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http://www.archive.org/details/modernpracticalfOOmile

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MODERN

rartiral

?arriprn,

A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF THE VETERINARY ART

AS AT PRESENT

PRACTISED AT THE ROYJ L VETERINARY COLLEGE, LONDON.

BY

W. J. MILES, M.R.C.V.S.L.

INCLUDING PRACTICAL TREATISES ON

CATTLE, THEIR MANAGEMENT IN DAIRY, FIELD, AND STALL,

By JOHN WALKEE.

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS,

By SAMUEL P. PRESTON.

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP FARMING,

By CHARLES SCOTT.

AND

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS,

By J. L LUPTON, M.R.C.V.S.L.

-^ •-•-• (r-

LONDON
THE GRESHAM PUBLISHING COMPANY

34 SOUTHAMPTON STREET, STRAND

MODERN

PRACTICAL FARRIERY,

A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF THE VETERINARY ART.

PREFACE.

No branch of husbandry and of the many allied industries in this country, has developed so great
an importance of late years as the breeding and management of all descriptions of animals. England
has long been known as the place of origin of the modern racehorse, but the knowledge and practical
skill which produced that magnificent animal, have also been turned in more practical directions,
and the various breeds of horses for riding and for light and heavy draught have been wonder-
fully increased in value by the intelligent application to them of the same principles of selection
and continuous improvement. Even in these days of universal competition, other nations still look
to Great Britain as their model in all that pertains to Horse Breeding and Management.

To England also belongs the honoiu: of having first successfully applied the same prmciples to
the improvement of the Breeds of Cattle and of Sheep. From the time of Robert Bakewell, who
originated this movement in the middle of last century, progress has been steady and continuous.
Other breeds than those to which his attention was directed have been developed and improved by
the application of similar methods, until the chief English breeds have become celebrated throughout
the world, and selected animals are eagerly purchased by foreign nations, that they may share the
benefits enjoyed by the British farmer. Of late years, as is well known, the constantly increasing
imports of grain into this country, due to the vast improvement in communication by railways
and steam navigation, have more and more directed attention to our Live Stock and their means
of support, as being probably in the near future the staple productions of our country.

In issuing a New Edition of Miles' "Modern Practical Farriery," which has long been
accepted as a standard on its subject, the publisher has endeavoured still further to adapt it to the
needs of the time, by important additions and extensions. The Origin and Varieties of the Horse
in all pai-ts of the world ; his Breeding, Breaking, Training, Age as determined by the condition of
his mouth ; his treatment in Biding, Driving, ind on a lengthened journey ; the Stable and its
Management ; Vices in the Stable and on the Road ; Warranty, Soimdness, and Unsoundness — such
are some of the leading topics treated of in the general and descriptive part of the Work.

In preparing the section of the Work specially devoted to Diseases of the Horse and Modern
Veterinary Practice, the highest professional authorities have been carefully consulted, and the

author has brought the results of his own wide and lengthened experience, and all available information
regarding equ'^e Anatomy, Medicine, and Surgery, to bear upon the elucidation of every subject
which he has thought it necessary to consider.

In the section devoted to the Management of Cattle and Sheep, special treatises have been added
by Messrs. John Walker and Charles Scott, writers of great practical experience in these departments,
whUe the various Grasses and Forage Plants available for feeding cattle are fully described by
Samuel P. Preston, and where necessary Ulustrated. The new systems of preserving grasses and
green crops for winter use, as EnsUage, whether produced in SUos or in Stacks, are fuUy described
and Ulustrated. A special section is devoted to the Diseases of Cattle, Sheep, and Pigs, and their
Treatment according to the best veterinary practice of the day, by J. I. Lupton, M.R.C.V.S.L.

It is hoped that the whole wiU be found of the greatest importance to those engaged in the
breeding, rearing, and management of stock, and will contribute not a Uttle to render them their own
Farriers. The Work is illustrated by numerous finely executed anatomical and other Engravings,
possessing high value on the score of utility as well as of ornament, many of which are executed in
colours.

THE HISTORY OF THE HORSE.

CHAPTER I.

THE ORIGIN AND ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE HORSE.

fHE original country of the Horse is not known with
certainty from any extant records of history or fi-om reliable
tradition. Buffon has asserted, and his thousand-and-one
copyists— compilers of Natural Histories, Anecdotes of Animals,
Select Readings, and the like — have echoed, that Arabia is the
cradle of the race.* More recent enquirers, searching and
thinking for themselves, have shown this to be mere assump-
tion. Certainly the nature of that country, its wide expanse
of sandy plains, and its scanty herbage, offer no indication of a
fit habitat for the wild horse to increase and multiply ; and
the conclusion is almost inevitable, that the Arab steed, like
the thorough-bred of our own country, is indebted for the
peculiar excellences which have made it celebrated, to the
care, skill, and sedulous attention of its breeders and trainers :
in short, that the Arab horse is not indigenous to that country,
but the product of judicious cidtivation during a long series of
years — a process for which man is always rewarded by the
development of the best, and often new and higher qualities, in
the object of his care.

Nor are there wanting written proofs of this position. We
shall first refer to the Bible, as the oldest historical record, to
show that Arabia, notwithstanding its modem celebrity, has
not the claim to number this noblest of quadrupeds among the
native animals ; and then proceed to notice those nations in
which, at the earliest periods, the horse, as we know from their
monuments, was used in war and in the arts of peace.

In those countries where the horse is indigenous, he appears
to have been reduced to servitude from the earliest formation of
human society. The first country in which we have proof of
its domestication is in Africa. In Egypt, then, we have the
testimony of history, both sacred and profane, as well as the
marvellous monuments of this great community, which have
survived the lapse of three thousand years, to attest the early
subjugation of this valuable animal. In numerous sculptures,
fresh as if yesterday from the chisel of the artist, the horse of
the Egyptians appears harnessed to the chariots of warriors and
kings ; and the subsequent history of the same country shows
how much it relied on the power of the horse in war. It is

• The late Mr. Youatt, in hia agreeable and UBefiil book of The Rorte,
compiled for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge ; Professor
Low, in his Domestic Quadrupeds of the British Islandt ; Blaine, and other
authorities, adopt this view. Mr. Karkeek, of Truro, in some clever papers
in the Veterinarian (vol. lii. pp. 18 and 125), support! BufFon. Gibbon, and
Niebuhr in their view of the original habitat of the hone

from the records of Jewish history that we receive the earliest
written accounts of the subjugation of the horse in Egypt ;-f
and, from the same source, we learn that the ancestors of the
Israelites were not possessed of horses when they dwelt in tlie
plains of Syria. When Abraham, more than 1,900 before
Christ, sent his servant from Palestine to Mesopotamia, to
bring a wife for his son Isaac, the messenger thus announced
himself to Laban, the brother of Rebecca : — " I am Abraham's
servant, and the Lord hath blessed my master greatly, and he
is become great ; and He hath given him flocks and herds, and
silver and gold, and men-servants and maid-servants, and camela
and asses." Observe, there is in this enumeration no mention
of the horse ; neither is it once spoken of in the subsequent
recital of the wealth of Isaac. Again, when Jacob returned to
his native land, he had oxen, sheep, goats, and asses, and
camels, but no horses. In a later age, when the descendants
of Jacob had multiplied in a district of Egypt which lies
between the Nile and the Red Sea, and whence they were
conducted to the Promised Land, they retained the habits of
their ancestors in regard to the horse. In the Levitical law
reference is made to the ass to denounce its flesh as " unclean ;"
and the sin of coveting " thy neighbour's ass" is denounced.
Moreover, the duty of a seventh day's r^ist to that now despised
but useful servitor is specially enjoined. Yet, all through, the
horse is never spoken of as a part of the wealth or property of
the people. On the other hand, there is an injunction that
they shall not possess themselves of this animal, the pride of
the Egyptians, in the land to which they are to be led. This

t The pre-eminently poetical picture of the war-horse in Job (o. xxxix.
V. 19 — 25) is familiar to aU : — "Hast thou given the horse strength f Hast
thou clothed his neck with thunder P

" Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper f The glory of hii noibrOi
is terrible," &c.

In Berenger's MorsemansMp is a note on the use of the word thund«r
in the above quotation, which is worth transcribing : — " In thia enume-
ration of the beauties and noble qualities of the horse, it should be T»-
marked that the English translators make Job say that the animal's
neck is clothed with thunder, an expression as falst, as it is absurd. Tht
true rendering of this passage is, that his neck is clothed with a mane \
thus Bochart, Le Clerc, Patrick, and other commentators translate it. Bochart
says that the word which in Hebrew signifies thunder is synonymous for the
mane of a horse ; but this being so, it is astonishing that the translator should
have set aside the just and natural signification, and have chosen to cover the
horse's neck with thunder instead of a mane ; nor it it less ftrnmiTig that thii
nonsense should have been extolled by the author of the Ghtardian (vol. U
p. 26), and others, as an instance of the aublime."

fflSTORY OF THE HORSK

rocky and limited territory was then, as it is now, unsuited to
the horse, and never could be so well defended by cavalry as
by infantry, Indeed, we have the historical fact that the Jews
were never so successful as when they trusted to their " foot-
men" in their earlier struggles, and in their subsequent wars
under the glorious Maccabees.

Moses, well knowing the nature of the country to be suo-
dued, discountenanced the use of cavalry. He counsels the
people, when they go forth to the war, to have no fear of the
" horses and chariots" of their enemies. He directs the future
rulers of the land not " to multiply horses ;" and so closely was
this command adhered to, that it was the practice to hamstring
the horses made prizes of in the field. David, when he took
seven htmdred horses and one thousand chariots, houghed all
the horses except one hundred of those trained for chariots.
The Psalmist speaks with proud disdain of horses as used in
war, exults in the overthrow of " the horse and his rider," and
never mentions them, except as used by the enemies of his
country. As the commerce of Judea, and her intercourse with
other nations, increased, these prejudices were broken down,
and Solomon, his son, formed an army of chariots and cavalry ;
nay, he established a trade for horses with Africa, and supplied
the neighbouring countries with those animals from Egypt. It
is farther remarkable, that when the Jews entered Palestine
from the south, they encountered no horses ; for no mention is
made of horses ia the first campaign of Joshua. The Philis-
tines alone had horses, in the south of Syria ; and they were
an Egyptian colony. There is, therefore, every reason to
conclude that Arabia, and all the coimtries southward of Pales-
tine to the Persian Gulf, were, at that time, without horses.

Proofs multiply upon us. When the Midianites, an Arabian
nation, were subdued, the spoil consisted of sheep, oxen, and
slaves, but no horses. In the reign of Saul a war was carried
on with Arabian nations on the Persian Gulf; the plunder
consisted of slaves, camels, sheep, and a^ses. And, in an attack
on Judea, by the Midianites, in an after age, we are told they
came " with their cattle and their tents ; and they came as
locusts for multitude :" stiU no mention of horses. But
although the Jews, on their first entrance to Palestine from
the south, found no horses, no sooner did they come in contact
with the nations of the north, than they were met by warlike
people possessed of horses and chariots. These nations
approached the Black Sea and the Caspian, the great region
of what may be called the " Asiatic horse ;" this being the
source of supply, and not Africa, with which, at that time, they
were cut off from intercourse ; nor Arabia, as that country
had no horses. K, then, historical record be of worth, we
must conclude that Syria and Arabia, and the coimtries to the
Persian Gulf, were not countries of the subjugated horse in
early times, and that the horses which they possessed in
later times came to them, not from the south, or from Africa,
but from the great river-watered plains and wide steppes of
the north, the original habitat of that species of the equine race
which we shall call the Horse of Central Asia.

It was from their contiguity to this region that the Assyrians
and the Medes became so early nations of conquering horsemen.

From other documents we learn that Asia Minor was a country
of horses ; and these again, we believe, came from the north,
and not the south. An able writer. Professor Low,* to whom
we are much indebted for his researches, suggests an easy
explanation of what might seem to suggest itself as a difficulty
He says, we may believe that the species was caUed into
existence in more than one place, and was thence diflFused as
from different centres ; and thus we may suppose one species
existed in Africa, and another in eastern and northern Asia.
Hence we conclude, from the testimony of history, that the
Egyptians derived their horses from the vast continent which
they inhabited, and not from a region from which they were
separated by a tract of arid and sandy country, in which the
horse did not exist in the first ages. On the contrary, this
remarkable people procured the horses they so early possessed
from regions where the African horse was as indigenous as
those of Asia are to the plains of Tartar}-. The horse, then,
appears to have been obtained by the Arab as his predatory
habits took a more extended range ; and his contact with
Persia, and countries to the north, put it in his power to
obtain them, and he acquired them and prized them, just as
we see savages in modem times possess themselves of fije-arms
for purposes of destruction or of defence. Though there is no
precise record of when the Arabs began to use horses, it
is clear that they had very little multiplied there till after the
Christian era. Strabo states that in the time of Tiberius
Csesar, the south of Arabia, called Arabia Felix, had " neither
horses nor mules," and that as regards Arabia Deserta, the
north of Arabia, it had no horses, but the camel supplied its
place. This is definite ; and we find that though the warlike
and aggressive followers of the Prophet became horsemen, and
laid the original countries of the horse in the East under
contribution, the horse in Arabia, in the time of Mahomet, was
neither numerous nor generally possessed. When the Prophet
of the Moslem advanced on Mecca, to wreak his vengeance on the
enemies of the Koran, he had no more than two horses in his
army ; and in the list of plunder which he carried back with
him after his victory there were oxen, sheep, and camels, but,
as in more remote scripture times, not a mention of a single
horse is made.

When once, however, the horse was adaed to the family
of the Bedouin, in aid of the predatoiy purposes of this
nation of robbers, the acquisition was treasured with im-
ceasing care, and the condition of the horse looked to
with unsleeping anxiety.- To the wandering and plundering
Ishmaelite the horse possessed a value that no other people
could estimate. Not only did luxury and enjoyment depend
upon their horse's goodness, his stoutness, his readiness, and
his speed, but often the owner's liberty and life. Hence the
love and regard for the horse acquired by this peculiar people ;
hence the warmth of esteem which leads to their hyperboHcaJ
Eastern praises ; hence the cherished memory of their feats ;
hence their boastful pedigrees. Thus the Arab has formed for
himself noble families of horses ; and breeding from these, and

• Domestic AsiUnah ofthi: Britiih Islands. Iiondon: Longman & Oo.

HISTORY OF THE HORSE.

preserving the purity of descent, this artificial product has
distinguished them, above all the people of the East, as the
possessors of a race of animals remarkable for many valuable
properties, and suited, in an eminent degree, to the condition
of the country and the uses of the people, who have brough*
them to a certain standard of perfection. The best horses are
those of Nejd and Shomer, where the breed is maintained and
jealously guarded in its greatest purity.

To Sesostris, fable and the poets attribute the subjugation of
the horse among the Egyptians. We have already noticed that
Egypt was the direct source of Solomon's supplies. The price
of a horse, we are then told, was 150 shekels, which, according
to our scripture computation, would be about £17 10s., an
immense sum if we estimate it by the price of food in those
timep Six hundred years after Solomon, in the time of
Xenopbon, a good horse was £27 12s. ; at least, that is the
price — fifty drachmiB — which Seuthis the Thracian paid for the
steed on which he rode during the Retreat of the Ten Thousand.

Mr. Griffith, the ingenious annotator and translator of
Cuvier's great work, Le Regne Animal, expresses his opinion
that the horse is indigenous to Asia, and especially to the
plains of Tartary, but that almost eveiy district has its variety.
These we shall note, at length, when we come to treat of
Asiatic, African, and European horses in their varieties.

Upper Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, Mauritania, Numidia,
indeed, all the coimtry north and west of Sahara, the Great
Desert, doubtless abounded, even before the historic period, with
numerous fleet and beautiful horses, the progenitors of the
Barbs, of the stately horses of Dongola, and — through Palestine
and Syria eastward to Persia, and westward into Asia Minor —
meeting most probably with occasional crosses from the more
northern breeds, whom they met roaming southwards, a
migratory tendency remarkable not only in the northern races
of man, and all animal creation, wild quadrupeds, as the
deer, and in birds, but even in the innumerable sb^dls of the
finny tribes

Colonel Hamilton Smith discusses the question as to wnether
the use of chariots, or the art of riding was the earliest service of
the horse. It is a point of curiosity rather than of importance,
and, perhaps, does not admit of a satisfactory conclusion. In
Egypt, Palestine, and Greece, Colonel Smith supposes there
were originally chariots only The monuments and authorities
do not, we think, negative the existence of riders. Job, \\dth
the exception of Genesis the most ancient extant writing,
distinctly describes the horse as trained to battle ; but he does
not stop there. From a verse in the same chapter he shows that
the horse was then, as now, employed in the chase of the
ostrich, (exclusively an African bird), " what time she lifteth her-
self up on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider ;" and a still
earlier intimation of the backing of this noble animal is found
in Genesis, chap xlix., v. 17. " An adder in the path, that
biteth the horse's heels, so that his rider falleth backward."
For ourselves we cannot see any valid reason for not accept-
ing the opinion of Berenger,* that, although either might be

• History of HorsemaoBhip, vol. i., p. 12.

the more prevalent in particular countries, or at particnlai
periods, the one must have suggested and accompanied the
other.

I*- appears most probable that the horse was subjugated
in Central Asia from an ante-historic period, whence the know-
ledge of his usefulness radiated to China and India. Another
early region, perhaps of equal antiquity in the training of the
horse, was Egypt and the adjacent countries. That systematic
attention was there paid to the breed of these animals the abun-
dant historical and sculptured remains testify, and these seem to
be designed from high bred types. In one or other of the
countries of Western Europe the bridle, the true saddle, and
probably the horse-shoe were invented ; while with many of
the Asiatic nations a horse, a mare, and a colt were fixed
standards of value.

Next to the Egj'ptians, the Ass}Tians and Medes became,
according to Strabo, the most celebrated horsemen of the
ancient world. These people are often mentioned by the
Jewish writers for the beauty of their horses and their skill as
horsemen, and for the splendour of their equestrian trappings.
They were at a later period imitated by the Persians, who
decked and " clothed their horsemen most gorgeousl)'."
Although Persia became most renowned for its horse-riding,
Xenopbon says, that before the time of Cjtus, Persia had no
horses ; but that, from personal example, encouragements,
prizes, and recommendations of the king, every man in Persia
rode on horseback. Indeed, the verj' name of the people, by
which their country aftem'ards became known, was taken
from the Chaldee and Hebrew word peresh, a horseman. Im-
mense droves of these animals were reared io the plains of
Assyria and Persia ; and one author speaks of 150,000 horses
feeding in one vast plain near the Caspian gates. The Nysaean
horses used by the kings of Persia are declared to have been
the finest horses in the world — a pre-eminence apparently
claimed by every nation that ever possessed a horse ; and we
may also add, by most persons who have owned one.

In Greece, the art of riding horses, and most probably the
introduction of the horse himself, did not verj' long precede
the Trojan war. Homer, who was some centuries after
Joshua, frequently dwells on the beauty of the horses which
drew the chariots of his heroes ; although the fact is worthy of
note, that he makes but two references to horse-riding in the
Iliad, and but one in the Odyssey. The first in the Iliad
(K 513), is where Ulysses and Diomed, having stolen the
horses of Rhesus, without the chariot, mount and gallop them
to the Grecian camp. That in the Odyssey is merely as a
simile (E 371), Hkening Ulysses, after his shipwreck, bestriding
a beam of wood, to a man on horseback. The reference in the
15th Book of the Iliad, however, as it gives an early instance
of the Ducrow feat of riding four horses, we will quote : —

" 3o when a horseman, from the watery mead,
(Skilled in the manage of the bounding steed)
Drives four fair coursers, practised to obey,
To some great city, through the public way j
Safe in his art, as side by side they run.
He shifts his seat, and vaults from one to one :

HISTORY OF THE HORSE.

And now to this and now to that he flies ;
Admiring nxunbers follow with their eyes."

The horse formed a prominent feature in the beautiful my-
thologic fables of the ancients.

Neptune, we are told, created the horse by striking the earth
vith his trident ; —

" When Neptune his huge trident hurl'd
Against the sounding beach, the stroke
Transfii'd the globe, and open broke
The central earth, whence swift as light
Forth rush'd the first-bom horse."

iEschylus, the tragedian, describes Prometheus as the first
who taught man to render the horse obedient to the yoke
(perhaps cultivating the earth is here alluded to).

Pluto carried off Proserpine in a chariot drawn by four horses
(a quadriga) ; their names are preserved.

In Ovid's beautiful fable of Phaeton, a description is given
of the horses which were supposed to draw the chariot of the
sun, and which we find thus alluded to by our own immortal
bard: —

*' Gallop apace, ye fiery-footed steeds,
To Phoebus mansion j such a waggoner
As Phaeton would wliip you to the west.
And bring in cloudy night immediately."*

The goddess Aurora is represented, by the ancient poets,
drawn in a rose-coloured chariot by milk-white horses, and
preceding the sun at his rising.

It was the eighth of the labours of Hercules to destroy
Diomedes, king of Thrace, a tyrant who fed his uiares on
human flesh. Mars, the god of war, \s as generally represented
as riding in a chariot, drawn by furious horses, named Flight
and Terror; and horses were offered up on his altars, to
propitiate his warHke spirit.

The origin of the Centaurs, half man, half horse — -a favourite
fable of the ancients, some of whom, as Plutarch and even
Pliny, have actually maintained that these monsters existed —
is thus given by Palasphatus, in his book, De Incredibilibus
Historik. This author relates, that in the reign of Ixion, king
of Thessaly, a herd of mad buUs descended from Mount Pelion
and ravaged the neighbouring country. In consequence of a
large reward offered by Ixion for the destruction of the buUs,
certain adventurous young men turned their attention to the
training of horses for the saddle ; before that time they having
been only used in chariots. These men having attacked the
bulls on horseback, and cleared the country of them, ravaged
the plains of Thessaly, and even attacked Ixion himself. At
their departure from these exploits, the ignorant Lapithae, as
the inhabitants of that county were called, seeing only the tails
of the horses and the upper parts of the men, delineated them
as monsters, half man and half horse.

The " certain adventurous young men" here spoken of were a
colony of Egj^tians.1 A. Grecian tradition makes these
Centaurs actual beings, and fables that Philpe, the mother of
the Centaurs, cohabited with Saturn in PhiljTes, an island
nea' the south shore of the Euxine (this would point to

* Komeo and Juliet (Act iii. acene 2). f See Tennant's Shredt of Antiquity.

Asia Minor) ; and that from that island she emigrated to
Thessaly and the country of the Pelasgi. This mother of the
Centaurs gives a hint to Mr. Tennant, who, thereupon, takes a
rapid glance at the probable migrations of the horse, which is so
much in accordance with our views that we make no apology
for quoting it : — " In this way one might amuse himself by
attempting to trace, even by the few data afforded by history,
the circuit by which horses, with the consequent art of
equestrian exercise, passed from Egypt, the original and central
riding-school of the world, into Greece and into Europe. From
Egypt they passed into Assyria and Persia ; from Assyria to
Cappadocia, Amazonia, and Pontus — countries where horses
were most reared, most admired, and, as the most admirable
objects in animated nature, offered up as sacrifices to the sun.
From Pontus they passed, with the streams of westward-
rushing population, to Phrygia and the southern banks of the
Propontis ; and from thence, with ' horse-taming ' Pelops and
the Pelasgi, they migrated into Thessaly, and confounded with
their novel and terrifying appearance, the simple and aboriginal
inhabitants, to whom ' the horse and his rider' seemed a monster,
outlandish and inscrutable!" The Thessalonians for many
centuries continued the most celebrated of the Grecian cavalry.
Another colony of Egyptians appears to have landed some-
what later in Southern Greece, and to have introduced the
horse to Athens. The leader of this migratory band was
Erichthoneus.* This horse-breaker by profession, or prince
and leader of a people, perhaps both, is celebrated by Virgil
in his third Georgic. The lines are thus given in Dryden's
version : —

" Bold Erichthoneus was the first who joined
Four horses for the rapid race design' d,
And o'er the dusty wheels presiding sat :
Tlie Lapitliffi to chariots add the state
Of bits and bridles ; taught the steed to bound.
To run the ring, and trace the airy round j
To stop, to fly, the rules of war to know,
T' obey the rider, and to dare the foe."

The most celebrated individual horse, of the Thessalian or an
allied breed, was Bucephalus, the charger of Alexander the
Great. He was bought for sixteen talents from Philonicus,

• Mr. Bracy Clark, a scholar and a careful etudier of all tlungs pertaining
to the horse, and to whom we owe one of the best and earliest essays on the
horse's foot, obserres — " Those err widely who deriTc this name from the old
Greek language, since the Egyptian appears the natural clue to it. Erictho
—the ancient Egyptian word, of which the Greeks made Erictheus and Eric-
thonius, as of Apollo they made Apollonius — is composed of two words, en
Jacere, vel rei alicujus auctorem esse^ and chto, or ichto, eqmis, the horse ;
and hence Erictho, autor equitatus et equorum, the occupation ascribed to
Ericthoneus, in the hnes of Virgil. Aristides and others confirm this by
observing that he first tamed the horse, and then apphed him to the chariot.
On this account he was raised to heaven, and placed among the "or.ote'lationi,
as Auriga, Agitator, or Beniochus, the driver, or charioteer.

Chiron, poetically sumamed the Centaur — Ualf man, half ho.se— was, it ie
conjectured, a Thessalian. His hybrid nature, signified his medical skill was
equally directed to human and to brute medicine. rEsculapius, to whom the
establishment of rational principles in medicine is attributed, as well as
Podalirius and Machoan, were also his pupils. These early professors of th
art medendi and veterinary science were for centuriei venerated as he oracle
and fnthers of medicine.

HISTORY OF THE HORSR

out of his breeding pasfaires of Pharsalia. It is known he was
a skewbald — that is white, clouded with large bay spots. lie
was, in short, a genuine and noble specimen of what modems
would call a circus horse, and his habits corresponded with this
description. These parti-coloured horses were prized by the
Parthians, but disliked by the Romans, who objected to them
because so easily seen in partial d'lrkness. Bucephalus was
ridden by Alexander at the battle of the Hydaspes, and there
received his death woimd. Disobedient for once to the
command of his master, he galloped from the heat of the
fight, brought Alexander to a place where he was secure from
danger, knelt, as was his custom, for him to alight, and having
thus, like a good and faithful servant, discharged his duty to
the last, he trembled, dropped down, and died.

Although, with the exception of the pastures of Thessaly,
Greece was not a favourable country for the horse, he was soon
found necessary in all parts of the country for the purposes of
oflFence and defence Accordingly, in most of the states,
particularly in Athens and Sparta, a new order of citizens
was instituted, to be ranked second in the Commonwealth, and
distinguished by certain honours and privileges, as owners of
horses. The equites, or knights, of the Roman Republic, were
instituted with the same view of keeping up the numbers
and excellLiice of this noble animal.

BlundeviUe, in Tlie Foicer Chiefest Offices belonging to Horse-
manship, speaks thus of the horses of Greece, and his descrip-
tion applies well to the animal we see figured on the frieze of
the Parthenon and other temples. " The horses of Greece have
good legges, great bodyes, comely heades, and are of high stature
and verie wel made forwarde, but not backwarde, because they
are pin-buttocked. Notwithstanding they are very swifte, and
of a bolde coui'age. But of alle the racys of Greece, both the
horses and mares of Thessaly for their bewtie, bignes, and
courage of al authors are most celebrated. For which cause
Xerxes, on hys comming into Greece, made a ruimyng of
horses in chariots to be proclaymed in Thessalia, because hee
wolde have hys owne horses to runne wyith the best in Greece.
Julius Caesar also beying dictatour of Rome, knowying the
courage of the horses, was the first that ordeyned them as a
spectacle before the people to fighte wyth wilde bulls, and to
kyU them."

The caparisoning of the horse, and his part in the cele-
brated Olympic games will come more properly into the his-
tory of racing ; whereto the two great works of Xenophon,
"The Duties of the Master of the Horse," and "Of the
Management of the Horse," will furnish prefatory matter.

On the decline of the Greek empire the Romans claim atten-
tion. It is clear that from the very building of their city they
sedulously attended to the breeding and management of the
horse. Chariot and horse races were early introduced, but the
chariot-race seems to have fallen into disfavour and horse-
races to have advanced in esteem. Down to the times of the
Caesars the young men of the equestrian order were enthu-
siastically devoted to horse exercise. Numerous writers
1 escribe or allude to these. They were either trials of speed,

or more frequently exhibitions of dexterity in the manege,
pacing and curvetting in intricate circles, a perfurmance in
modem times limited to the circus. Standing upright on the
back of the horse, Ijing along his back, vaulting oil and on,
picking up objects from the ground, and shitting from one
horse to another, were among the favourite feats of these noble
youths.

The knowledge of the horse now becomes more accurate and
generally diffused. The most eminent Roman writers on rural
affairs introduce incidental notices of the breeds and the
diseases of the horse and their remedies. Comelius Celsus,
whose veterinary works are lost, is stated to have written
excellently on this branch of the subject. Marcus Terentius
Varro, (70 b. c.) M. Portius Cato, (130 b. c.) Virgil, (10 b. c),
a few years later Columella and Palladius, also WTote on the horse
and his diseases. The two last copiously for the time. During
this period the Roman emperors, busied in foreign wars, and
maintaining a numerous cavalry, professional veterinarii were
appointed to the several legions, and the horse and his diseases
were systematically studied. Not much that is worth
preserving has come down to modem times from any of these
" professionals."

About the middle of the fourth century, one of these, by
name Vegetius, wrote the first work worthy of the name ol
a treatise on the Veterinary art. He begins systematically with
the diseases of the head and their treatment, and proceeds to
those of the feet. He also gives extracts from the works of
Chiron and of Hippocrates, which else had been totally lost.

The Romans seem to have learned the inhabitants of the
southern Mediterranean coast, to place superior value on the
mare. Their authors are of one accord in this. It may be in
some degree attributable to the custom of the Romans to
castrate aU horses employed in traffic, for hire, or in agri-
culture. Oxen were used for the latter purpose in almost everj-
other country. The horse was rendered far more valuable and
useful by these appUcations of his strength and docility. The
practice spread from Italy, and this most admirable servant of
man became a yet more general object of cultivation and
attention. The irruption of the Goths, however, swept away
almost every vestige of the civilization of the Romans, and
the breeding of the horse and improvements in agriculture
shared the general ruin.

Passing from Rome to Britain, we find in the 33rd chapter
of the 4th book of Caesar's Commentaries, an accurate detail o.'
the mode of equestrian warfare in Britain, as practised in the
century before Christ. This will, we think, add another
corroboration to the fact that the " penitus toto divisos arbe Bri-
tannos " had their own indigenous horse, aye, and a horse of
such size and vigour as to attract the cupidity of the con-
querors. Caesar carried many of them to Rome, and the
British horse — we will presently speak of the mannii oi
ponies — was for a long time in request in many parts of the
Roman Empire. It is impossible that Caesar, who had horses
of the full stature, fifteen hands and upwards, in his cavalry,
could speak thus if his enemies had driven Welsh or Dartmooi

HISTORY OF THE HORSE.

ponies, as some have gratuitously assumed, not knowing how
else to get rid of the difficulty of a special horse for these
separated islands. The passage of Caasar will speak for itself.
" Their mode of fighting with their chariots is this : firstly,
ihey drive ahout in all directions and throw their weapons,
and generally break the ranks of the enemy with the very
dread of their horses and the noise of their wheels ; and when
they have worked themselves in between the troops of horse,
leap from their chariots and engage on foot.

" The charioteers meantime withdraw some little distance
from the battle, and so place themselves with the chariots, that
if their masters are overpowered by the number of the enemy
they may have a ready retreat to their own troops. Thus
they display in battle the speed of horse with the firmness
of infantry ; and by daily practice and exercise attain to such
expertness, that they are accustomed, even on a declining and
steep place, to check their horses at full speed, and manage
and turn them in an instant, to run along the pole and stand
on the yoke, and thence betake themselves with the greatest
celerity to their chariots again."

How numerous these horses were at the time of Caesar's
invasion, we learn from the fact that when Cassibelaunus
dismissed the main body of his army, he retained four thousand
of his war chariots to harass the Roman army in their
attempts to forage.

The Romans soon found it necessary to send a numerous
cavalry into England, and at this period must have come the first
cross in their breeding ; horses from Gaul, Italy, Spain, and every
province of the Roman empire being brought into the island.
For hundreds of years we are without any record as to
whether tJie British horse was thereby deteriorated or im-
proved. We may presume that the neglect of breeding from
selected parents must have led to a degeneration of the race.

Reverting to the ponies of Great Britain, these indigenous
races were then as distinct as now, and contemporaneous with the
British horse of Caesar. Six centuries after, St. Augustine
distinctly speaks of our Shetland, Welsh, New Forest, or
Dartmoor breeds. Their diminutive stature is attested. The
monk says : — " The mannii, or ponies that are brought from
Britain, are those chiefly in use by jugglers and stroUers, to
exhibit the feats of their craft." They also fancifully shaved
or clipped the upper parts of their shaggy bodies to add to
their singularity of appearance.

The county of Argyle, in Scotland, is said to derive its name
from Are-Gael — the breeding or horse-stud of the Gael; and
in a superb work recently published, called the " Archaeology
of Scotland," there is a description of a truly remarkable dis-
cover}', throwing light on the charioteering of the Celts.
There have been dug up, near the parallel roads of Glen Roy,
two done horse collars, the one formed of trap or whinstone,
the other of a fine-grained red granite; these bear all the
evidence of first-rate workmanship, are highly poHshed, and
are of the full size of a collar adapted to a small highland
horse, bearing a close imitation of the details of a horse collar
of common materials in the folds of the leather, the nails,

buckles, &c. It has been suggested by antiquarians, that the
amphitheatre of Glen Roy might have been the scene of
ancient public games, and that these stone collars might be
intended to commemorate the victor in the race.

Hengist, the name of the founder of the Saxon dynasty,
signified an entire horse ; and by the Saxons the horse was an
object of superstitious veneration. Of this there remains an
example which must be familiar to aU who in the old coaching
days rode through White Horse Vale, in Berkshire. The turf
on the side of a hill has been cut away, displaying the chalk
beneath in the figure of a gigantic horse, covering many
hundred square feet. This is a genuine Saxon reHc, and has,
we beHeve, been preserved by a day being annually kept as
high festival, on which all weeds are carefully cleared from
the figure, and the outline restored.

The Anglo-Saxons are supposed to have first used the horse
in ploughing about the latter part of the tenth century ; on the
border of the Bayeux tapestry, representing the landing of
William the Conqueror and the battle of Hastings (a.d.
1066), there is a representation of a man driving a harrow,
the earliest instance we believe of horses thus used in field
labour in this island.

Hugh the Great, head of the House of Capets, monarchs
of France, presented to Athelstan, the natural son of Alfred
the Great, whose sister Edelswitha he wooed and won, several
running horses from Germany (equos cursores of the old
Chronicle) magnificently caparisoned. \thelstan seems to
have attached due importance to this unprovement upon the
previous breed, since he issued a decree prohibiting the exporta-
tion of horses without his licence. The most marked improve-
ment, however, took place at the Norman Conquest, the
martial barons bringing with them a large force of cavalry ;
and it was, by the way, to their superiority in that important
arm that the victory of Hastings was in a great measure to be
ascribed.

The office of the Master of the Horse dates back to the reign
of Alfred the Great ; the ancient Chronicles relate the atten-
tion paid by him to the breeding and improvement of the
horse, to carry out which in the most efficient manner, an Officer
was appointed, called Hors Thane — Master of the Harse ; and
during every succeeding reign this officer has held high rank,
being near the royal person on all state occasions.

We may form an estimate of the value of a horse about
that time, by an account bearing date a.d. 1000, which enacts
that if a horse be destroyed or negligently lost, the compensation
to be demanded was thirty shillings, for "» mare or colt twenty
shillings, and for a man one pound.*

* Tnere were forty-eight BUUlings in the Anglo-Saxon pound, five pence in
the Bhilling. The value of a horse in current money at that time would be
about seventeen or eighteen pounds of modern money — a remarkable coin-
cidence with the earliest recorded value of a horse in distant lands of the
East. Mr. M'Culloch estimates that there are now in Great Britain from
1,400,000 to 1,500,000 horses employed for various purposes of pleasure and
utihty : taking their average worth at from ten poimds to twelve, their total
value would be from 14,000,000?. to 18,000,000/., exclusive of the young
horses.

NATURAL HISTUKY OF THE HORSE.

The year of grace 1112 is important in equestrian annals,
na witnessing the introduction into England of the fii'st African
horse ; and about the same time another was presented by
Alexander I., king of Scotland, to the Church of St. Andrews,
though what relation a race-horse had to the church has been
a knotty point for antiquaries. Both these animals were true
Barbs from Morocco, procured doubtless through the agency of
Jew dealers. There is no breed which has exercised so great
an influence upon the stock of these islands as the Barb, and
aoue more deserving of kindness for the admirable qualities

they possess. Kindness and forbearance towards animals ia
inculcated by the Koran, and it was a cutting satire upon our
boasted civilization when, in allusion to this point, a Moor
remarked to Colonel Hamilton Smith, " It is not in your
book."

With this period we shall conclude our historical retrospect ;
what L3 further to be said on the English horse will come when
we treat of him in the perfection to which various crosses have
brought him, as adapted for the different purposes of his
master.

CHAPTER II.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HORSE : THE WILD HORSE : THK HORSES OF CENTRAL ASIA : THE PERSIAN HORSE : THE

TOORKMAN HORSE : THE CIRCASSIAN HORSE : HORSES OF INDIA : BIRMAN AND CHINESE HORSES : THE ARAB. THE HORSES

OF AFRICA : THE BARB : THE DONGOLA HORSE : THE EGYPTIAN HORSE : THE HORSE OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HORSE.

It is not our intention to enter into a disquisition as to the
place of the horse in a systematic classification of quadrupeds.
We shall merely note, incidentally, some of the more amusing
results of that laborious brain-scattering which great natu-
ralists have permitted themselves, while endeavouring rigidly
to classify and catalogue the varieties of the horse and his
affined races, and the absurdities into which they have been
led bj obstinately attempting to derive all the different
species of the animal from one original pair.

The great Linnaeus, in his last edition of Systema Natura,
leaves the horse among his Belluce, th« sixth order of Mammalia,
in company with the hippopotamus, the hog, and the rhinoceros.
Erxleben places him between the elephant and dromedary.
QmeKn divides his horse genus into two sections : 1, Equm
pedihus hisulcis (horse with split or double hoof), found in Chili
(most probably a Llama), and Equm solidungulus (horse with
a solid hoof). Jonston has figured a horse, called in German the
Ethiopisches Pferd {Equus Ethiopicus) with a mane extending
the whole length of his body from head to tail. This seems, pro-
bably, a sort of yak, of which there are two specimens in the
Palace at Sydenham, and many live animals of this tribe have
been recently introduced to France by the SocMi cPAcclima-
tation. Jonston also figures a wild horse with a horn in the
centre of his forehead. Though the unicorn has been aban-
doned by naturalists, some stiU cling to their bisulcus. Old
Aldrovandus has some monstrous figures of horses with human
faces, and hands at their hinder extremities. A horse of this
sort, says that credulous author, belonged to Julius Caesar, *
teste Suetonius : " Julius Caesar rode a horse with remarkable
feet nearly like human ones : his hoofs being split after the
manner of fingers, &c." This malformed beast must have

• Caius Julius Csesar utebatiir equo inBigni pedibus prope hujnanie, et in
mndum digitorum ungulis fissij. — Suet, in Jul. cap. 61.
B

been used merely to astonish the natives. The painter, how
ever, was not content to give the animal split hoofs ; he has
drawn him, with as much veracity as the writer, with two
human hands, four fingers and a thumb, and nails to each of
them ! Butler had this monster in his eye when he wrote of
the steed of Sir Hudibras : —

Great Csesar's horse, who. as fame goes,
Had corns upon his feet and toes,
Was not by half so tender-hooft
Nor trod upon the ground so soft.
And as that beast would kneel and stoop
(Some write) to take his rider up,
So Hudibras's ('tis weU-known)
Would often do to set him down. •

But we will quit these follies of the learned, and come tc
Cuvier, who places the SoHpedes (single-footed animals) at tht
end of his mammiferous Pachyderms (teat-bearing thick-skinnett
animals) and makes the family consist of only one genus
Equus, with four varieties. E. Cabal/us (the horse). E.
Remionm (the wild ass of Kertch and the Indus, dziggtai of
Thibet and Tartary), E. Amnm (the wild ass of Africa, the
Onager), E. Zebra, and E. Qungga. All of which, except the
first (and here we have the support of Mr. Bell, in his British
Quadrupeds, and Dr. Gray), we repudiate and reject aa horses;
and maintain that, as a fruitful progeny cannot be obtained
from their admixture, and as they always have been and always
will be asses, demand for them, in future systems, a separate
genus as Asinus, protesting against the Equus as misapplied
We must quote some remarks of Mr. Bell on the structural
differences of the two animals: — "The character of the tail is
one of the most striking points upon which this distinction rests.
In the horse the whole of this is covered with thick long hair,
totally concealing its actual form ; whilst in the whole of the
others — the ass, the zebra, the quagga, the dziggtai, &c. — it is

* Sudibrat, part L canto i. 4.S5

10

VARIETIES OF THE HOBSK

only clothed with long hair towards its extremity. The mane
of the true horse is long and flowing, in the ass it is short and
upright. In the horse the hind as well as the fore legs are
furnished with those warty excrescences which in the ass are
only found on the fore-legs. Waiving some other matters of
minor importance, there is one character of some interest and
value as a material distinction — I mean the general tendency
of the coloration and markings in the two races. In the horse's
coat there is an obvious disposition to the formation of small
round spots of a diSerent shade or hue to that of the ground,
and this is the case whether the colour be black, chesnut, or
grey; in the genus Asinus, on the contrary, the markings are
invariably disposed in stripes. The zebra, the quagga, &c., are
examples too famihar to require more than this allusion ; and
in the common ass not only is the same tendency evinced in
the cross-marks on the shoulders, but in the young ass there are
frequently observed some small darker bands upon the legs.
These tendencies to a peculiar character of colouring and mark-
ing are worthy of special note in the mammalia, among which
will be found many instances bearing upon the distinction of
approximating forms. In birds and insects it is still more
marked, general, and striking, and has always attracted the
attention of naturalists."

To this may be added the variations in the vocal organs of
the two animals (which are mixed in various proportions in the
mules), and the wide distinction between the playful whinny or
proud neigh of the horse and the excruciating vocal performance
of what, if it is to be retained as a horse, we would call
Eqicus Rierosolymus. * With these acknowledged varieties
of the ass, what but a determination to ignore the patent facts
of natural history can induce writers to cUng with supersti-
tious awe to some myth of a single type of the horse, and refuse
original habitats to the horses of Central Asia, of Africa,
of Northern Tartary, of the continent of Europe, aye even
to our own Welsh pony and Sheltie, who bear all the marks of
genuine races? The facts of geology are admitted: right

• The following anatomical distinctions may interest some readers : —
In the horse the apertures of the lateral sacs are long and wide, and bear
some resemblance to the usual ventricles of the glottis. On the contrary, in
the ass, the opening into each of the three sacs is a small round hole, and the
anterior sac is a real bag of considerable size. Cuvier statee that the mule,
which is generated by the male ass and the mare, has the openings into the
laryngal sacs wide, and the structure of the organs of voice altogether
approaching that found in the horse j and he therefore concludes that the
account pubUshed by Herissant was taken from the dissection of the offspring
ol the staUion and the female ass. Blumenbach has, however, followed many
other anatomists in attributing similar organs of voice to the common mule
and the ass. Cuvier further adds, that in the horse and the mule there is, at
the commissure of the two cordte vocales, a sUght fold of the membrane,
which is not visible in the ass. The sue of this fold has been greatly exag-
gerated by Herissant ; he has also attributed to it important offices, which it
does not seem to perform. The peculiar sound called a bray is uttered by the
ass in consequence of the extent of the laryngal sacs, and their being so much
separated from the cavity of the larynx by very contracted apertures. The bray
aeems indeed when heard to be a compound discordant sound, produced from
the resonance of different sized cavities. Cuvier found in the quagga the
larynx organised as in the horse, except that the membrane extending from one
oorda vocalis to the other, did not exist. — Rees's Cyclopadia, art. MtuMATtt
Wajeytdie't Comparative Phyriologg

Reverends, very Reverends, and Deans, uphold the centurieg
and myriads of years of preadamite history of fossils, rocks,
and minerals ; but the natural historian is afraid to whisper
about there having been half a dozen original horse?, or a
dozen diflFerent dogs, as ancestors for the most distinct
varieties of the family.

From this, we trust not altogether uninteresting digression,
we return to method. The distinctive characters of the horse
according to Linnaeus, are : —

" The tan long, with hair all over ; the mane long, without
any humeral stripe. It is a generous, proud, and strong
animal; fit for all the purposes of man; for draught, the
course, or the road ; he is delighted with the freedom of open
pastures ; he is fearful of being touched on his hindei
quarters ; defends himself from the flies with his tail,
scratches 'his fellow, defends his young, calls by neighing,
sleeps after night- fall, fights by kicking and biting, roUs on
the ground when weary and perspiring, bites the grass closer
than the ox, wants a gall-bladder, never vomits ; the foal is
produced with the legs stretched out ; he is injured by being
struck on the ear, or upon the stifle, by his being caught by
the nose in barracks, by having his teeth rubbed with grease,
and by various herbs. His diseases vary in different countries
and eHmates. With us the glanders, a corruption of the
ethmoid bones of the nose, is the most fatal and infectious
disease. He eats hemlock without injury ; he has no canine
teeth till five years of age."

The teeth of the horse, fully treated hereafter, are
incisors | ; canines -f t ; molars | ' ; total 40.

" Of all quadrupeds," says Bufi'on, " the horse possesses,
along with grandeur of stature, the greatest elegance and
proportion of parts. By comparing him with the animals
above or below him, we find that the ass is iU-made, and that
the head of the lion is too large ; that the limbs of the ox
are too slender, and too short in proportion to the size of the
body ; that the camel is deformed ; and that the grosser
animals — as the rhinoceros, hippopotamus, acd elephant —
may be considered as rude and shapeless masses.

" The great difi'erence between the head of a mail and that
of a quadruped consists in the length of their jaws, which is
the most ignoble of all characters. But though the jaws of
a horse be very long, he has not, like the ass, an air of imbe-
cility, nor like the ox of stupidity.* The regularity and
proportion of the parts of his head give him a Hght and
sprightly aspect, being gracefully attached to his finely arched
neck, which is weU supported by the beauty of his chest ; he
elevates his head as if anxious to exalt himself above the
condition of other quadrupeds. In this noble attitude he
regards man face to face.

" His eyes are open, lively, and intelligent, his ears hand-
some and of a proper height, being neither too long Hke
those of the ass, nor too short like those of the bull. His

* It need scarcely be observed that this is rhetorical noneenae. Each animal
is perfect in ite adaptation to \tt place in the ecale of creation, and to its
purposes

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

11

mane adorns his graceful neck, and gives him the appearance
of strength and courage. His long bushy tail covers and
terminates with advantage the extremity of his body. His tail,
very different from the short tails of the deer, elephant, and
hippopotamus, and from the naked tails of the ass, camel,
and rhinoceros, is formed of long thick hairs, which seem to
rise from his crupper, because the trunk from which they
proceed is very short. He cannot, like the lion, elevate his
tail ; but though pendulous, it becomes him better, and as
he can move it from side to side it serves him to drive off the
flies which incommode him ; for though his skin is very firm,
and well garnished with close hair, it is nevertheless very
sensible."

THE WILD HORSE.

No authentic record remains of the indigenous horse in his
wild state. The dziggtai of Tartary, the kiang of Ladak and
the Himalayas, the onager of Numidia, the zebra, and the
quagga of Central and Southern Africa, are none of them
the Equus Caballus, or true horse, of Buffon, LinnaBus, Cuvier,
Gray, &c. ; they all belong to that second family of the Equidm,
the ass. Malte Brun very rationally suggests that there was
more than one original horse, varying in his different habitat.
These would produce a fertile cross, partaking of the qualities
and coa^ormation of both sire and dam. This author specifies
three original breeds of horse. The first indigenous to
Bokhara, Persia, and Asia Minor ; the second to Mongolia
and Scythia, originated in the steppes of Central and Northern
Asia ; and third, the Arabian courser. The first two, as true
mdigenous varieties, we consider most probable, but in the
third the great geographer adopted the current opinion of his
time, and has assigned no true horse to North Africa — the
original habitat of what we now know as the Barb — and has
given to Arabia the credit of the first horse of this noble variety.
"We trust we have already shown, that whatever celebrity the
land of Ishmael may have acquired in comparatively modem
times for the perfection of its horses — a perfection attained
through many generations of careful breeding, training, and
the " hard meat" system — it only possessed them at a period long
since Africa owned its Barbs. To the land now known as the
Empire of Morocco, to Algeria, Tunis, Tripoli, and Lower Egypt,
we transfer the claim of Arabia. From this variety too, we opine,
the larger varieties of Persia, Armenia, Anatolia, Turkey, and
Western Europe drew, — at intervals, from the period of the
Carthaginians and Romans until the Crusades, and thence to
more modem times — that glorious attribute known as " blood ;"
which gradually raised and gave fire and vigour to the heavier
and more sluggish horses of the European continent and these
islands, tiU the culminating point in speed, size, symmetry,
and active strength, was realized in the British " thorough
bred," such as we behold him in the son of Bay Middleton
and Barbelle, a portrait of whom will he found in this
volume.

As we have already said, the dziggtai or Tartary horse of
Colonel H. Smith, (See Naturalist's Library) ia not a horse

strictly. Ho says — " The animal receives its name from the
Mongolian Tartars on account of its large ears. The tail
has hairs only at the extremity, and a black dorsal line
which enlarges at the crupper. The general colour ia a
uniform bay or fawn colour, but the tint Ls redder in winter
and lighter in summer. The ears, as already intimated, are
longer than those of the horse, but straighter and better
formed than those of the mule. When undisturbed their
character seems social and peaceable; they live in troops of
from twenty to thirty, and often in much larger communities.
The Mongols, Tungooses, and other nations bordering on
the Great Desert hunt these animals for food, the flesh being
considered a great delicacy."

The kiang, (Equus Hemionm) another of these pseudo-
wild horses, was often seen by Col. Markham, who says : —

" The so-called wild horse is numerous throughout Chinese
Tartary and Thibet. Several were seen to-day, and Coles
killed one — he never kiOed another ; and as for myself I
could not have fired a shot after hearing the account of this
one's death. The poor beast was badly wounded, and she
(for it was a mare) feeling herself struck, walked up quietly
within ten paces of Coles, and looked at him as much as to
say, 'What have I done to you that you should thus
ill-treat me ?' "

" I could have shot as many as I pleased without any
trouble, but never fired at one. In districts, however, where
they have been disturbed and fired at, they become very
difficult to approach. They are not at aU like horses, but bear
a wondrous similitude to a large donkey, being nearly of the
same colour, and having a very big head with long ears.
Their feet are remarkably good, shaped like those of a horse,
and possessing great speed ; their movements are easy and
graceful, when seen at such a distance that their huge heads
are not a prominent feature. Usually seen in companies of
from two or three to ten or a dozen, large troops of thirty or
forty are occasionally met with. When approached, th^
stand gazing at the intruder, ur.til he gets within about three
hundred yards, when they will trot off to a little distance,
and then turn to look, standing as before, until their pursuer
draws near, when they again move off. The Tartar name of
the wild horse is kiang ; young ones are occasionally caught
by the Tartars, but I never heard of any attempt being made
to break them for use."

We may remark, in concluding this branch of the subject,
that the so-called wild horses of the steppes near the banks of
the Don and Wolga, are the descendants of horses turned
loose by the Russian army when suffering under scarcity of
forage at the siege of Azof in 1657, and who have multiphed
amazingly, though not so largely as the descendants of the
horses taken over to South America by the Spaniards,
myriads of whom roam over the Pampas, and of which
more than 60,000 hides are imported yearly to this country.

We shall now proceed to consider tha varieties of the
Horse.

■ Shooting in the Wmalayas : By OoL F. Markham, p. 325.

18

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

I. THE HORSE OF CENTRAL ASIA.

The Tartar and Calmuck horses are perhaps the least culti-
vated or domesticated of any hreed. They are small ia
stature, and hy no means prepossessing in appearance, yet
capable of undergoing long journeys, and of standing any
amount of exposure. The colts are scarcely ever sheltered,
and follow the tribe in its horseback movements. K a colt
is -weakly, a Calmuck quickly turns him iato provender and
feasts upon him ; or, if of more mature age, subjects him, in
the form of a steak-saddle, to a process intended to render the
meat tender, which we find recorded in books of travels.*

Linton, the author of a series of pleasant papers on
"Russia and its Field Sports" in the Sporting Review,
thus speaks of the endurance of this race : —

" Although we did not halt on the high road to Moscow till
we reached Ichondova, one hundred and ten versts, our horses
did at least five leagues an hour. But subsequently, on
arriving at Grovona — a place celebrated for the sumptuous
building foUies committed by Coimt Aratcheef, the detested
favourite of the Emperor Alexander — we were obliged to
change our sledges and reduce our horses to two in each, thus
simply travelling at the pace of a mail ; being finally obHged,
when quitting the high roads, to submit to a simple village-
sledge, drawn by a small active horse, whose harness was
composed of cords I may here add with much truth that
sixty versts are somewhat a long distance thus to travel during
a night bitterly cold and dark, with a frozen wind which
penetrates to the heart's core, and blinds you with frozen snow
fine as salt. Ii; is then, notwithstanding great-coats and furs,
that the rigour of a Russian climate finds holes through which
to penetrate.

" But it would be very unjust, even when frozen, to accuse
the poor beast who drags you ; on the contrary, we ought to
give the greatest possible praise and consideration for showing
the most unequalled patience and courage amid storms and
danger, evincing an extraordinary instinct in reference to the
snow-covered tracts which are daily re-covered by wind or
fresh storms, however previously beaten and demarked; in
fact, an unfortunate animal, without apparent form, nerve, or
strength — in fact, a horse scarcely deemed sufficient to convey
vegetables to market — will trot sixty versts without halting,
over snow-clad fields, through woods, over hedges and ravines,
into which you descend like an avalanche, and rise again by
a miracle ; and yet, how are these poor beasts — so strong, so
patient, so precious, notwithstanding their ugliness — treated
when they arrive at their journey's endP Why, they are

• Butler {Hudibrat, pt. 1, canto 2) alludes to this unBavoury cuetom,
where he saye his bear was a " Muscovite," and " 'mong the Coesacko had
been bred j"

"And though his countrymen the Hune,
Did Btew their meat between their bums
And th' horses' backe whereon they straddle,
ABd every man eats up hib saddle )
He was not half >o nice ab they,
But ate his raw, when't aame in liis way."

permitted to suck up with their lips a little frozen snow to
refresh themselves ; and then turning their heads towards the
sledge they have so patiently drawn, they are granted the
happiness of eating the hay which has served as litter to warm
the feet of its recent occupants. And thus horse and sledga
are left generally in an open court-yard, where they are under
the covering of heaven day and night. If it snows during
the night, an apparently inanimate object may be seen
standing immovable by the sledge in the morning. It is the
gaUant animal who yesterday drew you fifteen leagues, to
return the same distance to-morrow."

These semi- wild animals range over the plains, each herd
under the care of a stallion, who jealously prevents intrusion
and the mingling of another herd with his own. As the
staUion foals grow up they are expelled the herd, and wander
tin they succeed in forming a herd of their own.

The Ostraces, Urals, Mongols, Calmucks, Nogays, Visigoths,
Ostrogoths, and Huns, who people the vast plains of Central
Asia, seem to have been always horsemen. The nations known
to antiquity as Scythians, Modes, and Parthians, were of
common origin with one or other of these hordes, which fed
the stream of invasion to the West, the South, and the East.
Some of their leaders, from time to time, could bring three
hundred thousand cavalry into the field. The celerity of their
marches, of their attacks and their retreats ; the hardihood to
which they brought themselves and their horses ; their incur-
sions and settlement — horde after horde — are the staple of the
history of Asia, and of a large portion of Europe.

In the central steppes of Tartary there are, however, horses
of a larger stature than those here spoken of. The Khirgese
Tartars spear them and use them for food — the principal
delicacy at high feasts being the horse's head, or a roasted
foal.

The milk of the mare has from time immemorial been made
by fermentation into a drink called kumiss. The process of its
preparation is as follows : — To a gallon of fresh mare's milk
about a quart of water and a pint of old kumiss, or sour milk,
is added. The whole is then set in a warm place, covered with
a thick cloth. At the end of twenty-four hours a clotted curd
win have formed on the top, and the whole mixture will have
become sour. It is then beaten up with a chum-staff, and
again set by. Another churning completes the process, and
the liquor is fit for consumption.

Dr. Clarke, in his Travels in Siissia, gives the following
account of the distillation of a spirit called rakee from this
kumiis. The name will recall the vile brandy with which the
Russian columns, who precipitated themselves on our brave
Guards on the day of Inkermann, were maddened to the
charge. The delicate process of production is thus detailed : —
" The still was composed of mud, or very close clay. For the
neck of the retort a cane was used ; and the receiver entirely
covered by a coating of wet clay. The brandy had just passed
over. The woman who had the management of the distillery,
wishing to give me a taste of the spirit, thrust a small stick

* Trams, of Jtoyal Soe. of Edinb^ TOl. i.

VAKIETIES OF THE HORSE.

13

with a tuft of camel's hair into the receiver, dropped a portion
of it on the retort, and, waving the instrument above her head,
scattered the remaining liquor in the air. I asked the meaning
of this ceremony, and was answered that it was a religious
custom to give always the first of the brandy which they drew
from the receiver to their god. The stick was then plunged
into the liquor a second time, when more brandy adhering to
the camel's hair, she squeezed it into the palm of her dirty
hand, and having tasted the Hquor, presented it to our lips."

For two hundred and fifty years we are told that the Dukes
of Muscovy, at their reception of Tartar ambassadors, made a
ceremonial presentation of the milk of mares, after the fashion
of coffee with Turks and Persians.

Berenger, in his excellent Treatise on Horsemanship, thus
sketches the better breed of Tartar horse : — " Though but of
a moderate stature, they are strong, nervous, proud, full of
spirit, bfild, and active. They have good feet, but somewhat
narrow. Their heads are well-shaped and lean, but too
small (?). Their forehand long and stiff, and the legs over-
long. Yet, with all these imperfections, they are good and
serviceable horses, being unconquerable by labour, and endowed
with considerable speed. The Tartars Hve with them some-
what in the manner the Arabs do with their horses. When
they are six or eight months old they make their children ride
them, who exercise them in small excursions, dressing and
forming them by degrees, and bringing them into gentle and
early discipline; and, after awhile, making them undergo
hunger and thirst, and many other hardships. The men, how-
ever, do not ride them until they are five or six years old,
when they exact from them the severest service, and inure
them to almost incredible fatigue, travelling two or three days
almost without resting, and passing four or five days without
better nourishment thai, a handful of grass, and with nothing
to quench thirst."

The Nogay Tartars have some of the tallest and strongest of
the Tartar horses ; and a variety that is used for draught.
The Khan of Tartary uses these on state occasions. The
Nogays can mount, it is said, one hundred thousand men. Each
Nogay has four horses when on an expedition : one for his
own riding ; a second as spare horse ; and two more to carry
his provision, his slaves, and his plunder.

"We will close this notice of the Cossack or Cahnuck horse,
by a transcript of an often printed account of a race, in which
the question of superiority of the English racer in endurance,
stoutness, and speed, was incontrovertibly established : — For
this match the most celebrated Cossack horses from the Don,
the Black Sea, and the Ural, were sent ; and, after numerous
trials, the best were selected. The English horses, on the
other hand, were by no means of the first class. Their names
were Sharper and Mina, and neither of them here would have
ranked much above ' leather-platers.'

"On the 4th of August, 1825, on the challenge of the
Cossacks, a race of the cruel distance of forty-seven miles, out
and home, was agreed to. The four horses to start together ;
and the first in to take the whole stakes.

" On starting, the Cossacks took the lead at a moderate

pace — the English horses following at the distance of 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 accom-
panjing 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 dis-
tressed. 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 puUing 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 distance in two hours and forty-eight minutes ; and the
Cossack horse was warped in eight minutes after him. At
starting the English horses carried fuU three stone more than
the Cossacks ; and during the latter half of the race a mere
child had ridden the Cossack."

The horses here engaged were of the breed, or a closely
allied one, to those of the Ukraine, which Byron so beautifully
paiuts in Mazeppa : —

" A trampling troop : I see them come,
In one vast squadron tliey advance I
I strove to cry — my lips were dumb.
The'steedE rush on In plunging pride,
But where are they the reins who guide ?
A thousand horse and none to ride!
With flowing tail and flying mane,
Wide nostrils — never stretch'd by pain —
Mouths bloodlesE to the bit or rein.
And feet that iron never shod.
And flanks unscarr'd by spur or rod—
A thousand horse, the wild, the free.
Like waves that follow o'er the ceb.

On came the troop

They stop — they start — they snuff the air,
Gallop a moment here and there,
Approach, retire, wheel round and round.
Then plunging back with sudden bound ;
They snort, they foam, neigh, swerve asida,
And backward to the forest fly."

U. THE PERSIAN HORSE.

The Persian horse is of high antiquity. His figure appears
in the Assyrian sculptures. Alexander the Great received s
Persian horse as a most valuable and acceptable present.
From this, and the allied Toorkman horse, some of our earliest
improvements of our breed are due. It may be observed, f^at
an immense race of horses was early known in Dongok, in
Africa ; and that these, with a cross of the Barb, may have
produced the more noble breed known as the Persian horse,
par excellence, for there were several breeds in that country.

It is by no means improbable that the chariot of Xerxes vr&s
drawn by Persian horses. We are told that they were from

14

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

AjTneoia, and the noblest and stateliest which his extensive
empire could furnish.*

Under Cyrus the Persians became renowned for the beauty
of their horses and the splendour of their caparisons ; and in
later days it was deemed unbecoming for a Persian of any
pretension to rank»to be seen in public except on horseback-
A-thenaeus, the historian, however, tells us that they were more
desirous of sitting at their ease than to prove themselves
dexterous and bold horsemen. The stature of the Persian
horse is often noted by ancient writers.

Down to the year 1800 no political mission had visited
Persia for a century, but the fame of the English as soldiers
had spread from India, and with a Persian until within the
last twenty years a horseman and a warrior were convertible
terms. An officer of one of the frigates which conveyed Sir
John Malcolm's mission, who had gone on shore at Abusheher,
and was there mounted on a spirited horse, afforded no small
entertainment to the Persians by his bad horsemanship. The
following day the man who supplied the ship with vegetables,
and who spoke a little English, met him on board, and said,
" Don't be ashamed, sahib : nobody knows you bad rider. I
tell them you, aU English, ride very well, but that time they
see you, you very drunk." The worthy Persian thought it
would have been an indelible reproach for a man of a warlike
nation not to ride well, but none for an European to get drunk.

As a pendant to the Persian horse, we may give the follow-
ing two anecdotes, from Sir John Malcolm's Sketches of
Persia, premising that Sir John always applies the term
Arab to all the horses of the territory washed by the Euphrates,
and even those of Asia Minor : —

" 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 win you give me ?' was the reply : ' That depends
upon her age ; I suppose she is past five ?' ' Guess again,'
said he. ' Four ?' ' Look at her mouth,' said the Arab, with
a smile. On examination she was foimd to be rising three.
This, from her size and symmetry, greatly enhanced her
iralue. 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 feUow, apparently entertained. 'Eighty.
A hundred.' He shook his head and smiled. The offer at
last came to two hundred tomans I ' 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 sheik, who Uved 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 yoimg man of a different
tribe, who had long wished to marry his daughter, but had

* Berenger'3 SonunoTuhip, toI. i.

always been rejected by the sheik, obtained the lady's consent
and eloped with her. The sheik 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 with 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 of
his daughter, and that he stole the one to carry off the other.
The chief was quite gratified to find 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."

Sir John Malcolm says — "A variety of horses are
produced in Persia. The inhabitants of the districts which
border on the Gulf still preserve pure those races of animals
which their ancestors brought from the opposite shore of
Arabia. In Fars and Irak they have a mixed breed from the
Arabian, which, though stronger, is still a small horse com-
pared with either Toorkman or Khorassan breeds, which are
most prized by the soldiers of Persia. Both these latter races
have also a great proportion of Arabian blood."

The Persian horse and its management is thus described by
Sir Robert Ker Porter : — " The Persian horses never exceed
14 or 14^ hands high ;* yet certainly, on the whole, are
taller than the Arabs. Those of the desert and country about
Hi 11 ah seem very small, but are full of bone, and of good
speed. General custom feeds and waters them only at sunrise
and simset, when they are cleaned. Their usual provender is
barley and chopped straw, which, if the animals are picketed,
is put into a nose-bag, and hung from their heads ; but, if
stabled, it is thrown into a 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 the horse consists of his dung. After being exposed
to the drjing influence 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 numniud, from the head to the tail, and bound firmly
round his body by a very large surcingle. But this apparel is
only for cold weather ; in the warmer season the night clothes
are of a hghter substance, and during the heat of the day the
animal is kept entirely under shade.

" At night he is tied in the courtyard. 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 them from being able to
attack and maim each other, the whole stud generally consisting
of stallions. Their keepers, however, always sleep in theii
rugs amongst them, to prevent accident ; and sometimes, not-
withstanding aU their care, they manage to break loose, and

* Thii U only true of one of the modem races.

VAEIETIES OF THE HORSE.

16

then the combat ensues. A general neighing, screaming,
kicking, and snorting, soon raise the grooms, and the scene for
awhile is terrible. Indeed, no one can conceive the sudden
aproar 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 haimches stream with blood.
Even in skiimishes with the natives, their horses take parts in
the fray, tearing each other with their teeth, while their
masters are in similar close quarters on their backs."

We have the following description of a Persian race, by the
same author :

" My curiosity was fully on the spur to see the races, which I
could not doubt must have been chosen from the best in the
nation, to exhibit the perfections of its breed before the sove-
reign. The rival horses were divided into three sets, in order to
lengthen the amusement. They had been in training several
weeks, going very often over the ground during that time ; and
when I did see them I foimd so much pains had been taken to
sweat and reduce their wei/^ht, that their bones were nearly
cutting the skin. The distance marked for the race was a stretch
of twenty-four 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
have to come in a few minutes after the King had taken his seat.
The different divisions arrived in regular order at the goal, but
all so fatigued and exhausted, that their former boasted fleet-
aess hardly exceeded a moderate canter when they passed before
the royal eyes."

III. THE TOORKMAN HORSE.

A beautiful breed of horses has long been known in Turkistan
and South Tartary on the shores of the Caspian. They are
large, stately, and strong, standing from fifteen to sixteen hands.
The best breed of Turkish horses is descended from the Barb
through the Arab and Persian horse ; but these Toorkmans greatly
exceed the horses of both those coimtries in point of size. The
body is longer than the Arabian, and the croup more elevated.
They have contributed materially to the improvement of the
English breed.

This noble breed of horse appears to have been indigenous
to Khorassan, thence westward through Mazanderan, to the
south of the Caspian, in Armenia, Karamania, and Anatolia.
He seems probably the progenitor of those Cappadocian horses
so famed in ancient history for stature and stateliness. Vegetius
expressly mentions that the horses of the Parthians were
lighter and hardier than those of the Cappadocians or the
Modes. Old Blundeville too says, from the inspection of many
sculptures, these horses had larger heads than those of the
Parthians. Oppian says of them, as is the case still with
horses of large statxire, " when young they are delicate and
weak ; but strength comes with years, and, contrarj' to other
horses, they are better and more powerful when a/lvanced in
a"&" In which the ancient goes a little too far.

Wten, at the end of the eighth century, the Saraoeiu
overrun a great part of Syria, Asia Minor, and Europe, thej
brought with them a force of two hundred thousand cavalry,
far superior to the Goths and Huns of former ages. These
horses, crossed with the Persian, seem to have given them size
and weight.

Of the modem Toorkman horse we may observe that, right
or wrong, since the Moslem faith and language have spread
over the land, everything wonderful and beautiful is traced
from the land of the Prophet ; every first-rate animal to a dash
of the blood of one of " the sacred mares," sanctified by the
ownership of Mahomet himself. With how much historic
truth the reader may easily imagine.

Captain Eraser thus relates the impression which they made
upon him, in his Journey to Khorassan — the reader bearing
in mind that the gaUant Captain's ideal standard was our
English blood horse. " They are deficient in compactness.
Their bodies being long in proportion to their bulk.* They
are not weD ribbed up. They are long on the legs — deficient
in muscle — falling off below the kneef — narrow-chested, long-
necked, head large and not well put on. Such was the im-
pression I received from the first sight of them, and it was not
for some time that their superior valuable qualities became
apparent to me."

Captain Eraser's experience in many a long ride sub-
sequently convinced him of the truth that horses " go well in
all forms."

Sir John Malcolm must again be our authority for the
Toorkman's capabilities. He says, " This horse is regularly
trained by the Toorkmans preparatory to their plimdering
expeditions. Before proceeding on a foray, these wild people
knead a number of small hard balls of barley-meal, which,
when wanted, they soak in water, and which serves as food
both for themselves and their horses. It is a frequent practice
with them in crossing deserts where no water is to be found,
to open a vein in the shoulder of the horse and drink a little
of his blood, which, according to their own opinion, benefits
rather than injures the animal. It is confidently stated, that
when in condition their horses have gone one hundred and
forty miles within twenty-four hours ; and it has been proved
that parties of them were in the habit of marching from
seventy to one himdred and five miles for twelve or fifteen
days together without a halt."

During Sir John's first mission to Persia, he, when riding
one day near a small encampment of Afehar families, expressed
doubts to his Mehmander, a Persian nobleman, as to the
reputed boldness and skiU in horsemanship of their females.
The Mehmander immediately called to a young woman of
handsome appearance, and asked her in Turkish, if she was a
soldier's daughter. She said she was. " And you expect to
be a mother of soldiers f " She smiled. " Mount that horse,"

* ThiE Ib juEt the fsult an Arab crose vould remedy. Saimu de pUu i
the originality of the Toorkman race.

t Bee description of Arab, post.

16

VAiUJii'liia Oif TiLK aO±U3i!k

said he, pointing to one with a bridle, but without a saddle,
" and show this European Eichee the difference between a girl
of a tribe and a citizen's daughter." She instantly sprang
upon the animal, and setting off at full speed, did not stop till
she had reached the summit of a small hill in the vicinity,
which was covered with loose stones. When there she waved
her hand over her head, and came down the hill at the same
rate at which she had ascended it. Nothing could be
more dangerous than the ground over which she galloped ;
but she appeared quite fearless, and seemed deKghted at having
the opportimity of vindicating the females of her tribf from
the reproach of being like the ladies of cities.

IV. THE TURKISH HORSE.

This variety is on^ rather of admixture of breeds than having
a distinct and indigenous origin. He partakes more or less of
the Barb, the Arab, the Persian, the Toorkman, and, in some
parts, of the Tartar horse in different localities. The Turkish
horse possesses valuable qualities. Some of our best blood is
due to the Turkish horse. The Byerley Turk, (brought from
the Levant in 1685) ; the Acaster Turk ; the Belgrade Turk
(taken by General Merc^e at the siege of that place in 1720) ;
the Lister Turk (brought from Buda by the Marshal Duke of
Berwick, temp. James II.) ; the Hehnsley Turk, and others,
will suggest themselves.

The author of Sylva, old Evelyn, thus enthusiastically
paints a Turkish horse sent ovei to England in the second
Charles's reign : —

" I never beheld so delicate a creature ; somewhat of a
bright bay, two white feet, a blaze ; such a head, eyes, ears,
neck, breast, belly, haunches, legs, pasterns, and feet, in all
respects beautiful, and proportioned to admiration; spirited,
proud, nimble, making halt, turning with that swiftness, and in
80 small a compass, as was admirable."

The Turkish horses are likewise remarkable for their extreme
docilit}', which is thus accounted for by Busbequius, who was
ambassador at Constantinople in the seventeenth century ; ana
it would be well, if both masters and grooms would learn a
lesson from the wisdom and humanity of this truly worthy and
benevolent writer.

" Nothing," writes Busbequius, " can surpass the gentleness
of the Turkish horses ; and their obedience to their masters
and grooms is very great. The reason is, they always treat
them with great kindness. I myself saw when I was in Pontus,
passing through a part of Bithynia called Axilos, towards
Cappadocia, how gentle the country people were to young colts
and how kindly they used them soon after they were foaled.

" They took them into their own habitations, cleansed, combed,
and caressed them, with as much affection as they would their
own children, They hang something like a jewel about their
necks, and a broad ribbon which was full of amulets against
poison, which they are most afraid of. They never strike them,
the grooms that dress them being as gentle as their masters. In
return for this treatment these animals naturally acquire a
great attachment to man, and are always most tractable and
°asilv managed.

" But, alas I our Christian grooms' horses go on at another
rate. They never think them rightly curried till they thundei
at them with their voices, and let their clubs or horse- whips,
as it were, dwell on their sides. This makes sortie 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 wiU 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 when 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 stiU
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 I 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 neighed for joy."

It may be worthy of note, that while the Arab horse is
remarkable for uniformity of coloi.r, and firm, flat, black legs;
these larger horses, Persian, Toorkman, and Turkish have
shown a disposition towards a white leg, and sometimes, as in
the celebrated racer, Whitestockings, to a pair of them. We
have already said Bucephalus was a skewbald ; and a white leg
— against which there is a traditional prejudice among English
grooms — has often marked the finest of this race. A writer in
the " Sporting Magazine " thus attacks this prejudice : —

" Turn to the banks of the Euphrates, to the decayed but
once splendid seats of the Caliphs of the Black Banner, to the
cradle of the Arabian tales; to the queen of the east, Bagdad,
the beloved capital of the great Haroun al Raschid, and there
we have a breed of horses uniting the fire of the Persian with
the s}Tnmetry and enduring qualities of the Desert breed. Go
further to the southward, cross the great river, roam among
i the settled tribes who have pitched their tents on the very
verge of civilization, near unto the great cities, the dwellings
of slaves, as they are not inaptly termed by the Bedouins, and
you may lay your hand on the flowing manes of a race
of horses — all chesnut, with the starting prominent eye, like
an ember glowing, 'fuU of fire and full of bone,' and
all singularly and invariably stamped with the peculiar
distinctive marks of their caste ; the white blazed face, and
white legs (generally three) white up to the knee, perhaps the
ancestors of the great Eclipse ; a chesnut also with these
remarkable marks, and which sometimes breaks forth in his
most distinguished descendants — to wit. Sultan, his son Beiram,
Harkaway, and a number of winners of our greatest stakes.

" The prejudice against white legs is strong ; yet my expe-
rience, and it justifies me in the assertion, has proved that the
chesnut horse with the white legs up to the knee is one of
the hardiest, cleanest-limbed, fastest, and most honest of all
the breeds ; none bear so much rattling. I speak not of one,
but of many of this kind."

We shall have more, however, to say of this in another
place. Good authorities have much per contra.

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VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

17

y. THB CIRCASSIAM H0R8B.

There is little to be said of this breed, except that it is
amaUer than the Persian, and somewhat larger than the
northern Tartar breeds. Vast numbers of horses and sheep
are reared in the valleys of the Tcherkesses, and they and the
slaves which, up to a few years since, were a prime article of
commerce with the Turks, formed the wealth of this bold
nomadic race. The most valuable breed, marked with a pale
horseshoe, was in the possession of the reigning family —
reigning now no longer in the Caucasus ; the fall and captivity
of Schamyl, having placed the country in the power of the
Russian invader. The Circassian horses have a good repute for
stoutness and speed.

VI. THE HOUSES OF INDIA.

Retracing oar steps to the far East and South, we come to
the vast peninsula, the scene of so much glory, so much suf-
fering, and so much triumph for England and Englishmen.
The native horses of India are diminutive in size, so much so
that the Persian or Arab cross is absolutely necessary to bring
them up to the standard of general utility. They are divided
by writers on India into several classes. The Tazee, the
Toorkce, the Iranee, the Ko%akee — the three last names suffi-
jiently indicate their supposed origin ; the Mahratta horse, so
mUed from that warKke people of Central Hindostan ; and the
Tattoo, or native Indian pony. Of these the Tazee seems to
have the most claim to originality. It is low and rather
hollow in the back, but easy in its paces, and has the draw-
back of being generally vicious and violent.

India is now well supplied with various breeds : many
Arabian horses, bred for the purpose, are yearly imported from
Muscat and the eastern coast of Arabia Thornu<rh-bred English
horses are often sent from England to Bombay, Calcutta,
and Madras, as well as to Australia, where the East India
Company formerly had a stud for the mounting of the cavaby
in their service. Mr. Moorcroft, a veterinary surgeon of high
reputation, undertook the management of this enterprise,
and the result has been that the cavalry horses of India
have rapidly improved.

To return. The second-named horse, the Toorkee, originally
derived from a Toorkman or Persian strain, perhaps both, is
the noblest race for spirit, size, and beauty. With an
tilevated crest, lofty action, and withers quite or nearly fifteen
hands high, they make showy horses for the parade. They
are, however, what is called "tied in under the knee,"
showing a deficiency of volume in the flexor tendons, a fault
seldom seen in the Arab or the Barb. There is also appa-
rently a disproportionate smallness of bone below the knee
joint and about the hocks.

The Iratiee is stouter and better limbed, has powerful loins
and quarters, with the drawbacks of a coarsehead, lopping ears,
and a sluggish temperament.

A writer on the horses of India, in the Sportsman's
Magazine, says : —

" Those from Guzerat and Cutch* are certainly endowed
with greater amiability of disposition, but are more calculated
for purposes of display and parade than anything els( Tht
natives are very partial to this breed, and give long pn es foi
them, frequently as much as two or three thousand rupees.
They blow them out to an enormous size, by feediiiLr the q oe
a composition which must be any thing but agreeable to the
palate of the horse, viz., a kind of paste, made of pounded
grain and sheep's head, wherewith the poor devil is crami ed
like a turkey. The end of the flowing tail, generally reach ng
the ground, is dyed of a deep red colour, a cruelly sharp ii
is put into his mouth, he is buried under a ton of bedding
covered with crimson cloth, doing duty for saddle, and, thus
caparisoned, he is deemed fit to carry one of the ' Pillars of
the State.' It is a pretty sight to see a procession, accom-
panied by a cavalcade thus mounted, and taking every
opportunity of displaying their horsemanship, a cavaUer occa-
sionally darting from the crowd at the top of his speed, and as
suddenly pulling his horse on his haunches in the midst of his
headlong career, then wheeling about, and still at full speed,
describe in an incredibly small space, the difficult figure of
eight, with all the apparent ease of a graceful skaiter."

The Kozakee is a hardier and more patient animal. He has
a deep girth and a good forearm, but betrays his origin by a
large head and what are called " cat-hams." Nevertheless he
is enduring, hardy, and capable of long joumeys.

Next we have the Mahratta horse, the product of half-
blood Arab and the native Tazee. These horses are thus not
very compLunentarily described by the writer w» have already
quoted : —

" Tte Mahratta horse is an active, serviceable little beast,
but, in ten ijases out of twent}', extremely vicious, but will
often make a capital hunter, in fact, being the only horse in
India worth his keep, the larger horses from Hindostan being
adapted only for the capering of a native Sowar ; they are
leggy, under-limbed, and, as far as vice goes, regular
man-eaters."

These were the horses who carried that formidable race who
ruled in Central India from sea to sea, across the south of the
Deccan, and whose /ule was broken by the fall of Serin-
gapatam and the death of Tippoo Sultaun. The Mahratta
army consisted almost entirely of cavalry. The Mahratta,
when not on horseback, may be said to be almost constantly
employed in shampooing his horse." It is properly so called,
for he rubs him violently with his wrists and elbows, as well
as his hands, and moulds and bends his limbs in ever)- direc-
tion. The Mahrattan way of riding is a singular and,
according to European notions, a very ungraceful one His
knees are as high as his horse's back ; he holds on with his
heels, and chngs with his hands either to the mane or the peak
of the saddle. With such aids, hi« seat is more secure than
at first sight it would appear to be The peak of the saddle
rises in the form of a crane's leck, and is said to have been

• These are Persian horses, or nearly »o, apoUt by unnatural treatment
for purpofes of pomp. — Ed.

18

VAJUET1E8 OJf THE HOKbiS.

borrowed from the Moguls. A crupper and a martingale are
almost indispensable accompaniments of the Mahratta horse-
t'urniture It is a singular kind of crupper, however, not
projecting from the centre of the saddle, but attached to both
sides. The tobm, or Isathem vessel out of which the horse
eats his com, is also attached to the crupper ; and this part of
Jhe trappings is generally ornamented with silver knobs, or
with silk tassels or embroidery.

Their horses, like most of those of the East, are picketed,
not only during the day, but very frequently in the night.
A rope is carried from the headstall on each side to a peg
driven into the ground. A rope, or thong, is also tied round
the fetlocks behind, and carried backwards twenty or thirty
feet, and fastened to a peg. This pulls the horse back, and
keeps him, when standing, on the stretch, but does not prevent
bim from lying down. When they are thus tethered, their
eyes are covered, that they may not be alarmed at any object
that passes They are also clothed, in order that the beau-
tiful, glossy appearance of their coat may be preserved.

They use the snaffle-bridle, but it is so jagged and pointed
that the animal may be punished to the full content of any
barbarian that may ride him. The headstall is usually orna-
mented, and from the rein a thong descends by which the
horse may be occasionally reminded of his duty. The horse-
man has neither whip, switch, nor spur, but the horse is
controlled, if he is disposed to rebel, by the cruel argument
of the bit.

The breast of the Mahratta horse is more splendidly orna-
mented than any other part. Numerous coins, of different
size and value — rupees and double rupees — are formed into
plates more or less highly ornamented, and which in time of
war form a rich booty for the conqueror. The mane, too, is
generally plaited with silk-braids, and silver knobs attached to
them, with a beautiful top-knot between the ears. If the rider
has distinguished himself in war, some curious tails, said to
be taken from the wild cow, dangle on either side.

The imported horses of India occupy a prominent place in
a consideration of this subject. We have already aUuded
to the several sources of supply. Colonel Markham,* in his
lively volume, bears testimony to the goodness of the horses
brought from Muscat and the Persian Gulf. He says: —
" The centre point of attraction (at Calcutta,) was the Arab
stables of Sheik Ibrahim, who deserves to be commemorated
were it only for his honesty. Filled with the best bred horses
to be found in India, many an hour did I pass there ; com-
panionable as other horses may be, there are none to compare
for sociality with high caste Arabs. Four thousand po'inds
did the old Sheik take from the regiment, with an air of the
most perfect indifference, and wonderful to say, not a bargain
was repented of in after times."

A writer who describes a sale of these horses, crossed with
the Iranee, from the now defunct Company's stud at Bala

• Shooting in the Simalayas, A Journal of Sporting Adventures and
Travel in Chinese Tartary, Ladak, Thibet, CaBhmere, &c., by Col. Fred.
Markham, O.B. Bentley, 1854.

Hissar, is by no means so complimentary to this class of
animal, in a second or third descent — " There were not less
than one thousand horses shown. They were aU above four-
teen hands and a half in height, high-crested, and showy-
looking horses. The great defect seemed a want of bone below
the knee, 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."

Soth Arab and native crosses have, however, succumbed to
the imported English horse. In 1829, Arab horses having
previously been matched against English on race-courses at
the various stations, Meerut, Cawnpore, Calcutta, Barrackpore,
&c., &c., the question was thought to be brought to issue by
the race of the English-bred horse Recruit, against Pyramus,
a pure Arabian. The race was two miles over the Barrackpore
course ; in this the English horse was an easy victor. Another
English race-horse, Constance, however, was shortly after
defeated by a selected Arab, and this balanced the account, say
the advocates of the Arab. Why then place penalties on
every imported horse on every race-course in India ? the
question answers itself.

Lest, however, we should seem to do mjustice to the Arab,
jn this point, we subjoin a table of time and distance, made
by Captain Gwatkin, of the H. E. I. C. service, of the beat
performances of te Aiab horses then in India : —

Years.

Name.

Weight.
tt. lb*.

Time.

Distance.

m. I.
6 34

Patrician •

1 0

280 yds., less tbree miles.

1807

Antelope -

9 0

6 4 '

21 miles.

1809

Patriot

U 3

6 16 1

3 miles, 326 yards.

Sulky-

■• 0

8 85 '

3 mUes, 325 yards.

1818

Sir Lowry •

/ 4

4 0

2 miles.

1320

Nimrod

S 10

4 6

2 miles.

Sultan (not 14 haua.",

9 12

6 16

3 miles.

1826

Paragon

11 0

4 20

2 miles.

Esterhazy -

.1 7

3 42

U mile.

Cavalier (not 14 haodi)

! 7

4 4

2 miles.

1827

Champion -

1 7

3 14

11 mile. *-

1828

Barefoot

3 4

6 7

Second heat of tbrv miles.

Chapeau de Paile

8 3

2 63

11 mile.

Red Gauntlet -

9 3

6 6

2i miles.

Botberem -

9 a

2 58

Umile.

The speed and endurance in the Arabian therefore are not,
according to the above report, diminished ; and, as Captain
Gwatkin observes, when we consider the average Height of
these diminutive racers (fourteen hands, one inch), and the
want of tenacity in the sandy soil of India, -ve caimot but be
struck with their performances.

We may refer the reader who seeks further details to the
pages of the Sporting Magazine and Asmtw Journal, which
from time to time contain accounts of Racing m India.

A remarkable instance of the confidence of a horse in a
firm rider, and his native courage, was conspicuously evinced id
the case of an Arab, mentioned by Colonel Hamilton Smith.
General Sir Robert Gillespie happened, when mounted on this
animal, to be present on the race-course of Calcutta during
one of the great Hindoo festivals, when several hundred
thousand people were assembled. On a sudden an alarm was
given that a tiger had escaped from his keepers. Sir Robert

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

1»

immediately snatched a boar spear, and rode to attack this
formidable enemy. The tiger was probably confounded by the
crowd, but the moment he perceived Sir Robert, he crouched
to spring at him. \.t that very instant, the gaUant soldier, on
his gallant steed, leapt right over him ; Sir Robert striking the
spear through the animal's spine ! This was a small grey, but
he possessed another horse who has become almost historical.
It was a favourite black charger, bred at the Cape of Good
Hope, and carried with him to India. When the noble soldier
fell at the storming of Kalunga, this charger was put up for
sale, and after great competition was knocked down to the
privates of the 8th Dragoons, who actually contributed their
prize-money, to the amount of £500, to retain this memorial
of their beloved commander. The beautiful charger was always
led at the head of the regiment on a march, and at the station
at Cawnpore, took his ancient post at the colour stand, where
the salute of passing squadrons were given at driU, and on
reviews. When the regiment was ordered home, the funds of
the privates running low, he was bought by a gentleman, who
provided funds and a paddock for him, where he might pass
the remainder of his days in comfort ; but when the corps had
departed, and the sound of the trumpet was heard no more,
the gallant steed pined, refused his food, and on the first
opportunity being led out for exercise, he broke from his groom,
galloped to his ancient station on parade, neighed loudly again
and again ; and there, on the spot where he had so often
proudly borne his beloved master, he dropped down and died !
Bishop Heber thus describes the docility of his Indo-
Arabian horse. He says : " 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 out of my
hand, and has almost as much attachment and as many coaxing
ways as a dog. This seems the general character of the
Arabian 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 the English horses."

VII. — 'THE ARAB.

The incomparable and unproved breed of the noblest of
^'i.adrupeds, which takes its name from the coxmtry of the
Ishmaelite, has certainly a high, if not the highest, claim to
the admiration of every lover of the horse.

Mr. Youatt, in addition to many reasons which we have
before given, as proving the Arab, like the British blood horse,
a product of judicious crossing, training, and sedulous culture,
notes that, " in a curious record of the commerce of the
second century, among the articles exported from Egypt to
Arabia, horses are mentioned, as presents to princes ; while
in the fourth century the Roman Emperor sent two hundred
Cappadocian* horses as the most acceptable present he could
offer to a powerful prince of Arabia."

• The peculating bacon-factor, and fraudulent army contractor, known as
St George of Cappadocia, and distinguished as a h orse-riding laint, is
especially the tutelary patron of cavalry. When oui CruBaders went to the

We have before noted the poverty of Mahomet in horses,
and that at the close of the great campaign against ihf
Koreish, though he drove off 24,000 camels and 40,000 sheep,
and carried oflF 24,000 ounces of silver, horses are not in tht
list of plimder.

These and other circumstances sufficiently contiite the notion
of an original Arab horse, and show that he has been com
paratively recently naturalized in that country. Indeed, thc-
Arabs themselves lend countenance to this ; for when, within
the last hundred years, they found how eagerly their horses
were sought, they pretended to no higher pedigree for their
Kohlani than tracing the animal to one of the four mares
on which Mahomet and his four immediate successors, fled from
Mecca to Medina, in the night of the Hejira (July 15th, 622).

We will now say a few words on the country which gives birth
to this beautiful animal.

The extensive country of Arabia, celebrated in aU ages for
its roving tribes, is situated at the south-western extremity of
Asia. It is boimded on the south-west by the Red Sea and
the Isthmus of Suez ; on the north-east by the Persian GuH
and the lower course of the Euphrates ; on the north-west by
Syria, the Euphrates, and the intervening desert ; and on the
south-east by the Indian Ocean. The country may be
described as a vast collection of rocky and precipitous moun-
tains, encircled by a border of low, barren, and sandy plains,
which differ widely in their cHmate, soil and productions.
The plains consist either of bare rocks or of hard or loose
sand, and suffer from an almost constant drought, fliere being
no rivers ; consequently the deep wells and springs scattered
at distant intervals, and which are generally surrounded by a
small margin of the most refreshing verdure, form the sole
resource of the fainting traveller. The temperature of other
tropical climates is moderate in comparison with the heat of
these deserts, where the thermometer is frequently above 100 °
during the night, in the sun 180° , and in the course of the
day often rises to 110° in the shade. The mountainous tracts
immediately behind these dry and sandy deserts stretch back-
wards from the sea shore, and contain nimierous valleys of
remarkable fertility, forming the celebrated region called by
the ancients Arabia FeUx.

The dry air and soil of Arabia seem peculiarly aaapted to
produce hard muscular fibre ; accordingly we find the Arabian
horse in the highest, and other Eastern breeds in an inferior,
degree, possess a firmness of anatomical organization un-
equalled except by the English thorough-bred horse. The
nature and character of what is popularly called the horse of the
desert particularly adapted him to beget an animal which,
as in the case of the race horse, is called upon to put its physical
power to the severest trial to which nature, aided by art, can

East in 1096, they found him in the Calendar as a warrior-saint, with the
title of " Victorious." It seems that, at the siege of Antioch, St. George
helped the English kmghts ! Hence his adoption by Edward III. ae patron
of the Garter, and the cry of "St. George for England!" bo long the echo of
the shout, " St. Denis for Prance 1" The dragon is, according to one of the
church-historians, merely the emblem of " the IncamatioD of EtU,"
this not very reputable saint is fabled to hare alsin.

20

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

Hubmit. These advantages, which he derives from climate, and
ihe great care exercised in breeding and rearing him by his
Aj-ab master, arise from the possession of larger muscles and
smaller, harder bones than any other horses — muscles and
sinews constituting the powers of action ; and on these depend
the lasting qualities of an animal going at the top of his speed.
Bones, being the weight to be lifted, serve only to extend the
parts; and it is obvious that such as are small, but highly
condensed, like those of the deer and the Arabian horse, are,
by occupjdng less space, and containing less weight, more
easily acted upon by muscular force than such as are large
and porous, and for a greater duration of time, without
fatiguing the active powers.

But the excellence of the horse of the border of the Desert
does not end with his condensed bone and flat, wiry leg, so
much valued by real judges. On reference to eminent writers
on the anatomy of the horse, we find all the muscles, and
fibres, and sinews of his frame described as driven into closer
contact than those of any other breed — always excepting
our own thorough-bred horse ; and from the membranes and
ligaments being composed of a firmer and thinner substance,
he possesses the rare union of strength with lightness, so
essential to the endurance of fatigue in all quick motions ; and
when to these qualifications are added the peculiar and deer-
like elegance, the broad squareness of forehead, the short fine
muzzle, the prominent and brilliant eye, the small ear, and
the beautiful course of the veias, he appears to furnish all the
requisites of a race-horse.

The following tradition oi the origin of the Kohlani, or
KaiLhani, the noblest race of horses, whose genealogy, with true
Eastern exaggeration, has sometimes even been traced to the
stud of Solomon, is from Burckhardt. The author relates
that the Arabian prophet, wishing to set aside from his stud
the best mares, in order to form a distinct and perfect breed,
had them all kept for two entire days and nights without
water. On a sudden, when almost mad with thirst, the mares
are released, and gallop with the swiftness of the wind to the
well-known spring. When in view of the refreshing waters,
by a preconcerted signal, the trumpets sound a war charge.
At this well-known sound five of the mares, forgetting in a
moment the agonies of their thirsrt, leave untasted the waters
of the spring, and gallop to the imagined war ; and from
these five mares the author fables the noblest breed to have
descended.

Another writer, upon whose statements we shall hereafter
remark, asserts that the greatest care is exercised in breeding
the Kohlani, or Kailhaui. Much ceremony takes place as
well at the union of these animals as at the birth of
the foal ; and a certificate is made out and properly authen-
ticated within seven days after that event.* It is generally
believed that pedigrees of the noble race of horses exist of not
less than five hundred years, with sire and dam distinctly

• M. de Portes, who was sent by the French Goyermnent into Syria,
seemingly contradicts this : but the ciutoms of the tribes vsry. — See pages
23-84 post.

traced. The following pedigree is mentioned by Weston, in
his Fragments of Oriental Literature : it was found hanging
round the neck of an Arabian horse purchased by Colonel
AinsHe during the English campaign in Egypt against the
first Napoleon.

" In the name of God, the merciful and compassionate, and
of Seyd Mohammed, agent of the High God, and of the com-
panions of Mohammed and of Jerusalem. Praised be the Lord,
the omnipotent Creator. This is a high-bred horse, and its
colt's tooth is here in a bag about his neck, with his pedigree,
and of undoubted authority, such as no infidel can refuse to
believe. He is the son of Rabbaing, out of the dam Lahadah,
and equal in power to its sire, of the tribe of Zazhalah. He is
finely moulded, and made for rtmning hke an ostrich, and great
in his stroke, covering much ground. In the honotirs of rela-
tionship he reckons Zaulah, sire of Mahat, sire of Kallack, and
the unique Alket, sire of Manasseh, sire of Alshek, father of
the race down to the famous horse the sire of Lakalala ; and to
him be ever abundance of green meat, and corn, and water of
Ufe, as a reward from the tribe of Zazhalah, for the fire of his
cover ; and may a thousand branches shade his carcase from
the hyena of the tomb, from the howling wolf of the desert ; and
let the tribe of Zazhalah present him with a festival within an
enclosure of walls ; and let thousands assemble at the rising
of the sun, in troops, hastily, where the tribe holds up, under a
canopy of celestial signs within the walls, the saddle, with the
name and family of the possessor. Then let them strike the
hands with a loud noise incessantly, and pray God for immunity
for the tribe of Zoab, the inspired tribe."

Burckhardt has some sensible remarks on the exaggeration
of these pedigrees. In the interior the Bedouin does not
trouble himself with them, as they know the genealogy of
their horses as well, if not better, than that of their own
families. The Arab horsedealer, however, with that acuteness
which seems bom of the profession, who goes with his stock to
Damascus, or Bagdad, or eastward to Bussorah, supplies him-
self with a written pedigree, duly made out, for the edification
of the purchaser. In these the animal is as gloriovisly
furnished with an ancestry, as ever was parvenu by herald oi
king-at-arms. Some of these call on the credulity of the
buyer to an immense extent. They trace the descent of the
terrible high-bred animal, not only from one of the "four
mares" of Mahomet, who figure Hke " the royal mares" in
our stud-book, but might make paler Europeans blush,
bringing them down in a direct line from the stud of Solomon,
the son of David. This suggests a curious inference : the
Arab, the child of tradition, with 2500 years of oral history,
goes back to the stud of Solomon, who, we need hardly repeat,
" brought up horses out of Egypt" a phrase equivalent to all
Northern and Eastern Africa. The Bedouins of the Desert,
unless, of course, they are " dealing," laugh at the idea of a
horse's pedigree.

It is a prevalent error that the Arab is bred m the arid
desert ; and equally tmphilosophical to suppose that he owes
his undoubted powers of endurance in his adult state to the

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

21

hardships inflicted upon him in his youth. The real fact is,
the Arabs select for their breeding places some of those beau-
tiful spots, known only in such countries, where, though all
may be dry and barren around, there is pasture, and the smaller
Bort of cereal grasses, saccharine dates, and various succulent
herbs, remarkable for nutritious and sub-aromatic properties.
The powers of the animal are developed in the natural way by
exercise sufficient for health, and by hard work, when under-
going that exercise. Once only is a cruel, and sometimes
ruinous exertion, imposed upon the animal, as we shall pre-
sently note.

In Nedjed the horses are regularly fed on dates, and the
fragments of any provisions that may be used by the inhabi-
tants ; and some writers have even asserted, that flesh, raw,
as well as boiled, is given them by the wealthy people, a
practice in the prevalence of which we are not inclined to
place much faith. Very little water is given, as the Arabs
conceive (and justly) thpt much liquid injures the horse's shape
and aS'ects his wind.

The colt is mounted at^er its second year, when the Arab,
on all other occasions so kind to his horse, puts it to a cruelly
severe trial. The colt, or filly, is led out to be mounted for
the first time ; its master springs on its back, and rides at full
speed for perhaps forty miles, over sand and rock of the burning
desert, without one moment's respite. He then plunges it into
water enough to swim, and if immediately after this, it will
eat as if nothing had happened, its purity of blood and
staunchness are considered incontrovertible.

Count Rcziousky gives the following account of the docility
and sagacity of the Kohlan, translated by an English writer,
which we give as curious, although extremely exaggerated both
in style and matter : —

" Above all horses in the world," writes the Count, " the
Kohlan is distinguished for the goodness of his quality and
the beauty of his form. He possesses uncommon mildness of
temper, an unalterable faithfulness to his master, a courage and
intrepidity as astonishing as they are innate in his noble
breast, an unfailing remembrance of the places where he has
been, and of the treatment he has received. Not to be led, not
to be touched but by his master, in the most dreadful confusion
of battle cool and collected, he never forgets the place he came
from, and, though mortally wounded, if he can gather up suffi-
cient strength he carries back his desponding rider to his de-
feated tribe.

" His intelligence is wonderful ; he knows when he is
sold, or even when his master is bargaining to sell him. When
the proprietor and purchaser meet for that purpose in the stables,
the Kohlan soon guesses what is going on, becomes restless,
gives from his beautiful eye a side glance at the interlocutors,
scrapes the ground with his foot, and plainly shows his discon-
tent. Neither the buyer nor any one else dares to come near
him; hut the bargain being struck, when the vendor, taking the
Kohlan by the halter, gives him up to the purchaser with a
slice of bread and some salt, and turns away, never more to
look at him as his own — an ancient custom of taking leave of a

horse, and his recognizing a new master — it is then that this
generous and noble animal becomes tractable, mild, an.l faithful
to another, and proves himself immediately attached to him
whom his passion, a few minutes before, might have laid at his
feet, and trampled under his hoofs.

" This is not an idle story ; I have been a witness of, and
an actor in the interesting scene, having bought three Kohlan^-
from Turkish prisoners. I made the bargain in the stables,
and received personally, and led off the most fierce but intelli-
gent animals, which before the above mentioned ceremony 1
should not have dared to approach. The fact has been con-
firmed to me by all the Turkish and Arab prisoners, and by
several rich Armenian merchants who deal in horses, and go
generally to the desert to buy them. The Kohlans also evince
great warlike qualities."

M. de Chateaubriand, in his Travels in the East, relates the
feat of an Arab mare, who died to save her master : —

" When I was at Jerusalem a feat of one of these steeds
made a great noise. The Bedouin to whom the animal, a mare,
belonged, being pursued by the governor's guards, rushed with
her from the top of the hills that overlooked Jericho. The mare
scoured at full gallop down an almost perpendicular declivity
without stumbling, leaving the pursuers lost in admiration and
astonishment. The poor animal, however, dropped down dead on
entering Jericho, and the Bedouin, who would not quit her, was
taken weeping over the body of his faithful companion. This
mare," he continues, " has a brother in the desert who is so
famous that the Arabs always know where he i« what he is
doing, and how he does."

Sir John Malcolm has two anecdotes to the same purpose,
but of a more amusing nature.

"When the British 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 ; I suppose she is five off ?' ' 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.' Ho 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 sheik, 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

Sletchet of Periia. toI. i. p. 49.

22

VARIETIES OF THE HOKSE.

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 sheik, obtained the
damsel's consent and eloped with her. The sheik and his
followers pursued, but the lover and mistress, mounted on one
horse, made a wonderful march, and escaped. Upon this 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 of his daughter, and that he stole the one
to enable him to carry off the other. The sheik was quite
gratified to think he had not been beaten by a mare of another
breed ; and wa;» easily reconciled to the young man, in order
that he might recover the mare, about which he was more
solicitous than about his daughter."*

Lieutenant Welstead relates an adventure in his Travels in
Arabia which illustrates the importance of being well-mounted
in that wild land : — " On my return from Obri to Suweit, con-
trary to the wish of the Bedouins, who had received intelligence
that the Wahabees were lurking around, I left the village
where we had halted, alone, with my gun, in search of game.
Scarcely had I rode three imles from the walls, when suddenly
tiiming an angle of the rocks, I found myself within a few
yards of a group of about a dozen horsemen, who lay on the
ground, basking listlessly in the sun. To turn my horse's
head away was the work scarcely of an instant ; but hardly
had I done so, when the whole party were also in their saddles,
m fuU cry after me. Several balls whizzed past my head,
which Sayyid acknowledged by bounding forward Hke an
antelope : he was accustomed to these matters, and their desire
to possess him unharmed alone prevented my pursuers from
bringing him down. As we approached the little town, I looked
behind me ; a sheik, better mounted than his followers, was in
advance, his dress and long hair streaming behind him, while
he poised his long spear on high, apparently in doubt whether
he was sufficiently within range to pierce me. My good stars
decided that he was not ; for reining up his horse he rejoined
his party, whilst I gained the walls in safety ! The day before
Sayyid came into my hands he had been presented to the
Imaum by a Nedji sheik. Reared in domesticity, and accus-
tomed to share the tent of some Arab family, he possessed, in
an extraordinary degree, all the gentleness and docility, as well
as the fleetness, which distinguish the pure breed of Arabia.
To avoid the intense heat and rest their camels, the Bedouins
frequently halted during my journey for an hour about mid-
day. On these occasions Sayyid would remain perfectly still
while I reposed on the sand, screened by the shadow of his
body. My noon repast of dates he always looked for and
shared. Whenever we halted, after unsaddling bim and
taking off his bridle with my own hands, he was permitted to
roam about the encampment without control. At sunset he
came for his com at the soimd of my voice ; and dxiring the
night, without being fastened, he generally took up his

• Id. vol. i. p. 46.

quarters at a few yards from his master. During my coasting
voyages along the shore, he always accompanied me ; and even
in a crazy open boat from Muscat to India My health having
compelled me to return to England overland, I could not ic
consequence bring Sayyid with me. In parting with thL'
attached and faithful creature, so long the companion of my
perils and wanderings, I am not ashamed to acknowledge thai
I felt an emotion similar to what is experienced in being
separated from a tried and valued friend."

M. de Chateaubriand, in his florid and poetic style, gives
the subjoined apocryphal illustration of the affection of the
Arab for his steed : —

" An Arab and his tribe had attacked in the desert the
caravan from Damascus with complete success, and the Arabs
were occupied in packing their booty, when the horsemen of
the Pacha of Acre, who had come to meet the caravan,
rushed suddenly on the victorious Arabs, of whom they killed
a considerable number, and made the others prisoners ; and,
having tied them with cords, took them to Acre, as presents
to the Pacha.

" Abon el Masseh, the hero of this story, had received a
ball in his arm during the engagement, but as Ms wound was
not mortal, the Turks had tied him upon a camel, taking his
horse also with him.

" The evening of the day of their approach to Acre, the
party encamped with their prisoners upon the Mountain oi
Saf hadt. The legs of the wounded Arab were tied together by
a leathern belt, and he was laid near the spot where thfc
Turks slept. Kept awake during the night by the pain of his
wound, he heard his horse neigh among others picketed round
the tents, according to the Eastern custom. Recognising its
voice, he could not resist the desire to go once more to the
former companion of his hfe. He crawled with great diffi-
culty, with the help of his hands and knees, and reached his
steed. ' My poor friend (addressing him), what canst thou do
among these Turks ? thou wilt be imprisoned under the roof
of a khan, with the horses of an Aga or Pacha. The women
and children will no longer bring thee camel's milk * or
barley, or doura in their pahns. Thou wilt no more course
the desert Hke the wind from Egypt. No more wilt thou
divide with thy chest the refreshing waves of Jordan. 0 that,
if I remain a slave, I could render thee at least free ! Let
me try I There, go ! return to our tents, tell my wife that
Abon el Masseh returns to it no more, and lick the hands of
my four children.'

"Thus speaking, Abon had gnawed with his teeth the
goat's hair which had served to fasten the Arab horse, and
the animal became free ; but seeing his master Bumacled
and bound at his feet, the faithful and intelligent creature
was taught by instinct what no language could have taught
it. He bent his head, seized his master, and taking biTn up
by his teeth by the leathern girdle round his body, set off in
a gallop, and carried biTn to his tent. Arriving there, and

• See poit. in " Horeee of Africa," on this Bingular nutriment foi
thp borftfl.

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

23

throwing his master on the sand, at the feet of his wife and
ahildren, the horse expired from fatigue.

" The whole tribe wept his loss — poets sang his merits, and
his name is constantly in the mouths of the Arabs who inhabit
the country about Jericho."

Of this interesting and wonderful account we can only say
— " Si non h vero e ben trovato."

M. de Fortes, another French writer, of a much earlier date
than Chateaubriand, is much more prosaic and reliable. He
tells us that although this nomadic people (the Arabs) possess
the finest race of horses known to us, such a farrago of non-
itense has been written, that it is difficult to clear the mists of
antruth, and separate the actual from the invented. Ho
tells us, that " the Arabian horses are commonly called Nedj.*
A more noble race is called Kohlan, divided into five different
families, or noble sherifs, which five races, as the legend goes,
originated from the five blessed mares of the prophet, and are
named Tonaisse, Gilpha, Manegine, Seydie, and Seelani.
Besides these, there are a number of other families too
difficult to enumerate. I must own there are no certain signs
by which one can ascertain whether a horse is Nedj or Kohlan,
for I have conversed with many intelligent Arabs, and they
all assured me they could not distinguish them unless the
origin of the dam was known to them, and for that reason
they kept their mares unstained by the leap of an inferior
stallion, which is considered one of the principal sins of the
Koran ; and this command of their religion they at least
foUow to the very letter. K by chance the contrary should
happen, the Bedouin does not value the foal the least, and,
however handsome and promising it may be, he will part with
it for a mere trifl" If a Kohlan mare is stinted to a Nedj
ataUion, the foal is a Kohlan ; but if only to a Genesidek, the
foal also is only Genesidek ; and a foal only of a Nedj mare
by a Kohlan staUion is Nedj, and for that reason you wiU
meet amongst the latter, though an inferior race, many horses
at least as handsome as the first, and even the Arabs cannot
distinguish them without knowing the dam's race.

" The Arabs have no stud-book as is generally asserted, nor
do they call together a number of witnesses when the covering
*ct is performed, or when the foal is born : all this is false ; for
I have often had opportunities to observe a leap Ln the night,
where scarcely any and but casual witnesses were present.
They choose the best horses among their own or a neigh-
bouring tribe for a covering stallion, which travels about, as in
Europe, and it is very difficult to purchase him, at least
during the covering season — the horse serving three mares
daily at about 5s. (English currency) each, and travelling from
tribe to tribe, sometimes to a great distance. They allow
them to cover as early as two years old, and frequently the
mares are not older. It happens, however, not unfrequently
in this torrid cHmate that they are worthless at four or five
years old Stallions, mares, and foals all graze together."

•This case, properly, only applies to the district of Jebel (the Hills),
othervise called Nejd, Nedj, or Nejed (the Highlands), the mountainous and
central portion of Arabia.

The Arab generally rides without a bridle : a halter with a
nose-band covered with iron like a cavesson, serves him for
that purpose ; and, instead of a saddle, these fiery coursers
have merely a piece of wadded cloth, often ragged and always
dirty, with two loops for stirrups attached on the back. They
seldom have the hind- feet shod, an omission yet to be seen in
some parts of Germany. The practice of firing is an oriental
one : man and beast are subject to it, and complaints of th*
most anomalous nature are subjected to the actual cautery.

In a work entitled Horse-buying in Syria, the writer of
which went to Damascus via Beyrout, and thence to the bor-
ders of the Arabian Desert, for the purpose of purchasing re-
mounts for our cavalry in the Crimea, we have an interesting
account of the state of the Anaze horses and their owners
at that time. M. de Fortes, however, speaks slightingly of
them. He describes them as much inferior to the Nedji. The
same writer states that the Arabs are indifferent about the
formation and shape of their stallions : " if he runs well, is of
the proper origin, and has no superstitious marks, they use
him as such, and would put him without hesitation to their
best mares; whereas, the most splendid stallion, if his origin
is doubtful, and the marks iU-favoured, would not get the
worst mare, I shall speak of their superstition — the Evil Eye
— hereafter. In candour I must own, that though the stal-
lions may possess great faults in their shape, they at the
same time have extraordinary qualities, for as soon as they are
mounted, all defects vanish : it would be almost impossible
to detect any, so noble is their appearance. I saw many
stallions with ugly hind quarters, the tail put on very low ;
but when mounted, they carry their tails erect, so that one
doubted whether it was the same horse A few of the finest
horses had much the appearance of English thorough-breds,
but were much more active and pleasant to ride, when broken
in a little in the European fashion ; for, raw from the Desert,
not knowing bridle or spur, which latter is never used by the
Arabs, they walk terrified on any pavement, and can only with
difficulty be got into a trot, as they jump out of a walk into a
fuU gallop, and stop as suddenly ; but being very docile, they
are easily broken-in properly."

It has already been stated that the five principal races are
said to origiuate from the five favourite mares of the Frophet,
and these only deserve the name of Kohlan, and are mostly met
with at Bagdad and Orfa. Those on Jhe Euphrates are taUei
and stronger, but their muscles are not so finely developed. Some
European judges prefer the Nedj to the Kohlan, as one often
finds amongst them grander horses ; but the Oriental prejudice
always returns to the Kohlan, as their race is bred more in and
in, like our race-horses. It is difficult to say with any sort
of certainty whether a horse is Nedj or Kohlan : the former have
somewhat of a Roman nose and high forehead : a true Kohlan,
with a genuine certificate, has a nose drawn inwards, Kke a jack
or pike, large eyes, wide nostrils, a broad front, and a beautiful
head. One may buy without difficulty a stallion ; but an Aral
seldom parts with a mare, and, if pressed by necessity, they
manage as follows. First, the price is agreed upon : thf

24

VAR1ET1E8 OK THE HOKJSb.

purchaser then begins to use the mare, and the first and second
foal is delivered to the seller, who, if he Ukes, has the right to
deliver in return one foal for the dam. These conditions often
vary, for at times the owner will not sell above a fourth of the
mare, which in the Arabian language is called purchasing "one
foot."

We have alluded above to " superstitious marks ;" these vary
with different tribes. The " Evil Eye" is as rife among the
Arabs of the present day as with the Highlanders of two
centuries or three centuries ago. In dread of this, many
tribes are loth to show their horses — but more especially their
mares — to strangers ; and never omit to fortify the animal
against it by a prayer to " Mashallah." If a horse falls ill after
such a visit, they immediately call in a sort of wizard, who,
uttering some cabalistical words, breaks an egg on the frontal-
bone of the patient, who, nevertheless, generally dies. The
wizard then gravely says, " God ordained it so," or, " It was
written so." But a French veterinary surgeon, under these
circumstances, thought proper to administer a smart dose of
physic, which saved his horse, whereas that attended by the
Arab died in spite of the egg, the magical words, and the
golden ring. Some of the prophecies of Mahomet are sheer
nonsense, particularly those about colour : others coincide with
observations of the present age. If Mahomet were inspired,
our wives would do well never to perm^ their husbands to ride
horses who carry the tail on one side, as they are sure to
be soon repudiated ; and maidens ought to be in awe against
bachelors on stallions with white spots on the thighs.

Burckhardt, the celebrated Asiatic traveller, says, in a letter
to Professor SeweU — and this accords with the most recent
travellers — that the " tribes richest in horses are those who dwell,
during the spring of the year at least, in the fertile plains of
Mesopotamia ; for, notwithstanding all that is said of the
desert horse, plenty of nutritious food is absolutely requisite for
its reaching its full vigour and growth. The numerous tribes
in the Red Sea, between Akaba and Mecca, and as far as
Yemen, have ver}' few horses ; but the Kurds and Bedouins
ia the East, and especially in Mesopotamia, possess more horses,
and more valuable ones than all, the Arabian Bedouins ; for
the richness of their pastures easUy nourishes the colts and
fills their studs." These observations are very important, and
evidently foxmded on truth. He adds, that " the number
of horses in Arabia is not more than 60,000 ; a number far
inferior to that found in anv part of Europe or Asia on an
equal extent of ground.

" During the Wahabee government, horses became scarcer
every year among the Arabs. They were sold by their masters
to foreign purchasers, who carried them to Yemen, Syria, and
Bussora, which latter place suppUes India with Arabian horses,
because they were afraid of having them seized upon by their
chiefs, it having become the custom, upon every slight pretext
of disobedience or crime, to declare the ^ost valuable Bedouin
mare forfeit to the public treasury.'

Such are the accounts handed down to us by respectable
mthorities, who in their turn received them from the Arabs

themselves ; but much allowance should be made for the prone-
ness to exaggeration for which aU eastern nations are remarkable,
especially the Arabians ; and glorying, as they justly do, in the
prowess of their beautiful steeds, it is not to be wondered at H
they should sometimes enlarge upon their attributes and
exploits.

The Imaum, or Sultan of Muscat, Syed Said, doubtless,
during his long reign, from 1806 to 1856, sent to England
the most genuine specimens of the Arab horse. His domimons,
lying on the east of Nedjid, and south of the Persian Gulf,
have, from their position, a more unadulterated Arab, pur sang,
than the horse-deahng Anazes, Toorkmans, and the Syrian
" copers," who are all interested in palming off their cross-
breeds as Arabs. The monarch above mentioned, on more
than one occasion, sent as royal presents to George IV.,
William IV., and her present Majesty, horses of surpassing
beauty, according to the Arabian standard. One of these
appears in our engraving of the " Barb and the Arabian," as a
specimen of the contrasted quaHties of the two races : the one
the genuine North African horse — progenitor of some breeds
of the Spanish, and many of our early racers — and the other the
Oriental stock, to which also our turf owes deep obligations

It will be curious and interesting to the reader to peruse
an accurate description of two of these undoubted Arabs,
written by a gentleman of unquestionable turf-experience ; and
to compare their points with those of an English race-horse, of
which our frontispiece is a model : — " The first that was shown
me was a black staUion, standing 14 hands o- inches high,
and branded ' M' on the off-quarter. This horse is the more
esteemed of the two, this colour in Arabs of the highest class
being rarely or ever met with. Years, I was given to under-
stand, were consumed in selecting the pair, and no limit
put upon the price. Great as the difficulty has ever been
to convey a just idea of the horse with the pencil, to put
upon paper words to effect such a purpose is ten times a
more hopeless affair. The first impression that the sight of
this little unpretending animal made upon me was anjiihing
save in accordance with my anticipations as I entered his box.
The issue was precisely such as we experience in contemplating
a highly-finished picture ; the more you gaze upon it, the more
its beauties are developed. In this country we are by no
means familiar with the Arab ; many have not even seen one :
I do not even think above a score have come within my own
notice ; but I must say, that if the portraits with which every
sportsman is acquainted of the Darley and Godolphin Arabians
be faithful delineations of the animals they profess to represent
the whole model of the Arab horse, as I have seen it, differ,
toto coelo from them.* Here I had before me one, selected by
a Prince whose subjects have ever been celebrated for traffick-
ing in the purest blood of the Desert : I could not doubt his
claim to legitimacy. I have said his height is 14 hands
3 inches ; his form so angular that at the first glance it seems

•We need hardly iterate that this proceeds upon the popular aBsumption that
those historical etallione were Aroba. They were both African horseis. i

VAEIETIE8 OF THE HORSE.

26

to defy all claim to symmetry. The whole character of shape
and bearing is closely allied to that of the deer. When you
come to a minuter examination of the parts, individually, then
you are convinced how pure the fountain must have been
whence such blood was obtained. The head of this horse can
be likened to nothing but exquisitely chiselled marble ; there
is literally no flesh upon it ; it is marble too to the touch.
The eye is small, but clear to transparency ; the cheek-bones
are prominent; and there is a fixedness about the aars that
helps you to think you are reaUy looking upon the work of the
sculptor. The jaws stand very far asunder ; the nostrils are
large and high ; and the wind-pipe is of an extraordinary size.
The neck is Hght, and set on similar to the deer's ; the shoulders
more fleshy and upright than suits our taste; but below the
knee the legs are perfection : you find quite as much bone as
in the largest sized English blood-horse, and the tendons are in
your grasp Like iron. His carcase, without being very full of
substance, is round and tolerably deep ; his quarters what we
express by vulgar. His thighs are very thin and sinewy, his
loins narrow, the hocks perfectly clean, and slightly inverted ;
he is what we call ' cat-ham'd.' The tail is well set on, the
duck small, the hair fine and scant, giving it the appearance of
a mule's more than that of a horse. His shanks are short,
and hard as adamant, the pasterns flexible, the hoofe singularly
hard, but healthy, and the feet open and roomy. You read
his temper in his eye ; he is a light-hearted animal, without
the slightest taint of vice."

The other stallion, a bright bay, is described aunost in the
same words. " His head is less perfect, and his bone smaller,
but his quarters are fuller and more softened down by the
swell of the muscles. His back, which, Hke the other, is rather
inclined to be hollow, is not more than eight or ten inches
from hip to shoulder: I never saw a pony's so short. His
height is as near as possible the same as the black ; in middle
piece he has the advantage. They were both brought out for
me, and I saw them in all their paces. In their action, as in
their lean spare forms, you detect nothing superfluous: it is
quiet and graceful, and entirely without any expression of
exuberant exertion. Utility is the characteristic of the Arab
horse. I can imagine them going for days together without
fatigue : Nature intended them, and she has fitted them, for
endurance. The impression of their extraordinary speed was
long a vulgar error, which is now fast exploding. No Arab
that ever trod the sand could live in company with an English
race-horse, weight for inches, or after any fashion you will:
with the size of a galloway you cannot have the stride essential
to great velocity. Speed, regular and long sustained, no doubt
they possess : the blight of degeneracy is yet unknown to the
Desert-bred." A writer, who remarks upon the discrepancy
here mentioned as to the Godolphin and Darley barbs, gravely
suggests that these were " small Arabs ;" the others, horses of
" considerable size and power, whose immediate descendants
became rjicers ;" which certainly leaves the matter just where it
stood.

It is much to be regretted that at the death of WiUiam

IV., who, though himself no sportsman, lost no opportunity
of promoting the national amusements of the turf and the
chase, these beautiful specimens of the true Arab should have
been sold into the hands of foreigners. Mr. Christie Whyte,
in his " History of the Turf," vol. ii., p. 389, thus notices the
discreditable event.

" Nothing could exceed the general indignation of all parties
throughout the kingdom, when it became pubhcly known that
this noble appendage to royalty was to be broken up and sold
oS, for the benefit of foreigners. But, notwithstanding the
remonstrances of members of both houses of the legisla-
ture, without distinction of political party, the sale was perse-
vered in."

The following memorial on this subject was presented to
her Majesty's government from the leading members of the
Jockey Club.

" ' We, the undersigned, have heard, with great concern, of
the probability of a dissolution of the royal stud at Hampton
Court. We think that the great and permanent attraction of
the annual stud sale, by producing competition, enhances the
value of thorough-bred horses, and thus promotes the improve-
ment of the breed throughout the kingdom. We trust,
therefore, that her Majesty's government may be induced to
advise the Queen to retain the establishment ; and we have
the less scruples in expressing this hope, because we are
persuaded that, under judicious management, the proceeds of
the sale would be found, upon an average, to cover all the
expense of maintaining the stud.

"Beaufort, G.Anson, Q. Bentinck,

S. Batson, Chesterfield, H. Biggs,

Clarendon, G. Byng, Dorset,

C. C. Greville, Richmond, Wm. Hallett,

Suffield, W. Powlett, Tavistock,

G. Rush, Uxbridge, J. R. Udney,

Wilton, H. S. Waddington, Dorset,

Oxford, C. Wilson."

The splendid stud was sold by Messrs. Tattersall, in the
paddocks at Hampton Court, on Wednesday, the 25th of
October, 1837 ; and drew together an immense concourse,
including many influential noblemen and gentlemen connected
with the turf, agents from France, Germany, Russia, and
Prussia, and an immense collection of trainers, breeders, and
others interested in the sale, or drawn thither by curiosity.

The general product of the sale was : — brood mares, 9,568
gs. ; colt foals, 1,471 gs. ; filly foals, 1,109 gs. ; the stallions
and two half-bred colts, 3,541 gs. ; total, 15,692 gs. Most of
the lots were purchased by commission ; Baron Maltzahn
acting for the government of Prussia, and M. Lupin for that
of France.

It would be irrelevant here to give the items of the sale,
farther than the Arabians are in question : —

Guine&s.
A Grey Arabian Mare of the purest caste j covered by the Colonel . . 60
A Grey ditto of the purest caste, from the Imaum of Muscat ;
covered by the Colonel 160

2b

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

Ontoeu.

\ Grrey ditto of the purest cast«, firom the Imavun of Muscat;

covered by Acteeon 105

Belvoirina, the dam of Elizabeth, Maria, «Sic., by Stamford —

Mercury — Herod, Ac ; covered by the Black Arabian, horse

untried 55

Brown Colt by the Colonel out of the first Arabian mare 71

A Chesnut Filly by Action out of the second Arabian mare, mare

untried 58

A Bay Filly by the Colonel out of the third Arabian mare, mare

untried 76

The Black Arabian of the purest caste, from the Imaum of Muscat. 580
The Bay Arabian of the purest caste, from the Imaum of Muscat... 410

Of these the Black Arabian was bought for the king of
Wurtemburg, and his stock have become celebrated in
Germany. The others went to France and Prussia.

The following lines, supposed to be from the pen of Thomas
Campbell, appeared in the New Monthly Magazine, suggested
by a visit to Hampton Paddocks.

THE ARABIAS.— ^ Sketch from Naturt.
AU breathing things delight in the green world I
Behold in yon small paddock s fair steed,
Arabian shaped, sleeli limbed, eyes that beam fire —
In action graceful as the swimming swan —
The mould and model of his kind — as proud
And glorious a thing ub eyes can see.
Fixed, statue- like, he stands, like Parian stone.
Chiselled by art to the similitude
And attitude of life ! — But greater handt
Than human hands have made him what be is —
The beautiful, the buoyant thing, whose speed
Oould tire the shadows coursing o'er this ground;'
A creature that we love, while to our will
We bend his nature down, and teach him fear
— But he must leave the field in which he fed.
And joyful run his own impulsive race.

See where the groom, with sieve thin spread with corn.
Presented oft, oft seen, as oft refused
(For the shy creature knows that the decoy
Covers the thralling rein, and more prefers
Freedom imeurbed, and his own wanton playj,
Comes now to snatch him from his heaven of ease.
He stande a moment only, as if caught ;
The coaidng groom believes his task is done,
And wonders where his freakishness is fled.
Almost his bond has clutched the dangling manu —

Almost the rein is sbpped upon his head.

When, ere an eye can turn, with playful prance.

Short, snuffling snort, and instantaneous spring.

As if in mockery of the powers of man

Away he flies, swift as an eagle shoots

The shrinking air, and scours his prison boimds,

Till the air thunders as his frantic feet

Strike with strong clatter on the hollow ground.

^Breathless, but patient, still the dodging man

Follows the dodging beast, soothes the coy thing.

Calls him by name, whistles, and lastly, swears, —

" That ^rst infirmity of noble grooms ;"

Kow reddens with fierce rage, and now, once more,

Comes whispering wheedling words into his ear.

He knows and hears him, and seems fairly 'won ;

Too sure he has him, and too slow when sure —

He's gone again, straight as an arrow flies.

As hopeless to pursue. Down drop the sieve

And jingling rein ; and now the savage whip

With shrilly threatenings thrills along the air :

He heeds it not, and still his race he runs.

Now, tired of play, or else instinctive fear.

Or more instinctive love, tames the wild thing,

And makes him docile. He has had his will.

And now resigns the mastery to man ;

For suddenly he turns in his mid flight.

And stands a prisoner, willing to be bound.

A writer in the Sportsman (vol. iii. p. 253) gives the follow
ing summary of the divisions of Arabia and the character ol
their horses, which is, in the main, suiEciently accurate as a
generalization : —

" Taking the comparative excellence of the different races,
Nejed (between the desert of Syria and Yemen, and now in
the possession of the Wahabees) is generally reckoned to produce
the noblest, grandest horses ; Hedjaz (extending along the Red
Sea, from Mount Sinai to Yemen, and including in it Medina
and Mecca) the handsomest ; Yemen (on the coast of the Red
Sea and the Indian Ocean, and the most fertile part of Arabia)
the most durable ; Syria the richest in colour ; Mesopotamia
the most quiet ; Egypt the S'wiftest ; Barbary the most pro-
lific ; and Persia and Koordistan the most warlike."

The Arab, in his influence on our thorough-bred stock, wiD
receive due notice when we come to treat of the varieties of
the English horse.

VAKIETIES OF THE HORSE.

CHAPTER III.

THE HORSES OF AFRICA. — 1. THE BAKB : II. THE DONOOLA, NUBIAN AND ABYSSINIAN HORSE : III. THE EGYPTIAN HORSE !

IV. THE HORSE OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

THE HORSES OF AFRICA.

That this quarter of the globe possessed numerous distinct and
original varieties of the horse, in form, size, and qualities is
evident, despite the theory of a common origin for all breeds
of that valuable quadruped — a theory which has led to such
violent absurdities, in the endeavour to reconcile incongruous
facts, and to force them into agreement with preconceived
prejudices.

We have already shown that Media, Persia, and Assyria
were not countries of the subjugated horse at a period long
posterior to what is called the historic era ; and that these
countries manifestly derived the horses which multiplied
therein in subsequent ages not from the South (or Arabia),
but from the great " officina equorum," on the north. So also
did the people of Northern Syria derive the horses with which
they encountered Joshua from the same source: for there
were then no horses in Southern Syria. Asia Minor, from
the earliest times, was a country of horses, derived from the
North and East ; but Egypt, it is proved by all history, sacred
and profane, derived its horses from the vast continent of which
it forms a part, and not from a tract on which the horse
did not exist in the first ages. "We may rather beUeve,"
says Professor Low, " that Egypt derived the horses she so
early possessed from regions in which horses existed from the
earliest times, and which we have as much reason to consider
indigenous to Africa, as those which people the plains of
Tartary are to Asia." To our minds this disposes of the claims
of the Arabian, and transfers to the Barb, or true African
horse, the patriarchal honours, as regards our own incom-
parable English breed, so long usurped by the Ishmaelitic
parvenu. It appears to be the old case of an Americus Ves-
putius supplanting a Christopher Columbus. We need not
resort to Scripture to show that the " Howden" or " Homcastle"
of the Israelites and Egyptians was on the banks of the Nile,
and that " the Ethiopians were a huge host with very many
chariots and horsemen."* The horse that drew their chariots
yet exists in Abyssinia, Dongola, and Darfour, which possess
a larger and a coarser horse than the finer breed of Arabia; while
in various parts of North and Eastern Africa are breeds easily
distinguishable from the Asiatic horse. Even at this day, deep
in the interior. Major Denham tells us, "at Mandura a beau-
tiful and powerful breed of horses is found ;" and Mr. Tully
further tells us " the horses of Bomou are excellent; they
unite all the valuable properties of the Barb and the Arabian."

• 8 Ohron. chap. Kvi., v. &

We will, however, quit general considerations, and confine
ourselves to the leading specialties of the African breeds.

I. THE BARB.

The country known as Barbary may be considered, for the
purpose of the present enquiry, as comprising all North Africa,
from Egypt westward along the coast of the Mediterranean ;
Tripoli, Tunis, Algeria, and Morocco, falling within its boun-
daries, which reach southward to the Sahara or Great Desert.
Here was found that original breed known as the Barb, to
which this island owes the early improvement of its coarse
unwieldy horse, which we had derived, possibly, through the
European continent from Central or Northern Asia — though
we must confess we can see no soUd reason against, but
much strong presumption in favour, of an indigenous Britinh
horse.*

For the North African horse too may be claimed an improv-
ing cross, which produced the handsomer breeds of Spain, still
bearing the traces, in the Andalusian "barbs," and "jennets,"
of their Moorish original ; while in yet earlier times, when
Egypt was the granary of the Mediterranean countries, and
Carthage held her head high against Rome, Africa gave
" blood " to the horses of Thessaly, Italy, and the Northern
shores of that inland sea.

In the historic period of English racing, the Barb ngures
largely as the ancestor of our thorough-breds. The Godolphin
Barb, (popularly and erroneously called the Godolphin " Ara-
bian ") was the origin of much of our best racing blood, while
several of our greatest modem " flyers " trace their descent
from the "African mares " imported by Charles II. This sub-
ject is treated in extenso in the Supplement on Horse Racing.
The following are given by Berenger as the characteristic
" points " of the Barb of Morocco, Fez, and the interior
of Tripoli.

" It seldom exceeds fourteen hands and a half in height.
Its countenance is indicative of its spirit, and the facial line,
in direct contradistinction to that of the Arabian, is often
rounded : the eyes are prominent ; the ears, though frequentiy
small and pointed, are occasionally rather long and drooping ;
the crest is generally fine, but prominent, and not overladen
with mane. The neck is of a good length ; the shoulders flat
and oblique ; the withers prominent, and the chest almost
invariably deep ; the back is moderately curved and the carcase
somewhat round; the arms and thighs are muscular and
strongly marked ; the knee and hock are broad and low-placed ;
the back-sinews singularly distinct and well-marked from the

* See Hietory of the Horse, pp. 7. 8, anfo

28

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

knee downwards ; the pasterns rather long, the feet firm,
and but moderately open at the bars. The croup, as compared
with the Arab, is perhaps a little too long,* but the quarters
are muscular and well-developed.

The Barb is mounted at two years old, but never castrated,
for " a Mussulman would not mutilate or sell the skin of the
beast of the Prophet." The horses, with the Moors and
Kabyles, are used for the saddle, and the mares kept for
breeding. While no Arab mounts a stallion on his excur-
sions, their descendants in Africa, and the Moors, never ride
mares. The reason of this is, that the Arabs, constantly at
war and plundering, endeavour to surprise their enemies in the
grey of the morning or at the dawn of day. A stallion
no sooner smeUs the stale of the mare in the enemies'
quarters than he begins to neigh, which would, of course,
give the alarm to the party to be surprised. This cannot
happen when riding mares only. The African Arab, on the
contrary, trusts to superior force. He fights in an open plaia
country, where an enemy can be discovered at many miles'
distance : such stratagem is therefore useless to them. The
Moorish method of cavalry exercise, and the training of their
chargers, greatly consists in gallopping at the top of speed for
a mile or more, then suddenly stopping while the rider hurls
his lance, fires his musket, or goes through some other
feat of assault or defence. By way of exercise, however, the
lance is launched or the espingarda fixed when at fall gaUop.
The best-trained Barbary horses will stand stOl for hours
when quitted by their riders. The usual food of the Barb is
barley or chopped straw, and grass when to be found ; hay
as a winter feed, in our acceptation of the term, is unknown to
him. The Barb requires more excitement to call out his
powers than the Arabian, but when sufficiently stimulated his
speed and endurance are equal, while the superior strength
of loin and forehand makes him master of the greater weight
of the two.

It would be unpardonable here to pass over the Godolphin
Barb, whose blood ran through Cade — Matchem — Conductor —
Trumpator — Sorcerer — Doctor Syntax ; through Eclipse, and
a line of winners, by Bay Middleton to the Flying Dutchman ;
through Hambletonian, Highflyer, to his great opponent and
Voltigeur ; while Nutwith, West Australian, Sir Tatton Sykes,
Tomboy, Melbourne, Surplice, Chanticleer, and a host of first
class animals, trace their "blood" to this glorious Barb.

The Godolphin Barb, (whose figure accompanies the
Royal Arab on Plate IV.) was sent, together with eight
other horses, as a present from the Bey of Tunis to
Louis XV. of France, on the conclusion of a treaty of
commerce with that potentate by the Viscount de Manty,
Admiral of the French fleet.

The Godolphin Barb was of a brown bay coiOur, with
some white on the off heel behind. He was supposed to have
been foaled in 1724, but this is conjectural. He was above
the stature of the Arab, standing 15 hands. So slight was

* Thii ii a defect, if it be one, which ii iharsd with the Barb by all out
rery belt honet.

the value set upon him in France, where his pointa were by
no means understood, that he was degraded to the drudgery
of drawing a wood-cart in Paris. There is a tradition that
he was sold from the royal stables for ungovernable temper.
He was brought to England by Mr. Coke, who presented him
to Mr. Roger WiUiams, then proprietor of the St. James'a
Coffee House, near Charing Cross. As the most celebrated
horses of modem times partake of his blood and that of the
Darley " Arabian," — a crossed Toorkman horse from Aleppo —
we shall have further occasion to refer to him in this respect.
By Mr. Williams he was presented to Lord Godolphin, in
whose possession, at Hog-Magog, in Cambridgeshire, he
remained as a private stallion until his death.

In 1731, Hobgoblin, a then celebrated staUion, refusing to
cover Roxana, she was sent to the Godolphin Barb, and from
that leap came the celebrated Lath, the first horse from the so-
called " Arabian."

Lath was one of the very best racers of his day, and
superior to any horse preceding him except Flying Childers.
The Godolphin Barb was sire to 38 colts and 20 fillies between
1732 and 1753, Lath being the first and Mr. Panton's
Matchless the last of his stock.

The Godolphin Barb died at Hog-Magog, Cambridgeshire,
in December, 1753, being supposed to be then in the 29th
year of his age. He lies buried in a covered passage, leading
to the stables, with a flat stone over him without inscription.
At his interment there was a gathering, and a gift of cakes and
ale, as afterwards at that of his celebrated descendant Eclipse.
There is an original portrait of this remarkable horse, by
Seymour, in the collection of the Marquis of Cholmondeley,
at Houghton HaU, Norfolk, and another pictirre of him with
his favourite cat, in the Library at Gog-Magog, Cambridge-
shire. He is represented in the prints of the day with his
attendant cat, between whom and himself a warm attachment
for many years subsisted. So great indeed was it, on the part
of poor puss, that we have it upon the best authority the cat
pined away, refused its food, and died of grief at the loss of
its companion. Mr. Holcroft, the celebrated dramatic writer,
who in early youth was a Newmarket stable-lad, relates a
similar mutuality of affection between a race-horse and a cat,
which the horse would place on his back or in the manger, by
taking her in his mouth without hurting her.

The crest of the Godolphin, pretematuraUy prominent, dis-
tinguishes him from every other horse. The Duke of
Portland, however, had a Barb but Httle less lofty in this
respect. It wiU be seen too, from the plate, which is a copy
of his portrait, that his withers, from their almost humpish
rise, give the effect of a sudden fall in the back, while there
is a corresponding elevation of the spine towards the loins.
Echpse, with a straighter back, shared this peculiarity, almost
to deformity. The Godolphin's muzzle was uncommonly fine,
his head beautiftdly set on, his shoulders deep and obUque, his
loins wide, and his quarters symmetrically powerful and well
let down. The greater proportion of both colts and fillies from
this celebrated horse were bay, like himself. His descendants.

izrzD <c

.=5

ttH

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

20

by crossing, have been of every colour. The Wellesley
" Arabian" is neither Barb nor Arabian, but most probably
a cross of Barb and Toorkman. " This horse," says Mr.
Youatt, "has been erroneously selected as the pattern of a
superior Arabian." The same remark will apply here as to
the Darley Arabian. (See ante, p. 24.) *

%e fullest and most interesting account of the Barb of
modem Algeria has been written by General Daumas, and its
value is greatly enhanced by containing a letter on the subject,
written entirely by the celebrated Abd-el-Kader, and a very
remarkable document it is. According to this high authority,
a perfectly sound Barb horse can, without difficulty, travel
nearly thirty miles daily for three or four months, without
resting a single day ; and such a horse can accomplish fifty
parasangs — not less than two hundred miles — ^in one day.
When Abd-el-Kader was with his tribe at Melonia, they made
razzias in the Djeb-el-amur, pushing their horses at a gaUop
for five or six houjs without drawing bridle, and they
accomplished their expeditions in from twenty to twenty-five
days. During all this time their horses ate only the com
carried by their riders, amounting to about eight ordinary
meals. They often drank nothing for one or two days ; and on
one occasion were three days without water. The Arabic
language is very epigrammatic, and the Arabs assign the

• Long eince the above views were formed and committed to press by the
writer, he had the gratification of finding them confirmed by the liigh authority
of Admiral Rous, in a series of papers in Baily't Magazine of Sports and
Pastimes, Nos. 1, 2, et seq., for March, April, and following months of 1860.
The Admiral, though still adopting the looseness of epithet, which made our
forefathers apply the term " Arabian " to almost all horses from the East or
South, thus bears testimony to the deep obUgation we owe to that breed : —

" The Stud Book contains no horse's name which cannot prove a pure
descent from Barbs, Arabians, Turkish, or Persian stallions, and from Barb,
Arabian, or Boyal mares.

"With respect to Turkish blood, I have no doubt that our patriarchs of
this denomination, such as Helmsley Turk, Byerley Turk, Place's White
lurk, D'Arcey's White Turk, the Selaby Turk, and others, were Arabian
horses bought in Constantinople or Hungary, either captured in war or
purchased from Turkish pachas.

" The Barbary stallions were very numerous and very successful, especially
the Dodsworth, Ourwen and Bay Barb, Greyhound, the Compton Barb, the
Thoulouse Barb ; but the most prominent forefathers of the turf are the
Darley Arabian (?), sire of Flying Childers, and the Godolphin Arabian
(Barb), whose blood has been transmitted to every first class horse now in
training. 1 can discover no Persian staUions on the register ; but Bonny Black,
the best mare of her day for a long distance in 1719, (whose owner, the Duke
of Rutland, challenged all the world to run sixteen miles for £1000), was by
Black Hearty, a son of the Byerley Tiu'k, out of a mare by a Persian stallion.

" A great difference of opinion exists respecting the pedigrees of the Royal
mares. Some were purchased in Hungary in the reign of Charles II. j but I
have no doubt that a great majority of the Royal mares were imported from
Morocco when Tangiers was under the British flag, and that the superior
Barbs were brought by the Saracens in the sixth cemury from Arabia, when
they conquered northern Africa, and that they are ol the purest breed of the
Desert."

In the last sentence the gallant Admiral, having started from the false
premiss that the Arabian Deserts were weU suppUed with horses in the sixth
century, has proceeded, as must needs follow, to an utterly false deduction.
The historical slip is venial. Admiral Rous's acumen perceived how much
these animals differed tma the Arab type, but the popular traditional and
accustomed phrase led him to overlook the true African origin of the race.

reasons for instructing their horses early, in these proverbs : —
" The lessons of infancy are graven in stone ; but those of age
disappear like the nests of birds." "The young branch
without difficulty straightens itself; the large tree never."
Accordingly the instruction of the horse begins in the first year.
" If," says the Emir, " the horse is not moimted before the
third year, at the best he will only be good for the course ;
but that he has no need of learning — it is his natiiral faculty."

The Arabs thus express the idea : — " Le djuad mivant sa race."
(" The high-bred horse has no need of learning to run."j

The esteem of the Arab for his horse is conveyed in the follow-
ing sentiment of the sage and saint, Ben-el- Abbas, which has
been handed down from generation to generation : — " Love thy
horses ; take care of them ; spare thyself no trouble : by them
comes honour, and by them is obtained beauty. If horses are
abandoned by others, I take them into my family ; my children
share with them their bread ; my wives cover them with their
veils, and wrap themselves in their housings ; I daily take them
to the field of adventure ; and, carried away by their impetuous
course, I can fight with the most vaHant."

General Daumas thus describes a combat between two tribes,
drawn from life, for he enjoyed many opportunities for witness-
ing such scenes : — " The horsemen of the two tribes are in
front, the women in the rear, ready to excite the combatants
by their cries and applause : they are protected by the
infantry, who also form the reserve. The battle is commenced
by little bands of ten or fifteen horsemen, who hover on the
flanks and seek to turn the enemy. The chiefe, at the head of
a compact body, form the centre

" Presently the scene becomes warm and animated — the
young cavaliers, the bravest and best moimted, dash forward
to the front, carried away by their ardour and thirst for blood.
They uncover their heads, sing their war-songs, and excite to
the fight by these cries, ' Where are those who have mistresses i
It is under their eyes that the warriors fight to-day. Where
are those who by their chiefs always boast of their valour f
Now let their tongues speak loud, and not in those babblings.
Where are those who run after reputation? Forward I
forward I children of powder I Behold these sons of Jews —
our sabres shall drink their blood — their goods we will give to
our wives I' These cries inflame the horsemen — they make
their steeds boimd, and unsling their guns — every face
demands blood — they mingle in the fray, and sabre cuts are
everyvrhere exchanged.

" However, one party has the worst of it, and begins to fall
back on the camels which carry the women. Then are he
on both sides the women — on the one animating the conquerors
by their cries of joy — on the other, seeking to stimulate the
failing courage of their husbands and brothers by their screams
of anger and imprecation. Under these reproaches the ardour
of the vanquished returns, and they make a vigorous efibrt.
Supported by the fire of the infantry who are in reserve, they
recover their ground, and throw back their enemy into the
midst of the women, who in their turn curse those whom just
before they had applauded. The battle returns to the ground

AO

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE

which lies between the females of their tribes. At last the
party who have suffered most in men and horses, who have
sustained the greatest loss, and have seen their bravest chiefe
fall, take flight, in spite of the exhortations and prayers of
those bold men who, trying to rally them, fly right and left, and
try to recover their victory. Some warriors stiU hold ground,
but the general rout sweeps them off. They are soon followed
by their women — then each seeing that all is lost, occupies
himself in saving that which is dearest ; they gain as much
ajoimd as possible in their flight, turning from time to time to
face the pursuing enemy. The conquerors might ruin them
completely if the intoxication of their triumph did not build a
bndge of gold for the vanquished, for the thirst of pillage
disbands them. One despoils a foot-soldier — another a horse-
man. This one seizes a horse — that a negro. Thanks to this
disorder the bravest of the tribe save their wives, and fre-
quently their tents."

A touching incident is mentioned by Mungo Park as having
occurred whilst he, friendless and forlorn, was pursuing his
weary joiimeyings far in the interior of Africa. The simple
narrative tells its own tale of accumulated misery : — " July
29th. Early in the morning my host, observing that I was
sickly, hurried me away, sending a servant with me as a
guide to Kea. But th-ough I was little able to walk, my horse
waf stiU less able to carry me, and about six miles to the east
of Modiboo, in crossing some rough clayey ground, he fell ; and
the united strength of the guide and myself could not place
him ag'ain upon his legs. I sat down for some time beside
this worn-out associate of my adventures ; but finding biTn
still unable to rise, I took off the saddle and bridle, and placed
a quantity of grass before him. I surveyed the poor animal as
he lay panting on the ground, with sympathetic emotion, for I
could not suppress the sad apprehension that I should myself
in a short time He down and perish in the same maimer of
fatigue and hunger. With this foreboding I left my poor
horse, and with great reluctance I toDowed my guide on foot
along the bank of the river until about noon, when we reached
Kea, which I found to be nothing more than a small fishing
village."

Tom with doubt and perplexity, heavy of heart and weary
in body, the xmhappy traveller returned westward to Modiboo,
after two days' journeying in company with a neg canying
his horse accoutrements. " Thus conversing," says he, " we
travelled in the most friendly manner, until unfortunately we
perceived the footsteps of a lion quite fresh in the mud near
the river side. My companion now proceeded with great
circumspection, and at last, conimg to some thick xmderwood,
he insisted that I should walk before him. I endeavoured to
excuse myself by alleging that I did not know the road, but he
obstinately persisted ; and after a few high words and menacing
look, threw down the saddle, and went away. This very much
disconcerted me, for as I nad given up all hopes of obtaining
a horse, I could not tiink of encumbering myself with a
saddle ; and taking off the stirrups and girths, I threw the
saddle into the river. The Negro no sooner saw me throw the

saddle into the water, than he came running from among the
bushes where he had concealed himself, jumped into the nver,
and by help of his ■'pear brought out the saddle, and ran away
with it. I continaed my course along the bank, but as the
wood was remarkably thick, and I had reason to believe that
a lion was at no great distance, I became much alarmed, and
took a long circuit through the bushes to avoid him. A.bout
four in the afternoon I reached Modiboo, where I found my
saddle ; the guide, who had got there before me, being afraid
that I should inform the king of his conduct, had brought the
saddle with him in a canoe. While I was conversing with the
dooty, and remonstrating with the g^de for having left me in
such a situation, I heard a horse neigh in one of the huts, and
the dooty inquired with a smile if I knew who was speaking to
me. He explained himself by teUing me that my horse was
still alive, and somewhat recovered from his fatigue." The
happiness with which Park met his lost and faithful Barb may
be conceived, for in him he had one friend left in the world.

Another of our many victims to African travel thus touchingly
laments a grievous misfortune which befel him. Returning
from an excursion to Kouka, Major Denham writes : — " I was
not at all prepared for the news which was to reach me on
retumingtoour enclosure. The horse that had carried me from
Tripoli to Mourzuk and back again, and on which I had ridden
the whole jo\imey from Tripoli to Bomou, had died a very few
hours after my departure for the lake. There are situations
in a man's life in which losses of this nature are felt most
keenly, and this was one of them. It was not grief, but it
was something very nearly approaching to it ; and though I
felt ashamed of the degree of derangement which I suffered
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 — may I not say, companion ?
— through many a dreary day and night, — had endured both
hunger and thirst in my service with the utmost patience, —
so docile, that he would stand still for hours in the desert
while I slept between his legs, his body affording me the only
shelter that could be obtained from the powerful influence of a
noonday sun : he was the fleetest of the fleet, and ever ^'iremost
in the race."

There are few who have not seen Stubbs's world-famed
picture of the " Horse frightened by the Lion," which all sorts
of describers — scorning even to reflect for a moment on the
actual locak of the adventure — have spoken of as " an Arab ;"
nay, his " crest" has been charged with exaggeration, and one
of the great points of exactitude and truthfulness treated as
extravagant. In an obituary notice of Stubbs, who died in
1808, I find the following : — " Having remained in Italy the
time necessary for his improvement, Mr. Stubbs embarked for
England ; and during his passage he became acquainted with a
gentleman, a native of Africa, whose taste and pursuits in life
were similar to his own. This gentieman had been to Rome,
and was returning to his family ; he was liberally educated,
and spoke the English language with accuracy. His informa-
tion made hiin u delightful companion to Stubbs, who often

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

HI

expressed how much it would add to his gratification if he
could hut hehold the lion in its wild state, or any other wild
beast. His friend, on one occasion, gave him an invitation to
the paternal mansion he was about to visit. The offer was
accepted with pleasure, and Stubbs landed with his friend at
the fortress of Ceuta.* They had not been on shore many days
when a circumstance occurred most favourable to the wishes of
our paintei. The town where his friend resided was sur-
rounded by a lofty wall and a moat. Nearly level with the
wall a capacious platform extended, on which the inhabitants
occasionally refreshed themselves with the breeze after sunset.
One evening, while Stubbs and his friend were viewing the
delightful scenery, and a thousand beautiful objects, from this
elevation, which the brilliancy of the moon rendered more
interesting, a lion was observed at some distance, directing his
way, with a slow pace, towards a white Barbary horse, which
was grazing not more than two hundred yards distant from the
moat. Mr. Stubbs was reminded of the gratification he had so
often wished for. The orb of night was perfectly clear, and the
horizon serene. The Hon did not make towards the horse by a
regular approach, but performed many curvatures, still drawing
nearer towards the devoted animal, till the lion, by the shelter
of a rocky situation, came suddenly upon his prey. The
affrighted Barb beheld his enemy, and, as if conscious of his
fate, threw himself into an attitude highly interesting to the
painter. The noble creature then appeared fascinated, and the
lion, finding him within his power, sprang in a moment. Like a
cat, on the back of the defenceless horse, threw him down, and
instantly tore out his bowels."

On his return to England, Mr. Stubbs became exceedingly
attentive to his profession, and met with great patronage, and
to him we are indebted for the portraits of many of the most
celebrated race-horses of his day. His anatomy of the horse
was held in the highest estimation, both in this country and
abroad ; and his sporting pictures yet retain their places in the
galleries of our nobility and gentry.

We may here note, incidentally, that the celebrated " White
Arabian," the favourite charger of Napoleon Bonaparte, which
was kept for many years in the Jardin des Plantes — of which
many portraits are extant — betrayed all the chief characteristics
of the Barb. He came from Egypt, we know, wherever bred ;
but his broad open heels, round barrel, and low set-on of the
dock, as extant in pictures by Isabey, the elder Vemet, and
others, are against his Arabian origin.

Among the Maugrabins of the West, on the skirt of the
Sahara Desert, is a renowned breed of Barbs, known as the
Shrulzt-ur-reech, or " Drinkers of the wind." They are lean
as greyhoimds — a mere bag of bones — but their spirit and
endurance of fatigue are prodigious. On one occasion the
chief of a tribe was robbed of a favourite fleet animal of this
race, and the camp went out in pursuit eight hours after the

• A fortrenB on the coast of Africa, situated on a peninsula eastward of
lankier, and opposite to Gibraltar, belonging to Spain, who, in 1860, has
extended her territories, after a ehort war with the Moors, and at present
holda Tetuan.

theft. At night, though the horse was not yet recovered, it
was ascertained that the pursuers had headed hia track, and
would secure him before morning. The messenger who
returned with this intelligence had ridden sixty miles in the
withering heat of the desert without drawing bit. These
animals are stated by Mr. Davidson to be fed only once in
three days, when they receive a large jar of camel's milk ; this,
with an occasional handful of dates, is their only food.

These animals, we are told by Jackson, are principally
employed in hunting the antelope and the ostrich. This author
says nothing about the dates, but informs us that he will eat
Qothing but barley or wheat ; oats are unknown to the African
horse. The account is yet further embellished by the state-
ment that if he is taken from the Desert, and can no longer get
a supply of his favourite camel's milk, he loses speed and wind,
and perishes miserably. Credat Judwus ! Yet farther in Central
Africa, we are told by Mr. Tully {History of Tripoli), is a
grand breed, of noble stature, uniting the qualities of the Barb
and the Arabian with superior height.

II. THK DONGOLA, NUBIAN, AND ABYSSINIAN HORSB.

Travellers in Dongola, Sennaar, Nubia, Abyssinia, Darfour,
and the north-eastern countries of the African continent, agree
in the existence of an indigenous horse of superior stature and
coarser form than either the Barb or Arab. The degenerate
Egyptian horse is probably a descendant of this race, which
very possibly may have figured in the heavier chariots of the
Pharoahs. Bruce, in his Traveh in Abyssinia, bears testimony
to their stature and their distinctness from the horse of Tripoli,
Tunis, Algeria, and Morocco. He says — " ^Vliat figure the
Nubian breed of horses would make in point of swiftness is verj'
doubtful, their form being so entirely different from that of the
Arabian ; but if beautiful and symmetrical parts, great size
and strength, the most agile, nervous, and elastic movements,
great endurance of fatigue, docQity of temper, and, beyond any
other domestic animal, seeming attachment to man, can promise
anything for a stallion, the Nubian is, above all comparison,
the most eligible in the world. Few of them stand less than
sixteen hands high."

Ludolph, who travelled in Abyssinia in the 17th century,
bears the hke testimony. He says that " the horses of this
country (Ethiopia) are powerful and active, spirited and
mettlesome, and most of them of a Jblack colour. They are
used only in war and for hunting. They are not fatigued by
travelling long journeys, for the labour of drawing loads and of
carrying burdens devolves upon the mules." A native of
Abyssinia, who accompanied Ludolph to Europe, was both
astonished and pained when he saw, for the first time, a horse
ir a heavy cart, and loudly expressed his disgust at the
cruelty of degrading so noble an animal to so base a drudgery
He was surprised that the animals should submit to it, saj-ing
that in his coimtry they would rebel against such cruel tyranny,
and rend those who endeavoured so to ill-use them.

Bosmau, another intelligent, and more modern traveller,
expresses his admiration of the horse of these regions : — " Thf

3^

VARIETIES OF THE HOBSE.

Dongola horses are the most perfect in the world, being beau-
rifid, symmetrical in their parts, nervous 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 one thousand pounds." He further describes them as usually
black, though there are a few bright bays and sorrels.

Some of these animals, which were at that time brought
northwards by way of the Nile valley to Cairo, were seen
by Europeans travelling in that country. They are agreed
upon their noble appearance and fine lofty action, their ele-
vated crest and high withers ; but there is a deficiency of
substance in the quarters, and an undue length below the hock
— sure indications of a lack of stoutness and of sustained speed.
Nevertheless, as modern intercommunication with these once
mysterious countries is now comparatively facile, some attention
to the horse of Dongola might repay the trouble. That he has
many of the requisites of a grand horse for show or state
purposes, and perhaps for a charger, seems probable. The
reason why his endurance is not tried more severely in his
native land is, perhaps, that they have not the art of shoeing.
Ludolph says, when they come on stony ground they dismount
and get upon mules, leading their horses, that so, having no
burden to bear, they may tread the more lightly.*

Mr. Salt, for many years English Consid iu Egypt, and one
of the most diligent collectors of antiquities in that ancient
land, made a journey towards the sources of the Nile. He
also describes these horses as of noble stature and action,
their accoutrements as good, and the natives as first-rate
horsemen.

