degree injurious ; for the hollow of the back is imiformly accompanied by a beautifully arched crest. A few horses have the curve outward. They are said to he roach-hacked^ from the supposed resemblance to the arched back of a roach. This a very serious defect ; altogether incompatible with beairty, and materially diminishing the usefulness of the animal. It is almost impossible to pre- vent the saddle from being thrown on the shoulders, or the back from being galled; the elasticity of the spine is destroyed ; the rump is badly set on ; the hinder legs are too much under the animal; he is continually over- reaching himself, and his head is carried awkwardly low. THE LOINS. The loins are attentively examined by every good horseman. They caiJ scarcely be too broad and muscular. The strength of the back, and the strength of the hinder extremities, will depend materially on this. The breadth of the loins is regulated by the length of the transverse or side pro- cesses of that part. The bodies of the bones of the loins are likewise larger than those of the back ; and a more dove-tailed kind of union subsists between these bones, than between those of the back. Every provision is made for strength here. The union of the back and loins should be care- fully remarked. There is sometimes a depression between them : a kind of line is drawn across, which shows imperfection in the construction of the spine, and is regarded as an indication of weakness. THE WITHERS. The spinous or upright processes of the dorsal viertebrse, or bones of the back, above the upper part of the shoulder, are as remarkable for iheii THE WITHERS. 167 length as are the transverse or side processes of the bones of the loins. They are flattened and terminated by rough, blunted extremities. The elevated ridge which they form is called the withers. It will be seen in the cuts (pp. 63 and 103), that the spine of the first bone of the back has but little elevation, and is sharp and upright. The second is longer, and inclined backward ; the third and fourth increase in length, and the fifth is the long- est; they then gradually shorten until the twelfth or thirteenth, which becomes level with the bones of the loins. High withers have been always, in the mind of the judge of the horse, associated with good action, and generally with speed. The reason is plain enough ; they atibrd larger surface for the attachment of the muscles of the back ; and in proportion to the elevation of the withers, these muscles act with greater advantage. The rising of the fore parts of the horse, even in the trot, and more especially in the gallop, depends not merely on the action of the muscles of the legs and shoulders, but on those of the loins, inserted into the spinous processes of these bones of the back, and acting with greater power in proportion as these processes, constituting the withers, are lengthened. The arm of the lever to which the power is applied will be longer; and we well know that in proportion to the length of this arm will be the ease with which the weight is raised. Therefore good and high action will depend much on elevated withers. It is not difficult to understand how speed will likewise be promoted by the same conformation. The power of tlie horse is in his hinder quarters. In them lies the main-spring of the frame, and the fore-quarters are only elevated and thrown forward to receive the weight forced on them by the action of the hinder quarters. In proportion, however, as the fore-quarters are elevated, will they be thrown farther forward, or, in other words, will the stride of the horse be lengthened : they are elevated and thrown forward in proportion to the elevation of the withers, and therefore in this point of view the form of the withers is very much connected with speed. Yet many racers have the forehand low. The unrivalled Eclipse (see p. 47) was a remarkable instance of this ; but the ample and finely proportioned quarters, and the muscularity of the thigh and fore-arm, rendered the aid to be derived from the withers perfectly unnecessary. The heavy draught- horse does not require elevated withers. His utility depends on the power of depressing his fore-quarters, and throwing their weight fully into the collar; but for common work in the hackney, in the farmer's horse, and in the hunter, well-formed withers will be an essential advantage, as con- tributing to good and safe action, and likewise to speed. MUSCLES OF THE BACK. The most important muscles which belong to this part of the frame can be very imperfectly delineated in any cut; we have endeavoured, however, to give as complete a view of them, and of all the superficial muscles of the frame, as we could. They are principally those which extend from the con- tinuation of the ligament of the neck, along the Avhole of the back and loins ; and likewise from the last cervical bone ; the superjicialis and trans- versalis costarum, or superficial and transverse muscles of the ribs, going from this ligament to the upper part of the ribs, to elevate them, and so assist in the expansion of the chest ; also, the large mass of muscle, the lon- gissimus dorsi, or the longest muscle of the back, from the spinous and transverse processes of the vertebrae to the ribs, and by which all the motions of the spine, and back, and loins, of which we have spoken, are principdlly produced ; by which the fore-quarters are raised upon the hmd, IH^ THE HORSE. or the hind upon tlie fore, according as either of them is made a fixed point. This is the principal agent in rearing and Icicking. CUT OF THE MUSCLES OF THE HORSE. The last we shall mention is the spinalis dorsi, the spinal muscle of the back, from the spinous processes of some of the last bones of the back, to those of the fore part; thick and strong about the withers, and broadly attached to them ; and more powerfully attached, and more strongly acting in proportion to the elevation of the withers; and proceeding on to the tliree lowest bones of the neck, and therefore rnaiuly concerned, as we have described, in elevating the fore-quarters, and producing liigh and safe action, and contributing to speed. Before we quite leave the roof of the chest, we will speak of some acci- dents or diseases to which it is exposed. The first is of a very serious nature. FISTULOUS WITHERS. When the saddle has been suffered to press long upon the withers, a tumour will be formed, hot and exceedingly tender. It may sometimes be dispersed by the cooling applications recommended in thetreatmeut of poll- evil (p. 153); but if, in despite of these, the swelling should remain sta- tionary, and more especially if it should become larger and more tender, warm fomentations and poultices and stimulating embrocations should be applied diligently to it, as to the tumour of poll-evil, in order to hasten the formation of matter. As soon as the matter can be fairly detected, a seton should be passed from the top to the bottom of the tumour, so that the whole of the matter may run out, and continue to run out as it is afterwards formed. The after treatment must be precisely that which we have recommended for a similar disease in the DoU. THE RIBS. 109 In neglected fistulous withers the ulcer may be larger and deeper, ana more destructive than in poll-evil. It may burrow beneath the shoulder, blade and the matter may appear at the point of the shoulder or the elbjw j or the bones of the withers may become carious. WARBLES, SITFASTS, AND SADDLE GALLS On other parts of the back, tumours and very troublesome ulcers may be produced by the same cause. The little tumours resulting from the pressure of the saddle are called warhles, and when they ulcerate they fre- quently become sUfasts. The ulcer has a portion of callous skin in the centre of it, resembling leather in its appearance, and so closely adhering as not to be separated without great force or absolute dissection; and hence the name given to this peculiar ulcer. Warbles are too often but little regarded. They will frequently disappear without medical treatment, but they will, at other times, degenerate into sitfasts. If it be practicable, the horse should have rest, or at all events, the stuffing of the saddle should be so contrived that every degree of pressure be removed from the part: then goulard and vinegar or brine should be frequently applied for the purpose of dispelling the enlargement. Should this prove inetTective, and the sitfast appear, let it by no means be torn out, but apply a mild blister, which will cause it speedily to separate ; and then let the wound be dressed with friar's balsam, or Turner's cerate, or both. For saddle galls there is no better application than strong salt and water, mixed with a fourth-part of the tincture of myrrh. Common sense and common humanity would suggest the necessity of chambering the saddle and the collar, and not suffering the animal, with sore places as broad as the hand, to be unnecessarily tortured by the rubbing of the rough and hardened stuffing. THE RIBS. The ribs constitute the sides of the chest. They are usually eighteen on either side, and, in a few instances, nineteen or twenty. They are crooked or twisted in their figure, but so united to the spine by a true joint, the head of each rib being received between the bodies of two of the bones of the back, that they form so many arches, differing in roundness in different horses. The first rib (a) is placed at the base of the column of the neck, and is short and strong, in order to support the weight and pressure of the head and neck, and to be a fixed point for the other ribs to act upon in expanding and contracting the chest. The second is longer and straight, to assist in the same office, and to sustain the stress which arises from the suspension of the trunk beneath the shoulders. The other ribs (e) have Ihe arched form which we have described. The lower extremity of the rib is attached to or composed of cartilage, a yielding elastic substance, to enable the ribs to be more easily moved by the muscles of respiration, and to bring them back again to their natural situation and shape when the muscles cease to act. These cartilages are received into, and constitute joints with the sternum or breast-bone, formed almost in the shape of the prow of a ship (c), and with a projection of cartilage at each end. The projection before is evident to the eye in the living horse, and is called the point of the breast. This is occasionally injured by blows, or by the pres- sure of the collar, and first a tumour, and then an ulcer is formed, which is very apt to become fistulous, and must be treated like poll-evil or fistulous withers. M 170 THE HORSE. The breast-bone is in the colt composed of six bones, which in the full, grown horse unite into one. Seven or eight of the ribs, the number occa- sionally varying, are attached to the sternum by very strong ligaments. These are called the true ribs, and they increase in length from the first to the seventh. The remaining ten or eleven are called false ribs ; they become gradually shorter, and narrower, and rounder; and their direction is more backward, in order to increase the cavity of the thorax and belly, and to strengthen the roof of the belly. Their cartilages are not attached to the breast-bone, but to each other, and yet connected with the breast- bone, and sharing in all its motions by means of the cartilage of the last true rib, with which they all unite. In consequence of these shorter ribs, with long elastic cartilages, the bulk of the chest and of the belly is mate- rially increased, and the ribs are much more easily moved. Between the ribs, and mainly contributing to their motion, are two layers of muscles, the intercostals (between the ribs). According as the ribs are brought nearer to, or recede from each other, the cavity of the chest will be increased or diminished. These two layers are curiously contrived. If the fibres ran straight across from rib to rib, they would be exceedingly short ; a short muscle could have but little contraction, and a very slight change of form or dimension could be produced. They run diagonally from rib to rib, and thus are more than double the length that they could otherwise have been j and so the degree of contraction is doubled, and the ribs are moved through a greater space. More perfectly to produce this effect, the muscular fibres of the outer layer run one way, and those of the inner layer a contrary, crossing each other in the form of an X. When these muscles contract, as they act from the fore ribs upon the hinder ones, although the ribs are brought nearer to each other, they are thrown outward, and the real effect is to expand, and not to contract the cavity of the chest. This is, perhaps, somewhat difficult to imagine, but it is the actual explanation of the matter. The ribs are drawn power- fully forward, and when drawn forward, they must be thrown outward, and the chest is necessarily expanded. MUSCLES OF THE BREAST. Of the proper form of the trunk we have already spoken. There are some important muscles attached to the breast, and therefore, every horse should have a breast tolerably expanded. In the cut, page 154, and in that at page 168, are seen a very important pair of muscles, the pector ales trans - versi, or pectoral muscles, forming two prominences in the front of the chest, and extending backward between the legs. They come from the fore and upper part of the breast-bone ; go across the inward part of the arm, and reach from the elbow almost down to the knee. They confine the arm to I he side in the rapid motion of the horse, and prevent him from being, what horsemen would call, and what is seen in a horse pushed beyond his /latural power, " all abroad." Other muscles, pectorales magni et parv', the great and little pectorals, rather above but behind these, go from the breast-bone to the arm, to draw back the point of the shoulder, and bring the shoulder upright. Another and smaller muscle goes from the breast-bone to the shoulder, to assist in the same ofiice. A horse, there- fore, thin and narrow in the breast, must be deficient in important muscular power. Between the legs and along the breast-bone is the proper place in v hich to insert rowels, in cases of inflamed lungs. THE HEART. jtyj CHEST-FOUNDER. These muscles are occasionally the seat of a singular and somewhat mysterious disease. The old farriers used to call it anticor and chest- founder. The horse has considerable stiffness in moving, evidently no referable to the feet. There is tenderness about the muscles of the breast, and occasionally swelling, and after a while, the muscles of the chest waste considerably. We believe it to be nothing more than rheumatism, produced by suffering the horse to remain too long tied up, and exposed to the cold, or riding him against a very bleak wind. Sometimes a con- siderable degree of fever accompanies this ; but bleeding, physic, a rowel in the chest, warm embrocations over the parts affected, warm stabling, and warm clothing, with doses of a drachm or two of antimonial powder, will soon subdue the complaint. DROPSY OF THE SKIN OF THE CHEST. Dropsical swellings often appear between the fore-legs, and on the chest. They are effusions of fluid underneath the skin. They accompany various diseases, particularly when the animal is weakened by them, and sometimes appear when there is no other disease than the debility, which, in the spring and fall of the year, accompanies the changing of the coat. The treatment will vary with the cause of the affection, or the accompanying disease. Small punctures with the lancet will seldom do harm ; friction of the part, if it can be borne, will be serviceable ; mild exercise should be used ; diuretics given, mixed with some cordial, with liberal food, as carrots, malt mashes, and occasionally a very mild dose of physic, and that followed by tonics and cordials, with diuretics. The vegetable tonics, as gentian and columbo with ginger, will be most effectual. The cavity of the trunk consists of two compartments, divided from each other by the diaphragm or midriff. The first, into which we have traced the gullet and the windpipe, contains the heart and the lungs. It is lined by a delicate membrane, called the pleura (the side, or membrane of the side), which likewise extends over and affords a covering to the lungs. A portion of it, dipping down from its attachment to the spine, separates the chest into two parts, each of which contains one of the lobes or divi- sions of the lungs ; and this portion, the mediastinum (standing in the middle), forms a kind of bag enveloping the heart. The use of this membrane is to throw out a fluid to moisten the different surfaces, and prevent all dangerous friction or rubbing between these important parts ; and, also, to support these organs in their natural situation. THE HEART. The heart is placed between a doubling of the pleura, and is likewise sur- rounded by a membrane or bag of its own, called the pericardium (about the heart). This likewise throws out a fluid, for the purposes above men- tioned. When the pericardium or the heart itself becomes inflamed, this secretion is much increased ; and so much fluid accumulates as to obstruct ;he beating of the heart. This disease is called dropsy of the heart. It •s not easily distinguished from inflammation of the lungs ; but this is a •natter of little consequence, for the treatment would be nearly the same ir both. The heart is the engine by which the blood is circulated through the frame It is composed of four cavities two above called auricles, from tlieir [72 THE HORSE. suppose'^ reaemMance to a dog's ear, and two ventricles or little bellies, occupying the substance of the heart. The blood which has circulated through the frame, and nourished it, returns to the heart through the veins. It enters the auricle on the right side, where it accumulates as in a reservoir, until there is enough to fill the ventricle below. The auricle then contracts, and throws the blood into the ventncle. That contracts in its turn, and drives the blood, not back again into the aaricle, for there is as complete a valve as that in the sucker of a pump to prevent this, but through an aperture that leads to the lungs. The blood traverses, as we shall presently see, all the little vessels and cells of the lungs, and undergoes an important change there, and is carried to the left auricle ; thence it descends to the left ventricle, and by the powerful closing of the ventricle, is propelled into the arteries. The first arteiy, the aorta, rises from the left ventricle, and the blood, by the force communicated to it, by the sudden contraction of the ventricle, and assisted by the elastic power of the arteries which keeps them open and free from obstruction, and also by the pressure of the muscular and elastic coats, endeavouring to return to their former dimensions, pursues its course through every part of the frame. The heart is subject to disease. It powerfully sympathizes with the maladies of every part. An injury of the foot will speedily double the quickness of the beatings or pulsations of the heart. It sometimes is in- flamed, without previous affection of any other part. This is not a frequent, but a most dangerous disease, and is characterized by a pulse quick and strong, and a bounding action of the heart that may occasionally be seen at the side, and even heard at the distance of several yards. There is also a peculiar alertness and quickness in every motion of the animal ; and an energy of expression in the countenance exceedingly remarkable. Speedy and copious blood-letting will alone avail to save the horse ; for the heart, over excited and called on to perform this double work, must soon be exhausted. THE ARTERIES. The vessels which carry the blood from the heart are called arteries {keep- ing air, the ancients thought that they contained air). They are composed of three coats ; the outer or elastic is that by which they are enabled to yield to the gush of blood, and enlarge their dimensions as it is forced along them, and by which also they contract again as soon as the gush of blood has passed ; the middle coat is the muscular, by which this contrac- tion is more powerfully performed, and the blood urged on in its course ; the inner or membranous coat is the mere lining of the tube. This yielding of the artery to the gush of blood, forced into it by the contraction of the heart, constitutes THE PULSE. The pulse is a very useful assistant to the practitioner of human medicine, and m\ich more so to the veterinary surgeon, whose patients cannot describe eitiier the seat or degree of ailment or pain. The number of pulsations in any artery will give the number of the beatings of the heart, and so express the irritation of that organ, and of the frame generally. In a state of health, the heart beats in the farmer's horse about tiiirty-six times in a minute. In the smaller, and in the thorough-bred horse, tlie ptiJsations are forty or forty-two. This is said to be the siandara pulse, the pulse of health. It varies singularly little in horses of the same size and breed, aiid THE PULSE. 173 where it is fouad there can be little materially wrong. The most conve- nient place to feel the pulse, is at the lower jaw (p. 119), a little behind the spot where the submaxillary artery and vein, and the parotid duct, come from under the jaw. There the number of pulsations will be easily counted, and the character of the pulse, a matter of fully equal importance, will be clearly ascertained. Many horsemen put the hand to the side. They can certainly count the pulse there, but they can do nothing more. We must be able to press the artery against some hard body, as the jaw. bone, in order to ascertain the manner in which the blood flows through it, and the quantity that flows. When the pulse reaches fifty or fifty-five, some degree of fever may be apprehended, and proper precaution should be taken. Seventy or seventy- five will indicate a somewhat dangerous state, and put the owner and the surgeon not a little on the alert. Few horses long survive a pulse of one hundred, for by this excessive action the energies of nature are speedily worn out. Some things, however, should be taken into account in forming our con- clusion from the frequency of the pulse. Exercise, a warm stable, fear, will wonderfully increase the number of pulsations. When a careless, brutal fellow goes up to a horse, and speaks hastily to him, and handles him roughly, he adds ten beats per minute to the pulse ; and will often be misled in the opinion he may form of the state of the ani- mal. A judicious person will approach the patient gently, and pat and sooth him, and even then the circulation, probably, will be a little disturbed ; and he should take the additional precaution of noting the number and quality of the pulse, a second time, before he leaves the animal. If a quick pulse indicate irritation and fever, a slow pulse will likewise characterize diseases of an opposite character. It accompanies the sleepy stage of staggers, and every malady connected with deficiency of nervous energy. The heart may not only be excited to more frequent, but also to more violent action. It may contract more powerfully upon the blood, which will be driven with greater force through the arteries, and the expansion of the vessels will be greater and moi'e sudden. Then we have the 1iard pulse, the sure indicator of considerable fever, and calling for the immediate and free use of the lancet. Sometimes the pulse may be hard and jerking, and yet small. The stream, though forcible, is not great. The heart is so irritable, that it con- tracts before the ventricle is properly filled. The practitioner knows that this shows a dangerous state of disease. It is an almost invariable accompani- ment of inflammation of the bowels. A weak pulse, when the arterial stream flows slowly, is caused by the feeble action of the heart. It is the reverse of fevei", and expressive of debility. The oppressed pulse is when the arteries seem to be fully distended with blood ; there is obstruction somewhere, and the action of the heart can hardly force the stream along, or communicate pulsation to the current. This is the case in sudden inflammation of the lungs. They are overloaded and gorged with blood, which cannot find its way through their minute vessels. This accounts for the well-known fact of a copious bleeding increasing a pulse previously oppressed. A portion being removed from the distended and choked vessels, the remainder is able to flow on. There are many other varieties of the pulse, which it would be tedious oere to particularize, and we will conclude our remarks on it by observing that, during the act of bldfeding, its state should be carefully observed. 174 THE HORSE. Mtiiiy '»2u. Uiary surgeons, and gentlemen too, are apt to order a certain quantity oi blood to be taken away, but do not condescend to superintend tlie operation. Tliis is unpardonable in the surgeon, and censurable in the owner of" the horse. Tiie horse is bled for some particular purpose. There is some state of disease indicated by a peculiar quality of the pulse, wliicl" we are endeavouring to alter. The most experienced practitioner cannol tell what quantity of blood must be abstracted to produce the desired effect. Tiie change of the pulse can alone indicate when the object is accomplished ; therefore the operator should have his finger on the artery during the act of bleeding, and, comparatively regardless of the quantity, continue to take blood, until, in inflammation of the lungs, the oppressed pulse becomes fuller and mord distinct, or the strong pulse of considerable fever is evidently softer, or the animal exhibits symptoms of faintness. The arteries divide as they proceed through the frame, and branch out into irmumerable minute tubes, termed capillaries (hair-like tubes), and they even become so small as to elude the sight. The slightest puncture cannot be inflicted without wounding some of them. In these little tubes, the nourishment of the body, and the separation of all the various secretions is performed, and, in consequence of this, the blood is changed ; and when these capillaries unite together, and begin to enlarge, it is found to be no longer arterial, or of a florid red colour, but venous, or of a blacker hue. Therefore, the principal termination of the arteries is in veins. The point where the one ends, and the other com- mences, cannot be ascertained ; it is when the red arterial blood, having discharged its function, is changed to venous or black blood ; but this is a process gradually performed, and therefore the vessel is gradually changing its character. Branches from the ganglial or sympathetic nerves wind round these ves- sels, and endue them with energy to discharge their functions. When the nerves communicate too much energy, and these vessels consequently act with too much power, injlammation is produced. If this disturbed action be confined to a small space, or a single organ, it is said to be local, as inflam- mation of the eye, or of the lungs ; when this inordinate action spreads from its original seat, and embraces the whole of the arterial system, fever is said to be present, and which usually increases in proportion as the local disturbance increases, and subsides with it. INFLAMMATION. Local inflammation is characterized by redness, swelling, heat, and pain. The redness proceeds from the increased quantity of blood flowing through the part, occasioned by the increased action of the vessels. The swelling arises from the same cause, and from the deposit of fluid in the neighbour- iixg substance. The natural heat of the body is produced by the gradual change which takes place in the blood, in passing from an arterial to a venous state. If more blood be driven through the capillaries of an inflamed part, and in which this change is effected, more heat will necessarily be produced there ; and the pain is easily accounted fljr by the distension and pressure which must be produced, and the participation of the nerves in the disturbance of the surrounding parts. We iiave spoken of some of these local inflammations, and shall speak of others when describing the structure of the parts that are occasionally attacked by them. The treatment will in some degree vary with the part attack"d and the do£rreo of the inflammation ; but it will necessarily include the following particulars. * INFLAMMATION. 1 75 If inflammation consist of increased flow of blood to and through the part, the ready way to abate the inflammation is to lessen the quantity of blood. If we take away the fuel, the fire will go out. All other means are comparatively unimportant compared with bleeding. Blood may be taken from the jugular, and so the general quantity may be lessened; but if 11 can be taken from the neighbourhood of the part, it will be productive of tenfold benefit. One quart of blood taken from the foot in acute founder, by unloading the vessels of the inflamed part, and enabling them to contract, and, in that contraction, to acquire tone and power to resist the future dis- tension, will do more good than five quarts taken from the general circula- tion. An ounce of blood obtained by scarifying the swelled vessels of the inflamed eye, will give as much relief as a copious bleeding from the jugu- lar. It is a principle in the animal frame which should never be lost sight of by the veterinary surgeon, or the horseman, that if by bleeding the pro- cess of inflammation can be once checked, if it can be suspended but for a little while, although it may return, it never returns with the same degree of violence, and in many cases it is got rid of at once. Hence the neces- sity of bleeding early and bleeding largely, in inflammation of the lungs, or of the bowels, or of the brain, or of any important organ. Many horses are lost for want of bleeding, or from insufficient bleeding, but we never knew one materially injured by the most copious abstraction of blood in the early stage of acute inflammation. The horse will bear, and with advan- tage, the loss of an almost incredible quantity of blood. Four quarts taken from him will be comparatively little more than one pound taken from the human being. We can scarcely conceive a considerable inflammation of any part of the horse, either proceeding from sprains, contusions, or any other cause, in which bleeding, local (if possible) or general, or both, will not be of essential service. Next in importance to bleeding is purging. Something may be removed from the bowels, the retention of which would increase the general irrita- tion and fever ; the blood will be materially lessened, for the quantity of serous or watery fluid which is separated from it by a brisk purge, the action of which in the horse continues probably for more than twenty-foui hours, is enormous ; and while the blood is thus determined to the bowels, less even of that which remains will flow through the inflamed part. When the circulation is directed to one set of vessels, it is proportionably dimin- ished in other parts. It was first directed to the inflamed parts, and they were overloaded and injured : it is now directed to the bowels, and the inflamed parts are relieved. While the purging continues, there is also some degree of languor and sickness felt, and the force of the circulation ia thereby diminished, and the general excitement lessened. The farmer will, therefore, see the importance of physic in every case of considerable exter- nal inflammation. If the horse is laid by for a iew days from injury of the foot, or sprain, or poll-evil, or wound, or almost any cause of inflammation, a physic ball should be given. In cases of internal inflammation, much judgment is required to deter- mine when a purgative may be beneficial or injurious. In inflammation of the lungs or bowels it should never be given. There is so strong a sym- pattiy between the various contents of the cavity of the chest, that no one of them can be inflamed to any great extent, without all the others being disposed to become inflamed ; and, therefore, a dose of physic in inflamed lungs would be frequently as fatal as a dose of poison. The excitement produced on the bowels by the purgative will soon run on to inflammation, which no medical skill can stop. The means of abating external inflammation are various and seemingly 176 THE HORSE. contradictory. The heat of the part very naturally and properly led to tl» application of cold embrocations and lotions. Heat has a strong tendency to equalize itself, or to leave that substance which has a too great quantity of it, or little capacity to retain it, for another which has less of it, or more capacity to retain it. Hence the advantage of cold applications, by which a great deal of unnatural heat is speedily taken away from the inflamed part. The foot labouring under inflammation is put into cold water; or llie horse is made to stand in water or wet clay, and various cold applica- tions are used to sprains. The part is wetted with diluted vinegar or goulard, or salt and water. We believe that when benefit is derived from these applications, it is to be attributed to their coldness alone, and that water, and when especially cooled below the natural temperature, is quite as good as anything else. An ounce of nitre, dissolved in a pint of water, will lower the temperature of the fluid many degrees ; but the lotion must be applied immediately after the salt has been dissolved ; and it should be applied in such a way that the inflamed part may be fully exposed to the process of evaporation. While the fluid is converted into vapour, by the heat of the skin, a considerable degree of cold is produced. Let the limb or the part have a full benefit of this, by being uncovered. A bandage may be afterwards applied to strengthen the limb, but during the continu- ance of active inflammation it will only confine the heat of the part, or pre- vent the part from benefitting by the salutary influence of the cold pro- duced by the evaporation of the water. Sometimes, however, we resort to warm fomentations, and if benefit be derived from their use, it is to be traced to the warmth of the fluid, and not to any medicinal property in it ; and warm water will do as much good to the horse who has so thick a skin, as a decoction of camomile, or marsh- mallow, or even poppy-heads, or any nostrum that the farrier may recom- mend. Fomentations increase the warmth of the skin, and open the pores of it, and promote perspiration, and so lessen the tension and swelling of the part, assuage pain, and relieve inflammation. Fomentations, to be use- ful, should be long and frequently employed, and at as great a degree of heat as can be used without giving the animal pain. Poultices are nothing but more permanent or longer-continued fomentations. The part is exposed to the influence of warmth and moisture for many hours or days without intermission, and perspiration being so long kept up, the distended vessels will be materially relieved. The advantage derived from a poultice is attributed to the heat and moisture, which, by means of it, can be long applied to the»skin, and it should be composed of materials which will best afford this heat and moisture. The bran poultice of the farrier will there- fore be objectionable. It is never perfectly in contact with the skin, and it becomes nearly dry in a few hours, and then it is injurious. Linseed-meal is a much better material for a poultice ; it will remain moist for twenty-four hours. The poultice is easily made by pouring hot water on the meal, a little at a time, and moulding it well with the hand until the cataplasm attains its proper consistence. It is often very difficult to decide when a cold or hot application is to be Hsed, and no general rule can laid be down, except that in cases of superficial inflammation, and in the early stage, cold lotions will be preferable ; but when the inflammation is deeper seated, or fully established, warm foment- ations may be most serviceal)le. Stimulating applications are frequently used in local inflammation. We bave shown the action of a blister in hastening the suppuration of the tumour of straigles. When the inflammation is deeply sei<^ed, a stiniu FEVER. 177 lating application to the skin will cause some irritation and inflammation there, and lessen or sometimes remove the original one ; hence the use of rowels and blisters in inflammation of the chest. Inflammation to a high degree cannot exist in parts so near to each other. If we excite it in one, we shall abate it in the other ; and also by the discharge which we establish from the one, we shall lessen the determination of blood to the other. With one caution, we will dismiss this part of our subject : stimulating and blistering applications should never be applied to a part already inflamed : we shall not put out a fire by heaping more fuel upon it. Hence the mischief which the farrier often does by rubbing his abominable oils on a recent sprain, hot and tender. Many a horse has been ruined by this absurd treatment. When the heat and tenderness have disappeared by the use of cold lotions or fomentations, and the leg or sprained part remains enlarged, or even bony matter threatens to be deposited, we may be justified in exciting inflammation of the skin, by a blister, in order to rouse the deeper seated absorbents to action, and enable them to take up this deposit ; but we would again state it, as a well-established principle, that, except to hasten the natural process and effects of inflammation, a blister, or stimu- lating application, should, in the treatment of the horse, never be applied to a part already inflamed. FEVER. Fever is general increased arterial action, either without any local affec- tion, or in consequence of the sympathy of the system with inflammation in some particular part. The first is pure fever. Some have denied that it exists in the horse, but they must have been strangely careless observers of the diseases of that animal. The truth of the matter is, that the usual stable management and general treatment of the horse are so absurd, that various parts of him , are rendered so liable to take on inflammation, that pure fever will exist but a very little time without degenerating into inflammation of these parts. The lungs are so weakened by the heated and foul air of the ill- ventilated stable, and*by sudden changes from almost insufferable heat to intense cold, and the feet are so injured by hard usage and injudicious shoeing, that, sharing from the beginning in the general vascular excitement which characterizes fever, they soon become excited far beyond other portions of the frame ; and that which commenced as fever becomes inflammation of the lungs or feet. Pure fever, however, is sometimes seen, and runs its course as fever. It begins frequently with a cold or shivering fit, although this is not essential to fever. The horse is dull, unwilling to move, with a staring coat, and cold legs and feet. This is succeeded by warmth of the body ; unequal distribution of warmth to the legs ; one hot, and the other three cold, or some unnaturally warm, and others unusually cold, although not the deathy coldness of inflammation of the lungs ; the pulse quick, soft, and often indis- tinct ; breathing somewhat laborious ; but no cough, or pawing, or looking at the flanks. The animal will scarcely eat, and is very costive. While tiie state of pure fever lasts, the shivering fit returns at nearly the same hour every day, and is succeeded by the warm one, and that, often, by a very slight sweating one ; and this goes on for several days until local inflamma- iion appears, or the fever gradually subsides. No horse ever died of pure rever ; if he is not destroyed by inflammation of the lungs or feet or bowels, succeeding to the fever, he gradually recovers. What we have said of the treatment of local inflammation will sufficiently 178 THE HORSE. indit a e t^ w which we snould recommend in fever. Fever is general incrfcased action of the heart and arteries, and theiefore evidently appears the necessity for bleeding, regulating the quantity of blood taken by the degree of fever, and usually continuing to take it (the finger being kept on the artery) until some impression is made upon the system. The bowels should be gently opened; but the danger of inflammation of the lungs, and the uniformly injurious consequence of purgation in that disease, will pre- vent the administration of an active purgative. One drachm and a half of aloes may be given morning and night, with the proper fever medicine, until the bowels are slightly relaxed ; after which, nothing more of an aperient quality should be administered. Digitalis, emetic tartar, and nitre, should be given morning and night, in proportions regulated by the circumstances of the case, and these should give way to white hellebore, in doses of half a drachm twice in the day, if symptoms of inflammation of the lungs should appear. The horse should be warmly clothed, but be placed in a cool and well-ventilated stable. Symptomatic fever is generally increased arterial action, proceeding from some local cause. No organ of consequence can be long disordered or inflamed without the neighbouring parts being disturbed, and the whole system gradually participating in the disturbance. Inflammation of the feet or of the lungs never existed long as to any material extent, without being accompanied by some degree of fever. The treatment of symptomatic fever should resemble that of simple fever, except that particular attention should be paid to the state of the part ori- ginally diseased. If the inflammation which existed there can be subdued, the general disturbance will usually cease. The arteries terminate occasionally in openings on different surfaces of the body. On the skin they pour out the perspiration, and on the different cavities of the frame they yield the moisture which prevents friction. In other parts they terminate in glands, in which a fluid essentially different from the blood is secreted or separated from it : such are the parotid and salivary glands, the kidneys, the spleen, and the various organs or labora- tories which provide so many and such different secretions for the multi- farious purposes of life ; but the usual termination of arteries is in veins. THE VEINS. These vessels carry back to the heart the blood which had been con- veyed to the different parts by the arteries. They have but two coats, a muscular and a membranous ; both of them are thin, and comparatively weak. They are more numerous and much larger than the arteries, and consequently the blood, lessened in quantity by the various secretions sepa- rated from it, flows more slowly through them. It is forced on partly by the first impulse communicated to it by the heart; partly, in the extremities and external portions of the frame, by the pressure of the muscles ; and in the cavity of the chest its motion is assisted or principally caused by the sudden opening of the ventricles of the heart, after they have closed upon and driven out their contents, and thereby causing a vacuum which the blood rushes on to fill. There are curious valves in the veins which pre- vent the blood from flowing backward. BOG AND BLOOD-SPAVIN. The veins of the horse, although their coats are thin, compared with those of the arteries are not subject to the enlargements (varicose vems) BLEEDING l^-^ which are so frequent, and often so painful, in thf legs of the human being The legs of the horse may exhibit many of the injurious consequences ot hard work, but the veins will, with one exception, be unaltered in structure. Attached to the extremities of most of the tendons, and between the tendonr and other parts, are little bags, containing a mucous substance, to enable the tendons to slide over each other without friction, and to move easily od the neighbouring parts. From violent exercise, these little bags are liable to enlarge. Windgalls and thoroughpins are instances of this. There i» one of them on the inside of the hock at the bending : this sometimes becomes considerably increased in size, and the enlargement is called a bog' spavin. A vein passes over this bag, which is pressed between the enlarge, ment and the skin, and the passage of the blood through it is impeded ; the vein is, consequently, distended by the accumulated blood, and the distension reaches from this bag as low down as the next valve. This is called a blood-spavin. Blood-spavin then is the consequence of bog- spavin. It very rarely occurs, and is, in the majority of instances, con- founded with bog-spavin. Blood-spavin does not always cause lameness, except the horse is very hard worked, and then it is doubtful whether the lameness should not be attributed to the enlarged mucous bag, rather than to the distended vein. Both of these diseases, however, render a horse unsound, and materially lessen his value. Old farriers used to tie the vein, and so cut off altogether the flow of the blood. Some of them, a little more rational, used to dissect out the bag which caused the distension of the vein : but the modern and more prudent way is to endeavour to promote the absorption of the contents of the bag. This may be attempted by pressure long applied. A bandage may be con- trived to take in the whole of the hock, except its point ; and a compress made of folded linen being placed on the bog-spavin, may confine' the prin- cipal pressure to that part. It is, however, very difficult to adapt a bandage to a joint which admits of such extensive motion ; therefore, most practition- ers apply two or three successive blisters over the enlargement, when it usually disappears ; but unfortunately it returns again if any extraordinary exertion is required fi'om the horse. Of the wounds of veins, and their consequent inflammation, we have spoken when describing the veins of the neck. The veins are selected in preference to the arteries for the purpose of bleeding, because they are more superficial and larger, and blood can be more easily and certainly procured from them, and the flow of blood be more easily stopped. BLEEDING. This operation is performed with a fleam or a lancet. The first is the common instrument, and the safest, except in skilful hands. The lancet, however, has a more surgical appearance, and will be adopted by the vete- rinary practitioner. A bloodstick, a piece of hard wood, loaded at one end with lead, is used to strike the fleam into the vein. This is sometimes done with too great violence, and the opposite side of the coat of the vein is wounded. Bad cases of inflammation have resulted from this. If the fist be doubled, and the fleam is sharp, and struck with sufficient force with tiie lower part of the hand, the bloodstick may be dispensed with. For general bleeding, the jugular vein is selected. The horse is blind- folded on the side on which he is to be bled, or his head turned well away ; the hair is smoothed along the course of the vein with the moistened finger : then with the third and little fingers of the left hand, which holds 8Q THE HORSE. the fleam, pressure is made on the vein sufficient to bring it fairly into view, but not to swell it too much, for then, presenting a rounded surface, ii would be apt to roll or slip under the blow. The point to be selected is about two inches below the union of the two portions of the jugular at the ano-Ie of the jaw (see cut, p. 119). The fleam is to be placed in a direct line with the course of the vein, and over the precise centre of the vein, as close to it as possible, but its point not absolutely touching the vein. A sharp rap with the bloodstick or the hand on that part of the back of the fleam immediately over the blade, will cut through the vein, and the blood will flow. A fleam with a large blade should always be preferred, for the operation will be materially shortened, which will be a matter of some con- sequence with a restive horse j and a quantity of blood drawn speedily will have far more effect on the system than double the weight slowly taken ; while the wound will heal just as readily as if made by a smaller instru- ment. There is no occasion to press so hard against the neck with the pail or can as some do : a slight pressure, if the incision has been large enough, and straight, and in the middle of the vein, will cause the blood to flow sufficiently fast ; or, the finger being introduced into the mouth, between the tushes and the grinders, and gently moved about, will keep the mouth in motion, and hasten the rapidity of the stream by the action and pressure of the neighbouring muscles. When sufficient blood has been taken, the edges of the wound should be brought closely and exactly together, and kept together by a small, sharp pin being passed through them. Round this a little tow, or a few hairs from the mane of the horse, should be wrapped, so as to cover the whole of the incision ; and the head of the horse should be tied up for several hours, to prevent his rubbing the part against the manger. In bringing tlie edges of the wound together, and introducing the pin, care should be taken not to draw the skin too much from the neck, as blood will insinuate itself between the skin and the muscles beneath, and cause an unsightly and sometimes troublesome swelling. The blood should be received into a vessel, the dimensions of which are exactly known, so that the operator may be able to calculate at every period of the bleeding the quantity that is subtracted. Care likewise should be taken that the blood flow in a regular stream into the centre of the vessel ; for if it be suffered to trickle down the sides, it will not afterwards undergo those changes by which we partially judge of the extent of inflammation. The pulse, however, and the symptoms of the case collectively, will form a better criterion than any change in the blood. Twenty-four hours after the operation, the edges of the wound will have united, and the pin should be withdrawn. When the bleeding is to be repealed, if more than three or four hours have elapsed, it will be more prudent to make a fresh incision rather than to open the old wound. Few directions are necessary for the use of the lancet. They who are competent to operate with it, will scarcely require any. If the point be sufficiently sharp, the lancet can scarcely be too broad-shouldered ; and an abscess-lancet will generally make a freer incision than that in common use. A spring-lancet has lately been invented, by which any one may bleed from the jugular, or from a smaller vein, safely and certainly. Whatever instru- ment be adopted, too much care cannot be taken to have it perfectly clean and very sharp. It should always be carefully wiped and dried immedi- ately after the operation ; otherwise, in a very short time, the edges wili begin to corrode. For general bleeding, the jugular vein is selected, as the largest super- ficial vein, and the most easily got at. In fvery aff*ection of Uie head, THE LUNGS- X 1 and in cases of fever or. extended inflammatory action, it is decidedly the best place for bleeding. In local inflammation blood may be taker from any of the superficial veins. In supposed affections of the shoulder^ or of the fore-leg or foot, the p/a/e vein, w hich comes from the inside of the arm, and runs upwards directly in I'ront of it towards the jugular may be opened. In affections of the hinder extremity, blood is some times abstracted from the saphoena, or thigh-vein, which runs across th«> inside of the thigh. In foot cases it may be taken from the coronet, or much more safely, from the toe ; not by cutting out, as the farrier does, a piece of the sole at the top of the frog, which sometimes causes a wound difficult to heal, and followed by festering, and even by canker ; but cutting down with a fine drawing-knife, called a searcher, at the union between tlie crust and the sole at the very toe until the blood flows, and, if neces- sary, encouraging its discharge by. dipping the foot in warm water. The mesh-work of both arteries and veins will be here divided, and blood ia generally obtained in any quantity that may be needed. The bleeding may be stopped with the greatest ease, by placing a bit of tow in the little groove that has been cut, and tacking the shoe over it. THE LUNGS. The chest, likewise, contains the lungs, most important from the oflice which they discharge, and the diseases to which they are liable. There are two lungs, the right and the left, separated from each other by the medias- tinum. The right lung is larger than the left, because the heart, inclining to the left, leaves less room on that side of the chest. Each of the lungs is likewise partially divided into lobes ; the right lung contains three, and the left two. When the windpipe enters the chest, it divides into two parts, one going to each lung ; and when these reach the substance of the lungs, they separate into innumerable branches, each terminating in a little bag or cell. These branches, with the cells attached to them, bear no slight re- semblance to bunches of minute grapes. Around these cells spread count- less blood-vessels, being the extreme ramifications of those which conveyed the blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs, and the commence- ment of those which carry it back from the lungs to the left side of the heart ; and the cells and the blood-vessels are connected together by an intervening substance of a fibrous and cellular texture. The office of the lungs may be very shortly stated. The blood passing through the capillaries of the body, and contributing to the nourishment of the frame, and furnishing all the secretions, becomes, as we have described, changed. It is no longer able to support life: it is possessed of a poi- sonoiis principle, and that principle is a superabundance of a substance called carbon, which must be got rid of before the blood can again be usefully employed. There is an ingredient in the atmospheric air, called oxygen, which has a strong attraction for this carbon, and which will unite with it wherever it finds it. The chest enlarges by the action of the dia- phragm, and the intercostal and other muscles, as we have narrated ; and the lungs expanding with the chest, in order to fill up the vacuum which would otherwise exist between them and the sides of the chest, these cells enlarge, and a kind of vacuum is formed in each of them, and the air rushes down and fills them ; and being divided from the venous and poisoned blood by these membranes alone, it is enabled to act upon the olood, and attracts from it this carbon, and thus purifies it, and renders it arterial blood, and fit for the purposes of life. This being accomplished, the chest contracts, and the lungs are pressed into smaller compa.ss, and 182 THE HORSE. a portion of the air, impregnated with the carbon, and rendered poisonous in its turn, is squeezed out. Presently the chest expands again, and the lungs expand with it, and fresh pure air is admitted, which is shortly pressed out again, empoisoned by the carbon of the blood ; and these alternate expansions and contractions constitute the act of breathing. When the animal powerfully exerts himself, a more ample supply of pure blood is required to sustain the energies of life, and the action of the muscles forces the blood more rapidly through the veins ; hence the quick and deep breathing of a horse at speed ; hence the necessity of a capacious chest, in order to yield an adequate supply, and the connexion of this capacity of the chest with the speed and the endurance of the horse; hence the wonderful relief which the mere loosening of the girths aflbrds to a horse blown and distressed, enabling the chest to expand and to contract to a greater extent, in order to yield more purified blood, and hence the relief afforded by even a short period of rest, during which this expenditure is not required, and the almost exhausted energies of these organs have time to recover. Hence, likewise, appears the necessity of an ample chest for the accumulation of much flesh and fat; for, if a considerable portion of the blood be employed in the growth of the animal, and it be thus rapidly changed, there must be provision for its rapid purification, and that can only be effected by the increased bulk of the lungs, and the corresponding largeness of the chest to contain them. The diseases of these organs are among the most serious to which the horse is exposed, and interfere most with his usefulness. A glandered horse may be, and often is, too long employed in our service ; a blind horse, under the guidance of the driver, may employ both his strength and his speed for our benefit ; but a horse with diseased lungs is worth nothing at all, and hence some of the difficulties with which the veterinary practi- tioner has to struggle. A surgeon who practises on the human body will obtain the gratitude of his patient, if he so far remove a severe affection as to enable him to live on with a certain degree of comfort, although his activity and his power of exertion may be considerably impaired ; but the veterinary surgeon is thought to have done nothing, unless he renders the animal perfectly sound — unless, in fact, he does that which it is absolutely impossible to accomplish. INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. There is no animal among all those whom we have subdued that, pre- vious to his breaking in, is so free from disease as the horse ; there is no animal which, after he has been enlisted in our service, is so liable to disease, and especially of the lungs. How do we account for this ? Few things can be more injurious to the delicate membrane that lines the cells of the lungs, than the sudden change from heat to cold, to which, under the usual stable management, the horse is subject. In the spring and autumn, the temperature or heat of most stables is several degrees higher than that of the open air ; in winter it is frequently more than thirty degrees. The necessary effect of this must be to weaken and exhaust the energies of the parts most exposed to the influence of these changes, and they are the lungs. It is, however, not only heated, but empoisoned, air that the horse respires ; composed of his own contaminated breath, and of vapours from his dung, and particularly from his urine, strongly impregnated with harts- horn, painful to the eyes and irritating to the chest. There is likewise an intimate connection between the lungs and the func- tions of the skin. When the insensible perspiration is suddenly stoj-'pf^'l. INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. 183 cold and cough are the first consequences. What must inevitably happen to the horse that stands, twenty hours out of the four-and-twenty, in a heated atmosphere, and stands there warmly clothed, and every pore of his skin opened, and the insensible perspiration, and the sensible too, pro- fusely pouring out, and then, with his coat stripped from his back, is turned shiverino- into a nipping winter's air? The discharge from the skin is at once arrested, and the revulsion, or pernicious effect of the sudden stoppage of a natural evacuation, falls on the lungs, too much weakened, and disposed to inflammation by heated air and poisonous fumes. These simple observations are pregnant with interest and instruction to all connected with horses. He who would have his stud free from disease, and especially disease of the lungs, must pursue two objects, coolness and cleanliness. In the gentleman's stable, the first of these is studiously avoided, from the prejudice or the idleness of the groom, and from these stables proceed most of the cases of inflamed lungs ; especially when this heat is combined with that temporary but mischiev- ous nuisance, the repeated breathing of the same air during the night, and that air more vitiated by the fumes of the dung and urine. In the stables of. the post-master, where not only closeness and heat, but the filth that would not be endured in a gentleman's establishment, are found, both inflammation of the lungs and glanders prevail ; and in the stables of many agriculturists, cool enouofh from the poverty or the carelessness of the owner, but choked with filth, inflammation of the lungs is seldom seen, but mange, glanders, and farcy abound. Inflammation of the substance of the lungs is sometimes sudden in its attack, but generally preceded by symptoms of fever. The pulse is occa- sionally not much increased in frequency, but oppressed and indistinct ; the artery is plainly to be felt under the finger, and of its usual size, but the pulse no longer indicates the expansion of the vessel, as it yields to the gush of blood, and its contraction when the blood has passed ; it is rather a vibration or thrill, communicated to a fluid already over-distending the artery ; in a few cases, even this almost eludes the most delicate touch, and scarcely any pulsation is to be detected. The extremities are cold ; the nostril is expanded ; the head thrust out, and the flanks begin to heave. There is a peculiarity in the working of the flank. It is not the deep laborious breathing of fever, nor the irregular beating of broken wind, in which the air appears to be drawn in by one effort, while two seem to be necessary to expel it; but it is a quick, hurried motion, evidently expressive of pain, and of inability to complete the action, on account of the pain, or of some mechanical obstruction. The membrane of the nose is of an intensely florid red — more vivid in the inside corners of the nostrils, and remaining concentrated there, if at times it should seem to fade away higher up. The countenance is singularly anxious, and indica- tive of suflfering, and many a mournful look is directed at the flanks. The horse stands in a singular manner, stiflf, with his fore-legs abroad, that the chest may be expanded as much as possible, and he is unwilling to move, lest for a moment he should lose the assistance of the muscles of the arras and shoulders, in producing that expansion ; and, for the same reason, he obstinately stands up day after day, and night after night ; or, if he lies down from absolute fatigue, it is but for a moment. In many instances, however, the approach of the disease is very treach «rods, and the most careful practitioner may be deceived. The groom may perceive that the horse is somewhat ofl" his feed, and dull, but he pays little attention to it ; or if it arrests his notice, he only finds that the coat ■tares a little, that the legs are colder than usual, and the breathing in a 784 THE HORSE. slight degree quickened and shortened. In other cases, the symptoms are those of common fever, catarrh, or distemper ; and the characteristics of true inflammation of the lungs appear late and unexpectedly. The cold leg and ear, the quickened, not deepened inspiration, the disinclination to lie down, and the anxious countenance, will always alarm the experi- enced observer. Whatever may be the state of the pulse at first, it soon becomes oppressed, irregular, indistinct, and at length almost imperceptible. The heart is labouring in vain to push on the column of blood with which the vessels are distended, and the flow of which is obstructed by the clogged- up passages of the lungs. The legs and ears which were cold before, become more intensely so — it is a clayey, deathy coldness. The mouth soon participates in it, and the breath too. The bright red of the nostril fades away, or darkens to a livid purple. The animal grinds his teeth. He still persists in standing, alfhough he often staggers and almost falls ; at length he drops, and after a few struggles dies. The duration of the disease is singularly uncertain. It will occasionally destroy in less than twenty-four hours, and then the lungs present one con- fused and disorganized mass of blackness, and would lead the inexperienced person to imagine that long inflammation had gradually so completely broken down the substance of the lungs. Such a horse is said to die rotten, and many attempts have been made to prove that he must have been un- sound for a great while, and probably before he came into his last owner's possession, and some expensive law-suits have been instituted on this ground. Let our readers, however, be assured, that this black decom- posed appearance of the lungs proves no disease of long standing, but inflammation intense in its nature, and that has very speedily run its course. The horse has died from suffocation, every portion of the lungs being choked up with this black blood, which has even broken into and filled all the air-cells by means of which it should have been purified. More frequently the disease lasts a little longer. The lungs are suffi- ciently pervious for some blood to be transmitted ; but the inflammation is too great to be subdued, or proper means have not been taken to subdue it ; and it runs its usual course, and proceeds to actual mortification, and the lungs are found not only black, but putrid. This, too, would prove recent and violent inflammation, and not any old and unsuspected disease. This termination would be indicated, a day or two before the death of the animal, by the fetid breath, and the oflfensive discharge from the nose. A frequent, and to the practitioner and the owner a most annoying termination of inflammation of the lungs, is dropsy in the chest. The disease seems to be subdued ; the horse is more lively ; his appetite returns ; his legs and ears become warm ; and those about him are deceived into the belief that he is doing well : nay, the most skilful surgeon is sometimes deceived. The anxiety to save his patient makes him hope for the best, although the coat continues unhealthy, there is a yellow discharge from the nostrd, the pulse is irregular, and the horse is frightened if suddenly- moved, and especially if his head be considerably raised in the act of drenching, and he rarely or never lies down. Many days or some weeks will pass on, with these contradictory and unsatisfactory appearances ; and a judgment of the result can only be formed by balancing them against each other. At length the patient shivers, the old symptoms return, and he very- soon dies. On opening him, both sides of the chest are found nearly filled with fluid, impeding the pulsation of the heart, and the expansion of the lungs, and destroying the horse by suffocation. INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. 185 Although the life of the horse may be saved, the consequen "es of inflam- •nation of the lungs may often materially lessen, or even destroy the useful ness of the animal. As in many external inflammations considerable thickening of the part long remains, so a deposit of the coagulable por'.ion of the blood may be left in the substance of the lungs, occupying the place of many of the air-cells, and preventing the contraction and closing of others. This produces the peculiarity of breathing, almost incompatible with speed or continuance, called thick wind; and frequently precedes broken wind., when, from the violent action of the lungs, and that action thus impeded by the obstruction we have described, some of the air-cells become ruptured. Too frequently, considerable irritability remains in the membrane lining the air-cells, and in other portions of the air-passages, and a cough is established, which, from its continuance, and the difficulty of its removal, is called chronic cough. We have already considered inflammation of the lungs as one of the causes o(' roaring. The treatment of inflammation of the lungs must evidently be of the most decisive kind. We have to struggle with a disease intense in its charac- ter, and we must attempt radically to cure, and not merely to palliate it. We must look to the future usefulness of the horse, and not to the possibility of his being enabled to drag on an existence almost uncomfortable to him- self. Supposing the attack to have just commenced, the horse should be bled, not only until the pulse begins to rise, but until it afterwards begins to flutter or to stop, or the animal is evidently faint. The effect of the bleed- ing, and not the quantity of blood taken, should be regarded ; for the inflammation being subdued, the lost blood will soon be supplied again. This is one of the cases in which it is absolutely necessary that the sur- geon or owner, should stand by with his finger on the pulse, and mark the eflect that is produced. If, six hours afterwards, the horse continues to stand stiff, and heaves as quickly and laboriously as before, and the legs are as intensely cold, and the membrane of the nose as red, the bleeding should be repeated, until the same effect again follows. In the majority of cases inflammation will be now subdued. A third bleeding may, how. ever, sometimes be necessary, but must not be carried to the same extent, for it is possible, by too great evacuation of blood, to subdue not merely the disease, but the powers of nature. If, after this, the legs become cold, and the heaving returns, and the membrane of the nose reddens, and the horse persists in standing, bleedings to the extent of two or three quarts will be advisable, to prevent the re-establishment of the disease. In all these bleedings, let not the necessity of a broad-shouldered fleam or lancet, and a full stream of blood, be forgotten. These are circumstances of far more importance -than is generally imagined. The appearance of the blood will be some guide in our treatment of the case. The thickness of the adhesive, huffy, yellow-coloured coal, which in a few hours will appear on it, will mark with some degree of accuracy the extent of the inflam- mation; but let it be remembered that only which existed at the time of bleeding. Not regardless of the appearance of the blood, but not putting too much faith in it, we must look to the horse to determine how far that inflammation may have been diminished, or a repetition of tiie bleeding be necessary. When the bleeding has evidently taken effect, we must consider by Avhat means we may further abate, or prevent the return of the inflammation. We should blister the whole of the brisket, and the sides, as high up as the elbows. Blisters are far preferable to rowels. They act on a more exten- sive surface; they produce a great deal more inflammation ; and they ar* speedier in their action. N I^Q THE HORSE. To insure the full operation of the blister, the hair must be closely sliaved, and an ointment, composed of one part of Spanish flies and four of lard and one of resin, well rubbed in. The lard and the resin should be melted together, and the powdered flies afterwards added. To form a rowel, the skin is raised between the finger and thumb, and, with a lancet, or with scissors contrived for the purpose, a slit is cut an inch in length. The finger, or the handle of the improved rowelling scissors, wliicli are to be procured from any veterinary instrument-maker, is intro- duced, and the skin is forcibly separated from the muscular or cellular substance beneath, until there is a circular cavity two or three inches wide. Into this a piece of tow is inserted, sufficient to fill it, and previously smeared with blister ointment. This causes considerable inflammation and discharge. If a little of the tow be left sticking out of the incision, the discharge will conveniently dribble down it. The tow should be changed every day with or without the ointment, according to the action of the rowel, or the urgency of the case. The large piece of stiff" leather with a hole in its centre, used by the farrier, is objectionable, as not being easily clianged, and frequently, in the extraction of it, tearing the skin, so as to cause a lasting blemish. The blister sometimes will not rise. It will not when the inflammation of the chest is at its greatest intensity : too much action is going on there for any to be excited elsewhere. The blister occasionally will not act in the later sta-ges of the disease, because the powers of nature are exhausted. It is always a most unfavourable symptom when the blisters or the rowels do not take effect. The best time for the application of the blister, is when the inflammation is somewhat subdued by the bleeding ; and then by the irritation which it excites, and in a part so near the original seat of disease, the inflammation of the chest is either abated or transferred to the skin ; for, as we have before observed, it is an important law of nature, that no two violent actions of different kinds can take place in the frame at the same time. Next comes the aid of medicine. If the patient was a human being, the surgeon would immediately purge him. We must not do this : for from sympathy between the bowels and the lungs in the horse, we should either produce a fatal extension of inflammation, or a transferring of it in a more violent form, and the horse would assuredly die. We must back- rake, administer clysters, or perhaps give eight ounces of Epsom salts, dissolved in warm gruel. No castor-oil must be given. It may be a mild and safe aperient for the human being : it is a very dangerous one for the horse. Having a little relaxed the bowels, we eagerly turn to cooling or sedative medicines. The farrier gives his cordial to support the animal, and pre- vent rottenness. He adds fuel to the fire, and no wonder that the edifice is frequently destroyed. Nitre, digitalis, and emetic tartar should be given in the doses already recommended, and persisted in until an intermittent state of the pulse is produced. Many practitioners give hellebore in doses jf half a drachm, or two scruples, every six or eight hours, and they say with considerable advantage. It is continued until the horse hangs his head, and saliva drivels from his mouth, and he becomes half stupid and half delirious. These symptoms pass over in a few hours, and the inflam- mation of the chest is found to be abated. If it be so, it is on the principle of the blister: the determination of blood to the head, and the temporary exc'.tcment of the brain or its membranes, divert the inflammation, or a portion of it, from its original seat, and give time for the parts some- what to recover their tone. We confess (hat we prefer the digitalis, INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. IS"? emetic tartar, and nitre : they also very considerably lower the pulse, and they are safe. It is of importance that we determine the blood, or a portion of it, froin the inflamed and over distended part to some other region. On this princt- ple we warmly clothe the horse labouring under this disease, that we may cause the blood to circulate freely through the vessels of the skin, and that we may keep up the insensible perspiration, and perhaps produce some Sweating. But do we put the horse in a warm place? No; for then we should bring the heated and poisoned air in contact with the inflamed lungs, and increase the excitement, already too great. It is an absurd practice to shut up every door and window, and exclude, if possible, every breath ol air; rather let every door and window be thrown open, and let pure and cold air find access to these heated parts. It is interesting to see how eagerly the horse avails himself of the relief which this affords him. If no direct draft blows upon him, he can scarcely be placed in too cool a box. Now and then the whole skin of the horse may be rubbed with the brush, if it does not teaze and hurry him; but it is indispensable that the legs should be frequently and well hand-rubbed to restore the circulation in them, and they should be covered with thick flannel bandages. As to food, we do not want him to take any at first, and most certainly the horse should not be coaxed to eat. A very small quantity of hay may be given to amuse him, or a cold mash, or green meat, but not a particle of corn. In eight-and-forty hours the fate of the patient will generally be decided. If there be no remission of symptoms, the inflammation will run on to congestion of the lungs, and consequent suffocation, or to gangrene. We must in this case, give the medicines more frequently ; repeat the blister ; bleed, if the state of the animal will bear it ; and rub the legs, or even scald them. If the strength now rapidly declines, the horse may be drenched with gruel, and tonic medicine may be tried, as camomile at first, and this not recalling or increasing the fever, a little ginger and gentian may be added. Should the heaving gradually subside, and the legs get warm, and the horse lie down, and the inflammation be apparently subsiding, let not the owner or the practitioner be in too great haste to get the animal well. Nature will slowly, but surely and safely, restore the appetite and strength ; and it is very easy to bring back the malady in all its violence by attempt- ing to hurry her. The food should be the same, cold mashes, green meat, or a little hay, if green meat cannot be procured, and thin gruel drunk from the pail, not given as a drench. Should the horse be very weak, or scarcely eat, tonics may be tried. The way should be felt very cautiously with the camomile, and the sedative medicine again be resorted to if there be the slightest return of fever. To the camomile, the gentian and ginger may be gradually added, but no mineral tonic. After a while, hay may be offered, and a little corn, and the horse be sufTered very gradually to return to his former habits. The causes of inflammation of the lungs are changes from cold to heat, or heat to cold ; exposure to cold while the horse is hot ; washing with cold water immediately after exercise ; sudden exposure to cold, after coming from a very hot stable; frequent checks while hunting; travelling in tlie face of a cold wind ; the transference of general fever to the lungs, pre- viously disposed to inflammation from the usual stable management ; and neglected catarrh, or catarrh treated with stimulants instead of cooling medicmes. Any change from heat to cold, or from cold to heat, will pro Huce it ^most with equal certainty ; the removal from a warm stable to a cold one, or from a cold one to a warmer ; from grass to the stable, antl 1^9 THE HORSE. from the stable to grass, will equally give rise to disease of the lungs. It is generally the effect of our erroneous system of management. We shall presently state the symptoms by which inflammation of the lungs may be distinguished from catarrhal fever. It may be distinguished from inflammation of the bowels by the pulse, which, in the latter disease, is small and wiry ; by the membrane of the nose, which is not then so much reddened ; by the indications of pain, as kicking at the belly, stamping, and rolhng ; by his eager scraping of the litter, and by the belly being painful to the touch, and also hot, when the bowels are inflamed. PLEURISY. Hitherto we have spoken of inflammation of the substance of the lungs ; but inflammation may attack the membrane covering them and lining the side of the chest (the pleura), and be principally or entirely confined to that membrane. This is termed pleurisy. The causes are the same as in inflammation of the substance of the lungs, and the symptoms are not very dissimilar. The guiding distinction will be the pulse. As the blood in this disease still traverses the lungs without obstruction, we have not the oppressed pulse, but rather the hard full pulse characteristic of inflamma- tion ; the extremities are cold, but not so cold ; the membrane of the nose, intensely red in the former disease, because it is a continuation of the inflamed lining of the air cells of the lungs, is here but little reddened, because there is no connection between them, if the sides be pressed upon in pleurisy pain will be felt, which the horse will express by a kind of grunt, and which is easily explained by the pressure being applied so close to the seat of disease. The manner of standing, however, will remain the same, and the obstinacy of standing the same, and the extension of the neck, and the protrusion of the nostril. After death, the pleura of the ribs and the lungs will exhibit stripes or patches of inflammation, and the chest will be generally filled with serous fluid. Copious bleeding is indicated here, as in inflammation of the substance of the lungs. Blisters and sedative medicines must likewise be resorted to. The only important difference is, that aperients may be administered with more safety than in the former disease. Puncturing\)f the chest to give escape to the fluid that is thrown out in it may be attempted. It can- not do harm, but it has very seldom saved or much prolonged the life of the animal. If the operation be attempted, it should be as soon as the presence of the fluid is suspected, and the means by which this may be ascertained we have already described. The opening should be effected with the common trochar used for tapping in dropsy in the human being, and should be made between the eighth and ninth ribs, and close to the cartilages. Diuretic medicines combined with tonics should be administered. CATARRH, OR COMMON COLD. This is a complaint of frequent occurrence, generally subdued without much difliculty, but often becoming of serious consequence if neglected. It is accompanied by a little increase of pulse ; a slight discharge from the nose and eyes; a coat somewhat roughened ; a diminution of appetite, and cougli sometimes painful and frequent. A little warmth, a few mashes, and some doses of the medicine recommended under inflammation of the lungs, will speedily effect a cure. Should the cough be very painful and obstinate, it may be necessary to bleed ; but then the disease is degenerating into bronchitis or catarrhal fever. CATARRHAL FEVER. 18© The divisions of the windpipe just before it enters the lungs, and the numerous vessels into which it immediately afterwards branches out, are called the bronchial tubes, and inflammation of the membrane that lines them is termed BRONCHITIS. It is catarrh extending to the entrance of the lungs. It is characterized by quicker and harder breathing than catarrh usually presents, and by a peculiar wheezing, which is relieved by the coughing up of mucus. It is to be treated by bleeding, far less copious than in inflammation of the lungs, or even in catarrh. The horse will bear to lose only a very email quantity of blood when labouring under inflammation of the bronchial passages. The chest should be blistered, and digitalis given, and the other treatment similar to that for inflamed lungs, with the exception of the bleeding. Thick wind is a frequent consequence of neglected bronchitis. CATARRHAL FEVER. This malady has various names among horsemen, as epid&nnc, catarrh, influenza, distemper. By the latter name it is generally distinguished in racing stables. It usually commences, like inflammation of the lungs and fever, with a shivering fit; to which rapidly succeeds a hot mouth, greater heat of the skin than is natural, heaving of the flanks, and cough. The eyes are red and heavy, and the membrane of the nose red, but considerably paler than that of inflammation of the lungs, and even occasionally bordering on a livid hue. From the very commencement of the disease there is some discharge from the nose ; at first of a mere watery nature, but some thickening, and containing flakes, some of which stick to the membrane of the nose, and have been mistaken for ulcers. This discharge, at no great distance of time, becomes mattery and offensive. The glands likewise of the throat and under-jaw become enlarged, and the membranes of the nostril and the throat are inflamed and tender, and there- fore the food is " quidded," and there is difficulty even in swallowing water, particularly if it be cold. The horse sips and slavers in the pail, and repeatedly coughs as he drinks. The cough is sometimes frequent and painful ; so much so, that the horse repeatedly stamps with his feet, and shows signs of impatience and suffering in the act of coughing. To these symptoms rapidly succeeds very great weakness. The horse staggers, and sometimes almost falls as he moves about his box j or he supports himself by leaning his sides or his quarters against the box. To the inexperienced observer this early and excessive weakness will be very alarming, and he will give up the horse as lost. The legs generally swell, and enlargements appear on the chest and belly. These, however, are generally favourable. The pulse is quickened. It rises to sixty or seventy, but the number of its beatings, and the character of the pulse, which is seldom very hard, depend much on the degree of fever which accompanies the disease. After a few days the cough becomes less frequent and painful ; the glands of the throat diminished ; the horse begins to eat a little green meat, and is more cbeerful. In some cases, however, the membrane of the nose reddens, or streaks of red run through the lividness ; and the legs become cold, and the countenance haggard, and inflammation of the lungs is at nand. At other times the breath is offensive ; the discharge from the nose bloody ; the evacuations loose, and slimy, and bloody ; and the animal w ijfQ THE HORSF. speedil) destroyed. The cause of this disease is obscure. It may be the consequence of coninion cold ; or it will more frequently depend on some unexplained influence of the atmosphere. About the middle of spring and the commei;cement of autumn it is most frequent. Many horses in the same district, or in almost every part of the country, will be attacked by it. If the spring or autumn be wet and variable, almost every cold will degenerate into it ; and there are too many circumstances which lead us to conclude that it is infectious. A lot of horses was once bought at one of tiie fairs. They were all but one sent immediately to the residence of the purchaser at a considerable distance. The remaining one was employed for some purpose, and afterwards sent on a journey. He was seized with distemper, and on recovering sufficiently to travel, he was taken home. Tliree months had now elapsed since the purchase, and the other horses had been perfectly healthy ; but in less than a fortnight after this horse arrived, they all sickened with distemper. The treatment of catarrhal fever requires much judgment. It is clearly febrile in its commencement ; but it speedily assumes the character of weakness. We will suppose that the disease is discovered at its very commencement. Bleeding will then be indispensable, regulated in quantity by the degree of fever ; rarely exceeding four quarts, never intentionally pursued until the animal is faint, and immediately stopped when there is the slightest appearance of faintness. The bleeding should be repeated if the pulse is frequent and strong ; or if the membrane of the nose is getting red, and the legs cold, and even although weakness should be rapidly coming on ; but it should be in small quantity, and the effect of it carefully watched. If the disease has been suffered to run on for two or three days, and the horse begins to stagger, the practitioner or the owner will consider all the symptoms well before he ventures to bleed. Redness of the nostril, heat of the mouth, quickness and force of pulse, heaving of the flanks, or cold- ness of the legs, will require the loss of blood, notwithstanding considerable weakness ; but if the animal is quite off his feed, and the inside of the nose is livid, and he is fast losing condition as well as strength, bleeding will be better avoided. It is of importance that the bowels should be evacuated ; and there is not so much danger in the use of a little purgative medicine as in inflam- niation of the lungs. Two drachms of Barbadoes aloes may be given in the form of ball, or in solution ; and in twelve hours another drachm may be given, and even a third dose twelve hours after that, if the faeces have not been loosened ; taking care to back-rake the animal, and to administer injections of thin gruel. The sedative medicines at first exhibited should be the same as in inflammation of the lungs, and in the same quantity ; but as soon as the fever begins to remit, two drachms of the spirit of nitrous ether should be added to each dose ; and, the weakness increasing, and the fever still more subsiding, the camomile may be ventured on, but with caution. Warm clothing is necessary, and particularly about the head ; and although the box should still be airy, it should not be so cool as in inflammation of the lungs. If the throat be so sore that the animal will not eat, either the parotid or the submaxillary glands, or both, should be blistered. It will be far better to blister them at once, than to lose time by the use of weaker and ineflective applications. The discharge from the nose should be promoted, and the natural progress of the inflammation of the membrane of the nose and throat hastened by hot mashes being frequently put in the manger, CATARRHAL FEVER. 191 or, if the horse is not too much distressed by it, hung under his nostrils Id a common nose-bag. When this is resorted to, a hood about the head w \\ be particularly necessary. A great deal of weakness soon follows an attack of catarrhal fe\er, aid it will then be necessary, even while we are subduing the fever, to suppo 't the strength of the animal. He should be offered bran-mashes, nial*^ mashes, damped hay, green meat, or carrots. If he refuses to take them, they should be insinuated between his grinders ; when, being com- polled to bruise them a little in endeavouring to get rid of them, and thus experiencing their taste, he will often be induced to eat several little portions. If he obstinately reuses to feed, he must . be drenched with thick gruel ; but this will seldom be necessary if' all water be refused him from the earliest period of the disease, and a pail with thinner gruel be suspended in some part of his box. When he finds that he can get nothing else, he will drink sufficient of this to afford him all the nutriment we require. The preservation of due warmth in the extremities is as necessary here as in inflammation of the lungs, and should be attempted by warn* bandages and frequent hand-rubbing. The terminations of this disease most to be dreaded are inflammation of the lungs and putrid fever. We know how best to guard against the former, and we shall presently speak of the latter. When, however, the disease hangs long upon the horse, there is usually much mischief done in the chest, although the animal may recover. Thick-wind, broken-wind, and chronic cough are its occasional consequences ; and likewise, as the disease has affected so great a portion of the air-passages, a peculiar liability to cold and cough, and, not unfrequently, an unpleasant and troublesome discharge from the nose will remain. Of the latter we have spoken under tlie title of nasal gleet, p. 121 ; the others will presently come under con- sideration. The farmer will not forget the infectious nature of this disease, and will immediately separate the sick animal from his companions. The disease with which catarrhal fever is most likely to be confounded is inflammation of the lungs ; and as the treatment of the two is in some particulars so different, the farmer should be enabled readily to distinguish between them. If a little care be used, this will not be difficult. The febrile character of the pulse ; the early discharge from the nose ; the want of intense redness in the lining of the nose ; the frequent and painful cough ; the enlargement of the glands, and soreness of the throat ; tl>e rapid loss of strength, the sometimes constant, and at others variable warmth of the legs j the restiveness and pawing, will sufficiently distin- guish catarrhal fever from the oppressed pulse, red nostril, heaving flank, little cough, fixedness of limbs, and coldness of the extremities, which accompany and characterize inflammation of the lungs. THE MALIGNANT EPIDEMIC. This commences with nearly the same symptoms as catarrhal fever ; it probably at the beginning is catarrhal fever, but more than usually violent, and sooner exhausting the powers of the frame. Its symptoms are rapid loss of strength, offensive breath, fetid discharge from the nostrils, all the evacuations becoming highly offensive, the pulse rapid, small and weak, and the animal obstinately refusing to eat. It soon runs its course. Gangrene soon succeeds to inflammation, and rapidly spreads from the part first inflamed through the whole of tlie cellular substance, and over every portion of the frame. When veterinary science was in its infancy, this pest used periodically to appear, and carry H^ THE HORSE. off hundreds of horses ; and that breeder is fortunate, who does not now sometimes suffer from its ravages. The treatment of it is very unsatis- factory. The prevention may be a little more in our power, by endeav- ouring to get rid of the previous disease by one bleeding, when, in some seasons, catarrhal fever appears under a form more than usually violent ; and by bleeding with extreme caution, or not bleeding at all, when debility begins to appear. A mild purgative may be first administered to carry off a portion of the offensive matter contained in the bowels ; after which, chalk, and ginger, and opium, and gentian, and columbo, with port- wine, may be plentifully given, with green meat, or thick-gruel ; but except the horse be valuable, the chance of saving him is so slight, and probably the danger of spreading the pest so great, that prudence will prompt his destruction. Most frequent in occurrence among the consequences of catarrhal fever, Mid inflammation of the lungs, is CHRONIC COUGH. It would occupy more space than we can devote to this part of our subject, to speak of all the causes of obstinate cough. The irritability of so great a portion of the air-passages, occasioned by previous and violent inflam- mation of them, is the most frequent. It is sometimes connected with worms. There is much sympathy between the lungs and the intestines, and the one very readily participates in the irritation produced in the other. That it is caused by glanders, can be easily imagined, because that disease is, in its early stage, seated in or near the principal air-passages, and little time passes before the lungs become affected. It is the necessary attendant of thick-wind and broken-wind, for these proceed from alterations of the structure of the lungs. Notwithstanding the clearness of the cause, the cure is not so evident. If a harsh, hollow cough be accompanied by a staring coat, and the appearance of worms, a few worm-balls may expel these parasites, and remove the irritation of the intestinal canal. If it proceed from irritability of the air-passages, which will be discovered by the horse coughing after drinking, or when he first goes out of the stable in the morning, or by his occasional throwing out thick mucus from the nose, medicine may be given, and sometimes with advantage, to diminish irritation generally. Half-doses of the digitalis, emetic tartar, and nitre, given every night, have had a very beneficial effect, especially when made up with tar, which seems to have a powerful influence in allaying these irritations. These balls should be regularly given for a considerable time. They are sufficiently powerful to quiet slight excitement of this kind, but not to nauseate the horse, or interfere in the slightest degree with his food or his work. A blister, extending from the root of one ear to that of the other, taking in the whole of the channel, and reaching six or eight inches down the wind- pipe, has been tried, and not without good effect, on the supposition that the irritation may exist in the fauces or the larynx ; and the blister has sometimes been extended through the whole course of the windpipe, until it enters the chest. Feeding has much influence on this complaint. Too much dry meat, and especially chaff, increases it. It is aggravated when the horse is suffered to eat his litter ; and it is often relieved when spring tares are given. Carrots afford decided relief. The seat of the disease, however, is so uncertain, and all our means and appliances, so inefllicacious, and the cough itself so little interfering, and THICK-WIND. 193 sometimes interfering not at all with the health of the animal, that it is Bcarcely worth while to persevere in any mode of treatment that is not evidently attended with speedy benefit. The principal consideration to induce us to meddle at all with chronic cough is the knowledge that horses afflicted with it are more liable than others to be affected by changes of temperature, and that inflammation of the lungs, or of the respiratory pas- sages, often assumes in them a very alarming character; to which, perhaps, we may add, that a horse with a chronic cough cannot legally or properly be warranted sound. When chronic cough chiefly occurs after eating, the seat of the disease is evidently in the substance of the lungs. The stomach, distended w.th food, presses upon the diaphragm, and the diaphragm upon the lungs; ajjd the lungs, already labouring under some congestion, are less capable of transmitting the air. In the violent effort to discharge their function, irritation is produced ; and the act of coughing is the consequence of that irritation. This is allied with, or soon runs into. THICK-WIND. Tliick-wind consists in short, frequent, and laborious breathing, and especially when the animal is in exercise ; the inspirations and expirations often succeeding each other so rapidly as evidently to express distress, and occasionally almost to threaten suffocation. Some degree of it frequently exists in round-chested and fat horses, that have little or no breeding. The reason of this is sufficiently plain. The circular chest affords sufficient room for the expansion of the lungs when the animal is at rest, and suffi- cient room for the accumulation of a great deal of fat and flesh ; but when the horse is strongly exercised, the circulation of the blood is hurried, and its change from arterial to venous, or from vital to empoisoned blood, is more rapid. The circular chest cannot then enlarge to any great degree: yet the blood must be purified in greater quantity, and therefore what cannot be done by increase of surface, must be accomplished by frequency of action. Heavy draught-horses are invariably thick-winded, and so are almost all horses violently exercised on a full stomach. A horse labouring under any inflammatory affection of the lungs is thick- winded, because the pain which he feels in the act of breathing will not permit him to respire deeply, and therefore he must breathe quickly. A horse unused to exercise is thick-winded, because the lungs will not soon accommodate themselves to a new and laborious action. The principal cause, however, of thick-wind is previous inflammation, and particularly inflammation of the bronchial passages. The throwing out of some fluid, which is capable of coagulation, is the result, or the natural termination of inflammation. This deposit in the substance of the lungs, or in the bronchial tubes, from inflammation of these organs, must close many of the air-cells, and lessen the dimensions of others. Then, if the cells, fewer in number and contracted in size, be left for the purposes of breathing, the rapid and laborious action of the lungs must supply the deficiency, and especially when the animal is put in that state in which he requires a rapid change of blood. The examination of thick-winded horses has thrown considerable light on tlie nature of the disease. In the majority of instances, some of the small air-cells have been found filled up with a dense substance of a blue or da'-ker colour. In others, the minute passages leading to the cells have been diminished, and almost obliterated, the linings of these passages being unnaturally thickened, or covered with hardened mucus ^ and where 184 THE HORSE. iieithe r of these appearances could be observed, the lining of the cells has exhibited evident marks of inflammation, so that absolute pain prevented the full expansion or contraction of the lungs. Thick-wind is often the forerunner of broken-wind. It is easy to under- stand this : for if so much labour is necessary to contract the air-cells, and to force out the wind, and the lungs work so rapidly and so violently in effecting this, some of the cells, weakened by disease, will probably be ruptured. U^ the treatment of thick-wind we have little to say. Attention to diet, and the prevention of the overloading of the stomach, and the avoidance of exercise soon after a meal, may in some degree palliate the disease, and so may constant exercise, carried to the extent of the horse's power, without too much distressing him. The capability of exertion will thus daily improve, and the breathing of the horse will become freer and deeper. This is the process of training the horse either for the chase or the course; and this constitutes all the difference between a horse that has been well and one that has been badly trained. BROKEN-WIND. This is easily distinguished from thick-wind. In thick-wind the breathing is rapid and laborious, but the inspiration and expiration are equally so, and occupy precisely the same time. In broken-wind the inspiration is per- formed by one effort ; the expiration by two, which is plainly to be dis- tinguished by observing the flanks, and which occupies double the time. The reason of this may be easily stated. Broken-wind is the rupture or run ning together of some of the air-cells. When the lungs are expanded, the air will rush in easily enough, and one effort of the muscles of respiration is sufficient for the purpose ; but when these cells have run into each other, the cavity is so irregular, and contains so many corners and blind pouches, that it is exceedingly diflicult to force it out again, and two efforts are scarcely competent fully to effect it. This disease is also accompanied by a dry and husky cough of a peculiar sound, which cannot easily be described, but it is recognised by every one accustomed to horses. It is the consequence of thick-wind, and of those alterations of structure consequent on inflammation. If a portion of the lung be lost to the animal, and the same quantity of pure blood must be supplied, while there is not the same surface to supply it, it is easy to sup- pose, that, in the violent efforts which such a horse is compelled to make, some of the cells may be broken. Broken wind may, however, occur without much previous disease. Sup- pose a horse to be a gross feeder, and to have filled his stomach with straw and hay, and provender that occupies a great bulk, and contains little nour- ishment, the lungs are squeezed into a less than the natural compass. Let the horse be now suddenly and smartly exercised ; more blood must be purified, and in the violent effort to accomplish this, some of the cells give way. Therefore we do not find broken-winded horses on the race-course; tor although every exertion of speed is required from them, their food lies in small compass, and the stomach is not distended, and the lungs have room to play, and care is taken that their exertion shall be required when the stomach is nearly empty. Carriage and coach-horses are seldom broken-winded, unless they bring the disease to their work ; for they, too, live principally on corn, and their work is regular, and care is taken that they shall not be fed immediately before their work. The majority of . horses thus affected come from the stables of those for whose use these BROKEN-WIND. 195 pages are principally designed. The farmer's horse is the broKen-winded horse, because that on which he is fed is bulky, and too often selected on account of its cheapness ; because there is little regularity in the .nanage- ment of most of the farmers' stables, or the work of his teams ; and because after many an hour's fasting the horses are often suffered to gorge them- selves with this bulky food ; and then, with the stomach pressing upon the lungs, and almost impeding ordinary respiration, they are put again to work, and sometimes to that which requires considerable exertion. A profitable lesson may be learned from this statement. The farmer perhaps may contrive to give his horses a little more corn, and a little less hay, and straw, and chaff, without much additional expense ; he may con- trive, too, to shorten the period of fasting, and therefore prevent the raven- ous manner in which agricultural horses often feed ; and more regularity may take place between the periods of feeding and of work. We have recommended the nose bag as a preventive of stomach-staggers ; we can as earnestly recommend it as a preventive of broken-wind. This disease depends as much upon the cramped state of the lungs, from the pressure of an overgorged stomach in the ordinary state of the animal, as on the effects of over-exertion. The agriculturist knows that many a horse becomes broken-winded in the straw-yard. There is little nutriment in the provender which he there finds, and to obtain enough for the support of life, he is compelled to keep the stomach constantly full, and pressing upon the lungs. Some have come up from grass broken-winded that went out perfectly sound. The explanation of this case is the same. The stomach was habitually gorged with coarse and innutritive herbage, and its pressure on the lungs cramped and confined their action, and produced those violent efforts which burst some of the air-cells, and especially when in their gambols in the straw-yard or the field, or sometimes being wantonly driven about, the lungs were suddenly called upon to perform extraordinary work. There are difficulties attending this explanation of the disease, but it cannot be denied that the dissection of the horses which had broken-wind has almost invariably presented these enlarged air-cells, one of which would occupy the space of a great many of their natural dimensions. The cure of a broken-winded horse no one ever witnessed ; yet much may be done in the way of palliation. The food of the animal should consist of much nutriment condensed into a small compass ; the quantity of oats should be increased, and that of hay proportionably diminished ; the bowels should be gently relaxed by the frequent use of mashes ; the water should be given sparingly through the day, although at night the thirst of the animal should be fully satisfied ; and exercise should never be taken when the stomach is full. It will scarcely be believed how much relief these simple measures will afford to a broken-winded horse, and of how much exertion he may be gradually rendered capable. Some treated on this plan have even been hunted, and have acquitted themselves well in the field. Carrots are very useful to the broken-winded horse, not only as containing much nutriment and considerable moisture, so that less water may be required, but from some property which they possess rendering them beneficial in every chest aflfection. A broken-winded horse turned out to grass will never improve, on account of the almost constant disten- sions of the stomach ; but he may be fed on more succulent substances, as turnips and mangel-wurzel, with evident advantage. They are easy of digestion, and they soon pass out of the stomach. Medical treatment is of little avail, except that organs so violently excited as the lungs of broken-winded horses frequently are, must be subject to inflammation, and the difficulty of breathing in these horses is sometimes 195 THE HORSE. sadly increased. A little blood may then be subtracted ; and other means taken which have been recommended for inflammatory affections of the chest. In cases of frequent or periodical returns of difficulty of breathing, to which these horses are very subject, a course of mild aperients, united with mercury, have been given with decided advantage. Two drachms of aloes, and one of calomel, may be given twice in the week. The barbarous practice of some farriers of making holes near the anus, and sometimes in other parts, to let out the broken wind, cannot be too strongly reprobated. Thick-wind and broken-wind exist in various degrees, and many shades of difference. Dealers and horsemen generally have characterized them by names that can boast r?o elegance, but are considerably expressive of the state of the animal. Our readers should not be ignorant of them. Some horses make a shrill noise when in quick action ; they are said to be PiPEBS. This is a species oi Roaring. There is usually a ring of coagu- lated matter round the inside of the windpipe, by which the cavity is materially diminished, and the sound produced in quick breathing must evidently be shriller. Sometimes the piping is produced by a contraction of the small passages of the lungs. The Wheezer utters a sound not unlike that of an asthmatic person when a little hurried. This is a kind of thick-wind, and is caused by the lodgment of some mucous fluid in the small passages of the lungs. It frequently accompanies bronchitis. Wheezing can be heard at all times, even when the horse is at rest in the stable ; roaring is confined to the increased breathing of considerable exertion. The Whistler utters a shriller sound than a wheezer, but only when in exercise, and that of continuance. A sudden motion will not always pro- duce it. It seems to be referable to some contraction in the windpipe or the larynx. The sound is a great nuisance to the rider, and the whistler very speedily becomes distressed. A sharp gallop up hill will speedily detect the whistler. When the obstruction seems to be principally in the nose, the horse loudly puffs and blows, and the nostrils are dilated to the utmost, while the flanks are comparatively quiet. This animal is said to be a High-blower. With all his apparent distress, he often possesses great speed and endurance. The sound is unpleasant, but the lungs may be perfectly sound. Every horse violently exercised on a full stomach, or when overloaded with fat, will grunt very much like a hog. The pressure of the stomach on the lungs, or that of the fat accumulated about the heart, will, so much impede the breathing, that the act of forcible expiration will be accompanied by this kind of sound ; but there are some horses who will at all times utter this sound, if suddenly touched with the whip or spur. They are called Grunters, and should be avoided. There is some altered structure of the lungs, which prevents them from suddenly accommodating them- selves to unexpected demand for exertion. It is the consequence of pre- vious disease, and is frequently .followed by thick or broken wind, or Poarins. THE DIAPHRAGM. 197 CHAPTER XI. THE BELLY AND ITS CONTENTS. THE DIAPHRAGM. The chest is separated from the abdomen or belly, by the diaphragm 01 midriff, which extends obliquely from the loins to the breast-bone. In its natural state it is convex, or projecting forward towards the lungs, and concave or hollow backward towards the stomach and intestines. On the side towards the chest it is covered by the membrane which invests the lungs, and towards the belly by that which covers the intestines. It is attached to the spine, the ribs, and the breast-bone, by tendinous or fleshy expansions, and in the centre it is composed of strong muscular fibres : it is one of the most important muscles of the frame ; and is, as we have de- scribed it, the principal agent in breathing. When it acts, its fibres are shortened ; it loses its convexity, and becomes plane ; the chest is thereby enlarged, and the lungs enlarge with the expansion of the cavity in which they are placed ; and air rushes in, and inspiration is performed. When the fibres of the diaphragm cease to act, that muscle returns to its natural form ; it becomes again convex ; it presses upon the lungs, and helps to force out the air, and expiration is accomplished. It assists likewise in the natural constant motion of the bowels, and lends its powerful aid in the expulsion of the dung and urine, and in the birth of the young animal: it is most concerned in coughing, yawning, sighing, &c. The membrane which covers the diaphragm is very subject to inflammation. Whether the ori- ginal seat of disease be in the lungs or the bowels, the diaphragm soon becomes inflamed and irritable, which accounts for the breathing of the horse being so much affected under every inflammation of the chest or belly. The. diaphragm is likewise occasionally ruptured, principally from violent exertion. It has so much to do in the act of breathing, that it is not to be wondered if, when the respiration is exceedingly hurried, this muscle should give way. The symptoms of ruptured diaphragm are very obscure: there are none on which we can perfectly depend. This, however, is a matter of little consequence, for it is uniformly fatal. If the rupture be small, some portion of the intestine insinuates itself, and becomes entangled, and the passage is incurably obstructed ; and if the aperture be large, so much of the intestine passes through as to press upon the lungs, and render breathing impossible. Three large vessels pass through the diaphragm : the great artery which conveys the blood from the heart to the hinder part of the frame, and which goes through a kind of division of the diaphragm, so that it cannot be pressed upon ; the great vein carrying the blood from the hinder parts and the liver to the heart, and which penetrates the firm tendinous part of the diaphragm so as likewise to be preserved from pressure; and the gullet, which passes through the most fleshy portion of the diaphragm, and is liable to be compressed by the constant action of this muscle, which, however, is a matter of little consequence, for there is sufficient power in the muscles of the gullet to propel the food through the diaphragm into the stomach. 198 THE HORSE. The gullet, as will be more particularly described in what follows, term!* nates in THE STOMACH. Which is found on the left side of the belly, lying upon the large intestines, its fore part close to the liver, and its left side in contact with the diaphragm. This situation of the stomach will at once explain the reason why a horse is so much distressed, and sometimes irreparably injured, if worked hard immediately after a full meal. The stomach must be displaced and driven back in the belly by every contraction of the diaphragm or act of inspira- tion ; then in proportion to the fullness of the stomach will be the weight to be overcome, and the labour of the diaphragm, and the exhaustion of the animal. If the stomach be much distended, it may be too weighty to be forced sufficiently far back to make room for the quantity of air which the animal in a state of exertion requires. Hence the frequency and labour of the breath, and the quickness with which such a horse is blown, or, pos- sibly, destroyed. Hence the folly of giving too full a meal, or too much water, before the horse starts on a journey or for the chase ; and hence, likewise, the absurdity and danger of that unpardonable custom of some grooms to gallop the horse after his drink, in order to warm it in his belly, and prevent gripes. The horse was destined to be the servant of man, and to serve him at all hours, and whether fasting or full : it would seem, therefore, that to lessen the inconvenience or danger of the pressure of the stomach on the diaphragm, a smaller stomach, in proportion to his size, is given to the horse than to almost any other animal. The bulk of the horse, and the services required of him, demand much nutriment; and his nutriment is of such a nature that it must occupy a very considerable space, yet his stomach, com- pared with his bulk, is not half so large as that of the human being ; and, therefore, although he, like every other animal, feels inconvenience from great exertion immediately after a full meal, he feels not so much as other animals; for his stomach is small, and a great proportion of what he eats rapidly passes through it, and descends to a part of the intestines distant from the diaphragm, and where the existence and pressure of the food cannot cause him any annoyance. The orifice by which the gullet enters the stomach is called the cardiac,, h, from its nearness to the heart, or sympathy with it. It is constantly closed by strong muscular fibres, except when food is passing into the stomach. It is the construction of the soft palate, however, as has been already described, and not this closing of this cardiac orifice of the stomach, that chiefly prevents the act of vomiting in the horse. The stomach has four coats. The outermost is the lining of the cavity of the belly, and the common covering of all the intestines; by which they are all confined in their respective situations, and from which a fluid is given out, which prevents all friction between them. This is called the peritonetim, or that which stretches round. The second is the muscular coat, consisting of two layers of fibres — one running lengthways and the other circularly — and by means of which a constant gentle motion is communicated to the stomach, by which the food is more thoroughly mixed together and prepared for digestion, and by the pressure of which also the food, when properly prepared, is pushed on into the intestines. The third, or cuticular, (skin-like coat,) c, covers but a portion of the inside of the stomach. It is a continuation of tlie lining of the gullet. THE STOMACH. 19SI There are numerous glands on it, wiiich pour out a mucous fluid; and it is, probably, intended to be a reservoir, in which a portion of the food is retained for a while, and softened, and better prepared for the action of the other or true digestive portion of the stomach. The cuticular coat occupies nearly one-half of the inside of the stomach. The fourth coat is the mucous or villous (velvet) coat, e, where the work of digestion properly commences. The mouths of numerous little vessels open upon it, pouring out a peculiar fluid, the gastric (stomach) juice, which mixes with the food already softened, and converts it into a fluid, called chyme. As this is formed, it passes out of the other orifice of the stomach, the pyloric, (a door to guard,) f, and enters the first small intes- tine ; the harder and undissolved parts being turned back, to undergo further action. CUT OF THE STOMACH. a The esophagTis or gullet, extending" to the stomach. b The entrance of the gullet into the stomach. The circular layers of the muscles are very thick and strong, and which, by their contractions, help to render it difficult for the food to be returned or vomited. c The portion of the stomach which is covered by cuticle or insensible skin. ddThe margin which separates the cuticular from the villous portion. ee The mucous or villous (velvet) portion of the stomach, in which the food is princi- pally digested. ./" The communication between the stomach and the first intestine. g The common orifice through which the bile and the secretion from tne panorca.s pas* into the first intestine. The two pins mark the two tubes here united. A A smaller orifice, through which a portion of the secretion of the pancreas enters the intestines. The stomach of the horse being small, this wonderful change which is effected in the food, and the nature of which has never been thoroughly understood, proceeds very rapidly. The horse, in a short time, will eat a great deal more than the stomach will hold, and room can only be made for the reception of the fresh food by tliat which had been previou.sly received being discharged through the pyloric orifice. Of one disease of the stomach, arising from over-distension, fttomach- staggers, we haye already spoken. In a few instances, the stomacli has 200 THE HORSE. been known ^o be distended with air, but there are no characteristic symp- toms by which this may be distinguished from distension by food, and the treatment would be the same. Of inflammation of the stomach in the horse, except from poisonous herbs or drugs, we know little. It very rarely occurs, and then can with difficulty be distinguished from inflammation of the bowels, and in both diseases the assistance of a skilful veterinary surgeon is required. Few horses are destroyed by the poisonous plants in our meadows. Natural instinct teaches them to avoid those which would be injurious. More are destroyed by the leaves of the yew than by any other vegetable poison. A sleepiness, from which the animal can scarcely be roused, steals over him, and he dies without any symptom of pain. Ten grains of the farina of the croton-nut should be given as soon as the poisoning is suspected ; he should be drenched largely with equal parts of vinegar and thin gruel, and the croton repeated in six hours, if it has not previously operated. The Water Droptvort, common in ditches and marshy places, is generally refused by horses ; but brood-mares, with appetite somewhat vitiated from being in foal, have been destroyed by it. The antidote would be vinegar and gruel, and bleeding, if there be inflammation. The Water Parsley deserves not all the bad reputation it has acquired, although, when eaten in too great quantities, it has produced palsy in the horse, and which has been strangely attributed to a harmless beetle that inhabits the stem. Of the Common Hemlock and the Water Hemlock we know no harm, so far as the horse is concerned. We have repeatedly seen him eat the latter without bad effects, but cows have been poisoned by it. Of the mineral poisons we will mention only two. Arsenic was formerly celebrated as a tonic and a destroyer of worms in the horse ; and doses suffi- cient to kill three or four men used to be daily administered, and generally with impunity ; the dose has, however, in some cases, been too strong, and the animal has died. There are better tonics and vermifuges, and the drug will probably soon be discarded from veterinary practice. Corrosive subli- mate is given internally, and often with advantage in farcy. It is used externally to destroy vermin, to cure mange, and dispose deep and fistulous ulcers to heal. The symptoms of an overdose of either are loss of appetite, discharge of saliva from the mouth, pawing, looking eagerly at the flanks, rolling, profuse perspiration, thready pulse, rapid weakness, violent purging and straining, convulsions, and death. The stomach will be found intensely inflamed, with patches of yet greater inflammation. The whole course of the intestine will be inflamed, with particular parts black and gangrenous. The antidote, if it be not too late to administer it, would be, for arsenic, lime-water, or chalk and water, or soap and water, given in great quantities with the stomach-pump; and for corrosive sublimate, the white of eggs, mixed with water, or thick starch, or arrow-root. If the poisoning be mali- cious, arsenic may be most readily detected by mixing a little of the fluid taken from the intestines with a weak solution of blue viti'iol, to which a little hartshorn has been added, the mixture will gradually become green; or, if a little of the more solid contents of the stomach or small intestines be thrown on a red-hot iron, a smell of garlic will be perceived. For corrosive sublimate, there is a simpler test. Place a drop of the sus- pected fluid on a sovereign, let the stem of a small key touch tlie sovereign, while the handle ia brought into contact with the drop, and the gold BOTS. 20 1 will itnthediately be stained ; or mix a little of the suspected fluid with lime-water, and the corrosive sublimate, if there be any, will be thrown to the bottom, of an orange colour; or, if hartshorn be used, the precipi- tate will be white. BOTS. In the spring and early part of the summer, horses are much troubled by a grub or caterpillar, which crawls out of the anus, fastens itself under the tail, and seems to cause a great deal of itching or uneasiness. Grooms are sometimes alarmed at the appearance of these insects. Their history is curious, and will dispel every fear in regard to them. We are indebted to Mr. Bracey Clark for almost all we know of the bot. CUT OF THE BOT. C a The effg^s of the g'ad-fly, adhering' to the hair of the horae. b The same, enlarged. c The appearance of the bots on the stomach, firmly adhering' by their hooked mouths. The marks or depressions are seen which are left on the coat of thd stomach when the bots are detached from their hold. d The bot detached. t The female of the g-ad-fly, of the horse, prepared to deposit her ergs. f The g-ad-fly by which the red bots are produced. g The smaller or red bot. A species of gad-fly, e, (the CRstrus equi,) is m the latter part of the summer exceedingly busy about the horse. They are observed to be dart- ing with great rapidity towards the knees and sides of the animal. The females are depositing their eggs on the hair, and which adhere to it by means of a glutinous fluid by which they are surrounded, a and b. In ■A few days the eggs are ready to be hatched, and the slightest application of warmth and moisture will liberate the little animals which they contain. The horse in licking himself touches the egg, it bursts, and a small worm escapes, which adiieres to the tongue, and is conveyed with the food into the stomach ; there it clings, by means of a hook on either side of its mouth, to the cuticular portion of the stomach, c; and its hold is so firm «ud so obstinate, that it will be broken before it will be detached. It remains feeding there on the mucus of the stomach during the whole, of the winter and to the end of the ensuing spring; when, having attained a 202 THE HORSE. considerable size, d, and being destined to undergo a certain transformation, it disengages itself from the cuticular coat, is carried into the villous portion of the stomach with the food, passes out of it with the chyme, and is fuiallv evacuated with the dung. The larva or maggot being thus thrown out, seeks shelter in the ground, contracts in size, and becomes a chrysalis or grub ; in which state it lies inactive for a few weeks; and then, bursting from its confinement, assumes the form of a fly. The female, becoming impregnated, quickly deposits her eggs on those parts of the horse which he is most likely to lick, and so the species is perpetuated. There are several plain conclusions from this history. The bots cannot, while they inhabit the stomach of the horse, give the animal any pain, for they are fastened on the cuticular or insensible coat. They cannot stimu- late the stomach, and increase its digestive power, for they are not on the digestive portion of the stomach. They cannot, by their roughness, assist the trituration or rubbing down of the food, for no such office is performed in that part of the stomach : the food is softened, not rubbed down. They cannot be injurious to the horse, for he enjoys the most perfect health when the cuticular part of his stomach is filled with them, and their pres- ence is not even suspected until they appear at the anus. . They cannot be removed by medicine, because they are not in that part of the stomach to which medicine is usually conveyed ; and if they were, their mouths are too deeply buried in the mucus for any medicine, that can safely be admin- istered, to affect them; and, last of all, in due course of time, they detach themselves, and come away. Therefore, the wise man will leave them to themselves, or content himself with picking them off when they collect under the tail, and annoy the animal. The smaller hot, f and g, is not so frequently found. INTESTINES. The food having been partially digested in the stomach, and converted into chyme, passes through the pyloric orifice into the intestines. The intestines of a full-grown horse are not less than ninety feet in length. The length of the intestines, in different animals, depends on the nature of the food. The nutritive matter is with much more difficulty extracted from vegetable than animal substances ; therefore the alimentary canal is large, long, and complicated in those which, like the horse, are fed on herbs alone. They are divided into the small and large intestines; the former of which occupy about sixty-six feet, and the latter about twenty- four. The intestines, like the stomach, are composed of three coats. The outer one consists of the peritoneum, that membrane which we have already described as covering the contents of the belly. By means of this coat the bowels are confined in their proper situations; and, this membrane being smooth and moist, all friction and concussion are avoided. Did the bowels float loosely in the belly, they would be subject to constant entanglement and injury amid the rapid and violent motions of the horse. The middle coat, like that of the stomach, is muscular, and composed of two layers of fibres — one running longitudinally and the other circularly; and by means of these muscles, which are continually contracting and relax- ing, from the upper part downward, the food is forced along the bowels. The inner coat is the mucous or villous: mucous because it abounds with small glands, which pour out a mucous fluid, to lubricate the passage and defend it from irritating or acrimonious substances; and villous, from it* THE INTESTINES 203 soft velvet feel. This coat is crowded with innumerable little mouths, which are the commencement of minute vessels, by which the nutritive part of the food is taken up ; and these vessels, uniting and passing over the mesentery, carry this nutritive matter to a receptacle for it, whence it is conveyed into the circulation, and distributed to every part. The intestines are more particularly retained in their places by the me- sentery, c, (middle of the intestines,) which is a doubling of the peritoneum, including the intestine in its botton., and likewise inclosing between its folds the arteries and veins, and nerves, and the vessels which convey the nutriment from the intestines to the circulation. The mesentery has some- what the appearance of an expanded fan, and all these things ramifying between its transparent folds, give it a beautiful appearance. CUT OF THE INTESTINES. a Commencement of the small intestines. The ducts which convey the bile and th« secretion from the pancreas are seen entering a little below. b Convolutions or windings of the small intestines. e A portion of the mesentery. d The small intestines terminating in the coecum. « The coecum, or blind gut, with the bands running along it, puckering and dividing it into numerous cells, y Beginning of the colon. g Continuation and expansion of the colon, divided like the coecum into cells. h Termination of the colon in the rectum. t Termination of the rectum at the anus. The first of the small intestines is the duodenum, a, so called because, in the human subject, it is about twelve inches long. In the horse, it ip nearly two feet in length. It is the largest in circumference of all the small intestines, and receives the food converted into chyme by the digestive power of the stomach, which in it undergoes another and very important change ; a portion of it is converted into chyle. It is mixed with the bile and the secretion from the pancreas, which enter about five inches down the intes- tine. The bile. seems to be the principal agent in this change ; no sooner tloes it mingle with the chyme, than the fluid begins to be separated into two distinct ingredients, a thick white liquid, termed chyle, and containing the 204 THE HORSE. nutritive part of the food, and a yellow pulpy substance, wliich becomes tho excrement. As these matters pass on by the motion of the intestines, the separation becomes more complete; the chyle is gradually taken up by the mouths of these numerous little vessels, which are called the lacteals, and at length the excrement alone remains. The next portion of the small intestine is the jejunum, so called be- cause it is generally empty. The passage of the food seems to be very rapid through it. It is smaller in bulk, and paler in colour, than tho duodenum. To this succeeds the ileum ; but there is no point at which it can be said that the jejunum terminates and the ileum begins, except that the latter is said to be about one-fifth longer than the former. The whole of these small intestines will contain about eleven gallons of water. At the termination of the ileum, d, commence the large intestines. The first of them is the coecum (blind), c; it has but one opening into it, and consequently every thing that passes* through it, having reached the blind or closed end, must return, in order to escape. It is not a continuation of the ileum, but the ileum pierces the head of it, as it were, at right angles, (d,) and projects some way into it, and has a valve at its extremity; so that what has traversed the ileum, and entered the head of the colon, whence the ccEcum rises, cannot re- turn into the ileum. Along the outside of the coecum run three strong bands, each of them shorter than that intes- tine, and therefore puckering it up, ftiid forming it into three separate sets of cells, as shown in the accompany, ing side-cut. That portion of the food, then, which has not been taken up by the lacteals or absorbent vessels of the small intestines, passes through this valvular opening of the ileum, and a part of it enters the colon, while the remainder flows into the coecum. Then, from this being a blind pouch, and from the cellular structure of this pouch, the food must be detained in it a very long time ; and in order that, during this detention, all the nutriment may be extracted, the coecum and its cells are largely supplied with blood-vessels and absorbents. It is principally the fluid part of the food that seems to enter the coecum. A horse will drink at once a great deal more than his stomach will contain ; or, even if he drinks a less ijuantity, it remains not in the stomach or small intestines, but passes on to ihe caecum, and there is retained, as in a reservoir, to supply the wants of the system. In his state of servitude, the horse does not often drink more than twice or thrice in a day ; and the food of the stabled horse being chiefly dry, this waler-slomach is most useful to him. The coecum will liold four gallons. The greater portion of the food, and the more solid part of it, goes on to tho colon, if 4'. This is an intestine of exceedingly large dimensions; it is capable of containing no less than twelve gallons of liquid or pulpy food. At its union with the coecum and the ileum, although larger than the latter intestine, f, it is of comparatively small bulk, but it soon swells lilt to an rnornious extent. It has likewise, in the greater part of its course, thrt'c bands like tlic ca-cutn, uhieh also divide it internally into the COLIC. 205 same de^ciiption of cells. The intention of this is evident, to retard the progress of tne ibod, and to give a more extensive surface on which the vessels oi tlie lacteals may open : and therefore, in the colon, all the chyle is rinally separated and taken up. When this is nearly accomplished, the construction ot the colon is somewhat changed : we find but two bands towards the rectum, and these not puckering the intestine so much, or forming such numerous or deep cells. The food does not require to be much longer detamed, and the mechanism for detaining it is gradually dis- appearing. The biood-vessels and absorbents are likewise rapidly dimin- ishing. The colon, aiso, once more contracts in size, and the chyle having been all absorbed, the remaining mass, being of a harder consistence, is moulded into pellets oi balls in its passage through the shallower cells. At the termination of the colon, the Rtctum (straight gut) commences. It is smaller in circumference and capacity than the colon, and serves as a reservoir for the dung until it is evacuated. It has none of these bands, because, all the nutriment being extracted, the passage of the excrement that remains should be hastened and not retarded. This descends to the lower part of the rectum, which somewhat enlarges to receive it ; and when it has accumulated to a certain extent, the animal, by the aid of the diaphragm and the muscles of the belly, presses it out, and it is evacuated. A curious circular muscle, and always in action, called the sphincter (binder together), is placed at the anus, to prevent the constant and unpleasant dropping of the faeces, and to retain them until the animal is disposed voluntary to expel them. DISEASES OF THE INTESTINES. These form a very important part of horse surgery, and many erroneous notions are prevalent respecting them. The first disease we will consider is SPASMODIC COLIC. We have said, that the passage of the food through the intestinal canal is effected by the alternate contraction and relaxation of the muscular coat of the intestines. When that action is simply increased through the whole of the canal, the food passes more rapidly, and purging is produced; but the muscles of every part of the frame are liable to irregular and spas- modic action, and the muscular coat of some portion of the intestines may J)e thus affected. A species of cramp may attack a portion of the intes- iines. The spasm may be confined to a very small part of the canal. The gut has been found, after death, strangely contracted in various places, contraction not extending above five or six inches in any of them. In the horse, the ileum is the usual seat of this disease. It is of much importance to distinguish between spasmodic colic and inflammation of the bowels, for the symptoms have considerable resemblance, although the mode of treat- ment should be very different. The attack of colic is usually very sudden. There is often not the slightest warning. The horse begins to shift his posture, look round at his flanks, paw violently, strike his belly with his feet, lie down, roll, and that 205 THE HORSE. frequently Ofi his back. In a few minutes the pain seems to cease, the horse shakes himself, and begins to feed; but, on a sudden, the spasm ri turns more violently, every indication of pain is increased, he heaves at liie flanks, breaks out into a profuse perspiration, and throws liimself more violently about. In the space of an hour or two, either the spasms begin to relax, and the remissions are of longer duration, or the torture is aug- mented at every paroxysm, the intervals of ease are fewer and less marked, and inflammation and death supervene. Of the symptoms by which it may be best distinguished from inflamma- tion of the bowels, we shall speak when we treat of that disease. Among the causes of colic are, the drinking of cold water when the horse is heated. There is not a surer cause of violent spasm than this. Colic will some- times follow the exposure of a horse to the cold air, or a cold wind after violent exercise. Green meat, although, generally speaking, most benefi- cial to the horse, yet given in too large a quantity, or when the horse is hot, will frequently produce gripes. In some horses there seems to be a con- stitutional predisposition to colic. They cannot be hardly worked, or exposed to unusual cold, without a fit of it. In many cases, when the.<>e horses have died, stones have been found in some part of the alimentary canal. Fortunately, we are acquainted with several medicines that allay these spasms; and the disease often ceases almost as suddenly as it a})peared. Turpentine is one of the most powerful remedies, especially if given in union with opium. Three ounces of spirit or oil of turpentine, with an ounce of laudanum, given in a pint of warm ale, will frequently have an almost instantaneous effect. The account which we have just given of the coecum will not be forgotten. Even a small quantity of fluid will seldom be detained in the stomach, but will pass through the ileum to the coecum or water-stomach, and in this passage will come in immediate contact with the spasmed part. If relief be not obtained in half an hour, it will be prudent to bleed, because the continuance of violent spasm will produce inflammation. Same practitioners bleed at first, and it is far from bad practice ; for, although the majority of cases will yield to turpentine, opium, and aloes, an early bleeding may occasionally prevent the occurrence of inflammation, or at least mitigate it. If it be clearly a case of colic, half of the first dose may be repeated, with a full ounce of Barbadoes aloes, dissolved in warm water. The stimulus produced on the inner surface of the bowels by the purgative Tiay counteract the irritation which caused the spasm. The belly should je well rubbed with a brush or warmed cloth, but not bruised and injured by the broom-handle rubbed over the belly by two great fellows with all •heir strength. The horse should be walked about, or trotted moderately. The motion thus produced in the bowels, and the friction of one intestine over the other, may relax the spasm, but the hasty gallop may speedily cause inflammation to succeed to colic. Clysters of warm water, or con- taining a solution of aloes, will be injected. The patent syringe will here be most useful. When relief has been obtained, the clothing of the horse, saturated with perspiration, should be removed, and fresh, dry clothing substituted. He should be well littered down in a warm stable or box, and have bran mashes for the two or three next days, and drink only lukewarm water. Some persons give gin, and even gin and pepper, in cases of gripes. This, however, is a practice to which we strongly object ; it may be useful, or even suflicient, in ordinary cases of colic, but if there be any inflamma. tion, or tendency to inflammation, it cannot fail to be highly injurious. INFLAMMATION OP THE BOWELS. gQT CALCULI, OR STONE IN THE INTESTINES. We have mentioned these as a cause of colic in horses that are subject UJ frequent attacks of it. Some indigestible substance lodges in the coecun or colon : earthy or half-digested vegetable matter gradually accumulates around this, and a ball weighing many pounds is sometimes formed. This will naturally produce colic, or obstruct the passage of the gut, or, by its pressure, produce inflammation; but as there are few or no symptoms by which the presence of these stones is clearly indicated, and few, or rather no certain means by which they may be removed, we will pass at once to an occasional consequence of colic. INTUSUSCEPTION OF THE INTESTINES. The spasmodic action of the ileum, long continued, may be succeeded by an inverted action from the c(ECum towards the stomach, more powerful than the natural action ; and the contracted portion of the intestine is thus forced into a portion above it that retains its natural calibre ; and the irritation caused by this increases the action, until more is forced in, and an obstruc- tion is formed which no power can overcome. Even the natural motion of tlie bowels will be sufficient to produce intususception, when the contrac- tion of a portion of the ileum is very great. There are no symptoms to indicate the presence of this, except continued or increasing pain ; or, if there were, all our means of relief would here fail. ENTANGLEMENT OF THE BOWELS. This is another and more singular consequence of colic. Although the fleum is enveloped in the mesentery, and its motion, to a considerable degree, confined, yet under the spasm of colic, and during the violence with which the animal rolls and throws himself about, portions of the ileum become so entangled as to be often twisted into nooses and knots, drawn together with a degree of tightness scarcely credible. Nothing but the extreme and lengthened torture of the animal can lead us to suspect that this has taken place ; and even then, could we ascertain its existence with certainty, there would be no cure. INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. There are two varieties of this malady. The first is inflammation of the external coats of the stomach, accompanied by considerable fever and cos- tiveness ; the second is that of the internal or mucous coat, usually the con- sequence of an over-dose of physic, and accompanied by violent purging. We will here speak of the first of these affections. It has been divided into inflammation of the peritoneal coal, and that of the muscular; but the causes, symptoms, and treatment of both are so much alike, that it would be raising unnecessary difficulties to endeavour to distinguish between them. Inflammation of the external coats of the stomach, whether the peritoneal or muscular, or both, is a very frequent and fatal disease. It speedily runs its course, and it is of great consequence that its early symptoms should be known. If the horse has been carefully observed, restlessness and fever will have been seen to precede the attack ; in many cases a direct shivering fit will be observed ; the mouth will be hot and the nose red. The horse will soon express the most dreadful pain by pawing, 208 THE HORSE. striking at his belly, looking wildly at his flanks, groaning, and rolling. The pulse will be quickened and small ; the ears and legs cold ; the belly tender, and sometimes hot; the breathing quickened; the bowels costive; and the horse becoming rapidly and fearfully weak. It may be useful to give a short table of the distinguishing symptoms of colic and inflammation of the bowels, because the treatment recommended for the former would often be fatal in the latter. COLIC. INFLAMMATION. Sudden in its attack. Gradual in its approach, with previooa indications of fever. Pulse rarely much quickened in the early Pulse very much quickened, but small, tiage. of the disease and during the intervals and often scarcely to be felt, of ease, but evidently fuller. Leg-s and ears of natural temperature. Legs and ears cold. Relief obtained from rubbing the belly. Belly exceedingly tender, and painful to the touch. Relief obtained from motion. Motion evidently increasing the pain. Intervals of rest. Constant pain. Strength scarcely affected. Rapid and great weakness. The causes of this disease are. first of all and most frequently, sudden exposure to cold. If a horse that has been highly fed, carefully groomed, and kept in a warm stable, be heated with exercise, and have been for some hours without food — and in this state of exhaustion be suffered to drink freely of cold water, or be drenched with rain, or have his legs and belly washed with cold water — an attack of inflammation of the bowels will often follow. An over-fed horse, subjected to severe and long-continued exertion, if his lungs were previously weak, will probably be attacked by inflammation of them ; but if the lungs were sound, the bowels will on the following day be the seat of disease. Stones in the intestines are an occa- sional cause of inflammation, and colic neglected, or wrongly treated, will terminate in it. The treatment of inflammation of the bowels, like that of the lungs, should be prompt and energetic. The first and most powerful means of cure will be bleeding. From six to eight or ten quarts of blood should be taken as soon as possible, and the bleeding repeated to the extent of four or five quarts more if the pain be not relieved, and the pulse have not become rounder and fuller. The speedy weakness that accompanies this disease should not deter from bleeding largely. It is the weakness that is the con- sequence of violent inflammation of these parts, and if that inflammation be subdued by the loss of blood, the weakness will disappear. The bleeding should be effected on the first appearance of the disease ; for there is no malady that so quickly runs its course. Next to bleeding will follow clysters. Although the bowels are usually confined, we cannot administer a strong purgative ;* for the intestines are already in far too irritable a state. The clyster may consist of warm water, or very thin gruel, in which half a pound of Epsom salts, or half an ounce -of aloes has been dissolved, and too mucli fluid can scarcely be thrown up. If the common ox-bladder and pipe be used, it should be frequently replenished : but with Reid's patent pump, already referred to, sufficient may be injected to penetrate beyond the rectum, and reach to the colon and coecum, and • The human practitioner gives, under this disease, and with advantaore, very powerful doses of purgative medicine; and he may be disposed to demur to the cautious mode of proceeding we recommend with regard to the horse. Although wc may not be able to give him a satisfactory theoretical reason in defence of our treatment, we can appeal to the experience of every veterinary surgeon, that a strong dose of physic, given in inflam^rtion of the bowels, would be certain poison. INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. 209^ dispose them to evacuate their contents. The horse may likewise be encouraged to drink plentifully of warm water or thin gruel ; and draughts, each containing a couple of drachms of dissolved aloes, may be given every six hours, until the bowels are freely opened. Next, it will be prudent to endeavour to excite considerable external inflammation, as near as possible to the seat of internal disease, and there- fore the whole of the belly should be blistered. In a well-marked case of this inflammation, no time should be lost in applying fomentations, but the blister be at once resorted to. The tincture of Spanish flies, whether made with spirit of wine or turpentine, should be well rubbed in. The legs should be well bandaged, to restore the circulation to them, and thus lessen the flow of blood to the inflamed part, and for the same reason the horse should be warmly clothed, but the air of the stable or box should be cool. No corn or hay should be given during the disease, but bran-mashes, and green-meat if it can be procured. The latter will be the best of all food, and may be given without the slightest apprehension of danger. When the horse begins to recover, he may get a handful of corn two or three times in the day, and, if the weather be warm, may be turned into a paddock for a few hours in the middle of the day. Clysters of gruel should be continued for two or three days after the inflammation is beginning to subside, and good hand-rubbing applied to the legs. The second variety of inflammation of the bowels affects the internal or mucous coat, and is generally the consequence of physic given in too great quantity, or of an improper kind. The purging is more violent, and con- tinues longer than was intended ; the animal shows that he is suffering great pain ; he frequently looks round at his flanks ; his breathing is laborious, and the pulse is quick and small ; not so small, however, as in inflammation of the peritoneal coat, and, contrary to some of the most frequent and characteristic symptoms of that disease, the mouth is hot, and the legs and ears are warm. Unless the purging is excessive, and the pain and distress great, we should hesitate at administering any astringent medicine at first. We should plentifully administer gruel, or thin starch, or arrow-root, by the mouth and by clyster, removing all hay and corn, and particularly green meat. We should endeavour thus to sheath the irritated surface of the bowels, while we permitted any remains of the medicine to be carried off. If, however, twelve hours should pass, and the purging and the pain remain undiminished, we should continue the gruel, but add to it chalk, catechu, and opium, in doses of an ounce of the first, a quarter of an ounce of the second, and two scruples of the last, repeated every six hours. As soon as the purging begins to subside, the astringent medicine should be lessened in quantity, and gradually dis- continued. Bleeding will rarely be necessary unless the inflammation be very great, and attended by symptoms of general fever. The horse should be warmly clothed, and be placed in a warm stable, and his legs should be hand-rubbed and bandaged. Violent purging, and attended with much inflammation and fever, will sometimes occur from other causes. Green meat will sometimes purge. A horse worked hard upon green meat will scour. The remedy is change of diet or less labour. Young horses will scour, and sometimes without any apparent cause. Astringents should be used with much caution here. It is probably an effort of nature to get rid of something that offends. A few doses of gruel will assist in effecting this purpose, and the purging will cease without astringent medicine. Some horses that are not well-ribled home, (having too great space between tbe last rib and the hip-bone), are subject to purging if more than g|0 THE HORSE. usual exertion is required from them. They are recognised by the term of washy horses. They are often free and fleet, but destitute of continuance. They should have rather more than the usual allowance of corn with beans, when at work ; and a cordial ball, with one drachm of catechu, and ten grains of opium will often be serviceable either before or after a journey. WORMS. Worms of different kinds inhabit the intestines ; but except when they exis! in very great numbers, they are not so hurtful as is generally supposed, although the groom or carter may trace to them hidebound, and cough, and loss of appetite, and gripes, and megrims, and a variety of other ailments. Of the origin or mode of propagation of these parasitical animals we will say nothing ; neither writers on medicine, nor even on natural history, have given us any satisfactory account of the matter. The long white worm {lumbricus teres) much resembling the common earth-worm, and being from six to ten inches long, inhabits the small intestines. It is a formidable-looking animal, and if there are many of them they may consume more than can be spared of the nutritive part of the food or the mucus of the bowels ; and we think that we have seen a tight skin, and rough coat, and tucked up belly, connected with their presence. They have then, however, been voided in large quantities, and when they are not thus voided we should be disposed to trace these appearances to other causes. A dose of physic will sometimes bring away almost incredible quantities of them. Calomel is frequently given as a vermifuge. The seldomer this drug is administered to the horse the better. It is the principal ingredient in some quack medicines for the expulsion of worms in the human . subject, and thence, perhaps, it came to be used for the horse, but in him we believe it to be inert as a vermifuge, or only useful as quickening the operation of the aloes. When the horse can be spared, a strong dose of physic is an excellent vermifuge, so far as the long round worm is con- cerned ; but perhaps a better medicine, and not interfering with either the feeding or work of the horse, is two drachms of emetic tartar, with a scruple of ginger made into a ball, with linseed meal and treacle, and given every morning half an hour before the horse is fed. A smaller, darker coloured worm, called the needle worm, or ascaris, inhabits the large intestines. Hundreds of them sometimes descend into the rectum, and immense quantities have been found in the coecum. These are a more serious nuisance than the former, for they cause a very trouble- some irritation about the fundament, which sometimes sadly annoys the horse. Their existence can generally be discovered, by a small portion of mucus, which, hardening, is converted into a powder, and is found about the anus. Physic will sometimes bring away great numbers of these worms, but when there is much irritation about the tail, and much of this mucus indicating that they have descended into the rectum, an injection of a quart of linseed oil, or of an ounce of aloes, dissolved in warm water will be a more effectual remedy. The tape worm is seldom found in the horse. PHYSICKING. This would seem to be the most convenient place to speak of physicking horses, a mode of treatment necessary under various diseases, but which has injured the constitution of more horses, and in fact absolutely destroyed more of them, than any other thing that can be mentioned. When a horse PHYSICKING. 2T\ comes from grass to hard meat, or from the cool open air to a heated stable, a dose of physic or even two doses may be useful to prevent the tendency to inflammation which must be the necessary consequence of so sudden and great a change. To a horse that is becoming too fat, or has surfeit or grease, or mange, or that is out of condition from inactivity of the digestive organs, a dose of physic is often most serviceable ; but we do enter our protest against the periodical physicking of all horses in the spring and the autumn, and more particularly against that severe system which is thought to be necessary to train them for work, and the absurd method of treating the horse when under the operation of physic. A horse should be carefully prepared for the action of physic. Two or three bran-mashes given on that or the preceding day are far from siilfi- cient, when a horse is about to be physicked, whether to promote his con- dition, or in obedience to custom. Mashes should be given until the dung becomes softened ; a less quantity of physic will then suffice, and it will more quickly pass through the intestines, and be more equally diffused over them. Five drachms of aloes, given when the dung has thus been softened, will act much more effectually, and much more safely than seven drachms, when the lower intestines are obstructed by hardened faeces. On the day on which the physic is given, the horse should have walking exercise, or may be gently trotted for a quarter of an hour twice in the day ; but after the physic begins to work, he should not be moved from his stall. Exercise then would produce gripes, irritation, and possibly dangerous inflammation. The common and absurd practice is to give the horse most exercise after the physic has begun to operate. A little hay may be put into the rack ; as much mash may be given as the horse will eat, and as much water, with the coldness of it taken off, as he will drink. If, however, he obstinately refuses to drink warm water, it is better that he should have it cold, than to continue without taking any fluid, but he should not be suffered to take more than a quart at a time, with an interval of at least an hour between each portion. When the purging has ceased, or the physic is set, a mash should be given once or twice every day until the next dose is taken, between which and the setting of the first there should be an interval of a week. The horse should recover from the languor and debility occasioned by the first dose, before he is harassed by a second. Eight or ten tolerably copious motions, will be perfectly sufficient to answer every good purpose, although the groom or the carter may not be satisfied unless double the quantity are procured. The consequence of too strong purgation will be, that a lowness and weakness will hang about the horse for many days or weeks, and inflammation will often ensue from the over-irritation of the intestinal canal. Long continued custom has made Aloes the almost invariable purgative of the horse, and very properly so ; for there is no other at once so sure and safe. The Barbadoes aloes, although sometimes very dear, should alone be used. The dose, with a horse properly prepared, will vary from • five to seven drachms. The preposterous doses of nine, ten, or even twelve drachms, are, happily for the horse, generally abandoned. Custom ♦las assigned the form of a ball to physic, but good sense will in due time introduce the solution of aloes, as acting more speedily, eflfectually, and safely. The only other purgative on which dependence can be placed is the Croton. The farina or meal of the nut is used ; but from its acrimony it should be given in the form of ball, with linseed meal. The dose variea from a scruple to half a drachm. It acts more speedily than the aloes, . 