111. THE EGYPTIAN HORSE.

We need not here repeat that Egypt was of old the source
of the supply of horses to the countries immediately adjacent.
Foremost in arts and arms, her chariots f were renowned five
centuries before Herodotus wrote of the royal haras of Babylon,
and its 1,400 horses, which were undoubtedly derived from the
northern breeds. The modem Egj'ptian horse, like the modem
Egyptian himself, has wretchedly degenerated. The cruel
tyranny of their oppressors and conquerors, Arab and Turkish,
led the wretched tillers of the soil to avoid as a danger the
possession of a handsome horse, suited for war purposes, inas-
much as the least evil that might befal him might be its
seizure by the Mamelukes or by the Turkish ruler of the
district. We are further told by travellers, that so strongly did
this fear operate on the mind of the wretched feUah, that it
became a custom to disfigure and mutilate the horses used by
them, lest they should be robbed of them by the Pasha or his
followers. The effect of this system in "the land of the
horse," is borne testimony to by General Sir Robert Wilson,
who tells us, in his relation of the expedition to Egypt under
Sir Ralph Abercrombie, that the body-guard of the Pacha
were so miserably mounted, that " although their horses

• Berenger^t Borsemanship, toL i.
t There is not more than a eingle representation of a mounted man in the
Egyptian freocoe* and relieri. There are warriors in chariots innumerable.

seldom pass out of a walk into a gallop for more than a
hundred yards or so, most of them are foundered; and none,
if quickly trotted for ten nules, would be able from want of
wind and stamina to go farther."

Since Sir Robert wrote, however, a new era has da^i^ed in
Egypt. Mehemet Ali, seeing the importance of a judicious
liberality in encouraging the improvement of the horse, not
only imported many Barbs and Toorkman horses, but in 1828
established a veterinary school at Abou-Zabel, of which an
interesting account will be found in The Veterinarian, (vol vii,
p. 549, 1834,) and subsequent numbers. A haras, or breeding
establishment, was also founded, both under the care of
French veterinary surgeons. An anecdote of an exploit
of an Arab robber in Egypt, from " the Adventures of
Giovanni Finati," shall close this brief account of the Egyp-
tian horse.

"While some of the Mamelukes were encamped about
Minieh, a thief set his mind on carrying off the horse and
robe of one of their Beys. With this intent, at dead of night,
he contrived to slip unperceived into the tent, where, as it was
winter time, embers were burning, which showed him the rich
clothes of the Bey lying close at hand. The thief, as he
squatted down by the fire, drew them softly to him, and put
them all on ; and then, after filling a pipe and Hghting it,
went deHberately to the tent door and tapping a groom, who
was sleeping near, with the pipe end, made a sign to him for
the horse, which stood picketted in front. It was brought ;
he mounted and rode off. On the morrow, when the clothes
of the Bey could no where be found, none could form a con-
jecture as to what could become of them, until the groom, on
being questioned, maintained to his fellow servants that theii
master was not yet returned from his ride ! and told them how
he had suddenly called for his horse in the night, which at
last seemed to give some clue to what really happened Upon
this the Bey, anxious to recover his horse, as well as curious
to ascertain the particulars, ordered it to be published abroad,
that if the person who robbed him would, within two days,
bring back what he had taken, he should not only be freely
pardoned, but should receive also the full value of the animal
and of the suit of clothes.

" Relying on the good faith of this promise, and possibly,
too, not a little vain of his exploit, the Arab presented
himself, and brought his booty ; and the Bey also, on his part,
punctually kept his word ; but since, besides the loss, there
was something in the transaction that placed the Bey in rather
a ludicrous Hght, it went hard with him to let the rogue
depart so freely, and he seemed to be considering ^hat he
should do ; so that, to gain time, he was continually asking
over and over again fresh and more circumstantial accounts of
the manner in which the stratagem had been conducted : the
other was too crafty not to perceive that no good might be
preparing for him, and began to feel anxious to get safe out of
the scrape. He showed no impatience, however, but entered
minutely into every detail, accompanying the whole with a
great deal of corresponding action ; at one time sitting down

VARIETIES OP THE HORSE.

33

by the fire, and making believe as though he were slyly
ilrawing on the different articles of dress, so as to throw the
Bey himself, and all who saw and heard him, into fits of
laughter. When he came at last to what concerned the
horse, ' It was,' he said, ' brought to me, and I leaped upon
his back;' and so in effect flinging himself again into the
saddle, and spurring the flanks sharply with the stirrup-irons,
he rode off with all the money that he had received for the
animal in his pocket, and had got much too far, during the
first moments of surprise, for any of the bullets to take efiect
that were fired at him in his flight, and nothing further was
ever heard of him or the horse."

The country to the south of the great Sahara, we find a
kindred race to the Barb among the Foulahs, Jaloffs, Daho-
mans, Ashantees, and inhabitants of Benin. As we approach
the torrid zone, however, the horse much deteriorates ; and

I although we are told by authorities that the single nation of
Foulalis can muster sixteen thousand cavalry, the horses are
undersized. Bosman, in his accoimt of the Coast of Guinea,
says, " they are ill-shaped, and that they hang the ear and
head like the ass, that they are slow and obstinate, and
so low that a tall man sitting on their backs can touch the
ground with his feet." At Elmina, on the Slave-coast, he bought
half a dozen of these, but they were of little use in his inland
journey. In these wretched and savage regions, desolated by
the ferocious passions engendered by the slave-traffic, man and
the useful animals are equally debased and degenerate. It is,

I however, certain that tropical heat and the lack of wholesome
grasses are barriers to the due developement of the horse, and
that in temperate climes alone does he combine grandeur of
stature with beauty of form, courage, spirit, and endurance

IV. THE HORSE OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

The original horse of South Africa would appear to have
1 been a hardy, undersized, strong animal, presenting few quaH-
ties beyond endurance and slow strength.

Montgomery Martin, in that part of his history of the
British colonies which treats of the Cape of Good Ilope, has
the following observation respecting its horses : — " The horse
is not generally large, but it is extremely hardy. I have
ridden one upwards of twenty miles without ever going out of
a canter — the usual pace of the animal." A much fuller
accoimt of the Cape horse might have been given than this,
and certainly something far more interesting.

In its breed, in its shape, in its colour, and in its temper,
the horse of the Cape is very different from the English horse
of any kind. A century ago, possibly, the difference was greater
' even than it now is ; but, since the time when Lord Charles
Somerset was governor of the colony, the old Arab blood has
been more mixed with English than it was previously ; and,
now that the best of Enghsh blood is being yearly imported
there, it may be expected that in time the peculiarities of the
- Cape horse will disappear, and, as has been ' the case with
English horses, from an admixture of blood, something
excellent in its kind will be at length obtained.

Mr. Surtees, a good authority, tells us, that at the time of the
capture of the Cape, in 1806, the breed of horses there was
probably a cross between the Barb of North Africa and the
Persian or Arab : the latter must have been introduced by the
Dutch East India Company, but as to the time of introduction
of the former there is nowhere any record ; still there can be
no doubt that the Cape horse was in many respects Barb-bred.
In many points he yet resembles the horse of Spain, which
partakes of an African origin, and in no respect does ho more
approximate him than in his paces — the amble and the easy
canter are in both alike. It was during the administration oi
Lord Charles Somerset as governor that the English horse was
first imported to any extent ; and, owing to the interest which
that excellent sportsman took in the matter, much good has
been the result, not only in the immediate improvement of
blood, but also in the general interest that was then created on
the subject, and has never since subsided. In May, 1844,
Middleham, the winner of the Liverpool St. Leger in 1840
arrived at Cape Town ; and where could be found better blood,
or stouter, than that of Muley Moloch ? He has been followed
by a large number of blood and half-bred English horses.

The roan — or skimmel, as it is termed at the Cape — was a
colour scarcely, if at all, known before the days of Lord Charles.
It is now very common, and whether the blue or red, it is
supposed to be the healthiest and hardiest colour for horses.
The skimmel — or Lord Charles's colour, as it is also called —
is usually attended with black legs, and the hue (if such a
term is allowable) is generally extremely vivid ; but as every
why has its wherefore, and every beauty some drawback, so is
this colour either sure to be accompanied with ragged hips or
clumsy head, or in some way a want of symmetry Another
singular colour to be met with at the Cape is the flea-bitten
bay, or bay with white spots, which are in most cases on the
quarters ; but what is especially curious respecting this is, thai
all horses possessing it are natives of the same place. The
flea-bitten bay is known as the bay of the Burg river. It is
in shape and make, or, what are termed the good points of a
horse, that the Cape horse is so far inferior to the English.
Such a thing as good fore-legs are very rarely seen in the
colony ; yet this might easily be amended were more care
taken of the horse when young. A most detestable practice is
in vogue at that time of his life of tying one of his legs and
his head nearly close together, to jwevent escape from the
large tracts of pasture in which he feeds : the consequence ol
this is that, when first taken up for use, he is crippled in his
fore-legs, and to the end of his days will be a stumbler. To
add to this defect before, the probability is, he has a heavy,
straight shoulder — nothing is more common amongst all, even
the best. Cape horses. The principal imperfection of those
animals is, without doubt, their fore-legs : a good-thighed
horse may often be met with, but a long arm, with a short,
good leg, rarely. A flat, open foot, too, is a thing unfrequent ;
yet foot-lameness is not common imless from thrushes ; and
these are engendered by the shameful way in which the horse
is neglected when young, and the marshy state of the pasture

34

7AKIETIES OF THE HORSE.

during the rainy seasons. In the distant parts of the settle-
ment, and amongst the farmers, who are the principal breeders,
Buch a thing as a horse-shoe is seldom used ; but in the
vicinity of Cape Town this is not the case — the horse is shod
there as elsewhere, and, not unfrequently, he is shod all round.

Of the diseases and unsoundness which the Cape Horse is
subject to, the writer of this lately gained much information
from an officer of the 7th Dragoon Guards, who preceded
his regiment to the Cape to pui'chase their regimental
horses. No one could have been more indefatigable than this
gentleman in his duties, and when the price to which he was
limited (£26) is considered, no one could have been more suc-
cessful. For some weeks he scoured the country for horses far
and near ; he had, therefore, many opportimities of picking tip
many useful hints, and improving them by his own observation.
A species of glanders has been occasionally very prevalent ; but,
as an epidemic, it is nothing now to what it has been. A few
years back, several thousand horses fell victims to its ravages ;
these have been partially stopped, but the disease has not been
eradicated. Such a thing as a spavined horse he never once
saw, but curbs often ; and yet — wiU it be believed ? — the removal
of such things by the iron is unknown : and as to firing, if it
has been ever heard of by the farmer, it has assuredly never
been attempted. Such a thing as a pied horse is not to be met
with in the colony. But great is the want of veterinary
knowledge, and most lamentable is the ignorance of every-
thins connected with the modem treatment of the horse as
practised in England.

The temper of the Cape horse is its great recommendation :
it is rarely vicious, and this is best proved by the fact of geldings
being unfrequently used, as compared with the number of entire
horses. Now, as in the days of chivalry was the practice in
Europe, mares are kept for the stud, and no one thinks of riding
a mare. As, too, in those good " auld days lang sj-ne," the
amble is a common pace ; that and the canter are the best
paces of the Cape steed — the latter is particularly easy, yst it

is not so graceful to an English eye as the canter of the English
horse ; the step is shorter and the pace is more shuffling ; but,
were the animal properly broken, his paces of course might be
greatly improved.

Although the English groom would have much to teach the
Hottentot, yet the former would be much surprised if he saw
a team driven by the latter. When the word team is used
a team of six and even eight in hand, as well as four, is
intended. The ribbons are tolerably handled, but it is in the use
of his whip that the Hottentot coachman is mainly a proficient :
with a whip-handle of a long bamboo, sans the pliant top that
in a good whip is so serviceable, will a Cape Jehu completely
manage his foremost leaders, and, avoiding uneven ruts, drive
over extremely bad roads with great adroitness.

Captain Brown, in his " Biographical Sketches of Horses,"
gives the following interesting account of a ciicumstance that
occurred at the Cape of Good Hope. In one of the violent
storms that often occur there, a vessel was forced on the rocks,
and beaten to pieces. The greater part of the crew perished
miserably, as no boat could venture to their assistance. Mean-
while a planter came from his farm to see the wreck, and know-
ing the spirit of his horse and his excellence as a swimmer, he
determined to make a desperate effort for their deliverance, and
pushed into the thundering breakers. At first both disappeared,
but were soon seen on the surface. Nearing the wreck, he
caused two of the poor seamen to cUng to his boots, and so
brought them safe to shore. Seven times did he repeat this
perilous feat, and saved fourteen lives ; but alas ! the eighth
time, the horse being fatigued, and meeting with a formidable
wave, the gallant fellow lost his balance, and was overwhelmed
in a moment. He was seen no more, but the noble horse
reached the land in safety.

The importation of English thorough-bred stallions at the
Cape, and the institution of the Cape Town races have rapidly
improved the breed of first-rate horses, which now famishes
many fine animals for Indian service.

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

85

CHAPTER IV.

L THE AUSTRALIAN HORSE : II. THE HORSE OF SOUTH AMERICA : III. — THE HORSE OF N0RT?7 i^^WC^

THE AUSTRALIAN HORSE.

The sporting spirit of the Anglo-Saxon race has not dege-
nerated at the antipodes; and the vast continent of Australasia,
but yesterday boasting no quadrupeds more important than
the dingo, the kangaroo, or the omithorynchus, now shows
what can be effected in the way of improving the ordinary
imported breeds of the horse, under favourable circumstances
of soil, climate, and treatment.

On the discovery of Tasmania, or New Holland, and after-
wards of the larger continent, part of which was long
designated New South Wales, there was no indigenous speci-
men of the larger quadrupeds. The first horses in Australia were
procured from the Cape of Good Hope and a few from India.
These animals appear to have been got without selection, and to
have been but sorry brutes. Atkinson, writing as recently as
1824, says : — " They are but nags in size, and bred without
much care ; by no means sightly in appearance, being
narrow-chested and sharp-backed, as Vrell as deficient in the
quarters. They have an incurable habit of shying, and are
by no means surefooted." The unfavourable description of
Atkinson might, it seems, up to that period, be applied to
Van Diemen's Land and all other parts of Australasia where
the horse had been introduced. Adelaide, in South AustraKa,
seems to have been about the earhest place in which regular
races for pubHc money were advertised in this laud since so
famous for its " diggings." Up to a comparatively recent
period, says a local writer, the whole of the racing stock in
the colony might be traced to three or four imported horses :
an Arab — Abdallah — brought from Calcutta by Mr. Gleeson ;
the staUion Actaeon, bred in France by Lord Henry Seymour ;
and Kiah-Khan-Kreuse and Forlorn Hope, both imported
from England by Mr. Philcox in 1841. These, with one or
two horses from Sydney, at a later period, complete the then
Ust of South Australian stud horses. The Arab's stock has
proved but moderately good, and showed to little advantage
as young ones ; being deficient in stride they were easily cut
down by the produce of the English thorough-bred horse.*
This was soon found to be the case here as well as at Calcutta,
for a few " whalers," as the sporting men in Adelaide call
horses from New South Wales, being sent there, took all the
crack stakes from the Arabs.

Cattle, especially sheep, thriving so well, made the Aus-
tralian farmer soon ashamed of his horse, and the sporting
instinct carried him farther in the career of improvement.
The ordinary saddle and gig horse, too, shared in the advance.
" Bay Cameron, an English stallion standing near Sydney,
netted for his owner, for the first season or two, more than six

• Tht Turf in Australia. By a Pugrim Sportiman. In The Sportsman
for May 1867, p. 817.

hundred pounds per annum, and good horses rose twenty pei
cent, in value. Two hundred pounds were given in the
capital for a horse of fine figure and power, and nothing good
for saddle or harness could be got for less than fifty pounds."
The colony of West Australia seems to be peculiarly adapted
for the breeding of the horse, and seems Ukely to prove
the nursery for the supply of our cavalry in India ; an import-
ant stud formed by the now defunct East India Company has
been removed from Van Diemen's Land to that colony.

Mr. Peter Cunningham ( Two Years in New South Wales),
says of the native bred horses that they are remarkably hardy,
and can undergo considerable fatigue. " The greatest fault is
a heaviness of the head, with a considerable degree of obstinacy
and suDdness — as much, however, the fault of education as of
natural disposition."

Mr. Barton in his Excursions in Neic South Wales, adds,
speaking of a heavier animal for draught, " the breed is
rapidly improving, from the importation of some of the Cleve-
land breed from England." The true dray-horse, however,
was yet to be found, and could not be procured from any of
the native horses, not even with the assistance of the Cleve-
land. The mixture of English blood had not lessened the
endurance of the native breed ; for at the hottest time of the
year, with the tliermometer at times as high as ninety-six
degrees in the shade, the writer says he has ridden the same
animal fifty miles a day for three successive days. " They will
all go through a vast deal of work, but they would have more
endurance if they were not broken in for the saddle and for
harness so young. It is no unusual thing to ride them sixty
miles in less than seven hours, and immediately turn them out
to pick up what scanty herbage they can find."

Mr. Widowson {State of Van Diemen's Land, p. 194) tells us
that there are some diseases to which the horse is subject in
England, which are as yet unknown in New South Wales.
Glanders has never made its appearance there. Greasy heels,
the almost peculiar disease of Britain, have not been seen.
Strangles, however, are prevalent, and, the author of the
present work learns from a communication to the Veterinarian,
unusually severe.

In Van Diemen's Land the breed of horses, originally
derived from India, is good. A valuable race of cart-horses
is beginning to be formed. The riding-horses are small, but
they are hardy. Horses of every kind are sixty per cent,
dearer in Van Diemen's Land than in New South Wales •
because the colony is smaller, and the number of horses that
are bred is comparatively small. Their treatment is not sc
good as in the larger colony. Many of them know not the taste
of com, and, when it ia given to them, it is usually in the
straw.

.^6

VARIETIES OF THE HORSK

It would appear from a few sentences in the series of papers
contributed by Admiral Rous to Baily's Magazine* that the
gallant Admiral is an advocate for a less tender and luxurious
treatment of the horse, as tending to improve his hardihood
and stamina, and to render him less susceptible of disease from
sHght vicissitudes of temperature and weather. The experience
of Australia and of America woiild appear to support this
opinion.

A writer m The Sportsman, already referred to, says,
apropos of the racing stock in AustraHa, and the encourage-
ment to breeders : — " £350 was given in 1852 in Van Diemen's
• Land for a horse to run for the Adelaide Town Plate. This
very horse, Swordsman, was, however, beaten easily by an
Adelaide colt." South Australia, also seems to be well adapted
for a feeder for our Indian empire in respect of this noble and
useful animal, it being, with the exception of Swan River
or the Sound, the nearest point for importations ; while the
poisonous grasses which exist in these two last named quarters
must always be a bar to their being brought into any com-
petition for this object.

The course at Adelaide is situated on the park lands to the
south of the city ; it is an oval in shape. It boasts of a com-
modious stand ; always sure to be weU- filled, as the iuhabitants
are " racing mad," and on the day of a meeting, business is
almost suspended. " When the Queen's guineas were run for
the first year, there was a great sensation, and a very laudable
ambition to have them. It was not with men alone, however,
that this exhilaration was evident ; for the winner, Minna,
went to the post for the last heat as drunk as a lord, or rather
as any young lady might hope to be, having taken at least
two bottles of sherry to the health of Her Majesty."

By way of giving some notion as to the pace at which the
imported Australian race-horse can travel, we give a tabular
summary of a year's meeting.

The Racti.

The .Maiden Stakes
The Town Plate
Ut heat.

and „ .
3rd „ .
rhe Queen's Plate

The Distance.

A mile and a distance
Two mile heats.

The Tinu".

Min. Sec.
3 3

Lst heat .

2nd „ .
3rd „ .
I'he Ladies' Purse

1st. heat

2nd „ .
Coppin's Cop .

1st heat

2nd „ .
The Brewers' Purse
The Hurdle Race
' 1st Heat

2nd „ .
The Beaten Stakes
The Hack Stakes

lst heat

Heats, once round, about
a mile and a half —

Heats once round and a
distance —

Three-mile heats —

Three miles

Three miles

2nd

1^1

I]

12

6 331
6 42 I
6 20

341
32 '

6 24
3 12
3 8

Woahy

Mr. Baker's Jupiter, 2

.vrs., est. lib.
Mr. Coyhn's Swordsman,

6 yrs., lOst. 71b.
Mr. Vansittart's Lucifer,

4 yrs., 981.

Mr. Robinson's Reindeer,
5 yrs., 93t. 61b.

Mr.Coylin's United Irish-
man, 6 yrs., 9st. 61b.

Sir. Robinson's Fidget, 6
yrs., lOst. 51b.

Mr. Parton's Vandyke,
aged, 12st.

Mr. Baker's Abd-el-Kader
4 yrs., 9st.

Sir. Robinson's Fidget,
list. 71b.

Mr. Coylin's Lady Young,
2 yrs.

Mr. Worley's Young
Jangler.

Mr. Baker's Goody-Two-
Shoes.

Jangler ran second to Mr. Penny's Nimrod for the third heat of the Hack Stakes,
"jut the latter being disqualified, the stakes were given to Jangler.

' See Baily^s Magazine of SporU and Paiiimet, for April, 1860.

The formation of race courses throughout Queensland, in
the vicinity of Melbourne, Sydney, and all other consider-
able towns, indeed wherever the requisite support is ofi'ered,
is yearly progressing. Steeplechasing, too, is extending in
popularity. The importation of English thorough-breds is
increasing, so that Australia is yearly making a turf history
of her own. The great Australasian continent seems destined
to become the breeding stud of our new Indian Empire.

11. THE HORSES OF SOUTH AMERICA.

ALTrfOdGH the vast American continent has been destitute,
during the historic period, of the horse, fossil remains prove
him to have been a denizen of those regions at some remote
era — ^most probably one preceding the introduction of man
upon the earth. Professor Owen, in his " British Fossil
Mammals," remarks as follows on Fossil Equidae : — " The
species of Hqtitis which existed during the Miocene periods
of geology in both North and South America, appears to have
been blotted out of the Fauna of those continents before
the existence of man. The aborigines whom the Spanish
conquistadores found in possession of Peru and Mexico had
no tradition or hieroglyphic indicative of such a quadruped
and the horses the invaders imported from Europe were-
viewed with astonishment and alarm. The researches of
Mr. Darwin and Dr. Limd have indisputably proved that
the genus Eguus was represented during the PKocene
period by a species {Equiis curvidens), which is shown to be
distinct from the European fossils, and also from the
existing species. FossU remains of the horse have been found
also in North America. The geographical range of the genus
Equus was therefore more e."stensive at the Pliocene period than
that of the Rhinoceros, of which both the fossU and the existing
species are confined to the Old World of the geographers. The
horse, in its ancient distribution over both hemispheres of the
globe, resembles the Mastodon, and appears to have become
extinct in North America at the same time with the Mastodon
giganteus, and in South America with the Mastodon of the
Andes and the Megatherium. WeU may Mr. Darwin say, ' it
is a marvellous event in the history of animals, that a native
kind should have disappeared, to be succeeded in after ages by
the countless herds introduced with the Spanish conquerors.' "

The New World is indebted for the myriads of wild horses
which swarm upon the Pampas of the South and the Prairies
of the North, to the Spanish stock carried by Cortez to Mexico,
and to Peru by Pizarro. In genial cHmates it was natural
that, with abundant herbage and few dangerous enemies,
animals of such power and intelligence should increase and
multiply with great rapidity. Dr. Rengger notes the first
horses in Paraguay to have been imported from Spain and the
Canaries in 1537, and Azara found, in the archives of
Ascension, a document, proving that Irala, in 1551, bought a
Spanish horse for the sum of fifteen thousand florins.

According to .Herrera, the Spanish historian, horses were
objects of the greatest astonishment to the people of New
Spain. At first they imagined the horse and his rider,

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

37

like the Centaurs of the ancients, to be a horrible animal of a
compound form, and supposing that their food was that of men,
brought flesh-meat and bread to propitiate them. Even after
they discovered their mistake they believed the horses devoured
men in battle, and, when they neighed, thought they were
demanding tneir prey. A curious incident occurred when
Pizarro was on one occasion in great straits, being hemmed in
by a body of ten thousand men of resolute bearing, and eager
to drive the invaders into the sea. As the Spaniards were
making their way, hotly pressed, one of the cavaliers was
thrown fi'om his horse. This, which at first sight might seem
an untoward event, was the salvation of the party, for the
Indians were so astonished at this spontaneous separation of
what they supposed to be one and the same being, that not
knowing what would happen next, they instantly took to flight,
and left the coast clear for the Spaniards to reach their ships.

The inhabitants of the Isle of Peten listened attentively to
the preaching of the Franciscan friars who accompanied the
expedition of Cortez, and consented to the instant demolition
of their idols and the erection of the Cross upon their ruins.
How far these hurried conversions were founded on conviction
is shown by the following anecdote. Cortez on his departure
left among this friendly people one of his horses who had been
disabled by an injury in the foot. The Indians felt a reve-
rence for the animal as in some way connected with the mys-
terious power of the white men. When their visitors had gone,
they oSered flowers to the horse, and, as is said, prepared for
him many savoury messes of poultry, such as they would have
administered to their own sick. Under this extraordinary diet
the poor animal pined away and died. The Indians raised his
effigy in stone, and placing it in one of their temples, did
homage to it as to a deitj In 1618, when two Franciscan
friars came to preach the Gospel in these regions, then scarcely
better known to the Spaniards than before the time of Cortez,
one of the most remarkable objects which they found was this
statue of a horse, receiving the homage of the Indian worship-
pers as the God of thunder and lightning !

The admirable skill of the South Americans as horsemen i.s
everywhere acknowledged, and has been described by many
writers ; the following accoimt, however, by Mr. Darwin, is so
spirited that it conveys the best idea of their exploits.
" One evening a ' domidor ' (subduer of horses) came for
the purpose of breaking in some colts. I will describe the
preparatory steps, for I believe they have not been mentioned
by other travellers. A troop of wild young horses is driven into
the corral or large enclosures of stakes, and the door is shut.
We win suppose that one man alone has to catch and mount a
horse which as yet had never felt bridle or saddle. I conceive,
except by a Guacho, such a feat would be utterly impracticable.
The Guacho picks out a full grown colt ; and, as the beast
rushes round the circus, he throws his lasso so as to catch both
the front legs. Instantly the horse roUs over with a heavy
shock, and whilst struggling on the ground the Guacho,
holding the lasso tight, makes a circle so as to catch one of the
hind legs just beneath the fetlock, and draws it close to the two

front. He then liitches the lasso so that the tiirt-e legs are
bound together, then sitting on the horse's neck, lie f sed 8
strong bridle, without a bit, to the lower jaw. This he doet
by passing a narrow thong through the eyeholes at the end of
the reins, and several times round both jaw and tongue. The
two front legs are now tied closely together with a strong
leathern thong fastened by a slip knot ; the lasso which bound
the three together being then loosed, the horse rises with
difiiculty. The Guacho, now holding fast the bridle fixed to
the lower jaw, leads the horse outside the corral. If a second
man is present (otherwise the trouble is much greater), he
holds the animal's head, whilst the first puts on the horse
cloths and saddle and girths the whole together. During this
operation, the horse, from dread and astonishment at being thus
bound round the waist, throws himself over and over again on
the ground, and till beaten is unwilling to rise. At last, when
the saddling is finished, the poor animal can hardly breathe
from fear, and is white with foam and sweat. The man now
prepares to mount by pressing heavily on the stirrup, so that
the horse may not lose its balance ; and at the moment he
throws his leg over the animal's back he pulls the slip knot
and the beast is free. The horse, wild with dread, gives a few
most violent bounds, and then starts oS' at full gallop.*
When quite exhausted, the man by patience brings him back
to the corral, where, reeking hot and scarcely alive, the poor
beast is let free. Those animaLs which will not gallop away,
but obstinately throw themselves on the ground, are by far tho
most troublesome.

All travellers, who have crossed the plains extending from
the shores of La Plata to Patagonia, have spoken of the
nimierous droves of wild horses, the descendants of the Spanish
horses of Cortez, Pizarro, and their successors. 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 panther, the tiger, and the
leopard are their principal enemies. At some signal, intelli-
gible 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 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 dan-

• The man'ifaoture of the Guacho's boots is somewhat singular : — " The
boots of the Guachos are formed of the ham and part of the leg-skin of a colt
reeking from the mother, which is said to be sacriiiced for the sole purpose,
just at the time of bearing, when the hair has not begun to grow. At this
stage the skin strips off easily, and is very white and beautiful in texture and
and appearance. The ham forms the calf of the boot ; the hock easUy adapta
itself to the heel j and the leg above the fetlock constitutes the foot ; the
whole making a neat and elegant half boot, with an aperture sufficient for
the great toe to project through." — Andreic^s Journey in South America, vol* L
p. 26.

as

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

gerous 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.

Sir F. B. Head gives the following account of a meeting with
a troop of wild horses, where the country is more inhabited.
Some poor captured animals are supposed to be forced along by
their riders at their very utmost speed : — " As they are thus
galloping 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.*

" The little innocent colts come running to meet him, and then
start away frightened : while old horses, whose white marks
on the flanks and backs betray their acquaintance with the
spur and saddle, walk slowly away for some distance, then,
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 noses from right to left, and carrying their long
tails high in the air."

The same pleasing writer describes the system of horse-
management among the rude inhabitants of the plains of South
America. They have no stables, no fenced pastures. One
horse is usually kept tied at the door of the hut, fed scantily
at night on maize ; or at other times several may be enclosed
'in the corral, which is a circular space surrounded by rough
posts, driven firmly into the ground. The mares are never
ridden, or attempted to be tamed, but wander with their foals
wherever they please.

Miers, in his " Travels in Chili," thus describes the ksso,
simple in its construction, but all-powerful in the hands of the
Guacho.

" The lasso is a missile weapon used by every nati/e of the
United Provinces and Chili. It is a very strong plaited thong
of equal thickness, half an inch in diameter, and forty feet
long, made of many strips of green hide, plaited Mke a whip-
thong, and rendered supple by grease. It has, at one end, an
iron ring above an inch and a half in diameter, through which
the thong is passed, and this forms a running noose. The
Guacho, or native Peon, is generally moimted on horseback
when he uses the lasso. One end of the thong is afiBxed to his
saddle girth : the remainder he coils carefdly in his left hand,
leaving about twelve feet belonging to the noose-end, in a coil,
half of which he holds in his right hand. He then swings
this long noose horizontally round his head, the weight of the
iron ring at the end of the noose assisting in giving it, by a
continued centrifugal motion, of sufficient force to project it the
whole length of the Hne.

" When the Guachos," says the same writer, " wish to have a

• 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," states that it is only in
more modem times that mares be|;an to be ridden in Russia.

grand breaking- in, they drive a whole herd of wild horses into the
corral. The corral was quite full of horses, most of which were
young ones, about two or three years old. The capitar (chief
Guacho), mounted on a strong steady horse, rode into the corral
and threw his lasso over the neck of a young horse, and dragged
him to the gate. For some time he was very unwilling to
leave his comrades ; but the moment he was forced out of the
corral his first idea was to gallop away: however, a timely
jerk of the lasso checked him in the most efi'ectual way. The
peons now ran after him on foot, and threw a lasso over his
fore-legs, just above the fetlock, and twitching it, they pulled
his legs from under him so suddenly that I really thought the
tall he got had kiUed him. In an instant a Guacho was
seated on his head, and with his long knife, and in a few
seconds, cut off the whole of the horse's mane, while another
cut the hair from the end of his tail. This they told me was a
mark that the horse had been once mounted. They then put
a piece of hide into his mouth, to serve for a bit, and a strong
hide halter on his head. The Guacho who was to mount
arranged his spurs, which were unusually long and sharp, and
while two men held the horse by his ears he put on the saddle,
which he girthed extremely tight. He then caught hold oi
the horse's ear, and in an instant vaulted into the saddle ; upon
which the man who held the horse by the halter threw the end
to the rider, and from that moment no one seemed to take any
further notice of him.

" The horse instantly began to jump in a manner which
made it very difficult for the rider to keep his seat, and quite
different from the kick or plunge of an English horse : how-
ever, the Guacho's spurs soon set him going, and off he
galloped, doing everything in his power to throw his rider.

" Another horse was immediately brought from the corral,
and so quick was the operation, that twelve Guachos were
mounted in a space which I think hardly exceeded an hour.
It was wonderful to see the different maimer in which different
horses behaved. Some would actually scream while the
Guachos were girding the saddle upon their backs ; some
would instantly lie down and roU upon it ; while some would
stand without being held — their legs stiff, and in unnatural
positions, their necks half bent towards their tails, and looking
vicious and obstinate ; and I could not help thinking that I
woidd not have mounted one of those for any reward that
could be offered me, for they were invariably the most difficult
to subdue.

" It was curious to look around and see the Guachos on the
horizon, in different directions, trying to bring their horses back
to the corral, which is the most difficult part of their work ; for
the poor creatures had been so scared there that they were
unwilHng to return to the place. It was amusing to see the
antics of the horses — they were jumping and dancing in
different ways, while the right arm of the Guachos was seen
flogging them. At last they brought the horses back, apparently
subdued and broken in : the saddles and bridles were taken oS,
and the young horses trotted off towards the corral, neighing
to one another."

VAKIETIES OF THE HORSE.

8S)

When the Guacho wishes to take a wild horse, he mounts
one that has been used to the sport, and gallops over the
plain. As soon as he comes sufficiently near his prey, " the
lasso is thrown round the two hind legs, and as the Guacho
rides a Httle on one side, the jerk pulls the entangled horse's
feet laterally, so as to throw hiin on his side, without endan-
gering his knees or his face. Before the horse can recover the
shock, the rider dismounts, and snatching his poncho or cloak
from his shoulders, wraps it round the prostrate animal's head.
He then forces into his mouth one of the powerful bridles of
the country, straps a saddle on his back, and bestriding him,-
removes the poncho ; upon which the astonished horse springs
on his legs, and endeavours by a thousand vain efforts to
disencumber himself of his new master, who sits quite com-
posedly on his back, and, by a discipHne which never fails,
reduces the horse to such complete obedience, that he is soon
trained to lend his whole speed and strength to the capture of
his companions.''

These animals possess much of the form of the Spanish
horse, from which they sprung ; they are tamed, as has been
seen, with far less difficulty than could be thought possible ;
and, although theirs is the obedience of fear, and enforced at
first by the whip and spur, there are no horses who so soon
and so perfectly exert their sagacity and their power in the
service of man. They are possessed of no extraordinary
speed, but they are capable of enduring immense fatigue.
They are frequently ridden fifty or sixty miles without drawing
bit, and have been urged on by the cruel spur of the Guacho,
more than a hundred nules, and at the rate of twelve miles
in the hour.

Like the Arab horses, they know no intermediate pace
between the walk and the gaUop. Although at the end ox a.
day so hard their sides are horribly mangled, and they are com-
pletely exhausted, there is this consolation for them — they are
immediately turned loose on the plains, and it will be their
own fault if they are speedily caught again. The mare is
occasionally killed for food, and especially on occasions of
unusual festivity. General San Martin, during the war
of independence, gave a feast to the Indian allies attached to
his army, at which mares' flesh, and the blood mixed with
gin, formed the whole of the entertaioment.

On such dry and sultry plains the supply of water is often
scanty ; and then a species of madness seizes on the horses,
and their generous and docile qualities are no longer recog-
nized. They rush violently into every pond and lake, savagely
mangling and trampling upon one another ; and the carcases
of many thousands of them, destroyed by their fellows, have
occasionally been seen lq and around a considerable pool. This
is one of the means by which the too rapid increase of this
quadruped is, by the ordinance of Nature, prevented.

In ChOi a horse is not considered perfectly broken till he
can be brought up standing in the midst of his full speed on any
particular spot ; for instance, on a cloak thrown on the ground ;
or again, will charge a wall, and, rearing, scrape the surface with
hishoofe. I have seen," says Mr. Darwin, " an animal bounding

with spirit, yet merely reined by a forefinger and thumb, taker
at full gallop across a court-yard, and then made to wheel
round the post of a verandah with great speed, but at so equal
a distance that the rider, with outstretched arm, all the while
kept one finger rubbing the post, then making a demi-volte in
the air with the other arm outstretched in a like manner, he
wheeled round with astonishing force in the opposite direction.
Such a horse is well broken ; and although this at first may
appear useless, it is far otherwise. It is only carrying that
which is daily necessary into perfection. When a bullock is
checked and caught by the lasso, it will sometimes gallop
round and round in a circle, and the horse being alarmed ai
the great strain, if not well broken, will not readily turn like
the pivot of a wheel. In consequence many men have been
killed ; for if a lasso once takes a twist round a man's body, it
win instantly, from the power of the two animals, almost cut
him in twain. On the same principle the races are managed
The course is only two or three hundred yards long, the desi-
deratum being, to have horses that can make a rapid dash.
The racehorses are trained not only to stand with their hoofs
touching a line, but to draw all four feet together, so as at the
first spring to biing into play the fuU action of the hind
quarters. In Chili I was told an anecdote, which I believe
was true, and it offers a good illustration of the use of a well
broken animal. A respectable man riding one day met two
others, one of whom was mounted on a horse, which he knew
to have been stolen from himself. He challenged them ; they
answered by drawing their sabres and giving chase The man
on his good and fleet beast kept just ahead ; as he passed a
thick bush he wheeled round it, and brought up his horse to
a dead check. The pursuers were obliged to shoot on one side
and ahead. Then instantly dashing on right behind them, he
buried his knife in the back of one, wounded the other,
recovered his horse from the dying robber, and rode home !
Animals are so abundant in these countries that humanity
is scarcely known. Mr. Darwin was one day riding in the
Pampas with a very respectable " Estanciero," when his horse
being tii-ed, lagged behind. The man often shouted to him to
spur him, when I remonstrated that it was a pity, for the
horse was quite exhausted; he cried: " AVhy not? — never
mind. Spur him — it is my horse !" When, after some diffi-
culty, he was made to understand that it was for the horse's
sake that the spurs were not used, he exclaimed with great
surprise : " Ah ! Don Carlos, am cosa !" The idea had never
before entered his head.

In England the powers of horses in swimming are but
little tested, but in South America the case is difi'erent, as
shown by an incident mentioned by Mr. Darwin. " I crossed
the Lucia near its mouth, and was surprised to observe how
easily our horses, although not used to swim, passed over a
width of at least six hundred yards. On mentioning this at
Monte Video, I was told that a vessel containing some moun-
tebanks and their horses being wrecked in the Plata, one horse
swam seven miles to the shore. In the course of the day I
was amused by the dexterity with which a Guacho forced a

4U

VARIETIES Of THE HOKSE.

restive horse to swim a river. He stripped off his clothes and
jumping on his back, rode into the water till it was out of its
depth ; then slipping off over the crupper he caught hold of
the tail, and as often as the horse turned round, the man
frightened it back by splashing water in its face. As soon as
the horse touched the bottom on the other side the man pulled
himself on, and was firmly seated, bridle in hand, before the
horse gained the bank. A naked man on a naked horse is a
fine spectacle. I had no idea how weU the two animals suited
each other. The tail of a horse is a very useful appendage.
I have passed a river in a boat with four people in it, which
was ferried across in the same way as the Guacho. If a man
and horse have to cross a broad river, the best plan is for the
man to catch hold of the pommel or mane, and help himself
with the other arm."

We have already said that the wild horses of South and
North America retain the size and form of the weU-bred horse,
after three centuries. A collateral testimony against the
theory of an entire change, such as we see ia the extreme
varieties of this animal, having been the result of domes-
tication on the one hand, or a relapse to a state of nature on
the other.

The Frencn introduced the horse into the Falkland Islands
in 1764, and since that period they have wonderfully multi-
plied. The horses in these islands are always found on the
eastern side of East Falkland, although there is no natural
boundary, and that part of the island is by no means more
fertile than the rest. The predominant colours of these horses
are roan and iron grey. Mr. Darwin says they are rather
small-sized, but are generally in good condition.

In South America the horse was first landed at Buenos
Ayres in 1537, and the colony being for a time deserted it ran
wild. In 1580, forty-three years after, horses were found
wild at the Straits of Magellan ; horses, too, that showed
plainly their Spanish origin.

Of the multitudes now ranging the Pampas we may form
some estimate by the fact that in 1850-1854 Monte Video and
Buenos AjTes exported annually 90,000 lbs. of hides, and
9,500,000 lbs. of horsehair. The natives of Terra del Fuego
are now weU-stocked with horses, each man having six or
seven, and all the women and children each their own horse.
The horse is now found over the whole continent of America. Sir
John Richardson, in his Fauna Boreali- Americana, says it is
numerous among the wandering Indians who hunt the buffalo
in the Paskatchewan and on the Missouri.

111. THE HORSES OF NORTH AMERICA.

Of the several varieties of the horses of North America, the
most prominent are : — the Canadian, the Conestoga, and the
English horse.

The Canadian is a hardy animal, and found, as its name
denotes, in the northern states. It is an excellent sledge-horse,
and well adapted for light-wheeled vehicles. One of them
has been known to draw a light waggon over the ice a distance
of ninety miles in twelve hours. He is small of stature but

compact, and grows a furry coat in winter time, when his shocE
are " roughed " by the insertion of two or three steel screws to
give him foothold. The Canadian horse is most willing at
collar, and altogether a serviceable and staimch animal. He
is generally supposed to be of French origin, which is pro-
bable, as he shows no remarkable " points." He is much
neglected, fares hardly, and is seldom groomed, in the English
sense. With a cross of the EngHsh horse this breed has
produced some of the celebrated trotters, with which the
Yankees have challenged and beaten the world in that peculiar
pace. But this we shall defer speaking of at length tiU we
come to " The Paces of the Horse."

The Conestoga horse is a tall and somewhat leggy animal,
light in the carcass, foimd principally in Pennsylvania, where
he is bred for carriage-purposes. Some of these horses stand
17 hands high. We suspect them to be originally an English,
Flemish, or Dutch importation. As some of our readers may
remember Mr. Carter " the Lion King's " mammoth horse,
" General Washington," standing nineteen hands, exhibited
in London a few years since, we may observe that, to the
writer's knowledge, the " General " was bred in this country
at Northampton. When of good form and close ribbed up.
the Conestoga horse fetches a long price, and has been used
in the hunting field.

The horses of the United States present every yariety of the Old
World ; crosses of the English thorough-bred and of the Eastern
horse being frequent. Much attention is paid in the States to
the improvement of the breed. In the northern States horse
races have been established and the usages of the British turi
adopted. Indeed, our American cousins have improved their
racehorses to a degree equal to our own, by sticking to the
i«r\e blood. The renowned Shark is ancestor of many oi
the best Virginian horses ; TaUyho by Highflyer figures in the
pedigrees of the racers of New Jersey ; while at a later
period they had the discrimination to buy the best produce,
as well as some of our very first staUions, such as Precipitate,
Diomed, Priam, Trustee, Glencoe, &c. They adhere too tu
the principles adopted by our earlier turf-men, of breeding
only from stallions who could stay a distance ; " and very
naturally," says Admiral Rous, " seeing that all their great
prizes and matches vary from two to four miles. We did the
same until the commencement of the present centur)^ when,
the great stakes being made for shorter distances, it was soon
ascertained that the sons of the stout old staUions could not
win a 2,000 guineas stake against the blood of Rubens, Castrel
and Sehm. But if the Americans have bred for stoutness, we
cannot blind ourselves to the fact, that though the American
mare Prioress was the best four-mile mare in England in
1859, one half of the American racers brought to this country
to do a good thing cannot last more than three quarters of a
mile : such is the lottery of breeding race-horses. The com-
parative stoutness of the American and English racehorse has
yet to be decided." An attempt was made by Mr. Ten Broeck
to win the Derby with tlie American horse Umoire, but failed
for lack of quality and unskilful preparation.

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

41

The breeds of the West Indies are from England or the
mainland, those of Cuba from Spain.

Professor Low,* incidentally speaking of the horses of North
America, observes : — " North America seems as well adapted
to the temperament of the horse as any similar countries in
the old continent. The Mexican horses are derived from,
but somewhat deteriorated by, a less careful management.
Mexican horses have likewise escaped into the woods and
savannahs, and although they have not multiplied, as in the
plains of the Plata, thence they have descended northward to
the Rocky Mountains, and the sources of the Columbia. The
Indians of the country have learned to pursue and capture
them, employing them in hunting, and transporting their
families from place to place — the first great change that has
taken place for ages in the condition of the Red Man of the
North American woods. The highest ambition of the young
Indian of these northern tribes, is to possess a good horse for
the chase of the buffalo. The Osages form large hunting
parties for the chase of horses in the country of the Red
Canadian River, using relays of fresh horses, until they have
run down the wild herds To steal the horse of an adverse
tribe, is considered as an exploit almost as heroic as the killing
of an enemy, and the distances that they will travel and the
privations they wiU undergo in these predatory excursions are
scarcely to be believed."

Among the North American Indians the Camancliees held
the first rank as equestrians ; racing was with them a constant
and almost iucessant exercise, and a fruitful source of gambling.
Among their feats of riding is one described by Mr. CatHn, as
having astonished him more than anything in the way of
horsemanship ; and it is a stratagem of war familiar to every
young man of the tribe. At the instant he is passing an
enemy he will drop his body on the opposite side of the horse,
supporting himself with his heel on the horse's back. In this
position, lying horizontally, he will hang, whilst his horse is at
his fullest speed, carrying with him his shield, bow and arrows,
aud lance, fourteen feet long, all or either of which he will
wield with the utmost facility, rising and throwing his arrows
over the horse's back, or under his neck, throwing himself up
to his proper position, or changing to the other side of the
horse if necessary. The actual way in which this is is done is
as follows : — A short hair halter is passed under the neck of
the horse, and both ends tightly braided into the mane, leaving
a loop to hang under the neck and against the breast. Into
this loop the rider drops his elbow suddenly and fearlessly,
leaving his heel to hang over the back of the horse to steady
him and enable him to regain the upright position.

The following very singular custom prevailed among the tribe
of North American Indians known as the "Foxes." Of it Mr.
Catlin was an eye-witness : " When," says he, " General
Street and I anived at Kee-o-kuk's village, we were just in
time to see this amusing scene on the prairie, at the back of
his village. The Foxes, who were making up a war-party to

• Domestic Quadrupeds of the British Islands. Longmans.
F

go against the Sioux, and had not suitable horses enough bj
twenty, had sent word to the ' Sacs' the day before, according
to ancient custom, that they were coming on that day, at a
certain hour, to ' smoke' that number of horses, and they must
not fail to have them ready. On that day, and at the hour,
the twenty young men who were beggars for horses were on
the spot, and seated themselves on the ground in a circle,
where they went to smoking. The villagers flocked round
them in a dense crowd, and soon after there appeared on the
praririe, at half a mile distance, an equal number of young
men of the Sac tribe, who had agreed each to give a horse,
and who were then galloping them round at full speed, and
gradually, as they went around in a circuit, coming nearer to
centre, until they were at last close around the ring of young
fellows seated on the ground. Whilst dashing about thus,
each one with a heavy whip in his hand, as he came within
reach of the group on the ground, selected the one to whom he
decided to present his horse, and as he passed gave him the
most tremendous cut with his lash over the naked shoulders :
and as he darted round again, he pHed the whip as before, and
again and again with a violent ' crack,' until the blood could
be seen trickling down over his naked shoulders, upon which
he instantly dismounted, and placed the bridle and whip in
his hands, saying, " Here, you are a beggar ; I present you a
horse, but you will carry my mark on your back.' In this
manner they were all, in a httle while, ' whipped up,' and each
had a good horse to ride home and into battle. His necessity
was such that he could afford to take the stripes and the scars
as the price of the horse, and the giver could afford to make
the present for the satisfaction of putting his mark on the
other, and of boasting of his hberality."

Mr. Catlin gives an interesting account of his faithful iiorse
" Charley," a noble animal of the Camanchee wild breed, which
had formed as strong an attachment for his master as his
master for him. The two halted generally on the bank of
some little stream, and the first thing done was to imdress
Charley, and drive down the picket to which he was fastened,
permitting him to graze over a circle limited by his lasso. On
a certain evening, when he was grazing as usual, he managed
to shp the lasso over his head, and took his supper at his
pleasure as he was stroUing round. When night approached,
Mr. Catlin took the lasso in hand, and endeavoured to catch
him, but he continually evaded the lasso until dark, when his
master abandoned the pursuit, making up his mind that he
should inevitably lose him, and be obliged to perform the rest
of the journey on foot. Returning to his bivouac, in no
pleasant state of mind, he laid down on his bear-skin and went
to sleep. In the middle of the night he awoke whilst lying on
his back, and, half opening his eyes, was petrified at beholding,
as he thought, the huge figure of an Indian standing over him,
and in the very act of stooping to take his scalp ! The chiU of
horror that paralysed him for the first moment held him still
tin he saw there was no need of moving ; that his faithful
horse had played shy till he had filled his belly, and had then
moved up from feelings of pure affection, and taken his

42

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

position with his fore feet at the edge of his master's bed, and
his head hang;ing over him, in which attitude he stood fast
asleep.

When sunrise came the traveller awoke and beheld his
faithful servant at a considerable distance, picking up his
breakfast among the cane brake at the edge of the creek. Mr.
Catlin went busily to work to prepare his own, and having
eaten it, had another haJf-hour of fruitless endeavours to catch
Charley, who, in the most tantalizing manner, would turn
round and roimd, just out of his master's reach. Mr. Catlin,
recollecting the evidence of his attachment and dependence
afforded by the previous night, determined on another course of
proceeding, so packed up his traps, slung the saddle on his
back, trailed his gun, and started unconcernedly on his route.
After advancing about a quarter of a mile he looked back, and
saw Master Charley standing with his head and tail very high,
looking alternately at him and at the spot where he had been
encamped, and had left a little fire burning. Thus he stood
for some time, but at length walked with a hurried step to the
spot, and seeing everything gone, began to neigh very violently,
and, at last, started off at fullest speed and overtook his master,
passing within a few paces of him, and wheeling about at a
few rods distance, trembling like an aspen leaf. Mr. Catlin
called him by his familiar name, and walked up with the bridle
on his hand, which was put over Charley's head as he held it
down for it, and the saddle was placed on his back as he

actually stooped to receive it. When all was arranged, and hit
master on his back, off started the noble animal, as happy and
contented as possible.

Many of the American prairies swarm not only with buffaloes,
but with numerous bands of wild horses, proud and playful
animals, rejoicing in all the exuberance of freedom, and sweep-
ing the earth with their flowing manes and tails. The usual
mode of taking them by the North American Indians is by
means of the lasso. When starting for the capture of a wild
horse, the Indian mounts the fleetest steed he can get, and
coiling the lasso under his arm, starts off at full speed till he
can enter the band, when he soon throws the lasso over the
neck of one of the number. He then instantly dismounts,
leaving his own horse, and runs as fast as he can, letting the
lasso pass out gradually and carefully through his hands, until
the horse falls half suffocated, and lies helpless on the ground.
The Indian now advances slowly towards the horse's head,
keeping the lasso tight upon his neck until he has fastened a
pair of hobbles upon his fore feet ; he now loosens the lasso,
and adroitly casts in a noose round the lower jaw, the animal,
meanwhile, rearing and plunging. Advancing warily hand
over hand, the man at length places his hand over the animal's
eyes, and on its nose, and then breathes into its nostrils, on
which the horse becomes so docile and thoroughly conquered,
that his captor has little else to do but to remove the hobbles
from his feet, and ride or lead it into camp.

CHAPTER V.

THE HORSES OF EUROPE. TURKEY, GREECE : SOUTHERN AKTD WESTERN RUSSIA : HUNGARY : POLAND, PRUSSIA : DENMARK AND

HOLSTEIN : NORAVAY, SWEDEN, FINLAND AND LAPLAND : AUSTRIA, BAVARIA : HOLLAND, BELGIUM : FRANCE : ITALY : SPAIN
AND PORTUGAL.

We shall not dwell at great length on the horses of Europe,
inasmuch as the oiiginal races of that quadruped are, except
in some few isolated instances, almost without a history ; and
in more modem times, the continual intercourse among the
more civilized countries of the continent has so blended and
toned down the distinctive characteristics of race, as to make
absolute and clear lines of demarcation impossible. Never-
theless, a few brief paragraphs, arranged systematically, and
travelling westward until, in our next chapter, we shall reach
our own " tight little island," are necessary to our plan,
and we begin with

TURKEY IN EUROPE.

Our general notice of the Barb, Toorkman, and Arab, in
" the Horses of Africa and Asia," dispenses with the necessity
of much remark on the Turkish horse. The tenn " Turk "
for two centuries was a general one, meaning any horse that
came from the Sultan's or even the Shah's dominions. The
Byeiley, Helmsley, Acaster, Belgrade, and other " Turks "

thus came from Buda (in Hungary), Belgrade (Servia), Con-
stantinople, Syria, Tunis, Tripoli and Morocco ; a sufiiciently
wide range to have furnished us with horses bearing the same
name, but of widely different parent stock.

The modem Turkish horse originally, would be the Greek
horse of the countries once comprised in the Lower Empire. The
irruption of the Turks into Europe in the thirteenth and four-
teenth centuries brought with that nation of cavahy the
Asian horse in myriads, while the African horse, in like way,
made, under the fierce followers of Islam, a similar invasion
of the Spanish peninsula. Though fine and stately horses are
seen in various parts of Turkey, they are, from the neglect of
the European Turk of the first principles of breeding, generally
importations from Asia or Africa. The horses of the Northern
provinces — WaUachia, Moldavia, and on the banks of the
Pruth — partake more of the Cossack character, though oi
better size and roundness, owing to superior and more persistent
natural pasturage.

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

4a

GREECE.

In ancient times the horses of Greece stood high in esteem ;
witness the numerous representations of horsemen on friezes
of their temples : that of the temple of Minerva, in the
AcropoKs of Athens, is the best known. We may observe,
en passant, that while the sculptured representations of the
men are perfect, if these horses are faithful, they were heavy
animals, with poor quarters as compared with their forearms,
pretematurally heavy forehand, the shortest of short necks,
and a long barrel. They bear a resemblance in many points
to the German horse of the middle ages. It is probable these
were exaggerations of the bad points of the Thessalian horses,
so much lauded in ancient writers. The modem Greek horse has
not kept pace with his improvement in other countries, and
has merely the credit of being a surefooted animal with con-
siderable strength.

SOUTHERN AND WESTERN RUSSIA.

Of late years the indigenous breeds of this portion of the
empire have been greatly improved, especially in the charac-
teristics of blood for the saddle, and size for the heavy cavalry
of the " crack " regiments ; this has been effected by the
importation of stallions from England, Prussia, and Holsteia —
the two latter famishing the cross for the heavier animal, and
England the blood, speed, and bottom.

The Emperor Nicholas of Russia established races in differ-
ent parts of his vast empire for the improvement of the Cos-
sack and other horses. On the 20th of September, 1836, the
races at Ouralsk took place. The distance to be run was
eighteen versts, or about four and a half French leagues —
rather more than ten miles. Twenty-one horses of the military
stud of the Cossacks of Oural started for the first heat, and
which was won in twenty-five minutes and nineteen seconds
by a horse belonging to the Cossack Bourtche-Tchurunief.
The second race was disputed by twenty-three horses of the
Kirghese Cossacks, and which was won in twenty-five minutes
and five seconds by the horse of the Cossack Siboka-Isterlai.
On the following day the winners of the two first heats strove
for the point of honour. The course was now twelve versts —
three French leagues, or about six miles and three quarters.
It was won in fifteen minutes by the horse of the Cossack
Bourtche-Tchurunief. The Russian noblemen who were
present, admiring the speed and stoutness of the horse, were
anxious to purchase him ; but the Cossack replied that "All the
gold in the world should not separate him from his friend, his
brother."*

In Southern and Western Russia, and in Russian Poland,
the breeding of horses has lately occupied the attention of the
land proprietors, and has constituted a very considerable part
of their annual iacome. There is scarcely now a seignorial
residence to which there is not attached a vast court, in four
large divisions, and surrounded by stables. In each of the
angles of this court is a passage leading to beautiful and

* Journal df ffarat, Jan. 1837, p. 266

extensive pasture-grounds, divided into equal compartments,
and all of them having convenient sheds, under which the
horses may shelter themselves from the rain or the sun. From
these studs a larger kind of horse than that of the Cossacks is
principally supphed, and more fit for the regular cavalry troops,
and also for pleasure and parade, than common use. The
remounts of the principal corps in Germany are derived hence ;
and from the same source the great fairs in the different states
of the German empire are occasionally suppHed.

The stud of the Russian Countess Orloff Tshesmensky, in
the province of Valonese, contains thirteen hundred and
twenty horses, Arabs, English, natives, and others. The
ground attached to it amounts to nearly eleven hundred acres ;
and the number of grooms, labourers, and others, is more than
four thousand. The sum realised by the sale of horses is of
considerable annual amount ; and they are disposed of not
only on the spot itself, but in the regular markets both of St.
Petersburgh and Moscow.

Of the most recent improvers of the Russian horse, foremost
stands Baron Ippolyte Petrofiski, who with Mr. Aveson as his
stud-groom, and George Dockeray as his trainer and jockey,
has given of late years an immense impetus to racing among
the Russian nobility. A recent writer thus sketches the
Baron and his stud : —

Sixty-three summers have done little to blanch his hair,
dim his eye, or bend his light wiry frame erect, as becomes
a captain of the Imperial Guard.

The English Stud Book is his Koran, and in his Ubrary may
also be found every Racing Calendar and Sporting Magazine
that has ever seen the light. He is himself an author, and
has been at the pains of publishing, in the Russian language,
a most complete synopsis of the celebrated staUions in England
from 1811. It enters with the greatest accuracy into the
nxmiber of years they were in the stud, the price at which
they covered, and the dams of their most celebrated winners.
Upwards of 135 paintings or engravings of racers and sporting
subjects adorn his rooms ; and if there was an alarm of fire,
we are afraid that his gallery of old Dutch and Italian masters
would be left to take their chance, till those well-loved forms
of Derby and Leger renown were safe out of harm's way.

His views upon racing are best told in his own simple way •,
but we must premise that Elliot, Robinson, Dockeray, Ford,
Yates, &c., have wrought a wondrous xhange in training, and
have no greater admirer than himself. " You hke the horses
of old stock," he says, in writing to a friend, " and old form,
which I also prefer to the new-fashioned, who win great
prizes on a short distance. Our Russian men are quite
ignorant in training. The English who come here are mostly
grown-up boys, too heavy for riding, and also inexpert They
cannot understand yet the difference between our chmate and
the English. We have only two months to prepare horses
for the races, that is May and June. The horses are led 500
versts,* with all the road inconveniences. They change watei

* A Tertt U two-thirds of ■ mile.

44

VARIETIES OF THE HORSK

and food, and suffer much before they come to the racing place.
All that is not easy for a racing horse to endure. Our prizes
are not worth carrying food and water, and the horse itself in
equipage. It would be supportable yet, for once, to travel
500 versts, but they go again 200 versts and run, and then
again 500 versts, and then 200 versts, and run again."

The Baron breeds his horses at one of his estates, and
trains at another, where his string do their work in the
winter, without shoes, on frozen snow, regularly harrowed for
the purpose. The ground is, however, mostly flat, without any
extent or variety of gallops. The breeding farm is bordered
by a noble river of great width, and in summer, when the flies
teaze the young foals to distraction, they dash in and swim,
while their dams watch them placidly from the bank, and
occasionally join in the sport. If a ten-stone by five-feet-eight
figure is seen standing by, in a blue tunic, and trowsers tucked
inside his boots, it is even betting that it is the Baron himself,
meditating on Moscow or Crenavoy Meetings to come. Many
of them have excellent hind-leg action, and their owner
invariably attributes it to their early swimming habits. The
brood mares alone number about 160, some of which are still
unbroken, and most of them never trained. The blood is,
strictly speaking, a cross between the Russian and Asiatic
mares, and the English horses imported by Government —
Memnon, General Chass^, Van Tromp, Andover, &c. ; and the
stock are generally browns, of great length and on short legs,
having all the Arab deficiency of shoulder, but catching the
Eastern character in their fine eye and small nostrils, and
bearing the Sir Hercules crest.

The Baron also rather prides himself upon his breed of
trotting horses, and he gave for Barklay, one of the best sires
of that stamp, 11,000 roubles*. We beHeve that one of his
best, once trotted eight versts under the sixteen minutes ; and
they are also used for racing in droskies on the ice, where the
courses are marked out by bushes, and range from 15 to 25
versts.

A Surplice and an Irish Birdcatcher brood mare have gone
out to the Baron's, along with Rifleman, who was purchased
by his son for the Government. In 1859 his racing stud
consisted of seventeen horses in training, fifty brood mares,
twenty-five two-year olds, nearly as many yearlings and foals
respectively, while Signal, Granite, and Bombardier are the
principal sires. The Signals are his best racing stock. One
of them out of Minerva is christened Maxfield after an English
friend ; but its half-brother, a four-year old grey, of singular
beauty, out of Vesta by Barefoot, has never yet been trained.

The spring opens for training in April, and on June 7th the
racing season begins at Moscow, where the Baron gives 500
silver roubles in prizes. The Moscow Meeting then lasts for a
month ; they race for three days out of the seven, and have
four or five races per day. The Jockey Club, of which Baron
Petroffski is an active member, have a stand of their own, and
the horses are entered the night before at their rooms. There

*• The rouble i» it. ad.

is very little betting, and that has been principally introduced
by the English jockeys, who are too true to their old Tatter-
saU's instincts. The Toola Meeting is on July 8th, and on
August 18th the one at Crenavoy begins. Here the Baron
has lately beat the Government on their own ground ; but the
advantage of home training is always so great, that the
Emperor has generously refused to avail himself of the slightest
advantage. Since 1863 these races have come off at Tsarskoe
Selo, to give the private studs a better chance to compete.
Lebedan, on September 12th, is the fourth and last meeting ;
and here, in 1859, the Petroffeki " boy in yellow " literally
carried off every prize.

Russia may well rank George Dockeray as the worthy servant
of a worthy master; 11,654 silver roubles were their spoils of
1859; and the future yoimg "Riflemen" are not likely to
lessen the score.

HUNGARY.

The immense plains watered by the Theiss and the tributaries
of the Danube have always possessed a serviceable and valuable
race of horses, light-spirited and active. "We are told (credat
JudmisJ it was the practice of the Hungarian cavalry to
slit their nostrils to prevent their neighing, which often proved
troublesome in war.

In the early part of the present century, a wealthy noble-
man named Count Hunyadi, of Urmeny, commenced breeding
horses with great zeal ; and having formed a stud of the very
best the country could produce, he sedulously improved it by
importations of the best foreign blood. He likewise established
public races, and a Racing Calendar. At first these races had
only the Count's own horses as competitors, but other neigh-
bouring princes and noblemen soon saw the advantages which
he had derived from his plan of breeding, and followed his
example. Bright, who travelled through Hungary in 1814,
saw the Hungarian Racing Calendar, and I shall give my
readers a specimen of its first page, from Dr. Bright's work.

" This meeting took place May 22nd, 1814, between three
mares.

With

what
Weighty
P.Fund.

78t

Name* of the
Mares.

Colour and
Marks.

Size.

Age.

Father.

Mother.

Name of
Rider.

Victoria

Capria

Cocoa

Light brown

Chesnut

Iron-grey

ha. in
16 i

14 3

U 3i

JT8.

3
3
3

Montedora

Yoscanello

Porla, from
Transyl-
vania

Roxalana

Capria

VUlam fm.
Transyl-
vatiia.

Johan
Petznch a

Johan
Hofchath

Johan

Kadrij

72*
721

" In this case, Victoria and Capria ran the length of one
English mile, or eight hundred and forty-nine Vienna klafters,
in two minutes and eleven seconds ; but Cocoa remained the
length of six horses behind.

" That the above-described horses of this size and age, and
carrying this weight, did really accomplish the distance in
the time stated, we testify by our names."

(Here follows a long list of signatures of noblemen and others
present at the race.)

VAEIETIES OF THE HORSE.

45

Graf Hvmyadi persevered and even increased his exertions
in pursuit of this important object. "In the spring of 1816
he ran thirteen three-year-old mares of his own breeding,
before an assemblage of several thousand persons. In this
case the whole were divided into three allotments, each forming
a separate race. In the first, Justina ran the length of the
course, which is one thousand and eighty-two Vienna klafters,
in three minutes and fifty-eight seconds ; then after resting for
an hour, the three successful mares ran against each other, and
Lodoiska went over the course in three minutes and three
seconds."

The Croatian horses are very like the Hungarian. Buffon
asserts that they retain the marks on their teeth much longer
than those of any other country, Poland excepted.

Count Hunyadi had a noble successor in Count Batthyani,
whose name on the EngUsh turf, and in the " first flight" at
Melton, is familiar to English ears as a "household word."
The Count sent to Hungary some first-rate English blood.
Races are now run in our national fashion near Buda-Pesth,
and in other parts of Hungary; and the imported blood has
put Hungary in possession of a breed of first-class horses.

Prussia has by no means halted in the race of improve-
ment of the horse; nay, she has rather in this respect taken a
lead. During the war in which she conquered France, the
superiority of the German cavalry was notable. Imperial
Germany has established large national breeding studs, and
has bought a number of the winners of our great races at
large prices.

In the marshy lands about the mouth of the Vistula there is
a heavy, large, and strong breed of horses, well suited for
draught aud agricultural purposes.

Of late years some of our very best racers have gone to
Prussia.

DENMARK AND HOLSTEIN.

The horses of Denmark, Holstein, and Mecklenburg are of
the largest stature, especially the two latter. They are usually
16, and often 17 to 18, hands high. They are heavily made :
the neck is too thick, the shoulders heavy, the backs too long,
and the croups are narrow compared with their fore parts :
but their appearance is so noble and commanding, their action
is so high and brilliant, and their strength and spirit are so
evident in every motion, that their faults are pardoned and
forgotten, and they are selected for every occasion of peculiar
state and ceremony.

Before, however, we arrive at the native country of these
magnificent horses, we must glance at the attempt of one noble
individual to improve the general breed of horses. In the
island of Alsen, separated from the duchy of Sleswick by a
narrow channel, is the habitation of the Duke of Augusten-
borg. His stud is attached to it, and under the immediate
management of the noble owner. It contains thirty mares of

pure blood, and fifteen or sixteen stallions of the same grade ;
and all of them selected with care from the best thorough-bred
horses in England. Notwithstanding this selection of pure
blood, or rather in its pecuhar selection, it has been theoljject
of the duke to produce a horse that shall be useful for the
purpose of pleasure, commerce, and agriculture. Some of the
stallions are reserved for his own stud ; but with regard to the
others, such is the spirit with which this noble establishment is
conducted, and his desire to improve the race of horses in
Sleswick, that he allows more than six hundred mares every
year, belonging to the peasantry of the isle of AJ^un, to be
covered gratuitously. He keeps a register of them, and in the
majority of cases he examines the mares himself, and chooses
the horse which will best suit her form, her beauties, her
defects, or the purpose for which the progeny is intended. It
is not therefore surprising that there should be so many good
horses in this part of Denmark, and that the improvement in
Sleswick and in Holstein, and also in Mecklenburg, should be
so rapid and so universally acknowledged.

Rae Wilson, in his Travels in Denmark, gives the following
on the royal stables : — " The floors of the king's stables at
Copenhagen are not laid with smooth pavement, but rough
stones, on an inclined plane. This is said to prevent lameness,*
which often happens when the animals stand in their own litter.
The mangers are high and semicircular. The cribs are of iron,
and the name of each animal inscribed over his stall. The
horses of the king are calculated at eleven hundred. The
skin of a horse is suspended from the ceiling of the Museum,
in the act of flying. These animals are

-of mighty power,

Compact in frame, and strong in limb.'"

There is another circumstance which should not be forgotten
— it is that by which alone the preservation of a valuable breed
can be secured — it is that to the neglect of which the deteriora-
tion of every breed must be partly, at least, and, in many cases,
chiefly traced. The duke in his stud, and the peasants in the
surrounding country, preserve the good breeding mares, and
will not part with one that has not some evident or secret fault
about her.

There is, however, nothing perfect under the sun. This
determination to breed only from horses of pure blood, although
care is taken that these horses shall be the stoutest of their
kind, has lessened the size and somewhat altered the peculiar
character of the horse in the immediate districts ; and we must
go somewhat more southward for the large and stately animal
of which previous mention has been made. The practice of the
coimtry is likewise to a certain degree unfriendly to the fall
development of the Augustenburg horse. The pasturage is
sufiiciently good to develope the powers of the colt, and few
things contribute more to his subsequent hardihood than his
living on these pastures, and becoming accustomed to the vicis-
situdes of the seasons : yet this may be carried too far. The
Sleswick colt is left out of doors all the year round, and, except

* Wo should My itt effect would be juit the contrarr.

48

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

when the snow renders it impossible for him to graze, he is,
day and night, exposed to the cold, the wind, and the
rain We are no advocates for a system of nursing laborious
to the owner and injurious to the animal, but a full develop-
ment of form and of power can never be acquired amidst
neglect and privation.

NORWAY, SWEDEN, FINLAND, LAPLAND, ICELAND.

The horse of Norway is larger than the Swedish or Finland,
but is equally hardy and manageable, attached to its owner,
and its owner to it. The roads in Norway are the reverse of
what they are in Sweden : they are rough and almost impas-
sable for carriages, but the sure-footed Norwegian seldom
stumbles upon them. Pontoppidan speaks of their occasional
contests with bears and wolves, and chiefly the latter. These
occurrences are now more matter of story than of actual fact,
but they do sometimes occur at the present day. Wten the
horse perceives any of these animals, and has a mare or foal
with bim, he puts them behind him, and then furiously attacks
his enemy with his fore legs, which he uses so expertly, as
generedly to prove the conqueror ; but if he turns round in
order to strike with his hind legs, the bear closes upon him
immediately and he is lost.

Of the horses of the islands of Faroe, which belonged to the
Danish crown, Berenger speaks in terms of much praise. He
says that " they are small of growth, but strong, swift, and
sure of foot, going over the roughest places with such certainty
that a man may more surely rely upon them than trust to his
own feet In Suderoe, one of these islands, they have a Hghter
and swifter breed than in any of the rest. On their backs the
inhabitants pursue the sheep, which are wild in this island ;
the pony carries the man over places that would be otherwise
inaccessible to bim — follows his rider over others — enters into
the fuU spirit of the chase, and even knocks down and holds the
prey under his feet until the rider can take possession of it."

The Swedish horses in general, says Mr. Lloyd (Field Sports
of the North of Europe), "are hardy and capable of considerable
exertion ; their manes and tails are usually left in a state of
nature ; they are seldom cleaned, and when in the stable, even
in the most severe weather, are rarely littered down. This
treatment of their horses arises as well from ignorance as
neglect, on the part of the peasants. In saying this, ho'vever,
I am willing to admit that many of them are almost as fond of
these animals as if they were their own children. The average
price of a good horse of the description I am now speaking of,
may be taken at from five to eight pounds."

Sir Capel Brooke, in his Travels in Sweden, thus speaks of the
country horse : " He is nimble and willing, almost entirely fed
on bread composed of equal parts of rye and oatmeal. To
this is added a considerable quantity of salt, and, if he is about
to start on a long journey, a Httle brandy. WMle changing
horses we were not a little entertained at the curious group
formed by the peasants and their steeds breakfasting together ;
both cordially partaking of a large hard rj'e cake. The horses
sometimes belong to three or even more proprietors : it is then

highly amusing to observe the frequent altercations between
them ; each endeavouring to spare his own horse. Thsir affec-
tion for their horses is so great that I have seen them shed tears
when they have been driven beyond their strength. The expe-
dition, however, with which these Httle animals proceed is sur-
prising, when we consider the smallness of their size, which
hardly exceeds that of a pony. The roads being universally
good throughout Sweden, they frequently do not relax from a
gallop, from one post-house to another."

The Finland horses are yet smaller than the Swedes ; not
more than twelve hands high. They are beautifully formed and
very fleet. They, like the Swedes, are turned into the forests
in the summer, and must be fetched thence when they are
wanted l>y the traveller. Although apparently wUd, they are
under perfect control, and can trot with ease at the rate of
twelve miles in the hour.

Fish is much used, both in Finland and Lapland, for the
winter food of horses and cattle.

Kerguelen tells us in his Voyage to the North, speaking ol
Iceland, that there are numerous troops of horses in this cold
and inhospitable country, 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 their scanty
food. A few are usually kept in the stable ; but when the
peasant wants more he catches as many as he needs, and shoes
them himself, and that sometimes with a sheep's horn.

The Lapland horse, according to Berenger, is small, but active
and willing — somewhat eager and impatient, but free from vice.
He is used only in the winter season, when he is employed in
drawing sledges over the snow, and transporting wood, forage,
and other necessaries, which in the summer are all conveyed in
boats. During the summer these horses are turned into the
forests, where they form themselves into distinct troops, and
select certain districts, from which they rarely wander. They
return of their own accord when the season begins to change
and the forests no longer supply them with food.

AUSTRIA, BAVARIA.

The remarks made on the horses of Poland and Hungary
win apply in a great measure to those of Austria proper.
Bavaria has, especially, a valuable, but rather sluggish descrip-
tion of horse, answering in some respects to the old German
" destrier," whereon the armour-clad knights of the middle
ages were moimted : this is suitable for heavy dragoons, but
would be all the better for a little more " blood."

In 1790, a very superior Arab, called Turkmainath,* was
imported for the imperial stud, and his stock became cele-
brated, not only in Hungary, but throughout most of the
German provinces. In 1859, the Archduke MaxumKan,
brother to the emperor, purchased some valuable racers and

* We shrewdly suspect, from other reuoaa than the namei that this was
no Arab at all, but a Toorkman.

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

47

Hunters in England, and sent them to Austria. Some of them
went to the imperial establishment of which mention is here-
after made, and the others contributed materially to the
improvement of the horses wherever they were distributed.
Races have been established in various parts of the Austrian
dominions, and particularly at Buda, in Hungary. Of the
good effect which this will have on the breed of horses there
can be no dispute, provided the race does not degenerate into
a mere contest of superiority of speed, as exhibited in an
animal that, from his extreme youth, must inevitably be
injured or ruined in the struggle.

In Austria proper there is the great breeding establishment
at Mezohogyes, near Carlsburg, of which we read in the
works of the Duke of Ragusa : — This is the finest establish-
ment in the Austrian Empire for the breeding and improve-
ment of horses. It stands on forty thousand acres of the best
quaHty ; and is surrounded in its whole extent, which is fifteen
leagues, by a broad and deep ditch, and by a broad plantation
sixty feet wide. It was formerly designed to supply horses to
recruit the cavalry ; at present its object is to obtain staUions
of a good breed, which are sent to certain depots for the supply
of the provinces. To produce these, one thousand brood mares
and forty-eight staUions are kept ; two hundred additional
mares and six hundred oxen are employed in cultivating the
ground. Ite plain is divided into foiir equal parts, and each
of these subdivided into portions resembling so many farms.
At the age of four years the young horses are all collected in
the centre of the establishment. A selection is first made of
the best animals to supply the deficiencies in the establish-
ment, in order always to keep it on the same footing. A second
selection is then made for the use of the other : none of these,
however, are sent away until they are five years old ; but the
horses that are not of sufficient value to be selected are sold
by auction, or sent to the army to remount the cavalry, as
circumstances may require.

The whole number of horses at present here, including the
stallions, brood-mares, colts, and fillies, is three thousand.
The persons employed in the cultivation of the ground, the
care of the animals, and the management of the establishment
generally, are a major-director, twelve subaltern officers, and
eleven hundred and seventy soldiers.

The imperial treasury advances to the establishment every
year one hundred and eighteen thousand florins (the half rix-
dollar or florin is in value about 2s. Id. English money), and
is reimbursed by the sale of one hundred and fifty stallions,
which are sent every year to the provinces at the price of one
thousand florins each, and by the value of the horses suppHed
to the cavalry. The other expenses of every description are
paid for by the produce of the establishment, which is required
to defray, and does defray all. This is, therefore, an immense
estate — a farm on 9 colossal scale — with a stud in proportion,
managed on account of the sovereign, and which produces a
considerable revenue, independently of the principal object
which is attained, the propagation and multiplication of the
best breeds of horses. It can always supply the wants of the

army at a price almost incredibly small. For a horse of
the light cavalry he pays only one hundred and ten florins, for
the dragoons one hundred and twenty, for the cuirassiers one
hundred and forty, for the train one hundred and sixty, and
for the artillery one hundred and eighty. It is a great element
of power to possess at home such an immense resource against
a time of war, at an expense so far below that which the
powers of the west and south of Europe are compelled to
incur.

The facility with which the large bodies of Austrian cavalry,
their numerous and comparatively clumsy artiller}% and enor-
mous waggon-train were horsed and moved during the disas-
trous Italian campaign of 1859, was due to this organised
system of breeding for the army.

The Oennan running horses were probably Hungarian
horses, with an Eastern cross.

HOLLAND AND BELGIUM.

Though these countries possess good horses for harness and
saddle purposes, it is by their " long-tailed blacks," with their
arched crests, profuse manes, and clumsy fetlocks, used in the
funeral cortege, or, by their ponderous dray and waggon horses,
that they are best known in England.

The fleshy, broad, and roomy " Flanders mare" has been
proverbial for centuries. " Bluff King Harrj^'s" unpolite
exclamation in relation to his _^aHC^e, Anne of Cleves, will be
remembered. From some of the lighter of this stock we have
had stately coach-horses ; and the cream-coloured Hanoverians
in the royal state-carriage owe their origin to a kindred race.

FRANCE.

" The horses of France are of all descriptions — out few 01
them handsome, and fewer still fast-goers," says a recent
sporting traveller. This is easily accounted for. There is no'*'
and will not be, except in the very rare instances of imme-
diate descent from imported blood, animals of that high clas?
which result in England from a liberal and judicious expen-
diture in every part of the country on procuring the best
stock to breed from. Baron Charles Dupin says " Comparant
ensuite la France avec les contrees voisines pour la richesse en
chevaux et en troupeaux, il s'arrete devant la deproportion
qu'elle pr^sente sous ce point de vue avec la Grande-
Bretagne." And it is probable this -wiU remain so as long as
we have the law of primogeniture, and France is without it.
The expenses of the turf wiU never be supported in France
in the same way as in England on that very account. In a
country like France, where property is so divided, and in
a country like England, where money is in such masses — the
turf being a luxury as well as pleasure — becomes the enjoy-
ment of the nobnity of the land ; the law of primogeniture
preventing the division of estates, secures at once the expe-
rience and the means of perpetuating the breed of horses of
the first quahty, from generation to generation. And to this
may be added the long engrafted love of the horse among our
yeomen, farmers, and all engaged in rural pursuits. In fact.

4«

VARIETIES OF THE HORSK

Frenchmen generally, though a few rare exceptions may he
found to prove the rule, do not understand, and therefore do
not admire thorough-hred horses. Beyond the army and the
court, there are not many Frenchman hut would be content
with a moderate priced horse ; and would rather avoid, we
believe, the extra care and attention which a higher-bred
animal might subject him to. The French, as far as our
experience goes, are an economical people, not likely to encou-
rage any expense which they possibly could do without ; and
therefore are in the main content with their present breed of
horses. There are no hounds kept in the provinces, because
there are no primogeniture estates of twenty thousand pounds
a year to support them ; there are no subscription packs for
the same reason as there is no private one ; property is so
extensively divided, that if it secures comforts, they are
satisfied, and are too wise to embark in any thing which they
deem extravagant. There is no encouragement to stimulate
the breed of hunters, and the breed of blood horses will, we
suspect, still remain in the hands of the French Govern-
ment, rather than be taken up by private breeders.

From the time of Napoleon I. the practice has prevailed in
France for the government to send stud horses into the different
provinces to assist the French farmer ia the improvement of
his horses, bat with little advantage, as we shall note here-
after. This is absolutely necessary, for the French farmer
employs so little capital that it would interfere too much with
his economy to pay a price for a good staUion.

Louis Philippe, albeit no sportsman, at the earnest soli-
citation of his eldest son the Duke of Orleans, founded the
great hippodrome, or race-course at the royal demesne of
Neuilly. Though personally without taste for the pleasures
of the turf, as a national recreation, he could not fail to see
the importance of encouraging the breeding of horses upon a
better principle than that of merely crossing the soft-boned
and heavy Flanders mare with the hardy but clumsy Norman
stallion. With an eye to war and to commerce, the astute
" old Ulysses " — whose cunning however overshot the mark,
and sent him wandering Kke the old Greek whose name was
aptly applied to him — saw that this branch of rural pxirsuits
must be advantageous. Accordingly, the royal stud in Nor-
mandy was conducted on an immense scale. A writer in
1840 says, " The stud of stallions here is enormous ; and when
such horses are found in it as Lottery, Cadland, Pickpocket,
Dangerous, Juggler, Teetotum, Mameluke, Young Endlius,
Cleveland, and an endless et cetera of minor stars, it will be
owned they have gone the right way to work. These horses
during the season are sent all over the country." If they
have gone "the right way to work " in procuring such stallions,
they have gone "the wrong way to work" in the use of them,
in thus travelling them like our cart-stallions. In this we
are confirmed by an incidental remark of Admiral Rous,
which we have this instant stumbled over in Baily's Magazine
oj Soorts and Pastimes for April 1860. The gallant turfsman
si.ys : — " In France they order things differently : in addition
to liberal prizes, the Government has purchased our best

stallions, whose services are given to the public at a cheap
rate. If in this coimtry we pursued the latter policy, we
should deteriorate our breed, because it woiild induce persona
to breed from ordinary mares with a view to obtain a valuable
marketable article by a crack stallion. The first-class horses
would be overworked, and an inferior animal would be the
natural production."

This then is one of the " things " they do not manage
better in France. The Duke of Orleans — whose melancholy
death, by being thrown from his phaeton, in 1842, probably
was the turning-point which led mainly to the expulsion of
the Orleans dynasty, and thence to a republic, an empire, and
a military despotism — was an ardent admirer of the race-horse.
His visit to Goodwood, and his victory with Beggarman, for
the Goodwood Cup, took place in 1840: a feat twice since
performed by French horses — by Jouvence, in 1853, and by
Count Lagrange's Monarque, in 1857. Since then a French
horse, Gladiateur, won both Derby and Leger in 1865, and a
French mare, Fille de I'Air, was victrix in the Oaks in 1864.
The ex-emperor of the French, during his twenty years
reign, gave an immense impetus to the breeding of a
better class of horse. The most sedulous attention was
given in all the imperial haras to procure the best crosses
which money could obtain, with the view of propagating in
France an animal of blood, bone, and symmetry, to rival our
best chargers and hunters; while thorough-breds for the turf
were not neglected, though, on the whole, treated as a sub-
sidiary desideratum — substance being preferred to speed
According to a recent survey, France possesses 2,750, OOC
horses, of every description; of which 1,440,000 were mares,
a great proportion of which were used in breeding mules,
Besides these, there are annually 30,000 horses imported into
France for sale, or with the express purpose of improving the
breed. Most Frenchmen of fortune are ambitious to havf
first-rate English horses, and will give high prices for them.

Two-thirds of the French horses are devoted to purposes of
light work, and possess a certain degree, and that gradually
increasing, of Eastern blood. There is room, however, for a
great deal more than the French horse usually possesses.
One-third of the horses are employed in heavy work ; 70,000
in post work ; and about the same number are registered as fit
for military use, although not more than half of them are
on actual service. The ascertained number of deaths is about
one in twelve or thirteen, or leaving the average age of the
horse at twelve. This speaks strongly in favour of the
humanity of the French, or the hardihood of the horses, for it
exceeds the average duration of the life of the horse in Eng-
land by more than two years. Calculating the average value
of the French horse at 400 francs, or 16/. 13s. 4fZ., there
results a sum of about 160,000,000 francs, or rather more
than six millions and a half stwling, as the gross vali'«» of thif
species of national property.

It must be supposed that so extensive a country as France
possesses various breeds of horses. Auvergue and Poitou
produce good ponies and galloways ; but the best French

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

49

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 service,
and the carriage.

M. Houel has published an interesting work on the
varieties of the horse in France. He states that in the time of
the Romans there were but two kinds of horses, — the war-
horse, and the sumpter or pack-horse. The carriage, or
draught-horse, was comparatively or quite unknown ; and even
persons of the highest station suffered themselves to be indolently
drawn by oxen. Great care was taken to preserve or to renew
the strength and speed of the war-horse, and African or Arab
blood was diligently sought. An animal, the type of the Eng-
lish Cleveland breed, the handsomest and strongest description
of the coach-horse, was thus procured. By degrees, this horse
was found too valuable for a hackney, and too high-trotting
for a long journey, and a more smoothly moving animal was
gradually introduced. Still the charger did not grow quite out
of fashion, and in Normandy the rearing of this animal became
an object of much attention to the fanner. At first they were
bred too slow and ponderous, but by degrees a horse was
obtained of somewhat lighter action and considerable speed,
without much sacrifice of strength, and they now constitute a
most valuable breed. " I have not elsewhere," says, M.
Houel, " seen such horses at the collar, under the diligence, in
the post-carriage, or the farm-cart. They are enduring and
energetic beyond description. At the voice of the brutal
driver, or at the dreaded sound of his never-ceasing whip, they
put forth their strength ; and they keep their condition -when
other horses would die of neglect and hard treatment." The
little Norman cart-horse is, perhaps, the best for farm- work.
The Norman horses — and the same observation applies to all the
northern provinces of France — are very gentle and docile. A
kicking or vicious one is almost unknown there ; but they are,
with few exceptions, treated with tyranny and cruelty from
first to lasii. The reign of terror may to a certain degree be
necessary where there are many perfect horses; but the
principle of cruelty should not extend, as it too often does, to
the treatment of every kind of horse.

We, however, give our sirffrage for the admirable system so
widely propagated by Mr. Rarey, feeling convinced, by the
case of Cruiser, King of Oude, and a dozen other entire
horses, which have been subdued by that gentleman's system,
that terror produced by suffering or violence is more Hkely to
create or confirm vice, than really eradicate it. In regard to
general treatment of the horse there is more hiimanity among
the French than the EngHsh peasantry ; but, on the other
hand, there are horrible scenes of cruelty to the horse hourly
taking place ir the streets of Paris, that would not be
tolerated for a moment in the British metropolis.

The breeding of horses has more decidedly become a
branch of agricultural attention and speculation than it used
to be ; what is taking place is attributable principally
to this cause — it has been proved to the farmer that, with the
proper kind of pasture, and within a fair distance of a proper

market, instead of being one of the most uncertain and
unprofitable modes of using the land, it yields more than an
average return.

The establishment of races in almost every part of France
has g^ven a spur to the breeding and improvement of the
horse which cannot fail of being exceedingly beneficial through-
out the whole of the French territory. Nor has the Republic
been slow, considering the terrible devastation of the recent
war and the exhaustion occasioned by the ruinous indem-
nity to Germany, in re-establishing the public breeding
establishments. The English thorough-bred horse has been
preferred to the native Arabian. A great many of the
best English stallions have been purchased for the French
studs, and have been beneficially employed in improving,
and often creating, the hunter, the racer, and the better
class of horses.

It has been stated that the most valuable native horses are
those of Normandy ; perhaps they have been improved by the
English hunter, and occasionally by the English thorongh-
bred horse ; and on the other hand, the English roadster, and
the light draught horse, have derived considerable advantage
from a mixture with the Norman ; not only in early times, when
William the Conqueror was so eager to improve the horses of
his new subjects by means of those of Norman blood, but at
many succeeding periods.

A certain number of Normandy horses used to be purchased
every year by the French government for the use of the othei
departments. This led occasionally to considerable trickery
and evil. None of the Norman horses were castrated untiJ
they were three, or sometimes four years old ; and then it
frequently happened that horses of superior appearance, but
with no pure blood in them, were sold as belonging to the
improved breed, and it was only in their offspring that the
cheat could be discovered. The government now purchases
the greater part of the Normandy horses in their first year,
and brings them up in the public studs. They cost more
money, it is true ; but they are better bred, or become finer
animals.

It is stated in the journals that the Norman horses,
which were encouraged rather from political considera-
tions, are to be proscribed from the national haras ; many of
them now find their way to Tattersall's establishment, and
are bought by a number of the dealers and livery-stable keepers
to be used as carriage and saddle horses. They are not of
the very first class in either capacity.

The necessity of a stud-book, whenever horses are of sufficient
value to deserve a record of their descent, is self-evident.
The first work of this kind in France was drawn up as late aa
1837. This fact alone warrants what to some persons may
consider as savouring of insular prejudice in some of our pre-
cedent remarks. This book contains the names of 215 stallions,
of pure English blood, imported into France, or foaled thens ,
266 Barbs, Arabs, Turkish, or Persian horses ; 274 mares, of
pure Enghsh blood ; and 41 Barbary or Turkish mares. Their
stock is also registered. This work forms an epoch in the

eo

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

improvement of the horse in France. Of necessity, leading
French turfites have extensively patronised English trainers
and jockeys, as Frenchmen neither understand training nor
riding racehorses.

SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.

In early times, the Iberian Peninsula was celebrated for
a noble and high-couraged breed of horses, which owed their
origin to Afi-ican blood ; and, in the days of Roman power, the
district near Calpe, our modern Gibraltar, was renowned for a
breed of horse superior to any other European variety, even
that known as Arabian. The true Spanish horse is extremely
handsome, well knit, clean-jointed, and easy in his paces. His
disposition is playful, free from vice, and affectionate to his
master. But, Hke his master, he has degenerated. Pliny's
description of the " thieldones " or " tellers of their steps,"
applies accurately to the jennet of later times.

Cordova, in Catalonia, was once famous for its horses, but
their glory is departed : indeed, the taste of the Spanish
breeder is so depraved that he prizes a horse for those very
points which would make an English sportsman reject him
from the stud, viz. : — forelegs far back, almost under the belly ;
shoulders, consequently, heavy and forward ; and tail set on
so low that it appears squeezed close to the hams. The
Spanish grooms do not suffer their horses to lie down, but keep
them chained to a clean pavement by their feet. Within a
few years, however, a healthy reaction has taken place, and
some attempts have been made, by introducing in the various
provinces Andalusian stallions, to check the degenerating
progress so manifest in this mule-breeding land.

Solleysel, in his " Parfait Mareschal," has left us a florid
description of the Spanish horse as he found him : — " I have
seen many Spanish horses ; they are extremely beautiful, and
the most proper of aU to be drawn by a curious pencil, or to
be mounted by a king, when he intends to show himself in his
majestic glory to the people. There will not be found any
kind of horse more noble than they, and of their courage ;
I have seen their entrails hanging from them, through
the number of wounds that they have received ; yet they have
carried off their rider safe and sound, with the same pride
with which they brought him to the field, and after that they
died, having less life than courage."* It is delightful to read
accounts like these, and we know not which to admire most,
the noble horse or the writer who could so well appreciate
his excellence.

Berenger, {Horsemanship, vol. i., p. 151,) whose judgment
can be fully depended on, thus enumerates their excellences
and defects : — " The neck is long and arched, perhaps some-
what thick, but clothed with a fuU and flowing mane ; the
head may be a little too coarse ; the ears long, but well placed ;
the eyes large, bold, and full of fire. Their carriage lofty, proud,
and noble. The breast large ; the shoulders sometimes thick ;
the belly frequently too fuU, and swelling ; and the loin a little
too low ; but the ribs round, and the croup roimd and full, and

* Solleysel, part i. p. 211.

the legs well formed and clear of hair, and the sinews at a
distance from the bone — active and ready in their paces — of
quick apprehension ; a memory singularly faithful ; obedient
to the utmost proof ; docile and affectionate to man, yet full of
spirit and courage."

The common breeds of Spanish horses have nothing extra-
ordinary about them. The legs and feet are good, but the
head is rather large, the forehand heavy, and yet the posterior
part of the chest deficient, the crupper also having too much
the appearance of a mule. The horses of Estremadura and
Granada, and particularly of Andalusia, are most valued.

The modem Spanish horse is fed upon chopped straw and
a little barley. Wben the French and English cavalry were
there, during the Peninsular war, and were without prepara-
tion put upon this mode of living, so different from that to
which they had been accustomed, they began to be much
debilitated, and a considerable mortality broke out among
them ; but, after a while, those who were left regained their
strength and spirits, and the mortality entirely ceased.

There was a time when the Lusitanian or Portuguese horses
were highly celebrated. The Roman historian Justin com-
pares their swiftness to that of the winds, and adds, that many
of them might be said to be bom of the winds ; while, on the
other hand, Berenger, who lived at a time when the glory of
the Spanish horse had not quite faded away, says, that " the
Portugal horses are in no repute, and differ as much from their
neighbours, the Spaniards, as crabs from apples, or sloes from
grapes." (vol i., p. 308). He thus accounts for it. When
Portugal was annexed to Spain, the latter coimtry was pre-
ferred for the establishment of the studs of breeding, and the
few districts in Portugal which were sufficiently supplied with
herbage and water to fit them for a breeding country were
devoted to the rearing of homed cattle for the shambles and
the plough, and mules and asses for draught. Hence, the
natives regarded the horse as connected more with pomp and
pleasure than with utility, and drew the comparatively few
horses that they wanted from Spain. The present government,
however, seems disposed to effect a reform in this, and there
are still a sufficient number of Andalusian horses in Portugal,
and Barbs easily procurable from Africa, fully to accomplish
the purpose.

ITALY.

There are some comparatively fast horses in Rome, the
descendants of Spanish jennets, or small Barbs. They are
kept for racing on the Corso. These races take place during
the Carnival, and commence about dusk. So soon as they
are announced, the coaches, cabriolets, and carriages of every
kind are drawn up in lines on each side of the sti-eet, leaving
a space in the middle for the racers to pass through. Five or
six horses are specially trained for this diversion. They are
drawn up abreast in the Piazza del Popolo, exactly where the
Corso, or race-street, begins.

Balls with little sharp spikes are hung along their sides,
i which serve as spurs ; pieces of tinfoil dangle against their

VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.

61

buttocks, which make a hissing noise as they run, and terrify
them to increased speed. A rope is stretched across the
Corse to prevent them starting too soon, and the dropping of
this is the signal to start. When all is ready a troop of dra-
goons gallop through the street to clear the course. A trumpet
sounds — the rope is dropped — the grooms loose their hold, and
away go the riderless horses. The harder the poor devils run,
the more they are pricked. The unlucky animals, unable often
to comprehend the cause of their torment, bite, kick, and
plunge at each other, and a terrible fight is begun. The
shouts and cries of the excited populace add to the uproar.
Some horses from fear, cunning, or sulkiness stand stock-still,
and are shoved and goaded on by brute force and cruelty.
A strong canvas screen is passed along the bottom of the street.
This is the goaJ. It has the appearance of a wall ; but some
of the horses, in the excess of their agony and terror, dart
full against it, tear through it, or carry it away.

The prize, after all, is merely a piece of fine purple or
scarlet cloth, or a flag, which is presented to the owner of the
winning animal by the Governor of Rome, and is supposed
to be a heirloom in the winner's family.

The decision of such a race, however, can have little to
do with the speed or strength or value of the horses in any
respect. The Italians, however, enter into the aff"air with all
their characteristic eagerness of feeling, and are guilty of
every kind of extravagance. During the first six days of the
carnival, the horses are fairly classed according to the age,
height, degree of breeding, &c. ; but on the two last days
the horses are of all sorts and sizes, like a Welsh race at a
country fair.

At Ancona, a gun is fired to start the horses, in order to
warn those at the far end of the course to get out of their
way and to be ready to receive them; wlien they have reached
half-way another gun is fired, and a third on the victor
passing the goal.

Macgill, in his amusing book of Travels, mentions a
very curious and laughable circumstance in connection with
these races, which took place at Ancona on an occasion of
this nature. He says, " To guard the course, a great number
of Roman soldiers, under arms, are generally ranged on each
side of it. The morning after the first race, the wind blew
firom the north and was rather cold. I was sitting with his

Excellency the Governor, Signor Vidoni, when a mesBengei
arrived from the General, with his compliments, requesting
that the race might be deferred till another day, as he thought
the weather too cold to put his troops under arms. The
Governor replied to him, that, ' As the weather was not too
cold for the ladies, he thought it was not too much so for
Roman soldiers.' I have seen, on a day which only threatened
rain, a guard of Roman soldiers turn out, every one of whom
had an umbrella under his arm, the drummer only excepted."*
Shades of Cajsar and Brutus ! could ye have witnessed this,
what would have been your emotions ? could ye have fore-
seen such efi"eminacy among the descendants of the " masters
of the world," what would have been your dying pangs ?
This of course refers to the soldiers of the former papal states,
now absorbed in the kingdom of Italy.

The Corso here is about 856 toisesf in length, and it has
been satisfactorily observed by means of a stop-watch, that the
horses, usually small Barbs, have run this distance in 141
seconds, or about the rate of 37 feet in a second; a rate of
going by no means despicable, considering the small size and
consequent short stretch of the racers, and which places them
on a par with a second-rate English racer.

The length of the Italian course is, however, under an
English mile, while the Beacon at Newmarket is four — a space
too long for any horse to run at the same speed at which he
started ; and yet this has often been run at the average rate
of 42 feet in the second. Childers ran a mile in a minute,
which is at the rate of 87 feet in a second I so was Stirling
said to do ; and these were mounted, while the Italian racers
have only to carry themselves.

Of the indigenous horse old Blundeville tells us, " The
horsys that come out of Sardygnia and the isle of Corsica
have sliorte bodyes, and be very bolde and corageouse, and
unquiet too in their pace, for they be of that fierce and hot
cholericke complexion, and therewyth so much used to
running in theyr countrie that theye will stand still on no
grounde. And therefore this kynde of horse requireth a
discreete and patient ryder, who must not be over hastie in
correcting him, for fear of marring him altogither." The
original Welsh horse was of this stamp.

* MacgiU's Travels in Italy, vol. L p. 22.

t A toise is six f«et.

CHAPTER VI.

I. THE HOKSES OF BRITAIN. — HISTORY AND VARIETIES. — II. GALLOWAYS AND PONIES: III. THE DRAUGHT HORSE I
IV. THE CLEVELAND BAYS ; THE COACH HOKSE : V. THE HACKNEY.

I. ^THE HORSE OF BRITAIN.

The character of the indigenous horse of Britain, though
not capable of definite description, can be fairly deduced from
numerous incidental observations of -ancient authorities and
circumstantial evidence.

"We have already notedf that at the earliest of our written
historic period, when JuUus Caesar landed near Dover, that the
Britons in their scythed chariots, drawn by " well-trained
horses," struck terror into the veteran legionaries of the
conquering Roman, who had subjugated Gaul without
encountering any similar force. We are told further that he
took on his return to Rome some of these war-horses to cross
with his own breeds. Surely the most strenuous sticklers for
a common original wiU not maintain that the " Foresters " of
Exmoor or Dartmoor, the Cornish or Welsh pony, the Scotch
Sheltie, or the Irish Hobby — supposing any intercourse at
that early period had subsisted between what now forms the
United Kingdom — could have amazed and awed the serried
phalanx of the Roman army, or have tempted the world's
conquerors to covet them as chargers? We may here inci-
dentally notice that the Latin writers divide the horses of
Imperial Rome into three classes, adapted for war, the circus,
and the saddle. " For war," says Vegetius, " the Huns,
Thuringian, Burgundian, and Frisian horses excel ; next those
of Epirus, Sarmatia and Dalmatia ; for chariots, the Cappa-
docian. In the circus the Spanish horse excels all others, and
also the Sicilian, although the African horses of Spanish blood
are the swiftest of any. For the saddle above all the Persian
horses, being the easiest in their carriage and most soft in
their step ; afterwards come the Armenian and Sappharenean ;
nor should the Epirotan and Sicilian horses be despised,
though not equal to them in carriago, manner, and form."
And this people—possessing all the tiorses of the Gauls and

See Sporting Beview, No. oclviii, June I860.
t See ante, page 8.

Belgae — are said to have coveted a breed of horses that had
no original qualities ?

The horse figures upon the most ancient coins of the British
Kings : the rude effigies of the monarch occupying the obverse
and the clumsy figure of a war-horse the reverse. That the
horse was then remarkably numerous in this island is shown
by the fact that Caasibelaunus retained " four thousand war-
chariots to harass the Romans," after disbanding a large
portion of his army. As the Roman horses were crossed with
those of Spain and Greece, and those again with a strain of
Barb or Arab blood, there can be little doubt, although subse-
quent neglect led to thoir degeneration, that the English
heavy horse was unproved during the long occijpa*ion of
Britain by the Romans.

That the ponies (or mannii) of Britain were a distinct race
of animal, may also be assumed from the fact of notice being
taken of their intelligence, docility, and small size, which
specially fitted them for the performances of jugglers and
stroUers.

Passing from the Roman to the Saxon times, we find Athel-
stan celebrated for his attention to the " improvement of the
horse," and, in order " that this advantage might be kept in
this realm," he prohibited the exportation of English horses.
Athelstan seems to have placed considerable value on some of
his horses ; for he bequeaths, in his will, the horses given him
by Thurbrand, and the white horses presented to him by
Lisbrand. These are apparently Saxon names, but the
memory of them is now lost.

In the laws of Howell the Good, Prince of Wales, a.d. 890,
there are some curious particulars of the value and sale of
horses. A foal under fourteen days is to be sold for 4rf. ; at
one year and one day it is estimated at ASd. ; at three years
at 60d. It was then to be tamed with the bridle, and brought up
either as a palfry or a serving horse, when its value became
one hundred and twenty pence. That of a mid or unbioken
mare was sixty pence.

THE HORSES OF BRITAIN.

68

Even in those early days, the frauds of dealers were too
notorious, and the following singular regulations were estab-
lished. The buyer was allowed time to ascertain whether the
horse was free from three diseases. He had three nights to
prove him for the staggers ; three months to prove the sound-
ness 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, which it was
supposed to be his own fault if the purchaser did not discover.
The seller also warranted that the horse would not tire when
on a journey with others, or refuse his food from hard work,
and that he would carry a load or draw a carriage up or down
hill, and not be resty.

The practice of letting horses for hire then existed; and
then, as now, the services of the poor hack were brutally
exacted. The benevolent Howell disdains not to legislate for
the protection of this abused and valuable servant. " Who-
ever shall borrow a horse, and rub the hair so as to gaU the
back, shall pay four pence ; if the skin is forced into the flesh,
eight pence ; if the flesh be forced to the bone, sixteen pence."
If a person lamed a horse, he was to forfeit the value of the
animal; and if he was supposed to have killed a horse,
he was to purge himself by the oaths of twenty-four com-
purgators.

Then, as now, it would appear that some young men were
d little fond of unwarrantable mischief, or perhaps there
were thieves in the country, even so soon after Alfred's days,
for cutting the hair from a horse's tail seems to have been of
frequent occurence. However it shows the estimation in which
this portion of the animal was held, and the manner in which the
hair was suflered to grow ; for it was decreed that he who cut off
the hair from a horse's tail was to maintain him until it was
grown again, and in the mean time to furnish the owner with
another horse. K the tail was cut off with the hair, the
miscreant who inflicted the outrage was mulcted in the value
of the animal, and the horse was deemed unfit for future
service.

The Norman conquest brought important crosses to the
British horse. To his superiority in cavalry the Conqueror was
chiefly indebted for the victory of Hastings. The favourite
charger of WilHam was a Spaniard. His followers, both the
barons and the common soldiers, principally came 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 change of masters. The historians of those times, how-
ever— principally monks, and knowing nothing about horses —
give us very little information on the subject.

One circumstance deserves to be remarked, namely, that in
none of the earliest historical records of the Anglo-Saxons or
the Welsh is there any allusion to the use of the horse for the
plough. Until a comparatively recent period, oxen alone were

employed in England, as in other countries, for this purpose ;
but about this period^the latter part of the tenth century —
some innovation on this point was commencing, and a Welsh
law forbade the farmer to plough with horses, mares, or cows,
but with oxen alone. On one of the pieces of the Bayeux
tapestry, woven in the time of William the Conqueror
(a.d. 1066), there, however, is the figure of a man driving a
horse attached to a harrow.

In William's reign the heavy horses of Burgundy, Picardy,
and Flanders were imported largely. Roger de Bellesme, Earl of
Shrewsbury, we are expressly told, brought over "Spanish
stallions," and Giraldus Cambrensis, and Drayton {Polyolhion)
speak in high terms of their fire, vigour, and fitness for the
tilt and tourney. We have in another place noticed
in the reign of Henry I. (a.d. 1121) — the importation of
the first so-called Arabian, presented by Alexander, King
Scotland, to the Church of St. Andrew. This solitary
case, however, recorded as something extraordinary, may be
passed over in considering the general stamp of horse in
use at this time.

The Crusades, which followed this period, must have intro-
duced many Eastern horses, though no particular esteem seems
to have attended them or their progeny. The jennet of Spain
is spoken of with approval, rather as an ambling palfrey than
comparable with the heavy German horse. Improved agri-
cultiire and commercial labour caused the importation of
heavy draught horses from the Low Countries, but the prin-
ciples of breeding were little regarded and less tinderstood.

The price of horses was singularly uncertain In 1185, temp.
Henry II., fifteen breeding mares sold for two pounds, twelve
shillings, and sixpence. They were purchased by the monarch,
and distributed among lus tenants ; and, in order to get some-
thing by the bargain, he charged them the great sum of four
shillings each. Twenty 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, tenpence a-day.

To King John, hateful as he was in other respects, we are
much indebted for the attention which he paid to agri-
culture generally, and particularly to the improvement of the
breed of horses. He imported one hundred chosen staUions
of the Flanders breed, and thxis mainly contributed to prepare
our noble species of draught-horses, as unrivalled in their way
as the horses of the tiirf.

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
horse for the tournament and for pleasure, as perfect as he
could. It was not to be expected that so haughty and over-

64

THE HORSES OF BRITAIN.

bearing a tyrant would concern himself much with the inferior
kind; yet while the superior breeds were rapidly becoming
more valuable, the others would, in an indirect manner, par-
take of the improvement.

One hundred years afterwards, (a.d. 1311) Edward II. pur-
chased thirty Lombardy war-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 horses. Those for agricultural
purposes were chiefly procured from Flanders.

Edward III. (1328) bought fi% Spanish horses of such value,
that he negociated with the kings of France and Spain to give
them safe convoy. These were probably of a lighter and more
active form ; the prevailing taste for the heavy war horse
being on the decline among the courtiers: the ponderous
armour of the cavalry, however, still kept the " destrier " in
esteem for several succeeding reigns.

These horses were bought in order to enable the king
successfully to prosecute a war against Scotland, and to pre-
pare for a splendid tournament which he was about to hold.

Entire horses were alone used for this mimic contest, and
generally so in the duties and dangers of the field. It was
rarely the custom to castrate the colts ; and the introduction of
the female among so many perfect horses might occasionally be
productive of confusion. The mare was at this period com-
paratively despised. It was deemed disgraceful for any one
above the common rank to ride her, and she was employed
only in the most servile offices. This feeling and practice was
then prevalent in every part of the world. When, however,
it began to be the custom to castrate the young horses, the
Worth and value of the mare was soon appreciated ; and it is
now acknowledged that, usually, she is not much, if at all,
inferior to the perfect horse in many respects, while she has
far more strength, courage, and endurance than the castrated
horse.

Edward also prohibited the exportation of horses jealously.
It is, however, recorded that he allowed a German merchant to
export some Low Country horses which he had brought here on
a venture, but prohibited his taking them to Scotland. It
was for several centimes a felony to export horses from Eng-
land to Scotland.

In many points the English horse is already spoken of as
superior to those of neighbouring countries, and his price was
so enhanced, that the breeders and the dealers, then as now
skilful in imposing on the inexperienced, obtained from many
of the young grandees enormous prices for their animals. This
evil increased to such an extent, that Richard II. (1386)
interfered to regulate and determine the price. The proclama-
tion which he issued is interesting, not only as proving the
increased value of the horse, but showing what were, four
himdred and fifty years ago, the chief breeding districts, as
they still continue to be. It was ordered to be published in
the counties of Lincoln and Cambridge, and the East and
North Ridings of Yorkshire ; and the price of the horses was
restricted to that which had been determined by former

monarchs. A more enlightened policy has at length banished
such absurd interferences.

In the same reign, in 1356, at the glorious victory of Poictiers,
wherein the Black Prince took John, King of France, prisoner,
we read in Bonnechose's History of France : " but the French
kuightes could not contend against the great horses of the
English, and the arrows of their archers."* And on the tri-
umphal entry of the Black Prince into London, Stow tells us
that the captive John was " mounted on a beautiful wyte
steed, in royal robes, while the victorious Prince of Wales
rode by his syde on a litel blacke palfre, like an attendante, not
a conqueror."

The wars of York and Lancaster now devastated the land,
and we can collect but little of the history of the horse
until the reign of Henry VII., at the close of the fifteenth
century. He continued to prohibit the exportation of stallions,
but allowed that of mares, when more than two years old, and
under the value of six shillings and eightpence. This regula-
tion was, however, easily evaded ; for if a mare could be found
worth more than six shillings and eightpence, she might be
freely exported on the payment of that sum.

The intention of this was to put an end to the exportation
of perfect horses ; for it is recited in the preamble " that not
only a smaller number of good horses were left within the
realm for the defence thereof, but also that great and good
plenty of the same were in parts beyond the sea, which in
times past were wont to be within this land, whereby the price
of horses was greatly enhanced," &c. The exception of the
mare, and the small sum for which she might be exported,
shows the unjust contempt in which she was held.

In the time of Henry VIII., we find from the writings of
Sir Thomas Chaloner, who flourished at the beginning of
Elizabeth's reign, horses were imported by that despotic
monarch, who was " a great lover of the chase and sportynge,"
from " Tvirkey, Naples and Spain." The means adopted by
Henry to enforce the breeding of full sized horses were
arbitrary and characteristic in the extreme. He made a law,
which remains in the statute book till this day, (32 Hen. VIII.
cap. 13), by which it is enacted: — "That no person shall put
in any forest, chase, moor, heath, common, or waste (where
mares and fillies are used to be kept) any stoned horse above
the age of two years, not being fifteen hands high, within the
shires and territories of Norfolk, Suflfolk, Cambridge, Bucking-
ham, Huntingdon, Essex, Kent, South Hampshire, North
Wilts, Oxford, Berks, Worcester, Gloucester, Somerset, North
Wales, South Wales, Bedford, Warwick, Northampton, York-
shire, Cheshire, Stajffordshire, Lancashfre, Salop, Leicester,
Hereford, and Lincoln ; nor under fourteen hands va. any other
county, on pain of forfeiting the same ;" and it proceeds, " It
is lawful for any person to seize any horse so under size, in
manner following : — he shall go to the keeper of such forest,
or (out of such forest) to the constable of the next town, and
require him to go with him to bring such horse to the next

* Bonnecboae, Hiitory of France, umo 1866

HORSES OF BRITAIN.

55

pound, there to be measured by such officer, in the presence of
three honest men, to be appointed by the officer ; and if he
shall be found contrary to what is above expressed, such person
may take him for his own use."

Also, s. 6, " all such commons and other places shall within
fifteen days after Michaelmas yearly, be driven by the owners
and keepers, or constables, respectively, on pain of 40s., and
they shall also drive the same at any other time they shall
think meet ; and if there shall be found, in any of the said
drifts, any mare, filly, foal, or gelding, which shall not be
thought able, nor Hke to grow to be able to bear foals o' a
reasonable stature, or to do profitable favours, by the discretiofl
of the drivers, or the greater number of them, they may kill
and bury them."

Even iufected horses are prohibited from being turned into
such commons — (s. 9), " whereby it is enacted that no person
shall have, or put to pasture, any horse, gelding, or mare,
infected with the scab, or mange, in any common or common
fields, on pain of 10«. and the offence shall be enquirable in the
leet, as other common annoyances are, and the forfeitures shall
be to the lord of the leet."

Carew, in his Hktory of Cornwall, supposes this act of par-
liament to have been the occasion of losing almost entirely
the small breed of horses which were peculiar to that country ;
and no doubt the same effect was produced in Wales. This
loss, however, was well repaid by the race of large and power-
ful horses which took their place.

The following illustration of the horses of England in this
reign is taken from the Regulations and EstabKshments of
Algernon Percy, the fifth Earl of Northumberland, begim in
1512

" This is the ordre of the chequir roul of the nombre of all
the horsys of my lordys, and my ladys, that are apoynted to
be in the charge of the hous yerely, as to say, gentill horsys,
palfreys, hohys, naggis, clothsek hors, male hors.

"First, gentill horsys, to stand in my lordis stable, six.
Item, palfreys of my ladis, to wit, oone for my lady, and two
for her gentiUwomen, and oone for her chamberer. Four
hohys and nags for my lordys oone saddill, viz. : oone for my
lorde, and oone to stay at home for my lorde.

" Item, chariot hors, to stond in my lordis stable yerely.
Seven gret trottynge horsys to draw in the chariott, and a nag
for the chariott man to ride, eight. Again, hors for Lord
Percy, his lordship's son and heir. A gret doble trottynge
hors, called a curtal, for his lordship to ride on out of townes.
Another trottynge gambaldj-nge hors for his lordship to ride on
when he comes into townes. An ambl}Tige hors for his lordship
to joumeye on dayly. A proper amblynge little nag for his lord-
ship when he goeth on hunting and hawking. A gret amblynge
gelding, or trottynge gelding, to carry his male."*

It is proper to explain that the gentill horse was one of
superior cattle, and made the best chargers. Palfreys were an

• Fr. malle, a leather trunk, whence our English mail, the letters being
Mmveyed on horseback in a malle. The Frencli mail is called the malle-poste.

elegant kind, mostly of a small size, and broken in to the use

of ladies, and aged or infirm people of rank.

Eobys were strong active horses of a small siae, and are

supposed to have come originally from Ireland. This breed

being at one time in high repute, gave origin to the phrase, by

which any favourite object is termed a man's hobfjy.

The clothsek, or "male horse," was one that carried the

cloak-bag, or portmanteau.

Chariot horses, (derived from the French word charotte,

from which again the English word cart), were waggon- horses.
A gret doble trottynge horse, was a heavy, powerful horse,

whose pace was a trot, being either too unwieldy in itself, or

carrying too great weights to gallop.

A curtal was a horse whose tail was cut or shortened.

A gambaldynge horse was one of show and parade ; from

the Italian word gamba, (leg), gambado, (a curvet.)

An amblynge horse was one of much the same description,
but whose more quiet ambling pace adapted him especially to
the use of ladies.

In the reign of Edward VI., horse stealing was made a
capital offence. By the 1st Edward VI., cap. 12, we find it
enacted, " that no person convicted for felonious stealing of
horses, geldings or mares, shall have the privilege of clergy."
But this enactment being in the plural number, caused a doubt
whether a person convicted of stealing one horse, mare, or
gelding, was entitled to benefit of clergy, and two acts were
subsequently passed in the same reign, to remedy this defect.

We have every reason to beHeve that the country derived
much benefit to its breed of horses in the reign of Elizabeth ;
as it is more than probable that great numbers of Barbs, and
Spanish horses descended from Barbs, were taken on board the
numerous vessels captured by Lord Howard of Effingham, the
British admiral, on the defeat and dispersion of the Spanish
Armada. Elizabeth, though herself a great horsewoman, does
not seem to have patronised racing, as we shall note when we
come to the history of that pastime. We do not find it men-
tioned as forming part of the amusements with which the Earl
of Leicester entertained his royal mistress on her visit to
Kenilworth ; and Conmenius says, at this day, 1590, tilting oi
the quintain is used, when a ring is struck with a truncheon,
instead of horse racing, which, he adds, is grown out of fashion.
That this was not on account of any gambling or improper
practices being attached to it, we may gather from the writings
of John Northbrook, a puritan, who, though very severe
against cards, dice, and plays, allows horse-racing, c''»<^ing it
with hunting and hawking.

It is remarkable that such was the large falling on m the
number of cavalry-horses between the reign of Edward VI.,
in 1547, and the middle of Elizabeth, that in 1588, when
England was threatened by the Spanish Armada, no more
than 3,000 cavalry could be mustered in the whole kingdom,
to suppress the invasion.

Towards the close of this reign coaches were introduced by
Fitzallen, Earl of Arundel, their inventor, and such was the
demand for horses thus occasioned, that a bill was actually

66

THE HORSES OF BRITAIN.

introduced into the House of Lords, to restrain the excessive
use of coaches. It was, however, lost on the second reading.
Before this the Queen was, on state occasions, accustomed to
ride behind her Master of the Horse. But for a considerable
period after the introduction of coaches, saddle horses con-
tinued in use at state ceremonies ; for so late as the Resto-
ration, King Charles II. made his entrance into London, May,
1660, riding between his brothers the Dukes of York and
Gloucester, with a splendid cavalcade.

We shall here pause in our general history of the English
horse : the subsequent periods being so intimately mingled
with the history of racing, as to class it more fitly under a
History of the British Turf

II. GALLOWAYS AND PONIES.

The name galloway, is said to be derived from a handsome,
hardy, and much prized breed of horses, indigenous to the
South of Scotland, on the shores of the Solway Firth ; they
have now, however, disappeared from the place of their origin,
the agriculturists of the district having sought to breed an
animal of larger stature, better fitted for draught purposes, such
as the Clydesdale horse. There is a tradition, by no means
warranted by physiology or probability, that the original
galloway was descended from a cross with a horse escaped
from the wreck of a ship of the Spanish Armada, cast away on
the neighbouring coast. We have a record, indeed, of
hardy horses suppUed to the army of Edward I. from this
district three centuries before.

The original galloway was between thirteen and fourteen
hands in height, of a bright brown or bay, with a neat head,
black legs, peculiarly deep and clean. It had a remarkable
surefootedness and stoutness, with a fair amount of speed. Dr.
Anderson thus describes the breed : —

" There was once a breed of small elegant horses in 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 its disposition 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
rode a hundred and fifty miles, without stopping, except to
bait, and that not above an hour at a time. It came in at the
last stage with as much ease and alacrity as it travelled the
first I could have undertaken to have performed on this
animal, when it was in its prime, sixty miles a day for a
twelvemonth running, without any extraordinary exertion."

A galloway in point of size, whether of Scotch origin or not
is uncertain, performed in the year 1814, a greater feat than
Dr. Anderson's favourite, it started from London with the
Exeter mail, and, notwithstanding its eighteen changes of
horses, and the rapid driving of that vehicle, it arrived at
Exeter (one hundred and seventy-two miles) fifteen minutes
before the mail. The weU-known Professor Youatt, who saw

this animal about twelve months after his wonderful perform-
ance, describes him as being wind-gaUed, spavined, ring-boned,
and a lamentable picture of the ingratitude of some human
brutes towards a willing and faithful servant. Other instances
of endurance, equally remarkable, are recorded.

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 Carlisle the extraordinary feat of one thousand
miles in a thousand hours !

The galloway, or small stout horse known in England by
that name, is often from Wales, or the New Forest.

The Welsh pony is a beautiful little animal. He has a
small head, high withers, deep, yet round barrel, short joints,
flat legs, and good round feet. The Welsh ponies are said to
be indebted to the celebrated Merlin, for an improvement
in their form and qualities. They will live on any fare, and can
never be tired out.

This has arisen from a misconception. The Welsh pony
was called " a Merl}Ti," as will be seen by an extract from the
Cambrian Quarterly Magazine, which follows : —

" Pony-hunting used to be one of the favourite amusements
of the Welsh farmers and peasantry, a century and a half ago,
and it has not, even now, fallen altogether into disuse. The
following story of one of these expeditions is founded on fact : —
A fanner named Hugo Garonwy lived in the neighbourhood
of Llweyn Georie. Although he handled the tilt plough,
and other farming tools in their due season, yet the catching
of the merlyn, the fox, and the hare, were more congenial
pursuits ; and the tumbles and thumps which he received, and
from which no pony-himter was exempt, served but to attach
him to the sport. Rugged, however, as the Merionethshire
coast and its environs were, and abounding with precipices and
morasses, he sometimes experienced worse mishaps — and so it
happened with Garonwy.

"He set out one morning with his Jasso coiled round his
waist, and attended by two hardy dependants and their grey-
hounds. The lasso was then familiar to the Welshman, and
as adroitly managed by him as by any guacho on the plains of
South America. As the htmters climbed the mountain's brow,
the distant herd of ponies took alarm — sometimes galloping
onwards, and then suddenly halting and wheeling round,
snorting as if in defiance of the intruders, and furiously pawing
the ground. Garonwy, with the assistance of his servants and
the greyhounds, contrived to coop them up in a comer o^vthe
hiUs, where perpendicular rocks prevented their escape.

" Already had he captured three of the most beautiful little
fellows in the world, which he expected to sell for Al. or 51.
each at the next Bala fair — to him a considerable sum, and
amounting to a fourth of the annual rent which he paid for
his sheep-walk. There remained, however, one most untame-
able creature, whose crested mane, and flowing tail, and wild
eye, and distended nostril, showed that he was a perfect
Bucephalus of the hiUs ; nor indeed was it safe to attack hinj

?^

HORSES OF BRITAIN.

67

in the ordinary way. Many of the three-year-olds had been
known to break the legs of their pursuers, and some had been
dismounted and trampled to death.

" Garonwy was determined to give the noble fellow a chase
over the hills, and so overcome him by fatigue before the lasso
was flung. The dogs were unslipped, and off they went, swift
as the winds, Garonwy following, and the two assistants posted
on a neighbouring eminence. Vain was the effort to tire the
merlyn. Hugo, naturally impatient, and without waiting to
ascertain that the coils were all clear, flung the lasso over the
head of the wild horse. The extremity of the cord was twisted
round his own body, and tightening as the animal struggled,
the compression became unsupportable, and, at length, in spite
of every effort to disengage himself, Garonwy was dragged
{mm his horse.

" The affi'ighted merlyn, finding himself manacled by the
rope, darted off with all the speed of which he was capable,
dragging poor Garonwy over the rocky ground and stunted
brushwood. This occurred at some distance from the men.
They called in their dogs that the speed of the merlyn might
not be increased, but ere they could arrive at the spot at which
the accident happened, the horse and the man had vanished.
Whether the sufferings of the hunter were protracted, or he
was dashed against some friendly rock at the commencement
of this horrible race, was never known ; but the wild animal,
frenzied and blinded by terror, rushed over a beetling cliff, at
a considerable distance, overhanging the sea-shore, and the
hunter and the horse were found at the bottom, a mis-shapen
semblance of what they had been when Hving."

Old Marsk, the sire of Eclipse, is reported to have given
an improving cross to the New Foresters* nevertheless, these
are generally Hi-made, large-headed, short-necked, and 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 the 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 enclosure of the
fens will render it extinct.

The Exmoor ponies, although generally ugly enough, are
hardy and useful. A weU-known sportsman says, that he

• Marsk was sold at the death of the Duke of Cumberland, in 1765, to a
farmer for a trifling Bum, being considered a very indifferent stallion : in
1766 he covered country mares in Dorsetshire at 10*. 6d. He was afterwards
bought by Mr, Wilkinson (first owner of Eclipse) for 20 guineas, the seller
considering himself quit of a bad bargain. In 1767 he corered at Bistern
near Ringwood, Hants, at 3 guineas, seeming to be creeping into favour.
In 1769, at Gibbons' Grove, Leatherhead, Surrey, at 5 guineas ; in 1770 at
10 guineas ; then 30 guineas. Marsk soon became, by the unparalleled per-
formances of tlie famed Eclipse, the first stallion in the kingdom ; and was in
consequence thereof purchased by the Earl of Abingdon for 1,000 guineas
and sent to his Lordsliip's stud at Rycot, in Oifordsliire, where he covered,
previous to his death, which happened in July 1779, at 100 guineas and one
<[uinB» the groom.
H

rode one of them half a dozen miles, and never felt such power
and action in so small a compass before. To show his accom-
plishments, he was turned over a gate at least eight inches
higher than his back ; and his owner, who rides fourteen stone,
travelled on him from Bristol to South Molton, eighty-six
miles, beating the coach which runs the same road.

There is on Dartmoor a race of ponies much in request in
that vicinity, being sure-footed, and hardy, and admirably
calculated to get 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 Dartmoor
prison, had a great desire to possess one of them of somewhat
superior figiire 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 hiU) ; a man
followed on horseback, while the Captain stood below watching
the chase. The little animal, being driven into a comer,
leaped completely over the man and horse, and escaped.

The horses in the southern and western districts of Devon-
shire, called " pack-horses," from their former use, are merely
a larger variety of the Exmoor or Dartmoor pony.

There is one description of pony, however, truly and
unmistakably aboriginal in the northern parts of Britain — we
mean the unmistakable Httle Sheltie, or Zetland pony ; an
animal which loses every characteristic if an attempt or
accident should lead to an increase of their general size. The
strength of these little animals almost surpasses beHef. Seven,
eight, nine, and at the outside ten hands high they are fuU
of vigour, strength, and beauty of a peculiar stamp. There
are some which an able man could lift up in his arms ;
yet will carry him eight or ten miles, and as many back.
Summer or winter they never come into a house, but run
upon the mountains, in some places like flocks ; and if at
any time in winter they are straitened for food, they will
come from the bills when the ebb is in the sea, and eat the
sea weed (as likewise do the sheep). "Winter storms and
scarcity of food brings them so low that they do not recover
their strength till about the middle of June, when they are at
their best. They will live to a considerable age, as twentj'-six,
twenty-eight, or thirty years. They last to be good for riding
at twenty-four ; especially if they are not put to work until
they are four years old. Those of a black colour are judged
the most durable. The pied often prove not so good. They
have been more numerous than they are now. The best of
them are to be had in Sanston and Easton ; also, they are good
in Waes and Yell. Those of the least size are in the northern
isles of Yell and Uist. The coldness of the air, and the
barrenness of the moimtains on which they feed, and their
hard usage, may tend to keep them little ; but if bigger
horses are brought among them, their progeny degenerate.

Mr. Youatt says : — " A friend of mine 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

68

THE HORSES OF BRITAIN.

than seven hands high, and as docile as he was beautiful.
' Can we not cany 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." The same writer adds :
— " He is often exceedingly beautiful, with a small head, good-
tempered countenance, 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 and powerful, legs
flat and fine, and pretty round feet. These ponies possess
immense strength for their size ; will fatten almost upon any-
thing, and are perfectly docile. One of them, nine hands
(or three feet) in height, carried a man of twelve stone forty
miles in one day."

Her present Majesty has, on more than one occasion,
purchased some interesting and perfect specimens of the
Sheltie, for the use of the younger members of the Royal
Family ; and they have always been very much prized
for the use of children, alike from their smallness of size
and docility.

The Highland Pony is far inferior to the galloway, and is
not pleasant to ride, except in the canter. His habits make
him hardy, for he is rarely housed summer or winter. The
Rev. Mr. HaU says that when these animals come to a 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 determiae in a
minute whether they will proceed.

As to the English pony, almost every district has its breed,
more or less, commingled ; and the variety would appear to be
most suitable to the circumstances of pasturage and soil.
Owing, however, to the average large stature of the English
horse, any thing under thirteen hands has, in horseman's
phrase, come to be called " a pony." Many of our best
trotters have passed under this name.

III. THE DRAUGHT HORSE.

Up to within these few years our principal employers of
draught horses in the metropolis aimed almost exclusively at
the procuring of those grand, stately, and immense animals
which judicious crossing with the Flemish and old Suffolk
Pimch so often produced. Of late, however, the immense
demand for a horse of higher activity and handiness, for the
service of the railway van, has given the waggon horse a
stamp more approaching to the Cleveland, or the " machiner"
— & smart trot, as well as a sheer-strength pull, being a deside-
ratum When the old " sumpter," or carrier's horse, was used
in England, for the conveyance of loads in packs or panniers,
some of the Yorkshire sumpter horses have been known to
oarrj' 7001bs. weight sixty miles in the day, and to repeat this
journey four times a week, while mill horses have carried

910 lbs. for shorter distances.* This is the stamp of animai
required by the Baxendales, Chaplins, and Pickfords ; anothei
sort is yet the pride of our great brewers, distUlers, and London
waggon owners. The remarks of a gentleman ",frae north o'
Tweed" on these horses are so genuine and apposite that we
transcribe them : — " A prevalent error of strangers is that these
magnificent horses are merely meant as an advertisement of the
firm to which they belong. The large and opulent brewer has
less occasion for this kind of publicity than any other trader.
His customers are compelled to come to bim : a chance sale is
a rara avis. He has these horses because extraordinary
exertion is sometimes required, and he can command it when
necessary : at the same time they are too valuable to be use-
lessly worn out, and pay better in the long run for the attention
bestowed upon them. This has led many into the error of
supposing these splendid animals cannot do the work of such
as, from want of proper points to command the higher prices,
get into the more laborious emplojonents ; and you wiU hear
the owners of these inferior horses constantly remarking on one
of these beautiful teams, as not only the pride of the drayman,
who beckons them to him like old acquaintance, and which
they answer with the sagacity of bipeds, but they are also the
pride and admiration of all Englishmen, and the astonishment
of most foreiguers. A Scotchman is certainly not a foreigner,
being but an Englishman of a distant portion of Great Britain ;
but I cannot help noticing, that, when visiting the Land of
Cakes, I have always felt elated at the animated description
of their feelings at first beholding these noble creatures. They
were full of astonishment, and could not tell which made the
greatest impression, their extreme beauty, vast size, sagacity,
or docility, amounting beyond parallel. One gentleman
remarked, ' I have been over most of the globe ; I have seen
many of its wonders ; but the greatest I ever saw was in
London. I saw a brewer's team lowering some butts of beer.
The horse that performed this office, without any signal, raised
the butts, and returned and lowered the rope : not a word or
sign escaped the man at the top of the hole, who only waited
to perform his part as methodically as his four-footed mate did
his. Two others were sometimes playing at intervals in
apparent converse. The cellaring finished, the horse took his
place by the team : the other loose horse, that had been going
wherever he pleased, also came, and was hooked on. The
man adjusted his dress, then walked away ; the team followed.
Not one word has passed, not even a motion of the whip, or any
other intimation of what was to be done next.' He added, he
had never seen the same number of men work in such unison
with the various changes : it was wonderful, and if it was not
reason, he thought the greater portion of mankind had better
give up some part of their reason to learn sagacity from a dray-
horse. He continued : ' I followed some distance to see how it
was that a man, who seemed as if he could be crushed at any
moment by these monsters, had such control over them. I ob-
served he never touched them : between carriages where there

• Toustt, p. 268.

HORSES OF BRITAIN.

68

bardly seemed room enough to squeeze through, he went with-
out touching, and this, too, by merely waving a bit 9f whipcord
on the end of a long black rod." He finished with — ' I was
quite astounded ; it was truly wonderful ; and I always recollect
the sight with pleasure ; and can hardly prevail upon myself
that it was not some necromancer waving an enchanted rod.' "
This digression dismissed, we will proceed to show that the
observation that brewers' horses cannot do the more laborious
kinds of work, particularly that of town carmen, is a mistake.
There is not often an opportunity of proving the fact, the
greater part of the brewers being too Liberal to their old
servants to part with them when worn out : most of them,
therefore, have them destroyed when, from old age or accident,
they are incapacitated from performing their work with mode-
rate comfort. Some wealthy gentlemen, aye, and ladies too,
may take a leaf in this respect, at least, out of the brewers'
book, when many a favourite hunter, charger, ladies' pad, hack,
and even racer, wiU be saved the torture of dragging street-
cabs and costermongers' carts with aching limbs, crippled feet,
galled shoulders and back, for the sake of putting into the
pocket of the seUer not perhaps one half what the old dray-
horse would fetch.

There are a few exceptions of brewers selling their horses,
and we feel confident all those who have bought them have
found them work better than the ordinary horses at the same
age : we have known many. One was sold out from being
supposed to be lame : he turned out sound. Three tons and a
half, including his cart, became his ordinary load, and with
this he went all over London and the neighbourhood, and
never had, or required, any assistance, not even over the
bridges, or up hills. He certainly was a remarkably fine horse,
and kept up '^is fat till he died, some years after leaving the
brewhouse

The heavy black horse, a favourite with the coal-merchants,
is bred chiefly in the midland counties, from the fens of Lin-
colnshire to Staffordshire. Many are bought up by the Surrey
and Berkshire fanners at two years old ; and, being worked
moderately until they are four, earning their keep all the
while, they are then sent to the London market, and sold at a
profit of ten or twelve per cent.

It would not answer the breeder's purpose to keep them until
they are fit for town work. He has plenty of fillies and mares
on his farm for every purpose that he can require ; he, there-
fore, sells them to a person nearer to the metropolis, by whom
they are gradually trained and prepared. The traveller has
probably wondered to see four of these enormous animals in a
line before a plough, on no very heavy soil, and where two
lighter horses would have been quite sufficient. The farmer is
training them for their future destiny ; and he does right in
not requiring the exertion of all their strength ; for their bones
are not yet perfectly formed, nor their joints knit, and were he
to urge them too severely, he would probably injure and deform
them. By the gentle and constant exercise of the plough, he
is preparing them for that continued and equable pull at the
collar which is afterwards so necessary.

The true Suffolk Punch, which did much for our best
short-legged dray-horses, is not found now in its purity. It
stood from fifteen to sixteen hands high, of a sorrel colour;
was large-headed ; low shouldered, and thick on the withers ;
deep and round chested ; long backed ; high in the croup ;
large and strong in the quarters ; fuU in the flanks ; round in
the legs ; and short in the pasterns. It was the very horse to
throw his whole weight into the collar, with sufBcient activity
to do it effectually, and hardihood to stand a long day's work.

The present breed possesses many of the peculiarities and
good qualities of its ancestors. It is more or less inchned to a
sorrel colour ; it is a taller horse ; higher and finer in the
shoulders; and is a cross with the Yorkshire half or three-
fourths bred.

The excellence, and a rare one, of the old Suffolk — the new
breed has not quite lost it — consisted in nimbleness of action,
and the honesty and continuance with which be would exert
himself at a dead puU. Many a good draught-horse knows well
what he can effect ; and, after he has attempted it and failed,
no torture of the whip will induce him to strain his powers
beyond their natural extent. The Suffolk, however, would
tug at a dead pull until he dropped. It was beautiful to see
a team of true Suffolks, at a signal from the driver, and with-
out the whip, down on their knees in a moment, and drag
everything before them. The immense power of the Suffolk
is accounted for by the low position of the shoulder, which
enables him to throw so much of his weight into the coUar.

Although the Punch is not what he was, and the Suffolk
and Norfolk farmer can no longer boast of ploughing more
land in a day than any one else, this is undoubtedly a valuable
breed.

The Duke of Richmond obtained many excellent carriage
horses, with strength, activity, and figure, by crossing the
Suffolk with one of his best hunters.

The Suffolk breed is in great request in the neighbouring
counties of Norfolk and Essex. Mr. Wakefield, of Bamham,
in Essex, had a stallion for which he was offered four hundred
guineas.

The Clydesdale is a good kind of draught-horse, and par-
ticularly for farming business and in a hilly country. It
derives its name from the district on the Clyde, in Scotland,
where it is principally bred. The Clydesdale horse owes its
origin to one of the Dukes of Hamilton, who crossed some of
the best Lanark mares with stallions that he had brought from
Flanders. The Clydesdale is larger than the Suffolk, and has
a better head, a longer neck, a lighter carcase, and deeper legs ;
he is strong, hardy, pulling true, and rarely restive. The
southern parts of Scotland are supplied from this district ;
and many Clydesdales, not only for agricultural purposes but
for the coach and the saddle, find their way to the central and
even southern counties of England. Dealers from almost every
part of the United Eongdom attend the markets of Glasgow
and Rutherglen.

Professor Low (in his Illustrations of British (^nadrupeds)
says, that " the Clydesdale horse, as it is now bred, ifi usually

60

THE HORSES OF BRITAIN.

sixteen hands high. The prevailing colour is black, but the
brown or bay is common, and is continually gaining upon the
other, and the grey is not unfrequently produced. They are
longer in the body than the English black horse, and less
weighty, compact, and muscular ; but they step out more
freely, and have a more useful action for ordinary labour.
They draw steadily, and are usually free from vice. The long
stride, characteristic of the breed, is partly the result of con-
formation, and partly of habit and training ; but, however
produced, it adds greatly to the usefulness of the horse, both
on the road and in the fields. No such loads are known to be
drawn, at the same pace, by any horses in the kingdom, as in
the single-horse carts of carriers and others in the west of
Scotland.

IV. THE CLEVELAND BAY ; THE COACH HORSE.

Though horses are bred in every county of England, Yorkshire
has the credit of producing the greater number of good ones.
It has, or rather had, in the old " Cleveland bays," a particular
race, combining peculiarity of form, a certain cast of coun-
tenance, and high quaHties of utility. This powerful and active
breed have, by many writers, been considered as owing their
valuable properties to early crosses with the race-horse of those
times ; it is probable that those qualities marked the indigenous
Yorkshire horse. The large London carriage horses are of this
stock, though the demand for a harness-horse of lofty size has
much decreased; other qualities, which are to be had combined
with more grace, lighter action, and less of the " farm " horse
stamp, being now in request. A century ago, however, the
carriage-horse had not even the form of the Cleveland — he was
a round-barrelled, hollow-backed, clod-shouldered, thick-legged
brute, with long tail, full mane, and hairy fetlocks, something
between a hearse-horse and a dray-horse, fall of flesh, pride
and pawing, and capable of six miles an hour for three hours
three times a week — not that he ever got half of it. The later
coach-horse, though too large, was a great improvement on
this Netherlandish animal. The points of a good coach-horse,
are, depth in the body, good bone imder the knee, moderately
long pasterns, and sound tough feet, well open at the bars.
Though differing respectfully from Professor Low, as to the
origin of the Cleveland Bay, yet agreeing with him as to its
more modem form, we take the liberty of quoting his descrip-
tion:—

" It is the progressive mixture of the blood of horses of higher
breeding with those of the common race, that has produced the
variety of coach-horse usually termed the Cleveland Bay ; so
called from its colour, and the fertile district of that name in
the North Riding of Yorkshire, on the banks of the Tees.
About the middle of the last century this district became known
for the breeding of a superior class of powerful horses, which,
with the gradual disuse of the heavy old coach-horse, became
in request for coaches, chariots, and similar carriages. The
breed, however, is not confined to Cleveland, but is cultivated
through all the great breeding district of this part of England.
It haa been formed by the progressive mixture of the blood of

the race-horse with the original breeds of the country. To
rear this class of horses, the same principles of breeding should
be applied as to the rearing of the race-horse himself. A class
of mares, as well as stallions, should also be used, having the
properties sought for. The district of Cleveland owes its supe-
riority in the production of this beautiful race of horses to the
possession of a definite breed, formed not by accidental mix-
ture but by continued cultivation.

" Although the Cleveland Bay appears to unite the blood of
the finer with that of the larger horses of the coimtry, to
combine action with strength, yet many have sought a farther
infusion of blood nearer to the race-horse. They are accordingly
crossed by hunters or thorough-bred horses, and thus another
variety of coach-horse is produced, of lighter form and higher
breeding ; and many of the superior Cleveland curricle and
four-in-hand horses are now nearly thorough-bred. The bay
colour is in the most general estimation, but the grey are not
unfrequently used."

Such is unquestionably the " Cleveland" horse of our day ;
from a thorough-bred of moderate stature, and a Cleveland
mare three-quarters blood, we obtain a horse fit for the small
pair-horse brougham, the curricle-phaeton, or the four-in-hand.

A pleasant and most popular writer, who adopts the nom de
plume of " Harry Hieover," thus agreeably contrasts the
modem and antique carriage-horse : —

" The great alteration in the form and breeding of the
carriage-horse has partly arisen from the alteration of the
vehicle he draws, but still more from the improvement in the
paving of the streets and the state of the roads round the me-
tropolis. The heavy, old-fashioned machine that was built to
suit the pavement over which the royal Hal and his fat friend
were jolted to Eastcheap, became no longer necessary when, il
a hole was found in a street, the paviours were set instantly to
work ; and when the two miles and a-half from St. Paul's to
Hyde-park Comer, barring stoppages, became a work of fifteen
minutes, instead of a long mortal hour, the heavy old coach-
horse found the pace so unpleasant — indeed, impossible to him —
that it became necessary to infuse some quicker-flowing blood
into his veins ; yet perhaps this necessary change, though it
improved speed, would have made the more high-bred animal
refuse to fetch a heavy load out of a slough or hole that let the
vehicle in axle-deep. Each was fitted for a different purpose,
and each had its distinct merit.

"Doubtless the old coach-horse was little better bred than
the light cart-horse ; and I should think it more than probable
that Lincolnshire and Suffolk mainly contributed to the early
supply of coach-horses, for ia those days the Yorkshire horse
was the hunter, and would have been thought too light for
harness- work. When roads got better, and gentlemen became
charioteers, with their phaetons-and-four, and when this was
followed by the barouche, then Cleveland sent up its stock for
carriage-horses, and they began to get those higher bred.
George the Fourth, as Prince of Wales, aided by his friend
Sir John Lade, was perhaps the first who showed the public
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61

beauty, pace, and action all combined. They made me stare
as a boy, and made many stare as men, to see them go down
Constitution-hill. I have them as distinctly before my eyes
now as I had them then. These horses only wanted their
'switch' or ' barouche '-tails (as they were then called) cut
off to a Leicestershire stump, their manes pulled to about an
inch long, and they were very fair specimens of hunters, and
were quite as highly bred as the generality of hunters then
used.

"Partly, perhaps, to favour the kind of horse that had become
in vogue, but much more in consequence of good roads, small
carriages beceime in vogue also ; all sorts of vehicles, with
all sorts of name^, shapes, sizes, and construction, were, and
are, seen in the itreets ; and all the ingenuity of man was
called forth to produce something new. But the ultimatum
of all this ingenuity appears to have been to enable a family,
constituting in itself a host, to avail themselves, of the con-
venience of one carriage and one horse. The large old-fashioned
famtly-coach is no longer seen ; this was a capacious, lumbering
looking vehicle, it must be allowed ; six inside, two footmen,
and coachman, made nine in number. This was thought
enough for two large coach-horses."

Since the days of Harry Hieover a very great change has
taken place in the size and stracture of London carriages;
for instead of being constructed to carry six, or even four,
they are mostly built only to carry two inside; at least there
are more broughams than larger carriages, excepting always
open barouches, which carry four inside. But it is the roads
rather than the carriages that favour horses. Bring back the
roads as they were a century ago, and you must also get back
the old coach and coach-horse; though, it is to be hoped,
we have seen the last of both.

V. THE HACKNEY.

A capital judge in equine matters has well said, that a per-
fect hack or roadster is the rarest phenomenon in horseflesh.
To judge the just properties, we must have an accurate per-
ception of the end for which the animal is designed, for
according to the end the proportions vary. Thus, there is one
set of proportions for the racer, another for the hunter,
another for the hackney, another for the coach-horse, and
another for the cart-horse ; and, as each of these merges into
the other's quaUties, so is it inferior for its special objects.
Each too possesses its own style of beauty.

Why should that common-place animal, as he appears to the
uninitiated, the roadster, be more difficult to be met with in
perfection than even the hunter and racer ?

There are many reasons for this. The price of the hack, 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 over-
looked in the hunter, but which the road horse must not have.
The hunter may start, may be awkward 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 I

with him, or prize him : but the hack, 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 tumble down.

The hack, like the hunter of the present day, is arways a
horse with some portion of racing blood, the whole EngUsb
race, even to the cart-horse, being more or less imbued, and
equally improved by it. Thus our road horses are half, three-
parts, seven-eighths, or thorough bred. The two latter degrees
are, in several respects, less fitted for the purpose of travelling
the roads than the former : chiefly on account of the tenderness
of their legs and feet, their longer stride, and straight-kneed
action, not so well adapted to the English road pace, the trot.
Nevertheless, well-bred hackneys are elegant and fashionable,
and, when good canterers, pleasant to ride ; insomuch that, a
certain colonel of the Guards of former days insisted, there was
the same difference to be felt in riding a bred hack and one
without blood, as between riding in a coach and in a cart. One
good property in the thorough-bred road horse is, that he
seldom shies, many of them never.

The road horse should have a considerably lofty yet light
forehand or crest, a deep and extensive shoulder, well raised at
the withers, straight back, with substantial loins and wide fillets,
the croup not suddenly drooping, nor the tail set on low. The
head should not be thick and fleshy, not joined abruptly to the
neck, but in a gradual and tapering form ; the eye full, clear,
and transparent. The fore arms and thighs, with plenty of
muscular substance, should be of reasonable length, but the
legs should, at no rate, be long. Much soUd flat bone
beneath the knee, is a great perfection in a hackney;
and the feet, standing straight, turning neither in nor out-
wards, should be of tough, dark, shining horn, the heels wide
and open. The saddle-horse's fore-feet should closely approach
each other, the wide chest being rather adapted to the collar.
Nor need any apprehension be entertained from this near
approximation of the fore feet, of the horse's cutting in the
speed, or knocking his pastern joints, since those defects arise
almost invariably from the irregular pointing of the toe,
inwards or outwards, and for which, neither a wide chest, nor
the most skilful farriery, has ever yet provided a sufficient
remedy. A saddle horse of any description can scarcely go too
close before, or too wide behind.

Perhaps the best pedigree for a road horse for general
purposes is, that he should be bred from hackney stock on both
sides, more particularly for a trotter.

In the hackney, says Blaine (Outlines of the Veterinary An)
"we look with as much anxiety to his fore parts, as we do to the
hinder parts of the racer or hunter : and as in them the fore
parts are rather subordinate to the hinder, so in the hackney,
on the contrary, the hind parts may be regarded as of less
consequence than the fore ; for, though speed is diminished,
yet it is subordinate to safety. The head should be small, well
placed, and well carried on a neck of due length ; the withers
high, the shoulders muscular but not heavy; and above alL

(52

BREEDING FOR GENERAL PURPOSES.

they should be deep and oblique placed. The fore-legs must
be perfect throughout, and stand straight and well forward
under the horse ; and what in the hunter or racer is of less
consequence is here indispensable, that the elbows should be
turned well from the body. The feet also, it is requisite, should
be clean, open, and perfect, and the limbs, especially the fore
ones, free from all stiflfness. The height in the hackney is
not so esential as in the racer and hunter; indeed the best
hackneys are from 14-3 to 15-1. He should be equally set,
without being in the least clumsy; and with such a form the
more blood ha shows, short of fall-blood, the better."

The action of the hack shall be examined when we treat of
the paces of the horse, especially the Trot, and the choice
of a horse for saddle.

A hackney is far more valuable for the pleasantness of his
paces, and his safety, good temper, and endurance, than for his
speed. We rarely want to go more than eight or ten miles
in an hour; and, on a journey, not more than six or seven.
The fast horses, and especially the fast trotters, are not often
easy in their paces, and although they may perform very
extraordinary feats, are disabled and worthless when the
slower horse is in his prime.

CHAPTER VII.

BKEEDING FOR GENERAL PURPOSES. — EARLY SUBJUGATION OF THE HORSE: THE BIT, THE BRIDLE, THE SADDLE. —

BREAKING FOR SADDLE AND HARNESS.

"Like produces like," and the progeny will inherit the
qualities or the mingled qualities of the parents. It is
proven that in respect of diseases there are few which affect
either of the parents constitutionally that the foal will not
inherit, or, at least, a predisposition to them. Even the
consequences of ill-usage or hard work will be entailed in
the progeny. We have proof upon proof that blindness,
roaring, thick wind, broken wind, spavins, curbs, ring-bones,
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 im-
mediate progeny, they frequently will in the next generation.
Hence the necessity of some knowledge of the parentage both
of sire and dam.

Peculiarity of lorm and constitution will also be inherited.
This is a most important 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. When breeders are
careful that the essential points should be good in both parents,
and that some minor defect in either shall be met, and got rid
of, by excellence in that particular point in the other, the
result is creditable to their judgment and highly profitable.
The unskilled 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 inferior to sire and dam.

In breeding the half or three-quarter bred horse, different
men go on different principles. The generality put a half-bred
mare to a thorough-bred sire, a mode that is mostly attended
with the best success. Some use the thorough-bred mare and
half-bred sire, while others breed from sire and dam half or
three-quarters bred. In several instances we have known the
experiment fried of putting a cart-mare t( a thorough-bred
sire, and vice versa; but have never yet seen this answer.

The produce from such a connection does not, as might be
expected, possess the strength of the cart-parent, lightened by
the thorough-bred throughout his general formation, but is
mostly a brute with light legs and body, with the head and
shoulders of the cart-horse; or, at all events, in some parts or
other of his form he will be this kind of nondescript; at least,
all we have seen bred by such a cross have been so. The fact
that the produce outwardly more resembles the sire than the
dam, leads many people into the very great error of being care-
less in their choice of mares.

It may, perhaps, be justly affirmed, that there is more diffi-
culty 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 compactness
of form and shortness of leg.

The mare is capable of breeding at three or four years of
age. There have been injudicious instances of their being made
mothers at two years, which may be passed without comment.
The mare comes into "season" about February, and continues
"horsing" at intervals until the end of June or middle of
July. The term of gestation of the mare is between eleven to
twelve months; these periods forming its ordinaiy limits.
According to M. Tessier, who observed the result in 582 mares,
who had copulated but once, the shortest period was 287 days,
the longest 419, making the extraordinary difference of 132
days, and of 89 day beyond the usual term of eleven months.
It is a mere supposition that the mare carries her first foal
longer than subsequent ones; neither does the term vary on
account of the offspring being a filly or a coH. With race-
horses, who take their age from the first of January, and who
are brought to their post at two years old, early foaling is of
the first importance. With other breeds, who do not figure in
Weatherby'sregister,the beginning of May is the most desirable
time for stinting them. The foal will then be dropped in the

BREEDING FOR GENERAL PURPOSES.

63

following April, when there is pleasant air, and natural food
for dam and offspring, and they need not be so much in stable.

When nearly half the time of pregnancy has elapsed, the
mare should be petted and varied in her food. 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
owner should be frequently upon them. Good feeding and
moderate exercise will be the best preventives against this.
The mare that has once shnked her foal is ever liable to the
same accident, and therefore should nevei be suffered to be
with other mares about the time that this usually occurs,
which is between the fourth and fifth months ; for such is the
power of imagiuation or of sympathy in the mare, that if one
of them suffers abortion, the greater number of those in the
same pasture wUl share the same fate. The mare gives a day
or so notice of the " event, " by the appearance of adhesive
matter about the teats. Even up to this time gentle work will
not hurt her.

If a mare has been regularly exercised, and apparently in
health while she was in foal, Httle 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 weH-informed practitioner, rather than injure the mother by
the violent and injudicious 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 keeping the mother and foal on " short commons " at this
time. It is the most important time in the Hfe of the horse ; and
if, from false economy, his growth be arrested now, his puny
form and want of endurance wiU ever afterwards testify the
error that has been committed. The corn should be given in a
trough on the ground, that the foal may partake of it with the
mother. The mare will usually be found at heat at or before
the expiration of a month fiom the time of foaling, when, if she
be kept principally for breeding purposes, she may be put
again to the horse.

One of the great things to be desired in a brood mare, after
having properly selected her, is to render her perfectly familiar
and quiet : she should be brought to be as tame as a pet sheep.
Nearly all mares by kind and gentle treatment may be brought
to this. The being perfectly free from alarm produces a
general placidity of temper that is highly desirable in any
breeding animal as to their well doing: fright, we all know,
when in this state, has often most fatal effects both on mother
and offspring: reasoning, therefore, on analogy, if absolute
fright is often fatal, constant alarm or apprehension must be
prejudicial Independent of this, mares galloping about to
avoid being caught whenever they are approached is highly
dangerous ; and, after the foal is produced, he naturally follows
the mother : if she is wild, the colt becomes so, and learns
from her to avoid man as his enemy, whereas he should be

taught to hail him as a friend. The mare should be taught U
come up to man the moment he enters her paddock or pasture,
from always gaining caresses and indulgence when she does so
A Httle com from a sieve or a carrot from the hand will soon
teach her this ; and if, when laid hold of, she gets this and
caresses, and Ls never suffered to be alarmed, she will come as
readily and willingly as a favourite dog. What, then, is the
result of the tameness of the mother ? The foal naturally
foUows her either to or from you, and, from constantly
approaching man, he becomes familiar ; and, as a matter of
course, never being hurt or alarmed, he in a few weeks has no
more fear of him than of his dam, and will suffer himself to be
handled in any way you please. As soon as he is able to eat,
he should get something from the hand, and wiU from this
watch for the approach of man, instead of (as most colts do)
galloping away to avoid him. A flock of sheep foUow the
shepherd from habit, and finding him their friend. A herd of
deer, from want of habitual intimacy with man, avoid him, but
a tame deer is as tame as any other pet ; and so will mares
and colts be, if properly treated. Even supposing there was an
inherent vicious propensity bom with a colt, by beginning thus
early with him it would in most cases be eradicated ; if not, it
would to a certainty be most materially softened.

To return, however, to the new-bom foal : — It is not gene-
rally known thut the refusing to suck, which is the cause of
the death of many foals, as well as the scouring, which about
the third day kills many more, are both produced by irrita-
tion, and consequent inflammation of the bowels, from the
retention of a few small hard faeces in the rectum. These are
generally more in quantity in proportion as the keep of the
mare has been high.

The cure is simple ; a few hours after the foal has been
dropped, a tallow candle should invariably be passed into the
rectum, and when the passage has been sufficiently softened,
the faces can easily be extracted by the finger.

In cases where scouring kills foals at a subsequent period, it
is generally attributable to the foal heating itself by violent
exercise ; consequently the mare, for the first day or two that
she is let out (supposing her to be housed,) ought only to be
walked about with a halter, and the same practice pursued at
the time of her first horsing.

Some mares will not aUow their foals to suck. This arises
from the tenderness of the teats ; and in this case they should
have their heads tied up, and if necessary, be otherwise pre-
vented from kicking, while they are milked by hand ; and the
milk should be rubbed over the teats for some short time, after
which they will allow the foal to suck.

Should the mare's milk be obstructed and fail, either from
cold caught, or other cause, if out, she should immediately be
taken up to the house, and enticed to lie down upon a large and
deep littered bed of fresh straw, in a loose box, and every
method taken to comfort her, and to encourage the secretion of
milk. To promote this end, as much warm mild ale should be
allowed, as she would drink ; or should she refuse it, she may
be drenched with a couple of quarts, to be repeated as may

64

BITS. BRIDLES, AND STIRRUPS.

appear necessary ; her food being the finest and most fragrant
hay, sweet grains, with mashes of com and pollard. In cases
of chill and great weakness, the old well-known article, cordial
ball, may be given in warm ale.

Should, however, the case be inflammatory, from previous
high condition and fulness of blood, cordial ball and all
stimulants should be strictly avoided, and the regimen confined
to warm water and gruel, in as copious quantities as can be
administered. Should further measures of similar tendency be
indicated, a mQd solution of Glauber's or Epsom salts (ten or
twelve ounces in a pail of warm water,) may be g^ven, which
she may be induced to drink by means of being kept short of
water. A moderate quantity of blood may be drawn, should
the symptoms demand it, not otherwise. Daily walking exer-
cise abroad, the mare being clothed if necessary, should succeed,
until she be sufficiently recovered to be returned to her pasture.

During the inability of the mare to give suck, the foal must
be sustained on cow's milk. This alien milk will generally
disorder and gripe the foal, for which the best remedy is two
or three spoonsful of rhubarb in powder, with an equal quantity
of magnesia, m warm gruel. This medicine should be given to
the foals of working mares, irhich are often griped by sucking
pent milk. The disorder arising from wet and cold, a table
spoonful eacn, of the best brandy and syrup of white poppies,
may be given several tuiies.