81^- THE HORSE. without the nausea which they produce ; but it causes more watery stools, and consequently more debility. Linseed Oil is an uncertain but safe purgative, in doses from a pound to a pound and a half. Olive Oil is more uncertain, but safe ; and Castob Oil, that mild aperient in the human being, is both uncertain and unsafe. Epsom Salts are inefficacious, except in immense doses of a pound and a half, and then not always safe. The horse, and particularly the perfect horse, is occasionally subject to HERNIA OR RUPTURE A. portion of the intestine protrudes out of the cavity of the belly, either through some natural or artificial opening. In some cases it may be returned, but from the impossibility of applying a truss or bandage, it soon returns again. At other times the opening is so narrow, that the gut, gradually distended by faeces, or thickened by inflammation, cannot be returned, and strangulated hernia is then said to exist. The seat of hernia is either in the scrotum of the perfect horse, or the groin of the gelding. The causes are violent struggling when under operations, over-exertion, kicks, or accidents. The assistance of a veterinary surgeon is here indispensable. THE LIVER. Between the stomach and the diaphragm, its right lobe or division in contact with the diaphragm, the duodenum, and the right kidney, and the middle and left divisions with the stomach, is the liver. It is an irregularly shaped, reddish-brown substance of considerable bulk, and performs a very singular and important office. We have already slated (p. 176) that the blood which has been conveyed to the different parts of the body by the arteries, is carried back to the heart by the veins ; but that which is returned from the stomach and intestines, and spleen, and pancreas, and mesentery, instead of flowing directly to the heart, passes first through the liver. It enters by two large vessels, which spread by means of innumerable minute branches through every part of the liver. As the blood traverses this organ, a fluid is separated from it, called the bile. This is probably a kind of excrement, the continuance of which in the blood would be injurious ; but while this is thrown off, another important purpose is answered ; the process of digestion is promoted, and particulai'ly by the bile changing the nutritive part of the food from chyme into chyle, and separating it from that which, containing little or no nutriment, is voided as excrement. The bile, thus formed, is in most animals received into a reservoir, the gall-bhdder, whence it is conveyed into the duodenum (g, p. 202) at the times, and in the quantities, which the purposes of digestion require; but the horse has no gall-bladder, and, consequently, the bile flows into the intestine as fast as it is separated from the blood. The reason of this is plain ; a small stomach was given to the horse, that the food might quickly pass out of it, and the diaphragm and the lungs might not be injuriously pressed upon, when we require his utmost speed; and that we might use him with little danger compared with that which would attach to other animals, even when his stomach is distended with food. Then the stomach, so small, and so speedily emptied, must be oftener replenished ; the horse must be oftener eating, and food must be oftener passing out oi^ his stomach ; and, consequently, there is no necessity for this JAUNDICE. SfJ3 reservoir. The ox occupies a long time in filling his paunch, and it is oul> during rumination that the food passes into the true stomach to be digested. The meal of the dog is speedily swallowed. They need a gall-bladder xo contain the bile, which continues to be secreted when it cannot be used j but to the horse, so ft-equently eating, it would be useless. INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER Is a disease of rare occurrence in the horse. He is not exposed to the causes which produce that complaint in other animals. Although his food is sometimes highly nutritive, the work which is exacted from him prevents it from unduly stimulating this important organ ; and when inflammation of the liver does occur, it is with so much difiiculty distinguished from that of the bowels, that if yellowness of the eyes and skin are not present, even the professional man is liable to be deceived. Bleeding from, or rupture of the liver, is another disease of old horses, and especially of those that have been highly fed. It is generally fatal, but of unfrequent occurrence ; it is recognised by the frequent and feeble pulse, the pawing and sighing of the animal, the coldness of the extremities, whiteness of the eye and mouth, fullness of the belly, and speedy debility. A veterinary surgeon is alone competent to give assist- ance here. JAUNDICE, Commonly called the yellows, is a more tractable disease, and a little more frequent. It is the introduction of bile into the general circulation, and which is usually caused by some obstruction in the ducts or tubes wliich convey the bile from the liver to the intestines. The horse, however, has but one duct, through which the bile usually flows as quickly as it is formed, and there is no gall-bladder in which it can become thickened, and even hardened into masses so hard as to be very appropriately called gall- stones. Jaundice does, however, occasionally appear either from an increased flow or altered quality of the bile, or obstruction even in this simple tube. The yellowness of the eyes and mouth, and of the skin where it is not covered with hair, mark it suflficiently plainly. The dung is small and hard ; the urine highly coloured ; the horse languid, and the appetite impaired. it is first necessary to inquire whether this affection of the liver be not the consequence of the sympathy of this organ with some other part; for, to a very considerable degree, it frequently accompanies inflammation of the bowels and the lungs. These diseases being subdued, jaundice will disappear.- If there be no other disease to any great extent, we must endeavour to restore the natural passage of the bile by purgatives, not con- sisting of large doses, lest there should be some undetected inflammation of the lungs or bowels, in either of which a strong purgative would be dangerous ; but given in small quantities, repeated at short intervals, and until the bowels are freely opened. Two drachms of aloes, and one of calomel, given twice every day, will be as much as can at all times be administered with safety. Bleeding should always be resorted to, regulated according to the apparent degree of inflammation, and the occasional stupor of the animal. Plenty of water, slightly warmed, or thin gruel, should be given ; the horse should be warmly clothed, and the stable well ventilated, Imt not cold. Carrots or green meat will be very beneficial. Should the purging, when once excited, prove violent, we should be in no haste to stop it, unless inflammation is beginning to be connected with it, or the horse is very weak. The medicine recommended under diarrhoea may then b© 214 THE HORSE exhibited A few slight tonics should be given when the horse is recover, ing from an attack of strangles. Two drachms each of gentian and camomile, with one of ginger, will form a useful ball. THE SPLEEN. This organ, known commonly by the name of the melt, is a long, bluish- brown substance, broad and thick at one end, and tapering at the other, lying along the left side of the stomach, and between it and the short ribs. It is of a spongy nature, divided into numerous little cells, not unlike a honey- comb, and over which thousands of minute vessels thickly spread. The jiarticular use of this body has never been clearly ascertained ; for in some cruel experiments it has been removed without apparent injury to diges- tion or any other function. It is, however, useful, at least occasionally, or it would not have been given. It is perhaps a reservoir or receptacle for any fluid that may be conveyed into the stomach more than is sufficient for the purposes of digestion. The spleen is sometimes very extraordinarily enlarged, and has been ruptured ; but we are not aware of any symptoms by which ^his can be discovered. THE PANCREAS. In the domestic animals which are used for food this organ is called the siceelbread. It lies between the stomach and left kidney. It much resembles in structure the salivary glands in the neighbourhood of the mouth, and the fluid which it secretes is very like the common saliva. The pancreatic fluid is carried into the intestines by a duct, which enters at the same aperture with that from the liver. Its use, whether to dilute the bile, or the chyme, or to assist in the separation of chyme from the feculent matter, has never been ascertained,,but it is clearly employed in aiding the process of digestion. We know not of any disease to which the pancreas of the horse is liable. As soon as the belly of most of our domestic animals is opened, a mem- brane is perceived spreading over all the contents of this cavity j it is denominated THE OMENTUM, Or cawl It is a doubling of the peritoneum, or rather consists of four layers of it. It has been supposed to be placed between the intestines and the walls of the belly to prevent concussion and injury during the rapid movement of the animal. That, however, cannot be its principal use in the horse, from whom the most rapid movements are required ; for in him it is unusually short, extending only to the pancreas, a small portion of the colon. Being, however, thus short, the horse is exempt from a very troublesome and, occasionally, fatal species of rupture, when a portion of the omentum penetrates through some accidental opening in the covering of the belly. The blood contains a great quantity of watery fluid unnecessary for the nutriment or repair of the frame. There likewise mingle with it matters which would become noxious if suffered to accumulate too much. THE KIDNEYS Are actively employed in separating this water, and likewise carrying off a substance which constitutes the peculiar ingredient in the urine, called th«- urea, and consists principally of that which would be poisonous to the DIURETICS. 21 5 animal. The kidneys are two large glandular bodies, placed under the loins, very much the shape of a kidney bean. The right kidney is most forward, lying under the liver; the luit is pushed more backward by the stomach and spleen. A large artery runs to each, carrying not less than a sixth part of the whole of the blood that circulates through the frame. Tlie artery divides into innumerable little branches, most curiously complicated and coiled upon each other; and the blood, traversing these convolutions, has its watery parts and others, the I'etaining of which would be injurious, separated from it. The fluid thus separated varies materially both in quantity and composi- tion, even during health. There is no animal in which it varies so much as in the horse. There is no organ in the animal so much under our com- mand as the kidney ; and no medicines ai*e so useful, or may be so injuri- ous, as diuretics. In speaking of fever and inflammation of the lungs, and, indeed, inflammation generally, we have recommended the use of nitre and digitalis, not only on account of their febrifuge or sedative effects, but because they act as diuretics. They stimulate the kidneys to separate more aqueous fluid than they otherwise would do, and thus lessen the quantity of blood ; the quantity which the heart is labouring to circulate through the frame, and the quantity which is determined or driven to a part already ovei-loaded. The main objects we have to accomplish in these diseases is to reduce the force of the circulation, and to calm the violence of excitement ; and diuretics, by lessening the quantity of blood, are useful assistants in accomplishing these purposes. It is, however, in the varieties of dropsy that their benefit is most evident. The horse is more subject to efl'usions ot fluid in particular parts than any other domestic animal. Swelled legs is a disease peculiar to him. The ox, the sheep, the dog, the ass, and even the mule, have it very seldom; and for the removal of this deposit of fluid in the cellular substance of the legs we have recourse to diuretics. The kidneys are stimulated to separate more than the usual quantity of water from the blood. In order to make up this deficiency in quantity, the absorbents set to work, and they take up and pour into the circulation the fluid which had been effused in the legs. The legs of many horses cannot be rendered fine or kept so, without the use of diuretics ; nor can grease, often con- nected with these swellings, producing them, or caused by them, be other- wise subdued. We therefore rank diuretics among the most useful of the veterinary medicines. In injudicious hands, however, these medicines are sadly abused. Among the absurdities of stable management there is nothing so injurious as the frequent use of diuretics. Not only are the kidneys, so often over- excited, weakened, disposed to disease, but -the whole frame becomes debilhated; for the absorbents have carried away a great part of that which was necessary to the health and condition of the horse, in order to supply the deficiency of blood occasioned by the inordinate discharge of urine. There is likewise one important fact of which the groom or the horseman seldom thinks ; that when he is removing these humours by the imprudent use of diuretics, he is only attacking a symptom or a consequence of dis- ease, and not the disease itself. The legs will fill again, and the grease will return. While the cause remains, the efTect will be produced. We shall say more of this when we treat particularly of the diseases of the extremities. ■ In the administration of diuretics there are two things to be chiefly attended to. The first is that which seems to be contradictory, but the good effect of which the testimony of every intelligent man will confirm ; let the horse have plenty to drink. Not only will inflammation be prevented, but 2](S THE HORSE. tiie operation of the medicine will be much promoted. If more water than usual be drunk, a great deal more will be evacuated. The next caution is, 'hat during the administration of a diuretic, neither the clothing nor the stable should be too warm, otherwise that which is intended to stimulate the kidney will pass off by perspiration ; for it seems to be a law of the frame, that wliat increases the discharge from the skin proportionably lessens the action of the kidneys. The best diuretic, and which given simply to promote an increased secretion from the kidneys, supersedes every other, is turpentine; either the common liquid turpentine in doses of half an ounce, and made into a ball with linseed meal, and half a drachm of ginger ; or, what is better, the same quantity of powdered resin, with two drachms of linseed meal, and half a drachm of ginger, formed into k mass with palm-oil. In cases of inflam- mation or fever, nitre or digitalis should be used. The spirit of nitrous ether, cream of tartar, and balsam of capivi have some diuretic effect. INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEY Is no uncommon disease in the horse, and is more unskilfully and fatally treated than almost any other. The early symptoms are those of fever generally, but the seat of the disease soon becomes evident. The horse looks anxiously round at his flanks ; stands with his hinder legs wide apart ; straddles as he walks ; expresses pain in turning ; shrinks when the loins are pressed, and some degree of heat is felt there. The urine is voided in small quantities, and frequently it is high-coloured, and sometimes bloody. The attempt to urinate becomes more frequent, and the quantity voided smaller; until the animal strains painfully and violently, but the discharge is nearly or quite suppressed. The pulse is quick and hard ; full in the early stage of the disease, but rapidly becoming small, yet not losing its character of hardness. These symptoms clearly indicate an affection of the urinary organs ; but they do not distinguish inflammation of the kidney from that of the bladder. The hand must be introduced into the rectum. If the bladder be felt full and hard under the rectum, there is inflammation of the neck of the bladder: if the bladder be empty, yet on the portion of the intestines immediately over it there is more than natural heat and tenderness, there is inflammation of the body of the bladder ; but if the bladder be empty, and there is no increased heat or tenderness, there is inflammation of the kidney. Among the causes are improper food. There is no more frequent cause than hay that has been mow-burnt, or oats that are musty. The farmer should look well to this. Oats that have been dried on the kiln acquire a diuretic property, and if horses are long fed on them, the continual excite, ment of this organ which they produce will degenerate into inflammation. Too powerful, or too-often-repeated diuretics produce inflammation of the kidney ; or a degree of irritation and weakness of that organ, that disposes to inflammation from causes that would otherwise have no injurious eflect. If a horse is sprained in the loins, by being urged on, far or fast, by a heavy rider, or by being suddenly pulled up on his haunches, the inflam- mation of the muscles of the loins is often speedily transferred to the kidneys, with which they lie in contact. Exposure to cold is another frequent origin of this malady, especially if the horse be drenched with rain, or wet drips upon his loins; and more particularly if he were previously disposed to inflammation, or these organs had been previously weakened. For this reason, hackney-coach horses and others, exposed to the vicissitudes of the weather, and often fed on unwliolesome provender, have, or should have, their loins protected by a leather or a cloth. THE BLADDER. 217 The treatment will only vary from that of inflammation of othei parts, 6y the consideration of the peculiarity of the organ affected. Bleeding must be promptly resorted to, and carried to its full extent. An active purge should next be administered ; and a counter-inflammation excited as near a* possible to the seat of disease. For this purpose, the loins should be fomented with hot water, or covered with a mustard poultice ; but no can- tharides or turpentine must be used, and, most of all, must no diuretic be given internally. When the groom finds this difficulty or suppression of staling, he immediately has recourse to a diuretic ball, to force on the urine ; and by thus farther irritating a part already too much excited, he adds fuel to fire, and frequently destroys the horse. When the action of the purgative begins a little to cease, white hellebore may be administered, in doses of a scruple three times a day, with or without emetic tartar. The horse should be warmly clothed ; his legs well bandaged, and plenty of water oflTered to him. The food should be carefully examined, and any thing that could have excited, or that may prolong the irritation, care- fully removed. DIABETES, OR PROFUSE STALING, Is a comparatively rare disease. It is the consequence, generally, of undue irritation of the kidney, by bad food or strong diuretics ; and some- times follows inflammation of the kidney. It can seldom be traced in the horse to any disease of the digestive organs. The treatment is obscure, and the result often uncertain. It is, evidently, increased action of the kidney, and therefore the most rational plan of treatment is to endeavour to abate that action ; and nearly the same course should be pursued in the early stage of diabetes, as in actual inflammation ; but the lowering system should not be carried to so great an extent. To bleeding, purging, and counter-irritation, medicines of an astringent quality should succeed, as catechu, the powdered leaf of the whortle-berry (uva ursi), and opium, in doses of two drachms each of the two first, and half a drachm of the last. Very careful attention should be paid to the food. The hay and oats should be of the best quality j and green meat, and especially carrots, will be very serviceable. THE BLADDER. The urine separated from the blood is discharged by the minute vessels, of which we have spoken, into some larger canals, which terminate in a cavity or reservoir in the body of the kidney, called its pelvis ; and thence is conveyed by a duct, called the ureter, to a larger reservoir, the Madder. It is constantly flowing from the kidney through the ureter ; and were there not this provision for its detention, it would be incessantly and annoyingly dribbling from the animal. The bladder lies in, and, when distended by- urine, nearly fills the cavity of the great bones of the haunch, termed the pelvis. It has three coats ; the outer one covering the greater part of it, and being a portion of the peritoneum ; the muscular, consisting of two layers of fibres, as in the stomach ; the external, running longitudinally and the inner circularly, so that it may yield to- the pressure of the urine- as it enters, and contract again to an exceedingly small space as it runs out, and by that contraction assist in the expulsion of the urine. The inner or mucous coat contains numerous little glands, which pour out a mucous fluid to defend the bladder from the acrimony of the urine. The bladder terminates in a small neck, round which there is a strong muscle, keeping 2 It) THE HORSE. the passage closed, and retaining the urine, until, at the will of the animal, or when the bladder contains a certain quantity of fluid, the muscular coat begins to contract, and, the lungs being filled with air, the diaphragm is rendered convex towards the intestines, and presses then on the bladder, and by these united powers, the fluid is forced through the sphincter muscle at the neck of the bladder, and escapes. INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER. There are two varieties of this disease, the inflammation of the body of the bladder and of its neck. The symptoms are nearly the same with those of inflammation of the kidney, except that there is rarely a total sup- pression of urine, and there is heat felt in the rectum over the situation of the bladder. The causes are the presence of some acrid or irritant matter in the urine, or of calculus or stone in the bladder. With reference to inflammation of the body of the bladder, mischief has occasionally been done by the introduction of cantharides or some other irritating matter to hasten the period of horsing in the mare. The treatment will be the same as in inflammation of the kidney, except that it is of more consequence that the horse should drink freely of water or thin gruel, and that gruel or mucilage of any kind may, by one who understands the anatomy of the animal, be easily introduced into the bladder of the mare. In inflammation of the neck of the bladder there is the same frequent voiding of urine in small quantities, generally appearing in an advanced stage of the disease, and often ending in almost total suppression. There is also this circumstance which can never be mistaken by him who will pay diligent attention to the case, that the bladder is distended with urine, and may be distinctly felt under the rectum. It is spasm of the part, closing the neck of the bladder so powerfully, that the contraction of the bladder, and the pressure of the muscles, are unable to force out the urine. Here the object to be attempted is sufficiently plain. This spasm must be relaxed. The most likely means to effect this is to bleed largely, and even to fainting. This will sometimes succeed, and there will be at once an end to the disease. To the exhaustion and loss of muscular power occasioned by copious bleeding, should be added the nausea consequent on physic. Should not this speedily have effect, another mode of abating spasm must be tried. A drachm of the powdered opium, made into a ball or drink, may be given every two or three hours ; while an active blister is applied externally. In the mare the bladder may be easily evacuated by means of a catheter in skilful hands ; but owing to the curved direction of the penis, a catheter cannot be introduced into the bladder of a horse, without an operation to which a veterinary surgeon alone is competent. STONE IN THE BLADDER. The urine is a very compound fluid ; in a state of health it contains a great many acids and akalies variously combined, which under disease are increased both in number and quantity. It is very easy to conceive that some of these shall be occasionally separated from the rest, and assume a solid form both in the pelvis of the kidney and in the bladder. This is known to be the case both in the human being and the brut«. These calculi or stones are in the horse found oftener in the kidney than in the bladder, contrary to the experience of the human surgeon. The explana- tion of this, however, is not difficult. In the human being the kidney is ■ituated above the bladder, and these concretions descend from the kidney BREEDING. 21& to the bladder by their weight. The belly of the horse is horizontal, and the force of gravity can in no way aflect the passage of the calculus ; therefore it remains in the pelvis of the kidney, until it increases so much in size as often to fill it. We know not of any symptoms which would sat- isfactorily indicate the presence of a stone in the kidney ; and if the disease could be ascertained, we are unable to say what remedial measures could be adopted. The symptoms of stone in the bladder much resemble those of spasmodic colic, except that on careful inquiry it will be found that there has been much irregularity in the discharge of urine, and occasional suppression of it. When fits of apparent colic frequently return, and are accompanied by any peculiarity in the discharge of urine, the horse should be carefully examined. He should be thrown. If there be stone in the bladder, it will, while the horse lies on its back, press on the rectum, and may be distinctly felt if the hand be introduced into the rectum. Several cases have lately occurred of successful extraction of the calculus ; but here it will be necessary to have recourse to the aid of a veterinary practitioner. Many horses occasionally void a considerable quantity of gravel, some- times without inconvenience, at others with evident spasm or pain. A diuretic might here be useful, as increasing the flow of urine, and possibly washing out the concretions before they become too numerous or bulky. The urine having passed the neck of the bladder, flows along ihe urethra, and is discharged. The sheath of the penis is sometimes considerably enlarged. When at the close of acute diseases, there are swellings and effusions of fluid, under the chest and belly, this part seldom escapes. Diuretics, mixed with a small portion of cordial medicine, will be benefi- cial, although in some extreme cases slight scarifications may be necessary. The inside of the sheath is often the seat of disease ; the mucous matter naturally secreted there to defend the part from the acrimony of the urine, accumulates and becomes exceedingly offensive, and produces swelling, tenderness, and even excoriation, and sometimes considerable discharge. A little fomentation with warm water, and the cleansing of the part with soap and water, aided perhaps by a diuretic ball, will speedily remove every inconvenience. Carters are too apt to neglect cleanliness in this respect. CHAPTER XII. BREEDING, CASTRATION, &c. This may be a proper period to recur to the important subject of breeding, particularly important when there cannot be a doubt that our breed of useful horses has, within the last twenty years, most materially degenerated. Our running-horses still maintain their supremacy; our carriage-horses are not much lessened in excellence and value j but our hunters and hackneys are not what they used to be. We shall endeavour to point out the cause of this. Our observations must be of a general nature, and will be very simple ; and the first axiom we would lay down is, that "like will produce like," that the progeny will inherit the qualities, or the mingled qualities, of the parents. We would refer to the subject of diseases, and again state our peifoct convictior: that there is scarcely one by which either of the parents 220 THE HORSE. is aficb'.ed, that the foal will not inherit, or, at least, the predisposition to It : even the consequences of ill usage or hard work will descend to the progeny. We have already enlarged on this, but its importance will be a sufficient apology for tlie repetition. We have had proof upon proof, that blindness, roaring, thick-wind, broken-wind, spavin, curbs, ringbones, and founder, have been bequeathed, both by the sire and the dam, to the offspring. It should likewise be recollected, that although these blemishes may not appear in the immediate progeny, they frequently will in the next generation. Hence the necessity of some knowledge of the parentage both of the sire and dam. Peculiarity of form and constitution will also be inherited. This is a most important, but neglected consideration ; for however desirable, or even perfect, may have been the conformation of the sire, every good point may be neutralized or lost by the defective form, or want of blood, of the mare. There are niceties in this, of which some breeders used to be aware, and they employed their knowledge to great advantage. When tliey were careful that the essential points should be good in both parents, and that some minor defects in either should be met and got rid of, by excellence in that particular point in the other, the result was creditable to their judgment, and highly profitable. The unskilful or careless breeder will often so badly pair the animals, that the good points of each will be, in a manner, lost : the defects of both will be increased, and the produce will be far infei'ior to both sire and dam. Of late years, these principles have been much lost sight of in the breed- ing of horses for general use ; and the following is the explanation of it. There are nearly as good stallions as there used to be. Few but well- formed and valuable horses will be selected and retained as stallions. They are always the very prime of the breed ; but the mares are not what they used to be. Poverty has induced many of the breeders to part with the mares from which they used to raise their stock, and which were worth their weight in gold ; and the jade on whicii the farmer now rides to mar- ket, or which he uses on his farm, costs him but little money, and is only retained because he could not get much money for her. It has likewise become the fashion for gentlemen to ride mares, almost as frequently as geldings ; and thus the better kind are taken from the breeding service, until old age or injury renders them worth little for it. An intelligent veterinary surgeon, Mr. Castley, has placed this in a very strong light in the third volume of the "Veterinarian," p. 371. We vvould wish then to impress on the minds of breeders, that peculiarity of form and constitution are inherited from both parents ; that the excel- lence of the mare is a point of quite as much importance as tliat of the horse ; and that out of a sorry mare, let the horse be as perfect aa he may, a good foal will rarely be produced. All this is recognised upon the turf, ahhough poverty or carelessness have made the general breeder neglect or forget it. It is recognised in the midland counties in the breed of cart-horses ; and tlie strict attention which has been paid to it, has brought our heavy horses to almost the same perfection in their way as the blood-horse. It is strange thai in our saddle-horses, our hunters, and, to a great degree, our carriage- horses, this should be left to chance. Tlie breeder begins to care little about the quality of the mare, and the progeny is becoming comparatively of little worth. Experience, it is said, will make fools wise, but experi- ence will here be bought at a very dear rate, both as it regards the breedei and the community. That the constitution and endurance of the horse are inherited, no BREEDING. 221 sporting nan ever doubted. The qualities of the sire or the dam descend from generation to generation, and the excellences or defects of certain horses are traced, and justly so, to some peculiarity in a far distant ancestor. It may, perhaps, be justly affirmed, that there is more difficulty in selecting a good mare to breed from, than a good horse, because she should possess somewhat opposite qualities. Her carcase should be long, to give room for the growth of the foetus, and yet with this there should be com- pactness of form and shortness of leg. What can they expect who go to Smithfield Market to purchase a number of worn-out, spavined, foundered mares, about whom they fancy there have been some good-points, and send them far into the country to breed from, and, with all their variety of shape, to be covered by the same horse ? In a lottery like this, there may be now and then a prize, but there must be many blanks. " If horse- breeders, possessed of good judgment, would pay the same attention to breed and shape as Mr. Bakewell did with sheep, they would probably attain their wishes in an equal degree, and greatly to their advantage, whether for the collar or the road, for racing or for hunting."* As to the shape of the stallion, little satisfactory can be said. It must depend on that of the mare, and the kind of horse wished to be bred ; but if there be one point which we should say is absolutely essential, it is this, *' compactness" — as much goodness and strength as possible condensed in a little space. If we are describing the reverse of tlie common race of stallions for hunters and coach-horsed, the fault lies with the bad taste and judgment of the majority of breeders. Next to compactness, the inclination of the shoulders will be regarded. A huge stallion, with upright shoulders, never got a capital hunter or hackney. From him the breeder can obtain nothing but a cart or dray, horse, and that, perhaps, spoiled by the opposite form of the mare. On the other hand, an upright shoulder is desirable, if not absolutely necessary, when a mere draught horse is required. It is of no little importance, that the parents should be in full possessiMl of their natural strength and powers. It is a common error, that because a mare has once been good, she is fit for breeding when she is no longer capable of ordinary work. Her blood and perfect frame may insure a foal of some value, but he will inherit a portion of the worn-out constitution of her from whom he sprung. On the subject of breeding in and in, that is, persevering in the same breed, and selecting the best on either side, much has been said. The system of crossing requires much judgment and experience ; a great deal more indeed than breeders usually possess. The bad qualities of the cross are too soon engrafted on the original stock, and once engrafted there, are not, for many generations, eradicated. The good ones of both are occa- sionally neutralized to a most mortifying degree. On the other hand, it is the fact, however some may deny it, that strict confinement to one breed, liowever valuable or perfect, produces gradual deterioration. The truth here, as in many other cases, lies in the middle ; crossing should be attempted with great caution, and the most perfect of the same breed should be selected, but varied, by being frequently taken from different stocks. This is the secret of the course. The pure south-eastern blood is never 'tift, but the stock is often changed with manifest advantage. A mare is capable of breeding at three or four years old ; some have Uijudiciously commenced at two years, before her form or her strength i« • Parkinson on the Breeding- and Management of Live Stock, vol. ii., p. 59. 822 THE HORSE. sufficiently developed, and with the development of which this early breeding will mateiiaily interfere. If she does little more than farm-work, she may continue to be bred from until she is nearly twenty : but if she has been hardly worked, and bears the marks of it, let her have been what she will in her youth, she will deceive the expectations of the breeder in her old age. The mare comes into heat in the early part of the spring. She is said to go with foal eleven months, but there is sometimes a strange irregu- larity about this. Some have been known to foal five weeks earlier, while the time of others has been extended six weeks beyond the eleven months. We may, however, take eleven months as the average time. In running- horses, that are brought so early to the starting-post, and whether they are foaled early in January or late in April, rank as of the same age, it is of importance that the mare should go to cover as early as possible : in a two or three-year old, four months would make considerable difference in the growth and strength ; yet many of these early foals are almost worth- less, because they have been deprived of that additional nutriment which nature designed for them. For other breeds, the beginning of May is the most convenient period. The mare would then foal in the early part of April, when there would begin to be sufficient food for her and her colt, iviihout confining them to the stable. From the time of covering to that of foaling, the mare may be kept at moderate work, and that not only without injury, but with decided advan- tage. The work may be continued up to the very time when she is expected to foal ; and of which she will give at least a day's notice, by the adhesive matter that will appear about the teats. When this is seen, it will be prudent to release her from work, and keep her near home, and under ihe frequent inspection of some careful person. AVhen nearly half the time of pregnancy has elapsed, the mare should have a little better food. She should be allowed two or three feeds of corn in the day. This is about the period when they are accustomed to slink their foals, or when abortion occurs : at this time, therefore, the eye of the i,owner should be frequently upon them. Good feeding and moderate exercise will be the best preventives against this. The mare that has once slinked her foal is ever liable to the same accident, and therefore should never be suffered to be with other mares about the time that this usually occurs, which is about the fourth and fifth months ; for such is the power of imagination or of sympathy in the mare, that if one of them suffers abortion, the greater number of those in the same pasture will share the same fate. Farmers wash, and paint, and tar their stables to prevent some supposed infection : the infection lies in the imagination. If a mare has been regularly exercised, and apparently in health while she was in foal, little danger will attend the act of parturition. If there be false presentation of the foetus, or difficulty in producing it, it will be better to have recourse to a well-informed practitioner, rather than injure the mother, by the violent and injurious attempts which are often made to relieve the animal. As soon as the mare has foaled, she should be turned into some well- sheltered pasture, with a hovel or shed to run into when she pleases : and as, supposing she has foaled in April, the grass is scanty, she should have a couple of feeds of corn daily. The breeder may depend upon it, that nothing is gained by starving the mother and stinting the foal at this time. It is the most important time in the life of the horse; and if, from false economy, his growth bo arrested now, his puny form and want of endu- rance will ever afterwards testify the error that has been committed. The BREAKINQ-IN. 223 corn should be given in a trough on the ground, that the foal may partake of it with the mother. When the new grass is flush and plenty, the corn may be gradually discontinued. Our work is intended, principally, for farmers : they well Know that the mare may be put to moderate work again a month after the foaling. The foal is at first shut in the stable during the hours of work ; but as soon as it acquires sufficient strength to toddle after the mare, and especially when she is at slow work, it will be better for the foal and the dam that they should be together. The work will contribute to the health of the mother ; the foal will more frequently draw the milk, and thrive better ; and will be hardy and tractable, and gradually familiarized with the objects among which it is afterwards to live. While the mother, however, is thus worked, she and the foal should be well fed ; and two feeds of corn, at least, should be added to the green food which they get when turned out after their work, and at night. The mare will usually be found at heat at or before the expiration of a month from the time of foaling, when, if she be kept principally for breeding purposes, she may be put again to the horse. In five or six months, according to the growth of the foal, it may be weaned. It should then be housed for three wpeks or a month, or turned into some distant rick-yard. There can be no better place for the foal than the latter, as affording, and that without trouble, both food and shelter. The mother should be put to harder work, and have drier meat. One or two urine balls, or a physic ball, will be useful, if the milk should be troublesome, or she should pine after her foal. There is no principle of greater importance than the liberal feeding of the foal during the whole of his growth, and at this time in particular. Bruised oats and bran should form a considerable part of his daily pro^ vender. The farmer may be assured that money is well laid out which is expended on the liberal nourishment of the growing colt : while, however, he is well fed, he should not be rendered delicate by excess of care. A racing colt is sometimes stabled ; but one that is destined to be a hunter, a hackney, or an agricultural horse, should merely have a square rick, under the leeward side of which he may shelter himself, or a hovel, into which he may run at night, or out of the rain. The process of breaking-in should commence from the very period of weaning. The foal should be daily handled, partially dressed, accustomed to the halter, led about, and even tied up. The tractability, and good temper, and value of the horse, depend a great deal more upon this than the breeders are aware : this should be done as much as possible by the man by whom they are fed, and whose management of them should be always' kind and gentle. There is no fault for which a breeder should so invariably discharge his servant as cruelty, or even harshness, towards the rising stock ; for the principle on which their after usefulness is founded, is early attachment to, and confidence in man, and obedience, implicit obedience, resulting principally from these. After the second winter, the work of breaking-in may commence in good earnest. He may first be bitted, and a bit carefully selected that will not hurt his mouth, and much smaller than those in common use ; with this he may be suffered to amuse himself, and to play, and to champ for an hour, on a few successive days. Having become a little tractable, portions of the harness may be put upon him, and, last of all, the blind winkers ; and a few days afterwards he may go in+o the team. It would be better, if there could be one before, and one behind him, beside the shaft horse. Let there be first the mere empty waggon. Let nothing be done to him, except that he nay have an occa- 224 THE HORSE. sional pat or kind word. The other horses will keep him moving, and m his place ; and no great time will pass, sometimes not even the first day, before he will begin to pull with the rest : then the load may be gradually increased. The agricultural horse is wanted to ride as well as to draw. Let his first lesson be given when he is in the team. Let his feeder, if possible, be first put upon him : he will be too much hampered by his harness and by the other horses to make much resistance ; and, in the majority of cases, will quietly and at once submit. We need not repeat, that no whip or spur should be used in giving the first lessons in riding. When he begins a little to understand his business, backing, the most difficult part of his work, may be taught him ; first to back well without any thing behind him, then with a light cart, and afterwards with some serious load ; and taking the greatest care not seriously to hurt the mouth. If the first lesson causes much soreness of the gums, the colt will not readily submit to a second. If he has been rendered tractable before by kind usage, time and patience will do all that can be wished here. Some carters are in the habit of blinding the colt when teaching him to back : it may be necessary with the restive and obstinate one, and should be used only as a last resort. The colt having been thus partially broken-in, the necessity of implicit obedience may be taught him, and that not by severity, but by firmness and steadiness ;. the voice will go a great way, but the whip or the spur is sometimes indispensable — not so cruelly applied as to excite the animal to resistance, but to convince him that we have the power to enforce submission. Few, we would almost say, no horses, are naturally vicious. It is cruel usage which has first provoked resistance ; that resistance has been followed by greater severity, and the stubbornness of the animal has increased ; open warfare has ensued, in which the man seldom gained an advantage, and the horse was frequently rendered unserviceable. Correc- tion may, or must be used, to enforce implicit obedience, after the education has proceeded to a certain extent, but the early lessons should be inculcated with kindness alone. Young colts are sometimes very perverse ; many days will occasionally pass before they will permit the bridle to be put on, or the saddle to be worn ; one act of harshness will double or treble this time. Patience and kindness will, after a while, prevail. On some morning, of better humour than usual, the bridle will be put on, and the saddle will be worn ; and this compliance being followed by kindness and soothing on the part of the breaker, and no inconvenience or pain being suffered by the animal, all resistance will be at an end. The same principles will apply to the breaking-in of the horse for the road or the chase. The handling, and some portion of instruction, should commence from the time of weaning. The future tractability of the horse will much depend on this. At two years and a half, or three years, the regular process of breaking-in should come on. If it be delayed until the animal is four years old, his strength and obstinacy will be more difficult to overcome. We cannot much improve on the plan usually pursued by the breaker, except that there should be much more kindness and patience, and far less harshness and cruelty, than these persons are accustomed to exhibit, and a great deal more attention to the form and natural action of the horse. A headstall is put on the colt, and a cavesson (oi apparatus to confine and pinch the nose) affixed to it, with long reins, lie is first accustomed to the rein, then led round a ring on soft ground, and at length mounted and taught his paces. Next to preserving the temper and docility of the horse, there is nothing of so much importance BREAKING-IN. 225 as to teach him every pace, and every part of his duty, distinctly an-l thoroughly. Each must constitute a separate and sometimes long-continued lesson, and that taught by a man who will never suffer his passion to ge. the better of his discretion. After the cavesson has been attached to the headstall, and the long rein put on, the first lesson is, to be quietly led about by the breaker, a steady boy following behind, by occasional threatening with the whip, but never by an actual blow, to keep the colt up. When the animal follows readily and quietly, he may be taken to the ring, and walked round, right and left, in a very small circle. Care should be taken to teach him this pace thoroughly, never suffering him to break into a trot. The boy with his whip may here again be necessary, but not a single blow should actually fall. Becoming tolerably perfect in the walk, he should be quickened to a trot, and kept steadily at it; the whip of the boy, if needful, urging him on, and the cavesson restraining him. These lessons should be short. The pace should be kept perfect and distinct in each ; and docility and improve- ment rewarded with frequent caresses, and handfuls of corn. The length of the rein may now be gradually increased, and the pace quickened, and the time extended, until the animal becomes tractable in this his first lessons, towards the conclusions of which, crupper-straps, or something similar, may be attached to the clothing. These, playing about the sides and flanks, accustom him to the flapping of the coat of the rider. The annoyance which they occasion will pass over in a day or two; for when the animal finds that no harm comes to him on account of these straps, he will cease to regard them. Next comes the bitting. The bit shoaid be large and smooth, and the reins should be buckled to a ring on either side of the pad. There are many curious and expensive machines for this purpose, but the simple rein will be quite sufficient. The reins should at first be slack, and very gradually tightened. This will prepare for the more perfect manner in which the head will be afterwards got into a proper position, when the colt is accustomed to the saddle. Occasionally the breaker should stand in front of the colt, and take hold of each side-rein near the mouth, and press upon it, and thus begin to teach him to stop and to back at the pressure of the rein, rewarding every act of docility, and not being too eager to punish occasional carelessness or waywardness. The colt may now be taken into the road or street to be gradually accus- tomed to objects among which his services will be required. Here, from fear or playfulness, a considerable degree of starting and shying may be exhibited. As little notice as possible should be taken of it. The same or similar objects should be soon passed again, but at a greater distance. If the colt still shies, let the distance be farther increased, until he takes no notice of the object ; then he may gradually be brought nearer to it, and 'ihis will be usually effected without the slightest difficulty ; whereas, had there been an attempt to force the animal close to it in the first instance, the remembrance of the contest would have been associated with the object, and *he habit of shying would have been established. Hitherto, with a cool and patient breaker, the whip may have been shown, but will scarcely have been used; the colt must now, however, be accustomed to this necessary instrument of authority. Let the breaker •walk by the side of the animal, and throw his right arm over his back, holding the reins in his left; and occasionally quicken his pace, and, at the jpoment of doing this, tap the horse with the whip in his right hand, and at fiist very gently. The tap of the whip and the quickening of the pace will Eoon become associated together in the mind of the animal. If necessary. 22« THE HORSE. the taps miy {gradually fall a little heavier, and the feeling of pain be the monitor of the necessity of increased exertion. The lessons of reining-in and stopping, and backing on the pressure of the bit, may continue to be practised at the same time. He may now be taught to bear the saddle. Some little caution will be necessary at the first putting of it on. The breaker should stand at the head of the colt, patting him and engaging his attention, while one assistant, on the off-side, gently places the saddle on the back of the animal, and another, on the near-side, slowly lightens the girths. If he submits quietly to this, as he generally will, when the previous process of breaking in has been properly conducted, the ceremony of mounting may be attempted on the following or on the third day. The breaker will need two assistants to accom- plish this operation. He will remain at the head of the colt, patting and making much of him. The rider will put his foot into the stirrup, and bear a little weight upon it, while the man on the off-side presses equally on the other stirrup-leather ; and according to the docility of the animal, he will gradually increase the weight, until he balances himself on the stirrup. If the colt be uneasy or fearful, he should be spoken kindly to and patted, or a mouthful of corn be given to him : but if he offers serious resistance, the lessons must terminate for that day ; he may probably be in better humour on the morrow. When the rider has balanced himself for a minute or two, he may gently throw his leg over and quietly seat himself in the saddle. The breaker will then lead the animal round the ring, the rider sitting perfectly still. After a few minutes he will take the reins and handle them as gently as possible, and guide the horse by the pressure of them ; patting him fre- quently, and especially when he thinks of dismounting, and after having dismounted offering him a little corn or green meat. The use of the rein in checking him, and of the pressure of the leg and the touch of the heel in quickening his pace, will soon be taught, and the education will he nearly completed. The horse having thus far submitted himself to the breaker, these pattings and rewards must be gradually diminished, and implicit obedience mildly but firmly enforced. Severity will not be often necessary ; in the great majority of cases it will be altogether uncalled for ; but should the animal, in a moment of waywardness, dispute the command of the breaker, he must at once be taught that he is the slave of man, and that we have the power, by other means than those of kindness, to bend him to our will. The educa- tion of the horse is that of the child. Pleasure is, as much as possible, associated with the early lessons ; but firmness, or if it need be, coercion, must confirm the habit of obedience. Tyranny and cruelty will, more speedily in the horse than in the child, provoke the wish to disobey ; and, on every practicable occasion, the resistance to command. The restive and vicious horse is, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, made so by ill- usage and not by nature. None but those who will take the trouble to try the experiment are aware how absolute a command the due admixture of firmness and kindness will soon give us over any horse. CASTRATION. The period at which this important operation will be best performed depends much on the breed and form of the colt, and the purpose for which he is destined. For the common agricultural horse, the age of four or five months will be the most advisable, or at least before he is weaned. Very few horses are lost when cut at that age. The weather, however, should CASTRATION. 227 not be too hot, nor the flies too numerous. We enter our decided protest against the recommendation of some valuable but incautious agricultural writers, that "colts should be cut in the months of June or July, when flies pester the horses, and cause them to be continually moving about, and thereby prevent swelling." One moment's reflection will convince the reader that nothing can be more likely to produce inflammation, and conse- quent swelling and danger, than the torture of the flies hovering round and stinging the sore part. If the horse is designed either for the carriage or for heavy draught, the farmer should not think of castrating him until he be at least a twelve- month old ; and even then, the colt should be carefully examined. If he is thin and spare about the neck and shoulders, and low in the withers, he will materially improve by remaining uncut another six months ; but if his fore-quarters are fairly developed at the age of a twelvemonth, the operation should not be delayed, lest he become heavy and gross before, and perhaps have begun too decidedly to have a will of his own. No specific age, then, can be fixed ; but the castration should be performed rather late in the spring or early in the autumn, when the air is temperate, and partic- ularly when the weather is dry. No preparation is necessary for the suck- ing colt, but it may be prudent to bleed and to physic one of more advanced age. In the majority of cases, no after-treatment will be necessary, except that the animal should be sheltered from intense heat, and more particularly from wet. In temperate weather he will do much better running in the field than nursed in a close and hot stable. The moderate exercise which he will take in grazing will be preferable to perfect inaction. A large and well-ventilated box, however, may be permitted. The manner in which the operation is performed will be properly left to the veterinary surgeon ; although we must confess that we are disposed to adhere to the old way of opening the bag on either side, cutting ofl'the tes. tide, and preventing bleeding by searing the vessels with a hot iron. There is at least an appearance of brutality, and we believe much unnecessary pain inflicted, when the spermatic cord (the vessel and the nerve) is tightly compressed between two pieces of wood, as in a powerful vice, and left there either until the testicle drops off, or is removed on the following day by the operator. To the practice of some farmers, of twitching their colts at an early period, sometimes even so early as a month, we have stronger objection. When the operation of twitching is performed, a small cord is drawn as tightly as possible round the bag, between the testicle and the belly ; the circulation is thus stopped, and in a few days, the testicles and the bag drop off: but the animal suffers sadly ; it is occasionally necessary ta tighten the cord on the second or third day, and inflammation and death have frequently ensued. CHAPTER XII THE FORE LEGS. We arrive now at those parts of the frame most essentially connected with the action and value of the horse, and oftenest and most annoyingly, the subject of disease. The extremities contain the whole apparatus of motion, and it is with the action, and speed, and strength of the horse that we are most concerned. 228 THE HORSE, We begin with the fore extremity, and with its upper part the shoulder. It is seen at G, page 63. THE SHOULDER. The scapula, or shoulder-blade, situated forward on the side of the chest, is a bone of a somewhat triangular shape, with its apex or point downward, and its base or broad part upward. The point lies between the first and second ribs ; the hinder part of the base reaches as far back as the seventh rib ; it therefore extends obliquely along the chest. It is divided externally, into two unequal portions by a ridge or spine running through almost the whole of its extent, and designed, as we shall pre- sently show, for the attachment of important muscles. The broad or upper part, having no muscles of any consequence attached to it, is termi- nated by cartilage. We have stated that the muscles of the hinder legs are principally con- cerned in the motion of the horse. They impel the machine forward, and the main uses of the fore extremities are to lift the fore part of the horse from the ground, that it may be thus impelled to throw forward the legs as far as possible, that they receive this weight at a due distance, and to sup- port the force and shock of that weight when it reaches the ground. We will inquire as we proceed how far one or all of these objects are accom- plished. The shoulder-blade is united to the chest by muscle alone. There is a large muscle, with very remarkable tendinous fibres, and of immense strength (the serratus major, greater saw-shaped muscle), attached to the chest, and to the extensive smooth internal surface of the shoulder-blade, and by which, assisted, or rather strengthened, by the muscles of the breast, the weight of the body is supported, and the shock of the widest leap, or the most rapid motion, sustained. Had there been a bony union between the shoulder and the body, the vital parts contained in the chest could not have endured the dreadful shock which they would occasionally have experienced; nor could any bone have long remained whole, if exposed to such violence. The muscles within the shoulder-blade act as powerful and safe springs. They yield, as far as necessary, to the force impressed upon them ; by their gradual yielding they destroy the violence of the shock, and then, by their elastic power, immediately regain their former situation. SPRAIN OF THE SHOULDER. In some violent and unexpected shock, these muscles are occasionally injured. Although we do not believe that, in one case in twenty, the farrier is right when he talks of his shoulder-lameness, yet it cannot be denied, that the muscles of the shoulder are occasionally sprained. This is effected oftener by a slip or a side fall, than by fair, although violent exertion. It is of considerable importance to be able to distinguish this shoulder-lame- ness from injuries of other parts of the fore extremity. We shall look in vain for much tenderness, or heat, or swelling: it is a sprain of muscles deeply seated, and where these symptoms of injury cannot possibly exist If, on standing before the horse, and looking at the size of the two shoulders, or rather their points, one should appear evidently larger than the other, we must not consider this as indicative of sprain of the muscles of ine shoulder. It probably arises from bruise of the point of the shoulder which a slight examination will determine ; or the whole of the limb, thii SLANTING DIRECTION OF THE SHOULDER. 220 portion of which is enlarged, may be sound, while the other may be shrunk from want of equal exertion, arising from injury of long standing. Tiio heat and tenderness, if there be any, will be found within the arm, clost* to the chest ; and will belong more to the muscles of the breast than to thoso under the shoulder. The symptoms, however, of shoulder-lameness can scarcely be mistaken ; and, when we relate them, the farmer will recollect that they very seldom occurred when the village-smith pointed to the shoulder as the seat of dis- ease, and punished the animal for no purpose. In sprain of the shoulder the horse will evidently suffer extreme pain while moving, and the muscle underneath being inflamed and tender, he will extend it as little as possible. He will drag his toe along the ground. It is in the lifting of the foot that the shoulder is principally moved : if the foot be lifted high, let the horse be ever so lame, the shoulder is little, if at all affected. The lame limb is suffered to bear the weight a much shorter time in this than in any other kind of lameness. In sprain of the back sinews, it is only when the horse is in motion that the injured parts are put to most pain; the pain is greatest here when the weight rests on the limb, and, therefore, there is a peculiar quickness in catching up the limb, in shoulder lameness, the moment the weight is thrown on it. This is particularly evident when the horse is going down hill, and the injured limb bears an additional portion of the weight. In the stable, too, when the horse points or projects one foot before the other, that foot is usually flat on the ground. In shoulder-lameness the toe alone rests on the ground. The circumstance which most of all characterizes this affection, is, that when the foot is lifted, and then brought considerably forward, the horse will express great pain, which he will not do if the the lameness be in the foot or the leg. We have dwelt longer on this point, that our readers may be enabled to put to the test the many cases of shoulder-lameness which exist only in the imagination of the groom or the farrier. In sprain of the internal muscles of the shoulder, few local measures can be adopted. The horse should be bled from the vein on the inside of the arm (the plate vein), because the blood is then abstracted more immediately from the inflamed part. A dose of physic should be given, and fomenta- tions applied, and principally on the inside of the arm, close to the chest; while the horse is kept as quiet as possible. The injury is too deeply seated for external stimulants to have a very great effect, yet a blister will very properly be resorted to, if the lameness is not speedily removed. The swimming of the horse is an inhuman practice ; it tortures the animal, and increases the inflammation. The pegging of the shoulder (puncturing the skin, and blowing into the cellular structure beneath, until it is considerablv puffed up) is another relic of ignorance and barbarity. SLANTING DIRECTION OF THE SHOULDER. The lessening or breaking of the shock, from the weight being thrown violently on the fore legs, is effected in another way. It will be observed, that (see G and J, p. 63) the shoulder-blade and the lower bone of the shoulder are not connected together in a straight line, but form a very con- siderable angle with each other. This will be more evident from the fol- lowing cut, which represents the fore and hind extremities in the situations which they occupy in the horse. This angular construction of the limbs reminds us of the similar arrange- ment of the springs of a carriage, and the ease of motion, and almost per feet freedom from jolting, which are thereby obtained. 230 THE HORSE. We \nll not say that the form of a spring was borrowed from this con- struction of the limbs of the horse, but the effect of the carriage-spring beautifully illustrates the connection of the different bones in the extremi- ties of this quadruped. The obliquity or slanting direction of the shoulder effects another very useful purpose. That the stride in the gallop, or the space passed over in the trot, may be extensive, it is necessary that the fore part of the animal should be considerably elevated. The shoulder, by means of the muscles which extend from it to the inferior part of the limb, is the grand agent in effecting this. The slightest inspection of the last cut, or that at p. 63, will show that, just in proportion as the point of the shoulder is brought forward and elevated, will be the forward action and elevation of the limb or the space passed over at every effort. At each contraction of the mus- cles which extend from G to J, or from the shoulder-blade to the bone of the arm, will the point of the shoulder be projected and elevated. In the upright shoulder it can scarcely be carried beyond the point at which it is placed in these cuts. In the oblique or slanting shoulder it commences its action from that point ; therefore it is that a slanting shoulder is indis- pensable in a horse from which good action and considerable speed are required. The slanting shoulder accomplishes another very useful object. The muscles extending from the shoulder-blade to the lower bone of the shoulder are the powers by which motion is given to the whole of the limb. The extent and energy of that motion depend much on the force exerted or the strength of the muscle ; but there are circumstances in the relative situa- tions of the different bones which have far greater influence. Let us suppose that by means of a lever we are endeavouring to raise a certain weiffht. SLANTING DIRECTION OF THE SHOULDER. ogi A is a lever resting or turning on a pivot, B ; C is the weight to be raised, and D is the power and situatioa at which the power is applied. If we apply our strength in a direction perpendicular to the lever, as represented by the line E, we can easily calculate the strength which we must e.xeri. In proportion as the distance of the power from the pivot or centre of motion exceeds that of the weight from the same place, so will be the advantage gained. The power here is twice as far from the centre as the weight is, and therefore we gain advantage in the proportion of two to one ; or if the weight be equal to 200 lbs., a force of 100 lbs. will balance it. If we alter the direction in which the power is applied, and suppose it to be in that of the line F, will 100 lbs. now do ? No; nothing like it. How shall we calculate, then, the power that is necessary ? We must prolong the line of direction until another line, falling perpendicularly from the lever, and commencing at the centre of motion, will cut it; and the length of that line will give us the actual effect of the strength we employ. Now, this new line is but half as long as the distance of the weight from the centre of motion, and therefore we lose advantage in the proportion of two to one ; or a strength equal to 400 lbs. must be exerted to raise the 200 lbs., and so on in proportion to the deviation from the right or perpendicular line. Let us next take the shoulder of the horse. The point of the shoulder, the shoulder-joint, is the pivot or centre of motion ; the leg attached to the bone of the arm is the weight ; the shoulder-blade being more fixed is the part whence the power is exerted ; and the muscles extending from the one to the other are the lines in which that power is exerted. These lines approach much more nearly to a perpendicular in the oblique than in the upright shoulder (see cut). In the upright shoulder, the shoulder-blade and the bone of the arm are almost in a straight line, and the real action and power of the muscle are most strangely diminished. In this point of view the oblique shoulder is most important. It not only gives extensive action, but facility of action ; the power of the muscles is more than doubled by being exerted in a line approaching so much nearer to a perpendicular. There is yet another advantage of the oblique shoulder. The point of the shoulder is projected forward; and therefore the pillars which support the fore part of the horse are likewise placed proportionably forward, and they have less weight to carry ; and are exposed to less concussion, and especially concussion in rapid action. The horse is also much safer ; for having less weight lying before the pillars of support, he is not so likely to have the centre of gravity thrown before and beyond them by an acci- dental trip ; or, in other words, he is not so likely to fall ; and he rides more pleasantly, for there is far less weight bearing on the hand of the rider, and annoying and tiring him. It likewise happens unfortunately that nature, as it were to supply the deficiency of action and of power in an upright shoulder, has accumulated on it more muscle, and therefore the upright shouldei is proverbially thick and cloddy; and the muscles of the 232 THE noR3E. breast, which were designed to strengthen the attachment of the shoulders to the chest, and to bind them together, must, when the point of the shoulder lies backward, and under the horse, be proportionably thickened and strengthened, and the horse is thus still more heavy before, more unpleeis ant, and more unsafe to ride. Then, ought every horse to have an oblique shoulder? No! We have been speaking of those which are designed to ride pleasantly, or from which extensive and rapid action is required. In them we have said that an oblique shoulder is indispensable : but there are others which are never ridden ; whose pace is slow, and who have nothing to do but throw as much weight as possible into the collar. To them an upright shoulder is an advantage, because its additional thickness gives them additional weight to throw into the collar, which the power of their hinder-quarters is fully suf- ficient to accomplish ; and because the upright position of the shoulder givea that direction to the collar which enables the horse to act upon every part of it; and that inclination of the traces which will enable his weight or power to be most advantageously employed. Of this, however, we shall better speak when we come to describe the implements of agriculture, and particularly the construction of wheel carriages. An improved breed of heavy draught horses has of late years been attempted, and with much success. Sufficient uprightness of shoulder is retained for the purposes of draught, while a slight degree of obliquity has materially quickened the pace and improved the appearance. Above its junction with the humerus or lower bone of the shoulder, the shoulder-blade forms what is called the point of the shoulder. There is a round blunted projection, best seen in the cut (p. 230). The neck of the shoulder-blade then forms a shallow cavity, into which the head of the next bone is received. The cavity is shallow, because extensive motion is required, and because both of the bones being so moveable, and the motion of the one connected so much with that of the other, dislocation was not so likely to happen as if one of them had been fixed. A capsular ligament, or one extending round the head of both bones, confines them securely together. This joint is rarely or never dislocated ; or should it suffer dislocation, the muscles of the shoulder-blade and the lower bone of the shoulder are so strong, that the reduction of it would be impossible. The point of the shoulder, however, projecting considerably, is much exposed to injury from accident or violence ; even turning in a narrow stall has inflicted a serious bruise. Fomentations of warm water will usually remove the tenderness and lameness, but should they fail, blood may be taken from the plate-vein, and, in very obstinate cases, a blister may be resorted to. A description of the principal muscles of the shoulder-blade, their situa- tion, attachments, and use, may not be uninteresting to the lover of the horse, and may guide his judgment as to the capability and proper form of that noble animal. CUT OF MUSCLES ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE SHOULDER. a and h represent a portion of the muscle (the trapezius, quadrangular muscle), which rises from the longer bones of the withers, broadly and strongly, and from the ligament of the neck (a portion of which is seen ai b), and narrowing below, and terminating almost in a point, is inserted into a prominent part of the spine or ridge of the shoulder-blade. It occu- pies the space between the withers and the upper part of the shoulder- blade, and is large and strong in proportion to the height of the withers, SLANTING DIRECTION OF THE SHOULDER. 233 and the slanting of the shoulder. Its use is evidently to support the shoulder, to raise it, and likewise to draw it backward ; therefore, con- stituting one of the most important muscles connected with the action of the horse, and illustrating the advantage of high withers and a slanting shoulder. A portion of it is represented as turned back, to show othei muscles beneath. A moment's inspection will convince the reader, that although we may have been justified in objecting to a low forehead and thick shoulder, yet still some full- ness and fleshiness are neces- sary, even about the withers ; otherwise, although there may be height of withers, and ob- liquity of shoulder to give ex- tensive action, there will not be sufficient muscular power to work the machine with either quickness or continuance. At c is a portion of the levator humeri (the raiser of the shoulder), descending even from the tubercle at the back of the head (see cut, page 63), and from the base of the temporal bone, and attaching itself to the first four bones of the neck, and to the liga- ment of the neck ; inserting itself into the covering of the muscles of the shoulder, and the muscles about the point of the shoulder, and at length terminating in a ridge on the lower bone of the shoulder. It is a muscle of immense power and great utility, raising and drawing forward the shoulder and the arm, and, when these are fixed, turning the head and neck if one acts, and depressing them if the muscles on both sides act at the same time. At cZ is a portion of the great saw-like or tooth-shaped muscle of the shoulder, constituting the bulk of the lower part of the neck ; deeply seated ; arising, as here seen, from the five last bones of the neck, and the two first ribs, and the lower portion of it springing from all the true ribs ; all the fibres tending towards, and inserted into the inner surface of ^he shoulder ; and by means of which the shoulder is attached to the chest, and the immense weight of the body supported. We have already spoken of the use of this muscle in obviating concussion, and presume the reader will bear in mind what has been previously said. When the horse is standing, this muscle occasionally discharges another important function. The shoulders and legs are then rendered fixed, and immoveable by the weight of the body ; and this muscle no longer being able to move the limbs, exerts its power in enlaj-ging the cavity Q 234 THE HORSE. of the chest, and thus malprlally assists in the act of breathing. There- fore, as we have stated when treating of that disease, a horse labouring under inflammation of the lungs will obstinately stand night and day, that he may obtain the assistance of this muscle in respiration, which is become laborious and painful ; and we regard his lying down as one of the most favourable symptoms that can occur, because it shows us that the breathing is so much relieved that he needs not the assistance of this muscle. At e is a small portion of the splenious muscle, of which we have spoken when describing the neck, p. 154. f represents a muscle sometimes described as a portion of the raiser of the shoulder, arising from the nipple-shaped process of the temporal bono, running down the somewhat lateral but fore-part of the neck, inserted into the upper and middle part of the lower bone of the shoulder, and thence continued down to the arm. Its office is to bend the head ; or, the head and neck being fixed, to elevate and bring forward the arm. It is in }>owerful action when the horse is running at his speed with the head projected. At ^ is a portion of the sierno-maodUaris, or muscle common to the fore- part of the chest and the lower jaw, and described at p. 156. h gives the principal muscle, extending from the shoulder to the lower bone of the shoulder, and employed in drawing this bone towards the shoulder-blade, and bending the whole of the limb. Exceedingly powerful action is required from this muscle ; therefore it is very tendinous, and inserted in such a direction as to act with great mechanical advantage, and that advantage increased in proportion to the slanting of the shoulder. The muscle at i, antea spinaius (before the spine) is situated, as its name would intimate, on the external part of the shoulder, before the spine or ridge, and fills the whole of that space. It proceeds towards the bone of the arm, and, dividing into two parts, is inserted into the two prominences in front of that bone. It is a very strong muscle, and extends the arm and carries it forward. The muscle at j, jiostea spinatus (behind the spine or ridge), occupies that space. It likewise goes to the lower bone of the shoulder, and is inserted into the outer and upper head of the bone. It draws this bone outward and upward. At A; is a muscle common to the breast and the shoulder-blade, and called the I'title pectoral, or breast muscle. It arises from the breast-bone, and reaches to the covering of the shoulder-joint and the muscles of the shoulder. Its action, in common with that of a larger muscle, seen at m {the great pectoral), is to draw back the head of the lower bone of the shoulder and the lower part of the shoulder-blade, and to make the latter bone more upright. At q is the tendon of a very important muscle, the long extensor of the arm, extending from the upper angle, and the posterior border of the shoulder-blade, to the point of the elbow, and the inside of the arm, and which will be presently described ; and at r and s are the three divisions of another muscle concerned in the same office, arising from the shoulder- blade and the lower bone of the shoulder, and likewise attached to the point of the elbow by a very strong tendon. This cut represents the muscles on the inside of the shoulder, and fore- arm, a is a very prominent one. It is called the pcctoralis transversus (the muscle crossing the breast). It arises from the first four bones of the chest, and runs across to the inner part of the arm, anU is inserted THE LOWER BONE OF THE SHOULDER. 235 into the tendinous substance covering the muscles of the fore-arm, and reaching a considerable way down the arm. The use of this muscle is obvious and impor- tant. It binds the arm to the side of the horse ; it keeps the legs straight before the horse when he is at speed, that the weight of the body may be received on them in a direction most easy and safe to the horse and to the rider, and most advantageous for the full play of all the muscles concerned in progression. Considering the unevenness of surface over which a horse often passes, and the rapid turnings which are sometimes necessary, these muscles have enough to do : and when the animal is pushed be- yond his strength, and these muscles are wearied, and the fore-legs spread out, and the horse is " all abroad," the con- fused and unpleasant manner of going, and the sudden falling off in his soeed, are well known to every rider. THE LOWER BONE OF THE SHOULDER. Fornsing a joint with the shoulder-blade at the point of the shoulder I ihe humerus, or lower bone of the shoulder (J. p. 63, and p. 230). It is a short, strong bone, slanting backward in an opposite direction to the s joulder-blade. At the upper part it has a large round head, received into the shallow cavity of the shoulder-blade. It has several protuberances for the insertion of the muscles, and is terminated below by two condyles or heads, which in front receive the principal bone of the arm between them as in a groove, thus adding to the security and strength of the joint, and limiting the action of this joint, and of the limb below, to mere bending and extension, without any side motion. Farther behind, these heads receive the elbow deep between them, to give more extensive action to the arm. In a well-formed horse this bone can scarcely be too short, in order that the fore-legs may be as forward as possible, for reasons at which we have already glanced ; and because, when the lower bone of the shoulder is long, the shoulder must be too upright. Dislocation can scarcely occur in either of the attachments of the bone, and fracture of it is almost impossible. The lower bone of the shoulder, and the shoulder-blade, are by horsemen confounded together, and included under the appellation of the shoulder, and in compliance with general usage we have described them as combining to form the shoulder; yet it would be well for the reader. to always bear in mind the distinction. Among the muscles arising from the lower bone of the shoulder, are tv/o •short and very strong ones, seen at the lower r and s, the first proceeding from the upper part of this bone to the elbow, and the second from the internal part, and likewise going to the elbow, and both of them being powerful agents in extending the leg. In front, at y, is one of the muscles of the lower bone of the shoulder, the external one, employed in bending the arm ; rising from the inner 336 THE HORSE. and back part of the neck and body of the lower bone of the shoulder, turning obliquely round that bone, and inserted into the inner and upper part of the bone of the arm. THE ARM. The arm extending from the elbow to the knee (see K and L, p. 63, and also cut, p. 230), consists in the young horse of two distinct bones. The long and front bone, called the radius, is nearly straight, receiving into its upper end the lower heads of the lower bones of the shoulder ; and the lower end corresponding with the upper layer of the bones of the knee. The short and hinder bone is called the ulna. It has a very long and powerful projection, received between the heads of the lower bone of the shoulder, and called the elbow ; it then stretches down, narrowing by degrees (see L, p. 63, and the cut, p. 230) to below the middle of the front bone, where it terminates in a point. The two bones are united together by cartilage and ligament, but these are by degrees absorbed and changed to bone, and before the horse becomes old the whole of the arm consists of one bone only. It will be perceived that from the slanting direction of the lower bone of the shoulder, the weight of the horse, and the violence of the concussion, will be shared between the radius and the ulna, and therefore less liable to injure either; and the circumstance of so much weight and jar being communicated to them, will account for the extensive and peculiarly strong union between these bones in the young horse, and the speedy inflammation of the uniting substance and absorption of it, and substitution of bone, and complete bony union between the radius and ulna in the old horse. The immense muscles which are attached to the point of the elbow likewise render it necessary that the union between these bones should be very strong. The arm is the most important part of the horse, as will be seen when we describe the muscles which belong to it. We have spoken of those at q, r, and s, proceeding from the shoulder-blade and the lower bone of the shoulder, and inserted into the elbow. They are the grand agents in extending the arm ; and in proportion to the power which they exert, will be the quickness and the length of the stride. The strength of the horse, so far as his fore-limbs are concerned, principally resides here. Then we look for a large and muscular arm, and we look likewise for such a for- mation of the limb, and particularly of the elbow, as will enable these muscles to act with most advantage. The principle of the lever, to which we have referred (p. 231), is here beautifully applicable. The elbow-joint is the centre of motion ; the whole of the lower part of the leg is the weight to be raised ; and the power by which it is to be raised in one act of progression, the extending of the limb, is the muscles inserted into the elbow. In proportion as the weight is more distant than the power from the centre of mption, as it is in the construction of this limb, so will be the greater degree of energy requisite to be exerted. We will suppose that the weight, taking the knee to be the centre of it, is eighteen inches from the elbow-joint, that the limb weighs 60 lbs., and that the elbow projects two inciies from the joint ; then an energy equal to nine times the weight, or .540 lbs., will be needed to move and extend the limb, because the weight is nine times farther from the centre of motion than the power is. We will suppose that in another horse the point of the elbow projects three inches from the joint, the weight of the leg remaining the same. Three arc one-sixth of eighteen ; and only si.t THE ARM. 237 times the force, or 360 lbs., will be required, making a difference in, or saving of muscular action, equal to 180 lbs, in each extension of the arm. If a few pounds in the weight of the rider tell so much for or against the horse in a^.ong race, this saving of power must make an almost incalculable dilTerence; and, therefore, judges of the horse rightly attach so much importance to the depth of the elbow, or the projection of the point of the elbow from the joint. When describing the proper obliquity of the shoulder, we proved that the power was exerted with most advantage in a line perpendicular to the arm of the lever, and that the slightest deviation from that line was mani- festly disadvantageous. If the reader will examine the cut, he will perceive that muscles from the shoulder and the bone of the arm take a direction much nearer to a perpendicular line in the long than in the short elbow, and therefore act with proportionably greater advantage ; and if we add this advantage from the direction in which the power is applied to that which we gain from the increased length of the bone, we shall be justified in affirming that the addition of one-third to the length or projection of the elbow would be attended by a saving of one-half in the expenditure of muscular power. There is, however, a limit to this. In proportion as the elbow is lengthened, it must move over a greater space in order to give the requisite extension to the limb ; and consequently the muscles which act upon it must be lengthened, otherwise we might have easy but confined action. There must be harmony of proportion in the different parts of tiie limb, but a deep elbow, within a certain range, is always connected with increased power of action. The elbow is sometimes fractured. If the animal be placed in the hands of a skilful veterinarian, although the chances of cure are certainly against the horse, yet the owner need not despair. Absolute and long-continued rest, and that produced by means of a sling, will be indispensable. Enlargements sometimes appear about the elbow, either the consequence of a violent blow, or from the calkins of the shoes injuring this part when the horse sleeps with his legs doubled under him. If a seton be passed through the tumour, it will sometimes rapidly diminish, and even disappear; but if it be of considerable magnitude, the skin should be slit open along the middle of the swelling, and the tumour dissected out. The elbow-joint is sometimes punctured, either accidentally, or through the brutality of the groom or carter. The swelling is often rapid and extensive, and fatal inflammation may ensue. Rest, and the closure of the wound, are the most important considerations. There are other muscles of the fore-arm employed in extending the limb. At X. page 233, is the principal one, called the extensor of the leg; it is of considerable bulk, and occupies the front part of the arm. It arises from the lower part of the body of the lower bone of the shoulder, and from its outer head. As it descends down the arm, it becomes tendinous ; the tendon passes under one of the ligaments of the knee ; it then spreads out, and is inserted into the fore and upper part of the shank bone. It is also seen at h, page 235. The next muscle in situation and importance is seen at w, and called the extensor of the foot. It rises from the outer head of the lower bone of the shoulder, and likewise from the outer head of the bone of the arm. "It becomes tendinous as it proceeds, and passes under a strong ring at the knee, by which it is confined in its proper situation ; it then runs along the f'ont of the shank-bone, tied down by a strong cellular substance; passes over the fetlock, and part of the upper pastern; is inserted into the lower part of the upper pastern, into the lower pastern, and the coffin-bone or bone ^38 THE HORSE. of the foot. It therefore extends all these bones; and as it passes over the sliank, being tied down to it in every part of its course, it likewise serves »o extend that bone. At u, page 233, is the tendon of another extensor muscle, and at 2 a curious oblitjue one, passing over the tendon of x, confining it in its situa- tion, and likewise itself assisting in extending or straightening the leg. The muscles employed in bending the leg are both numerous and power ful. Two of the superficial ones are given in the cut, page 233. The first is at t, page 233 ; it is also seen at b, page 235. It is calj^.d the mid- dle Jlcxor, or bending muscle of the shank-bone, because it lies precisely on the middle of the back part of the arm. It rises from the inner head of the lower bone of the shoulder, and is inserted into one of the bones on the inner side of the knee. The other is seen at v, page 233. It is called the external flexor of the leg, because it lies on the outer side of the arm, towards the back. It rises from the outer head of the lower bone of the shoulder; advancing towards the knee, it is tendinous, and the tendon divides into two portions, one of which is inserted into the same bone of tlie knee, and the other into the outer small bone of the leg. The internal flexor is seen at e, page 235. It proceeds from the inner head of the lower bone of the shoulder, and is inserted into the head of the inner splint bone, and its office is to bend the leg, and very slightly turn it. A portion of one of the most powerful of the flexor muscles, and powerful indeed they must be, is delineated at c, page 235. It is the flexor of the arvi. It rises from the extremity of the ridge of the shoulder-blade in the form of a large and I'ound tendon, which runs between the two prominences in the upper part of the front of the lower bone of the shoulder, in as perfect a groove or pulley as art ever contrived. This groove is lined with smooth cartilage ; and between it and the tendon there is an oily fluid, so that the tendon plays freely in the pulley without friction. Having escaped from this pulley, and passed the head of the lower bone of the shoulder, the cord swells out into around fleshy body, still containing many tendinous fibres. Deeply seated, it contributes materially to the bulk of the front of the arm ; and, having reached the arm, it is inserted into the head and neck of the bone of the arm, and likewise into the capsular ligament of the elbow- joint. It is the main muscle by which, almost alone, the whole of the leg below the arm is bent. It acts at great disadvantage. It is inserted into the very head of the bone of the arm, and expanded even upon the joint. Then the power 'is applied almost close to the centre of motion, while the weight to be raised is far distant from it. The power is tiiirty times nearer the centre of motion than is the weight; and, calculating, as before, the weight of the arm and the rest of the limb at 60 lbs., it must act with the force of thirty times sixty, or 1800 lbs. In addition to this, the line of the direction of the force strangely deviates from a perpendicular: the direction of the muscle is nearly the same as that of the limb, and the mechanical disad- vantage is almost incalculably great. We will take it at only ten times more; then this muscle, and its feeble coadjutors, act with a force of ten tinios 1800, or 18,000 lbs. Why this almost incredible expenditure of muscular power ? First, that the beauty of the limb might be preserved, and the joint might be compact. If the tendon had been inserted half way down the arm, the elbow-joint would have offered a very unsightly appearance. Beauty of form, however, is the least result of this conformation ; with- out it the animal would not have been fitted for the purposes to which we devote him. It is the law of mechanics, that what is lost in pcwer is gained THE ARM. 239 in velocity. The product of the power, and the space passed over by the arm of the lever to which it is attached, must always be equal to the pro- duct of the weight, and of the space passed over by the arm that supports it ; and if a power, equal to thirty times the weight, is obliged to be exerted at the upper part of the bone of the arm, the centre of that bone., which may be considered as the centre of the weight, will pass over thirty times the space, and the extremity of the limb will pass over sixty times the space. The muscle will contract with a great deal of rapidity, but the foot will move with sixty times that rapidity, in order to pass over sixty times the space in the same time. This is precisely what we want. Exten- sive and rapid motion are the excellencies of the horse. He is valuable in proportion as he has them combined with stoutness; and by this confor- mation of the limb alone could he obtain them. Therefore the tendon is at first unusually strong ; it plays through the natural but perfect pulley of the bone of the arm without friction ; the body of the muscle is mixed with tendinous fibres, and the insertion into the fore-arm is very extensive, lest the application of such immense force should tear it from its adhe- aions. There is sufficient strength in the apparatus; the power may be safely applied at this mechanical disadvantage ; and it is applied close to ;he joint to give an extent and rapidity of motion which could not otherwise have been obtained, and without which the horse would have been compar- atively useless. At the back of the arm are other flexor muscles of great power, to bend the lower portions of the limb. We have described two of them belonging to the arm and the leg, and we must not pass over the very peculiar ones acting on the feet. Only a small portion of one of them can be seen in our cut, page 233, at 1. The first is the perforated flexor muscle : the reason of the name will presently appear. It rises from the lower and back part of the inner head of the lower bone of the shoulder, and intermixed with, or rather between the origins of the muscle next to be described, and called the perforating muscle. As it descends along the bone of the arm, it becomes tendinous ; and, approaching the knee, it is bound down by arches or bands of liga- ment, that it may not start in sudden and violent action. Proceeding from the knee it widens, and partly wraps round the tendon of the perforating muscle, and they run down together in contact, yet not adhering; freely playing over each other, and mucous fluid obviating all friction. Both of them are inclosed in a sheath of dense cellular substance, attached to them by numerous fibrils; and they are likewise supported by various ligament- ous expansions. Near the fetlock the tendon still farther expands, and forms a complete ring round the tendon of the perforating muscle. This is seen at J, p. 111. The use of this will be best explained when we are treating of the fetlock. The perforated tendon soon afterwards divides, and is inserted into the smaller and larger pastern bones, and flexes or bends them. The next is the perforating flexor muscle. It has nearly the same origin as the other, but with somewhat distinct heads. It continues muscular farther down the arm than the perforated, and lies before it. At the knee it passes, like the perforated, under strong ligamentary arches, which confine it in its situation. It then becomes round, and is partly wrapped up in the perforated ; and at the fetlock is entirely surrounded by it. It emerges from the perforated when that tendon divides, and continues its progress alone after the other has inserted itself into the pasterns, and passing over the navicular bone, terminates on the base of the coffin-bone, or bone of the foot. It is sufficiently plain that the arm should be large and muscular, 240 THE HORSE. oiherwise it cannot discharge all these duties. Horsemen differ on a variety of other points, but here they are agreed. A full and swelling fore-arm is tne characteristic of every thorough-bred horse, and for speei and continuance he is unequalled. Whatever other good points a horse may possess, if the arm be narrow in front and near the shoulder, flat on the side, and altogether poor in appearance, that horse is radically defect- ive ; he can neither raise his knee for rapid action, nor throw his legs sufficiently forward. The arm should likewise be long. In proportion to the length of the muscle is the degree of contraction of which it is capable; and in propor- tion to the degree of contraction in the muscle, will be the extent of motion in the part of the limb beneath. A racer, with a short arm, would be sadly deficient in stride ; a hunter, with the same defect, would not be able to double his legs well under him in the leap. There is, however, a medium in this, and the advantage of length in the arm will depend on the use to which the horse is applied. The lady's horse, the cavalry horse, every horse in which prancing action is esteemed a beauty, and in which utility is, to a certain degree, sacrificed to appearance, must not be too long in the arm. If he be long there, he will be proportionably short in the leg ; and although this is an undoubted excellence, whether speed or continuance be regarded, the short leg will not give the grand and imposing action which fashion may require : and, in addition to this, a horse with short legs may not have quite so easy action as another whose length is in the shank rather than in the arm. THE KNEE. The Knee (M, p. 63, and cut, p. 230) constitutes the joint or joints between the arm and the shank or leg ; and it is far more complicated than any joint we have yet considered. Beside the lower head of the bone of the arm, and the upper heads of the three bones of the leg, there are no less than six other bones interposed, arranged in two rows, three in each row, and the seventh placed behind the other, to which an eighth is some- times added. What was the intention of this complicated structure ? A joint between the elbow and the fetlock was absolutely necessary to the action of the horse. An inflexible pillar of that length could scarcely have been lifted from the ground, and certainly could not have been lifted far enough for rapid or safe motion. It was likewise necessary, that the interposing joint should be so constituted as to preserve this part of the limb in a straight direction, and should possess sufficient strength to resist all common work and accidents. Being in a straight direction, the shock or jar between the ends of the bones of the arm and the leg would be dreadful, and would speedily inflict irreparable injury. The heads of all bones are covered with elastic cartilage, to protect them from injury by concussion, but this would be altogether insufficient here. Six distinct bones, then, are placed here, each covered above and below by a thick coating of cartilage, con- nected together by strong ligaments, but separated by fluids and mem- branes interposed. The concussion is thus spread over the whole of them and shared by the whole of them ; and, by the peculiarity of their connection, deadened and rendered harmless. These six distinct bones, united to each other by numerous and powerful ligaments, will also afford a far stronger joint than the apposition of any two bones, however perfect and strong might be the capsular ligament, or uy whatever other ligaments it could be strengthened. In addition to the THE KNEE, 24J connection between the individual bones, there is a perfect capsular liga- ment here, extending from the bone of the arm to those of the leg ; and the result of the whole is, that, although the centre of such a column must be the weakest part, and most liable to bow out and give way, the hardest work and the severest accidents produce little deformity, and no dislocation in the knee : nor do the shocks and jars of many a year cause inflammation or disease. It is an undeniable fact, that such is the perfect construction of this joint, and to so great a degree does it lessen concus- sion, that the injuries resulting from hard work are, almost without an exception, found below the knee. The seventh bone, the trapezium, so called from its quadrangular figure, is placed (see M, p. 63) behind the others, and does not bear the slightest portion of the weight. It, however, is very useful. Two of the flexor muscles, already described, proceeding from the bone of the arm, are inserted into it ; and thus, being thrown off" the limb, have a less oblique direction given to them ; and, therefore, according to the principle of the lever, act with considerably more power. It is also useful in another way. As the tendons of the various muscles descend the limbs, they are tied down, as we have described, by strong ligamentous bands : this is particu- larly the case in the neighbourhood of the joints. The use of this is evident. The extensor tendons, which lie principally on the front of the leg, are prevented from starting, and strengthened and assisted in their action ; but the flexor tendons which lie at the back would be liable to friction, and their motion would be impeded, if they were bound down too tightly. This projecting bone prevents the annular or ring-like ligament from pressing too closely on the main flexor tendons of the foot ; and while it leaves them room to play, leaves room likewise for a little bag, filled with mucus, to surround them, which mucus, oozing slowly out, supplies the whole course of the tendons down the legs with a fluid that takes away the possibility of injurious friction. The knee should be broad. It should present a very striking width, compared with the arm above, or the shank below. The broader the knee is, the more space there is for the attachment of muscles, and for the accumulation of ligamentous expansions and bands. In proportion to the breadth of the knee there will be more strength ; and likewise the direction of some muscles will be less oblique, and those of others will be more removed from the centre of motion ; and, in either case, much power will be gained. BROKEN KNEES. The treatment of broken knees is a subject of considerable importance, for many horses are sadly blemished, and others are destroyed, by wounds in the knee-joint. The horse, when falling, naturally throws his knees forward ; they receive all his weight, and are sometimes very extensively lacerated. The first thing to be done is, by very careful washing with warm water, to cleanse the wound from all gravel and dirt. It must then De ascertained whether the joint is penetrated. The grating of the probe on one of the bones of the knee, or the depth to which the probe enters the wound, will often too plainly indicate that the joint has been opened. Should any doubt exist, let a linseed-meal poultice be applied. This will at least act as a fomentation to the wound, and will prevent or abate inflammation ; and when, twelve hours afterwards, it is taken ofl^, the synovia, or joint-oil, in the form of a glairy, yellowish, transparent fluid, will be seen, if the capsular ligament has been penetrated. Should doubt lemain after the first poultice, apply a second. 242 THE HORSE. The opening of the joint being ascertained, the first and immediate care is to close the orifice; for the fluid which separated and lubricated the bones of the knee being suHered to flow out, they will be brought into actual contact with each other; they will rub upon each other; the delicate membrane with which they are covered will be highly inflamed ; the con- slitution will be speedily aficcted, and a degree of fever will ensue «hat will destroy the horse : and in the mean time, of all the tortures that can be inflicted on the poor animal, none can equal that which accompanies inflammation of the membranes lining the joints. The manner of closing the orifice must be left to the judgment of the veterinary surgeon, who alone is capable of properly treating such a case. It may be effected by a compress inclosing the whole of the wound, and not to be removed for many days ; or it may be attempted by the old and generally successful method of applying the hot iron over the wound, and particularly over the spot where the ligament appears to be lacerated. A poultice may then be placed on the part, and the case treated as a common wound. Should the joint-oil continue to flow, the iron may be applied a second, or even a third time. By the application of the iron, so much swelling is produced on the immediate puncture, and in the neighbouring parts, as mechanically to close and plug up the orifice. If, however, the opening into the joint be extensive, and the joint-oil continues to flow, and the horse is evidently suffering much pain, humanity will dictate that he should be destroyed. The case is hopeless. A high degree of fever will ere long carry the animal off", or the inflammation will cause a deposit of matter in the cavity of the joint which will produce incurable lameness. The pain caused by the iron is doubtless great ; it is, however, necessary ; but let no reader of "The Horse"' permit the torturing experiments of the farrier to be tried, who will frequently inject stimulating fluids, and even oil of vitriol, into one of the most sensible and irritable cavities in the whole frame. A person well acquainted with the anatomy of the part will judge of the probability of a favourable result, not merely by the extent, but by the situation of the wound. If it is low down and opposite to the bottom row, a small opening into the joint will be easily closed ; a larger one need not cause despair, because there is little motion between the lower row and the bones of the leg. If it be higii up, there is more danger, because there is more motion. If it be situated opposite to the union of the two rows, the result is most to be dreaded, because between these is the principal motion of the joint, and that motion would not only disunite and irritate the external wound, but cause dreadful friction between the bones brought into actual contact with each other, through the loss of the joint-oil. When the skin has been lacerated, although the wound may be healed, some blemish will remain. The extent of this blemish will depend on the extent and nature of the original wound, and more especially on the nature of the treatment which has been adopted. Every caustic application will destroy more of the skin, and leave a larger mark. Should the blemish be considerable, a mild blister may be applied over the part, after the wound has healed. It will stimulate the hair to grow more rapidly and thickly round the scar, and particularly hair of the natural colour ; and by contracting the skin it will lessen the scar itself. Many persons have groat faith in ointments, which are said to promote the growth of the hair. If they have that property, it must be from stimulating the skin, in which the roots of the hair are embedded. These ointments must contain a small portion of blistering matter, in the form of turpentine, or the Spanish* THE LEG. 243 fly. The common application of gunpowder and lard, may, by blackening the part, conceal the blemish, but can have no possible effect in quickening the growth of the hair. In examining a horse for purchase, the knees are very strictly scru tinized. A blemish on them should not induce us at once to condemn the animal ; for a bad rider, or the merest accident, may throw the safest horse. A broken knee, however, is a suspicious circumstance, and calls for the most careful observation of the make and action of the horse. If it be accompanied by a thick and upright shoulder, and legs far under the horse, and low slovenly action, he is unwise who does not take the hint : this faulty combination has produced its natural consequence. But if the shoulder be oblique, and the withers high, and the fore-arm strong, the good judge will not reject the animal, because he may have been accident- ally thrown. THE LEG. The part of the limb between the knee and the fetlock consists of three bones — a large one before, called the cannon or shank, and two smaller or splint bones behind (see N, p. 63). The shank-bone is rounded in front, and flattened, or even concave behind. It is the straightest of the long bones, as well as the most superficially situated, for in some parts it is covered only by the skin. The upper head is flat, with slight depressions corresponding with the lower row of the bones of the knee. The lower head is differently and curiously formed. It resembles a double pulley. There are three elevations, the principal one in the centre, and one on each side ; and between them are two slight grooves ; and these so precisely correspond with deep depressions and slight prominences in the upper head of the larger pastern, and are so inclosed and guarded, by the elevated edges of that bone, that when the shank-bone and the pastern are fitted to each other, they form a perfect hinge : they admit of the bending and extension of the limb, but of no lateral or side motion ; which is a circum- stance of very great importance in a joint so situated, and having the whole weight of the horse thrown upon it. The smaller bones are placed behind the larger on either side ; a slight projection only of the head of each can be seen in front. The heads of these bones are enlarged, and receive part of the weight conveyed by the lower row of the bones of the knee. They are united to the larger bone by the same kind of substance which is found in the colt between the bone of the elbow and the main bone of the arm ; and which is designed, like that, by its great elasticity, to lessen the concussion or jar when the weight of the animal is thrown on them. They reach from one-half to two-thirds of the length of the shank-bone, and, through their whole extent, are united to it by this substance ; but, as in the elbow, from the animal being worked too soon, or too violently, inflammation ensues, and bony matter is deposited in the room of the ligamentous ; and a bony union takes place instead of the natural one. There is no doubt that the ease of motion is somewhat lessened by this substitution of bone, but other elastic principles are probably called into more powerful action, and the value of die horse is not perceptibly impaired ; although it is hard to say what secret mjury may be done to the neighbouring joints, and the cause of which, lameness appearing at a distant period, is not suspected. In this process, however, mischief does often immediately extend to the neighbouring parts. The disposition to deposit bone reaches beyond the circumscribed space between the larger and smaller bones of the leg; and 844 THE HORSE. a tumour, first callous and afterwards bony, is found, with part of its base resting on the line of union between these bones. This is called a SPLINT. The splint is invariably found on the outside of the small bone, and general'iy on the inside of the leg (c, p. 255). Why it should appear on the outside of the small bones it is difficult to explain, except that the space between these bones is occupied by an important mechanism, which will be presently described ; and, as in the case of abscess, a natural tendency was given to them to determine outward, that vital parts may not be injured. The cause of their almost exclusive appearance on the inside of the leg admits of easier explanation. The inner splint-bone is placed nearer the centre of the weight of the body than the other, and, from the nature of its connection with the bones of the knee, actually receives more of the weight than does the outer bone, and therefore is more liable to injury, and inflammation, and this consequent deposit of bone. The inner bone receives the whole of the weight transmitted to one of the small bones of the knee. It is the only support of that bone. A portion only of one of the bones rest on the outer-splint bone, and the weight is shared between it and the shank. In addition to this, it is the absurd practice of many smiths to raise the outer heel of the shoe to an extravagant degree, which throws still more of the weight of the horse on the inner splint-bone. These tumours occasionally appear on other parts of the shank-bone, being the consequence of violent blows, or other external injuries. When the splint is forming, the horse is frequently lame. The peri- osteum or membrane covering the bone is painfully stretched ; but when this membrane has accommodated itself to the tumour that extended it, the lameness subsides and altogether disappears, unless the splinl be in a situation in which it interferes with the action of some tendon or ligament, or in the immediate neighbourhood of a joint. Pressing upon a ligament or tendon, it may cause inflammation of those substances ; or, being close to a joint, it may interfere with its action. Splints, then, do not necessarily cause unsoundness, and may not lessen in the slightest degree the action or value of the horse. All depends on their situation. When we have described the situation and course of the suspensory ligaments, we shall be enabled to enter more fully into this. The treatment of splints, if it be worth while to meddle with them, is exceedingly simple. The hair should be closely shaved off round the tumour ; a little strong mercurial ointment rubbed in for two days ; and this should be followed by an active blister. If the splint be of recent formation, it will usually yield to this, or to a second blister. Should it resist these applications, it can rarely be advisable to cauterize the part, unless the tumour interferes materially with the action of the suspensory ligament ; for it not unfrequently happens that, although the splint may have apparently resisted this treatment, it will afterwards, and at no great distance of time, begin rapidly to lessen, and quite disappear. There is also a natural process by which the greater part of splints disappear when the horse gets old. As for the old remedies, many of them brutal enough — bruising the splint with a hammer, boring it with a gimlet, chipping it oflfwith a mallet, sawing it off", slitting down the skin and periosteum over it, sweating it down with hot oils, and passing setons over it — the voice of humanity, and the progress of science, will consign them to speedy oblivion. The inside of the leg, immediately under the knee, and extending to the SPLINT. 249 hwid of the inner splint-bone, is subject to injury from what is termed the speedy cut. A horse with high action, and in the fast trot, violently strikes this p£.rt either with his hoof or the edge of the shoe. Sometimes bonj enlargement is the result, at others great heat and tenderness; and the pain from the blow seems occasionally to be so great, that the horse drops as if he were shot. The only remedy is to take care that no part of the shoe projects beyond the foot ; and to let the inner side of the shoe, except the country be very deep, or the horse be used for hunting, have but one nail, and that near the toe. This part of the hoof, being unfettered with nails, will expand when it comes in contact with the ground, and contract when in the air, and relieved from the pressure of the weight of the body ; and, although this contraction is to no great extent, it will be sufficient to carry the foot harmlessly by the leg. Care should likewise be taken that the shoe be of equal thickness at the heel and the toe, and that the bearing be equal on both sides. Immediately under the knee we find one of those ligamentous rings by which the tendons are so usefully bound down and secured; but if the hinder bone of the knee, the trapezium, described at p. 241, be not suffi- ciently prominent, this ring will confine the flexor tendons of the foot too tightly, and the leg will be very deficient in depth under the knee. This is called being tied in below the knee {b. p. 255). Every horseman recog- nises it as a most serious defect. It is scarcely compatible with speed, and most assuredly not with continuance. Such a horse cannot be ridden far and fast without serious sprain of the back sinews. The reason is plain : the pressure of the ring will produce a degree of friction inconsistent with the free action of the tendons; more force must, therefore, be exerted in every act of progression ; and, although the muscles are powerful, and sufficiently powerful for every ordinary purpose, the repetition of this extra exertion will tire and strain them. A more serious evil, however, remains to be stated. When the back sinews or tendons are thus tied down, they are placed in a more oblique direction, and in which the power of the mus- cles is exerted with greater disadvantage ; and, therefore, both for extraor- dinary, and even ordinary action, a greater degree of exertion is required, and fatigue and sprain will frequently result. There are few more serious defects than this tying-in of the tendons immediately below the knee. The fore-leg may be narrow in front, but it must be deep at the side, in order to render the horse valuable; for then only will the tendons have free action, and the muscular force be exerted in the most advantageous direction. The recollection of the reader will convince him, that there are few good race- horses whose legs are not deep below the knee. If there are exceptions, it is because their exertion, although violent, is but of short duration. The race is decided in a few minutes; and, during that little period, the spirit and energy of the animal may successfully struggle with the disadvantages of form ; but where great and long-continued exertion is required, as in the hunter or the hackney, no strength can long contend against this palpably disadvantageous misapplication of muscular power. As they descend the back part of the leg, the tendons of the perforated and perforating flexor muscle should be far and distinctly apart from the shank-bone. There should be space free from thickening for the finger and thumb on either side to be introduced between them and the bone, and that extending from the knee to the fetlock. In a perfect leg, and towards its lower part, there should be three distinct and perfect projections visible to the eye, as well as recognisable by the finger, the sides of the shank- hone, the most forward of the three ; next, the suspensory ligament ; and hindermost of all, the flexor tendons. When these are not to be distinctly 246 THE HORSE. seen or felt, or there is considerable thickening about them and betwAn them, (by p, 255) and the leg is round instead of flat and deep, there has been ^vhat is commonly, but improperly, called, SPRAIN OF THE BACK-SINEWS. These tendons are inclosed in a sheath of dense cellular substance, to confine them in their situation, and to defend them from injury. Between the tendon and the sheath there is a mucous fluid, to prevent friction : but when the horse has been overworked, or put to sudden and violent exertion, the tendon presses upon the delicate membrane lining the sheath, and inflammation is produced, and a different fluid is thrown out, which coagu- lates, and adhesions are formed between the tendon and the sheath, and the motion of the limb is more difficult and painful. At other times, from violent or long-continued exertion, some of the fibres which tie the tendons down are ruptured. A slight injury of this nature is called a sprain of the back-sinews or tendons ; and when it is more serious, the horse is said to have broken down. It should be remembered, however, that the tendon can never be sprained, because it is inelastic and incapable of extension ; and the tendon, or its sheath, are scarcely ever ruptured, even in what is called breaking down. The first injury is confined to inflammation of the sheath, or rupture of a few of the attaching fibres. The inflammation of the part, however, is often very great, the pain intense, and the lameness excessive. The anguish expressed at every bending of the limb, and the local swelling and heat, will clearly indicate the seat of injury. In every serious affection of this kind, care should be taken that the local inflammation does not produce general disturbance of the system ; and, therefore, the horse should be bled and physicked. The bleeding may be at the toe, by which an important local, as well as general effect will be produced. The vessels of the part will be relieved, while fever will be prevented. Let not the bleeding be performed in the usual farrier's way of first paring down the sole, and then taking out a piece of it at the top of the frog; in which case a wound is made often difficult to heal, and through which fungous granulations from the sensible parts beneath will obstinately spring: but after the sole has been well thinned, let a groove be cut with the rounded head of a small drawing-knife, at the junction of the sole and the crust (see z in the next cut, p. 249). The large vein at the toe will thus be opened, or the groove may be widened backward until it be foimd. When the blood begins to appear, the vein may be more freely opened, by a small lancet thrust horizontally under the sole, and almost any quantity of blood may be easily procured. The immersion of the foot in warm water will cause the blood to flow more rapidly. When a suflScient quan- tity has been drawn, a bit of tow may be placed in the groove, and the shoe tacked on. The bleeding will be immediately stopped, and the wound will readily heal. As a local application, let no hot farrier's oil come near the part, but let the leg be well fomented with warm water two or three times in the day, and half an hour at each time ; and, between the fomentations, let the leg be inclosed in a poultice of linseed-meal. Any herb that pleases the owner may be added to the fomentation, or vinegar, or Goulard's extract to the poultice ; but the beneficial effect of both depends simply on the warmth of the water and the moisture of the poultice. The first object which the surgeon has in view, is to abate the inflammation of the part, and no means SPRAIN OF THE BACK-SINEWS. 24^ are so likely as these effect that purpose. Every stimulating application will infallibly aggravate the mischief. The horse beginning to put his foot better to the grouwd, and to bear pressure on the part, and the heat having disappeared, the object to be accomplished is changed ; recurrence of tlie inflammation must be pre- vented, the enlargement must be got rid of, and the parts must be strengthened. The two latter purposes cannot be better effected than by using an elastic bandage ; one of thin flannel will be the best. This will sustain and support the limb, while by few means are the absorbents sooner induced to take up the effused coagulabie matter, of which the swelling is composed, than by moderate pressure. If the bandage be kept wet with vinegar, to each pint of which a quarter of a pint of spirit of wine has been added, the skin will be slightly stimulated and contracted, and the cold pro- duced by the constant evaporation will tend to subdue the remaining and deep-seated inflammation. This bandage should be daily tightened in proportion as these parts are capable of bearing increased pressure, and the treatment should be persisted in for a fortnight: if, at the expiration of that period, there be no swelling, tenderness, or heat, the horse may grad- ually, and very cautiously be put to his usual work. Should there, however, remain the slightest lameness or considerable enlargement, the leg must be blistered ; and, indeed, it would seldom be bad practice to blister after a case of severe sprain: for the inflammation lies deep in the sheath of the tendons, and the part once sprained long remains weak, and subject to renewed injury, not only from unusual, but even ordinary exertion. If the blister be resorted to, time should be given for it to produce its gradual and full effect, and the horse should be turned out for one or two months ; and here we must be permitted to repeat, that a blister should never be used while any heat or tenderness remains about the part, otherwise the slightest injury may be, and often is, converted into incurable lameness. Very severe sprains, but much oftener sprains badly treated, may require the application of the cautery. If from long-continued inflammation the structure of the part is materially altered, if the swelling is becoming cal- lous, or the skin is thickened and prevents the free motion of the limb, no stimulus short of the heated iron will be sufficient to rouse the absorbents to remove the injurious deposit. The principal use of firing is to rouse the absorbents to such increased action that they shall take up and remove the diseased thickness of the skin, and likewise the unnatural deposit in the cellular substance beneath. The firing should be applied in straight lines, because the skin, contracting by the application of the cautery, and grad- ually regaining its elastic nature, will thus form the best bandage over the weakened part. Here, even more particularly than in the blister, time should be given for the full action of the firing. This removal of diseased matter is a work of slow progress. Many weeks pass away before it is perfectly accomplished ; and, after firing, the horse should have at least a six months', and it would be better if he could be given a twelve months' run at grass. When the animal has been set to work in a few weeks, and the enlargement remains, or lamejiess returns, the fault is to be attrib- uted to the impatience of the owner, and not to the want of power in the operation, or skill in the operator. Farriers are apt to blister immediately after firing. A blister may be useful six weeks or two months after firing, if lameness remains ; but can never be wanted immediately after the severe operation of the cautery. If the iron has been skilfully applied,, subsequent blistering inflicts on the *^48 THE HORSE. unimal, already sufficiently tortured, much unnecessary and useless pain, and should never be resorted to by him who possesses the slightest feeling of humanity. In examining a horse for purchase, the closest attention should be paid to the appearance of these flexor tendons. If there be any thickness of cel- lular substance around them, that horse has been sprained violently, or the sprain has not been properly treated. This thickening will probably fetter the motion of the tendon, and dispose the part to the recurrence of inflam- niation and lan>eness. Such a horse, although at the time perfectly free from lameness, will be regarded with suspicion, and cannot fairly be con- sidered as sound. He is only patched up for a while, and will probably fail at the close of the first day's hard work. WIND-GALLS. Approaching nearer to the fetlock, we occasionally find considerable enlargements, oftener on the hind leg than the fore one, which are denomi- nated wind-galls (e, p. 225). Between the tendons and other parts, and wherever the tendons are exposed to pressure or friction, and particularly about their extremities, little bags or sacs are placed, containing and suf- fering to ooze slowly from them a mucous fluid. From undue pressure, and that most frequently caused by violent action and straining of the tendons, these little bags become injured; they take on inflammation, and they grow large and liard. The tendons are mostly inserted into the neighbourhood of joints, and there is most motion and pressure, and con- sequently these enlarged mucous bags {bursce, mucosce) are oftenest found, about the joints. There are few horses perfectly free from them. When they first appear, and until the inflammation subsides, they may be accom- panied by some degree of lameness ; but otherwise, except when they an attain enormous size, they do not interfere with the action of the animal, or cause unsoundness. The farriers used to suppose that they contained wind ; hence their name, wind-galls ; and hence the practice of opening them, by which dreadful inflammation has often been produced, and many a valuable horse destroyed. A slight wind-gall will scarcely be subjected to treatment ; but if these tumours are numerous and large, and seem to impede the motion of the limb, they may be attacked first by bandage. The roller should be of flannel, and soft pads should be placed on each of the enlargements, and bound down tightly upon them. The bandage may be wetted with the lotion recommended for sprain of the back-sinews. The wind-gall will often diminish or disappear by this treatment, but will too frequently return when the horse is again hardly worked. A blister is a more effectual remedy ; and firing still more certain, if the tumours be sufficiently large and annoying to justify our having recourse to measures so severe. In bad cases, the cautery is the only cure, for it will not only efl^ect the immediate absorption of the fluid, and the reduction of the swelling, but by contracting the skin, will act as a permanent bandage, and therefore prevent the reappearance of the tumour. THE PASTERNS. At the back of the shank, just below the knee, and in the space between the two splint-bones, are found two extraordinary and important ligaments ; extraordinary as being elastic, and important as being admirably adapted THE PASTERNS. 249 io obviate concussion. They have their origin from the head of the shank- bone, and also from the heads of the splint-bones ; then descending Jown the leg, they fill the groove between the splint-bones, but are not attached to either of them ; a little lower down, they expand on ehher side, and, approaching the pasterns, they divide, and are inserted into two little bones found at the back of the upper pastern, one on each side, called the sessa moid bones. (See p. 63, and in this cut, which represents the pastern and foot, sawed through the middle.) They form a kind of joint, both with the lower head of the shank-bone and the upper pastern-bone, to both of which they are united by ligaments (^ and g), but much more closely tied to the pastern than to the shank. The flexor tendons pass down between them through a large mucous bag, to relieve them from the friction to which, in so confined a situation, they would be exposed. This ligament is continued over the sessamoids, and afterwards obliquely forward over the pastern to unite with the long extensor tendon, and downward to the perforated tendon, which it surrounds and fixes in its place, and also to the smaller pastern-bone. A careful examination of the subjoined cut will afford a familiar idea of this complicated structure. OUT OF THE PASTERN AND OTHER BONES, LIGAMENTS, ETC. a Sliank-bone. b Upper and larger past«rn-bone. c Sessainoid-bone. d Lower or smaller pastern-bone e Navicular or shultle-bone. y Coffin-bone, or bone of the foot. g Suspensory ligament inserted into the sessamoid-bone. A Continuation of the suspensory ligament inserted into the smaller pastern-bone. ♦ Small inelastic ligament, tying down the sessamoid-bone to the larger pastera-booa. k A long ligament, reaching from the pastern-bone to the knee. I Extensor tendon inserted into both the pasterns and the coffin-bone. R 250 THE HORSE. m Tendon of the perforating' flexor inserted into the coffin-bone, after having^ paosed over the navicular-bone. n Seat of the navicular-joint lameness. o Inner or sensible frog, p Cleft of the horny frog' q A ligament uniting the navicular-bone to the smaller pastern, r A ligament uniting the navicular-bone to the coffin-bone. s Sensible sole between the coffin-bone and the horny sole. t Horny sole. u Crust or wall of the foot. T Sensible laminie to which the crust is attached. IT Coronary ring of the crust. X The covering of the coronary ligament from which the crust is secreted. z Place of bleeding at the toe. It will be easy to perceive, from this description of the situation of tfie (suspensory ligament, why splints placed backward on the leg are more likely to produce lameness than those which are found on the side of the leg. They may interfere with the motion of this ligament, or, if they are large, may bruise and wound it. The principal action of these ligaments is with the sessamoid-bones, which they seem to suspend in their places, and they are therefore called the suspensory ligaments. The pasterns (see cut, p. 249) are united to the shank in an oblique direction, differing in degree in the different breeds of horses, and in each adapted to the purpose for which that breed was designed. The weight falls upon the pastern in the direction of the shank- bone ;* and the pastern being set on obliquely, a portion of the weight must l>e communicated to the sessamoids. Much jar is saved by the yielding of the pasterqs, in consequence of their oblique direction; and the concussion which would be produced by that portion of weight which falls on the ses- samoid-bones, is completely destroyed ; for there is no bone underneath to receive it. They are suspended by this ligament ; an elastic ligament, which gradually yields to, and is lengthened by, the force impressed upon it, and in this gradual yielding and lengthening, all painful or dangerous concussion is rendered impossible. The ease and comfort of the animal of course greatly depends upon its perfect action. If the ligament lengthens, the sessamoid-bones must descend when the weight is thrown on them, and it would appear that they do so. If the thorough-bred horse, with his long pasterns, is carefully observed as he stands, the tuft at the fetlock will be some inches from the turf; but when he is in rapid motion, and the weight is thrown violently on this joint, the tuft descends, and sweeps the \ery ground. This, however, is the combined action of the fetlock and pastern -joints, and the sessamoid-bones. The sessamoids do not actually descend, but they revolve, and partly turn over. The strong ligament by which they are attached to the pastern-bone acts as a hinge, and the projecting part of the bone to which the suspensory liga- ment is united, turns round with the pressure of the weight; and so that fmrt of the bone becomes lower. How is it raised again ? This ligament, strangely constructed as a ligament, is elastic. It yields to the force im- pressed upon it, and lengthens; but as soon as the foot is lifted from the ground, and the weight no longer presses, and the force is removed, its elastic power is exerled, and it regains its former dimensions, and the ses- samoid-bone springs back into its place, and by that forcible return assist* in raising the limb.* * Mr. Percivall very clearly describes this : " Furthermore, it seems to us that theaa elastic paru assist in the elevation of the feet from the ground in those pitea io whiefa THE PASTERNS. 251 The length and obliquity of the pastern vary, we have said, in the differ. ent breeds of horses, and in proportion to the length and slanting diiection of the pastern is the springiness of the horse and the easiness of his paces. The pastern must be long in proportion to its obliquity, or the fetlock would be too close to the ground, and, in rapid action, would come violently upon it. It is necessary that the fetlock should be elevated a certain distance from the ground, and this may be effected either by a short and upright or a long and slanting pastern. In proportion as the pastern is oblique or slanting, two consequences will follow : less weight will be thrown on the pas- tern and more on the sessamoid, and, in that proportion, jar or concussion will be prevented ; and the jar of the weight which is thrown on the pastern will be lessened by the very obliquity of the bones, agreeably to what we have already stated of the angular construction of the limbs. Every advantage has, however, to a certain extent, its corresponding dis- advantages. In proportion to the obliquity, or slanting of the pastern, will be the stress on the fetlock-joint, and, therefore, the liability of that joint to injury and strain; and also the liability to "sprain of the back-sinews," from the increased action and play of the flexor tendons ; and likewise to injuries of the pastern-joints, for the ligaments will be weak in proportion to their length. The long and slanting pastern is an excellence in the race- horse, from the springiness of action and greater extent of stride by which it is accompanied. A less degree of it is necessary in the hunter, who is to unite continuance of exertion with ease of pace, and who, in his leaps, requires almost as much springiness as the race-horse; but, for the wear and tear of the hackney, a still less degree of obliquity should be found. There should be sufficient to give pleasantness of going, but not enough to endanger continuance and strength. Experience among horses will alone point out the most advantageous direction of the pastern for the purpose required ; but the slightest observation will prove the necessity of consider, able variety in the structure of this part. Let the reader imagine the heavy dray-horse, with his short and upright pasterns, contending in the race; or the race-horse, with his long and weak pasterns, endeavouring to dig his toe into the ground to move some heavy weight. The concussion is little in a cart-horse, because his movements are slow, and therefore the upright and strong pastern is given to him, which he can force into the ground, and on which he can throw the whole of his immense weight. The oblique pas- tern is given to the race-horse, because that alone is compatible with extent of stride and great speed. Except a horse for general purposes, and par- ticularly for riding, be very hardly used, a little too much obliquity is a far less evil than a pastern too upright. The upright pastern is unsafe. The very circumstance which enables the dray-horse to throw himself into his collar, throws the riding-horse down ; and while the jolting of the upright pastern is an insufferable nuisance to the rider, it is injurious to the horse, and produces many diseases in the feet and legs. A riding-horse, with upright pasterns, will soon begin to knuckle over, even with ordinary work ; and this will be almost invariably followed by ringbone, ossification of the cartilages, and contracted feet. they are called into sudden and forcible action. The suspensory ligament, by its reaction, instantaneously after extension, aids the flexor-muscles in bending the pastern-joints. The astonishing activity and expedition displayed in the movements of the race-horse at speed, seem to be referable, in part, to the promptitude with which the suspensory liga rnent can act before the flexor-muscles are duly prepared; the latter, we should say, tatch, as it were, and then direct the limb first snatched from the ground by the poweni of tlasticity. — Percivall'a Lectures on the Veterinary Art, vol. i. p. 334. Jg52 "^^^ HORSE. RUPTURE OF THE SUSPENSORY LIGAMENT. The suspensory ligament is sometimes ruptured by extraordinary exer- tion. The sessamoids are then let down, and the fetlock almost touches the ground. This is generally mistaken for rupture of the flexor tendon ; but one circumstance will sufficiently demonstrate that it is the suspensory ligament which is concerned, viz: that the horse is able to bend his foot. Rupture of this ligament is a bad, and almost desperate case. The horse is frequently lame for life, and never becomes perfectly sound. Keeping him altogether quiet, bandaging the leg, and putting on a high-heeled shoe, will afford the most probable means of relief. THE FETLOCK. The fetlock-joint is a very complicated one, and from the stress which is laid on it, and its being the principal seat of motion below the knee, it is particularly subject to injury. There are not many cases of sprain of the back-sinew which are not accompanied by inflammation of the ligaments of this joint ; and many supposed cases of sprain higher up, are simple affec- tions of the fetlock. It requires a great deal of care, and some considerable experience, to distinguish the one from the other. The heat about the part, and the point at which the horse least endures the pressure of the finger, will be the principal guides in searching out its locality. An affection of the fetlock-joint demands blistering more promptly and severely than one of the sheaths of the tendons. GROGGINESS. The peculiar knuckling over of the fetlock-joint, and tottering of the whole of the fore-leg, known by the name of Grogginess, and which is so often seen in old and over-worked horses, is seldom an affection of either the fetlock or the pastern-joints simply, although these have their full share in the mischief that has been produced by tasking the poor animal beyond his strength. Sometimes it is difficult to fix on any particular joint; at others, it seems to be traced to a joint deep in the foot, where the flexor tendon runs over the navicular-bone. It seems oftenest to be a want of power in the ligaments of the joints generally, produced by frequent and severe sprains, or by ill-judged and cruel exertion ; and, in the majority of cases, admits of no remedy ; especially as dissection often discovers ulcera- tion within the joints, and of the membrane which lines the cartilage, and even of the cartilage itself, which it was impossible to reach or remove. CUTTING. The inside of the fetlock is often bruised by the shoe or the hoof of th^ opposite foot. Many expedients have been tried to remove this; the inside heel has been raised and lowered, and the outside raised and lowered ; and sometimes one operation has succeeded, and sometimes the contrary ; and there was no point so involved in obscurity, or so destitute of principles to guide the practitioner. The most successful remedy, and that which in the great majority of cases supersedes all others, is to put on a shoe of even thickness from heel to toe ; to let the bearing be perfectly level ; and then to drive but one nail, and that near the toe, in the inside of the .shoe, which CUTTING. 9S3 !s placed on the foot by which the injury is done ; care being taken that the shoe shall not extend beyond the edge of the crust, and the crust being rasped a little at the quarters. The principle on which this shoe acts has been stated when we spoke of the speedy cut. There are some defects, however, in the natural form of the horse, which are the causes of cutting, and which no contrivance will remedy; as when the legs are placed too near each other, or when the feet are turned inward or outward. A horse with these defects should be carefully examined at the inside of the fetlock, and if there be any sore or callous places from cutting, tliere will be sufficient reason for rejecting the animal. Some horses will cut when they are fatigued, and many colts will cut before they arrive at their full strength. Ficr. 1. Fig. 2. a Upper pastern. b Lower pastern, c Navicular-bone, d Coffin-bone. Fig. 2. a Scssamoid-bone. h Upper pastern. c Lower pastern. d Navicular-bone. e Coffin-bone, with the horny iamins. The u'pper pastern bone (I, p. 249, and a in the first figure, and h in the second in this cut) receives the lower pulley-like head of the shank-bone, and forms a hinge-joint, admitting only of banding and extension, but not of side motion ; it likewise articulates with the sessamoid-bones. Its lower head has two rounded protuberances, which are received into corresponding depressions in the lower pastern. On either side, above the pastern-joint, are roughened projections for the attachment of very strong ligaments, both the capsular ligaments and many cross ligaments, which render the joint between the two pasterns sufficiently secure. The lower pastern {d, p. 249, and b in the first figure, and c in the second in the above cut) is a short and thick bone, with its larger head downward. Its upper head has two depressions to receive the protuberances on the lower head of the upper bone, bearing some resemblance to a pulley, but not so decidedly as the lower head of the shank-bone. Its lower head resembles the lower head of the other pastern, and has two prominences, likewise somewhat resembling a pulley, and by which it articulates with the coffin-bone; and a depression in front, corresponding with a projection in the coffin-bone ; and also two slight depressions behind, receiving emi- nences in the navicular-bone. Neither of these joints admit of any lateral motion. The ligaments of this joint, which is called the coffin-joint, are, like those of the pastern-joint, exceedingly strong, both the capsular and the cross ones. The tendon of the extensor muscle is inserted into the fore part, both of the upper and lower pastern-bones, as well as into the upper part of the coffin-bone (I, p. 249); and at the back of these bones the suspensory ligament is expanded and inserted, while a portion of it goes over the fore part of the upper pastern to reach the extensor tendon. Thsse attachments in front of the bones are seen in the accompanying cut. 254 THE HORSE. in which a represents the lower part of the shank- bone; J the scssumoid-bones ; c the upper pastern; d the lower pastern ; and e the coffin-bone ; ff are the branches of the suspensory ligaments going to unite with the extensor tendon ; g the long extensor tendon ; h ligaments connecting the two pastern-bones together ; and i the lateral cartilages of the foot. And now, having arrived at the foot, which is the most complicated and important part in the frame of a horse, we shall defer the consideration of the coffin and navicular-bones until we have described the hinder extremities. We may, however, observe that both these joints are subject to sprain, and particu- larly the coffin-joint. SPRAIN OF THE COFFIN-JOINT. The proof of this is when the lameness is sudden, and the heat and ten- derness are principally felt round the coronet. Bleeding at the toe, physic, fomentation, and blisters are the usual means adopted. Tiiis lameness is not easily removed, even by a blister; and, if removed, like sprains of the fet- lock and of the back-sinews, it is apt to return, and finally produce a great deal of disorganization and mischief in the foot. This wrick, or sprain of the coffin-joint, sometimes becomes a very serious affair, not being always attended by any external swelling, and. being detected only by heat around the coronet, the seat of the lameness is often overlooked ; and the disease is suffered to become confirmed before its nature is discovered. From violent or repeated sprains of the pastern or coffin-joints, or exten- sion of the ligaments attached to other parts of the pastern-bones, inflam- mation takes place in the periosteum, and bony matter is formed, which often rapidly increases, and is recognised by the name of RINGBONE. Ringbone commences in one of the pasterns, and usually about the pas- tern-joint, but it rapidly spreads, and involves not only the pastern-bones, but the cartilages of the foot. When the first deposit is on the lower pas- tern, and on both sides of it, and produced by violent inflammation of the ligaments of the joints, it is recognised by a slight enlargement, or bony tumour on each side of the foot, and just above the coronet. (See f, in the following cut.) This is more frequent in the hind-foot than in the fore, because, from the violent action of the hind-legs in propelling the horse forward, the pasterns are more subject to ligamentary injury behind than before ; yet the lameness is not so great, because the disease is confined principally to the ligaments, and the bones have not been injured by con- cussion; while, from the position of the fore limbs, and their exposure to concussion, there will generally be in them injury of the bones to be added to that of the ligaments. In its early stage, and when recognised only by a bony enlargement on both sides of the pastern-joint, or in some tew cases on one side only, the disease may frequently be removed by active blister- ing, or by the application of the cautery ; but there is so much wear and tear in this part of the animal, that the inflammation and the disposi tion to the formation of bone rapidly spread. The pasterns first become connected together by bone instead of ligament, and thence results what is called an anchylosed or fixed joint. Its motion is lost. From this joint RINGBONE. 95$ the disease proceeds to the cartilages of the foot, and to the union Deiween the lower pastern, and t*ie coffin and navicular bones ; and the motion of these parts likewise is impeded or lost, and the whole of this part of the foot becomes one mass of spongy bone. From this disposition to spread, (and at first round the pastern-joint, which is situated just above the coronet,) this disease has acquired the name of ringbone. CUT OF THE LEG. This cut will show the situation and appearance of this and some other defects of the fore-leg. a will represent the capped hock or enlargement of the joint of the elbow ; b the tying-in of the leg below the knee ; c the most frequent situation of splint on the side of the shank-bone, and not pro- ducing lameness after its first formation, because it does not interfere with the motion of the knee, or injure the sus- pensory ligament, d is the situation and appearance of the enlargement accompanying sprain of the back-sin- ews. This, however, is an aggravated case ; and the sprain may be great, and the lameness distressing, without all this swelling, e is the place of wind-gall. f gives the appearance of ring-bone, when it first appears on the side of the pastern, about the joint, and where there is naturally some prominence of bone ; ^ is the situation of sand-crack in the fore-leg. h the situation of the moUenders. Ringbone is one of the most serious lamenesses with which the horse can be afflicted. It is unsoundness when ex- isting in the slightest degree, for the lateral enlargement may speedily ex- tend ; and when the body deposit begins to spread, the disease is incurable. The fore-legs, when viewed in front, should be widest at the chest, and should gradually approach each other as we descend towards the fetlock. The degree of width must depend on ^the purposes for which the horse is wanted. The legs of a heavy draught- horse can scarcely be too far apart. His rounded chest enables him to throw more weight into the collar; and being seldom, if ever, required for speed, he wants not that occasionally increased expansion of chest which the circular form is not calculated to give. A THE HORSE. hunter, a hackney, and a ccach-horse, should have sufficient expansion of the chest, or the legs sufficiently wide apart, to leave loom for the play of the lungs ; but depth more than roundness of chest is here required, because the deep chest admits of most expansion, when the horse, in rapid action, and the circulation proportionably quickened, needs more room to breathe ; yet if the breast be too wide, there will be considerable weight thrown before, and the horse will be heavy in the hand, and unsafe. Whether the legs are near to each other or wide apart, they should be straight. The ell^ow should not have the slightest inclination inward or outward. If it inclines towards the ribs, its action will be confined, and the leg will be thrown outward when in motion, and describe a curious and awkward curve ; and this will give a peculiar rolling motion, unpleasant to the rider and unsafe to the animal. The toe will likewise be turned outward, which will not only prevent the foot from coming flat on the ground in its descent, but be usually accompanied by cutting, even more certainly than when the toe turns inward. If the elbow is turned outward, the toes will necessarily be turned inward, which is a great unsightliness, and to a certain degree injurious. The weight cannot be perfectly distributed over the foot ; the bearing cannot be true ; there will be undue pressure on the inner quarter, a tendency to unsafeness, and a disposition to splint and corn. The legs should come down perpendicularly from the elbow. If they incline backward and under the horse, there is undue stress on the extensor muscles; and the legs being brought nearer the centre of gravity, undue weight is thrown forward, and the horse is liable to knuckle over and become unsafe ; if the legs have a direction forward, the flexor muscles are strained, and the action of the horse is awkward and confined. The toe should be found precisely under the point of the shoulder. If it be a little more forward, the horse will probably be deficient in action ; if it be more under the horse, unsafeness will be added to the still greater defect in going. CHAPTER XIV. OBSERVATIONS ON THE HIND LEGS. ^' THE HAUNCH. In describing the hinder extremities, we must begin with the bones of the haunch. The haunch (see O, p. 63, and the cut, p. 230) is composed of three bones. The first is the ilium, principally concerned in the formation of the haunch. Its extended branches behind the flanks are prominent in every horse; and when they are more than usually wide, the animal is said to be ragged-hipped. A branch runs up to the spine at the commence- ment of the sacral vertebrae E, and her§ the haunch-bones are fimly united with the bones of the spine. The ischium, or hip-bone, is behind and below the ilium. Its tuberosities or prominences are seen under the tail, (cut, p. 63). The pubis unites with the two former below and behind. From the loins to the setting on of the tail, the line should be carried on almost straight, or rounded only in a very slight degree. Thus the haunch- bones will be most oblique, and will produce a corresponding obliquity, or slanting direction in the thigh-bone ; a direction in which, as we stated when describing the fore-legs, the muscles act with most advantage. This di*ec- THE THIGH. 257 tion of the haunch is characteristic of the thorough-bred horse ; and by the degree in which it is found, we judge as much as by any thing of the breeding of the animal. If the bones at D and E, p. 63, took a somewliat arched form, as they do in the cart-horse, it is evident that the bone O must be more upright, the thigh-bone P would likewise be more upright, the stifle Q would not be so far under the body, and the power of the horse would be considerably impaired. The oblique direction of the haunch and thigh-bones, produced by the straightness of the line of the spine, does noi^ as is commonly supposed, afford increased surface for the attachment of muscles, but places the muscles in a direction to act with great advantage. It is in the advantageous direction, quite as much as in the bulk of tho muscle, that the strength of the horse consists. It will be seen, from our cuts, that the angles formed by the fore and hind extremities have different directions. One points forward, and the other backward. We should expect this ; for thus the action of the fore-legs least interferes with the chest, and that of the hind legs with the belly. Width of haunch is a point of' great consequence, for that actually affords more room for the attachment of muscles ; and even though it should be so great as to subject the horse to the charge of being ragged-hipped, and may somewhat offend the eye, it is no detriment to action. If the loins be broad, and the horse be well ribbed home, the protuberances of the ilium can scarcely be too far apart. Many a ragged-hipped horse has pos- sessed both fleetness and strength, but few which were narrow across the haunch could boast of the latter quality. The opening through the centre of these bones, which constitutes the passage through which the young animal is expelled from the mother, is large in the mare, and in every quadruped, because there cannot be, from the form of the animal, any danger of abortion from the weight of the foetus pressing on the part. The only parts of these bones exposed to injury or fracture are the tuberosities or prominences of the haunch. A fall or blow may chip off and disunite a portion of them. There are no means of forcibly bringing the disunited parts together, and retaining them in their natural position. Nature, however, will cause them to unite, yet generally attended by deformity and lameness. A charge, or very strong adhesive plaster, across the haunch may be useful, as helping, in some slight degree, to support the parts, and hold them together. THE THIGH. In the lower and fore part of the hip-bones is a deep cavity or cup for the reception of the head of the upper bone of the thigh.* Although in the action of the hind-legs there cannot be the concussion to which the fore-legs are exposed (for the weight of the body is never thrown violently upon them), yet in the powerful action of these limbs there is much strain on the joints, and we shall find, therefore, that there are, in all of them, admirable provisions against injury. The head of the upper bone of the thigh is received into a deep cup (the acetahulum), by which it is surrounded on every side, and dislocation from which would seem almost impossible. But the bony cup may give way ? No ! provision is made against this: all three ♦This, althouarh the true thig-h-bone, is so concealed by thick muscles, and seeming-ly iy the continuation of the carcase, that its situation and shape are not visible to the eye, and it is generally overlooked by horsemen, who call the next bone, extending^ from the Btitlo to the hock, the thigh : therefore, to render ourselves intelligible, we term thi» the Moyver hnmit of the. thicrh. 258 THE HORSI. of the haunch-bones unite in the formation of this cup, and the sutures by which these bones are held together are of such a nature, that'one would think no shock, or exertion, or accident, could disunite them. There is even something more added to make the attachment doubly sure. Besides the usual capsular and other ligaments, a singularly strong one rises from the base of the cup, and is inserted into the head of the upper bone of the thigh, and would seem to render separation or dislocation altogether impos- sible, and yet such is the amazing power of the muscles of the hind limb, that with all these attachments, sprain of the ligaments of the haunch- joint, or the round hone, as horsemen call it, and even dislocation of the head of the thigh-bone, are occasionally found. The upper bone of the thigh we should expect to be, from the powerful muscles that are attached to it, a very strong bone, and it is both the largest and strongest in the frame. It is short and thick, and exhibits the most singular prominences, and roughnesses, and hollows, for the insertion of the immense muscles which belong to it. Four prominences, in particu- lar, called by anatomists trochanters, two on the outside, one on the inside, and one near the head of the bone, afford attachment to several important muscles. The head of the bone is placed at right angles with its body, by ■which this important advantage is gained, that the motion of the thigh-joint is principally limited to that of bending and extending, although it possesses some slight lateral, and even some rotatory or round action. The lower head of the upper bone of the thigh is complicated in its form. It consists of two prominences, which ai'e received into corresponding depressions in the next bone, and a hollow in front, in which the bone of the knee plays as over a perfect pulley. A short description of the muscles of the hinder extremities may not be uninteresting to the horseman. The next cut will give a few of them. The muscles of the hind extremity are more powerful in action than those of any other part of the frame ; therefore there is a provision made to hold them down in their respective situations, and thus contribute to their security and strength. When the skin is taken from the hind limb, we do not at once arrive at the muscles, but they are thickly covered by a dense, strong, tendinous coat, which reaches over the whole of the haunch and thigh, and only ceases to be found at the hock, where there are no muscles to be confined. If the power of the muscles be sufficient to dislocate and fracture the thigh-bone, they need the support and confinement of this ten- dinous coat. When this tendinous band is dissected off', another is found beneath, which is represented at a, raised and turned back, larger than the former, thicker and more muscular. It proceeds from the haunch-bones to the stifle, upon the fore and outer part of the haunch and thigh, and is intended to tighten and strengthen the other. Under the part of this flat and binding muscle, which is represented in our cut as raised, is a large round muscle proceeding from the ilium, not far from the cup which receives the upper bone of the thigh, and running straight down this bone — and thence its name rectus — it is inserted into the bone of the stifle. An inspection of the cut, p. 63, will show that it is so situ- ated as to be enabled to exert its great.power in the most advantageous way. It is a very prominent muscle, and forms what we may term the edge of the thigh forward. It terminates in a tendon, which is short and very strong, and w'lich is, before its insertion in the patella, united with the prolongation of the tendinous substance at g, in the cut, p. 260, and also with the tendon of the muscle at i, in that cut, and at c, in the following cut, and which is properly called vastus, from its great bulk. Some have divided this into two THE THIGH. 