Mares having dead loals, ought to lose a little blood, be fed
moderately on cooling mashes with a little nitre, and on no
account be allowed com. Moderate walking exercise is very
desirable for mares before foaling ; and alternate mashes of
plain and of scalded bran are much to be recommended.

It should be observed that geldings should not be admitted
among the brood mares, as by leaping them, or harassing them
about, abortion may be occasioned.

In five or six months, according to the growth of the foal, it
may be weaned. It should then be housed for three weeks or
a month. A rick-yard in good weather is a capital place for the
foal, as affording, without trouble, both food and shelter. One
or two urine balls, or a physic ball, will be useful, if the milk
should be troublesome, or the mother 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 con-
siderable part of his daily provender. The 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 stabled ;
but one that is destined to be a hunter, a hackney, or a general
horse should merely have a square rick, under the leeward
side of which he may shelter himself, or a hovel, into whic h
he may run at night, or out of the rain.

e.^RLY SUBJUGATION OF THE HORSE. ^THE BIT, THE BRIDLE,

THE SADDLE, THE STIRRUP.

" The noblest conquest ever made by man was that of the
horse," says Buffon: the earlier methods of rendering him

submissive to the will of his rider have not descended to us
The Jews fiercely denounced and despised the grandest and
most useful of animals ; and equally despised, adding perse-
cution to their prejudice, the faithful dog. The heathen nations
more hberal and enlightened, zealously patronised the horse.

The period at which the horse was first subjuga/:ed has been
a matter of curious rather than useful inquiry.

Sir Gore Ouseley, from examinations of the sculptures at
Persepolis, inclines to the opinion that they were first used in
chariots, and in this he is countenanced by many antiquaries.
Homer describes all his heroes as fighting from chariots.
Palaephatus says that men were first drawn in chariots. It
would seem, however, more probable, that mounting the horse,
with the skin of a wild beast for a saddle, would be the earliest
method. Those interested in such enquiries, may consult
Berenger's work " The History of the Horse."

It is in some of the Grecian sculptures that we first see the
bit in the horse's mouth, but it is not always that we do see
it ; on the contrary, there is frequently neither bridle, saddle,
or stirrup. It, however, was frequently necessary to make use
of cords or thongs, in order to confine the horse to the place
at which it suited the rider to leave him. These cords were
fastened round the animal's neck, and may be seen in several
of the ancient figures. According to some writers, the occa-
sional struggles of the animal to escape from these trammels,
and the strength which he exerted in order to accomplish his
purpose, first suggested the idea of hamessiug him to certain
machines for the purpose of drawing them ; and it is evident
that soon after this it must have occurred to the horseman,
that if this rope was put over the head and over the muzzle,
or perhaps in the mouth of the animal, he would be more
easily fastened or led from place to place, and more securely
guided and managed, whether the man was off or on his back
Hence arose the bridle. It probably was at first nothing more
than the halter or cord by which the horse was usually con-
fined. An improvement to this was a detached cord or rope,
with prolongations coming up on both sides of the mouth,
and giving the rider much greater power over the animal ; and
after that, for the sake of cleanliness and to prevent the weai
and tear of the rope, and also giving yet more command over
the animal, an iron bit was fitted to the mouth and rested on
the tongue, and the bridle was attached to each end of it. This
was the common snaffle bridle of the present day, the iron being
jointed and flexible, or often composed of a chain. There
were, however, no cross pieces to these bits at the mouth, but
simple knobs or bulbs, to the inside of which the bit was
attached.

Bits and bridles of this kind occur frequently m the Athe-
nian sculptures of the time of Pericles, about four hundred
and thirty years before the Christian era ; but the headgear oi
the bridle had not long been introduced, the bit being sup-
ported, in some figures, by the buckling or tjing of the bridle
about the nose, a little above the muzzle. These, however,
soon disappear, and we have the present snaffle with very little
alteration, except a straight leather or cord from the head tn

THE BIT, THE BRIDLE, SADDLE, AND STIRRUP.

'35

the nose-band, and that not always found. The chain under
the chin is occasionally observed, probably for the sake of
keeping the bit steady in the mouth.

In no period of Grecian history was the severe curb-bit
knowu. This was an invention of after-times. The only
instrument of punishment which was then attached to the
bit was found in the knobs at the corners of the mouth : they
had sharp or rough points on their inner surface, which by
a turn or twist of the bridle might be brought to bear pain-
fully on the cheeks and angles of the mouth. A bit so
constructed was termed a lupatum, from the supposed
resemblance of these sharp projections to the teeth of a woli.
It would seem that this was, among the Romans, almost
coeval with the introduction of the bit, for the poet attributes
it to Neptune, the fabulous parent of the horse*.

We also find, even at this early period, that horses were
moved in circles to supple them, and render them ready to
turn any way they might be required. Lucan, in his
"Pharsalia," praises the Massylians as being able to dispense
with saddle and bit in the management of their war horses.
He says —

" Et gens qu8B nudo residens Massylia, dorso
Ora levi flectit frsenorum nescia virga."
" Without a saddle the Masayliana ride.
And with a bending switch their horses guide."

No mention is made of saddles, such as are used in modern
times ; by way of ornament, and partly of convenience too,
the horses were often covered with beautiful cloths, or with
the skins of wild beasts, secured by a girth or surcingle.
Thus the horse of Parthenopaeust was covered with the skin
of a lynx, and that of iEneasJ, according to Virgil, with a
lion's skin. In their religious or triumphal processions the
housings of the horses were particularly magnificent, being
frequently adorned with gold and silver and diamonds.
Rich collars were also hung round their necks, and bells
adorned their crests. The trappings of the young knight in the
days of chivalry did not exceed those of the Grecian warrior
on days of ceremony.

" It is conjectured," says Nimrod, in the Sporting Magazine,
No. cxxxviii., " that saddles having any resemblance to
those now in use, were invented in the middle of the
fourteenth century, and were generally covered with cloth ;
but previous to this period, in the fifth century, articles
bearing something of this stamp were made so extravagantly,
that a prohibition was issued by the Emperor Leo the First
against any one ornamenting them with pearls or precious
stones. In the sixth century the saddles of the cavalry had
large coverings of fur, according to Mauritius, who wrote on

* " Neptunus equo, si certa priorum
Fama patet, primus teneris Isesisse lupatis
Ora, et littoreo domuisse in pulvere fertur.''
"Neptune, if we may credit give to fame,
First taught with bits the generous horse to tame.''
t See Statius.

I Quern, fiiiva Uonis pMia obit.
I

the military art ; and at this period the Greek word aeKTu.
{sella) occurs. Vegetius, who wrote on the veterinary art,
speaks of saddle-horses ; and the saddle-tree is mentioned
by Sidonius Apollinaris. It is considered probable that the
invention of saddles belongs to Persia, not merely from the
circumstance of Xenophon's mentioning the people of that
country as being the first to render the seat on the horse
more convenient and easy, by placing more covering on their
backs than was common in other parts, but also because the
horses of Persia were chosen for saddle-horses in preference
to any others. The ignominious punishment of ' bearing the
saddle,' had its origin in the middle ages, and was alone
worthy of those times. That the word saddle is derived from
the Latin word sedeo, to sit on, there can be no doubt. That
the saddle, however, was unknown in this country until the
reign of Henry the Seventh is, I believe, equally certain ,
and in Ireland also, it is conjectured, from the absence ol
any representation of it in the last three centuries. The
first mention of side-saddles is in the time of Richard the
Second, when his queen rode upon one." With all due
deference to Nimrod's assertion, that the saddle was not
used in England until the time of Henry the Seventh, we
must cite the testimony of the venerable Bede, who informs
us that the English began to saddle their horses about the
year 630, during the Saxon struggle for the ascendancy.

Their harnessing the horse is certified by their use oi
chariots, even for war purposes, when first visited by the
Roman invader.

The stirrup was likewise unknown. The adoption of thai
convenient assistance in mounting the horse was of singularly
late date. The first mention of it occurs in the works ol
Eustathius, about the 1158th year of the Christian era; but
it was used in the time of William the Conqueror, nearly a
century before that. Berenger gives the figure of a horse
saddled, bridled, and with stirrups, copied from the Bayeux
tapestry, which was embroidered in the time of the Conqueror
by his wife, and describes the circumstances preceding and
attending his descent into England. The heroes of ancient
times trusted chiefly to their own agility in leaping on their
horses' backs {corpora saltu suhjiciunt in equos), and that
whether standing on the right side or the left

They who fought on horseback with the spear or lance
had a projection on the spear, or sometimes a loop of cord
about two feet from the bottom of it, which served at once
for a firmer grasp of the weapon, and a step on which the
right or the left foot might be placed, according to the side
on which the warrior intended to mount, and from which he
could easily vault on his courser's back. The ho/se was
sometimes taught to assist the rider in mounting by bending
his neck or kneeling down, especially in Persia and Eastern
countries. Cassar's horse, who knelt for his master to mount,
is facetiously alluded to in Hudibras (see quotation, avte,
page 9). The magnates had their slaves by their horses'
side to assist them in mounting and dismounting. Some
made use of a short ladder ; and it was the duty of the local

66

HORSE-BREAKING.— KAREY, TELFER, ETC

magistracy, both in Rome and Greece, to see that con-
venient mounting-stones were placed at short distances
along all the roads.

The boot for the defence of the leg from the dangers to
which it was exposed was very early adopted, and the heel
of it was, occasionally at least, armed with a spur.

BREAKING THE HORSE FOR SADDLE AND HARNESS.

In every art there seem to be periods of enquiry, thought-
fulness, and awakening, with intervals of stagnation,
routine, and slumber. This appears to have been the case
with the art of horsebreaking. For generations, with some
few exceptions of men with a genius for taming and
instructing animals, and these so few and far between as
not to affect the general principle, pretended secrets, coercion,
cruelty, and fear was the rule ; kindness, patience, and
gentle firmness the exception. Drugs, whisperings, and
other delusions, invented by knaves and believed in by
simpletons, were pretended to effect what they never did or
could do, and druggists sold oil of rhodium, oil of cumin, and
other delusive nostrums, to the profit of the vendors and the
disappointment of the credulous. About five years since,
however, a rumour was wafted across the Atlantic that a
wondrous discovery had been made in the art of taming
vicious horses, and it was followed shortly by the arrival of
the so-called "discoverer of the art." We would not rob
Mr. J. S. Raiey of one iota of his well-deserved earnings, or
of his credit as a skilful demonstrator of his system. If
the pretensions by which it was heralded and supported will
not bear close investigation, it is certain that he roused the
public mind from long apathy, and by directing enquiry to
the true principles of horsebreaking, served essentially the
interests of humanity, and enhanced the value of the most
valuable servant of man. There is no doubt that Mr.
Telfer, of Northumberland, Mr. W. Cooke, of Astley's Amphi-
theatre, and others, had long practised portions of the plan
promulgated by Mr. Rarey, but they kept their secret till
Mr. Rarey disclosed his, and, pro tanto, were merely " dumb
oracles, that opened not their lips." We do not claim for
Mr. Rarey the " invention " or " discovery " of a system, but
he is fully entitled to the credit of being its promulgator,
demonstrator, expositor, and teacher, and this is enough to
earn our grateful thanks. A horse of Lord Dorchester's,
the noted stallion " Cruiser," a four-footed fiend, to our
personal knowledge, was tamed by Mr. Rarey as a first
sample of his skill, in two hours, so as to be ridden " as
quiet as a sheep," as the groom expressed it, although no
man had been able to mount him for three years previously.
He was afterwards led on the high road from Murrell
Green to London, behind a dog-cart.

Before entering on the practical portion of our subject, we
shall digress for a few paragraphs to introduce a few words
relating to celebrated horse-breakers, who certainly performed
equally astonishing feats in this line, probably by similar
methods ; though they preferred, as more flattering to their

conceit, practising on the ignorance which is prone to take
omne ignotumpro magnifico, and this was possibly more profit-
able to the professors of the "mystery." Foremost among
these stand the celebrated "horse- whisperer," James Sullivan,
and a Yorkshireman called Jumper. We give them on the
authority of Mr. James Castley.*

" When a very young man," says Mr. Castley, " I remember
purchasing a horse at a fair in the north of England, that
was offered very cheap, on account of his being unmanage-
able. It was said 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 even nothing
more than a saddle on, he instantly threw himself down
upon 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 in Ireland.
We put this animal into Jumper's hands, who took him
away, and in about ten days brought him home again, cer-
tainly 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 —
carry double, or any thing. I took to riding him myself,
and may say I never was better carried for six or eight
months, during which time he never showed the least vice
whatever. I then sold him to a Lincolnshire farmer, who
said he would give him a summer's run at grass, and show
him, a very fine horse, at the great Horncastle fair Hap-
pening to meet this gentleman the following year, I
naturally enough enquired 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, pitching 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,' continued my informant, ' he would throw himselj
down. We could do nothing with him ; and I was obliged
at last to sell him to go in a stage coach.' Jumper, like the
celebrated Whisperer, Sullivan, was supposed to possess
some charm, by which this wonderful effect was produced.
There appears to have been a great similarity between these
two men ; and those who recollect Jumper, will easily recog-
nize the similitude in the following account of the Whis-
perer, extracted from the Rev. Mr. Townsend's Statistical
Survey of the County of Cork : — ' James Sullivan, the
Whisperer, was a horse-breaker at Cork ; an ignorant awk-
ward rustic of the lowest class. He gained this singular
epithet by an extraordinary art of controlling in a secret
manner, and taming into the most submissive and n- actable

♦ Mr. James Castley, Veterinary Surgeon to the 17th Lancers, and
the contributor of many valuable papers to the early volumes of the
Veterinarian. The following anecdotes are from the Veteritiarian.
volume iii., pages 671 — 676, whence they were copied by M) Youatu

HORSE-BREAKING— SULLIVAN, THE WHISPERER.

67

disposition, any horse or mare that was notoriously vicious
and obstinate. He practised his skill in private, and without
any apparent forcible means. In the short space of half an
hour, his magical influence would bring into perfect submis-
sion and good temper even a colt that had never been
handled ; and the effect, though instantaneously produced,
was generally durable. When employed to tame an out-
rageous animal, he directed the stable, in which the object
of his experiment was placed, to be shut, with orders not to
open the door until a signal given. After a tete-a-Me
between him and the horse, during which little or no bustle
was heard, the signal was made, and on opening the door
the horse was found lying down, and the man by his side
playing familiarly with him like a child with a puppy dog.
From that time he was found perfectly willing to submit to
any discipline, however repugnant to his nature before*.

"'I once,' says Mr. Townsend, ' saw his skill on a horse,
which could never before be brought to stand for a smith to
shoe him. The day after Sullivan's half-hour 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 reason,
that, after regimental discipline had failed, no other would
be found availing. I observed that the animal seemed
afraid whenever Sullivan either spoke or looked at him :
how that extraordinary ascendancy could have been ob-
tained it is difficult to conjecture ; he seemed to possess an
instinctive power of inspiring awe, the result perhaps of a
natural intrepidity, in which I believe a great part of the
art consisted ; though the circumstance of the tete-a-tHe
shews that upon particular occasions something more must
have been added to it. A faculty like this would, in other
hands, have made a fortune ; and great off'ers have been
made to him for the exercise of his art abroad, but hunting
and attachment to his native soil were his ruling passions-
He lived at home in a style most agreeable to his disposition,
and nothing could induce him to leave Duhallow and the
fox-hounds."

Mr. Castley remarks on this, very sensibly, " The days of
miracles and of magic are gone by ; and however necro-
mantic this may look, it is nevertheless quite true. There
are so many living witnesses of the extraordinary power
this man possessed, and his mystical art was practised for
such a length of time, and on such a variety of subjects,
that there is no such thing as doubting the fact. It is a fact,
be it recollected, of the nineteenth century. My friend, Mr.
George Watts, of Dublin, who is a man not at all likely to
be swayed by superstitious notions, has told me that he had
more than one opportunity of witnessing the wonderful
effect of Sullivan's art. ' And if I had not seen it myself,'
he always observes, ' I would not believe it.' One remark-

* We are strongly inclined to believe that Sullivan practised the
arey system or ^mething closely akin to It.

able instance in particular he relates, which, as it affordt.
another practical example illustrative of the point at which
I wish to arrive, I shall take the liberty to repeat. This in-
cident took place at the Curragh of Kildare, in the spring
meeting of 1804. Mr. Whalley's King Pippin was broug'nt
there to run. He was a horse of the most extraordinary
savage and vicious disposition ; his particular propensity
was that of flying 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 what is called a sword, which is nothing
more than a strong flat stick, having one end attached to
the cheek 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 difiicult to
manage and dangerous to go near ; but on the occasion in
question he could not be got out to run at all — nobody
could put the bridle upon his head It being Easter
Monday, and consequently a great holiday, there was a large
concourse of people assembled at the Curragh, consisting
principally of the neighbouring peasantry ; and one country-
man, more fearless than the rest of the lookers-on, forgetting,
or rather perhaps never dreaming, that the better part ol
courage is prudence, volunteered his services to bridle the
horse ; but no sooner had he committed himself in this
operation, than King Pippin seized him somewhere about
the shoulders or chest, and, says Mr. Watts, 'I know of
nothing I can compare it to, so much as to a dog shaking a
rat.' Fortunately for this poor fellow, his body was very
thickly covered with clothes ; for, on such occasions, observes
my friend, an Irishman of this class is fond of displaying his
wardrobe, and if he has three coats at all in the world, he is
sure to put them all on. This circumstance, in all pro-
bability, saved the individual who had so gallantly volunteered
the forlorn hope. His person was so deeply enveloped in
extra tegument, that the horse never got fairly hold of his
skin ; and I understand he escaped with but little injury
beyond a sadly rent and totally ruined state of all his holi-
day toggery. The ' Whisperer ' was then sent for, who, hav-
ing arrived, was shut up with the horse all night, and in the
morning he exhibited this hitherto ferocious animal, follow-
ing 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 uut the same meeting, and won
a race, and his docility continued satisfactory for a long
time ; but at the end of about three years his vice returned,
and then he is said to have killed a man, for whi/^h he was
destroyed.

" Sullivan used to say he got his secret from a soldier who
chanced to be passing by his cottage in a state of exhaustion,
and to whom he offered some refreshment, and that he was
bound by an oath never to reveal it Here then, indeed,
was a secret well worth knowing. But whatever it was, it

68

HORSE-BREAKING.— BIBLIOGRAPHY.

seems to have perished — to have descended to the grave
with James Sullivan. His son pretended to some knowledge
of it, but he certainly does not possess the right secret : of
this I had myself an opportunity of being convinced by
ocular demonstration, a few years since, when quartered at
Cork."

One other paragraph from Mr. Castley's amusing paper
and we have done. It relates to the failure of the younger
Sullivan, whom his cunning parent had evidently left
ignorant of his pretended "charm." "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 ; in which I believe consisted the secret of his
having been sold at any thing like troop price. 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 to 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 charm,
and at last fairly beat him out of the forge ; he was fain to
make his escape from so unruly a customer. Time, however,
and a long perseverance in kind and gentle treatment,
together with the exercise of a little tact, have efi'ected what
force could not The horse is now pretty reasonable to
shoe. — Qua Leonina peUis non perveniet, Vulpina est assu-
menda.

" The lion's skiu, too short you know,
(As Plutarch's morals finely shew,)
Was lengthened by the fox's tail.
And art supplies where strength may fail."

In a former part of this work (pp. SH — 38) will be found,
under The Horses of South America, some account of the
horse-breaking of the Guachos ; and under The Horses of
North America (pp. 41-42), a reference to Mr. Catlin's
experience.

Those curious in the bibliography of the art of horseman-
ship may find how well-versed were our ancestors in most of
the " systems" and " new methods," which are from time to
time trumpeted forth as " discoveries" by charlatans, or men
ignorant of what has been done before them*.

* We pass over Xenophon, the great historian and warrior, who
wrote the earliest treatise upon the art, 300 years before Christ, and
other ancient authors, some of whom will be found referred to in the
earlier chapters (I. to VII.) of this volume, when treating of the
History aitd Varieties of the Horse ; merely noticing those writers
who are accessible to the English rule, in good libraries or at the
reading-room of the British Museum : —

" Horsemanshippe." By Frederick Gryson : Lond. 1671. This
author was an Italian professor of horsemanship in Naples. He was
considered the most famous in Italy.

" Horsemanshippe." By Claudio Corte : drca, 1660. Also an
Italian professor of the art, who wrote upon the subject during the
same century.

Among the books in our list occurs the name of Gryson,
who performed, d la Rarey, in public, about the year 1570.
In an address to the reader of his treatise, we find the
following : —

" What his judgment was in the said art (of horse taming)
may appear to all those who list to look upon the rules and

" The Art of Riding, &c." By T. Bedingfield : 1684. An excellent
and useful book.

" The Fower chiefest OfBces of Horsemanship." By Master Thomac
BlundeviU. London, 1609, 4to. Black letter. A most elaborate
treatise : the text of numerous subsequent writers. The " Fowei
OtBces" are the "office" of "breeder," and those of the " rider," the
" keeper," and the " farrier.''

" The Gentleman's Accomplished Jockey." By Gervase Markham,
author of "The Masterpiece." Markham's books went through many
editions between 1620 and 1700.

" Horsemanship." By Nichs. Morgan, 1609. This again has fur-
nished much of our later treatises with matter. This author, speaking
of an English knight, hight Alexander, takes occasion thus to allude to
Alexander of Macedon : —

" Great Alexander deerly lou'd his horse ;
The horse lou'd him, and suffered none to ride
Vppon his backe by flattery or by force,
But his dread lorde, that halfe the world did guide,
This knight did beare that Alexander's name.
Who brought the proudest coursers to his becke.
And with his hand, spurre, voice, and wand, did tame
The stately steedes that never brookt the checko.
«♦***♦•♦

Not only he in England was esteemed.
But eke in forraine countries for his art.
And yet to me (that honoured him) it seemed
His fame's report was less than his desart.
This knighte (the mirrour of all knights for riding)
Had many men of worth and great renowne
That were his schollers, by whose happy guiding
They in this art did put all others down."

William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle. " M6thode et Invention
Nouvelle de dresser les Chevaux," with a frontispiece and forty-two
plates of the »i«nag-e, 1631. Originally written in French, and trans-
lated into English. There were numerous French and German writers
upon manage riding and horsebreaking about this period.

" The Conipleat Horseman and Expert Farrier." By Thomas de
Grey, Esq., 1650. A clever book, but full of conceits in its veterinary
portion.

In 1686 appeared a cyclopoedic work in two divisions, called " The
Gentleman's Recreation." By Robert Blome, Gent. The second
division treats of horsemanship, hunting, hawking, &c. It embodieE
much of the knowledge contained in more recent treatises.

SoUeysel's " Parfait Marechale," translated by S'i William Hope, and
Michael Baret's " Hipponomie, or Vineyard of Horsemanship," about
1750.

" Military Equitation, oi a Method of Breaking riorses and teaching
Soldiers to ride." By Henry Earl of Pembroke -ito., with numerous
plates. This book, with its motto, " Scientia ec Patientia," may
well be consulted as to feeding and shoeing, as well as horsemanship.
The Earl of Pembroke furnishes the text of the statements of half our
modem professors.

" Berenger's History and Art of Horsemanship." A comprehensive
work. In the writings of Clark, Moreoroft, Osmer, John Lawrence,
D. P. Blaine, Goodwin, Miles, and Darvill, may be found much relating
to the Horse in general.

PRINCIPLES OF HORSE-BREAKING.

tti)

precepts so perfectly set forth by him in writing. What his
practice was in the said art openlie and dailie in the said
citie, and what his praise was there, doth appear in that
noble Caracciolo's writings, the Duke of Martina's brother,
which he intituled Oloria de Cavalli, where he says of
Gryson and another, ' These be the eyes of our toong.' For
besides the true knowledge of this art, and the great
practice they both had thereof, they with a most perfect
judgment had this special grace given them, that every horse
at the first riding seemed to obey unto them even at their
becke, so as the standers-by were astonied thereat ;
whereupon all others studious of this exercise would unto
these two persons as to the oracle of Apollo verie often
resort, to be resolved in all their doubts."

Ancient writers upon the subject of horse-breaking one
and ail declare, that in training the horse, so as to make it
obedient and useful to man, there must be a combination of
and regard to three distinct principles — nature, art, and
reason. In the absence of any or either of these, the efforts
of the trainer will be unsatisfactory, if not useless.

The secret in the art of horse-breaking consists in a
correct knowledge of the nature of the horse ; and when
that is understood, the trainer finds his whole efforts must
be devoted to improvement of the natural intellects of the
animal ; no other method can ever succeed. It is impossible
to give a horse either an artificial intellect or memory. A
horse is naturally well-disposed to man, though fearful of
and obedient to him. No human art can effect anything
contrary to the nature of the horse, though the animal may
be easily imposed on. Therefore, in training, there must be
a reason for every artifice employed ; and a practicable,
natural, and beneficial result looked for, or capable of being
produced through the jneans employed. If the trainer can
give no substantial reason for any particular stratagem he
employs, whatever the result produced, it can have no
lasting or beneficial effect upon the horse. But if Nature
be obeyed, and her order strictly kept, it follows as a
certainty that the end desired will be attained. So that if
art be employed with reason, it must be in accordance with
the instinct of the animal; for nothing in the art of horse-
taming is reasonable that is contrary to the nature of the
horse. And these, the first principles of the art, should be
kept constantly in mind ; for nothing is easier than to
impose on a horse, because the animal is naturally un-
conscious of imposition, and is. besides, fearful and obedient
to man.

Neithoi force nor violence should be used in training
colts ; they must be won by gentle treatment, for violence is
opposed to the three fundamental principles of the art.
Whatever a horse does by violent compulsion is of no avail
in training, because the horse knows not what is required of
him, or how to obey ; therefore no useful impression is made
upon the animal when the teaching is accompanied with
violence. Correction should be administered without
violence, and immediately after the fault. For instance, if

a horse does wrong, and the trainer has to go and fetch a
whip before administering the chastisement, it is un-
reasonable to suppose that the horse (which is not gifted
with the power of reasoning) can know for what purpose
the chastisement is administered ; therefore correction
should never be resorted to at any other time than the
instant the horse commits a fault. An "rapatient man it
totally unfit for the art of training colts.

First advances to the Colt. — We have already said, when
speaking of the thoroughbred colt intended for racing
purposes, that it cannot be too early handled and made
familiar with the presence of man. We will, however, for
our present purpose suppose the colt to be wild and shy,
and running loose with others in the field. In this case the
first step is to get the whole of them into a small enclosure or
a building, and patiently and without hurry separate the
one you intend for immediate " schooling " from the rest by
letting the others pass out of the gateway or door until your
"pupil" and a quiet broken horse are the only ones
remaining. As to getting him into stable for the first time
we will quote " Rarey " as the most recent instructor. He
says : — " One wrong move may frighten him, and make him
think it necessary to escape at all hazards for the safety of
his life — and thus make two hours' work of a ten minutes'
job ; and this would be all your own fault, and entirely
unnecessary — for he will not run unless you run after him,
and that would not be good policy unless you knew that
you could outrun him, for you will have to let him stop of
his own accord after all. But he will not try to break away
unless you attempt to force him into measures. If he does
not see the way at once, and is a little fretful about going
in, do not undertake to drive him, but give him a little less
room outside, by gently closing in around him. Do not
raise your arms, but let them hang at your side, for you
might as well raise a club : the horse has never studied
anatomy, and does not know but that they will unhinge
themselves and fly at him. If he attempts to turn back,
walk before him, but do not run ; and if he gets past you,
encircle him again in the same quiet manner, and he will
soon find that you are not going to hurt him ; and then you
can walk so close around him that he wiU go into the stable
for more room, and to get farther from you. As socm as he
is in, remove the quiet horse and shut the door. This will
be his first notion of confinement — not knowing how he got
into such a place, nor how to get out of it. That he may
take it as quietly as possible, see that the shed is entirely
free from dogs, chickens, or anything that would annoy
him. Then give him a few ears of corn, and let him remain
alone fifteen or twenty minutes, until he has examined his
apartment, and has become reconciled to his confinement
And now, while your horse is eating those few ears of corn,
is the proper time to see that your halter is ready and all
right, and to reflect on the best mode of operations ; for in
horsebreaking it is highly important that you should be
governed by some system. And you should know, before

70

PRACTICE OF HORSE-BREAKING.

you attempt to do anything, just what you are going to do,
and how you are going to do it. And, if you are ex-
perienced in the art of taming wild horses, you ought to be
able to tell, within a few minutes, the length of time it
would take you to halter the colt, and teach him to lead."

In 1814, one Willis Powell published a book called " The
Art of Taming Wild Horses," which contains some practical
and clear instructions. At the risk of a short iteration, we
will give them in the writer's own words, as containing the
kernel of the preliminary steps in horsebreaking. Mr.
Powell says : " Having your horse in a stable or room, which
should be sutEciently large to move him about with the
halter before you lead him out, see if he belongs to that
class which appear only to fear man. If so, introduce
yourself gently and silently into the stable or yard where
you have left the horse awhile. He will instinctively run
from you, and frequently turn his head from you ; you must
walk about very slowly and softly, so that he can see you
whenever he turns his head towards you, which he never
fails to do in a short time, say in a quarter or half an
hour. I never knew one to be much longer without turning
towards me.

" At the very moment he turns his head, hold out your
left hand towards him, and stand perfectly still, keeping
your eyes upon the horse, watching his motions, if he makes
any. If the horse does not stir for ten or fifteen minutes,
advance as slowly as possible, and without making the least
noise always holding out your left hand, without any other
ingredient in it than what nature put in it." * He says, " I
have made use of certain ingredients before people, such as
the sweat under my arm, &c., to disguise the real secret,
and many believed that the docility to which the horse
arrived in so short a time was owing to these ingredients ;
but you see from this explanation that they were of no use
whatever. The implicit faith placed in these ingredients,
though innocent of themselves, becomes 'faith without
works.' And thus men remained always in doubt con-
cerning this secret. If the horse makes the least motion
when you advance towards him, stop, and remain perfectly
still until he is quiet. Remain a few moments in this
condition, and then advance again in the same slow and
almost imperceptible manner. Take notice — if the horse
stirs, stop, without changing your position. It is very
uncommon for the horse to stir more than once after you
begin to advance, yet there are exceptions. He generally
keeps his eyes fixed on you, until you get near enough to
touch him on the forehead. When you are thus near to
him, raise slowly, and by degrees, your hand, and let it
come in contact with that part just above the nostrils, as
lightly as possible. If the horse flinches (as many will),
repeat with great rapidity these light strokes upon the

• Mr. Frederick Taylor, author of an interesting little tract on
" Horsebreaking," recommends a piece of carrot, or biscuit soaked in
aniseed.

forehead, going a little farther up towards his ears bj
degrees, and descending with the same rapidity until he
will let you handle his forehead all over. Now let the
strokes be repeated with more force over all his forehead,
descending by lighter strokes to each side of his head, until
you can handle that part with equal facility. Then touch
in the same light manner, making your hands and fingers
play around the lower part of the horse's ears, coming down
now and then to his forehead, which may be looked upon as
the helm that governs all the rest.

" Having succeeded in handling his ears, advance towards
the neck, with the same precautions and in the same
manner ; observing always to augment the force of the
strokes whenever the horse will permit it. Perform the
same on both sides of the neck, until he lets you take it in
your arms without flinching.

" Proceed in the same gradual manner to the sides, and
then to the back of the horse. Every time the horse shews
any nervousness, return immediately to the forehead as the
true standard, patting him with your hands, and thence
rapidly to where you had already arrived, always gaining
ground a considerable distance farther on every time this
happens. The head, ears, neck, and body being thus gentled,
proceed from the back to the root of the tail.

"This must be managed with dexterity, as a horse is
never to be depended on that is skittish about the tail Let
your hand fall lightly and rapidly on that part next to the
body a minute or two, and then you will begin to give it a
slight pull upwards every quarter of a minute. At the same
time you continue this handling of him, augment the force
of the strokes as well as the raising of the tail, until you can
raise it and handle it with the greatest ease, which com-
monly happens in a quarter of an hour in most horses, in
others almost immediately, and in some much longer. It
now remains to handle all his legs ; from the tail come back
again to the head, handle it well, as likewise the ears,
breast, neck, &c., speaking now and then to the colt. Begin
by degrees to descend to the legs, always ascending and
descending, gaining ground every time you descend, until
you get to his feet.

" Talk to the horse in Latin, Greek, French, English, or
Spanish, or any other language you please ; but let him
hear the sound of your voice, which at the beginning of the
operation is not quite so necessary, but which I have
always done in making him lift up his feet. ' Hold up
your foot' — at the same time lift his foot with your hand
He soon becomes familiar with the sounds, and will hold
up his foot at command. Then proceed to the hind feet,
and go on in the same manner ; and in a short time the
horse will let you lift them, and even take them un in your
arms.

" All this operation is no magnetism, no galvanism ; it itf
merely taking away the fear a horse generally has of a man,
and familiarising the animal with his master. As the horse
doubtless experiences a certain pleasure from this handling,

HORSE-BREAKING— HALTERING THE COLT.

71

he will soon become gentle under it, and shew a very
marked attachment to his keeper."

The Halter, and Haltering the Colt. — A leather halter
should be invariably used, and take care that it is so made
that when he pulls on it it shall not draw tightly round his
nose, but sit on his head easily with the noseband not too low.
Never put a rope halter on an unbroken colt under any cir-
cumstances whatever. Rarey says, and we believe him right,
that they have caused more horses to hurt or kill themselves
than would pay for twice the cost of all the leather halters
that have ever been needed for the purpose of haltering
colts. It is almost impossible to break a colt that is very
wild with a rope halter, without having him pull, rear, and
throw himself, and thus endanger his life ; and I will tell
you why. It is just as natural for a horse to try to get his
head out of anything that hurts it, or feels unpleasant, as it
would be for you to try to get your hand out of a fire. The
cords of the rope are hard and cutting ; this makes him
raise his head and draw on it, and as soon as he pulls, the
slip noose (the way rope halters are always made) tightens
and pinches his nose, and then he will struggle for life, until,
perchance, he throws himself; and who would have his horse
throw himself, and run the risk of breaking his neck, rather
than pay the price of a leather halter ? But this is not the
worst. A horse that has once pulled on his halter can never
he as well broken as one that has never pulled at all.

You may now proceed to shew him the halter ; allow him
to approach it with his nose so as to feel and smell it, for
reasons assigned under the next heading. We would recom-
mend that the old horse should stand by all this time, which
will give him more confidence than if he were alone ; and,
having convinced him that you mean him no harm, he will
allow you to handle him about the head and ears. Before
you attempt to place it on his head, let him again smell it
and touch it, but above all things do not hurry the business,
but by fondling with him, and using him to the feel of the
hand and the halter, there will be no difiiculty in placing it
carefully on his head. The assistant will now lead on the
old horse in the direction required to go, and taking hold
of the halter shank, about a foot from the colt's head, lead
him after, and close behind the old horse, now and then
caressing him w-+h the hand until the most perfect goodwill
is established.

By a violent method of first haltering a colt, he is so
terrified, that it will take weeks of kind treatment to con-
vince him that it is not the intention of every man, who
approaches him, to inflict pain or punishment.

At this stage of training, the colt cannot be too much
handled, and accustomed to the sound of the human voice ;
commencing first very gently about his head, as before halter-
ing, pass the hand along his neck, down his near shoulder, by
the front and back of his near fore leg, along his withers
and back, about his ribs and under his belly, over his loins,
and his quarter to the hock joint, shank, and heel, finishing
that side by again and again picking up his hind foot

Then, returning to his head, pass the right hand all over
his off-side in the same way. This treatment repeated a few
times, will reconcile the colt, and establish more confidence
between him and his trainer than a month's flogging him
round a lounging circle with a whip.

Familiarising the Colt to surroundir.^ Objects and to
Sounds. — By patience and allowing him to examine it,
thereby giving confidence to the horse, he will allow with
indifi"erence any object, however frightful, to approach, come
around or over him, provided it inflicts no pain. Fear in the
horse appears to the hasty observer as a mere unreasoning
paroxysm. A log or stump of a tree by the roadside does
not alarm reasoning man, and the ignorant and unenquirinp
breaker too often endeavours to conquer what he assumes to
be and calls " shying." In a state of nature the horse will
examine this, or any such unaccustomed object, and having
satisfied himself of its innocuousness, never after trouble
himself at its appearance. The horse domesticated and
under restraint is often prevented from this investiga-
tion, and punished for his first startled movement. Take
the colt up to the object of his fear, let him touch it with
his nose, and he will care no more about it.

The same process will have the same eff^ect with any
other object, however frightful in appearance, from which
he experiences no harm. Take a boy that has been
frightened by a false face, or any other object that he could
not comprehend at once ; but let him have that face or
object in his hands and examine it, and he will not care any-
thing more about it. The same principle governs both cases.

The horse is never so well satisfied when he is about
anything that has frightened him, as when he is standing
with his nose to it. In nine cases out of ten, you will see
some of that same wild look about him again as he turns to
walk from it. And you will, probably, see him looking back
suspiciously as he walks away, as though he thought it
might come after him yet. In all probability he will have
to go back and make another examination before he is
satisfied ; but he will soon familiarise himself with it, and,
in a few days, such an object as a bearskin, or coloured
blanket, that frightened him so much at first, will be no
more to him than a familiar stump.

" We might naturally suppose," says Mr. P arey, " from
the fact of the horse's applying his nose to everything new
to him, that he always does so for the purpose of smelling
these objects. But I believe that it is as much or more for
the purpose of feeling, and that he makes use of his nose or
muzzle as we would of our hands ; because it is the only
organ by which he can touch or feel anything with much
susceptibility. I believe that he invariably makes use of
the four senses, seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling, in
all of his examinations, of which the sense of feeling is,
perhaps, the most important. I think that, in the experi-
ment with the robe*, his gradual approach and final touch

• Practised by Mr. Rarey in hia system of taming : see hifl little treatise

72

HOKSE-BKE AKIM G.— THE C A V ESSOJS .

with his nose was as much for the purpose of feeling as
anything else, his sense of smell being so keen that it would
not be necessary for him to touch his nose against anything
in order to get the proper scent ; for it is said that a horse
can smell a man at the distance of a mile. And if the scent
of the robe was all that was necessary he could get that
several rods oif. But we know from experience, that if a
horse sees and smells a robe a short distance from him he is
very much frightened (unless he is used to it) until he
touches or feels it with his nose ; which is proof positive
that feeling is the controlling sense in that case."

We need hardly add that the use of scented oils, recom-
mended by old farriery books, is utterly exploded and
rendered obsolete by modern research and experiment.

The Bit and Bitting. — Every horseman knows, and those
who are not horsemen will soon learn (if they ride at all),
that on the properly bitting the horse, the comfort, safety,
and appearance, both of horse and rider, most materially
depend. However good may be the natural carriage of the
horse, if an unsuitable bit is put into his mouth, it will
greatly counteract both the inclination and ability of the
horse to carry himself handsomely.

It must be borne in mind that this proper bitting must
not only relate to the mouth of the animal, but must be
arranged with reference to the hands of the rider ; for that
bit which is the very one to suit a particular mouth, when
given to a man with fine hands, would be quite an
improper one to give to one whose hands are only fit to lug
at the mouth of a donkey.

The mouths of some colts are naturally more sensible, or
insensible, to the touch than others ; and here the judgment,
or the want of it, is shown in the colt-breaker, by the
selection of the bit best adapted to the colt's mouth, and
afterwards on the goodness of the breaker's hands and
temper depends whether he turns out the colt with a good
or bad mouth.

In a general way the colt's bit is the large heavy snaffle
with a ring in the centre, from which hangs some loose
tackling which hangs on the tongue, and by producing
probably somewhat of a tickling sensation, induces the colt
to keep his mouth more or less in motion. With the gene-
rality of colts their first bit cannot be too easy ; but if the
mouth be naturally callous, it must be rendered amenable
to the bit by using a severe one, or by using the easy one
with a severer touch.

Whether for the colt or mature horse, the snaffle is the
simplest. It is true there are various forms of snaffles,
some of them so made as to become an engine (if the
sxpression may be allowed) of great severity ; the plain
large sized one, with a ring instead of joint in the centre, is
the easiest, inasmuch as the ring, allowing of, say an inch
in width, in the centre, does not convert the bit into an
acute angle when acted on by the reins, whereas, when the
centre is a joint, without going into the mathematical
demonstration of the angle being forty-five degrees or any

other degree, it becomes a much more acute angle or kind
of skeleton wedge in the animal's mouth, and pinches the
bars laterally like a vice ; in short, by passing the off-side
rein through the near-side ring of the bit, and the near-side
rein through the off ring, and pulling both reins, we make
the bit actually a pair of pincers ; and if the force employed
was great, the jaw of the horse would be compressed by a '
mechanical force that would crush it like a nut in a pair
of nutcrackers.

Do not forget to show the bridle and bit to the colt as
you showed the halter, and hereafter submit the saddle to
his examination. Never buckle up the bitting rein tight ,
at first.

The Cavesson — Lounging. — The application of the cavesson
is the first active restraint applied to saddle-horses. Before
putting it on, it is prudent to boot racing colts, and indeed
all others of value, to prevent them knocking their legs
against each other while they are lounging. Darvill says —
" On their first being taken out, a steady lad should walk in
the rear, in case any colt should hang back, to urge him
quietly on by flourishing his whip or ash plant, but not to
strike him. Colts with their cavessons and boots on, and
thus attended, may be led out to the downs or into a large
paddock. At either place they may be accustomed to be
led quietly about. As soon as they become tractable in
this way, attempts may be made to lounge them, by first
walking them in a small circle to the right or to the left,
and when they know how to go steadily round at this pace,
they may be quietly urged on into a trot, gradually in-
creasing the size of the circle by giving them more length ol
rein. In three or four days, or when they go boldly and
freely at full length of the rein each way in the lounge, for
fifteen or twenty minutes, having by degrees been brought
to this pace and time of lounging, the mouthing bits, rollers,
and cruppers may be put on them.

Lounging is an exercise very frequently carried on to a
most unconscionable extent. Introduced originally for the
purpose of subduing animals that had been neglected till
they arrived at an age when their tempers became resolute,
the custom of severe lounging has become one which many
persons concerned in the management of young horses look
upon as of paramount necessity, without any regard to the
consequences which follow, or the motives which originally
led to its adoption. One of these was evidently with a
view of saving time. A resolute uncultivated creature four
or five years old, that would neither lead nor drive until
brought to subjection by fatigue, probably might appear to
require such usage as the only alternative, unless an unrea-
sonably lengthened period could be appropriated to rendei
the animal tractable. " Lounge him till he is tired " is the
usual exclamation and practice of the provinciaJ colt-
breaker, whenever he meets with a colt who is a little
difficult to manage ; but by such men more horses' tsmpers
have been spoiled than improved. Harassed and overcome,
the poor brute submits sullenly to the coercion of the

HORSE-BREAKING.— THE CAVESSON— LOUNGING.

73

individual whose duty it should be to obtain by kind
treatment and patient attention that which he vainly at-
tempts by ruffianism. Thus a temper characterised by
gloomy cowardice is formed instead of cheerfulness and
courage. Such ought never to be the treatment of any
stock, much less that which is thorough bred, or intended
for the purpose of racing. Their young and delicate limbs
will not sustain the rough exercise of severe lounging,
neither is it at all necessary for any beneficial purpose. A
little now and then is all very proper ; it teaches them the
use of their limbs, renders them supple and active, and as
an exercise discreetly regulated is very desirable ; but,
judging from the effect it produces when practised upon
horses of mature age and in hard condition, it is the most
severe work a horse can be subjected to ; that is, when it is
continued for any length of time, and the poor animal is
made to go at a fast pace on heavy ground. We have seen
old hunters put through this manoeuvre, under the impres-
sion, that in consequence of there not being any weight on
their backs their legs sustain no injury. But it is a most
mistaken idea. Constantly working on a circle horses are
extremely liable to hit their legs, and for this reason boots
or bandages should be invariably used whenever horses are
lounged.

The action of some horses is such, that they scarcely move
in certain paces without striking their legs, yet there are
many who scarcely ever do so, and others who never touch
their legs except by accident. With those of the first class
there is but one alternative, — their legs must be protected
or inflammation will speedily be established, and eventually
lameness. The second class will be very likely to labour
under the same infirmity unless means are adopted for their
security ; and the third class will scarcely require protec-
tion to their legs, unless some particular exercise, such as
lounging, entails the probability of an accidental blow.

After these premises it may naturally be inquired what
objection can be started to the use of boots ? Simply this ;
that they are productive of some heat in the leg by the
friction which they occasion. Much it is true depends upon
the fittings, and the way in which they are put on ; but
however well they may be made, softly lined, and properly
adjusted, they will to a certain extent produce heat in the
legs. When very nicely put on, bandages are preferable, but
it is so seldom that they are so that we hesitate in recom-
mending them. If they are bound on too tight of course
much mischief and inconvenience arises ; and if not suffi-
ciently tight, they will of course come undone. When
bandages are required for exercise, they are best made from
old blanketing; it wears better than common serge, and
afi'ords better protection.

Always in lounging begin with setting ofi* the colt to the
right, so that in case of his breaking out of the trot he may
lead oflF with the left leg, and although he must be lounged
both ways, work him to the right first time and most
frequently. The pace at which colts are lounged is usually

i too fast: they are often hurried by the whip into a canter,
and thence into a gallop. A trot is the proper pace, and
should not be exceeded. It is a general practice to lounge
colts on the most level surfaces : this is an error, especially
with horses intended for hunters or hacks.

Such animals have much to learn when they leave the
breaker. All horses calculated to make hunters or steeple-
chasers should be taught, while under the control of the
breaking tackle, to leap small fences ; there is no necessity
for practising them over dangerous places, or where the
ground is hard ; but low hedges or stiles, open ditches, and
narrow water courses, may always be selected for their
tuition. It appears almost unnecessary to observe that the
reins attached to the bit should be lengthened to an extent
capable of afibrding the colt sufficient liberty.

The dumb jockey is an apparatus which finds favour in
the opinion of most persons having the direction and
management of young horses, and is no doubt a very useful
agent, especially before the living rider is put up ; but great
caution must be used that the animal is not alarmed on the
first introduction of what must appear to the astonished
creature a wonderful production ; and here the injunction as
to halter and saddle must be observed. These inventions are
usually made with soft pads at the lower branches to protect
the back of the colt from injury ; if, however, they are not so
provided, a saddle becomes necessary ; and that appendage
must likewise be placed on the back in due course of time,
whether it be intended as a seat for the dumb jockey or not ;
at any rate, the young animal should be perfectly accustomed
to it before any attempt is made to put a rider up.

The dumb jockey is provided with two adjustments OA
each side for the reins, designed for the purpose of regulating
the position of the head : thus, if the horse carries his head
too high, the lower reins are to be brought into action, and
if the reverse, the upper ones ; the carriage of the colt may
be very materially altered by these means. When suffi-
ciently accustomed to it, the dumb jockey may be left on
two or three hours while the colt is by himself, either in a
large loose box or in a small paddock. This will very
materially improve his mouth, and as an auxiliary, a palate
or slabbering bit may be introduced instead of the snaffle
already mentioned. It is made with a straight mouth-piece,
having three moveable ports or arches, all of which may be
adjusted so as to hang down, or two may be allowed to hang
in that position, and one placed upwards, in case *,he horse
does not play upon them sufficiently without. This bit
possesses one very great recommendation, that ot creating an
even mouth, and is the best remedy for correcting that
defect sometimes occasioned by the common breaking
snaffle. A crupper may be attached to the dumb jockey
with good efiect, and eventually some loose straps running
through it, to fall over the loins and down the sides,
especially with such horses as are intended for harness ; in
fact, they should be accustomed by degrees to all sorts of
appendages. Pocket-handkerchiefs may be tied to the

74

HORSE-BREAKING.— SADDLING AND MOUNTING.

upper branches of the dumb jockey, a hat placed upon it,
and other similar devices patiently and gently introduced :
by these practices much future trouble and many accidents
will be avoided. The greatest caution must, however, be ob-
served not to alarm the animals, or the object will be defeated.
It would be unjust here not to break a self-prescribed
rule ; we mean, to omit all mention of the Gutta Percha
Jockey. The various advantages of this well-made break-
ing and exercising apparatus will be found fully set forth
in the advertisements and testimonials of the patentee,
Mr. Blackwell. We can bear testimony to their valu-
able action in producing an easy mouth, and checking that
tendency to resistance produced by the common leather
rein and clumsy wooden apparatus. The yielding nature of
the reins and checks is admirable. They are excellent,
too, for preventing led horses from falling. They yield, too,
if the colt should fall and roll over, avoiding thereby another
great danger and inconvenience of the old wooden apparatus.
They are also serviceable in frosty weather, in loose boxes,
to teach easy and graceful carriage. The figure and con-
struction of this useful contrivance will be seen from the
subjoined illustration.

Blackwell's Gutta Percha Jockey.

Saddling and Mounting the Colt. — We would recommend,
unless the " casting" system of Rarey be adopted, that the
saddle should be first introduced to the colt while he is lying
down ; and be drawn gradually over his withers, back, and
hind-quarters, after he has had his feel at it. Turn the head
of the colt to the right hand (when he lies on his near side),
and he will partially rise, place his two fore feet flat on the
ground, which he will permit you to do, and he has a good
leverage for rising.

We shall here transcribe Mr. Rarey's directions for sad-
dling, as the plainest and most succinct that have fallen under
our notice : — " The first thing will be to tie each stirrup-
strap into a loose knot to make them short, and prevent the
stirrups from flying about and hitting him. Then double
up the skirts and take the saddle under your right arm, so
as not to frighten him with It as you approach. When you
get to him rub him gently a few times with your hand, and
then raise the saddle very slowly, until he can see it, and
smell and feel it with his nose. Then let the skirt loose,
and rub it very gently against his neck the way the hair
lies, letting him hear the rattle of the skirts as he feels them

against him ; each time getting a little farther backward,
and finally slip it over his shoulders on his back. Shake it
a little with your hand, and in less than five minutes you
can rattle it about ovfer his back as much as you please, and
pull it off and throw it on again, without his paying much
attention to it.

"As soon as you have accustomed him to the saddle,
fasten the girth. Be careful how you do this. It often
frightens the colt when he feels the girth binding him, and
making the saddle fit tight on his back. You should bring
up the girth very gently, and not draw it too tight at first,
just enough to hold the saddle on. Move him a little, and
then girth it as tight as you choose, and he will not mind it.
" See that the pad of your saddle is all right before you
put it on, and that there is nothing to make it hurt him, or
feel unpleasant to his back. It should not have any loose
straps on the back part of it, to flap about and scare him.
After you have saddled him in this way, take a switch in
your right hand to tap him up with, and walk about in the
stable a few times with your right arm over your saddle,
taking hold of the reins on each side of his neck with your
right and left hands, thus marching him about in the stable
until you teach him the use of the bridle, and can turn him
about in any direction, and stop him by a gentle puU of the
rein. Continually caress him, and loose the reins a little
every time you stop him.

" Always be alone, and have your colt in some light stable
or shed, the first time you ride him ; the loft should be
high, so that you can sit on his back without endangering
your head. You can teach him more in two hours' time in
a stable of this kind, than you could do in two weeks in the
common way of breaking colts, out in an open place. Take
him a step at a time, until you get up a mutual confidence
and trust between yourself and horse. First teach him to
lead and stand hitched ; next acquaint him with the saddle
and the use of the bit ; and then all that remains, is to
get on him without scaring him, and you can ride him as
well as any horse.

"Mounting the Colt. — First caress him on both sides, about
the saddle, and all over, until he will stand still without
holding, and is not afraid to see you anywhere about him.
As soon as you have him thus familiar, get a small block,
about one foot or eighteen inches in height, and set it down
by the side of him, about where you want to stand to mount
him ; step up on this, raising yourself very gently : horses
notice every change of position very closely, and, if you
were to step up suddenly on the block, it would be very apt
to scare him ; but, by raising yourself gradually on it, he
will see you, without being frightened, in a position very
nearly the same as when you are on his back.

" When he will bear this without alarm, untie the stirrup-
strap next to you, and put your left foot into the stirrup,
and stand square over it, holding your knee against the
horse, and your toe out, so as to touch him under the
shoulder with the toe of your boot. Place your right hand

HORSE-BREAKING.— RAREY'S SYSTEM.

76

on the front of the saddle, and on the opposite side of you,
taking hold of a portion of the mane and the reins, as they
hang loosely over his neck, with your left hand ; then
gradually bear your weight on the stirrup, and on your
right hand, until the horse feels your whole weight on the
saddle : repeat this several times, each time raising yourself
a little higher from the block, until he will allow you to
raise your leg over his croup and place yourself in the saddle.

" There are three great advantages in having a block to
mount from. First, a sudden change of position is very apt
to frighten a young horse who has never been handled : he
will allow you to walk up to him, and stand by his side
without scaring at you, because you have gentled him to
that position ; but if you get down on your hands and knees
and crawl towards him, he will be very much frightened ;
and upon the same principle, he would be frightened at
your new position if you had the power to hold yourself
over his back without touching him. Then the first great
advantage of the block is to gradually gentle him to that
new position in which he will see you when you ride him.
Secondly, by the process of leaning your weight in the
stirrups, and on your hand, you can gradually accustom him
to your weight, so as not to frighten him by having him feel
it all at once. In the third place, the block elevates you so
that you will not have to make a spring in order to get on
the horse's back, but from it you can gradually raise yourself
into the saddle."

The colt is now mounted ; but before we proceed to perfect
him in his paces, we shall advert for a moment to the
method of " casting " a colt, which is the remarkable feature
of horse-taming claimed by Telfer, Rarey, Mr. W. Cooke,
of Astley's, Mr. Sanger, and others.

" Casting " a Horse or stubborn Colt, and Cure for
Kicking. — Take up one fore foot and bend his knee till his
hoof is bottom upwards and nearly touching his body ; then
slip a leather loop over his knee, and up until it comes above
the pastern joint, to keep it bent, being careful to draw the
loop together between the hoof and pastern joint with a
second strap to prevent the loop from slipping down and
coming oflF. This will leave the horse standing on three
legs ; you can now handle him as you wish, for it is utterly
impossible for him to kick in this position. There is some-
thing in this operation of taking up one foot that conquers a
horse more quickly than anything you can do to him.
There is no process equal to it for breaking a kicking horse,
for several reasons. There is a principle of this kind in the
nature of the horse, that by conquering one member you
conquer to a great extent the whole horse.

There is a plan to make a bad horse stand to be shod, by
fastening down one ear. Rarey says he tried it several
times, and thought that it had a good effect. " The benefit
arising from this process is, that by discomforting his ears
we draw his attention to them, and he is not so apt to resist
shoeing. By tying up one foot we operate on the same
principle to a much better effect. When you first fasten up

a horse's foot he will sometimes get very mad, and strike
with his knee, and try every possible way to get it down ;
but he cannot do that, and will soon give in. This will
conquer him without any danger of hurting himself or you :
for you can tie up his foot and sit down and look at him
until he gives up. When you find that he is conquered, go
to him, let down his foot, rub his leg with your hand, caress
him, and let him rest a little ; then put it up again.
Repeat this a few times, always putting up the same foot,
and he will soon learn to travel on three legs. r\i soon as
he gets a little used to this way of moving, put on your
harness, and fasten him to a carriage. If he is the worst
kicking horse that ever raised a foot you need not be fearful
of his doing any damage while he has one foot up, for he
cannot kick, neither can he run away to do any harm. If he
is thewildest horse that ever had harness on, and has run away
every time he has been hitched, you can now do with him
as you please. If he wants to run, you can let him have
the reins, and the whip too, with perfect safety, for he can
go but a slow gait on three legs, and will soon be willing to
stop ; only hold him enough to guide him in the right
direction, and he will soon be tired and willing to stop at
the word. Thus you will effectually cure him at once of
any further notion of running off. Kicking horses have
always been the dread of everybody ; you always hear men
say, when they speak about a bad horse, ' I don't care what
he does, so he don't kick.' This new method* is an effectual
cure for this worst of all habits. There are plenty of ways
by which you can hitch a kicking horse, and force him to
go, though he kicks all the time ; but this doesn't have any
good effect towards breaking him, for we know that horses
kick because they are afraid of what is behind them, and
when they kick against it and it hurts them they will only
kick the harder ; and this will hurt them still more, and
make them remember the scrape much longer, and make
it still more difficult to persuade them to have any con-
fidence in anything dragging behind them ever after.

" But by this method you can hitch them to a rattling
sulky, plough, waggon, or anything else in its worst shape.
They may be frightened at first, but cannot kick or do any-
thing to hurt themselves, and will soon find that you do not
intend to hurt them, and then they will not care anything more
about it. You can then let down the leg and drive along
gently without any further troiible. By this process a
bad kicking horse can be learned to go gentle in harness in
a few hours' time."

Akin to this process is that of " casting ;" it of course
adds another operation, that of making the horse lie down
at the pleasure of his master. Bend his left fore leg and slip
a loop over it. so that he cannot get it down. Then put a
surcingle around his body, so as to keep the strap in the right
direction ; take a short hold of it with your right hand ;
stand on the left side of the horse, grasp the bit in your

* It is claimed by many horae-tamern.

76

HORSE-BREAKING.— RAREY'S METHOD.

left hand, pull steadily on the strap with your right ; bear
against his shoulder till you cause him to move. As soon
as he lifts his weight, your pulling will raise the other
foot, and he will have to come on his knees. Keep the strap
tight in your hand, so that he cannot straighten his leg if
he rises up- Hold him in this position, and turn his head
towards you ; bear against his side with your shoulder, not
hard, but with a steady, equal pressure, and in about ten
minutes he will lie down. As soon as he lies down, he will
be conquered, and you can handle him as you please. Take
off the straps, and straighten out his legs ; rub him lightly
about the face and neck with your hand the way the hair
lies ; handle all his legs, and after he has lain ten or twenty
minutes, let him get up again. After resting him a short
time make him lie down as before. Repeat the operation
three or four times, which will be sufficient for one lesson.
Give him two lessons a day, and when you have given him
four lessons, he will lie downby taking hold of one foot
As soon as he is well broken to lie down in this way, tip
him on the opposite leg with a stick when you take hold
of his foot, and in a few days he will lie down upon the
mere motion of the stick.

As these last described practices form the keystone of the
" system" of breaking and taming, as practised by our trans-
atlantic " gentler," as he delights to term himself, we have
preferred to let him state the processes in his own words.

A few parting words, and we will proceed to treat of The
Paces of the Horse.

The rider is now od the road. He feels his horse's mouth

gently and encourages him by his voice and hand. Patting
him frequently, and especially when he thinks of dis-
mounting, 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 him. His education will now
be nearly completed.

The Horse having thus far submitted himself to the
breaker, pattings and rewards should be gradually diminished,
and implicit obedience mildly but firmly enforced. Seve-
rity will not often be 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
servant of man, and that we have the power, by other means
than those of kindness, to bend him to our will. The edu-
cation of the horse is that of the child. Pleasure is as much
as possible associated with the early lessons ; but firmness,
or, if need be, coercion, must, if necessity arise, confirm the
habit of obedience. Tyranny and cruelty will, more speedily
in the horse than even in the child, provoke the wish to dis-
obey, 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
experient are aware how absolute a command the due admix-
ture of firmness and kindness will soon give us over any
horse. The breaker should keep in his mind continually the
proverb, " Quod factum est. bis factum est " (What is well
done, is twice dons).

CO
CD

CO

THE PACES OF THE HORSE.— THE WALK.

77

CHAPTER VIII

THB PACES OF THB HORSE, AND RIDINO TO THEM. — THE WAIK : THE TROT : THE RUNNINO TROT : THE CANTER : THE GALLOP
LEAPING : THE STANDING LEAP : THE FLYING LEAP : THE BUCK LEAP : TIMBER, WALL, AND WATER-JUMPINQ.

The mode of progression of the horse comprises five distinct
modes of lifting the limbs : 1, the walk ; 2, the trot, of
which there are two varieties ; 3, the canter ; 4, the gallop ;
5, leaping, which is akin to galloping, and exhibits several
modifications, according to the obstacle to be surmounted.

The TFaZfc.— The slow walk (Horse, Plate VII, fig. 2), is the
simplest of the paces of the horse ; but, if accelerated, breaks
either into the amble, or an approach to the trot, whereby
the succession of the movement of the limbs is varied. In
the true walk, one foot only is lifted at a time, three remain-
ing on the ground ; increase the pace, and the two legs at
opposite sides, that is, the near fore leg and oflf hind leg,
9r vice versa, are raised together. This, also, is the true trot,
although the muscular movement in the walk is very different
in degree and character. Borelli, the celebrated Italian
mathematician,* says that the walk is begun by lifting a
hind foot first, and gives an imaginary reason, to the effect
that if a fore foot were first lifted, it would disturb the true
centre of gravity of the animal. We have observed that the
walk is just as often begun with a fore-foot as a hind one ;
the philosopher and professor may, therefore, be left undis-
turbed by any attempt to distrust their centre of gravity
theory, inasmuch as the facts are against them. Old John
Lawrence, in his " Structure and Economy of the Horse,"
thus describes the walk : " The walk consists of four motions,
thus exemplified : the horse having advanced the near fore
leg, and placed it again on the ground, the off hind leg is
elevated and advanced under the body ; but before it reaches
the ground the off fore leg is raised and advanced, in order
to make room for it, as is particularly the case when a horse
oversteps the print of his fore foot with his hind foot.
When the off hind leg has reached the ground, the horse
stands upon three legs, forming a triangle. When the off
fore leg alights on the ground, then the near hind leg com-
mences its action, and is advanced in the same manner as
before, and the horse is again supported upon three legs."
A careful writer on horsemanship, Strickland Freeman,
differs, however, from the author quoted ; but it is clear that
the difference is more apparent than real Lawrence's is
the slow walk, Freeman's is accelerated. The latter says : —
" I found that, supposing the off fore leg to begin, it was

* Quoted by FrofMaor Beams.

immediately succeeded by the near hind ; but the off hind
leg seemed not to follow the fore leg at the same time as
before (in the slower walk) ; but this was owing to nothing
but the alteration in the poise of the body, when either the
one walk or the other took place. For when the off hind
leg began, it was succeeded by the near fore leg being lifted
up : and when the off hind leg was set down, the near hind
leg was lifted up. But the off fore and the near hind leg
seemed so connected together by the poise being on the same
side, that it was the near hind leg which seemed to begin
the action. The poise being altered by the will of the
horse, the off fore seemed to begin, and not to be succeeded
by the off hind foot being set down at the same time after
it, as in the walk of the pace.* The near hind leg is in both
cases taken up after the off hind foot is set down ; and when
the off fore foot is set down, the near fore foot is taken up,
to make room for the near hind foot to be set down."

To walk well is a valuable property in any horse, but
particularly so in the hackney. Such an one can compass
his five miles in an hour with ease. Where a horse walks
well, the necessary harmony and accordance in the form of
the limbs are such as to make it almost a rule that he is
good in his other paces. The racehorse can stretch along in
his walk, so as to get over much ground in a little time ;
but it is not often that he does it either pleasantly or
safely ; his stride is too great, and the elevation of his limbs
is naturally curtailed by his training. It is a very great
acquisition also to the hunter to walk well The walk as a
pace should be performed harmoniously, whether it is quick
or slow, each foot being dropped flat on the ground, and not,
as is too often the case, the toe being placed first and then
the heel. The breaking of the -horse will have much
influence on his method of walking ; the angles of his limbs
will have much more ; and not a little will depend on the
hand of the rider. One horseman, by seat and hand, will
force the horse to carry his head in the right place, and to
elevate and extend his limbs the one in unison with the
other ; another rider, by his bad seat and worse hand, will
bring the horse he rides to step short and irregular, and so
to mix the trot with his walk as to do little more than

* Mr. Freeman divides the walk into the " common walk," \ai the
" pace," or pacing walk.

;a

THE PACES OF THE HORSE.— THE TROT.

ihuffle over the ground. The maximum of speed in the
true walk of the horse is under six miles per hour ; there
are but few can do thus much, but it has been done. Five
miles pel hour is the common pace of a fast walker.
Charles Westhall, the pedestrian, who can or could clear
seven miles' walking in fifty-eight minutes, would dead beat
the best walking horse, and break him into a trot before
fifty yards were covered.

Of all the paces the walk is the easiest to the rider,
provided he sits in the middle of his horse's back, as it
consists of an alternate elevation and depression of the
animal's fore and hinder quarters. The motion may be
compared to the vibration of the beam of a pair of scales.
It is difficult to confine young and high-mettled horses to a
walk ; good temper and a firm light hand are requisite to
accomplish this. When such horses change to a trot, stop
them for a minute or two ; then walk them on again. If
the horse carry his head well, ride him with a moderately
loose rein, raising the hand when he tries to break into a trot.

The Trot. — The trot is also a mixed pace ; it combines the
true trot, and the running, pacing, or American trot. In
what may be called the true trot (Plate VII., fig. 3), the legs
are lifted diagonally, and brought down simultaneously.
This motion is repeated more or less rapidly, the off hind
foot and near fore foot being in the air together, and vice
versa. Accelerate the trot to ten or twelve miles the hour,
and a spring will have been imparted to the pace, by which
the off fore and near hind leg, having struck the ground,
the near fore and off hind leg not only are ready to elevate
themselves, but have actually left the ground, and all four
feet are in the air at the same time, as in the racing gallop,
or flying leap. In a sprint race, you may easily see that a
man at speed is completely off the ground ; how this self-
evident fact could have been so much discussed is proof of
how much more ready to theorise than to observe for them-
selves. In the man's running, a spring is made from one
leg ; in a horse's extended trot, from two diagonally taken.
The result is the same ; a propulsion of the body forward,
and a necessity of bringing up a leg in one instance, or two
in the other, to save the fall of the body forward. Thus,
a series of impulses is kept up, and, by a series of driving
bounds, the weight of the body is rapidly driven forward.
It is to be observed, that the quadruped is here much safer,
from his diagonal line of gravity being distributed over the
space from fore to hind foot, while in man the centre of
gravity lies so forward, as to place him at the risk of a fall
from the slightest mistake or mischance.

We have spoken of irregularities in the trot ; Mr. John
Lawrence thus speaks of the conformation which induces
such irregularities ; " When a horse, whose fore legs are
much shorter than his hind legs, or whose shoulders are very
upright, trots fast, he is obliged to go with his hind legs
very wide, so that his hind feet may come on the outside of
his fore feet. By this means he sinks his croup, and brings
it more on a level with hia fore quarters, and at the same

time he avoids striking his fore feet with his hind feet.
Horses of this conformation sometimes go in the same form
as dogs generally do, namely, with their fore and hind legs
in two different lines of direction, by which one hind foot
comes on the outside of the fore foot, and this is done with
the same intention as in the former instance. They are,
however, very unsafe to ride, for the hind foot is always more
or less in danger of catching the fore foot, in which case,
except the shoe is torn off, they must inevitably fall with
great violence."

Mr. Lawrence gives a figure of what he calls " the elongated
or darting trot ; " it is too near to that depicted in the pictures
of Tom Thumb, Rattler, Ethan Allen, and other American
trotters, to deserve distinction from what we call the running
or pacing trot, of which we have more to say presently.

Training a horse to trot is not a difficult process ; when
lounging in the circle the horse instinctively falls into this
pace.

Fast trotting, except in harness — for which work, by the
way, it is the only pace that almost any horse can try either
safely or pleasantly — is not so much practised by sportsmen
or those who ride for mere pleasure ; by this we should be
understood to mean the maximum sixteen or seventeen-mile-
an-hourproceeding. The race-horse may take two or three
fine delicate steps in this pace just previously to his jockey
sending him up the preparatory gallop ; and hunters will
thus jig-jog along to or through a cover ; but with either of
them it is never thought of when business begins. Thj
man of fashion, so proud of and particular in the choice of his
thorough-bred hacks, is content with a good walker and easy
canterer, adopts high ports and long cheeks to his bridle, gets
(if clever and lucky) a good mouth with a light hand, pulls his
horse well back on the haunches, and sails along with an
idea that the fast trot is a vulgarity confined to east end
fanciers and butchers' boys, fast corn-dealers, jobbers, sport-
ing publicans, with a turn for matches and bets, and the
like Yet this is the true, best, and most serviceable pace
of the saddle horse. Harry Hieover thus speaks of breeding
the trotting hack : — " If a man wishes to breed hacks, there
are two sorts to breed — the blood-like galloping hack, and
the trotting hack. By the first, I should say, a man must
lose money, because there is seldom merit enough in them
to command remunerating prices ; for the really clever
galloping hack seldom has high action, and most people (be
it right or be it wrong) prefer those which have ; conse-
quently, the latter are safest to breed for market. Good
action in a hack will always sell him ; and we certainly run
a much greater chance of getting this if we breed from
trotting stock, independent of sometimes getting something
uncomvion as to pace, when of course he will bring a very
long figure, and is a trump card. We must also consider
that if the trotting bred colt has good action, his pace is to
be wonderfully improved by practice ; and provided we do
not deteriorate that action, the more we increase his speed
the more valuable he becomes. This is not the case with

THE PACES OF THE HORSE.— THE TROT— TROTTING MATCHES.

7y

the galloping hack ; if he goes smoothly, safely, and hand-
somely, we can make him no better ; he is fast enough for a
hack ; and if by training we increased his speed, he would
be worth no more, nineteen times in twenty not half so
much ; for we should spoil him as a hack, and as a hack
only we want him To breed hacks I should select a low
compact high-bred mare, a trotter herself, and put her to a
regular trotting sire ; not that we insure a trotter by this,
but we put ourselves in the way of it, and then trust to our
good luck ; and I am quite clear that good luck and chance
have much more to do with getting goers in any pace than is
generally supposed. It is of course always wise to do that
which is most likely to produce what we want, and to breed
from going blood ; but we all know how frequent is the dis-
appointment when all this is done.

" I think trotting in a general way is more perpetuated in
its breed than galloping ; for in breeding from a certain
strain on both sides we may pretty nearly insure a trotter
more or less ; and trotting being (at least I consider it so) a
more artificial pace than galloping, if we get the action we
can always increase the pace of the trotter in a greater
degree than we can that of the race-horse. The speed of the
latter is increased by training more in reference to speed as
to a distance than for a few hundred yards. This is practice,
and consequently wind and condition. It is not impossible
that a two-year-old in fair state as to flesh might be able to
go a quarter of a mile as fast before he went into training as
he could afterwards, some perhaps faster ; but even for that
distance the speed of the trotter may to all but a certainty be
very greatly increased ; in proof of which, all butchers' horses
get faster than they were when they bought them, not only for
a distance, but for two hundred yards. A very fast thorough-
bred hunter in fine hunting condition will be made some-
what faster by training ; that is, he will be able to go a
greater distance when quite extended than he could before ; he
will also go two miles somewhat quicker than he could
before, but training will not increase his speed in the
same ratio as practice will that of the trotter. This induces
me to call extraordinary speed in trotting more an artificial
capability than that of speed in the gallop, where each have
the natural gift of going in their difi'erent paces ; for this
reason, with under-sized horses, which the hacks should
always be, aim at getting a trotter by breeding from trotters.
Should they not ride quite as we wish, they are worth long
prices for harness ; if the galloping sort do not ride well
they are worth literally nothing."

With respect to trotting in saddle, this pace is but to attain
a secure seat, combined with confidence and firmness. The
rider has more control over the motions of his body in this
pace than any other : in this the body is well brought down
into the saddle by its own weight, and finds its true equili-
brium When the rider wishes to make his horse trot, let
him ease his reins and press the calves of his legs gently ;
when his horse is at a trot, let him feel both his reins, raise
his horse's forehand, and keep his haunches well under him.

MATCH-TROTTINO.

The sport of match-trotting, so popular thirty or fortj
years since, has utterly ilegenersited, and fallen to a few
outside sporting betting men and tradesmen, who " fancy "
they have " something very fast," and post three, five, ten,
or twenty pounds to " back their opinion." Across the
water, however, in the United States, the troiting-matcb
substitutes for tens of thousands the race-course with its
thorough-bred flyers. Though the Americans, however, may
claim a superiority in speed in the trot, it must be borne in
mind that their pace known by this name is more or less the
running trot. Again, in estimating " time," which they
record carefully in their great matches, the horses are
driven up to the starting-point, and pass it at full swing,
while in England the horse must walk to the start. Never-
theless, our go-a-head cousins, having paid attention to
breeding and training for this special pace, have carried
their peculiar animal, the " Morgan " horse, to a perfection
with us unknown. Many of these horses can trot (English
fashion) a mile in two minutes and a half ; while " pacing
trot," they can cover the same ground in 2 mins. 12 sees.
On this side the water some remarkable instances of stout-
ness and speed are recorded Old John Lawrence has
collected some early performances. He says, " I have met
no account of trotting-matches in early writers, nor at what
period the rising in the stirrups in riding came into vogue.
Speed in the trot, as in the gallop, cannot be taught oi
acquired, although both may be much improved by training.
As a man must be born a poet, so a horse must be born a
trotter, or he certainly never will make one of any con-
sequence in a racing view. The utmost speed of the trotter
yet ascertained by stop-watch is a mile in a few seconds less
than three minutes ; and sixteen miles an hour, with a
weight of twelve stone, seem the utmost that has been
performed, unless the match in Lincolnshire in 1792, with
fifteen stone up, when 16 miles were done, is to be depended
upon." These standards have been surpassed. Tom Thumb,
(an American trotter), a galloway of 14 hands high, did 18
miles within the hour, and 100 miles in a few minutes over
ten hours in harness, in a match against time ; time allowed,
10 hours 30 mins. Driver, 13^ hands high, did 17 miles
within the hour. Sir William, a half-bred horse, did 18
miles in the hour at Manchester. In the older volumes ol
the Sporting Magazine, there are some extraordinary
accounts of trotting performances scattered up and down ;
of the performances of "The Norfolk Phenomenon," and
numerous animals claiming blood relationship to that
wonder, which must be received as doubtful, not from mala
fides in the writers of the accounts, or the spectator's
testimony, but from the imperfect method of timing, and
the inferiority of the watches used. A grey mare, called
"The Locksmith," in 1782, trotted, we are told, 72 miles in
six hours. Phenomena, a brown mare, trotted in July,
1800, 17 miles in 56 minutes on the road between Hun-

80

THE PACES OF THE HORSE.— MATCH TROTTING.

tingdon and Cambridge, and afterwards the same distance
in 53 minutes, when her owner, Mr. Robson, ofiFered to back
her to trot nineteen miles and a half within the hour, but the
challenge was not accepted. A little before this there was
a dispute in sporting circles " as to whether weight told
upon the speed of a trotter," which John Lawrence set at
rest by proTing that it did ! The American trotter's time
we have already alluded to. Lady Hampton, Jerry, Con-
fidence, Grey Eagle, Ethan Allen, and many others have
supported the credit of the American trotter, and covered
the mile in 2 mins. 12 or 13 sees.

Reverting to stoutness and the sustained exertion of the
trotter, we will give two matches on English ground : that
of Tom Thumb's 100 miles, already alluded to, and the
match between Rattler and Driver, concluding with an
account of an American trotting-race as a picture of a
national sport.

On Monday, Feb. 29, 1829, Tom Thumb performed the

feat of trotting in harness 100 miles in 10 hours 7 minutes;

time allowed, 10 hours 30 minutes ; for the sum of ^200 to

.flOO. The scene of action fixed on was a mile piece of

road. Commencing at the fifth mile-stone from Staines, into

that town and back. " At four o'clock in the morning, the

American groom, who seemed to regard his horse with the

affection of a relative, was on the alert. He slept in the

same stable, and roused him from his slumbers to give him

a substantial feed At six, accompanied by Mr. Harry

England and Mr. Frederick Smith, who rode as umpires for

the horse, all set out for the five mile-stone, where the other

parties had assembled. The distance from the Red Lion

was about a mile and a half, and although not yet light, it

was evident that the little horse was all life and spirit. He

was driven by the groom, who weighs about ten stone. The

match-cart, which was made in America, was one of the

lightest we have ever seen, not more than one hundred and

eight pounds, and decidedly the most compact, although not

the most elegant, that has met our notice. The shafts ran

level with the body of the horse ; and the seat, which was

lined with leather, was as near the axletree as possible, so

as to give room for the driver to stretch his legs. The

principle seemed to be, to place the weight close to the

draught ; and, in fact the slightest exertion set the machine

in motion. '2he horse was unseemly in his aspect, rough in

his coat, and, at first sight, slouching in his gait ; in truth,

anything but what an English eye would select for such a

performance. He had four good legs, however, and a

brightness in his eye, which led the connoisseurs to calculate

there was something more than common in his qualities,

and many began to guess that he would vindicate the fame

of the Yankee breed of trotters, which are acknowledged to

be the best in the world. Two watches having been

regularly timed by the umpires, were now produced, and

having been stopped at the same moment, half-past six, were

it a given signal started at the same instant, and with them

the horse ; and we must here pay a compliment to the

excellent plans of Mr. England, who, having been appointed
referee, rode the whole of the match before the American,
in a gig, having been supplied with excellent relays of
horses for the purpose. Mr. E. foresaw that, to perform so
long a journey, the wisest plan would be to prevent over
exertion at first ; and, although he knew the speed of the
horse was equal to fifteen miles an hour, he resolved tc
keep him to a steady pace of about ten miles an hour, thus
husbanding his strength for the last, if it should be neces
sary ; and, in order to effect this, he further resolved to
drive before him himself, with his watch in his hand, so as
to regulate his time. This plan had the additional advan-
tage of encouraging the animal, and checking that desire to
increase his speed, which, if the road had been clear before
him, and horses were travelling on each side of him, he
would have evinced, and which to check, would only have
produced fretfulness. A stable was prepared lot the
reception of the Amerioaa, close to the five mile-stone, into
which he was taken at the end of every twenty miles.
Gruel was his only food, but he occasionally took a snap ol
hay, and never once showed a disinclination to feed."
" The distances were thus performed : — First twenty miles
in one hour and fifty-nine minutes ; taken out, and in
stable eight minutes ; second twenty miles in one hour and
fifty-nine minutes ; taken out, and in stable eight minutes ;
third twenty miles in one hour and fifty-eight minutes ;
taken out, and in stable eleven minutes ; fourth twenty
miles in one hour and forty-two minutes ; taken out, and in
stable eight minutes ; last ten miles but one, fifty-two
minutes ; stopped to wash mouth with gruel, which he took
with good appetite, two minutes : last ten miles, in one hour.
The whole in ten hours, seven minutes." From this it will
be seen that this game little horse won, and had twenty-
three minutes to spare of the allotted time, and that without
being in the smallest degree distressed.

The celebrated American trotting-horse Rattler, when the
property of Mr. Osbaldeston, was matched against Mr.
Payne's famed American horse Rochester, Mr. 0. backing
Rattler ^£"1,000 to d£'500, to trot five miles in harness, which
was performed in thirteen minutes, fifty-eight seconds. Mr.
Osbaldeston came in first by the length of his carriage ; but
the match was however declared void, because IC" 0. had
neglected to pull up when his horse broke into a gallop.

The match between Rattler and Driver is thus recorded
in the Old Sporting Magazine for August, 1832. The
conditions were that Rattler was to carry eleven stone, and
Driver nine stone ; and should either horse break into a
gallop, to turn round at the call of the umpire. Driver was
formerly in the possession of the Duke of Gordon, and
subsequently became the property of Macdonald, of whom
Mr. Lawton purchased him. The day fixed by the articles
was Friday, in the July meeting. Rattler, since his match
with Rochester, remained in the neighbourhood of New-
market ; and Driver, after being in close training at Smitham
Bottom, was conducted in the same direction in the early

THE PACES OF THE HORSE.— TROTTING.

81

part of the week, as it had been mutually agreed that the
match should come off in that direction. The horses started
from the sixty mile-stone, out of Newmarket, to the forty-
third mile-stone, through Chesterford, and back. Odds,
previous to starting, six and seven to four, and two to one
on Rattler. There was much betting on time ; several
persons backing the distance to be done in two hours. The
weights having been adjusted, Mr. Osbaldeston mounted
Rattler, and Macdonald Driver On the signal being given,
the horses went off at a steady pace, the Squire rather in
the rear, a position which it was understood he intended to
preserve throughout till near home, when he purposed
taking the lead, if in his power The road was alternately
up and down hill, in some places the ascents and descents
being rather precipitous, between chalk hills, which rendered
it extremely warm and oppressive from a want of a free
circulation of air. In going towards town, the horses were
met by a gentle and refreshing breeze ; but this being at
their backs on their return, the disadvantage was obvious.
As the horses proceeded Macdonald increased his speed, but
Mr. Osbaldeston kept close to his quarters, and waited upon
him with persevering industry. The first three miles were
done in twelve minutes, and the first fourteen in fifty
minutes. At the turn of the seventeen miles Driver was in
front about a couple of lengths, and without pulling up they
came on in the same relative position till within about a
mile of home, near the Ditch Gate. Both horses were
now greatly distressed; the pace, though not rapid, was
fatiguing from the heat of the atmosphere. Macdonald tried
his little nag towards the conclusion ; but he always found
Mr. Osbaldeston close upon his haunches. At last the
Squire, finding the period for the push arrived, went forward,
and in spite of all Macdonald could do, came in first by
about fifty yards ; performing the thirty-four miles in two
hours, eighteen minutes, fifty-six seconds, or at the aggregate
rate of a mile in four minutes throughout. In many parts
of the road this pace was exceeded, as the trot for the last
few miles did not seem to exceed twelve miles an hour.
Mr. Osbaldeston was loudly cheered He immediately dis-
mounted and weighed, apparently little fatigued. Rattler,
however, was greatly distressed, and was led into the White
Lion Stable, where every possible care was taken of him,
but he was stated to be in a very precarious condition.
Driver was also greatly distressed, but was conducted into
the town and bled, de refused his food for some time, but
gradually recovered his spirits, and was pronounced in a
" fair way," though acknowledged to be " dead beat."

The death of Rattler, the winner, two days afterward, was
stated to be a loss of £4,000 to " the Squire ; " owing to
engagements for a renewed match with Rochester, and its
forfeit. Driver, we may observe, was 13 hands 3, and had
recently trotted 17 miles within the time at Smitham
Bottom.

To return to the saddle, we may note two distinct methods
of riding the trotting horse ; 1, that of rising in the stir-

rups— the civilian mode ; 2, the military style. The first
saves an immense amount of fatigue to the horse and un
pleasantness to his rider. The second is a sacrifice to uni-
form appearance in a body of horsemen ; as the effect of a
number of men bobbing up and down synchronously with
each horse's step would be something almost ludicrous : for it
must be remembered that the man must here take his time
from the horse, not the horse from the man Accordingly
your dragoon bumps away upon his sheepskin as he best
can. The civilian style is thus carried out : at the very
moment when the near fore and off hind foot (or vice versa,
according to the foot the horse starts with) have struck the
ground in their effort to throw the horse forward in his
stride, the body of the rider is propelled into the air, by
hard and high trotters, to such an extent as fearfully to dis-
compose an entire novice. Having reached the utmost
height consequent upon this unpleasant propulsion, down
comes the seat, reaching the saddle just in time to catcli
the next impact, and so on as long as the trot lasts. Now
it is by performing each of these motions so as to rise and
fall the instant before you are bumped that you ease yourself
and assist the animal. In this way the horse absolutely
carries no weight at all during half his time, and the
action and reaction are of such a nature that the trot is
accelerated rather than retarded by the weight. No horse
can fairly trot above 12 or 13 miles an hour without this
rising, though he may run or pace in the American style ; so
that it is not only to save the rider, but also to ease the
horse, that this practice has been introduced, and has held
its ground in spite of the want of military sanction. It is
here, as with the seat, utility is sacrificed to appearances :
and whenever the long and weak seat of the barrack-yard
supplants the firm seat of the civilian, the rising in the trot
may be abandoned, but certainly not till then. The military
length is not now what it was 30 years ago ; and perhaps
some time or other they may adopt the rise. In the trot,
the foot should bear strongly on the stirrup, with the heel
well down, and the ball of the foot pressing on the foot-
piece of the stirrup ; so that the elasticity of the ankle takes
off the jar, and prevents the double rise, which in some
rough horses is very apt to be produced. The knees
should always be maintained exactly in the same place,
without that shifting motion which -is so common with bad
riders, and the legs should be held perpendicularly from
the knee downwards ; the chest well forward, the waist in,
and the loins nearly upright, but slightly forward, and as
easily as can be effected without effort on the part of the
rider, rather restraining than adding to the throw of tho
horse.

The military style, without rising, is effected by leaving
the body as much as possible to find its own level The
knees should not cling to the saddle, the foot should not
press forcibly upon the stirrup, and the hands should not
bear upon the bridle. By attending to these negative direc-
tions, the rider has only to lean very slightly back from the

82

THE PACES OF THE HORSE.— THE CANTER.

perpendicular, and preserve his balance, when practice will
do the rest

We have already described the trot as performed by the
feet, ] , 2, 3, 4, diagonally ; those who have pinned their
faith on the fidelity of ancient sculptors — who certainly in
most instances diligently studied nature — have been wofully
misled in this matter, so far as the action of the horse in
trotting is concerned. A visit to the British Museum, and
a contemplation of the Elgin marbles, vnM show us two
trotting horses with the legs of the same side raised at the
same time, the other two being firmly planted on the
ground — a mode of progression known to us only in the
ungraceful trot of the bear. These are the only four
horses, out of nearly two hundred, represented as trotting ;
the others are all cantering or galloping. The Romans, we
may observe, condemned the trot. They called horses with
this pace cruciatorea or tortores (crucifiers or torturers) ; from
which we may fairly infer that the art of riding this pace
with ease was unknown to them, or at least not practised
.Vimrod is severe on this useful pace : he says, " A very
fast trot is a most ungentlemanlike pace, and only fit for a
butcher ; besides which it wears out a horse much sooner
than a canter, from the weight being all thrown upon one
fore leg at the same time, whereas in the canter it is equally
divided between both." This opinion is controverted by
experience and our best writers.

The Canter. — The canter, as we see it in the park hack
and lady's horse, is an artificial pace. The exertion is less
than the gallop, the pace slower, the spring less distant, and
the feet come to ground in almost regular succession. In
the gallop of speed the legs are simultaneous in their move-
ment ; in the canter, the reverse. In the slow gallop, too,
there is a period when all the legs are in the air ; in the
canter this never occcurs. He has always a point of contact
with the ground. The " canter " in our plate will show
this. First, the horse puts his off hind leg a little in advance
of the near leg ; at the same time he lifts the fore hand and
then drops the near fore leg on the ground, and throws the
off leg forward and beyond it, following the near leg instantly,
by bringing the former to the earth. Blaine thus describes
the movements of the canter : " In the second movement the
hind legs are thrown in, and, while elevated, the off fore leg
becomes raised from the ground, but the near fore leg is not
elevated until the hinder ones are replaced ; and this, as
remarked above, constitutes the grand difference between
the canter and gallop. The sensation to the rider is as
different as possible, and so is the action to the eye also. If
this be established, it will call to mind that the whole
weight of the body must at one time rest completely on the
near fore leg : and that this does take place in the canter
U evident from the effects observed ; for it is a remarkable
fact, though seldom observed by old writers, that in all
cantering horses the near fore leg is more deteriorated, and
exhibits more of the effects of work than the off. Judicious
horsemen, sensible of this, do not therefore permit their

horses always to lead on the same leg, but frequently change
the centre, and gallop, canter, and trot, sometimes with the
right and sometimes with the left shoulder forward. The right
foot is usually employed in the lead, when a horse is ' breaking
in ' as a canterer ; and it is proper so to commence the
breaking-in. If the horse is awkward, or strikes off falsely,
tighten the near rein, which, inclining his head to the left,
naturally advances his right shoulder, and produces the
disposition, when he is pressed forward by the hand, the
whip, or the heels, to canter with the right shoulder forward.
But we "evert to our caution, to avoid the continued use of
one leading leg, which the reader may rest assured will
suffer greatly, and become eventually contracted in the foot,
gorged in the pastern, or lamed by splints. Some professed
horsewomen use a screw crutch for their saddle, by which
they can shift their seat ; and to those who ride very much
this is a very salutary custom, as the constant use of one
posture has drawn the figure of the rider herself a little
awry." Such are the remarks of that experienced and emi-
nent veterinarian Delabere Blaine ; Nimrod, however, as we
have noted while on the subject of the trot, does not con-
sider this pace injurious to horses. " A canter," he observes,
" is much more easy, as well as safer, to the rider than a
trot ; the horse having his haunches more under him in the
canter than when he trots, is thereby more likely to recover
himself in case of making a mistake, which the best are some-
times subject to. Fast trotting also distresses a horse more
than cantering, because in the one he is going ud to the top
c>f his speed, and in the other much below it.''

In riding the canter, the rider should have a light and
firm feeling of both reins to raise his horse's forehand ; at
the same time, with a pressure of both calves, to bring the
animal's quarters well under him, having a double feeling of
the inward rein, and a strong pressure of the outward leg, to
cause him to strike off in unison.

At all times the horse should be taught to lead off with
either fore leg ; by doing so his legs will not be so much
shaken, especially the off fore leg, which is the one he most
generally leads off on. This must be the case when he is
continually throwing the greater part of his weight upon the
leading fore leg, as it comes to the ground, which causes
lameness of the foot, and strains the back sinews of tne legs
Being thoroughly taught to change his legs, the horse is
better able to perform long journeys with facility and com-
fort both to himself and his rider. Should the horse show a
tendency to cross the canter, rouse his mouth with a slight
reminder, and speak sharply to him ; he will soon under-
stand what is required, and behave accordingly.

The Gallop. — This is a natural pace, common to every
description of horse in a state of nature, from the diminutive
sheltie of the north to the onager (wild ass) of the African
deserts, the ponderous Flanders cart-horse, and the flying
thorough-bred of Eastern lineage, though their other paces
may differ entirely.

All these move by a succession of leaps in which the hind

THE PACES OF THE HORSE.— THE GALLOP.

33

quarters are the propellers. There are three distinct
varities in the gallop : the hand or slow gallop ; the three-
quarter gallop ; and the full-gallop — the last capable of a yet
further extension in the racing " finish." These are all
modifications of the same mode of progression. We do not
hold with those who class the canter as a gallop ; for in the
canter one foot is always on the ground, not so in the suc-
cession of leaps called galloping.

The Hand-gallop, with the right shoulder forward, is thus
described by Blaine, than whom we can find no cleverer,
better, or more practical writer on this topic : " At the
instant the horse elevates his fore quarters by means of the
muscles of the loins, he throws his fore legs also forwards,
through the agency of the muscles distributed to the
shoulders and arms : but it appears that he does not
elevate his fore limbs equally ; the right is raised a
little more, and it is likewise carried a little further for-
ward than the left, which makes the action a pace, not
a leap. During this elevation, and in some instances
preparatory to it, the right or off hind foot moves slightly
forward, but only sufiicient to gain a true centre, and to
correspond with the increased forwardness of the right
shoulder : the near hind leg, it must be remembered, yet
remains fixed. The fore extremities now reach the ground,
the near fore a little before its fellow, the off fore doubling
over it, and placing itself a little beyond it ; and the slower
the gallop the more considerable will be the distance be-
tween the placing the fore legs. As soon as the near fore
leg has met the ground, and before the off fore has yet
taken its full bearing, the hinder legs are moved in the
following manner, — the near hind elevates itself, and, as it
reaches the ground, the off hind passes it and becomes
placed also. It is now that the horse begins to be all in air
in this pace ; for, on the next spring that the hind quarters
make, the fore quarters being already elevated from the last
impulse, the animal is of necessity completely detached
from the ground The next period when he is likewise so,
is, when the fore quarters, meeting the ground, gain a new
impulse by their rebound, the haunches are again thrown in
to take their share in the support, and also to give their
impelling power to the mass."

In the Three-quarter-gallop, though it is merely an acce-
leration of the hand-gallop, the horse, by describing a much
less curve in each leap or bound, and lengthening his stride
proportionatelj', changes much the stretch and increases the
obliquity of his pasterns as the feet reach the ground ; which
fact is visible in faithful pictures of running horses by com-
petent artists. The pace is the one generally seen in hunting-
scenes, and steeple-chasing, (not a "finish,") the racing-gal-
lop being mostly incompatible with the nature of the ground.

The Full-galiop is the most simple of all the paces.

■' Simple as it is," says Blaine, " it cannot, however, in any

instance, be commenced without the intervention of the

slower gallop, in which one of the hinder legs is first

dvanced to establish a new centre ; for it would require too

great an effort to raise the fore parts at once from a state ol
rest by means of the loins, and to throw them forwards at
the first action, to a considerable distance by means of the
haunches and thighs. This fact is well known to jockeyf
and other sporting characters, and they often derive profit
from the circumstance, by wagering with the unwary that
no horse shall be found to gallop one hundred yards while a
man runs fifty, provided each start together ; in which case,
so much time is lost in acquiring the due momentum that
the man has often won : make but the race for one hundred
and fifty yards and the horse would beat ; for, now the
impetus being acquired, he arrives at sufiicient momentum
to overtake his antagonist. In the extended gallop the fore
parts, when raised, are forced forward by the alternate
flexions and extensions of the angles of the hinder parts ;
and as both of the fore and both of the hind legs, in the
racing-gallop, become opposed to the ground in succession at
the same moment, that is, as the two fore feet at once beat
the ground together and then the two hind, so it is evident
that the gallop of full speed is nothing more than a repeti-
tion of leaps. Quickly as these leaps are repeated, yet the
surface of ground passed over at each of them must neces-
sarily be great, to accomplish the pace at which the good
racer goes. Hambletonian, in his match against Diamond,
is said to have covered eighty-three and a half feet oJ
ground in a second ; and by the calculations of Monsieur
St. Bel, Eclipse covered eighty-five feet of ground in the
same time, when at the top of his speed. Every turf
amateur must have remarked the horizontal position of the
body in the racer at the momentous struggle. Every
departure from a rectilinear form of the body would detract
from the rapidity of its flight ; and therefore even the head
and neck are carried so as to fall within the line of the
trunk. As a compensation, however, for the loss of the
power sustained, the limbs are more extensively flexed, that
the circles they form may be more extended."

The maximum of the speed of the race-horse appears
admitted to be a mile in a minute ; but few, if any, horses
can retain the full velocity of this rate for even that time.
It has, however, been run at Newmarket, by a stop-watch,
in one minute and four and a half seconds It is said, but
was never proved, that Childers did run at Newmarket one
mile in the minute : certain it is that this celebrated horse,
when carrying 9st. 21bs., ran over the Round Course, which
is 3 miles, 6 furlongs, 93 yards, in 6 mins. and 40 sees.
Bay Malton ran 4 miles at York, in 1763, in 7 mins. 43 J
sees. Eclipse also ran the same distance on the same
course in 8 mins., with I2st.

In 184S, Surplice won the Derby and Cymba the Oaks (both
3 year olds, Sst. 71bs.), in the same time, 2 mins. 48 sees., 1|
mile ; the fastest of those races up to that year,* being at
the rate of 14 sees, the furlong, 1 min. 52 sees, per mile.

* In 1861 and 1864 Eettlednun and Stockwell coTered the Derbj ooorEe ia
2 minatea 43 secondB.

84

THE PACES OF THE HORSE.— LEAPING.

Sir Tatton Sykes's Leger Race (3 years, 8st. 71bs.)
was faster (1 mile 6 furlongs and 132 yards), run in 3 mins.
16 sees., at a rate of nearly 13^ sees, a furlong, 1 min. 48
sees, per mile.

West Australian (4 yrs.), in 1854, ran over the Ascot Cup
Course, 21 miles, in 4 mins. 27 sees., or 13^ sees, per furlong,
or a fraction less than 1 min. 47 sees, per mile. In this
race Kingston ran West Australian to a head. From the
above authenticated timing of the speediest racehorses on
the British turf, the " mile-a-minute " tradition of the last
century may be set down as too absurd a fiction to excite
more than a smile at those whose credulity can cling to it.
In some " time matches " in America, the best pace made
was at New Orleans in 1855, when Lexington (4 years old),
did 4 miles, with 7st. 5lbs. up, in 7 mins. 19f sees.
And in the same year Brown Dick (3 years old, 6st.
21bs.), and Arrow (5 years, 7st. 121bs.), ran 3 miles over the
same course in 5 mins. 28 sees. (13| sees, per furlong). The
heavier weight carried, and greater speed, of the modern
English racer are here evident.

The gallop is ridden in two ways : the one seated in the
saddle, the feet in the stirrup as far as the ball of the great
toe, in the usual manner of riding throw paces, or with the
stirrup home to the waist and instep of the boot — the
ordinary hunting seat. With this the body is slightly bent
backwards, in an easy posture ; the knees press firmly
against the saddle flaps ; the hands low, with a gentle draw
on the mouth ; the position of the hands, however, miust be
higher or lower, according to the horse's mode of carrying
his head when galloping ; that is, raised if he hangs down-
ward, level if he does not bear on the bit, and absolute low
if he " snifis the wind with upturned nostril." The second
way is the jockey's rising in the stirrups and standing. The
weight is then on the irons, steadied by a moderate pressure
of the knees. The seat is more backward than when down
in the saddle, the loins and body leaning forward ; the head
not too low, and the knee slightly flexed to press the foot
backward as well as downward. This seat is rarely used
except in racing. It relieves the horse in bad ground, and
over deep plough or fallow, and might be more frequently
adopted with advantage. It, however, soon fatigues the
muscles of the rider, if it saves those of the horse.

LEAPING.

Leaping is a mode of surmounting obstacles common to
most hunting quadrupeds, and to the horse tribe, though the
style of jumping varies greatly in diflferent animals. The
kangaroo, which has no pace but jumping, is the most
abnormal, his jump being efl'ec'ed by the base of his
muscular tail and squatting hams. The trained horse alters
his style of leap considerably, according to the nature of the
obstacle to be surmounted, and hence, "fencing," as it is
called in hunting countries, presents several well-known
varietiea The jump is effected by a sudden and vigorous

extension of the hinder limbs after bringing them well
under the animal by the action of the flexor tendons. The
body is then, as it were, projected forwards in proportion to
the force of the impulse. Hence the importance of the
hunter possessing powerful loins, muscular thighs, wide and
well let down hocks, and oblique shoulders for landing
safely. Though weight-carrying hunters must be large
framed, it does not follow that a large animal can leap a
greater distance than smaller ones ; the length or height oi
the leap being measured by the force in relation to the
weight of the body projected thereby.

The varieties of leap proposed to be noticed are — 1, the
standing leap ; 2, the flying leap ; 3, the buck leap ; 4,
timber, wall, and water jumping.

The Standing Leap (Paces of the Hokse, Plate VIII., fig. 1)
is, as the figure will suggest, only suitable for slight
obstacles, such as a horse can easily surmount by rising at
them with bent fore legs, and his head at liberty. In the
standing leap the horse rises on his hind legs by bringing
them well under him, his rise being more or less perpen-
dicular according to the height of the obstacle. Some
horses are remarkably clever at a standing leap, while
others (often they have been spoiled by bad riders taking
them too close up to the obstacle, and then not letting them
have their heads) will scarcely rise unless allowed a run.
The horse being thus in a rearing attitude, except that his
fore legs are flexed to enable him to rise more easily, be
springs, after a second or so of balancing, upward or for-
ward, throwing out his fore legs and landing with a drawing
action, and bringing the hinder feet well in under his
quarters on landing, ready for another spring forward. It
may be easily guessed that to keep your seat in a standing
leap of good height requires some skill from the great
change which the horse's position undergoes in regard to his
rider. A judicious equilibrium and a good hold with the
knees are quite as necessary in this style of leap, slow as it is
voted by Meltonians, as in the more showy flying leap. Nimrod
tells us of a splendid horse bought of the Earl of Stamford,
which, after being a good flying leaper, changed his style, and
could not be brought to jump any way but standing, except
at water, when he would carry his seventeen stone master over
any brook the width of which was at all practicable.

Mr. Waite, the riding-master, in a little concise treatise,
entitled " Graceful Riding ; a Pocket Manual for Eques-
trians," thus summarily directs the movements in the
standing leap : — " Let the rider take up his horse at an
animating pace, halt him with a tight hand upon his
haunches ; when rising at the leap, the rider should only
just feel the reins, so as to prepare for slackening them,
when he springs forward yielding them without reserve; as,
at the time, the horse must be left quite at liberty. As the
horse's hind feet come to the ground, the rider must again
collect him, resume his usual position, and move on at the
same pace. His body must be inclined forward as the horse
rises, and backwards as he alights."

THE PACES OF THE HORSE.— LEAPING.

8.5

In many places where a stile or low gate, with a branch
of a tree overhanging, has to be crossed, a perfect hunter
will gather himself together and tilt himself over with a
safety which a flying leap is far from insuring. Yet, as
we have before said, the standing leap having been voted
" slow ^y modern " fast " men, we will pass to the next.

The Flying Leap. — This is of two classes ; the rushing one,
adopted from necessity in the jumping race known as the
steeple-chase ; the deliberate or hunting one, in which the
horse is ridden steadily, and the fence, hedge, bank, or rail
taken by a true leaping stride. The flying leap {Plate VIII.,
Fig. 2), is performed with all the limbs more or less extended,
and the whole line of head, neck, and body nearly hori-
zontal, more so in proportion to the width of the brook,
(7yke, or other space to be cleared. As in the flying leap
the hinder limbs are the main instruments of propulsion,
but the fore legs certainly take a greater part in the operation
than is generally supposed, the last stride before the take-off
of the leap the fore feet will be found to be violently thrown
against the ground, to assist in lifting and propelling the
animal, almost synchronously with the grand efi'ort of the
hinder limbs. The horse, having carried himself over the
object, lowers his head, throws his fore legs yet more
horizontally, and lands so as to oflTer the least resistance
and jar ; while his hinder limbs, which had been gathered
up towards the belly to clear the leap, are brought under
him, as in other cases, to again gallop on. Some hunters can
rise well for a flying leap from the trot, but a steady hand-
gallop is the best pace to rise from in the field ; in that pace,
or a canter, the horse is more under control, and can be
more readily stopped. In the steeple-chase the jumps are
all known, previously examined, and " eye-measured," both
in " take-off " and " landing." In the field it is otherwise ;
and therefore rushing at fences is merely tempting mishap to
horse and rider. At water a good pace is best, as it must
usually be taken in stride ; but a horse leaps better at a height
from a steady pace, enough to secure a propulsive spring, than
at extended speed. Double-posts and rails, and stone walls,
require gathering together and " rousing ;" and never forget
that the horse gathers courage from the confidence of his
rider : a good horse, steady at his fences and straight at his
work, may soon be spoilt by a nervous and irritable rider.

We again resort to Mr. S. C. Waite's manual. He directs
the flying leap to be made thus : — " The horse must not be
hurried, but taken up at a brisk pace, with a light and
steady hand, keeping his head perfectly steady and straight
to the bar or fence. This position is the same as in the
standing leap ; and the aids required are the same as for
making a horse canter. If held too tight in the act of
leaping, the horse is likely to overstrain himself, and fall.
If hurried at a leap, it may cause him to miss his distance,
and spring too soon or too late ; therefore his pace must be
regulated, so that he may take his spring distant enough,
and proportionate to its height, so that he may clear it.
When nearing the leap the rider must sit perfectly square,

erect, pliant, and easy in the act of leaping ; on arriving at
the opposite side of the leap, throw the body well back, and
again have the horse well in hand."

The Buck-jump, or double leap {Plate VIII., Fig. 3), is most
remarkable in Irish horses, and among such of our own a?
are accustomed to banks and wall enclosures rather than
water, hurdles, wattles, or quickset hedges. In the buck
leap a second impetus is obtained by the horse striking the
top of the wall or fence with his hind feet. Blaine has
some sensible remarks, evidently based on close observation,
on this peculiar repetition of the impulse in the act
of leaping. He says, " Our experienced hunters, when
facing a rasping leap, or when, after bounding over a ditch,
and having reached the centre of a quick hedge, they get
sight of a second ditch on the other side, will often be
observed thus to double their leap, by applying the hind feet
to the top of the hedge, and with such additional impetus,
slight as it may appear, they carry themselves and riders
over the whole. It must not, however, be supposed by this
statement, that we consider the hedge itself to offer a
fulcrum equal to the required propulsion. No ; we consider
that the horse himself makes a second extensile effort by the
stimulus within, but instinctively put into action by this
point dJappui. This doubling of the hind legs is almost
always seen in the greyhound when covering, not only a
timber leap of the most trifling height, but also that of a
low hedge in coursing, &;c., &c., which we consider a.-.
bearing us out in our principle. It was by observation first
made on greyhounds in our younger days, that we became
apprised of this secondary effort in leaping, which led us, by
attentive observation of every case of the kind that occurred,
to detect the same in horses. Having also had much oppor-
tunity when in Ireland, of remarking the ease with which
the common horses of the country, under Pat's 'cram and
shout,' cleared the stone walls so numerous there (we beg
pardon, we ought not to have said cleared them, for it was
by always going over, and so seldom clearing the wall, but,
on the contrary, invariably displacing a ridge stone or two),
that we were led to a more minute inquiry into the matter,
both practical and theoretical. The result of this inquiry
satisfied us, that this doubling of a leap is instinctively
implanted in all quadrupeds, whose form and arrangement
of organs fits them for extensive saltation Having often,
in the company of sportsmen, when we have noticed this
capability, been met with doubt, and not unfrequently with
a direct contradiction of the possibility of it, we cannot but
be gratified when we meet with such an authority as Mr
Apperley bearing us out in our statement of this secondary
effort to extend the leap : — ' Yet after all,' says this talented
writer, ' the most extraordinary fact relating to the act of
leaping in horses, is the power they have of extending
themselves by a second spring as it were, when, on being
suspended in the air, they perceive something on the further
side of a fence, for which they were not prepared. That
they occasionally do this under good horsemen, all good

86

THE PACES OF THE HORSE.— LEAPING.

horsemen of experience can vouch for ; but whence the
fulcrum is derived, it would be difficult to determine/ "
(Encyclopwdia Britannica, vol. xL, p. 627.)

We need hardly say that the buck-leap is not made at the
top of speed. The horse must not be at extended stride.
The canter, trot, or short hand-gallop, are the most common
preface, but we have seen it made under sudden alarm from
a standing position. The buck-leap is made from the
ground by the simultaneous action of all four legs at once ;
but the superior strength and more favourable angle of the
hinder ones throw the horse forward, as well as up. When
the wall or bank is topped, the horse, striking with his
hinder feet, the fore legs doubled, comes down by gathering
his hind legs up and throwing out the front in such a way
as to land them all together — a most dangerous and
unpleasant concussion follows. Blaine says of a fatigued
horse, under these circumstances : — " The horse in such
case not being able to bear the jar of a secondary effort of
the joints to relieve himself, the attempt often brings him
down, and thus it is that buck-leapers are seldom safe ones.
We would caution the nervous rider against the dangerous
custom, which some have at every downward leap, of
grasping the cantle of the saddle with the whip hand ; for
it not only displaces the body, and consequently unsteadies
the seat, but it has likewise dislocated the shoulder. We
have seen others elevate the whip hand at every flying
leap ; and the action appears to have become so natural to
them as not at all to discompose their seat. In Ireland
this is very common, and among the regular Pats it is
iccompanied with a vociferous ' hough ! ' the rise of the
hand and voice being synchronous ; neither is it improbable
that, from custom, both the action and sound are inspiriting
to the rider — perhaps to the horse also."

In leaping much depends on the manner of bringing the
horse up to the leap. He should be taken up straight and
steady to the take-off, with the reins held in each hand ; the
hunds low, the curb-rein held loosely. The rider's body
must be erect, pliant, and easy in its movements. As the
animal rises, the body must be well thrown back ; and so at
landing. The sitting a leap well is entirely dependent on
the due poise of the body. The weight then accompanies
the horse's movements, and the rider and his steed " keep
time."

Timber, Wall, and Water-jumping. — Candour compels the
admission that in these important points of cross-country
riding the late Mr. Apperley has in various works ; in his
" Tours," " Riding to H.unds," " The Chase," &c. ; well-nigh
exhausted the subject, and to his pages, in the main, are we
indebted for what we have here gathered.

Timber-leaping is of various kinds — posts and rails ; a
stile, with occasionally a foot-bridge ; park-paling ; double-
posts and rails, and swing gates, are the most common
obstacles in this category. Sheep-hurdles and thorn-fences,
with or without binders, are included in the timber-jump.
As a preliminary caution we may note that many of the

falls which occur in timber-leaping are attributable to the
want of " catches " on the outer side of the shoes. These
should be slight, and only on the outer side, as we shall
note when we come to speak of the shoeing of the hunter.
When the horse has not these as a foothold he is apt to slip
his hinder quarters too far under in the attempt to stop the
impetus of his gallop, and thus baulk his spring. Horses
jump, however, as well as gallop, in all sorts of forms ; and
the judicious horseman will know that it is better to
accommodate himself to his horse's habit, and cultivate his
talent, than to interfere with his style ; which is like an
attempt to force a man to alter his settled opinions. The
authority we have already referred to thus practically sets
forth his opinion : — When you know your horse to be a safe
fencer, be his fashion of performing his leaps what it may,
do not try to force him to alter it ; and whatever you do, by
no means hurry such a horse, however prudent it may be
to do so with others. Some horses, although sufficiently
eager to get over, will always pull up at a timber-leap,
particularly if it costs an extra exertion. In such a case, il'
you know your horse will clear his leap fairly, let him take
it his own way ; forcing such a horse will probably be very
unsafe. Never, however, attempt such a leap merely to
show off either yourself or your horse during the run ; for
several others of a similar kind may be inevitable, and every
such leap takes so much out of your horse that if he
receives much shock on landing he will, perhaps, refuse a
repetition. Never follow another rider when he is taking a
timber-leap ; for should he fall you may maim or kill him, or
at any rate, lose your own credit. Do not force your horse
at timber when he is distressed ; for should he then fall it
may be with great force, and he will hardly rise, to say nothing
of your own probable injury. Once more would we caution
the aspirant in field riding against taking such leaps at
the gallop : au contraire, it is good riding to pull up at some
leaps, as we have already said, and to take them either
from a walk, or at most from a canter. The late Mr.
Assheton Smith — prceclarum et venerabile nomen — never
rode hard at any kind of leap whatever, with the excep-
tion of brooks. We know " fast " men who would denounce
much of this as savouring of " the slow."

The Stile — especially when it has a foot-bridge on one or
both sides — is often a very ugly leap. If on the take-off
side most horses will sooner face it and clear the whole ;
should this be impracticable or doubtfu' an experienced
"fencer" will, if the bridge is strong enough, take it at
twice, and do it cleverly. A slip, however, on the bridge is
apt to hang the horse's stifle in the top rail, and keep him
till the timber gives way ; or, by getting a leg between the
bars, the unlucky animal and his rider " come to grief" A
good way — don't fear the vulgar imputation of "slow," — -is to
turn the horse over solus, if you have a friend to catch him
for you.

The Gate, like the posts and rails, should be steadily ridden
at : but remember that the foothold in these places is often

THE PACES OF THE HORSE.— LEAPING.

87

very treacherous, owing to the ground being " poached " by
the passage of neat-cattle and sheep at each side of the
obstruction.

Never ride at a gate that by probability is unfastened ; to
do so when it is actually on the swing would be madness ; for
as many good leapers measure heights and distance so accu-
rately as almost always to brush the former, and exactly span
the latter, so a gate on the swing, or even unfastened, would
in all probability fly open, and the horse, instead of topping
it, would first find himself swinging on it, and next rolling
rider and all headlong from ofi" it. In such case it would be
not unlikely also that the legs of the horse might, at the
same time, become entangled in the gate rails ; should this
happen, first hold the head of the horse firmly down, and
then let some one unhinge the gate, which is best done by
putting the back against it. In these and other such like
lases, wherein timber is concerned, we may remind the steady
rider of the advantages which attended the heavy hunting
whip of former times, with its hook and hammer mountings,
as well as the sporting knife, with its cutting and sawing
blades. Some good horsemen always ride briskly at a gate,
which they say it is prudent to do ; first, because your horse
will at once distinguish between your purpose of merely going
up to open it, and yoiur intention of going over it; next they
observe, that by rushing at it, if the horse does not clear it,
there is the greater chance of his breaking it by the impetus
of the rush. The rider of a tired or blown horse, however,
would do well to avoid timber when in his power, for such
falls are usually serious ones to both parties : but when cir-
cumstances strongly urge the leap, let him push his horse at
it with energy, lifting him by hand, and pressing hiro with
the heel at the moment of the spring.

Park-paling is an ugly kind of timber to take, from the
zig-zag forks at the head of the pales occasionally locking the
hinder foot, where it is strong enough not to fly before the
blow. Double posts and rails, where too yawning for a clear-
ance, must be taken "in and out," or "on and off;" at this,
some Irish jumpers are very clever. Where there is a bank
most English hunters lift themselves on to it, then, dwelling
a moment, extricate their forelegs and drop into the next
field, with just spring enough to clear a ditch if there be one.
Double hurdles are an identical jump. Be careful to "give
the horse his head," in rising, and in his second spring,
feeling his mouth and lifting him when he touches ground.

Sheep-hurdles are generally too weak to occasion a fall,
and may, therefore, be " rode at any how,"' as we have
heard it expressed. They are a good means of teaching
the colt, and impressing on " the young idea how to "
jump. Three feet to three feet six is their usual height

Water- jumping. — In going at a brook, take hold of your
horse well, and ride him at a good striding pace straight at
it ; choosing as good a " take off " and sound " landing " as
possible. A horse to be good at brooks must be practised
\t smallish ones at first, which he must take in his stride
at the three-quarter-gallop. Few horses take water-jumps

kindly unless early instructed. A wide low-banked brook,
if fordable, should be so taken. Strains and overreach art
often the result of the other practice, to say nothing of a
rotten bank and a return by rolling over. It is superfluous
to say that an overreach spoils your sport for the day ; and
that if you cram your horse at a water-jump he will not
take, he may either stop dead — in which case it is fortunate
if you do not first taste the quality and sound the depth ol
the ditch, and so afford mirth to the field — or, if you have
him not well " felt by both reins," he will swerve to right
or left, and carry you a circuitous bend homewards ; to
repeat the gyration as many times as you bring him up to
the leap.

Stone-walls are noticed under the buck-leap.

The author of "The Horse and the Hound" tells you
" how to fall from your horse ; " and quaint as is the
precept, it is well worth study, as " falls," like " offences,
needs must come." In all falls, the horseman should roll
away from his horse as soon as he possibly can, lest in hit
struggle to rise again he strike him with his legs or head.
It frequently happens that the horse himself rolls after
he falls, and if in the direction in which his rider lies, is
apt to crush and injure him. Indeed there is scarcely any
hard rider who has not been thus served ; but here, again,
self-possession often stands his friend. When he sees the
body of his horse approaching him, he frequently saves
himself by meeting it with one of his feet, and, by obtaining
a fulcrum, shoves his own body along the ground out of his
reach. Coolness in this hour of peril likewise serves the
sportsman in another way. Instead of losing hold of his
reins, and abandoning his horse to his own will, as the man
who is flurried at this time invariably does, he keeps them
in his hand, if not always, perhaps in nine falls out of ten.
and thus secures his horse.

Of the wonderful leaping powers of the norse we have
innumerable recorded instances.

Some years ago, a wager of 100 guineas was made
between Lord Alvanley and Mr. Maher, that each did not
leap over a brook of six yards width, without disturbing the
water. Both riders leaped the brook handsomely ; but,
unfortunately for Lord Alvanley, his horse threw back a bit
of dirt into the water after he had landed, which made him
the loser.

Blaine witnessed a jump over the river Roding, in Essex,
made by Sir William Rowley's huntsman, 24 feet in the
clear.

The next is an example of sustained leaping powers and
pace for a small animal. Sir Charles Turner's leaping
match, made with the Earl of March, for 1,000 guineas, was
performed on Fell, near Richmond, Yorkshire. " The con-
ditions of the match were, that Sir Charles Turner should
ride 10 miles within the hour, in which he was to take forty
leaps ; each leap to be 1 yard, 1 quarter, and 7 inches high "
Sir Charles performed it on a galloway, with great ease, in
36 minutes.

«8

THE PACES OF THE HOKSE— IMMENSE LEAPS.

The Trial Leaps, as they are called, of the Irish horses, are
however much more extraordinary. They are made over
stone walls 6 feet high, and built firm throughout by coping
and dashing-, however, it is not expected that any other
than a first-rate horse can top such a fence ; but several
instances have occurred where this has been done, and that
even by the common horses of the country. In the county
of Limerick, one of these walls is shown which was ridden
over by Colonel O'Grady. When Mr. Blaine, already
quoted, was with his regiment in Ireland during the
rebellion, he saw many such. " Over these walls it was a
very common occurrence for their crack fieldsmen to ride ;
but it was owned that some of the stones were usually
displaced in the leap. Indeed, it was this very circum-
stance that deprived the enterprise of half its danger. A
good horse there, when hunting, seldom balks such a leap ;
for he is aware that either his knees or his breast will
displace the first tier of loose stone ; the next rider who
follows does the same ; and then each one who succeeds is
in more and more peril from the loose stones, which very
frequently give horse and rider an awful somersault. That
high fencing horses are almost, as it were, indigenous to
Ireland, we might conclude from the circumstance, that, at
one of the great horse fairs held at Ballinasloe, the parish
pound, which is 6 feet in height, forms the trial leap for the
high priced horses bought there, each of which, we are told,
is expected to leap it ere the bargain is concluded. It is
ilso recorded of a descendant of Old Pot-8-os from an Irish

half-bred mare, that she leaped a wall of 7 feet high, built
for the purpose, in Phoenix Park, Dublin." The feat of
leaping over the wall of Hyde Park is well known- It was
to have been performed by an Irish mare, the property of Mr.
Bingham, but the trial was frustrated by her having passed
into other hands : merely for the honour of Ireland, the
leap was nevertheless attempted and achieved, on February
24, 1792, by a bay horse in his possession, whose per-
formance of it, it is said, was done merely to show the
possibility of the thing. This was a standing leap ; the
height of the wall was 6| feet on the inside and 8 on the
outside, where a bed of long dung was laid to receive the
horse in his descent. The willing animal, it must also be
remarked, did it twice, merely displacing a few bricks at the
last jump.

Well-authenticated brook and fence leaps of the steeple-
chasers of later years have far beaten these. Charity, winner
of the Newport Pagnel Steeplechase in 1841, cleared 28
feet and a bank ; while Peter Simple leaped the artificial
water-cut, opposite the Grand Stand at the Liverpool Steeple-
chase, and left his measured foot prints 32 feet from bank
to bank. Lottery cleared 29 feet with Jem Mason up ; and
The Chandler jumped 32 feet at Liverpool, across a water-
course, measured in presence of the writer.

We propose to speak of the accidental "Paces of the
HoKSE " — such as rearing, jibbing, shying, backing, cutting,
lying-down, running-away, &c., — when treating of the sub-
jects of " Vices" and " Ridino."

iJUYLNU A HUUaK

00

OHAi'TEK 1 .V.

BUFiMU H. EOESB : PREFATORY REMARKS : TRICKS OF DEALERS : CHOICE OF A " GENERAL PURPOSE " HORSE : " A GOOD SORT I
EXAMINATION FOR PURCHASE : EXAMINATION FOR DEFECT AND DISEASE : CONCLUSION.

No one who has mixed much in general society but has
found, from peer to peasant, that one of the tenderest
points of an Englishman's self-opinion is touched by the
bare supposition that he " knows nothing about a horse ; "
yet how few really have studied the subject, and how many
less have possessed the opportunity of a technical acquaint-
ance even with the leading points necessary to form an
approximately just judgment of a horse's capabilities, powers,
and suitableness for the purpose for which he is required.
Next to choosing a wife, buying a horse to carry you " for
better or for worse " is the aifair in life that requires m«st
deliberate circumspection. True, the former is proverbially
" a lottery," but there is no reason that the latter need be.
We will not be so ungallant as Lord Bacon, who likened
wife-taking to a blindfold dip in a bagfuU of snakes to
draw forth the single eel ; but however heaven may make
matches, and '' another place " dip them, the man who
will study the subject need not, in suiting himself with a
horse, buy one with such serious defects as may make him
feel he is " sold again, and the money paid."

A dissertation on the various ways in which a horse may
oe bought in London or in any other of our great commercial
centres, sucli as Manchester, Liverpool, or Dublin, either at
well-known auctions which are held periodically throughout
the year, or from the livery-stable keepers and jobmasters who
flourish wherever horses are bought and sold, or of a breeder,
farmer, or " friend " — the last not the least dangerous —
would waste too much of our space and of the reader's time.
Much of this matter, more especially of the " stud " class,
will be found pleasantly gossiped over in the small volume
by " Harry Hieover " entitled " Precept and Practice,"
and similar works ; our object here is to write for the
" general " purchaser, who wants a " general " horse for
"general" purposes, which is just the sort of person nine-
tenths of writers on this subject consider it would be
beneatt ihem, and a derogation from their character for
sporting povcr, to write for at alL They will insist upon
showing you what a thoroughbred should be, according to
the highest standard ; that, we opine, is not what an every-
day buyer of a horse for his pleasure, comfort, business, or
healthful exercise, wants. He may find it, in its right place,
ander the respective headings — the Race Horse, and the
Hunter, and the article On Breeding ; also, and more to
the point of our present topic, under The Hackney, pp.

M

61, 62, ante. We have there described the best of thai
most useful class of horse as half or three quarter bred, and
from ]4'1 to 15'1 in stature, yet galloways and cobs undei
this height are often to be met with of undeniable utility,
stoutness, and constitution. And here we would say to the
" gentlemen in search of a horse," look rather for the good
qualities, as you would in a friend or trusty servant, that
mere beauty.

" Whoe'er expects a perfect ' horse ' to see,
Expects what never was, or is, or e'er shall be; "

therefore, as aU things have their defects in " this best of all
possible worlds " — even you and 1, gentle reader, included —
we will just take a glance at a standard animal ; the nearer
to which standard the horse you can buy approaches, the
better for the fortunate man who becomes his owner.

An amusing, but, to our thinking, useless chapter or two
might be given, studded with anecdotes of the various tricks
of "copers," "chanters," "sharps," "flats," and "wideawakes;"
with illustrations downward, from the aristocratic cavalry
oflicer who " sells " the rich Cornet Greenhorn in the little
matter of the 120 guinea charger, and the gentlemanly
" friend " you met in the hunting-field — who has " the
splendid fencer," and will part with, " to you only, for
i?250, because he is just the thing to carry you " —
through all the gradations, till you come to the hide-and-
seek-rascals who advertise a horse, " the property of a
gentleman;" inquire of the groom. No. 6, Backslum Mews,
" ring the right-hand bell." Each of these has its horse-
dealing story, proving the axiomatic truth that " No man is
honest in selling a horse." Our old friend Nimrod speaks
to this. He says : " The moment a man has a horse to sell
he becomes a suspicious character. Now, if the sale of one
horse places a man in such an equivocal situation as to
character, what must that man be who becomes a dealer in
horses ? Why, by common consent, he is placed out of the
pale of respectability ; and if his conduct were to be in
parallel with his character, he would be simply a systematic
cheat." Again, " The horse seems a conductor to all sorts
of villany ; even friendship itself is no security in this
matter, in which all the ordinary principles of honour and
fair dealing, by common consent, are placed in abeyance,
and a laugh is the rejoinder to the recital of acts which, ii
a horse were not in question, would expel a man from good

dO

BUYING A HORSE.— "A GOOD SORT."

society." There is quite as much fallacy in this as truth.
The vendor is always the defendant in this moral court of
inquiry ; but in many — we had almost said most — instances
the purchaser is a self-deluder, who querulously complains
of the bargain he himself sought, and laments, in possession,
the object he so earnestly coveted when another's. The
better class of our London horse-dealers are quite as upright
and fair in their dealings, as wine merchants, auctioneers,
advertising jewellers, and a score of dealers in articles of a
" fancy " description. This, many will say, is but poor
praise ; be it so. It is nearer truth than the senseless
outcry about horse-dealers which fills the pages of Hght-
reading periodicals, and points the pencil of the caricaturist.
If to-morrow we wanted an animal, such as we shall pre-
sently describe, and distrusted our own experience and
judgment, we should apply at once to an established dealer,
on the same principle as we should to a respectable silver-
smith, and should not doubt to get fair value in one case as
n the other.

It is a gratifying fact, and we speak from observation and
experience, that those tricks and dishonesties which
used formerly so extensively and constantly to disgrace the
repositories, are now of rare occurrence, if not quite gone
down into desuetude ; although, of course, caveat emptor
cannot be flung to the winds when one is buying anything,
but more especially in such an extremely delicate under-
taking as purchasing a horse. The " knock-outs " are now
confined to a few of the very needy and characterless cads.
All the more respectable members of the trade repudiate
the practice as beneath them. Improvement has also given
the guinea-hunters the go-by ; and here and there only, a
crown or half-crown cad is tipped. Respectable agents,
too, are not the ra7-a avis they used to be. To return.

We wUl suppose you are not over-particular as to colour,
and that the venerable saw, " a good horse is never of a bad
colour," has its due weight with a sensible man. Grey,
chesnut, roan, bay, brown, or black, there are good ones of
all. Bay or brown, with black legs and hoofs, are usually
most obtainable, and, all other points being equal, most
desirable. Greys are handsome, but as they grow older and
white, stain themselves so frequently by lying down that
much more washing is necessary ; add to which, their hoofs
are often white, and softer and less dense than those of black-
footed horses.

To describe a " good sort " of horse is, perhaps, not a
difHcult matter. A really good sort of horse cannot well be
put quite out of his place ; he is capable of all services
that can be required of him, with the reservation of
the two extremes — racing, or the waggon. Even for these,
if he is well bred, he would make a tolerable good fight for
the one, and his pluck and courage would, to the extent of
his strength and weight, make him a most willing rival of
" Gee woa," if the ingratitude and cupidity of man should
destine him to such degradation and sufi'ering : by no
means an improbable ending of his career, and that

often under circumstances at which the humane sportsman
revolts.

There can be no doubt but that "a good sort" is a
valuable acquisition to any man who wants a horse to
perform well any purpose for which such sort is necessary
or desirable ; but he may not get what performs a particular
kind of work in a superior manner notwithstanding; and
we may sometimes, and under peculiar circumstances, show
our tact and knowledge of horses, by purchasing one for a
given purpose, which our judgment may tell us is really of a
good sort, even for that purpose, or indeed any other.

A really good sort of horse is fit more or less for any
purpose to which we may apply him, and will do that
purpose moderately well ; but it by no means follows he
may be more than moderately good in any of them. A
good sort of horse has so often been described by abler pens
than ours, that we will not enter into the minutise of
description here.

We are told, and with truth, that a tain, clean, good
head, and cheerful eye, are indicative of goodness, and (if
we may use the terms in speaking of the horse) indicative
also of an amiable and generous temperament and dis-
position ; a head well put on, with a yielding and somewhat
arched neck, denotes the head capable of being carried in
the right place ; and further, we may infer such a horse has
a good mouth, it not having been hardened or spoiled by
useless endeavours to bring the head in the place we wish it
to be. Long oblique shoulders usually betoken freedom of
action, so far as the fore parts are concerned. A deep girth
and long back ribs show strength, as do good loins ; wide
hips, freedom of action ; long good thighs and large clean
hocks, with hind legs well put on, show strong propelling
powers.

With these points (as we shall go more particularly into
the subject in " Examination fob Pukchase "), we may say
a horse has got what indicates goodness of temper, cheerful-
ness and courage, carrying himself handsomely and plea-
santly to the rider or driver, goodness of action, strength,
speed, and safety.

Yet, with all these good points, he may only be enabled
to perform any of the purposes to which we may put him
moderately weU. In a general way such an animal cannot
be a bad horse ; but if we want perfection, or something
like it, we must tie ourselves to special rules as to formation,
and should show our tact in buying what our judgment
must in a general way condemn, if we determine to have
something uncommon in a particular way : such as a
flyer for racing purposes, a jumper up to fifteen stone for
steeple-chase or the hunting field, or an animal for the
exclusive purposes of draught, all of which hays their
special conformations and characteristics

The most perfect mechanical forms are not always the
most speedy or the most powerful : good conformation may
give the power to perform extraordinary feats of endurance,
activity, or strength ; but it must never be forgotten that

BUyiNG A HORSE— EXAMINATION FOR PURCHASE.

91

the vigour of motion depends not upon the form alone, but
the will to exert it8 powers. This will, or energy in work, is
proportionate to the excitability of that portion of the brain
and nervous system which governs the muscles exerted in
the desired action. Thus, oftentimes, a plain horse with a
willing temper is far superior to a perfectly formed one who
has not that virtue. " How can I tell," asks the reader,
"anything about all this? I must trust to the seller."
True, but not to the extent you suppose. A close and
intelligent examination of the postures, countenance, eye,
nostril, ear, movements, and carriage of the animal, will tell
you more than you would believe until you try such a
thoughtful inspection.

The energetic horse has generally a large eye, is attentive
to what is going on about him, fine muzzle, large nostrils,
small ears, thin skin, and clean limbs ; he rarely carries
much flesh ; and lastly, it has been frequently observed that
many energetic horses have thin manes and tails.

The sluggard has usually a small sunken eye, in a large
heavy head ; the ears are large or sloping, and seldom move ;
the nostrils are almost always small, muzzle fleshy, ribs flat,
belly pendent, and the tail drooping and not unfrequently
very full.

A small horse is capable of greater exertion than a large
one ; the vital principle seems to act with increased activity
in small animals ; in one, it is diffused, and in the other
concentrated : again, like us, some have better constitutions
than others ; in one, the texture of the organs may be
compact, and in another weak and relaxed. Horses with
thick skins are more predisposed to attacks of grease and
canker. In proportion as the legs are hairy, the skin is
thick and spongy, feeble in vital energy, and incapable of
bearing changes of temperature.

With these preliminary remarks we will proceed to the

EXAMINATION FOR PURCHASE.

Unless proper precaution is used in the examination of
horses for purchase, the law will not protect a man from the
consequences of his own neglect ; and it has been held that
a warranty against apparent defects is bad in law, the
purchaser being expected not only to possess ordinary
skill, but to exhibit ordinary caution ; we shall, however,
have more to say on this subject when we come to
" Warranty and Unsoundness."

A defective horse is dear at any price ; yet, though the
buyer be ever so good a judge, and his inspection ever so
minute, he must take some things on trust. A perfect
knowledge can only be obtained on trial, which should
always be taken, if possible, but which is not, under many
circumstances, to be had. For instance, some horses, when
turned six or seven years old, are subject to a dry chronic
cough, which comes on at uncertain times, perhaps twice or
thrice a day, sometimes after feeding or drinking ; or
changes of temperature may induce it, when he comes
into or goes out of stable. Occasionally a dose of physic.

and in some cases a little attention to his diet, will prevent
recurrence of this cough for two or three days, or even
weeks, when it will re-appear.

With a respectable dealer, after using your eyes and
discretion, you had better depend on the warranty and
the vendor's character, than by any unnecessary display of
suspicion, off'ensively question his honesty. Nevertheless, as
the trade is taken up by needy gentlemen of good standing
in society, and broken down black-legs of respectable
connexions, who are ever ready to give a warranty not
worth a dump, or satisfaction if you are dissatisfied thereat,
if you have reason to suspect the horse, or his master, the
directions here laid down will be found useful. Always
bear in mind that the observation of one symptom should
induce the examiner to follow up the inquiry into those
other symptoms which are characteristic of the suspected
disease, defect, or unsoundness. We would also recommend,
when you have made up your mind that a horse is such as
you would wish, to take with you, not as your dictator, but
as your adviser and friend, a respectable qualified vet. ; for,
depend on't, he must be a wonder of incompetence and of
the rarest dishonesty, if his judgment and disinterested
advice are not superior to your unaided acumen, and
perhaps prejudged decision. The fee is well saved in after
satisfaction.

The best time to view a horse is early in the morning,
in the stables ; as if there is any stiffness in the joints,
or tendency to swelled legs, it will then be most apparent.

The horse should always be examined from a state of
rest. If there are any symptoms of his having been
previously exercised, such as sweat about his withers, or his
legs have been recently washed, it is advisable he should be
left in his stall till cool. There is more than one species of
lameness, which becomes less apparent after exercise, and
where there is a tendency to swelled legs, a smart trot and
grooming will fine his legs, and render them clean.

This precautionary measure is more especially to be
taken when you suspect your man, for in horse-buying you
must expect to deal with gentry who are adepts in the
science of imposition. A stable examination is the best for
observing indications of wind-sucking, crib-biting, chronic
cough, the state of the respiration, and for discovering vice.

For this purpose, always have -a horse shown quietly.
When there is much noise and bustle, there is generally
something wrong ; and when the animal is agitated, slight
lameness will escape the eye. In going to look out for a
horse in a dealer's stables, you will no doubt soon attract
the notice of an attendant, who will endeavour to put
the horses into a fidgety state by his presence, in all
probability with a whip in his hand. Object, in limine, to
this ; your object is to see the animal in a state of repose,
and as far from any exciting cause as possible It may be
difiBcult to take a quiet survey ; for the attendant is not
always obedient to you, but often wiU persevere in exciting
what you want to see in a quiescent state, and you art

92

BUYING A HORSE.— EXAMINATION FOR PURCHASE.

driven to leave the stable in disgust. Old John Lawrence
has some sound cautions and remarks on this point, which
we cite. He says : — " Suffer no person belonging to the
seller to be with you in the stall (unless you know and are
well satisfied with the dealer's character) during your
inspection, that the horse may not be rendered unquiet,
either designedly or at the mere presence of an habitual
tormentor. A. short time since I had occasion to examine
a horse, for a friend, at the stable of a considerable dealer;
it was a very beautiful and well-shaped nag, but, as is
I commonly the hard fate of such, he appeared to have done
too much work. The attendant, from a superabundant
share of regard to my safety, must needs hold the horse's
head whilst I examined his legs, still assuring me he was
perfectly quiet ; nevertheless, every time I attempted to
feel below his knees the horse started, and flew about the
stall in a strange manner, to the no small risk of my toes
and shins. Whilst I stood musing and wondering what
beside the devil could possibly ail the animal, I discovered
a short whip under the arm of the jockey, with which he
had, no doubt, tickled the neck and chest of the horse
whenever I stooped down with the intent of handling his
legs. I wished this adept good morning.

" A good quiet stable survey is a material prelude, the
horse being under none of that excitement which will
probably have place in him when abroad upon the show.
Unless, indeed, he should have been previously subject to
that most barbarous stable discipline which I too often
witnessed in days of yore, but which, I hope, does not in
the present days, at least not in so great a degree or so
usually disgrace the conduct of our dealers. I refer to the
daUy, too probably almost hourly, attendance of a fellow
with a whip, who flogs and cuts the horses up and down in
their stalls, causing them to jump and fly about as if mad,
keeping them in such a constant state of miserable appre-
hension, that they dread the approach of any human being.
The motive of this was to render them active, ready, and
lively on a show, and to hide defects ; and, as an exaggera-
tion of this monstrous barbarity, the unfortunate cripples
had even an additional share of this discipline, being
whipped and beat most cruelly for putting out, in order to
ease, a crippled limb."

The feet and legs. — The first thing to be observed is,
that when standing evenly the weight is thrown equally
on both feet. If there be any complaint in the fore feet
one will probably be " pointed," that is, extended before the
other, or he will frequently alter the position of them,
taking one up and setting the other down ; or the hind legs
will be brought under the bo' . to relieve the fore feet of
some portion of the weight. Any of these symptoms will
direct your attention to the feet when you see him out.

Respiration. — To judge of his respiration it is necessary
to be acquainted with the indications of health. Observe if
the flank alternately rises and falls with regularity. In
health the respiration of the horse is from four to eight per

minute, average six in the day time ; during sleep it is
seldom more than four. If quicker than ordinary, it
betokens present fever or defective lungs. Should it arise
from present fever, other symptoms will be developed, such
as increased pulse, heat of mouth, and dulness, while the
delicate pink appearance which the membrane covering the
partition of the nostrils assumes in health will be increased
in colour. But if none of these symptoms of ill health are
present, and yet the horse heaves at the flank more than
ordinary, if the weather be moderate, and the stable not
oppressively hot, it is probable such a horse is thick
winded.

When inspiration appears to be performeu readily and
quickly, as in health, by a single action, but expiration with
difficulty by an irregular and prolonged movement, or
double action, the respiratory muscles appearing as if
interrupted in the act of expelling the air, and then the
flank drops suddenly, it is a symptom of broken wind.
His cough should then be tried. The cough of a broken-
winded horse is a peculiar low hollow grunt, difficult to
describe, but when once heard easily recognized.

Cough. — The cough can generally be elicited by pinching
the larynx or trachea. This, however, is not an infallible
test. We have met with sound as well as broken- winded
horses that cannot be made to cough at all. In these cases,
when there is any irregularity in the movement of the
flank, which would lead to the suspicion of broken wind,
and there is unusual hardness of the windpipe, which does
not give way on pinching, it may be taken as a symptom of
disorganization in addition to the probability of broken wind.

Mange. — Should the hair be rubbed off in some places,
especially about the head, flanks, and tail, or he is observed
rubbing himself against the sides of the stall, there is danger
of his being mangy. In this case his coat will be found
rough and staring.

Temper. — The absence of the vices of kicking and biting
may be inferred from the manner of the groom when
entering the stall, and by the quiet method with which he
unclothes and dusts him over, and combs out his mane and
tail If he be a biter, his head will probably be tied short to
the neck, or the groom will seize hold of him short by the
halter or bridle, sometimes giving him a shake, or looking
sternly at him. Desire to see his hind and fore feet, and by
the manner in which he permits the groom to lift them, a
guess may be made as to his quietness to groom his heels,
or in shoeing.

The Eyes. — While the horse is in the act of being led out of
the stable to the light, closely observe his manner and action :
if the ears move in quick changes of direction, as if alarmed
at every noise, and he hangs back on the baiter, raising his
feet higher than ordinary, and putting them down as if
fearful aud uncertain of his step, it leads us to suspect his
eyes, though sometimes these symptoms will be observed
when the eyes are perfect, if the stable has been a dark one.

Standing, Orogginess. — When the horse is shown out-

BUYING A HORSE.— EXAMINATION FOR PURCHASE

93

notice if he stand firm on his feet, with his weight thrown
boldly on his back sinews and pasterns. If there is any
appearance of shaking or tottering of the fore limbs indicative
of grogginess, it will be endeavoured to be disguised by the
groom continually pulling at the bit, to make him shift his
legs and stand advantageously A lame horse is never
permitted to stand still a moment, and the groom, though
pretending to soothe, is in reality agitating him, while the
shrewd and crafty seller will most probably endeavour to
withdraw your scrutiny from the defective point, by calling
your attention to his spirit or playfulness. If any of these
manoeuvres are apparent, be upon your guard. The groggy
horse inclines a little forward at the knee, or it is readily
bent by the least touch behind, he rests his weight on his
toes, and when standing undisturbed brings his hind legs
under him Some young horses, before they have been
backed, have this deformity, from malformation of the knee ;
but if, in addition to this bending forward, there is any
tremulous motion of the limbs, it is a decided proof of the
existence of that most destructive affection, navicular
disease ; for an account of which the reader is referred to
the Veterinary portion of this work.

To return, the horse being led out, he will most probably
be placed upon rising ground, for the purpose of showing
his fore quarters to advantage, which also affords the
buyer an opportunity of another examination in a good
light. The shoulder is by this position made to appear more
sloping ; and dealers, to give that appearance, try to make
the near-leg to stand before the off-leg. Now is the time
for perceiving whether his " understanding " is sound ; for
though the dealer may declare that he is as sound as a bell,
still we should disregard what he may say on that subject, and
judge for ourselves.

Though the dealer is perfectly justified in these little
manoeuvres to show off his goods to the best advantage, more
especially in so fancy an article as a horse — being no more
than is done and allowed by every tradesman — the prudent
purchaser will not please his eye at the expense of his judg-
ment, but see the horse on level ground and with his feet
placed evenly.

If one foot is more upright than the other, that foot is
diseased ; the same weight is not thrown on it, and remember
that the horse never shams a complaint. If the foot is of
different temperature, active disease is going on ; if an old
standing complaint, the feet will be found of different size,
and possibly the muscles of the arm and shoulder diminished
in volume.

The purchase! should take his position in front of the
horse, and examine his fore legs — that they are in proper
position ; that there is no weakness in the pasterns, or
enlargement of the fetlocks ; and that the feet are of the
same size, and stand square to the front. In brief the fore legs
should descend in a straight line from the bottom of the
shoulder, t.e., in a lateral view; but when seen in front
to incline gently inwards. If the elbow projects directly back-

wards, and the toe points with precision forwards, we may rest
satisfied that the horse is not twisted in his fore legs
Turning the toe in or out, in standing, is apt to be accom
panied with distortion or deformity of the /imb ; thi^
circumstance, therefore, is seldom seen without materiallj
lessening the value of a horse. Of the two faults, turning
them out is the greater ; for the pointing inward is seldom
carried to extreme. A good arm is broad and thick ; long,
when compared to the leg, and marked exteriorly bj
muscular prominences ; the elbow cannot project too fai
back, and the plumper the muscle immediately above it,
the greater may we conclude to be the animal's powers.

Oeneral Health. — We may judge of the general state of the
animal's health by his breathing condition, the brightness oJ
his eye, the colour of the membrane lining the lid, and that
of the membrane lining the nostril, which in health is of s
pale pink. If it is a rosy red, there is excitement of the
system ; and if it is pale, approaching to white, it is a sign
of debility.

Each nostril should be alternately closed by the hand, to
ascertain that the air passages are not obstructed by
polypus, or enlargement of the turbinated bones.

Nasal Discharge, Glanders. — Should there be any undu(
discharge from the nostrils you will probably be told it
proceeds from slight cold ; in that case an accelerated pulse
and affection of the eyes are usually present. Nevertheless,
as a precautionary measure, the branches of the under jaw
should be felt for enlargement of the glands ; if, although
enlarged, they are moveable and tender, it is probably
nothing more than a catarrhal affection. And here it may
be necessary to observe, that in deciding upon the disease
with which the horse is afflicted, it is requisite to bear in
mind the age of the animal. In examining the head of a
young horse, should the space between the branches be hot
tumid, and tender, the membrane of the nose intensely red,
with profuse discharge from both nostrils, and cough and
fever present itself, we may more than suspect stranglea
Where, however, there is neither cough or fever, but one
nostril, and that the left, affected, the discharge lighter in
colour, and almost transparent, yet clammy and sticky, and
the gland on that side adherent to the jawbone, glanders is
indicated. In this case, should the lining membrane of the
nostril be found pale, or of a leaden colour, with small
circular ulcers, having abrupt an^ proro'uent edges, there
can be no second opinion on the subject. We caution the
inexperienced examiner not to mistake for an ulcer the
orifice of the nasal duct, which is situated in the inner side,
just within the nostril on the continuation of the common
skin of the muzzle, and which conveys the tears from the
eye into the nose. And yet more seriously would we warn
him, in all suspicious cases, to be careful he has no chaps or
sore places en his hands or face. There is, unfortunately, no
doubt that this dreadful disease is communicable to the
human being. As few persons will buy a horse with any
symptoms of actual disease, however slight, if they can help

94

BUYING A HORSE.— TRIAL AFTER EXAMINATION.

it, the inquiry is better left to a professional man, in case
any of these symptoms make their appearance after
purchase.

The Crest, Condition, Age. — His crest should feel hard
and full, and firmly and closely attached to his neck ; if it
be lax, he is out of condition. His skin should feel kind,
and look glossy, and the muscles of the body feel hard and
elastic to the touch. In the old horse, the head grows lean
and fine, and the features more striking and blood-like, the
neck fine, withers short, and the back sinks ; the lips
exhibit a lean and shrivelled appearance, and the lower lip
hangs considerably below the upper. In youth they are
round and plump, and meet together, and the ridges of the
roof of the mouth will be found prominent. In age, the
niddle of the nose will sometimes be found indented by the
long-continued pressure of the nose-band of the head-stall.

The Teeth and Mouth. — In lifting his lip, if the incisor
teeth shut close, even, and are perpendicular, he is young.
As he grows older, they project forward in a horizontal
direction, and the upper and under edges do not meet with
evenness, the upper projecting over the under teeth. The
longer his teeth are, the gums being dry and shrunk from
them, the more advanced he is in age. This appearance of
his teeth cannot be altered by the arts of the dealer. In
youth, the teeth are flattened at front and rear, and long
from side to side ; at eight years old they are oval ; as age
advances, they become round, and in extreme old age
triangular, yeUow, and incrusted, and the tusks become
blunt. If there are any marks of extraordinary wear in the
central teeth, there is reason to suspect crib-biting, and in
old cribbers the outer edge of the front teeth are worn away,
and litle pieces are sometimes broken off by the attrition
against the manger ; if such is the case, look to the neck for
marks of the crib-biting strap. Dishonest dealers attempt
to disguise age by reproducing the mark in the corner teeth
by means of a hot iron or caustic ; the fraud is easily detected
by a judge, as it is usually overdone, and the marks do
not correspond with the length, shape, and duration of the
teeth, and the " bishoped " horse is usually loth to have his
mouth meddled with.

In our chapter on the Age of the Horse as indicated by
the Mouth, this subject is more fully treated.

TRIAL AFTBR EXAMINATION.

Having attentively looked over the horse as he stands,
and discovered nothing objectionable to the eye, it is
prudent to see him through his paces before proceeding
to ascertain, by careful examination, what defects, blemishes,
&c. which may have tendency to produce unsoundness, he
is afflicted with ; as the action of a horse, when closely
observed, guides us to his defective points.

Action, Lameness. — He should be first walked, and then
trotted, without any whip near him, slowly down the ride,
sJlowing the animal to have the whole of the halter to him-

self ; his head will then be entirely unconstrained, and any
irregularities in his action are easily detected.

The action should be scrutinized most attentively imme-
diately he steps off, as defects are then most visible ; for, not
unfrequently, lameness disappears after few moments'
exercise.

Should one of the fore feet be much affected, it will be
evident, by the up and down motion of the head, and the
different degree of force with which he puts his feet to the
ground. Horses that are lame before, drop their heads when
stepping on the sound leg, and raise it when the weight is
thrown on the lame leg ; but when they are lame behind,
the action (though not so perceptible) is reversed ; they
throw up their head a little when the sound leg comes to the
ground, and depress it when the lame leg propels the body,
and the motion of the lame leg is slow, while the sound one
is jerked quickly forward to sustain the weight

"Beaning" the Foot. — When both fore feet are equally
tender (which is not uncommon in groggy horses) it is more
difiicult to judge of his action — it is not uneven, and the limp
is not perceptible, but he steps short and tenderly with a
general appearance of contraction. Dishonest dealers at fairs
and auctions resort to a scheme by which groggy lameness in
one leg is disguised by making the action even. This bar-
barous trick is known in various parts by the slang terms of
" diamonding," " beaning," " balancing," or " wedging ; " and
is performed by removing the shoe of the sound foot, and
paring out the sole, until it yields to the pressure of the thumb.
The shoe is then replaced, and a wedge of wood, a pebble,
or bean, is driven in between the sole and shoe until
suflBcient pain is produced to make the horse equally lame
on both legs. Although the lameness is less evident, yet a
person accustomed to the action of horses will easily detect
it ; and if the animal is allowed to stand undisturbed, it
will be shown something is wrong by his repeatedly shifting
his legs.

Another trick of these rascals to conceal lameness, or
to give an appearance of energy to the sluggard or worn-out
horse, is the torture of the lash, termed " firing." The poor
animal, previously to being shewn, is so barbarously flagel-
lated, that, under the influence of terror of the further
application of the whip, his attention is withdrawn from the
disease, he feels not the lesser pain, but trots off heedless of
his lameness, or at least showing it much less Whenever
there is much punishment, or the threat of it, while showing
a horse, be sure there is something to conceal.

The Trot. — If his trot is good, the foot is boldly delivered
with an easy, light, and springy movement. Its course is
straight forward and downward, not dishing to either side ;
the motion should be from the elbow as well as the knee ;
the hind legs gathered well under the body, following with
regularity and precision ; the toes fairly raised from the
ground, and spread pretty accurately in the impress of the
fore feet ; if they pass beyond they are likely to overreach.
In the trot he should go lightly with the fore feet ; but

BCTYING A HOUSE— TRIAL AFTER EXAMINATION.

95

strike the ground energetically with the hind, taking a long
darting stride, and shooting, as it were, the body forward.
The horse that throws his legs confusedly about should be
rejected, for though most young and uneducated horses
have an ungraceful and disorderly action, the sluggard is
never precise and uniform in his trot.

In criticising action, attention must be paid to breed, but
it should be sufficiently high in a hack to clear all ordinary
irregularities on the ground ; if it is very high, look out for
trace of having worn a knee cap. Be careful to observe
that he does not occasionally drop ; a casual giving way on
either leg, in the trot, is a sufficient hint to reject the
animal, for such a horse is a constant danger to his
rider's neck.

Though the best horse may stumble, yet, until after
tripping, he springs out as if he feared the whip or spur
if he does he is an old offender. Look again well to his
knees and head. Observe that he goes clear in all his
paces, and that one leg does not interfere with the other
horses that go very near are more likely to cut when tired.

The Tail. — The " set-on " of the tail is not to be over-
looked ; a horse that " carries two good ends," (of which the
head forms one and the tail the other,) always looks grand
and showy. Above all others, the charger should possess
this point in perfection, to coincide with the character of his
display in the parade of a field-day. The tail, in most
horses, should form when elevated a straight line, or nearly
so, with the back ; a gentle declivity of the croup, however,
from the summit of the rump, denotes the blood-like
quarter, and adds much grace to this part in the thorough-
bred horse. Should this line, however, decline very much
the quarters lose much of their beauty as well as their
natural power. Nothing is so ugly in a full-quartered
horse as to see the tall set on low down, and issuing
abruptly from the rump. The old-fashioned dealers figged
all horses indiscriminately, which was injudicious, for those
who naturally carried a good tail came under the same
suspicion as those who were " gingered " for the dealer's
purpose. Hackneys were often called " cock-tails " from
this circumstance, in contradistinction to those of the

1 thorough-bred, who never carry any but a drooping-tail. A

j cocked-tail would be incompatible with a blood-quarter, yet
in a generation some of whom yet survive, the detestable

t practice of " nicking," and even " rat-tailing," hunters of
good blood, though not stainless, prevailed, so potent is
fashion over common-sense and humanity.

Diseases and Unsoundness. — Satisfied with the tail in the

' strawed or tan-ride, he should next be mounted, and the
trial be repeated on the pavement or road, for there are
onany cases of defect which do not show on soft ground, at a
walking pace, or when the horse is unburdened. If he step
away boldly, the toe in a direct line with the body, the knee
fairly bent, and his foot up and planted firmly down again
on the ground, fearlessly and flat, without any dropping of

j his head, you may conclude him sound in action. His hind

legs, well lifted up and tucked well under him, should
should follow his fore legs with regularity and if in
running him up hill he goes without dragging hia toe, you
may infer the same behind. In the gallop, if he takes up
his legs quick and dashes in his haunches, not bringing his
hind legs after him, his action is good. During this display
of action, the examinant will have an opportunity of judging
of the goodness of his wind ; if he does not ride the animal
himself, he should stand close to the horse at the moment
he comes into the gallop. The thick-winded horse breathes
with difficulty, and is soon distressed. The flanks heave
much and rapidly ; there is some little noise ; but the
laborious heaving of the flank is the principal indication
A horse unused to exercise, or if fat, or exercised on a full
stomach, will show symptoms of thick wind ; and it has
been observed of great feeders who never breathe freely
until they have gone a mile or two, or begin to sweat, that
they are able to do more work than others that do not
labour under the same difficulty.

" Wheezing " is a sound like an asthmatic person when a
little hurried. Wheezing may frequently be heard while at
rest in the stable.

" Whistling," or piping, is a shriller sound than wheezing,
but it is only heard after exercise, and that of some
continuance. A short gallop up hill is sometimes necessary
to develop it, but the whistler is soon distressed. " Never
buy a whistler, he cannot improve on your hand, and he is
almost sure to get to worse," said Sir Henry Peyton to
Nimrod ; and the same advice may be given in respect of
all these affections of the air passages.

" Roaring " is not heard when at rest. In the majority it
is only developed by exertion, which quickens the breath-
ing, and the noise is increased in proportion as the pace is
accelerated ; though in a few it is audible as soon as put
into the trot. Knowing dealers, who wish to prevent the
noise from reaching the ears of an inexperienced purchaser,
when showing a " bull " of good action, start the horse a
considerable distance before putting him to the gallop, and
returning, slacken the pace, so that the breathing

in

becomes tranquil before the horse reaches the examiner ;
this is called " coming the long trot." Many of these
lesions are consequences of inflamed lungs, or diseased
alterations of the air passages, and most of them are
modifications of the same disease. Sometimes they exist in
so slight a degree as "to be discoverable only by quick
and long-continued exertion : but, when they are suspected,
they should be tried by a brushing gallop, though this is not
always allowed.

We next proceed to search for blemishes and those
indications of unsoundness which are apparent to external
examination, bearing in mind, any symptoms or suspicious
appearances in his action, that may lead us to suspect
particular parts, which should then be subiected to the
severest scrutiny.

Any scars about the head should direct attention to thf

96

BUYING A HORSE— BUjLMISHES.

knees, or they may lead one to suspect there may have been
an attack of stumbling or staggers.

The neck should be searched to ascertain that both
jugular veins are perfect. This is discovered by pressing on
the lower part of the neck, with sufficient force to stop the
return of blood from the head ; if the vein be perfect, it will
fill and swell from that point upwards towards the head.
The loss of one of them, if recent, predisposes the horse to
staggers or apoplexy, and he cannot be turned out to grass
or straw yard without risk. The withers should be examined
for bruises from the saddle, as he will be unserviceable as
long as the inflammation or swelling continues.

The slightest tendency to sore back makes a horse
unserviceable for many months, and not unfrequently causes
him to rear and plunge on mounting.

The shoulders should be examined for tumours. If there
are any marks of setons or blisters about the points, it is
probable he has been treated for shoulder lameness, and the
attention of the examiner will be directed to the foot ;
which, ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, is the seat of
lamenest forward. If that is found narrow, upright, and
strong, Tvith the heels high, we may suspect navicular
disease.

The chest and breast should also be searched for marks of
rowels, setons, and blisters, for the remains of them render
it probable that the horse has been under treatment for
inflamed lungs or chest aflections, and should, in prudence,
direct the purchaser to ascertain by a smart gallop whether
the mischief is of a permanent nature.

The knees should be examined with the utmost care, first
that they correspond in shape, and secondly, to ascertain
whether the skin has been broken by falls ; but it does not
follow that a mark or scar indicates a stumbler, and an
accidental blemish should not induce us at once to condemn
a well-formed animal.