25P CUT OF THE MUSCLES OF THE INSIDE OF THE THIGH. muscles, the external and internal. They proceed, the external from the outer surface of the upper bone of the thigh ; the internal from the inner surface ; and are inserted into the upper part of the bone of the stifle, both on the inner and outer side. These muscles act at considera- ble mechanical disadvan- tage; they form a very slight angle, not at all ap- proaching to a right angle ; but they are muscles of immense size, and occupy all the fore-part of the thigh, from the stifle up- wards. They are power- ful extensors of the thigh, and of the hinder leg gen- erally, for they are all inserted into the bone of the knee, an(J that is con- nected by strong tendons with the bone of the true leg. We shall have more to say of the action of this muscle when we have described the bone of the knee. On the inside of the thigh are several other large fleshy muscles, as distinct to the eye as these, and which will be recognised after the slightest observation of the thigh of the living horse. First, we have a long, narrow, prominent muscle, the sartorius, or tailor's muscle, enabling him to sit cross- legged, d, arising from the edge of the haunch-bone, about half way down it, and inserted into the inner and upper part of the lower bone of the thigh, for thus we call this bone extending from the stifle to the hock, and which in the human being would be properly the leg. It bends the leg, and turns it inward, not useful in the latter case in progression, but in many of the natural actions of the horse. Next comes a broad thin muscle, e, which cannot be mistaken, occupying the greater portion of the surface of the inner part of the thigh, and par- ticularly the prominent part of it. It is called the gracilis, or slender muscle. It arises from the lower part of the haunch-bone, and, in its passage downward, uniting with the last muscle, is inserted with it into the inner and upper part of the lower bone of the thigh. It also turns the leg. If its direction be considered, it acts with evident advantage ; but its insertion into the bone of the lower bone of the thigh is very disadvantageous. It applies its power very close to the joint or centre of motion, and the weighi, consisting of the whole limb, and which may be supposed to be concentrated about its middle, is far distant. i;in of grease. When the horse is warmed by his work, and the heels share in the warmth, the momentary cold of washing may not be injurious if the animal be immediately rubbed dry; yet even this would be better avoided: but to wash out the heels, and then leave them partially dry, or perfectly wet, and suffering from the extreme cold which is produced by evaporation from a wetted surface, is the most absurd, dangerous, and injurious practice that can be imagined. It is worse when the post-horse or the plough-horse is plunged up to his belly in the river or pond, immediately after his work. The owner is little aware how many cases of inflammation of the lungs, and bowels, and feet, and heels, follow. It would, therefore, be an excel- lent rule never to wash the heels of these horses. After they have been suffered to stand for twenty minutes in the stable, during which time the horse-keeper or the carter may be employed in taking care of the harness, or carriage, or beginning to dress the horse, the greater part oi^ the dirt which had collected about the heels may be got rid of with a dry brush ; and the rest will disappear a quarter of an hour afterwards under the opera- tion of a second brushing. The trouble will not be greater, and the heels will not be chilled and subject to inflammation. There has been some dispute as to the propriety of cutting the hair from the heels. Custom has very properly retained the hair on our farm-horses. Nature would not have given it had it not been useful. It guards the heel from being injured by the inequalities of the ploughed field ; it pre- vents the dirt, in which the heels are constantly enveloped, from reaching and caking on and irritating the skin ; it hinders the usual moisture, which is mixed with the clay and mould, from reaching the skin, and it preserves an equal temperature in the parts. If, however, the hair be suffered to remain on the heels of our farm-horses, there is greater necessity for brushing and hand-rubbing the heels, and never washing them ; for the water used in washing will readily penetrate through the hair, and it will be absolutely impossible to get rid of it again. Indeed, we would neglect, the heels altogether, or let, as many careless carters do, the dirt accumu- late from month to month, rather than wash them. This would, indeed, be idle and injurious treatment, but it would be by far the lesser evil. Fashion and utility have removed the hair from the heels of our hackneys 280 "mF"' Hoass. and carriage-horses. In tlie usual state of our roads this defence is not wanted, or, rather, the hair would he a perfect nuisance. The hand- ruhbing or dry brushing will be an easy process ; or, if the heels must be washed, let thoni be carefully and thoroughly dried. We close this part of our treatise by repeating that grease is the child of negligence and mismanagement. It is driven from our cavalry, and it will be the fault of the gentleman and the farmer, if it be not speedily banished from every stable. CHAPTER XV. THE FOOT. The foot is composed of the horny box which covers the extremities of the horse, and the contents of that box. We will first consider the hoof, or box, which is composed of the crust or wall, the bars, the sole, and the horny frog. THE CRUST OR WALL OF THE HOOF. The crust, or wall, is that portion which is seen when the foot is placed on the ground, and reaches from the termination of the hair to the ground. It is deepest in front, where it is called the toe (see cut, p. 255) ; shal- lower at the sides, which are denominated the quarters ; and of least extent behind, where it is termed the heel. It is placed flat on the ground, but ascends obliquely backward, and possesses different degrees of obliquity in different feet. In a sound hoof, the proper degree of slanting is calculated at forty-five degrees, or the fourth part of a semicircle. When it is more oblique, or the crust is said to have " fallen in," it indicates undue flatness of the sole, or, if the obliquity be very much increased, pumiced, or convex sole. If it be more upright than the angle we have mentioned, it shows a contracted foot, and a sole too concave ; so that there is no necessity to take up the foot in order to ascertain either of these states of it. It is also of importance to observe whether the depth of the crust appears rapidly or slowly to decrease from the front to the heel. If the decrease be little, and even at the heel the crust is high and deep, it indicates a foot liable to contraction, and sand-crack, and thrush and inflammation, and the pastern is upright, and the paces of the horse are not pleasant. If the crust diminish rapidly in depth, and the heels are low, this is accompanied bjr too great slanting of the pastern, and disposition to sprain of the back sinew; the foot itself is liable to be weak and flat and bruised, and there is likewise more tendency to that frequent but obscure lameness of which we shall have occasion to treat, termed the " navicular-joint disease." The foot has spread out too much at the side, instead of growing upward, and therefore it is too much exposed. The crust in front is rather more than half an inch in thickness, and becomes gradually thinner towards the quarters and heels. If, therefore, there bo but half an inch for nail-hold at the toe, and not so much at the quarters, we need not wonder if horses are occasionally wounded in shoe- ing, and especially when some of them are so unmanageable while under- going that process. While the crust gets thinner towards both quarters, it is thinner at the inner quarter than it is at the outer, because more weight is thrown upot THE CRUST OF THE HOOF. 281 it than upon the outer. It is more under the horse : it is under the inner splint-bone on which so much more of the weight rests than on the outer, and, being thinner, it is able to expand more ; its elasticity is called more into play, and concussion and injury are avoided. When the expansion of the quarters is prevented by their being nailed to an unbending shoe, the inner quarter suffers most. Corns are oftenest found there ; contraction begins there ; sand-crack is seated there. Nature meant that this should be the most yielding part, in order to obviate concussion, because on it the weight was principally thrown, and therefore when its power of yielding is taken away, it must be the first to suffer. A careful observer will likewise perceive that the inner quarter is a little higher than the outer. While it is thin to yield to the shock, its increased surface gives it sufficient strength. On account of its thinness, and the additional weight which it bears, the inner heel wears away quicker than the outer ; a circumstance that should never be forgotten by the smith. His object is to give a plane and level bearing to the whole of the crust. To accomplish this, it will be often scarcely necessary to remove any thing from the inner heel, for it is already removed by the wear of the foot. If he forgets this, as he too often seems to do, and takes off with his knife or his buttress an equal portion all round, he leaves the inner and weaker quarter lower than the outer ; he throws an uneven bearing upon k ; and produces corns and sand-cracks and splints, which a little care and common sense might have avoided. The crust does not vary much in thickness, (see a, page 249, and b in the accompanying cut,) until near the top, at the coronet, or union of the horn of the foot with the skin of the pasterns where («?, page 249) it rapidly gets thin. It is in a manner scooped and hollowed out. It likewise changes its colour and its consistence, and seems almost like a continuation of the skin, but easily separable from it by maceration, or disease. This thin part is called the coronary ring, x, p. 249 ; and it receives within it, or covers, a thickened and bulbous prolongation of the skin, called the coronary ligament (see h in the accompanying cut). This requires a better name, for it has not a portion of ligamentous structure in it. This prolongation of the skin is thickly supplied with blood-vessels. It is almost a mesh of blood-vessels connected together by fibrous texture, and many of these vessels are employed in secreting or forming the crust or wall of the foot. Nature has enabled the sensible laminse of the coffin- bone, c, which will be described presently, to secrete some horn, in order to afford an immediate defence for itself when the crust is wounded or taken away. Of this we have proof, when in sand-crack, or quittor, we are compelled to remove a portion of the crust. A pellicle of horn, or of firm hard substance resembling it, soon covers the wound ; but the crust is principally formed from this coronary ligament. Hence it is, that in sand-crack, quittor, and other diseases, in which strips of the crust are destroyed, it is so long in being renewed, or growing doion. It must proceed from the coronary ligament, and so gradually creep down the foot with the natural growth or lengthening of the horn, of which, as in the human nail, a supply is slowly given to answer to the wear and tear of the part. Below the coronary ligament is a thin strip of horny matter, which has been traced from the frog, and has been supposed by some to be connected with the support or action of the frog, but which is evidently intended to add to the security of the part on which it is found, and to T 382 THE HORSE. bind together those various substances which are collected at the coronet. It resembles, more than any thing else, the strip of skin which surrounds the root of the human nail, and which is placed there to strengthen the union of the nail with the substance from which it proceeds. a The external crust Been at the quarter. b The coronary ring-. c The little horny plates lining the crust. d The same continued over the bars. e e The two concave surfaces of the inside of the horny frog. y That which externally is the y7 cleft of the frog'. g The bars. h The rounded part of the heels, belonging to the frog. The crust is composed of numerous fibres running at the toe in a straight direction from the coronet to the ground, but at the quarters, taking an oblique direction from the heel forwards. This construction is best calculated to enable the foot to expand when it comes in contact with the ground, and by that expansion, permitting the gradual descent of the bones of the foot, and obviating much concussion. The crust is thinner at the quarters and towards the heels, because those are the parts at which the principal expansion must take place. These fibres are held together by a glutinous substance, but in such a manner as to permit a slight degree of separation, or to bestow the power of expansion on the foot ; and when recently separated from the foot, it is an exceedingly elastic substance, and very tough, that it may not chip and break with the violence to which it is often exposed. In the absurd method of stable management, to which we shall have occasion again and again to refer, it sometimes loses much of this tough- ness, and becomes brittle and liable to chip and break. Inflammation of the internal part of the foot, by the increased heat which is produced, will cause brittleness of the hoof; deficiency of moisture and neglect of stopping will produce the same effect. Many horses are peculiarly liable to brittle hoofs during the summer; this is a very serious defect, and in some cases so much of the hoof is gradually broken away, that there is no hold left for the nails. A mixture of one part of oil of tar, and two of common fish oil, well rubbed into the crust and the hoof, will restore the natural pliancy and toughness of the horn, and very much contribute to the quickness of its growth. The wall of the hoof should be smooth and level : protuberances or rings round the crust indicate that the horse has had fever in the feet ; and that to such a degree as to produce an unequal growth of horn, and probably to leave some injurious consequences in the internal part of the foot. If there be a depression or hollow in the front of the foot, it betrays a sinking of the coffin-bone, and a flat or pumiced sole ; if the hollow be at the quarter^ it is the worst system of bad contraction. THE BARS. 283 The colour of the hoof is a matter of some consequence. Theie is a common, and we believe a well-founded prejudice against white feet, and especially whiteness of the near foot. White horn is said to be weaker ihan that of the usual dark colour; the sole is almost uniformly flat, and the quarters are weak. The inside of the crust is covered by numerous thin horny leaves, extending all round it, and reaching from the coronary ring to the toe. They are about 500 in number, broadest at their base, and terminating in the most delicate expansion of horn. They very much resemble the inner surface of a mushroom. In front they run in a direction from the coronet to the toe, and towards the quarters they are more slanting from behind forward. They correspond with similar cartilaginous and fleshy leaves on the surface of the coffin-bone, called, from their construction, sensible laminae, or lamelkB, (little leaves that have feeling,) and the one being received within the other, they form together a most elastic body, by which the whole weight of the horse is supported. THE BARS. a a The frog-. b The sole. c c The bars. d d The crust. At tne back part of the foot, the wall of the hoof, instead of being con- tinned round, and forming a circle, is suddenly bent in, as in the accom- panying cut, where d represents the base of the crust, and c this inflexion or bending of it. The cut will show that we do not refer to that bend, which forms the cleft of the frog, but to a more sudden one, constituting the commencement of the bars. The bars are, in fact, a continuation of the crust, forming an acute angle, and meeting at a point at the toe of the frog a : and the inside of the bars, like the inside of the crust (see the pre- ceding cut), presents a continuance of the horny leaves which we have just described, showing that it is a part of the same substance, and helping to discharge the same office. It needs only the slightest consideration of the cut, or of the natural hoof, to show the importance of the bars. The arch which they form on either side, between the frog and the quarters is admirably contrived, both to admit of, and to limit to its proper extent, the expansion of the foot. When the foot is placed on the ground, and the weight of the animal is thrown on the little leaves, of which we have just spoken, we can imagine these arches shortening and widening, in order to admit of the expansion of the quarters; and we can see again the bow returning to its natural curve, and powerfully assisting the foot in regaining its usual form. We can also perceive what protection these bars must form against the contraction, or wiring in of the quarters. If they are taken away, there will be nothing to resist the falling of the quarters when the foot is exposed to any disease or bad management which would induce it to contract. Again, we see the security which they afford the frog a ; and the efte«tual protection which they give against the pressure of the lateral or side parts ot the foot. Then appears the necessity of sparing and leaving them prom- inent when the foot is pared for shoeing. It is the custom with too many 284 THE HORSE. ■miths to cut them perfectly away. They imagine that that gives a more open appearance to the heels of the horse ; a seeming width wiiich may impose upon the unwary. Horses shod for the purpose of sale have usuaUy the bars removed with this view ; and the smiths in the neighbour- hood of the metropolis and large towns, shoeing for dealers, too often habit- ually pursue, without regard to their customers, the injurious practice of removing the bars. The horny frog, deprived of its guard, will speedily contract, and become elevated and thrushy; and the whole of the heel, deprived of the power of resilience or re-aclion, which the curve between the bar c and the crust d affords, will speedily fall in. Therefore, when treating of shoeing, we shall lay it down as a golden rule, that the bars should be left prominent, and we shall show why it is of essential import- ance that the shoe should rest on the angle formed by the crust and the bar. THE FROG. In the space between the bars, and accurately filling it, is the frog. It is a triangular portion of horn, projecting from the sole, almost on a level with the crust, and covering and defending a soft and elastic substance, called the sensible frog. It is wide at the heels, and there extending above a portion of the crust ; narrowing rapidly when it begins to be confined between the bars, and terminating at a point at somewhat more than half the distance from the heel to the toe. It consists of two rounded or project- ing surfaces, with a fissure or cleft between them, reaching half way down the frog, and the two portions again uniting to form the point or toe of the frog. The frog is firmly united to the sole, but it is perfectly distinct from it. It is of a different nature, being softer, and far more elastic ; and it is secreted from a different surface, for it is thrown out from the substance which it covers. Without entering into many of the questions which have been agitated, with far too much warmth among veterinarians, as to the uses of the frog, it is sufficient to refer to our cut, and consider the form and situation of this part. It very much resembles a wedge with the sharp point forwards; and it is placed towards the back part of the foot. The foot is seldom put flush and flat upon the ground, but in a direction down- wards, yet somewhat forwards ; then the frog evidently gives safety to the tread of the animal ; for it, in a manner, ploughs itself into the ground, and prevents the horse from slipping. This is of considerable consequence, when we remember some of the paces of the horse, in which his heels evidently come first to the ground, and in which the danger from slipping would be very great. We need only refer to the gallop of speed as illus- trative of this. The frog being placed at, and filling the hinder part of the foot, discharges a part of the duty sustained by the crust; for it supports the weight of the animal. It assists, likewise, and that to a material degree, in the expansion of the foot. It is formed internally of two prominences on the sides (see a, p. 283)," and a cleft in the centre, presenting two con- cavities with a sharp projection in the middle, and a gradually rounded one on each side. It is also composed of a substance peculiarly flexible and elastic. What can be so well adapted for the expansion of the foot, when a portion of the weight of the body is thrown on it? How easily will these irregular surfaces yield, and spread out, and how readily return again to their natural state ? In this view, therefore, the horny frog is a powerful agent in opening the foot ; and the dimunition of the substance of the frog, «nd its elevation above the ground, are both the cause and the consequence THE SOLE. 285 of contraction : the cause, as being able no longer powerfully to act in expanding the heels; and the consequence, as obeying a law of nature, by which that which no longer discharges its natural function is gradu- ally removed. It is, however, the cover and defence of the internal and sensible frog, at which we are not yet arrived, and, therefore, we are at present unable to develop its full use ; but we have said enough to show the absurdity of the common practice of unsparingly cutting it away. To discharge, in any degree, some of the offices which we have assigned to it, and fully to discharge even one of them, it must come in occasional contact with the ground. In the unshod horse it is constantly so: but the additional support given by the shoes, and more especially the hard roads over which the horse is now compelled to travel, render this complete exposure of the frog to the ground, not only unnecessary, but injurious. Being of so much softer consistence than the rest of the foot, it would be speedily worn away: occasional pressure, however, or contact with the ground, it must have. The rough and detached parts should be cut off at each shoeing, and the substance of the frog itself, so as to bring it just above or within the level ^f the shoe. It will then, in the descent of the sole, when the weight of che horse is thrown upon it in the putting down of the foot, descend like- wise, and pressing upon the ground, do its duty ; while it will be defended from the wear, and bruise, and injury which it would receive if it came upon the ground with the first and full shock of the weight. This will be the proper guide to the smith in operating, and to the proprietor in the directions which he gives; and the latter should often look to this, for it is a point of very great moment. A few smiths carry the notion o^ frog pres- sure to an absurd extent, and leave the frog beyond the level of the sole ; a practice which is dangerous in the horse of slow draught, and destructive to the hackney or the hunter; but the majority of them err in a contrary way, and, cutting off too much of the frog, lift it above the ground, and destroy its principal use. It should be left just above, or wUJiin the level of the shoe. THE SOLE. This is the under concave and elastic surface of the foot (see h, p. 283), extending from the crust to the bars and frog. It is not so thick as the crust, because, notwithstanding its situation, it has not so much weight or stress thrown on it as there is on the crust; and because it was intended to expand, in order to prevent concussion, when, by the descent of the bone of the foot, the weight was thrown upon it. It is not so brittle as the crust, and it is more elastic than it. It is thickest at the toe (see t, page 249), because the first and principal stress is thrown on that part. The coffin-bone f is driven forward and downward in that direction. It is like- wise thicker where it unites with the crust than it is towards the centre, for a similar and evident reason, because there the weight is first and prin- cipally thrown. In a state of nature it is, to a certain degree, hollow. The reason of this is plain. It is intended to descend or yield with the weight of the horse, and by that gradual descent or yielding, most materially lessen the shock which would result from the sudden action of the weight of the animal in rapid and violent action ; and this descent can only be given by a hollow sole. A flat sole, already pressing upon the ground could not U; brought lower : nor could the functions of the frog be then discharged ; '«e6 THE HORSE. nor would the foot have so secure a hold. Then, if the sole be naturall> hollow, and hollow because it must descend, the smith must not interfert with this important action. When the foot will bear it, he must pare oui sufficient of the horn to preserve the proper concavity, a small portion at the toe and near the crust, and cutting deeper towards the centre; and he must put on a shoe which shall not prevent tiie descent of the sole; which not only shall not press upon it, but shall leave sufficient room between it and the sole to admit of this descent. If the sole is pressed upon by the coffin-bone, by the lengthening of the elastic leaves, and the shoe will not permit its descent, the sensible part between the coffin-bone and the horn will necessarily be bruised, and inflammation and lameness will ensue. It is from this cause, that if a stone insinuates itself between the shoe and the sole, it produces so much lameness. Of the too great concav- ity of the sole, or the want of concavity, we shall treat when we arrive at the diseases of the foot. THE COFFIN-BONE. We proceed to the interior part of the foot. The lower pastern, a small portion of which (see d, page 249) is contained in the horny box, has been already described. Beneath it, and altogether inclosed in the hoof, is the coffin-bone, or proper bone of the foot, (see/, page 249, and d, fig. 1, page 253). It is fitted to, and fills the fore part of the hoof, occupying about half of it. It is of a light and spongy structure (see d, fig 1, page 253), and filled with numerous holes. Through these pass the blood-vessels of the foot, which are necessarily numerous, considering the important and various secretions there carrying on, and the circulation through the foot it is plain could not possibly be kept up, if these vessels did not run through the substance of the bone. The holes about the body of the coffin- bone convey the blood to the little leaves with which it is covered ; those near the lower part go to the sole. Considering the manner in which this bone is inclosed in the horny box, and yet the important surfaces around and below it which are to be nourished with blood, the circulation which is thus carried on within the very body of the bone is one of the most beauti- ful provisions of nature that is to be found in the whole of the frame. No inconvenience can arise from occasional or constant pressure, but the bone allows free passage to the blood, and protects it from every possible obstruction. The fore-part of the coffin-bone is not only thus perforated, but it is curi- ously roughened for the attachment of the numerous little leaves about to be described. On its upper surface it presents a concavity for the head of the lower pastern, p. 235. In front, immediately above d, is a striking prominence, into which is inserted the extensor tendon of the foot. At the back, e, p. 249, it is sloped for articulation with the navicular-bone, and more underneath, is a depression for the reception of the perforating flexor tendon, m, continued down the leg, passing over the navicular-bone at n, and at length inserted into this bone. On either side, as seen at p. 254, are projections, commonly called the wings or the heels of the coffin-bone, and at the bottom it is hollowed to answer to the convexity of the internal part of the sole. That which deserves most attention in the coffin-bone is the production of numerous little leaves round its front and sides. They are prolongations of the thick and elastic membrane covering the coffin-bone, and consist of cartilaginous, fleshy plates, proceeding from it, running down the coffin- SENSIBLE SOLE AND FROG. $gj CORNS. 305 stopped, and a poultice placed over all, if the inflammation seems to require it. On the following day a tliin pellicle of horn will frequently be found over a part or the whole of the wound. This should be, yet very lightly, touched again with the caustic ; but if there be an appearance of fungus sprouting from the exposed surface, the application of the butyr must be more severe, and the tow again placed over it, so as to allbrd considerable, yet uniform pressure. Many days do not often elapse before the new liorn covers the whole of the wound. In these extensive openings, the Friar's balsam will not often be sTiccessful, but the cure must be etiected by tlie judicious, and never too severe use of the caustic. Bleeding at the toe, and pliysic, will be resorted to as useful auxiliaries when much inflammation arises. In searching the foot, to ascertain the existence of prick, there is often something very censurable in the carelessness with which the horn is cut away between the bottom of the crust and the sole, so as to leave little or no hold for the nails, while some months must elapse before the horn will grow down sufficiently far to aflbrd the foot its natural ease, or for the shoe to be securely fastened. When a free opening has been made below, and matter has not broken out at the coronet, it will rarely be necessary to remove any portion of the horn at the quarters, although we may be able to ascertain by the use of the probe that the separation of the crust extends for a considerable space above the sole. CORNS. In the angle between the bars c, p. 283, and the quarters, the horn of the sole has sometimes a red appearance, and is more spongy and softer than at any other part. The horse flinches when this portion of the horn is pressed upon, and there is occasional or permanent lamenes§. This disease of the foot is termed corns : bearing this resemblance to the coi'n of the human being, that it is produced by pressure, and is a cause of lameness, but differing from it in that the horn, answering to the skin of the human foot, is thin and weak, instead of being thickened and hardened. When it is neglected, so much inflammation is produced in that part of the sensible-sole, that suppuration follows, and to that quittor, and the matter either undermines the horny-sole, or is discharged at the coronet. The cause is pressure on the sole at that part, by the irritation of which a small quantity of blood is extravasated. The horn is secreted in a less quantity, and of a more spongy nature, and this extravasated blood becomes inclosed in it. This pressure is produced in various ways. When the foot becomes contracted, the part of the sole inclosed between the external crust which is wiring in, and the bars which are opposing that contraction (see cut, p. 283), is squeezed as it were in a vice, and becomes inflamed ; hence it is rare to see a contracted foot without corns. When the shoe is suiFered to remain on too long, it becomes embedded in the heel of the foot : the exter- nal crust grows down on the outside of it, and the bearing is thrown on this angular portion of the sole. No part of the sole can bear continued pressure, and inflammation and corns are the result. From the length of w-ear, the shoe sometimes becomes loosened at the heels, and gravel insin- uates itself between the shoe and the crust, and accumulates in this angle, and even eats into it and wounds it. The bars are too frequently cut away, and then the heel of the shoe must be bevelled inward, in order to answer to this absurd and injurious shaping of the foot; and by this slant- »/ig direction of the heel of the shoe inward, a"" unnatural disposition to 30fl THE HORSE. contraction is given, and tlie sole must suirer in two ways, in Leing p/essed upon by the shoe, and being squeezed between the outer crust and the external portion of the bar. The shoe is often made unnecessarily narrow at the heels, by wln'ch this angle, seemingly less disposed to bear pressure than any other part of tlie foot, is exposed to accidental bruises. If, in the paring out of the foot, the smith should leave the bars prominent, he too frequently neglects to pare away the horn in the angle between the bars and the external crust; or, if he cuts away the bars, he scarcely touches the horn at this point; and thus, before the horse has been shod a fortnight, the shoe rests on this angle, and produces corns. The use of a shoe for the fore-feet, thickened at the heels, is, and especially in weak feet, a source of corns, from the undue bearing there is on the heels, and the concussion to which they are subject. The unshod colt rarely has corns. The heels have their natural power of expansion, and the sensible-sole at this part can scarcely be imprisoned, while the projection of the heel of the crust and the bar is a sufficient defence from external injury. Corns seem to be, to a certain degree, the almost inevitable consequence of shoeing, which, by limiting, or in a man- ner destroying, the expansibility of the foot, must, when the sole attempts to descend, or the coiiin-bone has a backward and downward direction (see cut, p. 249), imprison and injure this portion of the sole; and this evil consequence is increased when the shoe is badly formed, or kept on too long, or when the paring is omitted or injudiciously extended to the bars. By this unnatural pressure of the sole, blood is thrown out, and enters into the pores of the soft and diseased horn which is then secreted : therefore, we judge of the existence and extent of the corn by the colour and soft- ness of the horn at this place. The cure is difficult; for as all shoeing has some tendency to produce pressure here, it is difficult to get rid of the habit of tlirowing out this dis- eased horn when it is once contracted. The first thing to be done is well to pare out the angle between the crust and the bars. Two objects are answered by this : the extent of the disease will be ascertained, and one cause of it removed. A very small drawing- knife must be used for this purpose. The corn must be pared out to the very bottom, taking care not to wound the sole. It will ihen be discovered whether there be any effusion of blood or matter underneath. If this be suspected, an opening must be made through the horn, the matter evacuated, the separated horn taken away, the course and extent of the sinuses explored, and tlie treatment recommended for quittor adopted. Should there be no collection of fluid, the butyr of antimony should be applied over the whole extent of the corn, after the horn has been thinned as closely as possible. The object of this is to stimulate the sole to throw out more healthy horn. In bad cases, a bar-shoe may be put on, so chambered, that tiiere shall be no pressure on the diseased part. This may be worn for one or two shoeings, but not constantly, for there are few frogs that would bear the constant pressure of the bar-shoe; and the want of tbe pressure on the heel, generally occasioned by their use, would produce a softened and bulbous state of the heels, which would of itself be an inevi- table source of lameness. In the great majority of cases, the corn is either confined to the inner quarter of the foot or crust. That this should be the case may be easily imagined, from what we have said of contraction being most frequent in the inner quarter. The shoe, unfettered on the inner side, may, in corn on that side, be applied with great benefit, if the country be not too heavy, or the pace required from the horse too great. THRUSH. 3 Next is to be considered the cause of the corn, which a careful exami- nation of the foot and the shoe will easily discover. The cause being ascertained, the effect may, to a great extent, be afterwards removed. Turning out to grass, after the horn is a little grown, first with a bar-shoe, and afterwards with the shoe fettered on one side, or with tips, will often be serviceable. A horse that has once had corns to any considerable extent should at every shoeing, have the seat of the corn well pared out, and the butyr of antimony applied. The sealed shoe (hereafter to be described) should be used, with a web sulKciently thick to cover the place of tlie corn, and extending as far back as it can be conveniently made to do without injury to the frog. Low weak heels should be rarely touched with the knife, or any thing more be done to them than lightly to rasp them, to give them a level sur- face. The inner heel should be particularly spared. Corns are seldom found in the hind-feet, because the heels are stronger and the feet are not exposed to so much concussion ; and when they are found there, they are rarely or never productive of lameness. THRUSH Is a discharge of offensive matter from the cleft of the frog. It is inflam- mation of the lower surface of the sensible frog, and during which pus ia secreted together with, or instead of horn. When the frog is in its sound state, the cleft sinks but a little way into it ; but when it becomes contracted or otherwise diseased, the cleft extends in length, and penetrates even to the sensible horn within, and through this unnaturally deepened fissure the thrushy (discharge proceeds. It is caused by any thing that interferes with the healthy structure and action of the frog. We find it in the hinder feet oftener and worse than in the fore, because in our stable management the hinder feet are too much exposed to the pernicious effect of the dung and the urine, moistening or, as it were, macerating, and at the same time irri- tating them. The distance of the hinder feet from the centre of the circulation, would, as in the case of grease, more expose them to accumu- lations of fluid and discharges of this kind. In the fore-feet thrushes are usually connected with contraction. We have stated that they are both the cause and the effect of contraction. The pressure on the frog from the wiring in of the heels will produce pain and inflammation, and the inflam- mation, by the increased heat and suspended function of the part, will dis- pose to contraction. Horses of all ages, and in almost all situations, are subject to thrush. The unshod colt is frequently thus diseased. Thrushes are not always accompanied by lameness. In a great many cases the appearance of the foot is scarcely or not at all altered, and the disease can only be detected by close examination, or the peculiar smell of the discharge. The fi'og may not appear to be rendered in the slightest degree tender by it, and therefore the horse may not be considered ty many as unsound. Every disease, however, should be considered as legal unsoundness, and especially a disease which, although not attended with present detriment, must not be neglected, for it would eventually injure and lame the horse. All other things being right, a horse sliould not be rejected because he has a slight thrush, for if the shape of the hoof be not altered, experience tells us that the thrush is easily removed; yet if the thrush be not soon removed, it will alter the shape of the foot and the action of the horse, and become manifest unsoundness. The progress of a neglected thrush, although sometimes slow, is sure. The frog begins to contract in size, it becomes rough, ragged, brittle, tender. The discharge is mom 308 THE HORSE. copious and more offensive; the horn gradually disappears; a mass of hardened mucus usurps its place ; this easily peels oil", and the sensible frog remains exposed ; the horse cannot bear it to be touched ; fungous granula- tions spring from it ; (,hey spread around ; the sole becomes undei run, and canker steals over the greater part of the foot. There are i'ew errors more common or more dangerous, than that the existence of thrush is a matter of little consequence, or even, as some suppose, a benefit to the horse — a discliarge for superabundant humours — and that it should not be dried up too quickly, and in some cases not dried up at all. _ If a young colt, fat and full of blood, has a bad thrush, with nmch discharge, it may be prudent to accompany the attempt at cure by a dose of physic or a course of diuretics; a few diureiics may not be injurious when we are endeavouring to dry up thrush in older horses: but disease can scarcely be attacked too soon or subdued too rapidly, and especially a disease which steals on so insidiously, and has such fatal con- sequences in its train. If the heels once begin to contract through the baneful effect of thrush, it will always with difficulty, or frequently not at all, be afterwards removed. There are many recipes to stop a running thrush. Almost every appli- cation of an astringent, but not of too caustic a nature, will have the ehl-ct. 'J'he common Egyptiacum (vinegar boiled with honey and verdigris) is a very good liniment; but the most effectual and the safest, drying up the discharge speedily, but not suddenly, is a paste composed of two ounces of blue and one of white vitriol, powdered as linely as possible, and rubbed down with one pound of tar and two of lard. A pledget of tow covered witJi it should be introduced as deeply as possible, yet without force, into the cleft of the frog every night, and removed every morning l^efore the horse goes to work. Attention should at the same time, as in other diseases of the foot, be paid to the apparent cause of the complaint, and that cause should be carefully obviated or removed. Before tiie application of the paste, the frog should be examined, and every loose part of the horn or hardened discharge removed; and if much of the frog be then exposed, a larger and wider piece of tow covered with the paste may be placed over it, in addition to the pledget introduced into the cleft of the frog. It will be necessary to preserve the frog moist while the cure is in progiess, and this may be done by lilling the feet with tow covered by common stopping, or using the felt pad, likewise covered with it. Turning out would be preju- dici;d rather than of benefit to thrushy feet, except the dressu)g be continued, and the feet defended from moisture. , CANKEE. Is a separation of the horn from the sensible part of the foot, and the sprouting of fungous matter instead of it, and occupying a portion of, or even the whole of the sole and frog. It is tlie occasional consequence of bruise, puncture, corn, quitter, and thrush, and is extremely difficult to cure. It is more frequently the consequence of neglected thrush than of any other disease of the foot. It is oftenest found in, and is almost peculiar to the heavy breed of cart-horse, resulting partly from constitutional jire- disposition. Horses with white legs and tiiick skins, and much hair upon their legs, the very character of many of our dray-horses, are subject to cank(;r, especially if they have had an attack of grease, or their heels are habitually thick and greasy. The disposition to canker is certainly hereditary. The dray-horse likewise has liiis disadvantage, that in order to give him fool-hold, it is necessary to raise the heels of the hinder feet St» CANKER. 30r> nigh, tliat all pressure on the frog is taken away, its functions are destroyed, and it is rendered liable to disease. Canker, however, arises more from the peculiar injury to which the feet of these horses are subject from the enormous shoes with which they are covered, the bulk of the nails with which these shoes are necessarily fastened to the foot, and the strain of the foot, in the violent although short exertion in moving heavy weights; but most of all from the neglect of the feet, and the filthiness of the stables in these establishments. Although canker is a disease most difficult to remove, it is easily prevented. Attention to the punctures to which these heavy horses, with their clubbed feet and brittle hoofs, are more than any others subject in shoeing, and to the bruises and treads on the coronet, to which with their awkwardness and weight they are so liable, and the greasy heels which a very slight degree of negligence will produce in them, and to the stopping of the thrushes, which are so apt in them to run on to the separation of the horn from the sensible-frog, will most materially lessen the number of cankered feet. Where this disease often occurs, the owner of the team may be well assured that there is gross mismanagement, either in himself, or his horsekeeper, or smith, or surgeon, and it will rarely be a difficult matter to detect the precise nature of that mismanagement. The cure of canker is the business of the veterinary surgeon, and a most harassing and tedious business it is. The principles on which he proceeds are, first of all, to remove the extraneous fungous growth, and here proba- bly he will call in the aid both of the knife and the caustic, or the cauter} ; he will cut away every portion of horn which is in the slightest degree separated from the sensible parts beneath. He will next endeavour to dis- courage the growth of fresh fungus, and to bring the foot into that state m which it will again secrete healthy horn: here he will remember that he has to do with the surface of the foot; that this is a disease of the surface only, and that there will be no necessity for those deeply-corroding and tor- turing caustics which eat to the very bone. A slight and daily application of the chloride of antimony, and that not where the new horn is forming, but only on the surface which continues to be diseased, and accompanied by as firm but equal pressure as can be made ; and careful avoidance of the slightest degree of moisture; the horse being exercised or worked in the mill, or wherever the foot will not be exposed to wet, and that exercise adopted as early as possible, and even from the beginning, if the disease is confined to the sole and frog, these means will succeed, if the disease is capable of cure. Humanity, perhaps, will dictate, that, considering the long process of cure in a cankered foot, and the daily torture of the caustic, and the suffering which would otherwise result from so large or exposed a surface, the nerves of the leg should be divided, to take away the sense of pain; but then especial care must be taken that the horse is placed in such a situation, and exposed to such work, that, being insensible to pain, he may not injuriously batter and bruise diseased parts. Medicine is not of much avail in the cure of canker. It is a mere local disease; or the only cause of fear is, that so great a determination of blood ta.the extremities having existed during the long progress of the cure, it may in some degree continue, and produce injury in another form. Grease has occasionally followed canker. They have, although rarely, been known to alternate. When one has become better, the other has appeared, and that for a considerable period. It may, therefore, be prudent, when the cure of a cankered foot is nearly effected, to subject the horse to a course of alteratives or diuretics. 310 THE HORSE. OSSIFICATION OF THE CARTILAGES We have spoken (page 28S) of tlie side cartilages of the foot, occupying (see cut, page 254) a considerable portion of the external side and back part of the ibot. They are designed to preserve the expansion of the upper part of the foot, and to preserve it, when that of the lower part is limited or destroyed by shoeing. These cartilages are subject to inflammation, and tlie result of that inflammation is, tliat the cartilages are absorbed, and boap is substituted in their stead. This ossihcation of the cartilages frequently accompanies ringbone, but it may exist without any affection of tbe pastern- joint. It is oflenest found in horses of heavy draught. It arises not so nmch from concussion, as from a species of sprain, for the* pace of the jiorse is slow. The cause, indeed, is not well understood, but of the eflect we fiave too numerous instances. Very few heavy draught-horses arrive at old age without this change of structure. In the healthy state of the foot, these cartilages will readily yield to the pressure of the fingers on the coronet over the quarters, but, by degrees, the resistance becomes greater, and at length bone is formed, and the parts yield no more. No evident inflammation of the foot, or great, or perhaps even perceptible lameness accompanies this change: a mere slight degree of stiffness may have been observed, which, in a horse of more rapid pace, would have been lameness. Even when the change is completed, there is not in many cases any thing more tlian a slight increase of stifihess, little or not at all interfering with the usefulness of the horse. When this altered structure appears in the lighter horse, the lameness is more decided, and means should be taken to arrest the progress of the change : these are blisters or firing; but, after these parts have become bony, no operation will restore the cartilage. Connected with ringbone, the lameness may be very great. This has been spoken of in page 254. WEAKNESS OF THE FOOT. This is more accurately a bad formation, than a disease; often, indeed, the result of disease, but in many instances the natural construction of the foot. The term weak-foot is familiar to every horseman, and the conse- quence is severely felt by all who have to do Avith horses. In the slanting of the crust from the coronet to the toe, a less angle is almost invariably formed, amounting, probably, to not more than forty, instead of forty-five, degrees; and after the horse has been worked for one or two years, the line is not straight, but a little indented or hollow, midway between the coronet and the toe. We have described this as the accompaniment of pumiced feet, but it is often seen in weak feet, which, although they might become jjumiced by severity of work, do not otherwise have the sole convex. The crust is not only less oblique than it ought to be, but it has not the smooth, even appearance of the good foot. The surface is sometimes irregularly roughened, but it is much oftener roughened in circles or rings. The form of the crust likewise presents too much the appearance of a cone; the hot- torn of the foot is unnaturally wide in proportion to the coronet; and the whole of the foot is generally, but not always, larger than it should be. When the foot is lifted, it will often present a round and circular appearance, with a fullness of frog, that would mislead the inexperienced, and indeed be considered as almost the perfection of structure ; but, being examined more closely, many glaring defects will be seen. The sole is flat, and the smith finds that it will bear little or no paring The bars are THE CONCAVE-SEATED SHOE. 3] I small in size. They are not cut away by the smith, but they can be scarcely said to have any existence ; the heels are low, so low that the very coronet seems almost to touch the ground ; and the crust, if examined, seems scarcely thick enough to hold the nails. Horses with these feet can never stand much work. They will be subject to corns, to bruises of the sole, to convexity of the sole, to punctures in nailing, to breaking away of the crust, to inflammation of the foot, and to sprain and injury of the pas- tern, and the fetlock, and the flexor tendons. These feet admit of little improvement. Shoeing as seldom as may be, and with a light, yet wide concave web ; little or no paring at the time of shoeing, with as little violent work as possible, and especially on rough roads, may protract for a long period the evi\ day, but he who buys a horse with these feet wiJl sooner or later have cause to repent his bargain. CHAPTER XVII. ON SHOEING. The period when the shoe began to be nailed to the foot of the horse is uncertain. William the Norman introduced it into our country. We have seen, in the progress of our inquiry, that while it affords to the foot of the horse that defence which seems now to be necessary against the destructive effects of our artificial and flinty roads, it has entailed on the animal some evils. It has limited or destroyed the beautiful expansibility of the lower part of the foot ; it has led to contraction, although that contraction has not always been accompanied by lameness; in the most careful fixing of the best shoe, and in the careless manufacture and setting on of the bad one, much injury has often been done to the horse; yet, as we have already stated, to nothing like the extent which some have fancied or feared. THE CONCAVE- SEATED SHOE. The proper form and construction of the shoe is a subject deserving of very serious inquiry, for it is most important to ascertain the kind of shoe that will do the least mischief to the feet. We subjoin a cut of that which we strongly recommend for general purposes. It is in use in many of our best forges, and is gradually superseding the flat and the simple concave shoe. The following cut exhibits the near fore shoe. It presents a perfectly flat surface to the ground, to give as many points of bearing as possible, except that, round the outer edge, there is a groove or fuller, in which the nail-holes are punched, so that, sinking into the fuller, their heads project but a little way, and are soon worn down level with the shoe. The ground surface of the common shoe used in the country is somewhat convex, and the inward rim of the shoe comes first on the ground; the consequence of this is, that the weight, instead of being borne fairly on the crust, is supported by the nails and the clenches, which must be injurious to the crust, and often chip and tear it. The web of the shoe is of the same thickness throughout, from the toe to the heel ; and it is sufficiently wide to guard t le sole from bruises, and 211 THE HORSE. a& wide at the heel as the frog will permit, in order to cover tlie scat of corn, and enable the horse to stand at his natural ease. On the foot side it is seated. The outer part of it is accurately flat, and of the width of the crust, and designed to support the crust, and the crust oiiy ; for it has already been proved that by the crust alone, or ratlier by the union between the numerous little plates proceeding from the crust aiid the covering of the coffin-bone, the whole weight of the horse is sup- ported. Towards the heel this flattened part is wider, and occupies tbe wnole breadth of the web, to support (see page 283) the heel of the crust and its reflected part, the bar: thus, while "it defends the horn included within this angle from injury, it gives that equal pressure upon ihe bar and the crust, which is the best preventive against corn, and a powerful obstacle to contraction. It is fastened to the foot by nine nails, five on the outside, and four on the inner side of the shoe; those on the outside extending a little ffirther down towards the heel, because the outside heel is thicker and stronger, and there is more nail-hold ; the la-st nail on the inner quarter being farther from the heel on account of the weakness of that quarter. For feet not too large, and where moderate work only is required from the horse, fournails on the outside, and three on the inside, will be sufficient; and the last nail being far from the heels, will allow more expansion there. The inside part of the web is bevelled off, or rendered concave, that it may not press upon the sole. Notwithstanding our iron fetter, the sole does, although to a very inconsiderable extent, descend when the foot of the horse is put on the ground. It is unable to bear constant or even occasional pressure, and if it came in contact with the slioe, the sensible sole, between the horny sole and the coffin-bone, would be bruised, and lameness would ensue. Many of our horses, from too early and undue work, liave the natural concave sole flattened, and the disposition to descend and the degree of descent are thereby increased. The concave shoe pre- vents, even in this case, the possibility of injury, because the sole can never descend in the degree in which the shoe is bevelled. A shoe bevelled still further is necessary to protect the projecting or pumiced foot. THE PREPARATION OF THE FOOT. 313 While the horse is travelling, dirt and gravel are too apt to insinuate themselves between the web of the shoe and the sole. If the shoe were flat, tiiey would be easily retained there, and would bruise the sole and be productive of injury; but when the shoe is thus bevelled off, it is scarcely possible for them to remain. They must be shaken out every time the foot comes in contact with the ground. The web of the shoe is likewise of that thickness, that when the foot is properly pared, the prominent part of the frog shall lie just within and above its ground surface, so that in the descent of the sole the frog shall come sufficiently on the ground, to enable it to act as a wedge, and to expand the quarters, while it is defended from the wear and injury it would receive if it came on the ground with the first and full shock of the weight. The nail-holes are, on the ground side, placed as near the outer edge of the shoe as they can safely be, and brought out near the inner edge of the seating. The nails thus take a direction inward, resembling the direction oi' the crust itself, and take firmer hold ; while the strain upon them in the common shoe is altogether prevented ; and the weight of the horse being thrown on a flat surface, contraction is not so likely to be produced. The smith sometimes objects to the use of this shoe, on account of its not being so easily formed as one composed of a bar of iron, either flat or a little bevelled. It likewise occupies more time in the forming ; but these objections would vanish, when the owner of the horse declared that he would have him shod elsewhere ; or when he consented, as in justice he should, to pay somewhat more for a shoe that required better workman- siiip and longer time in the construction. THE PREPARATION OF THE FOOT. We will suppose that the horse is sent to the forge to be shod. If the master would occasionally accompany him there, he would find it much to his advantage. The old shoe must be first taken off. We have something to observe even on this. It was retained on the foot by the ends of the nails being twisted off", turned down, and clenched. These clenches should be first raised, which the smith seldom takes the trouble thoroughly to do ; but after going carelessly round the crust, and raising one or two of the clenches, he takes hold first of one heel of the shoe, and then of the other, and by a violent wrench separates them from the foot, and by a third wrench, applied to the middle of the shoe, he tears it off. By this means he must enlarge every nail-hole, and weaken the future hold, and sometimes tear off" portions of the crust, and otherwise injure the foot. The horse generally shows by his flinching thai he suffers by the violence with which this preliminary operation is performed. The clenches should always be raised or filed otF; and where the foot is tender, or the horse is to be examined for lameness, each nail should be partly punched out. Many a stub is left in the crust, the source of future annoyance, when this unnecessary violence is used. The shoe having been removed, the smith proceeds to rasp the edges of the crust. Let not the stander-by object to the apparent violence which he uses, or fear that the foot will suffer. It is the only means he has, with safety to his instruments, to detect whether any stubs remain in the nail- holes ; and it is the most convenient method of removing that portion of the crust into which dirt and gravel have insinuated themselves. Next comes the important process of paring out, with regard to which il IS almost impossible to lay down any specific rules. This, howevei, we can say with confidence, that more injury has been done by the neglect X 314 THE HORSE. of paring, tlian by carrying it to too great an extent. The act of paring is a work of much more labour than the proprietor of tlie horse often imagines; tiie smith, except he be overlooked, will give himself as little trouble about it as he can ; and that which, in the unshod foot, would be worn away by contact with the ground, is suffered to accumulate month after month, until the elasticity of the sole is destroyed, and it can no longer descend, and the functions of the foot are impeded, and foundation is laid for corn, and contraction, and navicular disease, and inflammation. That portion of horn should be left on the sole, which will defend the internal parts from being bruised, and yet suffer the external sole to descend. How is this to be measured? The strong pressure of tb<> thumb of the smith will be the best guide. The buttress, that most destructive of all instruments, being banished from the respectable forge, the smith sets to work with his drawing-knife, and he removes the growth of horn, until the sole will yield, although in the slightest possible degree, to the very strong pressure of his thumb. The proper thickness of horn will then remain. If the foot has been previously neglected, and the horn is become very hard, the owner must not object if the smith resorts to some means to soften it a little ; and if he takes one of his flat irons, 'and having heated it, draws it over tlie sole, and keeps it a little while in contact with it. When the sole is thick, this rude and apparently barbarous method can do no harm, but it should never be permitted with the sole that is regularly pared out. The quantity of horn to be removed in order to leave the proper degree of thickness will vary with different feet. From the strong foot a great deal must be taken. From the concave foot the horn may be i-emoved until the sole will yield to a moderate pressure. From the fiat foot little need be pared; while the pumiced foot will spare nothing but the ragged parts. The paring being nearly completed, the knife and the rasp of the smith must be a little watched, or he will reduce the crust to a level with the sole, and thus endanger the bruising of the sole by its pressure on the edge of the seating. The crust should be reduced to a perfect level, all round, but left a little higher than the sole. The heels will require very considerable attention. From the stress which is thrown on the inner heel, and from the weakness of the quarter there, it usually wears considerably faster than the outer one ; and, if an equal portion of horn were pared from it, it would be left lower than the outer heel. The smith should, therefore, accommodate his paring to the comparative wear of the heels, and be very careful to leave them as precisely level as possible. If the reader will recollect what we have said of the intention and action of the bars, he will readily perceive that the smith should be checked in his almost universal fondness for opening the heels, or, more truly, removing that which is the main impediment to contraction. That portion of the heels between the inflection of the bar and the frog should scarcely be touched ; at least, nothing but the ragged and detached parts should be cut away. The foot may not look so pretty, but it will last longer without contraction. The bar likewise should be left fully prominent, not only at its first inflection, but as it runs down the side of the frog. The heel of our shoe is designed to rest partly on the heel of the foot, and partly on the bar, for reasons that have been already stated. If the bar is weak, the growth of it should be encouraged, and it should be scarcely touched at the shoeiujj until it has attained a level with the crust. We recall to the recollection ot THE PUTTING ON OF THE SHOE, 3I5 our readers, the observation which we have made in page 283, that the destruction of the bars not only leads to contraction by removing a power- ful impediment to it, but by adding a still more powerful cause in the slanting direction which is given to the bearing at the heels, when the bar does not contribute to the support of the weight. It will also be apparent that the horn between the crust and the bar should be carefully pared out. Every horseman has observed the relief which is given to the animal lame with corns when this angle is well thinned ; a relief, however, which is but temporary, for when the horn grows again, and the shoe presses upon it, the torture of the animal is renewed, with the greater probability of permanent ill consequences. The degree of paring to which the frog must be subjected will depend on its prominence, and on the shape of the foot. The principle has already- been stated, that it must be left so far projecting and prominent, that it shall be just within and above the lower surface of the shoe, it will then descend with the sole, sufficiently to discharge the functions which we have attrib- uted to it. If it be lower, it will be bruised and injured; if it be higher, it cannot come in contact with the ground, and thus be enabled to do its duty. The ragged parts must be removed, and especially those occasioned by thrush, but the degree of paring must depend entirely on this principle, and be governed by the circumstances enumerated. It appears, then, that the office of the smith requires some skill and judgment in order to be properly discharged ; and the horse proprietor will find it his interest occasionally to visit the forge and complain of the care- less, or idle, or obstinate, and reward, by some trifling gratuity, the expert and diligent. He should likewise remember that a great deal more depends on the paring out of the foot than on the construction of the shoe ; that few shoes, except they press upon the sole, or are made outrageously bad, will lame the horse; but that he may be very easily lamed from ignorant and improper paring out of the foot. THE PUTTING ON OF THE SHOE. The foot being thus prepared, the smith looks about for a shoe. He should select one that as nearly as possible fits the foot, or may be altered to the foot. He will sometimes care little about this, for he can easily alter the foot to the shoe. The toe-knife is a very convenient instrument for him, and plenty of horn can be struck off with it, or removed by the rasp, to make the foot as small as the shoe; while he cares little, although by this destructive method the crust is materially thinned where it should receive the nail, and the danger of puncture is increased, and also the danger of pressure upon the sole, and a foot so artificially diminished in size will soon grow over the shoe, to the hazard of considerable or perma- nent lameness. While choosing the shoe, we must once more refer to the shape of our pattern shoe; the web is of equal thickness from toe to heel. A shoe thinner at the heel than at the toe, by letting down the heel too low, is apt to produce sprain of the flexor tendon, and a shoe thicker at the heel than at the toe is fit only to elevate the frog, to the desl'uction of its function, and to its own certain disease, and also to press upon, and to oatter, and to bruise that part of the foot which is soonest and most destructively injured. 31 G THE HORSE. CALKINS. It is expedient not only that the foot and ground surface of the shoe should be most accurately level, but that the crust should be exactly smoothed and fitted to the shoe. Much skill and time are necessary to do this perfectly with the drawing-knife. The smith has aflopted a method of more quickly and more accurately adapting the shoe to the foot. He pares the crust as level as he can, and then he takes the shoe, at a heat some- thing below a red heat, and applies it to the foot, and detects any little elevations by the deeper colour of the burned horn. This practice has been much inveighed against; but it is the abuse and not the use of the thing which is to be condemned. If the shoe be not too hot, nor held too long on the foot, an accuracy of adjustment is thus obtained, which the knife would be long in producing, or would not produce at all. If, however, the shoe is made to burn its way to its seat with little or no previous preparation of the foot, the heat must be injurious both to the sensible and insensible parts of the foot. The heels of the shoe should be examined as to their proper width. Whatever be the custom of shoeing the horses of dealers, and the too prev- alent practice, in the metropolis, of giving the foot an open appearance, although the back part of it is thereby exposed to injury, nothing is more certain than that, in the horse for work, the heels, and particularly the seat of corn, can scarcely be too well covered. Part of the shoe projecting outward can be of no possible good, but rather an occasional source of mischief, and especially in a heavy country. A shoe, the web of which projects inward as far as it can, without touching the frog, affords protec- tion to the angle between the bars and the crust. Of the manner of attaching the shoe to the foot the owner can scarcely be a competent judge; he can only take care that the shoe itself shall not be heavier than the work requires ; that for work a little hard, the shoe shall still be light, with a bit of steel welded into the toe ; that the nails shall be as small, and as few, and as far from the heels, as may be con- sistent with the security of the shoe ; and that, for light work at least, the shoe shall not be driven on so closely and firmly as is often done, nor the points of the nails be brought out so high up as is generally practised. There are few cases in which the use of calkins (a turning up and elevation of the heel) can be admissable in the fore-feet, except in frosty weather, to prevent the slipping of the feet. If, however, calkins are used, let them be placed on both feet. If the outer heel only be raised with the calkin; as is too often the case, the weight cannot be thrown evenly on the foot, and undue straining and injury of some part of the foot or of the leg must be the necessary consequences. Few things deserve more the atten- tion of the horseman than this most absurd and injurious of all the practices of the forge. One quarter of an hour's walking, with one side of the shoe or boot raised considerably above the other, will painfully convince us of what the horse must suffer from this too common method of shoeing. We cannot excuse it even in the hunting shoe. If the horse be ridden far to cover, or galloped over much hard and flinty ground, he will inevitably auffer from this unequal distribution of the weight. If the calkin be put on the outer heel to prevent the horse from slipping, either the horn of that heel should be lowered to a corresponding degree, or the other heel of the shoe should be raised to the same level by a gradual thickening. Of the u«e of calkins in the hinder foot, we shall presently speak DIFFERENT KINDS OF SHOES. 317 CLIPS. These are portions of the upper edge of the shoe, hammered out, and turned up so as to embrace the lower part of the crust, and which is usually pared out a little to receive the clip. They are very useful, as more securely attaching the shoe to the foot, and relieving the crust from that stress upon the nails which would otherwise be injurious. A clip at the toe is almost necessary in every draught-horse, and absolutely so in the horse of heavy draught, to prevent the shoe from being loosened or torn off by the stress which is thrown upon the toe in the act of drawing. A clip on the outside of each shoe at the beginning of the quarters will give security to it. Clips are likewise necessary on the shoes of all heavy horses, and of all others that are disposed to stamp, or violently paw with their feet, and thus incur the danger of displacing the shoe ; but they are evils, in that they press upon the crust as it grows down, and should only be used when cir- cumstances absolutely require them. THE HINDER SHOE, In forming the lilnder shoes, it should be remembered that the hind limbs are the principal instruments in progression, and that in every act of pro- gression, except the walk, the toe is the point on which the whole frame of the animal turns, and from which it is propelled. This part, then, should be strengthened as much as possible ; and, therefore, the hinder shoes are made broader at the toe than the fore ones, and the toe of the foot, which is riaturally broader than that of the fore- foot, is still further widened by rasping. Another good effect is produced by this, that the hinder foot being shortened, there is less danger of over-reaching or forging, and especially if the shoe be wider on the foot surface than on the ground one; and thus the shoe is made to slope inward, and is a little within the toe of the crust. The shape of the hinder foot is somewhat different from that of the fore- foot; it is sti'aighter in the quarters, and the shoe must have the same shape. For carriage and draught-horses generally, calkins may be put on the heels, because the animal will thus be enabled to dig his toe more firmly into the ground, and urge himself forward, and throw his weight into the collar with greater advantage. But the calkins must no be too high, and they must be of an equal height on each heel ; otherwise, as has been stated with regard to the fore-feet, the weight will not be fairly distributed over the foot, and some part of the foot or of the leg will materially suffer. The nails in the hinder shoe may be placed nearer to the heel than in the fore shoe, because, from the comparative little weight and concussion thrown on the hinder feet, there is not so much danger of contraction. DIFFERENT KINDS OF SHOES. The shoe will vary in substance and weight with the kind of foot, and the nature of the work. A weak foot should never wear a heavy shoe, nor any foot a shoe that will last longer than a month. Here, perhaps, we may be permitted to caution the horse-proprietor against having his cattle shod too much by contract, unless he binds down his farrier or surgeon to remove the shoes once at least in every month; for if the contractor, by a heavy shoe, and a little steel, can cause five or six weeks to intervene between the shoeings, he will do so, although the feet of the horse must necessarily suffer The shoe should never be heavier than the work requires. An ;}I8 THE HOilSE. ounce or two in the weight of tlie shoe will sadly tell before the end of a hard day's work. This is acknowledged in the hunter's shoe, which is narrower and lighter than that of the hackney with even smaller feet than the hunter; and it is more decidedly acknowledged in the racer, who wears a shoe only sufficiently thick to prevent it from bending when used. THE HUNTING SHOE. The hunter's shoe is different from that of the hackney in shape as well as weight. It is not so much bevelled off as the common concave seated shoe. Sufficient space alone is left for the introduction of a picker between the shoe and the sole, otherwise, in going over heavy ground, the clay will get in, and by its tenacity loosen, and even tear off the shoe. The heels likewise are somewhat shorter, that they may not be torn off by the toe of the hind-feet when galloping fast, and the outer heel is frequently and injudiciously turned up to prevent slipping. The reader will remember what we have just said. of this. If calkins are necessary, let, at least, both heels have an equal bearing. THE BAR-SHOE. A bar-shoe is a very useful contrivance. It is the continuation of the common shoe round the heels, and by means of it the pressure may be taken off some tender part of the foot, and thrown on another which is better able to bear it, or more widely and equally diffused over the whole foot. It is principally resorted to in case of corn, the seat of which it perfectly covers; in pumiced feet, the soles of which may be thus elevated above the ground, and secured from pressure; in sand-crack, when the pressure may be removed from the fissure, and thrown on either side of it; in thrushes, when the frog is tender, or is become cankered, and requires to be frequently dressed, and the dressing can by this means alone be retained. In these cases the bar-shoe is an excellent contrivance, if worn only for one or two shoeings, or as long as the disease requires it to be worn, but k must be left off as soon as it can be dispensed with. If it be used for the protection of a diseased foot, however it may be chambered and laid off the frog, it will soon be flattened down upon it ; or if the pressure of it be thrown on the frog, to relieve tiie sand-crack or the corn, that frog must be very strong and healthy which can long bear the great and continued pressure. More mischief is often produced in the frog than previously existed in the part which was relieved. It will be plain that in the use of the bar-shoe for corn or sand-crack, the crust and frog should be precisely on a level, and the bar should be the widest part of the shoe, to affoi'd as extended bearing as possible on the frog, and therefore less likely to be injurious. Bar-shoes are evidently not safe in frosty weather; they are never safe when much speed is required from the horse, and they are apt to be wrenched off in a heavy, clayey country. TIPS. Tips are short shoes, reaching only half round the foot, and worn while the horse is at grass, to prevent the crust being torn by the occasional hard- ness of the ground, or by the pawing of the animal ; and the quarters at the same time being free, the foot disposed to contract has a chance of expanding and regaining its natural shape. FELT OR LEATHER SOLES. 31 g THE EXPANDING SHOE. Our subject would not be completed if we did not describe the supposed expanding shoe. It is either seated or concave like the common shoe, with a joint at the toe, by which tlie natural expansion of the foot is said to be permitted, and the injurious consequences of shoeing prevented. There is, however, this radical defect in the jointed shoe, that the nails occupy the same situation as in the common shoe, and prevent, as do the nails of the common slioe, the gradual expansion of the sides and quarters, and allow only of a hinge-like motion at the toe. This is a most imperfect accommodation of the expansion of the foot to the action of its internal parts, and even this accommodation is afforded in the slightest possible degree, or rather can scarcely be aflbrded at all. Either the nails fix the sides and quarters as in the common shoe, and then the joint at. the toe is useless ; or, if that joint merely opens like a hinge, the nail- holes in the shoe can no longer correspond with those in the quarters, which are unequally expanding at every point ; and, therefore, there will be more stress on the crust at these holes, which will not only enlarge them, and destroy the fixed attachment of the shoe to the hoof, but will often tear away portions -of the crust. This has, in many cases, been found to be the efi'ect of the jointed shoe : the sides and quarters of the foot have been broken until it has become difficult to find nail-hold. This shoe, to answer the intended purpose, should consist of many joints, run- ning along the sides and quarters, which would make it too complicated and expensive and frail for general use. While the shoe is to be attached to the foot by nails, we must be content with the concave seated one, taking care to place the nail-holes as far from the heels, and particularly from the inner heel, as the state of the foot and the nature of the work will admit ; and where the country is not too heavy nor the work too severe, even omitting the nails on the inner side of the foot. Shoes nailed on the outer side, and at the toe, are more secure than some would imagine, while the inner quarter will be left free, to prevent contraction, or to arrest its progress. The attempt, however, to lessen the evils produced by shoeing is most praiseworthy ; and men like Mr. Bracy Clark deserve the respect and the thanks of the public, although their labours may not be crowned with suc- cess. Every contrivance permanently to fix the shoe on the foot loithouL the use of nails has failed; but a make-shift shoe has been contrived, and is to be procured at most saddlers, which is easily carried in the pocket, and put on in a minute or two, if a shoe is lost in hunting or on the road ; and which will remain securely attached to the foot, and prevent injury to it, during a journey of thirty or forty miles. FELT OR LEATHER SOLES. When the foot is bruised or inflamed, the concussion or shock produced by the hard contact of the elastic iron on the ground gives the animal much pain, and causes a short and feeling step, or even lameness, and aggravates the injury or disease. A strip of felt or leather is sometimes placed between the seating of the shoe and the crust, which, from its want of elasticity, deadens or materially lessens the vibration or shock, and the horse treads more freely and is evidently relieved. This is a very good contrivance while the inflammation or tenderness of the foot continues, but a very bad practice, if constantly adopted. The nails cannot be driven so surely or so securely when this substance is interposed between the shoe and the foot ; 320 THE HORSE. the contraction or swelling of the felt or leather from the efiect of nnoisture or dryness will soon render the attachment of the shoe less firm; there will be too much play upon the nails; the nail-holes will enlarge, and the crust will be broken away. After wounds or extensive bruises of the sole, or where the sole is thin and flat and tender, it is sometimes covered with a piece of leather, fitted to tlie sole, and nailed on with the shoe. This may be allowed as a temporary defence of the foot; but there is the same objection to its permanent use from the insecurity of fastening, and the strain on the crust, and the frequent chipping of it: and there are these additional inconveniences, that if the hollow between the sole and the leather be filled with stopping and tow, it is exceedingly difficult to introduce them so evenly and accurately as not to produce some partial or injurious pressure; that a few days' work will almost invariably so derange the padding as to pro- "duce partial pressure; that the long contact of the sole with stopping of almost every kind will produce, not a healthy, elastic horn, but horn of a scaly, spongy nature; and that, if the hollow be not thus filled, gravel and dirt will insinuate themselves, and cause unequal pressure, and eat into and injure the foot. CHAPTER XVIII OPERATIONS. These belong more to the veterinary surgeon than to the proprietor of the horse, but a short account of the manner of conducting the principal ones should not be omitted. It is frequently necessary to bind the human patient, and in no painful or dangerous operation should this preliminary be omitted. It is more necesijary to bind the horse, who is not under the control of reason, and whose struggles may not only be injurious to himself, but dangerous to the operator. Tlie /rev/s is a machine indispensable to every continental forge; even the quietest horses are there put into it to be shod. It is found in many of our country forges, and is occupied by horses that cannot otherwise be shod without manifest danger to the smith. It seldom, however, finds a place in our improved forges, although it would be useful for docking, firing, and many other purposes. The horse is confined within enormous bars of wood, and slung there, but many have been destroyed in their determined resistance to such restraint. The side-line is a very simple and useful method of confining the horse, and places him in sufficient subjection for the operations of docking, nicking, and slight firing. The long line of the hobbles, or a common cart, rope with a noose at the end, is fastened on the pastern of one hind-leg. The rope is then brought over the neck and round the withers, and there lied to the portion that comes from the leg. The leg may thus be drawn so far forward, that while the horse evidently cannot kick with that leg, he ii, disarmed of tlie other; for he would not have sufficient support under him if he attempted to raise it. Neither can he easily use his fore-legs, or, if he attempts to use them, one of them may be lifted up, when he becomes nearly powerless. If necessary, the aid of the twitch or the barnacltiS. may be resorted to. BLEEDING. 321 For every minor operation, and even for many that are of more import, anee, this mode of restraint is sufficient ; especially if the operator ha* QCtive and determined assistants : and we confess that we are no friends to the casting of horses, if it can possibly be prevented. When both legs are mcluded in the hobble or rope (as in another way of using the side-line), the horse may appear to be more secure, but there is greater danger of his falling in his violent struggles during the operation. For castrating and severe firing, the animal must be thrown. The con- struction of the hobbles is well known to every farrier, and almost to every proprietor of horses. We will only say that the safety of the horse and of the operator will require the use of the improved hobbles, by wliich any leg may be released from confinement, and returned to it at pleasure ; and, when the operation is ended, the whole of the legs may be set at liberty at once without danger. The method of putting the legs as closely together as possible before the pull, the necessity of the assistants all pulling together, and the power, which one man standing at the head, and firmly holding the snaffle-bridle, and another at the haunch, pushing the horse when he is beginning to fall, have in bringing him on the proper side, and on the very spot on which he is intended to lie, need not to be described. This, how- ever, is a method of securing the horse to which we repeat that we are not partial, and to which we should not resort, except necessity compelled ; for in the act of falling, and in the struggles after falling, many accidents have occurred both to the horse and the surgeon. Among the minor methods of restraint, but sufficient for many purposes, are the twitch and the barnacles. The former consists of a noose passed through a hole at the end of a strong stick, and in which the muzzle is inclosed. The stick being turned, the muzzle is securely retained, "while the horse suffers great pain from the pressure — sufficiently great to render him comparatively inattentive to that which is produced by the operation ; at the same time, he is afraid to struggle, for every motion increases the agony caused by the twitch, or the assistant has power to increase it by giving an additional turn to the stick. The barnacles are the handles of the pinchers placed over and inclosing the muzzle, and which, being compressed by the assistant, give pain almost equal to that of the twitch. These may appear to be barbarous modes of enforcing submission, but they are absolutely indispensable. In a few instances, the blindfolding of the horse terrifies him into submission ; but this is not to be depended upon. The twitch should be resorted to when the least resistance is offered ; and when that, as it occasionally does, renders the horse more violent, recourse must be had to the side-line or the hobbles. In painful examination of the fore-leg or foot while on the ground, the other foot should be held up by an assistant; or, if his aid be required in an operation, the knee may be fully bent, and the pastern tied up to the arm. When the hind-leg is to be examined in the same way, the fore-leg on that side should be held or fastened up. ■ BLEEDING. The operation of Bleeding has been already described (p. 179), but we would remind our readers of the necessity, in every case of acute inflam- "nation, of making a large orifice, and abstracting the blood as rapidly as possible, for the constitution will thus be the more speedily and beneficially affected ; and also, of the propriety of never determining to take a precise quantity of blood, but of keeping the finger on the artery until the pulse 323 THE HORSE. begins Ic ch?nge; until the strong pulse of fever becomes softer, or tlie animal is famt, or the oppressed pulse of inflammation of the lungs is rounder and fuller. In cases of inflammation, and in the hands of a skilful practitioner, bleeding is the sheet-anchor of the veterinarian ; yet few things are more to be reprobated than the indiscriminate bleeding of the groom or the farrier. The change which takes place in the blood after it is drawn from the vein is very diligently noticed by many practitioners, and is certainly de- serving of some attention. The blood coagulates soon after it is taken from the vein. The coagulable part is composed of two substances, that which gives colour to the blood, and that in which the red particles float. These by degrees separate from each otlier, and the red particles sink to the bottom. If the coagulation takes place slowly, the red particles have more time to sink through the fluid, and there appears on the top a thick, yellowish, adhesive coat, called the bufly coat. It is supposed that the slowness of coagulation, and the thickness of buffy coat, are indicative of inflammation, and of the degree of inflammation. In a healthy state of the system, the coagulation is more rapid, the red particles have not time to fall through, and the bufly coat is thin. These appearances are worth observing ; but much more dependence is to be placed on the pulse, the change of the pulse, and tlie symptoms generally. When the horse is exhausted, and the system nearly broken up, the blood will sometimes not coagulate at all, but be of one uniform black colour and loose texture. When the blood runs down the side of the vessel iu which it is received, the coagulation will be very imperfect. When it is drawn in a full stream, it coagulates slowly ; when more slowly, or from a smaller orifice, the coagulation is more rapid ; therefore, all these extraneous circumstances affecting so much the coagulation and consequent appearance of the blood, the pulse, and the general symptoms, should be the chief objects of regard. BLISTERING. Of Blisters we have also spoken when treating of the various diseases to which they are applicable. The principle on which they act is, that no two intense inflammations can exist in neighbouring parts, or perhaps in the system, at the same time. Hence we apply some stimulating acrimo- nious substance to the skin, to excite external inflammation, and to lessen or draw away inflammation in some deeper-seated, and generally not far- distant part. Thus we blister the sides in inflammation of the lungs; the belly, in that of the bowels ; the legs, in that of the cellular substance surrounding the sheaths of the tendons, or the sheaths themselves, and the coronet or the heel in inflammation of the navicular-joint. Blisters have likewise the property of increasing the activity of the neighbouring vessels: thus we blister to bring the tumour of strangles more speedily to a head ; we blister to rouse the absorbents to more energetic action, and take away tumours, and callous and even bony substances. The judgment of the practitioner will decide when the desired effect will be best produced by a sudden and violent action, or by the continuance of one of a milder nature. Inflammation should be met by active blisters ; ■ old enlargements and swellings will be most certainly removed by milder stimulants — by the process which farriers call sweating doum. There is no better blister ointment or active blister than the Spanish fly, mixed with the proportions of lard and resin already mentioned, BLISTERING. 323 \). 180. The best liquid or sweating blister is an infusion of the fty in turpentine, and that lowered with neat's-foot oil according to the degree ol activity required. In preparing the horse for blistering, the hair should be clipped or shaved • as closely as possible, and the ointment thoroughly rubbed in. Much faul. is often found with the ointment, if the blister does not rise, when the real blame should be attributed to the idleness of the operator. The head of the horse must be tied up for the first two days; except that when the sides are blistered, the body-clothes may be so contrived as to prevent the horse from nibbling and blemishing the part, or blistering his muzzle. At the expiration of twenty-four hours, a little olive or neat's-foot oil may be applied over the blister, which will considerably lessen the pain and supple the part, and prevent cracks in the skin that may be difficult to heal. The oil should be applied morning and night, until the scabs peel otF. When they begin to loosen, a lather of soap and water applied with a sponge may hasten their removal, but no violence must be used. Every particle of litter should be carefully removed from the stall ; for the sharp ends of the straw, coming in contact with a part rendered so tender and irritable by the blister, will cause very great annoyance to the animal. After the second day, the horse may be sutiered to lie down; but still, the possibility of blemishing himself should be prevented by a cradle or wooden necklace, consisting of round strips of wood strung together, reaching from the lower jaw to the chest, and preventing the horse from sufficiently turning or bending his head to get at the blistered part. A blister thus treated will rarely produce the slightest blemish. When the scabs are all removed, the blister may be repeated, if the case should appear to require it, or the horse may be turned out. In inflammations which threaten life, a blister can scarcely be too active or too extensive. In inflammation of the lungs, it should reach over the whole of the sides, and a greater part of the brisket; for should a portion of the fly be absorbed, and produce strangury, (inflammation, or spasmodic affection of the neck of the bladder,) even this new irritation may assist in subduing the first and more dangerous one; but in blistering for injuries or diseases of the legs or feet, some caution is necessary. When speaking of the treatment of sprain of the back sinews, p. 247, we stated, that " a blister never should be used while any heat or tenderness remains about tlie part;" for we should then add to the superficial inflammation, instead of abating the deeper-seated one; and enlargements of the limb and ulcera- tions miglit follow, which would render the horse perfectly unserviceable. When there is a tendency to grease, a blister is a dangerous thing, and has often aggravated the disease. In winter, the inflammation of the skin produced by blistering is apt to degenerate into grease; therefore, if it should be necessary to blister the horse during that season, great care must be taken tha4; he is not exposed to cold, and, particularly, that a current of cold air docs not come upon the legs. The inhuman practice of blistering all round, and perhaps high on the leg at the same time, cannot be too strongly reprobated. Many a valuable horse has been lost through the excessive general irritation which this has produced, or its violent effects on the urinary organs; and this has been particularly the case, when corrosive sublimate has entered into the com- position of the blister. If srrangury should appear, the horse should be plentifully supplied with linseed tea, which is thus best prepared : a gallon of boiling water is poured on half a pound of linseed ; the infusion suffered to stand still till 324 THE HORSE. nearly cold, and the clean mucilaginous fluid then poured off. Three- quarters of a pound of Epsom salts should also be given, dissolved in a quart of water, and after that, a ball every six hours, composed of a scruple of opium, and a drachm of camphor, with linseed meal and treacle. Half a pound or a pound of good mustard powder, made into" a paste with boiling water, and applied hot, will often produce as good a blister as cantharides, with far xuore swelling. It is a preferable one, where, as in inllammation of the kidneys, the effect of cantharides on tlie urinary organs is feared. Hartshorn is not so effectual. Tincture of croton makes an active liquid blister. FIRING. Whatever seeming cruelty may attend this operation, it is, in many cases, indispensable. Tiie principle on which we have recourse to it is similar to that which justifies the use of a blister; by producing superficial inflam- mation we may be enabled to remove a deeper-seated one, or we may excite the absorbents to take away any unnatural bony or other tumour : it has also this additional advantage, that, while it raises intenser external inflam- mation than we can produce by other means, it is the most powerful agent that we have at our disposal. Humanity, however, will dictate, that on account of inflammation which it excites, and the pain which it inflicts, it should only be had I'ecourse to when milder means have failed, except in those cases in which experience has taught us that milder means rarely prove successful. The part which is to be submitted to the operation is shaved, or the hair is cut from it as closely as possible with the trimming scissors. This is necessary to bring the iron into immediate contact with the skin, and like- wise to prevent the smoke that will arise from the burned hair from ob- scuring the view of the operator. The horse must then be thrown. This is absolutely necessary for the safety both of the operator and the animal. The side line is applied in a shorter time, and so many hands are not wanted to cast the horse ; but no persons can fire accurately, or with the certainty of not penetrating the skin, except the horse is effectually secured by the hobbles; and although accidents have occurred in the act of throw- ing, yet many more have resulted to the operator, the assistants, or the horse, in a protracted operation like this, when the side-line only has been used. The details of the operation belong to the veterinary surgeon. The grand points to be attended to are to have the edge of the iron round and smooth; the iron itself at, or rather below red heat; to pass it more or less rapidly over the skin, and with slighter or greater pressure, according to the degree of heat; to burn into the skin until the line produced by the iron is of a brown colour, rather light than dark, and by all means avoid pene- trating the skin. Leaving the additional cruelty of deep firing out of the question, we may depend on it that, if the skin is burned through, inflam- mation, and ulceration, and slougiiing will ensue, which will be with much (iilRculty combated; which will unavoidably leave unnecessary blemish, and which have destroyed many valuable horses. It may happen, never- theless, that by a sudden plunge of the animal, the skin will be unavoida- bly cut through. The act of firing requires much skill and tact, and the practitioner cannot be always on his guard against the struggles of the tortured beast. It will, also, and not unfrequently occur, ihat tlie skin, pai • tially divided, will separate in two or three days after the operation. 'I'his FlRINa 325 must not be attributed to any neglect or unskilfulness of the surgeon, and the ulceration thus produced will be slight, and easily treated, compared with that caused by the actual burning through of the skin. * Some practitioners blister immediately after firing. As a general usagv^ it is highly to be reprobated. It is wanton and useless cruelty ; but it may be required in bony tumours of considerable extent, and long standing, and interfering materially with the action of the neighbouring joint. Spavin, accompanied by much lameness, and ring-bone spreading round the coronet, and involving the side cartilages, or the pastern-joint, may justify it. The inflammation is rendered more intense, and of considerably longer duration. In old affections of the round bftne it may be admitted, but no excuse can be made for it in slighter cases of sprain, or weakness, or staleness. On the day after the operation, it will be prudent gently to rub some neat's-foot oil or lard over the lines. This will soften the skin, and render it less likely to separate or ulcerate ; a bandage would add to the irritation of the part. Any cracks of the skin, or ulceration that may ensue, must be treated with the calamine ointment already recommended. It will be evident that there is an advantage derived from firing to which a blister can have no pretension. The skin, partially destroyed by the iron, is reinstated and healed, not merely by the formation of some new matter filling up the vacuity, but by the gradual drawing together and closing of the separated edges. The skin, therefore, is lessened in surface ; it is tightened over the part, and it acts as a salutary and permanent bandage. Of the effect of pressure in removing enlargements of every kind, as well as giving strength to the part to which it is applied, we have repeatedly spoken; and it is far from being the least valuable effect of the operation of firing, that by contracting the skin, it affords a salutary, equable, and permanent pressure. It was on this principle, but the practice cannot be defended, that colts which were not very strong on the legs, used to be fired round the fetlock, and along the back sinews, or over the hock, to brace and strengthen the parts. It is on the same principle that a racer or a hunter, that has become stale and stiff, is sometimes fired and turned out. For whatever reason the horse is fired, he should, if practica- ble, be turned out, or soiled in a loose box, for three or four months at least. The full effect intended to result from the external irritation is not soon produced, and the benefit derived from pressure proceeds still more slowly. In the thickened and tender state of the skin, and the substance beneath, for some weeks after firing, a return to hard work would be likely to excite a new inflammation, and cause even worse mischief than that which before existed. Some weeks pass before the tumefied parts begin to lessen, and they only who have had experience in these cases would imagine how long, with gentle voluntary exercise, the process of absorption is carried on. He, therefore, who would expect that much good should accrue from the operation of firing, must be content to give up his horse for three or four months; but if he will use him sooner, and a worse lameness should follow, let him blame his own impatience, and not the inefficiency of the means, or want of skill in the surgeon. The firing in every case should be either in longitudinal or parallel lines. On the back sinews, the fetlock, and the coronet, this is peculiarly requisite, for thus only will the skin contract so as to form the greatest and most equable pressure. The practitioner may pride himself in the accuracy of his diamonds, hzenges, and feathers, but plain straight lines, about half an inch from each 32G "TJIE HORSE. <'ther, will form the most advantageous mode of firing. The destroying of deeply-seated inflammation, by the exciting of violent inflammation on the skin, is as well obtained; and common sense will determine, that in no way can the pressure which results from the contraction of the skin be so advantageously employed, to which we may add, that it often leaves not the slightest blemish. SETONS Are pieces of tape or cord, passed by means of an instrument, resem- bling a large needle, either through abscesses, or the base of ulcers with deep sinuses, or between the skin and the muscular, or other substances beneath. They are retained there by the ends being tied together, or by a knot at each end. The tape is moved in the wound twice or thrice in the day, and occasionally wetted with spirit of turpentine, or some acrid liquid, in order to increase the inflammation which it produces, or the dis- charge which is intended to be established. In abscesses, such as tumours in the withers or the poll, and when passed from the summit to the very bottom of the swelling, setons are highly use- ful, as discharging the fluid, and suffering any fresh quantity of it that may be secreted to flow out; and, by the degree of inflammation which they excite on the inside of the tumour, stimulating it to throw out healthy granulations, which gradually occupy and fill the hollow. In deep fistulous wounds they are indispensable; for except some orifice be made for the matter to flow from the bottom of the wound, it will continue to eat deeper into it, and the healing process can never be accomplished. On these accounts, a seton passed through the bottom of the ulcer in poll-evil and fistulous withers is of so much benefit. Setons are sometimes useful by promoting a discharge in the neighbour, hood of an inflamed part, and thus diverting and carrying away a portion of the fluids which overload or would otherwise more distend the vessels of that part: thus a seton is placed in the cheek with considerable advan- tage, when the eyes are inflamed ; we confess, however, that we far prefer a rowel under the jaw. With this view, and lo excite a new and different inflammation in the neighbourhood of a part already inflamed, and especially so deeply seated and so difficult to be got at as the navicular-joint, a seton has occasionally been used with manifest benefit, but we must peremptorily object to the indiscriminate use of the frog-seton for almost every disease of the frog or the foot. In inflammations of expensive organs, setons afford only feeble aid. Their action is too circumscribed. In inflammation of the chest or the intestines, a rowel is preferable to a seton; and a blister is far better than either of them. On the principle of exciting the absorbents to action for the removal of tumours, as spavin, or splent, a blister is quicker in its action, and far more effectual than any seton; and firing is still more energetic. Many horses have been blemished for life by the seton being torn out, and ulcerations, difficult to heal, having been produced ; while week after week has often passed on, and the owner has been deprived of the use of the animal, without the tumour, or the lameness which it caused, being in the least degree diminished. NICKING. 327 DOCKING. The shortening of the tail of the horse is an operation which fashion end the convenience of the rider require to be performed on most of those animals. The length of the dock or stump, is a matter of mere caprice. To the close-cropped tail of the waggon-horse, however, we decidedly object, from its perfect ugliness, and because the animal is deprived of every defence against the flies. The supposition that the blood which should have gone to the nourishment of the tail, causes greater development and strength in the quarters, is too absurd to deserve serious refutation. It is the rump of the animal being wholly uncovered, and not partly hidden by the intervention of tlie tail, that invariably gives a false appearance of increased bulk. The operation is simple. That joint is searched out which is the nearest to the desired length of tail. The hair is then turned up, and tied round with tape for an inch or two above this joint; and that which lies immedi- ately upon the joint is cut ofe The horse is then fettered with the side- line, and the veterinary surgeon with his docking machine, or the farmer with his carving knife and mallet, cuts through the t-ail at one stroke. Considerable bleeding now ensues, and frightens the timid or the ignorant; but if the blood were suffered to flow on until it ceases of its own accord, the colt, and especially if he were very young, would rarely be seriously injured. As, however, the bleeding would occasionally continue for some hours, and a great quantity of blood would be lost, and the animal would be somewhat weakened, it is usual to stop the hsemorrhage by the applica- tion of a red-hot iron to the stump. A large hole is made in the centre of the iron, that the bone may not be seared, which would exfoliate, if it were burned with any severity, or drop off at the joint above, and thus shorten the dock. The iron rests on the muscular parts round the bone, and is brought into contact with the bleeding vessels, and very speedily stops the haemorrhage. Care should be taken that the iron is not too hot, and that it is not held too long or too forcibly on the part; for many more horses would he destroyed by severe application of the cautery, than by the bleeding being left to its own course. Powdered resin, sprinkled on the stump, or indeed any other application, is worse than useless; it causes unnecessary irritation, and sometimes extensive ulceration; but if the simple iron ba moderately applied, the horse may go to work immediately after the opera- tion, and no dressing will be afterwards required. If a slight bleeding should occur after the cautery, it is much better to let it alone, than to run the risk of inflammation or locked-jaw, by re-applying the iron with greater severity. Some farmers dock their colts a few days after they are dropped. This is a commendable custom on the score of humanity; no colt was ever lost by it ; and we do not believe that the growth of the hair or the beauty of the tail is in the least impaired. NICKING. This barbarous operation has been long sanctioned by fashion, and the breeder and the dealer must have recourse to it, if he would obtain a ready sale for his colts. It is not, however, practised to the extent that it used to be, nor attended by so many circumstances of cruelty. We must here introduce a small portion of our anatomy, which we had reserved for this place. We have spoken, p. 165, of the eighteen dorsa- 328 THE HORSE. vetcbrce or bones of the back (see d, page 163), ami the five lumbar ver- tebra3 or bones of the loins (f, p. 163). The continuation of the spine consists of the sacrum or five bones (/t, p. 1G3), which, aUliou^h separate in the colt, are in the full-grown horse united in one mass. The bones of the ileum, tlie upper and side portion of the iiaunch, articulate strongly with the sacrum, forming a bony union ratiier than a joint. Tlie spinal marrow, and tiie blood-vessels generally, here begin to diminish, and numerous branches of nerves are given out, wliicli, joined by some from the vertebrae of tlie loins, form the nerves of the hind legs. The bones of tlie tail (see i, p. 163), are a continuation of those of the sacrum. They are fifteen in number, gradually diminishing in size, and losing altogether the character of the spinal vertebrae. Prolongations of the spinal marrow run through the whole of them, and likewise arterial vessels, being a continuation of those which supply the sacrum. A great deal of attention is paid by those who are acquainted with the horse to this continuation of the sacral and tail bones. From the loins to the selling on of the tail, the line should be nearly straight, or inclining only a little way downward. There is not a surer test of the breed of the horse, than this straight line from the loins to the tail; nor, as we have shown, when speaking of the muscles of the quarters, is there any circumstance so much connected with the mechanical advantage with which these mus- cles act. The tail was given to the horse to perfect the beauty of his form; to assist in directing his course when he has not the guiding hand of man; and more particularly to enable him to defend himself from the insects by which in every climate he is annoyed. There are three sets of muscles belonging to the tail, one raising it (a page 260), another depressing it (b, page 260), and a third set giving it a side motion in every direction when acting singly, or very powerfully lowering it when acting together. It would seem that the depressor and lateral muscles are much more powerful than the erector muscles, and that when the horse is undisturbed, the tail is bent down close on the buttocks; but when he is excited, and particularly when he is at speed, the erector muscles are called into action, the tail is elevated, and there is given to him an appearance of energy and spirit, which adds materially to his beauty. To perpetuate this character of fire, the operation of nicking was contrived. The depressor muscles, and part of the lateral ones are cut through; and the erector muscles are left without any antago- nists, and keep the tail in a position more or less erect, according to the whim of the operator, or the depth to which the incisions into the muscles have been carried. The operation is thus performed : The side line is put on the horse, or some deem it more prudent to cast him, and that precaution we should be disposed to recommend. The hair at the end of the tail is securely tied together for the purpose of afterwards attaching a weight to it. The operator then grasps the tail in his hand, and lifting it up, feels for the ce7Ure of one of the bones (the prominences at the extremities will guide him to this), from two to four inches from the root of the tail, according to the size of the horse. He then, with a sharp knife, divides the muscles deep from the edge of the tail on one side to the centre, and continuing the incision across the bone of the tail, he makes it as deep on the other side. One continued incision, steadily, yet rapidly made, will accomplish this. If it be a blood horse, this will be sufficient. For a hunter, two incisions are usually made, the second being about two inches below the first, and likewise as nearly as possible in the centre of one of NICKING. 329 the bones ; the reason of which is, that the incision, in order perfectly to divide the muscles that bring down the tail, must be so deep, as, in the neighbourhood of a joint, to endanger the wounding of the ligament which ties the bones together, or the substance which is interposed between the joints, and thus by destroying the joint to render the tail deformed. On the hackney, or cocktail, a third incision is made ; for fashion has decided that his tail shall be still more elevated and curved. Two incisions only are made in the tail of a mare, and the second not very deep. When the second incision is made, some fibres of the muscles between the first and second incisions will project into the wounds, and which must be removed with a pair of curved scissors. The same must be done with the projecting portions from between the second and third incisions; and the wounds should be carefully examined, to ascertain that the muscles have been equally divided on each side, otherwise the tail will be carried awry. This being done, pledgets of tow must be introduced deeply into each gap, and confined, but not too tightly, by a bandage. A very profuse bleeding will alone justify any tightness of bandage ; and the ill consequences which have resulted from nicking are mainly attributable to the unnecessary force which is used in confining these pledgets. Even if the bleeding, immediately after the operation, should have been very great, the roller must be loosened in two or three hours, otherwise swelling, and infiamma- tion, or death, may possibly ensue. Twenty-four hours after the operation, the bandage must be quite removed ; and then, all that is necessary, so far as the healing of the wounds is concerned, is to keep them clean. If, however, the tail were suffered to hang down, the divided edges of the muscles would come again in contact with each other, and close ; the natural depression of the tail would remain; and the animal would have been pun- ished for no purpose. The wounds must be kept open, and that can only be accomplished by forcibly keeping the tail curved back, for two or three weeks. For this purpose, a cord, one or two feet in length, is affixed to the end of the hair, which terminates in another divided cord, each division going over a pulley on either side of the back of the stall. A weight is hung at either extremity, sufficient to keep the incisions properly open, and regulated by the degree in which this is wished to be accomplished. The animal will thus be retained in an uneasy position, although, after the first two or three days, probably not one of acute pain. It is barbarous to increase this uneasiness or pain by affixing too great a weight to the cords; for it should be remembered, that the proper elevated curve is given to the tail, not hy the weight keeping it in a certain position for a considerable time, but by the depth of the first incisions, and the degree in which the wounds are kept open. By every ounce of weight beyond that which is necessaj-y to keep the incisions open, unnecessary suffering is inflicted. Some prac- titioners use only one pulley; others do not use any, but put on a light girth, and tie a cord from the end of the tail to the girth, bending it over the back. The double pulley, however, is the least painful to the horse, and more perfectly secures the proper elevation and straight direction of the tail. Tne dock should not, for the first three or four days, be brought higher vhan the back. Dangerous irritation and inflammation would probably be produced. It may, after that, be gradually raised to an elevation of forty. five degrees. The horse should be taken out of the pulleys, and gently exercised once or twice every day ; but the pulleys cannot finally be dis- pensed with, until a fortnight after the wounds have healed, because the orocess of contraction, or the approach of the divided parts, goes on for 330 THE HORSE. some liino after the skin is perfect over the incisions; and the tail would tlius sink below the desired elevation. [^ the tail has not been unnecessarily extended by enormous weights, no bad consequences will usually follow; but if considerable inflammation should ensue, the tail must be taken from the pulley, and diligently fomented with simple warm water, and a dose of physic given. Locked-jaw has in some rare instances followed, under which the horse generally perishes. The best means of cure in the early state of locked-jaw, is to amputate the tail at the joint above the highest incision. In order to prevent the hair from coming off, it should be unplatted and combed out every fourth or fiftii day. CHAPTER XIX. DISAGREEABLE OR DANGEROUS HABITS OF THE HORSE. The' horse has many excellent qualities, but he has likewise defects, and these occasionally amounting to vices. Some of them may be attributed to natural temper; for the human being scarcely discovers more peculiari- ties of habit and disposition, than does the horse. The majority of them, however, as perhaps in the human being, are consequences of a faulty education. Their early instructor has been both ignorant and brutal, and Aey have become obstinate and vicious. RESTIFNESS. At the head of the vices of the horse we place kestifness, the most tsinoying, and the most dangerous of all. It is the produce of bad temper and worse education; and, like all other habits, founded on nature and stamped by education, it is inveterate. Whether it appears in the form of kicking, or rearing, or plunging, or bolting, or in any way that threatens danger to the rider or the horse, it rarely admits of cure. A determined rider imay, to a certain degree, subjugate the animal; or the horse may have his favourites, or form his attachments, and with some particular person he may be comparatively or perfectly manageable; but others can- not long depend upon him, and even his master is not always sure of him. We will speak of the most likely means of cure, or escaping from danger, as it regards the principal forms under which restifness displays itself; but we must premise, as a rule that admits of very few exceptions, that he neither displays his wisdom, nor consults his safety, who attempts to conquer a restiff horse. An excellent veterinary surgeon, and a man of great experience in horses, Mr. Castley, truly says, in the ' Tlie Veterinarian :' " From wliatever cause the vicious habits of horses may originate, whether from some misman- agement, or from natural badness of temper, or, from what is called in Yorkshire, a rnistetcli, whenever these animals acquire one of them, and it becomes in some degree confirmed, they very seldom, if ever, altogether forget it. in reference to driving, it is so true, that it may be taken as a • kind of aphorism, that if a horse kicks once in harness, no matter from what cauci^, he will be liable to kick ever afterwards. A good coachman may drive him, it is true, and may make him go, but he cannot make RESTIFNESS. 33 1' him forget his vice ; and so it is in riding. You may conquer a restifT horse; you may make liim ride quiet for months; nay, ahnost for years together, but I affirm that, under other circumstances, and at some future opportunity, he will be sure to return to his old tricks again." Mr. Castley gives two singular and conclusive instances of the truth of this doctrine. "When a very young man," says he, "I remember pur- chasing a horse at a fair in the north of England, that was offered very cheap on account of his being unmanageable. It was said that nobody could ride him. We found that the animal objected to have any thing placed upon his back, and that, when made to move forward with nothing more than a saddle on, he instantly threw himself down on his side with great violence, and would then endeavour to roll upon his back. "There was at that time in Yorkshire a famous colt-breaker, known by the name of Jumper,* who was almost as celebrated in that country for taming vicious horses into submission, as the famed Whisperer was in Ireland. We put this animal into Jumper's hands, who took him away, and in about ten days brought him home again, certainly not looking worse in condition, but perfectly subdued, and almost as obedient as a dog: for he would lie down at this man's bidding, and only rise again at his command, and carry double or any thing. I took to riding him myself, and may say, that 1 was never better carried for six or eiglit months, during which time he never showed the least vice whatever. I then sold him to a Lincolnshire farmer, who said that he would give him a sum- mer's run at grass, , and show him a very fine horse at the great Horn- castle fair. "I'lappening to meet this gentleman the following yeai*, I naturally enough inquired after my old friend. 'Oh,' said he, 'that was a bad business : the horse turned out a sad rebel. The first time we attempted to mount him, after getting him up from grass, he in an instant threw the man down with the greatest violence, phching him several yards over his head ; and after that he threw every one that attempted to get on his back. If he could not throw his rider, he would throw himself doion. We could do nothing with him, and I was obliged at last to sell him to go in a stage- coach."' In the next story. Jumper's counterpart and superior, the Irish Whis- perer, is brought on the stage, and, although he performs wonders, he cannot radically cure a restiff horse. "At the Spring Meeting of 1804, Mr. Whalley's King Pippin was brought on the Curragh of Kildare to * Those of our readers who were connected with the contested elections for York- shire, will recollect Jumper, covered with orange plush from top to toe, and scam- pering' in every direction over the country. Sometimes he would exchange this for a bear-skin, enveloped in which, and mounted occasionally on a buffalo, he was a most formidable object. He had extraordinary power over animals of various species, for he tamed to the saddle a buffalo for Mr. Tempest, and a pair of rein-deer for harness for Lord Pitzwilliam. But his charm consisted chiefly in fearlessness, and brute force, accompanied by considerable tact. He would generally try rough measures first; and in his perilous encounters with some of his troublesome scholars, had nearly every bone in his body fractured. Sullivan's method was altogether different ; force was rarely re- Borted to. The enemy surrendered to him at discretion, and without a struggle. Jumper, however, seemed to have some charm about him ; for when he had, by dint of punishment, striven in vain to conquer an unruly horse in the market-place of WaKefield, he alighted ; Btood on the n^ar side of the horse; brought the animal's nead almost back to his off shoulder by forcibly pulling at the off rein, and then sternly gazed at him over the withers for two or three minutes. The animal then began to tremble, and broke out into a profusa perspiration. Jumper then loosened his hold of the rein, and patted and caressed J»t horse, who immediately followed him round the market-place, perfectly tamed. 332 THE HORSE. run. lie was a horse of the most extraordinary savage and vicious dis- position. His particular propensity was that of Jlying at and ■worrying any person who came within his reach, and if he had an opportunity, he would get his head round, seize his rider by the leg with his teeth, and drag him down from his back. For this reason he was always ridden in wliat is called a sword; which is nothing more than a strong flat stick having one end attached to the check of the bridle, and the other to the girth of the saddle, a contrivance to prevent a horse of this kind from getting at his rider. " King Pippin had long been difficult to manage and dangerous to ga near, but on the occasion in question he could not be got out to run at all.. Nohody could put the bridle upon Ins head. It being Easter Monday, and consequently a great holyday, there was a large concourse of people assembled at the Curragh, consisting principally of the neighbouring peas- antry ; and one countryman, more fearless than the rest of the lookers-on, forgetting, or perhaps never dreaming, that the better part of courage is discretion, volunteered his services to bridle the horse. No sooner had he committed himself in this operation, than King Pippin seized him some- where about the shoulders or chest, and, says Mr. Watts (Mr. Castley's informant), ' I know of nothing I can compare it to, so much as a dog shaking a rat.' Fortunately for the poor fellow, his body was very thickly covered with clothes, for on such occasions an Irishman of this class is fond of displaying his wardrobe, and if /te has three coats at allinthe world, he is sure to put them all on. "This circumstance in all probability saved the individual who had so gallantly volunteered the forlorn hope. His person was so deeply envel- oped in extra-teguments, that the horse never got fairly hold of his skin, and I understand that he escaped with but little injury, beside the sadly rent and totally ruined state of his holyday toggery. " The Whisperer was sent for, who, having arrived, was shut up with the horse all night, and in the morning he exhibited this hitherto ferocious animal, following him about the course like a dog ; lying down at his command ; suffering his mouth to be opened, and any person's hand to be introduced into it ; in short, as quiet almost as a sheep. " He came out the same meeting, and won a race, and his docility con- tinned satisfactory for a long time ; hut at the end of about three years his vice returned, and" then he is said to have killed a man, for which he was destroyed." It may not be uninteresting, in this connection, to give some account of this tamer of quadruped vice. However strange and magical his power may seem to be, there is no doubt of the truth of the account that is given of him. The Rev. Mr. Townsend, in his Statistical Survey of Cork, first introduced him to the notice of the public generally, although his fame had long spread over that part of Ireland. We, however, give the following extract from Croker's Fairy Legends and Traditions of Ireland, Part II., p. 200, for the fact seems the work of some elfin sprite, rather than of a rude and ignorant horse-breaker. "He was an awkward, ignorant rustic, of the lowest class, of the name of Sullivan, but better known by the appellation of the Whisperer; his occupation was horse-breaking. The nickname he acquired from the vulgar notion of his being able to communicate to the animal what he wished by means of a whisper, and the singularity of his method seemed in some degree to justify the attribute. In his own neighbourhood, the notoriety of the fact made it seem less remarkable, but I doubt if any RESTIFNESS. 333 instance of similar subjugating talent is to be found on record. As far as the sphere of his control extended, tlie boast of veni, vidi, vici, was more justly claimed by Sullivan than by Csesar himself. " How his art was acquired, and in what it consisted, is likely to be for ever unknown, as he has lately (about 1810) left the world without divulging it. His son, who follows the same trade, possesses but a small portion of the art, having either never learned the true secret, or being incapable of putting it into practice. The wonder of his skill consisted in the celerity of the operation, which was performed in privacy without any apparent means of coercion. Every description of horse, or even mule, whether previously broken, or unhandled, whatever their peculiar habits or vices might have been, submitted without show of resistance to the magical influence of his art, and in the short space of half an hour became gentle and tractable. This effect, though instantaneously produced, was generally durable. Tliough more submissive to him than to others, tiiey seemed to have acquired a docility unknown before. " When sent for to tame a vicious beast, for Avhich he was either paid according to the distance, or generally two or three guineas, he directed the stable, in which he and the object of the experiment were, to be shut, with orders not to open the door until a signal was given. After a tete- a tele of about half an hour, during which little or no bustle was heard, the signal was made, and, upon opening the door, the horse appeared lying down, and the man by his side, playing with him like a child with a puppy dog. From that time he was found ])erfectly willing to submit to any dis- cipline; however repugnant to his nature before." "I once," continues Mr. Townsend, " saw his skill tried on a horse, which could never before be brought to stand for a smith to shoe him. The day after Sullivan's half- hour's lecture, I went, not without some incredulity, to the smith's shop, with many other curious spectators, where we were eye-witnesses of the complete success of his art. This, too, had been a troop horse, and it was supposed, not' without I'eason, tliat after regimental discipline had failed, no other would be found availing. I observed that the animal appeared terrified whenever Sullivan either spoke or looked at him ; how that extraordinary ascendancy could have been obtained, it is difficult to conjecture. "In common cases, this mysterious preparation was unnecessary. He seemed to possess an instinctive power of inspiring awe, the result, per- haps, of natural intrepidity, in which, I believe, a great part of his art consisted ; though the circumstance of the tete-a-tete shows that, on par- ticular occasions, something more must have been added to it. A faculty like this, would in some hands have made a fortune, and I understand that great offers were made to him, for the exercise of his art abroad. But hunting was his passion. He lived at home in the style most agreeable to his disposition, and nothing could induce him to quit Duhallow and the fox hounds." IMr. Castley witnessed the total fiilure of the younger Sullivan. He says: " We have in the regiment a remarkably nice horse, called Lancer, that has always been very difficult to shoe, but seven or eight years ago, when we first got him, he was downright vicious in that respect. When the regiment was stationed at Cork, the farrier-major sought out the present Sullivan, the son of the celebrated Whisperer, and brought him up fo the barracks in order to try his hand upon Lancer, and make him more peaceable to shoe ; but I must say this person did not appear to possess any particular controlling power over the animal, more than any other man. Lancer seemed to pay no attention whatever to his charms, and, af 331 ' THE HORSE. last, fa ily beat him out of the forge. Time, however, and a long perse- verance in kind and gentle treatment, have ctFected what force could not. The horse is now pretty reasonable to shoe." BACKING OR GIBBING. One of the first species of restifness, taking them in alphabetical order, is Backing or Gibbing. These are so closely allied, that we hardly know how to separate tliem. Some horses have the habit of backing at first starting, and that more from playfulness than desire of mischief. A moderate application of the whip will usually be effectual. Others, even at starting, exhibit considerable obstinacy and viciousness. This is fre- quently the effect of bad breaking. Either the shoulder of the horse had been wrung when he was first put to the collar, or he had been foolishly- accustomed to start in the break up-kill, and, therefore, all his work coming upon him at once, when it being much more difficult to draw the break up-hill, than to back and let it run down-hill, he gradually acquired this dangerous habit. A hasty and passionate breaker will often make a really good-tempered young horse an inveterate gibber. Every young horse is at first shy of the collar. If he be too quickly forced to it, he will probably take a dislike to it, that will occasionally show itself in the form of gibbing, as long as he lives. The judicious horse-breaker will resort to no severity, even if the colt should go out several times without touching collar. The example of his companion will ultimately induce him to take to it voluntarily and effectually. A large and heavy stone should be put behind the wheel before starimg, when the horse, finding it more difficult to back than to go forward, will gradually forget this unpleasant trick. It will likewise be of advantage, as often as it can be managed, so to start that the horse shall have to back up-hill. The difficulty of accomplishing this will soon make him readily go forward at once. A little coaxing, or leading, or moderate flagellation, will assist in accomplishing the cure. When, however, a horse, thinking that he has had enough of work, or has been improperly checked or corrected, or beginning to feel the painful pressure of the collar, swerves, and gibs, and backs, it is a more serioas matter. Persuasion should here first be tried ; and, afterwards, reason- able coercion, but no cruelty : for the brutality which is often exercised in attempting to compel a gibbing horse to throw himself habitually into the collar, never yet accomplished the purpose. The horse may, perhaps, be whipped into motion, but if he has once begun to gib, he will have recourse to it again whenever any circumstance displeases or annoys him ; and the habit will be rapidly, and so completely formed, that he will become insen- sible to all severity. It is useless and most dangerous to contend with a horse determined to back, unless there is plenty of room, and, by tight reining, the driver can make him back in the precise direction he wishes, and especially up-hill. Such a horse should be immediately sold, or turned over to some other work. In a stage-coach as a wheeler, and particularly as the near-wheeler, or, in the middle of a team at agricultural work, he may be serviceable. It will be useless for him to attempt to gib there, for he will be dragged along by his companions whether he will or no; and, finding the inutility of resistance, he' will soon be induced to work as well as any horse in the team. Tiiis reformation will last while he is thus employed, but, like res- tifness generally, it will be delusive when the horse returns to his former BITING. . 335 occupation. The disposition to annoy will very soon follow the power to do it. Some instances of complete reformation have occurred, but the^ have been rare. When a horse, not often accustomed to gib, betrays a reluctance to work, or a determination not to work, common sense and humanity will demand that some consideration should be taken, before measures of severity be resorted to. The horse may be taxed beyond his power. He soon discovers whether this is the case, and by refusing to proceed, tells his driver that it is so; and the utmost cruelty will not induce many horses to make the slightest effort, when they are conscious that their strength is inadequate to the task. Sometimes the withers are wrung, and the shoulders sadly galled ; and the pain, which is intense on level ground and with fair draught, becomes insupportable when he tugs up a steep acclivity. These things should be examined into, and, if possible, rectilied ; tor, under such circumstances, cruelty might produce obstinacy and vice, but not willing obedience. Those who are accustomed to horses know what seemingly trivial cir- eumstances occasionally produce this vice. A horse, whose shoulders are raw, or that have frequently been so, will not start with a cold collar. When the collar has acquired the warmth of the parts on which it presses, the animal will go without reluctance. Some determined gibbers have been reformed by constantly wearing a false collar, or strip of cloth round the shoulders, so that the coldness of the usual collar should never be felt ; and others have been cured of gibbing by keeping the collar on night and day, although the animal is not able to lie down so completely at full length, which the tired horse is always glad to do. When a horse gibs, not at starting, but while doing his work, it has sometimes been useful to line the collars with cloth instead of leather; the perspiration is readily absorbed, the substance which presses on the shoulders is softer, and it may be far more accurately eased off at a tender place. Shoulder-straps and collars are frequently lined with sheep-skin, the woolly side outward, and much ease has been afforded the animal by this contrivance, especially where the harness has been indifferently fitted, or become hardened for want of greasing. BITING. This is either the ' consequence of natural ferocity, or a habit acquired from the foolish and teasing play of grooms and stable-boys. When a horse is tickled and pinched by thoughtless and mischievous youths, he will first pretend to bite his tormentors; by degrees he will proceed farther, and actually bite them ; and, very soon after that, he will be the first to chal- lenge to the combat, and without provocation seize some opportunity to gripe the incautious groom ; and then, as the love of mischief is a propen- sity too easily acquired, this war, half playful and half in earnest, will become habitual to him, and will degenerate into absolute viciousness. Nothing can here be done in the way of cure; kindness would aggravate the evil, and no degree of severity will correct it. Prevention, however, is in the power of every proprietor of horses. While he insists on gentle and humane treatment of his cattle, he should systemaiically forbid this hovse-play. It is that which can never be considered as operating as a reward, and thereby rendering the horse tractable ; nor does it increase tlie affection of the animal for his groom, because he is annoyed and irritated by being thus incessantly teased. 336 THE HORSE. GETTING THE CHEEK OF THE BIT INTO THE MOUTH, Some horses that are disposed to be mischievous try to do this, and arn very expert at it. They soon find what advantage it gives them over their driver, wiio by this manoeuvre loses almost all command. Harsh treatment is liere completely out of the question. All that can be done is, by some mechanical contrivance, to render the thing difficult or impossible, and this may be managed by fastening a round piece of leather on the inside of the cheek of the bit. KICKING. This, as a vice, is another consequence of the culpable habit of grooms and stable-boys of teasing the horse. That which is at first an indication of annoyance at the pinching and tickling of the groom, and without any design to injure, gradually becomes the expression of anger and the effort at mischief. There is no cure for this vice j and he cannot be justified who keeps such a kicking horse in his stable. Some horses acquire a habit of kicking at the stall or the b-ail, and par- ticularly at night, from mere irritability and fidgettiness. The neighbour- ing horses are disturbed, and the kicker gets swelled hocks, or some more serious injury. This is also a habit very difficult to correct, if suf- fered to become established. Mares are generally far more subject to it than horses. Before the habit . is inveterately established, a thorn-bush or a piece of furze fastened against the partition or post will sometimes effect a cure. When the horse finds that he is pretty severely pricked, he will not long continue to punish himself. In confirmed cases, it may be necessary to have recourse to the log, but the legs are often not a Itttle bruised by it. A rather long and heavy piece of wood attached to a chain is buckled above the hock, so as to reach about half way down tlie leg. When the horse attempts to kick violently, his leg will receive a severe blow from this, and the repetition of the blow will soon teach him to be quiet. A much more serious vice is kicking in the harness. From the least annoyance about the rump or quarters, some Iiorses will kick at the most violent rate, and destroy the bottom of the chaise, and endanger the limbs of the driver. Those that are fidgetty in the stable are most apt to do this. U the reins should perchance get under tlie tail, the violence of the kicker will be most outrageous; and while the animal presses down his tail so tightly that it is almost impossible to extricate the reins, he continues to plunge until he has demolished every thing behind him. This is a vice standing foremost in point of danger, and which no treat- ment will often conquer. It will be altogether in vain to try coercion here. If the sliafis are very strong and without flaw, or if they arc plated with iron underneath, and a stout kicking-strap used, which will barely allow the horse the proper use of his hind limbs in progression, but not permit him to raise them sufficiently for the purpose of kicking, he may be prevented from doing nfisciiief; or, if he is harnessed to a heavy cart, and thus con- fined, his cllbrts to lash out will be restrained: but it is a very uu|)leasant thing frequently to witness these attempts, altliough ineffectual, to demolish the vehicle ; and the shafts or the kicking-straps ma}'' possibly break, and extreme danger may ensue. A horse that has once begun to kick, whatever may have been the original cause of it, can never be dependee has been opened by a brushing gallop; and his susceptibility to the painful and the injurious influence of cold lias been excited to the utmost? It is not so generally known as it ought to be, that the return to a hot stable is quite as dangerous as tiie change from a heated atmos]ihere to a cold and biting air. Many a horse, that has travelled without harm over a bleak country, has been suddenly seized with inflammation and fever when he has, immediately at the end of his journey, been surrounded wi;h heated and foul air. It is the sudden change of temperature, whether from heat to cold, or from cold to heat, that does the mischief, and yearly destroys a multitude of horses. The stable sliould be as large, compared with the number of horses which it is destined to contain, as circumstances will allow. A stable for six horses should not be less than forty feet in length, and thirteen or fourteen feet wide. If there be no loft above, the inside of the roof should always be plastered, to prevent direct currents of air and occasional drop- pings from broken tiles ; and the heated and foul air should escape, and cool and pure air be admitted, by elevation of the central tiles; or by large tubes carried through the roof, with caps a little above them to prevent the beating in of the rain; or by gratings placed high up in the walls. These latter apertures should be as far above the horses as they can conveniently be placed, by wjiich means all injurious draught w-ill be prevented. If there is a loft above the stable, the ceiling should be plastej-ed in order to prevent the foul air from penetrating to the hay above, and injuring both its taste and its wholesomeness; and no openings should be allowed above the racks, through which the hay may be thrown into the rack, for they also will permit the foul air to ascend to the provender, and, in the act of /illing the rack, and while the horse is eagerly gazing upward for his food, many a grass-seed has fallen into his eye, and produced considerable in- flammation ; while at other times, when the careless groom has lelt open the trap-door, a stream of cold air beats down on the head of the horse. The stable with a loft over it, should never be less than twelve feet high, and proper ventilation should be secured 'either by tubes carried up through the loft to the roof, or by gratings close to the ceiling. These gratings or openings should be enlarged or contracted by means of a covering or shutter, so that during spring, summer, and autumn, the stable should possess nearly the same temperature with the open air, and, in winter, a temperature not more than ten degrees above that of the external atmosphere. A hot stable has, in the mind of the groom, been long connected with a glossy coat. The latter, it is thought, cannot be attained without the former. To this we should reply that, in winter, a thin, glossy coat is not desirable. Nature gives to every animal a warmer clothing when the cold weather approaches. The horse acquires a thicker and a lengthened coat, in order to defend him from the surrounding cold. Man puts on an additional and a warmer covering, and his comfort is increased, and his health preserved by it. He who knows any thing of the horse, or cares any thing for his enjoyment, will not object to a coat a little longer and a little roughened, when the wintry wind blows bleak. The coat, however, need not be so long as to be unsightly ; and warm clothing, even in a cool stable, will, with plenty of honest grooming, keep the hair suHiciently LITTER. 347 smooth and glossy to satisfy the most fastidious. The over-heated air of a close stable saves much of this grooming, and therefore the idle attendant unscrupulously sacrifices the health and safety of the horse. If the stable is close, the air will not only be hot, but foul. The breathing of every animal contaminates it; and when, in the course of the night, with every aperture, even the key-hole, stopped, it passes again and again through the lungs, the blood cannot undergo its proper and healthy cliange ; digestion cannot be so perfectly performed, and all the functions of life are injured. Let the owner of the valuable horse think of his passing twenty or twenty-two, out of the twenty-four hours, in this debilitating atmosphere. Nature does wonders in enabling every animal to accommodate itself to the situation in which it is placed, and the horse that lives in the stable-oven sutlers less from it than would scarcely be conceived possible; but he does not and cannot possess the power and the hardihood which he would acquire under other circumstances. The air of the improperly-close stable is still further contaminated by the urine and dung, which rapidly ferment in the heat, and give out stimulating and unwholesome vapours. When a person first enters an ill- managed stable, and especially early in the morning, he is annoyed not only by the heat of the confined air, but by a pungent smell, resembling hartshorn; and can he wonder at the inflammation of the eyes, and the chronic cough, and the inflammation of the lungs, with which the animal, that has been shut up in this vitiated atmosphere alljiight, is often attacked; or if glanders and farcy should occasionally break out in such stables? It has been ascertained, by chemical experiment, that the urine of tlie horse contains in it an exceedingly large quantity of hailshorn ; and, not only so, but that, influenced by the lieat of a crowded stable, and possibly by other de- compositions that are going forward at the same time, this ammoniacal vapour begins to be rapidly given out, almost immediately after the urine is voided. When disease begins to appear among the inhabitants of these ill- ventilated places, is it wonderful that it should rapidly spread among them, and that the plague-spot should be, as it were, placed on the door of such a stable? When distemper appears in spring or in autumn, it is, in very many cases, to be traced fii'st of all to such a pest-house. It is peculiarly fatal there. The horses belonging to a small establishment, and rationally treated, have it comparatively seldom, or have it lightly ; but, among the inmates of a crowded stable, it is sure to display itself, and there it is most of all fatal. The experience of every veterinary surgeon, and of every large proprietor of horses, will corroborate this statement. Agriculturists should bring to their stables the common sense which directs them in the usual concerns of life ; and should begin, when their pleasures and their property are so much at stake, to assume that authority, and to enforce that obedience, to the lack of which is to be attributed the greater part of bad stable- management and horse disease. Of nothing are we more certain, than that the majority of the maladies of the horse, and those of the worst find most fatal character, are directly or indirectly to be attributed to the /mnatural heat of the stable, and the sudden change of the animal from a high to a low, or from a low to a high temperature. LITTER. Having spoken of the vapour of harrtshorn, which is so rapidly and so plentifully given out from the urine of a horse in a heated stable, we take next into consideration the subject of litter. The first caution is frequently vo remove it. The early extrication of gas shows the rapid putrefaction of the urine' and the consequence of which will be the rapid putrefaction of ai3 THE HORSE. the litfer that has been moistened by it. Every thing hastening to decom. ,;osition should be carefully removed where life and health are to be pre- served. Every portion of the litter that has been much wetted, or at all softened by the urine, and is beginning to decay, should be swept away every morning: the greater part of the remainder may be then piled under the manger, a little being left to prevent the painful and injurious pressure of the teet on the hard pavement during the day. The soiled and macer- ated portion of that which was left should be removed at night. No heap of fermenting dung should be suffered to remain during the day in the corner, or in any part of the stable. With regard to this, the directions of the master should be peremptory. The stable should be so contrived that the urine shall quickly run offj and the offensive and injurious vapour from the decomposing urine and the litter will thus be materially lessened: if, however, the urine be carried away by means of a gutter running along the stable, the floor of the stalls must slant toward that gutter, and the declivity will sometimes be so great as to strain the back sinews, and become an occasional, although unsus- pected cause of lameness. Mr. R. Lawrence well observes that, "if the reader will stand for a few minutes with his toes higher than his heels, the pain he will feel in the calves of his legs will soon convince him of the truth of this remark. Hence, when a horse is not eating, he always endeavors to find his level, either by standing across the stall, or else as far back as his halter will permit, so that his hind-legs may meet the ascent of the other side of the channel." This direction of the stall is also a frequent cause of contraction of the heels of the foot, by throwing too great a proportion of the weight upon the toe, and removing that pressure on the heels which tends most to keep them open. Care, therefore, must be taken that the slanting of the floor of the stalls shall be no more than is suthcient to drain off the urine with tolerable rapidity. Stalls of this kind certainly do best for mares; but for horses we much prefer those with a grating in the centre, and an inclination of the floor on every side towards the middle. A short branch may communi- cate with a larger drain, by means of which the urine may be carried off to a reservoir outside the stable. Traps are now contrived, and may be procured at little expense, by means of which neither any offensive smell nor current of air can pass through the grating. The farmer should not lose any of the urine. It is from the dung of the horse that he derives a principal and the most valuable part of his ma- nure. It is that which earliest takes on the process of putrefaction, and forms one of the strongest and most durable dressings. That which is most of all concerned with the rapidity and perfection of the decomposition, is the urine. The reasons why the horse should always stand on litter have been given at page 295. Humanity and interest, as well as the appearance of the stable, will induce the general proprietor of the horse to place a mode- rate quantity of litter under him during the day. The farmer, who Mants to convert every otherwise useless substance into manure, will have addi- tional reason for adopting this practice; especially, as he does not confine himself to that to which in towns and in gentlemen's stables custom seems to have limited the bed of the horse. Pea and bean-haum, and potato- tops, and heath, occupy in the stable of the farmer, during a part of the year, the place of wheaten and oaten straw. It should, however, be remembered, that these substances are disposed more easily to ferment and putrefy than straw, and therefore should be more carefully examined, and oftcner removed. It is the faulty custom of some farmers to let the bed LIGHT. 349 accumulate until it reaches almost to the horse's belly, and the bottom ot it is a mass of dung. If there were not often many a hole and cranny IhrouirJi which the wind can enter, and disperse the foul air, the health of the animal would suffer. LIGHT. This neglected branch of stable-management is of far more consequenc*? than is generally imagined ; and it is particularly neglected by those for whom these treatises are principally, designed. The farmer's stable is fre- quently destitute of any glazed window; and has only a shutter, which is raised in warm, and shut down in cold weather.- When the horse is in the stable only during a few hours of the day, this is not of so much conse- quence; nor of so much, probably, to horses of slow work; but to car- riage horses and hackneys, so far at least as the eyes are concerned, a dark stable is little less injurious than a foul and heated one. To illus- trate this, reference may be made to the unpleasant feeling and the utter impossibility of seeing distinctly, when a man suddenly emerges from a dark place into the full blaze of day. The sensation of mingled pain and giddiness is not soon forgotten ; and some minutes pass before the eye can accommodate itself to the increased light. If this were to happen every day, or several times in the day, the sight would be irreparably injured; or, possibly, blindness would ensue. Can we wonder, then, that the horse taken from a dark stable into a glare of light, and feeling, probably, as we should under similar circumstances, and unable, for a considerable time, to see any thing around him distinctly, should become a starter, or that the frequently repeated violent effect of sudden light should induce inflamma- tion of the eye, so intense as to terminate in blindness? There is, indeed, no doubt, in the mind of any one familiar with the subject, that horses kept in a dark stable are frequently notorious starters, and that starting has been evidently traced to this cause. Farmers know, and should profit by the knowledge, that the darkness of the stable is not unfrequently a cover for great uncleanliness. A glazed window, with leaden divisions between the small panes, would not cost much, and would admit a degree of light somewhat more approaching to that of day; and, at the same time, would render the concealment of gross inattention and want of cleanliness impossible. If plenty of light be admitted, the walls of the stable, and especially that portion of them which is before the horse's head, must not be of too glaring a colour. The constant reflection from a white wall, and especially if the sun shines into the stable, will be as injurious to the eye as the sudden changes from darkness to light. The perpetual slight excess of stimulus will do as much mischief as the occasional, but more violent one, when the animal is taken from a kind of twilight to the blaze of day. The colour of the stable, therefore, should depend on the quantity of light. •Where much can be admitted, the walls should be of a grey hue. Where darkness would otherwise prevail, frequent whitewashing may in some degree dissipate the gloom. For another reason it will be evident that the stable should not possess 00 glaring a light. It is the resting-place of the horse. The work of the farmer's horse, indeed, is confined principally to the day, but the labours of others are demanded at all periods. The hour of exertion having passed, the animal returns to his stable to feed and to repose, and the latter is as necessary as the former, in order to prepare him for renewed work. Something approaching to the dimness of twilight is requisite, to induce the S>rS THE HOUSE. aniniul to compose Iiiniseir lo sleep". This lialflii^lu more parlicularly suits horses of heavy wurk, and who draw ahnost as much by tlie wciiiht of carcase which tiicy cau throw into liie collar, as by tlie decree of muscular- energy of which they arc capable. In the quietness of a dimly-lighted stable they obtain repose, and accumulate flesh and fat. Dealers are per fectly aware of this. They have their darkened stables, in which the young horse, with little or no exercise, and fed upon mashes and ground corn, is made up for sale. The round and plump appearance, however, which may delude the unwary, soon vanishes with altered treatment, and the animal is found to be unfit for hard work, and predisposed to every inflammatory disease. The circumstances, then, under which a stable somewhat darkened may be allowed, will be easily determined by the owner of the horse; but, as a general rule, dark stables are unfriendly to cleanli- ness, and the frequent cause of the vice of starting, and of the most seriou diseases of the eyes. GROOML\G. Of this much need not be said, since custom, and, apparently without ill etfect, has allotted so little of the comb and the brush to the farmer's horse. The animal that has worked all day, and is turned out at night, requires little more to be done to him than liave the dirt brushed olf his limbs. Regular grooming, by rendering his skin more sensible to the alteration of temperature, and the inclemency of the weather, would be prejudicial. The hor.se that is altogether turned out nee disease but a very slight discharge from the nostrils. It is to be dissolved in the common drink of the horse. It is worth a trial, but too sanguine expectations must not be encouraged of the power of any drug over this intractable malady. Iron should be given in combination with gentian and ginger, but never with any alkali, or nitre, or soap, or catechu, or astringent veg'^table. Forge water used to be a favourite tonic with farriers, and also a lotion for canker and ulcers in the mouth. It owes its power, if it has any, to the iron with which it is impregnated. Juniper, Oil of. — This essential oil is retained because it has some diu- retic property, and is a pleasant aromatic. It may, therefore, enter into the composition of tlie diuretic ball. Lard. — This or palm oil is far preferable to honey, or treacle, or syrups, for making up balls, because the ball more readily dissolves in the stomach. It likewise renders a purgative less liable to gripe. It is the principal basis of all ointments. Laudanum. — See Opium. Lead. — Combinations of this metal are admitted into veterinary practice. The subacetate is common under the name of Extract of Lead, or Goulard's Extract. It is used in the proportion of a drachm to a pint of water in the early stages of inflammation of the eye ; but is inferior both to opium and digitalis, and cannot be used in combination with either. In double the proportion, it is serviceable in superficial inflammations of various kinds, or in poultices for the feet where there is much inflammation or pain ; but in cases of sprain, or deep injury, or inflammations, it is perfectly useless. If white vitriol or alum are added to the lead, the efficacy of all the ingre- dients is destroyed. The Sugar of Lead is the acetate or superacetate of that metal. This, dissolved in water in the proportion of two drachms to a pint, makes an extemporaneous Goulard's Lotion, but not more valuable than the former. White Lead, (carbonate of lead,) is sometimes sprinkled in the form of fine powder, and with advantage, on swelled legs, where the skin is very red and irritable, and moisture is exuding through it. It is used alone or mixed with paste, or a bread-and-water poultice: but lead, althougii in the first-mentioned form a great favourite with many persons, might, without great loss, be expunged from the Veterinary Pharmacopoeia. Lime was formerly sprinkled over cankered feet and greasy heels, but there are less painful caustics, and more eflectual absorbents of moisture. Lime water is rarely used, but the Chloride of Lime is exceedingly valuable. Diluted with twenty times its quantity of water, it should help to form the poultice applied to every part from which there is the slightest offensive discharge. The fcetid smell of fistulous withers, poll-evil, canker, and ill-conditioned wounds, is immediately removed, and the ulcers are more disposed to heal. When mangy horses are dismissed as cured, a washing with the diluted chloride w^ll lemove pny infection that might lurk about them, or which they might carry from MEDICINES. 