A broken knee may happen from a variety of causes. The
safest horse may faU by an unavoidable accident, such as a
false step, from something giving way under the foot, as a
round stone, from fatigue and over-exertion, or from a bad
rider. But a broken knee is a suspicious circumstance ; it
may be taken as an indication of existing or recent
unsoundness, and the slightest mark calls for careful obser-
vation of every part of the horse, of his make and action,
and suggests the narrowest scrutiny of the legs and feet. A
tight shoe, a nail driven too close, or from bad shoeing ; the
toe being left too long, causes a horse to trip ; tenderness in
the feet, contraction, corns, and thrush : a scar on the headj
above the eyc; (for a forward fall of the horse leaves
unmistakeable marks there) is a suspicious sign ; when no
trace of local disease can be found to account for them, the
enquiry should be followed up into the horse's constitution,
for the staggers or colic may have occasioned the accident.

When a scar on the knee is observed in connection with
low withers, a thick and upright shoulder and pasterns, with
the legs inclined under the bone, he is unwise who does not

take the hint that the faulty formation has not produced its
natural consequence. To discover the normal state of the
knee is not so easy as some suppose, as occasionally the haii
grows so well over the wound as to leave it hardly discerni-
ble ; but on minute inspection, when there has been a scar, an
interception of the gloss is apparent, as if the hair grew
in an oblique direction ; should this be observed on bending
the joint, the secret will be exposed. The shank should be
examined for splint, strained or enlarged flexors, and the
marks of firing or blisters.

In inspecting the leg, the eye alone should not be trusted,
particularly in hairy-legged horses ; but after minutely
comparing the appearance of the two limbs, the hand should
be deliberately passed down both shanks before and behind ;
any difierence before or behind, points to a deviation from
health.

In the sound flat-limb, the tendon is well defined, perfectly
distinct, and has a hard tense feel that resembles the touch
of a cord tightly strung. If the back sinews feel thick, the
flexor tendons and their sheaths swelled and rounded,
leaving no distinctive marks as it were between the one and
the other, but all swelled into one mass with the bone, great
mischief has at some time happened ; either some of the
ligaments have been ruptured, or there has been inflammation,
efiusion, and adhesion of the synovial sheaths of the flexor
tendons ; or such relaxation has taken place from strain and
subsequent inflammation as will always keep him weak.
When the injury is recent, it is accompanied with more or
less swelling, heat, and lameness ; by time and treatment the
first are removed, but the swelling remains and the thicken-
ing of the tendons shows the mischief that has been done-
Whenever there is manifest alteration of structure here, and
yet the animal is apparently sound in action, the purchaser
should bear in mind that the soundness is often the eff'ect of
rest ; and should the animal be again put to work, he will
become lame. Bear in mind, in such case, you cannot return
him, for no man in his senses would give a special warranty
against it.

Splmts. — These, if large, are visible in the deviation of
the outline of the leg ; if smaU, the hand discovers them.

Every excrescence on the cannon bone, in horseman's
language, is termed a splint. The true splint is in fact a
conversion into bone of a part of the cartilage connecting
the large and small metacarpal bones. The inflammation is
set up by concussion or strain. Horses are lame from them
while there is inflammation in the cartilage, and the tumour
is growing and distending the membrane covering the bone
and cartilage. But when the tumour is formed, the inflamma-
tion has subsided, and the periosteum has accommodated
itself to the enlargement, the horse is no longer lame, noi
more likely to become lame from that splint, than one
without ; the same causes that produced the first, may
produce a second.

The splint, if so large as to interfere with action, rendering
the horse liable to strike, is objectionable, oi so near the

BUYING A HORSE— EXAMINATION FOR UNSOUNDNESti

!J7

knee or ligaments as to interfere with their freedom of action;
otherwise it is of little consequence, beyond the blemish
destroying the line of beauty. The worst splints are those
discernible only by the lameness they produce.

Any marks of tiring or blistering should make the
purchaser cautious, and endeavour to ascertain the cause of
the treatment : after blistering, the hair is sometimes a shade
different in the colour, and stares a little, is shorter and
bristly, and wants the natural gloss.

The fetlock joint, from being the principal seat of motion
below the knee, and from its complicated structure, is
particularly subject to injuries. The fetlocks should be
subjected to the strictest examination for enlargements,
which are best ascertained by carefully comparing them with
each other, as any difference in size is indicative of strained
or even ruptured ligaments, and consequently permanent
weakness of that important part.

If the injury be recent, there probably will be heat and
pain on pressure ; and any signs of blistering or other
treatment, though no enlargement or lameness is apparent,
should induf" the buyer to view the animal with increased
suspicion.

Should there be any sores or callous places about the fetlocks
or pasterns, he is a cutter, and possibly the marks of the
foot may be visible. If there is no malformation to account
for it, it may have been done when fatigued, or it may have
arisen from improper shoeing; his feet should then be
again examined.

If an old offender, he may probably have a peculiar shoe,
rather thicker and narrower in the web on the inside than
the outside, and nailed only on the outside of the foot, and
round the toe ; or the opposite shoe is found filed away or
bevelled off, with the hoof projecting a little over the shoe.
Where the feet, though well formed, are placed closer than
desirable in narrow-chested horses, and therefore apt to cut,
particularly when tired, we sometimes find a shoe which is
thinner on the inside than the outside.

At other times various ingenious devices, calculated
rather to increase than remedy the evil, have been resorted
to ; such as putting on shoes narrower on the inside of the
foot, and the iron within the wall of the quarters reduced in
thickness by the rasp. If none of these schemes have been
resorted to, to obviate the defect, the horn of the opposite
foot will sometimes be found polished by the attrition ; for
it is not the shoe that cuts once in a hundred times, but the
hoof In horses that interfere, we generally find the inside
quarter lower than the outer, or the toes turned outwards —
the fault being in the leg that receives the mischief while
sustaining the weight, not in the foot that gives the blow.
The tired horse throws his legs about, and frequently cuts
himself ; and it is a fault of most young uneducated horses,
especially if they liave been backed inconsiderately, or
worked too early •

If there are any symptoms of " knucking over " or inclina-
tion of the fetlocks forward, serious injury has happened.

N

The Fetlock joint. — The hair above and below the fetlock
joint should be carefully searched for the scars left by the
operation of neurotomy. For the nature of this operation, see
plate of " Horse's Foot " and article " Neurotomy " in Veteri-
nary part. Pricking the fetlock, if you have rea.son to
suspect it has been performed, will show whether sensation
has been destroyed. About the fetlocks are frequently
found little puffy tumours, absurdly denominated windgalls,
from a supposition of farriers that they contain wind.

The Tendons. — Wherever parts move and press on each
other, and between tendons, particularly about the extre-
mities, there are placed vesicles, termed hurscB mucoscB,
containing synovia, a lubricating fluid to prevent joint
friction. When a horse has been compelled to undergo
excessive exertion, an increased supply of synovia is secreted,
which distends the sac ; this sets up chronic inflammation
of the synovial membrane — morbid secretion and visible
enlargement follow. There are few horses that have done
much work without these thickenings.

Though rest and pressure will diminish them, when once
enlarged labour will reproduce them ; they are of little
consequence beyond the blemish, unless very large, and in
most cases may be regarded as mere indications of hard
work.

Ring-bone. — The pastern is the seat of a bony tumour
termed ring-bone ; it is the result of inflammation and
partial conversion into bone of that portion of the cartilages
of the foot which rises above and nearly encircled the coronet.
These cartilages, extending backward considerably beyond
the cofiin bone, form the elastic frame of the posterior parts
of the foot ; they here take the name of the " lateral
cartilages." When ossific inflammation is set up in this
part, from its tendency to spread round the pastern joint ii
has taken its name of ring-bone. When, however, the
ossification appears only at the quarters, it is termed " ossi-
fication of the lateral cartilages." It is discovered by their
prominence and rigidity when pressed between the finger
and thumb. Upon the soundness of these parts depend the
elasticity and consequent usefulness of the fooV. However
trifling the apparent alteration of structure, it is a serious
detraction from the efiiciency of a hack ; though, on s ft
ground, at a slow pace, the draught horse will work appa-
rently sound. If i-^ feeding first one leg and then the
other we discover any dmerence between them, disease
more or less is present ; he may not be lame, but he is not
clean upon his legs. Splints, windgalls, and ring-bones,
may be present without occasioning lameness ; but they are
all unnatural, are considered blemishes, and are to be
regarded with a suspicious eye, as either denoting past hard
work, or betokening future evils. On the same principle,
a horse may have a spavin, and be only stiff from it at
starting, or he may have a curb, or a thorough pin, and ba
perfectly sound ; but these are still blemishes, and as such
detract from the intrinsic value of the animah

The Foot. — We now arrive at the foot, the foundation o<

98

BUYING A HOUSE.— EXAMINATION fOK UNSOUNDNESb.

the borse ; too much attention cannot be paid to it. The
best way of judging -whether there is malformation of the
feet, either natural or the result of disease, is to face the
horse, and compare the two feet together.

The Hoof. — " No foot, no horse," is a trite but very true
adage, First, we should look to the size of the hoof;
a small foot is not only objectionable in itself, even though
it be a natural formation, but is often a characteristic of
disease. A small and upright hoof is a morbid structure.
W^hite hoofs are to be eyed with suspicion, for they are
really weaker, and more liable to disease than black ones ;
and if a horse has one white, and the other dark coloured,
and he is lame, in nine cases out of ten, it is the white hoof
that is aifected. Other considerations noAv engross our
attention. Is it contracted ? i. e., is its circular form
destroyed by narrowness at the heels? A good hoof is
circular in the tread, or nearly so, measuring as much from
side to side, as from toe to heel ; but we frequently find
those that are morbid measuring as much from toe to heel
as twice the lateral diameter. See plate of Horse's Foot,
figs. 3 and 4. On the other hand, the wall of the hoof,
which should, at all times, be perfectly smooth and free
from ridges (the contrary indicating disease), may be
very oblique, in which case, it is not only circular, but
spreads out, even to an abnormal degree, in the tread. Its
wall should be round, smooth, level,*and of a shining dark
colour ; full in front, of a proper obliquity, free from ribs or
seams, and perfectly cool. Its proper obliquity is an angle
of forty-five degrees with the plane of the shoe. If the
angle is materially less, the sole is flat, or perhaps convex ;
if the angle exceeds it, the foot is contracted.

Shape. — When the outward line of the hoof is irregular,
it marks what is called a " shelly foot." This is decidedly
bad. If there are any protuberances or rings round it, they
indicate that the feet have suffered from inflammation to
such a degree as to produce unequal growth of horn. This
frequently leaves injurious consequences in the internal
parts ; such as a deposition of lymph between the horny
and cartilaginous processes which connect the foot and hoof
together. If there be any depression or cavity, it betrays
separation of the foot from the hoof and shrinking of the
cofiin bone ; the sole will then be found bulging.

A superficial examination of the foot is not sufiicient ;
the shape of the foot may be good, yet there are other things
to be considered. It may be well formed, yet thin and
weak ; and those feet, externally the most perfect, are some-
times contracted internally, and liable to the insidious
affection termed navicular disease. Contraction is a serious
defect ; it is apparent and general, or hidden and partial

When apparent externally, which is common among high-
bred horses, with light heads and necks, high in the withers
with sloping shoulders, and that go near the ground, the foot
presents an oblong rather than a circular shape ; the curved
line towards the heels becoming straight, and the heels
^.pproaching each other. The frog is hard, dry, and com-

pressed ; the foot small, and the heels upright ; altogether

the foot much resembles that of the mule.

Contraction. — But though a contracted foot is often an
indicator of past disease, and there is a diminution of elas-
ticity, it is not necessarily consequent that it is such
unsoundness as incapacitates a horse from work. With care,
such feet will work soundly to the end of life ; for this
change in shape has been effected by gradual and slow
absorption and deposit ; so that nature has had time to
adapt the internal parts, and accommodate itself to the
change, and elongation of the foot has taken place. When
such feet feel hotter than ordinary, suspicion should be
awakened, more especially if there is a marked difference
between the temperature of one and the other. If there is
indisputable pointing, then the horse is unsound.

Occult or partial contraction is not obvious externally,
but there is diminished cavity of the horny box, from in-
crease of the sole in thickness. In this case we usually find
the foot of a circular figure, more upright than natural,
and displaying an unusual appearance of compactness and
strength, the soles unsually hard and thick ; and if you have
a firm unyielding sole, in a circular foot, it is dangerous as
the forerunner of navicular disease.*

Sand-crack. — The inner quarters of the hoof must be most
minutely inspected for sand-crack ; and it is not always
easy, without minute scrutiny, to detect sand-crack, where
an attempt has been made to conceal it. A month's run in
marshy ground will close it up ; and loAv dealers, particularly
at fairs and markets, and others who gain a livelihood by
dealing in " screws," have a knack of neatly covering the
crack with pitch, and oiling the foot to conceal the crack.
Any oily appearance about the hoof should excite suspicion,
and any fissure at all resembling sand-crack should cause
the horse to be peremptorily rejected. Cracks indicate a
dry and brittle hoof The heels should be examined for any
cracks, or appearance of heat and tenderness, as they are
exceedingly troublesome to cure.

The Frog. — Thrush. — The healthy frog is firm, yet pliable
and elastic. Should there be a faint smell, or if on squeezing
the frog matter exudes, there is thrush. By many people
thrush is considered of little importance ; but when it is
remembered that where there is purulent matter there must
have been inflammation, and that when a horse with a
thrush steps on a stone he frequently drops with the pain,
to the peril of his rider and the ruin of his knees, it must
be admitted it is a serious objection in a saddle horse. If it
can be ascertained that it is not of long standing, or that
the horse has been placed in a situation to favour its
approach — such as confinement on hot, moist litter — it is of
no more consequence than so much diminution in his price
as will cover the expense of keep and attendance while

• See " Navicular Diseasb," in Veterinaiy Division, voa.
OF THE Horse."

UlSSASEa

BUYING A HORSE.— EXAMINATION FOR UNSOUNDNESS.

99

healing ; hut when thrush accompanies a foot smaller than
usual, the heels bend in, and the frog is soft, ho will not
long remain sound.

The Sole. — The sole should be subject to close examin-
ation ; in its healthy and natural state it is inclined to be
concave, but if, in connection with high heels an extra-
ordinary concavity is present, it is a sign of internal
contractioN. if the sole is unusually thick, and does not
give way during exertion, the elasticity of the foot must be
diminished If the sole is less concave than natural, or
approaching to flat, the foot is weak.

Undue Parivg. — If the foot appears to have been lately
cut unusually deep at the angle where the shoe meets the
inside heel, or if there is a peculiarity of shoeing at that
part, the examiner may infer that all is not right, and that
he has corns ; send for the farrier to remove the shoe.

Firing, Blistering, &c. — The stifle is very rarely diseased,
but it should be examined for enlargement, or any marks of
rowelling or blistering : and the groin should no*^ be over-
looked for rupture.

The Hock. — The hock is one of the most important joints
in the animal machine, and should always undergo the most
rigid examination previous to purchase, as from its compli-
cated structure, and the work it has to perform, it is the
seat of lameness behind in nine cases out of ten. When
standing behind the horse, if one of the hocks is diseased,
the observer will perceive the bone does not incline
gradually, as in the sound limb, but there is an abrupt
prominence. Though to the unpractised eye this is not
always perceptible on comparing them, yet by passing the
hand down the inside of both hocks, this abruptness will be
felt. If there is any tenderness or heat on pressure, or the
marks of recent cutting on the inside of the fetlock, or
unequal wear of the shoes, especially at the toe, you may
suspect spavin. Sometimes both hocks present an enlarged
appearance, though there is neither heat, pain, or lameness
(for hock lameness is frequently intermittent), such hocks
should always be looked upon with suspicion. They are in
fact unsound ; for though the animal may, with natural
malformation or morbid bone-growth, discharge his usual
functions through life, in careful hands, without a return of
lameness, yet the probability is he will fail, if called upon
for imusual exertion, and one day's violent exertion may
ruin him for ever. In this case, the examiner must be
guided by circumstances; if the horse has excellences which
counterbalance the defect, the price is correspondingly low,
and the work required but moderate, he may be serviceable
for years, and worth his money.

Certain forms of hock are prone to disease. Those
approaching each other are predisposed to spavin and curb;
those in which the point of the hock inclines too much
backward, are liable to spavin ; and when the hock is too
upright, narrow, and straight, it is subject to thoroughpin.
Capped hock is a soft fluctuating tumour on the point of
the hock, it is an enlargement of one of the mucous sacs

which surround the tendons inserted into that part. It is
produced by blows, lying on rough stones, or kicking in the
harness or stable. It is therefore frequently an indication
of vice.

Curbs. — Curb is a longitudinal swelling at the back of the
hind leg, three or four inches below the hock, seen best from
the side ; the enlargement is the result of a sudden strain of
the ligaments, or inflammation of the sheaths of tlie
tendon. It is attended with a good deal of lameness and
swelling at first ; but when that has subsided, and if time
has elapsed without a recurrence of the lameness, it is of no
more consequence than the unsightly blemish ; but it
should be remembered that curby hocks are liable to spavin.

Thorouyhpin is situated above the hock joint, between the
flexors of the hock and foot, projecting on each side ; it is of
the same nature as windgalls, being an enlarged mucous
capsule, and is indicative of severe work or over-exertion.

Spavin. — Bog-spavin is a swelling situated in front of
the hock, towards the inside of the joint ; it is also an
enlarged mucous capsule, but deeper seated, over which one
of the subcutaneous veins passing, the blood in it becomes
obstructed in the return, and thus increases the size of the
tumour.

The shanks should be scrutinized for any symptoms of
weakness, and the fetlocks for marks of cutting and wind-
gall.

The Hind Feet. — The front of the hind feet should be
examined for fissure ; it is a most serious defect, and
generally produces lameness. Notice the way in which he
is shod, as it leads to the discovery of lameness and defects
in action ; in dealers' stables, however, you will rarely see
any peculiarity in shoeing.

If the toe of the hind foot is found to extend a little over
the shoe, it is to prevent " hammer and click " from being
audible. If the toes of the hind feet drag, or we find the
shoe squared off or worn, we may suspect disease of the
hocks ; and if the inside of the shoe is bevelled off, he is
probably a " cutter."

The Spine. — He should now be " backed," to ascertain if
he has received any injury of the spine ; if he backs with
difficulty, his hind quarters swaying from side to side,
and when compelled to retrograde suddenly appears as if
about to fall, he has received some injury. Some horses
cannot be made to back, but when urged rear on their hind
legs. His loins should be searched for marks of setons, or
blisters. Among stable-men it is termed "chinked in the
chine," or, ricked in the back.

A remarkable indication of diseased spine sometimes
shows itself; the horse dropping when turned suddenly in
the trot, the hinder quarters appearing paralyzed.

There are many blemishes and defects that render a hack
unserviceable, which are of little or no consequence in
harness. The greatest virtue in a gig horse is steadiness,
which can only be ascertained by trial, and do not trust to
the steadiness he evinces while the reins are in his owner's

100

BUYING A HORSE.— EXAMINATION FOR UNSOUNDNESS.

hands. The author of that capital work, " The Adventures
of a Gentleman in search of a Horse," truly says, " whoever
buys a stanhope horse without first driving him himself, is a
fit subject for a commission of lunacy ; it is not enough to
put him in the break, he should be harnessed at once to the
stanhope, and it is prudent to observe how he bears the
ceremony of harnessing, and what kind of a start he makes.
Much may be predicted of his qualifications for draught, or
at all events his familiarity with the collar, by the degree of
quiet with which he allows himself to be put to. If the
ostler runs alongside of him at setting ofif, as is often the
case, you may be sure the horse is distrusted ; if you distrust
it yourself, have notking to do with him."

The Eyes. — The examination thus far completed, the horse
should be returned to the stable for the purpose of examining
his eyes, the most favourable position for which is about half
a foot within the stable door. There should be no back or
side lights, or the rays falling between the eyes of the
examiner and those of the animal will interfere with distinct
observation. The head should be so placed that a moderate
light may fall on the eye of the horse, and the quantity of
light can be easily regulated by bringing the horse's head
more or less forwa "d until placed in the most favourable
angle of incidence.

Though any one may detect absolute blindness, yet the
eye of the horse is susceptible of so many diseases, in which
defective vision or partial blindness is present long before
the sight is lost, that it requires more observation than most
people imagine : indeed, a person unacquainted with the
structure of the eye, and the different appearances it assumes,
will not perceive it at all. There are certain forms of the
eye, and structural peculiarities, that show a constitutional
predisposition to disease. Small sleepy eyes, of a bluish
gray colour, or which have a flat, retracted, and sunken
appearance, or those of a longish oval figure, are predisposed
to ophthalmia. When the eyes appear full, with a fleshy
circle round them, these are symptoms of bad eyes, and
often the forerunners of blindness, particularly in the heads
of coarse and fleshy horses, with heavy countenances, who
frequently go blind with cataract at seven years old. Slight
thickenings of the lid, or puckering towards the inner corner
of the eye, a difi'erence in size, a cloudiness or dullness of
the iris, are indications of disease.

In examining the eyes, both must have an equal degree of
light ; should any difi'erence be apparent between them, one is
diseased. The transparent cornea should be, as its name
implies, perfectly clear.

• Specks are best detected by standing at the shoulder ; if
one is evident, and it can be clearly proved to be no more
than the effect of accident, no importance need be attached
to it. But it is impossible to ascertain this, and therefore
the safest course is to assume that natural irritability and
consequent inflammation of the eye is the cause.

Specks on the transparent cornea are generally the result
of external injury ; there is seldom more than one. When

very small and near the circumference, they are of little
consequence ; but if large, or near the centre they interfere
Avith distinctness of vision, and make the horse shy. If
opaque or milky lines are traced on its surface, it indicates
the remains of former inflammation.

But it is necessary to observe that horses, before they are
six years old, have not that transparency in their eyes which
they display afterwards, because while young and growing
the vessels of the eye are full, therefore before thai ege it is
not the brilliancy of the eye that denotes its goodness. If
there is excess of tears, it denotes debility, and should
occasion a more than ordinary scrutiny ; in fact, all horses
with weeping, duU, cloudy eyes, should be rejected.

It may be remarked, as a general rule, that diseases of the
eye are incurable. Have nothing to do with a horse when
the trace of disease of the eye is visible. Tt is impossible, in
a brief examination, to distinguish between simple ophthal-
mia and inflammation of the conjunctiva — the cause of which
may have been a blow, or the introduction of some irritating
matter, Avhich is curable by simple means — and the specific
ophthalmia, a spontaneous affection, which ultimately cul-
minates in cataract and blindness.

Viewed in front, the depths of the eye should be looked
into ; then sideways ; which wUl assist in ascertaining the
clearness and absence of specks on or within its surface.

Floating in the aqueous humour (which preserves the
convexity of the cornea) is the iris, a muscular membrane
the dilatation and contraction of which form an oval aperture
termed the pupil, which varies in size according to the
quantity of light which falls upon the eye. The iris varies
very little in colour in the horse, though it bears some
analogy to the colour of the skin. It is rarely lighter than
a hazel, or darker than a brown ; except in milk white,
cream coloured, or pied horses, when it is white, and they
are termed wall-eyed. If it is of a pale variegated cinnamon
colour, it is good. The pupil or aperture of the iris, is that
horizontal oblong bluish opening, which admits the light to
the posterior chambers of the eye. It is important that the
oval shape of the pupil be perfect, for if any irregularity or
unevenness is perceived, it is a symptom that the organ has
received partial injury. In looking into the depths of the
eye, through the pupil, in a strong light, it should exhibit a
lively bluishness ; in a moderate light it should be perfectly
transparent ; if milky or turbid, that is th'' remanet of former
inflammation, which will probably recur.

In bringing the horse out of the stable to the light, if the
pupil is large, it is a bad sign ; by alternately shading and
admitting light, if it enlarges and lessens under its
stimulus, the eye is good. But if the retina is immoveable,
the pupil large, and of an invariable size, whether shaded or
exposed to intense light, — though no disorganisation is
apparent, the eye appearing bright, of a peculiar glossy
aspect, and of a greenish colour, — the animal is blind from
the disease termed " glass eye," i.e., palsy of the optic nerve.

A decided cataract, or opacity of the crystaUine lens, is

BUYING A HORSE— EXAMINATION FOR UNSOUNDNESS.

101

easily detected ; but when very small it may escape obser-
vation. It appears as a cloudy or pearly white substance
within the pupil, towards the bottom of the eye. If the
pupil be round instead of a flat oval, it is an indication of
cataract. When there is deep-seated cloudiness, the eye
should be condemned ; but if there is any white object
before it, such as a white hat, neckcloth, waistcoat, or wall,
the reflection on the cornea produces a mark having so much
the appearance of a cataract as to have misled many an
observer. Therefore, before deciding, hold the crown of a
black hat against the eye, and observe at the same time if
the mark disappears, which it will if it is only a reflection.

" Harry Hieover " says, upon the subject of defective sight,
" I consider the eyes to be a part of the anatomy the most
difiicult for the non-professional to become competent judges
of ; and any disorder of those delicate organs in the horse
is, generally speaking, of a more fatal nature to him than
the same affliction is to the human being. This arises from
several causes : among them are the following : — We can ask
the horse no questions ; consequently, if his eyes become
diseased, we can only judge of the extent of the disease by
the appearance of the organs themselves, and by the acts of
the animal. If he runs his head against the stable-door
instead of walking into it, we are made aware that he is
blind, or very nearly so. If he bucks, or starts at things he
sees on the road — for instance, a small pool of water, a stone,
piece of white paper, &c. — we may fairly judge his eyes are
more or less aifected (even should their appearance be
healthy) ; for, it must be observed, there is a wide difference
between a horse shying at carriages, or at common objects
on the road, or by its side, and starting at things he suddenly
comes on at his feet. Many horses, in the first case, shy or
start from timidity, and this grows into a habit When they
do this, it will be found, that long before they actually come
upon the object, they will prick up their ears, slacken their
pace, veer a little from the object, and, by various acts, show
us they are getting alarmed. They may be more or less so
as they approach the object, depending on its nature, and
whether, on nearing it, they find it one of terror or the
reverst The evincing fear when at a distance (from what-
ever cause it may arise) shows us, however, at once that
they see it. Whether their alarm arises from confused sight
or natural timidity on seeing any unusual object, we can
only judge by the nature of the object creating alarm.

" The horse starting or bucking at objects when nearly
under his feet is all but an infallible symptom of bad sight ;
for it shows that till actually on the object he did not see it
at all : and if it should be a pool of water, or a stone, or
some such trifle, it would further show that, when close to
it, he was either a greater fool than horses usually are, or
that he could not distinguish clearly enough to see whether it
was an object of alarm or otherwise. It is only by attention
to these acts on the part of the horse that we are enabled
to judge of the correctness of his sight ; that is, before their
appearance demonstrates disease. The human being can

complain, if he finds his vision defective ; the horse cannot :
and this accounts for the numbers of horses that are at this
moment going with defective eyes, without their owners
knowing or suspecting anything of the matter.

" Nearly all the diseases of the horse either arise from
or are attended with inflammation to a very considerable
extent. There are operations performed on the human eye
with good effect, that, supposing they could be performed on
the horse, would produce inflammation to a degree that
would render the remedy, or rather the attempted remedy,
an aggravation of the disease.

"Nothing is more deceptive to the casual observer than
the first look at a horse's eyes. I have frequently been
surprised at the very cursory glance dealers give them. Il
is true, that in a general way a fine healthy eye speaks for
itself ; such a looking eye does not, however, always speak
the truth. A fine, very dark, clear pupil, and a fine darkish
brown or hazel iris is very handsome — in fact, a great
beauty in a horse — and such looking eyes are, perhaps,
mostly sound ones ; but such appearances are by no means
proofs. I have seen dealers walk up to such eyes, just look
at them, and say " they're good enough ; " when the fact is,
they might be quite had enough : for though, on looking at
eyes in this hasty way, an experienced judge would not,
probably, buy a half- blind horse, still there are little defects
that even the professional man will not be able to detect in
the glare of open day.

"Slight temporary inflammation, if known to proceed
from great excitement of the system, though it would quite
warrant an examiner in rejecting a horse brought to him in
such a state, need not cause the purchaser to decline him
altogether, if, in a few days, the eyes became healthy ; but
I certainly would not make the purchase till they were so ;
and even then, only on ascertaining that the disease had
not been one to which the animal had been subject before.

" Of course, in this disorder, as in many others, a great
deal would depend on the value of the horse, and the
purpose for which he is intended. If buying a horse as a
wheeler to a coach, you might do so, though having
suspicion of his sight being good, or likely to last so ;
because, if he went stone blind, it would only deteriorate
his value a few pounds, and, with a little attention on the
part of the horse-keeper and coachman, his utility would be
but little diminished. A horse of great beauty, and with
very splendid action, would, of course, be much diminished
in value to sell again if bought for a nobleman's carriage,
and his eyes failed him : still, he would be valuable for
such a purpose : but, if a hunter got so afilicted, it would
bring him down from two hundred to thirty or forty,
indeed, to still less, unless he had harness action, which few
hunters have : in fact, for the purpose of a hunter, he might
as well break his neck as become in any way defective in
his sight."

The reader who has carefully perused these minute
directions, first, for the general examination, as buyer, of the

102

BUYING A HORSE.— EXAMINATION FOR UNSOUNDNESS

mimal he desires to possess, — and, secondly, for the more
frequent causes of unsoundness, will thank us for the
following summary recapitulation, by Professor Stewart, of
the points to be attended to : —

" The head. — For the eyes ; for cataract, glass-eyes, and
specks. The nostrils ; for glanders, tumours, and cold. The
glands between the branches of the lower jaw ; for enlarge-
ment The throat ; for mark of crib-biting strap, and the
tenderness which accompanies cold. The teeth ; for the age,
and marks of crib-biting. The veins of the neck ; to see
that both are entire.

" The fore-leg and shoulder. — The seat of the collar; for
tumours. The point of the elbow ; for tumours. The knee ;
for blemishes and stifiPness of that joint. The shank ; for
speedy-cut, splint, and strain. The fetlock-joint; for enlarge-
ment, windgalls, neurotomy, stringhalt, and marks of cutting.
The pastern ; for ring-bone.

" The foot- — For side-bones ; sandcrack, contraction, thrush,
corns, and flatsoles. The shoe ; for signs of cutting.

" The trunk quarters. — Each side of the chest ; for marks of
blisters and rowels. The space between the fore-legs ; for
the same. The stifle ; for enlargement. The groin ; for
rupture.

" The hock. — For capped hock, thorough-pin, bone-spavin,
and bog spavin (not blood spavin). Then the horse should
be mounted, and ridden a few hundred yards at a gallop, in
order to quicken his breathing, and thereby display the
presence or absence of roaring, thick-wind, or broken-
wind."

This brief summary will assist the memory, bringing, as it
does, the seat and causes of unsoundness into one point of
view. It includes, however, some objectionables, which,
properly speaking, do not constitute unsoundness ; such as
windgalls, thorough- pin, capped hock, and string-halt. The
first two are objectionable, indicating that the horse has
been severely exerted, and may be otherwise more seriously
injured. The two last are eyesores, and to be avoided
as such.

We will remark on a few of the points here specified,
which relate to fraud and warranty. The eye is a point
difficult to decide upon, and often a subject for fraud,
particularly amongst the lower order of dealers, who used
formerly to have very bright white walls, against which they
showed their horses, when the reflection concealed cataracts,
which are in themselves white. But this important organ is
difficult to judge of even in its healthy state, by reason of
the varieties in its organisation ; and still more so to detect
the extent of disease which may have, at some time or
another, attached to it. Even the best judges of horseflesh
have purchased horses without having detected deeply-seated
cataracts, which shows the necessity of caution ; and the
best security is the inspection of a professional man, who is
alone equal to form a correct opinion on the subject, which
will be at once apparent on perusal of Mr. Percival's lecture,
•'On the Eye," Part III., p. 131.

The foot is now so generally understood, that it may be
needless to say more than to remind the buyer of the
proverb — " No foot, no horse." " The hock " is the most
complicated, therefore most difficult, joint for the uninitiated
to form a judgment upon. It is not in every person's power
to detect the absolute presence of disease in this part, still
more so to foretell the probability of it in future ; but there
is a certain conformation of this joint which almost ensures
disease, and consequently it should be most minutely
examined as to its shape, substance, &a

Broken wind is easily discoverable ; and it is only
amongst the most disreputable of the fraternity that it is
ever attempted to be concealed, which can be done for a
few hours, by administering a certain quantity of lead,
which, by its pressure, checks the violent action of the
abdominal muscles, or what is called heaving of the flanks.
But " roaring," "wheezing," and "thick wind," are by no
means always discoverable in a common trial of a horse,
such as a dealer is disposed to give, on a good sound road.
Nothing but a gallop over soft ground, or against a hill, can
be depended upon in certain stages and degrees of either of
these complaints.

Your examination having proved satisfactory, you decide
on purchasing ; but before you part with your money, pray
learn something of the seller. For should your bargain not
turn out as you expected, upon further acquaintance, trial,
and second examination, you will be aware what chance of
satisfaction or redress you have against the vendor.

The horse, if returned, must of course be in the same
condition in which he was received, except so far as the
disease for which he is returned may have progressed in the
mean time.

It is advisable to inquire of the seller how he has been
accustomed to diet and clothe the animal ; whether his
feet were stopped ; and the same treatment should be
pursued till his soundness is ascertained.

Note the temperature of the stable ; if his new habitation
should be hotter, you may probably induce an inflammatory
attack of the lungs.

Beware of putting a saddle on a new horse that does not
fit him. While the question of soundness is still doubtful, it
is far better to use the saddle he has been accustomed to,
for if his back becomes galled while trying him, which is
not unusual, the dealer will object to take him back unless
full compensation is made ; and reasonably so, for he is
unfitted for sale or for work till it is healed, which is not
to be effected in a day. It is also a point for calculation,
whether he may not chance to fall sick while standing in
high condition in stable — in which case the dealer is
subjected to loss.

As we intend to devote a chapter specially to Unsoundness
AND Warranty, with the leading ancillary points in law and
practice, we shall here break off, aa we commenced, with s
few general observations.

The horse trade, as now conducted in London, u/ we may

BUYING A HORSE.— EXAMINATION FOR UNSOUNDNESa

103

rather say in these days of facile and rapid railway communi-
cation throughout England, is a business in which as much
capital, skill, and activity are embarked, as in any other
trade of this great commercial country. Agents from all the
great London dealers' establishments are constantly travel-
ling through the breeding districts, and competing with the
country dealers for every good-looking horse reared, as soon
as it has completed its fourth year. To breed a well-bred
colt, break it, and maintain it until it is four years old,
cannot cost less than .^60. Before the animal sold at a fair
for that sum reaches the London dealer's stable it has to
pass through the hands of one or two agents or intermediate
dealers, who all require a profit on its sale ; its travelling
expenses and its keep must be paid for ; losses from accident
and sickness must be provided against ; and the maintenance
of the London dealer's establishment, and his fair profit,
must be duly considered. It is not, therefore, easy to see
how a colt bought at Horncastle or Rugeley for .fGO can be
sold to a customer in London much under ^£"100. But if the
colt be extraordinarily handsome, or if it possess remarkably
good action, the breeder will be much more likely to require
d^lOO than ^£"60 for it ; and the buyer, knowing his business
well, will have no objection to pay that sum — being well
aware that for extraordinary beauty and action almost any
price demanded can be obtained in the London and foreign
markets. For first-rate saddle-horses, able to carry high
weights, from ^150 to J'200 are every-day prices; and the
large bay and brown carriage horses used for first-class
equipages are, when well-bred and well-actioned, more
valuable still. Ladies' horses cost from dPSO to ^PlOO,
according to the weight of the rider and the training the
animal has received ; brougham-horses, from .f'lOOto ,£'120 ;
and light harness-horses for broughams and sociables, from
^160 to i^200 the pair. Inferior horses may, of course, be
bought at inferior prices, but the first-rate dealer in first-rate
animals will ask and get the sums we have named.

Lord William Lennox, a good practical writer, sets his
figures on a much lower scale : and we can safely indorse
them as nearer the mark than those in the last paragraph.
His lordship says —

" In setting out to purchase a horse, it would be as well to

resolve on a fixed price, from which you must resolve not

to deviate easily. The following I should say would about fit.

"A hunter of the best de- i „, ,„ ^m,

=£•150. [The odd fifty

more or less, as the horse

seems worth it.]

scription (counting the cir-
cumstance of its being in a
dealer's possession), say,

"A hack, strong and likely) "^^^ ^« "^^O. tButgiveno

>- more. You can always get
) good ones at that price.]
^60 to ^£"80.

(counting, &;c.),

" A general (when I say
general, I mean a horse that
would be fit to take the field
Of harness when required),

[This is as
nearly as we can guess about

> the price, though it may be
advisable to give a little more

"•or a little lesal

Remember, too, to have clearly in your mind the sort d
horse you want. And never forget that every horse is
adapted to some particular purpose ; for horses not only
differ in kind, but, like men, in courage, temper, intelligence,
stamina, &c. ; and the selection of them, in regard to these
particulars, constitutes the most arduous and nicest duties of
the buyer. He should be able readily to acknowledge good
or bad conformation ; trace breeding in the outline, and
discover what indicates good or bad in instinctive or in
constitutional qualities.

It requires some experience, but more attentive observa-
tion, to be what is termed a " judge " in horse-phraseology.
To know at once, almost by a cast of the eye, whether the
nag is likely to suit. Is he cut out for a hackney, or is he
calculated for harness ? Does he look like a hunter, or has
he serviceable stoutness, a quiet eye, and look likely for the
road ? Does he show blood, or is he all over a " cross bred
un ?

Some persons, though accustomed to horses all their lives
and anxious to become judges, never can select from appear-
ances ; while those differently gifted can swear to a good
one, to a considerable extent, the instant they behold him.
And the questions that suggest themselves to a judge on
purchasing the first description of horse, are, — if he can ride
him ? if he will not prove too much for him ? if he will be
sufficiently under his control with hounds ? if his energetic
disposition will suffer the trammels of harness ?

There is an observation, common among horsemen, that it
is all nonsense about the make and shape of horses ; for, say
they, "the best horse I ever possessed was the worst shaped;"
but, on inquiry, you will and must find, that he possessed in
a great degree the will and the power — they must accompany
each other — the one is of little use without the other. What
avails it if he is willing without the power, or if he has the
power and is not willing ? If it were possible to mould a
horse in perfectly symmetrical form, in every way formed for
speed, — still, without that great essential, that peculiar ner-
vous excitability, he would at best prove but an iudiff"erent
animal. Remember, therefore, that, however important a
good judgment of the outward indications of qualities may
be, what he will prove in continuous exercise is more than
the most skilful and experienced can fairly pronounce.
Those who do are presumptuous or dishonest pretenders to
a knowledge not attainable. Appearances are so deceitful,
that those most skilful in the subject will find themselves
occasionally mistaken, and, even after the best advice, much
must be left to the operation of chance.

If you can answer the questions submitted in this chapter
to your own satisfaction, buy a horse for yourself If you
cannot, and distrust your own opinion, get some more
experienced horseman to look over the animal you desire to
purchase, before you part with your cash.

In the next chapter we wiU, as connected with the subject
in hand, take a look into The Hoese's Mouth for indications
of his age.

IU4

THE AGE OF THE HORSE FROM HIS MOUTH

OHAPTER X

rHB «aE OF THE HORSE FROM HIS MOUTH. PRELIMINARY REMARKS: TRICKS OF DEALERS: THE STRUCTURE OP THE TEETH

THE INDICATIONS OF AGE : THE TEETU AT BIRTH : AT SIX TO SEVEN MONTHS : FROM ONE YEAR TO TWENTY YEARS : I»
EXTREM3 OLD AQE. CONCLUSION.

The knowledge that the teeth of the horse indicate the age
of the animal seems to be a part of the transmitted
" wisdom of our ancestors," and as an axiom is certainly not
controverted by modern research. Common observation of
the natural mouth tells us that the colt of two years and a
half old, or thereabout, will be putting up his two per-
manent incisor teeth of the upper and lower jaw, indicating
his becoming three years old ; and between three and four
the two adjoining teeth in each jaw ; and between four and
five the two last, or corner teeth, in each jaw ; and the
tusks appear between four and five : but there are variations
from this general rule, and we must not hastily conclude in
this, any more than most other branches of human know-
ledge, that infallible and exceptionless rules can be laid
down, and unerring accuracy attained. There is no magic
spell, except in puerile romance, by which nature's mysteries
can be commanded ; "her ways are regular, but they are
not uniform — her laws are fixed, but they cannot be
Jefined by rule and compass. The veterinary practitioner
knows, from repeated trials and long experience, that the
teeth of the horse are a worthy study ; he feels that their
indications, attentively read, will seldom mislead him ; but
he does not regard them with a reverence resembling that
originating from an antiquated superstition, or look on
them as the exemplification of a principal which admits of
no exceptions." *

In the generality of common bred stock, foaled between
the beginning of April and the end of June — that are living
pretty much in a state of nature, on succulent food, to the
end of three years old before they are handled — a con-
siderable uniformity in the approach of their permanent
teeth, and the age in general may be told without contra-
diction. But man, for his own ends and purposes, has used
such artificial means in the rearing and treatment of the
young horse, that he has in a manner subverted nature's
laws in this particular ; and it is not an uncommon occur-
rence to see a two, three, and four years old colt, showing a
three, four, or five years old mouth ; that is, the teeth
indicating those particular ages will be up, and nearly
matured, a full year before nature seems to ordain they

* Mayhew on the Horse's Mouth, p. 3.

should be. This may be seen in three parts of the young
horses brought into the market in the spring of the year, as
four and five years old, which are in reality only three and
four. This deception is accomplished by pulling out the
sucking-teeth at an early period. The mouth thus altered
is comparatively easier of detection than the one which has
obtained this forward appearance in its natural development.

The case is different in racing, or thorough-bred stock,
inasmuch to some the object would appear of more advan-
tage to make them, if possible, appear even younger than
they really are. But " query," are not the peculiarities of
nature so much altered in these young animals, by the
early period in which they are foaled, the manner in which
they are fed, and the early age at which they are broke and
trained, as to occasion them to be more early matured in
their general organization, and consequently their teeth to
appear at a much earlier period (in many instances in colts)
than if bred as common stock ? Examples of this forward
growth of the teeth have occurred, whereby the age might
be doubted. We have also seen the reverse of this, though
a rare occurrence, where the colt had arrived at the age of
three, and not moved a tooth. These variations are
commonly considered the result of early or late foaline, but
as likely to occur from peculiarity of constitution.

The horse, as noted in natural history, ante, pp. i» — 11,
has twelve incisors or nipping teeth in the upper and lower
jaws, opposed | ; four tushes or tearing teeth, placed t. Ti on
each side of the cutting teeth ; and six molars or grinding
teeth, in the branch of each jaw above and below. The
mare not having the tushes or canine teeth has but thirty-
six, while the full-mouthed horse has forty. A reference to
the coloured maps, I. and II., entitled " The Ages of the
Horse " (Anatomy Plates III. and IV.) will, we trust, give
a clear idea of the progress, perfection, and decay of the
dental system of the horse, and thus furnish a chart for the
guidance of the reader to a true decision on that oft-debated
point, the age of the horse, should such question come before
him in his own interest or as a referea

In ordinary cases, the teeth will be found a suflBcient
criterion of the animal's age, if examined by one who can
properly read their criteria. There is a prevalent notion
about, that dealers can make liorses appear of any age that

THE AGE OF THE HOPSh FROM THE TEETH.

105

is desired by torturing their mouths, and this idle belief is
fostered by those who pretend to extraordinary acuteness in
discovering and exposing the " tricks of horsedealing." We
have several of these catch-pennies now before us, in the
guise of " Confessions of a Coper," " The Mysteries of Horse-
chaunting," " A Guide to the Horsebuyer, with Exposures of
the Tricks of Dealers," &c., &c., and such-like taking titles.
They are, we need scarcely say, as rank impositions on the
credulous purchaser as the swindles they pretend to expose.
Mr Mayhew sensibly says, upon this point, and gives in an
after part of his book full practical proof of "speaking as one
having authority,"* that the credulity of the public in this
matter of the teeth has no foundation. "A colt cannot be
made by any barbarity to look like a horse, nor a horse be
made to exhibit the mouth of a colt. That attempts are
made to disguise the teeth, and that such attempts occasion-
ally impose upon the buyer, is not denied ; but all of such
practices are shallow in the extreme, and so easily detected,
that the person deceived by them is not an object of pity.
If people will presume to judge before they have learnt to
recognizei ^heir temerity is more to be blamed than its
consequence is to be commiserated. No one goes to buy a
horse unwarned of the dangers that will surround him ; and
if in his conceit he rather prefers to hazard these than to
seek protection, what right has he to muimur at a result
which it needed no conjuror to foretel ? Is there any
market in the world where ignorance is secure from imposi-
tion ? The world is not yet so honest that the affairs of the
horse-mart are a subject worthy of its special wonder ; and
it may be doubted if the principles which regulate the
conduct of the horse-dealer, are not those which influence
the transactions of the most honourable traders. There are
men of the highest character living by the sale of horses ;
and it is creditable to humanity that, after all of a certain
class have been unscrupulously stigmatized and openly
reproached, there may still among its members be found
beings preserving honour for the sake of itself alone. The
liberal public, however, in its wisdom, has pronounced the
character of the horse-dealer.; it has rejected his attestations,
and refused to listen to the testimony of those with whom
he has communication. The age of a horse is not taken
from the mouth of its owner, but looked for in that of the
animal. This mode of procedure is convenient — the record
is at hand, the evidence brief, and the decision to which it
leads is that to which the purchaser by choice appeals. The
dealer stands by and knows that his voice is to be restrained.
The teeth denote the age, and when the word of the owner
ig not to be accepted, there is no other evidence at hand.

* The reader who would go farther into the subject of the " Tricks
of Dealers," is referred to pages 123 to 138 of Mr. Edward Mayhew's
volume "The Horse's Mouth," published by Messrs. Fores. He will
there see an exposure of the wretched trash of these pretended guardians
of the public, againet frauds that exist chiefly in the scribblers' own
practice.

Were additional proof to be required, in some instances it
could not be procured, and in the majority its production
would be attended with an expense perhaps equal to the
price of the horse which it concerned. The expense, the seller
of course could not be expected to bear, and the buyer equally
would resist its infliction Nothing is more high priced
than absolute proof of any kind ; and there is always a
further difficulty in the difference of opinion which prevails,
as to what constitutes absolute proof A cursory glance at
the matter is enough to convince us, that the custom of
inspecting the teeth of the horse to ascertain the age of the
animal, is one which has had its origin in necessity. Expe-
rience has taught that the mouth of the horse affords the
Tn(l^t satisfactory evidence, and the author's investigations
on this subject have convinced him that the public need
require no better or more conclusive testimony."

With these preliminary remarks we shall proceed to
a description of the teeth — their structure, growth, and
changes, as auxiliary to the determining of the age of the
animal by their inspection.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE TEETH.

Each tooth is divided into three parts for the purpose ol
description, the cro'um or table, which is its upper surface,
the neck, which is the part surmounted by gum, and where
it usually begins to diminish in size, and the fang, or root,
which is the part out of sight in the alveolar cavity.

The teeth are contained in the upper and lower jawbones
(or maxillaries), in small bony cups or holes, each tooth
being contained in a separate cavity, called collectively
alveolar cavities ; and in the molars, where there are more
than one fang, each root has its separate cup, with bony
matter intervening between itself and other fangs.

The teeth are organised bodies ; as is shown by the
absorption of their substance, in case of the roots of the
temporary teeth ; their sensibility to pain upon application
of extreme heat, cold, or strong acids; their growth and
changes of form ; and their resistance of decay, while possessed
of vitality. They possess, for their supply and snstainment,
arteries, veins, and nerves.

The teeth are built up of three distinct substances,
distinguishable from each other by the naked eye, and
differing materially in density, hardness, and composition
They are known as the ivory, the -enamel, and the crusts
petrosa (or stony crust).

The ivory (called bony or horny substance, by old writers),
constitutes the larger portion of the bulk of each tooth, and has
numerous small pores or cavities. Like the small canals in the
substance of bones they seem to contain some colourless fluid,
which nourishes or maintains the part in which they are
situated. The ivory is by no means so close and hard as
the next noticed substance, the enamel In Map II. the
delineations of the tables of an upper and lower molar wiU
give a clear idea of the arrangement of these two substances.
The dark parts there delineated show the ivory of which the

106

THE AGE OF THE HORSE FROM THE TEETH.

body of the tooth is composed, the lighter convoluted lines,
the enamel In the " Colt's Incisor," back view, in the same
plate, the enamel is shown, with the ivory sunk in the centre,
in a cavity called the infundibulum (funnel, or pit). It is
lined with enamel, and presents ivory filling up to the table
of the tooth.

The second substance, the enamel, is so close, hard, and
homogeneous, as to seem without animal matter. It is thin,
white, and somewhat transparent, and so hard that it will
strike fire with steel, like flint.

The third substance is the crusta petrosa or stony coat.
This forms the outer covering of the tooth, and having a
dirty-yellowish or dark appearance, was mistaken by ig-
norant farriers for a deposit of tartar, or " fur." It contains
a great proportion of animal substance, and, under the
microscope, is full of small vessels or tubes. It is plentiful
in the alveolar cavities, and is there yellowish-white ; but
when at the neck of the tooth, above the gum, it becomes
exposed to the chemical action of the air, the animal juices,
and the food, it receives a dark stain, and looks like an
accumulation of tartar. The crusta petrosa will be found
filling up the pits (infundibula) of the grinding teeth of the
upper jaw, and lining the top cavity of the incisors. It is
full of vessels for nutriment and increase. Let us now
consider the use of these three structures of the teeth, of
various densities, cutting capabilities, and power to resist
friction.

The outer coat, or crusta petrosa, which at first covers
the tooth, is soon rubbed away from the greater part of the
sides, so as to show the enamel It is not reproduced there,
but remains round the neck of the tooth, and appears to
enact a part within the alveolar cavity, in which the fang
or base of the tooth is situate. It is with the ivory and
enamel, however, which build up the substance of the tooth,
we have most to do.

Upon the ivory, and its wear in relation to the enamel,
depends the great criterion, the presence, in a greater or less
degree, or the absence of " the mark in the mouth." The
ivory in the molars will be found generally nearly on a level
with cutting ridges of enamel, in spite of the greater
attrition which the substance forming the larger portion of
the surface of the table must receive. There is, however,
sufiicient projection of the enamel ridges to enable you to
feel that the latter material is the great resisting power, and
saves the destruction of the ivory by the grinding wear,
to which, but for such support, it would be inevitably
exposed.

THE MAPS OF THE MOUTH DESCRIBED.

MAP I., FROM BIRTH TO FIVE YEARS OLD.

We will next proceed to give a description of the two
coloured maps entitled " The Ages or the Horse."

At Birth. — Many months, at least seven, before the foal
IB produced the germs of the teeth are visible in the cavities

of the jaws of the fcetus, as small bags if jelly-like con-
sistence. As these grow they harden and press towards the
surface of the gum, forcing their way through it ; so that,
about the time of birth, three of the grinding teeth are
discoverable in each jaw ; and generally two front cutting
teeth, in the colt called nippers, which are placed almost
laterally (see figure), and are remarkably large in comparison
with the size of the animal In a less developed colt the
nippers will present themselves as in our drawing, at the
end of a week or nine days. In the next two months, two
more cutting teeth in each jaw, above and below, will bring
the number up to eight. And now the jaws having widened,
as is seen more fully in our second figure (six to seven
months), the two nippers, which filled all the forepart of the
narrow jaw, will have taken their proper places in front of
the mouth. They will now begin to wear a little, and the
outer edge, which was raised and sharp, will be brought on
a level with the inner edge. The mouth, too Till alter
little now until it forms as in our second figure, when yet
two more nippers begin to be felt, and then seen, making up
six below, and a like number above — thus filling up the
" colt's mouth," as shown in the third drawing, inside and
outside being figured. The name of " nipper " is peculiarly
applicable to the front teeth of a colt's mouth. Those of
incisor or cutter, adopted by professionals and anatomists,
do not so well convey the idea of their action. The twitch
of the head in the act of browzing or grazing is rather the act
of " nipping," and partly snatching, than merely cutting oflF.

It may be noted at the seventh or eighth month, that
though the corner milk teeth are up, their edges do not
meet, except at the front corners. This may be seen by
our drawing, where the two outer teeth are remarkably low
to the gum at the hinder part, towards the gape.

One Year old. — Here we see the four middle teeth level,
and the two outer ones becoming so. The mark in the
middle teeth is wider and fainter ; in the two next it is
somewhat darker, longer, and narrower. By this time two
pairs of the permanent teeth, the fourth molars, have made
their appearance. A yearling has, therefore, twelve incisors
and sixteen molars, or twenty-eight teeth in all Of the molars
we may here remark that they offer little guide as to the age
of the animal. Indeed, it is not easy to get a fair look at
them ; yet a few particulars are good to be known. They
are covered outside with enamel, but not at the top, though j i
several pieces are incorporated, if we may so term it, in the
substance of their ivory — not being infundibula or pits as in
the incisors, but forming grinding edg3s of irregular form in
the face of the table (see Molars, Map II.). The grinders in
the lower jaw (see Plate) are much smaller in surface than |
those of the upper. The wisdom of this provision is evident.
The upper molar is fixed, the lower is movable by the
lateral grinding motion of the lower jaw. Hence it is
passed over the larger surface in the act of triturating the
food ; the peculiar action of the horse's jaw in this operas
tion is open to the most superficial observer.

63

THE AGE OF THE HORSE FROM THE TEETH.

107

Two Years old — About two years old a fifth grinder
is out. The incisors in forwa*J animals show considerable
wear. Some care is required now, for the " milk-teeth " are
very like the " horse-teeth " at five years old. The teeth
only are now being spoken of ; for of course the colt is not
" furnished " to the horseman's eye. And now an impor-
tant process is about to begin.

The first teeth were adapted to the size and wants of the
young animal ; and sufficiently large to occupy and to fill the
colt's jaws ; but when the jaws expand with the increas-
ing growth of the animal, another and larger set is
required. Evident provision is made for these, even before
the colt is foaled. In cavities in the jaw, beneath the first
and temporary teeth, are to be seen the rudiments of a
second and permanent set. These gradually increase, 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 parts
of the system This absorption continues to proceed as the
second teeth grow and press upon their 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 permanent. In a few instances,
however, the second teeth do not rise immediately 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, diminishes 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 wolfs 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 ; therefore
it is proper to get rid of these diminutive teeth, either by
punching thum out, or drawing them as soon as they are
perceived.

Three Years old. — At three years old the two centre
horse-teeth are so defined in their appearance, indeed
80 well-grown as to be unmistakeable. The superior length
and squareness over the colt or milk teeth (see Two Years
Old) is manifest ; outside, too, they are darker in colour, the
new coating of the stony covering (crv^ta petrosa) being
only partially removed at the front edges. At "three
off" the side milk teeth are shed, and horse-teeth take
their places. In our drawing of a three year old
mouth this has not yet occurred ; but the inflammation of
the gums, visible, though it does not appear painful to the
animal, shows itself The milk teeth are finally shed about
the seventh month after the completion of the third year,

those of the lower jaw coming out first It is often asked,
cannot this mouth be given to a forward two-year-old 1
We are told so ; and here is the process, which we insert for
what it is worth. The central nippers are punched oi
dr-iwn out, and the others appear three or four months
earlier than they 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 mecha-
nically oppose their rising, and that opposition being rs-
moved, it is asserted their progress will be more rapid.
Three or four months will be gained, and these three or
four months may enable the breeder to term him a late colt
of a preceding year. To the observer 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 the 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 circum-
stances, 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 operation to the
lower jaw ; and, in consequence of this, when tlie 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 and cautious policy
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 drawing, 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 crown« nf the teeth will be
considerably smaller.

At Three Years and a Half, or betweo^ that and four, the
next pair of nippers will be changed, and the mouth at that
time cannot be mistaken. The central nippers will have
attained nearly their full growth ; a vacuity will 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 — and the mark becoming small and
faint. At this period, likewise, the second pair of grinders
will be shed, and, previous to this, will be the attempt of
the dealer to give to his three-year-old an additional veai.

108

THE AGE OF THE HORSE FROM THE TEETH.

but the fraud may be detected by an examination similar to
that which we have already described.

Four Years old. — Here the two lateral horse teeth are
seen with the full "bean" in them, the two front incisors
doing the principal work, as is shown by their surfaces and
the inner-enamel edge We have here four pairs of horse-
teeth well up (in the two jaws), the two outside milk-teeth
in each remaining. In the outside view the gum is swelling,
and the corner milk nippers are about to go. The horse
incisors will soon come in their place. The surface of the
teeth is clearly delineated in our dental map. You here
perceive the central nippers fully developed ; the edge
somewhat worn off; the mark shorter, and wider, and
fainter : the next pair will be up, but they will be small,
with the mark deep, and extending quite across them ;
the corner nippers, larger than the inside ones, yet smaller
than they were, flat, and the mark nearly effaced. In the
back part 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
mxious 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 or no growth of the tush — the
smallness of the second grinder — the low fore-hand — the
legginess of the colt, and the thickness and little depth of
the mouth- will, with the man of experience, detect the
cheat.

The tusnes (see Map II. Tush) are four in number, two in
each jaw, situated between the nippers and the grinders,
much nearer to the former than the latter, and nearer in
the lower jaw than in the upper, but this distance increases
in both jaws with the age of the animal. In shape they
somewhat resemble a cone, protruding about an inch from
the gum, and having their 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 beginnings of them in the chambers
of the jaw, and they appear externally in most old mares.
Their use is not evident : — perhaps in the wild state of the
animal they are weapons of offence ; so that he can more
firmly seize, and more 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. Be may possibly gain a few weeks, but
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 ; for, while its fang is deeply

imbedded in the inferior maxillary, the tooth penetrates tho
process of the superior 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 shed, and the permanent ones begin
to appear ; the central nippers are considerably worn, and
the next pair are beginning to show marks of wear. The
tush has now protruded, (see our drawing. Five Years Old,)
and is generally a full half inch in height ; outside it is
rounded, with a groove on each side (see drawing), and
within it is hollowed. From the period of the rising of the
corner nipper, the animal changes its name. The oolt is
called a horse, the filly a mare, thenceforward.

Five Years old. — At five years old the horse's moutn is all
but perfect. The whole of the incisors are there ; the edges
of all the teeth meet fairly, and the whole apparatus looks
more powerful and larger than in the fourth year. The
tables of them all are, however, not yet formed, the two outer-
most displaying the bean perfect. The tush shows a mark
of wear, the grooves, already spoken of, are disappearing.
The outer edge is bulging, but the inside hollowed out and
sharp. The sixth molar tooth is quite up, and the third
grinder is wanting. This circumstance, with the general
aspect of the horse — the wearing of the centre incisors — the
growth and shape of the tushes — will prevent a late four year
old from being substituted for a five. Though the incisors
maybe got up a few months before their time, and the tushes
a few weeks, the grinder is with difiiculty displaced. The
three last grinders, as well as the tushes, are never shed, but
come at once permanently. At " five years old off," the
corner teeth are still but slightly worn, and the margins
inside are rounding. Much of the original stony crust
(crusta petrosa) is remaining, and the enamel, where bare, is
transparent and pearly. The corner-nippers are so clean in
their coat and mark as to procure them the name of " sheU-
teeth." The fifth year " off," ends our first map.

MAP II., FROM SIX TEARS OLD TO EXTREME OLD AGE.

Six Years old. — At six years the corner teeth seem set
more firmly, the enamel mark is irregular, and the edge
uneven. The teeth, too, are getting more square on the
external surface. All the edges (as seen by the second
drawing in Map II.) meet with accuracy. The semicircle
which the teeth formed in the fifth year is widened out
The mark in the centre incisor is now growing indistinct
There will still be a difference of colour in the centre 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 ; it will be evidently surrounded by an
edge of enamel, and there will even remain a little depres-
sion in the centre, and also a depression round this case of
enamel ; but the deep hole in the centre of the tooth, vith
the blackened surface which it presents, and the elevated

THE AGE OF THE HORSE FROM THE TEETH.

1U9

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 were 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 his full growth, being nearly or quite an inch
in length, convex outwards, concave within, tending to
a point, and the extremity somewhat curved. The third
grinder is fairly up, and all the grinders are level Mr.
Youatt says : " Now, or perhaps at a 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. Dogs are subject to
convulsions, and hundreds of them die from the irritation
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
slightest 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 nutriment cannot be extracted from it.

Seven Years old. — At seven years, although the corner
teeth do not decidedly show age, they give further proof of
wear. The teeth are yet whiter, the tushes are fully up,
the mark is disappearing from the four central nippers,
and is on the go in the corner teeth. The tushes, too, are
changing shape, rounding at the point, at the edges, and
inside ; and the ♦eeth generally seem beginning to " crowd
one another.'

Eight Tears old. — At eight years the processes above
noted are still in progress. The " beans " are gone from
the bottom incisors — in short, as the phrase goes, " the
mark is out of the mouth."

And now steps in the most common and vulgar of frauds,
that of " bishoping," as it is termed, from the name of the
rascal who invented it, or was its most extensively known
practitioner.

There are two moded by which this is effected. The eight
or nine year old is thrown, and the teeth are simply touched
with a red hot wire, which makes a black mark at its point
of contact. This is a very clumsy and inartificial imitation.
The more general one is to gently scoop the softer ivory in
the cavities with an engraver's tool, and then to darken the
spaces thus hollowed. Remember, however, that the shape
of the table of the old tooth, with its inner edge of enamel,
cannot be altered, nor can the line of enamel which surrounds
and lines the infundibulum (or pit) be preserved. This
coarse expedient cannot impose upon a veterinarian, or an

experienced horseman. It will be as well to look at th<
upper nippers as there the very marks ; which, without fraud,
would be found strongest and best defined, will be found
weakest. The diffusion of the " black " too at once strikes
the practised eye as unnatural Of the better class of dealer:-
Mr. Mayhew justly says, " they will not, knowingly, allow
the character of their stables to be injured by the presence
of a ' bishoped ' animal. The dealers are not the rogues the
enlightened public are fond of believing — many among them
are as honourable as all men should be — some of the class,
however, never let a horse escape out of their hands
unmutilated. The teeth invariably receive the primary
attention : if long, they are, by the application of a file,
reduced to the length which the self-taught equine dentist
supposes proper to youth. An acid is also applied to the
enamelled surface, in order to render it white. No vast good
is effected, but, if the means were not designed to impose, no
great harm would perhaps be done. The acid is not allowed
to corrode the tooth, and the diminution of the length may
possibly in some degree benefit the animai The welfare of
the creature, however, is not the object sought — the hope is
to cheat ; but no person who ought to be trusted, or even to
trust himself to purchase a horse, should be so imposed upon.
Whiteness is no sign of youth in the tooth of a horse, and
the file cannot make the tables assume the juvenile figure.
Horses that show such mouths, may be easily recognised —
perhaps they are quiet while their legs are handled, but shy
when the head is touched — they are not vicious, but timid,
and the teeth tell the reason of their fear. It is well to pass
them by, and dangerous to accept them at any price. If the
teeth have been tampered with, what tricks may not have
been practised to conceal other defects V " I On the Horse's ',
Mouth).

Twelve to Twenty Tears old. — It is a generally received
opinion that after the disappearance of the mark from the
outer incisors, at the eighth year, all certainty with regard
to the horse's age is over. As to the marks, this is true ; as
to other criteria, enlarged research has sho'wn it to be only
partially so. The teeth increase in obliquity, and apparently
in length, and the " crowding " which renders them more
and more misshapen is clearly perceptible by a reference to
the drawings of eight, twelve, and twenty year old mouths
in Map II. From birth to six years the study of the regular
progress of the development of the mouth has almost the
character of an exact science, and the age to a year can be
pronounced. At the period we have now arrived at, mere
generalities supply the place of particular marks ; and
further then the fact that the horse is old, growing rapidly
old, prematurely old, or on the contrary sound and good, his
years being taken into account, our chart-knowledge does
not exactly guide us. We think, however, with M. Girard,
that the characteristics of the mouth at twelve and say
twenty years (see Map), are sufiiciently distinctly marked to
enable an approximate judgment, if not a confident and
exact one. Some continental writers of eminence resort to

\r

ilO

THE AGE OF THE HORSE FROM THE TEETH.

the Tipper nippers as showing the " mark " from the ninth
to the twelth year, but we must confess we have little faith
in their guidance in this respect. We may, however, note
iiicidently that the " bars," * (rough palate) of the mouth
become less and less prominent as age draws on, first losing
rugosity about the ninth or tenth year and becoming less
prominent with advancing age. We may note that stabled
Horses kept on hard meat do not, as might be expected and
has been asserted, show an earlier diminution of this
rugosity of the palate than grass or softer-fed animals ;
this may be due to the active stimulation of a part well
calculated to keep up its bulk and healthy renewal by its
numerous bloodvessels and its protected position.

As a pendant to these remarks, we will present the reader
with a brief summary of the observations of some of the
leading continental and English writers on this important
and interesting branch of horse-knowledge ; beginning with
St. Bel, La Fosse, &c., and pa«=ing to Girard, Blaine,
Percivall, Goodwin, and Mayhew

M. St. Bel, of whom a notice will be found under the
article Eclipse, ante, taught a system averaging two years
between each marked change in the horse's dentition ; and
he carried on his periods at which the " dental funnel," or
mark, was obliterated from each pair of nippers at two years'
intervals Ten years for the front (upper and lower) ; twelve
years for the middle ; fourteen years for the corner nipping
teeth ; were fixed for them to present plane surfaces. These
prolonged criteria of M. St. Bel are now entirely repudiated.
The successive changes wrought on the substance and general
form of the lower or posterior nippers, after the central
funnel is worn out, were early noted as characteristic of the
age to a very prolonged period. La Fosse many years ago
described indications of age to be gained by examining the
figure of the nipping surface of the lower incisors, long after
it has become plane. M. Pessina, professor and director of
the Veterinary Institution at Vienna, carried out a similar
examination to an extraordinary length, and his descriptions
are given with much minuteness of detail. He explains the
gradations of years, beyond the age of eight, uniformly, by
the shapes that the incisors assume in consequence of their
wear ; which has led him to distinguish four successive
periods, " the oval, the round, the triangular, and the
biangular. After the disappearance of the central enamel,
the table presents a coloured point, that appears before the
wear of the funnel is completed, and takes difiierent shapes ;
it is not even uncommon that, in very old teeth, this gives
place to a small black cavity.

M. Girard — who published a capital treatise on the teeth
in French, which has been translated by Mr. Ganly, V.S., and
published, with very poor copies of the plates, in New York
and in London — generalises the criteria of age up to a late

♦ The term " bars " is applied to that firm and dense furrowed sub-
•taiioe which lines the roof of the mouth, and is known as the hard
palate. Its ridges are called the "bars," See post, Anatomt (The
Palate), in Part II. Veterinary Surgery.

period. If we do not quite agree with the professor up to
the last, his observations are worthy of respect and con-
sideration, from his extended experience in the greatest
veterinary school and haras in France. They may be thus,
summarised from eight years. At this age there is usually
complete obliteration of the mark ii- the nippers, the
dividers, and the corner teeth ; in the lower jaw the central
enamel becomes triangular, and nearer the posterior than
the anterior edge of the tooth ; the termination of the
cavity next the root appears near the anterior edge in the
form of a yellowish band, extending lengthwise from one
side to the other. At nine years old the nippers appear
rounded, the dividers oval, and the corner teeth have
become narrow, the central diminish, and approach the
posterior edge. At ten years old the dividers are become
rounded ; the central enamel is very near the posterior
edge, and rounded. At eleven years old the dividers have
become rounded ; the central enamel is hardly any longer
apparent in the teeth of the lower jaw At twelve years
old the corner teeth are rounded ; the central enamel has
completely disappeared ; the yellowish band is of more
extent, and occupies the centre of the wearing surface ; the
central enamel, however, still remains in the teeth of the
upper jaw. At thirteen years old all the lower incisor
teeth are rounded ; the sides of the nippers extend length-
wise ; the central enamel is found to remain in the teeth of
the upper jaw, but it is round, and approaches the posterior
edge of the tooth. At fourteen years old the lower nippers
assume a triangular form, the dividers become long at the
sides ; the central enamel of the upper teeth diminishes, but
still remains visible. At fifteen years old the nippers are
triangular, and the dividers likewise are beginning to
become so. At sixteen years of age the dividers are
triangular, and the corner teeth begin to be the same ; at
the same time the central enamel of the teeth of the upper
jaw also will, in many instances at this age, be found to
have disappeared. At seventeen years old all the teeth of
the lower jaw have become completely triangular ; but, as
we have before noticed, the sides of the triangles are all of a
length. At eighteen years of age the lateral portions of the
triangle lengthen in succession, first the nippers, then the
dividers, and afterwards the corner teeth ; so that, at
nineteen, the lower nippers are flattened from one side
to the other. At twenty, the dividers are of the same
shape. Finally, at twenty-one years of age, this shape
appears in the corner teeth also.

We think the reflective reader who peruses these lines
with an eye to the 8, 12, and 20 figures of our second map,
will see much worthy of remembrance in M. Girard's " History
of Dental Changes." Thus far of the teeth ; we wiU now
pass to other criteria of age.

The indications of age connected with decay are not
equivocal, but show themselves in the sunken eyepits and
dimmed eyeballs. In such an one the lips will also be thin
and pendulous, the under or hinder lip extremely so ;

WHAT IS "AGE" IN THE HORSE.

Ill

the anus, not wedged up by interstitial matter heretofore,
and not sufficiently retracted by its weakened muscles, now
projects considerably. The grey horse becomes white, and
the darker colours become intermixed with grey, particularly
about the head ; the bony processes in every part of the body
stare out, and give a rigidity of appearance which well
accords with the actual state of the body. So much greater
is the absorption of parts now than their increase, that even
the diseased deposits of more youthful times, as windgalls
and bony exostoses, are lessened or disappear altogether ;
the mouth likewise will present some appearances beyond
those noted by the French writers. The incisors are sloped
outwards and project, the upper corner one is often sawed in
two parts by the action of the lower, which, in turn, loses
its outer edge by the wear ; the whole of the teeth become
yellow and stand wide apart at the roots, which are gradually
beiiig thrust up out of the jaw by the filling up of the
alveolar cavities with bony deposit.

It is an absurd piece of pedantry, as every horseman
knows, to date the decay of a horse from his becoming
" aged " in professional phrase. At seven and eight he is in
his full bloom of his strength and fully matured powers, and,
but for inordinate or premature hard work, is at a point of
perfection which will last in full vigour for a period
corresponding •^ith the more extended manhood of the
human being i short parallel will elucidate our meaning,
and show the error of allowing the idea of eight years as
fixing the period of decay in the horse. Blaine is here our
authority : " A very considerable attention to the subject,
over a wide field of observation, has impressed the writer
with the propriety of drawing the following comparison
between the ages of horses and men ; that is, at these
several periods of comparison, the constitution of horses and
of men may be considered as in an equal degree of perfection
and capability for exertion, or of debility and decay, ac-
cording as youth or age preponderates. Thus, the first five
years of a horse may be considered as equivalent to the first
twenty years of a man ; or thus, a horse of five years may
be comparatively considered as old as a man of twenty ; a
horse of ten years, as a man of forty ; a horse of fifteen, as
a man of fifty ; a horse of twenty, as a man of sixty ; of
twenty-five, as a man of seventy ; of thirty, as a man of
eighty ; and of thirty-five, as a man of ninety. So far from
this comparison being too much in favour of the horse, we
are disposed to think it too little so. Horses of thirty-five
years of age are as common as men of ninety, provided it be
taken into the account that there are at least fifty human
subjects for every horse ; and, unquestionably, a horse of
forty-five is less rare than a man of a hundred and ten."

Coinciding entirely with this most experienced veteri-
narian, we may be excused for pursuing the subject a little
ftirther The eight years currently received as the incipient
period of degeneration should be removed another seven
years forward, as regards the powers of the animal in their
natural state. We again quote Blaine : — " To those who are

simply interested in horses on the score of their utility, and
are not called on to certify the exact age for sale, purchase,
or matching, the indications yielded by the teeth are in
many cases less important than those ofiTercd in the
appearance of the wear and tear of the limbs. The practical
judge, instead of refusing what is conventionally termed
' an aged horse,' provided he has limbs undeteriorated, on th«»
contrary, hails an opportunity of possessing himself of such
an one, conscious that the reputed age has produced only the
best effects, by condensing the solid parts of the fi-ame, and
rendering them capable of continued exertion Such an
age is also usually accompanied by a steadiness of tempei
and disposition, that teaches him to employ his powers
judiciously. Where is the foxhunter who fortunately has
met with a nine, ten, or twelve-year old horse fresh on his
limbs, that would exchange his hardihood, his judgment,
steadiness, and method of husbanding his resources, for the
impetuosity, and consequently more early tiring, of the
young horse of five ? What is eight years in the life of a
horse that has been used as he ought to be ? It is, on the
contrary, not too much to affirm that all his ' points,' that
is, all those external appearances or characters on which
his most valued qualifications depend, do not show them-
selves until, according to the conventional notion of age, he
is unfit to be looked at ! Regard the well-marked head oi
the horse at ten or twelve, how angular ! His fine eye,
divested of much cellular matter, now stands out without
a foil ; his thin and thinly clad crest carries itself into
withers which seem to rise to receive it. His circulaj
carcass, trussed up by exercise, unites with hind quarters,
square and muscular, supported on limbs equally well
furnished. Would you refuse such an one because he had
lost a mark from his teeth, when he had gained so nany
superior marks all over ? — marks which make him at once
an interesting and most picturesque object. It is true,
premature age is apt to overtake our horses, becaus«» we use
them as though they could not wear out."

There is no rule laid down by man which nature will
submit to be strictly bound by, either in the material or
the moral world. She will have her wise irregularities, her
apparently wilful exceptions, her " proofs " of the rules laid
down by his limited judgment. Constitution in one horse
is less robust and fails earlier, acute disease levels the
strongest and handsomest, as it takes the best and bravest
among men. Premature old age has come, and will come,
upon the most promising colts ; and the cleverest actuary in
calculating risks in life assurance would find as many
disturbing influences calling for his " averages " among
horses and their " chances of life." The excellence of our
roads enables the horse not only to be put early to work, but
to be called upon for " pace ; " and thus it is that nature,
stimulated inordinately, seeks with her vis medicatrix to
strengthen the overtaxed organs. How she does this is the
subject of veterinary inquiry Inflammation comes on, the
cavities between the tendons and their sheaths are destroyed,

112

WTIAT IS "AGE" IN THE HORSE.

and they become filled up by hurtful deposits ; parte take on
a bony structure whose original formation was cartilaginous ;
as the lateral cartilages of the feet, and the articular
processes of the vertebrae. A greater quantity of ossific
material is deposited on the surface of some bones than is
natural, by inordinate exertion. It is thus that splints,
spavins, ringbones, &c., are formed ; and, to counteract the
unnatural waste, other secretions are likewise preternaturally
augmented producing, in the mucous capsw'es windgalls,
and blood-spavins in the obstructed veins. But where
horses are suffered to attain their full growth and the
complete development of their organisation, if they are
afterwards put to full exercise, not altogether inordinate,
they become competent to the exertions expected of them,
and reach old age sound and vigorous. Many good judges
will not purchase a horse for hunting earlier than eight
years old, and regard him only in his prime at ten or twelve.
It is too little considered that the period of a horse's life,
with moderate care and good usage, is protracted to twenty-
five, thirty-five, and forty-five years ; and an instance lately
occurred of a horse dying at fifty. The accounts of their
being vigorous and strong at thirty and thirty-five are very
numerous, and nearly as frequent as activity in men of
eighty and ninety. Blaine speaks of an acquaintance of his
at Dulwich, near London, who had three monuments of
three horses, who severally died in his possession at the ages
of thirty-five, thirty -seven, and thirty-nine years. The oldest,
it is to be remarked, was in a carriage the very day he died,

strong and vigorous ; but was carried off in a few hours by
spasmodic colic, to which he was subject At Chesham, in
Buckinghamshire, there was a horse thirty-six years old,
which exhibited no symptoms of debility, nor any external
signs of age, except being nearly covered with warts It was
remarkable, with regard to this four-footed Nestor, that
when an unusually hard day's work was required he was
always chosen, as never failing in what was expected from
him. A horse named Wonder, belonging to the riding
school at Woolwich, may be quoted as living to forty years.
Mr. Culley, in his " Observations on Live Stock," mentions
one he knew which lived to forty-seven years, having during
all that time a ball in his neck, received in the battle of
Prestonpans, in the rebellion of 1715, which was extracted
at his death in 1758 : thus, judging him to be four years old
at the time he received the wound (and it is probable he
was more), he must, at his death, have been forty-seven.
But even these venerables were mere babies to the barge-
horse of the Mersey and Irwell Navigation, which was well
known to have been in his sixty-second year when he died.
It is true that these are not very common instances, but it
is not the natural economy of the animal which makes them
uncommon ; it is, on the contrary, the circumstance of
horses being so early brought into hard work, and so
unremittingly continued in active labour.

The subject of Warranty and Unsoundness, will properly
follow these chapters of examining and buying the Hoii-ae,
and the Criteria of his Ape.

HORSE-LAW.— SALE.— DELIVERY AND ACCEPTANCE.

113

CHAPTl^R XI.

H0B8E-L&W : SAIE : DELIVERY AND ACCEPTANCE : EARNEST : SIGNED NOTE : WARRANTY : SALES BY AUCTION : LIEN : FRENCH LA»

CONCLUSION.

The law, as it relates to the buying and selling of horses,
either at the hammer, by private contract, or in market
overt, seems to be totally overlooked in most works
relating to the horse.

Lawsuits, it has been justly remarked, originate less
frequently in the positive dishonesty and bad faith of the
unlucky litigants, than in their gross misconception of each
other's rights and liabilities.

We therefore conceive that an occasional purchaser would
often, by a very slight acquaintance with the first principles
of the law of sales and warranties, be not only delivered
from much anxiety in negotiating this delicate bargain, but
also, in many instances, would escape the misery of being
driven to contend for his rights in the dreaded arena of a
court of justice. Our observations on warranty shall be
preceded by a cursory survey of the general contract of sale
itself

What is Sale. — A sale is defined by Blackrtone to be " a
transmutation of property from one man to another, in
consideration of some price or recompense in value."

To enable society to enforce the obligations resulting
from such an engagement, some marks are obviously
requisite of the mutual consent of the contracting parties
having existed in a serious and deliberate form. By the
Statute of Frauds it is enacted, " that no contract for the
sale of any goods, wares, or merchandize, for the price of
.£•10 or upwards, shall be allowed to be good, except the
buyer shall accept part of the goods so sold, and actually
receive the same, or give something in earnest to bind the
bargain, or in part of payment ; or that some note or
memorandum, in writing, of the said bargain be made and
signed by the parties to be charged by such contract, or
their agents thereunto lawfully authorized."

Delivery and Acceptance. — It is necessary to observe
that a manual transfer, or " actual " delivery and acceptance,
is not in every case essential ; for the law will often, from
certain acts, " imply " a delivery to satisfy the statute.
Thus, in a cs.se where the plaintiff, who kept a livery stable
and dealt in horses, was in treaty with the defendant for
the sale of two horses, and the defendant offered a less sum
than was demanded, but at length sent word that "the
horses were his, but that, as he had neither servant nor
stable, the plaintiff must keep them at livery for him ;" the
plaintiff, upon this, removed them out of his sale stable
mto another stable ; and it was held that there was here a |
1'

sufficient delivery to satisfy the statute. The key to this
and similar cases seems to be, that the vendor, by the term?
of the bargain, is converted into an " agent for the vendee,"
and thus occupies the double character of principal during
the sale, and servant upon its completion. Tt is also
sufficient evidence of a delivery, if a purchaser, with the
privity and approbation of the vendor, exercises any act ol
ownership over the goods, though their local situation
remains unchanged ; as by selling (or even showing the
animal out for sale) to a third person, or marking the
animal in any manner. Delivery to a servant or agent is
equivalent to a delivery to the employer himself

Earnest. — It would seem that giving a piece of money,
however low its value (supposing it to be " altogether parted
with "), is sufficient to bind the bargain.

Signed Note or Memorandum. — It may be useful to
observe that, although the names of both parties must appear
upon the face of the memorandum, or, at least, in some
writing capable of being connected therewith by sound legal
inference, yet the signature of the party sought to be
charged, or of his agent, is sufficien/ And this term
" signature," be it observed, is not here used in the limited
sense of subscription, so as to require the party to sign his
name at the end of the instrument, but is equally applicable
in whatever part the name is written. Whether sales by
public auction are within the Statute of Frauds has long
been a disputed point ; the later opinion is in favour of
their being so ; and it, therefore, becomes necessary to
mention here that the auctioneer is, in such sales, the
" agent " of " both " parties.

Upon the regular completion of the sale, the property in
the article is transferred to and absolutely vested in the
vendee ; and the purchaser thenceforward stands by all
risks, and is the sole sufferer from any injury which may
happen to the animal, otherwise than through the negligence
of the vendor. As in the example given by Blackstone : If
A sells a horse to B for ^10, and B pays him earnest, or
signs a note in writing of the bargain, and afterwards,
before the delivery of the horse or money paid, the horse
dies in the vendor's custody, still he is entitled to the money,
because by the contract the property is in the vendee."

But although the right of property is thus absolutely
transferred by the contract, yet, unless payment be expressly
postponed to a future day, the buyer will not be entitled to
" possession " without tendering the stipulated price.

114

HORSE-LAW.— WARRANTY.

Warranty. — We now come to the important doctrine of
Warranty, which is thus summed up by Coke : " By the
dvil law, every person is bound to warrant the thing that
Q8 sells or conveys, although there is no express warranty ;
but ths common law binds him not, unless there be a
warranty, either in deed or in law, for caveat emptor : the
meaning of which Latin expression is, that the buyer takes
the article sold with all its defects, and must not look to
the law for any redress if its intrinsic worth do not corre-
spond with its outward appearance. It cautions the buyer,
therefore, according to the Italian proverb, 'that hs has
oeed of a hundred eyes, but the seller of only one.' "

By the law of England, warranties are divided into
" express " or " implied : " the latter, however, differ in no
respect from the former except in the circumstance of
"proof" The intention to warrant is collected from the
whole circumstances proved, and as a legitimate deduction
from them, like the presumption of any other part not
established by direct evidence ; while the " express " war-
ranty is proved by direct and express testimony to the fact
itself. To give a single instance : In Jones v. Bowden, it was
proved to be the uniform course and habit of dealing in a par-
ticular place, if the article were sea-damaged, to state that
fact on the sale of it : a sale was made without any such state-
ment, and it was therefore held that the article was war-
ranted not sea-damaged This was an " implied " warranty.

A warranty can only exist as a term and condition of
the contract of sale, into the very essence of which it so
completely enters, that a breach of it entitles the buyer to
"■;reat, if he pleases, the whole contract as a nullity. It
constitutes part of the inducement or consideration for the
purchase. It follows that, for a warranty to be valid, it
must exist or be made " at the time " of the sale ; or, at
least, that, being agreed to be made before, there should be
an understood reference at the actual sale to that agreement.
As, for instance, if previous to the time of sale, the vendor
says he " will " warrant the goods, and having named his
price, gives the vendee two or three days to consider of it,
md the vendee then agrees to purchase, the warranty,
though only made hypothetically, is tacitly incorporated
into the terms of the sale, and is a valid warranty.

But a warranty made " after " the completion of the sale
is of no value whatever, being without any consideration.

From these premises also, coupled with the rule that
where a contract is reduced to writing, the writing is the
sole legitimate evidence to prove its terms, we may further
deduce that an oral warranty made previously to a sale by
written contract, but not inserted in the instrument, will
not be valid Thus in Pickering v. Dowson, Gibbs, C. J., says,
" I hold that if a man brings me a horse and makes any
representation whatever of his quality and soundness, and
afterwards we agree in writing for the purchase of the horse,
that shortens and corrects the representations ; and what-
ever terms are not contained in the contract do not bind
the seller, and must be struck out of the case."

It is also a rule of law, that where a commission is given
to execute any work, every power necessary to carry it on
will be implied. A servant, therefore, employed to sell a
horse, has an implied authority to warrant that it is sound ;
and in the case of a "general" agent — for example, the
servant of a livery-stable keeper — this warranty will bind
the master, though made contrary to his express directions ;
and, in every case, the warranty of a servant or agent, so
entrusted to sell, will bind the principal, if he do not
expressly prohibit it being made.

With respect to what declarations of the seller will amount
to a warranty, the primary rule for the interpretation ol
contracts in general is applicable. It depends upon the
" intention " of the parties.

Thus, a simple affirmation of the goodness of an article is
a warranty, provided it " appear to have been so intended ;"
whereas the sublimest epithets that seller ever employed to
recommend his goods to a credulous buyer, will be regarded
as the idle phraseology of the market, " unless an intention
to warrant actually appear." For example, when the vendor
declared at the time of sale, that he " could " warrant, it
was held to mean that he " would " and " did " warrant
So when the seller affirms that the goods are his property,
he is held to " warrant the title." And, on the other hand,
when at the time of sale the seller showed the buyer a
written pedigree, which he had received from the person of
whom he bought the horse, and said he sold him according
to that pedigree, the mark being out of his mouth when he
bought him, and the pedigree was proved to be false ; it was
held that this was no warranty. No general rule, therefore,
can be laid down further than this — that it is from the
" intention " of the parties, as collected from the whole
transaction, and from the meaning they appear to attach to
particular expressions, that the existence or non-existence
of a warranty is to be inferred.

But the most important part of our investigation relates
to the " extent " of the warranty. We must here observe, in
the first place, that although a warranty may be made to
extend to temper, freedom from blemish, age, aptitude for
particular work, and many other similar qualities, as well as
to soundness ; yet, unless expressly so extended, it will be
construed to apply to soundness alone. Thus, when an
ambiguity arose from the insular position of the word
" warranted " in the following notice : — " To be sold, a black
gelding, five years old ; has been constantly driven —
warranted," the warranty was held to apply to soundness
alone.

" Unsoundness " is a term the exact limits of which are
not very clearly defined. According to Lord EUenborough,
any infirmity which renders a horse less fit for present use
or convenience, is an unsoundness. This doctrine was laid
down by his lordship in a case which turned upon an alleged
lameness, and wherein it was admitted by a witness for the
defendant, that one of the fore legs had been bandaged,
because it was weaker than the other : upcn this admission,

HORSE-LAW.— WARRANTY.

115

the verdict in favour of the plaintiff seems to have been
founded ; and it was then observed by the court, " to
constitute unsoundness, it is not essential that the infirmity
should be of a permanent nature ; it is sufficient if ' it
render the animal for the time unfit for service : ' as, for
instance, a cough, which renders it for the time less useful,
and may ultimately prove fatal." Now this decision appears
to contradict a prior one, in which Eyre, C. J., held, that a
slight lameness occasioned by the horse having taken up a
nail at the farrier's was not an unsoundness. This learned
judge, in his observations to the jury, remarks : — A horse
labouring under a temporary injury or hurt, which is capable
of being speedily cured or removed, is not for that an
unsound horse within the meaning of the warranty. If
these decisions are not to be regarded as conflicting, one
deduction ought possibly to be, that such slight injuries as
proceed from external causes, and are with moral certainty
to be speedily and effectually cured, do not fall under the
head of infirmities, which term properly comprehends such
diseases only as may without much improbability hang by
the animal through life, while they impair his present
usefulness

"Crih-hitvny," in its incipient state, has been held to be "no
unsoundness " ; but when inveterate (and interfering with
the health of the animal) it then falls within the meaning
of the term.

It is commonly asserted that a warranty will not bind
when it is obviously false. The instance given being that of
a horse warranted sound, when it is apparent that he is
blind ; and for this doctrine, the venerable argument, which
makes so conspicuous a figure in legal logic, is usually
urged — for that it is his own folly. " For that it is the
other's roguery," might, we think, be an argument of
greater cogency the other way, unless knaves in this coun-
try are to be regarded with peculiar favour, like idiots in
Turkey. We apprehend that this rule — if any such
indeed exist — is one of presumption only, it being inferred
that both parties meant to exclude the particular defect
from the warranty. The case of Shillitoe v. Claridge,
however, goes far towards disproving the existence of such
a rule.

Let us now consider how the rights of the parties are
affected by the horse being unsound at the time of warranty.
The contract being thus broken on the part of the seller, it
is at the buyer's option either to treat it as a nullity, and
return the horse, or to retain him notwithstanding, and
bring an action on the warranty. In the former case, the
price paid is the measure of damages which he will be
entitled to recover in an action ; in the latter, the difference
between that price and his real value. If he offer to
rescind the contract, and return the horse, he may also
recover the expenses of his keep ; but in order to this a

See under heading Vicm, pon.

positive tender is said to be necessary. No notice of the
unsoundness need be given to the vendor to entitle the
vendee to maintain the action ; nor is it necessary to bring
the action immediately on discovering the unsoundness.
As in a case where a mare was warranted to be sound,
quiet, and free from vice and blemish, the buyer, soon after
the sale, discovered that she was a roarer, had a thorough-
pin, and also a swelled hock from kicking, yet kept her
after this for three months, gave her physic, and used other
means to cure her. At the end of that time he sold her, but
she was soon returned to him as unsound. He subsequently
sent her back to the seller as unsound, who refused to
receive her, and in returning to the stables she died. He
recovered the full price.

But although such notice be not essential, yet it is always
advisable to be given, as the omitting to do so will furnish
at the trial a strong presumption that the horse, at the time
of sale, was free from the defect complained of, thus
rendering the proof of a breach of warranty more diflBcult.
Common justice and honesty, it has been remarked, require
that the commodity should be returned at the earliest
period, and before it has been so changed by lapse of time
as to make it impossible to ascertain, by proper tests, what
were its original qualities.

To entitle the buyer to the benefit of the warranty, he
must, of course, strictly fulfil the conditions stipulated to be
performed on his part. Thus, if, as is frequently the case, a
condition be introduced into the warranty, that the horse,
if objected to as unsound, shall be returned within a limited
time, no action can be maintained for the unsoundness
without the strict performance of this condition. So where
the warranty was qualified by the vendor by an under-
taking to take back the horse, if, on trial, he should be
found to have any of the defects mentioned in the warranty,
it was held, that the buyer must return the horse imme-
diately upon the discovery of them. When the contract is
rescinded by the buyer on account of the warranty being
broken, the seller has a right to require that the horse shall
be returned in as good condition as he was when the defect
was discovered ; and, therefore, " if the animal fall into a
worse state subsequently to such discovery, the buyer
cannot then return him, but must rely on his action to
recover back a proportional part of the price."

There being no warranty, but the purchaser having been
imposed upon, and entrapped into a losing bargain by the
artifices or wilful misrepresentations of the seller, his
remedy is an action " for the deceit ; " to support which
" he must prove a fraud " to have been committed by the
seller, and also " that it was such as might well impose
upon a person of ordinary circumspection ; " or, in other
words, that " he was deceived and misled by relying upon
the integrity of the seller," in a point where he might
reasonably have placed trust and confidence in bin

" Any wilful misrepresentations by the vendor oi the
qualities of the commodity to be sold, whereby the vendf^

116

HORSE-LAW. -SALES BY AUCTION.

is induced to purchase, falls -within the legal idea of fraud,
and will vitiate the contract," as being a breach of that
good faith which ought to reign throughout every commer-
cial transaction. This is called " fraud in words." Thus, if
A, knowing his horse to be broken-winded or lame, induce
B to purchase, by an assurance that he is sound in wind and
limb ; then, although A may have expressly refused to
warrant, B wiU nevertheless be entitled to recover from A
in an action for the deceit. It is obvious, however, that
this action could not be here maintained upon mere proof
of the abstract falseness of the representation made by the
seller ; but that evidence of the moral falsehood is requisite
— the seller's " knowledge " of the falsity, which is called in
technical language, the scienter. And herein it is, princi-
pally, that this action is distinguished from actions on
breach of warranty ; for the warranty extends to " all "
faults, " known or unknown " to the seller.

The other kind of fraud may be termed " fraud in deed."
An instance which may serve to exemplify the nature of
those acts of the seller which would fall under this head.
"I remember," says Gibbs, C. J., "the case of the sale of a
house in South Audley Street, where the seller, being
conscious of a defect in the main wall, plastered it up, and
papered it over ; and it was held that, as the vendor had
expressly concealed it, the purchaser might recover." To
extend this principle to our subject-matter : — it is conceived
if the vendor were to deceive the purchaser, either as to
colour, which may be easily done by chemical means ; or as
to age, by bishoping the animal ; he would be liable
for the deceit, although no verbal representations had been
made.

Thus tar on the specially dry ground of the law ; we
cannot, however, quit this subject without a few illustra-
tions, which may be of value as not being within the reach
of a ready reference by those " perplexed in the extreme "
as to their " rights " or their " liabilities " in the matter of
sale or purchase of a horse. And first of

Sale by Auction. — In selling your horses by auction you
avoid not only a world of trouble, but obtain immunity
from many prospective responsibilities. This security (al-
though not absolute) against an action at law is something ;
since the judges, a quarter of a century back even, were
getting stricter and stricter in their construction of general
warranties of soundness, and qualified ones do not answer
the purpose of sellers, as they necessarily diminish the
prices obtained. " The owner of a good horse," observes
Mr. Surtees, "has the same advantage of warranting him
sound as he has on a sale by private contract, without
incurring the risk of having him returned at the end of five
or six weeks, or perhaps as many months (unless, indeed, it
can be proved that the cause of the breach of warranty
existed at the time of the sale), while the less fortunate
owner of a bad horse puts him up for public competition,
and though he may expatiate as largely as ever he likes on
his good points, still (if he does not warrant him) he is not

bound to mention any of his imperfections." Nor does
either the owner, or the auctioneer for him, ever do such a
silly thing. Undeserved praise does not lay grounds for an
action. Simplex commendatio non obligat : the buyer ought
not to be such a fool as to believe in laudations, and he
consequently cannot in law procure the sale to be dissolved
on any such pretext — in the absence, of course, of a war-
ranty, either expressed or implied — for there are " construc-
tive " warranties. All this goes to show the advantage which
accrues to sellers by auction ; to buyers the disadvantages
are obvious. It is buying a pig in a poke. To dealers and
such like, who are not a bit better judges than other people,
it is quite a different thing ; for they are the familiars of
the yard — the depositories of the repositories, obtaining
through the servants of the sellers and other channels the
information that enables them generally to know all about
every horse to be brought to the hammer. Then, as to a
trial, of course that's quite out of the question : the animal
is only run up and down a few yards — perhaps, all the
while with a long whip at his quarters ; and all that the
most practised eye can possibly determine with absolute
certainty, is the animal's style of going, with his visible
symptoms of age, of soundness and unsoundness, of shape
and make. But it must, nevertheless, be allowed that "the
eye," as Tom Carlyle philosophically and justly remarks,
" sees what it brings the power to see ; " and, accordingly, a
man who is an observer of horses will form a correct opinion
of a horse's value and capabilities almost in a minute :
supposing, though, all's right and aboveboard in the selling
of the subject shown out and run down the auction-ride a
dozen yards. But this presumption of honesty clearly
implies too much.

The law (through Lord Kenyon) said, in a case of
Meenard v. Aldridge, where the plaintiff brought an action
against the auctioneer because the latter refused to receive
a horse as unsound after the lapse of a second day, that the
action could not be supported. Mesnard was nonsuited.
But no lapse of time bars redress, and an action against the
" owner " is maintainable on good and sufficient grounds.

An action would lie against Tattersall, Aldridge, Dixon,
Gower, or any other auctioneer, for the amount of the horses
or other property confided to them for sale, if they let the
lot or lots go out of their possession without first receiving
the price of them from the purchaser. The law was laid
down to this effect in the case of Brown v. Staton, as on
many other occasions. An action is also maintainable
where any deceit is practised, or misrepresentation is made
respecting the ownership. To sell a horse as a hunter
which has never been ridden with hounds, or to describe a
horse as the property of a man to whom the animal does
not belong — against both of these dishonesties an action
will lie. In all clear cases, both of misdescription as
regards the horse, and of misrepresentation as to ownership,
the law has provided a remedy for the injured purchaser.

It was observed, some twenty years since, that " many of

HORSE-LAW.— SALES BY AUCTION.

117

the owners of horses sent to public auctions are persons
whom fortune has placed in such a situation, that the
difference of price obtained by selling their horses with
warranties and without them is of no importance, and that
many 'vould prefer giving them away to running the risk of
having them returned at a subsequent period as unsound."
What is the case now ? A horse put up at either Tattersall's,
Aldridge's, or elsewhere, is seldom or ever warranted sound.
What was imagined at that period to be a luxury, in which
the rich alone could afford to indulge, is now discovered to
be a profitable course for the million. Hence the univer-
sality of its adoption. Exemption from the plague of
warranty is referrible to this plain cause : that all the
parties concerned do better at the horse repositories without
a warranty of soundness than they would do with it.
Again, as to " the difficulty," if we may use the diploma-
tist's slang, doubtless a great number of desirable horses are
not to be picked up at the repositories — or, for the matter
of that, perhaps, anywhere else hardly. But the number of
really nice animals, sound and fresh, bears a very small
proportion to the number of brutes of screws, used up, stale
things. Tarther, you may go every sale-day for six months
to every repository in London, and during the whole time
of search after the right sort, see scarce a really good goer
even ; or if you do find one, the odds are high that he has
done his work, and is not worth a straw to you. Success,
however, it is not altogether impossible, may crown your
search, Still, caveat emptor : it is not all gold that glitters,
and every stable, as well as every garden, has some weeds.
The latter are occasionally harrowed off — the former drafted
to " the Corner ; " care sometimes, perhaps, being taken
that they are accompanied by other horses in the same
stable much too good to be sold. Therefore, it happens
sometimes, that when the stud of a nobleman is duly stabled
and catalogued, the real thing, in point of fact, is that it is
the weeds only, the refuse of the stable, and not the stud
that is really to be parted with ; the cracks are only
colourable candidates for a new master, their old one causing
them to be bought in.

To return to another " bit of law." If a man is so " infirm
of purpose " as to bid for a horse, and the moment after his
bidding desires it to be considered as no bidding at all, the
law will stand his friend. It will be to him " faithful
amongst the faithless ; " for who would not be ashamed of
being seen beside such a fellow, with his shabby backing-
out ? The loophole of retreat, according to law, is open to
the bidder, and " his bidding may be retracted at any time
before the lot is actually knocked down ; " supposing, of
course, that the conditions of the Scale do not provide
against the contingency. The reason assigned is this : a
contract to be binding must be agreed to by both parties,
and the auctioneer not having signified his by knocking
down the hammer, there is no contract.

Another "bit of law" will surprise not a few. It involves a
▼ery nice point with respect to the instructions given

to auctioneers as to the price for which they are to sell a
horse. An action does not lie against an auctioneer for sell-
a horse at the highest price bid for him, " contrary to the
owner's express directions " not to let him go under a larger
sum named. But an action will lie if an auctioneer is told
by the seller to put the horse up at a certain specified sum.
This is the law ; and to some persons, perhaps, it will be
suggestive of a distinction without a difference. BexweU v.
Christie is one of the precedents cited as a case in point
Mr. Espinasse, in his " Treatise on the Law of Nisi Prius,"
says, " It was resolved in this case, that when a person sends
an article to an auction which advertises to sell to the
highest bidder, with orders not to have it sold under such a
price, an action will not lie against the auctioneer if he sells
it at a price less th'in that so mentioned, as ' such dealings
are a fraud on buyers,' who suppose the lot to be knocked
down to the best ' real bidder.' But it is otherwise, had he
ordered it not to be set up under such a price."

Connected with the point of buying in, is that ot " run-
ning up " the animal to be sold ; and here we have legal
protection for the purchaser beyond what is ordinarily
supposed. Where a horse is bid up by a "puffer," and one
condition of the auction is, that the highest bidder is to be
the purchaser, the vendor cannot recover the price {Pilmore
V. Hood, 5 N. C. 97). The law on this point was fully
considered by the Court of Common Pleas in the following
case : An action was brought by the plaintiff to recover the
value of a horse sold by him to the defendant, at a public
auction at Aldridge's Repository. It appeared that it was
one of the conditions of sale, " that each horse should be
sold to the highest bidder ;" that the plaintiff's groom
attended at the sale on the part of his master for the
purpose of raising the price ; that the last bona fide bidder
had bid £12 \ after which, until the horse was knocked
down to the defendant for £2^, he and the groom were the
only bidders ; and that when the defendant discovered
against whom he had been bidding he refused to take the
horse.

Upon these facts Chief Justice Best said : " I am clearly
of opinion that this action cannot be maintained. I have
long been surprised that the objection has never been taken.
A man goes to a sale, and is told that if he is the highest
bidder he shall have the article. He bids a certain sum, and
a person (employed by the seller) whom he does not know,
attends and puffs against him, and in consequence of that
he is compelled to pay a much larger price than he would
otherwise have paid. Is not this a gross fraud? I am
prepared to nonsuit the plaintiff." It was then proved for
the plaintiff, by the evidence of the auctioneer, that the
defendant was in the habit of attending sales of horses, and
that he knew the plaintiff 's groom was present ; and it was
stated that there was a case deciding that a seller has a
right to have one person to bid for him at the sale, if he
does not do it in order to impose. Chief Justice Best then
tjaid : " I agree that he has such a right, but then he must

118

HORSE-LAW— SALE ON SUNDAY.

declare it by the conditions of sale. I am of opinion that a
person acts in opposition to the conditions of sale where the
highest bidder is to be the buyer, if he employs a person to
bid for the purpose of enhancing the price. In this case the
other person at the sale did not go near the ultimate sum.
It is impossible under these circumstances to say that ^29
was the highest price contemplated by the conditions ; for
the defendant, under them, was entitled to have the horse
at the next highest bidding to that of the only fair bidder"
(Crowder v. Austin, 2 C. & P. 208). The Court of Common
Pleas, on a motion for a rule, confirmed Chief Justice
Best's ruling at nisi prius ; and Justice Park said : " I
entirely concur in the opinion expressed by Lord Mans-
field ;" as to which Lord Kenyon, in Howard v. Castle (6 T.
R. 634), said : 'The whole of the reasoning of Lord Mansfield
in Bexivell v. Christie is founded on the noblest principles of
morality and justice, — principles that are calculated to
preserve honesty between man and man. The circumstance
of pufFers bidding at auctions has been always complained
of If the first case of this kind had been tried before me,
perhaps I should have hesitated a little before I determined it ;
but Lord Mansfield's comprehensive mind saw it in its true
colours, and made a precedent which I am happy to follow."
And this decision has been further confirmed by a recent
case in the Court of Exchequer (reported in the Law
Journal, vol. xv. N. S., Exch. 230), where it was held that in
" a sale by auction without reserve, if a pufi'er be employed
without notice of his being there to protect the interest of
the seller, the sale is void."

It is necessary here to warn the horsedealer that there is
one point in which the luminaries of the law have decided
he must not act " like a gentleman " if he would not lose his
horse or his money. Thus, in Fennells v. Ridler (5 Barne-
wall and Cresswell, 406), the plaintiffs, horsedealers, sold
defendant a horse on a Sunday, and Mr. Justice Bayley
said, under the 27th of Charles II. c. 7, the plaintiffs could
not maintain the action.* But if you are not a horsedealer
the case is different. Sabbath-breaking is an indulgence
extended exclusively to " gentlemen," in so far as horse-
mongering is concerned. In Drury v. De la Fontaine, it
being shown that neither of the parties was " exercising his
ordinary calling," — and were merely cheating each other as
'gentlemen," en amateur, — Chief Justice Mansfield declined
to apply the statute of the pious Charles. There is another
case in confirmation of this view, reported in the books as
that of Bloxsome v. Williams. In this case. Justice Bayley
said : " When neither of the parties is a horsedealer, a con-
tract between them for sale of a horse is good, though made
on a Sunday. But if a party take a warranty on a Sunday
from a person he knows to be a horsedealer, he cannot sue

♦ The statute of that exemplary monarch is " An Act for the Better
Observanoe of the Sabbath," aud forbids any tradesman, artificer, &c.>
to " pursue hia ordinary calling on the Lord's Day."

upon breach of that warranty." The cases upon this point
may be found in Mr. Oliphant's book, and fully prove the
Frenchman's satire, avec le del il a des occomTnodemens—
even in the matter of keeping holy the Sabbath day.

From this digression we will return to warranty, un-
soundness, and vice.

The most definite of legal dicta to be found on the
general nature of unsoundness are contained in a couple of
cases. The first was an action of assumpsit brought on a
warranty ; and under the direction of Mr. Justice Erskine, at
the trial, a verdict was found for the plaintiff. In refusing
a rule for a new trial Mr. Baron Parke said, " The rule ]
laid down in Coates v. Stephens is correctly reported ; that is
the rule I have always adopted and acted on in cases of
unsoundness : although, in so doing, I differ from the con-
trary doctrine laid down my by brother Coleridge in Balden v.
Brogden, I think the word 'sound' means what it expresses,
namely, that the animal is sound and free from disease at
the time he is warranted sound. If, indeed, the disease
were not of a nature to impede the natural usefulness of the
animal for the purpose for which he is used, as for instance,
if a horse had a slight pimple on his skin, it would not
amount to an unsoundness ; but even if such a thing as a
pimple were on some part of the body where it might have
that effect, as for instance, on a part which would prevent
the putting a saddle or bridle on the animal, it would be
different." * » • " An argument has, however,
been adduced from the slightness of the disease and the
facility of cure ; but if we once let in considerations of that
kind, where are we to draw the line ? A horse may have a
cold which may be cured in a day ; or a fever, which may
be cured in a week or a month ; and it would be difficult
to say where to stop. Of course, if the disease be slight
the unsoundness is proportionably so, and so also ought to
be the damages : and if they were very inconsiderable, the
judge might still certify under the statute of Elizabeth, to
deprive the plaintiff of costs." * • • g^ ^^

the question of law, I think the direction of the judge
in this case was perfectly correct, and that this verdict
ought not to be disturbed. Were this matter presented to
us now for the first time, we might deem it proper to grant
a rule, but the matter has been, we think, settled by previous
cases : and the opinion which we now express is the result
of deliberate consideration."

Upon the same point Baron Alderson said, " I am of tht
same opinion. The word ' sound ' means ' sound,' and th<
only qualification of which it is susceptible arises from the
purpose for which the warranty is given. If, for instance, a
horse is purchased to be used in a given way, the word
' sound ' means that the animal is useful for that purpose :
and ' unsound ' means that he, at the time, is affected with
something which will have the effect of impeding that use.
If the disease be one easily cured, that will only go in miti-
gation of damages. It is, however, right to make to the
definition of unsoundness the addition my brother Parke

HORSE-LAW.— UNSOUNDNESS.— SERVANT'S WARRANTY.

11»

has made, namely, that the disqualification for work may
arise either from disease or accident ; and the doctrine laid
down by him on this subject, both to-day and in the case of
Coates V. Stephens, is not new law ; it is to be found
recognised by Lord EUenborough and otherjudgesinaseries
of cases."

The rule as to unsoundness applies to cases of disease and
accident, which from their nature are only temporary, it not
being necessary that the disorder should be permanent or
incurable. This is laid down as law by Lord EUenborough
in Elton v. Brogden, and Elton v. Jordan ; also by Mr.
Baron Parke in Coates v. Stephens, and by the Court of
Exchequer in Kiddell v. Burnard, although Mr. Justice
Coleridge in Balden v. Brogden was of a different opinion.

A vice is a bad habit, and a bad habit to constitute a vice
must either be shown in the temper of the horse, so as to
make him dangerous, or to diminish his natural useful-
ness ; or it must be a habit decidedly injurious. to his
health.

The soundness or unsoundness of a horse is a question
peculiarly fit for the consideration of a jury, and the Court
will not set aside a verdict, on account of there being a pre-
ponderance of evidence the other way ; and they should
consider whether the efiect said to proceed from the alleged
unsoundness, is such an effect as in the eye of the law
renders a horse unsound. It is also a question for them,
whether a horse warranted sound was at the time of delivery
rendered unfit for immediate use to an ordinary person, on
account of some disease. And in case of vice they should
consider, whether the effect alleged to proceed from a
certain habit is such an effect as the law holds to be a vice
in a horse

Whether curbs, crib-biting (see ante, p. 259), or some
other drawbacks, do or do not, according to law, constitute
unsoundness, are vexed questions which conflicting verdicts
have left sticking in the clay of litigation, the law all the
while looking on, but doing little or nothing to settle points.
To address ourselves to the ventilation of such debateable
matters would take up too much time and space. All we
can say on the subject is, that the law in relation to the
buying and selling of horses is by no means in a satisfactory
state. This glorious uncertainty is, perhaps, partly attribut-
able to the profound ignorance of most of our judges of the
actual status quo of the animal economy of horses, and of a
thousand things besides, of and concerning horses, that can-
not possibly be learned either in chambers, in banco, by an
occasional ride in Rotten-row, or even by a run now and
then with the beagles of old Sir Peter, or the harriers of
young Paceleft But whether or not our law judges are
good judges of horses, knowing all about, or nothing at all
about, the ills to which the animals are heirs and heiresses,
it is certain that no person, learned or unlearned in the law,
can a priori precisely say how the judge will direct the jury,
and whether the verdict will be for the plaintiff or the
defendant. As prevention is proverbially better than cure,

it is prudent never to warrant a horse either by word of
mouth (and mind, if your groom does, it is just the same as
if you yourself did it ; for the law says. Qui facit pet alium
facit per se), or by a written receipt

The mentioning a receipt recals one framed by Mr. Surtees,*
who observes, that if a buyer cannot induce a seller to be
nailed in black and white, after the stringent fashion pre-
scribed in his formula, he should get as much of it put in ae
the seller may be soft enough to insert ! The form recom-
mended by the learned " gentleman " is this : —

"Horncastle, Jan. 1, 1862.

" Received of A. B. the sum of pounds for a chesnut

gelding, which I hereby warrant to be only six years old last
grass (sic in orig.) ; and also that he is sound and free from

vice, restiveness, and faults (particularly ) ; and that

he is quiet to ride and drive, without blemish."

As we have mentioned Surtees' book, we will revert to
the question as to how far the servant's warranty binds the
master. In the case of Pickering v. Bush, Mr. Justice Bayley
said — " If the servant of a horse-dealer, with express direc-
tions not to warrant, does warrant, the master is bound,
because the servant, having a general authority to sell, is in
a condition to warrant, and the master has not notified to
the world that the general authoritv is circumscribed-"
However, in an analogous case of Fenn v. Harrison, where
the above opinions were quoted. Lord Kenyon doubted the
propriety of a master's being bound by his servant's warranty,
and said he thought the maxim of respondeat superior
applied. In Eelyear v. Hawke, Lord EUenborough said —
" I think the master having intrusted the servant to sell, he
is intrusted to do all that he can to effectuate the sale ; and
if he does exceed his authority in so doing, he binds his
master." The circumstances of the casp were these : — The
liorse had been inserted in Tattersall's catalogue, but was
not brought to the hammer, and Helyear afterwards, having
the catalogue in his hand, inquired of Hawke's groom, who
had the care of the horse, if the horse was but seven years
old, and if free from vice ; to which the latter replied " Yes,
if you have him." And upon an objection to this evidence
being received to bind the master. Lord EUenborough said —
" If the servant is sent with the horse by his master, and
the horse is offered for sale, I think he thereby becomes the
accredited agent of his master, and what he has said at the
time of sale, as part of the transaction of selling, respecting
the horse, is evidence ; but an acknowledgment to that
effect made at another time is not so : it must be confined
to the time of the actual sale, when he was acting for his
master." It afterwards appeared that nothing had been said
about the price ; and his Lordship was of opinion that it
could not be deemed a complete contract for the sale of the
horse, and would not support a warranty at all Who shall

* In a work On Warranty, now superseded, by lapse of time, by
Oliphant's Law of Horses, of which there is an edition brought down to
recent times, in respect to the adjudfsed cases in the Courts.

120

HORSE-LAW.— VETERINARY CERTIFICATES.

decide when judges disagree? The best way is to write
down the instructions, if the master either cannot or does
not choose to be referred to.

From all that is here set down the common sense
deduction seems to be that warranty should be given only
in very exceptional and rare cases, and that soundness is so
indefinite and complex a thing that it is courting trouble
to guarantee it. Indeed there seems no reason why a person
buying a horse should not act as he would in any other
transaction where there is risk. For instance, a man buying
a house does not merely examine it himself, and then,
because he likes it, buy it with a warranty ; but he takes
his surveyor with him, who points out all its defects, and
then, the purchaser being aware of these, buys it or not,
according to the opinion he forms of its value after they have
been taken into consideration.*

In all cases where a risk is run and an insurance effected,
there are regular rules laid down by which such transactions
are governed Where too a person insures his life he submits

* In The Veterinarian, vol. vii., N. S., pp. 108 — 116, and pp. 162 —
167, is the translation of a lecture on Veterinary Jurisprudence, by
Professor Renault, of the School at Alfort, from which a view of the
law in France as to " warranty and unsoundness " may be obtained.
Our neighbours d'outre^nanche are quite " as mucB to seek " as we are,
though their written law looks plain. The Code Napoleon, arts.
1641 — 1649, chapter ii., § iii., of the Code Civil, attempted something;
but the "anarchy of the law," ^s the Professor terms it, is complete in
the practice of the Courts.

The laws of Sale and Warranty in France are as foUow : —

"Art. 1. The vendor (providing he gives a warranty) is held respon-
sible for all unapparent defects that may render the vended article
infit for the required purposes, or so diminish that fitness that the
purchaser, had he been aware of their existence, would not have
bought it at all, or else not at so high a price.

"2. For self-apparent defects, such as the buyer could not fail to
discover, the vendor is not responsible.

" 3. But for such as are not perceptible, even though he was ignorant
of their existence himself, still is he amenable, unless stipulated that
he would not hold himself chargeable with any warranty.

"4. In a case of false warranty, it is at the option of the purchaser
either to return the article and claim back the price of it, or to retain
it and claim the restitution of such proportion of the original cost as
shall by judicious arbitration be awarded.

" 5. If the vendor possessed a knowledge of such defects, he is
responsible not only for the return of the price of the article, but for
any damage or inconvenience sustained by the purchaser in conse-
quence thereof.

" 6. But if the vendor was unconscious of them, he will be only
liable to refund the price of the article, and reimburse the purchaser
for any expenses attending the sale.

" 7. If such defective article becomes lost in consequence of its
defectiveness, the loss belongs to the vendor, who will have to return
the price paid for it, as well as make good other expenses incurred by
it : shoidd the loss, however, be the result of accident, it will remain
chargeable to the account of the purchaser.

"8. Any action intended by the purchaser, in such cases as these,
should be instituted with as little delay as the particular case demands,
ajid as is consonant with the customs of the place.

"9. No such action will lie when the sale is one ordered by judicial
authority."

to a regular medical investigation, and no company would
act in so unbusiness-like a manner as merely to take a
person's own " warranty " that he is sound in health and
constitution, and so be put to the proof, in case of his death,
that he was not so at the time he gave the warranty, for this
would lead to endless disputes.

The best rule for a man therefore to follow, in selling a
horse is, this : where the horse is of no great value, to refuse
a warranty altogether, and such a horse is best sold by
auction. Where the horse is of great value, if sound, but
that appears doubtful, then to let the purchaser be satisfied
by a veterinary examination, and so take the responsibility
upon himself Where, however, the seller is confident that
the horse is perfectly sound, and that with a warranty he
would fetch a much larger price than without one, he should
have him examined and certified as sound, &c., by one or
two veterinary surgeons of respectability and experience,
and then, knowing on what grounds he goes, he may take
the risk of warranting him sound.

The vexation and difficulty experienced in horsedealing
arise, in a great measure, from the loose manner in which
such transactions are conducted, and from the thoughtless
manner in which people give warranties ; and we generally
find that the smaller a man's knowledge may be with regard
to horses, the more ready he is to warrant, little dreaming
of the responsibility he is thus fixing upon himself

Mr. Oliphant* thus remarks on

Veterinary Certificates. — When a horse is in the possession
of his natural and constitutional health, and is also in such
bodily perfection as is consistent with his natural formation,
a veterinary surgeon will of course certify him to be sound.
But as there is in most horses some slight alteration in
structure, either from disease, accident, or work, a veterinary
surgeon in giving his certificate had much better describe the
actual state of the horse, and the probable consequences,
without mentioning " soundness " or " unsoundness " at all,
and so let the purchaser buy him or not as he may be advised.
Because in such a case a straight-forward statement would
be made, and a man in the Veterinary profession would not
be called upon in an off-hand manner to decide questions
which are of the greatest nicety, being full of uncertainty,
and upon which no conclusive decision can safely be arrived
at. For we find the greater the difficulty, the more likely
is a decision (if come to at all), to be the result of a slight
preponderance of one over each of many conflicting opinions.

A man will sometimes warrant a horse in consequence of
a veterinary opinion given in an off-hand manner, either
without a sufficient examination of the horse having been
made, or sometimes in the face of actual disease ; for the
giving a warranty seems to be considered quite a trifling
matter. Thus, in the case of HaJl v. Rogerson, tried at

♦ A Treatise on the Law concerning i/or«6s. Racing, Wagers, and
Qaming, By G. H. Hewit Oliphant, Esq.

HORSE-LAW.— LIEN.

121

che Newcastle Spring Assizes, 1847, it appeared that a
witness, who was a veterinary surgeon, had taken off the
horse's shoes, and examined his feet, when he found a slight
convexity of sole. The owner then asked him if he would
be "justified " in warranting the horse as it had been
warranted to him ; the witness then asked him if he was
satisfied the horse " went sound ; " he replied, " Perfectly so ;"
he then said he was justified. On cross examination, the
witness said, " I pointed out a slight disease in the sole, but
thought he would have been justified in warranting him ; if
1 had taken the precaution to see him go, things might have
been different." Su that a veterinary surgeon finding that
a horse has a disease in the sole, and without taking the
precaution to see him go, tells the owner he is "justified"
in warranting. Now the use of the word "justified" shows
that neither of the parties fully knew the amount of liability
incurred by giving a warranty, and it seems as if they had
considered it rather an affair of conscience or honour than
of legal responsibility.

That the veterinary profession feel the greatest difiiculty
in dealing with the question of unsoundness when called
upon for a certificate on that point, will appear from part of
an article on "Soundness as opposed to Lameness," by Mr.
Percival. He writes, " Reluctantly as we enter on this
difficult and much debated question, we feel it our duty to
make some observations on the subject, though these obser-
vations will be rather of a general than of a particular
nature, and have especial reference to soundness, regarded
as the converse of, or opposite state to, lameness. No
person buys or sells a horse without feeling some concern as
to the soundness of the animal ; the purchaser is apprehen-
sive lest his new horse should from any cause turn out
unserviceable or unequal to that for the performance of
which he has bought him ; the vendor is apprehensive,
either lest the animal, in other hands, should not prove
that sound and effective servant he conceived or represented
him to be, or lest some unrepresented or concealed fault or
defect he is aware the animal possesses, may now, in his
uew master's hands, be brought to light.

' Soundness, as opposed to actual or decided lameness (or
us synonymous with good health), is a state too well under-
stood to need any definition or description ; w^en we come,
however, to draw a line between soundness and lameness in
their distinguished form — to mark the point at which one
ends and the other begins — we meet a difiiculty, and this
difiiculty increases when we find ourselves called on to
include, under our denomination of unsoundness, that which
is likely or has a tendency to bring forth lameness. It will
be requisite, therefore, for us to say, not simply that every
lame horse is unsound, but to add these words, or who has
that about him which is likely on work to render him lame.
This will, it is true, open the door to difference of opinion
and equivocation There may, as we have seen, spring up
two opinions concerning the presence even of lameness.
There will in more cases be two opinions concerning that

which is accounted to be the precursor of lameness, or have
a tendency at some period proximate or remote to produce
it ; all which differences are best got rid of by reference to
the ablest veterinary advice. There will be less diversity ol
opinion among professional men than among others, and the
more skilful and respectable the professional persons are,
the greater will be the probability of a happy unison in
their views of the case." {Veterinarian, voL xviiL p. 366.)
Mr. Goodwin, Veterinary Surgeon to the Queen, makes
the following sensible remarks on the certificates given by
veterinary surgeons to the vendors and purchasers of horses.
He says, "it is to be regretted that the members of the
Veterinary profession have not been taught to adopt some
rules for rendering the certificates they are required to give
upon examining horses as to soundness, at least somewhat
similar in the construction and expression of their opinions
so as to render them more intelligible to the persons who
have to pay for them. I am quite aware of the impossibility
of attempting to reduce professional opinions to one common
standard ; but I think that our leading practitioners might
meet together, and agree upon some general principles for
their guidance, that would make their certificates less liable
to the censure aud ridicule they both merit and incur. The
occurrence is by no means uncommon for a buyer to .=end
a horse to be examined by a veterinary surgeon, and, not
feeling satisfied with the opinion he obtains, to send him
to another ; and then comparing the certificates of the two,
and finding them diametrically opposite in their statements,
he finally trusts himself to the warranty of the dealer,
purchases the horse, and at the end of six months has had
to congratulate himself upon the possession of a sound
animal, and the escape he has had in avoiding two unsound
certificates." {Veterinarian, vol xix. p. 88.)

Lien. — A look at "the law of lien" — as it is a kindred topic
to the law of warranty — may not be amiss. A livery-stable
keeper, then, has not a lien on horses standing with him ;
an innkeeper, on the contrary, has ; the latter being entitled
by law to keep the horses in his stable until paid for their
keep. The reason assigned by the lawyers for the difference
in favour of the innkeeper is this :^— The livery-stable keeper
can refuse to receive the horses of any person ; he is a free
agent in the business ; but the innkeeper has no choice.
Willing or unwilling it is obligatory by law upon him to take
a horse in to stand at livery, even though neither the owner
nor his servant lodge at the inn. Of course, horses, like all
other chattels, are liable to be seized at a livery-stable, undei
distraint for the landlord's rent ; and the process of recovery
is not seldom extremely unpleasant, although the result is
pretty certain if people only go the right way about it
Again, if a horse be stolen from the stables of an innkeeper,
its proved value can be recovered from hin_ In the case oi
Wallace v. Woodgate, Lord Wynford, Chief Justice of the
Common Pleas, told the jury that a livery-stable keeper had
not, by law, a lien for the keep of horses, unless by special
agreement with the owner of them ; ard that if they were

12:2

HOKSE-L A W — WARRANTO .

gatislied that there was an agreement to that effect, and that
Wallace had removed the horses to defraud Woodgate of his
lien, then their verdict must be for Woodgate, which they
accordingly gave. It appeared that Woodgate was a dealer,
and had sold Wallace three horses, and taken his bills of
exchange in payment. As well as being a horse-dealer,
Woodgate kept a livery-stable, into which (out of the sale
stable) he removed the horses in question ; but there was no
evidence to show that there was any agreement made that
they should remain there until their keep was paid for.
Wallace was in the habit of using the horses whilst they
were kept by Woodgate, and one day, under pretence of
using them, took them entirely away to another stable.
Woodgate, finding out where they had been removed to, in
the absence of Wallace, repossessed himself of them, upon
which Wallace brought his action ; and the defence was that
Woodgate had a right to retain the horses until the keep
was paid for, he having a lien by agreement

There is yet another phase of the law of warranty we had
nearly overlooked. We give it in the subjoined paragraphs : —

"As to resale by a purchaser with a warranty, where a
purchaser, relying upon his warranty sells the horse to
another, giving a similar warranty to the one he received,
and upon its failing an action is brought against him, and
he gives notice of such failure and action to the original
seller, who gives no direction for defending or abandoning
the cause, the costs sustained thereby will be added to the
amount of the original damage accrued by reason of the
false warranty, and the second seller will be entitled to
recover the sum from the original vendor. It must, how-
ever, be proved that the horse was unsound at the time of
the first sale.

" Where a horse is delivered to a smith to shoe, and he
injures him, an action can be brought. So if he delivers
him to another smith, the owner may have his action
against the latter. And it is said that an action lies for not
shoeing according to promise, if the horse is injured from
the want thereof

" Formerly it was understood, if a veterinary surgeon
undertook to cure a horse of any malady, and through
negligence or unskilful treatment he died or was injured,
that the owner could recover the value of the horse in an
action against the surgeon, without proving any express
agreement, on the ground that whoever undertakes a duty
is bound to exercise proper and competent skill in his
occupation. This doctrine, according to Professor Coleman,
was reversed in an action wherein he was a witness, and bore
testimony to gross mismanagement on the part of a veteri-
nary surgeon ; notwithstanding which the jury, under the
direction of the judge, returned a verdict for the defendant."

As a good typical example of the perils of warranty we
may relate the details of the case of Botterill v. Batty, which
lasted three days in the Court of Queen's Bench, before
Chief Justice Cockburn and a special jury. The action was
brought to recover £250, the price of a four -year -old

chesnut hunter, sold by the plaintiff to the defendant on
the 26th of July, 1861. The defendant paid ^50 into
court, and, as to the residue, pleaded " never indebted."

The horse, whicn was the subject of dispute between Mi
Richard Botterill, of Garton, in the East Riding, and Mr.
John Batty, of Bishop Monkton, near Ripon, appeared to
have been a remarkably fine animal Mt. Botterill bought
it in November, 1860, for ,jP75. It was worked a little in
a light chaise during the winter, and was broken in during
the spring. On the 15th of July, 1861, there was a show
at Leeds, and the horse carried off the second prize. On the
26th of the same month there was a very large show at
Driffield, and the horse carried off three prizes — as a four-
year-old, as a hunter, and as the best horse on the ground.
In the interval between the two shows a little hair had
been knocked off one of the hind legs, either in the railway
truck or by some slight blow from shying at the station.
But the material question did not turn upon the injury,
which was noticed by the vendor and vendee at the time
of the bargain at Driffield, but upon the question whether
the horse was naturally sound or not. Mr. Botterill arranged
to sell the horse to Mr. Batty for £25Q, and to deliver it in
a day or two. Mr. Botterill sent it over to Malton on the
8th of August, and in a day or two it was taken thence to
Bishop Monkton. Within a very few days Mr. Batty sold it
for d£'260 to Mr. Chinnock, near Reading, and Mr. Chinnock
subsequently sold it for ^£"270 to Mr. Collins, a dealer, in
London. Mr. Collins, however, returned the horse, and so
did Mr. Chinnock, and Mr. Batty desired to return it for
unsoundness, or to reduce the price to ^^50, which he had
paid into court, as its full value.

The case for the plaintiff was that the horse was ^jerfectly
sound on the 26th of July, and that any defects now visible
had arisen from subsequent causes, particularly from the
effects of epileptic fits and a wound on the head. It was
not denied that the horse was warranted sound to Mr.
Batty, and Mr. Botterill relied upon the evidence of Pro-
fessor Spooner, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Holmes, and other high
authorities on horses who saw the animal at Driffield, and ;
proved that at that time there were no indications of un- !
soundness. Mr. Holmes had a horse competing with the
chesnut at Driffield for the prize, and if there had been
any sympton of disease it would have been a disqualifica-
tion. Mr. Holmes's horse took the second prize, and he
said he should certainly have called attention to any defect
in the chesnut had any been distinguishable on t>'e day of
the show, which was also the day of the sale.

The case for the defendant was that the horse was na-
turally unsound or affected with hereditary disease when
Mr. Botterill sold it at Driffield, and Mr. Field, Mr. Mavor,
Mr. South, Mr. Varrel, Mr. Cox, Mr. Greenway, Mr. Chin- I
nock, Mr. Brewster, and other witnesses declared most un-
equivocally their opinion that the chesnut was a " whistler,'
had splints inside each hind leg, showed enlargement of the
hocks, commonly called spavin, on both hind legs, and also

HORSE-LAW— "UNCERTAINTY."— CONCLUSION.

123

exhibited a curb on the off-hock. Great stress was laid on
the enlargement of the hocks, and Mr. Field said the disease
had probably existed for some months. No very great point
was made of the curb, and that blemish was attributed to
the accident before the horse arrived at DrifBeld. Mr.
Collins, on discovering the " whistling," sent it at once to
the Veterinary College, and it was there pronounced unsound,
as a " whistler," and having enlargement of the hocks, of
long standing, a little below the usual seat of spavin. Mr.
Varrel, the assistant professor, admitted that the horse was
not now a " whistler," and the enlargement of the bones of
the hind legs was the unsoundness upon which reliance was
placed.

Mr. Mavor (in reply to his Lordship) said that under-
standing that this horse had never done any hard work, he
was of opinion the bony enlargement of the hocks was con-
stitutional, and would therefore take more time to develop
than if the animal had been hard-worked. He examined
the horse on the 28th of October, and he thought the disease
must have existed for at least three months.

Mr. Richard Barker, of Malton, to whom by defendant's
directions the horse was delivered on the 8th of August,
said that in his opinion the horse was not deliverable on
account of unsoundness. The hair was off the leg and the
hock looked large. Mr. Botterill bought the horse of him
for i?75, and promised him if he was lucky with it to give
him something more. When the horse took the prizes at
Leeds and Driffield, witness thought that as a gentleman
plaintiff should have given him £5, but he had not found
time to do so yet.

Mr. W. Rookes, of Exeter, and other witnesses, said that
on the assumption that the horse was spavined it was not
worth more than £iO. Plaintiff's witnesses said that in
their opinion the horse was worth ^£"100 in its present
condition, or ,£'80 even if spavined, though they did not
believe it. They admitted that the horse went lame to-day,
when brought down to Palace-yard for the inspection of the
jury, but they attributed it to the state of its feet. The jury,
after three hours' deliberation, declared their inability to
agree on a verdict, and were accordingly discharged. The
Lord Chief Justice said that in this ';ase every effort should
be made to arrange matters, because it was very likely it
would be tried again with the same result.

This case aptly illustrates that " uncertainty " against
which, " glorious " as it may possibly be, we must protest.
The phases that a horse-case may exhibit, we are perfectly
aware, are all pretty well known beforehand ; but who can
predict the result, we should like to learn? Who can aver

with anything like certainty what the verdict will be 1
unless, indeed, a dealer happens to be the defendant ; then
it is easy enough to give a shrewd guess that the poor devil
will get his " gruel " from a jury of jewellers or drapers.
For our part, we must think that this same "glorious
uncertainty " is signally inglorious and unsatisfactory.
We say, it is rather a serious fact that the hazy state of the
law relating to the warranty of horses leaves a larger
portion of the public, like so many foot-balls of fortune, to
be kicked, and to be made the sport of chance and its
thumbscrews. Every man in the kingdom who either buys
or sells a horse may be robbed " according to law.' He
may be plundered owing to the prejudices of a jury, pushed
out of court by a crowd of stout swearers, and victimized
by the contradictory dicta of veterinary surgeons — who
often sell opinions not worth a straw. Sometimes, though
rarely, the party is sacrificed to the caprice of counsel,
together with the indifference of a napping judge, who sees
plainly enough that the little " law " there is in the case is
entirely smothered by the matter of " fact," and that por-
tion exhibiting such a mass of agglomerated contradictions
as not only to disgust him, but to defy all ordinary
perception to distinguish truth from falsehood. Now, no
system of law, it is clear, can entirely prevent the patent
wrong against which public opinion is roused. What, then,
is to be done in order to get rid of this incubus — of this
morbid, most mischievous excrescence on the law of war-
ranty relating to horses ? This has now become a very
serious question. Sporting men especially ask " How is
such a thing to be remedied ? "

For purity of administration, there is no place in the
world like an English court of law. But who will deny
that the law itself — always impartially, and, on the whole,
admirably administered — is susceptible of some simplifica-
tion in horse-warranty questions ? Surely there is sagacity
enough at bar and on bench to make it plainer to understand
— to render it more uniform in its results, and less exposed
to the scandal against which the public are in arms. The
fraud and the folly, the clashing and the discord, — the
exhibition of knaves making a harvest of fools, the con-
flicting opinions and contradictory statements that startle
one's common sense almost every day, the chaotic and
unseemly confusion revealed — this state of things, we think,
supplies a valid argument for that reform in the law oi
warranty which the public urgently requires, and which
has no practical effect but to favour the fictions, the
anomalies, the ambiguities, and we may safely add the
frauds, on which the low attorney fatten*

F-'

124

CONSTRUCTION OF THE STABLE.

CHAPTER XII.

THE STABLE : CONSTRDCTION : VENTILATION : LIQHTINO : DEAININO : THE HUNTlNa STABLE, THE LOOSE BOX : STABLE- FITTIHOS !

THE HARNESS ROOM.

Modern researcH and enlightened experience bring us back
from the artificial to the natural — nay, more, prevent us
from confounding two things so essentially different. Our
fathers — those at least who could afford such a luxury to their
quadrupedal servants — baked and starved their "terrible
high-bred cattle " in a compound of their own effluvia, con-
sisting of hydrogen, ammonia, vaporized water, with even
small doses of carburetted hydrogen and other agreeable air-
poisons — and then pointed to their " blooming coats " as
proof positive and irrefragable of their success in producing
" high condition." How often they shortened life, how they
destroyed the respiratory organs, how they filled their stables
with inflammatory disease, let the old farriery books show ;
we have, however, less reliable statistics on this point than
on the frightful loss of human life in the miasmatic dens of
our great cities at the same period. We have scarcely yet,
except in the stables of the wealthy and the enlightened,
entirely overcome prejudice and tradition in this and other
respects ; but we hope yet to see thorough ventilation, light
(without which there is no true cleanliness), effectual
drainage, and moderate temperature, in the abodes of our
most valuable of servants At any rate these desiderata
should form parts of the new " Health of Stables BiU ; " of
which we propose to place the rough draft before the
reader, and which we hope, for the sake of the horse-
constituency and their masters, will soon become the general
" practice " if not the " law " of the land.

We are not about to treat, in this place, of the special
racing stable, in which the first favourite for the " Derby "
or " Sellinger " is brought into form and fettle at three
years old — to fly over about one mile and a half that
he may show his nose first to Judge Johnson, Judge
Marshall, or old White of Nantwich* — but talk about
the fit dwelling in which the serviceable saddle-horse, or
park hack, the useful carriage horse — and, where worldly
wealth blesses the owner, the stout hunter, with as much
blood in him as there is any use for — may be brought out,
each and all, " up to their work," and the last-named animal
fit for a " long day."

♦ Since writing thia, "Old White, of Nantwici'
" chair " for ever

hag left his

The regular huntinir and training stables of large establish-
ments are usually substantial and well-built edifices, and
not a few, such as those at Goodwood (Duke of Richmond's)
at Badminton (Duke of Beaufort's), at Billesdon Coplow, late
[Sh. Lyne Stephens's), in Norfolk, and other places, exhibit
great skill in design, and lavish outlay in construction. As
a town stable, that of the Earl of Shelburne, in Bruton
Street, though necessarily irregular in its form, from its
adaptation to existent surrounding buildings, is a good
example of plain and judicious arrangements, and comfort-
able provision for horse and man. However, as it is prepos-
terous to suppose that all stables can be brought to their
standard of excellence, we will proceed to generalize on the
desiderata of a horse's dwelling.

As stabling the horse is primarily a deviation from nature,
it follows, as an inevitable sequence, that it often paves the
way to disorders unknown, or varying in character from
those of the animal in its aboriginal state. This tendency
can best be obviated by judgment, care, and sedulous
attention.

Space is an important element in stable arrangements.
" Single-headed " stables, that is, those that have but one row
of stalls, should never be less than twelve feet wide ; while
" double-headed " ones should be twenty-four feet, with six
feet six to seven feet each stall, by six feet wide. " Stable
architects," says Mr. Stewart, in his clever work called
" Stable Economy," " have not much to boast of Their sole
ideas are limited to shelter and confinement. If the weather
be kept out, and the horse be kept in, their objects are
attained. If light and air be demanded, the doorway will
admit them. If the horse has room to stand, it matters
little though he have none to lie ; and if you can get him
into the stable, what consideration is it, though his loins be
strained, or his haunch bruised in getting out of it?" Nar-
row stalls are highly prejudicial to horses ; back-sprains are
often produced by them in the attempt to turn the horse in
his stall : whenever this is less than six feet wide, caution
the groom always to back the animal out of it. Swinging
bars or bails are highly objectionable, from the temptation
to horses to play with each other, and to kick under or over
them, according to height. They are also objectionable,
inasmuch as horses vary as much as human beings in
quickness of eating, and the tardy masticator gets robbed of
his food by the rapid swallower.

THE STABLE.— THE TEMPERATURE.

126

Heat and cold should be graduated by the thermometer :
the feeling of a groom or owner is a very fallacious guide.
In summer 65° to 68° as a maximum, if possible, and in
winter never below 50° With horses, however, that must
be kept up to the bright coat, we may spring a few degrees,
and say 68° as an average. As temperature is intimately
mixed up with ventilation, and that with light, it is desir-
able to have the stables sufficiently airy without cold or
draughts. It is taught in the old books that the horse, and
the blood-horse especially, being originally the denizens of a
torrid country, require not only warmth but heat in this
northern latitude This notion was formerly carried to a
most mischievous extent. Moderate warmth is doubtless
congenial to all horses ; but a high temperature is only
permissible in a stable to produce and maintain the artificial
state to which our summer-flyers of Oriental descent are
brought for their few speedy strides over the turf, on the
rare occasion of their carrying the silken jacket and its
light-weight wearer. Such animals have their clothes on
when led or ridden to paddock, or tan-gallop, close to the
door of their country seat whereat they train and exercise.
Nevertheless, even in this exceptional class, the excessive
heat, especially in stables where there are several horses, is
by no means necessary or beneficial even to the horse of
stainless blood. Many of these have we seen — the more the
pity ! — who, worn by age, lameness, or accident, or per-
chance rejected for vice, engaged in the meanest and hardest
service ; exposed in all weathers, working in a Hansom cab !
or that heavy town cart known to Cannon Street and
Cheapside travellers as "the phee-a-ton," wherein your
Manchester or Bread Street warehouseman packs his pat-
tern-boxes, his samples, and his goods. Yet do such unfor-
tunate outcasts from aristocratic horse-palaces adapt them-
selves to circumstances, and live to the average period of
the fashionable racer ; proof positive that the respiratory
and secretory organs had kept their efficiency under all the
variations of temperature of our variable climate. In con-
fined stables, where the same air is breathed over and over
again, and where the heat exhales unwholesome effluvia
from every «xcrementitious matter, to clog the lungs and
prevent the due oxygenation of the blood, where, too, the
very food is deteriorated by these exhalations, we have a
large percentage of the diseases which go to swell the
treatises and lengthen the bills of our veterinary professors.
The improvements in the ventilation of the stables of our
cavalry horses have, of late years, wonderfully diminished
inflamed lungs with its perpetual v. s. {venee sedio) in the
veterinarian'? diary. Grease, glanders, and farcy, too, have
decreased in a like ratio. When any epizootic is raging, it
is always found to be most severe and intractable in crowded
stables. Thus, when on board a transport during a storm,
the standings of some cavalry horses were of necessity
battened down, acute glanders immediately broke out
among them, and carried almost all of them ofi"; the
princioal cause of the mortality arising from their own

exhalations. With a full conviction, then, of the prime
necessity of rendering stables moderately warm, but yet
more of the importance of their thorough ventilation,
especially where the standings are numerous, we pass to
the general construction of a stable.

Although stables have not always choice of situation and
aspect, these are often neglected where they are at com-
mand. A south-eastern aspect for doors and windows is
preferable : as dampness of the walls, too, is a fruitful cause
of disorder, some of the methods adopted in dwelling-houses
are worth consideration. Rising damp is a great generator
of miasma, and may be checked by a course of stone laid
in cement, a sheeting of zinc laid on thick plank, or in
coal districts by a quantity of coal ashes or dust, the
least expensive of all. This is for the footing of the
outer wall. We need hardly dwell on the advantages of a
dry stable when the evils of a damp one are so apparent ;
coughs, swelled legs, a rough staring coat, that defies the
wisp and the hissing of the groom, are its constant con-
comitants. In some cases a stove-pipe passed through, or
strewing the stables with sawdust or sand, may palliate
the mischief

Nimrod recommends that there should be no more than
four stalls in a hunter's stable, and that these should have
three horses, being on one side only ; the centre partition
of two being removable, so as to make a loose box 12 feet
by 7 feet ; the stable itself 16 feet wide. A pair of
carriage-horses, in like manner, should have three stalls :
the spare one will be found as useful as a spare bed in a
house, in case of emergency ; one of the partitions also
shifting so as to form a loose box for an invalid. Coach-
horses, however, are generally in a double row, which takes
a general width of 20 feet from wall to wall. Each stall 6
feet 6 inches to 7 feet, by 6 feet wide. Large cart-horses
will need yet more room.

The walls should be stone or brick, the latter the best,
and 9 inches thick at the least — 13 inches are better. They
may be plastered or boarded, the latter the best, up to 3
feet from the manger, and plastered above : although a
smooth-dressed wall is as good as either for utility. The
stable should be lighted from above if possible, or if it is a
single-headed one, from behind the horses' standings : this
avoids glare. If the hayloft is above, lighting from the roof
will of course diminish its capacity, but this is of minor
importance. The ceiling must be plastered, firstly, to
prevent the impure nitrogen and ammoniacal gases from
ascending to the hay and vitiating it ; and, secondly, to
prevent the hay-seed and dust from falling into the horses'
eyes. White, the veterinarian, approves of an unplastered
tiled roof (where there is no loft above) ; but Stewart, a
much better authority, condemns this for any but the
commonest of agricultural hors..8. Where there is a loft
above, 8 to 9 feet are a good height for the ceiling ; which
when too lofty is cold, when too low requires draughts and
currents to too great an extent to be safe for the horses

126

THE STABLE— VENTILATION.

lungs and skin. Where there is no loft, the height should
be greater, or the stable ceiled, otherwise the tiles and
slates will make the stable an oven in summer, and snow on
the roof convert it into an ice-house in winter.

The importance, then, of avoiding sudden and extreme
alternations of heat and cold must be one of the points
studied in the construction of a healthy stable. We have
seen of late years, at the new Palace of Westminster, and in
3ur Law Courts, how our scientific men have alternately
chilled and baked the persons of our peers, the " collective
wisdom " at St. Stephen's, and the frequenters of our Courts
of Justice. Sometimes this has been effected by hyper-
borean blasts through pierced floorings, or ascending currents
through cocoa mattings, and the like permeable contrivances.
Then, by way of per contra to these draughts of "cold
without," up the trowser-legs of auditors and jurymen — not
forgetting the inflation of the judges' robes — they have
changed the tap, and turned on their " warm with," from
ingeniously contrived furnace-flues, to such an extent, tha,t
it is only a few weeks since a learned judge in one of our
Courts, finding that " science " had fastened up all the
windows of the reeking Court during the blowing of this
sirocco, ordered an attendant to resort to a primitive
mode of ventilation, by smashing the window-pines. We
fear the remedy was about as bad as the disease. There is
a Spanish proverb —

" When the wind blows through a hole,
Make your will, and take care of your soul ; "

and if this is sound advice to the biped, it is no less so to
the keeper of the quadruped. Change from one extreme to
the other must be carefully guarded against. The late head
of the Veterinary College, Professor Coleman, however,
inculcated this error in his teaching, on purely " scientific
principles;" which had only one drawback — that such
" principle " was utterly erroneous. He says : — " In the
formation of stables, let the rack be in the centre ; two
apertures, about 3 inches by 2 inches, or 3 inches by 4
inches, should be made on each side, as close to the horse's
nostrils as possible ; and two similar holes at the bottom."
The Professor then assigns as a reason — that " the oxygen
is in largest quantity in the lowest or heaviest stratum ; "
therefore, there will be no draught inwards at the upper
holes. We know difi'erently. The theory reminds us of the
old story of the Merry Monarch, who gravelled the savans
of the Royal Society with the problem of the fish and
bucket of water, which the royal mystlfier suggested added
not to the weight of the vessel and contents while it
supported itself therein by the motion of its fins, but
made so much the heavier, by its own specific gravity,
when it lay at the bottom. The courtier-sages were seeking
a solution for the royal problem, when one boldly said,
'* I deny the fact." " And so do I," said the king, laughing.
The holes near the horse's nostrils are in the same category ;
the wind will blow wliere it listetli, in spite of the stratum I

theory of the Professor. It must, however, be admitted
that the renewal of the air in a stable is indispensable to
the well-being of the inmates ; and the question is — how
this can best be effected ?

Whatever difference of purity may be attributed to the
air of cities and of the country, the degree of agitation of
the air has a marked influence on the extent to which the
chest dilates itself The slightest agitation of the air, when
its state of dampness, dryness, and temperature are properly
adjusted to the system, produces such a feeling of relief and
of pleasure as to dilate the chest immediately, so as to drink
in, as it were, a larger volume of the grateful and genial air.

The operation of heat upon the living animal is always
stimulating ; the operation of cold (or more accurately the
absence of heat) is tonic or debilitating, according to its
application. The animal frame, like inanimate matter, is
liable to have its caloric extracted — abstracted externally —
by the application of a colder medium ; but its inherent
powers of life quickly restore the equilibrium when the cold
has been moderate and of short duration. Indeed, the
evolution of heat generally exceeds the previous reduction
of temperature, as is shown when the body is immersed in
water. The pores in this case are strongly closed, and so
are the extreme vessels on the surface of the body. The
blood is impelled with increased momentum by the heart,
and if the body be now emerged the reaction of the vital
circulating fluid determines it to the surface, and a genial
glow succeeds ; but if the pores be too long closed — if
nature be not thus relieved — and the cold is unduly pro-
longed, the effort to throw off the mischief assumes the
character of general inflammation.

Pure air, then (and, as an accessory, cleanliness), being a
prime necessity to the health of domesticated animals, those
who desire a healthy steed will see to these most important
points. As a simple mode of attaining a full supply of pure
air, two sets of apertures are necessary : one set in the
upper part of the stable, for the escape of the impure and
heated air ; another close to the floor, to admit the pure
and unexhausted air. These latter openings must be so
contrived that the air on entering shall not be directed in a
current on any part of the horses, but diffuse itself gra-
dually throughout the stable. The same rule must be
observed in the upper ventilating apertures ; and, as the
air which has been expired ascends in a direction perpen-
dicular to the horizon, these apertures should be placed
upright. When this is not easy to effect, then they should
be as near the ceiling and as far from the horse's nostrils as
possible. They may be made oblique, which will give exit
to the current of heated air, and protect the stable from
rain and wind. But as, owing to the construction and
confined situation of some stables, or from floors above,
these openings cannot be made, then small tubes may be
opened into the stable, in the ceiling, or as near its height
as possible. These may be carried into a flue to the top of
the building, or outwardly with perforations in the wall.

THE STABLE— VENTILATION.

127

k plan adopted by Mr. Brett, V. S. of the 12th Lancers, at
the barrack atables at Manchester, is described in "The
Veterinarian " (vol. vii., p. 483), which may afford some
hints in the case of stables unfavourably situated ; we shall,
therefore, transcribe it in the writer's own words : — " Sup-
pose a stable to be blocked up by other buildings on all
sides except at its two ends ; in that case I propose to have
a large wooden tunnel, two feet square, running the whole
length of the stable under the mangers ; and if it should he
a double stable, one tunnel under each row of mangers.
These conduits are to come through the end walls of the
stable, and to be open at both ends on the outside, for the
purpose of admitting a thorough draught or body of air
through them This main stream of air is to be equally
dispersed about the stable by means of perpendicular wooden
shoots or chimneys, six inches square, emanating out from
this main tunnel, one at the head of each stall partition.
They should be seven or eight feet high, so as to avoid a
draught on the horse's eyes, and open at their tops like
chimney-pots, and should stand out two feet from the wall.
The rarefied state of the air in the stable will cause a
constant flow of cool air through this main tunnel and up
these chimneys ; and will equalize the temperature of the
stable, and entirely obviate the draught of wind that blows
in at the horizontal holes in the walls of our stables, as at
present ventilated. These perpendicular chimneys may
have one or two other apertures in them besides the one at
their tops, at different heights, that may be opened or closed
at pleasure, to admit air by means of a door with a hinge
and button opening on that side next the wall, whereby a
direct current of air on the horse will be averted. If these
air passages should not be thought sufficient, other horizontal
tunnels, branching from the main one, might run from it at
right angles under each stall partition, and terminate in a per-
pendicular wooden chimney, six feet high at each heel post.
" But supposing the stable not to be blocked up on any
side by other buildings, I would then dispense with the
longitudinal main horizontal tunnel altogether, and break a
hole, two feet square, through the wall, under each manger,
in each stall, and in a line with the stall partitions. Ttjse
apertures should be fitted with square wooden tunnels', each
two feet long, exclusive of the thickness ol the wall, and
closed at their ends which are inside the stable : out of each
of these short horizontal tunnels a perpendicular shoot or
chimney, in height six or seven feet, and open at the top,
should ascend for the admission of fresh cool air. In the
veiling, directly over each horse's head, a hole is to be broken
through for the exit of the contaminated air, and a passage
given to it through the roof by means of perpendicular
wooden chimneys sheltered at the tops by curved tiles, to
prevent the descent of rain on the horses : this could be
effected notwithstanding that either a loft or a soldier's
room were over the stable The whole being of wood,* the

• We ahoold prefer the tunnels of a fire-proof materiE^.

expense would be inconsiderable, and the benefit from f.
thoroughly and equally ventilated stable great. In a troop
stable of sixteen horses the air admitted by the half-door or
window is very unequally distributed : the coats of those
horses next the doors are staring, while the centre horses
can scarcely get a breath of fresh air to inhale. The mode
of air by direct holes in the bottom of stables, though
certainly better than none, is a rude contrivance. The air
rushes in on the animal as he is in his stall, which the groom
perceiving, nevers fails to stop them up with bedding ; and
thus the mischiefs to eyes, lungs, and thence to the blood, go
on increasing."

One of the best methods, where not precluded Dy some of
the circumstances above noted, is as follows : — Revolving
ventilators, as a general rule, we do not approve. A centre
funnel, of large dimensions, should be let into the ceiling, its
larger end downwards : at top of this should be an overhang-
ing lantern, cap, or dome, having at its sides louvre boards
moving on a centre horizontally. These may be regulated
by two cords — one on each side of the lantern — so acting
that the two opposite sides may be opened or closed to any
degree required ; and, if necessary, the windward one inde-
pendently of the leeward, and vice versa. Air may then be
admitted by the upper parts of the windows, as in hospitals,
&c., and will discharge itself upwards : the apertures to be
regulated by season, circumstances, the health >'"'d number
of the horses, &;c. ; extra warmth being indispensable when
horses are shedding their coats, or under physia

We cannot quit the subject of ventilation without en-
deavouring to impress on the reader the importance, nay, the
indispensable necessity of a clear comprehension of its in-
fluence on the animal economy. The respiration must not
be considered, as is too often taught in elementary hand-
books, as a mere chemical process — a simple combustion in
the lungs, in which the oxygen of the inspired air unites
with the carbon of the blood, to form carbonic acid, and
then be expeUed from the system. Respiration is a function
much more complex : it consists of absorption and exhalation
— the attributes of all living and breathing beings ; and,
farther, in the assimilation of two constituents of the
air, oxygen and azote. The living principle is, then,
-par excellence, the breath, and through that the hlood.
The vital principle, then, is more readily acted on by
the lungs receiving impure air, instead of its natural
food, pure air, than by any other circumstance what-
ever. The lungs, let it never be forgotten, are a second
stomach, and the respiration but another form of digestion
When food enters the stomach its nutrient parts are separated
and converted into chyle ; when air enters the lungs its vital
properties are separated to repair the waste and purify the
blood which builds up the animal system. If the stomac!.
receive impure and unwholesome food disease is induced ,
if the lungs receive effluvia from decayed animal or vege-
table matter, instead of pure atmospheric air, then also the
system becomes diseased.

i::s

THE STABLE.— VENTILATION.

Glanders and farcy may be adduced as proving this fact.
Both these diseases are originated by breathing aerial
poisons, and the disease of the blood is the cause of the
ilisease of the solids. When a horse is infected with the
disease called the glanders, he will be found also farcied.
The poison at first develops a local disease, which after a
time travels through the system. In the case of direct
inoculation with the virus, how is the poison conveyed to
the other parts from the original sore but through the
agency of the contaminated blood ?

Quitting, however, a strict medical view of the evils of a
want of judicious ventilation, we would ask any sensible
man to enter one of these hot and pestilential stables at
early morning — when the breath of its quadrupedal occu-
pants has become an almost putrid exhalation, and the
reeking atmosphere damps and saturates the walls — and ask
him whether such an atmosphere must not impair vitality,
deprive the blood of red colour, and thereby render it unfit
to stimulate the heart and feed the other organs through
which it circulates. Reflect too on the deterioration of the
stimulus to the energy of the brain, and thence its evil effects
on the digestion, circulation, secretions, and eventually on the
wind, endurance, soundness, and temper of the animal, and
you will surely see to this important element in the con-
struction of your stable. Mr. Karkeek, whose researches on
aerial poisons are worthy perusal by every one who loves and
values his horse, says on this point : — " We have frequently
observed a kind of balance between the respiration and the
digestion ; and he who is a careful observer of horses in a
healthy as well as a diseased state, must have noticed that
there is a certain balance between the quantity of vital air
received into the lungs, and the quantity of food which can
be digested in the stomach."

We have spoken of the expulsion of carbon from the
system, and the results of some of the experiments of skilful
investieators are too curious and instructive to be passed
over.

An animal of the ordinary size, in a good state of health,
gives off 27^ cubic inches of carbonic acid gas in every
minute ; in 24 hours 89,600 cubic inches (in round numbers
40,000). 100 cubic inches of this gas weigh 46 j grains,
40,000 then will weigh 18,532 grains. A volume of carbonic
acid gas weighing 1 00 grains contains 28 grains of carbon ;
18,532 grains will contain 5,190 grains of carbon or nearly 11
ounces, so that two-thirds of a pound weight of carbon is
daily expelled from the blood and carried off by the process
of healthy respiration.

Lavoisier, the eminent French chemist, gives a striking
proof of the sensible deterioriation of air, where a number of
animals are confined in small space. When the air out of
doors contained 27 parts of oxygen and 73 of nitrogen = 1 00,
the air in the lowest ward of the Central Hospital in Paris
contained 25 parts oxygen, 7 1 nitrogen, and 4 of fixed air =
1 00. Before the play in the theatre of the Tuileries the air
was 27 parts oxygen, 73 nitrogen ; towards the close of the

performance it was 21 parts oxygen, 76^ nitrogen, 2^ fixed
air. Hence in the hospital the vital air had been diminished
as 21 is to 27, or nearly one-fourth. Thus, in all badly
ventilated stables the air contains three fluids instead of two.
the third most deleterious to life and healtL The relative
gravities of these gases may be seen in any good chemical
work.