395 the placp in which tliey have been confined. One pint 5f the chloria** mixed with three gallons of water, and brushed over the walls and niangei and rack of the foulest stable, will completely remove all infection. Aii horse furniture worn by a glandered or mangy animal will be eficctually purified in the same way. Internally administered, it seems to have no power whatever. Liniments are oily applications of the consistence of a thick fluid, and designed either to sooth an inflamed surface, or, by gently stimulating the skin, to remove deeper-seated pain or inflammation. As an emollient lini- ment, one composed of half an ounce of extract of lead and four ounces of olive oil will be useful. For sprains, old swellings, or rheumatism, two ounces of hartshorn, the same quantity of camphorated spirit, an ounce of oil of turpentine, half an ounce of laudanum, and a drachm of oil of origa- num, may be mixed together; or an ounce of camphor may be dissolved in four ounces of sweet oil, to which an ounce of oil of turpentine and a drachm of oil of origanum should be afterwards added. A little powdered cantharides, or tincture of cantharides, or mustard powder, will render either of these more powerful, or convert it into a liquid blister. Linseed. — An infusion of linseed is often used instead of water, for the drink of the horse with sore-throat or catarrh. A pail containing it should be slung in the stable or loose box. Thin gruel, however, is preferable ; it is as bland and soothing, and it is more nutritious. Linseed meal forms the best poultice for almost every purpose. The oil of linseed is not a certain, but always a safe purgative. It must be given, however, in doses of a pint or a pint and a half. Lotions. — Many of the best lotions have been already described, in the chapters which treat of the various diseases of the horse. Magnesia. — The sulphate of magnesia, or Epsom Salts, should be used only in promoting the purgative effect of clysters, or, in repeated doses of six or eight ounces, gently to open the bowels at the commencement of fever. Some doubt, however, attends the latter practice ; for the dose must often be thrice repeated before it will act, and then, although safer than aloes, it may produce too much irritation in the intestinal canal, espe- cially if the fever be the precursor of inflammation of the lungs. Mashes constitute a very important part of horse provender, whether in sickness or health. A mash given occasionally to a horse that is otherwise fed on dry meat prevents him from becoming dangerously costive. To the overworked and tired horse nothing is so refreshing as a warm mash with his usual allowance of corn in it. The art of getting a horse into apparent condition for sale, or giving him a round and plump appearance, consists principally in the frequent repetition of mashes, and from their easiness of digestion and the mild nutriment which they atTord, as well as their laxative efTect, they form the principal diet of the sick horse. Mashes are made by pouring boiling water on bran, and stirring it well, and then covering it over until it is sufficiently cool for the horse to eat. If in the heat of summer, a cold mash is preferred, it should, nevertheless, be made with hot water, and then suffered to remain until it is cold. This is not always sufficiently attended to by the groom, who is not aware that he efficacy of the mash depends principally on the change which is effected m the bran and the other ingredients by the boiling water rendering them more easy of digestion, as well as aperient. If the horse refuses the mash, o. few oats may be sprinkled over it, in order to tempt him to eat it; but if it is previoasly designed that corn should be given in the mash, it should he scalded with the bran, to soften it and render it more digestible. Bran mashes are very useful preparatives for physic, and they are necessary 3.)6 THE HORSE. duririj^ the opci'fttion of the physic. They very soon become Bour, and the manger of the horse of whose diet they form a principal part, should be daily and carefully cleaned out. When horses are weakly and much reduced, malt mashes will often be palatable to them and very nutritive : but the water that is poured on a malt mash should be considerably below the boiling heat, or the malt will be set, or clogged together. If owners were aware of the value of a malt mash, it would be oftener given when the horse is rapidly getting weaker from protracted disease, or when he is beginning to recover from a disease by which he has been much reduced. The only exception to their use is in cases of chest affection, in which they must not be given too early. In grease, and in mange accompanied by much emaciation, malt mashes will be peculiarly useful, and especially if they constitute a principal portion of the food. Mercury. — The Mercurial Ointment is prepared by rubbing quicksilver with lard, in the proportion of one part of mercury to three of grease, until no globules appear ; the practitioner should, if possible, prepare it himself, for he can neither get it pure nor of the proper strength from the druggist. It is employed with considerable advantage in preparing splents, spavins, or other bony or callous tumours, for blistering or firing. One or two drachms, according to the nature and size of the swelling, may be daily well rubbed in ; but it should be watched, for it sometimes salivates the horse very speedily. The tumours more readily disperse, at the applica- tion of the stronger stimulant, when they have been thus prepared. Mer- curial ointment in a more diluted form is sometimes necessary for the cure of mallenders and sallenders ; and in very obstinate cases of mange, one- eighth part of mercurial ointment may be added to the ointment recom- mended at page 379. Calomel, the submuriate or protochlorideof mercury, may be given, com- bined with aloes, in mange, surfeit or worms ; yet better alteratives and more efficient vermifuges have been described. It is admissible in some cases of chronic cough, in farcy, and in jaundice, but it is not a medicine that seems to agree with the horse. Alone, it has little purgative effect, but it assists the action of other aperients. It is given in doses from a scruple to a drachm, but must not be too often or too long repeated. As soon as the gums become red, or the animal begins to quid or drop his hay, it must be discontinued. Corrosive Suhlimate, the oxymuriate, or bichloride of mercury, com- bined with chlorine in a double proportion, is a useful tonic in farcy, and perhaps the most to be depended upon. It should be given in doses of ten grains daily, and gradually increased to a scruple, until the horse is purged, or the mouth becomes sore, when it may be omitted for a few days, and resumed. Some have recommended it as a diuretic, but it is too dangerous a medicine for this purpose. It is used externally in solution; and in sub- stance in quiltor, as a stimulant to foul ulcers ; and in the proportion of five grains to an ounce of rectified spirit in obstinate mange or to destroy vermin on the skin. It is, however, too uncertain and too dangerous a medicine for the horse-proprietor to venture on its use without the sanc- tion nf a veterinary surgeon. JEthiop^s Mineral, the black sulphuret of mercury, is not often used in horse practice, but it is a good alterative for obstinate surfeit or foulness of the skin, in doses of three drachms daily. Four drachms of cream of tartar may be advantageously added to each dose. Mint. — If the use of an infusion or decoction of this plant, or of the oil that is extracted from it, can be at any time admitted, it is as a vehicle in MEDICINES. 39-: which the oil of turpentine and laudanum may be administered in cases of cholic. Myrrh may be used in the form of tincture, or it may be uiiited to the tincture of aloes as a stimulating and digestive application to wounds. Diluted with an equal quantity of water, it is a good application for canker in the mouth, but as an internal medicine it seems to be inert. Nitre. — See Potash. Nitrous ^ther, Spirit of, is a very useful medicine in the advanced stages of fever, for while it to a certain degree rouses tlie exhausted powers of the animal, and may be denominated a stimulant, it never brings back the dangerous febrile action which was subsiding. It is given in doses of three or four drachms. Oils. — The farrier's list contains many of them, but the scientific prac- titioner has discarded the greater part ; those that are worth retaining will be found under the names of the vegetables from which they are extracted. Ointments. — These have been fully described under the accidents and diseases in which their use is required. Olives, Oil of. — This is sometimes given as a purgative when aloes or other aperients cannot be obtained. It is useless to give it in a less quantity than a pint, and then it is uncertain in its operation, although harmless. In all liniments and ointments, spermaceti, or even linseed oil, may be substituted without detriment, and the peculiar smell of the latter may be subdued by oil of aniseseed or origanum. Opium. — However underrated by some, there is not a more valuable drug on our list. It does not often act as a narcotic except in enormous doses ; but it is a powerful antispasmodic, sedative, and astringent. As an anti- spasmodic, it enters into the cholic drink, and it is the sheet-anchor of the veterinarian in the treatment of tetanus or locked jaw. As a sedative, it relaxes that universal spasm of the muscular system, which is the charac- teristic of tetanus ; and perhaps it is only as a sedative that it has such admirable effect as an astringent; for when the irritation about the mouths of the vessels of the intestines and kidneys is allayed by the opium, undue purging and profuse staling are necessarily arrested. It should, hoAvever, be given with caution. It is its secondary effect which is sedative, and, if given in cases of fever, its primary efiect in increasing the excitation of the frame is marked and injurious. In the earl}' and acute stage of fever, it would be bad practice to give it in the smallest quantity ; but when the fever has passed, or is passing, tliere is nothing which so rapidly subdues the irritability that accompanies extreme weakness ; and it becomes an excellent tonic, because it is a sedative. If the blue or green vitriol, or cantharides, have been pushed too far, opium soonest quiets the disorder they have occasioned. It is given in doses of one or two drachms ; either the powdered opium being made into a ball, or the crude opium dissolved in hot water, and given with its sedi- ment. Other medicines are usually combined with it, according to the cir- cumstances of the case. Externally, it is useful in opthalmia. In the form of decoction of the poppy head it may constitute the basis of an anodyne poultice ; but it must not !)e given in union with any alkali, with the exception of chalk, in over- Durging ; nor with the superacetate of lead, by which its powers are mate- rially impaired, nor with sulphate of zinc, or copper, or iron. From its high price it is much adulterated, and it is rare to meet with it obvious that where a horse travels unloaded, the greatest distance he can go in any given time for several days in succession without injurious fatigue, is the limit of his velocity: on the other hand, the load may be so great, that he can scarcely put it in motion — this is the limit of his power: in both cases, the useful etlect is nothing. But between these limits of velocity and power, there is a proportion which affords the maximum quantity of effect, and which, therefore, must be the most advantageous for the applica- tion of horse-power. It has been asserted by theorists, and the theory appears to bo .supported by experience, that the velocity corresponding to this maximum, or that at which a horse working continually a certain number of hours per day will do the most work, is equal to half the extreme or limit of velocity of the same horse working the same number of hours unloaded ; and that the force of traction corresponding to this speed, is equal to half the limit of his power. For instance, if six hours be the length of a day's work decided upon, and if a horse working that time can go six miles per hour unloaded, and therefore producing no useful effect, and supposing the limit of power of the same horse be equal to 250 lbs., it is found that he will do the most work in the same number of hours Avhen drawing a load at the rate of half six, or three miles per hour; and half of 250 or 125 lbs. will be the strain corresponding to this speed Our next step, then, must be to frid these limits: now, the limit of -elocity depends upon the length of time during which the speed is Kept up; we subjoin therefore a table deduced from experiments, and which represents the proportion of the duration of labour and maximum velocity of the average of horses accus- tomed to their respective velocities. Duration of labour . Maxinmm velocity unload- ed in miles per hour. This within the range here given may be considered as very nearly the law of decrease of speed by increased duration of labour; and at the first glance we see the great advantage of reducing the speed and prolonging the exertion. There are, however, many causes to limit the duration of a day's work of a horse. Tredgold, in his work on Railways, before quoted, says: "The time assigned for the day's work of a horse is usually eight- hours: but it is certain, from experience, that some advantage is gained by shortening the hours of labour; and we have observed, that a horse is least injured by his labour, where his day's work is performed in about six hours; where the same quantity of labour is performed in less than six hours, the over-exertion in time shows itself in stiffened joints, while the wearying efiects of long-continued action become apparent, if the duration of the day's work be prolonged much beyond eight hours. Indeed, under the management of a good driver, a full day's work may be completed in the time before mentioned — six hours — with benefit to the health and vigour of the animal." We tnay be permitted, however, to abandon the idea of improving the Hours. 1 2 3 4 5 5 7 8 10 14f 101 8^ "71 6| 6 51 5i 4a 41 G ON DRAUGHT. health of the animal, or of rendering his business a pleasure to him — an attempt, the success of which is, we should think, very questionable,' and content ourselves with endeavouring to check the barbarous practice of working horses to death either by overdriving or overloading them; and we shall, as is generally the case, consult our own interests and follow the dictates of liunuinily at the same time, by not injuring so useful an animal: and we think that experience proves there will be no danger of doing tliis by working eight or nine hours a day. By referring to the Table above, we see that the maximum velocity of the average of horses corresponding to eight hours' work is five miles and a half per hour, consequently, the rate at which he would travel when loaded is a little more tban two miles and a half per hour. There is no doubt that some horses could conveniently travel faster; but as the speed must generally be governed by that of other horses, the average is, in this case, the rate to be adopted. The force exerted under these circunjstances depending upon the quality of the horse, it is very difficult to attain even an approximate value of it, unless the experiment be made upon each individual horse: it is fortunately, however, of no great consequence in practice, because if we feel sure that we are employing all the jjower we can command to the greatest advantage, it is not of any very great importance that we should know the exact amount of that power. In comparing animal horse-power with that of the steam-engine, we estimated it at about 125 lbs., but we believe that, with tolerably good horses, it may generally be taken at more than that. We have thus far confined our attention to the cases where velocity, as well as duration of labour, was left to choice; this is far from being always the case. In stage-coaches, or other conveyance for passengers, speed is absolutely necessary, and it only remains to learn how that speed can be obtained with the greatest econom}'. The following Table extracted from Tredgokl, will show the great reduction in the effect produced by increasing the velocity. The first column being the velocity or rate per hour, continued for six hours per day ; the second represents the force of traction of which the animal is capable ; and the third, the comparative effects produced. A force of traction of 125 lbs. continued for six hours at the rate of three miles per hour being taken as the standard, and considered equal to the arbitrary number 1000. Miles per hour. Force of traction in lbs. Efiect proiluced. 2 166 883 3 125 1000 3i 104 972 4 83 888 4* 62i 750 5 41| 555 H 361 500 If, however, the hours of labour be lessened, taking the velocity corres- ponding to the greatest useful effect, the results will be much greater, and the velocity may be raised much higher, as will be seen in the following Table. Here the first column is the length of days' work, the second the best ve.ociiy corresponding to that time, or half the limit of velocity .shown in Table (I), and the third column the comparative effect produced, thfi forc« of traction beinfr in each case 125 lbs. ON DRAUGHT. L>ur&tion of labour in hours. Velocity, miles per hour 2 . . . . . 51 . 3 . . . . . 41 . 4 . . . . . ^ . 5 . . . . . 31 . 6 . . . . . 3 7 . . . . . 2f . 8 . . . . . 2f . 417 Effect produced. 578 709 813 909 1000 1063 1110 To i^ttain higher velocity, it is necessary still further to reduce the load, and the next Table is calculated upon the supposition of the strain being only one half the last, viz : 62 J lbs. ; this is about the average exertion of each horse in a four-horse heavy stage-coach. Duration of labour. Hours per day. 4 3 2 1 Velocity. Effect produced. 51 613 6| 534 71 434 11 307 In mails or light coaches, where ten, eleven, and even eleven and a half or twelve miles an hour is attained, the average strain of each horse ia barely 40 lbs., and the effect produced, or value of work done, not much more than one-half the above. It must be remembered, that these Tables are all calculated upon the supposition of the road being good, and the work not such as to cause any immediate injury to the animal, and is adapted only to the average quality of horses. They are not therefore, at once applicable as data for calcula- tions in all ordinary cases, but only serve to show the comparative forces which may be exerted under different degrees of speed. The results or effects of this force will always be influenced by the quality of the resist- ance, as we have already observed in the cases of slow travelling ; but in rapid travelling, the power is much more expensive, owing to the great loss which we see, by the Tables, is sustained by inxjreased velocity ; and it is, therefore, the more important to study well the means of applying the power in question. In this rapid travelling, the bad consequences of a uniform and constant strain is still more felt by the horses, and the necessity of occasional relief is still more urgent than at low velocities. It is universally admitted by horse proprietors and postmasters, whose interests make them peculiarly sensible on this point, that a flat piece of road is more destructive of horses than the same length of road where gentle rises and alternate flat and swelling ground occur ; and that a long hill is easier surmounted where there are occasional short levels, and even descents, than when the whole is one uniform descent. It only remains for us, before we dismiss the subject of the moving power, to consider the particular mode of applying it, or the manner of harnessing the horses. Under this head, comes the question of the best direction of the traces, 'Mistrating the correctness of their own theory, proved ihe error of others, there can be no presumption in laying them all aside, and in taking a diflerent, but at the same time a more sin)plc and prijctical view of the case. By referring to a figure, similar to that by which we showed the mode of action of the horse in pulling, we see that if AD represent that portion of his whole weight which is relieved from his fore- legs, and AE the direction of the traces, then AF is the measure of the horizontal pull upon the carriage. Now, AF bears a constant proportion to AB, vvhich represents the strain upon the legs; and AD being constant, AB, and, consequently, AF, increase or diminish according as the angle ADB is increased or diminished : that is to say, the horizontal pull 'applied to the carriage is proportionate to the strain upon the legs; but they are both dependent upon the angle formed by the traces, increasing or dimin- ishing as the latter are Fig. 4. inclined downwards or upwards from the collar ; so that v.'hether the traces be inclined upwards, as Jig. 4, or downwards, as fig. 6, or whether they be horizontal, as fig. 5, makes no difference in the manner of pulling. In the first case, a por- tion of the animal's weight is borne by the traces, and is transferred by them to the carriage. AF is here small, but the strain upon the legs, AB, is also proportion ably less than in the second case, where the traces are horizontal. In figure 6, where the traces incline downwards, we see that the horizontal force, AE, is much more consider- able ; but, at the same time, AB is increased, and, consequently, the •muscular exertion re- quired in the legs is pro- portionably great. In fact, here a portion of the weight of tiie load is transferred to his siioul- ders. The comparative ad- vantages therefore of the three do not follow any general rule, but depend simply upon the peculiar qualities of the particu- lar animal employed, and his relative capabilities for liflmg and pulling. ON DRAUGHT. 419 or the proportion existing between the weiglit of his hody and his muscular strength. To render this more clear to our own feelings, we will put the case of a man : — We have already seen that an able-bodied man is mor«» adapted for lifting than pulling ; consequently, in his case, it would be ad- vantageous to throw a certain portion of the weight upon him, by making him pull upwards, as in jig. 7; or, what we are more accustomed to see, and which amounts to the same thing, applying his strength to a wheel- barrow, jig. 8 ; and we have frequently seen an ordinary man wheel 800 lbs. in this manner. If, however, we take a person accustomed to hard work, and conse- quently not so strong in the legs, although he may be unable even to lift the wheelbarrow which the other moved with ease, still he may, by push- ing horizontally, put in motion a considerable load ; and, lastly, in the case of an invalid who can barely carry his own weight, if he lean on the back of a garden-chair, he will not only walk himself, but push on the chair; or a child who is yet too weak to stand, can, if part of his weight be supported in a go-cart, not only move himself, but also the frame which supports him. These are very familiar and homely comparisons, but they are cases exactly similar to the three positions of the traces; and the argument will equally apply to horses as to men. It is true, we rarely use for draught a horse that cannot stand ; but the case is very possible that a large, heavy horse, otherwise not strong, or one which it was not desirable to fatigue, might pull better and longer, if part of the weight was thrown upon the carriage, or if, in other words, the traces pulled upwards. And we know by expe- rience that, in the case of stage-coaches, where, owing to the speed, the weight of the horse's body is already generally a burden to him, it is dis- advantageous to increase that weight by inclining the traces much down- wards ; on the contrary, where we wish to obtain the utmost effect of a powerful horse, or of a horse that is muscular, but without much weiglit forward, it is highly advantageous to augment the effect of his gravity by inclining the traces even as much as fifteen degrees, or about one upon three ; the strain upon the traces will be then considerably increased, and the effect augmented, provided always that he is able to exert the necessary strength in his legs. As far, therefore, as the mere force of traction is concerned, there is no particular angle which will always produce the greatest effect ; but it must depend upon the particular capability of the hoi'se ; and this in its turn varies, and is affected by circumstances; for the same horse that upon a level road requires no addition to his weight, might be materially assisted by a slight addition when ascending a hill, if not continued too long; and most horses would be benefited considerably by the opposite arrangement in a descent: that is, by a portion of their weight being borne up; they should, at least, have no additional load thrown on them while descending a hill. 420 ON DRAUGHT. B There is also & time when inclining the traces downwards is almost indispensable : it is when dragging a four-wheeled waggon over a rough, broken road. If the front wheel, which is generally small, meets with aa obstacle by falling into a hole, or stopping against a stone, it requires no profound reasoning to show, that a force pulhng upwards, in the direction AB, Jig. 9, will raise the whole wheel over the ob- Mig.y. — stacle with much greater facility than if applied horizontally, as AC ; this is the only circumstance, unconnected with the horse, that ought to govern C [ A j the direction of the traces, and the degree of the inclination here must of course still be proportioned to the power of the horse. We see therefore that, in proportion as the horse is stronger, or tliat we are disposed to make him exert a greater effort, the traces should be inclined downwards from the collar: with a good average horse, perhaps one-sixth or one-seventh of the distance from the collar to the extremity ; with a horse of inferior capabilities, arising from weakness in the limbs, and not want of weight, or with an ordinary horse, when travelling above six miles an hour, the traces should be nearer the horizontal line, except when the cir- cumstance of a rough road, before alluded to, requires some modification of this. To be able to apply these rules generally in practice, it would be necessary to have some means of altering the traces while on the road; as we have stated that they should be differently arranged, according as the road is level or rough, or ascending or descending, this would not be diffi- cult to contrive, and has, indeed, been suggested by some writers upon this subject; but it is probable that, except in stage- waggons, where the same carriage goes along a great extent, and consequent variety of road, it will be sufficient to adjust the traces according to the average state of the roads in the neighbourhood ; and we cannot greatly err, if we bear in mind that, inclining the traces downwards from the collar to the carriage, amounts to the same thing as throwing part of the weight of the load on to tlie shafts, a thing frequently done in two-wheeled cai'ts, and a manoeuvre which all gooQ cartmen know how to put in practice. The impossibility of inclining the traces of the leaders, owing to their distance from the carriage, is an addi- tional reason to those given before, why they (the leaders) cannot, when required, exert such an elFort as the shaft-horse or wheeler; and on rough cross-roads, is a great argumeni in favour of harnessing horses abreast. Yet wjiat can be more contrary to the rules here laid down than tho injudicious mode frequently adopted in harnessing horses? How coo ON DRAUGHT. 421 J^.n. Btantly do we see the efforts of horses paralyzed by misapplication of their respective qualities ! In the preceding cut, (fig. 10,) for instance, which represents a very common specimen of this, the light, muscular, little horses, which is capable of considerable exertion, is nearly lifted from the ground, and prevented from making any exertion, by the traces leading upwards; while the feeble old horse, scarcely capable of carrying his own body, is nearly dragged to the ground, and compelled to employ his whole strength in carrying himself, and even part of the weight of the leader; so that the strength of the one willing to work is not employed, and the other is so over- loaded as to be useless. The mode of attaching the traces does not admit of much variety. The shoulders have always been made use of for this purpose. Homer, who is supposed to have lived about nine hundred years before Christ, describes very minutely, in the twenty-fourth book of the Iliad, the mode of harnessing horses at the time of the siege of Troy, nearly 3,000 years ago ; but if we suppose that his description was taken from the harness in use in his own time, it is still referring to a period about twenty, seven centuries back. A simple strap, formed of several thick- nesses of leather, so as to be very stiff, and fitted well to the neck and shoulders, served as a collar, as seen at A A, (Jigs. 11 and 12.) A second strap, B B, passed round the body, and was attached to the shoulder-strap at the withers. At this point was fixed the yoke, C C, which was fixed to the pole. Ftg. 12. A pair of horses were thus yoked together, without traces or breechings, as oxen are seen at the present time in many parts of the country. This was a simple arrangement, but by no means a bad one ; and it would appear that they performed all the manoeuvres of cavalry with cha- riots and horses thus harnessed. The pair yoked to the pole were called yoked horses; abreast of these was frequently placed what was called an outer horse, with a simple shoulder-strap or collar, FF, and a single trace, GG, passing inside, as in Jig. 13. Sometimes there were two of theso Worses, one on each side, eaqh furnished with his strap or collar and trace. 422 ON DRAUGHT. These straps, if well fitted, were not bad ; but as they must have pressed in some degree upon the throat, they could not be equal to the collar of the yoked horses; still less to the collar at present used. In more modern times, these shoulder-straps gave place to the breast- strap. A horse can no doubt exert a considerable strain against such a strap, but in action it must impede the movement of the shoulder. In some parts of South America the trace is fixed to the pommel of the saddle, which in its turn is well secured to the horse by saddle-girths, breast-straps, and breechings ; and we are informed that horses in this manner drag very considerable loads. It resembles completely the harness of the ancients, with the addition of the breechings. It is, of course, a mere temporary arrangement, convenient only as requiring no preparation. The trace is, in flict, the lasso of the rider, which is always fastened to the saddle ; and, when he has entangled it around the horns of a bull, or attached it to any thing he may have occasion to transport, he takes one or two turns of the thong around the pommel of the saddle, and the horse will at full gallop drag the load after him. Here the load being generally upon the ground, the trace must incline considerably downward ; and this, added to the weight of the rider, will perhaps account in some degree for the extra- ordinary effects of a young powerful horse, goaded to the utmost, and con- tinuing the exertion only for a short time. A gentleman who travelled some time in this part of America, and fre- quently witnessed the practical effects of this arrangement, has suggested the propriety of introducing it into the artillery, by means of which any number of horses might in an instant be attached to a gun, to extricate it from any heavy or broken ground in which it might be entangled. Cer- tainly, the length of these traces would enable these additional horses to secure a good footing; and any number of horses might thus be made to lend their assistance in time of need. We do not pretend, however, to judge of the practical utility of this measure, but merely record the sug- gestion of another. The collar now generally used is an improvement upon the ancient shoulder-strap described by Homer; and it is probably the bes: possible ON DRAUGHT. 423 mode of attaching the traces to the horses. If the connf^ction is made at the proper place on the collar, the latter bears flat and evenly upon the muscles which cover the collar-bone, and the shoulder? of the horse are left almost as free in their action as if the collar were not there. About A, {Jigs. 14 and 15,) is the point of the slioulder where the trace should come; and a little inclination downward, which can very easily be effected in the case of the shaft-horse by the shafts, and in the others by the belly- band, will, if necessary, prevent the collar rising up, and inconvenienfting the throat of the horse. rig. 14. Fig. 15. Reflecting upon the various circumstances which we have shown to occur in the application of animal power, and the various conclusions we have drawn while considering the best and most advantageous application of this power — and we must be excused the frequent repetition of the terms, for the sake of the clearness gained by it — it would appear that the resistance should be, as much as possible, rigid and inelastic, so as to receive imme- diately and unimpaired the direct effects of the slightly irregular exertions of the animal ; that this resistance should not be such as to yield directly to a sudden impulse ; that it should be so far uniform as to be free from violent changes or sudden shocks, but not so constant as to allow of no remission, nor of those alternations of exertion and comparative relaxation which we have stated to be advantageous to the perfect development of animal power. That, as regards the degree of resistance, where velocity is not required, a force of traction of from 100 lbs. to 12.5 lbs., or even 150 lbs.,* according to the strength of the horse, continued for eight hours a-day, at about two * The load which will produce this amount of draught will be determined when we consider the subject of the roads, on the quality of which it will be seen that (his must mainly depend. 424 ON DRAUGHT.. and a half to three miles per hour, is the best proportion of quantity and duration of labour; that where six or eight miles per hour is required, the duration of the day's work should be shortened to five or six hours, and the draught reduced to 80 lbs. or 100 lbs. At still higher velocities, the draught must not exceed 50 lbs. or 60 lbs., and the time of working two or three hours. But this speed can only be attained by the sacrifice of the horse ; and consequently the question will rather be what the horse is capable of doing, than what can be done with economy ; and it becomes a matter of calculation depending altogether upon the first cost of tiie horse, and the profits arising from his employment. With respect to the mode of harnessing the horse, it is hardly necessary to say that great care should be taken in fitting the collar and in attacliing the traces to the proper point. As to the direction of the traces, it must, as we have shown, entirely depend upon the circumstances of the case. Where the draught is heavy and slow, if the road be good, the traces should be nearly horizontal, unless the journey be short, or the traffic be only in one direction, and the cart return empty, or unless any other reason render it desirable to compel the horse to exert himself more than he would natu- rally do; the traces should then be inclined downward toward the carriage, with an inclination, perhaps, of one upon four or five, provided' always that the horse is capable of continuing the exertion, which, by the additional load thrown upon his shoulders, he is thus called upon to make. If, in the same case of low speed, the road be very heavy, or broken and rough, the pro- portion of draught upon each horse must be lessened, but the traces should be attached still lower to the carriage, at a slope of one upon three or four, by which much greater power is given to the animal to drag the load over any obstruction. At all high velocities the traces should generally be horizontal. The cases of rough roads or powerful horses may slightly affect this arrangement, as at low velocities, but not in so great a degree. We will now proceed to examine the mode in which these conditions are practically to be fulfilled, and the result of the application of the prin- ciples which we have laid down, by considering the subject of the vehicles for conveying the weight to he moved. Those in present use are boats, (as canal-boats,) sledges, and wheeled- carriages, which last of course include every species of carriage, whether waggon or cart, heavy or light. Canal-boats and canals, we suspect, are going fast out of use, and will very shortly give place entirely to railways ; but still, it must be many years before this can be effected; and, in the mean time, the produce of the most extensive manufactures in the world, and the supply of immense masses of people, will be transported over these beautifully smooth, level, noiseless roads; and, even if their beds were dry, and become the course of railways (an event which may perhaps befall some of them), we must, out of respect for the extraordinary benefits we have derived from their assistance, and the almost incredible effect they have produced upon the commerce and riches of the country, have devoted a few lines to that part of their consideration which bears upon our subject, viz: the draught of canal-boats. The great advantage in the transport of goods by water-conveyance, is the smallness of the power required. A body floating in water is left so very free in its movements, that motion may be gradually communicated to it by any power, however small : at least the limit is very far removed ; but although a very slight movement may thus easily be obtained, the slightest increase of speed causes a very great increase of resistance. ON DRAUGHT. 42: The resistance to a body moving in a fluid arises principally from th«* striking of the particles of the fluid against the front of the moving body. so that if the speed of the vessel be increased, not only does it encounter a proportionably greater number of particles, but also it is struck by each, with a force proportionate to the velocity, and consequently the resistance is found to increase as the square of the velocity; thus, if the speed of tlie vessel be trebled, the number of particles, or the quantity of water wliich it .neets in its progress for a certain space of time, is trebled, and the resist- ance of each particle being also three times as great, owing to the boat's striking it with treble the velocity, the united effect is nine times as great ; therefore, if in the first instance it required one pound to draw the vessel, it would now require nine ; but nine times the weight or resistance, moved at three times the velocity, will require tv/enty-seven times the quantity of power in action; consequently, we see that the resistance increases as the square of the velocity, and the power required to be exerted for a given time increases as the cube of that velocity. There are some other causes of resistance, which do not vary in this proportion, but at moderate velocities ; and, in all ordinary cases, this may be considered as a tolerable approximation to the real law of the increase, and shows at once the impossibility of using water conveyance where speed is required. The draught of an ordinary canal-boat, at the velocity of 2i miles per hour, is about gi^- of its weight ; that is to say, a canal-boat, with its load weighing 33 tons, or 73,920 lbs., is moved at the rate mentioned, by a force equivalent to 80 lbs., being gig part of the load. This is found by Mr. Bevan to be the result upon the Grand Junction Canal, and a force of traction of 80 lbs. is here found to be equivalent to a horse-power. The average power of an ordinary horse is certainly rather more ; and in the commencement of this paper we mentioned this as an instance of a small effect being produced, most probably owing to the peculiar application of the power. We believe it to be the case, and think it likely that, if the disadvantages before alluded to, arising from the mode of applying the power, could be removed, the efl^ect might be raised to 100 lbs. or 120 lbs. of traction, and consequently the load moved would then be 40 or 50 ton.? ; this is an increase well worthy of consideration. We now come to the consideration of the means of transport employed on land. These are sledges, rollers, and wheel-carriages. The order in which they are here mentioned, is, probably, that in which they were invented or first employed. A sledge is certainly the rudest and most primitive form of vehicle ; the wheeled-carriage, and even the placing the load itself upon rollers, is the effect of a much more advanced state of the mechanical arts, and is, probably, of much later date than the sledge. When man first felt the necessity, or the desire, of transporting any article from one spot to another, he doubtless endeavoured to lift or carry it: if it proved too heavy for him to carry, he would naturally endeavour to drag it. Here frequent experiments would soon show him how much less labour was required to drag a body with a smooth surface in contact with the ground, than when the contrary was the case; and if the body to be moved did not itself present a smooth surface on any of its sides, but was, on the contrary, rough and angular in all directions, he would naturally be led to interpose between it and the ground some plane surface, which should prevent the angles and projections of the body from entering the ground and impeding the progress; and we may presume that sledges were thus very early brought into use. When attempting to transport still heavier masses, the accidental pressure of round stones, or a piece of a timber, may Ee 42G ON DRAUGHT. liave shown tho advantage of interposing rolling bodies, and thus rollers may have been invented and first brought into use. These steps appear natural, and likely to have led to these results: ihcy are, at any rate, sufficient to account for the first introduction of these two means of facilitating transport, but no steps of this kind appear capable of leading to the beautiful yet simple contrivance of a wheel. A roller is by no means an imperfect wjieel, as it may at first appear to be; they liave nothing in common but their rotatory or revolving action, but the elUct of tliis motion is totally different in the two. In a roller, friction is avoided altogether by it : in a wheel, it exists as completely as in a sledge ; but the sliding surfaces being at the centre of the wheel, instead of on the ground, are always the same, and being under control, may be kept in that stale which shall cause as little friction as possible : moreover, the friction is at a point where we have the means of overcoming it, by acting with tiie power of a considerable lever, as we shall hereafter show. There is, indeed, a kind of roller, which partakes somewhat of the char- acter of the wheel, but without possessing tlie advantages of it. This species of roller may have been an intermediate step between the two, and we shall therefore describe it when we have dismissed the subject of sledges and rollers. In England sledges are at the present time very little in use. In some commercial tow^ns the facility with which bulky and heavy articles can be placed upon them, without being raised to the heigiit of a cart, has caused them still to be employed ; but even in these cases, they are in general used only upon the pavement, where the friction is not considerable, and for short distances, in which case the saving of labour, in loading and unload- ing, more than compensates for the increase of power absorbed by the draught. Low-wheeled trucks would, however, in these cases, possess the same advantage, and might easily be substituted for them, if this advantage is so indispensable : for agricultural purposes, they are almost become obso- lete ; and for all purposes of traffic between distant points, they are quite abandoned. It is only in the north of England, and in some parts of Cornwall, that they are sometimes used in farming; but wherever good roads exist, and mechanical arts keep pace with the improvements of the age, they have given place to wheel-carriages. An examination into their nature and action will immediately account for this. A sledge is merely a frame, generally of wood, upon which the load is placed; and, resting at once upon the ground, tiic friction between the under surface of the sledge and the ground bears a considerable proportion to the load ; but if the ground be very uneven and full of holes, the sledge, by extending over a great surface, avoids the holes, and slides only upon the eminences, which being naturally the stones or the hard portions of tlie ground, cause less friction ; on such a road, a wheel would be continually sinking into those holes, thus opposing considerable resistance, and would also expose the load to frequent danger of upsetting. It would appear, therefore, that over broken ground, or even upon a very bad, uneven road, a sledge may be more advantageous than wheels, and its extreme simplicity of construction renders it veiy economical, as regards first cost ; but the ground must indeed be very bad, or the country be very poor, and little cultivated, where the formation of roads would not amply repay themselves by allowing the use of wheels; for the power reqoired to draw a loaded sledge will be at least four or five times greater than that required for an equally loaded cart upon a tolerably good road. ON DRAUGHT. 427 The draught of a sledge, even upon the pavement, is about one-fifth of the load, so that to draw a ton weiglit requires a force of traction of about four hundred weight; upon roads, the friction will be much greater; it is difficult to state its amount, as it must depend so much upon the nature of the ground, but with the load before mentioned, viz : one ton, the force of traction will, probably, vary from five to seven hundred weight: over a strong rocky surface, the resistance of a sledge will be much the same as on pavement. Its use, therefore, must be confined to very particular cases, where the absence of roads, or the want of means, prevents the adoption of more improved vehicles; and these cases are, fortunately, too rare in England to render it worth our while to bestow much time upon its description. Sledges are generally formed of two longitudinal pieces of timber, four or five feet apart, with their lower edges shod with iron; and transverse planks, bolted to these, form the floor, and they are thus easily constructed. The traces should be more inclined than with wheeled carriages, because the friction bearing a greater proportion to the load, it is more advantageous to throw a portion of that load upon the horse; and, being used upon uneven ground, it is more important to be able to lift the front of the sledge over obstacles. Although in this country the use of sledges is very limited, in many parts of the world they constitute the best, and, indeed, the only means of conveyance. Upon ice, the friction is so trifling, that they oppose less resistance even than wheels, for the reasons before stated of their covering a larger surface, and thereby sliding over those asperities which would impede the progress of a wheel; upon snow, the advantage is still more decided : — where a wheel Avould sink a considerable depth, and become almost immoveable, a sledge will glide upon the thin frozen crust without leaving a trace, and with an ease truly wonderful. In all cold climates, they are consequently in general use; and the depth of winter is there the season for the transport of merchandise. The Esquimaux with their dogs, the Laplanders with their rein-deer, and the Russians with horses, use the sledge to a great extent in the winter, over the frozen rivers or the hard snow. In the warm climates, on the contrary, not only are they now almost un- known, but the records which refer to periods so far removed as 3000 years make no mention of such conveyance. Rollers come next under consideration ; they certainly afford the means of transporting a heavy weight upon land with much less power than any other means with which we are acquainted; their motion is not necessarily attended with any friction. A cylinder, or a sphere, can roll upon a plane without any rubbing of the surfaces whatever, and consequently without friction; and, in the same manner, a plane will roll upon this roller without friction : in practice, this is always more or less the case, according to the perfection of workmanship in the formation of the rollers, and if the cylin- drical, the care with which they are placed at right angles to the direction at which they are to" move. There is, it is well known, only one source of resistance which is inseparable from the use of rollers, viz: the unevennesa of the surfaces, or the yieldings of the material, which amounts to nearly the same thing. A circle resting upon a straight line can only touch it in a single point, and the contact of a cylinder with a plane is merely a line: consequently, »r the material of the roller, and the surface on which it rolled, were per- fectly hard and inelastic, such would be their contact, whatever weight might ^ placed upon the roller. 429 ON DRAUGHT. Fi^i'lQ But in practice no such material can be obtained, and rollers, on the contrary, are gen- erally made of wood, and, when loaded, the}' must yield until the surface A B,fg. 16, is pro- portionate to the pressure. Still, if the sub- stance were perfectly elastic — that is to say, if it would return to its original form with the same force and velocity which were required to distort it — this alteration would not cause any resistance ; the elasticity at E would tend to raise the back of the roller with a force D E, fg. 17, equal to and exactly similar, but opposite to C B, and would consequently bal- ance it. Although perfect elasticity is unattainable, yet most hard substances possess this quality to some extent; consequently, when the load is not sufficient to crush the materials, the resistance is not much increased by even a considerable yielding; provided this yielding, as we before said, arises from elasticity. Thus, if a bladder be filled with air, and used as a roller, the resistance will not be greater than if a perfect and hard cylinder were employed, although the bladder may be nearly flattened under the weight ; but the permanent compression of the roller, and the crushing of dust or other extraneous substances lying in the way are the great impediments to its movement; these constitute a resistance in the direction B C, which is not counterbalanced by any force arising from elasticity on the opposite side. The effect of this resistance is dependent upon the diameter of the roller, diminishing when the latter is increased, though not in so rapid a proportion. If A B C be a circle, let a horizontal force P be applied at G,fig. 18; if an obstacle be placed at E, the force P will tend to push the roller over the obstacle, and will act with a lever equal to G F, and for all small obstacles, G F may be considered equal to G D the diameter. The weight upon the roller pressing it down, acts with a lever equa. to E Fj but E F is equal to V G F, X V F D ; therefore E r, which is equal to F D, remaining con- stant, and the diameter being increased, E F increases only as the square root of diameter, and consequently the force neces- sary to advance the roller is inversely as the square root of the diameter; that is to say, if a roller be increased four times in diameter, the resistance 1 arising from the causes now under consideration will be reduced to V4 or -1, and if increased nine times in diameter, the resistance will be only 1 equal to or i V9. This being the only source of resistance to the action of a roller, it will easily be conceived that, in practice, by laying a plank, or any other plane surface upon the ground, and preparing in like manner the lower surface of the body to be moved, and interposing rollers between the two, a very ON DRAUGHT. 429 great weight may be moved with comparatively small power ; but, on the other hand, there is a serious practical inconvenience attending the use of a roller, which prevents its adoption except in very particular cases. A weight moved upon rollers proceeds at twice the rate of the roller, for i^C.fig. 19, be the centre of the roller, D the point of contact with the ground, and E that with the weight to be moved, and W the weight, if this weight be put in motion, the point D is for an in- stant stationary, since it is in close contact with the ground. The diameter E C D moves, therefore, round the point D as a centre, and, consequently, E being twice a« far from D as C is, describes E e twice as great a distance as C c; fresh points are now brought to the sunimit and in contact with the ground, and again the latter is stationary, while the former moves twice the distance which the point C does. The summit, therefore, or that point which is in immediate contact with the weight, always moves with twice the velocity of the centre of the roller; but the velocity of the centre is, of course, that of the roller, and the velocity of the point E, which is in con- tact with, and is moved by, the weight, is the same as that of the weight moved ; therefore, as the weight is forced forward, it moves at twice the rate of the roller, it will gain upon the rollers, and others must be continu- ally supplied in front — an inconvenience much felt in practice. This confines the use of the roller to cases where the distance is very short, or where the weight conveyed is exceedingly great, and reduction in the resistance of more importance than the inconvenience alluded to. The most remarkable instance of the application of rollers is the trans- port of the rock which now serves as the pedestal of the equestrian statute of Peter the Great at St. Petersburgh. Fig. 20. Fig. 21. This rock, a single block of gianite, was discovered in the centre of a l)og, four miles from the waterside ; it weighed, after being cut into a cTTivenient shape, 1217 tons. Notwithstanding its enormous weight, it was raised and turned upon its side, and placed upon a frame. A road was made across the bog, and a timber railway laid down ; the whole was then left till the depth of winter, when the boggy ground was Irozen 450 ON DRAUGHT. anJ the optsrations then commenced. The railways consisted of two lines of timbei a a a a, (figs. 20, 21, 22,) furnislied with liard metal grooves* similar and corresponding metal grooves were fixed to the under side of the sledge, and between these grooves were placed the rollers, which were spheres of" hard brass, about six inches in diameter. The impossibility of confinmg cylindrical rollers to a perfectly parrallel direction, and without which the friction would have been considerable, rendered the adoption of spherical rollers or balls running in a groove a matter of necessity, as otherwise the small surface upon which they can bear, and the consequent danger of crushing, or at least flattening that surface, is a serious objection to spheres : once placed upon the rollers, it was drawn by means of cap- stans. The resistance does not appear to have been great, considering the enormous weight, since sixty men at the capstans with treble purchase blocks moved it with ease. The transport of this enormous rock under such disadvantageous cir- cumstances of country, over a distance of four miles, and its subsequent passage of thirteen miles by water in a vast cassoon or vessel constructed for the purpose, was a M'ork surpassing any thing of the sort attempted by the ancients; and, indeed, in modern times the only thing which can be compared to it is the dragging a ship-of-the-line up a slip ; the weight is in this case nearly the same as that of the rock, but the distance traversed is short, and the difficulties to be overcome much less. A plane of inclined timber is prepared and well greased ; a frame of wood, technically called a cradle, is fixed under the vessel, it is floated on to the inclined plane, and drawn up by the united efforts of a number of well-manned capstans, with powerful tackle : in this case no rollers are used ; it is a sledge, the sur- face being well covered with grease to lessen the friction. We have stated that there was a particular construction of roller which might be considered, as regards its form, merely, an intermediate step between the roller and the wheel. Fig. 23. It consists of a roller with the diameter of the extremities increased as in jig. 23 ; the only advantage of this roller is that the body rests upon the small part of the roller, see Jig. 24, and when put in motion, ON DRAUGHT. 431 i'V- 24. will not gain so rapidly on the roll ers ; or, in other words, the roller will move with more than half thp velocity of the body. A mere in spectiou of fig. 25, is sufFicien. to show that the velocity of the centre, C, will be to that of the body resting on the paint B, as C D to B D, so that if the ends of the rollers are twice the size of the intermediate part, C D will be equal to two-thirds of B D, and the roller will move at two-thirds of the rate of the body ; a less number of rollers are therefore required, and the resistance is somewhat diminished by having larger rollers in contact with the ground. In using a roller of this sort, the idea may have struck the workman, or it may have occurred accidentally, to confine the spindle of the roller, and compel it to move with the body; and thus a clumsy pair of wheels, fixed to a spindle, would have resulted from his experiment. Such a supposition is quite gratuitous, as we have no record of any such contrivance having existed before wheels were made ; indeed it is inferior both to the roller and the wheel : the only argu- ment in favour of such a theory is, that rollers of this sort have been em- ployed in comparatively modern times. At Rome, in 1588, an obelisk, 90 feet high, of a single block of stone, weighing upwards of 160 tons, and which had originally been brought from Egypt, was removed from one square, in which it stood, to another in the Vatican, and there again erected in the spot where it now is. In dragging this through the streets of Rome, it was fixed in a strong frame of wood, which rested upon a smaller frame, which were furnished each with a pair of rollers, or spindles, of the form above referred to; they were turned by capstan bars: indeed, they cannot be better described than by stating that they resembled exactly the naves of a pair of cart wheels (all the spokes being removed), and fixed to a wooden axle. If a heavy waggon lay upon a pair of these, we can conceive that by putting bars into the mortices of the nave, we could force them round, and thus advance the waggon ; but the resistance would evidently be greater tlian if either roll- ers or wheels were employed. All the difficulties incidental to the use of the roller appear to be sur- mounted, and all objections met, by the contrivance of the wheel. The wheel being attached to the load, or to the carriage which contains it, moves with it, is pan of the machine, and consequently as we require only the number of wheels immediately necessary for the support of the load, we can afford to construct them of those dimensions and materials best suited to the purpose. By increasing their diameter, we are enabled to surmount impediments with much greater facility, as we have shown in the case of the roller ; and although there is a resistance arising from friction at the axle, which does not exist in the roller, yet this may be so reduced, by increasing the diameter of the wheel, as to form an incunsider- able part of the whole resistance, or draught of the carriage. Of the first introduction of the wheel we have no record whatever 432 ON DRAUGHT Tlie principle appears to us so simple as to have been necessarily the re- sult of pure invention, almost inspiration ; while, at the same time, it is so exceedingly effective and perfect, as hardly to admit of improvement. The great antiquity of wheeled-carriages or chariots precludes all hopes of discovering their origin. About fifteen hundred years before the Chris- tian era they appear to have been in very common use amongst the Egyp- tians in their warfare. Pharaoh despatched six hundred chosen chariots in pursuit of the If raelites, immediately that he was informed of their escape, while the re ,t of the army followed with all the chariots of Egypt ; here, therefore, they were in constant use, and serving as the cavalry of the present day. Moreover, the oldest records which enter into any detail of their con- struction described them in a very forward and perfect state. At the siege of Troy, nearly three thousand years ago, they formed, according to Homer, the cavalry of the Greeks and Trojans ; and every officer or hero of good blood possessed, at least, a pair of horses and a charioteer. These chariots being built to run over broken ground, where no roads existed, were made very low and broad, and they were by no means badly contrived for the purpose for which they were intended ; the wheels were constructed with a nave and spokes, felloes and tires ; and the pole, a, appears to have been fixed on the axle-tree, b, in the manner shown infg. 26. The body of the chariot was placed upon this frame. The team most generally consisted, as we have before stated, of a pair of horses, attached to the pole ; six and even a greater number of horses were, however, very frequently harnessed abreast, but in that case a second pole was generally affixed to the axle-tree, so as to have a pair of horses attached to each pole, and the axle-trees themselves were always made nearly as long as the whole width occupied by the horses. Tliey appear to have had light chariots for more domestic purposes, and fiur-wheeled carriages for conveyance of heavy goods; and certainly King Priam, when he went to the Grecian camp to ransom the body of his son Hector, travelled with some degree of comfort and luxury: he rode himself in a bcautifui neiv-huiU travelling carriage, drawn by favourite horses, while the treasures, which he intended as a ransom, were conveyed in a four- wheeled waggon drawn by mules. All these details, as well as the mode of harnessing the horses, which operation, it must be confessed, was per- formed by Priam himself and his sons, are fully described in the twenty- fourth book of the Iliad. That Homer was well acquainted with the construction of the spoked wheel running freely upon the axle-tree, and, perhaps, even with the mode of hanging the body of the carriages upon straps for springs, in the same manner as the public coaches are to this day in many parts of Francf, and even in the neighbourhood of Paris, is evident from the passage in which ' ON DRAUGHT. 433 he describes Juno's chariot. He there says, while Juno was putting the golden bits to the horses, Hebe fastened on the wheels to the iron axles. " These wheels had eight brazen spokes, and the felloes were of gold, and the tires of brass." — "The seat was fastened with gold and silver cords." This, of course, gives us Homer's ideas of perfection in a chariot. All the epithets which could convey ideas of swiftness, were applied to these chariots and to the horses, but we have no positive information lis regards the real velocity with which they would travel : as roads were scarce, and probably at best merely tracks, much could not be expected from vehicles constructed under such circumst^ices ; the wheels were small, from twenty to thirty inches in diameter, and all the parts of the chariots were excessively heavy, so as to resist the repeated shocks to which they were subject. The chariots represented upon the Frieze of the Parthenon, before alluded to, and which is probably upwards of 2200 years old, are very light in their construction, and only want springs to be called gigs. The advancement of all the branches of the mechanical arts has necessarily introduced many improvements in the details of the construction of the wheel itself, as well as that of the axle and the rest of the carriage, and by this means no doubt increased very greatly the use and advantage of it ; but it is a remarkable fact, that these improvements have been con- fined exclusively to the workmanship and mechanical detail, and that the ■principle has remained exactly the same, and has not even received any addition during this immense lapse of time. Upwards of 3000 years ago, the wheels appear to have been independent of each other, and running upon fixed axles; we can say no more of the most improved wheel of the most finished carriage of the present day. We are far from intending to cast any slight upon modern invention, or to compare the groaning axletrees and creaking wheels of the ancients with the noiseless Collinge's axles of the nineteenth century ; but truth compels us to acknowledge that a period of thirty centuries, more than half the time vvhich is supposed to have elapsed since the creation of the world, has produced no radical change nor brought into action any new principle in the use of the wheel as applied to carriages. The particular form and construction of the wheel, as well as of all the other parts of the carriage, however, admit of great variety, and the draught is materially afi'ected by their variation. We shall, therefore, after examining the action of wheels in general, describe the mode of construction now adopted, and then endeavour to point out the advantages and disadvantages of the various forms which have been given to the dillerent parts of it. First, let us examine the theory of it, and suppose it acting on a level plane. The wheel being a circle, the centre will remain always at the same height, and consequently will move parallel to the plane in a perfectly ^evel line : if any weight be attached to or suspended from its centre, this will also move in a continued straight line without rising or falling, and consequently when once put in movement, there is nothing to check its progress (neglecting for the moment the slight resistance of the air), and it will require no force to keep in motion so long as the wheels continue to turn. We have therefore in this case only to examine into the force necessary to turn the wheels. The wheels, if left to themselves, would roll on with jierfect freedom, whatever might be their weight, or whatever weight might be attached to them, provid d nothing in the mode of attaching that weight 434 ON DRAUGHT. impeded their revolution; but in practice we cannot aamit of the load revolving with the wheel, and we have no means of suspending it to the wheel, except by means of an axle fixed to the load, and passing through the centre of the wheel. This axle presses upon the lower surface of the hole, and consequently, when the wheel revolves, causes a friction propor- tionate to the load upon the axle. This friction is then the only source of resistance to the motion of a wheel, under the circumstances here sup- posed ; and it is the action of this friction, the degree in which it alfects the draught, and by what means this effect is increased and diminished, that we are now about to consider. Let C,fg. 27, be the centre of a wheel, of which C D is the radius, and C A that of the axle passing through the wheel, and which being fixed to the load does not revolve with the wheel. If a force C B be applied to the cen- tre of the wheel, tending to advance it in the direction B, the point D being in contact with the ground, the wheel is compelled to turn or roll, and the force C B in turning the wheel acts with a leverage equal to C D, but the friction between the axle and the wheel is at the point A, and in preventing the turning of the wheel it acts only at the extremity of the lever C A ; consequently, if C D be ten times as great as C A, the force C B need only be equal to one-tenth of the amount of the friction, and, as a general rule, the radius of the axle, and the friction remaining the same, the force necessary to overcome the resistance, arising from this friction, will be inversely as the radius or the diameter of the wheel, or, in other words, the draught will, in this case, diminish exactly in pro- portion as the diameter of the wheel is increased. The exact amount of I'esistance occasioned by friction will depend upon the nature of the substances in contact at the axle, as well as upon the pro- portionate dimensions of the wheel and axle. The friction between polished surfaces bears a certain proportion to the pressure: if the pressure is doubled, the friction will, within certain limits, be also doubled ; but the proportion between the friction and the pressure is only constant so long as the same substances are employed : it varies very much with different substances. Thus, with soft wood sliding upon soft wood the friction amounts to one-fourth or one-third of the pressure, while between hard brass and iron, the surfaces smooth and oiled, the resistance may be as low as ^^ of the pressure. The relative advantages, therefore, of different materials, as applied to the axle and box of a wheel, is a point of much consequence. Metals, generally s|)eaking, are the best adapted for this purpose. Owing to their hardness, the friction between tiicm is small, and they will bear without injury a greater pressure, proportionably to the sur- face ; and from their strength, the axle may be of much smaller dimen- sions than if made of wood ; and we have proved that a reduction in the diameter of the axle causes a proportionate reduction in the resistance caused by friction. In consequence of these advantages, iron or steel axles, working in iron boxes, are now almost universally adopted. The friction in this case, when the parts are in proper order, greased, and the pressure upon them not excessive, amounts to about one-eighth, or, at the most, one-fifth of the pressure or weight; suppose it one-sixth, and if the diameter of the wheel is to that of the axle as 18 or 20 to 1, which is ON DRAUGHT. 435 aboui the proportion in a large two-wheeled cart, the wliole resistance arising from friction at the axle will be equalled to i- of y'g , or of ^V? which is equal to -jIj and yi^ respectively. So tiiat to move one ton wjuld not, in the latter case, require a force of traction greater than 181 \bs.; and liaving overcome this resistance, the force of traction required remains nearly the same at all velocities ; that is to say, friction is not materially affected by velocity: therefore the resistance arising from it is not sensibly augmented by a considerable increase in the speed. In practice, however, the friction at the axle is far from being the greatest impediment to the motion of a carriage. "We have hitherto, for the purpose of considering friction alone, supposed the surface upon which the wheel moved as per- fectly hard, smooth, level, and plane: we need hardly say that such can never be the case in a road. The friction, however, remains, praclicallv speaking, the same, and the laws which govern the amount and the effects of it remain unaltered; and we have only to ascertain what is the addi- tional resistance, arising from other sources, to obtain the whole draught of the carriage. We have already stated, when pointing out the ditTerence between the roller and the wheel, that the movement of the latter was attended with two sources of resistance, viz : friction at the centre, which we have considered, and another, which is common both to the wheel and the roller, arising from impediments in the road, or the yielding of the materials. The laws which affect the amount of this latter are, of course, the same in a wheel as in a roller. We have found that the power required to overcome it is inversely as the square root of the diameter ; therefore, by increasing the diameter of tlie wheel, the effect of friction, which is inversely as the diameter, diminishes much more rapidly than that caused by impediments in the roads; and on ordinary roads, with common carts, the amount of the latter is about three times as great as that of the former, and when the I'oads are at all injured by weather or by neglect, or if they are naturally heavy or sandy, it bears a much greater proportion. A light four-wheeled cart, weighing, with its load, 1000 lbs.* was repeatedly drawn upon different sorts of roads, the average of a number of experiments gave the following results : Description of Road. Fo'-ce of Traction required ' to move the carnage. Turnpike road — hard, dry, 301 lbs. Ditto dirty, 39 Hard, compact loam, . 53 Ordinary by-road, 106 Turnpike road — new gravelled, . . . . 143 Loose, sandy road, 204 The friction at the axles, which were of wood, was, of course, nearly constant, and probably absorbed at least j\ of the weight, or 12i lbs. of the force of traction, leaving, therefore, for the resistance caused by the road in •he different cases, as under: Descrintion of Road Force of Traction required to move the " ■ Carriage, independent of tlie Friction at tlie Axles. Turnpike road — hard, dry, about ... 18 lbs. Ditto dirty, 26-1 Ditto new gravelled, .... 1301 Loose, sandy road, 19l| * The experiment was not made with a load of exactly 1000 lbs., but the proportions of the results are calculated to this standard. The public are indebted to Mr. Bevan for these as well as a g-reat number of other hig-hly useful and practical experiments upon the effects of power in various cases. 43G ON DRAUGHT. so that in the last case, one by no means of rare occurrence in many parts of the country, tlie portion of draught imnfiediately caused by the stale of the roads was ten times as great as on a good turnpike road, and about filteen times as o-reat as that which arose from the friction at the axles. It would be hopeless to attempt to remedy this by increasing the size of the wheel: the experiment was made with wheels of the ordinary size. To double their diameter would evidently be attended, in practice, with insurmounta- ble difficulties; and yet, even if this were elTected, it would barely reduce the total amount of the draught by one-fourth ; but as the form of the wheel may materially influence the state of the road, we shall, therefore, proceed to consider the various forms employed. Some years ago, when the principal turnpike roads of the kingdom were at many parts, at particular seasons of the year, in little better condition than that on which the last experiment was tried, various attempts were made to reduce the resistance, by using narrow wheels. These attempts, and the laws which it was found necessary to enact to prevent the entire destruction of the roads, led, at last, to curious results, having gradually caused the introduction of the worst-formed wheel which could probably be invented, either as regards increasing the draught or the destruction of the road. To understand these alterations clearly, we must describe the principal features of the wheel now in use. The general construction of it presents a striking instance of strength arising from the judicious union of substances of very different qualities — wood and iron. A strong circular frame of wood, composed of different segments, called felloes, is bound together by a hoop, or several hoops of iron, called tires, which thus, at the same time that it gives great strength, protects the outei surface from wear. The nave, a circular block of wood, is sustained in the centre of this frame by the spokes, which, instead of being in the plane of the felloes, form a cone: this is called the dishing of the wheel. The object of it is to give stilTness, to resist lateral shocks, as when the wheel slips sideways, into a rut or hole. A reference to a comparative view of the wheel, with and without dishing, will more clearly explain our meaning. Fig. 28, is a wheel with the spokes all in one place; jig. 29, a wheel with a consider- able degree of dishing. Fig. 29. Here it is evident that a small pressure on the nave in fig. 29, would have a tendency to push it through, and would meet with but little resistance. ON DRAUGHT. 437 In jig. 80, on the contrary, this force would be opposed at once by the direction of the spokes, which form an arch, or dome, that cannot be flat- tened without bursting the felloes, or tires. The dishing, therefore, gives the wheel a great degree of stiffness and strength, which it would not otherwise possess. In consequence of this conical form, the necessity of keeping the lowc spokes which support the weight as vertical as possible, has required that the whole wheel should be placed oblique, and the axle bent downwards, as in fig- 30: this, as we shall hereafter show, is attended with very serious evils. As a wheel is intended to roll upon the ground, without friction, it is natural to suppose that the outer surface of the tires should be cylindrical, as it is the only form which admits of the wheel rolling freely in a straight line; but it is never- theless the form of this surface, its breadth, and the degree of dishing which have varied so much from the causes before mentioned, viz: the state of the roads, and to the consideration of wnich it may be proper we should now return. A road, however much neglected and out of repair, will generally have-, at a certain depth, a hard bottom ; above this will be a coat of mud of loose stuff, more or less deep, according to the material used, and the frequency of repair or the quantity of wet to which it may be exposed. It is sinking through this, until it reaches the hard bottom, that causes the resistance to the progress of the wheel : whether the wheel be wide or narrow, it must squeeze or grind its way to the bottom of this mud; a narrow wheel evidently displaces less, and therefore offers less resistance. The great object of carriers, then, was very naturally to place as great a load as they could upon wheels, which were as narrow as possible, consistent with the necessary strength. It was soon perceived that the entire destruction of the roads would be the consequence of this very system, which had its origin in the bad state of the roads. A certain width of tire proportionate to the load was therefore required by law. The endeavour to evade this law was the cause of the absurd form of wheel we are about to describe and to condemn. In apparent obedience to the law, the felloes of the wheels were made of an excessive breadth ; but to retain the advantages of the narrow wheel, the middle tire was made to project so far beyond the others, (see fig. 31,) that it in fact constituted the wheel, the others being merely to give a nominal, and not a real width. The enormous loads which it was found advantageous to place on these wheels rendered it necessary to give them a considerable degree of dishing, to resist lateral shocks, and, besides, the carriers were by this means enabled to give a great width of floor to the carriage, still keeping the vehicle in the commoiT tracks or ruts, so that the wheels ultimately assumed the form represented, fig. 32. If such a machine had been constructed, for the express purpose of grinding the materials of the road to powder, or of serving as a check, or drag, to the waggon, it might, indeed, have been judicious, but as 438 ON DRAUGHT. wheel, it was monstrous. Yet tliis is the form of wheel upon which the contradic- tory opinions referred to in the first page of this treatise, were given before a com- mittee of the House of Commons. A car- rier of Exeter advocated these wheels, and, in support of his opinion, adopts them to this day. But a few days ago we saw one of his waggons with wheels which, although only about twelve inches wide, were six inches smaller at the outside than than at the inside. Such a cone, if set a rolling and left to itself, would run round in a circle of little more than twenty feet diameter. What must be the grinding and the friction, then, when it is constantly compelled to go on a straight line ? yet enough has been written and said upon this subject to convince, we sliould imagine, the most preju- diced of the absurdity of the system. We sliall reoeat the principal arguments which were made use of at the time of the mquiry mentioned. Mr. Gumming took great pains, by constructing models, to show that conical wheels were not adapted for rolling in a straight line, by making a small conical wheel run over longi- tudinal bars, as in fig. 33. It was seen that if the middle part of the tire rolled ' upon the centre bar without moving it, the bar A was pushed backwards, while the bar C was pushed forwards; clearly showing if, instead of sliding bars, the wlieel had moved upon a road, how much it must have ground the road, and what a small portion of the tire was truly rolMvg. That such must have been the case is, indeed, easily proved without a model. We will take only three dif- ferent parts of the wheel, and consider them as independent hoops of differ- ent diameter; if these hoops are compelled to go the same number of revo- lutions, the larger one will evidently gain upon the second, while the third will be left far behind. Now, if, instead of being independent of each other, they are fixed to the same axle, and compelled to revolve together, the large one not being able to advance faster than the others, must tear up the ground. The smaller one, on the contrary, being dragged forward faster than it would naturally roll, must drag up the ground; and this is what must take place, and does, witii any but a cylindrical wheel, and that to a very considerable extent. Suppose, for instance, a conical wheel, of an average diameter of five feet; that is to say, that the centre advances about fifteen feet to every revolution of the wheel. If the inner tire be six inches larger in diameter than the outer tire, the circumference of it will be about eighteen inches greater; therefore, at each revolution of the wheel, the inner tire would naturally advance eighteen inches more than the outer tire: but they are compelled to go over the same distance of ground. The oue or the other ON DRAUGHT. 