" As there are a number of bodies constantly abstracting
oxygen from the air, it might be imagined that its relative
quantity would decrease ; but no such diminution takes
place, except in instances, even from some local cause, where
carbonic acid gas is evolved much faster than it can be
removed. The fact is, that, if oxygen be absorbed from the
air by one class of bodies, it is supplied by another. Plants
yield it in large quantities. Thus, by the respiration of
animals, a portion of oxygen is withdrawn, and a correspond-
ing portion of carbonic acid gas is substituted in its place.
By the respiration of plants the carbonic acid is withdrawn,
and an equivalent portion of oxygen substituted ; so that,
by the mutual action of the members of the animal and
vegetable kingdoms, the balance of the constituent elements
of the atmosphere is maintained.

" The blood requires pure air as its food ; the first efiect
of the air is to remove the carbonic acid, which the venous
blood takes up in the circulation, and when this is effected
the properties of the blood become instantly changed. In
the commencement of this process the air is the active agent,
and removes the carbonic acid from the circulation ; but
when this is oflfected, the blood then becomes the acting
power, and attracts a portion of the atmosphere. The pure
air, or at least it ought to be so, then occupies the place of
the carbonic acid, which is just removed."

We shall conclude this subject of ventUation in the words
of Mr. Karkeek, from whom we have quoted the above :

" Against the influence of noxious agents the living body
is endowed with a power of resistance, which afibrds it
security as long as its vital energies continue vigorous; but
when these decline, the very causes which before made no
impression upon it, now prove fatal. Hence, the weaker the
body, the more susceptible it is of the influence of physical
agents, and the less it is capable of resisting the influence of
those that are noxious.

" Air, moisture, and heat are the principal agents which
a living system has to contend with, and it is found capable
of resisting them in proportion to the degree of vitality
which it possesses. When the vital energies fail, putrefaction
ensues, and it is soon resolved into the ultimate element of
which it was first formed. By this process, the stately oat
and the bramble, the creeping insect and proud and
imperious man, pass back to their original and primeval
elements. Thus, to put an animal into ' good condition,' is
to increase the preserving powers, which, as it were, preside
over its economy, repel the attack of injury, and guard it
from the dangers with which it is incessantly surrounded."

Light. — Immediately connected with the subject of venti-

THE STABLE.— LIGHT.

129

Lation is the kindred topic — light, on which we now propose
to say a few words.

Did the reader ever emerge suddenly from a dark cellar,
or cave, or some place whence the sun's rays being excluded,
the "palpable obscure," the "darkness visible," had dilated
the eye to its utmost, in the endeavour to distinguish
surrounding objects? Let him recal the painful giddiness
of the distressing interval when the eye was suddenly called
on to contract, and to accommodate itself to the bewildering
glare. Now suppose, farther, at that instant a stranger, or
even an old friend, had saluted you with a hearty clap on
the shoulder, and an exclamation such as " Halloo, old
fellow, you seem all abroad ! " Should you consider your-
self highly to be reprehended, nay, more, deserving of
corporal punishment, if, under such circumstances, you
started with surprise, mingled with some alarm and bewil-
derment ? Well, then, we have often seen this very thing
done to an unfortunate horse. Confined for hours in a stable,
with just so much light as will suffice to render the outlines
of objects visible after the eye has fully adapted itself to the
gloom ; the principal aperture for the admission of light —
the door — is suddenly opened, the groom enters, and the
coach-horse or hackney is led forth to be dressed. The
horse is, for a few seconds, nearly blind, and painfully so.
He strikes his haunch or stifle against the bar or the door-
post, and instantly is sworn at for his awkwardness ; next
moment he starts from nervousness, at the approach of
some to-him-indistinct object, and he is pronounced a
" starter," " uneasy to groom," fee, &c. ; this character
established, he is, upon such occasions, in the absence of
the master's eye, treated to various little kicks and cuffs,
and sly knocks, with a running accompaniment of objurga-
tion. Can there be imagined a more efficient course of
education to produce " starting," a threatening or vicious
ittitude, or any of the other abominable habits to which
imperfect vision and its attendant panic fear are calculated
to give rise ?

Then, again, the darkness of the stable is, we need hardly
say, a cover for and a promoter of uncleanliness. A good
large glazed window or two, in every middle-sized stable,
would show the inattention or the neatness of the attendant.
Darkness also greatly encourages the fermentation of the
litter, and the evolution of the pungent ammonia so inju-
rious to the eyes of the horse ; leading often to inflamma-
tion, thence to blindness.

If, on the other hand, the stable have plenty of light,
then the part of the wall which is opposite to the horse's
face, and which from either side throws its refracted rays on
the animal's eye, should not be of a glaring colour. The
reflection of a whitewashed wall, where, from its aspect, the
sun shines into a stable, is as injurious to the sight as the
sudden alternations of which we have just now spoken.
The stimulus is most mischievous, as the unfortunate animal
is so situate as to be unable to relieve itself by a glance over
a verdant landscape, or have the comforting sight of a

■brown or drab road, rock, or comnron. Not many years
ago, for instance, at a seminary connected with a certain
religious institution, one of the inmates, a young woman,
was, as a punishment for sundry real or imaginary breaches
of discipline, sentenced to sit opposite a blank white-
washed wall for a certain number of hours per diem. The
result was not exactly what was intended ; the poor girl's
eyes inflamed, the white wall became blood-red to her
tortured vision, and she went incurably blind. This is an
extreme case ; but how many horses may owe their loss of
sight to a want of care in this respect by their masters and
their grooms ? The fading light of day will usually bring
the hour of rest. When, however, the hours of the
horse's labour are at night, something approaching the
dimness of twilight seems most grateful and natural to the
animal, and to induce feeding and repose.

The Floor. — As to the slope to be given to the floor of each
stall, many of the older stables have an undue declivity to the
drain ; although the rapid carrying off of the urine is cer-
tainly desirable, yet too rapid a slope strains the back sinews,
and is not an unfrequent cause of occasional lameness. Mr.
Lawrence illustrates this by a clear example, founded on a
just observation of the horse's foot as campared with the
human leg. " If the reader," he says, " 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
endeavours to find his level, either by standing across his
stall, or else as far back as his halter will permit, so that
his hind-legs may meet the ascent on the other side of the
channel." Blaine, too, judiciously remarks : —

" In the stables of dealers in carriage-horses, an ascent in
the standings of nearly two inches in the yard is sometimes
made, to give a greater appearance of height to the yet
unfurnished four-year old horses, which are thus often passed
upon the unwary as horses of five years old Is no strain
put upon their legs ? Our experience, which has been some-
what extensive in these matters, convinces us that the
inequality in the standings of horges is a fertile source of
contraction of the feet. What but the pain and inconve-
nience which follow an uneven position occasions horses,
when not feeding, to be so frequently found standing across
instead of lengthways in their stalls ? How frequently also
will the horse boxed in a stall be found with his croup
turned towards the manger ? To avert these evils, and yet
to prevent the retention of the urine, the smallest possible
slope should be allowed, which should proceed uniformly to
the bottom of the stall A central grating with a jess-pool
is an imperfect remedy for the evil ; for there must still be i
general inequality of surface to carry the urine to the centre.
It is farther injurious by retaining the urine we wish to
avoid, and moreover it promotes a draught of cold air from
without, if it be so constructed as to carry the urine out of
doors. It may also be remarked that a central cess-pool is
utterly useless for mares. It is therefore the best plan to

130

HUNTING STABLES AND THE LOOSE BOX.

furnish each stall with a grating placed over a small
trapped drain, at the foot of each stall, which will carry
oflF both the urine and the washings into one general
cess-pool out of doors, and from which, being stopped by the
trap, nothing offensive can pass up through the gratings."

HUNTING-STABLES AND THE LOOSE-BOX.

A short look into the hunting-stable will properly intro-
duce the subject of the loose-box, and prevent repetition
elsewhere. Of course, we do not mean here to enter upon
the vexed question with which " Nimrod " so long agitated
the equestrian world, as to " summering the hunter " on the
" hard-meat," or on the " green-soiling " system, but to say a
few words on the hunting-stable and its occupants. The
humane sportsman desires and delights in the good treatment
of the gallant animal that bears him in the chase, and the
arrangements of the best stables in the kingdom — those of
the Queen, the Billesdon Coplow, the Craven, Mr. Lyne
Stephens, and the late Thomas Assheton Smith, Esq. (see
" Diary of a Huntsman ") — shall furnish the bases of our
hints.

The Billesdon stables (See Ground Plan on PlateJ
were built by Lord Suffield to accommodate forty-one
horses, and contain thirteen boxes, each nine feet by
fourteen, with four feet space behind, and twelve feet
high. There are twenty-four stalls, each six feet two
inches wide, by eighteen feet deep, and twelve feet high.
There are, besides the hunters' stalls, four stalls for hacks, a
coach-house, hay and straw -rooms, a granary, a forge, a
saddle-room, dressing-room, and a covered ride. The mangers
are divided into two parts, one for corn, and the other for
hay-j ihat intended for corn does not reach the wall by
more than half a foot — that which receives the hay, on the
contrary, extends to the wall, or is bottomed with a grating,
which lets the hay-seeds, dust, &c., drop through. This is
valuable to the owner of grazing land in the neighbourhood,
who is thus benefited by a large saving of useful seed. The
general width of the stable being eighteen feet, and the
depth of the boxes fourteen, a passage of four feet is left
around the inner area; but the doors of the boxes are so
made that, in cases of sickness, or much ventilation being
required, they can be made to continue the sides of the box
up to the whole eighteen feet, an advantage in many instances.
The benefits of a forge on the premises in large establish-
ments are obvious, the horses are saved from colds, so often
caught while waiting in the open forge of the blacksmith ;
it farther prevents that ill-treatment and teasing at the
smithy, which oftens ruins the temper of many a valuable
horse ; and, lastly, the excuse of the servants for often
absenting themselves on these gossiping, and often drinking
or skulking expeditions, is taken away. This last advantage
is more important than at first sight it may seem.

The Loose Box. — A loose box is an immense comfort to a
horse after a day's hunting, or a hard journey in saddle ; he
can lie in any position that he may find gives the greatest

ease to his wearied limbs ; and if put into one the night
before he is to go hunting, it ensures him a sound night's
rest undisturbed by other horses, or persons passing through
the place. It is true that this luxury of stretching their
legs is not required constantly or generally by horses ; for,
though, after a hard day's hunting, a horse may, at times,
be found lying on his side, with his legs stretched out at
full length, he must be very tired or very ill to have
recourse to such an unusual position. The reason for this
is that the roundness of a horse's ribs is such that it is a
most uncomfortable and unnatural position for him to lie on
his side for any length of time. A horse in good health,
under ordinary circumstances, will never be found on his
side ; he is either ill or has had an accident, when you find
him so. Harry Hieover has some very sensible remarks
upon the subject of boxes, which we shall take the liberty
of condensing. Having said so much on the formation and
structure of boxes, and having pointed out under what
circumstances they are most needed, let us see how far they
are applicable and useful in general stable practice.

We need not insist upon the fact that the habit and
disposition of the horse are those of a very social animal ;
and although being quiet and alone may at times be good
for him, as it is to a sick man, yet solitude, if long
continued, is a severe and irksome punishment to him.
Any one who has watched the " knuckering " of a horse
when his companions return to him after an absence — his
sUence and uneasiness when left alone, and beyond earshot
of some signs or sounds of their whereabouts, is remarkable;
and equally so is the general disposition of the animal when
at liberty to indulge in that rough sort of amusement which
has obtained the proverbial appellation of "horse-play."
Of his desire for mutual amusement you may soon have a
proof, by placing him in a loose box, with the upper part of
the door of iron rods, so that he can watch passing objects,
or be on the look out for them. You will find him, when
not in the act of feeding, with his nose close to the bars,
and taking as good a peep as he can get of the outside
world : and if you open the top-door entirely (don't do this
if you don't know your horse intimately) he will be found
for half the day with his head and neck thrust out of it,
surveying so much of the moving scene, and of man's doings,
as his horizon will take in. That he is amused and
observant, if not reflective, any one who watches his action
and eye can see.

Some one may remark that racehorses live constantly in
boxes, and do excellently well ; but a racehorse is an
exceptional animal. He is bred, trained, and treated in a
way peculiar to the high caste to which he belongs, and
though we have had a Derby winnei in a street cab (teste
Youatt), the racehorse, while he is a racehorse, is kept in a
box. He is accustomed to such quarters from his colthood,
and his instinctive social qualities are deteriorated thereby,
whatever may be done for his speed. Instead of associating
with his species, he has no real companions. He does oot

THE STABLE.— MODERN STABLE-FITTINGS

13]

miss his playfellows — he never had any. Instead of missing
them or welcoming them, he is kept aloof from them ; he is,
says a clever writer, in a purposed Hibernicism, " a sort of
domesticated wild beast, kept to run for money." Though
he is not a " wild horse," he is a " solitary horse." He is
brought up upon the " separate " if not the " silent " system
of prison discipline ; the desire for companionship is dead
within him — he is a quadrupedal anchorite, and does not
care for his kind. Horses, in general, do better in stalls
than in boxes, unless in boxes with racks only between
them and their next neighbours. Whatever rural sight or
sound cheers the spirit of man, seems to cheer the horse
also. Again, horses feed much better from hearing others
eat ; and in many instances where a horse, especially after
a hard run, would not touch his corn, if in solitary confine-
ment, he will set to grinding when he hears others masti-
cating their provender. There are strong advocates among
many of our practical men for keeping valuable horses in
boxes ; they certainly permit the animal to stand or lie
down at pleasure. There is no danger of their getting cast
or getting loose ; in which case, though horses are social
animals, the intrusion into the stall of another horse, by the
animal who has got loose, has often produced not only
confusion, Lut the most serious accidents. The term
" boxes " is not, however, quite applicable to the places we
recommend, they are rather " compartments " for horses.
These should be made seven feet high at the rack and
manger, and for a yard from the wall, then five feet
for the rest of the side, and merely of bars, so closely
placed that a horse's nose could not be put through them.
These should be of iron. A space for passing should be left
behind these compartments — we should say of five feet.
The railing at the end should be of wood or iron, so as to
give a convenient view of the horse. It may seem super-
fluous to say that the door should open outwards, and be
made so as to fall back, close on the other railings ; this will
save the horses from bruises in passing in or out. There
are many elegant and useful designs for these "compart-
ments " now in the market, and to those who have cash to
spare, and room, the plan here laid down may be adopted.
The stable with a proportion of two boxes to four stalls will
be sufiicient for the comfort and health of the horses.

In connexion with the loose box and its advantages in
permitting the horse to lie down and rise easily without
risk of injury, and the immense luxury to the wearied
animal of having his head at liberty as conducive to his
speedy restoration, we shall presently note an important
though apparently trivial addendum to the fittings recently
introduced.

The horse may be prevented from getting cast by a simple
invention, which may be easily procured, while his getting
loose is prevented by the safety " head collar," which any
saddler will supply ; and nothing but sheer carelessness can
account for a horse getting loose. Double head-collar shanks,
with reins, look more stylish than single ones, but the latter

answer every purpose. Some horses are fond of rubbing
their heads with the hind foot ; the double shank or rein ia
more likely to entangle these gentlemen in this feat of
scratching than the single, and risks are as well avoided.

MODERN STABLE-FITTINGS.

The furniture and fittings of the stable, keeping in view
the comfort of the animal, which is no small aid towards
" good digestion waiting on appetite, and health on both,"
comes next into consideration. The neatness, cleanliness,
and convenience of the various articles and appliances
which modern ingenuity and constructive skill have placed
at the disposal of horse-owners, are not their least recom-
mendations.

Many varieties of these may be seen by the visitor to the
Crystal Palace, in the carriage, harness, and saddlery depart-
ment of that monster glass-case ; at most of the agricultural
gatherings ; and at the establishments of their several
manufacturers and patentees. The leading ones are figured
on the accompanying Plate.

Although handsome, serviceable, and really good fittings
are made throughout town and country of sound hard wood
and hammered iron, yet there can be no disputing the
superior patterns, the greater cleanliness, durability, healthi-
ness, and convenience of the galvanized, enamelled, or
componized iron mangers, water or gruel troughs, racks. &c.,
now advertised in all parts of the kingdom.

We need hardly repeat that the old sloped hay-rack of the
farmer's stable, filled from above, and from which the horse
so wastefully dragged his provender, to the damage of his
eyes and nostrils, is utterly condemned, and should be cast
forth wherever it yet lingers, and its place supplied by an
under-feeding square or corner rack. The obvious defects
of the first-named vile contrivance are that the horse
acquires the habit of pulling down the greater portion of
his hay, with the view of culling, with his fine and sensitive
upper lip and his delicate organ of smell, the sweetest and
most succulent locks. Hi;nce, much of his provender is
trampled under foot ; and, though a hearty-feeding horse
will afterwards pick up a great deal of what he has thrown
down, a large quantity must be soiled and spoilt. We have
seen a third of the whole amount thus lost by slovenly and
capricious horses. These defects led to the abolition of the
high rack in all well-contrived stables, and the substitution
of manger-feeding, in which chaff, composed of equal
quantities of clover or meadow hay, wheat, oat, or barley
straw, were mingled with the corn or beans The animal
is thus compelled to masticate his food, and cannot, especially
with such well-made contrivances as those under notice,
waste his hay, while the sharp straw compels a more
complete chewing of the oats. We shall answer our old
friend Fenwick de Porquet, who so persistently asks us,
under the feminine pseudonym of Mary Wedlake, " Do you
bruise your oats yet V in another place, when we come more
particularly to the question of food.

L32

THE STABLE.— THE HARNESS-ROOM.

We have mentioned a " fitting " intended to prevent the
horse from striking himself when rising; it is represented in
our plate (fig. 3), under the name of the ventilating manger-
guard, and includes the rack and water-trougL We have
seen stables in which, with the same object in view, the
rack has been boarded in. This is highly objectionable. It
tends to foul the food, and worse, to make the rack-place
dark ; and we need scarcely repeat that darkness is the
parent of dirt. The guard, it will be seen, consists of a
light wrought iron rail, fastened at top to a bar following
the curve of the rack-manger and trough, and at bottom to
a bar which rounds off the angle of the stall. This
ventilating manger-guard fulfils every purpose, ensuring the
horse's safety from a blow against the edge of the fittings,
while it keeps the fodder sweet and well-aired, and the
corner in fuU view and accessible.

We have already remarked upon the danger of a mere
swing bar between horses, recommending in all instances a
boarded partition. The iron ramp-rail, grooved to admit ]^
inch planking, with the stable-stall-post, is a neat and most
desirable division, whether boarded or open-railed ; its
appearance is shown in fig. 4. The hexagonal enamelled
tiles are used in several of the drawings to line the walls.
Thus much of stable-fittings ; we will now step into the
harness-room.

THE HARNESS-ROOM.

" Everything in its place and a place for everything " is a
motto which should be inscribed over every place where
horses are kept, or at any rate be ever-present to the groom
or horse-keeper. It is amazing how much needless ex-
penditure of labour, oaths, or ill-temper — how much con-
fusion, how much loss of time may be avoided by regularity
method, and a use of those convenient appliances which
modern mechanical skill and ingenuity have placed at the
command of every one whose means allow them to fit up a
stable properly ; and surely no other should pretend to keep
horses of a good class than such as can supply them with
those conveniences which are necessary to keep them up to
the highest point in cleanliness, food, warmth, clothing, and
even ornamental appointments. How much of a horse's
comfort depends on a well-made well-fitting saddle, a
properly adjusted rein, bit, and bridle, and the true setting
of his harness horses alone can tell ; and we doubt not, had
they been gifted with speech, their " tailors in leather "
would have heard of many a cruel misfit, whence " galls,"
" raws," " sitfasts," from saddles, abscesses on the tongue,
and injuries of both upper and lower jaws by the barbarous
tightness of the bearing-rein, aud the ill-made, ill-seated
"post" of the bit* These and many minor ailments and
discomforts damaging to the health, beauty, and temper of

* See Mr, Edward Mayhew's work, Tim Illuttrated Horie Doctor,
page 61, &C., for the injuries to the mouth by Ul-made aud severe
bita.

the horse arise from harness badly made or carelessly
adjusted and put on. The cleanliness of every part of a
horse's clothing is only secondary to its goodness. A peep
into a well-ordered harness-room is a pleasant sight ; well-
kept leather is always supple, soft, and pleasant to the feel,
and how important is dryness and "elbow-grease" to
preserving this useful material in that condition we need
not say. If the harness and " fixins " of the horses are in
prime order, we may almost safely trust that man with
other details of management with confidence, as it shows
he does not shirk labour or spare trouble. He must,
however, be liberally supplied with the proper means of
doing his work as it should be done. As a peep at a picture
is no small aid in quickly conveying through the eye an
impression of what a thing should be, we give a sketch
(Plate " Stable,") of the fittings of a model harness-room for
four saddle and four carriage horses : the fittings being left
bare, that their form may be more readily understood (fig. 5).

Foremost of these articles we may note in the centre the
stove, in conjunction with the airing and drying horse, an
admirable appendage to the stable for drying and airing
harness and saddles after use, and also for drying and airing
horse clothing and the cloths in general use about the stable,
An enlarged drawing of this apparatus is given as fig. 6,
It will be observed that this stove, besides warming the
harness room, will supply hot water for the use of the stable,
for cleansing the horses, for equine foot-baths,* bran mashes,
gruel, and other purposes. Along the side walks of the
apartment, on the right hand are two saddle-brackets and
two harness-holders; the form of these, and especially the
former, wiU be readily understood by inspecting the enlarged
figures 9 to 13 in the plate.

It will be seen that a saddle placed upon this sort of
bracket has no tendency to go out of form, but, on the
contrary, is kept in shape, and will not be torn or chafed in
its padding by removal. Harness also can be placed on the
hooks without disturbing the saddle, and the longer jointed
ones turned up out of the way when the shorter ones are in
use. The ceiling and wall hooks, figs. 7 and 8, do not require
explanation ; they are for the purpose of cleaning, and are
made of iron covered with gutta-percha. On the left side of
the room are harness, saddle, and bridle-holders ; these are
of iron either galvanised or japanned, and are vastly prefer-
able to the common bracket, keeping the harness in its
proper shape — an advantage too often overlooked. More
mountings are damaged and broken by the want of such
conveniences than would soon pay their first cost. The
front flange, which prevents the article falling off, may be
inscribed with the name of the horse to which the harness
belongs, figs. 9, 10, 11.

Two specimens of saddle brackets are given in the plate,
the one boarded over (fig. 12), and the second of wrought

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133

iron, •with the great advantage of ventilating and preserving
the shape of the saddle, and allowing all moisture to escape.
Some of this pattern (fig. 13), covered with gutta-percha, are
t'ne neatest and best things for the purpose that can well be
imagined.

The stable appendages always required, are buckets,
whalebone-brooms or besoms, forks, body and dandy-brushes,
curry-combs, mane-combs, bandages, leathers, rubbers,
sponges, foot pickers, and scissors. If for harness horses and
for cleaning carriages, there will be wanted also spoke-
brushes, mops, jacks, harness-brushes, and brushes for the
lining.

The lodging room for the groom or coachman is generally
over, or near, the stable ; and it should, at all events, be so
near as to allow of any unusual noise being heard by him,
for sometimes, when a horse is cast, or has the colic, he dies

for want of that assistance which could be readily given it
his state were known.

The carriage setter, sack-truck, or barrow, pull, jerk, &c.,
in our picture of the harness-room, are merely suggestive of
those necessaries : they require no description. We should
lay ourselves open to a charge of unduly favouring one or
the other tradesman did we specially recommend from oui
own experience, or that of others, any of the numerous
blackings, pastes, compositions, &c., used in the cleaning
of harness ; we shall, therefore, merely advise that the
purchase of the required detergents or polishes be made of
respectable oilmen, or better still of harness-makers : all are
good, though some unquestionably better than others. That
we may avoid a charge of puiFery we specially tnantion none
of them. Tlie succeeding chapters will deal with the
subject of Stable Management, and its auxiliaries.

134

STABLE MANAGEMENT.

CHAPTEK XIII.

STABLE MANAGEMENT : THE OROOM : THE STRAPPER : STABLE-BOYS : RACKING AND DRESSING : CLIPPING AND SINGEING : FEEDING i

EXERCISE : CONDITIONING.

We shall not treat of the hierarchy of stable dignitaries in
the crack establishments of our great public trainers, where
strings of thoroughbreds go through an education to fit
them for " competitive examination " for " public honours,"
at the post of a T. Y. C, but confine ourselves to the useful
and practical treatment of the horses of the gentleman and
sportsman.

The groom has several distinctive epithets indicative of
tde description of horse he attends, or of the class of duties
expected to be fulfilled by him. The " pad groom " is
employed in the hack stable and to follow his master, to
whom he also in many cases officiates as valet. If his
master sports blood nags, and particularly if he occasionally
takes a turn with the hounds, the importance of his servant
augments, and he borders on the next grade. The " hunting
or stud groom " ought to be a very clever fellow ; he should
already know much, and be ready to learn as much more ;
for his is truly an important office, particularly if he have
either a confiding or an idle master. It is necessary that he
should have a full knowledge of training, with all its
important bearings and dependences. He should be fond of
the chase, and yet sufficiently manifest attachment to his
horses and respect to his master, that he should be able to
go to the field without making himself one of the company,
or attempting, when in chase, to " ride to " hounds. We,
however, to make our subject complete, must quit the field,
and glance at these necessary and indeed important aids on
the sod or turf The regular " training groom " is a still
more important personage than those already noticed : to
him is entrusted the care and management of the racing
stables ; it is he that regulates the whole discipline of the
racers ; and he has likewise the direction of the subordinate
grooms and stable-lads. The " trials " are conducted by
him, and on his fidelity and judgment immense sums are
dependent. The " training groom " is also a person of no
mean consideration, for much of the future reputation of
his employer's racing establishment depends upon him. He
superintends the crossings and breedings, and on him
devolves the care of rearing the young stock. Much
likewise depends on his management whether they enter on
their training in high form and vigour, or whether they are
below 'par. Having said thus much, we will proceed with
the duties of the groom generally, wherever good horses are
kept and good grooming is required.

A good groom is as indispensable to the well-being of the
inmates of a stable as a good whip is to their driving, good
harness to their comfort, or good food to their health and
condition. No gentleman can be well-carried, no family be
well-appointed in their equipages, bu*; '^y care in the
selection of the groom or horsekeeper. Nimrod sensibly
says : — " The principal duties of a groom may be said to
consist of cleaning — strapping, as it is called, — feeding, and
travelling horses. A man should have a certain degree ol
substance to strap a horse properly ; but we do not agree
with those who think an herculean monster, whose blows
would almost fell an ox, a necessary article. I have seen
light lathy fellows full of muscle and sinew that would kill
one of these plummy, lumpy gentry There is a wide
difiTerence between what John Warde used to describe as a
man fit ' to strip a horse and starve him,' and a clean
made light-limbed active fellow. Beyond grooming and
feeding, I do not wish for much science in a servant — your
pedantic, infallible-recipe fellows are no men for my money.
Good strapping, and food proportionate to work, is the
grand secret"

The "helper" is an adjunct in many stables. He is
generally a hardworking man, or lad of eighteen, who is
able to strap a horse well, and do all the mechanical work
of the stable ; but is wholly incapable of taking the manage-
ment, or is so uncouth in his person as to forbid his employ-
ment in livery. The last is a very common reason for some
helpers always remaining understrappers ; they are ex-
cellent in that capacity, but so unwieldy in their move-
ments that they would disgrace a neat livery, and would sit
beside their master with all their native clownishness. If,
however, they are honest, civil, and industrious, they are
often very desirable acquisitions to a large stable, and
frequently do all the hard work of these establishments.
These men often do four horses well, and in livery yards or
omnibus establishments more than double that number ;
though, in this latter case, the horses are of course not so
well dressed as in private establishments.

" Stable-boys " must learn as boys somewhere or other,
because it is a trade which is seldom learnt after this age.
Nevertheless, no master who really looks to his own affairs
will encourage their employment, knowing how frequently
they play tricks with or neglect his horses. Under a steady
and strict coacbmaa they may be made useful, but they

STABLE MANAGEMENT.— RACKING AND DRESSING.

135

ahould seldom be trusted to do anything of importance out
of his sight. When first put under him, he will, of course,
show them everything they have to do by example ; and, if
naturally quick, they soon learn to carry out the ordinary
stable operations in an efficient manner.

BACKING AND DRESSINa.

The first morning duty of the groom is " racking and
dressing." The first operation immediately follows the
opening of the stable-door. The hay should be first shaken
to clear it from dust, and then but a small portion given to
leave the horse his full powers for the digestion of his corn ;
indeed, were it not from a fear that the eagerness of the
early appetite might make the horse swallow his corn
without sufficient mastication, we should prefer giving the
oats first ; and when two morning feeds are allowed, we
strongly recommend to commence with the corn. When
this is not the case, after racking, give the usual feed of
corn, which should be first well sifted and looked over, to
separate any extraneous matter. The morning allowance
of water is usually reserved until after dressing, but we
have known some horses who would not feed until they had
drunk. We therefore advise that this time of watering be
not obstinately adhered to ; but that it be made to suit
the appetites of the horses themselves. A careful groom
will study the peculiarities of each horse, and then his own
judgment will be his best guide.

You may now give his stable a slight " set fair : " that is>
throw the dung off the litter, but do not disturb that just
under him to raise the ammonia from his having staled
thereon, "ffe are supposing that you mean to give the horse
a thorough "dressing" before he goes out. If, however,
time does not serve, or there are other reasons for post-
poning this till his return to stable, you may " muck out "
as hereafter described. We will now describe the important
operation of " dressing," and would first impress upon the
reader the fact, that it is not only to remove soils and make
the coat glossy that we " dress " a horse, but that the
process is most important, when diligently carried out, for
ensuring the health of the animal, by the life-giving excite-
ment of the whole exhalant surface of the body. Scales of
scurf — dandrifi" — are constantly in process of generation
over the whole surface of the animal's body ; and the act of
currying, brushing, and dressing clears off those scales, and
stimulates those exhalant and inhalant pores by which
excretory and noxious particles are thrown out, and air and
moisture imbibed Itching, irritation — and consequent in-
flammation— surfeit, and thirst, with a train of minor evils,
are kept aloof from well-fed and warmly clothed horses by a
diligent application of " elbow-grease ; " for able physi-
ologists have shown that the skin not only throws off
impurities, but absorbs pure water and atmospheric air, at
need, when kept in healthy condition. The observant
horse-owner may easily satisfy himself of the fact that a
i^ell-groomed horse has more spirit, cheerfulness, and

endurance than an undressed one, by a few days' experi-
ment. With horses much in stable, too, periodical friction
is exercise without fatigue. The curious reader may find in
The Book of the Farm an account of the superior thriving of
some pigs who were regularly curried, over those in a stye
left to their own nasty ways. The writer, however, observes
in defence of poor piggy, that he contracts many of those
bad habits from confinement and domestication ; and that
the wild pig is as cleanly an animal as need be — currying
himself daily by drawing himself through bushes, brambles,
&c., and industriously rubbing himself against trees. On
the continent, too, stall-kept cattle are in many places
regularly curried night and morning, to the great advantage
of their working capabilities. There are two capital books
on the subject of grooming, so little known to the general
public, that we shall be thanked for an extract or two. The
first is " Hipponomia, or the Vineyard of Horsemanship,"
by Michael Baret, 1720 — a curious work, of which Mr-
Bracy Clark says : " It contains more learning and reasoning
(on horse-subjects) than any book of its time." The other
is a little treatise by one Jeremiah Weal, called The
Young Groom's Guide " — a practical book, by a practical
man. The old writer, Michael Baret, shows that the
approved method of " dressing " a horse has not varied,
except in a few details of fashion and in improved imple-
ments, for the last two centuries. " Having tyed up your
horse's head," says Baret, " take a currie-comb and currie
him all over his body, to raise the dust, beginning first with
his neck, holding the left cheek of his headstal in your left
hand. Then currie him from the setting-on of his head to
the length of his neck, where comes the setting-on of the
shoulder. Thence go all over his side to his buttocks ; and
so down to his cambrel-hough. Then change your hands,
and currie him before, on the breast ; and laying your right
arm over his back, place your right side against his left, and
thus currie him all under his belly, near to his fore-bowels ;
and so aU over very well, from the knees to the cambrel-
houghs, upwards. After that go round to the far side, and
do that in like manner. Then take a dead horse's tayl, or a
dusting cloath of cotton, and strike that dust away which
the currie-comb hath raised. Then take a round brush made
of bristels, and dress him all over, both head, body, and legs,
to his very fetlockes ; always cleansing the brush from that
dust it gathereth by rubbing it upon the currie-comb. Thus
currying and brushing over, take a hair-cloth, with which
rub him again all over very hard, to take away the
loose hairs and help to lay his coat. Next wash your hands
in fair water, and rub him all over with your wet hands, as
well head as body, for that will fresh him, and take away
any hair the hair-cloth hath left. Lastly, take one other
clean cloth, and rub him all over till dry, when his coat will
be smooth and clean. Lastly, take another hair-cloth (for
note that you should have two, one for his body, the other
for his legs), and rub his legs exceeding well, from the knees
to the cambrel-houghs, downwards, to his very hoofs, picking,

136

STABLE MANAGEMENT.— DRESSING.

and dressing them very carefully about the fetlocks from
gravel or dust, which will harbour in the bendings of his
joints."

From this it will be seen that our great-great-grandfathers
knew and practised a thing or two in dressing a horse.
There is here, however, a remarkable omission. The wisp —
the great implement of the modern " strapper " — is not even
mentioned. Ordinarily the wisp follows the curry-comb ;
but where the brush replaces the curry-comb, the wisp
follows it. The best wisp is made from about two feet and
a-half of a hay-band of fine twist. Loosely untwist and
double it, moisten with a little water, and then slightly
retwist it: the damping shapes it, and fits it for more
effectually cleaning away the dust. As the time required
thoroughly to dress a high-conditioned saddle-horse is about
an hour, in very cold weather the horse should have a cloth
on the loins while cleaning other parts. Stains from litter
should be removed by the sponge, and from the tail by the
water-brush. When the dust has quite settled, comes the
" finishing-off," in the direction of the hair and the clothing.
And here we will resort to the little book of Jeremiah Weal,
above alluded to : — " Observe that whatever clothing you
put on is put on in a workmanlike manner. Take the
horse-cloths in both hands, with the outside of the cloths
next you, and with your right hand to the off-side throw
them over his back, not hang them over his tail. Place
them no farther back than they will be straight and level,
which you will find to be from a foot to eighteen inches
from the tail. Put the roller round, and the pad-piece under
it in the proper place, which is from three to eight inches
from the fore-legs." So far Jeremiah. Now loosen the
horse's head, and turn him about in the stall, and give his
untied head a thorough rubbing and brushing in every part
— ears, throat, and channel — with the dusting-cloth. Finish
by manipulating his ears a la Rarey. This is called "pulling
his ears ; " however it should be nothing of the sort, but,
what all horses so much enjoy, a passing through and
through the hands of the animal's auricular appendages —
accompanying their passage by gentle intermittent pressures,
and an occasional soothing, coaxing utterance. This over,
comb out his mane and foretop, and pass over them a damp
sponge ; place your horse-napkin at the near side of the
upper part of his mane, puUing it over to the off side, and
pressing the mane smooth at the root of hair from behind
his ears to his withers downwards. Turn him round once
again to his manger, buckle on his stall-collar, comb his
tail, and wipe his dock with a wet sponge. Don't use a
cloth for this purpose, as a hanging-down end may make a
ticklish horse kick, as we have seen. Pick out the foot, and
wash if necessary, and once more rub the legs down with
cloth and with hand At the risk of repetition, we must once
more impress on the mind of the groom, and therefore of
the master, the paramount importance of leg-friction.
Although Michael Baret, above quoted, has told us " to rub
the legs exceeding well," we cannot forbear from pressing on

the minds of all who are concerned in horses, that friction to
the legs is both a preventive and a cure of disease. The
eminent veterinarian, Delabere Blaine, thus bears testimony
on this point : — " Leg-rubbing prevents gorgings, which are
the forerunners of cracks and grease, and disperses such
accumulations as are already made Few actions relieve the
tired horse more than well rubbing his legs ; and it is
remarkable, that whatever else a horse resists, he very
seldom resists this. Further, whenever a horse comes home
in a dirty condition, it is prudent first to attend to his legs
and feet, which should be well washed : but when the
weather is frosty, it should be done in tepid water ; it is
essential to his health, and it also affords him much comfort
and refreshment. We know how grateful it is to ourselves
to put our feet into water after great fatigue ; and we cannot
but observe by their manner, also, that it is the same to them.
The feet of horses require also daily examination ; they
should always be well picked out whenever they come in, to
remove stones and dirt, which may have lodged between the
shoe and the sole ; and which, if suffered to remain but a
few hours, might do irreparable injury. The state of the
shoes should likewise be looked to every morning, not only
as to their actual wear, but also to see that the clenches do
not protrude to cut the legs, or that the shoe may not have
gotten awry, or become loosened. Whenever a set of shoes
has been on three weeks, particularly where the hoofs grow
fast, even if such shoes be not worn out, they should be
removed ; for in every instance, as soon as the horn of the
foot grows too high, it begins to contract ; and there aie
more horses ruined by standing too long without paring
down the hoof than by all the bad shoeing that is
practised."

Watering should follow dressing, and then a second feed
of corn, where four feeds per day are customary -■ but, if not
going out to work, merely put hay in the rack. Jeremiah
Weal shall again speak for us, as to " setting the stable
fair," as he is in this matter certainly " the right man in the
right place : " — " Shake the horse's bed three or four feet
behind him, if the stable will admit of it ; put some straw
under the manger ; lay the straw high near the sides of the
stall, and rather high behind the stall-post ; leave the straw
somewhat hollow and thin in the middle, and behind the
horse. Shake the sides well, and lay them level and smooth.
The platted mat looks neat laid down in front of the beds,
but it is more generally seen in dealers' stables than gentle-
men's : it, however, looks neat in all."

A few words about " litter." We have already mentioned
the pungent ammonia which arises so rapidly in a close and
heated stable, to the detriment of the respiratory functions
of the animal, and the damage of the hay in the loft above.
As much of the litter as has been wetted and softened by the
urine must be removed every morning, a little being left for
the animal to stale on, as some animals object to and are
uneasy at the splashing which takes place on the bricks or
cobble-stone pavement. No heap of fermenting dung should

STABLE-MANAGEMENT.— CLIPPING AND iSlNGEING.

137

ever be allowed in any corner of the stable ; upon this point
the master should be inflexible.

Whether horses should be allowed to stand upon litter at
all during the day is a subject on which opposite opinions
have been entertained by practical writers. When the litter
is suflered to remain, it certainly encourages the horse to lie
down, which is favourable to the recovery of strained or
overworked limbs, and. prevents extreme pressure on tender
feet, if the stable shouM be bricked or paved. But, per
contra, foul-feeding horses are very apt to eat their litter, and
the other mischiefs from acrid exhalations, elsewhere spoken
of, are multiplied. With some horses, too, the very disorder
it would seem to alleviate is produced or aggravated by it —
namely, swelled legs, which have been found to return to
their proper size when the stimulus of warm litter was
removed. Litter, when neglected and allowed to heat, is
mischievous to the horny hoof, which is contracted by the
increased temperature. We would recommend a little only
of the litter to be left under the fore-feet during the day,
and in the summer that the bricks should be lightly watered
to keep them sweet and cooL Fresh green rushes, if they
can be procured, make an excellent day litter. In many
stables on the continent, and some of our racing establish-
ments, the floor is of wood, cut across the grain ; this, and
hard " compo," are not bad for the purpose, with tan, a coat
of sawdust, or a thin layer of straw, spread upon the floor of
the stall.

LIPPliio AND SIKQUING.

Clipping, which for many years was the only method of
relieving a horse of his winter's blanket, has now been almost
entirely superseded by singeing. Dandyism, as much as
utility, produced the general adoption of the former practice,
and inflamed lungs, swollen legs, and a host of inflammatory
diseases were the consequence. It was all very well to
deprive a valuable hunter, who was never exposed to the
cold air without his body clothes, except when hunting, of
his coat, but it was dangerous in an extreme degree to such
horses as were not so carefully attended to. Clipping has
now had its reign, Singeing having dethroned it. The
cutting of the hair, each of which is a hollow tube, gives the
whole surface of the body an exposure to the cold air by
millions of orifices. Singeing, on the contrary, seals up
these as it proceeds, and is no more than a man taking ofi"
an upper coat. When clipping was the practice, it was
lamentable to see carriage horses standing shivering with
cold at the doors of great people, or when conveying some
fashionable physician on his visiting round. Before an owner
has his horse singed, let him consider what he is going to use
him for, and whether he is likely to be kept standing still,
exposed to the inclemency of the season ; if not, let it be
done. Singeing has this advantage over clipping, that to
look well a horse must be clipped close. In singeing you
may regulate this. The coat may be once gone over, and
this will remove but a moderate portion ; if more is desired

a second singeing must be resorted to. After the horse is
singed, he should be well washed over with soap and warm
water, with an extra dose of soda in it : this will cleanse
the coat and make the skin comfortable. Then, in a few
days, if you want it shorter, repeat the process ; and after-
wards give the horse a gentle sweat, just as much as will
enable you to give him a scrape. This, note well, is after
the second sinfreing : with the coat left on after a first going
over, it might be somewhat difiicult to dry him, and risk
giving him cold. The soap and soda, and the after-sweat
and scrape, will immensely relieve the skin.

When clipping was in vogue, all the pretty bays, browns,
and chestnuts, and many blacks, were made of an unsightly
mouse or slate colour. Now we can singe a horse nearly as
short as close-clipping without this unseemly efi"ect There
are some capital lamps made nowadays for this special
purpose. The hair being charred as the operation proceeds
prevents the light hue from prevailing. Grey, dun, or roan
horses look as well, however, clipped as singecJ No sooner
does the horse's coat begin to shoot in the autumn, than the
groom will urge you to have your horses clipped or singed ;
and will, when he has your consent, get as much coat ofi
them as he possibly can, for the sake of saving trouble, and,
as he thinks, of improving their appearance. Let the master,
then, consider what work his horses are likely to get during
the winter. If he is a saddle-horse, merely to be used as a
park and town hack, cantered or galloped the length ol
Rotten Row, or to carry his master from his country seat to
his town house — or, if a harness-horse, to be kept standing
at doors, whUe business or pleasure detains his owner
within — leave his coat on, or moderately thick. If, on the
other hand, he is to be used as a cover-hack, ridden possibly
ten or a dozen miles to the meet, at a rattling pace, get him
into hunting condition — and a short coat. In a word, the
coat should be made lighter according to the fast work the
animal is called upon to perform ; and he will thus be in a
better condition to go through his allotted task with comfort
to himself and owner. If you are fastidious as to the appear-
ance of your horses, get a man used to the business to singe
them ; the charge is small, and it will be more judiciously
done than by a general groom.

FEEDINQ.

Feeding is a matter of observation, and requires study and
attention. Most servants are so fond of stuflSng themselves
that they think horses must be equally so. Stufiing may
do with a cart-horse, but will not answer with a hunter, or a
horse required for quick strong work. A groom should
study each horse's appetite and constitution. Some horses
require far more meat than others, but this truism never enters
the head of most of the fellows calling themselves grooms
Having ascertained the "maximum " quantity of corn mastei
allows, they forthwith prepare for getting it down the horses'
throats in equal proportion. A half-finished feed conveya
no hint to them : they add a whole feed to it next feeding

13»

STABLE-MANAGEMENT.— FEEDING.

hour : then horses get cracked heels and swelled legs, and
the fellows wonder how it happens. They perhaps have
recourse to their antediluvian book, or some horse-leech in
the neighbourhood, who cannot even write out a bill for the
medicine he professes to give. Bleeding and physicking
should be included in a groom's catalogue of qualifications ;
but never allow either to be done without an order.

Some grooms say they cannot keep horses in high condition
without high feeding ; but many masters would ride much
more pleasantly if their horses were not in such high
condition. What is the use of having a horse capable of
double the exertion the rider is equal to ? We are not all
Osbaldestons, to ride two hundred miles in nine hours ; and
whether on the road or in the field, a horse above himself is
a great nuisance.

Lord Pembroke truly observes, that " it is a matter of the
greatest consequence, though few attend to it, to feed horses
according to their work. When the work is hard," says he,
" food should be plenty ; when it is otherwise, the food
should be diminished immediately, the hay particularly."
That sentence should be placed in every stable and saddle-
room in the kingdom.

Hay. — The principal food of horses in the stable is hay and
oats, and consequently it behoves every master of horses to be
a good judge of their quality. The hay given to your horses
should be old upland meadow hay, bright, greenish, fragrant,
and not too dry and crisp : it ought indeed to be, in a trifling
degree, tough, and not to crackle when twisted in the hand,
thereby denoting that it has preserved its juices and nutritious
qualities. Many people are in the habit of never giving any
other than meadow hay to their horses, but this is not at all
necessary Provided the quantity of hay you allow your
horses in the day be not too great, they will be gratified by
a slight change in their diet now and then ; and you may
with great propriety let them have an occasional handful of
sainfoin hay, or of white clover and bents (rye-grass),
though most grooms will assert that by so doing you will
ruin your horse's wind. Those who say so, however, have
never made the experiment themselves, or have made it
improperly, by allowing their groom to stuff a horse with
hay until he is surfeited, or by giving it in too new a state,
when it will produce acidity and flatulence. The allowance
of hay for each horse is, in most stables, two trusses per week ;
one-half this quantity is sufficient. Eight pounds of hay
per diem is as much as any horse should be allowed to eat,
and those who give them more go the right way to breed
listlessness, dulness, and disease. Of all animals the horse,
in comparison to his size, has the smallest stomach, and
consequently his food, when hard work is required of him,
should contain as much nutriment as possible in the smallest
compass ; for remember that the origin of impaired digestion,
and consequently the cause of most diseases, is distension of
the stomach and bowels, by which they become debilitated,
and their secretions vitiated ; the natural and inevitable
result of which is general weakness of the whole system.

How can any horse possess vigour and sprightliness who is
allowed to swallow as much hay at a time as he will eat,
when a large quantity of this species of food does not contain
sufiicient nutriment of itself to keep a horse in condition ?
The food of horses, whatever it may consist of, should at all
times be small in quantity, and of the very best quality ; for
as we require great exertions from them, so must we take
the best means to provide them with the most nutritious
sustenance without over-taxing their powers of digestion.

Hay that is at all mow-burnt is liable to produce gripes
or flatulent colic ; as likewise is that which has been
recently made, and has not, as it is called, completely
" sweated " in the stack. Indeed horses that are expected
to perform hard work should never be allowed to eat hay
less than eight months old. Some people like it better
when two years old ; it is then, however, little better than
so much straw.

Oats. — Your oats should be at least a twelvemonth old,
bright, clear, full, without smell of any kind, and weighing
at least forty pounds per bushel. Many people prefer black
oats to white ; provided the weight of both be equal, and
they be equally well kept, it matters little which of the two
you use — horses will work as well when kept on the one as
on the other. Nevertheless it is certainly a difficult matter
to obtain black oats of as fine a quality as the white potato
oat, inasmuch as they will generally be found to contain
more " heads " and " tails " than the latter ; and therefore
those who are not simply satisfied with good oats, but will
procure the very best, will be more likely to find the great
desiderata of weight and plumpness in some species of the
white than in the black oat. A horse of good constitution,
and in regular and moderate work, should not have less
than four quarterns of oats (weighing forty pounds per
bushel) in the course of the day. Oats of the above weight
may be thus given by measure, and they are by far better
than a larger quantity of oats of less weight It is the most
absurd plan to feed a horse by measure without reference to
the weight of his corn. It has frequently been found fin
examination, in the stables of gentlemen who never choose
their own corn, but suflFer a corn-chandler to send them
what he pleases, that their horses have been feeding upon
oats that to all appearance were little more than the light
seeds blown aside by the winnowing machine, and only fit
for poultry. No horse can of course be expected to thrive
and stand his work upon such diet : therefore be particular,
when you purchase oats, to see them weighed ; and for this
purpose turn out one-third of the oats in the sack, an<
weigh a bushel from the middle, for here you will often
find them of an inferior quality, both as regards weight and
cleanliness.

If you work your horsti* hard they must be allowed either
a larger quantity of oats than here specified, or you must
mix with them a few handfuls of old and sweet beans.
This is good hearty food for a horse of strong constitution ;
but some horses of a foul habit of body will not endure

STABLE-MANAGEMENT.— FEEDING.

139

being fed for any length of time on beans without exhibiting
symptoms of heat of body somewhere — generally by greasy or
cracked heels, or by scurf and surfeit. With a horse of this
description you must every now and then — say three times
a fortnight — adopt the plan of giving half a pailful of bran
mash instead of a feed of corn, giving him at the same time
half an ounce of nitre in his water ; or you may add a
double handful of dry bran to his oats every day, or when-
ever the state of his bowels requires it.

Peas. — Peas are a very good substitute for beans, and,
according to the analysis which has been made of both, contain
rather more nutritious matter than oats in a given quantity.
They are not, however, in general use. A small quantity of
barley added to oats is by many recommended as excellent
food for horses ; we can say nothing respecting it from
personal experience.

Barley. — Barley is still a common fooa or the horse on the
continent, and, until the introduction of the oat, seems to
have constituted his ordinary stable food. It is more nutri-
Uous than oats, containing nine hundred and twenty parts
of nutritive matter in every thousand. There seems, how-
ever, to be something necessary besides a great proportion of
nutritive matter, in order to render any substance wholesome
and strengthening. Except where horses are very hardly
worked, barley does not seem in our country to agree with
them so well as oats : they are m.ore subject to inflammatory
complaints, and particularly to surfeit and mange. When
barley is given, the quantity should not exceed a peck daily.
It should be always bruised, and the chaff should consist of
equal quantities of hay and barley straw, and not cut too
short. If spotted barley is given, it will probably produce
serious illness among them. For horses that are recovering
from illness, barley, in the form of malt, is often serviceable,
as tempting the appetite and recruiting the strength. It is
best given in mashes ; water, considerably below the boiling
heat, being poured upon it, and the vessel or pail kept
covered for half an hour.

Grains. — Grains fresh from the mash-tub, either alone, or
mixed with oats or chaff, or both, may be occasionally given
to horses slow at work ; they afford very insufficient nourish-
ment for horses who are called on for smart exertion.

Wheat is in Great Britain rarely given to horses. It
must always be bruised and given in chaff. Wheat contains a
greater proportion of gluten than any other kind of grain ;
with the horse it is difficult of digestion, and apt to form
obstructions in the bowels. This will often be the case if
the horse is suffered to drink much soon after feeding.
Wheaten flour, boiled in water to the thickness of starch, is
given with good effect in over-purging, especially if combined
with chalk and opium. There is no grain, however, that
seems to agree so well with the constitution of the horse as
the oat

Beans add materially to the vigour of the horse. There
are many horses that will not stand hard work without
beans being mingled with their food, and these not horses

whose tendency to jiurge it may be necessary to restrain by
the astringency of the bean. There is no horseman who is
not aware of the difference in the spirit of his horse if he
allows or denies him beans on his journey. They afford not
merely a temporary stimulus, but may be daily used without
losing their influence, or producing exhaustion Beans are
generally given whole. This is absurd ; for the young horse,
whose teeth are strong, seldom requires them ; while the old
horse, to whom they are in a manner necessary, is scarcely
able to masticate them, swallows many of them whole, and
drops much corn from his mouth in the ineffectual attempt
to break them. Beans should not be merely sjilit, but
crushed ; they will even then give sufficient employment to
the grinders of the animal.

Tares. — Of the value of tares, as forming a portion
of the late spring and summer food of the stabled, and
especially the slow-worked agricultural horse, there can
be no doubt. They are nutritive, and they act as a mild
medicine. When surfeit lumps appear on the skin, and
the slow-worked horse begins to rub himself against the
divisions of the stall, and the legs are turgid, a few tares
cut up with the chaff, or given instead of a portion of the
hay, will often afford relief Ten or twelve pounds may be
given daily, and half that weight of hay subtracted. It is
an erroneous notion, that, given in moderate quantities, they
either roughen the coat or lessen the capability for work.

Lucern is by some agriculturists considered preferable to
tares, and sainfoin superior to lucern. Although they
contain but a small quantity of nutritive matter they are
easily digested and perfectly assimilated ; they speedily put
both muscle and fat on the horse that is worn down by
labour, and are almost specific for hide-bound. Some farmers
have thought so highly of lucern as to substitute it for oats.
This may do for the agricultural horse of slow work, but he
from whom speedier action is required, and the horse of all
work, must have hard meat within him.

Carrots. — The virtues of this root are not too greatly
esteemed. There is little food of which the horse is fonder.

Nutriment contained in the following vegetables — 1,000 parts
of wheat contain 955 parts of nutritive matter ; barley, 920 ;
oats, 743 ; peas, 574 ; beans, 570 ; potatoes, 230; red beet,
148 ; parsnips, 99 ; carrots, 98.

Of the grasses, 1,000 parts of the meadow cat's tail contain,
at the time of seeding, 98 parts of nutritive matter narrow-
leaved meadow grass in seed, and sweet-scented soft grass in
flower, 95 ; narrow-leaved and flat-stalked meadow grass in
flower, fertile meadow grass in seed, and tall fescue in
flower, 93 ; Swedish turnips, 64 ; common turnips, 42 ;
sainfoin, and broad-leaved and long-rooted clover, 39 ; white
clover, 32 ; and lucern, 23.

Thus much of the articles of the horse's food ; we will now
return to the subject of feeding him.

When horses are worked very hard, the practice of giving
what is called manger-meat alone has been adopted, and
with great success, according to the statement of those who

140

STABLE-MANAGEMENT.— FEEDING.

have given this plan most trial. Manger-meat is nothing more
than a mixture of corn with hay cut into chaff instead of
being put into the rack The advocates of this plan assert
that a horse required to go through much work finishes his
food quicker than with rack-meat before him, lies down
sooner, and consequently has a longer period for rest than
he would if treated in the usual way. This may be very
true as regards some horses, but there are in fact very few
who lie down directly after feeding ; and a great proportion
of horses, after having finished their manger-meat, will pick
over their straw, and eat such parts of it as are not much
soiled, in preference to lying down. The Americans, in
addition to chopping up their horses' hay, grind their oats
coarsely > and mix the whole together. For farm-horses
while baiting such a plan may be a good one ; but horses
used for pleasure are generally allowed plenty of time for
feeding, and there can therefore neither be any necessity for
adopting this system. Horses again that have weak
stomachs, and are shy feeders, take a long time before they
will eat a sufficient quantity of food to keep them in
condition : and, if a large mess of hay and corn be placed
before them, will take a few mouthfuls perhaps, and blow
upon the rest, until they take a disgust to it, and refuse it
altogether There is many a hunter of this description not
fit probably to take the field more than once a week, but
who, when out, does his work in a style that makes him
invaluable to a man that can afford to keep a large stud,
and is therefore worth nursing. If you cram his manger
with food, the animal will, in all probability, not touch one
particle of it ; you visit him hour after hour, and find his
corn untouched, and himself dispirited from want of
nourishment. What is to be done with such a horse ? You
have over-taxed his powers — you have thought of nothing
but keeping the lead ; and when your horse has flagged
under you you have roused him with bit and spur ; and,
despite the warning voices of heaving sides and shaking
tail, of which some brother sportsman has perhaps given
you notice, you have crammed along to the finish, and
found that you had just killed in time, for your horse had
already cried "Hold, enough!" You have your fears of
" having come it rather too strong " confirmed by finding
your trusty steed refuse his corn and show other evident
symptoms of distress. If you are enough of a veterinarian
to be able to judge of the state of his pulse, and no
symptoms of congestion of the lungs betray themselves, it
may happen that a little warm ale and ginger may be
advantageous to him ; but as there is risk in giving stimu-
lants after hard work, unless you have " good store of
veterinary science " to guide you, after having seen him
made pretty comfortable, give him (and this drink you
should accustom him to take lest he refuse it when you
wish him to take it) half a quartern or more of oatmeal
made into porridge or gruel with a small quantity of boiling
water — stirring in the oatmeal in small quantities, and
keeping the whole simmering, diluted with linseed tea.

This last may be made by putting half a pint of linseed into
a gallon of water, and placing it close to the fire for some
hours, after which set it aside to get cold. On hunting
days this should be prepared while you are out, and be
ready for use on your return. The linseed tea on cooling
gets very thick and glutinous, and contains as much
nourishment as with the oatmeal is sufficient for a horse
whose powers of digestion are for a time enfeebled. If your
horse drink this mixture, you may put a lock of sweet hay
in his rack, a few handfuls of oats in one corner of his
manger, and as much beans in another, with perhaps a
couple of chopped carrots, and it is ten to one, unless he be
severely overmarked, that he will soon nibble sufficient of
one or the other to sustain him until his appetite completely
returns.

Water. — Soft water in all cases is better for horses than
hard : home water from a brook or pond is preferable to
that raised from a well by pump or bucket. Valuable
horses, who are apt to be heated, should not, however, be
allowed to slake their thirst at pond or brook, but have water
given them but little below the temperature of their stable,
say 65° to 70°, and this may be done by mixing a little hot
water with the cold. Observe, extremely cold water will
often produce staring of the coat, colic, and rheumatism.
It is by no means an uncommon notion that if horses
are to be got into condition for work, they should be
allowed to drink but a very small quantity of water On
what physiological basis this opinion is founded is a
mystery. Nevertheless as many persons adopt this treat-
ment, it is fitting to notice it. It is a bad plan to stint a
horse in his water. Of course it is not asserted that when
a horse comes in heated from exercise he should be suffered
to drink, or should have a bellyful of water just prior to
being ridden ; but, if a horse be watered ad lib. in the
morning, he will not require to drink again for some hours,
and should never be allowed to do so then unless perfectly
cool. Those horses that are only supplied with a limited
quantity of water at a time, and are never permitted to
slake their thirst fully, will be much more liable to be
griped, if at any time they by chance should drink their fill,
than those who are always suffered to take as much as Nature
dictates to them ; but, should a horse have been hard-
worked, and come into his stable very hot, after having seen
him well dried, only at first give him a small quantity, for two
reasons : first, because his eagerness for water may lead him
to drink more at a time than is good for him; and secondly,
because a large quantity of water will probably cause him
to break out into a cold sweat, in which he may remain all
night if not looked to. After having taken a third, or less,
of a stable pailful of water, he should be kept without any
for some time, and then be allowed to take what he pleases.
When, however, you intend to stint your horse in this way,
do not suffer your groom to offer him a pailful of water, and
to take it from him when he has drunk a small portion of
it. but let just the quantity you wish him to have, and no

STABLE-MANAGEMENT.— EXERCISE.

141

more, be given to him ; he will then feel to a certain degree
satisfied with what he gets : whereas, by taking from him
what he expects to have, he becomes fretful and discon-
tented. In the first instance he makes up his mind to slake
his thirst with a short allowance of water ; whereas in the
second his just expectations are baulked in mid career, and
his imagination cheated as it were in the height of his
enjoyment : there is much more in this than may be
generally supposed. Physiologists are well aware of the
connexion existing between the stomach and brain ; and
those who have not inquired into this fact must either do so
before they attempt to refute it, or take what is here stated
as proven.

What is said with respect to giving a horse water while
he is hot applies equally to his food. Never suffer a horse
to feed until he is cool. After fatigue of body, the stomach
of all other parts is perhaps the least capable of exertion ;
and although in some cases of severe exertion a slight
degree of sustenance may be requisite to support the
strength and stamina of every living animal, it should
always be administered in moderation ; and for this purpose
there is nothing better than the gruel already recommended.
It is a light species of diet when not given too abundantly,
against which the stomach will seldom rebel, and it is
always proper that this organ, like any other, should be in
good tone before its work — that of digestion — be required of
it ; and as, when a horse is violently heated the blood is
propelled by the heart in a much greater ratio than usual,
the stomach, being consequently supplied with a greater
quantity of blood within a given time than it would have
received without undue excitement, is as unfitted to per-
form its task while under the influence of that stimulus, as
the eye would be to bear a strong light after having been
irritated by some heating application. Let your horse then
remain quiet for some time after he has done his work, and
he will not only feed the better for it, but will likewise
digest what he eats.

There are not a few masters of horses, who, from a
mistaken feeling of kindness, like always to see a good
quantity of food before their animals, so that they may never
be hungry ; not stopping for a moment to consider the
degree of injury they occasion by this perpetual cramming,
but vainly imagining that every extra mouthful a horse
swallows is so much added to his strength and condition.
We cannot, of course, expect the brute creation to act as
rational beings, or to be able to resist the temptation of eat-
ing more than is good for them ; and therefore the first
symptom of loathing food, which is the necessary consequence
of perpetual repletion, is a proof that the powers of the
stomach have been overtaxed, and that it requires the same
rest — only for a much longer period — as does the body
generally after severe exercise. Next to the quantity and
quality of your horse's food, there is nothing that will tend
so quickly to put him into condition as giving it at stated
hours and at regular intervals. After a meal proportioned

to his work — say from a quartern to a quartern and a half
of oats — four hours are the very least period that should be
allowed to elapse before your horse is again fed ; and during
this time (unless he has been worked so hard that you wish
him to lie down) his head should be fastened so that he may
not be able to get at his straw, which very many horses will
eat, no matter how soiled it may be. A horse in regular
and fair exercise should have but very little, if any, hay in
the middle of the day ; but a small quantity may be given
in the early part of the morning, and a sufiicient portion at
night to make up his daily allowance of about eight pounds
— not more. Although corn is certainly more nutritious
than hay, yet if you increase your number of feeds of oats,
and deprive your horses entirely of hay, it is surprising how
quickly some of them will lose flesh.

Business of various kinds will sometimes compel you to
alter your hours of feeding, but regularity should always be
adhered to as strictly as possible ; for, after having been for
some time accustomed to be fed at a certain time, nature
will crave food at the usual hour, even though the previous
meal may have been more than commonly abundant. A
horse that is generally taken out in the forenoon, if fed twice
in the morning, should have the larger portion of his food at
his first meal ; and if he be required to work on most days
from about nine till one or two, the better plan is to divide
his corn into three feeds instead of four. This is preferable
to working him on a full stomach, than which few things in
time are likely to prove more injurious.

EXERCISE.

Exercise, the prime necessity of animal health, is an
instinct wonderfully active in the horse, when free to indulge
his own will, and at leisure from the restraint and servitude
of man. The benefits of exercise, as a preventive of disease
and as a promoter of the working condition of the animal
frame, are equally self-evident. If it be true then that in a
state of nature horses instinctively play with each other, and
that to such an extent as to produce perspiration and violent
breathing, may we not infer that when we stable them,
subject to restraint, and then neglect to exercise them, their
health must be injured ? In all great cities the evil of want
of exercise sadly prevails among the better class of horses.
We shall quote here a clever sporting writer, the late Mr.
Bingley, " Harry Hieover," who says that he verily believes
as many horses are ruined for want of work as from too
much of it. It is true that the better sort of horses of the
better sort of owners are ordered to be exercised, but how,
where, and when they do not condescend to inform them-
selves, or to inform their servants. Well, the men have too
much to do, and gentlemen object to boys riding their
valuable horses. So they rub the dirt off them ; give them
a brush over ; make the stable clean, ventilate it by opening
door and window, and are satisfied that they have done
their duty. Or, perhaps the animals are ostensibly brought
out and led — observe, not even ridden — up and down a covered

142

STABLE-MANAGEMENT. -EXERCISK

ride perhaps fifty or sixty yards long, littered -with strong-
smelling, half-saturated straw, aided by the fine ammonia of
the dung-pit itself, quite " convaynient " as our Irish friends
would say. Ought an owner to feel astonished at " influenza,"
or any other disease which assumes an epizootic form, should
rage in his stable ? Of course he will hear from the " Vet.,"
according to his enlightenment, an extensive amount of
prate about " contagion, great prevalence of disease at this
season," fee, while he is positively brewing his own miasma,
and exposing his too-much-favoured animals to circumstances
which must produce the visitation which exercise, involving
change of air, would as assuredly prevent. Broken wind,
incipient ophthalmia, sandcracks, grease, contracted heels,
hide bound, and digestively-disturbed functions, staring coat,
and general constitutional disturbance are among the mis-
chiefs which physic and " horse-doctrine " will substitute for
horse-exercise and horse-play : which is the more economical,
which the more satisfactory, we leave the reader to judge.
The spring and autumn shedding of the coat, too, is never
properly gone through by horses who have not frequent and
strong periodical exercise. So necessary is exercise to the
health of the horse, that, unless prevented by sickness, lame-
ness, hard frost, or a previous severe hard day's work, no
day should be missed. The quantity, frequency, and pace,
must, however, depend upon circumstances. Where horses
work two or three days in the week, the resting days require
no more than airing exercise ; for every horse should have, at
least two days in the week, such work or exercise that will
give him a moderate sweating. This throws out through the
pores of the skin, what might lodge in the system and create
diseases ; it likewise frees the horse of scurf adhering to the
skin, and makes the coat fine. Those days, therefore, that
the horse is not wanted for work, he must be exercised for
the fresh air, which is bracing and strengthening to his
limbs, refreshes the body, and creates appetite. The early
part of the day is preferable for this, but in wet weather
embrace the best opportunity.

Exercise enlarges the muscles, by forcing more red blood
mto them : thus the arms of the blacksmith, the legs of the
pedestrian, the sword-arm of the fencer, greatly increase by
use ; which is well fabled in the account that Mih), by every
day carrying his calf, became insensible to its increasing
weight, and bore it also when it had grown into a bull
The athletae of Greece and Rome braced their limbs by
constant exertion, and the gymnastics of the forum were the
produce of much previous exercise. The boxer also is forced
to submit to close training, which is principally composed of
strong exercise. Our hounds take their training gallops
preparatory to hunting ; our hawks their training flights ;
and game-cocks were brought into wind and vigour by
similar means. It is well observed by Nimrod, " That the
ill efi'ects of rest, and the good eff'ects of work, on the powers
and energies of a horse, are astonishing. In long-continued
rest his flesh becomes soft and flabby, and the muscles lose
their elasticity, and even their substance. This is parti-

cularly exemplified in the human subject ; for, let a man
forego the use of one of his legs for twelve months, the muscles
of that leg will fall away, though they will in some measure
recover on his resuming the action of the limb. Horses
lame in the fore-feet are generally seen to have the muscles
of the chest fallen away, because such muscles are not called
into their proper action, which a crippled horse has not the
power of doing, although he may work every day." This
gave rise to the vulgar, but now nearly exploded, opinion of
chest-foundering in horses ; whereas such a complaint does
not exist ; the evil lies in the feet, and the wasting of the
muscles of the chest is the eff"ect and not the cause. In
strong work, when a horse is sound, every muscle, and
indeed every fibre, of the body is braced, as it were, until
the frame becomes a firm mass as a whole, but possessed of
vast contractility in the separate portions.

Exercise greatly improves the wind, by promoting an
absorption of the surrounding fat from the viscera of the
chest, and thus allowing the lungs to expand uninterruptedly:
it also enlarges the air cells of the lungs themselves ; and
hence, by the imbibing of more air, the animal can remain
longer between his inspirations. The pearl-diver by practice,
it is said, can remain under water between two and three
minutes, while insensibility follows our own immersion after
fifty seconds. And thus the colt in training is first able to
take a gentle gallop, next a brushing one, and lastly he
stretches over the ground at the top of his speed without
distress.

The benefits of exercise as a preventive, and in many cases
a curative, need not be further dwelt on, except to urge on
owners that they should insist on its systematic and periodical
observance.

The owner of a single horse should order his groom, as
soon as the stable has been cleaned out in the morning,
while the horse is eating his first feed, to brush him over,
and put on his exercising saddle and bridle ; in cold weather,
if only intended to be walked, keep the cloth or sheet on
him under the saddle ; in warm weather, though a horse's
coat may be something the finer by being kept warm, yet he
is certainly the more liable to take cold when he is necessarily
deprived of it. We need hardly say that the most open and
airy places should be taken for exercise, and this is the most
favourable opportunity to improve a horse's walk, two hours
of which he should get, and it is a great thing to endeavour
always to make him step longer in his walk, and thus
exercise the horse and improve him at the same time. If
convenient, while out give him his water. If a horse is
inclined to flesh, the like exercise may be taken in the after-
noon, where persons have time and convenience But every
one cannot allow the time to be so taken up, for it would be
nearly equal to training, and may not be thought necessary ;
it is more than the generality of horses require, and many
inferior-bred horses, who look well to the eye, cannot for a
continuance stand the ordinary work that a horse has in"
training. If you inquire of training grooms, in charge of

STABLE-MANAGEMENT.— CLEANING.

143

Bome terrible high-bred colt, why he is not " brought out,"
they will answer, " he would not stand his training." This
is mere cant. He has been over-trained and galloped too
fast, not judiciously and reasonably exercised.

Should the horse's work be so moderate as not to occasion
a sweat, then, about twice a week, he should have exercise
strong enough to sweat him ; this may be done in the pace
he is mostly ridden in, tliat he may be practised and improved
in it ; if he be admired for his trot, it would be wrong to
gallop him, which might unsettle him in his esteemed pace ;
therefore, trot him out for the space of two miles, to bring
him to a comfortable sweat, and walk him back ; thus will
his limbs be rendered supple, his muscles developed by red
blood, and his ligaments and tendons strengthened. In-
activity debilitates, and over exertion may sprain and
weaken, but moderate exertion is good both for man and
beast.

Sweating horses increases the labour of cleaning. Indolent
grooms, and those who have several horses to look after,
avoid this part of their business as much as possible : let no
such grooms be trusted.

When a horse comes in from work or exercise, if perspir-
ing, wet and dirty, he should not be left until completely
dry, clean, and comfortable. Some horses, in good condition,
will rub dry and clean in a short time, but others, with long
coats, and some from constitution or ill condition, are a long
time getting dry ; hence clipping and singeing, which may
be rendered unnecessary by diligent grooming. But these
points will be remarked upon presently.

In some hunting establishments grooms only open the
stables twice a-day instead of three times if the horses are
not at work. Instead of sending the horses starving out the
first dawn of the morning, they generally remain in the
stables till the men have had their breakfasts, and are con-
sequently not shut up till a little before mid-day. They
then remain quiet for six hours. The late Lord Kintore's
stable was conducted on this principle, and Nimrod, in
describing it, said, " I must own that, although I never tried
it, I see sound argument in favour of this stable management
during the three dark and dreary months of winter, with
horses that work hard, from a knowledge of the restorative
powers of undisturbed rest both with horse and man ; as
also of its sedative effects in allaying excitement by whatever
cause produced."

The hours of exercising might be advantageously left to
the weather. Cold, damp, foggy mornings, the horses wo'ild
doubtless be better in their stables ; fine bright mornings
should be taken advantage of, lest the day should change for
the worse as it advances. There is no use in getting horses
out in winter before day-break, unless indeed the men (which
is not at all improbable) have fixed a particular hour for
their own breakfast? That breakfast is one strong argument
for exercising at a later period, the men having no interest
in hurrying and shortening their work in order to get home
to their morning meaL

When horses in returning from exercise show any heat oi
inflammation from saddle, girth, or harness, have ready a
wash of Goulard water — that is, four drachms of sugar of
lead diluted with water to a wine bottle full of fluid. Bathe
the part with it, and you will give comfort to the animal,
and perhaps prevent further and more troublesome and pain-
ful consequences. This cold lotion should always be at hand

CLEANING.

Removing the Mud. — There are two ways of removing the
mud. One may be termed the dry, and another the wet
mode. The first is performed by means of the scraper and
the curry-comb, or a kind of brush made of whalebone, which
answers much better than the curry-comb. In the few
coaching stables now surviving, the strappers are never
allowed to apply water to a horse that has come off' the road.
The usual practice is to strip off" the mud and loose water by
the sweat knife ; to walk the horse for about ten minutes, if
he be warm or wet, and the weather fair, otherwise he stands
a little in his stall, or in an open shed ; then the man begins
with the driest of those that have come in together Much
of the surface mud which the scraper has left about the legs
is removed by a straw wisp, or a small birch broom, or the
whalebone brush ; the wisp likewise helps to dry the horse.
The whalebone brush is a very useful article when the coat
is long. That and the curry-comb, with the aid of a wisp,
are almost the only implements coaching strappers require
in the winter season. It clears away the mud, and separates
the hairs, but it does not polish them. A gloss, such as the
coat of these horses requires, is given by the wisp. The
whalebone brush is sometimes too coarse, and many horses
cannot bear it at any time, while others can suffer it only in
winter. After the mud has been removed with this brush,
the matted hair parted by the curry-comb, and the horse
dusted all over with the wisp, his feet are washed, the soles
picked, the shoes examined, the legs and heels well rubbed,
partly by the hand, and partly by the wisp, and the mane
and tail combed. In the best stables he is well dressed with
the bristle brush before he goes to work. In other stables
the usual mode of removing mud is by —

Washing. — When the horse is very dirty he is usually
washed outside the stable ; his belly is scraped, and the
remainder of the mud is washed off' at once by the application
of water. Some clean the body before they wash the legs,
but that is only when there is not much mud about the
horse. They do so that he may go into the stable quite
clean. He soils his feet and legs by stamping the ground
when his body has been cleaneif It matters little whether
the dressing commence with the body or with the legs ; bul
when the legs are washed the last thing, they are generally
left undried. In washing, a sponge and a water brush are
employed. Some use a mop, and this is called a lazy
method ; it is truly the trick of a careless sloven ; it wets
the legs, but does not clean them. The brush goes to the
roots of the hair ; and removes the sand and mud, without

144

STABLE-MAW ACJEMENT.— CLOTHING.

doing which, it is worse than useless to apply water. The
sponge is employed for drying the hair, for soaking up and
wiping away the loose water. Afterwards, the legs, and all
the parts that have been washed, are rendered completely
dry by rubbing with a straw wisp, the rubber, and the hand.
Among valuable horses this is always done ; wherever the
legs have little hair about them, and that little cannot be
properly dried after washing, no washing should take place.
For ourselves we are advocates of the " dry " method ;
for none but the best of stablemen, and they are of course
rare, conscientiously rub them free from moisture. Hence
imminent danger of cold and fever. Evaporation com-
mences ; after a time a process is set up for producing heat
sufficient to carry on evaporation and to maintain the
temperature of the skin. Before this process can be fully
established the water has all evaporated ; then the heat
accumulates ; inflammation succeeds, and often runs so far
as to produce mortification. When the inflammation is
slight and transient, the skin is soon completely restored to
health, and no one knows that it had ever been inflamed.
When the process runs higher, there is a slight oozing from
the skin, which constitutes what is termed grease, or a spot
of grease, for when this disease is spread over a large surface
it is the result of repeated neglect. When the inflammation
has been still more severe, mortification ensues ; the horse
is lame, the leg swollen, and in a day or two a crack is
visible across the pastern, generally at that part where the
motion is greatest. This crack is sometimes a mere rupture
of the tumefied skin, but very often it is produced by a dead
portion of the skin having fallen out ; what is called "a core"
in the heel arises from the same cause ; it difliers from the
crack only in being deeper and wider. The reason why
cold produces such local injury of the skin covering the legs,
and not of that covering any other part, is sufiiciently plain.
The legs, in proportion to their size, have a very extensive
surface exposed to evaporation, and the cold becomes more
intense than it can ever become on the body. To avoid
these evils, the legs must either be dried after washing, or
they must not be wet. With this train of evils " looming in
the future," the owner must indeed be unworthy of being
master of a horse if he neglects to assure himself that his
animal's legs are properly rubbed dry. When you wash the
legs with warm water to cool and refresh them, it will also
at the same time relieve the feet, which of course must have
undergone a considerable quantity of labour. The uses of
the equine footbath are dwelt on in Mayhew's " Illustrated
Horse Doctor," already referred to. Water is beneficial
to the feet ; we find the feet less injured by travelling
on wet roads than on dry ones ; and the hoof at grass,
being continually wet with the dew and moist ground,
is in a better state than when kept in the stable. The casual
wet you meet with in exercise on the roads, or the moisture
of the turf or grass you exercise on, contributes to preserve
the foot from the injury which continually standing in a hot
and dry stable occasions.

CLOTHlNa

The advisability of clothing for the " general purpose *
horse has been the subject of controversy in times by-past.
With racers and high-bred hunters clothing is indispensable.

The " old English gentleman's " cry of " sticking to nature "
is mere nonsensical obstinacy and prejudice. We have
adapted the animal to an artificial life, and artificial means
are needed to keep him in the required condition. In
winter, clothing warms the animal and improves his coat ;
in summer (lighter), it keeps the skin-temperature more
equable, and prevents the irritation of flies. We do not
recommend, however, the complete suit of the racer to the
service of the hackney.

Where stables are dry and cross-draughts avoided, a
horsecloth is, to our thinking, enough. Much of the heavier
clothing may be dispensed with advantageously where the
" dry-rubbing " so often insisted on in these pages is con-
scientiously carried out. Good grooming is the surest
prevention of sudden alternations from heat to cold ; and we
once again recommend that no stable should ever be without
a registering thermometer, that its temperature may not be
the subject of guess.

The clothing for private stables is composed of strong
serge, made for the saddler's purpose, cut, and bound with
galloon. Economy and smartness are best answered by
having a suit of " best clothes," of finer and closer serge or
kersey, for day wear, and a warm rug or even two for night.
A roller with double straps is required to keep them in
place. The best or day clothes will look much cleaner and
smarter by this method. In warm dry weather a thin cloth
is enough.

In the stable you^ horses should always have clothes
enough to keep them warm, but not hot. Grooms are
generally too fond of heaping rugs and blankets upon their
horses, for the purpose of improving the appearance of the
coat ; but depend on it that too warm clothing not only
renders a horse more susceptible of cold than he should be,
but also diminishes the size and firmness of his muscles.
Employ then the "just mean ;" and however pretty may be
the appearance of a smart and thick rug, covered by a gay
body-cloth, and this again surmounted by a hood thrown
over the quarters, with the ears neatly peeping up behind
the rollers, do not sacrifice your horse's well-being to
appearances, which may be all very well in the show-stables
of a London dealer, but are uncalled for in those of a
sportsman. If your horse be clipped or singed, he wiU ol
course require additional clothing, for a time at least.

The hunter's clothing in cold weather is a kersey-sheet
and quarter-piece with roller, and usually a breast-piece
also. To these, particularly where well-bred horses are
employed, a hood is sometimes added ; but, however proper
it may be to exercise in a hood (which indeed should
always be worn when walking only is allowed), we think il
should not constitute a regular part of the stable dresa

8TABLE-MAMAGEMENT.— CONDITIONING.

145

Even breast-cloths have the effect of keeping a part in an
undue state of heat, which, the moment the horse goes out
to his regular work, is the most exposed to the wind and
rain. The day clothing of the hunter is commonly ex-
changed for the rug and roller at night.

The clothing used for the better sort of hackneys is much
the same with that worn by the hunter ; even the hood and
breast-piece are often employed ; and, indeed, the general
treatment is now much alike for both : but it must be
allowed, that, however it may tend to improve the appear-
ance of the hackney, or even increase his spirit, it must
nevertheless subject him to cold on a change of stable.

The clothing in use for racers varies much, in quantity,
quality, and fashion. The full set comprises the hood,
sheet, quarter-piece, breast-cloth, pad-cloth, and fillet-cloth,
with rollers to secure them ; these form a complete suit
of clothes. The suits vary in their manufacture ; they
are, however, usually made of kersey-check, like those of
other horses, but of a lighter kind. There are likewise in
racing stables heavy suits, particularly employed for the
purpose of sweating. The first hood of the sweating cloth-
ing should be made without ears, that additional hoods,
when necessary, may go over it, the last only being furnished
with ears. The body-sweater should be large enough to
envelop the whole carcass, and to wrap round the neck
likewise ; and the breast-sweater, or breast-cloth, should be
equally capacious. When the sweat is intended to be a
profuse one, other large blanket pieces are usually added.
In summer, racers usually wear suits of white serge for
clothing, ^n Darvill's work some judicious improvements
in the clothing are recommended ; one of which is, that
instead of the stiff leather used to attach the breast-cloth
strap (and which, when hard-pulling horses are galloping,
often chafes the knuckles of the riding boys seriously)
softer leather should be substituted, as that of which the
saddle-seats are made. He further proposes to substitute
" loops on each side of the centre and back part of the
quarter-piece and sheet, so that a portion of binding might
be attached to those loops, in the way of a crupper, with
such horses as would bear it."

CONDITIONING.

The word condition is variously applied to the horse,
chough widely different from what is here intended : thus,
when we say a horse is in " condition for sale," we simply
mean "dealer's condition," i.e., he is in flesh, his legs clean
and fresh, his coat fine, his eye clear, and his movements
lively. A horse may be all this, but not in condition for
work. Another horse is said to be " in good working condi-
tion;" such might be said of a cab-horse, bare of flesh, with
joints enlarged, and his legs puffed with windgalls, yet this
horse may be capable of doing much work. His being
worked more than was requisite to keep him in condition,
has put him " out of condition."

Condition, therefore, without an expletive, implies that
T

perfect state of body and limbs, in which the whole system
is at its highest vigour, and capable of great exertion,
whenever called on. This cannot be obtained or kept,
without strictly adhering to three things, viz., proper food,
proper grooming, and proper exercise ; neither of these
must be omitted, or injudiciously administered ; for, like
medicine properly administered, each does good, but is
capable of doing much injury if misapplied. Wine, in
moderation, cheers the spirits and invigorates the body of
man, but taken to excess debilitatea the constitution and
prostrates the nervous energy.

" Nimrod," whose victorious controversy on Summerint:
the Hunter," led to such oceans of " inkshed " some thirty
years ago, is yet the first authority on preparing horses for
the hunting field ; and some of his directions are so
generally applicable that we may adapt them easily to
ordinary stable practice. He supposes, in this case, that
you take your horse from grass on the ist of August. "If
you intend," says Mr. Apperley, " to physick him in the
stable, give the purgatives hereafter mentioned : but if you
prepare him at grass, give mild doses of not more than five
drachms of aloes, and two and a half drachms of ginger, on
the 24th of July, and repeat it on the 1st day of August,
and again on the 8th day of August ; take him into the
stable on the 10th or 11th of August, but do not bleed;
give a mash once or twice a day, as it is not right to put
him on dry food too suddenly, at least for a week ; let him
have three or four hours' walking exercise every day for the
first fortnight, then bring him by degrees to take regular
stretching gallops. Let old oats and meadow hay be his food
till he comes to severe work, then add a few old split beans,
and give about a quart of sliced carrots or Swedish turnips
clean washed, once or twice in twenty-four hours. The beet-
root is excellent in colds or coughs. Do not clothe him too
heavy, nor keep the temperature of your stable too warm Let
all corn be bruised ; give a small feed every morning before
watering, and do not follow the plan of galloping afterwards ;
four times in twenty-four hours is often enough to feed, and
do what is requisite in the stable ; do not disturb him oftener.
A change of diet is good for all horses, particularly bad
feeders. A small quantity of bruised wheat and malt with
chopped clover is nourishing food, and boiled beans and
some dry bran mixed with them and the water they are
boiled in is an excellent mash. I have frequently given it
after a hard day's work. Be careful not to give too much
hay ; it is a good plan to shake up some fresh oat or wheat
straw with it, they must masticate more thoroughly.
Giving large quantities of corn at one time is improper,
many eager horses will grasp such mouthfuls that it is
impossible for them to grind it; they swallow it whole and
dry, which swells in the stomach, causes obstructions, and
the confined air originating from indigested food produce?
acute pain, convulsions, and frequently sudden death It is
certainly an excellent plan to give chopped clover, saintfoin,
and any seed hay with corn. When you go out in the

1-46

dTABLE-MA^'AGEMENT.— CONDITIONING.

morning leave orders for half a gallon of barley, well sifted
clear of dust, to be put into a clean pail, to it pour two
gallons of boiling water, let it be covered close over, it will
be cool enough in six or eight hours, and give it altogether
when your horse has been thoroughly dressed ; he will
eagerly take it.

" You can judge of a horse's condition by his coat, and
firmness of flesh ; his crest and his spirits or animation, in
case of colds, being dull and feverish, use the following
alterative powders : —

" Antimony, in powder, one pound ; nitre, one pound ;
mixed together : give one ounce every night, either in
their corn or made into a ball ; it will greatly promote
condition. It is a good plan when you buy a horse always
to begin to get him into condition with the above alteratives.
It is a most excellent cooling medicine for horses hard-
worked in summer."

Leaving Nimrod, we will return to general treatment for
conditioning.

We have already spoken of exercise, as ensuring the
health of the stabled horse, or as preventing the acces-
sion of acute or chronic disorders by means of the lungs, the
skin, and the hardening and strengthening of the muscles
and lungs by promoting healthy excretion. We are not
about to encourage quackery in grooms and horsekeepers —
far from it — nor to give such advice as might interfere with
the legitimate province of the veterinary surgeon. Yet, as
a horse in precarious health, or whose exertions, exposure,
or other causes of common occurrence may threaten to
disable, must often be under the care of his stable attendant,
it is as well that a few simple directions should be given in
a sanitary sense. Now some grooms physic or bleed the
horses entrusted to them at their own discretion. This
should never be allowed by any judicious master. Proper
feeding, due exercise, diligent grooming, will often preclude
the necessity of physic. Sloth and neglect are the parents
of disease in an animal so artificially treated as the stabled
horse Well fed, and not exercised, what can be expected
but a train of evils, for which the drenching-horn, the
balling-iron, and the fleam are to be the panacea ! We
have personally an intense aversion to unnecessary drugs
and the use of the fleam or scalpel. A few plain directions,
not to supersede but to obviate the dire necessity of the
instrument case and the battery of the pharmacopoeia, shall
here be set down. We will first speak of the treatment of a
horse who has been newly taken up from grass, 'irass is
cooling and aperient to the horse accustomed to hard meat ;
it will also fill him with flesh ; but observe, this is not flesh
of a description fit for a horse to work upon : nay, if you
tried him a hunting gallop you would find him faint and
weak, and the fat accumulated on his cellular tissue would
work out in a white lather This checked will probably
produce inflammation of the lungs, and send, as it has sent,
many a fine animal to the knacker's yard.

We will suppose your horse coming from grass or the

straw yard* to the stable, with its systematic diet and cor-
responding work ; observe if he has irritation of the skin
and heat. If so send for the veterinary surgeon, who will
bleed him or reduce his fever, as he is a disciple of the
" venesecting " theory or the " alterative." By the way, the
first thing is to get the horse shod, as he is best with his
shoes off' when turned out, otherwise they become loose
before being taken up. While he is full of grass he will not
drink much water, but if you give him dry food he will
become thirsty, and you need not stint him till he has had
his physic. A good method is to give him a cold bran
mash or two before the medicine. We will suppose then he
has had his dose : tie him up and put on the muzzle, and
in the morning gentle exercise will assist its operation. On
returning to stable, give him a lock of the sweetest hay and
a little chilled water, then a bran mash moderately warmed.
More solid food may lessen the benefit to be derived from
the aperient. After the sixth or seventh day a second dose
of medicine is recommended by most practitioners, when
the stable treatment before and after may be similar.

With respect to removing fat by purgatives, if you are not
yourself a good judge of the operation of these medicines,
you should first take the opinion of some good veterinary
surgeon ere you attempt to meddle with them. A round-
barrelled, trussy horse of a hardy constitution will bear a
dose of medicine which would be destruction to a slight and
narrow-gutted one, and you should therefore be extremely
cautious how you administer such quantities as you may
occasionally see prescribed as "cathartic, &c., ball," or "mix-
ture," in veterinary works, without previously ascertaining
as far as you can, the capabilities of your horse for sustaining
their operation. For the purpose of taking off fat, and at
the same time of improving your horse's stamina, active
purgation is seldom required, and therefore you must never
think of giving such doses as would be prescribed for the
treatment of inflammation. Such a practice, so far from
doing good, would render your horse weak and languid for
several days, and prevent him only from taking any but
the most moderate exercise. Generally speaking, from thre<i

* The Straw Yard affords another mode of restoring the legs of the
overworked horse, and he is turned into it during the winter, with a
shed to run into, and the soft manure or litter in the middle of the
yard to run upon. Hay is given, but seldom more than enough tc
keep the stomach in order, and barley-straw affords the chief sus-
tenance in most cases ; sometimes a little hay is given cut as chaff with
straw, and in some cases also mixed with a feed or two of corn per day.
When a suitable winter pastm-e cannot be obtained, the sti-aw-yard is
often eflBcacious for inflamed legs and feet ; and, as its small extent
precludes all galloping abouN it is often even more suitable than any
open pasture. Tips may be entu-ely dispensed with, and when the toes
are pared down close, as in the " seedy toe," or when the homy foot
has come off, as in inflammation or fever of the foot, the straw-yard
affords the very best chance of a speedy growth, especially if the
regular application of pitch, &c., can be depended on. — Steward t Stable
Management.

STABLE-MANAGEMENT.— CONDITIONING

.47

to four drachms of aloes are quite sufficient for your purpose ;
and they may be occasionally repeated as circumstances may
require. Previous to giving physic, keep your horse for half
a day at least on bran-mashes, which species of food, with a
little hay, must be all that is allowed him until his dung
becomes tolerably firm, or, in stable language, is "set."
Without this precaution you will run the risk of inducing
gripes. Water with the chill taken oflF should also be given
during the operation of a purgative, and the horse be kept
tolerably warm. Walking exercise will at first be all that
he will comfortably endure after his ball has left ofl" working
him, and this must be increased by degrees.

Having by this means brought your horses iiito such a
state as to enable them to stand hard work, it should be
your care, by regular exercise and careful attention to their
diet, grooming, and other matters connected with their well-
doing, to see that they are not suffered to fall off in strength
and condition.

The training of the hunter and the race-horse is con-
ducted on the self-same principles, for which the reader is
referred elsewhere under Training the Racer, and Train-
ing THE Hunter. The grand arcana of training and
condition are comprised in a knowledge of their constitu-
tional treatment in the article of diet, and in giving them
regularly as much exercise as their strength will endure
with advantage to themselves. We speak not here of what
their legs will bear in the way of work ; for, if they are so
faulty as to be an impediment to active exertion, the sooner
they are put out of training the better.

We shall conclude this subject by the sound advice of one
of the best and most practical of sporting writers. " Trainers
in general are too fond of employing physic, of the operation
of which in nine times out of ten they are grossly ignorant.
To be convinced of this, you have only to listen to the jargon
they will run over to you of the action of the simplest
remedies — a liniment, for instance, which they frequently,
nay almost invariably, use for a strain of any kind, and that
immediately after it has occurred, when its application may
be highly injurious. There is, however, in mankind in
general a hankering after being thought skilled in medicine,
and few people will be found who have not nostrums for
most diseases, and of course recommend a similar mode
of treatment for every case. We are quite as convinced that
a horse once put into condition may be kept so by good
feeding, good grooming, and good exercise, unless he fall ill,
as that the less medicine a man in good health and of
regular habits takes the better for him. A horse's habits

and mode of life, while under the direction of man, must oi
ought to be more regular than those of a human being, and
consequently the perpetual physickings that are prescribed
in many first-class stables, cannot fail to be prejudicial.

" Let then your horse's work be proportioned to his powers
of endurance ; pay strict attention to his diet, to cleanliness,
&c. ; do not allow your groom to tamper with medicine, and
to fancy himself an Esculapius, a Percival, a Blaine, or a
Sewell : so shall the work you get out of your stud be pro-
portionally increased, your veterinary surgeon's bill be
diminished, and your purse the weightier by the price of
some few horses, which by a different mode of treatment
might have been either rendered useless, or have graced
the kennel coppers."

The handling of the horse by rib and neck, to determine
the state of his condition, is a very ancient practice. Xeno-
phon and other old authors notice it ; and we find one of
these writers on the horse asserting, "that there are out-
ward and inward manifestations of fat, some being out-
wardly fat and yet inwardly lean," which, although it seems
to imply a contradiction, is yet in some cases true. Another
denies the possibility of this, and a third thus discourses on
the subject : — " Some horses feed outwardly, and carry a
thick rib when they are inwardly thin, as may be ; whereas
others appear lean to the eye, when they are all grease
within. In this case, the feeder of the horse has two helps
to advantage his knowledge, the outward and the inward
one. The first is the outward handling and feeling the
horse's body all over his ribs, but particularly upon his
short and hindermost ribs ; and if his flesh generally handle
soft and loose, and the fingers sink therein as into down, he
is foul without all manner of question : but if he be hard
and firm, and only soft upon the hindermost rib, he has
grease and foul matter within him, which must be voided,
whatever comes of it. And for the inward help, that is
only sharp exercise and strong scouring ; the first to dis-
solve, and the latter to bring it away " The same author,
with much truth, gives the retraction of the testes to the
body as an useful criterion of condition.

Our next chapter will treat of Vices in the Horse-.
firstly Stable Vices, then those of The Road and Harness.
The Treatment of a Horse on a Journey, Care of the Feet,
Shoeing, a Chapter on Ridino and Crivino, — -while an
outline of what a Gentleman should know of the first
steps and general outlines of horse-medicine, shall con-
clude this division of our work. Veterinary Science and
Practice will follow.

]48

THE VICES OF HORSES.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE VICES OF HORSES AND THEIR REMEDIES. — STABLE VICES : RESTIVE WHILE CLEANINQ : KICKING : CRIB-BITINQ : WIND-SCCKIHO ;
PAWING : REARING : GETTING LOOSE : ROLLING : HANGING BACK : CASTING : RESTIVE WHILE SHOEING : EATING LITTER, &C. ;
VICES ON THE ROAD.

The Vices of the Horse offer a tempting subject to the
essay-writer ; the idiosyncrasies of this valuable quadruped
presenting almost as many leading features as those of
erratic human nature herself ; yet of the horse's " original
sin " in the respect of " temper," we are somewhat sceptical,
believing that, although horses of violent and even furious
temper may be found, the " vice " is far more frequently
attributable to improper, harsh, or ignorant training, and to
tricks taught him by the folly or mischievous propensities of
his groom or keeper, tlian to temper.

The neglect of early kind treatment and association with
mankind is the most prolific source of obduracy in the horse.
Much of the disposition which characterises the animal at a
mature age is established in his youth. The seeds of
rebellion, obstinacy, and strife are readily sown by the hand
of ignora\ice and indiscretion ; like noxious weeds, they
thrive more vigorously than those of obedience, docility, and
cheerfulness. As that of the child, the education of the
horse should commence at an early age, and both should be
treated with kindness. Pleasure should be associated with
early lessons, obedience inculcated by firmness, not by brutal
severity ; upon these points we refer the reader to our
chapter on " Breaking and Training." Few there are who
adopt the happy medium. In the horse, a dogged, sullen,
spiritless submission may be enforced by the cruel brutality
to which the breaker too frequently has recourse ; but that
prompt and eager response to the rider's will, that manifest
alacrity to accord with every wish, which give to the
horse so much of his value, can only be founded on habitual
confidence and attachment.

Temper is a property, a virtue it may be aptly termed,
when rightly directed, deserving the utmost attention, not
only with reference to docility, but in a more extensive
sense, in connection with the nervous energy of the system
and corresponding physical power. This energy is affected
by the amount of nervous excitability of the brain, in
conjunction with the nervous system, influencing the
muscles of locomotion. If that be in proportion with the
physical power of the animal, he will be capable of mani-
festing great superiority, providing his physical powers are
in a healthy state, and cultivated by proper work or
training.

Extreme irritability or impatience of reasonable control,
by overpowering the muscular system, will occasion prostra-

tion of strength, and the animal will be found incapable of
endurance. On the other hand, if the muscular powers are
greatly in excess of the nervous energy, the horse is of little
value except for purposes in which sluggishness is unim-
portant.

The ordinary means adopted by sportsmen and others
connected with horses, and which have been for ages more
or less successfully the means of subjugating them, have
been eclipsed by the performances of Mr. Rarey. Whatever
scepticism may exist as to the permanency of his treatment
with horses confirmed in vice, very great and important
results are most unquestionably manifest in the facility
with which he is enabled to reduce to quiet submission
wild, unhandled, unbroken colts. Those who ride and
drive for health and amusement, although their wealth may
enable them to purchase horses perfectly tractable, cannot
fail to enhance their pleasures by the confidence which a
knowledge of this art must establish.

It is an unfortunate fact for creatures of instinct only,
that their tuition is mostly entrusted to that class who have
but a small share of the reasoning faculty themselves ; and
what they have, bad temper and worse feeling frequently
prevent their exercising. There can be no doubt that
the less reasoning faculty the pupil is endowed with, be it
man or brute, the more enlightened should be the preceptor.
If a master improperly chides or corrects a boy, the latter
has reason to call to his aid, and sees the folly or injustice
of the chastisement ; thus, his progress in learning anything
is not stopped or thrown back by the folly or ebullition of
temper of the master ; but the poor brute is confused by it ;
and no doubt that intemperate and misplaced correction
often undoes far more in one quarter of an hour than can
be rectified by a week's subsequent tuition. Parents would
be figuratively "up in arms" if a boy was improperly or
illadvisedly corrected ; yet owners will look with perfect
apathy or carelessness on the treatment their more-to-be-
pitied animals undergo at the hands of their teachers.
More to be pitied, because the boy can complain ; the pooi
brute cannot, whatever may be his sufferings.

The horse comes nest to the dog in point of acuteness ol
instinct, the highest-gifted of those animals we have in a
domestic state, or at least from the tuition we bestow on
him, his instinct is the most developed. The ox, cow, sheep,
and swine are left aU but in a state of nature ; the cow

STABLE VICES.

[49

comes to be milked — the others to be fed ; these are all the
demands made on them ; the labouring ox is a little more
taught, but nothing more than the commonest instinct
suffices to effect The fact is, we want, in a general way,
no more services of such animals than instinct enables
them to perform. Even as regards the horse, highly as we
prize him, but little pains are taken with his education, if
the term may be used ; he is mostly broke to carry or go
in harness by very rude hands ; but no further pains are
taken with him. He will sometimes show considerable
cleverness in fencing ; this is only the effect of instinct and
practice The dray-horse will quietly approach the trap-
door of the cellar, wait till his trace is fixed to the
upcoming cask, lean sideways, as it may be called, against
the collar, and on the cask reaching the pavement well
knows that what was wanted of him is achieved, and if
called on will willingly repeat the service. This is instinct,
self-possession, and practice. Even with amphitheatrical
horses " docility " is the one thing wanted. The " dancing "
quadrilles, as it is called, is not by " ear," as is pretended,
but by the hand and heel of the rider synchronously used
with the cadences. The horse learns to obey a signal or a
motion, and instinctive obedience does the rest. With these
arguments for a gentle system we come to the subject of
Vices, so-called.

I. STABLE VICES.

Restive while cleaning. — We nee^d hardly remark on the
difference of " temper " displayed by different horses under
the hand of the groom. Horses that are steady and quiet
on the road and in the field cannot be dressed without
hazard to the strapper or groom, as well as risk to them-
selves. This will often be found to be owing to a highly
sensitive skin, in which case the remedy should be the
adoption of other implements and a lighter method. For
instance, to discard the ordinary curry comb, at least for a
time, and substitute stout linen rubbers, horse hair gloves,
and a flexible backed brush. Of the latter we can safely
say that they are in all cases of fine-coated animals prefer-
able to the curry-comb, and searching enough if the horse is
industriously groomed. In the majority of instances, how-
ever, this vice has arisen from teasing the animal ; or a heavy-
handed fellow with a broken-toothed comb, or a worn and
uneven-surfaced brush, literally knocking the animal about.
As to teasing, we have watched many strappers who took a
delight in making the animal lash out at random, or show
his teeth ; can we wonder then that this " vice " is con-
firmed ? A change of groom, perhaps, takes place, and what
was previously done partly in play, by the stranger is
created as a manifestation of anger — or "vice." If the
recalcitrant animal should inflict injury on the unsuspicious
newcomer, of course " confirmed and dangerous vice " is the
verdict, although the poor unreasoning brute was merely
practising his rehearsed " horseplay." Gentle handling and
encouraging words, with a firm and unhesitating approach,
will soon render such a horse quiet and steady.

Kicking is too often caused by the teasing, tickling, or
pinching above noticed. The habit becomes confirmed, and
the illtaught animal is voted incurable.

An inveterate kicker is to be very carefully approached
by all parties, and sometimes requires even more than
ordinary caution, in which case a chain is run through a
pulley in the stall-post, and from that to his head-stall, so
that by pulling it his head may be drawn round towards
the post, and by the same action his heels drawn from it, so
as to allow the groom to go to his head, when he is safe
from the heels. Most good grooms, however, are able to
take care of themselves, and by constant practice they learn
to keep the proper distance, either near enough to make the
kick a mere push, or far enough to be out of reach.

Kicking the stall-post is injurious both to the kicker
and his next neighbour, who may come in, under a bail, for
the knock intended for the post. We have known horses
do this for hours together in mere idle play. Hard work
cures it, and if that does not, or is not available, a branch
or two of furze-bush nailed against the post will generally
stop it. Mares are stated to be addicted to this bad habit
far more than horses. A log of wood strapped to the leg
most used in mischief has been advised. We think them
very dangerous, and not heavy enough to be efficacious. A
broad strap fastened round the pastern and the weight,
about five pounds, attached, so as to avoid bruising the
coronet, will be found an improvement.

Biting. — This dangerous and unpleasant habit which is
often a mere indication of playfulness, is a decided vice in
many horses. Watch carefully that your stable boys and
grooms do not promote or encourage it, which they often
do and then exclaim against it and punish the animal for
what is caused by their own provocation and folly. Various
methods, some very cruel, have been proposed as cures for a
biting horse, " Harry Hieover " has an amusing paper on
the subject in his "Stable Talk," from which we shall here
make an excerpt. The writer says : — " Supposing a horse
to have that abominable vice of biting people, he gets well
flogged for it : this may deter him in some measure from
doing so : but if it does, it only prevents his doing it when
we keep an eye on him ; it does not cure his inclination to
do it ; nor would anything but finding he actually hurt
himself by the act itself. A somewhat curious mode of
curing this appeared in the public prints ; namely, the
giving such a horse a hot roast leg of mutton to seize.
Absurd as this appears, it is really not so much so as many
things that are done towards horses : in fact, if a horse was
addicted to biting legs of mutton, it would be a rational
and certain way of curing him of the propensity ; but as legs
of mutton do not often come in his way, and arms of men
frequently do, — unless he was stupid enough not to be able
to distinguish the one from the other, the mutton plan could
not avail much. Now, if we could cover a man with a coat
of mail, with invisible spikes standing from it, two or three
times seizing the man would, I doubt not, radically cure the

150

THE VICES OF HORSES.

horse — not of his disposition to bite, but of attempting to do
so. But as we cannot well do this, I believe a short stick,
and keeping an eye on him, in approaching or quitting him,
is the only thing to be trusted to. Flogging him after he
has bitten will tend to increase his propensity to do it, for
this reason : it is either dislike to man or fear of man that
makes him bite : he seizes us to prevent our hurting him,
or in revenge for having been hurt ; consequently, punishing
only confirms his fear and hate ; so probably, if we do this,
ind he finds he dare not bite, he tries the efficacy of a kick.
"A friend of mine had a favourite mare that was ex-
ceedingly troublesome to dress, and bit terribly What
inade it worse was, she would on no occasion bear to be
rack-chained up ; she would rush back and throw herself
down. When she had the muzzle on, she would run at the
manger, rack, and man, so that the blow was nearly as bad
as the bite. It happened the groom had killed a hedgehog
the day before : seeing this in the stable, it struck me I
could turn him to some account ; so I got him skinned, and
fastened the skin to the bottom of the muzzle, of course on
the inside. I put it on the mare, lengthening the head-strap
so as to allow about three inches between the skin and the
mare's lips, and offer her no inconvenience but of her own
seeking. I begged the groom to strip and dress her. The
moment he touched the roller-strap to unbuckle it, she
rushed at the rack-staves as usual, but not the usual result
did she find. She ran back to the end of her collar-rein,
snorting ; he commenced dressing her : she went at him as
usual : he was quick enough to meet her muzzle with his
arm, giving it a hard blow against her nose : she did not try
that game again : she had a go at the manger ; this was
worse : after a few trials, she contented herself with
squealing as usual, kicking and flying about the stall : but
she kept her nose from coming in contact with the man or
anything else. She found she punished herself, and had
sense enough to leave off doing that which produced punish-
ment by the act. The man punishing her never had, or
never would have, produced the same effect. Could the
groom have worn a hedgehog strapping-jacket or shirt, no
doubt she would have been cured of attempting to bite him.
The lesson, of course, only prevented her biting, or trying
to bite, when the muzzle was on : when off, she would do as
she always had done, for then she well knew a man's skin
was not a hedgehog's. This we will call ' practical edu-
cation,' and is in accordance with the system of education I
advocate."

The following is confirmatory of the views taken by the
writer just quoted : — An instance of a mare viciously
addicted to biting being cured of the habit by an accident,
occurred to us a short time since. Her former owner had
fooliiihly taught her to do this by teazing her, and she had
contracted the habit to such an extent, that whenever any
person went into her box, unless her head was tied up, she
would assuredly run at him. Knowing that beating her, or
adopting ans harsh measures, would have only a prejudicial

effect, it was forbidden, and by putting the muzzle on when
she was being dressed, any serious consequences were
avoided. The way she cured herself was singular. She had
been out to exercise, and the boy was washing her legs and
feet, her head being racked up, and the muzzle taken off to
allow her to eat a little hay. She turned her head suddenly,
with the intention of seizing the boy, by which act she
caught the stirrup-iron in her mouth, and, being racked-up,
she was fixed as firmly as if she had been in the stocks. She
plunged violently, and in doing so her hind-quarters slipped
and she fell sideways, her head still held fast by the rack-
chain. By loosing the girths she was released from her
perilous position, as she was almost strangled ; but she
never attempted to bite afterwards.

Crib-biting is one of the vilest habits a horse can acquire,
and one of the most intractable. The horse seizes the
manger with his teeth while he stretches his neck forward,
and, after some spasmodic action of the throat, a slight
grunting sound is uttered, which appears to be accompanied
by a drawing in of air. The cause of this trick is not
well understood ; and whether it proceeds from a bad habit,
or a defect in the formation of the soft palate and back
part of the mouth, remains a question.

One serious effect of this trick is the wearing aown ol
the teeth ; and instances have occurred where they have
been broken. It has likewise been found that crib-biters
are more liable to colic than those without this vice.
Whether this proceeds from the loss of saliva occasioned by
the wearing down of the teeth is also an unsettled point.

It has been found that crib-biting is acquired by horses
being in the stable with one which has the trick. Among
the expedients which have been resorted to for the cure of
crib-biting, the edge of the manger has been lined with
iron ; also with sheep-skin besmeared with aloes, tar, and
other disagreeable substances, but all with little effect.
The ordinary preventive is the use of a strap buckled
round the neck, which has the effect of slightly compressing
the windpipe, and rendering it impossible to resort to it ;
but no sooner is the strap removed, than the horse recom-
mences his old habit, so that it must be constantly worn to
be of use. Unfortunately the continual use of it is apt to
produce irritation in the trachea, and this will terminate in
the affection termed roaring. A five or six months' run in
a field has also been tried without proving a remedy. Crib-
biters are generally in low condition.

A muzzle barred across the bottom will prevent crib-
biting. This must be made only of sufficient width to
allow full action to the lips, so that the animal may pull
his hay from the rack and eat his corn, but so close as not
to admit of him grasping the edge of the manger. Crib-
biting is legally considered " unsoundness."

Wind-sucking has such a strong family likeness to crib-
biting that it may properly be considered a modification of
it ; as it is accompanied by a want of condition, and the
same bending of the neck, with the head drawn inward, is

STABLE VICES.

i61

exhibited, and the horse alternately opens and closes his
lips, and a sound is produced similar to sucking air. The
horse presses his muzzle against the manger, quietly sucking
in the air, without the noisy gulping which accompanies
crib-biting. The remedies attempted have been, tying up
the head of the horse, except when feeding ; and the
application of a muzzle with sharp spikes bending towards
the neck, which will prick him when drawing in his head.

Pawino is a continual working away of the litter by the
fore feet. A simple remedy is at hand in a pair of padded
shackles with a connecting chain, 12 inches in length.
These are placed round the smaller pastern bone, and must
be taken off at night, or the hor.se will be afraid to lie
down.

Weaving is a restless habit of swaying the head from
side to side, somewhat after the fashion of a polar bear in
confinement. It is unsightly, and evinces a restless dis-
position. " Weavers " are generally poor feeders, and low
in flesh. The remedy indicates itself; a short head-rein,
and a little relaxation of the restraint while feeding.

Getting Loose is a very troublesome vice, and many
horses are so cunning as almost to defy the efforts of the
groom and saddler. If, however, a head-stall is made with
a strong throat-lash, and this tightly buckled, no horse can
get it off, because the circumference of the head at the jaw
is always greater than that of the neck from the back of the
ears to the throat. If the horse bites his halter, a chain
must be substituted ; but as this makes a constant noise, it
should be avoided if possible, as other horses are readily
kept awake by it.

Hanging Back is an attempt to get free, by bursting the
throat-lash or collar-rein, and in some cases great force is
applied in this way, so much so that many horses have
broketi their hips from the sudden giving way of the halter
letting them back, so that they fall over and irremediably
injure themselves. The only cure is a strong chain, and a
head-stall that no force will break ; after trying to burst
which a few times the horse will almost always desist. If
the manger is not very firmly placed, another ring should be
fixed in the wall, by piercing it, and screwing a nut on at
the back. The groom should watch for the trick, and give
him a smart lash from behind the moment he tries it on.

Rolling. — Horses that roll in the stable are apt to be
injured from want of sufficient room, and also to get en-
tangled in the halter ; and, strange as it may appear,
although he may get severely hurt, and be nearly choked by
the halter, he will repeat it night after night. The only
thing which will prevent him from rolling, is to give him
just enough of collar to enable him to lie down ; but so short
that his head will not touch the ground, because it is
impossible he can roll over without resting his head upon
the ground. If a horse is in a field, rolling is a harmless
and even healthful amusement.

Not lying down. — Horses are sometimes prone to standing
constantly ; and some only lie down once in a fortnight, or

even a longer period. When this is the case, they are
generally liable to swellings in the limbs, and seldom able
to go through much work. Such horses should, if possible
be put into a stable by themselves and left at liberty, and a
well-made bed will sometimes tempt them to lie down. No
means can be adopted to force the animal to take rest by
lying down. When it is not possible to place him in a
stable alone, an empty box should be constructed so that he
may be left for the night unhaltered in it. We had a remark-
ably fine harness-horse that never was known to lie down,
and yet he kept in good condition, and was not troubled
with swelling in the limbs : but this is a rare occurrence.
He sometimes fell down on his knees while asleep, but the
groom always found him on his legs before he could reach
the stable, although his house was next door.

Casting. — This is the result of a sportive inclination in
the horse to roll completely over in his stall, as though at
liberty in the field. It is a trick fraught with danger, as
the unwieldy animal in so confined a space gets completely
over on his back against the wall or ramp, and there, unable
to roll back again, struggles to his death by rupturing the
colon, " ricking " his spine, or some other mortal injury.
The prevention is difficult; but, if the horse is within hearing
of the groom, a prompt attendance will usuall) prevent
unpleasant consequences. We have known horses lie all
night in such distressing positions that it was a miracle they
lived till morning. By throwing a halter over both legs, or
three or four straps buckled together, the cast horse may be
readily drawn over on to his side, when he will gladly get
on his feet, unless seriously injured. Halter-castino is
occasioned by the animal getting one of his fore-legs over
the halter and throwing himself Whether with rope or
chain the animal is in danger of badly wounding himself.
Horses addicted to pawing are most liable to accident,
though we have seen it arise from a habit of scratching at
the head with the hinder-foot — the drop weight of the halter
or collar rein not acting so as to prevent it getting loose.
A couple of collar reins should be used to prevent the paw-
ing accident ; for that with the hinder leg, a ring in the
head wall, about seven feet from the ground, with a '^ack
chain about tljree feet long, may prevent the calamity.

Lying dnder the Mangek is obviated by tlie manger and
rack-guard we have figured (3) in our Plate of Stable
Fittings ; it is described ante, p. 132.

Restive while Shoeing will be included in uur general
remarks on this vice. Where a horse, otherwise docile,
exhibits a peculiar aversion to the smithy, and we have
seen such, make an investigation as to his treatment there.
It is only a month since we attended at a police investiga-
tion, where a shoeing-smith had struck wantonly a valuable
saddle-horse on the stifle with his hammer, by way of
preliminary to taking up the foot. The poor animal was
irrecoverably injured ; had he been less so, he might have
been set down as " vicious to sho&" With a young horse
great caution is necessary, and the gag or twitch should be

162

THE VICES OF HORSES.

only resorted to in extreme cases. It is the biped, not the
quadruped, that is generally the aggressor in these instances.
Mr. "Youatt, whose humanity shines in all his writings, says
on this point — " It should be a rule in every forge that no
smith should be permitted to strike a horse, much less to
twitch or to gag him, without the master-farrier's order ;
and that a young horse should never be twitched or struck.
There are few horses that may not be gradually rendered
manageable for this purpose by mildness and firmness in the
operator. They will soon understand that no harm is meant,
and they will not depart from their usual habit of obedience;
but if the remembrance of corporal punishment is connected
with shoeing, they will always be fidgety, if not dangerous.

" This is a very serious vice, for it not only exposes the
animal to occasional severe injury from his own struggles, but
also from the correction of the irritated smith, whose limbs and
even whose life being in jeopardy, may be forgiven if he is
sometimes a little too hard-handed. Such a horse is very
liable, and without any fault of the smith, to be pricked and
lamed in shoeing ; and if the habit should be confirmed, and
should increase, and it at length becomes necessary to cast him,
or to put him in the travis, the owner may be assured that
many years will not pass ere some formidable and even fatal
accident will take place. If, therefore, mild treatment will
not correct the vice, the horse cannot be too soon got rid of'
We have seen recently a very simple method tried to make
a horse still while shoeing. It is merely fastening down
one ear. The reader will find more on this point at page
370, ante.

Eating Litter. — The rack-rein and muzzle at once indicate
the mechanical means of preventing this pernicious habit.
For this purpose, we would recommend a rack-rein and
muzzle, to be alternately used ; when the one is taken off,
the other to be put on. For instance, you put on the muzzle
when you wish or expect the horse to lie down ; consequently
you put it on at leaving the stable at night. Some horses
will eat the litter even when it is very foul : and when fresh
litter is given, others will prefer it to hay ; and though clean
straw is not injurious to horses that are not required to
gallop much, yet hunters and racers must not be permitted
to eat it. The rack-rein is an iron chain fixed at the head
of the stall, which passes through a ring sewed in front of
the nose-band of the stall-collar ; it is fastened in the same
manner as a dog's chain to the ring in the collar, and, when
dressing the horse, you can, after passing it through the
collar, fasten him as short as you think proper ; but, at
other times, the chain must be long enough to permit the
horse to feed out of his rack or manger, though not to let
his head reach down to his litter.

Some horsekeepers place a piece of rock salt in the
manger to wean the horse from his foul feeding, and satisfy
his morbid appetite. It is worth a trial

II. VICES ON THE KOAD.

Restive to mount. — In connection with this subject we bej:
to refer the reader to pages 66—76, on Breaking, TRAiNiNf^
fee, where the methods ot " gentling " the animal are fully
set forth ; in this place our remarks shall be general The
term " restiveness " may be said to include plunging, rear-
ing, kicking, bolting, and general impatience while beinj!
mounted. As we have already said, the snaviter in modo
is indispensable here. Even if one resolute or strong
person has brought the animal into subjugation, he is always
dangerous to the next man who mounts him. When the
difiiculty of mounting arises, not from eagerness to start, but
from unwillingness to be ridden, the sooner such a horse is
disposed of the better, unless the owner is determined to
try his hand at horsebreaking. When the restiveness, on
the other hand, merely amounts to eagerness to start (very
unpleasant, indeed, at any time, for many a rider has been
thrown from his seat before he was fairly fixed in it), it may
be remedied by an active and good horseman. " We have
known many instances," says Youatt, " in which, while the
elderly and inactive and fearful man has been making more
than one ineffectual attempt to vault into the saddle, the
horse has been dancing about to his annoyance and danger;
but the animal had no sooner been transferred to the
management of a younger and more agile rider, than he
became perfectly subdued." Severity will here, more
decidedly than in any other case, do harm. The rider
should be fearless ; he should carelessly and confidently
approach the horse, mount at the first effort, and then
restrain him for a while, patting him, and not suffering him
to proceed until he becomes perfectly quiet. These horses
should not be too highly fed, and should daily have suffi-
cient exercise.

Shying. — Whether this arises from fear, vice, or playful-
ness, it is equally important to check its earliest displays.
Shying is one of the worst of habits, and more accidents
have resulted from it than all other vices or defects. One
cause of shying is defective vision, timidity stands next, and
it often proceeds from a frolicsome disposition. Shying is
less common among high-blooded horses than half-bred
one;s, although it is occasionally found among our first-class
racers.

When shying proceeds from playfulness, it is difficult to
judge what mode of cure is best to be adopted ; because, if
corrected for it, he will associate with any object that
diverts his attention the infliction of punishment, which
will tempt him to run away, under the dread of a flogging ;
and if caressed for the fault, it is liable to induce him to
repeat it. But, of two evils, gentle correction must be
adopted, and rather to pass by the object than to take him
up to it. He should also be spoken to sharply.

If shying proceeds from fear of new objects, tne way to
correct him of this, is not to force him up to them, but to
pat him and soothe him : avoid beating, and take care to

VICES ON THE ROAB

153

pass the objects of his fear again and again, always going
nearer to them every time you pass. This will familiarise
him to them. Seeing that these are harmless, he will soon
learn to pass by unnoticed any novel object which he may
meet with upon a road.

When an animal is given to shying from defective sight,
the only method to effect a cure is to take him up to it, and
in the act of doing so he must be coaxed to approach it, and
on no account must he be beaten ; and although it some-
times happens that the horse will manifest great reluctance
to do so, he should be persevered with, and not allowed to
proceed until he has seen closely and smelt at the object of
his fear. After he has been a few times thus treated, he
will soon learn to pass with indifference any object which
he may meet. Many of Rarey's remarks, already referred
to, may be remembered and applied with advantage. We
will take here an illustration, from Blaine's book, of the
principles laid down.

" We once purchased," says that experienced veterinarian,
" a horse with an excellent character for steadiness, except
that he was always much alarmed at a passing carriage,
whether it was coming towards or overtaking him. A tilted
waggon or a stage-coach on the approach were such objects of
dread as no power could get him to face. We knew it would
be in vain to oppose human physical force to brute fears,
and that it was only by introducing favourable recollections
derived from those very objects, greater in degree than the
fears hitherto entertained of them, that we could conquer
this dangerous propensity. We began by leading the horse,
previously exercised and fasted, towards a cart filled with
clover hay the smell of the hay was irresistible, and
soon dissipated all dread of the stationary cart ; but when
it was purposely moved gently onwards, he became rather
discomposed : a little coaxing, however, induced him to
follow it, and we had the pleasure, at this his first lesson, of
seeing him proceed confidently with the cart round a farm-
yard, and finally into the road. To vary the effect, after he
had steadily walked by the side of the carriage a certain
time, we restrained him, so that it got ahead of him ; when
he again reached it, slight indications of fear appeared as he
had to make his way up to the side of the cart, for we had a
coverlet purposely drawn over the back, that he might not
reach the hay from behind. We next passed the cart alto-
gether, but it was a few paces only, and then turned him
round to the other side of it ; hut his whole mind was so
intent on the clover, that, with the most trifling symptoms
only of alarm, he fell to again on the hay, which finished
lesson the first. Our next attempt was made with a sieve
full of corn, presented to him on an empty stomach, which
he could only reach from the tail-board of a tilted wagon —
an awful object ! After a few snortings and snifiings, here
also hunger overcame his fears, and he munched the oats
with great relish ; but when the waggon was put into motion,
his dread for a little time got the better of his appetite, and
the flapping of the covering of the tilt appeared to him most
n

portentous : his fears even in this case, however, soon gave
place to confidence, by the tact displayed by a groom to
whom he was much attached. This man mounted the
waggon, and, resting on the tail-board, offered the oats to
the horse, at the same time calling and encouraging him.
This worked wonders ; noi shall we readily forget the knucker
of acknowledgment with which the confiding brute followed
the groom's call as the wagon moved on, occasionally dipping
his nose into the sieve. After a few more lessons of a
similar kind, one or two of which were varied by giving him
hay from the window of a stage-coach, he lost all fear of
carriages, and his former owner would willingly have taken
him back at a very considerable increase of price. We
introduce this merely as an instance of the truth of an
opinion entertained by most observant sportsmen, but often
acted against by grooms, that the punishment of blows will
very seldom cure vicious habits originating in fear All
startings and fears of every description are only increased
by them, for the horse in these cases associates the dread of
two evils instead of one, that of the object itself, and that of
the punishment which is to follow ; the consequence of
which is, that his resistance is doubled. How common is it
with thoughtless persons, when a horse shies at an object, to
force him up to it by blows ; by which means we are
confident that no horse was ever cured of shying, but, on
the contrary, he has always been rendered doubly timid. It
is, however, not amiss, when a horse shies principally at anj
one fixed object, as a tree, milestone, &c., to coax him
towards it by every mark of encouragement. If he will not
readily approach it, use no force, but dismount, caress, and
incline his head from the cause of his alarm, gradually
drawing him nearer and nearer to the object itself, which
having approached, he will invariably closely examine him-
self by smelling it. If this be practised with gentleness, it
is more than probable that such horse wiU shortly be cured
of shying at that particular object or its like."

That amusing instructor, "Harry Hieover," has a "wrinkle"
of stuffing a horse's ears with cotton which may find a place
here. He tells us, what we all know, that " horses in anj
way nervous or high-tempered are much affected by sound;-
and noises, particularly when arising from any object or cir-
cumstance they cannot see. I have had two remarkable in
this particular, the one a mare. Whether in harness or out,
a horse or carriage behind her drove her almost mad ; let
either come alongside of her, she was quiet directly. When
in harness, if she but heard a horse behind her, up went her
head and tail, and she would bound something as we have
seen a fallow deer do in passing us ; and, though at other
times possessing a fine mouth, on such occasions it was
difficult to hold her. The other horse was a hunter, as
placid and steady as horse could be when alongside hounds
in chase ; but, while they were finding, or, what was worsC;
running in cover, the cry of the pack would cause him to
tremble with anxiety or some such feeling, and he would
burst into a sweat ten times more profuse than anv rue

154

VICES ON THE ROAD.— JIBBING.

would call forth. Being both good horses and pleasant,
except in these particulars, I was determined to try and
palliate them. I had a pair of thick earcaps made for each
of them. This I found produced a wonderful alteration for
the better ; but it struck me these earcaps must heat the
horse. Why not try cotton ? I did ; stuffed their ears well
with it when using them ; and found no inconvenience from
sounds afterwards."

A thousand pages of advice could not add to these practical
experiences.

Backing or Jibbing. — It is by no means unfrequent for
harness horses to back instead of drawing when first started,
and others combine with this curious obstinacy the practice
of other vices. When the backing is mere skittishness,
which we have known it, an encouraging word and a smart
smack of the whip have cured the inconvenience. Where
the determination is more manifest take the thing coolly.
Satisfy yourself by examination that the harness and its
" fixins " are all right. Sometimes the withers are wrung,
and the shoulders galled ; and the pain, which may be
moderate on level ground and with a fair draught, becomes
insupportable when going up a steep acclivity. These
things should be seen into, and, if possible, rectified ; for,
under such circi'nastances, severe punishment produces obsti-
nacy and vice.

A horse, whose shoulders are raw, or 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
jibbers have been reformed by constantly wearing a false
collar, or strip of cloth round the shoulders, so that the
coldness of the collar should never be felt ; and others have
been cured by keeping on the collar night and day, although
the animal is not able to lie down so completely at his ease
as without It, which a tired horse ought always to be
able to do. When a horse jibs at his work, it has been some-
times useful to line his collar with cloth instead of leather ;
the perspiration is more readily absorbed, the substance
which presses on the shoulder is softer, and it is more readily
eased off at a tender place.

With horses which have this habit at starting, one method
to break them of it is to place a large heavy stone behind
the wheel ; and the horse, feeling he is unable to back, will
generally proceed forward, finding it more easy to do so ;
and by carefully continuing this practice, the horse will
gradually be broken of the bad habit. Another plan, nearly
as good, is to start the horse, if it can ' possibly be managed,
with the back of the machine placed towards a rising
ground ; and as it is more difficult at all times to force it
backward than forward, besides the hill being against him,
he will prefer going forward tc backward. Sometimes it
will be necessary to lead the horse for a short distance, and
when the groom has quitted the reins, a gentle touch with
the whip will make him proceed. If, however, he is
deteriri^edly obstinate, there will belittle chance of succeed-

ing by forcible means ; and if the driver is resolved to use
compulsion, we would recommend that it should not be
attempted unless there is a wide space, where by tight
reining the driver may back him in the particular direction
which he wishes, and it would be very desirable to do so up-
hill if the ground inclines in the neighbourhood. But still
there is danger in the attempt.

Rarey is of opinion that the horse often jibs, or, as he calls
it, " balks " at starting from hearing, or fancying they hear,
something coming up behind them. He is speaking of such
an occurrence in an American pair-horse trotting " waggon,"
but his remarks are as applicable to any pair of horses or to
a single horse in harness. He says : —

" Almost any team, when first ' balked,' will start kindly
if you let them stand five or ten minutes as though there
was nothing wrong, and then speak to them with a steady
voice, and turn them a little to the right or left, so as to gel
them both in motion before they feel the pinch of the load.
But if you want to start a team that you are not driving
yourself, that has been 'balked,' fooled and whipped for
some time, go to them and hang the lines on their hames, or
fasten them to the waggoYi, so that they will be perfectly
loose ; make the driver and spectators (if there are any)
stand off some distance to one side, so as not to attract the
attention of the horses ; unloose their check-reins, so that
they can get their heads down if they choose? let them
stand a few minutes in this condition until you can see that
they are a little composed. While they are standing you
should be about their heads, gentling them ; it will make
them a little more kind, and the spectators will think that
you are doing something that they do not understand, and
will not learn the secret. When you have them ready to
start, stand before them, and as you seldom have but one
balky horse in a team, get as near in front of him as you
can, and if he is too fast for the other horse, let his nose
come against your breast : this will keep him steady, for he
will go slow rather than run on you ; turn them gently to
the right, without letting them pull on the traces as far as
the tongue will let them go ; stop them with a kind word,
gentle them a little, and then turn them back to the left, by
the same process. You will have them under your control
by this time, and as you turn them again to the right, steady
them in the collar, and you can take them where you
please.

"There is a quicker process that will generally start a
balky horse, but not so sure. Stand him a little ahead, so
that his shoulders will be against the collar, and then take
up one of his forefeet in your hand, and let the driver start
them, and when the weight comes against his shoulders, he
will try to step ; then let him have his foot, and he will go
right along. If you want to break a horse from balking
that has long been in that habit, you ought to set apart a
half-day for that purpose. Put him by the side of some
steady horse ; have check-lines on them ; tie up all the
traces and straps, so that there will be nothing to excite

VICES ON THE ROAD.

155

them ; do not rein them up, but let them have their heads
loose. Walk them about together for some time as slowly
and lazily as possible ; stop often, and go up to your balky
horse and gentle him. Do not take any whip about him, or
do anything to excite him, but keep him just as quiet as you
can. He will soon learn to start off at the word, and stop
whenever you tell him. All ' balked ' horses can be started
true and steady in a few minutes' time ; they are all willing
to pull as soon as they know how, and I never yet found a
balked horse that I could not teach to start his load in
fifteen, and often less than three, minutes' time."

Despite this last dictum of Mr. Rarey, we believe many
lorses are such determined jibbers that they can nev^r be
cured. When this is the case they should be sold to the
owners of a veliicle in which four-in-hand or unicorn
are driven, and if placed as near wheeler they will be forced
to do their work. Some have also been worked in a team by
farmers ; but nobody would think of keeping an animal
which can only occasionally be rendered serviceable.

In connexion with this subject the reader is referred to
another part of the work, where breaking and familiarising a
colt with usual sights and sounds are treated of.

Kicking. — Elsewhere we have noted this as a Stable Vice;
under saddle or in harness, however, it is far more dangerous
to rider, driver, and the public. In saddle, get well hold
of his head, lift it firmly and determinedly, then bring
the whip smartly down the shoulder. Mind his head is
well up when you deliver the blow, or he may get his nose
down and lash out again. When the animal proves an
inveterate kicker, a gag-snaffle will serve to keep his head up.
The gag-snaffle is not, unless the horse wilfully hangs on it,
more severe than a common snaffle, while, if he will have it
so, it acts through the pulley-like attachment of the rein
■with augmented power, drawing the angle of the mouth
above the usual seat of the bit. It is valuable, too,
with " pullers " who " bore " in the hunting-field.

In harness, as we have said, a kicker may be yet more
dangerous and mischievous. Horses that are fidgetty in
the stable are most apt to do this on the road.

The slightest touch on such animals' quarters, even by
the reins touching, will set them kicking; and in many
instances the front of the carriage will be driven in, or a
gig may be battered to pieces, the horse frequently coming
off with a broken limb, or the driver may sustain serious
injury. With kicking horses, the greatest care should be
taken not to allow the harness to pass under the tail, as the
moment they feel it the tail is pressed suddenly and tightly
down, so much so, that it is difiicult to extricate the reins,
and the more the driver pulls the more the animal kicks
and plunges. When the driver finds that the reins are so
entangled, he should on no account attempt to extricate
them by pulling, but quietly get down, and release them by
lifting the tail gently.

Where persons cannot afford to part with such horses, as
they must be sold at a great loss, a strong kicking-strap

may be used, which circumscribes the use of the hind
limbs, and prevents the horse from raising them for ar
effective kick. Still, rely not too much on this ; for, if tht
horse should once break the strap he is worse than ever,
indeed incorrigible.

The uninitiated are not aware of the very slight things
which will cause a horse to kick on being first put into
harness. The mere putting the crupper on, if done sud-
denly, in putting on the harness, will sometimes cause him
to kick. Probably, with the harness loose on his back, his
kicking on first feeling the crupper sends it off him, or
partly so. The horse gets seriously alarmed at this ; a scene
ensues ; and then there is (to use the desgination of a farce)
' the devil to pay."

Backing a horse into the shafts (which should never be
done) is very likely to set him kicking. He comes suddenly
in contact with the shaft in some part, and either he rushes
forward in alarm, or sends his heels at it. This might be
termed lesson the first in virtually teaching the animal to
kick. If in double harness, the very turning a corner
incautiously will cause many a horse to kick, from feeling
the pole or trace suddenly come in contact with his thigh.

Even throwing the driving rein to be buckled over the
young horse's back, instead of that of the break horse, which
a stupid or careless fellow might do, will probably alarm a
horse new to harness. He rushes forward, is checked by the
traces, then backs himself suddenly, is then checked by the
pole-piece and collar, feels himself hampered in every way,
gets alarmed or angry. Here, probably, is "the devil to pay'
again.

Mr. Bingley gives us, among others, the following incident
of his horse-experience : — " An instance of an inveterate
kicker in harness occurred under my notice. An elderly
relative, with whom I at that time resided, made a pur-
chase of a remarkably good-looking horse, for the twofold
purposes of working on the farm and' running in harness.
On the following morning he was attached to a plough on
the gee-ho principle, and when required to ' move on '
responded by kicking most violently. I was summoned to
the scene of action, but for some time he would allow no
person to approach him, and struck at those who attempted
to go near his head with his fore feet, as viciously as he did
with his hind ones ; at length, by strapping u) his near
fore-leg they succeeded in getting him released I'rom the
plough. His gearing was taken off, and replaced by some
strong harness, when he was placed between the shafts of a
substantial roller, such as is commonly used for rolling the
land. When properly secured at all points, a powerful and
steady horse was put before him, and he was kept moving
in a fallow field till night. He kicked the roller furiously
and repeatedly, but in doing so he hurt his own legs, and,
finding he got the worst of it, he left off. The next morning
his hind legs were very sore, and he was again attached to
the roller, but he did not evince much inclination to
commence hostilities, and in the course of that day he was

ISB

VICES ON THE ROAD.—" BOLTING."

put to a gig. I drove him constantly, and he never repeated
his vice. It was afterwards discovered that he had been in
the possession of a post-master, and that he had kicked the
boot of a gentleman's carriage to pieces, for which he was
sold as incorrigibly vicious."

It will be found that brute force or brutal violence rarely
succeeds or produces the desired effect with horses, or,
indeed, with any animal. Brute force subdued Van Amburg's
lions, but it did not tame them. They were too much
subdued to attack him while his eye was on them, he knew ;
but if he had turned his back or shown he had fear of them
they would have pulled him down and torn him to pieces.
Brute force may compel a horse to do a particular act at the
time— it may even make him fear to commit one at variance
with our safety ; but, and let opportunity occur, we shall soon
find that fear alone will never eradicate a bad propensity.

Pldngino is akin to kicking, though very differently
performed. The animal makes a bound or spring with his
back bowed upward, with the apparent intent of unseating
his rider. Sometimes he " tucks," i. e., springs with all four
feet off the ground suddenly, an experiment very likely to
answer his unpleasant intention. When a horse has thig
habit, hold his head closely, as for kicking, with which it ig
often complicated or alternated. A modern writer recom.
mends that a horse-cloth rolled up, strapped to the front of the
saddle like a soldier's cloak, will greatly add to the safety of
the rider. The general treatment must be, as so often said
before, the " soothing system," with firm but very moderate
punishment.

Rearing is a common trick with young horses, and is
oftener playfulness and mere animal spirits than anything
like " temper." It is, however, alarming, and may be very
dangerous to the timid or unskilful rider, when it is a
decided rise^ mvolving also the unintentional danger to the
animal itself of a roll over. Generally, however, it is in
colthood a series of Wanton gambolling skips, which some-
times go off like the freaks of a kitten ; but lest they become
a habit, and partake of an attempt to get rid of the rider,
severity and hurry must be avoided. Use for a time, it may
Qot be permanently needed, a martingale, with a running
rein commencing at the breast strap of the martingale, and
then, running through the ring of the snaffle, bring it back
to the hand. This will give you a full power over the
horse's head when its exercise is called for, and will not
distress him while he behaves himself. When the horse
rises, lean well forward and hold by the calf and inner
thigh, loosening the bridle a little when he is in the air, and
then bringing his head in as he descends. A rough remedy
for rearing has been tried by some horse-breakers — we do
not recommend it : the process is to provide yourself with a
bottle of water, and when the horse rises break it between
his ears by a smartish tap.

Shodldebino- — Some obstinate ponies and ill-taught horses
have acquired this ugly trick. It consists in trying to
squeeze the rider's leg against a post, paling, or wall, and to

scrape him off the saddle. We once had a little Welshman
who had a genius for this when he had a youngster on his
back ; we cured him by mounting him ourselves, and when
he tried this lateral movement (which is easily overcome by
putting out the foot as he sidles towards the object), we
found a sharp pull of the near rein (it seems almost universally
tried on the off-side), coupled with a most unmistakeable
simultaneous slash over the off ear, brought him clear away.
Three or four of these lessons, in an orchard well studdec
with old trees, made him pass as clear of them as could bt
desired.

Hugging THE Pole. — "Harry Hieover" thus proposes to
deal with an animal exhibiting this not uncommon propen-
sity. " A horse having this vile habit I should strongly
recommend others to sell, unless they were disposed to tiy a
plan that I found effectually cure one of my own. I drove
him at wheel on the off-side ; but, whichever side he was
put, he 'hugged the pole ' the same. I had a piece of board,
about ten inches in width, screwed to the off-side of the pole.
On the off-side of this surface I nailed some strong green
furze, clipping it till it did not project more than three inches
on the side the horse went. I took care to give him a hole
in the pole-piece, the same with the near side trace, and
lengthened his coupling rein ; so he had not occasion to
approach the pole thus armed. This being merely a lesson
to the horse, I took care to manage the drive so as only to
have occasion to turn the carriage to the off-side during the
lesson : as usual, he began or attempted hugging the pole,
but he started from it as if a tarantula had stung him. I
suppose in a few minutes the smarting went off, when he
tried the same game with the same result. I conclude the
second application of the furze, acting on the first, produced
increased effect, for it was a longer period before he trans-
gressed again, and before my drive was finished he took
especial care not to approach the pole. Though this bid fair
as to curing him of a bad habit, I in no way expected a
lesson or two would cure him ; but ten days' driving effectually
did, and afterwards it was somewhat laughable to see, if he
forgot himself, or attempted pole-hugging, with what alacrity
he jumped back into his proper place."

Seizing the Cheek of the Bit. — When horses are so
cunning as to get the cheek of the bit into the mouth, they
have immense opportunity for displaying any impatience
of control they may be inclined to : any moderately skilful
saddler and harness-maker will show you how to prevent
this being done a second time.

Running away — vulgo, "Bolting." — This, in its commonest
form, is merely a sign of a hard mouth, and self-will in main-
taining the gallop. Its other phase is a most dangerous vice.
When it is consequent on nervous excitement or fear, the
usual expedients for " gentling " or calming irritability
already recommended are to be adopted. All sorts of severe
bits have been devised to prevent horses running away.
Some excellent authorities recommend the "Bucephalus
noseband." a contrivance which keeps the mouth of the

VICES ON THE ROAD.

in

horse closed, so that the " port " of the mouth-piece acts
against the upper part of the mouth, in a manner it cannot
do when the animal has the power of opening it to ease the
pressure. This noseband will be found useful with hard
pullers, and " borers " in the hunting-field.

This dangerous propensity generally shows itself in nervous
young horses, who, at the least noise behind or beside them,
become alarmed, break from a trot to a gallop, and, terrified
by the impotent struggles of their riders to stop them, or
the still pursuing sound of wheels behind them, become
maddened and dash on in their perilous career. When a
horse finds or thinks he has succeeded in these efforts to
escape danger, on a recurrence of the noise or cause of fright
he will pursue the same course, to the peril not only of rider
or driver, but of himself, and whatever he may meet with in
his impetuous flight. The vice becomes confirmed, and it is
only by the utmost nerve, coolness, and command of temper,
dashed with kindness, and the " rational " treatment of the
mania Jfor panic-fear in horses is madness), that we can
hope to check the disease. When a horse is known to have
a tendency to running away, be extra "particular that all
portions of his " furniture " be sound and strong, particularly
bridles, reins, and bits : get a firm, steady hold of him at
starting, and speak to him soothingly and encouragingly.
At the very first symptom of a bolt check him sharply and
speak to him in a firm voice ; never allow him to increase
his pace of his own accord, or fear will augment it and he will
break into a gallop. Keep the reins in driving evenly in
hand, but do not by a constant pull deaden the mouth. Be
ready to catch him well by the head quickly, and you may
get him under command without frightening him.

In the saddle, on a determined brute, it is a good manoeuvre
to select a hill, and, giving him his head, urge him an up-hill
burster ; this has " taken it out " of many a " bolter," by
making him go his hardest for your pleasure, just as he was
thinking of doing it of his own wilfulness and vice. In this
the horse resembles not a few of our reasoning race, Avho will
work hard for pleasure, but will do nothing in the shape of
work, either for utility or to serve another. These customers
we have found, when fresh, will try it on again ; but a good
rider, and none other should mount or drive them, will
make them tired of their little game ; and then such animals
generally prove first-raters. As we have said, a dead pull is
no use with such bolters ; it is better to let them go when
there is plenty of room, and then to try what a sharp and
severe pull will do •■ not keeping it up too long if ineffectual,

but loosing the mouth again for a time, and then trying
again. Sometimes, however, there is no room for this, and
then the only plan is to try and bring the head round, eithei
with a view of galloping in a circle, or to run the head
against a fence or even a wall or strong gatt;. Sometime'-
anything is better than a straight course — as, for instance,
in a crowded thoroughfare, where there would be an almost
positive certainty of mischief: in such a case it is better
to do anything than to persevere in the course which the
runaway is taking.

A driver of good nerve may in this extremity pull or drive
the horse straight for anything that is insurmountable and that
must stop him — say a thick hedge, or even a wall, at all risks
of damaging the animal. With judgment and coolness this
is the best chance for rider or driver ; indeed, a few bruises
or loss of life may be the alternative. We will give an
illustration. A friend of the writer's, a civic magnate, well
known in connexion with the removal of the horse and
cattle market from ancient Smithfield to its present site, was
driving a high-couraged horse, a new purchase, in a dennet,
down Parliament Street. He had a life-long experience in
horseflesh as well as fat cattle, and was a match for any
coper that ever chaunted a " screw " in the departed
market for " blind 'uns and bolters " which for more than
seven centuries was held " in the Smethfelde on the outer
syde of Newgate." Our driver then, who had with him his
wife, was no cockney with the ribbons, albeit his calling
was exercised within the sound of Bow bells. At the corner
of Charing Cross his horse took fright, and bolted along the
somewhat crowded thoroughfare. Desiring his better half
to hold fast in her seat until he should bid her jump, he got
the animal well by the head, and guiding his frantic speed
direct for one of the strong iron gas columns near the Horse
Guards, the animal came flush with its forehead against it,
fell instantly, as if shot, and rose no more. And how fared
the worthy deputy and his better half? The one jumped
out, at the word " Jump ! " and got off with a graze and
possibly a bruise ; while the wealthy carcase butcher, as he
told us cheerfully, was none the worse — except the repairing
of the chaise, which was his own ; and the dealer, who lent
him the horse on trial, he added, "I have since learnt,
knew he was a bolter, so he'll never get a farthing — though
I don't think he'll have the face to ask me." With this
example of how to deal with a bolter in the last extremity
we pass on to Riding and Dbtvinq, and Treatment of a
Horse oit a Joubnky

158

RIDING.— MOUNTING AND DISMOUNTING.

CHAPTER XV

aiDING. GENERAL 0BSEEVATI0N8 : PROPEK POSITION OF SADDLE, BRIDLE, &C. : MOUNTING AND DISMOUNTING : MANAGEMENT 01

THE REINS, AND SEAT ON HORSEBACK : RIDING TO HOUNDS : LADIEs' HORSEMANSHIP. DRIVING. — GENERAL 0BSERVATI0K8 :
HARNESS : FOUR-IN-HAND : A PAIR : SINGLE HARNESS.

[n former chapters of this work the reader -will have found
numerous things necessary to be known and remembered
as aiding the formation of an accomplished rider. A
reference to these will enable the reader to refresh his
memory upon these essentials. Historical and antiquarian
lore, relating to the saddle, bridle, stirrup, &c., will be found
at pp. 64 — 66. Hints upon riding will be found scattered
through the chapter on Breaking, pp. 69 — 76. But more
especially, when treating of the Paces of the Horse, will be
found how to handle the animal in the Walk (p. 78) ; the
Trot (79 — 81), civilian and military; the Canter (82), and
the Gallop (84). The mode of keeping the seat, and of
lifting the horse in leaping, will be found as follows: — The
Standing Jump (84), the Flying Leap (85), the Buck Jump
(86) ; while Timber Jumping, and Taking Gates and Stiles,
will be found at pp. 86, 87. Lastly, not a few " wrinkles "
for the horseman are contained in the chapter preceding this,
which treats of ViCES, their correction and cure. With
these references, by which repetition may be avoided, we
proceed to the —

TOSITION OF THE SADDLE, BRIDLE, AND STIRRUPS.

ITie Saddle, which ought to be wide and roomy, should be
placed in the middle of the horse's back, a hand's breadth
(four or five inches) from the point of the withers, but so as
to give free play to the action of the muscles of the shoulders.
Lay the girths evenly one over the other ; draw them only
so tight as to admit comfortably the fore-finger to be placed
between the girth and the horse's belly. Fit the surcingle
neatly over the girths, and do not buckle it tighter than
they are drawn. The large ring of the breast plate or
martingale, when worn, should be placed two inches above
the breast-bone, and should allow of the hand being laid flat
between it and the horse's shoulders.

The malposition of the saddle, particularly in horses with
upright shoulders, is the cause of many horses falling, from
its pressing too much on the shoulders, and by that means
confining the action of the muscles, which thus become
benumbed, and lose their elasticity. A partial deadening of
the limbs having taken place, the horse, from want of vitality
in the legs, stumbles, and is unable, through the torpidity of

the muscles, to recover himself, and falls to the ground ; in
many cases he has been known to fall as if shot.

THE STIRRUPS.

The length of the stirrups should be so adjusted that the
bottom edge of the bar hangs about three inches above the
heel of the boot. This length will be found most convenient
for the horse and his master in hack-riding The method of
determining the best length for the stirrup is thus given by
Mr. Waite in his little book called " Graceful Riding:" " Take
up the stirrup-iron with the right hand, at the same time
placing the bottom of the stirrup-iron under the left arm-pit;
then extend the left arm until the fingers of that hand easily
touch the stirrup buckles ; this is a sure criterion with most
people."

The Bridle is put on with the curb bit so placed that the
mouthpiece in horses is no more than an inch above the tush
of the lower jaw ; in mares two inches above the corner
teeth is the distance. The bridoon should just touch the
angles of the mouth, so as to sit easy, with drawing them up.
The headstall should be parallel to the projection of the
cheek-bone, and not lie over or upon it. The nosehand is
better placed low, and should not be buckled tight. The
curb, when properly fitted, should lie flat and smooth in the
hollow of the lips, so as to allow the finger to be easily
introduced between.

MOUNTING AND DISMOUNTING.

Directions for mounting must always be taken with an
allowance for the difi'erent relative heights of the horseman
and the animal he is to ride. We shall therefore merely
give such general instructions as apply to the medium size
in both biped and quadruped, and the average activity and
weight of gentlemen of the present day. When a horse is
intended to be mounted he should always be approached
quietly on the near (or left) side, and the reins gathered up
in the hand steadily. The snafile rein (or bridoon) first ;
then pass this rein along the palm of the left hand, between
the forefinger and thumb. The curb rein must now be
drawn oven the little finger, and both reins being held of an

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MANAGEMENT OF THE REINS, AND SEAT ON HORSEBACK.

159

equal length, and having an even pressure on the horse's
mouth, must be laid over each other, and held firmly in the
hand ; the thumb pressing upon them to prevent them
slipping through the fingers. Be particular that the reins
are not taken up too short, lest it should cause the horse to
rear or run back ; they must be held neither too tight nor
too slack, but having an equal feeling of the horse's mouth.
Next take up a handful of the mane with the right hand,
bring it through the palm of the left hand, and twist it round
the thumb. Take hold of the stirrup with the right hand,
the thumb in front. Place the left foot in the stirrup as far
as the ball of it, placing the right hand on the cantle (or
back part of the saddle), and, by a spring of the right foot
from the instep, the rider should raise himself up in the
stirrup, then move the hand from the cantle to the pommel,
to support the body while the right leg passes clearly over
the horse's quarters ; the rider's right knee closes on the
saddle, and the body drops gently into it. The left hand
now quits the mane, and the second stirrup must be taken
without the help of eye or hand.

The left hand (the bridle hand) must be placed with the
wrist rounded outwards, opposite the centre of the body, and
about three inches from it, letting the right arm drop uncon-
strained by the side of the thigh.

Mounting without stirrups while the horse is standing still
is effected as follows : — The rider stands opposite the saddle
and takes hold of both the pommel and the cantle, keeping
the reins in the left hand at the same time, and in the same
manner as in ordinary mounting. Now spring strongly
from the ground, and by means of the spring, aided by the
arms, raise the body above the saddle ; then twist the leg
over, whilst the right hand is shifted to the right side of the
pommel, and by means of both the hands the body is steadied
into the saddle. Mounting without stirrups may, by very
active men, be effected while the horse is going on, much in
the same way as is seen constantly in the circus. The rider
runs by the side of the horse, laying hold of the pommel of
the saddle with both hands strongly, and allowing him to
drag him along for two or three very long steps, he suddenly
springs from the ground and is drawn into the saddle. This
feat is seldom achieved by the ordinary equestrian ; but it is
easier than it looks, and in riding to hounds is sometimes of
great service with a fidgety horse.

Dismounting is effected by first bringing the horse to a
standstill ; then shorten the left hand on the reins till it lies
on the withers, with a steady feel of the mouth, twist a lock
of the mane on the finger, and hold it with the reins ;
bearing also on the pommel with the heel of the hand.
Next, throw the right foot out of the stirrup, and lift the
body, steadied by the left hand, and borne by the left foot,
until it is raised out of the saddle ; throw gently the right
leg over the cantle, and as it passes it grasp this part with
the right hand ; then lower the body gently to the ground
by the aid of the two hands and the left foot ; or if it is a
very short person and a tall horse, by raising the body out

of the stirrup on the hands, and dropping to the ground by
their aid alone.

Dismounting without stirrups requires the horse to be
brought to a standstill, then holding the reins in the left
hand both are placed upon the pommel, and by their aid
alone the body is raised out of the saddle ; the right leg is
now thrown over the cantle, and in doing so the right hand
seizes it and with the left lowers the body to the ground.

MANAGEMENT OF THE EEINS, AND SEAT ON HORSEBACK.

Our horseman at ease in his seat, and looking forward
between the ears of his animal, adjusts the reins, which we
will suppose to be bridoon, or snaffle and curb. The reins
should hang untwisted from the bits. Mr. Waite gives the
following minute practical directions, which we transcribe,
for holding the reins with one or both hands.

" Holding the reins in one hand. — The rider must take up
the bridoon reins with his right hand, and pass the second
and third fingers of the bridle or left hand between them,
draw up the reins with the right hand, until the horse's
mouth can be felt, and then pass them between the forefinger
and thumb. Next take up the curb reins (again with the
right hand), and pass the little finger of the bridle hand
between them, draw them up, as before directed, with the
right hand, until the rider perceives there is an equal length
and feeling with the bridoon reins ; the latter having rather
the strongest pressure on the animal's mouth. This done,
lay them also over between the forefinger and thumb, and
press down the thumb firmly upon them to keep them from
slipping ; the hand to be held with the wrist rounded out-
wards, opposite the centre of the body, and about four inches
from it. The right arm should hang without restraint, and
slightly bent, by the thigh ; the whip being held about twelve
inches from its head, with the point turned upwards.

" Riding on one rein. — Take up that particular rein with
the right hand, and pass the second and third fingers of the
bridle hand between them, then draw up the reins, but be
careful, in doing so, not to hold the horse too tight in hand ;
the other rein should hang down, having the little finger
passed between them, and the thumb also over them, so that
they may be caught hold of, and drawn up quickly on any
sudden emergency ; the loose reins are to hang between
those in use.

" Using both hands. — Take the bridoon reins oetween the
second and third, and the curb reins between the third and
fourth, fingers of each hand, each rein having an equal
bearing on the horse's mouth ; the hands are to be held about
six inches apart, with the wrists rounded outwards, and the
thumbs pressing firmly upon the reins, the elbows well down,
and held near to the sides, the whip held as directed
above.

" A tight rein should always be avoided, because, if he
carries his head low, it tends to deaden his mouth, and
teaches him the bad habit of depending upon the bridle for
support ; in which case, he always goes heavily in hand, and

160

RIDING.— REINING BACK, STOPPING.

on his Bhoulders. The horse should at all times be taught
to go on his haunches.

" If the horse naturally carries his head well, it is better to
ride him with a light hand, only just feeling his mouth.

" Turning. — In the turn either to the right or left, the reins
must be held quite evenly, so that the horse may be imme-
diately made to feel the aid of the rider's hands ; he (the
rider) must then have a double feeling on the inward rein,
also retaining a steady feeling on the outward ; the horse
being kept up to the hand by a pressure of both legs, the
outward leg being the stronger.

"Reining Back. — The rider should frequently practise
reining back, which is of the utmost service both to himself
and his horse : by it, the rider's hand is rendered firm and
materially strengthened ; and the pliancy of wrist so essential
to the complete management of the horse is achieved, like-
wise causing the body of the rider to be well thrown back
and his chest expanded, thus forcing, and preserving, an
erect position in the saddle. Also, the carriage of the horse
becomes greatly improved ; his head is maintained in its
correct position, and he is compelled to work correctly on
his haunches.

" In ' reining back,' the horseman requires a light and
steady feeling of both reins, a pressure of both legs, so as to
raise his horse's forehand and keep his haunches well under
him, at the same time easing the reins, and feeling them
again after every step.

" Stopping. — None are thoroughly taught until quite au
fait in the stop It is of far greater importance than may be
usually imagined. In the first place, it shows the horse to
be well under command, especially when the rider is able to
do so instantaneously : it saves, in the second place, many
serious and inevitable accidents from carriages, horsemen,
&c., such as crossing before, suddenly pulling up, turning
quickly round a corner, or coming unawares upon the rider.

" Care must be taken to make the stop steadily ; not by a
sudden jerk upon the bit ; by doing so the horse, if " tender
mouthed," will be made to rear and plunge. To make the
horse stop properly, the bridle-hand must be kept low, and
the knuckles turned down. The rider's body must be well
thrown back ; he must have a steady feeling of both reins,
and, closing both legs for a moment, so keep his horse weU
up to hand. The rider's hands always must be eased as
soon as halted."

As to Seat on Horseback, there have been small volumes
written on it in sporting magazines, works on the manage,
and books on " The Noble Science " of Foxhunting. With
the haute e'cole, as our neighbours call the teaching of horses
to astonish the beholders by capricoles, demivoltes, lifting
their feet in a manner to render them useless and unservice-
able, and other tricks of the circus, we have nought here to
do, confining ourselves to the modern English school of
riding.

It is easy to discover the riders who have been taught in
a good school, by their firm, graceful, and uniform position in

the saddle, and by their ready and skilful application of the
bridle, hands, and legs ; such being indispensable to the
skilful guidance and control of the horse.

It will not be necessary here to describe the marked
characteristics exhibited by the jockey, the huntsman, the
whipper-in, the groom, the postboy, the soldier, the dealer's
lad, and the butcher. These have all difierent seats on
horseback, each best adapted to their several occupations ;
for the man who all his life is accustomed to one particular
style of riding and to one particular kind of horse, will adopt
a natural style, which marks the whole class of those
adopting it.

In acquiring a good seat, there are four things necessary
to be attended to — first, the position of the weight, so as to
be sufiiciently forward in the saddle ; secondly, the fixing of
the knees on the padded part of the flap ; thirdly, the proper
length and position of the stirrups ; and fourthly, the
carriage of the body.

The weight of the body should be well forwards, because
the centre of motion is close to the middle of the saddle ;
and as the weight is chiefly thrown upon the breech, if the
seat is far back it is not in that part, but near the cantle
that it is placed. But by sitting well forwards the weight is
distributed between the breech, thighs, and feet ; and the
horse is able to rise and fall in his gallop without disturbing
his rider.

The knees must be well forward to eflFect this seat, and
also well in front of the stirrup-leathers ; for if they are
placed behind them the body is thrown too far back, and
the hold is insecure. The object of all young riders should
be to get as far forward as possible, so that the knee is not
ofi" the saddle ; and they can scarcely overdo this part of the
lesson by any effort in their power. Riding well upon the
fork, with the knees upon the padded part of the flap, will
ensure a good position if the stirrups are not too short.
These should be about the length which wiU touch the
projecting ankle-bone, when the legs are placed as above
directed, but out of the stirrups ; and when they are placed
in them, the heel should be about one inch and a half
below the ball of the foot. This latter part receives the
pressure of the stirrup in road-riding, but in hunting or
any other kind of field-riding the foot is thrust " home " and
the stirrup touches the instep, whilst the pressure is taken
by the under part of the arch of the foot The reason of
this is, that in leaping the pressure on the stirrup is almost
lost ; and if the toe only is placed within it the foot is
constantly coming out. Besides this, in the gallop the
attitude is of that nature that the spring of the instep is not
wanted, the weight being too much thrown upon the foot, ii
standing in the stirrups ; and if sitting down in the saddle
the feet should scarcely press upon the stirrups at all, anc
therefore the best place for them is where they will be most
secure. The body should be carried easily, balancing back-
ward and forward or sideways, as required, but not forcibly.
Instinct is here the best guide, and the rider should follow

MANAGEMENT OF THE REINS, AND SEAT ON HORSEBACK.

161

its precepts rather than attempt to follow any preconceived
rule. If the horse rears, he will feel called upon by nature
to lean forward, and may even grasp the neck if needful, or
anything but the bridle, which will only bring the horse
back upon him. The body should not be held stiffly upright,
but, short of this, it can scarcely be too still, the loins being
slightly arched forwards. The legs also should be as motion-
less as possible, and nearly perpendicular from the knee
downwards ; but, if anything, a little forward, the heel being
well depressed and the toes very slightly turned outwards.
The shoulders should always be square — that is, at right
angles to the road taken ; and whether trotting or galloping
neither of them should be advanced before the other.

If a man contemplates becoming a perfect horseman, he
should consider in what way his riding will be chiefly re-
quired, and make himself master of that. If he only con-
templates road riding, if he acquire a neat, easy, and firm
seat, with good hands, he will do well enough ; and having
gained these, he may be satisfied. If he means to be a
hunting man, he will find it will require a still firmer seat,
stronger arms, and far stronger nerves, without which he
will never become a " workman " across country ; and, as to
race riding, no man need hope to arrive at any perfection
as a jockey, unless from a boy he has been more or less in
the habit of riding race-horses.

There are two things all but indispensable to the man
who wishes to become perfect as a horseman — good nerve
and good temper: 'without the first, he will want confi-
dence ; and without the second, he will neither have
patience to be taught himself or to teach his horse.

So far as seat is concerned, a great deal depends on the
formation of the man. With very few exceptions, short
chubby-made men never make neat horsemen ; and without
any exception, such persons can hardly possess an easy and
graceful seat. Such men are usually very round in the
thigh ; a formation much against a firm seat, without
which no man can be a good horseman.

Huntsmen usually sit more down in their seat than gen-
tlemen do. This arises from their keeping a constant eye
on their hounds, which they can have with that seat more
than they could standing in their stirrups as a jockey does.
Huntsmen are apt to sit a little oblique on their horse.
This is caused by their riding much with the rein in one
hand, which hand is usually held rather more forward than
other men hold it, so as to enable them to have more
command over the horse ; which is quite necessary for a
man to have who has to get through thick covers at the
risk of having his own and his horse's eyes cut or
knocked out by brambles, thorns, or hanging boughs. The
way in which both learn to avoid these is extraordinary :
the more so when the man's whole attention is devoted to
every turn his hounds make, and to every hound he hears
throw a tongue. We will suppose a huntsman in the middle
of a thick cover of perhaps a hundred acres ; he hears a
"iew halloo on which he can depend, and also hears his

X

hounds making to the point from whence the halloo come&
Get to them he must ; and that over newly -cut stubs like
harrows reversed, or through underwood where half his
time he is forced keep his arm before his face to save it.
All he can do is to trust to his horse ; and the way in which
those accustomed to it do gallop through and over such
obstacles, no man but a huntsman, and no horse but a
huntsman's can imitate. He gets to the cover's skirt ; no
matter how awkward the fence to get out, he has no time
to pick a safer place. " Come up," and with a haul at his
horse's mouth, and a whack with his whip on the shoulders,
over they come somehow. He has then to rattle along over
any ground, not merely at a chasing but a catching pace.
He comes up with the crowd in a narrow lane, with half u
hundred gentlemen trotting up the centre ; these he cannot
command to get out of his way, though every good sportsman
would voluntarily do so. " By your leave, gentlemen," is
the utmost he dare say ; and with a " hark forward, hark ! "
or " hoick together, hoick ! " and the occasional use of '' by
your leave," he rattles by them with a wagon-rut foi his
horse's path. He gets to the hounds, and with a half-blown
horse has to face a country that others begin with one quite
fresh. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that half-
tired man and horse get on, in such a case, just as they can,
but most huntsmen now-a-days are provided with a second
horse, otherwise they could not get through their work.

Connected with the seat, is what is called in horse language
" hands." When a man inquires what kind of bit he should
use, he generally means what sort would suit his horse's
mouth ; it is of more importance to inquire what will suit
his own " hands." This is to say that a man with " good
hands " can ride with any bit ; while it is most important,
where the rider has " no hands at all," that the animal
should not be punished and confined by a cruel piece of
ironwork. The bridle with which, in the first case, he
would go pleasantly and gracefully, would, in the latter,
become neither more nor less than an instrument of torture,
under the effects of which he could go neither pleasantly,
gracefully, or even safely to himself or rider.

One would naturally suppose that any man in the habit
of riding would be anxious to acquire so necessary a part of
horsemanship as good hands. Daily observation, however,
shows that it is not so ; and this inattention or indiff'erence
arises from various causes. The first is, the man knows
nothing about " hands," consequently does not know that he
has bad ones ; again, if he does know this, as he merely
rides an animal for health and exercise, and having found
one who has no more " mouth " than his master has " hands,"
the latter has probably found himself safely enough carried,
and wants no more.

Bad "hands" are much more frequent causes of bad
riding than even defects of seat. Indeed, the things act
and re-act, and an unsteady seat will produce bad " hands."
Should a friend, then, ask you candidly about bits and
bridles, and so forth, be equally candid with him. Ask

162

RIDING TO HOUNDS.

him, " Has your horse a good mouth ?" that is, tender, and
' Does he often throw up his head ? "

Is his mouth, temper, and disposition such that a curb-bit
can be dispensed with ? If it is, ride your horse, by all
means, in a plain snaffle and martingale (not a nose one).
If he requires a curb, use an easy one, and only make use
of it occasionally. We would recommend all men with bad
hands to use martingales ; not exactly to keep the horse's
head down, but to counteract the effect of their hands
getting up, which is nearly always the practice with bad
riders. Martingales, too, are advisable, because with one
It matters less where the hands are ; they do not affect the
horse's mouth as respects the elevating or lowering of the
head. All they can do is to use such force in pulling the
reins that the horse cannot advance. Probably the rider
will take the hint, and moderate his pull at the reins.

" Hands " may be considered the refinement of horseman-
ship, without which no man has any pretensions to the
character of a horseman ; he may ride boldly, and sit fast.
This does not make him a horseman. "The difference
between riders," says " Harry Hieover," is — " the one sits on
the back of a horse, crossing a country in such form and
style as the animal likes ; the other causes the horse to do
the same thing, but in a proper manner."

Good " hands " are to a man of fortune worth a diadem ;
in virtue of them, he is carried as no man wanting them can
be. It may be said his money could purchase horses that
want no hands to make them do their business handsomely.
He might ; but if they wanted no hands to make them go in
such manner, still less do they want bad ones to thwart them
when they do.

They are invaluable to the poorer man. They enable him
to purchase horses hitherto thought little of from a bad st}'le
of carriage, and raise the price of the same horse, while in
his possession, from, perhaps, eighty to a hundred and fifty.

Finally , "hands " are of the utmost importance to the horse
himself, particularly in hunting ; wanting them, beats many
a good horse before his time. Permitting a horse, in techni-
cal phrase, to " make a spread eagle of himself," and go
sprawling along over a deep fallow, " sows him up " at once.
It is quite a fallacious idea to suppose that a horse knows
the easiest way of going to himself He, perhaps, would do
so in a state of nature ; but nature is not crossing a hundred-
acre holding pasture, with twelve (or more) stone weight on
his back.

BIDING TO HOUNDS.

We have, in various subsidiary branches of the subject of
Riding, forestalled so many points of the present subject,
that we can almost deal with it by way of reference to the
opening part of this Chapter.

To keep on terms with a modern pack when running
hard, neither man or horse, whatever other faults they
may have, must be troubled with "the slows." As an
^Id-world enthusiast in the art of driving once told us, "the

great secret of coaching, is to keep your time ; " so in riding
to hounds, the chief and indispensable accomplishment is to
know how to gallop. This is not, as might at first sight be
supposed, a mere matter of " horse ; " on the contrary, it has
a good deal to do with the biped who bestrides him. One
man will get across a field in half the time it takes his
friend, though mounted on a faster animal, to accomplish
the same distance ; and this facility is a sort of knack,
which it is impossible to teach and almost hopeless to
explain. It is an accomplishment compounded of hand,
eye, and seat, with a considerable allowance of nerve ; for,
strange as it may appear, men are far less shy of fences
than they are of galloping ; and many a bruising, daring rider,
with good hands, undying pluck, and a first-rate eye to
hounds, finds that, although in a hunting run he can gene-
rally go first and foremost, yet for want of this gift of gallop-
ing he is always beaten, he cannot tell how, in the first three
fields of a really quick thing. The man cannot of course
" carry the horse," though young gentlemen often think
they can " lift " him. We do not mean to say that the best
hunter in England, if slow, will bear his owner satisfactorily
through a burst, but that the quick man on the slow horse
will go in a good place (supposing he wishes to show in the
front rank) till his steed stops ; whereas the slow man on
the fast horse will be nowhere throughout, though doubtless
of the two he will have the pleasanter ride home.

We will suppose, however, that man and horse are both
of the " going sort " — the one devotedly fond of hounds and
determined to be with them, the other sharing his master's
attachment to the chase, and trained to that state of wind
and condition which enables him to undergo the severest
exertion, not only without inconvenience, but with positive
enjoyment. This is but the foundation of the science : how
much skill and judgment is required in its superstructure !
The knowledge of hunting, necessary to place every turn of
the hounds to account ; the choice of ground, which makes
all the difference between gHding smoothly down a furrow,
or labouring uneasily athwart a ridge ; the quickness of
eye, which, on landing in a field, spies instantaneously the
weak place at which to get out, and makes directly for that
spot without deviation or delay ; the accuracy of ear, that,
when hounds are necessarily unseen, can be guided by their
notes ; the experience, which tells as it were intuitively the
direction they are likely to take ; and lastly, the dauntless
nerve, that, among rasping fences, is determined to be
forward, and prepared to run its chance of what there is
beyond the obstacle.

" Eternal misery on this side, my Lord, and certain death
on the other," said one of the best of our steeple-chase
riders to a nobleman who was almost his rival ; and in
another instant he was in the aiE To put in practice
the intellectual qualities essential to clever hunting, it is
essential to possess likewise the physical advantage of fine
horsemanship, of which more is required in crossing a
country than the uninitiated are apt to supposa Horace

RIDING TO HOUNDS.

163

says, " the horse's ear is in his mouth ; " and you need only
deprive him of his bridle, to render the finest rider in
England utterly helpless on his steed. " Harry Hieover "
tells an anecdote illustrative of this quality, which we must
preserve. ' A gentleman in Northamptonshire was run
away with some few years ago. His horse having got his
feet through his reins in a scramble at a fence, and tore
them completely from bis head, away went the pair — the
animal frightened out of its wits, as is the custom of the
species when anything extraordinary happens ; the biped
cool and unmoved, as if he sat in an arm-chair. Fond,
however, as he was of going fast, it was necessary on this
occasion to stop ; so, being a long-armed man, he leant well
forward, and placing his hands over its eyes, completely
blinded his horse, and brought him to a standstill, if we
may be allowed the expression, in a twinkling. We are
not all, however, gifted with such long limbs as this
imperturbable equestrian, and must make up, if we can, for
deficiency of arm by increased fineness of hand ; and here
we lay it down as an established rule, that no horse can go
properly with hounds if he pulls. Let him lean upon his
bit to that extent which enables us to draw him into a
collected form ; let him get his head up, or down, or
sideways, or into any other position he pleases, with a
proper feeling of resentment at undue interference with his
mouth, and we freely forgive him ; but for a boring, dead,
stiffnecked puller, we confess to an insuperable aversion."
Common riding, as Colonel Greenwood's book truly points
out, is but common sense, and the whole object of bitting
and bridling is, after all, to get the horse's hind legs
into their proper place under his quarters, through the
medium of his head. The animal is so formed, that when
he bends his neck and tucks his nose in, he brings his
hocks and hind feet well under his body, and vice versd ;
hence it is that horses with well-made, powerful quarters,
have for the most part light mouths. Should that sensitive
organ, however, have been hardened by a bad education or
bad usage, it must be our study to apply such an instru-
ment as, by giving us additional power, or, in other words,
inflicting a severer pressure, shall make up for this want of
sensitiveness without giving pain, and thereby causing
irritation at the time, and increased callousness afterwards-
This is the whole art of bitting, and on this depends the
skilful touch we term " hand." That such power is obtained
over the horse by an almost innumerable diversity of bridles,
we have only to look into any saddler's window to observe ;
and it is impossible to establish any of these as the best,
inasmuch as the grey horse will only go pleasantly in one
that would drive the chesnut mad, while that which brings
the brown instantaneously on his haunches is a mere halter
in the mouth of the bay. Diflerent men, too, would ride
the same animal in different bridles, so various are the
methods in which people deem it safe and expedient to
handle their horses. The large plain double-bridle, with a
thick bridoon, a low port, and a very long cheek, more

particularly should the bit be made to slide up and down
for an inch or so on the cheek aforesaid, will be found
admirably adapted to three hori*j?s out of four ; but then it
may render the fourth totally unridable : so, as we have
already said, it is impossible to lay down any rule on the
subject. But that it is absolutely necessary to find out the
bridle in which he goes most pleasantly, to get a horse
quickly along over a country, it needs but little argument
to demonstrate.

For mere galloping, we should be able to turn and twist
him anywhere. The very fact of pulling up short to open a
gate, and consequently keeping up the steam till within a
few yards of that friendly egress, will give one man an
immense advantage over another, who, although riding a
second Eclipse, cannot quite command him, and, should he
mean to stop at all, must begin hauling long ere he is
half-way across a forty-acre field.

What, too, can be more provoking, when jammed into a
lane amongst a hundred dear friends, than to spy a weak
place in the fence, through which, if you could but hustle,
you might be alone with the hounds ; and to find that,
pressed as you are by the galloping crowd around you, it is
impossible to pull up or turn, till several hundred yards
past the only practicable gap for miles ? Though the hounds
are running at right angles to you, it would take more time
to turn round than to keep forward, and you are carried on by
the tide till you find yourself in a turnpike road, from
which, as we all know, there is no escape. All this is rec-
tified by having horses what is called " handy • " and to
make them so, should be the first object of any man who
wishes to ride well to hounds, more particularly in the grass
countries, where the crowd of his fellow-sportsmen is one of
the greatest difficulties he has to encounter. A fast slug, if
he has courage enough to face large fences, will generally
slip away quicker than any other description of hunter ;
and it is extraordinary how many horses that have been
ridden by good men become so quiet and temperate that we
might almost call them slugs. When thus mounted, and in
a good place with hounds, a really fine rider seems to glide
over a country, almost like a bird upon the wing. It is
beautiful to ride behind such, and watch his perform-
ance. How quietly he sits down in his saddle, giving and
taking with every motion of his horse ; how judiciously he
selects the soundest ground, and at what a rattling pace he
makes play when its inclination is at all in his favour.
With what patience he waits at a slow canter, or pulls
completely to a trot in the ploughs ; what skill he
shows in angling the ridge and furrow, or avoiding it
altogether by making at once for the headland ; how
he seems to anticipate every turn of the hounds, and
thereby gains a timely pull almost whenever he stands in
need of a moment's breathing>-space ; and above all, with
what determination he crosses the severe fences, which in
every good run we may be pretty sure it will be his lot to
encounter.

164

LADIES' HORSEMANSHIP.

LADIES HORSEMANSHIP.

Albeit we do not expect lady-readers to con the pages of
" The Book of Field Sports," yet do we esteem it a serious
omission that the art of riding, as practised by lady-pro-
ficients, should be passed over without mention in such
works ; for surely a brother, father, friend, or, better still,
a lover, may desire the knowledge which would enable
them to speak, or, if need be, to instruct in these matters,
" as one having understanding." We are not going to advo-
cate the "first-flight" as an accomplishment; or torn veils
and rent skirts, got in charging a "bullfinch," or rising,
mermaid-like, bedraggled from the depths of a soft-banked
brook, as a triumph becoming our British fair. We rate too
highly their precious limbs and beauteous faces, to desire to
see them exposed to the risk of injury. Yet who can assert
that painter or poet can have a more beautiful subject for
pencil or pen than a fair Englishwoman on a handsome
horse, as she passes in the power of her charms, her eyes
brightened, her colour heightened by the health and spirit-
giving exercise, her hair floating, and her lithe figure sway-
ing and bending in graceful pliancy to every movement of
the glossy steed she manages with a woman's tact and a
woman's pride? All this may be delightfully enjoyable in
" the ride " in Hyde Park, or on the greensward of the
avenue of the " old house at home ;" or the ten or twelve
miles an hour may be enjoyed on the road, through bridle-
lanes, an occasional hand-gate and grass-field, as, with spirits
gay, they repair to "the meet" they so radiantly adorn.
But here, as we have said before, we pause, though perhaps
some of our youth — for human nature is ever the same —
may yield to the modern Sauromatae, of whom Herodotus
tells the story so quaintly. This Scythian tribe of female
warriors, says the old Greek, were called " manslayers ;" but
this was in a more literal sense than we would apply in the
present day How the Greeks fought with them in the
field, intermarried with them, and were conquered at home,
the reader may seek in the ancient historian referred to.*

* These antetypes of the " pretty horse-breakejs " and heart-
breakers of the 19th century, argued with their husbands in a style
and with an effect that 4,000 years have not cast into oblivion. The
husbands proposed a settling down to the calm duties of domestic life ;
to which the Amazons replied, " We never could live with the women
of your country, because we have not the same customs with them.
We shoot with the bow, throw the javelin, ride on horseback, and
have never learnt the employments of women. But your women do
none of the things we have mentioned, but are engaged in women's
employments, remaining in their wagons, and do not go out to hunt,
or anywhere else. If, then, you desire to have us for youi- wives, and
to prove yourselves honest men, go to your parents, claim your share
of their property, then return, and let us live by ourselves."

Need the result be wondered at ? The story is repeated daUy to
this hour. A determined, though soft-spoken Amazon pleads, a young,
or a fond old sportsman listens, and the cause is won. But the ancient
Sauromatae went further : they proposed elopement to their husbands ;
and thus these wily syrens went about it.

There is, in our opinion, ample scope for what Tom Hood
punningly called sAe-questrianship, witl^out following the
hounds.

Within the last quarter of a century, the maids, matrons,
and widows of England have taken to the saddle in numbers
unprecedented in former days, and far be it from us to wish
it otherwise. A fine woman on a fine horse is a most grace-
ful combination of beauty and power. Horse exercise is
conducive to the health and spirits ; and how it enhances
the charms of the lovely Amazons, many a captivated youth
can avouch with a loving sigh. It is, then, that he may
understand the principles of graceful riding by the fairer
sex, as well as for the lovely horsewomen themselves, that we
pen a few practical lines on the subject.

Dress. — And here, upon the very threshold, we feel the
danger and delicacy of our task. We have to advise the
ladies on that subject most eminently within their province
— dress. We shall not trespass on matters of fashion and
taste, but hope they will agree with us that a habit cannot
be too plain, if well made, well fitting, and well put on.
Observe, we stipulate for light " ladies' cloth," strictly so
called, which will tear easily. The skirt, too, should be as
short as is at all consistent with appearance. It need
hardly be pointed out, what danger there is in the prepos-
terously long skirt : we have seen it become entangled with
the stirrup, a passing a rail, hedge, or even the horse's legs,
and then the helplessness of the fair rider when unseated ;
for should the horse himself fall, the rider is involved with
him in a peril from which she cannot be easily extri-
cated without injury. A dangerous fashion, now happily
on the wane, is that of wearing " habit -brooches," as the
tradesmen who deal in these dangerous devices call them.
This mode of confining the skirt of the habit is utterly
superfluous to a graceful horsewoman. The position of a
lady on horseback is much more constrained than that of a
man. The "habit-brooch" deprives her of the chance of
escape when an accident happens. A very slight fall may
prove serious or fatal, where, with full liberty of the skirt, it
would have been harmless or trivial. The arrangement of
the skirt, without this impedimentum, is thus directed by
Mr Waite He strongly advises a lady never, under any
circumstances, to tuck her skirt tight over the crutch of

" Alarm and fear come upon us," said they, " when we consider that
we must live in this country. In the first place, because we have
deprived you of your parents, and, in the next, have committed great
depredations in your territory. Since, therefore, you think us worthy
to be your wives, do thus with us : come let us leave this country ;
and, having crossed the river Tanais, let us settle there !"

" So," observes Herodotus, " the youths consented t& do this also ;
and, having reached the country in which they .'ue now settled, they
took up their abode there. From that time, the wives of the Sauro-
matae retain their ancient mode of living, both going out on horse-
back to hunt with their husbands and without their husbands, and
joining in war, and wearing the same dress as the men." The records
of Sir Cresswell Cresswell's court show that the Sam'omatse have their
descendants among modem wives.

LADIES' HORSEMANSHIP.

165

her saddle, but take pains to have them so easy as to be
enabled on the instant to disengage both skirt and knee.
A facility in this can only be acquired by constant practice ;
and it is of far greater importance to the lady equestrian to
attain than may appear at the first glance. Had this ap-
parently slight attainment been a matter of moderate con-
sideration, many a parent need not have to deplore the
more or less disfigurement or maiming of a beloved child.

When a lady has her habit drawn over the crutch of her
saddle, and tucked tightly in under her leg (for the purpose
of keeping the skirt in its proper position), she denies
herself the full liberty of her knee, and, in case of accident,
to be quickly off the horse. On the slightest warning, though
unforeseen, whatever the danger, the tightness of the lady's
dress will not allow her to get her leg out of its place in
time to make any effectual effort to save herself ; it is also
probable that the habit may get entangled in the pommel,
and she, frightened of course, will become unable to dis-
engage her foot from the stirrup or shoe, in which case she
inevitably experiences the most appalling of all accidents —
falling, and being dragged powerless by a terrified horse.

^Mounting. — Preparatory to a lady mounting her horse,
let her steadily and without bustle approach his near
shouldei. The quietest animal will occasionally start or
even kick when suddenly approached from behind. It is
also to the advantage of the animal, to see his rider as much
as possible ; though some would seem to think otherwise, by
their coup de main mode of " getting hold " of the animal.
On this point the reader may refer to our chapter on
Breaking and Training, ante.

In assisting a lady to mount, two persons are necessary.
The groom to keep the horse quiet, which he should do by
standing in front of him, with one rein in each hand,
holding the bridle-rein close to the bit. The other at-
tendant— a proud privilege for the favoured cavalier, or a
loving duty for the brother or friend — has to assist the fair
one to mount. This he does by placing himself near to and
almost in front of her. Having joined his hands by inter-
lacing his fingers with each other, he stoops, and putting
them near the ground receives the lady's left foot, which
she should place lightly but firmly in them, taking care
that no part of her skirt is under it. The left knee should
be kept firmly straight, to give a safe purchase while she is
being lifted perpendicularly and springily into her seat.
Before this lift, however, the lady having regulated her
habit, must stand perfectly erect, and taking the bridoon-
rein loosely over the thumb of her right hand (holding
the whip between the thumb and forefinger), she lays
gently hold of the upright horn of the saddle. Her
right side being now close to it, the lift is easy of
accomplishment ; a spring from the instep, simultaneously
placing her left hand on the assistant's right shoulder, will
land the lady safe in her seat.

Being now in the saddle, the lady should lay hold of her
habit with her right hand close to the knee, lifting it so as to

allow the right knee to rise and fall well home into the crutch
and holding it there firmly. This will be much assisted by
drawing the heel backwards, by which the muscles of the
calf and the tendo Achillis come to the aid of the position.
The left leg should hang easily, not resting the weight of
the body on the stirrup ; if this is done, the foot naturally
turns outward, inclines the body to an insecure balance, and
gives a wavering and ungainly appearance to the rider. To
avoid this, keep the left knee pressed against the saddle,
depress the heel, and turn the toes slightly inwards.

The position of the stirrup has much to do with the seat
of the female equestrian. The stirrup must be correctly
adapted to the length of the lady's foot when seated in a
square and exact position in the saddle. The modus
operandi is as follows : — Let the stirrup-foot hang down
freely from the hip-joint, the knee slightly flexed, the toes
raised and turned towards the horse's side. Then, while
the foot is immovable in the stirrup, let the strap-holes be
taken up and permanently kept at the approved length. The
pressure of the foot in the stirrup should come alone from
the toes to the arch of the foot, which will give the desired
elasticity of movement in the quicker paces of the horse.
Should the lady be impelled to the endeavour to retain her
foot in the stirrup, her weight must preponderate on the
left side. On the contrary, if the stirrup be too short, it
necessarily gives a rolling motion to her body, destructive
alike to grace, elegance, and security of seat, and will
prevent her seating horself sufiiciently back in her saddle.
Thus much of seat and stirrups. The arms should be held
freely and unconstrainedly, but near the sides. The motion
of the bridle hand must be, like that of skilled pianoforte
players, confined to the wrist. From that alone must its
action be derived ; and here Mr. Waite's little " Manual "
shall again instruct us. "The motion of the lady's hand
should be confined to the wrist, the action coming from it
alone. By the management of the reins, in concert with
the yielding or retraction of the wrists, the horse is guided
in his paces. By this mode the sensibility and goodness
of his mouth is preserved ; the beauty of his action ia
developed ; steadiness is combined with security in his
paces ; and the safety of his rider is secured. The degree
of command which the animal can be placed under, entirely
depends on the degree of proficiency acquired in this
branch."

There are four motions requisite in guiding a horse.

" To go forward. — Lengthen the reins, and give the animal
his liberty. For this purpose the lady's hand must be
guided by the action of her wrist, and, at the same time, she
must apply gently her whip. Here, it is proper to remark,
the lady's bridle, or left, hand must never be left inactive
but, by practice, she must endeavour to understand the art
of feeling the horse's mouth ; should the bridle hand not be
kept in constant use, this will never come easy to the rider,
the hand will be unsteady, and the horse will become the

same.

166

LADIES' HORSEMANSHIP.

" To go backward. — The reins must be shortened a little,
the back of the hand turned down, the little finger next the
body ; the weight of the rider should be thrown back, with
the little finger slightly }>alled in towards the waist, then
the horse will readily step back.

" To turn to the right. — The hand must be turned upwards,
which will direct the little finger to the right. Throw the
balance of the body into the turn, by inclining the bust to
the right and applying the whip, which will cause the horse
to move forward as he turns, obey the hand, and cross his
legs one over the other correctly.

" To turn to the left. — Let the hand be turned down, so
that the little finger may be directed to the left ; the bust
must also be turned to the left, and the hand up, with the left
heel applied to his side, and the whip to his right shouHer."

Dismounting. — The remarks on mounting should be re-
membered here. Should hired servants only be at hand,
there is some skill required to avoid the desagremens or
inelegance of a lady being lifted from the saddle in the arms
of a groom.

Previous to dismounting, the attendant must stand by the
horse's head, holding the reins close to the bit, to keep him
as steady as possible.

The lady, having removed her foot from the stirrup, and
passed her hand down to free her skirt, &c., from the chance
of catching to the saddle or stirrup, should remove her knee
from the saddle-crutch ; at the same time taking the pre-
caution to disengage the habit from that side. Then holding
the crutch with her right hand (the rein hanging loosely on
the thumb), and placing her left hand on her attendant's right
arm, near the wrist ; his arm being extended for the pur-
pose, she must spring lightly and clear from the saddle,
slightly inclining the bust towards the horse's shoulder.

By this method the lady will cleverly disengage herself,
and descend gently to the ground.

The following are Mr. Waite's "Maxims:" — " Be particular
to avoid nervousness and hurry, either in mounting or dis-
mounting.

" Take time, and have everything correctly arranged be-
fore starting ; serious accidents have occurred from haste in
starting off.

" Arrange the habit and length of stirrup, and have the
saddle-bands and buckles properly examined before the
journey is begun, to prevent having to stop on the road.

" Be careful to keep the hand active, and watch the move-
ments of the horse ; by this means the rider will never be
thrown off her guard, and will be prepared for every
emergency.

" Keep the horse's mouth always in play, so as to keep up
its fine feeling, indispensable to his correct guidance.

" Never allow the reins to hang loosely on the horse's neck,
crutch, or pommel of the saddle. This oversight frequently
causes serious and fatal accidents.

"Always use double reins. Should one become useless,
there is still another to rely upon."

Mr. Waite winds up by justly observing that an elegant
and accomplished equestrian becomes an equally graceful
pedestrian, from the improved carriage acquired from pro-
ficiency in the former accomplishment.

To become an elegant pedestrian is no mean task, nor
easy to accomplish. Yet it is of the utmost importance to a
lady to achieve it. How often, in our experience through
life, have we met with a lovely face and perfect figure, —
everything that could constitute the perfection of female
beauty, while at rest : but once in motion, the illusion is
dispelled by a bad carriage and shuffling gait, and the per-
fect form becomes common-place. These two detractions to
beauty can be entirely eradicated by attention to the follow-
ing directions, which apply equally to walking and riding.

Keep the bust and head erect ; the shoulders well thrown
back. The motive power to proceed from the hips alone.

Perseverance in these directions will soon give all that is
required for a graceful and healthy carriage.

Finally. — At all times trust to your reins for security in
cases of danger. Never grasp the pommel of the saddle ;
and never use a " habit-brooch."

Choosing a Lady's Horse. — The general ideas. in Buyino
A Horse are found under that heading ; the special merits
of a lady's horse are worth considering It should be re-
membered, and oftener than it is, that a " weed " should
never be selected to carry our " fairest flower," — that how-
ever sylph-like and fairy-formed our Venuses may appear,
they are mostly ten stone, "horseman's weight," despite
their affectation of slimness ; and this, with habit, hat,
gauntlets, whip, a spacious side-saddle and crutch, extra
girths, shoe stirrup, &c., adding twenty pounds at the least,
asks something more than a Queen Mab's grasshopper steed.
We are not going to dilate on a horse for the hunting
Amazon we have already spoken of, or we should say a four-
year-old hunter, with good mouth, great action, steady at
fences, and up to thirteen stone, was wanted ; just such a
horse as is not to be had for the catching. Lord Maynard,
a great man across country in the last generation, used to
say, when he heard a horse mentioned as excellent to carry
a lady, " I'll buy it : if he will carry a woman well, he'll
carry me better."

As elegance must be studied in a park hack, a lady's
horse should have a considerable show of blood, and should
seldom exceed fifteen hands in height ; the paces should
not be rough ; and an easy slow trot, the pace of health, is
a valuable qualification. The canter is, however, of the
chiefest consequence, and that it be formed naturally and
handsomely, the neck gracefully curved, and the mouth
having pleasant and good feeling. There are natural can-
terers, they will last at it, taking to it, and on the proper
signal dropping into the trot or walk, without roughness,
boggling, or changing of legs. But the first and grand
consideration is going safely ; for a horse deficient in that
respect is, perhaps, always most liable to fall in his canter.
The most graceful canterers may be observed to lead gene-

LADIES' HORSEMANSHIP.

167

rally with the off leg ; but no doubt there is such an error
as a horse, both in his canter and gallop, going with the
wrong leg first, to the considerable uneasiness of the rider ;
this is most felt upon worn and battered horses, which
■hange their legs to procure a momentary ease.

A naturally timid, nervous colt, however we may lessen
the infirmity by proper treatment, will never be a perfect
lady's horse. He should be naturally bold and fearless, and
from being properly educated, should not know fright ; for as
ladies are naturally more easily alarmed than men, so in pro-
portion should their horses be bolder, for if both get alarmed,
the danger is imminent. Many ladies would fear to be put
on a hijrh-cDuraged horse. Fair ones, your fears are mis-
applied H igh courage, in man or horse, is your best safe-
guard, and will induce both to bend with cheerfulness to
your slightest will ; while the timid, actuated by fear, seeks
hh own safety, nor heeds the danger of his fair mistress.

Some masters teach their lady-scholars to ride on either
side of the horse, and recommend to have the pommel of
the saddle made very low, that the knee may not be thrown
too high ; and also that the pommel be made with a screw,
to be taken off in case of a lady wishing to change sides on
any particular account. Ladies' riding-shoes should be
always straight soled, as, in case of accident, there is the
risk of the foot hanging in the stirrup, when the sole,
according to the old fashion, is hollow next the heel. A
lady's horse should be particularly accustomed to walk off
quietly ; and with respect to his improvement in that pace,
it is accomplished by touching him gently with the whip.

" Harry Hieover" has some pertinent though diffuse re-
marks in his " Hints on Educating Horses," from which we
select some relating to the training of a lady's horse.

Although by no means advocating a riding-schooi eau-
cation for a hunting man or a hunting horse, yet it is the
only place where a lady's horse can be properly made.
There is a peculiar style of going that is only to be acquired
"here" — a handiness that cannot be taught on the road ;
turning safely and easily cannot be learned elsewhere.
Changing voluntarily the leading leg, so indispensable for
this horse, must be practised by the figure of eight, to per-
fect him in it ; and till he is perfect in this, he cannot
carry a lady safely. She will find it necessary, if riding in
crowds, to turn her horse often suddenly, to avoid coming
in contact with different objects. Suppose a horse going a
quick canter, leading with the right leg, something coming
suddenly up may oblige his rider to turn quickly to the left.
If the horse does not change his leg, it is an even chance
whether he does or does not let his legs interfere, and come
on his head Here he may be taught that quite necessary
qualification m a lady's horse, to moderate his pace, stop
by degrees, or stop short, in accordance with the voice that
directs him ; a lady's horse should be perfect in this with
the reins resting on his neck. Why this is learned so much
more readily in a school than elsewhere is, that the animal's
attention is solely occupied by his rider's voice and move-

ment, whereas out of doors it is more than divided by other
objects. Independently of this, there is a confinement felt
by a horse when encircled by four walls, that he of course
does not feel in any open space, that makes him obedient.

In a school there are found guns, flags, drums, trumpets,
umbftllas, and every other monstrosity to which a lady's
horse should be subjected : it therefore follows that in such
a school a horse would be placed in a situation to see more
strange sights in six weeks than in ordinary situations he
would see in six years. For instance, a lady might ride
her horse about Bath and not see the colour of a regiment
once in seven years ; in London it might happen she never
rode at an hour when regiments were moving ; consequently
years might elapse, and the first time her horse saw such a
sight he would start at it ; and so on with any unusual
thing that came across him ; but in the school a day makes
him conversant with everything of the sort. Let a man walk
fifty yards distance from him round the school with a
banner, he hardly notices it ; get nearer to the man by
degrees, and in an hour or two the horse will walk with the
banner fluttering before his face (so with anything we wish
to accustom him to see) without alarm. The great mistake
people make, is in thinking that by doing too much at a
time they accelerate what they wish, when, in fact, they
retard it by such means.

If, for instance, we wish to teach a horse to stand fire — if
we let off a gun, we should alarm him to such an extent that
it would perhaps take a month to reassure him, if we even did
it then. A more judicious man might let off a small pistol
with a little powder in it. This is ten times too much. A
flash in the pan is too much, except at a great distance.
First burn a few grains of gunpowder so as to show no flash,
while he is eating his corn in the stable ; let him smell
that ; even this will arouse his attention, but, while it
accustoms him to the smell, will not alarm him. Begin by
clicking a pistol twenty yards from him ; then put powder
enough in not to make more ignition than the light of a
rushlight ; go on by imperceptible degrees, and in two days
he will hear a musket go off without the least fear. Alarm
him by the report of a gun at first, it will take years perhaps
to reconcile him to it, if it is ever done ; but by never
creating alarm, he may in a week be brought to stand by a
cannon without wincing. Absolutely hurting or absolutely
alarming, produce nearly similar results in brutes as in the
human race. A person that has been pursued by an infuriated
ox has the same dread of an ox as another who has been tossed
on his horns — perhaps more, if the latter was not much
hurt, the anticipations of the former being probably much
more terrific than the tossing of the latter ; as, in the
ordinary circumstances of life, the dread of an event is
often more horrible than the realization itsel' /Many a
man, who has worked himself into a fever and high state of
nervous irritability during the night from the apprehension
of an operation in the morning, has borne that operation
firmly, and allowed that his fears had greatly exceeded the

168

DRIVING.— GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

reality. Fear is a most powerful agent, and, where it is once
awakened, a most difficult one to tranquillise. With horses,
d minute awakens fear that years will not eradicate. We
cannot reason with them, or explain away the cause of
their alarm ; so, if any irrational animal is once hurt by
anything he sees or hears, or is seriously alarmed 1^ it,
hearing or seeing the same thing without sustaining any
injury from it a hundred times afterwards barely suffices to
reassure his fears of it. Frighten a boy by the appearance
of a ghost, and let that ghost strike at him, he is alarmed ;
throw off the sheet, and let him see it was his sister dressed
up, his alarm is gone ; nay, he would probably think less of
ghosts in future. We cannot do this with animals ; so, in
educating them, nothing but length of time can overcome
terror ; and till terror is assuaged, they have not even the
instinct nature gave them.

Ladies may fancy that if a horse has a tender mouth,
there can be no fear of his going off with them. He would
not on any ordinary occasion or under any ordinary excite-
ment ; if, however, he gets frightened, mouth will avail
nothing ; he becomes totally insensible to pain. The more
timid, therefore, he is, the more dangerous he is ; and, vice
versa, the more courageous, the more safe. Why are veterans
more to be depended on than raw troops ? Mainly because
the former, from habit, are more collected in moments of
danger than the latter

Thus far of schooling. Any green field that is not too
hard, forms an excellent practice-ground ; and should it be
varied by what is termed in the Midland counties "ridge
and furrow," it will additionally improve the general ac-
tivity of the pupil, his action, and the use he makes of his
shoulders. Cantering him continually in small circles, and,
as he is meant for a lady, chiefly to the right, will teach
him to lead with his off leg, and will bring his head into
the right place, and his weight upon his haunches better
than any other discipline we can adopt. Observe that no
horse can have a good mouth unless he has powerful and
well-shaped quarters ; also, that his lightness in hand is in
most cases pretty exactly proportioned to his strength be-
hind the saddle. The hardest puller of all is the brute that
pulls from weakness ; if you could stop him, he cannot
stop himself; and having given you half his weight to
carry in your arms all day, it is lucky if he does not finish
by putting the whole of it on your neck and shoulders in
one of those complicated somersaults that a bad one is so
expert in making

DRIVING.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. — HARNESS HORSES : PUTTING TO. —

PAIR HORSE. SINGLE HARNESS.

Akin to the subject of DrivingJ" and as a preface thereto, we
would advise the perusal of pages 66 — 76 ajite, and The
Carriage Horse, pp. 60, 61. The palmy days of charioteering
passed away with Sir Henry Peyton, Sir John Ludd, Sir St.
Vincent Cotton, Lord Molyneux, the youth of Lord Chester-

field, the declension of the Four-in-hand Club, and the extinc-
tion of our fast four-horse coaches. Spasmodic efforts for its
revival have merely led to a pleasant procession to a pic-nic,
or a suburban " spread '' on the banks of Father Thames,
above or below the great city. We shall not, therefore,
dwell on the glory of departed days, but address ourselves to
the practice of the present. In our picture of pair-horse
and single harness these will be found, and below such a
description as will render them intelligible.

The harness horses here to be noticed are the gig, or single-
harness horse, usually adopted for light or two-wheel work
in dennet, tilbury, or dog-cart ; the carriage, brougham, or
cab-horse, for a heavier and slower vehicle ; and ponies,
whose uses are as various as their form and stature. The
general gig-horse is too often merely the cast-off of the
hunting stable, or even of the racing stud ; the clumsy,
unsteady, or slow being put into harness. A well-bred horse
for the lancewood shafts is, however, too valuable an animal
to be thus slightingly considered. Others are merely under-
sized carriage horses with the Cleveland or Clydesdale blood
in them, and these, if got by well-bred or throughbred sires,
are useful and handsome animals. Of the cab, brougham,
or carriage horse there are several varieties. In olden
times, before the idea of elegance was attached to lightness,
we had a horse which truly deserved the name of the
coach horse, rather than the more modern one of the carriage
horse ; for as we have already said, when treating of this
variety, the old coach horse was merely the modern
lighter cart horse, as we see him in the wheel-plough or
in the unicorn railway wagons of London streets. A
transition period brought another animal, which some
writers of that middle age styled " the barouche horse,"
upon the scene ; this was in the " Onslow Phaeton " age,
which dovetailed with the " mail " age and the Oxford and
Cambridge tandem. The drivers of the white " upper
benjamin " became fast, and gentle and noble coachmanship
at the zenith of its glory, drove very " leggy " animals, which
the " short-legged machiners " " tied up " when the stage was
ten miles. An agreeable writer thus chronicles the change.
" When anything, say the philosophers, arrives at the summit
of perfection, by the law of nature it retrogrades. Perhaps
the perfection of the teams of 1820 worked their downfall.
Such horses were then put into them, that, to outdo, or at
all events vie with each other, men began putting their
hunters into harness, and many that had breasted a bulfinch
in Leicestershire, in spring breasted a collar in Hyde Park.
Sadly infra dig. all this ; but so it was

" ' Fashion in everything bears sovereigu sway.
And' nags 'and periwigs have both their day.' "

This was perhaps the first innovation on the different
metiers of the horse ; this the first blow at the root of the
exclusiveness of the hunter and his master. Whether the
hunter going in harness, or the master riding the harness-
horse with hounds, was the greater degradation, we do not
say. There is something aristocratic in the sound of the

DRIVING— GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

X(5»

hunter's stable and the coach-horse stable ; but to see a
collar in a box is something, in my idea, about as anomalous
as it -would be to see a maid of all work drawing a cork of
champagne. The wine might be good, and the Hebe
pretty, and each might be worthy attention from the most
fastidious, but it is to the disadvantage of both to introduce
them together.

Some one may ask what has become of the sort of horse
specially bred for the fast coach. Like other articles for
which a remunerative demand has died out, they are not
now produced on a grand scale. The nearest horse to the
stamp, is that used in our horse artillery, and a very good
sort it is. These horses, bought when young, though they
are thick and strengthy, learn such habits of activity, that
no one who has watched their evolutions at Woolwich,
Portsmouth, Chatham, or elsewhere, can help admitting that
great strength and great activity are contained in them.
But where there is want of " blood," sustained speed must
not be looked for. Doubtless, where mere activity for short
distances is wanted, the less highly bred horse may seem not
to suffer from the comparison, but a speed kept up is not his
forte Heavy as a loaded omnibus looks, if you wanted it
bowled along at great speed for a long distance, four
thoroughbreds would beat four of these artillery horses ; but
for work on London stones or in a bad road, where stopping
and starting would fret the high-bred cattle, specific gravity,
strength, and short legs, carry the day. The wind and game
of the thoroughbred carry him through his task better than
any other horse, but it is only where these are called upon
that he shines so pre-eminently.

There is, however, another perfection that the highly-bred
horse has : he does any work with more willingness and
cheerfulness than the coarse horse ; and this is why, for any
purpose to which his strength is adequate, he will be found,
on an average, so much pleasanter than the coarser animal.
It is true, the inferior-bred horse is quite as free, and per-
haps even more inclined to frisk about while quite fresh,
than the thorough or higher-bred one ; but this only lasts
while work is play to him. At real labour, his energy leaves
him ; and once tired, the game is up. This has long since
been found out ; so, as our expectations as to distance and
pace have more than gone hand in hand with the increased
goodness of roads and improvement in vehicles, we have
found improvement in breed absolutely indispensable — hence
the change in the carriage horse.

Our other harness horse is now the brougham or cab-
horse. For a perfect cab-horse, he must now be kept to
that vocation only. To be perfect, he requires many qua-
lifications not easily met with ; indeed, some of them
are rare to get combined. In double-harness a horse may
be a little awkward or lazy, inclined to bolt, or even to run
away ; may be somewhat restive, or a little unsafe in his
action ; still, with a good partner, a man anything of a
coachman can make him do his business at least tolerably.
Even in a gig-hors^ there are many little imperfections that

Y

may be compensated for by other qualifications, for he is
wanted to be fast and lasting. We may put up with many
serious objections in such horses, for the sake of pace and
style of going. Impatience would, to many persons, be a
very serious fault in a horse for single harness. A clever
driver of gig or dog-cart will not mind a hasty-tempered
one for this purpose ; but this would be intolerable in the
cab-horse.

He must be, or should be, singularly handsome, of com-
manding size ; must be fast, or at least, extremely quick in all
his movements ; be able and willing at one moment to go
fourteen miles an hour, the next be as willing to walk, if
wanted, at the rate of three. He must stand motionless
while his aristocratic owner enjoys his colloquy at the
coroneted carriage-window ; must not want the application
of the toy-whip, or pull so as to stretch or twist the fingers
of the white, lemon, or pink kids. To want holding at a
door would render him useless, for who is to hold Lim ? he
must know by instinct that minute piece of humanity,
yclept " the tiger," is before him, for teeing him is out of
the question to a horse in harness. In going, the slightest
indication on his mouth must sufiice. He ought never, if a
well-taught cab-horse, to voluntarily stop or attempt to stop
at doors because he has often stopped at them before. This
is the habit of butchers', bakers', and such plebeian horses ;
for though our scion of nobility or aristocracy may also at
times stop at the same doors, it might be extremely incon-
venient that his horse should indicate that his master
did so.

Having stated some actions that the cab-hor-se must not
perpetrate, we must look to the action he must have. This
is precisely that which, some fifty years since, would have
caused him to be rejected by any good judge as a " clam-
berer" — a style of going then considered as ol the very
worst sort ; and so, in fact, it is for use, for such goers
must tire. But the cab-horse is wanted for show ; so the
more parade he makes about what he does, the better he is
thought of One animal of this sort, not long since, was
actually bought at seven hundred guineas, solely from his
lofty action.

The learned and facetious author of "Adventures of a
Gentleman in Search of a Horse," whose sportive pages
contain more law, wit, and practical advice, than scores of
more pretentious volumes, observes, " It is marvellous how
few people keep fixedly in mind the nature of the work
which they will require the horse to perform. Not one horse
in fifty that is good under saddle is equally so in harness,
and vice versa. I once had a galloway that rarely stumbled
in harness, though he could not have carried the best rider,
of feather weight, half a dozen miles without a sorry fall.
Yet he was perfectly sound, and continued sound for the five
years he remained in my possession.* Many horses do

* Sir Gteorge Stephen.

170

DRIVING.— GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

well in harness that are totally unsafe to carry weight:
in fact, few of the most ' showy ' and ' splendid ' harness
horses of the dealers' stables are so broken until they have
proved their inability under saddle. For myself, I make it
a rule not to put a horse in my stanhope that I have not
taken a short trial of in saddle. When on his back, I am his
master ; when at his tail, he is mine ; and I like to know
something of his temper before I put myself in his power."

Harness-work is, of course, at the same pace, much less
severe than weight-carrying, with a modern-built trap or
carriage, and good roads. It follows, therefore, that many
defects, unpardonable for saddle, are comparatively imma-
terial. Harness-work, too, is done usually on the trot; hence
it is of less consequence that he should walk or gallop well.
Still there is no doubt that in proportion as the animal is
sound, and good in all his paces, his value is greater for
whichever service he is designed.

Few people are very particular about driving a horse in a
boot, or with a blemished knee, while the blinkers will hide
any obvious defect in the eyes. Thus other serious obstacles
that occur in the purchase of a saddle-horse are removed.

Subject to these preliminary observations, we would sug-
gest that the form of a horse for single harness should be
carefully considered ; a full shoulder and a well filled-up
loin, are of consequence ; the action should be free, and
rather high than otherwise ; the body should be compact
and close, the legs short, and rotundity the character of the
whole.

Steadiness is a great virtue in a gig-horse ; for his duty is
in the streets, where every provocation is given to the con-
trary, and where the least swerving from the direct line may
cause infinite mischief It is quite impossible to decide
whether a horse deserves this character till he has been
tried ; but a single drive down Oxford Street and Holborn
Hill, will put him sufficiently to the proof A man who buys
a harness-horse, without first driving it himself, is a fit
subject for a commission of lunacy It is not enough to
put him in the break ; he should be harnessed at once to
the gig or dog-cart ; and it is prudent to observe closely how
he bears the ceremony of being harnessed, and what kind of
a start he makes. Much may be predicted of his qualifica-
tions for draught, or at all events of his familiarity with the
collar, by the degree of quiet with which he allows himself
to be put to. If the ostler runs alongside of him at setting
off, as is often the case, you may be sure that the horse is
distrusted : if you distrust him yourself, have nothing to do
with him.

Sir George Stephen, in his little manual, already referred
to, gives the following illustrative anecdotes.

" One of the best horses which I ever had in my life, as a
gig-horse, was a little animal scarcely fourteen hands and an
inch high, which I bought of a dealer named Thompson, an
excellent judge of a horse for harness. His case was in
some respects peculiar, and worth mentioning. I bought
him for a relative, of very light weight, but a timid rider.

He was about half-bred, and inclining in form to a cob.
My relative rode him for about two or three months, during
which time either he or the horse so contrived it as to fall
every ten days ; the last fall was a very serious one, and the
knees were much blemished. He would not have produced
ten pounds, though I had given nearly forty. I obtained
permission to break him into harness, which I did myself,
without any trouble or difficulty. His owner would not
take him back again, but gave him to me. A year or two
afterwards I refused sixty for him. It is a singular fact,
that, for the first two years that I had him (he remained
with me nearly five), he would allow nobody to drive him
but myself If other hands held the reins, he would swerve
and shy, and at last perhaps fairly bolt ; but in mine he
never committed a fault. I used to drive him with a sharp
curb, and very little whip ; but my command of him was so
complete, that I have urged him to his full speed, thrown
the reins on his back, and stopped him in an instant by my
voice ! The inference which I would draw is, that a pur-
chaser should always try a new harness-horse for himself
and not trust to the steadiness evinced while the reins are
in his owner's hands.

" I cannot dismiss my little horse without mentioning
another incident connected with him, to me particularly in-
teresting. Like most Cantabs, I acquired at college an un-
lucky taste for tandem driving. I have driven my tandem for
many thousand miles in safety, and used at times to exhibit
at once my folly and my skill, by threading the narrowest or
most crowded streets in London. It is scarcely necessary to
add, that eventually I broke my head ; though, in justice to
my skill, I must declare that the fault was not mine, but my
coachmaker's. The splinter-bar had been morticed into the
shaft at the very point where the latter was rendered un-
sound by a knot in the wood. One day, after a long journey
into the country, and within a hundred yards of my own
door, the shaft broke, and I was precipitated over the shaft-
horse, under the heels of my old favourite There I lay, in-
sensible. The awkward hands who came to render assistance,
wanted (as I was afterwards informed by my servant) to
move the horse away from me, at the risk of putting his
heels upon my face ; but move he would not ; nor would he
allow a foot to be raised, till at last I was fairly lifted up
from under him, and then, though not till then, he readily
changed his position, and moved wherever they pleased to
lead him. I have no inference to draw from this, except a
caution even to the most experienced whips against tandems !
I mention it as a tribute of gratitude to my poor horse, who
showed at least as much sense as his master. Young gentle-
men, however, who disregard ray caution, as doubtless nine-
teen out of twenty will, may thank me for a hint of which I
have experienced the advantage;, Tandems are rarely seen
now ; but those who still drive a leader, generally attach
his traces to an eye in the traces of the shaft-horse : this
looks better, but is not so safe as the old-fashioned way of
hooking them to the end of the shaft. By the first plan, the

SINGLE HARNESS

isee descTipuoiLi

PAIR HORSE HARNESS

I see descriptiarL)

DRIVING.— PARTS OF HARNESS.

17l1l

stumbling of the shaft-horse is aggravated into a decided
fall, for the animal is actually pulled down by the continued
motion of the leader ; by the old plan, the shaft-horse is
allowed time to recover a casual trip, and is even assisted ;
the weight of the carriage being relieved by the shafts being
retained by the leader's traces in a horizontal position.
The greatest danger in tandem-driving arises from the
stumbling of the shaft-horse ; it therefore follows that if
either of the team is distrusted in his feet or legs, he should
be driven leader."

No man, if he can help it, should ever buy a mare for
harness : no dependance whatever can be placed upon them :
they may be temperate and steady for months, or even years,
and yet when the season arrives, will kick your chaise to
pieces. " I drove a little mare for nearly a year with the
galloway that I have just been mentioning ; the following
spring she kicked herself out of harness three times in the
course of as many weeks. Purchasers are often tempted by
their inferior price — a mare, cceteris paribus, being generally
five or ten pounds less valuable than a gelding ; but they
forget that it is this very capriciousness of character that
reduces their value, because it unfits them for the collar."

Jt can scarcely be necessary to remind a purchaser that
any scar on the shoulders, or even under the tail, should
lead to a suspicion of tenderness in those parts, not very con-
sistent with length of service in harness ; and in the same
way that a blemished hock should excite a doubt whether
the splinter bar is not equally damaged. If it can be
managed, it would be prudent to see a horse driven in his
master's trap, were it only to take the opportunity of
observing whether the dashing iron or the floor retains
marks of the shoe, or has been recently repaired in order to
efface them.

Here is one more of the experiences of the author, of
" Caveat emptor." " I once was trying a harness horse, in
company with his owner, but not in his owner's chaise : I
had no suspicions, for I was to receive a warranty of ' sound
and safe in harness,' but he appeared to me to show a great
deal of work : and therefore, I wished to see the stanhope
that he had been accustomed to draw. ' It was at the
coachmaker's.' I offered to go there, and proposed that we
should drive to the shop. ' It was a long way off, on the
other side of the water.' I replied that my time was of no
consequence ; for whenever I perceive hesitation, I always
feel distrust. ' It was taken to pieces to be fresh painted.'
In short, I found that the chaise was not to be seen ; and
therefore, see it I would. When we returned to the stables,
I took an opportunity of saying privately to the ostler, that
I thought the horse had been over weighted, and I wished
to compare his owner's stanhope with mine, — ' When would
it be at home again ? ' He could not tell, but at once
referred me to the coachmaker's : this was all I wanted. I
proceeded there without delay, and anticipated his customer
by only ten minutes : this was enough, however, to apprise
myself by ocular inspection, that the dashing iron had been

kicked away, only the week before, by the horse warranted
' safe in harness ! ' About a month after, not having yet
found what I wanted, I read an advertisement in the paper
of ' a horse, stanhope, and harness, to be sold together ; the
stanhope almost new, and very recently from the coach-
maker's shop ; the horse possessing the grandest action
imaginable, and making, altogether, the most elegant turn-
out in London ; bond fide the property of a gentleman that
might be referred to.' I went to the place, and at once
recognised my old acquaintance, whose action, a posteriori at
least, had been as ' grand ' as could reasonably be desired ;
and as for the stanhope, the most practised eye in Long Acre
could scarcely have discovered the true cause of its having so
recently quitted the coachmaker's loft ! Another striking
specimen of gentility in horse-dealing transactions ! "

So much for the horses, now for the harness. Fig. 1
of our Plate presents us a single suit of the most moderL
pattern, of which the several pieces bear the following
names : —

PAliTH OF HARNESS (SEE PLATE).

Fig. 1. — Single Harness.

A. BRIDLE.

a, Head-piece.

6, Front, or Brow-piece.

c, Wiuker and Cheek of Bridle.

d, Noae-band.

e, Throat-band.

//, Bradoon bearing Rein.

g, Curb Bit and Chain.

h, Bradoon Bit.

i i, Driving Reins.

k. Nose-band Martingale.

B. COLLAR.

I, Ring or Fore Wale.
m, Housing.
n, Cap.
0, Hame.

P, 'i'ug-
3, Pipe.
r Tug Buckle.

C. SADDLK.

t, Bearing Hook.

u, Territ.

V, Surcingle.
*!(.-, Skirt.
*x, Back-band.
*y, Shaft Tug.

s, False Belly-band.

D. CRUPPBB.

1, Dock.

2, Hip Straps.

E. BREECHING

3, Seat.

4, Tugs.

*5, Shaft Strap.
*6, Breeching Ring.

F. TRACE.

*J. Martingale Ring.

Fio. 2. — Pair-horse Harness.
Difference for Pair-horse Harness.

*0. PAIR-HORSE PAD. *H. POLE-PIECE.

*.!, Short Tug. *9_ Pole-ring.

*7, Point or Tug-strap.

*8, Trace-bearer. */. coupling of rein.

The whole of the parts mentioned are used in each class ol
harness, except those marked with a * ; these take their respective
places according to the nature of the harness, as arranged in the above
scheme.

The harnessing and putting to come now to be consi-
dered. The horse is dressed, and turned round in his
stall ; when ready, the first thing to be put on is the collar.
This is to be turned the large end upwards, an inversion
rendered necessary by the fact that the top part of the head

172

DRIVING A PAIR.— DRIVING A SINGLE HORSE.

is the widest part, and hence requires the larger end of the
collar ; before the collar is seated in its place the hames
are put on and buckled. This being done before the collar
is reversed, their own weight prevents them separating, and
helps the drawing of the hame-strap. They are now re-
versed together and the pad placed in its proper place
before buckling the belly-band, the crupper being slipped
over the tail by grasping up all the hair in the left hand,
while the crupper is adjusted by the right. See that no
hairs are left engaged in it, for this is oft-times a cause of
kicking. Next draw the pad forward a little and take up
the belly-band moderately tight ; then put on the headstall
and bridle, adjust the curb, slip the reins through the
terrets, and buckle them on the outside only for double
harness, on both sides for single.

The horse is " put to " for going in shafts in an entirely
different manner than if to be driven with a pole. If
single harness, the shafts are tilted up and held there by
one man, while another backs the horse until he is under
them, when they are dropped down, and the tugs slipped
under or over the ends of the shafts, according to the form-
ation of the tugs, some being hooks, and others leather
loops. Care must be taken that they do not slip beyond
the pins on the shafts. The traces are now attached to the
drawing-bar, the breeching or kicking-strap buckled, and
the false belly-band buckled up pretty tightly, so as to keep
the shafts steady. In four-wheeled carriages it should
be left tolerably loose when a breeching is used, to allow it
to have free play. The reins are untwisted from the terret,
and the horse is put to. For double harness, the first thing
is to bring the horse round by the side of the pole, and put
the pole-piece through the sliding ring of the hames, the
groom holding it, or else buckling it at the longest hole
while the traces are being put to ; as soon as this is done
the pole-piece is buckled up to its proper length, each
coupling-rein buckled to the opposite horse's bit, the driving-
reins untwisted from the terret, and the two buckled
together, and the horses are ready. The leaders of a
tandem or four-in-hand are easily attached, and their reins
are passed through the rings on the heads of the wheelers,
and through the upper half of the pad terret.

Unharnessing is simply the reverse of the above, every-
thing being undone in the same order in which it was done.
The chief errors in either are — in double harness, in not
attaching the pole-piece at once in putting-to, or in un-
buckling it altogether too soon, by which the horse is at
liberty to get back upon the bars, and often does consider-
able damage by kicking.

Driving a Pair has one grand leading principle, without
which the others are all but nxL It is the " putting " the

horses so well together that they may draw equally, and
step in time with each other. This latter, however, can
only be effectively done when the animals match in action
and temper, and in height of step. We note temper as an
important ingredient, because if one is a fast-goer and the
other a slug, the amount of whipcord necessary for the slug
will urge the free-goer to take all the work upon himselt
A partial remedy for this is giving more length to the
coupling-rein of the slow one. In " Vices on the Road,"
pp. 300, 301, ante, will be found some remarks on pole-
hugging, which may throw light on a remedy. In watching
the working of the two horses, the pole-pieces should
always be the guide ; and if both are slack, with the end of
the pole steady, and neither horse shouldering it, the driver
may rest contented that his horses are each doing their
share. If, however, the pole is shouldered by either, that
horse is a rogue, and is making the other to do more than his
share, keeping the pole straight by the pressure of his
shoulder, instead of pulling at the traces. On the other
hand, if either horse is pulling away from the pole, and
straining at the pole-piece, he is doing more than his share,
and his coupling-rein must be taken in accordingly. Some-
times both shoulder the pole, or spread from it, which are
equally unsightly habits, and may generally be cured by
an alteration of the coupling-reins of both horses, letting
them out when they "shoulder," and taking them up for
straggling.

In Driving a Single Horsb, the near rein is passed over
the forefinger of the left hand, and the off rein between the
middle and fore fingers. The thumb presses the near rein
fast against the forefinger ; and if both reins, instead of
being allowed to fall over, are passed between the little
finger and the third or " ring-finger," it will much improve
the grip, especially when the muscles are tired with long
driving, and the attention is slack. We protest against the
bearing-rein as a general piece of harness ; it is merely a
cover for careless driving. It can only be allowed where
an old horse has been so accustomed to hang upon it, that he
is unsafe and uncomfortable without his habitual tormen-
tor. The cab-horses are as hard-worked as ever, yet they
are now scarcely half as often down as when the bear-
ing-rein was the rule and not the exception. With three
legs and a swinger, while their head is free, they seldom
make a mistake. Why, then, put on this useless restraint
to a vigorous and spirited animal ? Do not, however, fall
into the error of holding too tight a rein yourself. It will
gag your horse and lead him to unsure footing, while a loose
rein is bad at the opposite extreme. " Feel the horse's
mouth " so as to guide him on either hand, and assist him
in a difficulty should he make a fault in going down-hilL

TREATMENT OF A HORSE ON A JOURNEY.

ITc

CHAPTER XVI.

TREATMENT OF A H0B8E ON A JOURNEY. — CUTTING. — CARE OF THE LEGS AND FEET. — GENERAL MEDICAL HINTS. — CONCT.ITDTMO

OBSERVATIONS.

Railroads have not only consigned the " last four inside "
to the lumber room of the past, but with them entombed
the fast trotter of the natty bagman, and the stout sure-
footed roadster of the gentleman, the sportsman, and the
gentleman farmer. Yet is a good hack called upon by those
who love the saddle for a long ride home or out ; and the
wisdom and experience of our fathers is still worth treasuring
in a matter so eminently practical as the treatment of a
horse on a journey.

The maximum which a good hack (such a horse we have
already described, ante, pp. 60, 61, and 78, 79), should
perform, is fifty to sixty miles in the day or night ; but if
this is to be continued, thirty to forty is fair work, and
should not be exceeded. But let no man ride his saddle-
horse a long distance, unless sure that he is in full condition
from the " hard-meat " system we have advised under
Conditioning, ante, pp. 145—147. Should, however, any
Mr. Verdant Green try a journey on a horse fresh from
green fodder, with a burthen of grass flesh upon him, let him
ride moderately, and see that he has good corn, or a month
will not be too much to get him into condition.

Many persons ride long stages, we have heard of thirty or
forty miles, without baiting ; but it is inconsiderate, and is
injurious to the horse. Moderate feeds at the different
stages, and an ample one at the last, are most beneficial ; a
quartern of oats, with a handful or two of beans, are suffi-
cient quantities during the day ; at night, half a peck of
oats and a few handfuls of beans ; so that a hack upon a
journey of considerable length, may be allowed from a peck
and a quarter to a peck and a half of oats. Hasty travellers
will find an advantage in starting at a very moderate pace,
and in finishing the last three miles of a stage, especially in
hot weather, as leisurely as their haste will admit ; since by
such means they will save time, as their horses, on reaching
the inn, will be the sooner dry and ready to feed. On the
road, the horse may be indulged, every eight or ten miles, if
he require it, with a few go-downs of water ; and in hot
weather, over hard roads, and with fast travelling, when the
shoes acquire a burning heat, it is most refreshing to the
horse, to ride him over his pasterns, momentarily, through
any water that may be accessible. But a caution of much
moment must have place here : be the weather not or cold,
a horse in a state of perspiration should never be kept
standing any length of time in water.

In fast travelling, every horseman of common sense,
will ease his hack up the hills ; in going down also, if he

values his own neck and his horse's knees, he will dc
the same.

When a hack of willing disposition and quiet temper does
not start readily, or stops on the road, the rider may safely
conclude that he is suffering from some bodily affection, or
something galling, or misplaced in his furniture. Let him
dismount instanter and examine him carefully. It may
be colic, it may be strangury, and if so, urging him onward
is as barbarous as it is useless. Should his nostrils become
dilated, his ears sweat at the roots, and his flanks stare, with
an attitude as though attempting to stale, the case is clear.
Lead him about gently, and the strangury will probably
cease, and urination will follow.

At the risk of a few repetitions, we will append the
" treatment of a horse on a journey " as given by the author
of the clever little volume entitled " How to Buy a Horse."

" As I have promised, I will add a few words respecting the
treatment of a horse on a journey. The main points for
consideration are, ' What is the distance you have to go, and
the time in which you are to accomplish it ?' Presuming
that you are one of those who will rather ' take time by the
forelock,' than distress your horse by forcing him to make
up by pace for the hours you have consumed in the enjoy-
ment of creature-comforts, let him be fed full two hours
before the time of starting, and that you begin your journey
very leisurely, and proceed at an easy pace, well within
your horse's powers, for the first ten miles ; after which, as
old Markham somewhat quaintly says, ' In God's name
begin your journey.' If you have a strong, active, and hardy
animal under you, step out moderately for another ten
miles, ever taking advantage for this purpose of the level
parts of the road, and easing your beast both up and down
hill ; for a declivity occasions almost as great a strain on
the forelegs as proportionally rising ground will upon the
hind. Having ridden thus far, pull bridle, and walk
your horse for a couple of miles or so, that he may recover
himself in some measure, and get tolerably cool. Now put
him into his stable, or a box if you can get one, and trust
not to the tender mercies of an ostler to rub him perfectly
dry. These gentry are too much accustomed to the rough
treatment of farmers' nags and post-horses to pay any
extraordinary degree of attention to a valuable hack with-
out supervision. Moreover, if your horse be of full blood,
it is ten to one but he will have the common trick of lash-
ing out behind while being cleaned, which almost all these
horses have, and which to me is ' right pleasant to behold*

174

TREATMENT OF A HORSE ON A JOURNEY.

I love to see their little waywardness of temper disdainfully
displayed in this manner ; more especially as it very rarely
arises from vice, for they constantly kick with the leg that
is farthest from the person cleaning them, and seems to be
only done as a vent for feelings which they cannot control.
Your ostler, however, who seldom handles an animal of this
stamp, sees broken ribs and legs in every kick ; and, unless
you stand by and assure him your horse, with gentle usage,
will not kick him, either bullies him and knocks him about
' to make him quiet,' or leaves him to dry as he best may.
Having, then, superintended the cleaning of your horse,
water him moderately if perfectly cool, and give him about
a quartern and a half of corn and beans, not more on any
account, for that would only distend his stomach, and do
him harm : then leave him to himself for a couple of hours
ere you resume your journey. I confess I am one of those
who never could admire the feats that are occasionally
recorded, of riding and driving horses enormous distances
in the course of the day, and that, too, in a short space of
time. A journey of forty or fifty miles per diem is as much
as any humane man, fond of his horse, ought to perform.
Let those who choose to go double the distance boast of
their exploits in this way if they please ; to my mind it is
anything but creditable to them : and I can never forbear
the thought that with respect to horse-flesh the.y are as
ignorant as they are cruel.

" While a horse has any work to be done during tht day,
he should not be allowed any hay ; and if fed four times,
the extra half-quartern allowed him will make up for any
deficiency in this article of diet. At night let his feet be
stopped, and all the other rules which I have laid down for
his comfort be attended to. It is a very bad plan so to
divide your work as to complete the last stage at night.
Always, if possible, let your horse be housed early, that he
may have plenty of time to rest before his next day's work :
and this also will give you an opportunity of looking to
him oftener than you otherwise could, and of having cloths
properly aired for him, if, as is frequently the case, you find
the ostler prepared with a set that has been put on another
horse because he was wet, and that are now destined for
your horse because they are wet, and require to be dried.
At almost all inn-stables a horse's back is the drying ground
for damp cloths, but it will be your own fault if you suffer
your hack to be used for this purpose. The main point is to
endeavour to obtain for your horse as much care and as
many comforts as he would experience in your own stables.
If he be distressed, you may give him gruel ; but no hack in
good condition ever ought to be too severely pushed. It is
only in the chase that this may happen occasionally ; for
the man who has time enough, as he may have by starting
early, to go a certain distance with a horse well prepared
for work, — and no other should be used, — must ride him
very unfairly or very injudiciovsly if he require nursing
instead of taking solid food."

In travelling the road, the vices and defects usually met

with in saddle-horses are set forth in a preceding chapter
(Vices on the Road). The defect of Stumbling, here finds its
place. Mr. Bingley says on this subject : " There is a mode
of keeping our present roads in order which is called ' darn-
ing.' It is effected by filling up a part somewhat lower
than the general surface by broken pieces of granite, left to
be crushed by the wheels of carriages, while the old smooth
road forms the general surface. The substratum of ground
is not picked up, but is left hard, and four or five-cornered
pieces of stone are left to be trodden on by the first or any
horse that is obliged to go over them. The hardness of the
under surface prevents their sinking with any weight on
them, so a horse might as well tread on an iron peg fixed
and left an inch or two high. Let the rider, above all
abominations as to ground, avoid a piece that has been thus
' darned ;' for unless the sole of his horse's foot is as hard
as the granite itself, the chances are, if he is not exceed-
ingly on the alert and quick on his legs, that he comes on
his nose, though on all other occasions as safe as a cat on a
carpet. Not to wince from the pain the pressure on such a
surface occasions, is impossible ; and if after doing so he
keeps on his legs, all the credit he gets is being accused of
having made a stumble ; and perhaps a blow is the reward
he gets for his activity in not, as a dull horse would have
done, coming down headlong.

" One of these ' darned ' roads led, while I and a friend
were out together, to a conversation on stumbling. On his
horse making a false step, he gave him a stroke with his
stick, and in a somewhat stentorian voice bid him 'hold
up.' Whether my friend did this to show how resolute
a horseman he had become, and his proficiency in stable
terms, or thought that what he did would prevent his horse
wincing when hurt, I know not ; but it set him curvetting
about in a way that would insure his not being struck
while he continued doing so ; for my friend had occasion for
all the hands he had for his bridle, and would have wanted
a third if he wished to strike his horse.

" Let the rider call to his reflection the causes of stum-
bling," says our author, " he will then judge how far cor-
rection will remedy these. The usual causes are infirmity,
peculiar formation, gait, indolence, and bad roads.

" If he blunders from weakness or infirmity, a blow with
the stick will not render the infirmity less. Keeping such
a horse a little on his mettle will in many cases make him
go safely to a certain extent, — that is, it may, by preventing
him dwelling long on either weak limb, also prevent it
giving way under the weight imposed on it ; but hitting him
when it has so given way as to cause a stumble, cannot
recall the stumble, but will very probably increase its
effects.

" If blundering arises from malformation, no stick or spurs,
apply them when you will, can alter that ; and if from mal-
formation the horse cannot put his foot fairly on the ground,
blunder he will and must; he cannot help it, — so how can
correction do anv good in this case ?

TREATMENT OF A HORSE ON A JOURNEY.— CUTTING.

175

1

" When arising from gait, correction with the whip or
stick, when he stumbles, will not alter gait ; but the hands,
with the whip and spurs as aids, may, if properly used
when he is not stumbling. Correcting the cause may do a
great deal of good ; but correcting, or rather punishing, the
animal, will not prevent or remedy the effect, which is
slumming.

" Should he blunder from sheer indolence, correct the in-
dolence as much as you please. If he will not be roused to
energy, or, at all events, to quick motions by a switch, lay
a tough ash plant about him ; and if a touch of the spurs
will not stimulate, give him a pair of good new rowels,
and they will, by making so lazy a brute move more
quickly, make him move more safely. We often find
unsafe horses tolerably the reverse in their fast paces.
Why is this ? If we make a lazy horse trot three miles in
twelve or fifteen minutes, he must move his legs quickly ;
this causes such horses going more safely in fast paces.
If they would also step quickly in their slower paces,
they would be safe in them. If a horse will walk cheer-
fully four miles and a half an hour, we generally find him
as safe in a walk as a trot. The lazy horse has not energy
enough to do this, nor are pains enough taken with him in
his walk to make him do it ; he must, when the whip and
spurs force him into a fast trot. But no longer pipe, no
longer dance ; and as these cease so soon as he is allowed to
walk, all his energy ceases also, and then he blunders
again, — and so he will as long as he is a horse.

" There is yet another and very frequent cause for a horse
tripping, blundering, or even falling — which is fatigue. In
this case, striking him for doing what he cannot avoid, is
absolute cruelty and injustice, and done, as on all other occa-
sions, when he has tripped or blundered, is perfectly useless.
No doubt the whip and spur, plied when he is not blunder-
ing, force the poor brute to increased action, and from that
probably prevent his tripping as often as he might otherwise
do ; but to ride a willing, good horse till he requires this, is
so unjustifiable, that if I knew anything that would save
such a rider a severe fall, I should glory in concealing it
from him.

" Tripping is a habit or fault common to multitudes of
horses who are nevertheless perfectly safe. It usually arises
from striking the toe against some surface ; and a horse well
on his haunches may do this ad infinitum without once being
in danger of coming down. He would, naturally enough,
alarm a person not used to ride him, for he would not know
how far it might go ; and even supposing a stranger to be
riding such a horse in company with his master, though the
latter might say, ' Don't pull him about, — he is quite safe,'
a man must be an experienced horseman, a good judge of
what is or is not unsafe, and must also have a good opinion
of the owner's judgment, to feel confidence on such a horse.

"The rider may be quite sure that a horse of any spirit
has as great an objection to falling as his rider has to his
doing so ; and the quick way in which such horses catch

themselves up, if they make a mistake or unavoidable
stumble, shows that such is the case. Now a trip merely
occasions a horse to bring the foot that he has not tripped
with sooner to the ground than he would have done had he
carried the tripping foot forward to its regular length of step,
be that more or less ; — something has stopped it in its pro-
gress, so instead of putting it forward, say fourteen inches,
it is stopped at ten. This produces a somewhat unpleasant
sensation to the rider, and an unequal step in the horse.
This is a trip. If the horse is light and airy, he catches him-
self up ; and, as the more spirited he is, the more quickly
and energetically will he do so, this very often leads an in-
experienced horseman into the belief that he has narrowly
escaped a most serious fall, when, in fact, it is only the
spirit and activity of the horse that have induced him to
make a considerable effort to remedy a very inconsiderable
mistake, and one that a more indolent horse, not noticing
himself, would scarcely have been noticed by the rider. It
will therefore be clear that, with a horse who has spirit
enough to do of his own accord all that we could make or
wish him to do if he does make a trip, any check on his
mouth would only confuse him, and could do no possible
good ; and if a horse happens to be at all 'a loose-necked
one,' — that is, one inclined to throw up his head on any
strong pull on his mouth, — we can do no good by checking
such a horse, however bad a blunder he may make ; but by
doing so the rider would run great risk of bringing his
horse's head in contact with his own.

" I have generally found (singular as the assertion may at
first appear to the reader) that very light-hearted, cheerful
horses are more apt to make trifling mistakes, or trips, than
more steady and methodical steppers ; and the reason they
may do so I take to be this — such horses are constantly
looking about them ; the least thing attracts their attention ;
and if that is fixed on different objects, it is called from
looking at the road, or where they are going ; so they come
in contact with inequalities, stones, and so forth, on the
ground, that the more staid, sober, and plodding goer care-
fully avoids."

The "Speedy-Cut," or the horse cutting himself from
faulty action, is a serious defect. It is sometimes occasioned
by over-reaching the forelegs with the hinder toes, at others,
by turning the toes much out, cutting the inside of the
opposite foot. Indolence, or a long loose leg, produces this
slovenly style of going, for which one remedy is to "get
hold of his head," and make him trot briskly. We have
seen this, mirabile dictu, alter a horse's style of " handling
his legs."

It is sometimes difficult to decide with what part of the
hoof or shoe the horse strikes the standing leg. A little
careful observation will decide this. The method is " Harry
Hieover's," — palmam qui meruit ferat. The original letter
was in The Field newspaper, from which we have condensed
its contents.

Take the horse into some clean place — a hard dry

176

CARE OF THE LEGS AND FEET.— GENERAL MEDICAL HINTS.

road is the best ; smear his hoof and shoe with a little
white paint if the legs are black, with black paint if of any
other colour. Cause him to be walked for a quarter of an
hour ; if he has struck, or even brushed either leg, the
paint will be disturbed or wiped off from the precise part he
hits with, and it will further show (in cases where he does
not actually cut) the spot he hits, for on it the paint rubbed
off the other leg will be visible. If during his walk the
paint remains undisturbed, we may fairly infer it is not in
that pace he hits his legs. Trot him ; if he hits, you will
see where the offending leg has struck, and where the
struck one is hit. As in his walk, if the paint remains
as it was put on, we must infer it is in his canter or gallop
that the collision takes place. Having ascertained this
most indispensable fact, we must then endeavour to prevent
it, or, at least, palliate its effects.

People attach a far greater degree of inevitable danger
md likelihood to horses coming down from cutting than
— objectionable as the failing is — is absolutely the case.
When the horse cuts or hits his leg, the pain occasioned by
it causes him to wince, falter, and, indeed, I have seen a
horse go a step or two after the occurrence, absolutely on
three legs ; but the fear of falling is greater than the pain
of the hit leg, and he mostly saves himself. This is when
he cuts or hits his ankle only. But if he hits just below
the inside of the knee, which he never does but in a quick
pace, he will then sometimes come down as if shot. This is
appropriately called " speedy cutting " — the worst and most
dangerous failing among all cutting, and one that is in-
curable, for this reason : it proceeds from a particular
direction of the offending leg when in action, which not
once in a hundred cases can be altered. We have no
resource but defending the part hit by a proper boot or leg-
ging for this express purpose, a most inconvenient and
unsightly thing at best, and, moreover, all but certain to
gall and chafe the leg to which it is applied. Put the horse
to a description of work where the pace in which he is apt
to cut is not required.

Cutting or hitting the hind legs is, of course, far less
objectionable than the same failing as regards the fore ones,
not alone from its not subjecting the rider to danger, but
the hind parts being lighter than the fore ones, we can take
greater liberties with the hind legs as regards shoeing, and
can throw them by such means more out of their natural
position than we can the fore ones, and still interfere but
little with the horse's power, action, or safety.

Horses are decidedly more apt to cut behind than before
when in harness, and vice versa when under the saddle.
Much may be done towards preventing cutting by judicious
shoeing ; but this is not always to be trusted to. We only
prevent by this the sharp edge of the shoe coming in contact
with the standing leg, which would otherwise be wounded
by it. There are many horses that would still hit if they
had no shoes on them. It is the position in which the
standing leg is placed by nature, and the direction of the

moving or passing leg, that produces the failing. We can-
not, alter nature ; we can only bring art to remedy, to a
certain degree, the natural defect.

Smiths are very apt, on being told or seeing that a horse
cuts, to shoe him, as it is termed, " thick-heeled" on the
inside, or to make his shoe altogether thicker on the inside
than the out. They tell you that by this mode they turn
or twist the ankle further out of the way of the passing leg.
They do ; but they are not aware that if they do remove
the ankle of the standing leg — say an inch further out of
the way — they bring by this method the passing leg three
inches nearer the standing one.

Our author proceeds to tell us of the success of an exactly
opposite practice. He had a horse with this failing shod
with a shoe thick on the outside. This did not remove the
standing leg further out of the way, but gave the passing
one a direction far away from the one it formerly struck.
It succeeded, and three or four other horses that cut in the
same way, were shod with similar beneficial results.

We doubt if this plan would have any efficiency in the
case of cutting by the hinder foot.

To the above gossipping but sound remarks of "Harry
Hieover" we may add that the remedy of making a shoe
with a narrower web on the inside, so as to leave a portion
of the sole overhanging, is merely temporary in its effects.
When the cutting or "interference" is from a defect of
structure, the cure is only apparent. When on wet roads,
you will quickly find that the portion unprotected by the
iron will be worn and spread, and that rawness will ensue.

If you suspect inflammation in the foot, a simple plan may
detect its presence. Wet the hoofs thoroughly, and watch
whether the suspected foot does not dry more rapidly thau
the others. If there is inflammation, the affected foot will
always dry first, and resume its unnatural warmth in a few
minutes ; the sound foot will dry cool. Should a disposi-
tion to rest the heated foot be observed, let it be carefully
looked to. Never neglect stopping the feet every night.
Clay and cow-dung is the readiest and most generally avail-
able substance. We have already spoken of the expediency of
giving gruel or bran mash to the tired horse ; but occasionally,
if the animal has been too severely taxed, cordials may be
administered with advantage. Should your animal exhibit
signs of being " done up " by exertion, do not hesitate to
give him half a bottle of good sherry ; but this certainly
would be wrong after any of the inflammatory symptoms of
a chill have shown themselves. In that case prompt and
free bleeding only can save the horse, and any cordial is
decidedly injurious. The state of the pulse wUl usually
indicate the existence of inflammatory action It is neces-
sary to inform the inexperienced, that the only place where
the pulse can be felt to advantage, so as to discriminate the
sensation with accuracy, is under the jaw, where the sub-
maxillary artery can be pressed against the bone. As the
position of this artery is only known with certainty by the
anatomist, it may guide the touch to direct the finger along

GENERAL MEDICAL HINTS.

lH

the inside jaw, a little above the edge where it begins to
decline downwards, gently pressing it against the jaw till
the pulsation is felt. By doing this two or three times, any
man will soon discover the exact spot where he should feel
for the pulsation. In a healthy horse, the intervals should
be about forty or fifty per minute. When it exceeds this by
ten or twelve pulsations, the horse is not well ; but the
circulation may be momentarily accelerated even to that
extent, by sudden alarm ; it is, therefore, expedient to
approach the horse quietly, and to caress him for a minute
or two first, if he shrinks from approach. If the pulse ex-
ceeds sixty, prompt and skilled attention is required.

It often happens, however, that no veterinary aid is at hand,
or only a groom who knows no more of his business than
the horse itself In such cases all that can be done is to
observe some obvious principles, which, at all events, can do
but little harm. If the horse betrays great pain, and espe-
cially a difficulty of breathing, copious bleeding should be
resorted to without delay, and it is far better to bleed once
very freely, than several times at intervals. Inflammatory
action is often arrested by bleeding largely in the first
instance ; and when once arrested, all the distressing
symptoms are speedily relieved ; but so rapid is the secre-
tion of the blood, especially in inflammatory disease, that
four or five times the quantity abstracted, if taken away in
several successive operations, will produce little or no eifect
compared with the loss of four or five quarts at one time.
It may safely be assumed that wherever acute pain is in-
dicated, inflammation obtains ; and as the symptoms of
pain are very unequivocal in a horse, an easy guide is thus
given as to the necessity of bleeding.

If febrile symptoms appear, the same step may be taken,
but not to the same extent. The symptoms of fever are not
characteristic of pain, though the breathing is often affected.
In a febrile affection the horse is languid, his coat loses its
even, glossy appearance, and becomes what the grooms call
" staring ; " the legs and feet are cold, and the appetite is
gone ; the bowels are usuaUy confined, and the general look
of the horse is what one would describe as miserable rather
than restless and uneasy. In such cases we should recom-
mend frequent, but not copious, bleeding, and the bowels
should be opened by purgative medicine ; two drachms
of aloes is a sufficient dose, to be repeated every ten or
twelve hours, and if they fail to operate, a clyster would
probably prove of service ; the stable should be cool, and
the horse kept warm by extra clothing. His legs should be
well rubbed, and bandaged with flannel rollers.

Whenever the severe symptoms, whether of inflammation
or fever, are subdued, anxious attention should be given to
the horse's diet. Gruel and bran mashes will keep the
bowels slightly relaxed, and should be continued till he
shows signs of returning appetite ; but some time should
be suffered to elapse before he is indulged with his usual
food.

It is no uncommon thing for the owner to abandon the
z

case as hopeless when he sees his horse spontaneously lying
down. This is a great mistake ; a horse in great pain will
lie down and roll himself about ; but, unless to relieve him-
self, where the legs or feet are injured, a horse that is ill
will continue standing as long as his strength will permit ;
it is considered a favourable sign if he lies down on the
litter without being compelled by actual debility ; and it
follows, of course, that instead of relaxing exertion, all the
remedies should be pursued more actively to save Lim.

In cases of recent local injury, fomentations, poulticea
and local bleeding, are generally serviceable ; this is parti-
cularly the case in strains of the back sinews or accidents
to the foot. It is very important in such cases to watch
closely the operations of the country farrier. Fomentations,
and even poultices, are troublesome, and therefore not con-
tinued, even if first adopted. To a recent wound in shoeing
or treading on a nail. Friar's balsam may be usefully applied ;
but where the wound is severe, this or any stimulant wili
increase the inflammation to a mischievous extent. The
horn (if the wound is in the foot) should be pared away, and
the place poulticed. Lameness occurring soon after shoeing
should always excite a suspicion that the sensible sole has
been pricked, and in such a case it is obviously impolitic to
consult the smith by whom the horse was shod. In apply-
ing a poultice, it is a common practice to tie it tightly round
the foot or leg with strings. This is injurious ; a worsted
stocking is a very convenient bag, and may easily be kept on
by applying another stocking to the other foot, and passing
a roller over the withers to connect the two. Any tight
ligature round the leg is injudicious, if it can be avoided i

Where any place is galled or swelled by the saddle or the
harness, fomentation is the best of all remedies ; should any
abscess be formed, it should be opened and kept open by a
seton, till the matter is entirely discharged. A kick or a
bruise should receive the same treatment, if the contusion is
considerable ; and especially in the case of broken knees
In this case a horse is often more blemished by the treat-
ment than by the accident itself If the joint is much
injured, a cure is generally hopeless ; it would be more
humane, as well as more prudent, to destroy the animal at
once. But if the wound does not affect the joint (and on
this point the farrier alone can give certain information), it
should be carefully and tenderly washed out with a sponge
and warm water, and then poulticed for two or three days ;
after this the inflammation will probably have subsided, and
ointment should be applied — not gunpowder and grease —
every country blockhead recommends this, to promote the
growth of the hair ; it has no such effect, on the con-
trary it often irritates and retards the cure of the
wound. Lard alone, or with a little mixture of alum, wiD
be much better ; care, however, should be taken to apply the
ointment in the direction of the hair, otherwise, when the
cure is effected, the hair will grow in an uneven or re-
verted form, and will make the blemish more apparent
In all cases of strains, local bleeding and rest are indis-

178

GENERAL MEDICAL HINTS.— BROKEN KNEES— INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE.

pensable. Where the back sinews are affected, rest can only
be secured by a high-heeled shoe : after all inflammation has
disappeared, absolute rest, even for a considerable time, is
requisite to a cure. If the part is enlarged, stimulating
lotions, such as hartshorn and oil in equal proportions, and
even blistering, may be beneficially applied. This, of course,
is incompatible with continuing work. Indeed, some strains,
accompanied as they often are by a fracture of some liga-
ment, seldom admit of a permanent cure. In the early
stages, an emollient poultice of linseed and bran should be
applied to strains of the leg, whatever part of it may be
injured, and the horse's diet should be changed. If by this
treatment the horse apparently recovers the use of the limb
without pain, the high-heeled shoe may be removed, but he
should not be put to work for some weeks ; he should be
turned into a loose box, or straw yard, and indeed this
should be done in every serious case of local injury or
internal disease.

Let it borne in mind, that these general hints are not
intended to supersede the calling in of a qualified veterinary
surgeon, but in order that, in extreme cases, an intelligent
promptitude in the horseman or rider may take the place of
helpless inactivity.

We will now say a few words respecting the treatment
of Beoken Knees, an accident which may occur at almost
any moment, and which requires immediate attention. The
first thing to be done is carefully to wash away with a soft
sponge and warm water every particle of sand or gravel
which may have insinuated itself into the wound, of which
you will then be better enabled to ascertain the depth. It
occasionally will happen in a very severe fall, that the
capsule of the joint is lacerated, and in this case an effusion
of a limpid and somewhat glutinous liquid, called "synovia"
or "joint-oil," will take place. This may not be very per-
ceptible at first, particularly if the opening into the joint be
small ; but so soon as your attention is directed to it, you
should lose no time in sending for the best veterinary
surgeon within reach, as you will scarcely be able to manage
the case by yourself Where the laceration of the capsule
is extensive, the probability is that the subsequent inflam-
mation will ultimately produce abscess, ulceration of the
cartilages of the joint, and, if the horse live long enough,
destruction of the bones which compose it. But should the
opening into the joint be small, the object you must keep in
view is to preserve it accurately closed until nature shall
have had sufficient time to effect its union by granulations.
For this purpose a heated iron, of proper dimensions, is
usually employed, and the edges of the opening being
cauterised, the eschar thus formed and the subsequent
swelling contribute to close the opening for some days.

When the capsule of the joint is uninjured, and the flap
of skin which covered the wounded part still remains, some
veterinary surgeons have recommended that it be cut off,
and the wound dressed with friar's balsam, which is a
strong stimulant. This treatment can scarcely be vindicated

by sound judgment. We should advise to lay the flap down
as neatly as possible, and retain it in its proper position by
a single point of suture at its least supported part, where
the cut portion was large and but loosely attached, or by
strips of adhesive plaster, together with a compress and
bandage. These latter keep constantly wetted with goulard
lotion.

Where the skin is entirely removed, the best application,
after fomentations with hot water, is a soft and warm
linseed-meal poultice, which should be removed every four
hours until the inflammation subsides. You may also, in
every case, give a gentle dose of physic, and no other food
for the first few days than bran-mashes and hay.

When the inflammation has been subdued, and granula-
tions appear, apply strips of adhesive plaster, neatly one
over the other, so as to make some pressure on the wound,
and bandage the leg very carefully with a linen bandage
from above the knee to the coronet. Several stimulating
applications may be requisite during different stages of the
cure, among which Friars' balsam and nitrate of silver
lotions, varying in strength according to the state of the
parts, are perhaps as good as any.

Whether the wound have penetrated to the joint or not,
and whether the skin be hanging to the wound or cut off,
in every Instance of broken knees, apply a splint of wood,
of the whole length of the leg, to the back of the limb, and
confine it by a bandage. This a precaution unattended
to by many veterinary surgeons ; but, as it prevents the
injured part from being bent or moved, should never be
omitted ; for the quieter the state of the wounded Kmb, the
less will be the consequent inflammation, and the speedier
the cure. Where the injury is great, the splint should be
kept on for at least six-and-thirty hours without removal.

Cold lotions and warm poultices have been mentioned as
applicable to different degrees of broken knees. Poultices
rather tend to hasten the process of suppuration, without a
slight quantity of which, granulations will not be formed.
They are therefore to be used where there is no flap of skin
left. But if you wish to effect immediate union of the cut
parts, which should always be attempted when practicable,
suppuration is not to be promoted, and therefore cold lotions
are preferable. It requires great care and nicety so to
apply strips of plaster and bandages as to prevent the swel-
ling so often consequent on a bad broken knee, and which
blisters and stimulants nine times out of ten fail to reduce.

Farriers will tell you that the common adhesive plaster
will not do for a horse, and would fain induce you to use
slips of leather covered with pitch ; but where your plaster
perfectly encircles the wounded part, as the knee-joint, and
is cut sufficiently long, one end overlaps the other, and con-
sequently it adheres to itself Where this is not the case
the hair will prevent it from sticking.

Inflammation of the Eye sometimes makes its appearance
suddenly, either from irritating substances, as hay, seeds, &c.,
making their way into it, or from blows with a brush while

GENERAL MEDICAL HINTS.— GREASY HEEL&

179

cleaning the head, or a rap with a stick from a brutal groom,
who is in the habit of striking a horse over the head while
riding him, and perhaps accidentally hits the eye by the
sudden shifting of the horse's head when he expects a blow
there. We have seen a very severe injury of the eye, where
it presented the appearance of a mass of blood, from this
very cause.

In this case you must bleed from the vein running just
below the eye, and which is usually very easily distinguished,
and give physic and bran-mashes. Cold lotions of goulard
water are to be constantly applied to the eye, and the stable
to be darkened while the inflammation is excessive. When
this is reduced, and the membrane of the eye still remains
clouded, you may inject night and morning with a syringe a
weak solution of nitrate of silver, beginning with four grains
to an ounce of distilled water, and gradually increasing its
strength as the eye appears to improve under its application.
A little speck will frequently remain on the membrane which
cannot be removed. Indeed it is occasioned by the abrasion
at the moment of injury of this most delicate part.

Greasy Heels you will have few opportunities of treating
if you follow the advice given under the head of Stable
Management. They are most frequently occasioned by
washing the legs with cold water while they are heated from
exercise, and suffering them afterwards to dry ; the conse-
quent reaction after the application of cold being excessive,
and running into inflammation. Nature then seeks to re-
lieve the gorged vessels by a discharge of ichorous matter
from the inflamed part. Bringing a horse into a hot stable
in the winter, when his legs are chilled with standing
some time, perhaps in the snow, will produce a similar effect.
These ills are easily to be avoided with a little careful
supervision : by accustoming your groom to pay particu-
lar attention to rubbing the heels dry at all times, and
keeping them perfectly clean.

When the disease has appeared, all causes inducing it
must be avoided ; and of these we may mention draughts of
air blowing upon a horse from behind ; and if the pain and
heat of the part be great, warm and soft poultices must be
applied in the first instance.

As soon as stimulating remedies are applicable, you can
use nothing better or cleaner than a solution of nitrate of
silver in distilled water, beginning with eight or ten grains
to the ounce. Sometimes, however, the diseased parts will
require a change of stimulants, and you may then apply a
solution of blue-stone in a strong decoction of oak bark. A
stick of nitrate of silver or lunar caustic may be lightly
passed over the cracked part occasionally with great advan-
tage But there is one circumstance which, although in
every case neglected, you must not overlook. The motion
of the diseased part must, as much as possible, be controlled.
Every time the horse bends the fetlock-joint, he disturbs the
process of nature in effecting a cure ; and as it is necessary
to prevent the crack in the heel from being disturbed, you
will find that any moderately soft substance, as bees' wax or

putty, placed over and close to the diseased part, will, by
taking its form and accurately making pressure upon each
portion of it, materially conduce to the cure. It must be
applied directly after the lotions recommended, and must
not only be kept on by a neatly-applied bandage, but the
hollow in the back part of the fetlock-joint must also be
previously filled up by a pad of tow, or some other soft sub-
stance, in order that the joint may thereby be rendered less
capable of motion.

The heels being the farthest removed from the heart, the
circulation of the blood in them is less active and vigorous
than elsewhere, and consequently their restoration to a
healthy state is achieved with more than usual difficulty, j
Some horses that have cracked heels are in too high condi-
tion, while others in a debilitated state are equally or perhaps
more prone to the same disease. These different states of
body of course require opposite constitutional treatment ;
the first demanding low diet with purgatives and liuretics;
the second, generous food with tonics.

Of all the preventives of grease there is none — setting
aside the avoidance of those causes already mentioned as
conducing to the disease — so effective in its operation as
bandaging the legs regularly with flannel rollers. We advo-
cate their employment at most times in the stable, as they
materially tend to fine the legs when properly applied, and
also, when not put on too tightly, evidently keep up the
circulation in the extremities, a point of much consequence.

Those who are not shown the proper method of applying
a bandage, generally do more harm than good with them.
We do not in the least exaggerate when we say that we
never yet knew a groom who could put on a bandage as it
should be. They fail about the pasterns and fetlocks, and
leave the bandage there loose and bagging, so that, when
pressure is requisite, the circulation between the pastern-
joint and the foot is impeded, and the latter will be found
cold, and the part between the coronet and fetlock perhaps
somewhat swollen.

Bandages, to be neatly applied, should not be so wide as
grooms generally make them. You will hardly be able to
put them on properly if of more than four inches in widtL
Begin by applying your roller just under the knee, pass it
round in rather a slanting direction, keeping your finger on
the extremity until you find it has taken firm hold of the
limb ; then let each turn of the bandage cover one half of
that above it, taking care so to direct it that its under edge
does not bag, but lies closely on the leg When you come to
the hollow behind the pastern, the bandage must be half
folded on itself, so that what was its upper border shall be
undermost, and this must be repeated whenever it cannot
be otherwise made to lie smoothly and closely to the leg.

By bandaging from above downwards, you in a great
measure avoid leaving any marks of the roller on the hair.
In the veterinary portion of the present work, will be found
engravings of the various kinds of bandagings and their
applications by the professional man. An eye-acquaintance

l&o

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.

with these will enable the proprietor of an animal to judge
of the manual competence of farriers or grooms who may
pretend in an emergency to understand the best modes of
applying them.

We here close the treatment of some of those accidents
and diseases which will occasionally call for our attention ;
repeating, what cannot be too strongly impressed upon the
reader, that the intention here is merely to notice such
cases as will every now and then occur in every stable, and
which call for immediate remedy. Those who would go
more deeply into the subject here touched on, may proceed
with advantage to the studious perusal of the Second Division
of the wnrk, and make themselves masters of the principles
on which the treatment of disease is founded. This will be
found the best safeguard against being imposed upon by the
ignorance of a country smith, or the officiousness of a

would-be-learned groom, who deems nothing easier than the
cure of all diseases of the horse ; taking the old saying of
" as strong as a horse " as his authority for essaying upon
his unfortunate carcase every kind of dose of every sort of
medicine which it pleases his conceit or his ignorance to
assume that he must require.

It is a difBcult thing to treat the simplest form of disease
on really scientific principles, as experience is constantly
demonstrating the errors of our previous practice ; but it is
by no means an arduous task to acquire that degree of
knowledge which will enable us to strip ignorance of its
cloak, and confound the empiric who is incapable of assign-
ing a good reason for his plan of treatment.

We here close the general, the historic, and the preceptive
division. What follows will be more strictly of a medica
scientific, and practically surgical character.

ANATOMICAL. SURGICAL.

Ain>

VETERINARY PLATES,

WITH LETTERPRESS REFERENCES.

PLATE I— THE BONES OF THE HORSE.

Bones of the Head. — (1) Tbe frontal (or forehead) bone. (2)
The parietal (or wall) bonei (3) The occipital (or hinder skull) bone.
(4) The temporal (or temple) bones. To these are attached the carti-
lages of the ears of the horse. (5) The nasal (or nose) bones. These
contain the septum narium (division of the nostrils), a long cartilaginous
plate (6) The lachrymal (tear) bones. (7) The zygomatic (yoke)
bones. (8) The superior maxillary (jaw) bones. These, the largest
bones of the face, hold all the grinders of the upper jaw. (9) Th'e
Buperior or anterior maxillaries. These receive the nipping teeth
(incisors), and the cartilage of the nostrils. (10) The posterior or in-
ferior maxillaries, or great jaw-bones. These receive the lower grinders,
tushes, and nippers, (a) 24 molars, or grinding teeth, (b) 4 canines, or
tushes, (c) 12 incisors, or nipping teeth, {d) The orbits of the eyes.
The OS hyoides (letter- Y-shaped bone) is situate inside the head, at the
root of the tongue, to support and attach the muscles of that organ.

Bones of the Neck and Trunk. — (11) The seven cervical (neck)
vertebrae. (12) The eighteen dorsal (back) vertebrae. The five most
elevated of these form the withers. (13) The six lumbar (loin) vertebree.
(14) The five sacral (haunch) vertebrse. (15) The coccygeal (cuckoo-
beaked) bones, or caudal (tail) vertebrse. These vary in number,
generally thirteen or fourteen. There are eighteen ribs, thus divided: —
(16) Nine sternal (breast) or true ribs, articulated with the sternum,
or breast-bone (18). (17) Nine false ribs, attached by cartilage.
Sometimes eight are sternal and ten false. (18) The sternum (breast)
bone. The haunch, comprising: — (19) The ileum (eileo, I turn), two
in number. (20) The ischium (iskion, hip), two. (21) The pubis
(share- 6one), two. These and the two previously-named bones grow
into one after birth. The hinder legs, consisting of: — (22) The femur
(thigh-bone). (23) The patella (knee-pan), called by horsemen the stifle.
(24) The tibia (leg-bone) ; e, the fibula (clasp or brace-bone). Bones
of the tarsus (instep) or hock (/) : — (and see an enlarged represen-
tation, Plate IX). (25) The os calcis (heel-bone), called point of the
hock. (26) The astragalus (ankle-bone). (27) The cuboid and irregu-
lar bones of the tarsus. (28) and (28*) The metatarsal bones. The
great metatarsal, cannon, or shank-bone, in front, and the small meta-
tarsal, or " splint " bone, behind. (29) The sesamoid (grain-shaped) or
fetlock-bones. (30) The os sufFraginis, upper or larger pastern-bones.
(31) The 08 coronse, crown-bone, or lesser pastern. (32) The cofiBn-
bone (behind this, and articulating with it and the smaller pastern, is the
OS navicularis, boat-shaped or shuttle-bone. It is not here visible, but
will be seen in a section of the horse's foot. 30, 31, 32, are called by
anatomists the first, second, and third phalanges. Bones of the fore-
limbs: — (33) The scapula (blade), or shoulder-bone. (34) The humerus,
or arm-bone. (35) The radius or fore-arm ; the ulna, elbow, or cubitus
{g). (36) The seven carpal (wrist) bones, popularly called the " knee-
bones." (37) The metacarpus, cannon, or shank-bone, consisting of one
large metacarpal bone and two smaller ones. (38) The two greater
sesamoids. (39), (40), and (41) The larger and smaller pastern, and
coflBn-bone. The three phalanges of the digital-region ; the os naviculare
is not visible.

3z*

PLATE n.— THE MUSCLES OF THE HORSE.

Muscles of the Head. — Motors of the Eyelids. — (a) The orbicularib
(a sphincter which shuts the eyelid), [h) Levator palpebrse superioris '
(lifter of the upper eyelid). And see Plate VIL The Eye. Motors oj i
the Nostrils.— (c) Dilatator naris lateralis. Draws the nostril upwards
and sideways ; rises from the external part of the intermaxillary bone,
(rf) Contractor na'is. Motors of the Lijys. — (e) Orbicularis oris. The
labial muscle ; a sphincter to close the lips. (/) Levator labii superioris.
{g) Levator anguli oris. (A) Retractor labii (i) Zj'gomaticus. Runs
from the zygomatic (ploughshare) process, and is the true retractor of the 1 1
angle of the mouth. ( ;) Retractor labii inferioris. Pulls back the under- I

lip. Motors of the Lower Jaw. — (Jc) The zygomatic-maxUlary, covered
by the great masseter or chewing muscle of the lower law. (I) Tlit
temporal maxillary. Motors of the Ear. — (w) Attollens maximus. Tl
bring forward the ears, and lift the triangular cartilage upward and for-
ward, (n) Attollens medius. (o) Attollens inferior.

Muscles of the Neck, Serving to Move the Head. — (p) The
dorso-occipital tendon, (q) Complexus major (atloido mastoideus). (r)
Trachelo-mastoideus (here the tendon cervico-mastoideus is seen). («, t)
The splenius, covered by fascia, (u) Levator humeri, (u) Stemo-max-
illary (masseter externus). Muscles of the Ribs and Abdomen acting
in Respiration. — (a*) Latissimus dorsi (broad muscle of the back). (6*)
Intercostal (between the ribs) muscles, (c*) Costo-abdominal muscles.
((/*) Ilio-abdominal ditto. Motors of the Tail. — (e*) Sacro-eoccygis
superior (raiser of the tail). (/*) Sacro-coccygis inferior (depressor of
the tail), {g*) Ischia-coccygis. Motors of the Thigh and Leg. — (A*)
Gluteeus maximus. (t*) Glutoeus externus. (f* o* s*) Triceps adductor
femoris. {k*) Biceps rotator tibialis, (l*) The peronseus. (»»*) Tensor
vaginae, (n*) Rotator femoris. (o*) See (j*). Motors of the Tarsus
and Metatarsus. — (3*) Flexor metatarsi mag«ns. (r*) Extensor pedis
posterior. (s*) Flexor pedis accessorius et perforans. Motors of the
Foot. — (u* u*) Gastrocnemius, and its lower insertion into point of hock.
(v*) Flexor pedis perforans. (x*) Extensor pedis, (y*) Peroneus of
fore pastern, (z*) Tarso-phalangian muscle, back of near leg and inside
pastern. (8) The foot and coronet.

Muscles of the Fore Extremities. — Muscles moving the Shoulder.
— (af) Dorso et cervico acromion. (6f) Sub-scapular cervical (cf)
Rotundus major (depressor of the shoulder), (df) Pectoralis magnus.
Motors of the Arm.—{uf) Levator humeri, (ef) Ante-spinatus. (/f)
Postea-spinatus. (^f) Teres externus. (Af) Caput magnus triceps ex-
terior, (if) Dorso-humeral (trapezius). Motors of the Fore-arm. —
(yfcf) Caput medium triceps exterior. (Zf) Musculus biceps. (mf)
Longus extensor. (nf) Radius internus. (of) Cubiteus internus.
Muscles of the Carpus and Metacarpus. — (pf) Ulnarius accessorius. (jf)
Flexor metacarpus internus. (rf) Flexor metacarpus medius. ((f)
Extensor metacarpi. Motors of the Foot.—{u\') The condylo-phalangian
(profundus), or second bender of the pastern or coflBn-joints. (irf) The
cubito-phalangian tendon (sublimis), or first bender of the above. (x\)
Extensor pedis, (jrf) Flexor pedis externus. (f ) Ligaments of pastern.
(8, 8) Ligaments which cover the fore pastern.

II

ANATOMICAL, SURGICAL, AND VETERINARY PLATES.

PLATES m. AND IV.— (THE MOUTH),

Are inserted, with their explanatory text, at pages 106 and 108 of
this volume.

PLATE v.— THE HEAD OF THE HORSE.

Fig. 1. Bones of the Head, and their Sutures. — (a) The
occipital bone. (5, 6) The parietal (wall) bones of the skull, (c, c) The
temporal (temple) bones, {d, d) The temporal fossae, (e, e) The frontal
(forehead) bones. (/,/) The zygomatic (yoke-shaped) arch, {g, g) The
supra-orbital foramina. The small hole beneath (some horses have
several) receives vessels which nourish the bone, {h, h) The lachrymal
(tear) bones, {i, i) The orbits, containing the eyes, {k, Tc) The nasal
bones. (/, I) The malar (cheek) bones, (m, m) The superior maxillary
(upper jaw) bones, (n, n) The infra-orbital foramina (holes below the
orbits), through which pass branches of nerves and blood-vessels to supply
the lower portion of the face, (o, o) The openings into the nose, with
the bones forming the roof of the palate. (p,p) The inferior maxillary
(the lower jaw bone), which is a separate bone in quadrupeds, containing
the incisors or cutting teeth and the upper tushes, (g, q) The upper
incisors, cutting teeth, or nippers ; the one next to these, on each side,
are called the dividers, and the innermost ones on both sides are termed
the corner incisors.

Fig. 2. The Bones of the Head, from Nature.

Fig. 3. Section of the Head, Showing its Internal Organs. —
(a) The crest, or ridge of the parietal bones. (6) The frontal bones;
beneath are the frontal sinuses, (c) The nasal bones, {d, d) The septum
narium, or cartilaginous division between the nostrils. («) The occipital
bones. (/, g) The atlas, first bone, and dentata (toothed), second bones
of the neck, {h) The cuneiform (wedge-shaped) base of the occipital
bone, (i) The sphenoid (wedge-like) bone, and its cavities, (k) The
ethmoid (sieve-like) bone, with its cells. {I) The tongue, (m) The in-
ferior maxillary, (n) The posterior maxillary, (o) The os hyoides, or
bone of the tongue, (p) The thyroid (helmet-shaped) cartilage, (g)
The epiglottis, (r) The arytaenoid (fimnel-shaped) cartilage. («) The
chordse vocales ; ligaments concerned in forming the voice. (<) Sacculse
laryngis, ventricle of the windpipe. (u) The palate. (x) The soft
palate, which prevents vomiting, {y, z) The opening at back of the
mouth, the fauces. (1) The cerebrum, or brain. (2) The cerebellum,
or little brain. (3) The medulla oblongata, prolongation of spinal mar-
row. (4) The spinal cord. (5) The ligament of the neck, or "pack-
wax," which chieiiy sustains the head. (A) The gullet. (B) The
larynx. (C) The trachea. (D) The nostrils, and the dilator nans.
(E) The under lip, and the depressor labii in/erioris.

Fig. 4. The Occipital Bone, and Atlas Dentata or First
Vertebra of the Neck.— (a) Point of the occiput, (b) Spine run-
ning down the centre of the bone, roughened surface, for the attachment
of powerful muscles, which turn the head in various directions, (c, c) The
places where these strong muscles are inserted, [d) A large hollow
called the foramen magnum, or great aperture, through which the con-
tinuation of the brain, called the spinal cord, passes out of the skull, (e, e)
Two rounded protuberances, by which the head is connected with the
atlas bone, and which fit into the condyloid, or cup-shaped processes of
the occipital bone. (/,/) These two projections are an additional con-
trivance for the support of the great weight of the head. These are
termed the ceracoid (beak-like) projections of the occipital bone.

Fig. 5. The Spinal Cord, its Decussated Nerves and Ganglia.
— (a) The spinal cord divided, consisting of six distinct columns. (6)
A column giving out fibres (nerves) of sensation, (c) A bundle of these
nerves of sensation and motion, cut off after passing through, (g) A
ganglion (knot), or enlargement. These enlargements are called ganglia.
(/, /■) The general enveloping membrane, turned back.

PLATE VI.— THE HEAD, EAR, BRAIN, AND PALATE.

Fig. 1. The Internal Ear, Tympanum, Bone, etc. — (a) Meatus
auditorium, extemut, outer passage of the ear. (A) Memhrana tympani,

tympanum (drum), or membrane stretched over the hollow drum of the
ear. (c) The malleus, or hammer, {d) The ictus, or anvil (e) The
orbiculare, or round bone. (/) The stapes, or stirrup, lliis bone rests
on the membrane which covers the foramen ovale (oval opening), which
leads into the labyrinth of the ear, called aho fenestra ovalis (oval window).
(h) The vestibula, porch, or entrance to the labyrinth. («, i, i) The semi-
circular canals. These form parts of the labyrint-u. , [k, k) Openings
into the canals. (Q The tympanum, or drum, (m, m, m) The cochlea,
or snail-shell-shaped portion of the labyrinth of the ear. (n) Meatut
auditorius intemus (internal passage of hearing), through which the soft
portion of the seventh pair of nerves enters, and which is the auditory
nerve, or nerve of hearing, and is spread over the cochlea and vestibula.
The small curve below the lowermost letter m, is the Eustachian
tube (so called from its discoverer), which communicates with the
mouth.

Fig. 2. The Palate, Bars, Palatine Vein, Nerves, etc. — (o, a)
The incisors, or cutting teeth. (6) The palatine nerve, (c) The palate
and its ridges. («, e) The bars. A strip has been removed, in a curved
form, round D, to show the nerve, artery, and vein. (/, /) The palatine
artery, (g) The palatine vein, on each side of this letter, {h, h) The
cheeks, divided, to show their longitudinal structure, {i, i) The tushes, or
canine teeth, (fc, k) The gums. (/) The upper lip (labium superius).

Fig. 3. The Brain, showing the Arteries, and its several
Lobes. — {a, a) The substance of the brain; hemispheres of the cere-
brum. (6, 6) The anterior lobes of the same, (c, c) The cerebellum, or
little brain, in the posterior part of the skull. (See Section of Head,
Plate V). {d, d) Inferior spinal, branches of, about to become single,
(e) Basilar arteries. (/) Post cerebellar. {g,g) Basilar, with branches
right and left. (A, h) Right and left communicating arteries, connecting
the basilar with the circulus arteriosus, (i, i) Internal carotids. (Jc)
Posterior transverse. {I, I, m) Posterior cerebrals and branches, forming
part of the circulus arteriosus of Willis. {p,p) Ophthalmias, or eye
arteries. (j) Anterior cerebral, dividing into — (r, r, «) Right and left
anterior cerebral.

Fig. 4. Origin of the Nerves, etc. — (a, a) The posterior substance
of the base of the brain. (6, 6) The anterior ditto, (c, c) The cere-
bellum, or little brain. {d, d) The spinal cord. (e, e) The olfactory
nerves (1st pair). (/,/) The optic nerves (2nd pair). (^) The infundi-
bulum, or funnel. On each side is seen the severed trunk of the carotid
artery, where it divides into branches. (A, h, i, i, i, k, k) Branches of the
carotids, going into the substance of the brain. (I, I) The fourth pair of
nerves (deep-seated), called the pathetic, (m, m, n, n) The fifth pair ;
the sixth pair, (o, o) Origin of the fourth pair, (^p, p) The seventh and
eighth pairs of nerves : the seventh pair being the auditory nerves ; the
eighth, the nervua vagus, or pneumogastric. (g, q) Seat of the ninth or
lingual pair ; the branches of the tenth pair (sub-occipitals) arise from the
beginning of the spinal marrow.

Fig. 5. The Muscles and External Blood-vessels of the
Face and Neck. — (1) Orbicularis (round) muscle, surrounding the eye
and closing the lids. (2) Nasalis labii superior (belonging to nose and
upper lip). (3) Dilator magnus (the great dilator of the nostrils). (4)
Dilator naris laterahs (side dilator of the nostrils). (5) Outer portion of
dilator magnus, part of the lateralis being cut away above it at S, to show
vessels. (6, 6) Orbicularis oris (muscle around the mouth). 7. Depressor
labii inferioris (depressor of the lower lip). (8, 9) The buccinatoB
(trumpeter) muscle. (10). (11) The masseter (chewing), or chewing
muscle, forming the cheek of the horse. (12) The sub-scapulo hyoides,
from under the shoulder-blade to the root of the tongue, lies just behind
these figures. (13) The sterno-maxillary (belonging to the breast-bone
and jaw) muscle. (14) The levator humeri (lifter of the shoulder), aris-
ing from the back of the head (occiput), and going to the shoulder.
(15, 16, 17, 18) The complexus major (larger complicated) splenius (splint-
like) tendons, supporting the head, with the upper ligament of the neck.
(a) The jugular (neck) vein, the two branches having united. (6) The
submaxillary artery here passes, with a branch of the jugular and the
parotid duct, under the angle of the lower jaw. The pulse is best fell
here, (c) The facial artery and branches. (</,/) The nasal artery and
veins, (e, g, h, i) Temporal artery ; branches of carotids. The branches
of the fifth pair (nerves of feeling of the face), and the main portion of
the seventh pair (motor nerves of the face), are marked by a white band;
its ramifications are easily traceable.

ANATOMICAL, SURGICAL, AND VETERINARY PLATES.

Ill

PLATE VII.— THE EYE OF THE HORSE IN HEALTH ANn
DISEASE

Fia. 1. The Pdpil, Retina, and Coats of the Eye.— (A) The

horizontal line of vision, from which B and C are equidistant. (B, C)
Object seen by the animal, of which an inverted picture is repeated in
the retina between E and F. (D) The vitreous (glassy) humour, filling
the whole cavity behind the lens, (E, E) The ray passing through the
cornea and lens, converging by the refracting power of the lens. (F, G)
A similar ray from the upper part of the object, becoming the lower;
between E, F, is the picture on the retina, {a) The crystalline (glassy)
lens behind the pupil, and before the vitreous humour. (6) The iris
(rainbow- coloured circular membrane) on which the colour of the eye
depends. The iris floats in the aqueous humour. (c) The aqueous
(watery) humour, filling the space between the cornea and crystalline lens.
(d) The choroid (covering) coat, covered with a black secretion called the
pigmentura nigrum, (e) The cornea (horny), transparent part of the
eye, covered by the conjunctiva, which covers the eye, uniting the different
parts. (/,/) The retina (net-like) expansion of the optic nerve, spread-
ing over the whole of the choroid except the lens, (g) Muscles of the
eye, and fatty cushion, (h, i) The optic nerve, or nerve of sight.

Fig. 2. The Healthy Eye, showing the Pupil in a Moderate
Light. — (a, a) The pupil expanded, showing the black pendulous bodies
attacked to its upper margin.

Fig. 3. The Healthy Eye, the Pupil contracted by the in-
fluence OF Strong Light.

Fig. 4. Cataract. — (6, 6) The opaque specks formed in the pupil,
or rather in the crystalline lens.

Fig. 5. Complete Cataract. — (6) The pupil and crystalline lens,
wholly opaque, and out of shape, " Wall-blindneBa."

PLATE VIII.— THE BONES, MUSCLES, AND ARTERIES OF
THE FORE LEG.

Fig. 1. Bones of the Pastern and Fore Foot. — (6, b) The
wings of the large pastern bone, with its cavities for the reception of the
lower pulley-like head of the shank bone, and the sesamoid bones, (c, c)
Rough surfaces of the large pastern, for the attachment of ligaments,
(rf, d) The small pastern (coronary bone), (e, e) Wings of the coSin bone.
On their inner surface is a groove for an artery, which forms a semicircle
within the substance of the bone, (g, g) The coffin bone, light, spongy,
and perforated with numerous holes for the passage of blood-vessels. The
upper surface concave for the reception of the pastern, {d, d) The lower,
also concave, for the reception of the sensible sole, (h, h) The foramina,
or holes, for the passage of blood-vessels and nerves, (i) The toe and
horny lamina. The nut, shuttle, or navicular bone, is situated behind
the coffin bone, between its two wings, and not seen from the front.

Fig. 2. Bones of Pastern and Foot (back view). — (6, 6) Large
pastern (as Fig. 1). (c, c) Projections, &o., as before, {d, d) Small
pastern bone, (e, e) The navicular bone. Its upper surface is continuous
with the articulated surface of the coffin bone; its lower rests on the
perforans tendon. This is the seat of navicular disease. {f,f) The
wings of the coffin bone, {g, g, h, h, i) Processes whereto the sensible sole
and frog are attached.

Fig. 3. Muscles of the Fore Leg and Shoulder. — (a) Levator
humeri, or raiser of the shoulder. It serves also to depress the head.
This is in powerful action when the horse runs with his head projected
forwards. In front is a portion of the sterno maxillaris connected with
the lower jaw. (6, h) The trapezius, or four-sided muscle. It occupies
the withers, and lifts the shoulder blade. Part is here turned back to show
the muscle beneath, which is the serratus major (great tooth-shaped
muscle). {c,d) Lesser pectoral, or breast muscle; it lies below the
greater pectoral, and is attached to both breast bone and shoulder blade,
(e) The postea spinatus muscle, extends to the lower bone of the shoulder.
(/) Ante-spinatua ; above it is the small pectoral muscle, connected with
breast and shoulder bone, (g) Flexor brachii, fixed by strong tendons to
the scapula, and by a flattened tendon below to the inner side of the radius.
It throws the shoulder forward, and raises the fore arm. (h) A division
of part of another muscle arising from the point of the scapula, and
mserted by tendon in the elbow, (i) A deeper-seated portion of tbo

same, (i') The middle flexor, passing down to the inner side of the
knee. (I) The principal extensor, in front of the fore arm. (m, n) At
these points are seen the artery, nerve, and vein of the fore leg, and the
downward course of the extensor pedis muscle. (o) The perforans (per-
forating) flexor, (p) The perforatus (perforated) flexor. It arises from
the lower portion of the inner head of the lower bone of the shoulder,
and is intimately intermixed with the perforans flexor muscle. As it
descends the bone of the arm it becomes tendinous, and extending to the
knee, it is bound down by ligamentary bands (r, «), to prevent it from
starting in sudden motions, (j) Descending arteries, vessels, and nerves,
(r, «) Ligamentous bands.

Fig. 4. Muscles, etc., of inside of Fore Leo. — (a, b) Pectoralia
transversuB muscle, which crosses the breast. It binds the arm to the
side of the horse, and k»eps the legs straight before the horse iu his
gallop. Its point is the seat of capped hock, (c) Branches of the axillary
artery, &c. (e) The internal flexor of the arm. (/,^, A) Branches of the
extensor brachii, and blood-vessels, (i, m) Descending radial artery and
nerve. (/) The knee joint.

Fig. 5. Situations of Diseases of Fore Leo.

(a) Seat of sand-crack. (6) Ring bone ; false quarter, (c) Point of
breaking down, rupture of fetlock, (d) Seat of windgall. (e) The ten-
dinous band in which the flexors work, with vein and nerve descending
to the pasterns — the last is divided in neurotomy. (/) Sprain of back
sinews. (</) Seat of splint, (fi) Tied in below the knee, (i) Seat of
mallenders. (k).

PLATE IX.— MUSCLES, ARTERIES, ETC., OF HINDER
EXTREMITIES.

Fio. 1. Muscles, etc., outside the Thigh. — (a) The gluteal muscle
(glutseus maximus). (J) The outer gluteus (buttock) muscle (gluteus
externus). (c) The triceps femoris (three-headed muscle of the thigh).
It rises high up in the bones of the spine, and is inserted in the upper
part of the lower bone of the thigh. Its office is to draw back the thigh,
and so throw forward the trunk of the body. (d) This muscle descends
from the sacrum, and runs behind the triceps femoris, forming the hinder
part of the haunch. It is greatly developed in the thorough-bred horse,
and is another important agent in propulsion, (e) The root of the tail,
with its muscles. (/) The tensor vaginae, (g) The flexor nutatarti,
which bends the hocks, (fi) Extensor pedis, on the front of the thigh. It
is attached above to the outer condyle of the thigh bone (femur), and
below to the coronet of the foot, and to the upper end of the bone between
the lateral cartilages. It extends the foot, fetlock, and pastern joints,
(t) The poplitseus, or femoro-tibialis obliquus, a short thick muscle, seen
again at p. It bends the stifle, and turns the limb Inward. Just at this
part the principal nerves appear before entering or underlying the muscle,
they pass under c to the spinal marrow, {k) This muscle extends the
hock ; it ends in a flat tendon below I, p. (J) See preceding letter.
(m, n) The peroneus, another extensor. It arises fi'om the fibula and
becomes tendinous before reaching the hock. It accomnanies the great
extensor in the same sheath, half-down the shank-bone, and with it
attaches itself to the coffin bone. It raises the foot and brings it under the
body, (o) Flexor pedis. It originates in the tibia, and becomes a large
round tendon in a groove at the back of the hock, and continues down the
leg to the foot, assisting to bind the pastern and coffin joints, (p) See
above at i. (q) A layer of d, entering hock at w. (r, «) Tendinous fasciae
binding muscles of the thigh.

Fio. 2. Muscles, etc., inside the Thigh. — (a) Muscle descending
from the sacrum (d, fig. 1). (6) Continuation of ditto, (c, e) Gracilis, or
slender muscle, (d) Course of the principal arteries and veins. {/,g) Sar-
torius, or tailor's muscle, (h) Fasciae, (i) The glutseus externus. (k)
The peroneus, ascending to the coronet of the os pedis. {[) The popUlcmit.
(m) The flexor metatarsi (tendon of the leg), (n) Extensor pedis. (See
letter h, fig. L) (o) Inside view of the perforans muscle ; h is lifted up.
{l>,p) Mark the course of the principal blood-vessels of the inside of the
thigh, {q, q, r, s) Principal nerves and vessels of the hinder part of the
thigh and hock. (t) The large cutaneous vein. \u) Muscle below the
vein, and a layer of fleshy fibre to the front of the hock, [v) The liga-
mentary bands which confine the hock, (ic) Supplementary fibres, to

IT

ANATOMICAL, SURGICAL, AND VETERINARY PLATES.

brace the tendon and prevent its compression when the hock is bent.
(y) See y above in figure, whence, downward to (a) The nerves and
vessels of the fore-part of the thigh are traced.

Fig. 3. Arteries and Nerves of the Hinder Leo. — (a, a, o) The
femoral (thigh) artery, (b) A branch of the same, (c) Continuation of
the femoral trunk, (rf) The anterior tibial artery, (e, e) The femoral
vein. (//) The posterior tibial artery, (g, g, g) The metatarsal artery.
(t) A branch of the femoral vein. {j,j,J) The femoral vein, {k, k, k)
Anterior tibial veins. {[) The metatarsal vein, ascending, (m) The large
metatarsal vein, (re, re) The inguinal (groin) artery.

Fig. 4. Bones of the Hock enlarged, to show their Articu-
lations.— (a) The astragalus, or knuckle bone, (b) The lower end or
base of the tibia (thigh bone), (c) The os calcis, the hinder projecting
part, called " the point of the hock." {d) The os cuneiforme magnum
(great wedge-shaped bone) immediately under the astragalus, (e) The os
cuboides (cube-shaped bone) on the outer side of the hocL (/) The os
cuneiforme, middle wedge-formed bone, immediately under the cunei-
forme magnum. (^) The splint bone, {h) Upper head of shank bone.
These are all connected with powerful ligaments, to prevent dislocation.

Fig. 5. The Hock and Hinder Extremity, and Situation of
Diseases.— (a) Seat of thoroughpin ; (6) Capped hock ; (c, d) Curb ;
(e,e) Seat of "rat-tails"; (/) Splint; (p) Windgalls ; (h,i) Grease,
thrush, &c. ; (k) Tread ; {I) Seedy-toe. All which are noted under their
several titles in the work.

PLATE X.— THE HORSE'S FOOT, AND NEUROTOMY.— Plate L

Fig. 1. Section of the Foot, Pastern, and Shank. — (a) The
shank bone, (ft) The large pastern bone, (c) The smaller pastern bone,
(d) The coffin bone, (e) The navicular or shuttle bone. (/) The ses-
amoid bone, (gr) The small hard ligament tying down the sesamoid to
the large pastern bone. Qi) The tendon of the perforatus, inserted into
the coffin bone after passing over the navicular bone, (t) A continuation
of the suspensory ligament inserted into the small pastern bone. (Jc) Con-
tinuation of the suspensory ligament. (J,) The extensor tendon inserted
in both pasterns and coffin bone, {m) The sensible laminae to which the
crust, p, is attached ; and position of the coronet, (n) The inner or
sensible frog, (o) The cleft of the homy frog, {p) The toe and crust.
{q, r) The sensible sole and frog, in front the horny sole. («, t) A long
ligament, reaching from the pastern bone to the knee.

Fig. 2. Bones and Ligaments of Fore-foot. — (a) Lower part of
shank bone, (ft) Sesamoid bone, (c) Upper pastern, {d) Lower pas-
tern, (c) Suspensory ligament and shuttle (navicular) bone, dissected
back. (/) Coffin bone, {g, h, i) Branches of suspensory ligaments
uniting with suspensor tendon.

Fig. 3. Ligaments of the Upper and Lower Pastern.

Fig. 4. The Blood-vessels of the Foot. — The greater and lesser
metacarpal arteries, having joined, continue down the inside of the leg,
under the nerve, and at the lower part of the cannon divide into the two
plantar arteries ; one of these passes on each side of the pastern bone.
When they reach the foot they are at the back of it, and each sends a
branch to the fatty frog. They are marked at ft, ft, c, d, and at g, h some
of these ramifications are seen. The main trunks pursue their course
along the inner wings of the coffin bone, and are not seen here ; they
unite with each other, and thus form an arterial circle inside the substance
of the bone of the foot. From this circle are sent off various small
branches, which penetrate the coffin bone, and, bending downwards, unite
and form the circumflex artery, which runs round the margin of the bony
sole (Fig. 7), to which blood from the circumflex artery is transmitted.
It is seen, in the figure just referred to, that numerous twigs are sent to
nourish aud supply every part near which the arteries run. The radial
vein, which forms a venous circle just behind the knee, becomes, lower
down, the internal metacarpal, and divides just above the fetlock into the
two plantars, which are immediately concerned in bringing the blood from
the fore feet. These vessels originate from the capillaries, and bring
back the blood to the heart, a, k, I, m, n, o, mark their anastomoses, or
openings into each other, r The spongy bone of the foot, with the points
or ends of blood-vessels.

Fig. 5. The Frog and Sole (horn removed). — In this and the
two following figures, 6 and 7, the letters indicate the same parts, (a, a)

The sensitive bars, (ft, ft) The reflection of the coronet, forming the ba. .
(c, c) The cleft or fissure of the frog, {d, d) The sensitive frog, (e, e)
The sensitive sole.

PLATE XI.— THE HORSE'S FOOT, AND NEUROTOMY, Plate H.

Fig. 1. Foot of Foal a few Weeks afteb Birth.— The cylin-
drical and upright form of the hoof, and largeness of the upper part at
the coronet, are yet observable. The limbs are upright, the fetlocks little
bent, and the toes dig in the ground.

Fig. 2. Half-grown Foot. — The ragged appearance of the inflec-
tions spreading over the sole is here very remarkable. In this and the
two following figures (3 and 4), the letters denote the same parts, (o, a)
The sensitive bars. (6, 6) The heels, (c, c) The fissure of the frog.
{d, d) The sensitive frog, (e) The sensible laminae within the homy
hoof.

Fig. 3. The Natural Foot.

Fig. 4. The Foot as changed in Form bt Shoeing.

Fig. 5 Sensible Foot (Hoof removed). — (a) The sensible laminae.
(6) The sensible sole, (j) The secreting coronet

Fig. 6. Neurotomy, the High and Low Operation8. — The
High Operation. — (a) The metacarpal or pastern nerve, raised by the
probe. (6) The vein, (c) The artery. (d, /) The white cellular
membrane divided and turned back, (e) The back sinews, or flexor ten-
dons, (g) Flesh-hook, holding back the skin and tissues. The Lower
Operation. — (a) The artery, (ft) The nerve, (c) The tendon, (d)
The vein. («, /) Cellular tissue, lining the skin.

PLATE Xn.— ANATOMY.— THE THORACIC VISCERA.

Fig. 1. The Chest and its Contents. — (a) Ribs sawn off from
sternum, (ft) Rings of the trachea (wind-pipe), (c, c) Common carotid
artery, dividing right and left, from {d) Its main trunk, (e) The heart.
(/, /) The lobes of the right lung, (g, g) The lobes of the left lung.
{h, h) Posterior lobes of right and left lungs, (i) The midriff divided.

Fig. 2. The Heart; showing the right ventricle, tricitspid valve, dc.
— (a) Orifice of the coronary vein. (6) The tricuspid valve, admitting
the blood to the right ventricle, and preventing its return, (c) The
carnese columnse, and cortina tendinea, or fibres which fasten the ends of
the valves to the substance of the heart, (d) The ventricle cut open
lengthwise, (e) The septum or division. (/) The opening of the pul-
monary artery, (g) The opening of the aorta.

Fig. 3. The Heart ; the right ventricle, &c. — (a) The substance of
the muscular coat divided, (ft) (c) The pulmonary artery, {d) The
tricuspid valve, (e) The left auricle. (/) The cortina tendinea.

Fig. 4. The Lungs. — (a) The substance of the lungs. (6, 6, b, ft)
The lobes of the lungs, {d) The trachea (wind-pipe), (e, /) Bronchial
tubes.

Fig. 5. The Pulmonary Artery and Veins, as ramified in the
lungs. — (a) The pulmonary artery cut off close to the right ventricle of
the heart, (ft) The pulmonary vein cut off ^rom the left ventricle of the
heart (c, c, c, c) Branches accompanying the ramifications of the
bronchiae, spreading through the whole substance of the lungs, (d, d, d)
The capillary extremities of the blood-vessels.

PLATE Xni.— THE ABDOMINAL VISCERA, KIDNEYS, &c.—
THE (ESTBUS EQUI (BOTS).

Fig. 1. The Intestines.— (a) The coecum. (6, ft, ft) The colon,
(c) The rectum. (<^ The small intestines, (e) The outer integument
(epidermis, cutis, and panniculus carnosus) divided.

Fig. 2. The Kidneys, Bladder, etc. — (a) Part of a lobe of the
liver, (ft) Part of the intestines, (c) Part of the stomach and caul
(omentum), (d) The kidneys, (e, c) Ovaries, with branches of spermatic
arteries and veins. (/) The descending aorta and vena cava, (g) The

emulgent veins leading to the vena cava, and emulgent arteries to the
aorta, (h) Part of the rectum. Qc) The bladder. (Z) Spermatic cords,
(m) Gall-ducts, (n) The duodenum.

Figs. 3, 4, 5. The Larv^ and Ovdm of the CEstrds Equi
(Gadfly). — The deposit of the ovum, its maturing, and remedies for its
expulsion, will be found at p. 450. The figures are sufficiently explana-
tory to the eye.

PLATE XIII. A.— GESTATION, THE FCETUS, AND F(ETAL
CIRCULATION (and see pp. 218—219.)

Fio. 1. The Fcetus Enteloped in its Membranes. — (a, a) The
chorion. (6) A fold of membrane enveloping, (c) The hinder extremities
of the fsetus.

Fig. 2. The Fcetds Denuded of its Membranes. — (a) The body
of the foal, with the common sheath of the four umbilical vessels taken
oflf, and the cord untwisted. (6) The umbilical vein, {d) The umbilical
arteries, (c) The common covering of the umbilical vessels laid open.

Fig. 3. The Fcetus, with its Surrounding Membranes, in
Section. — (a) The foetus in situ. (6) The fluid (hquor amnion) in
which the foetus floats, (c) The amnion (from the Gr. amnios, a vessel
or skin used to receive the blood at sacrifices), or inner covering of the
fcetus. (d) The chorion (Gr. chorion, covering, protection), or outer
membrane of the foetus. Between the amnion and chorion lies the
allantoid (Gr. alias, a sausage, eidos like), containing the urine of the
foetus, or sacs in which the urachus terminates. These sacs are filled with
the foetal urine, as the foetal bowels are with the yellow pultaceous mass
called meconium (Gr. mecon, inspissated poppy-juice.) (e) The umbilicus
or navel cord. (/,/) Blood-vessels of the umbilicus dispersed on the
amnion. Those of the urinary vessel, urachus, are spread on the chorion,
which is the more Vascular of the three membranes, and is intimately con-
nected with the inner mucous lining of the uterus, by minute vascular
projections, which fit into correspondent cavities on the thickened lining
of the womb.

Fig. 4. The Fcetus, with its Abdomen Laid Open. — (a) The
umbilical vein. (6, b) The umbilical arteries. (c, c) The urachus,
(urine-vessel), here divided for clearness. Its origin is the fundus of the
bladder at c, passing out at the navel with the vein and arteries just
described, and as soon as it has passed through the amnios it spreads into
the cavity allantois. (d) The placenta, (e) The intestines.

Fio. 1. (a) (of Plate XIII.) — The Stomach, with its orifices.— {a) The
oesophagus, its cardiac opening into the stomach, (b) (c) The portion of
the stomach covered by cuticle or insensible skin, (d) The entrance of
the gullet into the stomach, the cardiac orifice, (e) The margin which
separates the cuticular from the villous portion. (/, g) The communica-
tion between the stomach and first intestine. (A) The common orifice
through which the bile and pancreas pass into the first intestine, (j) A
smaller orifice through which a portion of the pancreatic secretion passes
into the intestines, (k) Mucous, or villous portion of the stomach.

PLATE XIV.— BANDAGING AND BRONCHOTOMY.

For General Description, see p. 369. (Fig. 1.) Sore Throat. See p.
287. (Fig. 2.) Bandage for Criteral Abscess. See p. 332. (Fig. 3.)
Bandage for Poll- evil. See pp. 334, 335. (Fig. 4.) Bandage for
Strangles. See p. 290. (Fig. 5.) Bronchotomy. See p. 364.

PLATE XV.— METHOD OF SLINGING THE HORSE, SHOWING
ALSO THE HOBBLES PUT ON FOR CASTING.

In Chapter XXVIII., pp. 358, 359, will be found remarks upon the
best form of Hobbles; and on Plate XVII. our artist has given an
excellent representation of so-called " Patent" Hobbles, which are the
nearest to perfection of any we have seen in use. From the representa-
tion of the Horse slung, which faces this page, we presume, with a
reference to the text, pp. 359, 360, the eye will sufficiently instruct
*he reader.

PLATE XVI.— VETERINARY INSTRUMENTS AND APPARATUS.

(A, a) Steaming apparatus for throat and head diseases. (A) Tobacco-
smoke enema. See Spasmodic Colic, p. 303, &c. (B, B, B) Lancets
and fleams. See Bleeding, p. 360. (C) Bistouri cacW. See Hernia,
p. 313. (D) Neurotomy knives. See pp. 365, 366. (B, F) Cauterizing
irons. See p. 367. (G) Clams used in castration. See p. 326, where
the reference should be to Plate XVI. (H) Rowelling scissors and
Rowell. (I) Seton needles, various. (K) Suture needle. (L) Forceps
for Polypus. See p. 282.

PLATE XVII.— FARRIERS' TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS.

(A) Patent Casting Hobbles. See remarks on Plate XV. (Fig. 1.)
Bufler. See p. 372. (Figs, 2. and 3.) Drawing knives. See p. 372.
(Fig. 4.) Searcher, for examining for foreign substances. (Fig. 5.) Buttress.
See p. 372. (Figs. 6 and 7.) Pincers and Forgo Tongs. (Figs. 8 and 9.)
Sledge and Hand Hammers. See p. 374. (Fig. 10.) Shoeing Hammer.
(Figs. 11 and 12.) Rasp, and Fuller: the latter makes the groove or
channel in the shoe. See p. 374. (Fig. 13.) Stamp. (Fig. 14.) PritcheL
See p. 374, note.

PLATE XVm.— FARRIERY.— VARIETIES OF SHOES, Plate 1.

Figs. 1, 2, and 3. Seated Shoes. — 1 and 2, present the ground and foot
surfaces of the best sort of shoe for general purposes. It gives as many
points of bearing as possible. The web is of uniform thickness through-
out, and the nail-heads, well sunk in the fullering, are soon level The
seating is on the foot side, and the bearing widens at the heels. It ia
usually made with nine nail-holes — five inside and four outside the foot
Fig. 3 is a shorter-heeled modification of the shoe, with all-round nailing,
and a broader web.

A. Frost Shoe. — This shoe (condemned by Bracy Clark as expensive
and complex) was known as the American ice-shoe. Instead of mere cal-
kins, by turning down the heels, screw cUps of steel, corresponding with a
female screw in the shoe, are inserted by means of the wrench. Made of
Bessemer-tong steel, these will stand well.

B. Pointed Shoe. — This (with an expanding steel tablet at the toe,
and a dozen modifications) is, in the main, Bracy Clark's Expanding Shoe,
which was to bring comfort to all horses and horsemen. Healthy feet go
none the better for them, and they cost 10s. a set.

C. English Hunting Shoe. — The heels of the Hunting Shoe are
somewhat shorter than those for hacks. They are not so much bevelled
off as the common-seated shoe ; leaving only space enough for a picker be-
tween the sole and shoe, lest clay should tamp in and tear off the shoe on
heavy soils.

D. Stewart's Shoe. — This shoe has the inner circumference forged
or filed away; and is advantageously adopted with horses who " strike" or
over-reach in galloping. The edge, it will be seen, is rounded or
bevelled off.

E. Bar Shoe. — This shoe, applicable in tender heels, quarters, corns,
&c., is improved by the introduction of a sole of soaked leather between it
and the suffering animal's foot. The nail hobs are here, foot-surface,
four outside and three in ; they should be far nearer to the outer edge
than drawn.

F. Sandal Shoe. — A useful resort in case of shoe-casting. It may
be looked upon as a resuscitation and improvement of the earliest form of
shoeing. The celebrated Percivall reintroduced it, and warmly advocated
its adoption as a temporary pedal protection in emergencies. Its form
suggests its use.

PLATE XIX.— FARRIERY.— VARIETIES OF SHOES, &c.

Figs. 1, 2, 3. Racing Plates. — The shoes of race-horses, called
plates, are of two kinds, " full " and " three-quarter." The training-
groom is best judge of the plate required. Full plates are used where
the crust is undeniably strong and healthy. Eight nail-holes are usual
in the thin ring of deeply fullered iron, which is just wide enough to
defend the wall of the hoof. The " three-quarter plate " has six nails
only, and is used for weaker feet. In the olden days racers' feet were
sadly battered by long travel from place to place. Vanning and railroads

VI

ANATOMICAL, SURGICAL, AND VETERINARY PLATES.

have changed all that. DarriU says : — " The plate must not be pnt on
nearer the end of the horse's heels than there is sound horn for it to rest
upon ; and that the hoof hold be sufficiently strong to give the two last
nails a secure bearing, so that the plate may not spring at the heels when
the horse is running." In the forging of either of these varieties of plating
shoes, it is very necessary that reference be had to the size and powers
of the horse that is to wear them. For one of a medium size and weight
the breadth of the plate need not exceed three and a half eighths of an
inch ; but these dimensions may be somewhat increased for a tall and
heavy horse. The fullering is in the middle of the plate. The hinder
plate may be turned up a little in long-striding horses, especially if the
race-course has sharp curves.

Fig. 4. Horse-shoe Nails. Co) French horse-nail. (6, c) Counter-
sunk nails, (d) German horse-nail, (e) Fine-head nail for safety-shoe.
(/) Bose-nail for frost.

F. Shoe to Prevent Cutting. — This is Moorcroft's shoe. The
outer branch thickened and narrowed. "White also says he has found it
successful. The blow being struck inside the fetlock joint ; the common
method is to make the inTier branch of the shoe narrower and thicker,
increasing from toe to heel.

G. Frog-pkessuee Shoe (Coleman's). This old-school result of a

whim of a clever theorist has still its adherents. There is nothing (but
mischief) in its use which a common bar-shoe, judiciously modified in the
leather attached, cannot effect.

H. Patten Shoe. The utility of this form of shoe in " Clap " or Strain
of the Back Sinews, and Rupture of the Back Sinews, is noted at pp. 345
and 346.

I. Poultice Boot. The Poultice or Water Boot is made of leather,
defended with iron plating. A linen drill-top is sufficient for poulticing ;
but if cold or warm water is to be constantly applied, felt, or two or three
thicknesses of box-cloth, with a bottom of the same, are requisite, wetting
the top of which, the moisture will descend to the bottom within the boot.
With water, the boot must be removed every two days, and an unguent
applied, or the water will " crumble " the hoof. K the horse paws much
when the water -boot is off, put on a felt or rope boot as a defence.

K. The French Shoe. This highly-extolled system of shoeing, in
which the toe and heel are curved upwards, and the nails driven Zoio
round the hoof — despite the elaborate praises of M. Jauze and a crowd
of Continental writers, and of the clever Mr. Goodwin — proves a bad
shoe for any but clumsy, coarse horses, and with them the curvature at
the heel is bad. The only merit of the shoe is its not being nailed
towards the heels, as our English shoes used to be formerly.

PLATES ILLUSTRATIVE OF "THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS."

PLATE. — THE AGE OF THE OX AS INDICATED BY HIS

TEETH.

Fig. A. Portion of upper jaw. (1, 1) Dental pad. (2) Stenonian
ducts. Fig. B. Portion of lower jaw, taken from a heifer one year old.
(1, 1) Eight temporary incisor teeth. Fig. C. Portion of lower jaw taken
from an ox one year and eleven months old. (1, 1) The central perma-
nent incisors, having replaced the deciduous teeth on each side of central
incisors, the three temporary teeth appear. Fig. D. Portion of lower jaw
taken from an ox two years and five months old. (1, 1) Central perma-
nent incisors. (2, 2) Second pair of permanent incisors, having replaced
temporary teeth, on each side of which two deciduous teeth remain.
Fig. E. Portion of jaw taken from a heifer two years and eleven months
old. (1, 1) Central permanent incisors. (2, 2) Second pair of perma-
nent incisors. (3, 3) Third pair of permanent incisors having replaced
the milk teeth, on each side, the remaining temporary tooth exists. Fig.
F. Portion of lower jaw taken from an ox three years and four months
old. (1, 1) Central incisors. (2, 2) Second pair of permanent incisors.
(3, 3) Third pair of permanent incisors. (4, 4) Corner pair of permanent
incisors, which have replaced their temporary precursors. Fig. G. Por-
tion of lower jaw of full-mouthed ox. (1) First permanent molar. (2)
Second permanent molar. (3) Third permanent molar. (4) Fourth
permanent molar. (5) Fifth permanent molar. (6) Sixth permanent
molar. (7) Permanent incisors.

Incisor Dentition. The calf is usually torn with four temporary
incisors, being the central and second pairs. At 10 to 14 days old the
third pair of incisors appear. At 1 month corner incisors cut the gums.
At 1 year and 9 to 11 months, the central permanent incisors replace
deciduous teeth. At 2 years and 3 to 6 months, the second pair of per-
manent incisors replace milk teeth. At 2 years and 9 months to
3 years and a quarter, the third pair of permanent teeth occupy the places
of the forerunning temporary incisors. At 3 years and a quarter to 4
years old the ox completes his incisor dentition, by the permanent teeth
displacing the comer temporary incisors.

Molar Dentition. The calf is born without molars. At 1 month
old, the first, second, and third have made their appearance, three on each
side of either jaw, twelve altogether. At 6 to 9 months, the fourth per-
manent molar is in situ. At 15 to 18 months the fifth permanent molar
appear^ At 2 years to 2 years and three months the molar dentition is
completed, by the cutting of the sixth permanent molar. At 2 years and
a half to 2 years and 8 months, the two anterior temporary molars are

replaced by two permanent ones. At 2 years and 8 months to 3 years
and 3 months, the third temporary molar falls out, and its place is occupied
by its permanent successor, when the molar dentition of the ox is com-
pleted.

PLATE.— AGE OF SHEEP AS IKDICATED BY THE TEETH.

Fig. A. Portion of lower jaw of a sheep eleven months old. (1, 1)
Eight temporary incisors. Fig. B. Portion of lower jaw of a sheep one
year and a month old. (1, 1) Central pair of permanent incisors having
replaced deciduous ones, on each side, three temporary incisors exist.
Fig. C. Portion of lower jaw of a sheep one year and eight months old.
(1, 1) Central pair of permanent incisors. (2, 2) Second pah- of per-
manent incisors in situ having removed temporary teeth on each side, of
which two temporary teeth remain. Fig. D. Portion of lower jaw of a
sheep two years and seven months old. (1, 1) Central permanent in-
cisors. (2, 2) Second pair of permanent incisors. (3, 3) Third pair of
permanent incisors having replaced milk teeth, on each side of which the
corner temporary incisors appear. Fig. E. Portion of lower jaw of a
sheep three years and four months old. (1, 1) Central permanent in-
cisors. (2, 2) Second pair of permanent incisors. (3,3) Third pair of
permanent incisors. (4, 4) Comer pair of permanent incisors. This
change from temporary to permanent teeth completes the incisor dentition
of the sheep. Fig. f. The nose of a sheep. Showing cleavage in upper
lip. Fig. G. Portion of upper jaw of a sheep. (l, 1) Dental pad.
(2, 2) Stenonian ducts. Fig. H. One side of the lower jaw of a full
mouthed sheep. (1) First permanent molar. (2) Second permanent
molar. (3) Third permanent molar. (4) Fourth permanent molar. (5)
Fifth permanent molar. (6) Sixth permanent molar.

Incisor Dentition. — The lamb is usually born without incisor teeth.
At 1 week old the central and second pair of incisors are cut. At 10
days old the third pair appear. At 5 weeks, the fourth or corner pair cut
the gums, and complete the temporary incisor dentition. At 1 year, and
from 1 to 2 months, the central pair of temporary incisors are displaced
by permanent teeth. At 1 year and a half to 8 months, the second pair
of deciduous teeth are replaced by permanent ones, At 2 years and a
quarter to 8 months, the third pair are similarly displaced. At 3 years
and 3 to 9 months, the sheep completes its incisor dentition by the per-
manent teeth displacing the corner temporary incisors.

Molar Dentition. — At 1 month old the three anterior temporary
molars have made their appearance. At 3 months old the first permanent

ANAIOMICAL, SURGICAL, AND VETERINAEY PLATES.

vu

molar, fourth in position, escapes through the gum. At 9 to 10 months
old the fifth permanent molar appears. At 18 to 19 months old the
sixth permanent molar escapes from its socket. And from 2 years to
2 years and a half the three anterior temporary molars are replaced by
permanent ones, and thus the molar dentition of the sheep is completed .

PLATE.— THE AGE OF THE PIG AS INDICATED BY HIS
TEETH.

Fig. A. — The mouth of a pig one month and three days old. (1, 1),
Foetal incisors ; (2, 2), fcetal tusks ; (3, 3), middle temporary incisors ;
(4, 4), three temporary molars. Fig. b. — Anterior part of lower jaw of a
pig three months old. (1, 1), Foetal incisors ; (2, 2), foetal tusks ; (3, 3),
middle temporary incisors ; (4, 4), lateral temporary incisors. Fig. c. —
Lower jaw of a pig about six months old. (1, 1), Prsemolars ; (2, 2),
fourth permanent molar. Fig. D. — Part of lower jaw of a pig ten months
old. (1, 1), Permanent corner incisors have replaced temporary ones ;
(2, 2), permanent tusks have replaced temporary ones ; (3, 3), praemolars.
Fig. E.— Snout of a young boar. Fig. P.— Part of lower jaw of a pig
about thirteen months old. (1, 1), Permanent middle incisors have re-
placed deciduous teeth. Fig. G.— Lower jaw of a pig nineteen months
old. (1, 2, 3), First, second, and third permanent molars have replaced
temporary ones ; (4, 4), fifth permanent molar — this tooth replaced tem-
porary one when the animal was about thirteen months old ; (5, 5), sixth
permanent molar, which has replaced temporary tooth ; (6, 6), lateral
permanent incisors, which have displaced the deciduous or milk teeth.

Incisor Dentition. — The pig is bom with eight teeth — four tem-
porary incisors, and four temporary tusks. At 4 to 5 weeks old the
deciduous middle incisors make their appearance. At 3 months old the
lateral incisors escape through the gums. At 9 to 10 months old the
corner incioors and temporary tusks are replaced by permanent teeth. At
1 year to 13 months old the central deciduous incisors are displaced by
their permanent successors. At 18 months old the pig completes his
incisor dentition, by the permanent lateral incisors replacing their de-
ciduona forerunners.

MoLAB Dentition.— The pig is born without molars. At 4 to 5
weeks old twelve temporary molars, anterior in position, appear, namely,
1, 2, 3 in each jaw. At 6 months old the prsemolar (permanent tooth)
is cut, holding a mid position between the comer incisors and tusks. At
9 months old the first permanent molar, fourth in position, makes it«
appearance. At 1 year to 13 months old the second permanent molar,
fifth in position, is in situ, and the deciduous molars are replaced by their
permanent successors. At 18 months old the molar dentition of the pig
is completed, by the appearance of the last permanent molar, being the
sixth in position.

PLATE.— SHEEP'S HEAD WITH SMALL-POX.

This Plate was copied, by Professor Simond's kind permission, from a
drawing in his work on Ovina Variola ; the picture depicts the appear
ance the face of the sheep assumes during the crustaceous and ulcerative
stages of small-pox. The ulceration noticed haa been largely produced
by external injury inflicted on the parts, by the sheep rubbing the scabs
ofT before the healing process had been effected ; this injury always retards
the progress to recovery.

PLATE.— CALCULOUS CONCRETIONS FOUND IN THE
INTERNAL ORGANS OF THE OX, SHEEP, AND PIG.

Fig. A. — Carbonate of lime calculus taken from the bladder of the pig.
Fig. B. — Section of the same calculus. Fig. C. — Calculus taken from the
kidney of the ox. Figs. D and l. — Calculi, consisting of carbonate of
lime mixed with carbonate of magnesia, taken from the bladder of the ox.
(d) represents calculi presenting a smooth exterior ; (c), a tuberculated
aspect. Fig. E. — Calculus, consisting of the oxalate of lime, taken from
the ureter of a boar. Fig. f. — Section of a hair ball, consisting of the
phosphate of ammonia and magnesia, taken from the intestine of a cow.
Fig. G. — Hair-ball calculus taken from a cow. Figs, h, i, k.— Threp
different forms of biliary calculi taken from the ox.

STRUCTURE AND ANATOMY OF THE HORSE

181

DIVISION II.

A COMPENDIUM OP VETERINARY KNOWLEDGE.

THE STRUCTURE AND ANATOMY OF THE HORSE.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE BONY STRCCTCEE. — COMPONENTS OF BONE. — GROWTH OF BONE. — THE SKELETON. — BONES OF THE HEAD. — THE SPINAL

VERTEBR.a:. THE RIBS. THE STERNUM. — BONES OF THE FORELEGS AND FEET : THE SCAPULA, HUMERUS, RADIUS, ULNA,

CARPUS, METACARPUS, PASTERN, LOWER PASTERN, SESAMOIDS, CORONARY AND COFFIN BONES, THE NAVICULAR BONE. BONES

OP THE HINDER EXTREMITIES : — THE FEMUR, PATELLA, TIBIA, FIBULA, AND TARSUS. — PERIOSTEUM. — MEDULLA (MARROW). —
SYNOVIA. — CARTILAGES. — LIGAMENTS.

Bones form the framework and support of the animal
machine, give it dimension and figure, preserve the situation
of the several viscera of the brain, chest, and stomach,
afford fixed points for the attachment of ligaments, and act
as levers in the various movements of the body and limbs.
Bones are the hardest, and, in health, the most insensible
substances of the body. Bone is chemically composed of
phosphate of lime, fluate and carbonate of lime, soda, mag-
nesia, and a small proportion of common salt, and in the full-
grown animal contains about 33 per cent, of cartilage
(gelatine and membrane), with the earths above mentioned.
The bones of the horse are much harder, and proportionately
much stronger, than those of man. They are covered
by a skin called the 'periosteum (bone-surrounder) ; it is
highly sensible when diseased, white after death, red in the
living animal. This membrane appears to be first formed
in the foetus, and within it a gelatinous fluid, afterwards
becoming cartilage, is deposited. This becomes vascular
(containing vessels), and these pour out the earthy matters
eliminated from the blood, until the bone is consolidated.
This consolidating process is not entirely completed till full
growth is attained, and those bones most indispensable to
the functions of life are the earliest formed. The earthy
matter of the bones is continually changing, being carried
off by the absorbents, while the arteries deposit it. The
stimulus of the circulatory system in the higher-bred horse
thus leads to the deposit of a more solid and harder quality
of bone than in the heavier and lower breeds. The cylindri-

cal bones are hollow and contain medulla (marrow), and a
sheathing membrane called the medullary membrane. These
cavities lighten the bones without detracting from their
strength, and are most remarkable in birds. The marrow
was long thought to nourish the bones : this is an error ; it
is a mere store of superabundant fatty matter. Though
furnished with bloodvessels for nutriment, and nerves,
bones possess little sensibility in health ; but in an inflamed
state they are acutely tender. The bones are variously
articulated (jointed) with each other : by cup and ball ; by
furrowed surfaces forming, as in the small bones, phalanges,
which are hinged, bound firmly together by ligament and
cartilage ; or fixed closely into each other by notches, ridges,
teeth, or spines, forming sutures (seams). An examination
of the plates. The Skeleton (Plate I.), and The Head
(Plate v.), will exhibit these jointings of bones. The
following description of the bony, muscular, and internal
structure of the Horse, will be found calculated to assist and
elucidate the figures and page references, printed to accom-
pany each of the Anatomical Plates of the present work.
The bony structure we shall divide into nine sections.