439 therefore, must have disturbed the ground, or, what is nearer the truth, upon every fifteen feet run of road, the former has passed over nine inches less ground than the development of its circumference ; the latter, nine inches more — the one continually pushing back the ground, the other drag- jrinfT it forward. Every child knows that the front wheel of a carriage goes oftener round than the hind wheel. If, then, the front wheel were obliged to make only one i-evolution to every revolution of the other, but still impelled at the same rate, it must be partly dragged over the road. If these wheels be placed side by side, instead of one being in front of the other, the effect must be the same. Now, suppose them to be the outer and inner tire of the same wheel, the circumstances are not thereby altered : the smaller circle and the larger circle cannot both roll upon the ground. A conical wheel is then constantly twisting the surface upon which it rests, and hence arises a very considerable resistance, as well as destruction to the roads. If these arguments are not sufficient to decide the point completely, let the reader bear in mind simply, that a cone, when left to itself, will always roll in a circle. The frustrum of a cone, AB,^^^-. 34, is only a portion of the entire cone, ABC, which will Fiij. 34. roll round the point C ; if this entire cone be completely severed at the point B, the two parts will still continue to roll round the same point, and if the portion BC be now abstracted, the motion of the remainder will not be altered. If a wine-glass or decanter, any thing which is not of the same size at the two parts which are in contact with the surface on which it rests, be rolled upon a table, those who are not already too familiar with the fact to require an illustration of it, will immediately see the truth of this statement. If, then, a wheel thus formed would naturally quit the straight line, when compelled to follow it, it is clear that exactly the same ef- fect must be produced as when a cylin- drical mill-stone, as in fg. 35, which would proceed in a straight line, is compelled to follow a curved line, and is constantly twisted round the centre C, it would grind every thing beneath it to powder. Yet these travelling grindstones have been in use upwards of twenty years, to the destruction of the roads, and at a great expense of power to those who have persisted in employing them. The increased strain upon the axles, from this constant tendency of the wheel to be twisted outwards, with the consequent friction, is a source of resistance absorbed and rendered comparatively inconsiderable, by the far greater friction on the ground ; but it is not the less a cause of great increase of draught, and the union of all these serious disadvantages justi- fies, we think, our assertion, that such a wheel is as injudicious a contriv- ance as could possibly be invented. We trust they will not long continue to disgrace our wheelwrights, and injure our roads. We hope that none of our readers will consider that we have wasted our arguments upon a point too self-evident to require proof. In reply to this, however, we will state that, at the last meeting of the parties interested in 410 ON DRAUGHT. the management of a considerable portion of a principal road in the middle of England, the question was considered, and it was agreed to encourage the use of conical wheels, as at least equal to, if not superior to cylindrical ones, by allowing them to run at a less toll, than that required by act of parliament. *" - Tlie cylindrical form is the only one which ought to be admitted. As a wheel must, however, always be liable to sink a little into the road, and cannot be expected always to bear perfectly flat upon the ground, the surface of the tires should be slightly curved, and the edges rounded oiT, as in Jig. 30. As tb-e rounding is rendered necessary by the yield- ing of the road, its degree must depend upon the state of the road, and the form of the wheel may approach more nearly to the true cylinder, in proportion as tlie roads approach nearer to perfection in point of hardness and flatness. When the roads are good, a very little dishing will be suflicient, and a slight inclination of the wlieel from the vertical, will make it correspond with the barrel or curve of the road, which is now generally very trifling. Next to the form, the breadth of the wheel is the point requiring most consideration : it is one, however, wliicli de- pends entirely upon the state of the road. We have seen, that the displacement or crushing of the materials form- ing the upper surface of the road is one of the principal causes of resist- ance. If the whole mass of the road were formed of a yielding substance, into which the wheel would sink to a depth exactly proportionate to tiie weight bearing upon it, it is probable that great breadth would be advan- tageous, so that the wheel might form a roller, tending to consolidate the materials, rather than cause any permanent displacement ; but, in the improved state of modern roads, it may safely be considered that such is never the case. A road, as we have before stated, always consists of a hard bottom, cov- ered with a stratum, more or less thick, of soft yielding material. A wheel, even moderately loaded, will force its way through, and form a rut in this upper coating. The resistance will be nearly proportionate to the breadth of this rut; the depth of it will not increase in the ratio of the pres- sure. In considering, then, simply, the case of a single wheel or a pair of wheels forming two distinct ruts, it is evident that it should form as narrow a rut as possible, but that it should not in any degree crush or derange the core or hard basis of the road. When a rut is thus formed, a small track or portion of the road is for a time rendered clean and hard, and conse- quently capable of bearing a greater load than before, and with less injury. It is, then, highly important in a four-wheel carriage that the hind wheels should follow exactly in the track of the front wnccls. If rollers were necessary for the road, as if, for instance, it . was merely a bed of clay, then indeed, but only in such a case, would it be judicious to cause the wheels to run in dilierent tracks, as has been proposed, and was carried into effect under the encouragement of an act of parliament. Such wheels were called straddlers : they might have been necessary tools for the pre- servation of such roads as then existed, but the increased draught soon taught the public to evade the law which encouraged them. Mr. Deacon, one of the principal carriers in England, in an excellent practical work on wheel-carriages, published in 1810, describing theso wheels, says: " If the axle of a six-inch wheel is oi that lengtli to cause the hind-wheels to make tracks five inches outside the tracks of the fore- ON DRAUGHT. 441 wheels, and nine-inch wheels seven inches outside, they are then called straddlers, and are allowed to carry a greater weiglit than if not so. The original intent of these was most excellent ; but the effect has been defeateQ by the carrier or other person not only making the bed or axle contrary to what was intended, but also by carrying with them a false collar, with a joint therein, to put on and take off at pleasure ; so that they have no great ditficulty in making the wheels straddlers a little while before they come to a weighing machine, and making them not so when they have passed the same." On modern roads such an arrangement would hardly be beneficial even to the road itself, and would nearly double the amount of draught. Too great care and precaution cannot be taken to insure the wheels run- ning in the same track. Let it be remembered that, on a good road, the forming the rut is the cause of three-fourtlis and oftener five-sixths of the whole resistance. Narrow wheels, therefore, running in tlie same track, without doubt offer the least resistance, provided there is surface sufficient to sustain the weight borne upon them, without material destruction to the foundation of the road. Six inches in breadth of the flat or cylindrical part, a, b, fig. 3G, inde- pendent of the rounded edges, will be quite sufficient, in a wlieel of ordi. nary size, to bear a ton without injury to the roads, if in good condition; and according as the weight upon each wheel is more or less than this, the breadth should be proportionably increased or diminished. While upon the subject of wheels, it may be as well to state the several new modes of constructing wheels lately introduced, which severally pos- sess their merits and disadvantages. The last improvement is that known under the name of "Jones's patent wheels." It consists in making the felloe of a single ring of cast iron. The nave, which is also of cast iron, is stispe7ided in the centre by eight wrought iron rods : these rods are crossed or alternately dished inwards and outwards, to give stiffness, which is thus obtained without affecting the cylindrical form of the whole. Figs. 37 and 33 (see next page) represent different views of this wheel, F F being the cast iron felloe, S S the spokes, and N the nave. These wheels have been adopted to a very great extent in London, and therefore, we may conclude that they are found to answer ; but they are expensive, and not easily repaired, except at the original manufactory, and therefore we should think are not so well adapted for agricultural, as for commercial purposes, and in a large town where the means of repair may be at hand. The most simple innovation upon the original wooden wheel is the cast iron nave. This we should think, must be much less liable to wear than the wooden nave, which is literally honeycombed with the mortices for the spokes ; and a wheel of this sort can be repaired by the most ordi- nary wheelwright, provided he has one of the castings at hand. We should strongly recommend that these naves should be made with a double row of sockets for the spokes, so as to cross the dishing of them in the same manner as those of the wrought iron wheels described above: and we think they would then form a strong, durable, and economical wheel. There might be some danger from the effects of wet or damp remaining in the cast iron sockets, and attacking the wood ; but we should think a small hole bored into the socket to allow the moisture to escape, and common precaution in painting these parts, would prevent any evil consequences. Ff 442 ON DRAUGHT. JOXESS PATENT WHEEL. Fi'T 37 Fi'T 38 With respect, to the size of wheels, we have shown that wheels of large diameter certainly offer less resistance than small ones ; but expense and v/eight cause a limit to this. From 4 ft. 9 in. to 5 ft. 6 in. is a good size for cart-wheels, and is about the limit where any great increase of diameter would cause more inconvenience and expense than would be compensated for by any advantage gained, and if much less in diameter than this, the draught is unnecessarily augmented. Yet the front wheels of a waggon are always below this standard, rarely exceeding four feet, and frequently much less. This is a serious evil attending the use of four wheels, it is an arrangement originally made for the purpose of enabling the front wheels to lock iwider the body of the waggon, which may thus turn in a small space. Now it rarely happens that a waggon is required to turn short round, and it cannot cause any serious inconvenience if it be rendered altogether incapable of doing so. In this respect a great improvement has taken place within a few years. In the place of those moving mountains which were formerly dragged slowly along upon immensely heavy and broad, but low, wheels, we now see, particularly on the roads leading northward from London, a great number of light, well-built waggons, with much larger wheels, especially the front wheels, which, instead of being small enough to turn under the floor of the waggon, are about four feet six inches in diameter. As those waggons are used only on the road, and are never required to turn in a email compass, but a very small action is allowed to the fore-axle, and the floor and body of the waggon is continued from end to end of nearly the same width. ON DRAUGHT. 443 A waggon wifn part of the floor and body cut away, so as to form a sort of recess for the front wheel to turn into, allows of all the movements tha>. can be acquired, except in the crowded streets of a town, and by this arrangement there is nothing to prevent the front wheel being made o^ large diameter, as in the case just described. Our present object, however, is not to enter into a detailed description of how we should build a waggon, but simply to recommend the use of large front wheels, as tending uiuch to diminish the draught. An intelligent wheelwright will always know how to construct a waggon so as to admit of this. The consideration of the subject of the wheels naturally includes that of the comparative advantages of two-wheeled and four-wheeled carriages. Upon this point opinions differ as mnnh as upon any of those we liave already considered ; and we fear that we are not likely to do more than to arrange the diiTerent opinions given by others, without advancing any of our own. If we succeed, however, in doing this clearly, we sliall have done much, because we may thus enable each individual to separate those arguments which apply particularly to his own case; and combining these opinions with his own judgment, he will be more likely to arrive at a just conclusion, than if he were altogether unaided by the opinions and experience of others. The advocates of light two-wheeled carts assert that a horse working alone is capable of performing more work than when forming one of a team ; and that in consequence of this increased effect, there is a saving of expense nearly in the proportion of three to two, or one-third. The advocates for waggons assert, on the contrary, that it requires that each horse in a single-horse cart should be of a superior quality, and, therefore, more expensive than those of a team, where the average power only is considered ; that the wear and tear, first cost, and expense of attend- ance of several small carts, is greater than that of a waggon carrying the same load, and that in consequence there is an economy obtained by the latter in a proportion of four to three. Numbers of facts and the results of long experience are adduced on either side, all of which convey much useful information, and the substance of the whole appears to be, that with light single-horse two-wheeled carts, good horses are able to draw greater loads, and do more work in proportion than a waggon team ; that these carts are easier loaded and unloaded, do less injury to the roads, and that they do not require more horses in action than are sufficient for the work to be perf:)rrned. On the other hand, it is found that the horses must be stronger and better fed; that being entirely dependent on their own exertions, althougli doing more work, they are more fatigued and sooner knocked up; that on rough roads they are liable to be sliaken and injured by the sudden movements and shocks of the cart, all of which are conveyed by the shafts directly to the horse ; that in ascending or descending hills the whole weight being above the axle-tree, it destroys the balance, and is thrown too much upon the horse in the former case, or tends to raise him from the ground in the latter, which, even if any alteration of the balance be found advantageous, is exactly the contrary of what would be necessary. That with a waggon, the average power of several horses is obtained, horses of inferior quality may therefore be used; they are not so much '"atigued, because by relieving each other they can alternately exert them- selves or relax. Greater loads can be carried with less attendance of , which are called C springs, and which admit of very considerable Ion- gitudinal movement in the body of the carriage, are notoriously the most heavy to pull ; and cabriolets, which are hung in this manner, are expres- sively called, in the stable, horse murderers, and require heavy, powerful horses to drag them, while lighter animals are able to drag much greater weights in Stanhopes and spring-carts, which do not admit of this elasticity. This is one of the reasons why the draught of a two-wheeled cart is less than that of a waggon. In a cart, the horse pulls at once on the shafts which ure fixed immediately both to the load and to the axletree, so that \iot only the impetus of the load, but also of the horse, acts directly and without elasticity upon the wheel. In a waggon, owing to the smallness of the front wheel, there is a considerable space between the fore-axle and ttie floor of the waggon, which is filled up with pieces of timber, called 446 O^ DRAUGHT. bolsters; this admits of considerable play in tlie parts, and except in new. built or very strong waggons, there is never that firm connexion between the load and the wlieels, which we have stated to be necessary. Large wheels would bring the axletrees much nearer the floors of the waggons, and, therefore, admit of a much stronger and firmer mode of attachment, which would be found to produce a very considerable effect in diminishing the draught. We have been very particular in confining our observations to longitudi- nal elasticity, or yielding in the direction in which the power is applied, and in which the progressive movement takes place; because elasticity in any other direction, instead of increasing the draught, tends very much to diminish it. Let us suppose the load placed upon perfectly easy springs, vvin'ch allow it to move freely in every direction, except longitudinally, when any one of the wheels comes in contact with a stone, the elasticity of the spring will allow it to run over the stone without sensibly raising the load which is upon it, and the force which is required to pull the wheel over the stone, will be restored again by the descent of the wheel from the stone, which will tend to impel the mass forward with exactly the same force as was required to draw it up to the top of this impediment: without this elasticity it would be necessary to raise the whole load with a sudden jerk, and thus instantaneously impart rapid movement to the whole mass, which would absorb much power, and which would by no means be returned by the load f\^lliiig down from the stone. We see, therefore, that the use of springs is to enable the wheels to rise and fall according to the inequalities of the ground, while the load continues one constant equable motion. The advantages of this action are very clearly pointed out, in a letter addressed to the Committee on the Highways of the Kingdom, by Mr. D. Giddy, and given in the Appendix to their first Report, printed in the year 1808; and this letter explains so clearly, and in such few words, the whole theory of wheels, as well as springs, that we think we cannot do better than quote it at length. " Taking wheels completely in the abstract, they must be considered as answering two different purposes. "First, They transfer the friction which would take place between a sliding body, and the rough uneven surface over which it slides, to the smooth, oiled peripheries of the axis and box, assisted by a leverage in the proportion of the diameter of the wheel to the axis. "Secondly, They procure mechanical advantage for overcoming obsta- cles, by introducing time proportioned to the square roots of their diameters, when the obstacles are small as compared with the wheels; and they pass over transverse ruts or hollows, small in the same comparison, w^'th an absolute advantage proportioned to their diameters, and a mechanical one proportionate to the square roots of these diameters. "Consequently, wheels thus considered, cannot be too large; in practice, however, they are limited by weight, by expense, and by experience. " With reference to tlie preservation of roads, wheels should be made wide, and so constructed, that the whole breadth may bear at once; and every portion of the wheel, in contact with the ground, should roll on without any sliding. " It is evident, from the well-known properties of the cycloid, that the above conditions cannot all unite, unless the roads are perfectly hard, smooth, and flat; and the felloes of the wheels, with their tire, are accurate portions of a cylinder. These forms, therefore, of roads and wheels, would seem to be asymptotes, towards which they should always approximate, but which, in practice, they are never likelj to reach. ON DRAUGHT. 447 ** Roads must have some degree of curvature to throw off water, and the peripheries of the wheels should, in their transverse section, be as nearh as possible tangents to this curve ; but since no exact form can be assigne*/! to roads, and they are found to differ almost from mile to mile, it is pre- sumed, that a small transverse convexity given to the peripheries of wheels, otherwise cylindrical, will sufficiently adapt them to all roads, and that the pressure of such wheels, greatest in the middle, and grad- ually diminishing towards the sides, will be less likely to disarrange ordinary materials, than a pressure suddenly discontinued at the edges of wheels perfectly flat. "The spokes of the wheel should be so arranged, as to present themselves in a straight line against the greatest force they are in common cases likely to sustain. These must evidently be exerted in a direction pointed towards the carriage, from lateral percussions, and from the descent of either wheel below the level of the other: consequently, a certain degree of what is termed dishing, must be advantageous, by adding strength; whilst this form is esteemed useful for protecting the nave, and for obviating the ill effects of expansions and contractions. "The line of traction is theoretically best disposed when it lies exactly parallel to the direction of motion; and its pov/er is diminished at any inclination of that line, in the proportion of the radius of the wheel to the cosine at tlie angle. When obstacles frequently occur, it had better, per- liaps, receive a small inclination upward, for the purpose of acting with most advantage when these are to be overcome. But it is probable, that different animals exert their strength most advantageously in different direc- tions; and, therefore, practice can alone determine what precise inclination of the line is best adapted to horses, and what to oxen. These considera- tions are, however, only applicable to cattle drawing immediately at the carriage; and the convenience of their draft, as connected with the inser- tion of the line of traction, which continued, ought to pass through the axis, introduces another limit to the size of the wheels. "Springs were, in all likelihood, first applied to carriages, with no other view than for the accommodation of travellers: they have since been found to answer several important ends. They convert all concussions into mere increase of pressure ; thus preserving both the carriage and the materials of the roads from the effect of blows; and small obstacles are surmounted when springs allow the frame and wheels freely to ascend, without sensibly moving the body of the carriage from its place. "If the whole weight is supposed to be concentrated on springs very long, extremely flexible, and with the frame and wheels wholly devoid of inertia, this paradoxical conclusion will most certainly follow : that such a carriage may be drawn over the roughest road without any agitation, and by the smallest increase of force. "It seems probable that springs, under some modification of form and material, may be applicable with advantage to the heaviest waggon." And there can be no doubt, that in the words of the writer, the applica- tion of springs would be highly advantageous. At high velocities, as we have before said, the effect of springs is still greater. What we have instanced as regards springs, is generally well known and understood. All stage-coaches, and many travelling carriages, hang upon grasshopper springs, which allow of perpendicular without any longitudinal action. It would be much to the interests of the horse masters if the mode of sus- pending post-chaises were a little more attended to. The more elasticity, or in other words, the more action, there is in grasshopper springs, the 448 ON DRAUGHT. more effect will it produce in diminishing the draught: with a C spring a very contrary elfect is produced. A carriage hung upon C springs may certainly be made the most com- fortable to the rider, but all the ease that can be required, and much more than is tbund in the generality of post-chaises, may be obtained by well- constructed grasshopi)er springs, and, therefore, with considerable advan- tage to the horses. The practice of loading coaches as high as possible to make them run light, as the coachmen have found by experience, is only a mode of assist- ing the springs. The mass being placed at a greater height above the wheels, acting at the extremity of a longer lever, is not so easily displaced laterally by any motion of the wheels, which, therefore, may rise and fall on either side as they run over the stones, without producing any sudden concussions upon the load, which swings to and fro with long, easy move- ments; it is probable also, that the weight, being thus swung from side to side, may, u[)on good roads, diminish the draught, as it is in fact generally running upon two of the wheels; while, in the other direction, it equally admits of the front and hind-wheels successively passing over any impedi- ments; and yet, by the manner in w'hich it is fixed upon the springs, it does not admit of any longitudinal elasticity. The fact of coaches thus loaded running light has been clearly proved by the failure of what were called Safety Coaches, in which the only dif- ference consisted in placing the load very low. These coaches, although completely answering their purposes of safety, were discontinued solely, we believe, from their being found destructive of the horses. Experin)ents, nevertheless, have been made to prove that this was only an idle prejudice of coachmen; but universally received opinions, even if leading to erroneous conclusions, which is hardly possible, must always have some good foundation ; and coachmen, although they may not have been so much so at the time these experiments were published (in IHIT), are certainly now rather an intelligent class of men. We should, there- fore, prefer risking a theory, if a theory were necessary, in support of their prejudices, rather than in opposition to them. The experiments alluded to were not, in our opinion, made under the circumstances which occur in practice. Small models (the wheels being seven inches in diameter) were drawn along a table across which were placed small strips of wood to represent the obstructions met with in a road; but these strijis of wood came in contact with each pair of wheels at the same time, and never caused any lateral motion. Tiiey produced, therefore, a totally different effect from that which takes place in a road, where the action rarely atfects more than one wheel at a time, or if two, they are almost invariably those two on the same side of the carriage; consequently, in the model, the wheels in passing over an obstruction, threw the whole weight backwards in a direction exactly opposite to the movement required; while in prac- tice, the carriage is generally thrown sideways, which does not affect its forward motion. The conclusions drawn from these experiments are, therefore, as might be expected, at vaiance wiih practical results, and directly contraiy to the opinions of those whose experience ought to enable them to judge correctly. The effects, also, of velocity and momentum must be difficult to imitato in models. Tiie advantage of placing the load high will not, however, equally apply at low velocities, still less when sj)rings are not used: it may frequen'ly, indeed, in the latter case, produce quite a contrary effect ON DRAUGHT. 449 In a rough road, therefore, the increased force with which the loaa would be thrown from side to side might prove very inconvenient and even dangerous, and would certainly be liable to increase the resistance when the front-wheels meet with any obstruction : but this it must be particu- larly remembered is only true in the case of slow velocities and carriages without springs. We have now considered in succession the various parts of the vehicle for conveying the weight, and shown in what manner they alTecl the draught, and how they should be constructed so as to diminish as much as possible the amount of this draught. We have endeavoured to point out the advantages and necessity of attending to the construction and size of the wheel. Thus it should be as nearly cylindrical and vertical as possible, and of as large a diameter as can conveniently be admitted. Secondly, That there sliould be a firm, unyielding connexion in the direction of th-e movement between the power employed, the weight moved, and the wheels: in other words, that the force should always act directly and without elas- ticity both upon the load and upon the wheels; and that the impetus or momentum of the load, when in movement, should always act in the same manner, without elasticity in propelling the wheels; and lastly, that it is highly advantageous to interpose as much elasticity as possible by means of springs in a vertical direction between the wheels and the body, so that the former may rise and fall over stones or irregularities in the road with- out communicating any sudden shocks to the load; and we believe that the proper application of springs in all cases, even with the heaviest loads, would be found productive of great good effect. Attention to those points will tend to diminish considerably the amount of draught. As far as regards friction at the axles, and the resistance in passing over obstacles in the road, it will assist the favourable application of tbe force of traction when obtained from animal power-; but that which we have shown to be the most considerable source of resistance is unfor- tunately least affected by any of those arrangements. We allude to those arising from the yielding or crushing of the materials of the road: we have seen that on a good turnpike-road the draught was increased in the propor- tion of thirty to forty, or about one-third, by the road being slightly dirty; and that, on a heavy, sandy road, the draught was increased to 205, or nearly seven times. Springs will not affect this; and increasing the diameter of the wheel even will be of very slight assistance; nothing but removing at once the prime source of this evil, improving the roads, can remedy this. We are thus naturally led to the third division of our sub- ject, viz : The road or channel of conveyance. In considering this as a branch of the subject of draught by animal power, we shall merely point out v/hat are the principal desiderata in the formation of a good road, and what are the evils principally to be avoided. To enter into all the details of their construction, dependent as it is on the different materials to be found in the neighbourhood, their comparative cost, the quality of the ground over which the road is made, and many other points, would be to enter upon a much more extensive field than is at all required for the proper consideration of the subject of draught by animal power. The requisites for a good road is all that we shall indicate. Channel of conveyance, in a general point of view, must include canals, roads, and railways. Of the first, however, we shall say little; their construction does not m.aterially afiect the amount of draught, and we have already examined the mode of applying the power, and the quantity of effect produced ; we shall proceed, at once to the question of roads. 150 ON DRAUGHT. The inquiry into the best form and construction of whcrl-carrian-es has taught us what we might have indeed foreseen, that periection in a road would be a plane, level, hard surface: to have learned this only would not have advanced us much, as such perfection is unattainable; but we have learned also the comparative advantages of these ditierent qualities of hardness, smoothness, and level. We have come to the conclusion that slight alterations of level, which shall vary the exertion required of the animal, without, at any time, causing excessive fatigue, are rather advan- tageous for the full development of his power than otherwise; that the inconvenience of roughness is obviated by the use of springs, and that eve-n vv'hen the ordinary carts and waggons without springs are used, still the resistance arising from mere unevenness of surface, when not exces- sive, is not nearly so great as that which is caused by the yielding of the substance of the road. Hardness, therefore, and consequently the ahsence of dust and dirt, which is easily crushed or displaced, is the grand deside- ratum in roads. To satisfy this condition, however, smoothness is, to a certain degree, requisite, as the prominent parts would be always subject to abrasion and destruction : for the same reason, even if for no other, ruts and every thing which can tend to form them must be avoided. A road should, in its transverse section, be nearly flat. A great curva- ture or barrel, as it is termed, is useless; for the only object can be to drain the water from it: but if there are ruts, or hollow places, no curva- ture will eflect this; and if the road is hard and smooth, a very slight inclination is sufficient. Indeed, an excess of curvature is not only useless with the present construction of carriages, but facilitates the destruction of the road; for there are k\w wheels perfectly cylindrical: yet these, when running on a barrelled or curved road, can bear only upon one edge, as in jig. 38. The conical wheels si ill in use, although nmch in- clined at the axle, are never sufficiently so to bring the lower surface of the wheel even hor- izontal, and therefore are con- stantly running upon the edge, as in jig. 39, until they have formed a rut, coinciding with their own shape. In a barelled or curved road, the mischief done will, of course, be great in proportion to this curvature. This form is, therefore, mischievous as well as useless. Six or eight inches' rise in the centre of a road of twenty feet wide is amply suniciont to ensure drainage, if drainage is not effi3Ctually prevented by ruts or hollow places, and is a curve to which the position of the wheel may be easily adapted. The hardness of the surface, the most important feature, will, of course, principally depend upon the materials used, and the formation of the road, and still more upon the state of repair in which it is kept. It is easy to form a good road when the foundation is already laid by the existence of an old one: levelling the surface, applying a covering of eight or ten inches in thickness of broken stones, having no round or smooth surfaces, the hardest that can be obtained, and .securing goon drainage at the sides, is all that is required: but constant repair and unremitting attention, however, is necessary to keep a road thus formed in good condition. ON draught; 451 Tlifse repairs and attenlion do not consist in laying on, at certain intervals of time, large quantities of materials, but in constantly removing the sand which is formed, and which, in wet weather, holds the water, and prevents drainage; in filling up, as quickly as possible, with fresh materials, any ruts or hollows; and in keeping clear all the drains, and even in scraping little drains from ruts, or such parts of the road as may contain the water, and which it may not be possible immediately to fill up. By attention to these points, those who are interested in the preservation of the roads and the expenses attending it, will find that economy will ultimately be the result; and those who are interested in diminishing the labour and expense of draught, we shall only refer again to the table (page 435) of the resistance of a waggon upon difierent roads, from which they will see, that a horse upon a clean road will do one-third more than upon one slightly muddy; more than four times as much as upon new-laid gravel; and nearly seven times as much as upon a heavy, sandy road. No ai'guments that we can put forward can at all .strengtlien the effect that such facts must produce; and' we shall, therefore, quit the subject of roads, and conclude our observations on draught by a few words explana- tory of the object of rail-roads and their elFects as regards diminishing draught. The great desideratum in the formation of a good road is the facilitating the rolling of the wheels. We have shown that, for this purpose, a hard, smooth surface is necessary ; and, as this is only required for the wheeks, two longitudinal tracks, of such surface, of proper width, are sufficient ibr the mere passage of the carriage. If, therefore, there is a considerable traffic between two points along a line of road, without much interruption from crossing, all the qualities of a good road may be obtained in a very superior degree, by having two parallel rails, or tracks of wood or iron, raised a little above the general level of the ground, with a gravelled road between the rails. This is a rail-road. If evidently combines the advan- tages of a good foot-hold for horses, with those of smooth and hard surfaces for the wheels to roll upon. It requires, however, that the carriages should be all nearly alike as regards the width and form of the wheels; and ex- perience has proved that such a road is not generally worth constructing, unless the traffic is sutBcient to allow of carriages being built expressly for that or similar roads. This being the case, the form and dimensions of the rails, and the genei'al construction of the carriages, are uncontrolled by any other consideration than that of diminishing draught. A considerable improvement upon this point may, therefore, be expected in the railway, over the common road. The railway, as constructed upon the plan at present conceived to be the best, consists of two parallel bars of wrought iron, about two inches and a half broad on the upper surface, and about six inches deep, placed at a distance of about five feet: these bars are supported upon, and firmly fixed to .blocks of stone, from one foot to two fnet squdre, and at intervals of three feet. Fig. 40. n CL Oy —-^- -.BBr- -rPa- -PV. riQ^— - a a a, jig. 40, represents a side view of these bars, of which & is a section, c c c are the blocks of stone on which it rests. Fig. 42 is a per- spective view of a pair of these parallel bars, constituting together the 153 ON DRAUGHT. tion of will be railway ; and fig. 41 represents an end view of the rail with a pair of wheels. The ground is afterwards filled up nearly to the level of the bars, leaving only about one inch of their upper edge exposed : upon this the wheels run. The wheels are generally of cast iron, about three feet in diameter, and slightly conical, with an edge or flange inside to guide them in the centre of the rails. This brief description is suffi- cient to give a general idea of the construc- railways, which is all that is necessary for our present purpose. It easily conceived that hard, cast-iron wheels, running upon smooth JE^.41 K edges of iron in this manner, can meet with but little resistance, except those arising from friction at the axle. Accordingly, we find, upon a well- constructed railway, in good order, that the resistance does not exceed, in any sensible degree, that which must arise from this cause. It has been found that a force of traction of 1 lb. will put in motion a weight of 180, 200, and even, in some cases, 250 lbs. : so that a horse exerting an effort of only 12.5 lbs., would drag on a level 10 tons. This is about ten times the average effect of his work upon a good common road, and, as it arises entirely from the hardness and smoothness of the road, we cannot conclude our observations by a more striking and unanswerable argument than this, in proof of the immense advantages and saving of expense which would result from greater attention to the state of the roads. C4ENERAL INDEX. FARE., AoTiON of the hackney described, 30! Action, high, not essential in hackney, 31 ^thiop's mineral, an alterative, 396 Age, natural, of the horse, 146 Age of the horse, as ine, 6 Lasso, power of the, 422 Laudanum, use of, in veterinary practice, 394 Lead, the compounds of, used in veteri- nary practice, 394 Lead, extract of, much overvalued, 349 Lead, sugar of, use of, 394 Lead, white, use of, 394 Leather-soles, description and use of, 319 Leg, cut of the, HI Leg, description of the, 243 Legfl, fore, should be straight and per- pendicular, 256 Legs, hind, anatomical description of, 275 Legs of the hackney, should not be lifted too high, 30 Legs of the horse, movement of, when walking, 412 Legs of the horse, different in drawing, 412 Legs of the horse, dilTerent in trotting, 413 PAGB Legs, swelled, 276 Levator humeri muscle, description of the, 119, 156, 233 Lever, nmscular power explained on the principle of the, 231, 238 Ligament of the neck, description and elasticity of the, 73, 153 Light, theory of, 96 Light, refraction of, 96 Lightness in hand, of essential conse- quence in a hunter, 51 Lime, chloride of, exceedingly useful for bad-smelling wounds, &c., 394 Lime, chloride of, useful to cleanse sta- bles from infection, 395 Lincolnshire, largest heavy black horses bred in, 41 Liniments, composition and use of, 395 Linseed, infusion of, used in catarrh, 395 Linseed meal, forms the best poultice, 395 Linseed oil, as a purgative, 212, 395 Lips, anatomy and uses of the, 131 Lips, the hands of tlie horse, 131 Litter, cannot be too often removed, 348 Litter, proper substances for, 348 Litter, contraction not so much produced by it as some imagine, 295 Liver, anatomy and use of the, 212 Liver, inflammation of the, 213 Liver, rupture of the, 213 Load, lying high increases the lightness of draught, 448 Load, lying high may be dangerous in rough roads, 449 Locked jaw, symptoms, cause, and treat- ment of, 105, 107 Loins, description of the, 166 Lombardy horse, when introduced into England, 25 Longissimus dorsi muscle described, 1C7 Lucerne, considered as an article of food, 357 Lunar caustic, a very excellent one, 400 Lungs, description of the, 181 Lungs, symptoms of inflammation of, 183 Lungs, causes of inflammation of the, 182 Lungs, inflammation of the, how distin- guished from distemper, 184, 191 Lungs, inflammation of, treatment, 185, 186 Lungs, inflammation of, importance of early bleeding in, 185 Lungs, inflammation of, blisters prefer- able to rowels or setons in, 186 Lungs, inflammation of, consequences, 185 M Madness, symptoms and treatment of, 109 Majinniss horse, description of the, 15 Mahomet, had only two horses in his whole army, 4 Malcolm, Sir John, his anecdotes of the Arabian horse, 14 Malignant epidemic, nature and tieat- mcnt of, 191 Mallenders, nature and treatment of, 273 Mammalia, the, an importajit class of animals, 62 Mane, description and use of the, 157 Mange, description and treatment of, 378 INDEX. ri.oc Mange, causes of, 379 Mange ointment, recipes for, 379 Mange, highly infectious, 379 Mange, method of purifying the stable after, 380 Manger-feeding, the advantage of, 352 Marble, the immense block of, at St. Pe- tersburgh, how moved on rollers, 429 Mare, time of being at heat, 222 Mare, time of going with foal, 222 Mare, best time for covering, 222 Mare, management of, when with foal, 222 Mare, management of, after foaling, 222 Mare, more concerned than the horse in breeding, 34 Mares preferable to geldings for farmers, 34 Mares, prejudice against riding of, 5 Mitres, never ridden by the Africans, 10 Mares, alone ridden by the Arabs, 10 Mares, used for food, 8 Mares, selection of, for breeding, 34 Mark of the teeth, what, 133 Markham's Arabian, account of, 28 Mashes, importance of their use, 395 Mashes, best method of making, 394 Masseter muscle, description of the, 119, 136 Maxillary bones, anatomy of the, 133 Mediastinum, description of the, 171 Medicines, a history of the most useful, 381 Medullary substance of the brain, nature and function of the, 75 Megrims caused by an undue quantity of blood pressing on the brain, 101 Megrims, symptoms and treatment of, 102 Megrims apt to return, 102 Melt, description of the, 214 Memory of the horse, instancee of, 32 Mercurial ointment, use of, in veterinary practice, 396 Merlin, the sire of many Welsh ponies, 63 Mesentery, description of the, 203 Metacarpals, description of the, 243 Midriff, description of the, 171, 197 Mint, an infusion of, or the oil of, occa- sionally used, 396 Moisture, want of, cause of contraction, 294 Moon-blindness, nature of, 113 Morocco barb, account of the, 28 Moulting, the process of, 373 Moulting, horse usually languid at the time of, 374 Moulting, no stimijilant or spices should be given when, 374 Moulting, mode of treatment under, 374 Mounting the colt, 226 Mouth of the horse, description of the hones of the, 133 Mouth of the horse, ulcers in the, 161 Mouth of the horse, should be always felt lightly in riding, 31 Mouth of the horse, its sensibility, 132 Mouth, when the horse may be said to have a perfect, 143 Moving power, animal, theory of, 405 Moving power, mechanical, theory of, 405 Mowburnt hay injurious, 357 Muscles, advantageous direction of, more important than their bulk, 275 fAGE Muscles of the back, description of tha 167 Muscles of the breast, " l''© Muscles of the eye, " 9t Muscles of the face, " 119 Muscles of tlie neck, " 154 Muscles of the ribs, " 170 Muscles of the shoulder-blade, " 233 Muscles of the shoulder lower bone, 232 Muscular action, the principle of, 238 Muzzle, the organ by which horses com- monly examine bodies, 370 Myrrh, use of, for canker and wounds, 396 N Narrow and broad wheels, compared, 437 Nasalis labii superioris muscle described, 119 Naves, cast iron, to wheels, advantage of, 442 Naves, cast iron, description of the best construction of, 442 Navicular bone described, 248, 288, 298 Navicular bone, its action and use, 288, 298 Navicular-joint disease, treatment of, 298 Navicular-joint disease, how far con- nected with contraction, 298 Navicular-joint disease, cure uncertain, 299 Neapolitan horse, description of tlie, 21 Neck, anatomy and diseases of the, 152 Neck, description of the arteries of the, 157 Neck, description of the veins of the, 157 Neck, bones of the, 152 Neck, proper conformation of the, 154 Neck, long and short compared, 155 Neck, loose, what, 155 Neptune, the horse first appeared at the stroke of the trident of, 4 Nerves, construction and theory of the, 76 Nerves, spinal, compound nature of, 76 Nerves, respiratory, functions of the, 76 Nerves of the face, 119 Neurotomy, or nerve operation, object and effect of, 110 Neurotomy, manner of performing, lil Neurotomy, cases in which it should or should not be performed, 112 Neurotomy, a vestige of the performance of, constitutes unsoundness, 364 Newcastle, Duke of, his opposition to the introduction of tlie Arabian blood, 28 New-forester, description of the, 53 Newmarket, races first established at, by Charles I. 23 Newmarket, description of the different courses at, 50 Nicking', method of performing, 323 Nicking, cruelty often used in, 329 Nitre, a valuable cooling medicine, and a mild diuretic, 397 Nitrous aether, spirit of, a mild stimulant and diuretic, 397 Norman horse, description of the, 21 Norwegian horse, description of the, 20 Nose, description of the bones of the, 117 Nose of the horse, slit to increase his wind, 20, 113 Nostrils, description of the, 117 Nostrils, chronic discharge from the, 121 Nostrils, chronic discharge, how distin- guished from glanders, 121 464 INDEX. PAGE. Nostrils, the membrane of, important in ascertaining disease, 120 Nostrils, iuipuriancc of expanded, 118 Not lyinsr down, the consequence of and cure for, 341 Nutriment, the quantity of, contained in diifcrent articles of food, 359 O Orits, the usual food of horses, Oats, should be old, heavy, dry, sweet, Oats, kiln-dried, injurious to horses, OrAs. proper quantity of, for a horse. Outs, bruised preferable to whole, Oatmeal, excellent for ffruel, and some- times used as a poultice, 355 Obelisk at Rome, the curious method of moving it, 431 Occipital bone, description of the, 72 (Esophagus, descripfion of the, 162 O'Kelly, Col., anecdotes of, and Eclipse, 47 Old Marsk, tiie sire of many of the new foresters, 58 Olive oil, as a purgative, 212, 397 Omentum, description of the, 214 Opacity uf the eye, treatment of, 116 Operations, description of the most im- portant, 320 Opium, valuable in veterinary practice, 397 Opiuin, adulterations of, 397 Orbicularis muscle of the eye, descrip- tion of the, 85,119 Orbicularis oris muscle described, 120, 131 Orbit of the eye, fracture of, 101 Ossification of the cartilages, cause and treatment of, 310 Ouseley, Sir Gore, his account of the ruins of Persepolis, 3 Over-physicking, treatment of, 209 Over-reach, nature and treatment of, 301, 341 Over-reach, often producing sandcrack or quittor, 301 Oxygen of the air unites with the carbon of the blood in respiration, 181 Pace, effect of, in straining the horse, 37 Pac-hydermata, an order of animals, 62 Pack-horse, description of the, 59 Pack-wax, description of the, 73, 153 Palate, description of the, 133 Palate, bleeding-place in the, 133 Palatine artery, description of the, 134 Palm oil, the best substance for balls, 398 Palsy, causes and treatment of, 109 Pancreas, description of the, 214 Pannictilus cariiosus mu.^cle described, 370 Parietal bones, description o[ the, 70 Paring out of tiie foot for shoeing, direc- tions for, 314 Paring out of the foot, neglect of, cause of contraction, 294 Parkinson on Live Stock, extracts from, 60 Parotid gland, description of the, and its di.-?eases, 120, 148 Parthenon, description of the chariots on the frieze of tlie. 433 Pasterns, description of the, 249, 253 TKliK. Pasterns, bones of the, 253 Pasterns, cut of the, 249, 254 Pasterns, proper obliquity of the, 31, 52, 251 Patella, \)r stille-bone, description of the, 252 Pawing, remedy for, 312 Payment of the smallest sum, completes the purchase, 366 Peas, sometimes used as food, but should be crushed, 3.56 Pectorales muscles, 154, 168, 170, 224 Pericardium, description of the, 171 Peronajus muscle, description of the, 204 Persian horse, description of the, 16 Persian horse, celebrated before the Ara- bian was known, 16 Persian horse, management of, 16 Persian race, description of a, 17 Perspiration, insensible, no medicines. will certainly increase it, 373 Peter the Great, the immense block of marble, constituting the pedestal of his statue, how moved, 430 Pharynx, anatomy of the, 151 Physic ball, method of compounding the best, 382 Physic ball, should never be given in inllarnmation of the lungs, 382 Physic, hall-doses of, objectionable, 382 Pied horses, account of, 376 Pigmentiuin nigrum, account of the, 91 Piper, description of the, 196 Pit of the eye, indicative of the age, 67 Pitch, its use for charges and plasters, 398 Pithing, a humane method of destroy- ing animals, 153 Pleura, description of the, 171 Pleurisy, nature and treatment of, 188 Pneumonia, nature and treatment of, 182 Poisons, account of the most frequent, 200 Poll-evil, cause and treatment of, 152 Poll-evil, importance of the free escape of the matter, 153 Pony, varieties of the, 53 Popletseus muscle, description of the, 264 Porter's, Sir R. Ker, account of the Per- sian horse, 16 Post, the first establishment of the, 36 Post-chaises, grasshopper springs, ad- vantageously adopted in, 447, 448 Postea spinatus muscle described, 234 Potatoes, as an article of food, 358 Poultices, various compositions of, man- ner of acting and great u?e, 176, 393 Powders compared with balls, 399 Power of draught in the horse illustrated, 37 Powerof draught in tlic horse calculated, 403 Power of draught in the horse compared with that of the human beintr, 411 Power of draught in the horse compared with that of a steam-engine, 405 Power of the horse on common roads, 407 Power of the horse on bad roads, 409 Power of the horse dependent on his weight and muscular force. 411 Power of the horse, how diminisned in towing a boat on a canal. 414 Power of the horse, greater wb iti close to his work. 4H INDEX. 465 Power of the Iiorse, depends on the time he can exert his strength, 415 Power of the horse, diminished accord- ing to his speed, table of, 416, 417 Preparation of the foot for shoeing, 313 Pressure on the brain, effect of, 101 Priam's chariot, description of, 432 Priam liarnesses his own liorses, 432 Prices of horses, different periods, 23, 25, 26 Prick in the foot, treatment of, 303 Prick in the foot, injurious method of removing the horn, searching for, 305 Profuse staling, cause and treatment of, 217 Puffing the glims, a i'raudulent trick, 67 Pulling, the action of, explained, 410 Pulse, natural standard of the, 172 Pulse, varieties of the, 173 Pulse, importance of attention to the, 173 Pulse, most convenient place to feel the, 173 Pulse, to be watched during bleeding, 174 Pumiced feet, treatment of, 291 Pumiced feet, do not admit of cure, 292 Pumiced feet, constitute unsoundness, 364 Pupil of the eye, description of the, 93 Pupil of the eye, mode of discovering blindness by the, 93 Purchase, to complete the, there must be a memorandum, or payment of a sum, however small, 366 Purging, violent, treatment of, 209 Q Quarters of the horse, description of the, 261 Quarters of the horse, importance of their muscularity and depth, 261 Quarters of the foot, description of the, 280 Quarters of the foot, the inner, crust thinner and weaker at the, 2S1 Quarter, folly of lowering the, 281 Quidding the food, cause of, 342 Quidding the food, unsoundness, 364 Quittor, nature and treatment of, 302 Quittor, treatment of, long and difficult, exercising the patience both of the practitioner and owner, 302 Quittor, is unsoundness, 342 R Rabies, symptoms of, 109 Races, early, mere running on train scent, 28 Races, frequent cruelty of, 49 Races, different kinds of, described, 50 Races, regular, first established at Ches- ter and Stamford, 27 Races, retjulations for, established by James I., 23 Races, patronised by Charles I., 28 Races, Persian, description of, 17 Races, short, consequences of their in- troduction, 49 Races, at Smithfield, 24 ilace-horse, history of the, 43 Race-horse, form and action of the, 44, 49 Race-horse, emulation of tlie, 49 Race-horse, whether exclusively of tor- eign breed, 44 *lacks, no openings shovM be allowed above tliem, 346 FACE. Radius, description of tne, 236 Ragged liipped, what, 256 Ragged hip, no impediment to action, 257 Railways, mechanical advantage of, 38, 451 Railways, comparison of horse and me- chanical power on, 405 Railways, description of, 451 Railways increase the power of the horse tenfold, 452 Raking, the operation of, 399 Rat-tails, nature and treatment of, 275 Rearing, dangerous and inveterate habit, 337 Recti muscles of the neck described, 156 Recti muscles of the thigh described, 258 Rectus muscle, description of the, 258 Rectum, description of the, 203, 205 Reducing speed and prolonging exertion, advantage of, in horse labour, 415 Refraction of light, the theory of, 96 Refractive power of the eye, account of, 97 Reins, description of tlie proper, 132 Repositories, account of the principal, in London, and their regulations, 369 Resin, its use in veterinary practice, 399 Resistance in draught, principally occa- sioned by the ruts, 441 Respiration, description of the mechan- ism and effect of, 181 Respiratory nerves, 76 Restifness, a bad habit, never cured, 330 Restifness, anecdotes in proof of its in- veterateness, 331 Retina, description of the, 93, 95 Retractor muscle of the eye described, 99 Ribbed-home, advantage of being, 164 Ribs, anatomy of the, 169 Richard Coeur de Lion, account of his Arabian horses, 24 Richmond's, Duke of, method of breed- • ing good carriage-horses, 39 Richmond, Duke of, anecdote of the, 54 Riding, directions for, 31 Ringbone, nature and treatment of, 254, 255 Ringbone, constitutes unsoundness,. 365 Roacli-backed, what, 166 Roads, how affected by different wheels, 441 Roads, how influencing proper breadth of the wheels, 440 Roads, the great extent to which they affect the draught, 449 Roads, soft and yielding, far more dis- advantageous than rough ones, 450 Roads, slight alterations in their level advantageous, 450 Roads, hardness in, the desideratum, 450 Roads, should be nearly flat, 450 Riiads, much curvature in, absurd, 450 Ruads, necessity of constant attention and repairs to, 451 Roads, calculation of the degree of re- sistance increased by bad, 451 Roan horses, account of, 376 Roaring, the nature of, 160 Roaring, constitutes unsoundness, 362 Roaring, proceeding from inflammation, 160 Roaring, proceeding from tight reining, 160 Roarine-, proceeding from buckling iu crib-biting, 161 4rt6 INDEX. PAGE. Roaring', V'ea'ment of, 161 Rollers, calculation of draught of, 426, 427 Rollers, how probably first brought into use or invented, 426 Rollers, comparison of their power with that of wheels, 426 Rollers, mechanism and principle of, 427 Rollers, particular circumstances where their use is advantageous, 429 Rollers, the weight moving with double ■ the velocity of, therefore fresh rollers must be supplied in front, 429 Rollers, description of the immense block of marble at St. Petersburgh being moved on, 429 Rollers, a particular construction of, very useful, 450 Rolling, danger of, and remedy for, 342 Roman nose in the horse, what, 117 Round-bone, the, not easily dislocated, 258 Round-bone, sprain of the, description and treatment of, 262 Rowels, use of, and method of applying, 166 Rowels, manner of inserting, and their operation, 399 Rowels, comparison between, blisters, and setons, 326 Running away, method of restraining, 337 Running-horses, first account of, 25 Rupture, treatment of, 212 Rupture of the suspensory ligament, 252 Ruts, tlie cause of three-fourths of the resistance in draught, 441 Rye-grass, as an article of food, 357 S Sacrum, description of the, 328 Saddle-backed, what, 166 SEkddle-galls, treatment of, 169 Saddling of the colt, 226 Safety-coaches, heavy draught of, 443 Sagacity of the horse, 32 Sainfoin, used as an article of fc )d, 357 Saint Domingo, wild horses in, 8 Sal ammoniac, medical use of, 384 Saliva, nature and use of the, 148 Salivary glands, description of the, 143 Sallenders, nature and treatment of, 273 Salt, use of, in veterinary practice, 400 Salt, value of, mingled in the food of animals, 357 Sand crack, nature and treatment of, 299 Sandcrack, most dangerous when pro- ceeding from tread, 300 Sandcrack, liable to return, unless the brittleness of hoof is remedied, 300 Sandcrack, constitutes unsoundness, 365 Sartorius muscle, description of the, 259 Sclerotica, description of the, 91 Scouring, general treatment of, 209 Semicircular canals of the ear, descrip- tion and use of the, 83 Sedatives, a list of, and their mode of action, 399 Semiraniia, number of horsemen and chariots possessed by, 2 Serintus masrnus muscle described, 223 Sesostris, number of horses possessed by 2 PAOK Sessamoid bones, admirable use of^ in obviating concussion, 250 Setons, mode of introducing, 32() Setons, cases where they are indicated, 326 Setons, compared with rowels and blis- ters, 326 Setting on of the head, the proper, 155 Shalokh horse, description of the, 17 Sliank-bone, the, 243 Shetland pony, description of the, 59 Ship, method of dragging a, up a slip, 430 Shoe, concave-seated, cut of the, 312 Shoe, concave-seated, described and re- commended, 311 Shoe, manner in which the old, should be taken oif, 313 Shoe, putting on of the, 315 Shoe, the, should be fitted to the foot, and not the foot to the shoe, 315 Shoe, the hinder, described, 317 Shoe, the bar, 318 Shoe, the lip, 318 Shoe, the hunting, 313 Shoe, the jointed, or expansion, 319 Shoeing, not necessarily productive of contraction, 293 Shoeing, preparation of the foot for, 313, 314 Shoeing, the principles of, 311 Shoeing, singular, 21 Shoes, wearing too long, a cause of con- traction, 294 Short-bodied horses, when valuable, 53 Shoulder, anatomically described, 228 Shoulder, slanting direction of the, ad- vantageous, 229, 231, 237 Shoulder, when it should be oblique and when upright, 232, 233 Shoulder, sprain of the, 223 Shoulder-lameness, ascertaining, 229 Shoulder-blade, muscles of the, 233 Shoulder-blade, why united to the chest by muscles alone, 223 Shoulder-blade, lower bone of, descrip- tion of the, 232, 235 Shoulder-blade, muscles of the lower bone of the, 235 Shying, probable cause of, 93, 342 Shying, treatment of, 343 Shying on coming out of the stable, de- scription of, 344 Side-line, description of the, 320 Silver, nitrate of, an excellent caustic, 400 Sinuses in the foot, necessity of follow- ing the, as far as they reach, 304 Sitfasts, treatment of, 169 Skeleton of the horse, description of the, 63 Skin, anatomical description of the, 369 Skin, function and uses of the, 370 Skin, pores of the, 373 Skin, when the animal is in health, is soft and elastic, 371 Skull, anatomical description of the, 66 Skull, arched form of the roof, 74 Skull, fracture of the, 100 Smithfield-market, early account of, 24 Sledges, calculation of the draught of, 425 Sledges, description of the mechanism and use of, 426 INDEX. 467 Sledg-es, where more advantageous than wheels, 426 Sledges, where very disadvantageous, 426 Sledges, calculation of ihe power of, 427 Sledges, their advantage in travelling over ice and snow, 427 Sledges, Esquimaux, account of the, 427 Slipping the collar, remedy for, 344 Smell, the sense and seat of, 118 Smell, very acute in the horse, 119 Soap, its use in veterinary practice, 400 Soda, chloride of, its use in ulcers, 400 Sole, horny, description of the, 285 Sole, horny, descent of the, 285 Sole, horny, proper form of the, 285 Sole, horny, management of, in shoeing, 286 Sole, the sensible, 287 Soles, felt or leather, use of, 319 Solomon, imported horses from Egypt, 4 Sound, theory of, 78, 81 Soundness, consists in there being no disease nor alteration of structure that does or is likely to impair the usefulness of the horse 361 Soundness,- with reference to theprinci pal causes of unsoundness, 361 South American horse described, 5, 8 South An\erican horse, management of, 6 South American horse, harnessing the, 422 Spanish horse, description of the, 20 Spanish horse, introduced into England, 25 Spasmodic colic, nature and treatment of, 206 Spavin, blood, treatment of, 179, 268 Spavin, blood, is unsoundness, 365 Spavin, bog, cause, nature, and treat- ment of, 179, 268 Spavin-bone, 269 Spavin-bone, why not always accompa- nied by lameness, 270 Spavin-bone, is unsoundness, 365 Spavined horses, the kind of work they are capable of, 271 Speed of the horse, producing rapid di- minution of power, 417 Speed, and time of labour the most ad- vantageous proportion of, 424 Speed, sacrifice of the horse in endeav- ouring to obtain, 425 Speedy-cut, account of, 245 Sphenoid-bone, description of the, 74 Spinalis dorsi muscle, description of the, 168 Spine, description of the, 163 Spleen, description of the, 214 Splenius muscle described, 119, 154, 234 Splent-bones, description of the, 243 Splint, nature and treatment of, 243, 244 Splint, is unsoundness, 365 Sprain of the back sinews, treatment of, 246 Sprain of the back sinews, sometimes requires firing, 247 Strain of the back sinews, any thickening remaining after, is unsoundness, 365 Spring steel-yard, the force of traction illustrated by, 405 Springs to carriages, theory of, 446, 447, 449 Springs, with modifications, adapted to the heaviest waggons, 447 Springs, advantageous in rapid travel, 447 1 346 347 347 343 348 Springs, grasshopper, description of the, 447 Springs, C, diaadvantagos of, 445, 447 Stables, hot and foul, highly injurious, 346 [Stables, dark, occasional cause of in- flammation of the eye, 115 Stables, hot and foul, frequent cause ol inflammation of the eye, IIB Stables, hot and foul, cause inflamma- tion of the lunga, 345 Stables, hot and foul, produce glanders, 125 Stables, should be large, compared with the number of horses. Stables, management of, too much neg- lected by owners of horses, Stables, ceiling of, should be plastered, if there is a loft above, Stables, should be so contrived that the urine will run off. Stables, the stalls in, should not have too much declivity, Stables should be sufficiently light, yet without any glaring colour, 349 Stables, inipcrtance of cleanliness and coolness in, 115, 125, 183 Stables, infection of, removed by the chloride of lime, 395 Staggers, stomach, symptoms, cause, and treatment of, 103 Staggers, stomach, generally fatal, 103 Staggers, stomach, producing blindness, 104 Staggers, stomach, often epideiriic, 104 Staggers, mad, symptoms and treatment, 105 Staling, profuse, cause and treatment of, 217 Stallion, description of the proper, for breeding, 221 Stamford, races first established at, 27 Stanhopes, advantageof construction of, 445 Starch, useful in superpurgation, 400 Stargazer, the, 156 I Steam-engine, compared with the exer- tion of animal power on railways, 405 Steam-engine, compared with animal power on common roads. Steam, calculation of the expense of, Steam, small, little advantage in expense over horse-power, Steeple-hunt, described and censured. Stifle, description of the. Stifle, accidents and diseases of the, Sterno maxillaris muscle, description of the, 119,156,234 Sternum, or breast-bone, described, 169 Stirrups, not used in South America, 7 Stomach, description of the, Stomach, very small in the horse, Stomach, inflammation of the. Stomach-pump, recommended, Stone in the bladder, symptoms and treatment of. Stone in the kidney. Stoppings, the best compositions of, and their great use, 400 Straddlers, wheels so called, described, 440 Straddlers, objection to, 440 Straddlers, curious method of evading the law concerning, 441 Strain, uniform and constant in draught, bad consequences of, 417 Strangles, symptoms and treatment of, 149 407 407 403 57 262 265 193 190 200 103 218 213 469 INDEX. Stransrles, different from planders, 123 Strangles, importance of blistering- in, 123 Strangury produced by blistering, 323 Strangury, treatment of, 323 Strawberry horse, account of the, 376 Stringhalt, nature of, 274 Stringhalt, is not unsoundness, 365 Structure of the horse, importance of a knowledge of, 65 Stylo-maxillaris muscle described, 119, 234 Sulilingual gland, description of the, 149 Submaxillary glands, description of the, 148 Submaxillary artery, description of the, 120 Subscapulo hyoideus muscle described, 119 Suflolk punch, description of the, 39 Suffolk punch, honesty and continuance of the old breed, 39 Sugar of lead, use of, 394 Sullivan, the Irish whisperer, anecdotes of his power over the horse, 333 Sullivan the younger did not inherit his father's power, 333 Sulphate of copper, use of, in veterinary practice, 384 Sulphate of iron, 394 Sulphate of magnesia, 395 Sulphate of zinc, 402 Sulphur, an excellent alterative in all applications for mange, 401 Summering the hunter, 56 Surfeit, nature and treatment of, 378 Surfeit, importance of bleeding in, 378 Suspensory ligament, mechanism of the, 250 Suspensory ligament, rupture of the, 252 Suspensory muscle of the eye described, 99 Sweating blister, composition of, 387 Swedish horse, description of the, 20 Swelled legs, cause and treatment of, 276 Swelled legs, most frequently connected with debility, 276 Sweet-bread, description of the, 214 Sweet spirit of nitre, a mild stimulant and diuretic, 397 Sybarite horses, anecdote of, 43 Sympathetic nerve, description of the, 76 Tail, anatomy of the, 328 Tail, setting on of the, a character of breeding, 328 Tapetum lucidum, colour and design of, 91 Tar, its use in veterinary practice, 401 Tares, a nutritive and healthy food, 357 Tartary horses, description of the, 8, IS Tariary horses, descent of, traced, 5 Tarsee horse, description of the, 15 Team, disadvantages of, in draught, 414 Team, united power of, not equal to the calculation of so many horses, 414 Tears, secretion and nature of, 86 Tears, how cotiveyed to the nose, 87 Tears, sometimes shed from pain, etc., 86 Teeth described, as connected with age, 137 Teeth described at birth, 137 Teeth described at 2 months, 137 Teeth described at 12 months, 138 Teeth described at 18 months, 139 Teeth described at 2 years, 140 Teeth, the front, sometimes pushed out, that the next may sooner appear, and the horse seem older, 141 Teeth described at 3 and 3 1-2 years, 141 Teeth described at 4 and 4 1-2 years, 142 Teeth described at 5 and 6 years, 143 Teeth described at 7 and 8 years, 144 Teeth, change of the, 140 Teeth, enamel of the, 138 Teeth, irregular, inconvenient, etc. 146 Teeth, mark of the, 138 Teeth, frauds practised with the, 140 Teeth, diseases of the, 147 Temper denoted by the eye, 84 Temper denoted by the ear, 77 Temperature, sudden change of, bad, 345 Temporal bones, description of the, 70 Tendons of the leg, should be distinct, and far from the shank-bone, 245 Tetanus, symptoms and treatment of, 107 Thick-wind, nature and treatment of, 193 Thick-wind, in round-chested horses, 193 Thigh and haunch-bones, advantage of oblique direction of the, 257 Thigh, lower bone of the, described, 263 Thigh, lower bone of the. should be long and muscular, 265 Thigh, muscles of the lower hone of the, 263 Thigh, upper bone of the, described, 257 Thigh, muscles of the inside of the up- per bone of the, 259 Thigh, muscles of the outside, etc., 260 Thigli, muscles of the, mechanical cal- culation of their power, 261 Thigh, the horse should be wider at tlie, than at the haunch, 262 Thirst, strange effect of, on horses, 5 Thorough-bred horses, the quality of, has not degenerated, 49 Tiiorough-pin, nature and treatment of, 265 Thorough-pin, is unsoundness, 366 Thrush, nature and treatment of, 309 Thrush, the consequence, rather than the cause of contraction, 295 Thrush, its nature and consequences not sufficiently considered, 308 Thrush, is unsoundness, 366 Thyroid cartilage of the wind-pipe, de- scription of the, 160 Tied in below the knee, nature and dis- advantage of, 52, 245 Tips, description and use of, 318 Toe, bleeding at the, described, 181 Tongue, anatomy of the, 14'^ Tongue, diseases of the, 147 Tongue, bladders on underpart of the, 147 Tonics, account of the best, 401 Tonics, their use and danger in veteri- nary practice, 401 Toorkoman horse, description of the, 17 Toorky horse, description of the, 15 Towing, power of the horse, how dimin- ished in, 414 Traces, direction of the, very important in draught, 417 Traces, proper angle of the, 419, 424 Traces, proper inclination of, depends on the kind of horse and road, iJ9, 424 INDEX. 469 Traces, should be inclined downward on rough roads, 420 Traces, inclined downward, throws part of the weight on the shafts, 420 Traces, direction of, rarely attended to, 221 Traces, manner of fixing the, in South America, 422 Track, importance of both wheels run- ning in the same, 441 Traction, the force of, explained, 404 Traction, the force of, illustrated by the spring steel-yards, 405 Traction, proper line of, very important in draught, 417 Training, principles of, 53 Transversalis cosiarum muscle described, 232 Trapezius muscle, description of the, 232 Trapezius bone, description of the, 241, 245 Travelling, different rate at diff 'nt times, 35 Tread, nature and treatment of, 301 Tread, often causes sandcrackorquittor, 301 Tredgold's comparison of moving power in draught, 406 Trevis, description of the, 320 Triceps femoris muscle described, 261 Tripping, an inveterate habit, 344 Trochanter of the thigh described, 258 Trochanter of the thigh, importance of, 261 Trotting, action of the horse during, 413 Trotting, the limbs in, unfaithfully rep- resented in the Elgin marbles and the church of St. Mark, 412 Turbinated bones, description of the, 117 Turkish horse, description of the, 19 Turnips, as an article of food, 358 Turpentine, the best diuretic, 216 Turpentine, oil of, an excellent medicine in spasmodic colic, 206 Turpentine, useful in many ointments, 401 Tushes, description of the, 142, 145 Twitch, description of the, 321 U Ukraine, description of the horses of the, 5 Ulcers in the mouth, treatment of, 151 Ulna, description of the, 236 Unguiculata, a tribe of animals, 62 Ungulata, a tribe of animals, 62 Uneoundness, contraction does not al- ways cause, 293 Unsoundness being discovered, the ani- mal should be tendered, 367 Unsoundness being discovered, the ten- der not legally necessary, 367 Unsoundness, horse may be returned for, and action brought for deprecia- tion in value, but not advisable, 367 Unsoundness, horse returned for, must be as valuable as before in every other respect, 367 Unsoundness, medical means may be adopted to cure the horse of, yet they had better be declined, 367 Unsteadiness while mounting, ?37 Uiero-gestation, the period of, 222 ▼oMtai muscle, description of the. 258 Vatican, curious method of moving the obelisk in the, 431 Vehicles of draught, the best, compared, 424 Veins, description of the, 178 Veins of the arm, 260 Veins of the neck, 157 Veins of the face, 119 Veins of the shoulder, 260 Veins inside of the thigh, 257 Veins outside of the thigh, 260 Veins, treatment of inflamed, 158 Verdigris, an uncertain medicine, when given internally, 389 Verdigris, a mild caustic, 389 Vertebrated animals, what, 61 Vices of horses, account of the, 330 Vicious to clean, a bad habit that may be conquered, 338 Vicious to shoe, may also be conquered, 339 Vinegar, its use in veterinary practice, 402 Vision, theory of, 96 Vitreous humour of the eye, 95 Vitriol, blue, in veterinary practice, 389 Vitriol, green, " " 394 Vitriol, while, •• «' 402 W Waggon-horse, the, 41 Waggons, inferior horses may be used in, compared with carts, 443 Waggons, horses drawing, not so fa- tigued as in carts, 443 Waggons require fewer drivers, and are not so liable to accidents, 443 Waggons, with inferior roads and ordi- nary horses, preferable to carts, 444 Waggons with large front wheels, ad- vantage of, particularly with two horses abreast, 444 Waggons, why they have more draught than two-wheeled carts, 445 Walking, movement of the legs in, 412 Walking, different when drawing a load, 412 Wall-eyed horses, what, 93 Wall-eyed horses, whether become blind, 93 War-horse, description of the ancient, 24 Warbles, treatment of, 169 Warranted, the word extends only to soundness, 366 Warranty, the form of a, 366 Warranty, breach of, how established, 306 Warranty, no price will imply a, 366 Warranty, when there is no, action must be brought on ground of fraud, 368 Warts, method of getting rid of, 331 Washing the heels, produces grease, 279 Washy horses, described and treated, 210 Water generally given too sparingly, 360 Water, management of, on a journey, 361 Water, hard and soft, different effect of, 359 Water, spring, its coldness injurious, 360 Water in the ear, use of, 82 Water in the stomach, 204 Water-farcy, nature and treatment of, 131 VVater conveyance, singular smallness of power required in, 424 Water conveyance, resistance increases with the square of the veloci|f, 425 470 INDEX. Water conveyance, power in, increases aa the cube of the velocity, 425 Water dropwort, poisonous, 200 Water hemlock, " 200 Water parsley, " 200 Wax used in charges and plasters, 402 Weakness of the foot, what, 310 Weaving, indicating an irritable temper, and no cure for it, 345 Weight, calculation of the power of the 38 11,48 58 355 355 horse to overcome, Wellesley Arabian, account of the, Welsh pony, description of the, Wheat, as food for the horse. Wheat, inconvenience and danger of, Wheels, the principle on which they act explained, 431, 433, 446 Wheels, effect of increasing diameter of, 431 Wheels, no record of the time invented, 432 Wheels, spoked, known to Homer, 432 Wheels, little improvement in principle of, from the earliest times, 433 Wheels, principle of, on a level surface, 433 Wheels, theory of the degree of friction attending, 433, 446 Wheels, friction of, on the axle, depend- ent on the material employed, 434 Wheels, various forms of, 436 Wheels, dishing of, described, 436 Wheels, dishing, advantages of, 437, 447 Wheels, conical and flat, effects of, 403, 437 Wheels, obliquely placed, 437 Wheels, narrow and broad, compared, 437 Wheels, conical, strange degree of fric- tion and dragging with, 438 Wheels, conical, travelling grindstones, 438 Wheels, cylindrical, best form of, 440, 446 Wheels, cylindrical, described, round- ing of the edges, 440, 447 Wheels, cylindrical, but influenced by the state of the road, 440 Wheels, hind, should follow the precise track of the fore ones, 440, 441 Wheels, their effect on the road, 440, 446 Wheels, straddlers, their effect, 441 Wheels, proper breadth of, 441 Wheels, Jones's patent, description of, 441 T\ar.f[ fiOL. Wheels, with cast iron naves, 442 Wheels, size of, ^ 442, 446 Wheels, advantage of large front, 442 Wheels, slightly convex in centre, 447 Wheels, arrangement of the spokes of, 447 Wheezer, description of the, 196 Whipping sound, cruelty of, 37 Whisperer, his power over the horse, 332 Whistler, description of the, 196 Whistler, is unsound, 362 White Turk, account of the, 28 White lead, use of, 394 White vitriol, in veterinary practice, 402 Wild horse, description of the, 5, 11 William the Conqueror, improvement in the English horse by 24 Wind-broken, nature and treatment of, 194 Wind-galls, nature and treatment of, 248, 255 Wind-galls, unsoundness when lameness is caused, or is likely to be, 366 Windpipe, description of the, 46, 159 Windpipe, prominent and loose, 159 Windpipe, opening the, 162 Wind-sucking, nature of, and remedy, 341 Wind, thick, nature and treatment of, 193 Wiring-in of the heels, 293 Witliers, description of the, 154, 166 Withers, high, advantage of, 167 Withers, fistulous treatment of, 163 Wolves' teeth, what, 140 Work of the horse, should not exceed six hours per diem, 415 Worms, treatment of, 210 Wounds in the feet, treatment of, 303 Wounds in the mouth, treatment of, 151 Yellows, symptoms and treatment of, 213 Yew, the leaves of, poisonous, 200 Yielding resistance, the effect of, in neutralizing impetus, 414 Zoological classification of the horse, 61 Zygomatic arch, reason of the strong construction of the, 71 Zygomaticus muscle, description of the, 119 THE END. I Hd < tr o :> *-i S 0 M c*- •h CD c^- ■K • V* « : ^ <« H • CD CNkJ oo cy g rf- — VJT. c+- — VO - •■ • W VD V. ffi! -0 H> fV) w VJ-l cK - a •^ '^^ V* MAY 71 ^^■!^ N. MANCHESTEfl ^^i^" INDIANA