§ I. BONES OF THE HEAD.

The Skull (cranium), which contains and defends the
brain, consists of twelve bones ; four pairs (eight), and four
single bones. These are, two frontal (forehead) bones ; two
pairs of temporal (temple) bones, distingmshed as the
squamous (scaly), and the petrous (hard — stony) temporals ;

182

STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE BONES,

and two parietal (wall) bones ; the single bones are the
occipital (hind part of the head) bone ; the ethmoid (Gr.
sieve-like) bone ; the sphenoid (Gr. wedge-like) ; and the os
triquetrum (Lat. triangular bone).

The frontal bones (two), form the arches of the orbits of
the eyes. The arch is pierced by the supra-orbital foramen,
and there is a hollow below for the lachrymal (tear) gland.
The frontal bone in the horse also forms half of the lateral
foramen of the nose, and enters into the framing of the top
of the nose. Internally, one part of the face belongs to the
nose, the other to the skulL The outer and inner plates of
bone separate, and thus form the frontal sinuses. These are
strengthened by little bony pillars between the plates of the
forehead.

The orbits in the horse are merely bony rings, one on
each side, not perfect cups as in man.

The squamous temporal bones (a pair) are in front of the
petrous temporal. The projecting pieces on their outer sides
are called the zygomatic (Gr. zygos, a yoke) processes. On the
under edges are the cavities for articulating with the lower
jaw.

The petrous temporal (a pair). These are the hardest
bones in the whole body. A canal in these is the meatus
auditorius, or opening to the internal ear, and along its
bottom during life is stretched a fine membrane. The os
hyoides of the tongue has its large horn attached to the
internal side of this bone.

The two parietal (wall) bones are placed at the sides of
the skull. They are smooth and convex on the outside, and
are covered well by the temporal muscles. On the inside
they are concave, and furrowed for receiving the arteries of
the brain.

The occipital, the first of the single bones, is propor-
tionately much smaller in the horse than in man, the
greater bulk of the horse's head lying forward. At the
back of the occiput is the large hole {foramen magnum) of
the skull. On each side of the foramen magnum is a
projecting smooth bony process called the condyles, which
form a joint with the atlas.

The ethmoid, a single bone, is somewhat concealed in a
view of the bones ; it has on its wings holes called the optic
and nasal foramina. Towards the nose two fine flat pieces
of bone are pierced with numerous apertures, and are called
the cribriform (Lat., cribrum, a sieve) plates ; these give
passage to the nerves of smell.

The sphenoid bone has been often compared to a bird, —
two wings, a body, and two legs, but the head is wanting.
It has sinuses and holes for numerous nerves, the superior
maxillary, the optic, the third pair, and the orbital, supra-
orbital, and maxillary arteries.

The OS triquetrum, the last of the single bones, is angular ;
smooth on its outer surface, but indented inside for various
nerves. It joins the occipital bone and lies before it. It
has a projection which is called the tentorium, dividing the
cm'ehrum, or larger brain, from the smaller, or cerebellum.

The lower, or hinder part of the head consists of a single
bone, the lower jaw (inferior maxillary). The head is
divided by anatomists into two parts, the skull and the face.

The bones of the skull, as we have said, are joined together
by indented seams, called sutures. This kind of junction is
owing to the manner in which ossification takes place in
these bones ; for in the foetus the bones of the skull are per-
fectly distinct from each other, and thus calculated to allow
the growth of the brain they enclose. The ossification
begins in the middle of each bone, and proceeds gradually
to the circumference. Hence this process, and of course the
increase of the head, is carried on from a great number of
points at the same time, until the growing edges of the bones
meet, when the projecting fibres of one bone force themselves
between those of the opposite bone, and constitute that
indented line which we perceive on most skulls.

The skull of a horse is much smaller than that of a man,
its capacity for containing brain being not one-fourth as
great ; but the bones which compose it are thicker and
stronger than those of the human subject, and consequently
better able to resist blows and other accidents.

The Bones of the Face. — The face consists of nine pairs
of bones and two single ones. These are inter-maxillary (2),
supra-maxillary (2), nasal (nose) bones (2), lachrymal (2),
malar (2), palatine (2), pterygoid (2), inferior turbinated
(2), superior turbinated (2) = 9 pairs, or 18 bones Jhe
single bones are the vomer and the lower jaw, already
mentioned, making 20 in all. Of these bones we may
remark — that the two nasal a\e very unlike those of the
human subject, being of a wedge-like figure, sharp below
and broad above. They also differ from those of the human
face; they are considerably larger, for increasing the capacity
of the organ of smell, which is much more acute in the
horse than in man.

The lachrymal bones are situated at the inner sides of the
orbits, which they help to compose. Each of these bones
has an opening through it for the passage of the tears.

The malar (cheek) bones are each connected in the orbit
to the lachrymal bone just described, and to the superior
maxillary ; and its zygomatic (Gr., yoke-shaped) process
bends over to join that of the temporal bone, and fejm the
bony arch of the cheek.

The superior maxillary bones form, along with the malar
bones, the ridge which is observable on the cheek of the
living subject, and are connected with most of the other
bones of the face.

The inferior maxiUaries are connected, on the upper
edge, in a curious manner to the superior maxillaries and
nasal bones. They help to complete the bony palate, and
afford sockets for some of the teeth. They are separate in
the young animal, but completely joined in the adult.

The palatine bones are situated uppermost of the bony
palate, and are connected to the superior maxillaries, vomer,
sphenoid, and ethmoid bones.

The vomer (Lat., ploughshare), or share-bone, differs

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STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE BONES.

183

much from the human vomer, being much longer in the
horse ; it is concave anteriorly, for the insertion of the
cartilage (septum) which divides the nose.

The Lower Jaw diifers from the upper in this, that the
formed is movable, being articulated at each extremity
with the temporal bone of that side.

In young animals it is divided between the fore teeth, so
that the bones may be easily parted. This bone affords
sockets for the lower teeth.

§ II. BONES OF THE NECK (CERVIX).

The Neck consists of the atlas dentata and the seven
cervical vertebrae. This number, seven, is the same in
animals with the longest or the shortest necks. The num-
ber of bones which form other divisions of the back are not
uniform. The tail, for instance, varies from thirteen to
eighteen bones.

We may here note that the spine, which here begins,
consists of 7 cervical (neck), 18 dorsal (back), 6 lumbar
(loin), 5 sacral (rump), and ordinarily 13 caudal (tail)
vertebrae, forming, in the whole, what is termed the spine.

The neck-bones are the largest of the spinal chain, but
6ave not the upper projections ; but on each side are
considerable prominences, at the base of which is seen a
hole (foramen) for the passage of the vertebral arteries and
veins. The bones of the neck are strongly united by
capsular ligaments, articular cartilages, and all the usual
appendages of a joint. Each vertebra has a round head
and a corresponding cavity below, to receive the next, so
that dislocation of the horse's neck cannot easily take
place ; when it does, the animal dies from compression of
the spinal marrow, and is said to have " broken his neck."

§ III. THE BONES OF THE CHEST (THORAX).

These include the sternum (breastbone) ; costw (true ribs),
and the five first vertebrcB of the back.

The breastbone is composed of several pieces of bone,
embedded in cartilage. To it are attached the lowermost
ends of the ribs. It is called the cariniform bone, from its
resemblance to the keel of a ship. Its hinder part is spread
out like the tail of a fish.

The ribs (costae) are narrow half-rounded pieces of bone
jointed above to the backbone, below to the breastbone
They are not, however, bone throughout, the lower portions
are formed of cartilage. The eight first ribs are called
" true ribs," and are joined to the breastbone. The " false
ribs " are merely connected with the breastbone by being
joined to each other. The ribs are fastened to the breast-
bone by ligament only, except the first rib, which has a
joint, to allow it more motion. All the ribs, however, are
jointed into the spine with a regular synovial (joint-oiled)
articulation, and have a backward and forward motion. The
true ribs move forward, and the false ones outward at
each respiration.

Of the five vertebrcB included in this section, we n.ay

observe the fifth has the longest spine of the back-bone.
They slope downwards, from the sixth to the thirteenth
vertebrae, which last is usually the most upright.

§ IV. THE BONES OF THE LOINS.

The Loins (the lumbar region). The six spines of the
loins are thicker than the others, they slope decidedly for-
ward, and, the ribs having ceased, they have projecting
transverse processes.

§ V. BONES OF THE SACRUM* (RUMP).

The five spines of the Sacrum, which lean considerably
backward, leaving a large open space between the top of the
last lumbar (loin) spines and the first of the sacral (rump)
spines, forming the great hinge of the rump and loins. The
sacrum consists of five pieces, but is viewed as one bone

§ VI. CAUDAL (tail) BONES.

The nine bones called the coccygeal bones ; they are so
named from the Greek coccyx, a cuckoo ; in man, the pointed
bone which ends the spinal column is supposed ^n represent
the beak of the cuckoo.

The tail-bones resemble vertebrae, but diminish down to
short round pieces of bone with a little hollow. They have
a remarkable formation ; instead of the cup and ball of the
neck-bones they have each a rounded projection, giving the
utmost play possible. Two small rounded surfaces moving
on each other, so that, up and down, or in any conceivable
direction, the tail can be switched by its flexors without
chance of dislocation.

§ VIL THE PELVIS.

The pelvis (from the Latin, pelvis, a basin). This consists
of the three ossa innominata (nameless bones) on each side.
The iliumt ; the pubis ; the ischium (loin-bone, ischion, Gr.,
the loin) ; these three bones form one cup to receive the
head of the thigh-bone.

The pelvis is almost circular, open before and behind and
at the top, where the sacrum fits on. Its forward part forms
the projecting hip of the horse. A little lower, behind the
joint of the spine, is the cup for the reception of the head of
the femur (thigh-bone), called the "round-bone" by farriers.
There are some important vital organs contained in the
pelvis, second only to those in the skull : — the rectum ; the
urethra of the male and vagina of the female; the bladder;
and, in the mare, the womb.

§VIII. THE BONES OF THE HINDER LEG.

These are the thigh (the femur), the patella (Latin for
a little dish), or stifle-bone, the tibia (pipe-bone), and fbula

* From sacer, Lat. holt/. This part being specially offered in anim&l
sacrifices by the ancients.

t From the Greek, eileo, to turn about : a name given to the
intestines from their convoIutionB.

184

STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE BONES.

(clasp or brooch-bone) ; the bones of the hock-joint — the
astragalus (the ring or ankle-bone), the os colds (Latin,
calcar, a spear), or heel-bone, forming in the horse the joint of
the metatarsals (meta, beyond, tarsus, the hock) : the cannon-
bones, or shank-bones ; the splint-bones. The bones of the
pasterns — the sesamoids (sesamum, millet-seed, oidos, like),
the large pastern bone, the smaller pastern bone, the pedal
(foot), or coffin bones.

The femur (thigh-bonej is the largest and strongest bone
in the skeleton. Yet it is shorter in the horse than in most
other animals. It has projections and cavities for the inser-
tion of most powerful muscles. Its upper part is called
" the neck," and its rounded top " the head." In this there
is a cavity, in which is a strong flat ligament holding it in
the cavity at the end of the pelvis, and lower down is
the capsular ligament. The lower end of the thigh-bone
has two large round surfaces, called condyles (Gr. condylos,
a knot). The stifle-bone (patella) slides over the front of
two projections, called trochlea (Gr. trochlea, a pulley). This
bone is very loose in structure, and full of fibres ; its outer
surface is roughened for the insertion of several tendons and
ligaments, which hold it on all sides.

The tibia (leg-bone) is a long triangular bone, connected
on its outer side with the fibula, which, in the horse, is
merely rudimentary. The top of the tibia has two hollows,
divided by a ridge, upon which the two rounded cartilages
of the stifle are supported. Its lower end has three pro-
minences, between which two projecting parts of one of the
hock bones neatly fits. (See Plate X., fig. 4.)

The tarsus, or hock, is a most important joint. The
astragalus, or knuckle-bone, is seen well in the enlarged
figure just referred to. When we come to the Muscles, and
to Veterinary Treatment of Injuries, &c., we shall have
more to say of the hock-joint and of the foot. The bones of
the last-named we defer to the next section.

§ IX. THE BONES OF THE FORELEO.

These are the scapula (blade), or shoulder-bone, with its
shallow cup to receive the head of the humerus (or arm-
bone) ; the radius (spoke-bone), and uhia (the cubit), or
large bone of the fore-arm ; the carpus (knee-joint), consist-
ing of the trapezium (Gr., a little table), the table-bone
which gives security to the great flexors of the leg ; the
cannon, or shank-bone ; the splint-bones ; the sesamoid,
large pastern, small pastern, and pedal, or coffin-bones.

The bones of the fore extremities of the horse present but
little resemblance to those of the human arm, especially in
respect of the limb ending in a single solid hoof or toe.

The shoulder-blade is a broad triangular bone applied to
the outside of the ribs, so that its point reaches downward
between the first and second ribs, and its lower part as far
back as the seventh ; standing obliquely with its broadest
part above and its narrow below. It is slightly hollowed
and smooth on its inner side, and outwardly divided by a
projecting ridge or keel. Its lower part ends in a neck, and

a bulging-out head containing a shallow cup to receive the
head of the arm-bone. Its upper surface is covered with
strong ligamentous fibres, and its mode of attachment is
beautifully contrived to give power without receiving con-
cussion.

The humerus (or arm-bone) is strong and short ; it forms
an angle with the scapula from the joint of the shoulder and
the elbow. It has a round head, with an indentation to
receive a capsular ligament, like the thigh-bone. It termi-
nates in two of the rounded bodies called condyles, which
joint with cavities in the upper end of the radius.

The radius (spoke-bone) is the front bone of the arm, the
hinder one the ulna. These are known in general as " the
arm " and " the elbow." The radius is long and cylindrical,
and flat at the upper end, with depressions to receive the
projections of the arm-bone (humerus). It has some tube-
rosities in front for the attachment of tendons, and behind
a place for the ulna. At its lower end it has eminences
covered with cartilage, which are connected with the upper
bones of the knee.

The knee-bones, called carpal bones — the fore knee of the
horse corresponding to the wrist (carpus) in man. These
bones are seven in number in the prepared skeletons ; but
an eighth bone, of diminutive size, of the shape of a pea, is
always found just behind the trapezoid, to which it is
attached. The names of the bones are the same as those in
the human wrist. The carpal bones articulate with each
other, and have but one investing capsular ligament ; hence
the smallest wound of the knee which penetrates this liga-
ment opens the whole joint ; hence, also, the excessive escape
of synovia (joint oil), and the unpleasant consequences of
" a broken knee."

The metacarpus (Gr., meta, beyond, carpus, the wrist),
cannon, or shank-bone, consists of one large bone and two
small ones, called splint-bones. The cannon-bone is plain
and cylindrical, enlarged at the two ends, the upper of
which articulates with the second or lower row of the knee-
bones. Behind its head it has two indentations to receive
the two splint-bones, one on each side. Below, it has
two condyles (knots), by which it articulates with the
ffreat pastern and the sesamoid bones, in such a way as to
give them remarkable freedom of action in a forward or
backward direction, but almost prevents any lateral action
at this joint. The splint-bones, as we have said, are placed
one behind each side of the cannon-bone ; they are each
jointed to the lower carpal bones and have also a synovial
jointing with the hinder part of the cannon. They taper
downwards, and end two-thirds down the cannon-bone, in a
button-shaped extremity, which is unattached. In age the
ligamentary attachment of the splints hardens into bony
substance. The purpose of this mixture of fibro-cartilage is
to allow of motion, yet limit its extent. It gives that
elasticity which is necessary to the animal's (and his rider's)
safety. A strain from extra weight or efifort is apt to pro-
duce inflammation in these ligaments, when they become

STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE BONES.

185

vascular, hot, and painful, and are converted into bony
formations, called, after the bones themselves, "splints."
The inner splint-bone is more liable than the outer (see
post, Splints). At this point the comparative anatomist
notes that the wide palm of the human subject and the paw
of the toed animal is converted into a simple solid cylindri-
cal bone and two small additamentary ones — the splints
just described.

The bones of the pastern are four : the large pastern, the
lesser pastern or coronet, and two sesamoids.

The large pastern bone is the first of the oblique group of
bones that form the extremities of the horse. It is cylindri-
cal, and on its length and its obliquity depend the elasticity
and ease of the animal's motions. Nevertheless, as its length
throws greater strain upon the tendons and ligaments to
restore it to its position after each effort, very long pasterned
horses are most liable to strain and break down, although
more " springy " in movements within their powers.

The lesser pastern, or coronary bone, supports the lower
end of the great pastern, and then expands to a large surface.
At its upper end is a projection which fits into a hollow
m the great pastern. It has two projections on its sides,
to receive the perforans tendon. It rests upon and articu-
lates into the coffin and navicular bones, which end the

series.

The sesamoids are a couple of small wedge-shaped bones
at the hinder and upper point of the fetlock, just behind the
lower end of the cannon-bone, to which they are attached,
and also to the upper end of the great pastern-bone, and
thus support a portion of the stress and weight imposed on
these upright and sloping bones. They are placed side by
side with their smaller portions upwards, and by their
thicker and lower ends they are firmly held to the pastern
bones by stout tendons, in addition to the great suspensory
ligament. The use of these small bones is obvious. They are
most strongly attached to the pastern, but admit in action
of a certain amount of downward motion when pressed by
the cannon-bone ; the flexor tendons keeping them from
being too far displaced. In horses with very oblique pasterns
the cannon-bone is always resting on the sesamoids, which
tends to fatigue and weaken the springs. On the other
hand, horses with very erect pasterns do not have these
sesamoids duly depressed by the cannon-bone ; hence a
want of elasticity in motion and danger when their pace is
accelerated.

The coffin-bone is peculiar to the horse and his congeners.
In shape it corresponds with the shape of the hoof, which,
with its appendages, it almost fills. (See Plate IX.) Its
bony fibres are placed perpendicularly in rough lines, and
its substance is very porous. In front is a projection to
which the tendon of the extensor pedis is attached ; its two
lower and lateral processes are called the " wings " of the
cofiin-bone. On these wings is a groove to receive an artery
which sends off branches, as explained in detail hereafter in
the AuATOMY OF THE FooT. The porous character of the

A A

coffin-bone serves a threefold purpose : it gives lightness with
solidity to the foot ; it affords protection to the nerves and
vessels which ramify through its interior ; and lastly, givee
a strong hold to the laminae and structures on its outer side,
thus giving strength and durability to the whole machine.

The navicular-bone (Lat. navicula, a little boat), called
also the shuttle-bone, the nut, and the quiltor, is situated
behind and below the coffin-bone, and between its two
wings. Its upper surface is continuous with its articulation
with the coffin-bone ; its lower rests on the perforans
flexor tendon, that tendon on the insensible frog, that
on the sensible frog, which has the tough and flexible horn
of the external frog below it. The upper surface of the
navicular-bone receives much of the weight of the animal,
with synovia only to relieve the pressure, but below its
elastic yielding is evident. It also forms a point of attach-
ment for the perforans tendon. As Navicular Disease is
one of the most ruinous scourges of horseflesh, we shall
have more to say thereon in the proper place, where the
hoof, also, will come to be considered.

The Teeth we have considered of such general interest,
apart from the general structure of the bones, as to bestow
upon them, in a former part of this Work, a separate
chapter. (See Age of the Horse, ante, pp. 104 — 112.)
Tlieir diseases and the operations upon them will come in
the veterinary part hereafter.

There are also some internal bones, which shall be else-
where noticed. These are the os hyoides, or tongue-bone, so
called from its resemblance to the Greek letter v (upsilon) ;
it is situated at the base of the tongue, several of the muscles
are connected with it, to which, in its several movenaents,
this bone serves as a fixed point : it also supports the
muscles acting on the larynx and fauces.

The bones of the internal ear (figured in Plate V.) will
be described in the proper place.

The Appendages of bone are periosteum, (bone covering),
medulla (marrow), synovia (^oint-oil), cartilage, and ligament.

The Periosteum is a strong, fibrous membrane, covering
the bones, and serving for the insertion of muscles and their
tendons. It has few nerves, and is consequently scarcely
sensible in a healthy state ; but when diseased its sensibility
becomes increased, and the most acute pain is produced.
This is the case in splint and spavin ; for, in these diseases,
the bone beneath enlarging, presses forcibly against the
periosteum covering it ; and this membrane being inelastic,
and consequently incapable of expanding, violent pain,
attended with lameness, takes place.

This membrane, when covering the bones of the skull, ie
called pericranium; and when on cartilages, perichondrium:
it is of a white colour in animals after death, but in the
living subject it is red, and much more vascular than
tendon.

Medulla (marrow), is found in certain hollow bones, and
throughout the spinal column. It is enveloped in a mem-
brane which lines the cavities of bones, and which is secreted

186

STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE BONES.

from arteries which are seen entering the bone for that pur-
pose. Formerly it was supposed the marrow possessed
sensibility, but that idea is exploded, it being impossible to
trace nerves into it. But though the marrow is itself perfectly
insensible, this is not the case with the membrane contain-
ing it, which is supplied with nerves, and is consequently
sensible.

The marrow was at one time thought to serve as nourish-
ment to the bones, but this opinion is now also abandoned.
It is supposed, with more reason, that it performs the same
offices as the fat, in being absorbed when there is occasion
for it to supply animal waste.

Synovia, popularly termed joint-oil, is not an oil, bat a
fluid similar in appearance to white of egg, secreted by the
membrane lining the interior of the joints. Its service in
lubricating the joints is immense. Indeed, but for its inter-
position, the grinding at the extremities of bones would render
movement intolerably painful : with this slippery addendum
the joints are made to slide over each other pleasantly and
smoothly. When an excess of secretion of synovia takes
place, the joint swells and " dropsy " follows. When this
happens on the hock of the horse, it is called " bog-spavin."
In other joints it is recognised in what is called by farriers
" wind-gall."

Cartilages are of four kinds : articular, inter-articular,
non-articular, and temporary. They serve many useful
purposes by their smooth and elastic properties. First, they
form the extreme and prominent parts of the body ; such as
the nose, ears, &c. ; which, from being composed partly
of cartilage instead of bone, are better enabled to resist
injuries. The ribs, also, are cartilaginous in that part of
them connected with the breast-bone, and which is most
exposed to injury and violence. Secondly, in the fcctus,
cartilages supply the place of bones. Young animals, being
very liable to falls and other accidents, have a material of
an elastic and yielding nature in place of bone. Hence we
seldom meet with fractures in the bones of the young,
because they are still, in great part, cartilage. There are
cartilages in the foot of the horse, which act as a spring,
and, by their elasticity, serve to prevent concussion.

The third kind of cartilage is more universal than any of

the rest, and is intended to prevent friction between the
ends of bones, by being interposed where they form joints.
In this case, the cartilage itself is covered by a firm mem
brane, called 'perichondrium, which performs the ofiice of a
gland in secreting a fluid termed synovia. This fluid
prevents friction in the joints. Continually covering the
membrane by which it is secreted, it necessarily prevents
the surface of that membrane from coming into contact
with the opposite one. These cartilages are, as we have said,
yielding and elastic ; they carry no red blood, nor has any
fluid been yet injected into them. They have, however, a
small number of vessels, with a transparent fluid, and this
is seen in the jaundice of the human subject, when the
cartilages become yellow. They neither ulcerate nor exfoliate,
nor do they ever granulate. They possess no sensibility ;
their nerves, if they have any, not being discovered ; but the
membrane covering them is both sensible and vascular.
These properties are peculiar to this last kind of cartilage
only ; for the other classes are subject to disease, in con-
sequence of which they become ossified. Cartilage is popu-
larly called " gristle."

Ligaments are dense, white, fibrous substances which
connect and tie the bones together. They are inelastic,
and but little vascular ; they, however, are covered by
a membrane, which has several vessels, j,nd which is
similar nearly, in structure and use, to that of the cartilages
of joints. The ligaments of a horse are not so liable to
disease as those of the human subject are, but they
frequently meet with injuries by the ends of the bones
forming a joint pressing forcibly upon them when the
animal makes a false step ; in this case the horse is said
to be sprained.

The ligaments of the horse are liable to be wounded,
which often proves dangerous, from the synovia of the
joint escaping, and the air insinuating itself into the
cavity. The object, then, should be to shut up the opening
that has been made into the joint ; for so long as it remains
unclosed, the synovia will escape, friction will take
place, and, the inflammation increasing, the pain will at
length become so violent as to produce a symptomatic
fever, which frequently ends in death.

STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE MUSCLE&

187

CHAPTER XVIIL

EXTE^tNAL STRUCTURE OP THE HORSE, CONTINUED. — THE MUSCLES AND TENDONS. — MUSCULAR MOTION. — 1, MUSCLES OF THB
HEAD AND NECK. — 2, OF THE TRUNK. — 3, OF THB FORE-LIMBS. — 4, OF THE HINDER-LIMBS. — 5, OF THB ANUS AND TAIL. —
6, THE SKIN AND HAIR.

Muscle is the part of an animal popularly termed the
flesh, or meat. It consists of collections of fleshy fibres,
forming bundles, which are connected together by cellular
membrane ; and these bundles are again connected to others,
till the whole muscle is produced. Each muscle is attached
by its extremities to different bones. One of these extre-
mities is called its origin ; the other, its insertion. A
muscle accomplishes motion by expanding its belly, or
middle part, and contracting its ends towards the centre ;
when the parts to which those ends are attached must neces-
sarily be made to approximate. Thus, when we wish to
bend the hand at the wrist, the muscles engaged in this
action, by expanding their middle part, contract their ex-
tremities, and consequently shorten their lengths ; and
having one set of ends fixed in the bones above the joint
of the wrist and the other in the bones of the hand
below it, the attached parts are pulled towards each other,
and the flexure we desire is produced. In this manner are
all the movements of the frame accomplished ; and for this
intent every animal designed for motion is supplied, more
or less, with muscles, which constitute its flesh.

The muscles difi"er greatly in size and shape, being fitted
both to the degree of force required of them, and the figure
of the part they help to form. Thus some are long and
round, as are most of those that move the limbs ; while the
muscles of the trunk of the body are generally broad and
flat. Muscles often terminate in tendons for insertion-
Tendons consist of a white, inelastic, insensible, and hard
substance ; and, as they require less room than muscles,
they are well calculated to preserve the shape of the limbs
and other parts.

It should be observed here, that the muscles of one side
of the frame have corresponding ones on the opposite side ;
and that they take their names generally in the horse, as in
the human subject, either from the functions they perform,
their figure and shape, or from the parts which they act
upon. The most convenient way of considering these will
be to divide them into —

1. The Muscles of the Head and Neck.

2. The Muscles of the Trunk of the Body.

3. The Muscles of the Fore-limbs, or Anterior Extremities.

4. The Muscles of the Hinder Limbs, or Posterior Extre-
mities.

5. The Muscles of the Anus and Tail.

6. The Skin and Hair.

Op Muscular Motion. — Numerous and complicated as
are the motions of the horse, they are all reducible to two
kinds — voluntary and involuntary. Each of these is efiected
by the contraction of the muscular fibre, which constitutes
the fleshy portion of every vertebrated animal, and is the
immediate agent of motion in them all. This contraction of
muscular fibre is induced by the presence of a stimulus, which,
acting on the irritability of the fibre, forces it to contract ;
and here we arrive at the immediate cause of animal motion.

Contractility, then, is that power in muscular bodies by
which their actions are directly executed. These actions
are called voluntary when efiected by the contractility at
the instigation of the will : involuntary, when accomplished
by the same contractile power, but at the instance of some
stimulus different from that of the will, and wholly inde-
pendent of it. Thus, the blood, acting as a stimulus to the
heart and arteries, causes these organs to contract, by
which the circulation is sustained independently of volition.
So also is it with the stomach, intestines, and indeed all
other involuntary motionary organs ; they are forced to
contract by the presence of a stimulus different from that
of volition, and consequently perform their functions like-
wise independent of the mind But the case is different
with the voluntary organs. Here no single movement can
take place but by the command of the will Thus, for
instance, do we wish a horse to walk, trot, or gallop ; |
or that from any of these paces he should instantly dis-
continue and remain at rest ; before the act we desire can
be accomplished, it must first be known and determined
upon in the mind of the animal. This subject, however,
will be more fully explained when we come to speak of the
brain and nerves.

Whether this contractile power of muscles, by which the
motions of animals are executed, be derived from the
nerves, or is a property wholly distinct from them. Is a
dispute amongst physiologists yet to be determined. All
that is certain is, as we have seen, that whilst some muscles
perform their functions wholly independently of the mind,
and are therefore termed involuntary muscles ; there are
others called, in contradistinction, voluntary muscles, be-
cause they are unable to accomplish the smallest motion
without the interference of the nervous influence. We
will therefore avoid a subject yet veiled in uncertainty,
with an observation on the close dependance of muscular
motion on the atmospheric air.

188

STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE MUSCLES.

That certain properties, absorbed by the blood from the
air taken into the lungs in breathing, are absolutely essen-
tial to the continuance of those movements called involun-
tary, and which directly support life, is demonstrated by
numerous experiments. Thus, for instance, if an animal
be confined to a certain quantity of air, it will continue
without feeling change while it has a sufficiency of that
fluid to respire ; but the vital portion (oxygen) of the air
being at length consumed, and no fresh supply admitted,
the creature begins to gasp. His circulation becomes
languid, convulsions follow, and all the vital movements
gradually ceasing, death, to all appearance, shortly follows.
And, in fact, if no means of recovery be promptly used, the
creature absolutely must die. If, on the other hand, the
apparently lifeless body be removed from the foul air in
which it expired, and fresh oxygenated air be forced at
proper intervals into its lungs, the heart will, probably,
after a short time, be stimulated into its usual contractions,
the circulation restored, and with it the life of the animal.
Thus we see, that a constant supply of fresh atmospheric
air is absolutely essential to life ; and that, where it is
denied, the muscular power must soon cease. Hence the
necessity, which we have already urged, of preserving to
horses in stable a sufficiency of pure unrespired air ; for if
its total absence suspends, in a few minutes, life altogether,
surely the partial corruption and diminution of this fluid
must, in proportion, impair their strength, and expose
them to disease.

Again, we observe the great dependance of muscular
motion on the atmospheric air, in the increased quantity of
this fluid which a horse, and indeed any other creature,
respires when under violent exertion. This may be easily
seen in the changes which a race-horse exhibits when
running. Prior to commencing the race, his breathing is
but little increased, and he respires not much more air than
usual. As his exertions increase, his nostrils expand ; he
breathes quicker, and his blood is made to circulate much
faster than before, owing to the additional stimulus it has
received from the air in the lungs. He is now pushed by
the rider, and his own generous and noble spirit urges him
to surpass some rival. They rapidly approach the goal —
both animals exert themselves to the utmost. At this mo-
ment all the appearances already described are at their
height. The race being ended, and the horses allowed to
walk gently, the increased breathing and circulation still
continue, but not so violently as before. By degrees both
subside to their ordinary degree of action, and the animal
recovers the normal condition he exhibited prior to the

race.

Now racing being a rapid movement of the animal,
wholly performed by the voluntary muscles, and these
muscles depending on the nervous energy to enable them
to act, the increased motion which is necessary to the
speedy gallop, requires additional energy from the nerves ;
hence, in fact, the increased velocity of the blood's circula-

tion under violent exertion. The blood flowing, during the
period of exertion, in greater abundance to the brain,
excites that organ to impart a larger supply of that
mysterious energy, without which the increased action
of the muscles would flag and be no longer sustained-
As the blood, then, is the medium which contains the
properties which the brain separates for the purposes of
exertion, and as these properties are greatly derived from
the atmospheric air in the process of respiration, we find
the breathing also accelerated, by which a more rapid
oxygenation of the blood is also efi"ected.

1. MUSCLES OF THE HEAD AND NECK

As there are a great number of motions peculiar to the
parts belonging to the head and neck, they are supplied with
numerous and some special muscles and ligaments. Some of
these have their origins at a greater distance from their inser-
tions, such as those which sustain the head, and give forward,
backward, and sideway, or occasionally partially rotary mo-
tions to the parts. Of these two are common to the head and
neck, and eight pairs pertain to the head only. The muscles,
strictly so called, have some of their origins from the breast-
bone, and also from the vertebrae of the neck and chest.
These are inserted, some into the occiput, others into the
processes of the two temporal bones. Those of the neck
which act in concert with the muscles of the head also take
their origins from the breast-bone, the spines of the vertebras
of the chest and the lateral processes of the same ; these are
mostly, some higher or some lower, inserted into the trans-
verse processes of the neck bones, and compose the bulk of
flesh on those parts.

Muscular power alone would be insufficient to constantly
sustain the head of the horse ; nature has therefore sup-
plied a provision as simple as it is efficient. At the back
of the occipital bone, immediately below the crest, a round
cord of ligamentous fibres, called the ligamentum colli
(ligament of the neck), or " pack- wax," has its origin. This
has some remarkable peculiarities. It passes over the first
vertebra of the neck (the atlas) without any attachment,
but is fixed firmly to the second vertebra, so that, while
supporting the head at this point, it leaves the head free to
turn on the first or second vertebral joints. The principal
stress is on the dentata. It then sinks deeply, and is
attached to all the other vertebrae of the neck ; each of these
attachments forms a separate point of support for all in
front of it. Thus, when in a state of rest, the animal's head,
without the fatigue of muscular tension, is supported by
this great ligament.

But the head of the horse was not intended to be con-
stantly carried high. In a state of nature the horse's food
lies on the ground, or nearly so. This ligament varies, in one
respect, from all others — it is elastic ; that is, will yield when
force is applied to it, and retract to its ordinary dimensions
80 soon as that force is withdrawn ; thus, this ligament is
some inches longer when the horse is grazing than when his

STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE MUSCLES.

189

head is elevated. The thickness of the occipital bone im-
mediately below the crest is to adapt it to receive this
ligament, which is carried down to the spines of the back,
and there firmly secured.

The Eyelids have three pairs of muscles ; one pair opens,
and the other two pairs shut them. The pair that retracts is
peculiar to the eyelid only, while the two others are inserted
into both, to bring them together, and to shut the eye.
All of them rise from the edge of the hole in the bottom of
the orbit, through which the optic nerve passes to the eye.

The Eye of the Horse is moved in its different directions by
six muscles, which take their rise from the bottom of the
orbit, and are inserted into the sides of the eyeball, as in
the human subject. There is, however, in the horse a
seventh muscle, called the retractor oculi; it arises from
the bottom of the orbit, and is inserted all round the ball of
the eye. It is very strong, and is intended to draw the
globe of the eye into the orbit from injury, at the same time
that the haw is forced out for the better defence of the eye.

The Nose has four pairs of muscles, for widening and con-
tracting the nostrils ; they arise from the upper jaw and
from under the eyes, and are inserted into the cartilages of
the nostrils, and part of the upper lip. The action of these
muscles is very perceptible in horses that are much heated
by exercise, in broken-winded horses, and in cases of fever,
when the nostrils open and contract in proportion as the
animal is oppressed with disease.

The Lips have five pairs that are proper, and two common
to the mouth and cheeks, some of which compose the fleshy
part of the cheeks. The chief use of these muscles is to
enable the horse to gather his food.

The Upper Jaw being of itself incapable of motion, all the
muscles that serve to open and shut the mouth, belong pro-
perly to the lower jaw. The chief of these are the temporal
muscles, which make up the fleshy part of the temples ;
also the muscles already mentioned as belonging to the chin
and upper lip, and which have a considerable share in
pulling down the jaw, so as to open the mouth ; while the
temporal muscles have the chief share in pulling it up, and
shutting the mouth. There are other muscles for moving
the jaw several ways in chewing, which are called the
masseters ; besides these, one pair thrust the jaw forwards
and another pull it backwards.

The Tongue is itself a muscular substance, made up of
fibres variously combined together, and in such a manner as
may best suit and correspond with all its different move-
ments. The tongue has five pairs of muscles proper to it
alone, and two pairs that are common to it and the bone
called OS hyoides. Some of them arise from the lower jaw
and OS hyoides, and others that rise from this bone have
their insertions into the apertures of the lower jaw-bone.
One pair that pull the tongue backwards arise from the
temporal bones, and are inserted into the sides of the
tongue ; and another pair from the lower jaw, near the
furthermost grinding teeth, and are inserted into the liga-

ment (or bridle) of the tongue ; by which means they are
suited to all its various motions. The muscles common to
the tongue and os hyoides act chiefly in concert with the
others, and give the tongue such motions as forward the
aliment into the gullet, when it is sufficiently chewed and
prepared to pass into the stomach.

The Larynx, or head of the wind-pipe, has six pairs of
muscles for moving its different parts. The epiglottis, which
serves as a valve for opening and shutting the wind-pipe,
has its muscles very small, excepting in animals that chew
the cud. These muscles are all more or less liable to be
affected with colds ; which is the cause of that soreness of
throat observable in some horses, hindering them from
drinking and swallowing their food.

The Pharynx, or head of the gullet, has also its muscles,
which are often affected in colds : their office is chiefly to
widen and contract the upper orifice of the gullet.

The Muscles of the Ears in horses are very distinct and
perfect, and may be easily traced from their origins to their
insertions. In man they are small, because in the human
ear there is little capacity for motion ; while brute crea- ;
tures, being without hands, make use of their ears to drive .
away flies and other offensive things. The motion of the
ears is also necessary to brute creatures for the reception
of sounds, and to avoid danger. Therefore we may always
perceive somewhat of the intentions of a horse by the
motion of his ears. When a horse sees any remarkable
object before him, he pricks up his ears, and points them
forward, with an intention to hear, especially when the
object is attended with any noise. When the noise or
sound comes on one side, he turns his ears that way, to
take the sound. When the noise is behind him, he lays
his ears backwards ; which is most observable in hot or
timid horses.

The ear is properly distinguished into the outward and
inward ear. The outward ear has four muscles ; the first
lifts the ear up, and points it forwards ; the second pulls
the ear backwards ; the third draws the ear forward, and
points it downward ; and these act together, and move
both ears, when a horse looks steadfastly to anything lying
on the ground. The fourth assists the second, and pulls the
ear backward and downward towards the neck. When a
horse is wanting in a quick and sprightly motion of his
ears, it is, in great measure, owing to the weakness of
these muscles. For this defect is always more or less mani-
fest in those that have their ears uncommonly large and
thick, in which case the muscles are not fully adequate
to the weight they are to move ; and these horses are
commonly the most dull and sluggish.

The internal ear has two muscles for moving the small
bones it contains, which are employed in hearing ; as will
be explained when we come to treat of that organ.

From this mechanism of the muscles of the head and
neck, and particularly by their remote origins of the breast
and spine, it appears how well they are suited to the

190

STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE MUSCLES.

several articulations of the joints, so as to secure them
from harm in all their various turnings. Otherwise, in
parts ahounding with articulations, though well connected
and tied together by strong ligaments, the horse would
easily be injured by quick motion or a trifling accident.

II. THE MUSCLES OF THE TRUNK.

The muscles of the trunk include all those employed in
respiration and other important functions. They may be
divided into those of the breast or chest, and those of the
abdomen (belly), and the muscles of the back and loins,
most of which are endued with great power.

But first it will be necessary to describe a muscle called
pannicuhis camosus (the fleshy pannicle), or subcutaneous
muscle, which is peculiar to quadrupeds ; at least it is not
found in the human subject.

This muscle may be said to belong to the skin, its action
being wholly on this part. It serves, by throwing the skin
into folds, cr rugae, to remove any offending matter, as
insects, &c., that may lodge upon it ; and, for this purpose,
it is closely connected with the skin covering the ribs,
shoulders, and hinder parts of the body of the animal It
has also attachments with the muscles lying beneath it, and
which serve as so many fixed points during its motions.

The Breast has four pairs of muscles for widening and
dilating the chest, and two pairs that straiten and compress
it. These make up that portion of flesh which covers the
brisket and the breast from its upper part downwards to the
pit of the stomach, expanding over most of the foremost
ribs. Some of them have their derivations forwards, and
from under the shoulder-blades and rack-bones of the neck
and chest, and some backwards from the spines of the rack-
bones of the loins, and from the os sacrum ; and are most of
them so inserted into the ribs as to render their action of
elevating and depressing the chest easy and complete. The
intercostals are the external and internal small muscles
which are situated between the ribs, and these also assist in
widening and compressing the chest alternately in inspira-
tion and expiration.

The Diaphragm, Midriff {or skirt, as some call it, in horse
or bullock), is a muscular substance which divides the cavity
of the chest from that of the abdomen, and is a principal
agent in the act of respiration. Its fleshy fibres arise from
the internal circumference of the chest, and, converging like
rays to a centre, are all inserted into a tendinous flat sub-
stance at the middle. This muscle not only serves to divide
the thorax from the abdomen, but also greatly contributes
to the act of breathing. When its fibres contract, its convex
side, which is turned towards the chest, becomes gradually
flat, and, by increasing the cavity of the breast, afibrds
room for a complete dilatation of the lungs, by means of the
air which is then drawn into them by the act of inspiration.
The fibres of the diaphragm then relax ; and as it resumes
its former state, the cavity of the chest becomes gradually
diminished, and the air is driven out again from the lungs

by a motion contrary to the former one, called expira-
tion.

The Abdomen has five pairs of muscles, which arise from
the ribs, haunch-bone, share-bone, breast, and other con-
tiguous parts, and are mostly inserted into the white line
that divides the abdomen in the middle. One pair pass
obliquely downwards ; another pair obliquely ujtwards ; a
third have a straight direction from the breast to the share-
bone ; a fourth pair assist the straight muscles in pulling
down the breast ; the last are the transverse { air, which
take their course from the loins and lowermost ribs on each
side to the white line. This partition, or white line, of the
abdomen, is formed by the tendinous junctions of the
muscles of both sides, and is particularly well adapted to so
large and roundish a surface ; for had these muscles not
been determined in the middle, but been stretched over the
whole abdomen, it would have been impossible for them to
have acted with such force and energy. The use of the
abdominal muscles, besides completing the cavity of the
abdomen, and supporting the bowels, is to assist the muscles of
the chest in respiration, and also in expelling the foeces.

The Back and Loins have four pairs of muscles, common
to both. The first are remarkable f>r their groa!. length,
extending from the haunch-bones and o'l sacrum, anis reach-
ing to the two temporal bones. These being attached to the
spines in their passage, are a great security to the back,
and assist the other three pairs in all their motions. When all
the muscles of the back and loins act together, the whole
back is extended ; but when the muscles of either side act
solely, the body is inclined to that side only.

III. MUSCLES OF THE FORE-LIMBS.

The Shoulder-blade bones are carried through their different
movements by four pairs of muscles ; they arise from the
hind part of the head, from the transverse processes of the
neck, and from the uppermost ribs, and are inserted into
the blade-bones at difierent points. By these muscles the
shoulder-blades are moved forwards, backwards, upwards,
and downwards.

The Shoulder — i. e. that part which reaches from the
point of the blade to the elbow — has nine muscles for
performing its several motions. The first arises from the
first rib, and, passing over part of the blade, is inserted into
the shoulder-bone about its middle : this muscle helps to
raise the shoulder upwards. The second rises from the
spine or ridge of the shoulder-blade, and is inserted into
the neck of the shoulder-bone ; this also helps to raise the
shoulder upwards. The two depressors pull the shoulder
downwards. The first has its origin from the os sacrum,
from the haunch-bone, and rack-bones of the back, and,
with its fellow on the other side, spreads over a great part
of the back, from whence it is called latissimus dorsi, or the
broadest muscle of the back. The other rises from the
lower side of the shoulder-blade, and is inserted into the
upper and inner side of the shoulder-bone The two pairs

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STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE MUSCLES.

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that bring the shoulder forward, are the pectoral muscles,
and another which rises from the interior part of the blade-
bone, near its brim, and is inserted into the middle of the
shoulder-bone. The pectoral muscles are so called because
they cover most of the breast, and are inserted into each
shoulder-bone, a little below their round heads. The re-
maining three muscles move the shoulder backwards. The
first has its origin from under the spine of the blade-bone,
and is inserted into one of the ligaments of the shoulder-
bone ; the second is placed between the shoulder-blade and
ribs, and is inserted into another ligament of the shoulder-
bone.

The motions of the shoulders of horses and most quadru-
peds are more limited than in man, their chief action being
forwards and backwards, wherein they have a capacity of
being raised higher or lower, according to their several
requirements.

The Fore-arm, extending from the elbow to the knee, is
carried through its motions by powerful muscles, arising
from the blade-bone ; some of these muscles are inserted, by
tendinous ends, into the oler j'anon, or point of the elbow,
and extend the fore-arm, while the arm itself is bent.
Others are inserted into the bones of the fcre-arm for
bending this part of the limb

The Shank, which reaches l.Tom the knee to the pastern,
has two muscles that bend tlse knee, and two for extending
it. The flexors arise from the inner and upper part of the
shoulder-bone, and, passing beyond the knee on the inside,
are inserted into the hinder part of the top of the shank.
The extensors derive their origins from the external and
superior part of the shoulder-bone also ; and their tendons,
passing over the knee, are inserted into the fore-part of the
head of the shank ; and, togc-ther with the ligaments of this
part, help to secure and strengthen the knee-joint.

The Fore-pastern and Foot have also their flexor and
extensor muscles ; which, from their arrangement and
liability to injury, desirve particular notice. The extensor
arises from the external and inferior end of the humerus,
and also from the outward and lower extremity of the
radius ; and descending fleshy to within about two inches
of the knee, it here becomes tendinous. From this point
its tendon descends along th'j knee, under an annular
ligament, and, continuing its course down the anterior
surface of iht cannon-bone, it passes over the fetlock,
where it is also bound down by another annular ligament ;
still descending, it receives, about the middle of ths large
pastern, two slips of ligament, from what is called the
suspensory ligament, which shall be hereafter explained.
And now the tendon of the extensor muscle expanding, is
inserted partly into the anterior and lower end of the
large pastern ; in part, into the anterior surface of the
small pastern ; and, lastly, into the superior and anterior
process of the coffin-bone. The use of this muscle being
simply to extend the lower part of the limb, but principally
the foot, and carry the leg forward after it has been raised

from the ground by the flexors, it is neither so strong as
these, nor so liable to injury.

The flexor muscles, from having to support a part of the
animal's weight, are necessarily very strong and powerful ;
their tendons constitute what are vulgarly called the " back-
sinews ; " and from the peculiar arrangement of these
tendons, the muscles are themselves distinguished into the
" perforating " and the " perforated."

The first arises by three distinct heads ; viz., two from
the lower end of the shoulder-bone, and one from the ulna ;
and descending fleshy, till approaching the knee, each
portion here becomes tendinous ; when the whole, uniting,
form one strong broad tendon, which passes at the back of
the knee, under a ligament, the inside of which secretes an
oily liquid for keeping the surface of the tendon moist, and
thereby preventing friction with the neighbouring parts.
The tendon now descends along the posterior side of the
cannon-bone, till having arrived within about two inches
of the fetlock-joint, it perforates the tendon of the other
flexor muscle, and runs within it as in a sheath, until
both reach as low down as the lower end of the large pas-
tern. The perforating tendon now passes over the navicular
bone, and is inserted into the inferior and posterior concavity
of the coffin-bone.

The second, ov perforated flexor, arises from the posterior
and inferior end of the humerus ; and becoming tendinous
as it approaches the knee, continues its course downwards
to where it divides to form a sheath for the other tendon.
After this it still descends, passing behind the pastern, and
is inserted partly in the heels of the frog, but principally
into the lower side of the large pastern, where it forms
lateral ligaments to the pastern joint.

The suspensory ligament, of which we have already spoken,
arises from the head of the large metacarpal bone, and
dividing into two branches about two inches above the
sesamoid bones, both branches are inserted in those bones,
and serve materially in keeping them in their right place
during violent motion of these parts.

IV. MUSCLES OF THE HINDER LIMBS.

These are not only more numerous about the hips and
loins than those about the shoulders, but they are of larger
volume ; a necessity imposed by the fact that they not only
have to take their share of the animal's weight, but are also
the organs of propulsion. For this purpose, therefore, the
hinder part of the horse's skeleton is filled up to roundness
with large and powerful muscles. Those giving motion to
the thigh arise, some from the hinder part of the spine, others
from the pelvis : these are inserted into the thigh-bone to
efiect its several movements. Some of these muscles form
the fleshy part of the hip, whilst others pass over the whirl-
bone, and form an additional security to the hip-joint.

The Leg, comprehending that part usually called the thigh,
reaches, in the horse, from the stifle to the knee-pan, or
hock It is carried through its several motions by powerful

192

STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE MUSCLES.

muscles, some of which take their origin from the bones of
the pelvis, others from the thigh-hone, and, descending, are
inserted partly into the patella, or knee-pan, partly into the
tibia or leg-bone. These muscles extend, bend, and move
the leg a little to the side ; and they, together with the
muscles remaining to be described, compose the fleshy por-
tion of the hinder limbs.

The Instep, including that part which reaches from the
hock to the pastern-joint, and commonly termed the small
of the leg, has its motions performed by means of a few
powerful muscles. It is bent, or brought forward, by two
muscles chiefly, which arise from the superior part of the
leg-bone, and descending along its anterior surface, are in-
serted into the fore part of the cannon-bone, a little below
the bend of the hock. But the muscle extending this part,
being that which is principally concerned in effecting the
progression of the animal, deserves a more particular de-
scription.

This muscle corresponds with that called gastrocnemius
in the human subject, and which forms the calf of the leg ;
in the horse it is a single muscle, but arises by two heads
from the posterior part of the thigh-bone. These heads, de-
scending thick and fleshy, soon unite, and form a very
strong and powerful (tendon called the tendon of Achilles),
as in man ; this tendon, continuing its course downwards,
is inserted into the point of the hock, which, by its projec-
tion, enables the muscle to exert a greater force in sending
the animal forward.

The remaining muscles of the posterior limb, which
move the pastern and foot, being nearly similar in arrange-
ment and action with the corresponding ones of the fore
extremity, we shall refer to the description of them for
a knowledge of the former ones.

V. MUSCLES OF THE ANUS AND TAIL.

These consist of four principal muscles : —

1. The sphincter (Gr., sphingo, to contract) ani, which
encircles the opening of the anus, and enters it to the
depth of four or five inches. It has, unlike other muscles,
neither origin nor insertion. Its contraction, like the
string at the mouth of a bag or purse, is powerful in health,
and its relaxation in disease, or its loss of voluntary con-
striction, is a bad symptom.

2. The retractor ani inferior is fixed to the os innominata
(see Bones, ante), and inserted into the rectum, or straight
gut. It mixes its fibres with the sphincter ani, and pulls
back the gut after the animal has voided dung.

3. The retractor ani superior is attached to the under side of
the sacrum, and corresponds with the last-described muscle
in mingling with the fibres of the spincter ani, but on the
upper side. It co-operates with it in pulling the anus in
and upwards.

4. The levator ani consists of two slips ot muscular fibres,
which lift the anus, as their name implies.

The Muscles of the Tail may be taken as five : i, the

compressor coccygis, attached to the edge of the os innomi-
nata, to the first, and next three bones of the tail, on the
under side ; 2, the levator, which lifts ; 3 and 4, the curva-
tors, which bend the tail right and left ; 5, the depressor,
which lowers the tail. These muscles are contained in a
sheath as far as the last vertebra of the loin, and fastened
to all the following bones down to the end of the tail

Internal muscles will be noticed under the several viscera.

VI. THE SKIN AND HAIR.

Under the general name of Skin is comprised two exterior
layers of the covering of the body, the cutis vera, or true
skin, and the epidermis, or scarf skin. Connected with
these are the fatty . cellular membrane and the muscle,
already mentioned, the panniculus carnosus, which gives the
motion to the skin, so remarkable in the horse.

The epidermis, cuticle, or scarf-skin, is the outer thic
and tough, and somewhat transparent, integument.

The cuticle is composed of thin flexible scales, somewhat
resembling the scales of a fish, and similar to them in
arrangement. The cuticle is produced by the cutis vera
(true skin), and is perforated by both its exhalant and
absorbent pores. In almost all parts of the body the
cuticle is thickly clothed with hair ; but that of the nose,
the lips, and the interior of the ear, the borders of the
eyelids, and the inside of the superior portion of the thighs,
is naked, and in all those places is thinner in substance
than on the other parts which are invested with hair
The colour of the cuticle is the same in all horses, whatever
be their hue. But it is a known fact that the skin of the
silver grey Arabian horse is of a bluish black ; but whether
this colour is in the cuticle or in the rete jnucosum has not
been decided.

The rete mucosum is merely the first secretion of the
cuticle, which is deposited in minute oval bodies, containing
a small quantity of colouring matter. This pigment dis-
appears as the secreted skin is pushed outward ; the ovoid
particles being flattened till they become colourless hard
scales, which fall ofi" in the form of dandriff or scurf. When
a blister is applied, it irritates the true skin, which exude*
serum, and the cuticle, being impervious, is raised into blad-
ders (vesications).

The cuticle is everywhere perforated by minute holes,
corresponding in situation, size, and number to those of the
cutis. First, there are the sebaceous glands, nourishing
the hairs ; secondly, the perspiratory, or exhalant pores ;
thirdly, the absorbent, or inhalant pores ; and lastly, larger-
sized pores, through which unctuous secretions in various
parts are emitted. The cuticle is destitute of both nerves
and blood vessels, and consequently devoid of sensibility.

The cutis, or true skin, is that portion which is converted
into leather. It lies immediately under the scarf-skin,
and is attached to the under parts by the cellular and
adipose (fatty) membranes, and in some places fits so
tensely that it is incapable of motion of any kind. In

STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE SKIN AND HAIR

193

other situations it is more loose, and can be pulled into
folds. In the blood-horse it is thin and highly sensitive ;
while in the cart-horse it is much thicker and far less
sensille. The texture of the hair seems to depend in a
great measure upon that of the cutis, for we find that of the
thick-skinned black horse much coarser than in the racer
and other high-bred varieties.

The cutis is beautifully adapted for giving strength as
well as protection to the muscles ; for vre find in those
parts that require to be firmly bound together, such as the
bones of the knees, the pasterns, and tendons of the limbs,
it adheres with such tenacity that it cannot be raised from
those places, acting the part of a powerful ligature to the
parts which are subjected to the greatest degree of stress ;
while, in those situations where its being tight would
interfere with the action of the animal, it is loose.

The cutis is of a strong fibrous texture, very tough, yet
supple, elastic, very vascular, and sensitive. Its fibres are
curiously interwoven in almost every direction, and so
interlaced as to give great strength to its texture, making
it almost impenetrable by a knife in the living animal, and
possessing extreme elasticity. It is this quality which
adapts it so closely to the animal, whether he is plump and
muscular, or reduced to skin and bone. In man and most
other animals, where, from disease, a great reduction of the
muscular fibre has taken place, the skin becomes loose
and shrivelled. It owes this great elasticity to the inumer-
able larger and smaller glands which penetrate its entire
substance, furnishing that unctuous matter, preserving the
skin soft and pliable, maintaining that greasy moisture
which its surface possesses, and giving a sleek appearance
to the hair. When the animal gets out of condition, and
the skin is diseased, the coat assumes a rough appearance,
the hairs refuse to lie down, and it is said that the coat
" stares."

The skin at the bend of the knee and hock is bountifully
supplied with this excretion, to give them suppleness, and
to preserve from friction those parts which are subjected
to such constant and active movements. Sometimes this
secretion exceeds the quantity necessary for due action, from
want of attention and cleanliness becomes inspissated, and
collects about those parts. If this hardness is permitted to
remain, it will become a watery sore, which will terminate
in lameness, stiffness, and pain in the joint when the animal
bends it. When this is situated in the bend of the knee,
it is termed mallenders ; when it is seated in front of the
hock-joint, it is called sallenders ; diseases hereafter treated

OIL

The skin of the heel has numerous glandular pores,
through which the unctuous secretion oozes. Sometimes
these are unduly excited, the secretion becomes altered
in its substance and odour, producing the disease called
grease.

The cutis, when destroyed by any means, does not
regenerate quickly. Great care should therefore be taken
not to allow any portion of it to be broken. Many think
that it is of little consequence for horses to have the skin
of their back rubbed off by friction from a saddle. Such
parts as have lost their cutis have it but slowly reproduced ;
and even when it has been restored, its vital power is
much weaker than it was originally ; for, although it
appears at first to be very vascular, its vessels after a
time either shrink in calibre, or some of them become
altogether obliterated.

The Hair. — Each hair of the horse is a minute tube,
having a bulbous end inserted in the cellular membrane
which lies just beneath the cutis. From this little gland
each hair penetrates the cuticle, or outer skin, and grows ol
various lengths and sizes. The hair covering the body and
part of the legs is fine and soft, that which invests the
ridge of the neck, crown of the head, and the tail, is of
coarser texture and considerably lengthened. Each hair, as
we have said before, is a tube; the outer covering is derived
from the cuticle, within which a horny substance is en-
closed ; this horny portion being so disposed as to make
each hair an elongated cone. The coat is of a uniform
thickness all over the body, excepting upon the inner parts
of the thighs, under the arms, &;c. It varies in quality,
colour, and length in different breeds. The thoroughbred
racer, the Arabian, Barb, and Turkish horses are re-
markable for the shortness and sleekness of their coat ;
while the cart-horse, the Shetland pony, and horses of all
northern climates, are distinguished by its length, rough-
ness, and coarseness. The lighter the shade of colour, the
finer the hair ; and it has been found that in chestnut and
light bay horses there are more hairs in a square inch than
in black and other dark-coloured horses.

The coat is shed twice a year, in spring and autumn. In
a state of nature this commences with great regularity as to
time ; but in a state of domestication this process is much
influenced by the temperature and stable management.
The hair of the mane and tail is never shed, except in
specific diseases of a mangy character. The treatment of a
horse when shedding his coat will be found in its proper
place, under Stable-Management, Clipping, Singeing, Cloth-
ing, Conditioning, &a, in t)ie First Division.

B B

Ib4

STRUCTUEE OF THE HORSK— THE BRAIN AND NERVES.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE BRAIN AND NERVES. — THE ORGANS OF SENSE : — I. THE EYE AND VISION. — II. THE NOSTRILS, THEIR MEMBRANES AND SINU8BS :
SMELL. — IIL THE EAR, AND ITS CONSTRUCTION : HEARING. — IV. THE TONGUE AND ITS ORGANISATION : TASTE. — THE PALATE.

THE BRAIN AND NERVES.

The origin and seat of the nervous system is the soft white
and reddish mass called the brain, contained within the
cavity of the skull. Its membranes (or meninges) are three.
or, more correctly, two. These, by lining the inside surface
of the skull, prevent its inequalities from injuring that
delicate organ. The first membrane is called dura mater,
as in the human subject ; it is of a strong tendinous nature,
and serves to prevent concussions of the brain, by supporting
its different divisions with the folds which this membrane
sends in between the separated portions of that organ.
The second (the pia mater), is strictly no more than soft
cellular tissue. It differs from the first in being extremely
soft and sensible. It lies next to the surface of the brain,
dips into all its furrows and convolutions ; and as this
membrane is the medium through which the blood-vessels
pass to the brain, for supplying its waste and recruiting
the stock of mental energy, so it sometimes becomes the
seat of disease. There is a very thin and delicate membrane
lying between the two already described, but it does not
eater the fissures of the brain, like the fia mater, or second
membrane of that organ.

The third, the membrana arachnoidea (Gr., spider-web-
like membrane), is a fine serous membrane, in connection
with the inside of the dura mater. After investing every
vein and artery, it is doubled back upon the surface of the
brain itself. The arachnoid accompanies the spinal marrow
out of the skull. It clings closely to the surface of the
brain, and is said to facilitate the motion which is con-
tinually going on during life throughout the lobes of the
medullary mass.

The brain of the horse, like that of most other animals, is
partly of a roundish figure. It is of a pulpy consistence ;
and in colour is white internally, but greyish on the
outside. As so soft a mass may be liable to concussion and
injury from the violent blows and motions to which the
head is frequently liable, the all-wise Creator has divided
its substance for a considerable way from the surface in
several places, and supported the divided parts by intro-
ducing folds of the dura mater between them, so as to
sustain each portion of the brain in its proper place, and
prevent it striking against, or being struck by, the adjacent
portions of that organ.

In consequence of this partial division of the substance of

the brain, it is commonly described as consisting of three
great portions, though in reality the separations cease long
before we reach the centre of its base. The first great
division, called cerebrum, is placed above in man, but below
in the horse, owing to the position of the skull of the latter;
and to the same cause is to be attributed the elevation of
the second portion of the brain, termed cerebellum, above
the first in this animal. The third portion of the brain of
the horse also corresponds in name with that of the human
subject. But in the former creature it occupies the hinder
part of the skull, while in man it is situated below. It is a
continuation, or union, of the white or medullary substance
of the other two portions of the brain ; and is partly on
that account, and in part from its figure, called the medulla
oblongata.

From this third portion arises what is generally termed
the spinal marrow, but which in reality is a continuation of
the brain. Its substance being, like that organ, partly of a
white and partly of a greyish colour, and being covered and
defended by similar membranes to those protecting the
brain. This continuation of the brain passes out of the
head by the great opening in the occipital, or hinder bone of
the skull, and running along the canal formed by the bones
of the spine, or back-bone, in which it is safely lodged,
gives off several nerves to the body and limbs, as will be
presently seen.

The Nerves are white fibrous cords, which arise either
from the brain or spinal marrow, and, passing off in pairs,
are distributed to all parts of the body. Their texture is
filamentous, and they are bound in a sheath of cellular
tissue called neurilema. They receive blood, but do not
become red. A nerve has no end ; it passes round a part
and goes into another sheath. Nerves have the power of
reuniting. (See Neurotomy, post) Some suppose nerves to
be transparent, from the bottom of the horse's eye being
discernible through that part of the optic nerve called the
retina ; but, notwithstanding this circumstance of the
retina's transparency, both in the horse, dog, cat, and
several other animals, yet that the other nerves of the
frame are transparent is still unproved. The course of the
nerves is in company with the arteries and veins, and, like
these, they communicate, or their branches run into each
other, and form what is termed a plexus. By this con-
trivance sensation is carried on, notwithstanding some
principal branches should be obstructed or destroyed r

STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE BRAIN AND NERVES

193

which could not be the case but for this vicarious
communication. That an accident or injury of this
sort may be of the least possible evil to the creature,
and the soundness of the parts be again restored, the
all-wise Creator has endowed the nerves, like other parts
of the frame, with the power of regeneration. This is
proved by dividing either branch of the eighth pair of
nerves, called the par vagum, when it will be found that a
coagulable lymph will be thrown forth, which, after changing
into a substance possessing all the qualities of nerves, will re-
unite the divided parts, and effect their regeneration as before.
In this experiment also, it will be seen that while one branch
of the nerve is totally divided, the other branch, by its com-
munication, carries on sensation in the parts to which the
divided branch is distributed, and which, but for this com-
munication, must be rendered wholly without feeling by
the division of the nerve. For if both branches of the same
nerve (the par vagum) be divided, the communication with
the brain is entirely cut off. If this happen to a horse he
immediately dies, though a dog will survive some time.

Nine pairs of nerves are counted as arising from the
brain within the skull ; a tenth pair, with the spinal marrow,
passes out of the great opening of the head. The remaining
thirty-six pairs branch from the spinal marrow, after it has
descended into the canal formed for its lodgment. Of those
of the brain {cerebral nerves), the first pair are called the
olfactory, because, passing through the ethmoid bone, they
are spread in innumerable small branches all over the
membrane lining the inside of the nose, for the purpose of
producing the sense of smelling.

The second pair are called the optic nerves. They pass
through the sphenoidal bone of the skull, and, entering each
orbit of the eye, form at its back part that nervous ex-
pansion called retina, a network to which the animal is
indebted for vision. (See post, under Eye.)

The remaining seven pairs are distributed chiefly and
almost exclusively to the different parts of the head and
neck. The seventh are the auditory nerves. (See The Ear.)
The eighth pair are peculiar, and called on this account par
vagum, or pneumogastric nerves; they have branches running
to almost all parts of the body.

The tenth pair, arising from the spinal marrow just as
this substance leaves the brain, go principally to be dis-
tributed on the exterior of the head.

The Spinax Nerves, arising from the continuation of the
brain contained within the canal of the spine, are, as we
have said, thirty-six pairs. They pass out from the spinal
marrow between the interstices of the vertebrae, and are
distributed partly to the internal organs of the body, in part
to the muscles covering the frame, and lastly to the limbs,
in which they may be seen descending in branches.

There are 7 vertical, 18 dorsal, 6 lumbar, and 5 sacral
pairs of nerves. Each spinal nerve has a double origin
(see Plate V., Fig. 5, Spinal Cord, &c.), by filamentary
bundles, one from the upper, the other from the under

portion of the spinal cord. The filaments of the upper part
only convey sensation to the brain. The lower ones merely
effect motion (motory nerves), by carrying from the brain to
the muscles the will (volition) of the animal. They form a
ganglion (or knot) at a little distance, and thenceforward
become of a mixed character, motor and sentient nerves
being blended.

The brain and nerves of a horse, like those of other
creatures, endow all the other parts of the animal with
feeling or sensation. This is shown by tying or otherwise
obstructing a nerve going to any part, so as to cut off the
communication between this part and the brain, when a
loss of feeling instantly takes place below the point of
obstruction ; this being removed, the parts recover their
sensibility.

Nerves are also the cause of all voluntary motion. As may
be seen by the loss of this motion taking place from the
compression of the brain, either from an extravasation of
blood or water, or from some other mechanical cause, when
the whole body becomes paralysed, and the power of motion
suspended. But on removing the compressing cause this
paralysis will vanish, and the animal be restored to its
capability of voluntary motion. If the spinal marrow be
compressed, the same loss of feeling and motion will also
take place, but only in the limbs and such parts of the
body as receive their nerves from it ; and the same return
of both these powers will follow the removal of the com-
pression. The obstruction of a nerve will, in like manner
cause a loss of motion in the muscles to which it is
distributed, but which will also be removed with the
obstructing cause.

Through what medium the brain and nerves cause the
voluntary motions, is as unknown as is the mode in which i
these organs effect sensation and perception. We know
that the will, having determined on an act, sends its
commands along the nerves from the brain to the muscles to
be engaged ; these, irritated by the influx of the nervous
energy, instantly contract (the mode in which muscles
effect motion), when the act we desire is thus produced.
This is the case in man, and also with the horse. Various
and complicated as are the motions performed by this
animal, independent of those termed involuntary — which
are for the most part vital movements, carried on in the
internal parts of the frame — yet are all the former ones the
consequence of the will, nor can a single one of them be
effected without this determination being first made. This
appears evident from the obedience of a horse in performing
such movements as we desire ; and it is also illustrated in
the resistance sometimes made by that animal to the ac-
complishing of our wishes. For both the execution of the
act and its refusal are the result of that prior operation in
the mind which we term volition.

Now where there is volition there must be perception,
otherwise the former faculty could have no objects for its
operation, and would be useless. This perception, for sake

196

STRUCTURE OF TUE HORSE.— THE EYE AND VISION.

of clearness, we shall call the sense of the brain, as what we
term sensation may be said to be that of the nerves. These
possess the power of being impressed by various substances
in nature, and of sending their impressions onward to the
brain ; which organ, having the power of being further
affected by these impressions, perception or consciousness of
the impressing object takes place in the mind. This may
be ranked as the basis of all the other operations of the
mind in animals, and is the medium through which they
receive all the knowledge they possess of the objects
existent in creation.

This perception again is divisible in the horse, as in man,
into two kinds : 1, Direct perception, or such as is caused at
the instant by the propagation to the brain of the impres-
sions received by the external organs of sense — thus the eye,
being impressed with the figure or colour of any object,
communicates the impression by the optic nerve to the
brain, where the perception or idea of the impressing figure
or colour is immediately formed. 2, Perception by reflection,
which is also the delineation in the mind of impressions,
but such only as had been some time before conveyed to
the brain from the organs of external sense, and con-
sequently are now merely reproduced by that act of the
mind called memory — or such as are created within the
brain itself by the operation of the mind which we call
thinking. And that the mind of a horse is capable both of
recollection and thought, to a certain degree, is indisputable.
The first is provable by a variety of familiar circumstances,
known to every one conversant with the animal, therefore
not requiring to be particularized ; the second is shown by
the increased exertions made by the animal in leaping and
clearing a fence, wall, gate, &c. ; which unusual exertions
must have been perceived and determined upon as necessary
prior to his arriving at the place to be thus cleared.

But merely seeing and knowing things through the
medium of sensation and perception, would not be sufiicient
to draw the animal from a state of inactivity. To effect
this, the Creator has used the same means, but in a more
humble degree, as in man ; namely, he has interwoven
pleasure and pain with the existence of the horse, and so
contrived both, that they have the power, not only of
leading him into action, but also of directing him to the
choice of fit actions afterwards. This capability of pleasure
and pain is evinced in so many actions of the horse as not
to require demonstration.

We have now sketched the great outlines of the horse's
mental constitution. We shall next consider the Organs of
Sense by which the animal ranks so high in the scale of
organized creation.

THE ORGANS OF SENSE.

The mind, as we have said in the general sketch, having
charge of the frame, and being in constant correspondence
with material objects around, organs are requisite to
receive and transmit to the mind, for its information, the

different impressions which these objects may make. Ao
cordingly, we find that the eye is impressed by light ; the
ear by sound ; that the nose is adapted to smell ; the mouth
to taste ; and the skin (already treated of) to feeling.

I. THE EYE, AND VISION.

The horse has a very extensive field of vision. His eye
is lodged for its security in the orbit, formed partly by the
bones of the skull, and in part by those of the face, as in
the human subject ; but it differs from the eye of the latter
in some particulars. The horse, for instance, is without
eyebrows, and the upper eye-lid alone is furnished with eye-
lashes, excepting a few straggling hairs, which grow from
the lower lid. There is also a seventh muscle for drawing
the horse's eye inwards from injury, which is not to be
found in man ; while the more effectually to protect this
tender organ in the animal, there is a cartilaginous sub-
stance, called by farriers the haw, by anatomists membrana
nictitans (winking membrane), which, when forced out of
the orbit where it is lodged, by the action of the retractor
muscles drawing the eye farther into tlie socket, covers a
great portion of the anterior part of the horse's eye. This
provision against injury, which is unnecessary in man, who
is furnished with hands, is very complete in birds : the
haw in these creatures covering the whole fore part of the
eye, and serving as an eye-lid during their sleep. In other
respects the horse's eye does not differ materially from that
of man, except that the transparent fore part of the former
is considerably more extensive than in the latter, and
consequently the horse possesses a greater range of vision.

At the back part of the eye there is a large quantity of
fat, for protecting that delicate organ from the inequalities
of the orbit, and also, by keeping it smooth and moist,
to prevent friction in its different motions. Besides the
protection it receives anteriorly from the eye-lids and haw,
this part is washed by the fluid called tears, which is
secreted from a small gland situated near the outer angle
of the lids, and being spread by the action of the eye-lids
over the whole anterior surface of the eye, not only keeps
it moist and transparent, but also serves to remove dust and
other injurious substances. The tears, having rendered
these services to the eye, pass off by two openings at the
inner angle of the eyelids, and are thence conveyed into the
nose by a canal, the termination of which may be seen in
each nostril. This canal, though not large, is capable of
having fluids injected through it to the eye, or from the eye
into the nose. But care should be taken that the fluids so
injected are of a mild nature, otherwise the membrane
lining the canal is in danger of becoming inflamed ; in
which case, the passage of the tears being obstructed, they
will be forced to flow over the face.

Another fluid, of a mucous quality, is secieted from the
surface of the membrane lining the eye-lids, for the defence
of the eyes against the irritating saltness of the teara This
membrane, called conjunctiva, not only lines the inside cf

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STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE EYE AND VISION.

197

both eye-lids, but is reflected over the whole fore-part of
the eye, and consequently serves to keep the eye in its
proper situation, and prevents all extraneous bodies from
insinuating themselves behind it. It varies in its structure
according to the nature of the parts it covers : the portion
spread on the anterior part of the eye is transparent and
but little vascular, while that lining the lids is full of
vessels, as may be seen in inflammation of the eye. We
shall now pass to the eye-ball, or that part of the eye which
is directly engaged in vision.

The muscles of the globe of the eye are seven ; four
termed recti or straight, two others are the obliquus major
and minor, and the seventh the retractor oculi. That they
may act with promptitude, six nerves are directed to the
eye or to particular muscles. The four straight muscles
which rise from the back of the orbit are inserted into the
ball of the eye, immediately opposite, and at equal distances
from each other. One of these rises to the upper part of
the eye, immediately behind the transparent and visible
portion of it, the office of which is to raise the eye. When
it contracts, the eye must necessarily be drawn upwards.
Another is inserted immediately opposite, at the bottom of
the eye, for the purpose of depressing the eye, or enabling
the horse to look downwards. A third is inserted at the
outer corner, which turns the eye outward ; and a fourth is
inserted at the inner corner for turning the eye inwards.
By means of these, the eye can be turned in any direction
at the will of the animal. Should the animal wish to look
upward and outward, then the outer and upper muscles are
called into action, and can be modified in any manner at
the will of the horse. These muscles perform another duty,
namely, keeping the eye in its place, for while grazing the
principal weight of the eye rests upon them ; and to aid
them in this, the seventh muscle, called the retractor, is
added This arises from the edge of the foramen through
which the optic nerve enters the orbit. The use of this
muscle is to support the eye generally, or when it is
suddenly called into great action, and, aided by the straight
muscles, it draws the eye back out of the reach of danger
and in the act of drawing it back it forces the haw to
protrude as an additional defence.

These muscles perform another important office in alter-
ing the focus of the eye to accommodate itself to the exami-
nation of distant or near objects. The straight and retractor
muscles draw back the eye, and force it upon the fatty
substance, and thus in a slight degree flatten it, bring it
nearer the retina or mirror, and adapt the eye to the
observation of distant objects.

But as these muscles are chiefly employed in supporting
the weight of the eye, they might not have power to turn it
so quickly and to such an extent as the animal might wish
or require ; therefore the eye is furnished with two other
muscles, whose entire office is to turn it. These are the
oblique muscles already mentioned. The upper one is
curiously constructed. It emanates from the back part of

the orbit, and follows a direction upwards, and towards the
inner side, and there, immediately under the ridge of the
orbit, it passes through a perfect mechanical pulley, called
trochlea (Gr. a pulley), and, turning round, takes a direction
across the eye, and is inserted a little beyond the middle
of the eye, and towards the outer side. Thus the globe
of the eye is directed inward and upward. This is not all
that is accomplished by this remarkable mechanism.
That the eye may be completely defended, it is sunk deep
in the orbit ; but it may be occasionally requisite to bring
the eye forward, and enlarge the field of vision. Und?r the
influence of fear, the eye is positively protruded, and it is
not only forced more forward, but the lids are opened more
widely. It may be asked, how is it accomplished ? The
pulley-muscle, or trochlea, readily eiFects this, while as the
straight muscles at the same time do not oppose it, or
only regulate the direction of the eye, it is really brought
forward. The lower oblique muscle has its insertion
just within the lachrymal bone, and, proceeding across
the eye, is fixed into part of the sclerotica opposite to the
other oblique muscle ; thus turning the eye in an opposite
direction, and also assisting the upper oblique muscle in
bringing the eye forward from its socket. The mechanism
of the eye will be understood from an examination of the
figures and reference to Plate VII., Fig. 1, Anatomy.

The globe of the eye is of a roundish shape, and may be
divided, for sake of description, into two parts ; the tran.s-
parent and the opaque. The former constitutes the whole
anterior portion, which is pellucid, for transmitting the rays
of light, and is very extensive in the horse. The latter
comprises what is termed the white of the eye ; it com-
mences at the circular edge, or termination of the trans-
parent part, and, running backwards, covers the entire
hinder portion of the eye-ball. The opaque part serves
principally to enclose and defend the transparent and more
delicate parts of the eye, and to limit the transmission of
light. It is composed of the following parts ; viz., the ex-
ternal, white, dense coat, covering the whole posterior part
of the eye ; this, from its hardness, is named the sclerotica :
it is but little vascular, and is seldom diseased.

On the internal surface of the sclerotica is spread the
second coat of the eye. It is a delicate, soft m.embrane,
and is well adapted for the expansion upon it of the optic
nerve. This coat, called choroid, is also opaque, and difi"ers
in appearance in various creatures, being black in some,
white in others, and variegated in several animals. This
diffisrence of colour depends on the pigment lining the
surface of the choroid coat ; and to this is to be ascribed
the peculiar colour of the pupil of the eye in different
creatures. In animals with white furs, as white rabbits,
fee, the choroid coat being white, the eye^j appear of a red
colour. This, also, is the case even in the human subject,
with persons having very white hair and eye-lashes ; the
pigment covering their choroid coat being generally fair, the
pupils of their eyes also have a reddish hue. But the

198

STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE EYE AND VISION.

pigment of the human eye being in general black, the pupil,
in most persons, also appears black, or nearly so. The use
of the black pigment, besides producing the various and
beautiful shades, from the soft light blue to the deep
sparkling black, which we see in the human eye, is to
absorb and render useless the superfluous and superabundant
rays of light transmitted to the bottom of the eye ; which,
if not thus absorbed and rendered harmless, might irritate
and injure the retina, or optic nerve, or otherwise confuse
vision. Hence we may know the reason why dark-coloured
eyes are generally stronger and better enabled to endure
much light than are the light-coloured ; for the black
pigment on these being less in quantity than it is on the
former, the light eyes have not an equal power of absorbing
and moderating the rays of light as the dark-coloured ones,
but, receiving them with comparatively little diminution,
their force is too great for the retina to tolerate. Hence it be-
comes irritated, and the animal is forced to close, or nearly so,
the lids, to exclude the stimulus of the light, either in whole
or in part. In the horse this is partly compensated by the
change of shape in the pupil. (See Plate VII., Figs. 2 and 3.)
The pigment on the choroid coat of the horse's eye is black
at its lower part, but of a light green superiorly ; and from
the combined efi"ect of these two colours arises the greyish
appearance of his pupils. The choroid coat, after lining, as
we have said, the whole posterior surface of the eye, extends
towards the anterior part of this organ. Here its edges are
thrown into folds for the purpose of occupying less space ;
and, inclining inwards towards the crystalline lens, these folds,
now called ciliary processes, attach themselves all round its
circumference. These also are lined with black pigment,
and serve to confine the passage of the rays of light to the
lens. But what principally directs and limits the rays of
light passing into the eye, is that circular curtain in the
transparent part of this organ, which we see extending
from the white part all round to the opening in the centre
called the fupil : this is the passage through which the
rays of light are transmitted to the nerve at the bottom of
the eye This curtain is termed iris, and has a muscular
power, as may be seen in the enlargement and diminution of
the pupil, or central opening of the eye, but which in reality
is occasioned by the spreading towards the centre, or the
receding from it, of the iris. The pupil being simply the
opening formed at this part by the central edge of the iris.
In a strong light, or when we want to view some very
minute or near object, the iris contracts the pupil, by which
the rays of light passing into the eye are greatly limited.
On the other hand, the pupil is seen to be widely dilated
when there is but a faint light, or when the object to be
viewed is at a great distance. The iris, like the choroid
coat, owes its colour to that of the pigment with which it is
lined. Xn the horse it is generally of a cinnamon colour,
which appears to be least liable to disease ; but sometimes
the iris is white, which is the cause of what are called
wall-eyes in horses.

The pupil of the eye differs in shape in many creatures :
in man it is circular ; in the horse, horizontally oblong ;
and in cats, perpendicularly oblong. Hence the sphere of
vision is different in the eye of each, owing to the capacity
of its pupil. Thus the human eye, having a circular pupil,
sees equally well at all sides, while that of the horse has a
wider ranger of vision at each side, and the cat's from
above downwards.

The optic nerve descending from the brain, passes through
an opening in the bony orbit, and enters the back part of
the globe of the eye in a trunk tolerably large ; and having
penetrated the sclerotic and choroid coats, already described,
it then expands upon the latter into a delicate and partly
transparent membrane, for receiving the rays of light trans-
mitted to it by the transparent parts of the eye. It is now
termed retina, and constitutes the third coat of the eye ;
on it are painted the various objects we behold, and it is
the seat of the sensation of light.

We now come to the transparent parts of the eye, which
constitute a most important portion of this organ. They
consist of pellucid membranes and humours arranged in the
following manner : —

First, the transparent cornea completes the globe of the
eye at the fore-part, its circular edge running all round to
be attached to the sclerotic opaque coat, just as the glass of
a watch is joined to the case beneath. This membrane is of
a hard texture, and serves to confine the fluids of the eye,
and also, by its convexity, to refract the rays of light
passing into the eye.

Immediately behind the cornea, lies the aqueous humour ;
it is a clear, thin, watery fluid, as may be seen on cutting
the cornea, when this fluid will escape. This aqueous
humour occupies the space between the cornea and the
crystalline lens, and is partly divided into two portions
by the iris, which floats like a circular curtain in this
humour. The use of the aqueous fluid is, first, to support
the convexity of the lucid cornea ; and, secondly, to assist
the latter in effecting refraction.

The crystalline lens is the next humour to be described.
It is partly of a globular form, transparent, and tolerably
hard in consistence, particularly towards the centre. It lies
immediately behind the aqueous fluid, and has the vitreous
humour (to be presently described) between it, posteriorly,
and the retina, or optic nerve.

The lens is retained in its situation partly by these
humours, and, in part, by the ciliary processes ; which, as
before mentioned, attach themselves all round to its an-
terior surface, for the purpose of confining the passage of
the rays of light to the lens. The function of the lens is
similar to that of the other transparent parts : but, owing to
its greater convexity and density, it accomplishes refraction
in a much greater degree than they do.

Between the lens and the retina is situated the remaining
humour of the eye. It is called the vitreous humour, from its
resemblance to fused glass, and is a little hollow on its ante-

STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE NOSE. &c.

199

nor surface, for lodging the back-part of the lens. This
humour consists of a fine pellucid fluid, contained in a clear
cellular membrane, as may be seen by cutting the membrane,
when the fluid will escape drop by drop. The use of the
vitreous humour is to complete the refraction of the rays of
light just before they fall on the retina behind it.

Of Vision. — The eye effects vision through the means of
light ; for the rays passing from the objects we see to this
organ, enter its transparent part, and are transmitted back-
wards to the retina, or expanded nerve, at the bottom of the
eye. Here the rays impress the nerve producing the sensa-
tion of light, and also of the figure, colour, and motion of
the objects viewed ; and these sensations being propagated
onwards by the nerve to the mind in the brain, there produce
ideas or images of the visible properties of the things so
creating impression ; thus the operation and intention of
vision are completed. The eye, then, is an apparatus for
receiving the images of visible things, in the manner of a
mirror, and for transmitting them to the mind for its infor-
mation. The latter operation is effected, as we have said, by
the nerve passing from the back part of the eye to the brain ;
and the former one is accomplished by the sensible or sus-
ceptible power of the retina, or expanded nerve at the bottom
of the eye, which enables it to receive the images of objects
as they are conveyed to the retina by the rays of light pass-
ing to it from these objects through the transparent parts of
the eye. Now, as the retina, the seat of impression, and
delineation of objects, is extremely small — not being larger
in man than the section of a hollow globe of an inch in
diameter, and being not greatly increased in the horse, in
comparison to the vast range of vision of which the eye is
capable — it follows that there was a necessity of making
a provision in the eye for reducing that great range into a
miniature size, otherwise the whole of it could not be
painted, as we perceive it is, on the limited retina. For
this purpose, then, are the transparent parts of the eye
principally given ; their great use being to refract and con-
verge the rays of light passing from any object, so that the
image of the object may be conveyed to the seat of im-
pression in such a diminished form as is fitted to the size of
the part. This conveyance, and consequent diminution of the
figures of objects, they effect by their convexity and den-
sity ; it being a law in optics, that these properties produce
refraction in proportion to the degree in which these qualities
exist. Thus, the rays of light coming from some object
of magnitude, as a house or tree, at no great distance,
strike first upon the transparent cornea ; penetrating this
membrane, they pass on, converged in proportion to the
density and convexity of the membrane, to the aqueous
humour ; here, in their transmission, they become further
converged ; lastly, entering the crystalline lens and vitreous
humour their convergence is completed, and the distinct
figure of the object, in miniature, falls on the expanded
nerve, and produces that impression we call vision. We
shall suppose the animal looking at an arrow with the

barb downwards, B c, Plate VII. Fig. 1. From every part
of the arrow, rays of light will be sent forth in straight
lines ; and, in passing through the pupil, it is clear that
those which flow from the under portion of the object, c, must
flow upwards, while those from above, b, must pass down-
wards ; and pursuing this principle, all the intermediate rays,
d e f, will intervene, consequently a reversed picture of the
object will be formed upon the retina at E F.

Paley makes the following observation on this subject:
he says, " In considering vision as achieved by means of an
image formed at the bottom of the eye, we can never
reflect without wonder on the smallness yet correctness of
the picture, the subtlety of the touch, and the fineness of
the lines. A landscape of five or six square leagues is
brought into a space of half-an-inch in diameter ; yet the
magnitude of objects which it contains are all preserved,
are all discriminated in their magnitudes, positions, figures,
and colours. A coach passing at its ordinary speed for
several minutes, passes in the eye only over one twelfth of
an inch, yet is the change of place in the image distinctly
perceived throughout its whole progress."

II. THE NOSE, ITS MEMBRANES AND SINUSES.

The sense of smell in animals is of the highest import-
ance. It is with them one of the leading means of distin-
guishing objects. In the horse, the nose and its apparatus
are extensive and beautifully contrived. The nose extends
from the forehead down to the lower extremities of the
nostrils, where it has two large communications with the
air ; its breadth, too, is that of the whole face. Besides the
nostrils, communicating with the outer air, there is an
interior opening to the fauces (Lat., pi. of faux, a mouth).
The openings of the nostrils end with the nasal and inter-
maxillary bones. Just over the arch of the palate, the nose
communicates with the frontal sinuses by a sort of valve or
flap, which, however, cannot to any great extent admit air
into the sinuses. The nose is divided down the middle by
the cartilage called the septum narium (Lat., septo, to sepa-
rate), or division of the nostrils. The septum rests in a
bone called the vomer (Latin for ploughshare), which is
grooved to receive it.

The frontal sinuses are passages between the two tables
of the frontal bones. There is also a bony partition which
divides them into two equal portions. These sinuses com-
municate also with the nasal and the maxillary cavities. This
conformation greatly increases the loudness and resonance
of neighing. There are also important communications from
the eye, called the puncta lachrymalia (Lat., tear-piercings) ;
these open into the canal within the lachrymal bone, called
the nasal duct (Lat., ductus ad nasum) ; this is continued
between the turbinated bones, and ends by an opening
inside the nostril, easily perceivabk. This duct, which
carries off the superfluous saline fluid secreted by the
lachrymal glands, is lined with the pituitary membrane, and
therefore often clogged up in glanders. (See Glanders, post.)

i

200

STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE EAR, &c.

The pituitary membrane, which is the highly sensitive and
delicate lining of the whole nasal passages throughout all
their divisions, is the grand medium for the expansion of
the olfactory or first pair of nerves, and with these forms
the organ of smell. The pituitary membrane is part of the
great mucous lining which begins at the eyes, nose, and
mouth, pervades the stomach and intestines, and ends at
the anus. It is furnished with a mucus, secreted over its
whole surface, by which it is constantly kept moist, pliant,
and susceptible. By this means insects are prevented from
penetrating into the lungs. The design of this expansion
of the olfactory nerves is to supply the place of touch, and
what is acquired by experience by man. It is by this ex-
quisite sense of smell that the horse selects such food as is
best calculated for his nutriment, and is enabled to reject
what is poisonous. By smell he judges of the quality of his
food in a domestic state, and examines a stranger. The
horse will recognise his master or favourite groom by the
sense of smell, and frequently expresses such recognition
by a neigh. These cavities are also the organs of voice ;
the sound reverberates through them, and increases in
loudness as through the windings of a French horn. All
the air which passes to and returns from the lungs must
go through the nostrils, as he can breathe through the nose
only. The nostrils ought therefore to be large and ex-
panded. The skin also which covers them should be thin
and elastic, that they may the more readily yield when
the animal requires a greater supply of air while trotting
hard or galloping. In the race-horse the nostrils are wide
and flexible, while in the cart-horse they are confined, and
surrounded by a quantity of cellular substance and thick
skin.

The common skin covers the nose and upper lip, but
without its usual accompaniment, the adipose (fatty) mem-
brane. It has also some fine hair fringing the edges
of the nostrils. The integument is turned in for a little
distance up the nostril, being easily distinguished by its
colour from the delicate mucous membrane. The well-
known pouch called the false nostril, outside each nasal
opening, is made by a doubling-in of the integument. The
purpose of these false nostrils is to allow the true nostrils to
enlarge without distorting the face. The openings of the
nostrils are guarded on each side by cartilages, and these
are acted upon by the muscles of the nose and lips.
■ There are four distinct cartilages attached to the nostrils,
which are exceedingly elastic, and bring them back to their
ordinary dimensions whenever the muscles cease to act.
The bones, also, of the nose are tapered off to a point, to give
a wider range for the action of the muscles ; while the carti-
lages are so constructed as not only to discharge the office
above referred tu but also to prevent this tapering point of
bone from injury.

Blaine thus summarizes the physiology of the nasal
organs: — "Comparative anatomy shows that the sense of
smell is in most animals placed at the entrance of the

respiratory organs ; by which they are made subservient to
both purposes of breathing and smelling ; and by the same
means are rendered as well voluntary as involuntary agents ;
for the action of respiration will carry all the effluvia from
bodies, whether sought for or not, against the sensitive
pituitary membrane. The herbivorous tribes smell vegetable
matters, and have an abhorrence of all fleshy odours. In
all the vertebrated animals, the parts connected with the
organ of smell are, like the parts composing the other
organs of sense, double. The cognizance taken of the
volatile portions of bodies continually flying off from them,
and impressed on the sensitive surface of the internal
nostrils, is transmitted by the nervous expansion of the
olfactory nerves to the brain ; where it produces the sensa-
tion we understand by the name of smell."

III. THE EAR AND ITS CONSTRUCTION.

The ear consists of an inner and an outer part, called the
external and internal ear The form of the outer ear,
which shall be first considered, is admirably adapted to the
habits of the animal ; it consists of that part which is
visible, from its root at the temporal bone to the point. It
is formed by a flexible yet firm cartilage of an oval shape,
hollow, and terminating in a point. It is varied in its
motions ; and as the horse is generally seen with the conch,
or shell, of one ear directed forward and the other back-
ward, there seems good reason to conclude that the sense of
hearing is the only double sense that is equally true when
one side only is brought into use.* The hair within the
shell of the ear is long and fine, guarding it from the
entrance of insects, dust, or foreign objects floating in the
air. The clipping of this hair is a silly and dangerous
practice. There is a peculiar gland inside each ear, which
secretes a scaly whitish and greasy substance.

The cartilages of the ear are three. The concha, or
shell, is the conical body which gives it form ; it is covered
by the skin, and clothed with muscles. This cartilage is
attached to the skull-bone (cranium), through the second,
the annular (ring-shaped) cartilage, a small movable body.
The third is the angular cartilage placed upon the fore-
head, and which moves with the other cartilages by means
of the muscles of the ear.

The muscles of the ear are twelve in number. They raise,
depress, and partly rotate the ears. A specific description
of the office of each would be tedious and useless, save in
the dissecting theatre.

The meatus auditorius (Lat. meo, to flow, to run), is
partly bony, partly cartilaginous. It is lined with fine

• Dr. Amott, in his Elements of Physics, says : — " Wheu horses or
mules march in company at night, those in front direct their ears
forwards ; those in the rear direct them backward ; and those in the
centre turn them laterally or across. The whole troop seeming thus to
be actuated by one feeling, which watches over the general safety."
(vol. i. p. 478.)

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STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE EAR, &c.

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attenuated skin, which is stretched across its base, and has
several follicles (Lat., folliculua, a little bag), to secrete the
ear-wax.

The membraTM tympcmi is a delicate membrane covering
the cavity called the drum (La.t., tympanum) of the ear, over
which it is expanded, and separates the outer from the inner
ear. The tympanum, which is roundish in form, is therefore
the first cavity of the internal ear.

The mechanism of the internal ear is so beautiful an
example of creative design, that a brief description is
demanded ; the various parts here mentioned are figured
and referred to in Plate VI., Fig. 1, and its accompanying
description.

The cavity of the tympanum contains four small bones,
united to the membrane and to each other. These are called
malleus (the hammer), incus (the anvil), stapes (the stirrup),
and orbicularis (globe-like), from supposed resemblances to
those objects. All these bones are moved by muscles,
which it is here superfluous to describe. The internal ear
presents several openings. The mastoid cells are small
cavities in the substance of the mastoid (Gr., mastos, the
nipple, oidos, like — nipple-shaped), processes of the hard
temple bone. They are lined by a fine membrane, com-
municate with each other, and have a common opening
near to the entrance to the Eustachian canaL

The fenestra ovalis (Lat., oval window), is an opening
between the tympanum and the vestibule (Lat., a porch), a
cavity just beyond that of the tympanum. Below this is
the fenestra rotunda (Lat., round window). The semicircular
canals are three bony passages leading into the vestibule ;
and lastly, the cochlea (Lat., cochlea, a spoon), a spiral
canal inside the opening of the vestibule into the tym-
panum.

The Eustachian tube (from Eustachius its discoverer),
opens at the upper and front edge of the hollow of the
tympanum by a small slit in the bony wall, and passes
thence through the petrous part of the temporal bone, part
of the sphenoid, when it becomes cartilaginous, and expands
into the guttural pouch. The guttural pouches are large and
empty bags in the horse, connected only by transparent
cellular tissue, and each closed by a valvular opening which
separates it from the nose. The nerves of the inner and
outer ear are furnished by the soft portion of the seventh
pair. The blood is supplied by the carotid arteries, and
returned by the jugular veins.

The sense of hearing is thus excited : — The collision of
bodies produces the phenomena called sounds, and these
are a series of waves or tremblings communicated to the
surrounding medium, — air, water, &c., — until they reach the
external ear, which, in the horse, is remarkably adapted for
':atching these sonorous waves.

The sound collected by the concha, outer ear, passes

through the lower or annular (ring-shaped) cartilage, and

through irregularities, which, while they break and modify

it, carry it on to another canal, partly cartilaginous and

c c

partly bony, conducting immediately to tlie internal mecha-
nism of the ear. This canal (the external auditory passage)
has at its base, stretching across it and closing it, the mem-
brane called the drum, or tympanum. The vibrations now
reach the four little bones already described. In Mr.
Youatt's popular volume, "The Horse" (pp. 68 — 72), pub-
lished by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge,
is an amusing and fanciful account, borrowed from human
surgery, of the functions of these bones. These speculations
are purely conjectural as regards the horse, and may, there-
fore, be passed over. What follows is more to our present
purpose.

The impression, then, has been conveyed, by the medium
of the bones, from the membrane of the drum to the mem-
brane on which the stirrup rests, anu which closes the
fenestra ovalis, opening into the labyrinth of the ear.

Passing the fenestra ovalis, we arrive at the seat of hear
ing. A very irregular cavity presents itself, filled with an
aqueous fluid, while the substance or pulp of the soft por-
tion of the seventh pair of nerves (the auditory nerve) ex-
pands on the membrane which lines the walls of this cavity.
These interior chambers are filled with water instead of
air, because it is not one-hundredth part so expansible, and,
moreover, its powers of conducting sound are so much
greater, that while sound passes through air at the rate
of 1,132 feet in a second, it passes through water 4,000 teet
in the same time. Sound, too, is propagated more intensely
through water than through air.

The fenestra ovalis opens into the labyrinth, which is
divided into three compartments. First is the vestibule ; on
the upper side are several foramina, or holes, which conduct
to the semicircular canals, also containing fluid. The hinder
one is a perfectly semicircular 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 that these canals open into the
vestibule by five apertures.

On the other side is another complex mechanism, of which
the use is not known. It is the cochlea, a spiral lamina,
which at the top approaches the Eustachian tube.

The cribriform plate extends beyond the base of the
cochlea to the vestibule, and those portions of nerve there
enter which spread over the vestibule and the semicircular
canals ; but the principal part of it seems to be given to the
cochlea. Wliat is the distinct and peculiar oflSce of these
parts, so curiously and yet so differently constructed, we
know not. In the horse the cochlea is much larger, com-
pared with the canals, than it is in the ox or sheep ; but for
what especial purpose we are unable to determint^ Nor can
we account for the large pouch-shaped opening of the Eusta-
chian tube in the horse, nor for the small development of
the mastoid cells in the horse, while they are exceedingly
large in the ox. There are many parts of the frame, the
precise use or function of which we cannot ascertain ; but,
as far as we do understand the mechanism of the "various

202

STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE.— THE TONGUE, &c.

animals which pass under our notice, all is admirable in
adaptation to its purpose.

IV. THE TONGUE AND ITS ORGANIZATION. TASTE. THE

PALATE.

The Tongue is the large fleshy body for the reception of
which the cavity of the mouth seems to have been specially
formed. It is composed of a bundle of small muscles,
which unite to form its body, mixed with glandular sub-
stance and fatty matter. It is covered by the mucous
membrane called the buccal (Lat., bucca, mouth), which also
covers the gums and the palate. The top of the tongue has
papillas* of considerable size at the sides ; towards the tip they
are smaller. The tongue is free from the lower part of the
mouth for a short distance from its lower end ; thence it is
fastened to the bottom of the mouth by a fold of the lining
membrane called the frcenum (Lat. for bridle). At its base
the tongue is fixed to the os hyoides (see ante, Bones and
Muscles), and to this most of its muscles are attached.

The tongue is a double organ ; that is, all its muscles are
in pairs. The fibres too, if traced, will be found to cross
each other net-fashion ; that is, those of the right side end
upon the left side of the tongue, and vice versa. These
muscles consist of five pairs and a small single one.f

The nerves are the lingual, or mouth pair, which effect its
motions ; the gustatory (tasting), a branch of the fifth
pair; and the glosso-phxiryngeus (Gr., tongue-throat) nerve,
of which the glossal branch only goes to the tongue, and is
supposed also to confer a peculiar deUcacy of sympathetic
sensation to the organ.

The arteries of the tongue are derived from the branch of
the carotids beneath the jaw-bone, and the blood returned
into the jugular (throat) veins.

The protrusion of the tongue is an action somewhat
difiicult to explain clearly. If we give to the muscles of the
tongue the single property ascribed to them by anatomists,
that of contraction, we shall be at a loss to account for a
body wholly of muscle being elongated and propelled out of
the mouth, and, moreover, at the same time, moved in
almost every direction according to the will. The glan-
dular and the fatty matter interposed may account for some
of this peculiar action, by their hardness, and partial resist-
ance, acting in some measure like bone ; but the question is
too purely scientific to deserve space for its discussion in
a work like the present.

The tongue is of great assistance to animals, in place of
hands. It is not only engaged in the process of taking the

♦ From the Lat. papus (nipple of the breast). The papillsB are ter-
minatious of nerves. These minute projecting filaments are said each,
with much probability, to contain a separate branch of the nerves of
touch.

t These are called Hyogloasus hrevis (a pair), HyogloMics longus (a
pair). Accessories (two pairs), Oenio hyoglossui (a pair), and the
iingualis (single). These all attach in different ways to the oi hyoides.

food into their mouths, but in its preparation by mastication,
by disposing it under the grinders, again collecting it, and
conveying it to the back of the mouth to be swallowed. Its
use in discriminating flavours we shall immediately notice.

The Taste is originated or resides in the nervous papillae
of the tongue ; and the importance of these organs to quad-
rupeds is evinced by their great number and length. By it,
" what to eat, drink, and avoid," is a question of almost in-
fallible solution ; deleterious or poisonous food being imme-
diately rejected, unless disguised so as to prove the rule by
the exception. Taste would appear to be absent when the
mouth and the food are completely dry : but in this case the
saliva at once comes to the rescue. Liquids are therefore
much more quickly and discriminately tasted than solids ;
the latter requiring mixture with the saliva, and mastica-
tion, for their due appreciation. The tongue in the horse, as
in most vertebrated animals, is endued with high sensibility
in this respect ; but its discrimination is heightened by
the co-operation of the sympathetic nerves of smelling.
Who that has ever seen the loathing with which a horse
turns from a greasy bucket, before he has even touched the
water it contains, but must own the intimate connection of
these senses?

Closely connected, too, with this organ izat'>on, is the
action of the salivary glands. These are three in number
on each side. The first and largest pair are called the
parotid glands.% (See Plate VI.) These are situate on each
side, in the hollow formed by the articulation of the head and
neck, extending from the root of the ear to the angle of the
lower jaw. It is formed of lobes (Gr., lobos, a rounded body),
connected by cellular membrane. From each lobe issues
a vast number of small ducts, which finally unite in a tube
which empties the saliva into the mouth. This tube, called
the parotid duct, on leaving the gland, passes along the
inner side of the jawbone ; then, in company with the sub-
maxillary artery, crosses below the bone, and then enters
the mouth near the third grinding tooth. These ducts will
discharge a pint and a half to a quart of fluid per hour in
the mastication of moderately dry food.

The next pair of salivary glands is called the submaxillary.
They are much less in volume than the parotids, and are
embedded in the channel between the sides of the lower jaw.
They are also composed of a number of kernels, each having
its proper duct, which unite in one trunk, and penetrate the
buccal muscle, and open in and upon the frcenum or bridle
of the tongue, about a couple of inches from the front teeth.
The terminations of these ducts are marked by small bulbs
or projections, which, after the disease known as Strangles,
by ignorant farriers are called Vives, and made the subject
of barbarous treatment. Barbs or Paps, in inflammation
of the mouth, often sequent on catarrh, are also seated
in these projections, and brutal torture is inflicted on the
animal with knife and cautery by the farrier.

t Qt. from para, near, ous, Otis, the ear.

STRUCTURE OF THE HORSE— THE TONGUE. &c.

203

The sublingual glands are the third source of saliva.
They are yet smaller than the submaxillary, but more
numerous. They open by numerous little ducts, which
may be seen on each side of the mouth. The openings
resemble little folds of the skin of the mouth and under-
side of the tongue. When inflamed they have the appear-
ance of small pimples, and receive a number of absurd
names, as gigs, flaps, and bladders, and the farrier cuts them
off or burns them down !

Besides these six great sources of supply, there are little
glands scattered about the whole cavity of the mouth.
These are the labial glands on the inner surface of the lips,
the buccal glands on each side of the mouth, folliculose and
mucous glands on the interior of the mouth, surface of the
tongue, and soft palate. These all take part in or sympa-
thise with the salivary secretion or its diseased retention.

The palate of the horse has two divisions, the hard and
the soft.

The hard palate is full of vessels, and is formed of con-
densed cellular tissue. It lines the roof of the mouth, and
is divided into ridges called bars. (See Anatomy, Plate V.,
Fig. 3, and Plate VI., fig. 2.) The use of these is the
retaining of the food within the mouth in the act of
mastication. For an account of the barbarity practised on
this part, see Art. Lampas, post. Bleeding in the palatine
vein for Staggers, &c., will be noticed under the proper
head.

The soft palate {velum or veil) falls down behind the
tongue, where it divides the mouth from the fauces. It is
an expanded uvula (diminution of Lat, uva, grape or berry)
adhering to the arch of the palate bone, where the hard
palate terminates. Its lower loose edge rests upon the epi-
glottis{GT., epi upon, glotta the tongue), at the opening of the
larynx, called the glottis. Sloping in this direction, it is easily
raised by any substance or fluid seeking to pass from the
mouth, and is closed more firmly by anything coming in the
opposite direction. Air itself has not body enough to

raise the velum palati. The horse, except in coughing,
therefore breathes through his nostrils. The soft palate
has much glandular matter in its substance. It has one
lifting muscle (levator palati) and two depressors. The last-
named pair keep the soft palate in its place resting on the
epiglottis. We shall have something more to say of this
when we come to Swallowing (deglutition) and Respiration.

The fauces merely designate a part at which several
structures join. Eight distinct parts open into the fauces,
the two guttural pouches, two Eustachian tubes, the pha-
rynx, the larynx, the motith, and the nasal orifices, which
have only one common opening — the nasal septum or divi-
sion ending before reaching the fauces.

The gums are a compact, elastic substance, surrounding
the neck of each tooth, and, adhering to its periosteum,
support it firmly in all directions. The buccal membrane
covers them and lines the mouth. The gums, in health,
have little feeling ; but when diseased they are intensely
sensitive.

The lips of the horse are highly endowed with feeling. This
may be seen by the combination of touch and smell when
the horse is gathering his food. As he collects it, the deli-
cate sensibility of the upper lip, aided by the olfactory nerves,
enables the animal to reject all poisonous or unsavoury
plants, and receive only the grateful and nutritive food.
Grooms and farriers are well aware of this sensitiveness,
and accordingly screw on the twitch here, to paralyse and
dominate the animal.

The internal parts of the mouth are supplied with blood
by the inferior and superior maxiUary arteries, after passing
through the foramina in the upper and lower jaws. The
facial artery and the lateral nasal also pour in blood. Motion
is derived from the portiodura (facial) nerve, and the sense
of touch from the supramaxillary branch of the fifth pair.

We here leave the cavity of the mouth. We shall con-
sider the pharynx and oesophagus with the stomach ; the
larynx and bronchice with the lungs and respiration.

Mi

THE ORGANS OF CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION.

CHAPTER XX.

THE ORGANS OF CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. — VISCERA OF THE THORAX (CHEST), THEIR MUSCLES, MEMBRANES, AND VF8SEL8.—
THE HEART : ARTERIES : VEINS AND CAPILLARIES : THE BLOOU ; CIROULATION. — THE LUNGS : THE LARYNX : THE TRACHEA :
BRONCHIAL TUBES : RESPIRATION, CHEMICAL AND MECHANICAL.

THE ORGANS OF CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION.

The second great cavity of the body, the thorax, or chest,
contains the central organs of circulation and respiration.
The first consists of the heart and the two great lobes of the
lungs, with their appendages. When the chest is opened, a
smooth bright membrane is perceived, lining its internal
surface and covering its contents. Each side of the chest
has its own pleura (Gr., pleura, the side), or lining membrane,
and they double and join together in the middle of the chest
into a strong septum (or division) called the mediastinum ;*
besides this rib-lining (called pleura costalis), and lung-
lining (called pleura pulmonwris), there is a third for the
heart, of smaller size ; they are all serous membranes, as
such, secreting a fluid called serum, and preventing friction
from the constant motion of the parts. The left pleura is
smaller than the right, the right lung having an extra lobe,
and therefore requiring a larger sac to hold it. The heart is
farther continued in a bag called pericardium (Gr., peri,
around, cardia, the heart), lined by the pleura just mentioned.
This membrane usually contains about an ounce of pale
yellow lubricating fluid. The use of the pericardium is to
confine the heart in its situation, to sustain it in its reciprocal
action with the lungs, to guard it from any undue collision,
and to serve as a general protection to the heart. When the
pericardium becomes inflamed, an undue secretion of this
fluid is induced, sometimes to such an extent as to obstruct
the action of the heart. (See Pericarditis, and Dropsy of
THE Heart, post.)

The great muscles and membrane of respiration, the
intercostals and the midriff or diaphragm (Gr., diaphragma,
from diaphraeso, to separate by a partition), we shall speak
of presently.

The Heart itself is a large hollow involuntary muscle of
immense power : that is, its action is independent of the
will of the animal, which is not the case with the organs of
respiration, the action of which the animal can suspend
for a short period, accelerate, or retard. There are four
cavities in the heart (see Anatomy, Plate XII.), two below^
called ventricles (diminutive of Lat., venter, a belly), and two

* Formed from the Latin, qua4i in medio nam, as standing in the
middle.

above, called auricles {little-ears, from Lat., aurie,- the ear).
Each of these ventricles has two large openings, one into the
auricle, or upper cavity, the other forming the mouth of a
large artery. The cavities are separated by a muscular or
fleshy partition called a septum. The right ventricle has
within it curious fleshy pillars, called by anatomists camece
columncB, from which proceed tendinous cords {cortina ten-
dinea), attached to three valves between the right auricle
and ventricle, shutting them off from each other when
closed. The left ventricle is longer than the right, but
smaller in size, and has much thicker walls. The right
auricle is irregularly round, and has two large openings for
blood, each being the mouth of a vena cava. The left
auricle is more muscular though smaller, and receives the
pulmonary (lung) veins, five in number. It has also some
fleshy and tendinous cords, or contractile braces. The valves,
too, are strong membranous appendages, and there are also
valves at the commencement of each artery, as well as
between the auricles and ventricles. Those to the pulmonary
artery are called the semilunar; that of the right auricle,
the tricuspid (from having three flaps) ; that of the left, the
mitral (from having two flaps). The use of these valves is
to prevent the return of the blood ; for the aorta (Gr., aorta,
coffer, ark) never being entirely empty when the ventricle
dilates, the blood remaining in the artery would be sucked
back but for this contrivance — the pressure closing the semi-
lunar valves. The heart is furnished with blood for its own
sustenance by the coronary arteries, it being returned by the
coronary veins. Its nerves come from the eighth pair — the
cardiac plexus, consisting principally of the par vagunri and
sympathetic nerves. (See Brain and Nerves, a/nte, p. 195.)
Such is the main apparatus by which circulation is initiated
and carried on, with the aid of arteries and veins.

The Arteries -f- are elastic tubes originating from tue ven-
tricles of the heart by two great trunks, the aorta and the
pulmonic, the subdivisions of which supply the whole body
with blood. They are mostly seated deep under muscle or
bone, for their better security. Some arteries, however, as
that of the lower jaw, run close to the surface ; and it is from
this circumstance, and the jawbone resisting the pressure

t Artery, from the Greek arteria, signifying an air-vesseL The
ancients, ignorant of the circulation of the blood, finding the arteriea
always empty after death, supposed they were tubes containing air.

THE ORGANS OF CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION.

206

of the finger, that the submaxillary artery is felt for the
pulse of the horse. The outer coat is condensed cellular
tissue, so elastic as to keep the artery cylindrical when empty.
The middle coat is of a yellow elastic tissue, and the in-
ternal coat a serous tissue, like synovial membrane. By
conveying the blood to the different parts of the body, the
arteries keep up the vital principle, bearing nutriment and
heat ; and as the heart is the first propelling power, so the
arteries, being distended by the column of blood, contract
their muscular coats and drive the fluid continuously on-
ward. The dilatation and contraction is called the pulse,
and is perceptible in the larger branches, but not in the
very small ones, except in cases of inflammation. It is
noteworthy that the arteries of the horse have a much
larger proportion of the elastic coat than those of man, and
hence acute inflammations in the horse run their fatal
course far more quickly.

The principal arteries of the horse are : — the aorta divid-
mg into posterior and anterior ; the posterior aorta, which
furnishes blood to all parts except the head and fore-limbs ;
the two iliac; the inguinal (groin) ; the renal (kidney) ; the
mesenteric (intestinal) ; and the femoral (thigh) arteries.

The anterior aorta supplies the head and fore extremities.
It is continued to the near third rib, when it divides into
two branches called arterice innominatw (nameless arteries).
The left branch supplies the dorsal to the back, and two verte-
brals to the spine. The right branch of the aorta is much
larger and longer than the left. After giving off several
branches (see plate), it becomes the common carotid, which
again divides into the right and left carotids,* supplying
the most important vital and sentient organs of the head
and brain.

The axillary artery, as furnishing the fore extremities
with blood, is next in importance. It gives branches to the
humeral (shoulder;), that again a branch to the brachial,
and to the scapula and ribs ; again behind the fore-leg to
the seat of the " spur vein." A branch becomes the radial
(spokebone, fore-arm) artery, yihich proceeds downwards, now
reaching the flexor muscles ; yet lower, it is the metacarpal
(beyond the wrist) artery, and goes down under the nerve on
the inner side of the leg ; thence, at the lower part of the can-
non-bone, it divides just above the fetlock into two plantar
(Lat. for sole) arteries, on the sides of the pastern bone,
and by the back of the foot, where each sends a branch into
the fatty frog. The main trunks continue along the wings
of the porous cofiin-bone, bend downward, and, uniting, form
the circumflex artery, which runs round the margin of the
sole. The General Anatomy of the Foot will complete this
subject. An examination of the anatomical plates will
make the arteries and their courses more clear than any
amount of verbal description.

• From the Greek caroo (to cause to sleep) ; because the ancients
thought these vessels supplied the vapour or spirit which sent the
brain to sleep.

We have said that the contraction and dilatation of arteries
produces the pulse. The pulse of a middle-aged horse in
health is from thirty-six to forty beats per minute ; when
slower it indicates debility, when accelerated, inflammatory
disorder. It is sixty in the colt at birth, but gradually de-
creases till full growth. The smaller the horse, the more
rapid the pulse, all other things being equal The tho-
rough-bred, from higher irritability, is quicker in the beat
by five or six pulsations per minute than the heavy and
coarse-bred animal. The pulse will receive due medical
consideration when we come to treat of fever and inflam-
mation. We may state that the arteries of the horse are
seldom, if ever, found ossified, a circumstance of frequent
occurrence in man.

The Veins and Capillaries. Veins are the general ter-
mination of arteries, their extremities commencing from
them, after the manner of two trees joined by the extremi-
ties of their branches. They collect the remnants of the
blood which the arteries had distributed over the body, and
convey it back to the heart, to be prepared for taking a
fresh round over the frame. The veins are furnished with
valves on their internal surface, which are so constructed as
to permit the blood to flow towards the heart, but to pre-
vent its return. These valves are in great abundance,
being found at the distance of only an inch, or even in less
space, from each other ; they are folds of the internal coat
of the vein, and are generally to be met with three toge-
ther, in the horse. Valves are not equally distributed
throughout the veins of the horse. In some parts, where
the blood has to travel upwards, against gravity, they
are numerous ; when it has to flow downwards, there are few
or none. There are few in the viscera. In the jugular
vein (Plate VI., Fig. 5) the valves are aU placed opening
towards the heart. Thus, when the horse is standing with
his head elevated, the blood has only to fall through the
vein, the valves being open, but when he has his head
lowered, as in feeding, and the venous blood has to return
upwards (or against gravity), the valves act and prevent its
descending.

All the branches of the veins, returning from the different
parts of the body, run into two great trunks, called cavas,
which are inserted into the right auricle of the heart ;
the anterior cava conveys the blood returning from the
head and anterior parts of the animal, whilst the pos-
terior cava conveys that returning from aU the hinder
parts of the animal. Both empty their contents, as
before observed, into the right auricle of the heart.
Again, the blood distributed over the lungs, is also re-
turned to the heart by eight pulmonary veins in the
horse, but only by four in the human subject. These eight
trunks are formed from the venous ramifications spread
over the lungs, and empty themselves into the left auricle ol
the heart. The structure of the veins differs from that
of the arteries, the former being much more thin in their
sides, and having no pulsation ; and hence the blood is

206

THE ORGANS OF CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION.

forced through them principally by the impetus occasioned
by the contraction of the heart and arteries, and which is
communicated to it while passing through the veins. This,
perhaps, is one reason why they are much more numerous
in their branches than are the arteries, and also why they
anastomose* more frequently ; for otherwise, the injuries
these delicate vessels are liable to in their passage between
the muscles must interrupt the circulation, and be produc-
tive of bad consequences. This provision for guarding the
circulation of the blood against obstruction, by multiplying
the venous communications, is particularly to be seen in the
foot of the horse, where a most beautiful net-work is formed
by innumerable branches of veins running into each other.

The Capillary Vessels (Lat., capilla, a hair) are so called
from their minute fineness. Small as they are, they are in-
dispensable to nutrition, calorification, secretion ; indeed,
every great function of the living body is performed
mainly by these little channels. The great blood-vessels
known as arteries pump the blood from the heart, and the
veins return it exhausted. The arteries are arborescent,
and increase in number and diminish in size as they
become more distant from the circulatory centre ; in like
manner the veins branch out and anastomose. Now between
these dwindling terminations of the arteries and the begin-
nings of the veins, comes the peculiar network of countless
vessels called the Capillary System. Some of these are
large enough to admit three or four red globules of blood,
some only one, and most will pass nothing but the serum
or fluid part. Minute research upon this subject would
overload these pages ; the functions and organization of the
capillaries will be found in Schwann's Microscopical Ob-
servations of Animals, translated by H. Smith, and Paget's
Supplement to Nailer's Physiology.

OP THE BL00I>.

Blood, in its primary or essential character, is alike in
all animals. It is red in the higher orders, though its in-
tensity of colour varies much under different circumstances.
Venous blood is almost purple, and arterial of a bright red
colour, for causes we shall note when we come to respira-
tion. The temperature of the blood of the healthy horse is
about 100° (98*24° in Tiedemann's comparative tables), of
man 98°, the ox 104°, the dog 101°, the cat and monkey
103°, pigeon, hen, and duck 109° to 111°. Arterial blood is
one degree warmer than venous. In fever a rise of 3 to 7
degrees is not uncommon.

The specific gravity of blood varies, as well as its tempera-
ture. Water being taken as 1000, blood may be estimated
at 1050 specific gravity, and it has been found to bear the
proportion of 1120 to 1000. Venous blood is heavier
than arterial

* Gr. ana (between), stoma (a mouth). The Latin worf". inosculata
means the same thing, the opening of one vessel into ano^iier, as do the
arteries, veins, and lyniphatica (capillaries).

The quantity of blood in an animal, in proportion to it8
size, also varies. Very fat animals have less in proportion
than lean ones ; and it is said the domesticated horse has
less than the wild animal of the Pampas. A middle-sized
horse has had forty-four pounds taken from him.

The blood, while circulating in the body, is composed of two
parts, a liquid and a solid. The one called by human ana-
tomists liquor sanguinis, the other, cellular in its character,
blood-corpuscles, or globules. When blood is allowed to stand
after being taken from the body, it separates into two distinct
parts, one the solid portion, which contains the corpuscles
and the fibrin or coagulable lymph, called the clot or crassa-
mentum,, the other the pale yellowish fluid called serum.
The process of separation is termed coagulation. The
proportion of red globules, fibrin, and serum, varies in
different animals. The red particiee seem connected with
the strength and excitability of organs, as the parts sub-
jected to the greatest exertions, — as muscles, — have most
of them ; colour being attended with development of
flesh. Fibrin, however, appears the chief nutritive consti-
tuent of the vital fluid. If the serum and red globules are
separated from it, a tough, white, fibrous mass remains,
which in general character and chemical composition re-
sembles muscular fibre deprived of its membranes and
colouring matter. This forms the solids of the body, even
to the callus of bones. It coagulates spontaneously, is dis-
solved in alkalies, but not in oils, spirits, or water. Spon-
taneous coagulation is much slower in the blood of the
horse than in that of man ; the human blood " sets " in
seven or eight minutes in ordinary temperatures ; that oi
the horse takes twenty-four hours to coagulate.

The fluid basis of the blood {serum) serves to dilute it,
and forms almost one-half of its bulk. It is slightly saline,
and less putrefactive than the coagulum. It remains fluid in
those degrees of heat between 30 and 160 degrees Fahren-
heit : with a less heat it freezes ; in a greater it partiallv
coagulates. It appears chemically composed of albumen,
gelatin, saline matter, and a considerable quantity of fluid,
which drains from it, called the serosity. Serum appears
not only the fluid base of the blood, but it also dilutes all
the secretions : when morbidly increased, it gives rise to
dropsy. The blood, therefore, is viewed as a compounded
fluid, made up of these several parts, and which, considered
as an aggregate, is the most essential component of an
animal. All parts of the body are formed of it ; and all
parts of the body can be resolved again into it, by means ot
the absorbents ; hence we must conclude that there is a
very intimate connection between the solids and the fluids.

The absorbents and excretories will come to be considered
presently. The practice and indications of Bleeding will
find their place under Inflammatory Disorders, and Opera-
tions.

Minute analyses of the blood of men and animals, and
much curious information, may be found by those who
would exhaust the subject, in Quain's Anatomy (by Sharpey),

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THE ORGANS OF CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION.

2U7

Carpenter's Physiology, Liebig's Animal Chemistry, Milne-
Edwards's article " Blood," in the Cyclopcedia of Anatomy
and Physiology, &a

THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD.

Such is the apparatus, — heart, arteries, veins, and capil-
laries.— by which the circulation is effected, and the compo-
sition 01 the fluid which is circulated. The manner in which
the blood is sent to every part of the frame may be thus
described. There are two circulations : one the general or
greater, the second, the pulmonary (lung) circulation. We
will take the first or greater circulation. The blood is now
dilating the left auricle, which being stimulated contracts,
and the left ventricle dilating, the blood is forced into the lower
cavity on the left side. The left ventricle is filled, and, con-
tracting, sends the vital stream into the aorta ; that also
contracts upon the pressure from within, driving it into the
right and left aorta, and so on into all the ramifications of
the blood-vessels and the capillaries. Having performed its
office, it is returned from the capillaries by the veins ;
and, lastly, by the two great cavas (veins) into the right
auricle of the heart. This double pump acts synchronously
(Gr., syn, together, chronos, time), the right and left ven-
tricle contracting and dilating at the same instant, and the
auricles following suit. Thus, at the moment the left ven-
tricle pumps its contents into the aorta, the right ventricle
empties itself into the pulmonary artery. Therefore, as the
[eft auricle receives the pulmonary blood at the same time
as the right auricle receives the venous blood from the two
cava veins, the dilatation and contraction are simultaneous.
Anatomists call these the systole (Gr., systole, contrac-
tion), and the diastole (Gr., diastole, dilatation). The sys-
tole sends the blood into the aorta and the pulmonary
artery, and produces what we call the pulsation or beating
of the heart.

The second is the pulmonic circulation. This is carried
(jn as follows : — the two cava veins pour their stream into
the right auricle, when that cavity dilates after its muscular
squeeze. When it contracts again, it sends it into the right
ventricle ; thence it is urged into the pulmonary artery,
being prevented from returning in each case by the valves
already described. By the division of the pulmonary artery
within the lungs (see Plate XII.,) the blood is exposed to
the air-cells, and is changed in the capillaries from venous
to arterial blood, in other words, is aerated, or oxygenated.
The blood, thus restored in colour and stimulus, is brought
back to the heart (the left auricle) by the pulmonary veins.
This is termed the pulmonary circulation. It is note-
worthy that this is the reverse of the greater circulation, in-
asmuch as here the arteries carry out venous blood and the
veins return arterial blood. These two circulations, it will
be seen, form but one direct round for the transmission of
the blood through the whole system.

THE LUHQS, THE LARYNX, AND BRONCHIAL TUBEB.

The cavity of the chest is filled by two soft and slightl]

elastic masses called the Lungs. They are divided into two
large sections, one on each side the body, which again are
subdivided into lobes ; but the grand division is into the
right and left lung ; each lying within its respective side ol
the chest ; and, as well as the internal surface of the ribs,
being lined or " varnished " with the thin membrane (the
pleura) already described. The right lung has four lobes,
the left, three only, as we have before noticed. The colour
of the lungs varies with age ; in the colt they are pink, in
the full-grown horse, darker red ; in the old horse, bluish-
grey and granulated.

The lary7ix (Plate V., Fig. 3, Plate XII., Fig. 5), which is
the commencement of the windpipe (trachea), opens in the
fauces (see ante), forming a cartilaginous box, which is the
seat of the voice. It has five pieces, connected with the os
hyoides. (See Tongue, &c.) The larynx has six cartilages ;
the thyroid (Gr, thyros, a shield, oidos, like), cricoid (Gr.,
cricos, a ring, and oidos), two arytenoid (Gr., arytaina, a
funnel, and oidos), and the epiglottis (Gr., epi upon, glotta
the tongue). The larynx is further coated with muscles
within and without, giving it an immense range of move-
ments. The lining membrane of the larynx is the most
sensitive of the whole animal system. A grain of any sub-
stance, or even a drop of water, passing on to it, throws the
animal into an involuntary and uncontrollable spasmodic
coughing. It is thus the sentinel and guardian of the
passage to the delicate apparatus of the lungs. Its folds are
called the ventricles (bags) of the larynx, and it also covers
the various ligaments extended across the tube, called the
voice-cords (cordae vocales).

The arteries of the larynx are the carotids, the veins
empty themselves into the jugulars ; the nerves, the recur-
rents and superior laryngeal, both from the eighth pair
(par vagum).

The variations of sound emitted by the voice of quadru-
peds appear to be governed principally by the number and
form of the sacs of the larynx. There are usually three of
these ; one of them is seen under the vault formed by the
anterior boundary of the thyroid cartilage, having its aper-
ture near the root of the epiglottis. The other two are
oblong sinuses contained between the lateral walls of the
glottis and the thyroid cartilage. In the horse these sace
are very long and wide, and are not unlike the usual ven-
tricles of the glottis. The aperture of the outer cavity is
very large in the horse ; in the ass, the opening into each of
the three sacs is a small hole, and the anterior sac forms a
bag-like cavity. In the mule these organs differ, but their
anatomical formation is in general blended between those oi
the horse and ass.

Neighing appears to be produced by expirations, as are most
of the vocal tones from the horse. The vibrations produced
by the resonance of different sized cavities, assisted by

208

THE ORGANS OF CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION.

morements of the cartilages of the nostrils, produce the
compound sounds which are emitted.

Knuckering, as it is termed, is only a lesser neigh, with
shorter, deeper, and less forcible tones, expressive of affec-
tion and joy. The horse has one acute sound, produced by
the act of inspiration, which usually expresses either play or
lust ; but in most other instances sound is produced by the
hovse by expelling air. The tongue, teeth, and lips are not
much concerned in the voice of the horse.

The trachea (or windpipe) is a large canal arising from
the ring-like (cricoid) cartilage of the larynx, and reaching
down the front of the neck into the chest. It is formed of
more than fifty rings of cartilage, tapering from the front,
having a strong muscular band their whole length, which
unites them but does not fix them in position, thus leaving
the trachea perfectly flexible. Outside of it is fastened a cel-
lular substance ; inside, it is lined by a mucous membrane,
the secretion defending it against changes in atmospheric
temperature. At the third dorsal vertebra it separates into
two branches {the bronchial tubes), the principal divisions of
which again branch off before they enter the lungs ; and
these again subdivide into numerous tubes, ending in
small cavities known as the air-cells of the lungs.

We have said that the bronchial tubes are branchings off
of the larynx They are composed of many pieces of car-
tilage, connected together by fine ligament (see Plate XII.) ;
the cartilages becoming almost imperceptible as the tubes
grow fine or approach the air-cells. The right and larger
branch of the bronchiae, given to the right lung, quickly
divides into three trunks. The left, which is the longer,
from the necessity it has to stretch itself under the poste-
rior aorta, divides into two principal trunks. The bronchiae
are lined throughout by the same mucous membrane as the
larynx and trachea, furnishing a moisture that loads the
expired air or breath. The extreme ramifications of the
bronchiae, as has been previously stated, end in minute air-
cells ; over whose surfaces are spread, in exquisite minute-
ness, the capillary ramifications of the pulmonary arteries,
whose trunks accompany the bronchiae to the lungs side by
side. The pulmonic veins receive the blood from the sur-
face of the cells, whence it is by these last vessels returned.
The lungs are themselves nourished by their appropriate
arteries, whose blood is returned by bronchial veins, as ex-
plained in the circulation of the blood. Their nerves are
furnished from the sympathetic, and lymphatic vessels are
distributed throughout them.

The Diaphragm (see also Muscles, p. 190) forms a fleshy
and tendinous partition, dividing the cavity of the chest
from that of the abdomen. It is of a broad circular form,
flattened from before backwards ; its front surface is convex,
and concave behind ; divided or forked above, and having
two elongations or appendices extending backwards, with
pointed extremities. On that side next the chest it is
invested by the membrane which covers the lungs, and
towards the belly by that which covers the intestines. It

adheres to the spine, the ribs, and the breast-bone by strong
muscular fibres. Its structure is fleshy and tendinous. The
fleshy parts are those which form the circumferent portions
of the large muscle, and the principal part of the crura or
appendices. The tendinous parts consist of a thin circular
expansion, occupying the middle of the larger muscle, and
uniting that with the lesser. Through the muscle are seen
three remarkable openings, an upper one in the interspace
between the crura, for the passage of the aorta ; one a little
lower, formed by the decussation of the crura, for the
oesophagus ; and the third, or lower one, perforating the
cordiform, or heart-shaped tendon, for the reception of the
posterior vena-cava.

The diaphragm is the chief agent in respiration ; it acts
in opposition to the abdominal muscles, which are the chief
expiratory powers. By the contraction of its radiated fibres,
with the assistance of that of the crura, the cordiform tendon
is transformed to a plane surface, and the dimensions of the
chest from front to back thereby considerably augmented
When this muscle acts, in consequence of the shortening of
its fibres, it loses its convexity, as above stated, and the
chest being thereby enlarged as well as the lungs, the air
rushes in, and inspiration is performed. This muscle also
assists in the natural constant motion of the bowels, lend-
ing its powerful aid in expelling the faeces and urine ; and,
in females, facilitates the birth of the young animal.

The membrane by which the diaphragm is covered is very
liable to inflammatory attacks. In all cases of disease of
the lungs and bowels, the diaphragm is almost certain to
become inflamed and attended with considerable irritability ;
and this is the cause of the breathing of the horse being
so much affected during inflammation of the chest and
abdomen. It is likewise concerned in coughing, yawn-
ing, and sighing. Sometimes it is ruptured by violent
over-exertion. We are, however, unable to give distinct
indications of this condition ; but no instance is known of
the animal surviving this injury. In cases of small rupture
some portion of the intestines insinuates itself into it, and
there becomes entangled, so that an incurable obstruction is
the consequence. In the event of a large aperture, the
intestines protrude through it, and, by pressing upon the
heart, totally suppress respiration. This organ performs such
an important part in the act of breathing, that it may be
easily imagined it is liable to be ruptured when the respira-
tion is strong and hurried.

RESPIRATION, CHEMICAL AND MECHANICAL.

Respiration is that function of the animal by which the
various tissues of the body are subjected to the chemical
influences of the oxygen of the atmosphere, and the carbonic
acid thus formed expelled from the body. This is attended
with the evolution of heat. In the higher animals, as the
horse, this process is constant, its suspension for a few
minutes causing death. When an animal thus dies of
deprivation of oxygen, he is said to be suffocated. The

THE ORGANS OP CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION.

209

absorption of oxygen by the animal effects three great
objects : — 1. The preparation of the objects of food taken up
by the glands and blood to the objects of nutrition. 2. The
removal of certain constituents which have performed their
oflSce. 3. The production of heat, which produces the
accumulation in animals called " warm-blooded ; " any of
these objects unfulfilled, the higher animals die more or less
quickly.

Mechanically, inspiration is the act of drawing in the air
and expanding the cells of the lungs to their utmost. This
distends the walls (parietes) of the chest, presses back the
midriff upon the stomach, liver, &c. ; the expulsion of the
air is expiration, the two movements respiration.

The function of the lungs may be shortly stated. The
blood, passing through the capillaries of the body, and con-
tributing 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
poisonous 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. That ingredient
in atmospheric air called oxygen, has a strong attraction for
this carbon, and will unite with it wherever it finds it.
The chest enlarges by the action of the diaphragm and
the intercostal and other muscles, as explained ; 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, a kind of vacuum is
formed in each of them, and the air rushes down and fills
them : being thus divided from the venous and poisoned
blood by these membranes alone, it is enabled to act upon
the blood, and attracts from it this carbon which purifies,
renders it arterial blood, and fits it for the purposes of life.
This being accomplished, the chest contracts, the lungs

D D

are pressed into smaller compass, and a portion of the ait
impregnated with the carbon, and rendered poisonous in its
turn, is squeezed out. Presently the chest expands again,
the lungs expand with it, and fresh pure air is admitted,
which is shortly pressed out again, empoisoned by the car-
bon of the blood. These alternate expansions and contrac-
tions constitute the act of breathing.

When the animal powerfully exerts himself, a more ample
supply of pure blood is required to sustain the energies ol
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 connection 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 affords 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. Hence also 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 a correspond-
ing largeness of the chest to contain them.

As the diseases of these organs are among the most seriout
to which the horse is exposed, and interfere most with his
usefulness, they will occupy due space in the part devoted
to Veterinary Practice.

A few considerations on the aeration of the blood iu the
foetus will be found under Gestation aud Foalino.

210

THE ORGANS OF DIGESTION, kc

CHAPTER XXI.

THB ORGAUS OP DIGESTION, ASSIMILATION, AND EXCRETION. — THE ABDOMINAL VISCERA : THE STOMACH : THE INTESTINES.—
MASTICATION, SWALLOWING, AND DIGESTION. — CHYME AND CHTLE. — THE ABSORBENTS, THE EXCRETORIES, THE LIVER, THB
PANCREAS, THE SPLEEN. — VOMITING.

THE ABDOMEN.

The external parts of the abdomen are, the common inte-
guments ; the abdominal muscles (see ante, p. 190) ; the
parts of generation in the horse, and the udder and mam-
mas in the mare.

The interior of the third great cavity, the abdominal,
contains : — the stomach, the intestines, large and small, the
liver, and the urinary organs.

The whole of these are enveloped in a strong, dense,
serous membrane, called the peritoneum (Gr., peri around,
tonoo I extend), which forms not only a covering but a
support to these organs, and facilitates their movements as
they slide, press, or accommodate themselves and each other
in the various actions of the living animal It also secretes
a moist vaporous fluid which prevents friction ; and some
physiologists have held, and with great probability, that the
drying up of this vapour in the heat of inflammation
is the cause of the intense pain produced in that case by
any motion of its contents. (See Inflammation.) The
peritoneum, by its various folds, forms the mesentery (Gr.,
mesoa middle, enteros an intestine), cymentum, fcc, by which
these organs are attached to each other or to the walls of the
abdominal cavity. In front the peritoneum is connected
with the diaphragm, partially covering its hinder surface ;
it also covers all the contents of the abdomen, except por-
tions of the uterus, bladder, and rectum. In males it covers
the spermatic cords and testicles, and also lines the scrotum,
(Lat., scroteum, a leathern coat). Some of its folds form
ligaments, as those of the liver and mesentery, and contain
numerous small glands, through some of which the lacteals*
(Lat., milk-bearers, from lac, milk) pass. The peritoneum
is immensely strong as well as elastic, as may be seen in the
distension, and "tucking-up" in flatulent and spasmodic
colic.

The onuntuTn, already mentioned as one of the folds of
the peritoneum, is a curious and delicate fatty membrane,
facilitating motion of the viscera. It has a very low sensi-
bility, bearing cutting or tearing with little or no pain to
the animal It is this " caul," which is the seat of the deposit

* Their office is to take up the chyle and transmit it to the heart ;
«pe poft. Digestion ahd Nutrition.

in man and fat animals, which occasions corpulency or pro-
trusion of the belly. It is seldom so much loaded with fat
in the horse as in man and in the ruminant animals.

The Stomach of the horse (see Plate XIV. Fig. 1), which
is remarkably small, lies immediately behind the liver, its
principal portion occupying the left hypochondriv/m (Gr.,
upo under, chondros a cartilage). The spaces in the abdo-
men under the false ribs are called "right" and "left." The
right and left central is called the epigastric region (Gr.,
epi upon, gaster the belly), the middle the umhilical (Lat.,
umhilicus, the navel) region. The hypogastric region is
behind an imaginary line drawn from the one side of the
ilium to the opposite side, this is again divided into right
and left iliac regions and the middle is called the pubic
region. The central portion is divided by a white line called
linea alba ; a full explanation of these imaginary compart-
ments is convenient in strict anatomical descriptions, but
would be superfluous here. The forward (convex) part of the
stomach lies upon the diaphragm and false ribs of the left side.
Its hinder (concave) part is hidden by the intestines. Its
lower surface is covered by the om,enium\ or fatty caul ;
attached to its left extremity is the spleen, and its right ben"?
is in contact with the left and middle lobes of the liver.

The stomach may be compared to a sac or pouch, formed
for the reception of the food as it passes from the mouth to
the pharynx, and thence through the cesophagus, or gullet,
by the cardiac orifice into its cavity. As we have said
before, it is remarkably small ; the stomach of a twelve-
stone man will contain more than three quarts, while the
horse, eight times his weight, will scarcely hold three
gallons ; like other hollow muscles, however, it is capable
of considerable distension. The pyloric opening is the out-
let by which the contents are discharged into the duo-
denum-l

The stomach has three general investing coats : the first
elastic, being a doubling of the peritoneum; the second of
white muscular fibre in two separate layers ; the last one,
placed longwise, seems a continuation of the outer coat of

•f From the Latin omen, so called because the Eoman soothsayers
prognosticated trom the caul {omen-tum) in their sacrifices.

X Lat. duodeni, twelve ; the anciemts supposing that it was of the
breadth of twdve fingers.

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THE ORGANS OF DIGESTION, &c

211

the CESophagus, strengthened by additional fibres ; these pass
obliquely round the stomach, and then twist themselves into
a whirl or vortex, and seem intended to prevent the return
of the food.

The i/n/ner coat is mucous membrane, having a double cha-
racter : one, hard, called cuticular (skin-like) ; the other, soft,
covered with numerous beautiful projections, like the pile
of velvet, is called the villous coat (Lat., villosus, shaggy).
The cuticular coat is a continuation of the lining of the
mouth, pharynx, and oesophagus, extending half-way down
the stomach, where it ends abruptly and the villous coat
begins. It is folded in the oesophagus and perforated with
excretory orifices, as we shall presently note. It is to the
cuticular coat that we have generally found bots adherent^
ihough they attack other parts.

The villous coat is soft, wavy, and covered with innumer-
able small bloodvessels ; it is full of folds, which expand
when the stomach is filled. This portion of the stomach
secretes the gastric juice, and within it the chyme is formed.
The blood of the stomach is plentifully supplied from the
gastric, splenic, and hepatic arteries, which are here very
winding, to avoid distending the organ. The gastric
veins, which return the blood by the venae portae, are
peculiar in being without valves.

Passing through the pyloric (Gr., pyle an entrance, area
I guard) opening we come to the Intestines (Lat., intestinus,
from intus inside). These are divided, in the horse, into
large and simall intestines, and extend from the pylorus to
the anal outlet. The whole length of this irregular tube
(see Plate XIII. Fig. 1) is from eighty to ninety feet, of
which the large intestines form twenty to twenty-four feet,
and the small intestines from sixty to sixty-six feet. It is
not easy, as we have said when speaking of what anatomists
call "regions," to describe in words the situation of the
intestines ; the " large," however, may be said to fill the
forward and lower parts of the abdomen, the small to fill
the space above and farther back, but occasionally shifting
position on account of the peristaltic motion. They are
prevented from going far out of place by the peritoneum,
which forms bands, as already described, and moors fast the
intestines. The first (membranous) coat of the intestines
is derived from the peritoneum ; the second is the m,uscular,
presenting organic fibres — the lengthening and contracting
of the longitudinal, and the constricting of the cir-
cular muscles, producing the peidstaUic action. (See post,
Digestion.) The circular muscles are the most powerful,
the intestines being found firmly contracted in cases of
violent death. The inner surface of the intestines is both
mucous and villous, extremely sensitive, and full of vessels.

Of the intestinal canal the first portion is the duodenum,
hanging loosely on the right side and attached to the hollow
side of the liver, from which it rises, and is fixed to the
back bone, taking the name of jejunum* The duodenum

• laA, jyurnu empty. It is generally found empty in tie dead body.

of the horse is twenty inches, instead of twelve, so that the
term is a misnomer.

The jejunum is attached to the mesentery, which follows
its convolutions, and has two smooth surfaces. Numerous
lacteal glands are situate on the folds of the mesentery and
mesocolon, which are, as we have said, mere folds of the
peritoneum.

The jejunum, when it passes into the ilicu; region, takes
the name of the ilium (Gr., eileo, I turn about), but there
is nothing but an imaginary division. It then passes into
the ccBCum, protruding some distance into its cavity, to
prevent the return of its contents.

The cascum (from the Lat, blind-gut), is the first great
intestine. It derives its name from the fact that it is ojjen
at one end only. The caecum rests on the belly (navel)
portion of the linea alba, and is generally seen toward the
right side upon opening the peritoneum. The head of the
ccecum, in which the ilium terminates and the colon begins,
is generally near the diaphragm and liver. There are here
several muscular bands which pucker up the intestines into
little purses called cells, in which water or fluid is generally
found, scarcely ever solids.

The colon (Gr., chdon, from chole, bile), originates in the
caecum, and is the largest of all the intestines. It reaches
across the abdomen from left to right, and having reached it,
bends back upon itself at the sigmoid (Gr., sigma, the letter S,
oidos, like) flexure. It is connected along this bend from
the caecum to the flexure or turn, but is loose on the other
side, so that, when the belly is burst, the colon may trail
upon the ground without breaking the other intestines.
The continuation of the colon is the rectum or straight gut.

The rectum is thicker in substance than the other intes-
tines, and has a longitudinal muscle on each side (for their
action see ante, p.l92. Muscles), the rectum is plaited with
cell-like depressions, to prevent the too frequent expulsion
of the dung. It is loosely- suspended from the spine and
rump-bone by a band called mesocolon, part of the perito-
neum. The anus is opened by the force of the peristaltic
action, and shut by the sphincter ani. (See p. 192).

mastication, swallowing ; THE PHYSIOLOGY OF DIGESTION?.

At the close of Chapter III., and incidentally elsewhere,
we have spoken of the salivary glands and their secretion,
we shall here pass from mastication to the act of deglutition
or swallowing. The organs engaged in this are, after the
teeth and tongue, the pharynx and oesophagus, with their
muscles.

The pharynx is a bag of a funnel shape, with its trumpet
end forward, lying at the entrance of the gullet and back
part of the fauces, and held fast to the upper end and back
of the larynx, or windpipe, by three pairs of strong mus-
cular bands. These aU join in a tendon at the back or
upper side of the pharynx. The dilator muscles of the
pharynx and their action will be described in the physiology
of the act of swallowing.

212

THE ORGANS OF DIGESTION, &c.

The (esophagus opens from the smaller end of the funnel-
like pharynx, and leads thence to the stomach, which it
enters by the cardiac opening. It tends a little to the left
side in its course, and goes behind the trachea, passing through
the chest and along the dorsal vertebrae, inside layers of the
pleura, thence through the diaphragm into the stomach.
It has three coats : a cellular and membranous one ; a
second muscular (longitudinal and circular) ; and an inner
one, cuticular (skin-like), wrinkled into folds. It has a
remarkable power of muscular contraction and expansion,
for the purpose of propelling its contents. The physiology
of swallowing is thus summarized by the late eminent vete-
rinarian Delabere Blaine.

When a horse grazes, he first places with his lips a tuft
between the teeth ; when, elevating his chin, the sharp
edges of the under cutting teeth become applied to the
grass, and cut it through, while at the same time the upper
incisors help to nip it off. Oxen and sheep, wanting upper
nippers, wrap a tuft of grass round with their tongue, and
then apply it to the under incisors, by which it is held fast,
while a movement of the head tears the grass up ; and thus
we find that they are obliged always to carry the chin forward
in collecting their grass. When a quantity of herbage is thus
gained, it is carried by the tongue and muscles of the cheek
to the upper part of the mouth, to encounter the action
of the grinders the matter being conveyed from side
to side, to be placed in the most favourable direction
for perfect mastication, by means of the tongue. During
this process, it continues to be mixed with the salivary
fluid, from the parotid, the submaxillary, and the sublingual
glands (see ante), which pour out their secretions, e-K^cited
by the pressure of the surrounding muscles.

The vegetable mass having been thus completely masti-
cated, is placed at the back of the tongue ; when, by the
pressure of that organ towards the palate, it is squeezed
against the velum palati. The soft palate readily yielding
to force coming from the mouth. The morsel is at the
same time driven against the covering of the throat (epig-
lottis), which, by its own elasticity released from the down-
ward pressure of the velum palati, is raised, and covers the
opening to the windpipe. The food is thus propelled into
the fauces. Then the windpipe (trachea), protected by
the epiglottis, rises and urges the mass into the funnel-
shaped pharynx ; the contractors of which transmit it
to the gullet (oesophagus) ; and its muscular coats, con-
tracting as it descends, ultimately lodge it within the sto-
mach. The mouth remains closed during the act of swal-
lowing, that these muscles may find a fixed point. The
deglutition of liquids is not very different. The muscles
of the tongue draw it downward, whereby a tendency
towards a vacuum is formed : to counteract this, the water
is by atmospheric pressure forced into the mouth ; when
the entire agency which operated in the case of a solid
is called into action, the raised velum palati closing the
opening to the nostrils, and thus preventing the liquid from

returning by that passage. We shall resort to the same
authority for an explanation of the function of digestion,
feeling that we cannot improve upon his horse-knowledge
on this point

DroESTiON may be characterized as that power whereby
substances which are received into an animal body lose
their own properties, and become endowed with those ne-
cessary to support the constitution of the creature that
imbibes them. To restore the tone of parts, rest is required;
and to repair waste, food becomes necessary ; while hunger
and thirst stimulate animals to take in solid and fluid ali-
ments. That the stomach is influenced by the blind long-
ings of inorganic life, is proved by the fact that the mere
mechanical distention of a draught of water will, for a time,
satisfy the sensation of hunger ; but simple distention not
satisfying an instinctive desire, instead of affording relief, it
only adds to the general prostration. It is probably by its
distending properties that food taken partly invigorates long
before perfect chylification has taken place. This fact is
however better established by no man having absolute
power to quicken or delay his desire for nourishment.
The mere want of food does not dissipate immediately the
strength ; but the body can for some space support itself,
and desire, though felt before, be actually forgotten ; thus
the inanition of a hunter long employed in reaching a dis-
tant cover, is no bar to his after-exertions in the chase. The
moment he hears the well-known sound, he receives a tem-
porary supply of nervous energy ; which, acting on his
irritability, produces renewed muscular exertions : but the
chase over, a double prostration is the consequence ; for the
nervous impulse being expended, it often happens that the
stomach is sympathetic with the general frame, and the
horse becomes " too tired to eat."

Thirst differs from hunger principally by its impelling us
to receive liquids instead of solids. The instinct, which is
independent of reason, and superior to the will, calls for
fluids often not required for repair : it is true, perspiration
will produce thirst, and that diuretics will do the same ; but
these are artificial, not natural causes. Drink is also in-
stinctively sought, for no cause save that of fickle appetite,
induced by long indulgence, which cannot be reckoned
among life's necessities. Stimulated, therefore, by the sen-
sations of hunger and thirst, animals seek for matters to
which they are instinctively directed by their senses of
smell and taste.

The mastication, insalivation, and swallowing of the food,
have already been noticed. To the saliva, however, by no
means is usually given its full merit as an important agent
in the digestive process. When we consider the quantity
secreted, the chemical nature of the fluid, its remarkable
affinity for oxygen, and that a complete mastication in-
variably produces a direct change in the qualities of the
food, it would be most unphilosophical to regard it as a
mere diluent. The masticated aliments received into the
stomach become subjected to the further action of the

THE ORGANS OF DIGESTION, &c.

213

gastric fluid, the produce of the secreting surface of the
villous division of the stomach. The true gastric juice is
possessed of a solvent power, which is shown in a remark-
able manner by the food being dissolved by its action.

The ordinary process is after this fashion with the horse.
The masticated vegetable matter is first deposited in the
cuticular cavity of the stomach ; whence it is propelled for-
ward by muscular contractions of the organ, from left to
right, towards the pyloric opening ; being, however, so
turned and contorted in its passage that every portion of
the insalivated mass becomes first macerated with the cuti-
cular secretion, and then receives the solvent gastric juice.
It is thus that a mass of matter undergoes the chymifying
process within the stomach, after which it is hurried on-
ward to be converted into chyle within the intestines.

Chyme (Gr. chymos, humour or juice) is the masticated
buff undigested mass of food. It is a pulpy semi-fluid, with
a slightly acid taste, creamy in appearance when the food is
oily, like gruel when farinaceous. Part of this is absorbed
by the stomach itself, and goes direct into the blood ; the re-
mainder goes into the duodenum, and is mixed with the
bile and pancreatic juice, forming a milky fluid. This is
called —

Chyle (Gr. cholos, juice), and passes into the jejunum
and ilium and is there taken up by the chyliferous absorb-
ents and passed into the large vein of the heart by the
thoracic duct. The remainder of the worn-out food finally
assumes ttc form of fseces, and is expelled.

THE ABSORBENTS.

The Absorbents, although we cannot easily trace them,
are distributed over every part of the body. Injections
show them in some parts, but it is by their constant opera-
tions and efiects they are best recognized. Thus the hardest
parts of bone are removed by a natural process,'or absorbed.
Inorganized cartilage is likewise taken away, to allow the
arteries and veins to enter, and bone to be deposited, when
ossification ensues.

Absorbents are minute, thin-coated, transparent vessels,
having numerous valves, like veins ; they are spoken of as
deep-seated and superficial ; but as the difference of position
is accompanied by no difference of structure, we shall here
regard them as of one kind. Every absorbent conveys the
materials it takes away from various parts into the blood ;
with which their contents mingle, and ultimately become
blood ; or they are emitted with the excretions. In starva-
tion it is by means of the absorbents that the marrow is
carried out of bones, and the fatty matter from other places
in the body is emptied into the blood, which in this
manner helps to support, or keep alive, the subject starved.
It is thus accounted for why a fat animal is longer dying
from starvation than one that is thin.

The absorbents, which take up the nutritive portion from
the food within the intestines, are called lacteals, because
the substance they extract is at first white, like milk ;

otherwise they are the same as common absorbents, all of
which enter and pass through one or more of the little
reddish bodies called absorbent glands.

The functional eff"ects of this system are abundantly
active in the constitution at large ; we are certain that the
various organs of the body are continually changing, wholly
or partially. It appears to be the office of the arteries to
build up new parts, and to repair the waste of others ; but
the old ones must be first of all pulled down and removed
by absorption, which is least active in youth, equal with the
arteries in middle life, and predominates in age. By this won-
derful power the roots of the temporary teeth are absorbed,
that their crowns may give way ; by this also the muscle which
governs the testicles, having fulfilled its oflSce, is absorbed, and
the thymus gland (sweetbread) is likewise removed. It is thus
cartilage is taken up, to make room for a bony deposit when
the animal approaches maturity. By the absorbents the
fluids as well as solids are continually changing, being taken
up and carried back, but always in a fluid state, into the mass
of blood ; it is by them that the dead parts are separated
from the living in sloughing and ulceration By the super-
ficial absorbents, even gases are received from without. The
water held in suspension by the atmosphere is thus taken
in ; hence grazing horses require little or no water, more
especially if not exposed to the heat of the sun, whereby
evaporation or exhalation is promoted. The functional
office of the absorbents is most important also in the pre-
servation of life under casualties. Long fasting is thus
borne ; their capability of displacing the animal oil or mar-
row from the bones, and the fat from the body generally, is
here employed to make up the want Hybernating animals
live during their torpidity by a slow absorption of the adi-
pose matter ; thus it is found in the instance of the torpid
bear, that, however fat he may enter his seclusion, ho
returns lean and emaciated.

To our acquaintance with the power of the absorbents,
the practice of medicine is greatly indebted ; and although
we own few means of lessening absorption, we fortunately
have many of increasing it. Mechanical friction is the most
active and universal agent in stimulating the absorbents,
as the hand-rubbing of horses sufficiently proves. Pressure,
also, increases their action : thus we bandage the swollen
legs ; we girth the bodies of our horses, to promote absorp-
tion of the interstitial fluid. Exercise, by swelling the
muscles, produces pressure ; and thus exercise will remove
swelled legs, and promote absorption generally. Blisters
likewise exercise an influence over absorption. A still
stronger stimulant is iodine ; which is especially useful in
enlargement of the glands. Purgatives and diuretics, and
whatever tends to lower the pulse, promotes internal ab-
sorption. For, by offering an impediment to the circulation,
removing the contents of the intestinal canal, and increas-
ing the urinary secretion, an absence is caused in the mate-
rials for building up, which the absorbents endeavour to re-
pair by removing other parts.

214

THE ORGANS OF DIGESTION, &c.

THE LIVER.

This ponderous secretory and excretory mass, the largest
in the system, is placed nearly in the centre of the body.
The circumference of the liver (Saxon, lifer) may be taken
as two to two-and-a-half feet, thick towards the middle, and
thinner at the edges. It lies between the stomach and the
Jiaphragm, with its right lobe in contact with the duode-
num and the right kidney. It is kept in its place by what
are called the ligaments of the liver, but these are merely pro-
longations and thickenings of the peritoneal envelope already
described. Besides the right and left ligaments, there is one
in the centre, between the diaphragm and the middle lobe,
called the suspensory ligaTnent. Besides its lobes, the liver
has several deep indentations, one of which separates the
two large lobes, and is named the great fissure (hQ.t., fi^sus,
a cleft) ; inside this, in mares, may be seen the remains of the
umbilical vein which supplies the foetus, and in a smaller
cleft about the middle of the concave surface, may be seen
the opening for the vena portas. Numerous lymphatic
vessels run over the surface of the liver, and the blood-
vessels pass within a sheath called Glisson's capsule, a thin
membrane, formed of white fibres, immediately beneath the
peritoneum. The circulation of the liver, as we have
noticed before, presents a remarkable peculiarity. The
numerous veins of the intestines join into one common trunk
which enters the liver as the vena portae. This trunk
vein, having pierced the liver, branches oflF once again into
innumerable divisions dispersed through the whole substance
of the liver, performing the functions of an artery, its con-
tents being distributed for secretion. The blood circulated
through the whole body of the gland is poured from the
terminations of the vena porta and the hepatic (Gr., hepar,
the liver) artery, into the hepatic veins, which empty their
contents at the hinder cava.

In the glandular capillaries a great change takes place in
the blood, by which the fluid called bile is separated ; the
biliary pores end in small tubes, which, uniting, form the
hepatic duct As it leaves the liver, it accompanies the
hepatic artery, and passing below the vena ports, empties
into the duodenum, five inches from the pyloric, or lower,
opening of the stomach. Unlike the dog and man, the
horse has no gall bladder. As the horse in a natural state
is continually feeding in small quantities, and often empty-
ing his small stomach, an uninterrupted flow of bile to
assist digestion, rather than a store of that secretion for a
heavy meal, seems to point to the reason of this peculiar
organisation.

THE PANCREAS.

The Pancreas (Gr. pan, all, creas, flesh) is a flat gland that
appears to have much in common with the salivary glands
in its secretion. It is of irregular figure, in three lobes, and
extends across the spine between the stomach and left
kidney. Its upper side touches the top of the abdomen.

its under, the great bend of the stomach. We have said it
greatly resembles the thymus gland in its fleshy structure.
In the ox the butchers sell the thymus and the pancreas
indiscriminately as " sweetbreads."

The bile and pancreatic fluid are both concerned in the
preparation of the chyle, to which duties they are specially
appointed ; but over and above this it appears that the bile
is useful in depurating the blood, and removing from it
certain noxious elements, which, if retained, would become
highly injurious. The pancreatic fluid is only secreted
during digestion, but the bile is poured out at all times ;
and, if not secreted, from any torpid condition of the liver,
the blood becomes overloaded with noxious particles, head-
ache follows, and, finally, fever and even fatal injury. Bile
is a kind of soap, and appears to act specially in converting
sugar into albumen and the fatty compounds necessary for
the support of life. The pancreatic fluid, on the other hand,
seems to render the fat taken as food fit for absorption,
which it is not in its raw state. But not only is the liver
useful by supplying bile, but it also directly purifies the
blood as it passes through it, in the return from the intes-
tines to the heart ; and besides this, it seems to exert a
powerful influence in assimilating the new material to the
condition which it must attain as a part of the blood
Here also fibrine is largely formed from albumen, and fat
from sugar.

THE SPLEEN.

The Spleen (Gr., (nfKtjv) is a spongy livid body of soft
structure, and having no excretory duct ; its colour shades
from red-brown to purple, and its size is various. It is
triangular in shape, and so tender that its substance would
be torn by the slightest violence, were it not for its mem-
branous peritoneal covering. It is attached on its upper
and thicker edge to the left side of the stomach, but the
chief portion of it lies behind and rather above the stomach.
Its front part comes in contact with the left lobe of the
liver ; its hinder is connected to the left kidney, and con-
cealed by the convolutions of the colon. It is abundantly
supplied with bloodvessels, absorbents, and nerves, especially
the two first-named, yet the particular use of the spleen if
still merely conjectural.

Great enlargement and also rupture of the spleen have
been noticed after the death of horses ; but we know little
of the causes or the symptoms which indicate disease of
this organ.

VOMITING.

Vomiting. — A structural peculiarity in the stomach of
the horse remains to be noticed, by which, in all ordinary
cases, the animal is denied the power of vomiting. The
whole of the alimentary canal in that animal exhibits
uniformity of intention, unfavourable to vomiting. The
soft palate closes all return of the contents of the stomach
by the mouth ; and consequently, if vomiting were to occur.

THE ORGANS OF DIGESTION, &c.

215

the rejected mass must come out by the nostrils. The next
structural impediment may be observed in the oesophagus ;
which, by having a different arrangement of its muscular
fibres to that of ruminants, evidently proves that regurgita-
tion forms no part of the natural economy of the horse-
The obliquity of its insertion, the number, strength, and
direction of its fleshy layers, must form a sufficient bar to
all ordinary tendency of the aliments to return. And the
superior resistance offered by the greater volume of mus-
cular fibre around the cardiac extremity, must, in all cases,
effectually prevent it. The dog and cat, which vomit

rather freely, have the muscular fibre much the thickest at
the pyloric orifice. Were the equine and the canine stomachs
handed to a person perfectly ignorant of anatomy or phy-
siological discussion, his sense of touch would be sufficient
to decide the matter, so very marked and obvious is the
difference. Added to the above reasons, though not of
much force, is the circumstance of the horse's stomach
being situated far from the abdominal muscles : this pre-
vents these last from directly acting upon the digestive bag
in that animal, but certainly cannot prevent their action
being felt through the pressure of surrounding parts.

216

THE URINAEY ORGANS. Hic.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE UBINASY OBQANS.— THE RENAL CAPSULES : THE KIDNEYS : THE BLADDER : THE URETHRA. — THE ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION

OF THE MALE : OF THE FEMALE. — GESTATION : FOALING.

THE URINARY ORGANS.

The Renal Capsules are two irregularly-shaped bodies in
front of the kidneys. They are large in the colt, but de-
crease in size as the animal grows. They consist of two
substances, one yellow and vascular, the other paler and
fatty : a fluid may be squeezed from these in the young
colt. Their nerves come from the plexus called the renal
plexus. Their fianctions and use are unknown.

The Kidneys. — These are the most important glands
engaged in the urinary circulation. They are supposed,
small as they are, to carry, by the renal arteries, one-eighth
of the whole blood of the body. The kidneys are situated
in the upper part of the abdomen and dorsal region. The
right kidney, against the liver, is more forward than the left,
owing to the latter being pressed backward by the spleen.
The bean-shape of the kidneys is too well known to need
description ; their central notch is the entrance for their
arteries and vessels, and the outlet of their veins and ducts.
They are kept in position by their coating membrane, often
well lined with fat. The kidneys lie on the top of the peri-
toneum, and are outside the peritoneal sac. Lying behind
'or above) the intestines, they are concealed by them in
dissection, until shown by their removal (See Plate XIII.
Figs. 1 and 2.) When the kidneys are divided, two distinct
structures are visible. The outer, called the cortical (Lat.,
cortex, bark), is of a dull dark red, and granular in structure :
this is the web of emulgent capillaries, and the minute ter-
minations of the urinary ducts. The second part is the
medullary (pith or marrow-like), lighter in colour, and with
a number of minute radiating tubes forming papillae (Lat.,
papilla, a small nipple). The urine is secreted from the
capillaries of the emulgent arteries, coiled round the small
ends of the renal ducts, thence it passes through the tubular
portion of the kidneys, flows towards the cup-shaped
mucous membranes called the calicea (Lat., calyx, a cup), and
falls into the infundibula, which are canals or grooves
enlarging into the ureters (Gr., ouron, urine), which last
carry the urine into the bladder. Each ureter passes out of
its kidney, and, connecting itself with the broad ligament
{Ugam^ntum latum), travels with it to the upper side of the
bladder. Each ureter goes obliquely through the coats of
the bladder, which thus perform the office of a valve.

The chief function of the kidneys is the secretion of the

urine, and carrying off an ingredient which enters into its
composition, called the urea, a substance which, if allowed
to circulate with the fluids, would prove poisonous. The
urine varies more in its quantity and quality in the. horse
than in any other animal with which we are acquainted,
and hence the necessity of attending to its appearance and
composition during disease ; because attention to this
enables the veterinarian to detect the disease, and also
to judge the quantity of medicine which may prove benefi-
cial to the animal. In the application of these, much good
or much evil may be the result.

The Bladder is a muscular and membranous sac of a
pear shape (pyriform), which, when distended, nearly fills the
cavity formed by the great bones of the haunch, called the
pelvis. (See ante, Bones.) In this undistended condition it is
wholly confined to the cavity of the pelvis ; but, when full
its fundus advances before the pubes into the abdomen, the
advancement being in ratio with the degree of distention.

The bladder is provided with three coats. The outer one
covers the greater portion of it, and is part of the perito-
neum. The muscular coat consists of two layers of fibres ;
the external running longitudinally, and the inner cir-
cularly, which enables it to yield to the pressure of the
urine as the cavity fills, and again contract to a small size
when emptied. This contractile property also assists in
expelling the urine from the bladder. The inner or mucous
coat is white, soft in its texture, and highly organized. It
possesses numerous follicles, or little glands, from whose
excretory pores issues a plentiful mucous secretion, to defend
it from the acrimony of the saline and other matters con-
tained in the urine. This mucous matter being perpetually
washed off from the surface of the inner coat by the urine,
is kept constantly renewed, and it is sometimes voided
in considerable quantities. When this is the case, it may
be apprehended that the urine is unusually acrid, or that
calculi or other irritable matter is within the bladder.
About an inch before the cervix or neck of the bladder, in
the sides of the bag, the orifices of the ureters are placed,
which enter the bladder in an oblique direction, and pre-
vent any reflux of the urine at the time the bag is con-
tracting, which gives them the property of valves. The
bladder terminates in a small neck of yellow elastic tissue,
round which is a powerful muscle, which keeps the passage
closed and retains the urine until the animal wishes to

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THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS.

217

expel it ; or when the bladder contains a certain quantity
of fluid, the muscular coat contracts, and, the lungs being
filled with air, the diaphragm is rendered convex towards
the intestines, and they are by that means pressed upon the
bladder, and by their united powers the fluid is forced
through the sphincter* at the neck of the bladder, and
escapes into the urethra (Gr., ouron, urine), whence it is
voided on the ground. The urethra we shall notice in its
more important functions in connection with the generative
system.

THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS.

THE MALE ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

In the male animal the organs are mostly external ; in
the female, internal ; in both, they are so connected with
accessory organs as to answer a double purpose.

The scrotum (Lat., scroteum, a leather coat), the testes
(Lat, testis, a witness, q. d., evidence of virility), the vasa
deferens (Lat., vasa, vessel, deferens, carrying), the penis,
theca (Gr., sheath), prepuce, and urethra.

The scrotum, or bag, is formed of the common integu-
ments of the belly, and is outwardly smooth, thin, and
scantily grown with hair. It has a peculiar muscular inner
coat, called dartos (Gr., daro, to excoriate), by which the
scrotum is corrugated and drawn up. It has also an inter-
nal septum or division, visible outwardly, which separates
completely the two testicles.

The testicles, which fill the scrotum, are two glandular
bodies, first formed within the abdomen. The coverings of
the testicles are a white fibrous coat, continued up to the
spermatic cord, and another from the cremaster (Gr., sus-
pender). The cremaster muscles arise from the oblique ab-
dominal muscle, and each support a testicle. The middle
of the testes is divided by a mediastinum into separate
portions like the segments of an orange. The third coat of
the testes is a vascular tunic (called tunica vasculosum),
being the nourishing covering of the gland, from which its
vessels branch into all the divisions. These divisions are
filled with the ends of the ducts called lobules (little lobes)
in which the semen is secreted. The testicle is white, firm,
and externally smooth.

The vasa deferens, as the excretory duct of the semen,
joins the spermatic cord, and, passing through the abdo-
minal rings, proceeds to the upper side of the bladder, ter-
minating in the urethra in the opening of the seminal vesi-
cles. These membranous sacs (vesiculce seminales) contain
a special mucous secretion, and have large excretory pas-
sages ending in the urethra close to the vasa deferens.

The prostate glands are three or four in number. The
lesser prostates (Cowper's glands) are two small bodies, the
size and shape of a chestnut, near the greater prostates,

♦ From the Greek sphingo, to contract, or draw together, like the
snouth of a bag or purse.
E E

lying upon the spines of the ischium (haunch-bone). These
also seem agents in elaborating the seminal fluid, but how
has not been yet discovered.

The spermutic cord is covered by the peritoneum. It
commences at the internal abdominal ring, passes through
the groin, and comes out through the external abdominal
ring.

The penis of the horse is a firm body, two feet in length,
formed of an elastic and erectile tissue. One of these occu-
pies the under portion beneath the urethra. The other is
above the urethra, and is flaccid when not distended by
venous blood, which, when the animal is under sexual ex-
citement, it becomes to an immense degree, increasing in
bulk and becoming very firm. At the extremity is a bulb
called the corpus spongiosum, which, though appearing dis-
tinct, is continuous with the lower portion of the erectile
tissue.

The sheath, which encloses the penis from view, is formed
of the general integuments continued loosely from the scro-
tum to the navel. The outer fold of the sheath owes its
size to a ring of ligament which keeps its orifice firmly
open, and from this the integuments are doubled back, be
coming thinner and more full of vessels, again doubling
back over the glans penis and forming the foreskin, or
prepuce.

The urethra is the canal continued from the bladder
through the body of the penis to its point. That part of the
urethra encircled by the prostate glands is called the pros-
tatic part, the other, the membranous part ; and the part
whereon the well-marked muscle, called the accelerator
urincB runs, is named the muscular part. From the lower sur-
face of the points of the ischium come two muscles, inserted
in the crura, called the erectores, whose function is expressed
by their name. The urethra is highly sensitive and full of
vessels ; it secretes a mucus, by which it is protected from
the action of the urine. Several mouths of ducts enter it,
called lacuncB (Lat, lacunce, dots or pits). The nerves of
the urethra rise from the loin (lumbar) and sacral flexures.

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION IN THE FEMALE.

The genital orifice of the mare is surrounded by two
roundish folds of loose, fatty, cellular tissue, covered with
dark-coloured skin, called the Mia majora (Lat., labia, lips,
majora, greater). Two other folds lie within these, called
vulvce, or labia minores, moist, fleshy, and full of vessels.
The vulva has within its substance a sphincier muscle, called
sphincter vaginae (closer of the sheath).

At the bottom of the valve appears the clitoris, a body of
erectile tissue, having a thinner extension of the same tissue
on the vulva, and through the first or outer chamber of the

vagina.

The vagina (Lat. for sheath), which lies between the
bladder and the rectum, and extends from the labia minores
to the neck of the womb, called cervix uteri (Lat., cervir^
neck, uterus, cavity).

216

GESTATION AND FOALING.

The erectile tissue of the vagina is covered by a structure
answering to the dartos of the male, and its mucous lining
is thrown into numerous rugce (Lat., rugcB, wrinkles), or
irregular folds, varying in different animals, and remarkable
for their want of uniformity. There is a contraction of the
membrane lining the vagina near its middle, which divides
it into two chambers. The hinder or outer of these is lined
wifti erectile tissue, and is very full of vessels, the forward
or inner portion is much less sensible and leads into the
womb. A little way up the vagina, just within the vulva,
on the lower side, is a small fold of membrane, easily felt
by the finger. This is the opening into the urethra, or
urine-passage, which is very short in the mare.

The uterus, or womb, is a rounded body, having at its
fundus (Lat., bottom) two horns or wings. These are lined
with mucous membrane, full of folds ; outside this is a
thick white layer of muscular fibre, and outside this a thin
cellular layer, and the common covering of the abdominal
viscera, called peritoneum. Near the ends of the " horns "
are two tubes, named after Fallopius, their discoverer, the
Fallopian tubes. These are somewhat the shape of a cor-
nucopia in the mare, small where they issue from the horns
of the womb, and expanding at their extremities. They
have been compared to a French horn, which they also re-
semble in being convoluted. They have a curious ragged
fringe at the larger end, called, fancifully, morsus diaboli
(Lat. for the devil's bite), attached to the ovaries (Lat., ovum,
an egg) at one point. The loose pieces of this fringe are
violently agitated during coition, and, seizing the ovum
as it falls from the ovaries, convey it to the Fallopian
tubes ; these are also lined with mucous membrane, and
their muscular coat is continuous with that of the uterus.
The whole apparatus is supported by the peritoneal thicken-
ing known as the broad ligament of the uterus. The open-
ing of the free end of the Fallopian tubes into the cavity of
the abdomen, is a remarkable and solitary instance of a
mucous membrane opening into a serous sac.

The ovaries, like the testes of the horse, have three coats :
the outer, the peritoneum ; the middle, white fibrous tissue;
the internal, full of blood vessels. Old anatomists compared
them to the testes, but the similarity ends with their form.
They are cellular internally, and in the cells are the germs
of eggs, which, as they come to the surface, are matured, and
in copulation burst the coats and are carried down the Fal-
lopian tubes. Whenever an ovum escapes, a corpus luteum
is formed, of a yellow spongy mass, at the spot where the
ovum has escaped from.

Before the period of conception, the Fallopian tubes be-
come more full of blood, and have a writhing or peristaltic
motion, like that already described as impelling the food
along the intestinal canal. Certain prominences are also
observed at this time on the surface of the ovaries, produced
by the swelling of vesicles (called, after their discoverer
Graaf, Graafian vesicles) ; these are the germs of the
coming foaL The Fallopian tubes then become attached by

their open fimbriated (Lat, fimbria, fringe) mouths ovei
these prominences, and, receiving the vesicles as they burst
through the peritoneal covering of the ovaries, convey them,
by the peristaltic motion before mentioned, into the womb.

These germs are sometimes fecundated before they reach
their destination, when what is called extra-uterine con-
ception occurs. In these cases the germ never reaches the
uterus at all, but remains in the intermediate canal, and
attaches itself to its surface. In this position the foetus
may grow, expanding the tube as it grows, till at length
it gives way, and the foetus escapes into the general cavity
of the abdomen.

The mammary glands in mares are placed a little in front
of and between the hind legs. They are two in number,
each composed of a bag and teat, with a muscular coating
like the scrotum of the horse. The main substance of the
gland is made up of bloodvessels and ducts for carrying off
the secretion. The milk is secreted in minute glands, which
empty into the ampullae (Lat., ampulla, a bellied bottle) or
dilatations, whence it is carried by other ducts which com-
municate with the milk-bearing tubes {tuhuli lactifert),
which last end in the point of the teat. Thus much of the
organs of reproduction. The physiology of conception,
gestation, and parturition come next to be considered.

We may notice that although the male appetite is con-
stant, it is by no means uniform. Cold weather, low feeding,
and the absence of the effluvium of the mare, greatly
moderating it. During the period when the mare is in
" season," his desire is at its height. It is at periods when
the stallion is " cold," that the avarice of breeders and
dealers sometimes leads them to the ruinous folly of adminis-
tering stimulants, to provoke him to an act of itself exhaust-
ive, and, in excess, fatal. Farcy, glanders, and wasting we
have seen consequent on this attempt to force natur<}.

GESTATION AND FOALING.

Conception follows the copulative act. Most mares
require but one " leap " of the horse, to conceive ; which
having done the " heat=> " cease, and the mare will refuse
the male. As the " heats " recur at periods of nine days
(as often eight), it will be as well, to make sure, to show the
mare the stallion, and observe whether there is any sign
of sympathetic orgasm. If so, she may be again covered.

We have already noticed that impregnation is effected by
the action of the semen upon the ovum ; whether by actual
contact and inoculation or by sympathetic influence, is yet
questioned, perhaps both. The evidence, we think, is in
favour of an actual flow of the impregnating fluid through
the tubes and oviducts to the ovarium ; and this view is
strengthened by the fact thai in animals which produce
several young at a birth, several of the fecundated ova
never reach the uterus at all, but remain in its " horns,"
and there mature, till expelled as living animals complete
in all their functions.

The ovum being lodged in the cavity of the uterus, a

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GESTATION AND FOALING.

219

considerable change takes place in that organ. It gradually
enlarges so as to accommodate the contained foetus as it
grows. A greater quantity of blood is now also determined
into its vessels for affording the proper nourishment. When
the ovum has become sufficiently large to enable us to dis-
tinguish the germ of the foetus, we find it consists of two
membranes containing a fluid, in which swims the foetus,
still gelatinous and without shape. Gradually increas-
ing in size, its parts are at length developed ; and we see
it attached to the whole internal surface of the uterus of
the mare by a thick spongy mass. This is called the placenta,
and is the organ through the medium of which the future
animal receives its nutrition in the uterus of the mare.

The placenta consists principally of bloodvessels, which
are collected at the centre of its membrane, so as to form
a cord ; this cord is continued to the navel of the foetus,
which it enters ; and a vein runs from it onwards, to empty
its blood into the venous canal, which further conveys this
fluid to the vena cava, contiguous to the heart. Having
entered the right auricle of the heart, the blood passes by
an oval hole (which is peculiar to the foetal state, being
closed up after birth) into the left auricle, and a part finds
its way by the right ventricle into the pulmonary artery.
But as even this portion of the blood is not intended to
enter the lungs of the foetus, it is conveyed by a canal (also
peculiar to the foetus, being afterwards closed up), which
communicates with the aorta. From the left auricle the
blood passes into the ventricle of that side, and thence into
the aorta, to be circulated through the foetal system, for con-
veying to it the principles of life and nutrition. Thus it
will be seen that the blood does not circulate through the
lungs of the foetus ; for, breathing being incompatible with
the foetal condition, the lungs require no more of that fluid
than is necessary to their growth. The blood, after having
given out life and nutriment to the foetus, is returned to the
placenta by two arteries, which, arising from the aorta, a
little after it has entered and divided into two branches in
the pelvis, are called the umbilical arteries : these arteries
pass out at the navel along the cord, and re-convey their
contents into the placenta.

How the communication between the uterus and placenta
is carried on, is still a mystery. The supposition, however,
is, that the placenta performs an office, with respect to the
foetus, analogous to that of respiration effected by the lungs
after birth ; and also, that it is the medium for supplying
the blood with new materials for the growth of the foetus.

There is, it is true, an indirect communication between
the mother and the embryo foal, in the attachment of the
outer membrane of the placenta ; but the foetal vessels in
no way communicate with those of the mother, and the
finest injection fails to find its way from one to the other.
The vessels, however, pass Tiear to the uterine arteries of the
mother, through the agency of two umbilical arteries and a
vein, which occupy the membranous cord. This, when the
foetus is fully grown, is an inch in diameter and three feet

in length, and is called the umbilical cord, from passing into
the navel (umbilicus) of the foal. (See Plate XIV.)

The membranes forming the placenta (or womb- cake) are
at first two : the outer, called chorion (Gr., chorion, protec-
tion), the inner the amnion; * and at a later period of preg-
nancy a third membrane is developed, called the aHanUnd
(Gr., alia, a sausage, and oidos, like). The allantoid com-
municates with the bladder of the canal called the urachue
(Gr., urax, a mouse), which contains the urine of the foetus,
and is always full "of the contents of the foetal bladder.
The amnion, which immediately encloses the foetus, contains
and secretes a fluid called liquor amnii, in which the
embryo floats. The bowels of the foetus at birth are full
of a yellow mass of pap-like consistency, called meconium
(Gr., meeonios, inspissated poppy-juice). The urachus,
which reaches from the bottom of the bladder of the foetus,
and the allantoid sac, break at birth, and that part which
the foal keeps dries up, and forms the long ligament of the
liver.

The term oV gestation in the mare is between eleven and
twelve months. Blaine records, Cyclopcedia, p. 282, that of
582 mares, covered but once, and observed and registered,
the shortest period from copulation to parturition was
287 days (78 short of twelve months), the longest 419 days
(54 days beyond the year) ; thus making the extraordinary
difference of 132 days, or four months and 12 days be-
tween the extreme periods of gestation.

Parturition. — When the period for foaling approaches, the
weight of the young animal rapidly increases, and the fluid
of the amnion, which before was almost equal to its
weight, decreases by absorption. The uterus, which was
completely within the pelvis (Gr., basin) thrusts its fundus
against the epigastrium and becomes painful from disten-
sion. The udder enlarges, and sometimes milk may be
squeezed from the teats ; if milking does not alarm the mare,
it will give her ease. In most cases an adhesive matter
appears about the teats some hours before foaling. At last,
the vulva; (see ante), swell and protrude, and the tail is
erected ; some heaving of the flanks, acceleration of the
pulse, and restlessness are generally observable, with deep
drawings in of breath, constriction of the abdominal mus-
cles, and a forcing of the uterine contents by aid of the dia-
phragm (itself pressed by the inflated lungs) backwards, to
effect the expulsion. The mouth of the womb dilating, and
the attachment of the chorion breaking, the hind legs are
now set wide apart, and the membranes protrude like a
bladder. This bursts, the liquor amnii escapes, and in
favourable cases brings down the foal with it. In more
protracted births, the head and forelegs are gradually forced
into the vagina. Severe spasms follow till the foal is born ;
and the placenta (now called the after-birth) either comes

* From a Greek word (a^yioi/), which originally meant the vessel for
receiving the blood of the victims sacrificed, but was afterwards applied
to this membrane, with its contained fluid.

:{20

GESTATION AND FOALING.

away at the same time as the foal, or is long and danger-
ously retained, the fall to the ground rupturing the umbili-
cal connection of the newly-born animal. In ordinary cases,
the lungs of the foal immediately begin to act, and, directed
by his newly-awakened organs of smell, he seeks the milk
of his mother.

When the foal is weakly or torpid, it may be judicious to
hold it up to the teat. The first milk, be it remem-
bered, has a peculiar quality. It is purgative, and clears
out the meconium from the alimentary' canal of the young
animal. Should the mother be dry, or die, cows' milk,
boiled, or better, asses' milk, where procurable, wiU support
the foal. Some celebrated racers have been hand-reared.
The udder of the mare is not fully supplied with milk till
the fourth day. When the nippers of the foal become fitted
to bite the young grass, the mare weans it ; or rather the
udder dries up and returns to its ordinary form.

There is an interesting and remarkable point in the
economy of the foetus, with regard to the descent of the
testicles. The inner and outer abdominal rings have been
already described, and, it must be remembered, the walls of
the abdomen are chiefly formed by four pairs of powerful
muscles, joined in the middle by the linea alba, where it isi
perforated by the navel (umbiUcv^). Now, in the foetus,,
the testicles are placed just behind the kidneys, and from

that situation they eventually make their way into ths
scrotum. While in the belly, they are wrapped in the
peritoneum, and attached to a ligament of almost triangular
form : this ligament is called gubemaculum testis (ruler of
the testicle), and is full-grown at birth. It then shrinks
and draws down the testicle gradually to the abdominal
ring, bringing with it the peritoneal covering, and thick-
ening its substance. The gubemaculum absorbs when no
longer useful, and an open communication is formed with
the cavity of the scrotum, the matured testicles descend to
the purse destined to hold them. This peculiar descent
of the spermatic organs takes place soon after birth ; and
until the fourth, fifth, or sometimes sixth month, the
testicles are found outside the outer abdominal ring. After
this they are drawn back again, and remain in the canal of
the groin (inguinal canal) till the tenth or eleventh month,
when they again descend to occupy the scrotal sac for the
remainder of the animal's existence, unless man should
determine to render him more docile and useful as a
gelding, which we shall come to consider under the head
of Castration.

Puberty in both horse and mare arrives about the fifth
year. The terms colt and fiUy are changed for hor»e and
mare between the fourth and fifth years-

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINK

221

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

CHAPTER XXIII.

INTRODrCTION. — HORSE MEDICINES AKD REMEDIES, DOSES, FORMUL-S!, AND PREPARATION.

Absorbents. — At the head of these stands chalk. It has a
tendency to correct acidity of the stomach, and in some cases
to check diarrhoea. A carbonated alkali is useful. Cows,
calves, and sheep, being more subject to acidity than the
horse, are more benefited by chalk.

AcETATED Liquor or Ammonia. — Pour Acetic Acid (which
see), in the proportion of one ounce to seven of water, on
carbonate of ammonia till effervescence ceases and a neutral
solution is made. This is what is called in farriery books,
Mindereras'a Spirit. It is diaphoretic and mildly diuretic
(q. v.). It is useful in the weak stage of fever after in-
fluenza. It is also advisable in the early stage of epizootic
catarrh. Cose from five ounces upwards.

Acetate of Copper. See Copper.

Acids. See under their several heads as Sulphuric
Acid, &c.

Acetic Acid (Pyroligneous Acid). The Acetic Acid dis-
tilled from wood has properly superseded the ordinary fer-
mented vinegar in medicine and the arts. Diluted with
water, it forms an excellent lotion for various skin diseases,
and in its strong state is a remedy for warts. Impure
pyroligneous acid, as it first comes over, impregnated with
tar, we have found a valuable application in chronic inflam-
mation of the eyes and edges of the eye-lids, and in pro-
moting the digestion of ulcers. It is also a good injection
into sinuses to produce healthy discharge or adhesive inflam-
mation. It is powerfully antiseptic ; and decomposing meat
plunged into it has at once its putrefaction checked. The
empyreumatic oil it contains is the cause of wood-smoke
acting in the preservation of tongues, hams, herrings, &c

uEruqo (Acetas Cupri). See Verdigris, Copper.

iETHER, Sulphuric. — An antispasmodic (q. v.) of the first
order in veterinary practice. It is valuable as a diffusible
stimulant and narcotic. It rapidly evaporates, producing
cold and dryness, and is therefore, when applied externally,
an active refrigerant. If, however, it be so confined as to

prevent its evaporation, its action is directly the opposite —
stimulant, rubefacient, and on the human skin even blister-
ing. Its drying qualities may be easily tested by rinsing a
bottle with it, when drops of water obstinately adhere to
the glass, and exposing it to a current of air ; it will be
completely dry in a few minutes. Sulphuric ether, mixed
with ten times its quantity of water, is one of the safest
of horse drinks. Nitrous Spirit of ^ther (see Nitre), com-
monly called " Sweet Spirit of Nitre," is cheaper and more
generally used as a febrifuge for the horse.

.iEthiops Mineral. See Mercury.

Aloes. — As this well-known resin is the sheet-anchor of
farriers, a few words on its qualities and action may be
indulged in. There are three kinds of Aloes : 1. The Soco-
trine (Aloe Spicata), or Cape Aloes ; 2. Common or Barba-
does Aloes (Aloe Vulgaris) ; 3. Fetid or Horse Aloes (Aloe
Caballina). Of these, Socotrine (or Cape) Aloes seem to be
the purest, obtained by draining only ; Barbadoes are less
pure, and prepared by boiling or slight pressure ; while
Horse Aloes (to be utterly banished) are the dregs of the
last-mentioned. Aloes are frequently adulterated with com-
mon resin. This may be detected by dissolving a portion in
hot water or alcohol, when the common resin wiU separate
from the aloetic. Every veterinary practitioner should buy
his aloes in the gourd in which they are cooled, and reduce
them to powder under his own supervision. Aloes are pre-
pared by boiling the leaves and inspissating the juice, then
pouring it into gourds to harden. Socotrine Aloes are of a
brown colour, inclining to red, and brittle. Barbadoes black,
with a shade of brown, of a greasy feel, and a dull fracture.

The Barbadoes Aloes are best, being, with the horse, more
certain in action. The Socotrine or Cape, which are the
finest, are most approved in human practice. The Caballine
or Horse Aloes (which Blaine and others confound under
the name of Cape Aloes) we would banish from the dispen
sary. Aloes are a bitter stimulating purgative, emptying

ut

HORSE MEDICINES.

the large intestines, without making the stools so thin as
many other medicines of the class. It is likewise a quickener
of the circulation, warms the system, and slightly promotes
uterine and haemorrhoidal discharge. Hence in irritable
states its use may be unadvisable. Its general action as a
purgative will be found under Purgatives. As an alter-
ative, aloes are sometimes given in doses of a drachm to
two drachms daily. Barbadoes aloes powder best in frosty
weather, when enough may be pounded and enclosed in
stoppered bottles for a year's supply. A pound of the
powder, warmed for a couple of hours, mixed with one
ounce of powdered ginger and eight ounces ol palm oil, and
divided as wanted into proper doses, will be found a capital
purgative for general use.

Aloes are boiled by some practitioners, to render them
more mild. The great difficulty of keeping aloes in an
equal state of consistence, as a purgative mass, induced
Mr. Bracy Clark to adopt the following method, by which,
he informs us, these inconveniences are obviated. He
places one vessel within another, exactly as carpenters melt
glue, having water in the outer vessel, and aloes, with one-
fifth of their weight of treacle, in the inner one, which is
carefully covered with a lid. The apparatus being put on
the fire, is suffered to remain for an hour or more, or until
perfectly melted, the aloes and treacle being now and
then, but not too often, stirred to combine them. The inner
vessel being now taken from the outer, the contents are
expeditiously cast in paper moulds or tubes of the usual
diameter of a horse-ball. When cold, Mr. Clark finds these
balls flexible, yet solid, and they remain so. He gives an
ounce to a saddle or carriage horse, and six drachms to a
cart horse : but there is reason to fear that they do not
prove so soluble in the stomach as when their particles are
divided by oil, lard, or even syrup ; but the last is a more
objectionable ingredient than either of the others. No
diuretic, such as soap or carbonate of soda, should be added
to this mass ; and it is a curious fact that nut-galls will
neutralise effectually the purgative action of aloes. We may
note here a recorded instance of the different action of the
same drug on different animals. A horse will, under
ordinary circumstances, be purged by an ounce of aloes;
an ox by two or more ; a dog will vomit at the dose ; for a
man the dose is five to eleven grains. A large hog does not
require so much ; and lastly, according to the experiments
of M. Gilbert, a sheep which took two ounces was not purged,
although it died seventeen days afterwards. And see Art.

PnRQATIVES.

A WATERY SOLUTION OF ALOES should be kept by every
veterinarian, which will be found, in many instances, a
very convenient form, on account of its quicker action.

A SPIRITUOUS TINCTURE OF ALOES, made by digesting four
ounces of the powder in a quart of proof spirit, forms a
common stimulating application to recent wounds, &c.
Half an ounce of powdered myrrh is a good addition.

Alteratives. — This is a class of medicines much mis-

understood by the farrier. They are supposed to act upon
the system in a slow and nearly imperceptible manner.
They form the excuse for that vile propensity of grooms
to dose the unlucky horse on all occasions, to the injury of
his health and often of his constitution. These medicines
are indicated in diseases of the skin, defective secretions, and
debility of stomach. The alteratives in most repute among
farriers, are nitre, antimony, sulphur, mercurial prepara-
tions, resins, and spices ; to these many add everv drug
and compound in the pharmacopoeia. For ourselves, we
would fain abolish the word alterative altogether, as a vague
generality and mystifying term for any remedy for any dis-
order, and a cloak for ignorance ; as, however, it is in con-
stant use, we must retain it, confining it to medicines for
the amendment of the state of the skin and general excre-
tions. The leading formulae for alteratives are : —

(A) IN DISORDERED STATES OF THE SKIN.

Emetic tartar . . . . .5 ounces.

Powdered ginger . . . . .3 ounces.

Opium ...... 1 ounce.

Syrup enough to form 16 balls : one to be given every night.

(B) SIMPLY COOLINQ.

Barbadoes aloes ..... 1 ounce.

Castile soap . . . . . IJ ounce.

Ginger ...... \ ounce.

Syrup enough to form 6 balls : one to be given every morning.

(C) IN STRANGLES.

Barbadoes aloes
Emetic tartar
Castile soap

1^ drachm.
2 drachms.
2 drachms. Mix

(D) ALTERATIVE BALL FOR GENERAL USE.

Black sulphuret of antimony . . . 2 to 4 drachms.

Sulphur .... .2 drachms.

Nitre . . . . . .2 drachms.

Linseed meal and water enough to form a ball.

(E) FOR GENERALLY DEFECTIVE SECRETIONS.

Flowers of sulphur . . . .6 ounces.

Emetic tartar . . . . . 5 to 8 drachms.

Corrosive sublimate . . . .10 grains.

Linseed meal mixed with hot water, enough to form 6 balls, one of
which may be given two or three times a week.

(F) IN DEBILITY OF STOMACH.

Calomel ...... 1 scruple.

Aloes ...... 1 drachm.

Cascarilla, gentian, and ginger, of each, in powder 1 drachm.
Castile soap ..... 3 drachms.

Syrup enough to make a ball, which may be given frwlce a week, or
every other night.

Alum {Alumen). — A well-known salt with a metallic
base. It is in general use with veterinarians, internally
and externally. It is used in cases of super-purgation in
the form of alum-whey ; two drachms of powdered alum in
a pint of warm milk. In doses of one or two drachms, it is

HORSE MEDICINES.

223

employed as an astringent in diarrhoea, diabetes, and other
fluxes. If alum be mixed with a vegetable astringent, such
as oak bark, instead of increased power, the action of both
is diminished. As a wash for cracked heels, two drachms
to a pint of water and a scruple of white vitriol is useful.
It is also a serviceable wash in grease generally ; and also
for those forms of swelled legs attended with exudation
of moisture through the skin. Some add the Goulard
lotion, forgetting the chemical decomposition that takes
place ; the result of which is, that the alumina, possessing
little astringency, is detached, and two salts with no astrin-
gency at all, the sulphate of lead and the sulphate of
potash, are formed. Externally it is by some used as a
styptic to stop haemorrhage, by sprinkling it on the bleed
ing orifice, when its coagulating properties plug up the
mouth of the vessel. It is also esteemed to be a useful
escharotic to destroy fungus, and a detergent for foul
ulcers.

Ammonia. — Crude Ammonia, or Muriate of Ammonia, is
so called to distinguish it from the volatile or prepared
ammonia which follows. It is, in general opinion, when
diluted, one of our very best discutients ; and, when in
mixture with acetic acid or vinegar, to which camphor is
added, it forms the favourite lotion of general practitioners
in skin disorders. From it are prepared

Volatile Ammonia (Ammonia Subcarbonas). The gaseous
ammonia, fixed into a solid form by combination with car-
bonic acid, forms the volatile ammoniacal salt of the drug-
gists. It is a good stimulant in the latter stages of fever.
United with acetic acid it forms the Spirit of Mindererus,
an excellent preparation.

Ammonia Acetatis. See Acetated Liquor of Ammonia
Carbonate of Ammonia is called salt ot hartshorn ; car-
bonated water of ammonia is the spirit of hartshorn of the
shops. It is convenient in veterinary practice, from its
peculiar property of uniting water and oil. Internally, it
is an antispasmodic, in doses of six to eight drachms,
administered in warm water. Externally, it is a rapid blis-
tering agent.

Ammoniac. — A gum-resin ; the inspissated juice of the
dorema armeniacum, an oriental umbelliferous plant, com-
mon in Persia. This gum is sometimes given in obsti-
nate coughs and in farcy. It is a useful expectorant, dis-
solved in the acetate of ammonia and rubbed with camphor,
which is active in its effect on the horse.

Anise Seed. — The powder of these seeds was formerly
much used by farriers ; and the druggists who make
horse powders find it a profitable article ; for it is adul-
terated to one-third only of the genuine powder. It may
be very properly united with other warm aromatics when
cordials are admissible It is also thought to possess some
pectoral properties ; but they are very trifling. The essen-
tial Oil is the most active preparation of it. See Oils.

Anodynes. — This class of medicine is given to soothe the
general nervous system, or to relieve spasm, as in tbe case

of tetanus. Opium may be said to be almost the only
anodyne in routine veterinary practice, and may be safely
administered to the horse in very large doses.

Its pervading use may be gathered from the following
prescriptions ; and a reference to Opium will show its gene-
ral value and effects.

Anodyne medicines, compounded.

(A) IN ordinary CASEa

Opium . . ... 1 drachm.

Castile soap ..... 4 drachms.

Ginger ...... 2 drachms.

Oil of caraway ..... 1 ounce.

Syrup to form a ball, dissolve in half a pint of warm ale, and admi.
nister as a drench.

(B) IN COLIC.

Powdered opium ..... 2 drachms.

Camphor ...... 2 drachms.

Castile soap ..... 2 drachms.

Ginger ...... 2 drachms.

Mix with liquorice powder and treacle to the consistency of a ball,
and give every hour during the agony.

(C) IN DIARRHCEA OR SUPER-PURGATION.

Tincture of opium (laudanum) . . .1 ounce.

Gum Arabic (dissolved in 1 pint of boiling water) 2 ounces.
Add

Oil of peppermint .... 25 drops.

A drench. Give night and morning while indicated to be necessarj

(D) IN CHRONIC DIARRH(EA.

Tincture of opium
Powdered chalk
Gimi Arabic
Peppermint water
Night and morning.

i ounca.
1 ounce.
1 oimce.
8 ovmces.

Anthelmintics. See Worm-Medicines.

Antimony. — There are several medicinal preparations of
this metal.

Tlie Black Sulphuret of Antimony, a compound of sulphur
and antimony, is a good alterative. It is given with
sulphur and with nitre, in varying doses, according to the
disease and the slow or rapid efiect intended to be produced
The maximum dose, and especially if it is to be continued,
should not exceed four drachms. It should never be bought
in powder, whatever trouble there may be in levigating it,
for it is often grossly adulterated with lead, manganese
forge-dust, and arsenic. The arsenic may be detected by
placing a little of the powder on a red-hot iron plate. The
pure sulphuret will evaporate without the slightest re-
sidue— so will the arsenic, but there will be an evident
smell of garlic ; a portion ot the lead and the manganese
will be left behind.

Tartarized Antimony {Antimanium tartarizatum). The
tartrate of potash and antimony, or a combination of super
tartrate of potash and oxide of antimony, called Emetic

224

HORSE MEDICINES.

TaHar, is a very useful nauseant, and has considerable
effect on the skin. It is particularly valuable in inflamma-
tion of the lungs, and in every catarrhal affection. It is
given in doses of one drachm, or one drachm and a half, and
combined with nitre and digitalis. It is also beneficial in
the expulsion of worms. Here it must be given in doses of
two drachms, and with some mechanical vermifuge, as tin-
filings, or ground-glass, and administered on an empty
stomach for several successive days. Although it may
sometimes fail to expel the worm, it materially improves
the condition of the horse, and produces sleekness of the
coat. To a slight degree the emetic tartar is decomposed
by the action of light, and should be kept in a jar, or green
bottle. It is sometimes adulterated with arsenic, which is
detected by the garlic smell when it is placed on hot iron,
and also by its not giving a beautiful gold-coloured pre-
cipitate when sulphuret of ammonia is added to it in
solution.

Chloride of Antimony, formed by distilling corrosive sub-
limate with antimony, is called Butter of Antimony by
farriers, on account of its butter-like (butyraceous) appear-
It, however, has a strong affinity for water, which it

ance.

attracts from the atmosphere, and thus becomes fluid. The
less water it is suffered to absorb, the more powerful its
action, it should therefore be kept in close-stopped bottles.
The test of its goodness is its density. It is the best liquid
caustic we have ; it is most manageable, and its effect can
most readily be ascertained. As soon as it touches any
muscular or living part, a change of colour is perceived on
the part ; and the effect of the caustic can be fairly judged
of by the degree of change. For corns, canker, indisposi-
tion in the sole to secrete good horn, wounds in the foot not
attended by healthy action, and for every case where the
superficial application of a caustic is needed, the chloride of
antimony is unrivalled.

Antinionial Powder — Powder of oxide of antimony, with
phosphate of lime, is the factitious James's powder, and is
used as a substitute for that medicine in many diseases of a
febrile character. The dose is from one to two drachms.
The late Mr. Bloxam used to trust to it alone in epidemic
catarrh of the horse. It is decidedly inferior to the Emetic
Tartar.

Antispasmodics. — This is not a large class of medicines
in veterinary practice. We may refer to the chief anodyne
— opium — as the chief. They, as their name imports, are
intended to suppress or counteract the excessive muscular
action called spasm, or cramp. These attacks are rather
secondary to other irritating causes, and therefore reme-
dies to attack the cause are more to be relied on than com-
bating the effect. There are, however, two or three as
palliatives, which may be administered with advantage.
Camphor, hyoscyamus (henbane), belladonna, oil of turpen-
tine, and asafaetida have proved useful. Cold suddenly
and continuously applied is a powerful antispasmodic, and
bas succeeded in subduing tetanus.

Antispasmodic Recipes.

(A) FOE COLIC.

Spirits of turpentine ... .3 oxmcea.

Tincture of opium . . . .1 ounce.

Mix with a pint of warm ale, and give as a drench.

(B) ANOTHER DRENCH FOR COLIC.

Spirits of turpentine . . . 3J ouncei.

Tincture of opium . . . . IJ ounce.

Barbadoes aloes ..... 1 ounce.

Powder the aloes, and dissolve in warm water ; then add the other
ingredients, and give as a drench.

(C) CLYSTER IN COLIC.
Spirits cf turpentine . ... 6 ounces.

Aloes ...... 2 drachms.

Dissolve in 3 quarts of warm water, and stir the turpentine well
into it.

(D) ANTISPASMODIC DRENCH.

Gin . . . ■ . . 4 to 6 ounces.

Tincture of capsicum . . .2 drachma.

Tincture of opium . ... 3 drachms.

Warm water . . . . IJ pint.

Mix, and give as a drench, when there is no inflammation.

Aperients. — Aperients, laxatives, or purgatives, are de-
grees, quantities, or kinds of the same medicines. Laxatives
may be classed as milder purgatives, and as acting with less
irritation in inflammatory affections. In chronic cases, too,
they can be administered more frequently, which is very de-
sirable. Calomel, with small doses of aloes, ranks high
among these. The laxatives proper in fever are Epsom,
Glauber, or Cheltenham salts, 8 to 12 ounces, dissolved in
thin gruel, and repeated every six hours until they operate.
In some cases, the bowels being inflamed, 6 or 8 ounces of
castor or linseed oil, with a few ounces of the watery tinc-
ture of aloes, will prove excellent ; it is improved by half a
drachm of chloroform. The action of these is much assisted
by bran mashes, gruel, and diluent drinks. It, must, how-
ever, be confessed that most of these aperients are doubtful
and irregular in their action upon the horse. When this
inefficacy is apparent, a mild copious clyster, or " back-
raking" (see 2}0st, in Veterinary Practice) should be resorted
to.

Some Aperients act solely by exciting the muscular coat
of the bowels to contract ; others cause a copious watery
discharge ; whilst a third class combine the action of the
two. The several purges also act upon different parts of
the digestive canal ; some stimulating the larger bowels,
while others act upon the small intestines ; and others,
again, on the whole canal. There is yet another class, that
combine with purging an influence on the liver, such as
mercury and rhubarb ; which is effected by absorption with
the circulation. Drastic purges are the violent extreme of
the scale, as laxatives are the mildest of aperients. As
these medicines will receive full notice in the medical
treatment of diseases, we shall spare space here by refer-
ring to the article specially bearing on the subject, where

HORSE MEDICINES.

225

it will be found fully considered. Some of the most useful
aperient formulas are subjoined : —

Aperient Recipes.

(A) ORDINARY APERIENT, OR " PHYSIC " BALL.

Barbadoes aloes . . , . 3 to 8 drachms.

Hard soap ..... 4 drachms.

Ginger ..... 1 drachm.
Dissolve in as small a quantity of boiling water as will suflSce ; then
elowly evaporate to the proper consistence, by which means griping is
avoided.

(B) A WARMER APERIENT BALL.

Barbadoes aloes . . ,. . 3 to 8 drachms.

Carbonate of soda . . . . ^ drachm.

Aromatic powder .... 1 drachm.

Oil of caraway .... 12 drops.
Dissolve as above, and then tidd the olL

(C) OENTLY LAXATIVE BALL.

Barbadoes aloes . . . . 3 to 5 drachms.

Khubarb powder . . . . 1 to 2 drachms.

Ginger ..... 2 drachms.
Oil of caraway . . , .15 drops.

Mix, and form into a ball as in letter (A).

(D) PURQINQ BALLS, WITH CALOMEL.

3 to 6 drachms.

Barbadoes aloes
Calomel
Ehubarb .
Ginger
Castile soap
MJy as in first prescription (A),

J to 1 drachm.

1 to 2 drachms.
^ to 1 drachm.

2 drachms.

(E) STOMACHIC LAXATIVE BALL.

Barbadoes aloes

Rhubarb

Ginger, and CascarUla powder

Oil of caraway

Carbonate of soda .

of each

3 drachms.
2 drachms.
1 drachm.
15 drops.
IJ drachm.

Dissolve the aloes as in (A), and then add the other ingredients,

(F) LAXATIVE DRENCH.

Barbadoes aloes . , . 3 to 4 drachms.

Canella alba . . . . 1 to 2 di-achms.

Salt of tartar .... 1 drachm

Mint water .... 8 ounces.

Mix.

(G) ANOTHER LAXATIVE DRENCH.

Castor oO . . . . . 3 to 6 ounces.

Barbadoes aloes . . . . 3 to 5 drachms.

Carbonate of sods .... 2 drachms.
Mint water ..... 8 ounces.
Mix, by dissolving the aloes in the mint water by the aid of heat,
and then adding the other ingredients.

(H) A MILD OPENING DRENCH.

Castor oD
Epsom salts
Grael .
Mix.

F F

4 ounces.
3 to 5 ounces.
2 pints.

Castor oil, and Linseed oU
Warm water, or Gruel
Mix.

(I) A VERY MILD LAXATIVE.
. of each

4 onno«0.
1 pint

(K) USED IN THE STAGGERS.

Barbadoes aloes .... 6 drjwhms.

Common salt ..... 6 ounce.?.

Flour of mustard . . . . 1 ounce.

Water ...... 2 pints.

Mix.

(L) A GENTLY COOLING DRENCH IN SLIGHT ATTACKS OF COLD

Epsom salts .

Whey ....

Mix.

6 to 8 ounces.
2 pints.

(M) PURGATIVE CLYSTER.

Common salt .
Warm water .

4 to 8 ounces.
8 to 16 pints.

Arnica has for a time disappeared from our prescriptions
and practice, to re-appear recently with good claim on our
notice. It is the production of the Aj-nica montana, or
Leopard's Bane, which grows plentifully on the Alps and
other European high lands. In Germany all parts of the
plant are used and esteemed, — leaves, stem, flowers, and root.
It possesses through the whole plant an aromatic odour
and a nauseous taste, arising from a volatile oil and an acrid
resin. The roots contain a large amount of tannin ; and
" arnlcine," as the chemists have called its extract, in small
doses, accelerates the pulse, in large, irritates the alimentary
canal, and causes faintness. It is diaphoretic and diuretic,
and we have found the root in powder (20 grains 3 times a
day), or the infusion (3 drachms of flowers and leaves and
1 pint of boiling water), given four ounces at a time, a
good stimulant. In Germany they make a tincture and a
vinegar of arnica, of which we would recommend trial to be
made by the veterinarian. It is now applied by homoeopa-
thic doctors to wounds and bruises; with what eflfect it could
be introduced in horse-practice we cannot at present with
certainty say.

Arsenic. — Were it not that some practitioners continue
to use it as a tonic, in doses of from ten to twenty grains
daily, and others use it to core out old ulcers, we would not
include it in our list, for we have little faith in it. There
are better and safer tonics, and far better and safer caustics.
The best form in which it can be administered is, the liquor
arsenicalis, made by boiling its own weight of potash with
arsenic and water (one ounce of water to every four grains
of arsenic), in some glass vessel. It has some power in stay-
ing the progress of glanders ; and is pretended to cure farcy
when watched and continued. It also appears to have some
vermifuge properties ; Blaine believed it to retard the march
of the rabies, though not ultimately successful

Astringents. — These are supposed to act on the living
fibres by producing increased contraction, in which point of

226

TKE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

dew they form a very numerous and important class ; but
in a more limited sense, they are considered as substances
that restrain immoderate fluxes, as of the intestines and
kidneys. Those that act by constringing the divided ends
of bloodvessels are called styptics. Opium, chalk, alum,
starch, and catechu, act favourably in restraining intestinal
fluxes. Catechu, alum, and acetate of lead, operate as
astringents on the urinary passages.

Astringent Recipes-

(A) FOR DIABETES.

Opium ...... i drachm.

Powdered ginger ..... 2 drachms.

Oak bark ...... 1 ounce.

Camomile infusion . . . 1 pint.

Mix for a drench ; or, if powdered oak bark omitted, substitute alum,
SLS much as the tea will dissolve.

(B) FOR BLOODY URINE.

Catechu, powdered .... 1 ounce.

Cascarilla bark ..... 2 drachms.

Alum ...... 1 ounce.

Liquorice powder and treacle to form a ball, administered twice
a day.

(C) EXTERNAL POWDER FOR ULCERS.

Alum, powdered ..... 4 ounces.
Bole Armenian ..... 1 ounce.
Mix.

(D)

Or, white vitriol ..... 4 ounces.
Oxide of zinc ..... 1 ounce.
Mix.

(E) AN ASTRINaENT LOTION.

Goulard's Extract .... 3 drachms.

Water ...... J pint

(F) ASTRINGENT OINTMENT.

Super-acetate of lead .... 1 drachnL

Lai'd ...... 1 oxmce.

Mix.

(G) Or, for the same purpose :

Nitrate of silver, in powder . . • h drachm.

Goulard's extract . . . ... 1 drachm.

Lard ...... 1 ounce.

Mix. (F) and (G) are good for sore heels.

Balls. — This is the favourite and most convenient mode
of administering horse-medicines.

There are some circumstances, in the preparation of this
form of medicines, not in general sufiiciently attended to by
veterinarians. Substances that are volatile do not keep
well in balls, and therefore should only be made when used.
The same caution is also requisite with such as liquify by
the absorption of air. All hard substances entering into
balls should be finely powdered, and the moist matter that
is to form them into an adhesive mass should be of a nature
that will not soon ferment or become mouldy. Hence, they
are better compounded with oil than with honey or syrup.

A mass for balls should be pressed down in a jar, and
covered with a bladder. Balls should not weigh more
than an ounce and a half or two ounces, or they will
pass down the gullet with difliculty ; nor more than an inch
in diameter, and three inches in length. The mode of
" delivering a ball " is not difiicult to acquire ; and the
balling iron, while it often wounds and permanently injures
the bars, occasions the horse to struggle more than he other-
wise would against the administration of the ball. The
horse should be backed in the stall ; the tongue should be
drawn gently out with the left hand on the ofl'-side of the
mouth, and there fixed, not by continuing to pull at it, but
by pressing the fingers against the side of the lower jaw.
The ball, being now taken between the tips of the fingers of
the right hand, is passed rapidly up the mouth, as near to
the palate as possible, until it reaches the root of the
tongue ; it is then delivered with a slight jerk, and the hand
being immediately withdrawn and the tongue liberated, the
ball is forced through the pharynx into the oesophagus. Its
passage should be watched down the left side of the throat ;
and if it is not seen going down, a slight tap or blow under
the chin will generally cause the horse to swallow, or a few
gulps of water will carry it down. If the gullet should
be small, or strictured, and the ball should remain in some
part of it, the tube used for " the hove " in cattle may be
employed to remove it. If the case be urgent, tracheotomy
must be resorted to. (See Tracheotomy, post.)

Balsams are a kind of resinous juice, united with some of
the extractive matter of the various plants they are obtained
from, in combination with an essential oil. All the balsams
are occasionally in use in veterinary medicine, and were for-
merly in very high estimation, for their supposed salutary
action in chronic diseases. They were also considered as a
sovereign vulnerary for abraded urinary passages. It is
the modern doctrine to think their efficacy overrated,
which is probably in some respects true, particularly as
regards their expectorant qualities ; nevertheless they are
far from being inert. They appear to act very favourably
in some instances, as a warm terebinthinated stimulant.
There are balsams of Canada ; of Copaiba ; of Gilead ; of
Peru ; and of Tolu. What is called balsam of sulphur is
merely a compound preparation of sulphur in oil.

Barbadoes Tar. See Tar.

Bark. — Several of the barks enter into the veterinarian's
list of medicaments, and all act by an astringent property
on the animal fibre. Peruvian bark stands foremost in
reputation ; but as horses are little subject to intermittent
fevers, we can therefore dispense with it. The elm and the
oak barks, particularly the last, may be used in cases of
debility, with advantage. Cascarilla bark proves also a
valuable stomachic tonic.

Barytes (Murias Baryta) has been tried with some bene-
fit in glanders. " It is," says Blaine, " a very powerful
medicament, but few glandered horses are able to bear the
quantity requisite for the cure."

HORSE MEDICINEa

227

Basilicon, commonly called " Yellow basilicon " (Ceratum
resvnce), is a useful digestive ointment.

Beans, in a medical point of view, are sometimes used as
a tonic, and the flour of them as an astringent.

Belladonna (Nightshade). — An excellent sedative. Its
specific action, however, appears to be expended upon the
throat. It is largely used in aifections of the lungs, in
all diseases where sore throat is a prominent symptom.
Its full effect is shown by loss of appetite. Its effect upon
the eye in horses is not at all correspondible to that in man.

Blisters. — The modus operandi and the application of
Blisters will be found under Operations, hereafter. The
leading substance is the Cantharides or Spanish fly, though
various substances are used for the purpose of vesication.
As a simple blister, none equals in certainty and mildness
the Spanish fly. In acute inflammatory disorders, however,
its action is too slow, and caustic liquor of ammonia is
resorted to, Euphorbium (q. v.) is also introduced as a sub-
stitute for cantharides. The tincture of croton is also used
as an economical substitute for the flies.

(A) BLISTER FOR GENERAL USE.

Powdered cantharides . . . .1 pound.

Lard . . . . . . .8 pounds.

The liquid blister is made by substituting eight pints of oil for the
eight pounds of lard, and allowing the flies to digest for a fortnight, or
boiling them in a water bath. A pound of camphor is a good addition;
it does not lessen the action of the blister, but diminishes its irritation.

(B) A POWERFUL BLISTER.

Spanish flies . . . . .1 pound.

Lard . . . . . . .3 pounds.

Besin . . . . . .2 pounds.

Oil of turpentine . . . . .1 pound.

Melt the resin with the lard, after which add the turpentine. When
beginning to cool, throw in the powdered flies.

(C) A MERCURIAL BLISTER, WHICH MAY BE USED WHERE DEPEN-
DENCE IS PLACED ON THE ACTION OF MERCURIALS AND
BLISTERS.

Of the former blister . . . . .4 ounces.

Corrosive sublimate, powdered finely . . 1 scruple.

(D) OB THE FOLLOWING.

Strong mercurial ointment . . . .2 ounces.

Oil of origanum . . . . .2 drachms.

Corrosive sublimate . . . . .2 drachms.

Cantharides, powdered . . . .3 drachma.
Mix, and rub in with the hand.

(E) STRONG SWEATING BLISTER, FOR SPLENTS, RING-BONE,
SPAVINS, ETC.
Of the liquid blister marked (F) . .1 pint.

Biniodide of mercury . . . .2 drachms.

To be weU rubbed in the legs after cutting the hair short ; and followed
by the daily use of arnica, in the shape of a wash, as follows, which is
to be painted on with a brush : —

Tincture of arnica . . . , .1 ounce.

Water . . . . . 12 to 16 ounces,

ftiiz.

Major's British Remedy, which is supposed to be com-
posed chiefly of sulphuric acid, but which sweats down bony
matter very rapidly, though not without pain, and some-
times followed by a blemish.

(F) liquid blister, WEAK ; sometimes CALLED SWEATING
BLISTER.

Spanish flies, in gross powder . . . .J pound.

Olive oil . . . . . .3 quarts.

Steep the flies in the oil three weeks ; strain oS", and bottle for use.

(G) LIQUID BLISTER, VERY MILD.

Of the above
Olive oil

. 1 pint.
. 1^ pint

The farrier's sweating blister is only a strong stimulant ;
it occasions heat and swelling, without excoriation or loss
of hair ; consequently it is a very convenient application,
when it is an object to avoid a temporary blemish, and
when the case is not of a very desperate description. Bui
there are also instances in which it is to be preferred to an
actual blister, as in strains, where some remains of heat and
inflammation are present, but without activity : in such
cases the sweating blister is very often eflScacious. The
mode of application is to rub it in of sufiicient strength to
irritate in a mild degree only ; repeating it every day, until
considerable swelling is occasioned, when the application
should cease and the enlargement be allowed to subside.

Blue Vitriol. See Copper, Sulphate of.

Bole Armenian, vulgarly, " bole ammoniac," is an argil-
laceoifs earth combined with iron, jind is supposed to possess
some astringent property. The propriety of its being ad-
ministered inwardly, is doubtful ; for it may remain in the
intestinal canal, and become the nucleus of a stone. On
account of its supposed astringency, it is occasionally
employed to give consistency to ointments.

Borax. See Soda.

Bran. This valuable laxative is too well known to need
description. As a poultice, it is objectionable, from becoming
so soon dry. See Poultices.

Burgundy Pitch. See Resins.

Butter or Butyr of Antimony. See Antimony, Muriate

OF.

Calamine, prepared (Lapis Calaminaris). See Zinc.

Calomel. See Mercury, Submuriate of.

Camomile. The powder of the flower is a useful vegetable
tonic, and the mildest in our list. It is given in doses ot
one or two drachms, and is exhibited in the early stage of
convalescence, to ascertain whether the febrile stage of the
disease is passed, and to prepare the way for a more powerful
tonic — gentian. If no acceleration of pulse, or heat of mouth,
or indication of return of fever, accompanies the cautious
use of the camomile, the gentian, with carbonate of iron,
may be safely ventured on ; but if the gentian had been
used first, and a little too soon, there might have been a
considerable, and perhaps dangerous return of fever. Blaine

228

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

does not think so highly of camomiles as Youatt. He says,
as an aid to the other medicines prescribed for fever, or in
the weak state of influenza, it is inferior to good sound
stout.

Camphor is extracted from the Laurus camphora and
irrives here principally from India. It is in the form of a
white brittle substance, greasy to the feel, but so tough as
not to be easily pulverised, unless a few drops of spirit be
added to it. Camphor burns brightly with much smoke,
and melts at 288°. Water will not dissolve camphor, but
an equal weight of spirit will ; this must be remembered in
compounding. If camphor is first worked up with a small
quantity of oil, and then with a solution of gum arable, it
can be readily mixed with fluid medicines, and also with
the resins. Its efforts are transient, and therefore small
doses at short intervals are advisable where its use as a
stimulant or sweating medicine (diaphoretic) is called for.
Camphor is decidedly active as a horse-medicine. In large
doses (say half an onuce) it has been known to produce con-
vulsions. In moderate doses (a drachm) it is antispasmodic
[q. v), and sedative (q. v.). Its use in flatulent colic is un-
doubted, opium being conjoined. It has been recommended
by good practitioners in fever : and in the later stages of feb-
rile disorders we have found it a gentle stimulant where the
irritability has indicated such a remedy. It is, however,
uncertain in its action ; and its want of permanency makes
it difGcult to estimate its amount of efiicacy. Externally,
camphor has a mild action in dispersing indurations and in
rheumatic afi"ections. Camphor may be mixed with advan-
tage in the ordinary blister where there is a purulent ten-
dency in the animal.

Canada Balsam is the purest of turpentines. It is a
transparent white juice, extracted from the Pinus balsamea,
a common Canadian tree. It is wrongly called a balsam, as
it contains no benzoic acid. The old writers on medicine
praised its virtues highly, as Bahn of Gilead, Opdbalsamuin,
Balm of Mecca, Venice Turpentine, Cyprus Turpentine,
&c., &c. See Turpentine for its veterinary uses.

Cantharides. (Cantharidis vesicatoria), the Spanish
Fly, is that well-known beautiful winged beetle abundant
in Southern Europe. They are collected in June and July
from the leaves of the trees whereon they delight to dwell
{especially the ash), destroyed by the fumes of strong vinegar,
and dried in the sun : when touched, the insect, like many
beetles, shams death, and when injured emits a peculiar
pungent odour It is of a bright green colour, fine speci-
mens are three-quarters of an inch in length, with the legs,
antennae, &c. of a bluish-black. As the leading ingredient
in making blisters, we would recommend every veterinary
practitioner to buy the beetles whole and powder them
himself, to guard against adulteration. A muslin handker-
chief should be placed over the face during the pounding,
or an unpleasant vesication of nose and throat may follow.
A little sweet oil will prevent the fine particles flying.
Remember, the flies do not lose their virtue by being kept.

It is remarkable that these acrid insects are preyed upon
by others feeding upon them ; but as these only select the
bright hard crust of the insect, the powdered residue is
active as a vesicatory, although the contrary has been as-
serted. Of their use as blisters we have already spoken.
They have been much relied on in glanders as an injection,
and Percivall recommends 5 grains of cantharides in a
ball with copaiba in nasal gleet. It is useful as an injection
in sinuous sores.

Capsicum. The capsicum pod or berry may be taken as
a synonym for cayenne pepper, which is merely the ad-
mixture of the dried and ground pods of several sorts of
capsicum, especially the bird pepper {capsicum baccatum).
Observe, salt and red lead are often used to adulterate
cayenne. For red lead, add to it some acetic acid, then
dropping in a little sulphuret of ammonia, down will go the
lead in a dark precipitate. Or boil a little of the suspected
pepper in vinegar, filter the extract, add to it a little
sulphate of soda (Glauber's salts), when a white precipitate
will be thrown down, which, when dried, mixed with a
little charcoal and exposed to heat, will give a metallic
globule of lead. In horse practice, the capsicum is a good
remedy in flatulent colic. It is also a worm expellent. It
is a convenient external stimulant ; and lastly is a better
stomachic in judicious compounding than most of the
general peppers used. The tincture is the most convenient
form, but not economical. It mixes with water freely.

Caraways {Carum, carui). These well-known seeds act
as a capital cordial and antispasmodic with the horse, in
conjunction with ginger and gentian. The cardamom seeds
alone are retained in the human pharmacopceia.
Carbon. See Charcoal and Poultices.
Carbonate of Ammonia and Carbonated Water of Ammo-
nia (Hartshorn). See Ammonia.
Carbonate of Iron. See Iron.

Carrots. — This root, as an article of horse medicine, is too
much neglected. It is excellent in cough, fattens without
heating the animal, is slightly laxative, therefore good for
the coat. In incipient grease, farcy, &c., we would substitute
carrots for corn. In the " Pharmacologia " of Dr. Paris, car-
rots are recommended " as an antiseptic poultice, to allay the
pain in cases of ulcerated cancer, and to correct the foetor of
ill-conditioned ulcers." Surely, we much overlook what is
at hand and cheapest, to seek remedies more difiicult to
procure ? The addition of hemlock leaves, 2 ounces, and a
trace of opium, to the mashed carrot, makes an unsurpassable
cataplasm whenever a poultice is desirable.

Cassia is the fruit of a West Indian tree. The pods are
about an inch in diameter, rough rinded, and contain a
black pulp, easily dissolvable in water, but more readily in
spirits. It is of a faint sickly smell, and is said to form the
basis of the semi-fluid sold by some dishonest grocers as
" essence of cofi'ee." It must not be given except in com-
pounded medicines.
Castor Oil (Oleum Ricini)

The name comes from the

HORSE MEDICINES.

229

Beeds from which the oil is pressed resembling the insect
called the tick, in Latin ridnua. It is by no means desir-
able as a purgative in horse practice. Youatt says, he
names it " merely to warn the horse owner and practitioner
against its use. If it must be used," he adds, " the expen-
fiye and enormous dose of a pound to a pound and a half
must be administered." Its cathartic action on the horse is
not only uncertain, but it often produces griping. Chloro-
form is said to have neutralised its evil effects ; but why
retain a doubtful and, to the idiosyncracy of the horse, an
abhorrent purgative, when we have so many better and
cheaper, without its drawbacks ?

Cataplasms. See Poultices.

Cathartics. See Aperients and Purgatives.

Catechu, commonly called Japan Earth {Terra Japonica)
is an extract from the Indian Acacia Catechu, common on
the hilly parts of Bengal and Coromandel. There are two
sorts, a light and a chocolate-coloured, the latter has more
of the astringent principle. It is more active with the
horse than with man, and is a useful and safe astringent.
It is given in super-purgation, in doses of one or two
drachms, with one or one and a half drachm of opium, as
a yet more powerful astringent ; four drachms of chalk, to
neutralize any acid in the stomach or bowels, and two
drachms of powdered gum, being also added, to sheathe the
over-irritated mucous coat of the intestines. It is not often
adulterated in this country, but grossly so abroad — fine sand
and aluminous earth being mixed with the extract. It
should not be given with any alkali, yet the prescription
just recommended contains chalk. But although the chalk,
being a kali, weakens the astringency of the catechu, it
probably neutralizes some acid in the stomach or bowels,
which would ha-ve diminished the power of the catechu to a
greater degree. It must not be given in conjunction with
any metallic salt, for the tannin or gallic acid, on which its
power chiefly or entirely depends, has an affinity for all
metals, and will unite with them, and form a gallate of
them, possessing little astringent energy. Writing ink is
the union of this tannin principle with iron.

A tincture of catechu is sometimes made by macerating
three ounces of the powder in a quart of spirit for a fort-
night. It is very excellent for wounds ; and, with the
aloes, constitutes a remedy of a balsamic nature for the
purpose of hastening the healing process of wounds.

Caustics. Called in medicine escharotics, are external
remedies applied by cloth, brush, or sponge to the part
where fungous excrescence is to be destroyed, or indolent
ulceration stimulated to granulation. They are of two
kinds — viz., first, the actual cautery, consisting in the ap-
plication of the hot iron, and called firing, which will
come under notice elsewhere ; and, secondly, the potential
cautery, by means of the powers of mineral caustics, such
as potass, lunar caustic, &c.

The Mineral Acids are active caustics. Sulphuric acid,
or " oil of vitriol," is now seldom used. Nitrous acid (Aqua

Fortis) may be applied by means of a camel's-hair pencil to
fungus on the foot.

The Chloride or Muriate of Antimony, commonly called
the butter of antimony, is a caustic in very general use in
veterinary practice. Applied to a raw surface it instantly
changes it white, destroying a thin layer of substance ;
hence it is a very convenient application in cankered feet,
as, by means of a small camel's-hair brush, it can be spread
over as much or as little a portion of parts as is necessary.
In sandcrack, when the sensitive substance protrudes, it
may be applied in a similar way. In obstinate cases of
grease, the buds are sometimes beneficially touched with it :
but in quittor, poll-evil, and other sinuses, it is not so
proper as some other escharotics.

Nitrate of Silver {Argenti Nitras), popularly called
" Lunar caustic," is a preparation from silver, which renders
it expensive : it is, however, essentially necessary to the
veterinarian's dispensary, from its being so completely under
command in its action ; not extending its effects beyond
the immediate part it is applied to. It proves the most con-
venient caustic for destroying the edges of a contaminated
wound, when not too extensive, as the bite of a rabid
animal. Dissolved in five, six, or eight times its own weight
of water, it forms an excellent liquid caustic, peculiarly
useful as a dressing for the foot-rot in sheep, and also to
touch the protruded portions in sandcrack. Dissolved in
twenty times its weight of water, it makes a useful deter-
gent wash for foul ulcers, and to keep down too luxuriant
growths.

Lunar caustic consists of seventy parts of oxide of silver
and thirty of nitric acid, when fused and cooled it is in small
cylinders of a dark grey colour, and of a crystalline fracture
when broken across. The sticks should be kept in a stop-
pered bottle covered with soft dry paper.

Caustic Potass, called Fluid Potass {Potassa Fusa), is
powerful but difficult to manage, as it runs about where it
is not wanted. Mixed with soap it has been injected in the
pipes of quittor.

Blue Vitriol, the sulphate of copper, is a much milder
caustic than several others, and is used in powder, to
destroy fungus, especially in cases of broken knee. A
solution of one drachm to six ounces of water is a detergent
wash for ulcers, grease, &c.

White Vitriol (Sulphate of Zinc), is also a good escharotic
in a saturated solution. See Zinc.

Corrosive Sublimate {Oocymuriate of Mercv.ry). See
Mercury. In powder it acts most energetically upon warty
growths, but should be used with great care and discretion.
It may safely be applied to small surfaces, but not without
a regular practitioner to large ones. It should be washed
off after remaining on a few minutes.

The Nitrous Oxide of Mercury, called " red precipitate,"
is also generally used for similar purposes.

Yeilow Orpimerd, not so strong as the corrosive subli-
mate, and may be used with more freedom. It will gene-

230

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

rally remove warty growths by picking off their heads and
rubbing it in.

Caustic Preparations.

(A) IN CANKER OF THE FOOT.

Quicksilver . . ... 1 ounce.

Nitric acid ..... 2 ounces.
Mix in an earthen vessel, and when cold put into a wide glass hottle,
and cork it. It may be mixed with lard, in the proportion of 1 to 3.

(B) A SIMILAR APPLICATION, WHICH MAY BE USED ALTER-
NATELY WITH THE LAST.

Copper filings
Nitric acid .
Mix and use in the same way.

J ounce.
1 oimce.

Mild Solid Caustics. Verdigris, either in powder or
mixed with lard as an ointment, in the proportion of 1 to 3.
Burnt alum, used dry. Powdered white sugar.

Mild Liquid Caustics. Solution of nitrate of silver, 5 to
15 grains to the ounce of distilled water. Solution of blue
vitriol, of about double the above strength. Chloride of
zinc, 3 grains to the ounce of water.

Quicklime sprinkled over ulcerated surfaces, is a con-
venient escharotic.

Cerates. Ointments of a drying, healing nature. Cala-
mine ointment (Turner's Cerate). See Zinc.

Chalk (Creta). Carbonate of Lime. It is used as " pre-
pared chalk," being levigated and purified by washing and
drying. It is antacid and absorbent, and good in diar-
rhoea. With neat cattle it is more efficacious than the
horse. It may be sprinkled over cracks and ulcers. The
internal dose is half an ounce to two ounces in super-
purgation.

Charcoal (Carbo Cigni), when well-prepared, is black,
inodorous, insipid, and brittle ; having the quality of ab-
sorbing various gases, and of destroying the smell and taste
of a number of vegetable and animal substances — especially
mucilages, oils, and matters in which extracted and fer-
mented principles abound. Hence its value. No fluid
dissolves charcoal. Its antiseptic qualities are indisputable,
and it is the real secret base of several "infallible" styptics.
It is not duly appreciated (but it must be freshly prepared)
for its excellent effects, when impalpably powdered, in cor-
recting the discharge from ill-conditioned ulcers, or mingled
in a poultice for general application in foetid discharges.

Charges are thick adhesive plasters spread over parts
that have been strained or weakened ; they are applied
warm, and left on while adherent. Charges are not much
used by modern veterinarians. A more extensive acquaint-
tance with the animal economy teaching us that there is
but little activity in what are considered as external bracers.
Nevertheless, there are some other points of view in which
we may place this matter, to prove that " charges " may be
of much service in some cases, if it is merely to act as
9, bandage, or to protect from cold. In this way a " charge "

becomes a useful application to the loins in rheumatism ;
not only as it protects the affected part from cold, but also
because of the resin proving a useful stimulant. Any
strong adhesive, as resin, pitch, &c., melted with wax or oil
sufficient to keep it from being too brittle, may be formed
into a " charge," and applied warm on the part ; and as it
cools it should be covered with flocks of wool or short tow.
Another favourite and effective " charge " in ligamentary
lamenesses, consists of common salt with the white of egg.
The following mixture makes a good charge —

Burgundy or common pitch
Tar

Yellow wax .

5 ounces.

6 ounces.
1 ounce.

Melted together, and when they are becoming cool, half a
drachm of powdered cantharides well stirred in. This must
be partially melted afresh when applied, and put on the
part with a large spatula, as hot as it can be without giving
the animal too much pain. Flocks of tow should be scattered
over it while it is warm, and thus a thick and adhesive
covering will be formed, which cannot be separated from the
skin for many months. This is applied for old sprains of
the loins, and also strains of the back sinews.

A newly-introduced charge is called the Arnica charge.
It is formed of two ounces of Canada Balsam, and half an
ounce of Arnica leaves, melted and worked together with a
little spirits of turpentine. This to be applied over the
whole by thinly spreading, and then the first-named charge
placed outside and over it.

Chloride of Zinc. See Zinc.

Chloroform is a peculiar compound limpid fluid, niiscible
with both alcohol and aether, and precipitated from them by
water. It will dissolve iodine, phosphorus, and sulphur.
The vapour of chloroform and of aether have wonderful
narcotising powers over the lower animals as well as man.
Chloroform has the advantage over aether that a far less
quantity will produce insensibility to pain, and the expense
is much less ; 20 drops on a sponge will have the desired effect.
Chloroform may be thus obtained : — To 4 pounds of chloride
of lime in powder, add 12 ounces of rectified spirit, mixed
with 12 pounds (pints) of water. Its applicability in cases
of extensive and severe operations is proven. It is an
excellent remedy in spasmodic colic, in doses of a drachm
or two drachms in a pint of oil. It is also serviceable in
guarding oil, intended as a laxative, from producing griping
effects.

Cinchona. See Barks.

Clysters (Lat, clysterum, from Gr., clyso, to lave), — in
many farming books glysters, — are useful aids in veterinary
practice, being always safe and easy to administer. The
principal art is to avoid alarming the horse. The syringe
known as " Read's," with valves and a flexible tube, is the
best apparatus ; but failing this, a large hog's bladder, or,
better, that of an ox, with a smooth wooden pipe an inch in
diameter and sixteen inches long, may serve the occasion^
The pipe must be well oiled, and the process conducted

HORSE MEDICINES.

gently. We may notice here that Back-bakinq (see foat),
is an operation often necessary before throwing up a clyster.
The clyster must not be suddenly forced up, but gradually ;
and its heat 96° Fahrenheit. Subjoined are several of
the compounds ordinarily used as clysters, from -which it
will be seen that the clyster may be made, not only laxative,
but nutritious and astringent. From the urgency with
which relief of the bowels is required, and the length of
time taken by purgatives given by the mouth, this class of
remedy is invaluable.

(A) A LAXATIVE CLYSTER.

Thin gruel or broth . . ,

Epsom salts, ^ lb. ; or common salt

(B) A CLYSTER FOR GRIPES.

Oil of turpentine ....
Thin gruel ....

6 quarts,
IJ pound.

I pint.
4 quarts

(C) ANODYNE CLYSTER IN DIARRHCEA.

Starch, made as for household piuposes . 1 quart.

Powdered opium ... 2 drachms.

The opium to be boiled in water, and added to the starch.

(D) A NOURISHINa CLYSTER.

Thick grnel

.

3 quarts.

Strong ale .

.

1 quart.

Mix. Or,

Strong ale

.

1 quart.

Thick milk

.

2 quarts.

Mix

(E) ASTRINGENT CLYSTERS.

Boiled mUk

. .

3 pints.

Thin starch

«

2 pints.

Laudanum

(F) ANOTHER.

1 ounce.

Alum whey

.

1 quart.

Boiled starch

.

1 quart

CoLCHicuM {Colchicwm autumnalis) the meadow saffron.
This celebrated remedy for human gout and dropsy does not
bear out its character for activity in horse complaints. Its
flower is known as poisonous to cattle. It is diuretic with the
horse, and is said to act upon the liver. In large doses, it
is a dangerous purgative. The powder and tincture are the
two preparations in use. It is said to be advantageous in
ophthalmia.

CoLLYRiUMS are washes commonly in use for the eyes. —
See Lotions.

Conserve. — The conserve of red roses is a most con-
venient medium for fotming balls, as it is adhesive, and,
when properly made, keeps well.

Copaiba {Capivi Balsam). — This fragant and peculiar
liquid resin is improperly called a balsam. It contains no
benzoic acid, but consists of resin and an essential oil. It
forms a white soapy compound, soluble in water. Stimulant,
diuretic, and laxative. It may be given in twice its weight

of water and starch, and is active in its effects, though apt
to disturb the digestion.

Copper furnishes two combinations to veterinary practice.
1. Verdigris (Subacetate of Copper). 2. Blue Vitnol, or
Sulphate.

Verdigris {^rugo), the common rust of copper ; produced
by vinegar, or anything sour, or even common salt. It is
given internally by some practitioners, in doses of two or
three drachms daily, as a tonic, and particularly for the
cure of farcy. It is, however, an uncertain and dangerous
medicine. The corrosive sublimate, with vegetable tonics,
as recommended under Mercury, is preferable. Verdigris
is, however, usefully applied externally as a mild caustia
Either alone, in the form of fine powder, or mixed with an
equal quantity of the sugar (superacetate) of lead, it eats
down proud flesh, or stimulates old ulcers to healthy action.
When boiled with honey and vinegar it constitutes the
farriers' " Egyptiacum," certainly of benefit in cankered or
ulcerated mouth, and no bad application for thrushes ; but
yielding, as regards both, to better remedies, which have
been mentioned under the proper heads. Some practitioners
use alum and oil of vitriol in making their Egyptiacum,
forgetting the decomposition which is produced.

Blue Vitriol {Cupri Sulphas), is the union of sulphuric
acid and copper. It is a very favourite tonic with many,
and has been vaunted as a specific for glanders ; while
others, and we think properly, have no very good opinion
of it in either respect. As a cure for glanders its reputa-
tion has passed by ; as a tonic, when the horse is slowly
recovering from severe illness, it is dangerous, and its in-
ternal use should be confined to cases of long-continued
discharge from the nose, when catarrh or fever have ceased.
It may then be given with benefit in doses of from one to
two drachms twice in the day, but it should be combined
with gentian and ginger. It is principally valuable as an
external application, dissolved in water in the proportion of
two drachms to a pint, and acts as a gentle stimulant ; but
when an ounce is dissolved in the same quantity of water
it becomes a mild caustic. In the former proportion, it
rouses old ulcers to a healthy action, and disposes even
recent wounds to heal more quickly than they otherwise
would do ; and in the latter it removes fungous granulations
or proud flesh. The blue vitriol is sometimes reduced to
powder and sprinkled upon the wound for this purpose, and
is a good application for canker in the foot

Copperas {Green Vitriol). See Iron, Sulphate op.

Cordials (and see Stimulants), are mixtures or simples
that invigorate by their stimulating property, usually
through the medium of the stomach. Cordials have been so
long the very stronghold of the ignorant and presuming that
the very term sounds ill in the ear of the well-informed
veterinarian. A horse, unlike a gin-drinking groom, has
an undebauched stomach, and does not require a cordiai
ball twice a week ; nor on every evening after hunting ;
nor on every morning his coat stares with the altered

232

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

temperature. To the animal, a cordial, as being unnatural,
must be hurtful, unless required by some very extraordinary
exertion ; which, by calling forth too much of the con-
stitutional powers, has expended the vital resources whence
the stomach draws its tone. Thus, after a very hard run
with hounds, this may happen ; and then a gentle stimulant
may excite the digestive sympathy artificially. Here a
cordial may be proper and even necessary. A good one can,
under such circumstances, be administered as follows : —

(A) CORDIAL DRENCH.

Sulphuric ether
Laudanum
Cold water

1 ounce,
i ounce.
1 pint.

Mix.

To recall the appetite of the horse slowly recovering from
illness, a cordial may sometimes be allowed ; or, to old
horses that have been worked hard and used to these
excitements when young ; or, to draught horses that have
exhibited slight symptoms of staggers, when their labour
has been unusually protracted and their stomachs left too
long empty ; or, mixed with diuretic medicine, to fine the
legs of the overworked and debilitated animal ; otherwise
they should never find a place in the stable, or be used at
the discretion of the carter or the groom. The common
cordial ball may be thus compounded : —

(B) CORDIAL BALL.

Pounded caraway seeds
Ginger
Oil of cloves
Treacle to make a ball.

3 drachms.
2 drachms.
20 drops.

(C) ANOTHER CORDIAL BALL.

Powdered aniseed .... 6 drachms.

Caraways ..... 6 drachms.

Cassia ..... 2 drachms.

Mix with treacle for a balL Should catarrh be present, add

powdered squills, 2 drachms, and use balsam of tolu with the tieade.

A quart of good sound ale, with some grated ginger,
almost everywhere procurable, is often the best available
drench in an emergency.

Coriander Seeds are a well-known stimulant, smelling,
when fresh, like a bug ; whence their Greek name corianon,
from coris, a bug.

Corrosive Sublimate. See Mercury.

CowHAQE, or Cow-iTCH, the hairs upon the pods of this
climbing bean-like plant (dolichos pruriens) have been
used (mixed with treacle, &c.) to expel worms from the
horse. We do not believe in their utility as a mechanical
vermifuge. Many Indian plants of the mucuna tribe
produce these irritating vegetable hairs, often employed in
malicious practical jokes on newly-imported Europeans.

Cream of Tartar. See Potash.

Creosote, or Kreasote, is a fluid compound found in
crude pyroligneous acid. It is nearly colourless and trans-

parent, with a powerful odour, resembling smoked meat
It is highly antiseptic, and therefore valuable in many
diseases of the horse. Creosote coagulates albumen, even
when much diluted, and also the serum or watery part
of the blood. It is decomposed and rendered useless if
mixed or applied with sulphuric or nitric acid. It is a
valuable medicine externally, or a formidable poison intro-
duced into the body. Dropped upon the tongue it occasions
intense pain, and if swallowed coagulates the albumen of
the fluids and membranes it comes in contact with. In
skin disorders and bleedings its usefulness is undoubted.
It is administered in external ulcers, and, applied strong,
produces an artificial skin by coagulating the albumen.
It will also act as a powerful styptic in cases of external
hemorrhage. Its use as an ointment in grease, thrush,
sallenders, &c., is evident.

Croton Oil. The extract of the seeds of the Croton
Tiglium, a tree of Ceylon, China, Malabar, &c. The Croton
CascarilUi furnishes the cascarilla bark. It is a violent
purgative. All parts of the plant, leaves, root, &c., are
cathartic. In veterinary practice the meal, which possesses
similar properties, is often used ; but, unfortunately, by the
arts of the druggist, it is often so adulterated as to deceive
the expectations of the practitioner. When it is pure, it
may be given in doses from a scruple to half a drachm,
with linseed meal, in the form of a ball, to shield its acrid
nature. It is equally, indeed somewhat more, drastic than
aloes, producing profuse liquid watery stools, often much
griping, and it occasionally takes as much time to excite
purgation. It is also somewhat uncertain in its action, but,
under a favourable operation, it is quicker than aloes,
although our first accounts of it denied this. It may,
therefore, when immediate purgation is necessary, be very
properly applied to ; and also in tetanus its diminished
bulk and great activity make it valuable. Dissolved in
turpentine it forms a blister, only inferior to cantharides.

CuBEBS, or Java Pepper. — The eff'ects of the powdered
cubeb are very similar to that of the Copaiba Balsam. With
a mucilage of gum acacia it is good to promote urine and
allay inflammation of the kidneys. Cooling purgatives must
be used during the time of its administration.

Demulcents are medicines that act mechanically, by
surrounding acrid matter, and sheathing it from hurting
sensitive and irritable parts. For this purpose oily prepara-
tions are used, also honey, gums, mucilages, &c. Diluents,
as warm fluids, mashes, &c., are also demulcents, because
they dilute acrimonious matter and render it less active.

Linseed
Water

Gum arable
Water

(A) DEMULCENT DRENCH.

(B) ANOTHER.

4 ounces.
1 quart.

1 ounce,
1 quart.

HORSE MEDICINES.

233

(C) ANOTHER.

Marshmallows .... 2 handfuU.
Water ..... 1 quart.

Simmer the first and third of these untU a mucilaginous decoction is
made, and administer when nearly cold.

Diaphoretics are medicines which increase the insensible
perspiration, and open the exhalant pores of the skin.
These remedies require smart exercise in clothing, to pro-
mote their action. The horse afterwards to be carefully
wiped drji Sudorifics {q. v.) are intended to do it more
actively, and to occasion actual sweating. Vinegar will
often produce a violent perspiration, but it is not a salutary
one ; yet the same liquid, neutralized by ammoniacal salts
into Mindererus's spirit, will often excite a favourable but
mild diaphoretic effect. Antimonials in repeated doses,
assisted by diluting liquors and warm clothing, will like-
wise commonly produce some diaphoresis. Camphor, in
considerable doses, will also occasion a determination to the
skin. Aloes, guaiacum, white hellebore, digitalis, &c., are
diaphoretics.

(A) DIAPHORETIC BALL IN "HIDE-BOUND."

Emetic tartar ....

2 drachms.

Camphor .....

^ drachm.

Jinger .....

2 drachms.

Opium .....

1 drachm.

Oil of caraways ....

20 drops.

Linseed meal and boiling water to form a ball.

(B) ANOTHER.

Antimonial powder

2 di-achms.

Ginger .....

2 drachms

Caraway seeds ....

1 ounce.

OU of aniseed ....

20 drops.

Mil with linseed meal and boiling water for a ball.

Digestives, in veterinary practice, are stimulant applica-
tions, producing a tendency to suppuration. The gum resins
are at the head of this class, and the turpentines. Myrrh,
aloes, resin, tar, &c., are digestives.

(A) COMMON digestive OINTMENT.

Red precipitate
Venice turpentine ,
Beeswax
Hog's lard .

2 ounces.

3 ounces.
1 ounce.

4 ounces.

Melt the three last ingredients over a slow fire, and when nearly
cold stir in the powder.

Digitalis. The leaves of the purple foxglove (Digitalis
'purpurea) are directly sedative, diaphoretic, and diuretic
to the horse. When properly dried they have a slight
narcotic odour, and powder a beautiful green. The leaves
should be gathered just as the plant is coming into flower,
and from plants exposed to the sun. They should not be
hung up to dry, as is commonly done, but separately dried
till crisp, and the powder preserved in opaque or very dark

glass bottles in a dry place. Damp and light are fatal to
Q G

its active properties. It acts upon the heart, and diminishes
the frequency of the circulation and the general irritability
of the system. The infusion is made by pouring a pint of
boiling water on an ounce of the powder ; the tincture by
digesting three ounces in a quart of proof spirit. One
drachm of the powder, one and a half drachm of emetic
tartar, and three of nitre, every four hours, will be found
to reduce the heart's action remarkably. This is not done
regularly, by lengthening the intervals between the beats, but
by a number of pauses very alarming to the uninitiated.
This is the proof that the digitalis is combating the disease.
The action of this medicine requires watching ; but an
overdose is not so dangerous to the horse as has been
pretended. When the administration of digitalis is pushed
too far, laudanum or ether may take the place of the
emetic tartar and nitre, as a tonic. The infusion is a good
application in inflammation of the eyes, alternately with
any of the eye-waters. It has also been extolled in mange ;
but it is inferior to other remedies in that complaint.

Disinfectants have, of late years, come prominently into
notice. The foremost of these are the Chloride of Lime and
the Chloride of Zinc. They are most important in cases
of glanders in stables. An ounce of the chloride of
zinc in two gallons of water is a suflicient strength ; and of
the chloride of lime, one-tenth of powder to nine times its
bulk of water is a fair solution.

Diuretics are medicines which increase the secretion of
urine from the blood, thus depriving it of a large propor-
tion of its watery particles, and enabling the absorbents to
take up more water from the system. Some diuretics act
directly upon the kidneys by sympathy with the stomach,
while others are taken up by the blood-vessels, and in their
elimination from the blood cause an extra secretion of the
In either case their effect is to diminish the watery

urine.

part of the blood, and thus promote the absorption of fluid
effused into any of the cavities, or into the cellular membrane,
in the various forms of dropsy. They are a much-abused
class of medicines, from their indiscriminate administration
by the groom and farner. Turpentine and nitre, which see,
are the leading diuretics in horse medicine.

(A) stimulating diuretic ball.

Powdered resin ....
Fused nitre (sal prunella) .
Castile soap ....

• Oil of jimiper ....

Mix.

(B) COMMON DIURETIC BALL.

Powdered nitie

Camphor . . • • .

Oil of jimiper ....

Linseed meal to form a mass.

3 drachms.
3 drachms.
3 drachms.
1 drachm.

I ounce.
1 drachm.
1 drachia.

(C) DIURETIC POWDER FOR A MASH.

Fused nitre (sal prunella)
Resin

J to I ounce,
i to I ounce.

Mix.

234

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

(D) AKOTHER MORE ACTIVE POWDEE.

Mix.

Fused nitre
Camphor .

6 drachms.
1^ drachm.

Drinks or Drenches. — Many practitioners and horse pro-
prietors have a great objection to the administration of
medicine in the form of drinks. A drink is not so portable
as a ball, it is more troublesome to give, and a portion of it
is usually wasted. If the drink contains any acrid substance,
it is apt to excoriate the mouth or to irritate the throat
already sore from disease, or the unpleasant taste of the drug
may unnecessarily nauseate the horse. There are some
medicines, however, which must be given in the form of
drink, as in colic ; and the time, perhaps, is not distant
when purgatives will be thus administered, as more speedy
and safer in their operation. In cases of much debility and
entire loss of appetite, all medicine should be given in solu-
tion, for the stomach may not have sufficient power to dis-
solve the paper in which the ball is wrapped, or the sub-
stance of the ball.

An ox's horn, the larger end being cut slantingly, is the
usual and best instrument for administering drinks. The
common method is thus described by Blaine : — " The noose
of a halter is introduced into the mouth, and then, by means
of a stable fork, the head is elevated by an assistant con-
siderably higher than for the delivery of a ball. The opera-
tor stands on a pail or stool on the off-side of the horse,
and draws out the tongue with the left hand ; he then
with the right hand introduces the horn gently into the
mouth, and over the tongue, and by a dexterous turn of
the horn empties the whole of the drink into the back part
of the mouth ; the horn is now quickly withdrawn, and the
tongue loosened, when the greater portion of the fluid must
be swallowed. A portion of it, however, will often be
obstinately held in the mouth for a long time, and the head
must be kept up until the whole is swallowed, which a
quick, but not violent slap in the muzzle will generally
compel the horse to do. The art of giving a drink consists
in not putting too much into the horn at once ; introducing
the horn far enough into the mouth, and quickly turning
and withdrawing it, without bruising or wounding the
mouth, the tongue being loosened at the same moment. A
bottle is a disgraceful and dangerous instrument to use."

Elder. — Tho elder leaf, boiled in lard, forms an emol-
lient ointment, usefully applied to inflamed and irritated
parts.

Embruoations. — External remedies applied by hand, fric-
tion, cloth, or brush. The following are the leading
formulae. We may as well note that the various oils are
retained : there is none of them, however, which may not
be dispensed with, if the turpentine and olive oil are
retained and proportionally increased in quantity. The
" oils " are mere traditions of a superstitious and ignorant
period.

Embrocations.

(A) STIMULATING EMBROCATIOB.

Mix.

Camphor .
Oil of turpentine
Spirit of wine

I otmce.
1^ onnoe.
1^ ounce.

Mix.

(B) SWEATING EMBROCATION FOR WINDGALLS, Eia

Strong mercurial ointment ... 2 ounces.

Camphor . . . . • i ounce.

Oil of rosemary . ... 2 drachms.

Oil of turpentine .... 1 ounce.

(C) ANOTHER, STRONGER.

Strong mercurial ointment
Oil of bay .
Oil of origanum
Powdered cantharides

Mix.

2 ounces.
1 ounce.
^ ounce.
i ounce.

(D) STRONG SWEATING EMBROCATION.

Biniodide of mercury
Powdered arnica leaves
Soap liniment

^ to 1 drachm.

1 drachm.

2 ounces.

Mix,

(E) MUSTARD EMBROCATION.

Best flour of mustard . . .6 ounces.

Liquor of ammbnia . . . 1 J ounce.

Oil of turpentine . . . . IJ ounce.

Mix with suiEcient water to form a thin paste.

Emetic Tartar. See Antimony.

Emetics are not used in horse medicine, for reasons
explained in the anatomical part of this work.

Emulsions are serviceable in chronic cough. The fol-
lowing is a

(A) simple emulsion.

Honey
Linseed oil .
Subcarbonate of potass
Boiled water

3 ounces.
3 oimces.
1 drachm.
1 pint.

Melt the potass and honey in the water ; then add the linseed oil
gradually, working it well in till a smooth milky mixture is obtained.
A fourth part thrice a day.

(B) ANOTHER, MORE ACTIVE.

Of the former emulsion . .1 pint

Camphor and opium, in powder, each . J drachm.
Oil of aniseed . . . .20 drops.

Mix the camphor and opium with some white sugar in a mortar,

dropping ia the oil, then add the emulsion gradually, beating up

as before.

Epsom Salts. See Magnesia, Sulphate of.

Ergot of Rye {Secale comutum). — "Spurred rye," presenta
a long black diseased growth, possessing remarkable pro-
perties. It is a long blackish horn or spur, from an inch to
two inches in length. When fresh it is tough and flexible,

HORSE MEDICINES.

235

but soon becomes brittle and easily powdered. It will give
its active principle to spirit or to water, but a little starch
)r treacle is the best thing to mix with it. Its power in
strengthening and maintaining the uterine contractions in
mares, is unquestionable. But it must never be admin-
istered except in desperate cases. Indeed, though parturition
proceed ever so slowly, it should only be resorted to by the
advice of a skilful practitioner. Nevertheless, as cases do
arise where it may be serviceable, we have included it here.
It may be given in solution by infusing one drachm in half
a pint of boiling water for a quarter of an hour ; or in
substance, in doses of one scruple every fifteen minutes till
its action is apparent.

EscHAROTics. See Caustics.

EuPHORBiiTM. This acrid gum-resin is used for blistering
purposes by farriers, to save cantharides. A plaster of six
ounces of pitch, and half a drachm of powdered euphor-
bium, with enough turpentine to soften it, has been recom-
mended as a stimulant and counter-irritant in internal
inflammation ; we do not approve of it. When powdering
euphorbium, the dispenser should wet the mass with vine-
gar, or it may rise and excoriate his face and nostrils. See
Blisters

Expectorants. These are medicines which assist the
removal of irritating mucus, formed in the windpipe and
bronchial tubes. Squills, with honey and vinegar, are the
leading articles in this class. True, the horse does not
expectorate, as we understand it, but the secretion can be
increased by these medicines, and he will cough out the
mucus ; this is relief.

(A) EXPECTORANT BALL.

Powdered squill ....
Gum acacia ....

Castile soap ....

Honey or treacle to form a ball.

(B) ANOTHER.

Gum asafoetida
Carbonate of ammonia
Gam acacia
Ginger
Honey to form a ball.

1 drachm.
1 ounce.
^ ounce.

2 drachms.
i drachm.
1 drachm.
1 drachm.

(C) A POWERFUL EXPECTORANT BALL.

Calomel ....
Digitalis ....
Emetic tartar
Powdered squills .
Linseed meal and treacle to form a ball.
carefully before giving another dose.

10 grains.
J drachm,
i drachm.
1 drachm.
The result to be watched

Extract or Lead. See Lead.

Febrifcges, fever medicines, act by increasing the secre-
tion of urine and perspiration, and by moderating the
action of the heart and the irritability of the circulatory
system.

(A) fever ball

Nitre .....
Camphor .....
Calomel and Opium, of each
Linseed meal and water enough to form a balL

4 drachma.
IJ drachm.
1 scruple.

(B) ANOTHER FEVER BALI

Emetic tartar ....
Powdered acacia gum
Linseed meal as above.

1 J to 2 drachma.
2 drachms.

(C) COOLING DRENCH.

Nitre

Sweet spirits of nitre

Tincture of digitalis

Whey .....

1 ounce.

2 ounces.

2 drachms.
1 pint

(D) COOLING MASH

Nitre ....

May be given in a bran mash.

1 ounce.

Fomentations open the pores of the skin and promote
perspiration in the part, and so abate the local swelling, and
relieve pain and lessen inflammation. They are often used,
and with more efi'ect, when the inflammation is somewhat
deeply seated, than when it is superficial. The eff"ect depends
on the warmth of the water, and not on any herb which may
have been boiled in it. They are best applied by means of
flannel frequently dipped in the hot water, or on which the
water is poured, and the heat should be as great as the hand
will bear. The benefit that might be derived from them is
much impaired by the absurd method in which the fomenta-
tions are conducted. They are rarely continued long
enough, and when they are removed the part is left exposed
and wet, so that the cold of evaporation often does more harm
than the warmth of the fomentation does good. Blaine says,
and we think the hint valuable, he, in many cases, fomented
first and then applied a poultice or liniment.

Gentian is, in our opinion, the best tonic bitter for the
horse. It should be combined with ginger, and is then
valuable as preventing the griping of aloes. See Stimulants.

Ginger is the most grateful spice to the horse. It is the
basis of the cordial ball and indispensable in the tonic ball.
It may be occasionally given in doses of 2 or 3 drachms,
and in flatulent colic, in doses of 4 to 6 drachms ; it will
also form a valuable assistant to saline and other cold
remedies, given to tender stomachs and bowels. For horses,
for cattle, and sheep, it is an excellent carminative, and
should be always employed when a warm stimulant is want
ing. It is, indeed, one of the most valuable cordials to
invigorate the intestinal surfaces we know of. See Cob-
dials.

Glauber's Salt (Soda sulphas). See Soda, Sulphatb

OF.

Glysters. See Clysters.

Goulard's Extract, Goulard Water. See Lead.

Grains of Paradise. — The seeds of the Amomum Qrama

236

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

Paradisi, a plant common on the coast of Guinea, near
Sierra Leone. It is called Melligatta pepper in commerce.
The properties are the same as cardamoms. They are a
favourite nostrum with grooms, to produce a fine coat, and
the animal is often injured in his digestive organs by their
injudicious administration. As an addition to other sto-
machics they are useful in veterinary prescribing.

Gruel is an article of great importance in veterinary prac-
tice ; care should, therefore, be paid to its preparation. It
must be thick when intended as a cordial or for nourishment ;
if as a diluent, it can hardly be too thin. Above all things
let it be prepared in scrupulously clean vessels, and never
smoked. A horse that has had smoky gruel offered to him
will with difiiculty again be induced to taste it. Bran with
boiling water poured upon it (bran tea), allowed to get cold
and strained, is an excellent diluent.

GuAiACUM, Gum, is the product of a West Indian tree, the
stem of which produces that heavy, hard, black-green wood
called lignum vitse. The resin is a good stimulant, promot-
ing secretions of the lungs and skin. It is combined with
ammonia and other stimulants. See Stimulants. As it
will not dissolve in water, and even a solution in spirit is
precipitated by adding water, it is best in emulsions or pills.
With potass water made hot, it forms a soap which may be
worked into balls.

Gums and Gum-Resins : —

Gum Ammoniacum is soluble in water, spirit, and
vinegar ; water is its proper solvent. It is in the form of
tears or fragments, yellow outside and white within. There
is a cheaper sort of gum ammoniac in the market, called
lapis ammoniaci, in lumps, adulterated largely with com-
mon resin, and therefore to be avoided. It is a stimulant,
and sometimes diuretic, and, dissolved in nitric acid, is
a good expectorant. See Ammoniac.
Gum Giiaiacum. See Guaiacum.
Gum Myrrh. See Myrrh.

Gum Tragacanih. The inspissated juice of the Astraga-
lus tragacanthus, a plant common in Greece and Persia.
It is cordial, stomachic, and tonic, like most of its class.
Hartshorn. See Ammonia, Carbonate of.
Hellebore, White. The root of the Veratrum album is
the part used. Its active principle can be extracted by
water or alcohol. A new alkaline principle, called veratria,
has been extracted by modern chemists from this acrid and
poisonous plant. Those great veterinary authorities, Mr.
Percivall, Mr. Blaine, and Mr. Youatt, hold white hellebore
in high esteem, while Professor Sewell has little faith in
its efficacy, and doubts its medicinal action. As the horse
was not intended to vomit, nausea is difficult to excite.
Blaine says, " the powdered root of the white hellebore is
the most certain nauseant with which we are acquainted ;
but it is only safe under very watchful eyes and quick
perceptions. It may be given to a certain point, and
nothing but moderate nausea is observed : if pushed beyond
this, the head droops in the manger, the mouth slavers, the

pulse sinks, the horse reels to and fro, and purging cornea
on, which commonly proves a fatal symptom. It may be
given in doses of a scruple every six hours, which may be
increased to half a drachm ; but the horse must be care-
fully looked to, and as soon as the pulse sinks and the
mouth slavers, or any trembling appears, desist from its
further exhibition, directly combating its debilitating and
sedative effects by active stimulants." Hellebore lowers
the system more speedily than digitalis, but digitalis more
safely, when there is time for its operation ; at least so we
have found : it is for the observant veterinarian to select
the proper cases for both. It ranks high also with some
veterinarians when used with setons, by smearing them
with the powder, but black hellebore is superior for this
purpose. An ointment of powdered hellebore, muriate ol
ammonia, and lard, has been found a good applicati^^o in
mangy affections.

Hellebore, Black (Melampodium. Christmas Rose).
The fibres of the root are the parts used : they are about the
thickness of a straw, rough, of a deep dark colour, hence
called " black," white or yellowish inside ; taste bitter and
burning. Choose the darkest, as the roots of the aconite
(monkshood) are often substituted for them, though much
lighter in colour. An ointment of black hellebore has
been successfully used in fistulous withers and poll-evil.
When the tumour has burst and been allowed to discharge
two or three days — being dressed with an ordinary digestive,
and the discharge being of the nature termed laudable —
then take a few portions of the fibrous part of the root,
sew in the seton passed into the sinuses, and allow them
to remain a fortnight or more. Under this treatment
Mr. Morton assures us he has observed its salutary action
in several cases.

Hemlock (Conium maculatum). This handsome poisonous
wild plant so much resembles several of its tribe which are
destitute either of deadly or of medicinal qualities as to
have led to very varied opinions of its activity in the
treatment of disease. The efficacy of the plant, too, depends
upon its place of growth, the season when collected, and the
means taken to dry it or to make the extract ; and lastly,
on the temperature and dryness of the place in which it is
kept, and the time since it has been gathered. The prin-
ciple {conia) upon which its activity depends, is volatilised by
time or heat, and the residue becomes inert. The recent
leaves are the most active part of the plant. As hellebore
or digitalis are its equals in affections of the lungs, acute or
chronic, it is not desirable in a veterinary dispensary. A
drachm of the dried leaves, in powder, is a dose.

Infusions. These are watery solutions of vegetabla
matters, obtained by macerating the substance either in hot
or cold water, without boiling on the fire. Where volatile
oil is the active principle, cold infusion is necessary ; where
mucilage, or astringent principle, warmth is requisite.

The active matter of some vegetable substances is partly
or entirely extracted by water. Dried vegetables yield

HORSE MEDICINES.

237

L

their properties more readily and perfectly than when in
their green state. Boiling water is poured on the substance
to be infused, which has been previously grossly pounded or
powdered, the vessel is then covered and placed by a fire.
In five or six hours the transparent part may be poured off,
and is ready for use. In a few days, however, all infusions
become thick and lose their virtue, from the decomposition
of the vegetable matter.

The infusion of camomile is used instead of water in mild
tonic drenches ; the infusion of gentian is a fine stomachic ;
so is the infusion of catechu in astringent mixtures ; the
infusion of linseed for catarrh ; and in some injections
tobacco-water — the infusion of tobacco.

Iodine. This non-metallic elementary body is a remarkable
constituent in sea-water, sea-weeds, and marine molluscs,
and may be obtained from kelp, or sea-weed which has been
burnt for the purpose of making potash. Iodine is soft,
opaque, solid, and of a bluish-black colour and metallic
lustre. When moderately heated it rises in a violet-coloured
vapour, hence its name, from the Greek iodos, violet-tinted.
It has a strong odour and taste, and stains the skin brown,
but not permanently. It readily dissolves in spirit, but
with difficulty in water. Iodine, long before its separate
discovery, was used empirically in " burnt sponge " and
many mineral waters. It is a valuable remedy in glandular
swellings, especially of the throat. It is reported, too, to be
an antidote to poisoning with strychnine and veratria ; but
we do not know practically its claims in this respect. Its
power over glandular enlargements in the horse is well
proved. Its administration in doses of half a drachm to a
drachm daily has overcome profuse discharges of urine in a
marked manner. The iodide of potass is a valuable medi-
cine, and acts on the absorbents when taken internally.
The dose is from one to two drachms. The ointment called
unguentum potasses iodidi is an excellent disperser of
glandular enlargements, in cases where the use of the knife
may be dangerous.

Ieon. — The preparations of iron are tonic to the horse ;
and, of these, two are adopted by veterinarians. The rust
(Jerri carhonas) is a mild and useful tonic in doses from
two to four drachms.

Iron, sulphate of, also called Green Vitriol, or Copperas,
is more powerful, but should never be given in early stages
of recovery, and always with caution. The dose should be
the same as that of the carbonate. Youatt says : — The
sulphate has been recommended for the cure of that deceit-
ful stage or form of glanders, in which there is nothing to
characterise the 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 vegetable.

Forge water used to be a favourite tonic with farriers,

and also a lotion for canker and ulcers in the moutL It
owes its power, if it have any, to the iron with which it is
impregnated.

Jalap. This famous human purgative is utterly useless in
horse medicine.

Japan Earth {Terra Japonica). See Catechd.

Jesuit's Bark (Peruvian Bark). See Bark.

Juniper, Oil of. The essential oil of the berry is a
stomachic and diuretic. It is a pleasant aromatic to the
horse, and enters into the composition of the diuretic ball
Hollands owes its flavour and diuretic quality to this
essential oil. English gin is flavoured with oil of turpentine

Kali. See Potass and Soda.

Lard. We prefer palm oil to lard as a basis for making
up balls, simply because an animal substance is abhorrent to
the horse as one of the graminivorse. Yet lard or palm oil is
preferable to honey, treacle, or syrups, for making up balls,
because the ball more readily dissolves in the stomach.
It likewise renders a purgative less liable to giipe. It is
the principal basis of all ointments.

Laudanum, the tincture of Opium, which see.

Laxatives. See Aperients.

Lead. — There are three products of lead admitted to the
veterinary materia medica.

L The Acetate of Lead (Acetas Plumhi), is known popu-
larly as Sugar of Lead, on account of its sweet taste.
Dissolved in water, it makes a turbid solution, unless a little
acetic acid is first added. Two drachms of the salt to a
pint of water makes Goulard's Lotion. It is in doses of
1 gr., guarded by opium, a remedy for internal hemorrhage.

2. The Subacetate of Lead, called also Extract of Lead,
or Goulard's Extract, and Solution of Subacetate of Lead.
A drachm in a pint of water is a good eye-wash in early
stages of inflammation. It is not so good, however, as
opium or digitalis, and must not be used with them. It is
useful in poultices in superficial inflammation, but is of no
use in sprain or deep-seated injury. Alum has been added
to increase its astringency, but the result is that it is
rendered a totally inert sulphate of lead by the addition.
Sulphate of magnesia (Epsom salts), and white vitriol also
decompose it.

3. Carbonate of Lead, Ceruse, or White Lead. This may
be used as a drier of ulcers by sprinkling it upon the sore,
but the safety of the practice is questionable. Dry colic
may be superinduced.

Lime. Lirae Water (Liquor Calcis) is a solution of lime
in cold water. It being a curious fact that lime dissolves
more completely in cold than in hot water. Thus, one gallon
of water at 212° (boiling point) will take up little more
than half the quantity of lime that a gallon of water at 32°
(freezing point) will hold in solution. Six pounds of lime
infused in two gallons of water may, after standing three
hours, be strained off", it must then be closely stoppered up,
otherwise the lime will take up carbonic acid from the air
and become an insoluble carbonate. Lime water is s

J

238

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

wholesome discutient wash. It is considered by many as
a remedy for stone in the bladder, and it appears likely to
be beneficial, as it may loosen the cohesion in the mass
occasioned by lithic acid in the bladder. Lime water
externally is applied for mange, and internally has valuable
antacid qualities.

Chloride of Lime was known formerly as bleaching pow-
der, and was merely used to deprive various substances of
their colouring principle. Its value in veterinary medicine
is now found not only as a valuable disinfectant (g. v.), but
as an external application to putrid ulcers, though inferior
to chloride of zinc. It is purchased in the form of a dry
white powder, having an odour of chlorine. Blaine gives
the following case, which bears immediately on its effects as
an antiseptic. " In a retention of the placenta, called ' not
having cleansed,' in a cow, where the putridity had become
so great as to produce larvse or maggots and intolerable
foetor, there was injected a wine-glassfull of chloride of lime,
diluted with a pint of warm water, into the vagina ; which
itself brought away, in two hours' time, several quarts of
putrid matter, by which the cow was greatly relieved ;
but some fcetor returning, a second injection was passed the
next day, which again sweetened the cleansing, and pre-
vented further putrefaction. But as the placenta was not
yet ejected, two ounces of the chloride of soda was now
given in a pint of gruel every hour ; the consequence of
which was, that after the sixth dose the placenta came
away, much decomposed, but without foetor ; and the cow
was evidently saved by these means, though apparently
before in a dying condition."

Liniments are preparations of intermediate consistency
between ointments and oils. They are intended either to
soothe an inflamed surface, or, by gently stimulating the
skin, to remove deeper-seated pain or inflammation. As
an emollient liniment, 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 origanum, 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.

Soap Liniment, commonly known under the name of
Opodeldoc, consists of hard soap, 1 ounce ; camphor, 3
drachms ; oil of rosemary, 20 drops ; oil of origanum, 10
drops ; solution of ammonia, 6 drachms. This is the
renowned Steer's Opodeldoc. A cheaper and simpler
liniment will do as well

Linseed. — The seeds of the common flax contain a large
proportion of mucilage and one-sixth of their weight of
fixed oiL By infusion in boiling water, a clear, colourless.

and nearly tasteless mucilage is obtained. Cold water
will not extract mucilage from the unbruised seeds. A
thin infusion is a good substitute for water in cold and
sore throat ; a pail being slung in the stable or loose box.
We prefer, however, thin gruel of oatmeal The meal of
linseed is the best and smoothest of poultices.

Oil of linseed is a safe purgative, in doses of a pint to a
pint and a half; but is uncertain in its action

LiqvoniCE {Glycyn-hiza Olabra). — The juice of the liquorice
root, or Stick Liquorice, enters into the composition of many
horse-medicines. It is a demulcent, soothing to the
mucous membrane, thickens and gives cohesion to powders
or balls, and covers the taste of some nauseous medicines
better than any other substance.

Lotions, which are synonymous with washes, are noticed
under the several ingredients which go to their formation, as
copper, zinc, lead, ammonia, acetic acid, &c. The common
lotions in use are : —

(A) LOTION FOR EXTERNAL INFLAMMATION.

Goulard's extract .... 1 ounce.
Acetic acid (Vinegar) . . .2 ounces.

Spirits of wine, or Gin . . .4 ounces.

Water ..... 1 quart.

Mix, and apply with a calico bandage.

(B) LOTION FOR INFLAMED LEGS, OR GALLED BACK.

Mix.

Sal ammoniac ....

1 ounce.

Vinegar .....

4 ounces.

Spirits of wine ....

2 ounces.

Tincture of arnica ....

2 drachms.

Water .....

^ pint.

(C) LOTION FOR FOUL ULCERS

Sulphate of copper

1 ounce.

Nitric acid .....

^ ounce.

Water .....

8 to 12 ounces.

Mix.

Lunar Caustic. See Caustics.

Magnesia, Sulphate of (Magnesice Sulphas). Epsom
Salts. A valuable medicine to the veterinarian. In early
fever, in doses of six to eight ounces, it is preferable to
aloes, unless disease of the lungs or primae viae are present.
The dose often requires repeating before it operates. It is
not, therefore, a certain laxative, but its operation should
be assisted by bran mashes. It is also an adjunct to
laxative clysters. The cathartic powers of Epsom salts are
increased by dilution in abundance of fluid, and a little
common salt (muriate of soda) quickens its action. There
is no such good and ready test as the taste in cases of doubt
between the crystals of Epsom salts and those of oxalic acid,
which so closely resemble them. The bitterness of the one
and the intense sourness of the other can leave no doubt.

Malt. Blaine has a high opinion of malt, in which we
coincide. He says : " It forms an excellent cordial in cases
of debility, and, when continued, becomes a permanent

HORSE MEDICINES.

239

tonic : it has also some pectoral qualities ; but in active inflam-
mation of the chest it is too stimulating for use. Malt is
an excellent alterative : in farcy, in grease, and in mange
ftlso, when accompanied ■with emaciation, it has been used
with efiicacy ; but, in such cases, it should be given in con-
siderable quantities without other corn, and with as little hay
as possible, so that almost all the nutriment received may be
malt This practice is not generally known, but it has
proved, in some cases, singularly efficacious : the best mode
of giving malt is by mashes."

Marshmallow {Althea officinalis), is at the head of de-
mulcents in horse-practice. Its leaves contain a bland
mucilage and starch {amylwm), which can be extracted
by both hot and cold water. The root is carrot-shaped,
white and fleshy, about as thick as the thumb, and a foot or
more long. Its leaves are soft-stalked and heart-shaped, its
stems two or three feet high, and covered with soft down, as
are the leaves. The flowers are of the pale rose colour lately
known as mauve, and appear in short clusters from the
bosom of the leaves. The demulcent lozenges sold in the
shops for colds and coughs, and called Pate de Chiimauve,
are an inspissated syrup of marshmallow.

Mashes are a leading article in stable economy, and
justly so. 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 afford, as well as their
laxative effect, 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 sufiered to remain until it
is cold. This is not always sufficiently attended to by the
groom, who is not aware that the efficacy of the mash
depends principally on the change which is effected in the
bran and the other ingredients by the boiling water render-
ing them more easy of digestion, as well as aperient. If the
horse refuses the mash, a few oats may be sprinkled over it,
in order to tempt him to eat it ; but if it is previously
designed that corn should be given in the mash, it should
be scalded with the bran, to soften it and render it more
digestible. Bran mashes are very useful preparatives for
physic, and they are necessary during the operation of the
physic. They very soon become sour, 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
\sater 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, there would be much physic saved. Speared com
mash, often talked of, is nothing more than a malt mask

Mercury, or Quicksilver {Hydrargyrum). This peculiar
metal, fluid at ordinary temperatures, solid, ductile, and
malleable at 40° below zero of Fahrenheit, furnishes some
valuable items to the veterinary pharmacopoeia. It boils at
6.56°, and throws off a volatile vapour, which, condensed by
cold, is purified mercury. Mercury, in its metallic state, is
not employed in veterinary medicine. It has, however,
been employed in human practice to force a passage through
the intestines by its specific gravity. Mercury is sadly
adulterated by lead, bismuth, zinc, and tin : the methods of
detecting these will be found in Dr. Paris's Pharmacologia,
article Hydrargyrum, but would take up too much space
to detail here. Three forms of mercury will suffice for this
compendium of Horse Medicines.

1. Calomel (Hydrargyri Submurias), the uiildest pre-
paration, is in truth proto-chloride of mercury. It may be
given, combined 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
or bars become red, or the horse is seen to " quid " or drop
his hay, the calomel must be discontinued. The name
calomel is compounded of two Greek words, kalos, good,
fair, melas, black — i. e., say the old writers, because it is
good for black (bile) ; but, as its colour changes from black
to white in the process of preparing it, is there not a less
fanciful derivation ?

2. Corrosive Sublimate {Hyarargyri Oxymurias). This
is the bichloride of mercury according to the latest
chemists. Its form is a crystalline mass, easily pounded,
and becoming opaque on its surface when exposed to the
air. Light has no effect upon it. Its fumes when thrown
on burning coals are highly dangerous to those who breathe
them. It is one of the most acrid and active of metallic
preparations, yet numerous quack medicines are based on
corrosive sublimate. As an alterative it may be given to
the horse in doses of from ten to twenty grains daily. In
glanders and farcy the quantity may be increased as far as
can be borne. As an external application, the perchloride
of mercury has good effects. As a caustic, it has been
noticed under that head. As a wash for mange, it has
adherents ; we are not of the number. It appears to be
taken by neat cattle in large doses with impunity, while a
small quantity sprinkled on a wound has killed the animal.

3. Red Precipitate {Hydrargyri Oxydum rubrum). An
active mercurial, employed only as an external remedy. It
is a good caustic, sprinkled on old sores.

240

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

Mercurial Ointment {Hydrargyri Unguentum fortius).
Blue ointment. The strength of this varies materially,
from 30 grains of mercury in the drachm of ointment, down
to 10 grains in the same quantity. Triturate the black
oxide of mercury with lard (taking care there is no salt in
it), in a cold place. 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, on the application of the
stronger stimulant, when they have been thus prepared.
Mercurial 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 an ounce of flower of sulphur,
half an ounce of turpentine, and an ounce of train oil, and
well rubbed down together.

Ethiop's Mineral {Black Sulphur et of Mercury, Hy-
drargyri Sulphuretum nigrum) is a well-known black,
tasteless, inodorous powder. It is an alterative. Blaine
says, " it is less frequently given in horse practice than it
deserves. There is too much fashion in our pharmacy, and
too little experiment." In all skin affections we have found
this a valuable alterative, and also vermifuge, in daily doses
of two or three drachms.

Mint, as an infusion or decoction, is not worth retention
in horse-medicines. See Oils.

Muriate of Antimony. See Antimony.

Muriate of Barytes. See Barytes.

Muriate of Soda. See Salts.

Myrrh. This gum resin is used as a tonic in the form of
tincture, combined with a warm bitter, as gentian. There
are two tinctures of it ; one simple, and one compounded
with aloes ; both of which are much used externally, as
warm digestives, in wounds and sinuous sores, and the
application is frequently attended with striking benefit :
the aloetic tincture is by much the more stimulant. To
cattle also it proves a stimulating tonic and antiseptic in
doses of from one to two ounces.

Naputua, Petroleum, Rock-Oil. See Tar.

Narcotics. See Antispasmodics and Anodynes.

Nitrate of Silver. See Caustics.

Nitre (Potassw Nitras). See Potass.

Sweet Spirit of Nitre {Spiritus .Athens NitHci), is a
fragrant, colourless, volatile and inflammable fluid, which
will mix with either water or spirit. It is cooling, yet cordial,
and mildly diuretic. Four ounces twice a day, or divided
into three doses, is a valuable medicine in the more advanced
stages of fever. An ounce in the cold fit of coming fever
is to be recommended.

Nitric Acid {Aquafortis). See Caustics.

Oak Bark. See Astringents.

Oils. The following list contains the few which sur-

vive of the multitude of useless " oils " in which the
ignorant farrier and groom of the olden days placed their
faith.

Oil of Almonds, of Amber, of Anise, of Bay, of Camoinile,
of Caraway, of Fennel-seed, of Juniper, of Lavender, of
Peppermint, of Green Mint, of Origanum, of Pimento, of
Savine, of Rosemary, of Rue, of Tar, of Turpentine, of Styrax,
(benzoin), &c., &c. To these might be added a dozen of
filthy animal oils, with names as ridiculous and extravagant
as their imputed virtues.

Oils a,Te fixed or volatile.

The fixed oils are so called because they are not liable
to be vaporised under moderate temperature. They are
mostly obtained by expression from seeds, or by melting
from animal substances.

The volatile oils are procured by distillation, and evapo-
rate by moderate heat.

The fixed oils used by the veterinarian are : —

Castor Oil (which see).

Oil of Olives. — The best olive oil may be substituted for
castor oil, when the latter cannot be obtained. It is the
principal medium in the composition of liniments, and
enters into many ointments.

Oil of Linseed. — It is a pretty certain laxative, and is
more to be depended on than olive oil ; and in many
instances more than castor oil.

Oil of Palm. — This has the consistence of lard ; with the
addition of a fragrant smell. As it does not become rancid,
it is to be preferred : it is also less noxious to the stomach
of the horse than the animal oils. It is the produce of the
kernels of the fruit of the Cocas butyracea, Mackau-tree,
or Brazilian palm.

The essential or volatile oils are : —

Oil of Amber. — An antispasmodic not much in use. It
is said to have a peculiar property of hastening the action
of aloes.

Oil of Anise Seeds. — This is an excellent warm aromatic,
and may very properly be added to cordial balls.

Oil of Caraways may be used in the same way, and con-
sidered in a similar point of view.

Oil of Juniper. — This is often added to diuretic balls,
to increase their effect : it acts, however, principally as a
warm aromatic. It is now mingled with mange appli-
cations.

Oil of Tar is a cheap penetrating distillation from tar.
It may be employed in a mixture with whale oil, as a
suppling matter for the hoofs. See Creosote.

Oil of Turpentine. — See Turpentine.

Oil of Origanum. — This warm pene*<iating oil was
formerly much used as an external stimulant ; but it is
inferior to the purest turpentine {Canada Balsam), and
need not be retained.

Oil of Vitriol {Sulphuric Acid). See Acid, Sulphuric.

Ointments are greasy applications, consisting of a powerful
drug mixed with lard, or some similar compound, and thus

HORSE MEDICINES.

241

applied to the sore ; they are described under the several
heads Astringents, Anodynes, &c. Their number is much
reduced in modern practice.

Opium (the inspissated extract of the Papaver somni-
feriim), is imported in solid flat pieces of compact texture,
covered with the leaves of the poppy. It is opaque, of a
reddish-brown or fawn colour, with a peculiar heavy nar-
cotic smell. It is dissolvable in water, spirit, wine, and
vinegar. By boiling, its soporific powers are impaired, and
if continued, they are destroyed. The tincture, which is
Laaaanuin, is better made with spirit ; the watery solution
is much less efficacious, though spirit below proof is better
as a solvent than that above. The narcotic principle of
opium is an alkaloid called morphia, which is easily dis-
solved in olive oiL

Opium is a valuable drug in veterinary practice, though
there have not been wanting practitioners who have main-
tained it to be inert ! True, it does not act as a narcotic,
except in very large doses ; yet it is powerfully antispas-
modic, sedative, and astringent. As an antispasmodic it
enters into the colic drink, and it is the sheet-anchor of
the veterinarian in the treatment of tetanus or locked jaw.
Youatt says ! — " As a sedative, it relaxes that universal
spasm of the muscular system which is the characteristic of
tetanus ; and perhaps it is only as a sedative that it has
such admirable eflect 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, however,
be given with caution. It is its secondary effect which is
sedative, and, if given in cases of fever, its primary effect in
increasing the excitement of the system is marked and in-
jurious. In the early 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, there 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 allays 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
sediment. Other medicines are usually combined with it,
according to the circumstances of the case.

Externally, it is useful in ophthalmia. In the form of
decoction of the poppy-head it may constitute the basis of
an anodyne poultice ; but it must not be given in union
with any alkali — with the exception of chalk, in over-
purging : nor with the superacetate of lead, by which its
powers are materially 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 in a state of purity. The best tests are its
smell, its taste, its toughness and pliancy, its fawn or brown
HH

colour, and its weight ; for it is the heaviest of all the
vegetable extracts, except gum arabic. Yet its weight is
often fraudulently increased by bits of stone, and even lead.
English opium is blacker and softer than Turkish, but not
less efficacious in practice.

OxYMEL, Simple. Is made by simmering two pounds of
honey in a pint of vinegar. It is good in composition with
nitre, digitalis, &c., in pneumonia and catarrh ; dose, from
four to six ounces.

Palm Oil. See Oils.

Peppers. — Various kinds of peppers are sometimes used,
particularly in colic. Mr. B. Clark has written a treatise
expressly on the virtue of the pimento berry. Asa general
remedy, any of them may be properly given in doaes of
three drachms to six ; except the cayenne, which, as being
very strong, admits of only a drachm as a dose. Peppers
are sometimes used as stomachics, or to warm other more
permanent tonics, such as steel, bitters, &a

Pitch is used to give a consistence and adhesiveness to
plasters and ointments, and is also the basis of charges. It
has a strong medicinal quality, as its relationship with
terebinthinated substances sliows. Ordinary pitch is as good
as the more expensive Burgundy pitch ; a pound melted
with an ounce of yellow beeswax is a good plaster for sand-
crack.

Physic. See Cordial, Aperient,' and Diuretic.

Potass (Potassa), is called the vegetable kali, to distin-
guish it from Soda, the mineral kali In its pure state it
is a powerful caustic, and enters as a base into the com-
position of salt. Two compounds of potass are used in
horse practice.

Nitrate of Potass {Potassce Nitras) or Nitre, is a very
common product, and is as useful as it is general. It it
compounded of nitric acid and vegetable kali, whence
its chemical name nitrate of potass. It is the most useful,
powerful cooling medicine ; greatly diminishes febrile action,
and determines its depletory action more certainly to the
kidneys than any of the saline articles. It is also antiseptic
and diaphoretic, and therefore of great consequence in active
fever, given two or three times a day, in doses of three or
four drachms. As an alterative it is also well known ; but
it is not a good plan, as practised by some grooms, to infuse
it into the water which horses are to drink ; it is apt to dis-
gust them with all liquids. Nitre, while dissolving, materially
lowers the temperature of water, and furnishes a cold lotion
for sprain of the back sinews, and local inflammations. The
lotion should be used as soon as the salt is dissolved, for it
quickly becomes as warm as the surrounding air. FvrSed
Nitre is sold solid under the name of Sal Prunella.

The Supertartrate of Potass (Potassce Supertartras), o'
Cream of Tartar, is not a very active medicament in horse
practice. It is, however, slightly febrifuge and mildly diuretic.
It has some alterative powers, and unites with those medi-
cines which are generally employed when horses are labour-
ing under cutaneous affections.

242

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

PocLTrcM, OR Cataplasms. — As bread would be expensive,
bran is generally wsed in veterinary practice ; which a little
linseed meal improves in consistence. This is important,
as otherwise the poultice runs through the cloth. Yet it
must not be too thick, lest it dry too quickly ; and its action
is due greatly to its keeping moist. It should therefore be
frequently wetted from without. In applying poultices to
the legs, care should be taken not to tie them too tight, as
is frequently done, and whereby the mischief is aggravated
instead of relieved : a piece of broad list is, for this reason,
very proper to fasten them on with. A poultice should
never be applied too hot ; very little good can be derived
from it, and much pain may be occasioned. A hot poultice
soon sinks to the heat of the part. Poultices are likewise,
in many cases, applied cold. A convenient mode of applying
a poultice to the extremities, is by means of an old stocking
cut oif at the ankle. The leg of it, being slipped over the
hoof, is brought around the part, and secured below by means
of broad list. The poultice is then put into the stocking by
means of the hand, and afterwards secured above by another
piece of broad list In cases where it is found difficult to
keep a poultice on any part of the extremities, from its in-
clination to slip down, still by no means tighten the support-
ing bandage ; but, instead, pass a long tape from it over the
withers, if in front, or back, if behind, and attach it to
the other side of the bandage ; it will then be effectu-
ally secured from slipping. If too tight, it will prevent the
return of blood from the foot ; if too hot, it will inflict un-
necessary pain.

(A) COMMON POULTICE.

Bran, any quantity ; pour on it boiling water, to form a thick paste ;
add linseed meal sufiicient to make it adhesive. After this, stir in one
or two ounces of sweet oU.

(B) COOLING POULTICE.

Bran, any quantity ; pour on it a sufficient quantity of cold water to
form a poultice ; and, as it dries, moisten with more water.

(C) CLEANSING POULTICES IN GENERAL USE FOR GREASE AND
ULCEROUS WOUNDS.

Oatmeal ..... ^ pint
Linseed meal . . . . ^ pint.

Powdered charcoal . . .4 ounces.

Stale beer and bran sufficient to make a poultice.

(D) OR,

Carrots, scraped, sufficient to make a poultice.

(E) OR,

Turnips, toiled and mashed, sufficient to make a poultice.

To either of these last two, four ounces of charcoal may
be added, if thought proper. Or,

(F)

Linseed meal, or oatmeal, any quantity ; mix with boiling water, and
ferment with a table-spoonful of yeast : as it rises, apply to the part.

Powders. — Powdered medicines that have not much taste
may be given in a mash. Emetic tartar and digitalis in
fever ; or calomel or the meal of the nut of croton tiglium
as " physic." The horse, however, often refuses them, and
then the mash is wasted. A careful and competent groom
will prefer the more certain method of ball or drench.

Quassia. — The wood of the tree (Quassia excelsa) owes its
properties to a peculiar bitter principle of wonderful dura-
bility. It is solid, and of a light yellow colour. It is a
useful tonic : dose from six to ten drachms.

Quinine. — This celebrated essential principle of the cin-
chona, or bark of the Cinchona lancifolia (Jesuit's bark),
is too expensive for veterinary practice. It may be joined
(as disulphate of Kina), in doses of a drachm, with camphor,
where its cost is not regarded.

Raking. — This method of emptying the bowels by hand
will be noticed under Operations, &c. Blaine thus directs
its performance : — " The right arm being stripped and oiled,
with the left hand, the tail is drawn aside, when the right,
being made as small as possible, should be gently introduced
up the fundament, and any hardened excrement it may
meet be removed carefully." From this it will be seen that
back-raking must be useful in a vast variety of cases. It
should always precede a clyster (see Clysters), lest the fluid
should be obstructed and thrown out again. It is useful in
colic and costiveness.

Red Precipitate. See Mercury.

Repellents. — Medicines whose action was supposed to
consist in driving back humours from one part to another.
They are exploded by modern science : tonic action alone
can apply to the theory of repellents.

Resin. — The several resins are noticed under their kinds.
Yellow resin is that used in Charges (q. v.) It is a useful
diuretic in doses of 5 or 6 drachms, made into a ball with
soft soap.

Rowels. See Operations, post.

Salts. — Common salt (muriate of soda) is useful in
veterinary practice. See Soda.

Salt of Tartar. See Potass.

Salts, Epsom. See Magnesia

Sal Prunella. See Nitre.

Salt of Steel. See Iron.

Savine. — The leaves of the junipenia sabina, or savine
in veterinary practice, have had very opposite appreciation
as an internal remedy. This has arisen from faulty pre-
paration of the medicine, not that we consider it worth
retaining, except as an outward application. It is almost
impossible to so dry and pulverise savine leaves as not to
lose the essential oil on which their activity depends. If,
then, they are to be administered, an infusion of two
ounces of the leaves in a pint of water, with a few drops of
opium and some syrup, or a tincture in proof spirit, should
be used. They are highly stimulant, hot, and acrimonious ;
they act on the nervous system, and especially on the uterus.
The ignorant still believe that infusion of savine leaves

HORSE MEDICINES.

243

"ill procure abortion in women ; in an overdose it will
certainly kill the mother. The infusion is an excellent
lotion for gangrenous sores, and the dried leaves are
good for warts, soft ulcers, and caries. With lard or wax it
is a good ointment to keep open rowels or setons ; and the
leaves in a poultice stimulate foul sores to granulation.

Sedatives. — This class of medicines is calculated to
diminish the irritability of the system, to repress spasmodic
action, and to deaden pain. Some sedatives act at first as
stimulants, but this stage soon passes off. In some cases
they act by enabling the system to resist irritation, in
others they numb the nerves and lower the animal system
by a narcotic or sleepy effect. In the horse we do not find
these medicines act as positive narcotics, as in man : they
merely lessen irritability and check spasmodic action. Digi-
talis, opium, hellebore, hemlock, opium, belladonna, camphor,
and turpentine, act as sedatives with the horse : so also, in
injuries and consequent fever, does the cold bath. Some
irritative states are best met by tonics, as the mineral
acids, &c. The sedative medicines will be found under
their several titles in this alphabetical list.

Silver gives us that excellent escharotic known as Lunar
Caustic. See Caustics.

Soap. — The soap used in prescriptions is the hard or
Spanish soap, and soft soap, a compound of olive oil and
potass. The latter is transparent, yellowish, with small
seed-like lumps of tallow dispersed through it. Its applica-
tion is noticed under the several heads. In large doses, soap
is purgative ; in small doses, it determines to the kidneys.
The use of hard soap in forming diuretic and other balls is
well known.

Soda is the mineral kali, as potass is the vegetable Its
base is the mineral called sodium. Soda is now generally
procured by the decomposition of sea salt (chloride of sodium).
The salt is first converted into sulphate of soda (Glauber's
salts), then into crude carbonate of soda, and then by
making it into a lye (lixiviating), and evaporating, becomes
the crystallized carbonate commonly known as soda. Of its
various salts we may note the carbonate, the sulphate, the
tartrate, and the muriate (chloride).

Carbonate of Soda {Sodce Carbonas), is a white gritty
powder, alkaline in taste. Its most familiar use is in the
composition of soda-water powders, where half a drachm of
the carbonate of soda is placed in a blue paper, and 25
grains of tartaric acid in a white one. Its medicinal uses
are the same as the subcarbonate of potass, but it is milder
and less nauseous. It is easily soluble in water at 60°, and
in less than its own weight of boiling water.

Sulphate of Soda. — The well-known Glauber's salts. A
most useful purgative. It is soluble in water, but totally
insoluble in spirits. Muriate of ammonia and lime, nitrate
of silver, and acetate of lead, all decompose the sulphate of
soda. We would recommend it to be mixed in equal
quantities with the sulphate of magnesia (Epsom salts)
where one is prescribed. The compound is more active and

more diffusible in water. Cheltenharn salts consist of sul-
phate of soda, 120 grains ; sulphate of magnesia, 6G grains ;
muriate of soda, 10 grains ; sulphate of iron, ^ grain.

Muriate of Soda (Chloride of Sodium), Common Salt.
While in a state of solution, common salt is muriate of soda,
when it is dried, it becomes chlo^nde of sodium : " thus the
same salt is chloride of sodium in the hand, and muriate of
soda in the mouth ! " The effect of salt upon the animal
system is striking and important, and has furnished the most
interesting inquiries to the physiologist, the chemist, the
physician, and the agriculturist. These, however, would
lead us into digression here. Salt, in moderate quantities,
promotes digestion in the horse ; an excess destroys it. It
is tonic, and corrects that disordered state of the bowels
which produces worms. Its use is corrective of the bad
food which encourages the multiplication of bots. The
value of salt to all herbivorous animals is fully indicated
by their natural craving for it in cases of disorder of the
system. The " salt licks " of North America and of the
Pampas show the greed of the horse, elk, moose-deer, &c.,
for this mineral. Salt does not act diuretically, but passes
undecomposed into the kidneys. It is purgative in solution
in tepid water, and forms the ordinary clyster. It is the
natural stimulant of the digestive organs. The doses are a
drink of eight ounces of salt in solution, for a tonic. One
ounce of salt and one ounce of water is a healthy antiseptic
embrocation for sore back. Sprinkled on the hay, or
in a mash, it is palatable to the sick horse. Indeed, the
value of salt in veterinary practice can hardly be over-rated.

Tartrate of Soda {Soda Tartanzata) is a triple salt, formed
of an acid, soda, and potass. It does not differ in itt
effects from tartrate of potass, and need not be furthei
described.

Spanish Flies. See Cantharides.

Spurred Rye. See Ergot of Rye.

Squills. — The bulb of the scilla maritima, or wild onion,
is expectorant, diuretic, and very slightly laxative. It is
excellent in disorders of the bronchial tubes, in conjunction
with demulcents. The bulb loses about four- fifths of its
weight in drying, but this does not seem to lessen its powers
unless heat has been applied. Its bitter principle (called
Scillitin) is carried, by .the circulation, to the secretory
vessel? of the kidneys, and thus stimulates them. The
syrup, tincture, or dried root, is to be adapted to the form
of the medicine, whether solid or fluid.

Starch (Amylum), is given internally, mixed with chalk
and opium, and is used to guard acrid medicines. Starch
clysters in diarrhoea are to be advised in preference to the
ordinary gruel.

Stimulants (see Cordials). Medicines that exert an in-
fluence on the system by increasing the power and action of
a part ; hence they may be considered as very numerous,
and the term as of very extensive signification. The fol-
lowing article from Blaine contains a summary of the classi-
fication of doses of these medicines. Local Stimuli are oil

244

TFE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

Buch matters as either promote the vascular, the nervous, or
the absorbing energies ; as friction, rubefacients, blisters, '
&c. General stimuli act on the sensorium at once, through
the medium of the senses : the voice of the hounds stimu.
lates the horse ; the exertions of a rival racer ■will likewise
stimulate ; and the stallion's fire is drawn forth by the scent
of the mare. Absorbing stimulants are heat, cold, friction,
depletion, mercury, &c.

Stomachic stimulants. — Such may be called cordials as
are intended to have a temporary effect on the stomach ; and
those may be noted as stomachics whose action is more per-
manent. Both the one and the other appear to act by a
sympathetic effect they excite between the stomach and the
brain. Warm spicy matters possess some efiicacy ; but, as
might be supposed, such cordials {i- e. stomachics) appear to
act best when they are received into the system at large, as
generous food,- malt, gruel, ale, &;c.

(A)
Gentian, powdered . . .8 ounces.

Ginger, powdered . . . .4 oimces.

Oil of anise seed ... • h ounce.

Make into a mass with lard, honey, treacle, or conserve of roses, and
give one ounce for a dose.

(B)
Of the preceding mass
Gum myrrh
Balsam of Tolu

1 ounce.
1 drachm.
1 drachm.

(C)

Of the first mass .... 1 ounce.
Camphor ..... 1 drachm.
Opium ..... 1 drachm.
Either of these may be given as a drink also, by infusing the
powders in a pint of ale.

As stimulants, Mr. Vines, in his " Treatise on Glanders,''
enumerates the following articles : — Cantharides, Canella
h&vk{Canellce cortex). Capsicum berries {Capsici baccce), Cu-
bebs, or Java pepper {Cubeba), Ginger root (Zingiberis radix).
Grains of Paradise ((Tra'n.aParadisi),Pellitory of Spain (Py-
rethri radix) ; all the different sorts of Peppers, as the com-
mon black, Cayenne, Chili, long, and white ; Pimento, or
Allspice {PimentcB baccce), Sweet Flag-root (Calami aromat.
radix). Winter's bark (Winterw cortex).

More permanent stomachic stimulants are such as act
not only by determining a greater quantity of blood to the
stomach, but also by strengthening the muscular tone of
that organ, enabling it to act with more energy in its
digestive movements. The following formulae are inserted,
and are proper in cases of convalescence, or recovery from
debilitating diseases which have impaired the appetite : —

(D)

Powdered canella bark (cinnamon) . 4 drachms.

Ginger . ... 1 drachm,

Stilphate of copper (blue vitriol) . . 1 drachm.

Make into a ball with conserve of rosea

(E)

Decoction of camomile . .3 pints.

Watery tincture of aloes . . .1 ounce.

Ginger, in powder . . . . ^ ounce.

Sulphate of iron (green vitriol) . i ounce.

Mix and divide into four drinks.

(F)

Gum myrrh ... .2 drachms.

Mustard flour .... 1 drachm.
Cantharides .... 5 grains

Gentian powder .... 4 drachms.
Make into a ball with thin Venice turpentine.

(G)

Powdered gentian .... 3 drachms

Powdered quassia .... 3 drachms,

Powdered grains of Paradise . . 3 drachms.

Make into a ball with Venice turpentine.

Tonic stimulants are supposed to exert their influence on
the muscular fibre, and to improve its tone : this they
do, in some instances, through the medium of the stomach,
and are then called stomachics ; or they are received into
the blood. Tonics are, therefore, stimulants of permanent
action ; from which we may learn that this class is
numerous, and is, .in fact, diffused through the whole
materia medica. A complete knowledge of their number
and effect can only be gained by an intimate acquaintance
with the animal economy and the nature of the various
agents employed in acting upon it. Either of the subjoined
may be given daily : —

(H)

Gum myrrh . . , .2 drachms.

Sulphate of iron (green vitriol) . . 2 drachms.

Gentian powder .... 3 drachms.
Ginger powder . ... 1 drachm.

Mix into a ball with turpentine or palm oU ; or into a drink with a
pint of mild ale.

(I)

Arsenic ..... 4 grains.
Gentian, powdered . . .3 drachms.

Cascarilla, powdered . . .3 drachms.

Mix into a ball with conserve of roses; or, like the above, into A
drink.

(K)

Gum myrrh
Powdered gentian ,
Carbonate of iron ,
Make into a baU.

3 drachms.
3 drachms.
2 drachms.

As Tonics, Mr. Vines also enumerates Angostura bark
(CusparioB cortex), Buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata), Cas-
carilla bark (Cascarillce cortex). Camomile flowers (Anthe-
midis flores), Gentian root (Oentianm radix), Quassia
wood {QuassicB lignv/m).

Stoppings are an important point in stable management.
When a horse's work is irregular and he stands in stable too

HORSE MEDICINES.

24.5

long, his feet are deprived of moisture, and the hoofs become
hard and brittle, and have a tendency to corns, contraction,
and founder. In cases of wounds or bruises on the sole, stop-
pings are yet more necessary. Clay is a bad stopping. It
dries soon and adds to the evil it is intended to remedy; the
addition of three parts of cow-dung to the clay will correct
this. In wounds, a little tar is a good addition : but tar, as
a general stopping, is too stimulant and drying. Oil of
turpentine, one part ; firm grease, two parts ; and pledgets of
tow dipped in it, bound on with withy strips and list, make
an extemporaneous stopping. There are now, however,
easily procurable, thick felt pads made for the purpose,
which fit to the sole of the foot ; these being passed within
the shoe, and well wetted with water or cold lotion, swell,
and thus are kept in their place by the shoe itself, and will
retain their moisture throughout the night. Or, in case of
prick of the foot, wet the pad liberally with chloride of zinc
lotion to keep down inflammation. A good general stopping
for keeping down fever of the feet, suppling the hoof, and
rendering it tough, may be made of, —

Linseed meal

Tar ...

Sulphate of zinc (white vitriol)

4 parts.
1 part,
i ounce.

Styptics. — Such remedies as check bleeding internally or
externally. Those used internally are — acetate of lead,
sulphate of zinc, catechu (terra Japonica), alum ; externally,
pressure, ligature, division of the blood-vessel, cold, the actual
cautery, cobweb, felt, down, oak-galls, powdered alum, or
any substance or fluid that has the property of rapidly
coagulating the serum.

Dr. Paris (" Pharmacologia," p. 117) has some judicious
observations on Styptics, especially as regards the horse and
ass. He says : " The manner in which styptics act (on the
human subject) is sufficiently shown by the pallor they at
once produce on the lips, in consequence of the blood-vessels
becoming diminished in diameter, and their coats increased
in opacity. Great popular error, however, still exists, as
regards these local agents, which has arisen from deductions
drawn from their eff"ects upon lower animals. Thus several
substances have obtained the reputation of Styptics from the
marked result which has followed their application to the
wounded and bleeding vessels in the extremities of the
horse and ass ; whereas the fact is, that to these animals
nature has supplied an inherent power of contraction which
does not exist in man. Hence Styptics are of powerful
action on the horse." Several Styptics have, at times, been
held in high esteem, but galls, dissolved in spirit, or simple
gallic acid, will be found as good as any. Filings of iron,
tartar, and a little brandy, form the favourite Styptic of
French and German practitioners, under the name of
Helvetius's Styptic. Eaton's Styptic, well-known here, is
merely sulphate of iron and brandy, and Ruspini's Styptic
is gallic acid, brandy, and rose water. The application of a
hot iron, not quite so hot as to utterly destroy the animal

tissues, will be found, by coagulating the serous portions of
the blood, and exciting the peculiar contractility of the
blood-vessels of the horse, to check and eventually stop the
loss of blood from severe wounds, and allow time for further
remedial measures.

Sublimate, Corrosive. See Mercdey.
SuDORiFics. See Diaphoretics. A relaxation of the skin
is produced in the horse by warmth, diluents, and diaphoretic
medicines. A real sweat, however, is seldom excited with-
out violent nauseants, and these are very uncertain in their
action. Vinegar in half-pint doses will act as a sudorific, but
is dangerous. A greater amount of clothing is preferable,
but is very debilitating. Antimonials, as the acetated liquor
of ammonia, will act as sudorifics in many cases.

Styrax, Storax. — Bemovn, commonly called O^iTn Benja-
min. It is the product of a shrubby tree, the Styrax benzoin,
common in Italy and the, Levant. Its name is from the
Greek word styrax, signifying a reed, the gum styraon being
preserved in reeds. It is a fragrant balsam, containing resin,
and the peculiar principle called benzoic acid. It dissolves
readily in spirits and aether, and is separated from them by
the addition of water. It is good as a stimulant in lung
disorders, and has been recommended in fevers. Its dose
will be found in the compounds where used. It is an ingre-
dient in fumigating pastilles.

Sulphates. — A salt formed by the union of sulphuric
acid and a salifiable base.

Sulphate of Copper. See Copper.
Sulphate of Soda. See Soda.
Sdlphate of Zinc. See Zinc.
Sulphate of Magnesia. See Magnesia.
Sulphur. Brimstone. — A well-known simple combustible
substance found in the neighbourhood of volcanoes, in
sublimed incrustations. It is extracted from pyrites, or fire-
stones, by roasting them ; these pyrites are in vast variety
and are compounds of sulphur with various metals. When
brimstone is melted at 228° Fahrenheit, and cast in cylindrical
moulds, it is called rough or roll sulphur; when this is
purified by sublimation, it is sublimed sulphur, called _^owe?'S
of sulphur, a bright yellow powder. When melted sulphur
cools in the air, it is yellow and very brittle ; when poured
into water, white and tough.

Flowers of Sulphur {sulphur sublimatum) is a common
remedy in veterinary practice. Internally, it is alterative,
externally, a cure for eruptions of the skin. It is the basis
of our applications in mange, and, combined with antimony
and nitre, in surfeit, grease, hidebound, or want of condition.
In doses of six or eight ounces, uncombined, it will open the
bowels : but is not at all advisable as a purgative. When
sulphur is internally administered, it exudes through the
skin in the state of sulphureted hydrogen, and will blacken
silver which is rubbed on the skin in a remarkable manner.
Sulphur ointment is invaluable in mange. Observe, the
black sulphur of the shops should never be used, as it often
contains arsenic or mercury. Sulphur will not dissolve in

246

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

water or spirit, but is soluble easily in linseed oil, which is
an excellent solvent of all the sulphurous substances.
Boiling oil of turpentine also dissolves sulphur. Sulphur,
when kept in drawers or places where the air has access to
it, becomes acidified and is supposed to produce a griping
effect ; we believe this to be a mere fancy. However, we
are directed to ^vash the flowers of sulphur " to get rid of
any sulphurous acid;" this the practitioner may adopt or
not, as he pleases. Despite its disgusting smell, sulphur
deserves yet more general use in horse-practice.

SuLPHURET OF Meecury (Etkiop's Mineral). See MERCtrRY.

SuPERTARTRATE OF PoTASs (Cream of Taiiar). See Potass.

Tar is an article in much use by the veterinarian.
Melted with fish-oil, it makes a good external application,
being brushed on the hoofs of the working horse when
brittle or liable to exfoliate. Tar is also (see Stoppings),
mixed with an equal quantity of grease, a slightly stimulant
dressing for bruised or wounded feet, preventing the access
of air, dirt, or water to the wounded part. From its drying
properties it is the chief ingredient in thrush ointments.
Alone, or mixed with oil of turpentine to increase its
activity, it is used with advantage in pricks and bruises of
the sole. Tar is advantageously mixed, in doses of two and
three drachms, with cough medicines. The Spirit of Tar
of the farriers is the rectified oil ; but oil of turpentine is
best substituted for it. Barbadoes Tar, called also Green
Naphtha, has been employed as an internal remedy for
coughs.

Tannin is the astringent principle of oak bark. It is
prepared from oak-galls by powder and infusion. It is our
most powerful astringent. The watery infusion possesses
all the powers of the gall-nut. As an astringent in diarrhoea
and a tonic in cases of fever, combined with aromatics and
bitters, it is excellent. Also in washes. A gall ointment is
specific in cases of protrusion of the rectum ; when, also, a
fomentation of infusion of gall-nuts with some opium is excel-
lent. Those nuts which are bluish, small, and heavy, are the
best ; and they should be gathered before the larvas have
changed to flies, and have eaten their way out. Aleppo gall-
nuts are best and most astringent, but the cheaper must
serve for horse medicines.

Tartarized Antimony. See Antimony.

Terra Japonica, See Catechu.

Tents are substances such as lint or tow, introduced into
wounds to prevent their closing too early.

Tin is used to expel worms from horses. It has, however,
proved utterly inefficacious in bots. It must be used as a
mechanical remedy, in fine filings, and not levigated. Pewter
filings are substituted, but their softness makes them use-
less. Dose, three ounces, in balls with honey or the like,
dailj It may be superseded by oil of turpentine.

Tinctures. — Many substances yield readily their medi-
cinal properties to alcohol or spirit of wine. The tinctures,
however, frequently require so much spirit to contain the
dose necessary for the horse, as to make them impossible to

be administered in this form, to say nothing of the great
expense. The spirit necessary as a vehicle for the drug, has
destroyed many a horse. Watery solutions, or infusions, oi
powder, are therefore more available. As lotions, tinctures,
of cantharides, benzoin, myrrh, digitalis, aloes, and opium,
are properly used. Tincture of catechu is an ingredient in
astringent drinks.

A few of the tinctures kept ready compoundea in the
shops, or sold as patent medicines, may be mentioned here.
Friar's Balsam — this is composed of gum benzoin, styrax,
and tolu, with aloes. It is a moderately good internal
remedy, diluted with water, to effect which it must be
beaten up with starch or the yolk of an egg. As a styptic,
or as a healing application to cuts and wounds, we consider
it a mistaken remedy. It injures fresh wounds by its
stimulant properties, and from the separation of the resins
which follow the mixture of them with the blood. These
combining form a solid mass between the lips of the wound,
which mechanically prevents them coming together, and sc-
setting up the healing process from the first intention.
The Tincture of Gum Guaiac is a solution of that gum in
aromatic spirit of ammonia. See Diaphoretics, Stimu-
lants, &c. Tincture of Myrrh, diluted, is a good lotion for
spongy gums and sore palate, and a wash after reducing
lampas by bleeding. Solomon's Balm of Gilead is a tinc-
ture compounded of cardamom seeds, brandy, and a trace of
cantharides. A Tincture of Gentian and another of Ginger
may be kept handy for the purposes of dilution, but the
roots themselves and the infusion, as we have said before,
are the cheaper and more potent remedies. Tvncture of
Muriate of Iron is a styptic, and an active preparation
In warm water it is advisable in strangury, given pver)
quarter of an hour in doses of twenty drops.

Tobacco is a remedy in costiveness and colic. It i^ most
dangerous to the horse. " Two ounces," says Mr. White,
" was given by a groom, and occasioned almost instant
death." In the hands of the skilful it is a powerful remedy.
We have seen it commended in farriery books as an
ingredient in clysters. It would be as well to use a poleaxe
or a pistol, on the score of humanity. The energetic action
of tobacco, in solution, on the mucous membrane, the
tremor, and the deadly action, through the nervous system,
on the heart, will warn from a repetition of the practice on
a second animal.

Tonics. See Stimulants and Cordials. They are valuable
medicines when judiciously employed ; but, like cordials,
they have been fatally abused. Many a horse recovering
from severe disease has been destroyed by their too early oi
too free use. The veterinary surgeon occasionally ad-
ministers them injuriously, in his anxiety to gratify the
impatience of his employer. The mild vegetable tonics,
camomile, gentian, and ginger, and perhaps the carbonate
of iron, may sometimes be given with benefit, and may
hasten the perfect recovery of the patient ; but there are
few principles more truly founded on reason and experience

HORSE MEDICINES.

247

of the horse, than that, disease once removed, the powers of
nature are sufficient to re-establish health. Against the
more powerful mineral tonics, except for the particular
purposes that have been pointed out under the proper
heads, the horse proprietor and the veterinarian should be
on his guard.

(A) TONIC BALL.

Powdered bark ....
Ginger .....
Carbonate of soda
Form into a ball with linseed meal and water.

(B) ANOTHER.

Sulphate of iron
Extract of camomile
Mix, and fonn into a ball.

1 ounce.

2 drachmg.
i drachm.

J ounce.
1 ounce.

(C) ANOTHER, MORE POWERFUL.

Arsenic
Ginger

Powdered aniseed .
Compound powder of tragacanth
Syrup enough to form a ball.

10 grains.
1 drachm.

1 ounce.

2 drachms.

Tragacanth Gum. See Gums.

Turpentine forms a leading article in the veterinary
materia medica. The Venice and common turpentine are
those most in use. Almost every tree of the genus Pi/nus
yields some sort of turpentine, the distinctions of which
may be seen in botanical works and medical dispensatories.
The best of turpentines is the Canada Balsam, produced by
the Pina baleamea; the commoner, or Horse Turpentine,
(Terehinthina vulgaris), is the juice of the Scotch fir (Pi/nus
sylvestris). It contains more O'f the active oil, and is in our
opinion preferable, at any rate for outward applications.
Common turpentine is one of the best diuretics, in doses of
half an ounce, and made into a ball with linseed meal and
half a drachm of ginger. It is added to the calamine or
any other mild ointment, to render it stimulating and
digestive, and, from its adhesiveness and slight stimulating
power, it is an ingredient in mange ointments.

The Oil of Turpenti/ne is an excellent antispasmodic.
For the removal of colic it stands unrivalled. Forming a
tincture with cantharides, it is the basis of the " sweating
blister," used for old strains and swellings. As a blister, it
is far inferior to the savine ointment ; as a stimulant
frequently applied, it must be sufficiently lowered, or it may
blemish. It also makes, in a diluted form, a gently stimulant
liniment for old sores and bruises.

Unouents. See Ointments.

Verdigris. See Copper.

Verjuice is merely apple vinegar. See Atretic Acid.

Vermifuges, or Worm Medicines. Tin or iron filings, not
levigated, or powdered glass, are the mechanical remedies
for worms in the horse. This class of remedy is called
anthehni/ntic. The other remedies are — common salt, six

to eight ounces ; savine leaves, one ounce ; cowhage, half a
drachm ; calomel, one scruple ; arsenic, ten grains ; aloes,
till they purge ; tartar emetic, a drachm for six successive
mornings, and then a cathartic ball ; and, last and best, oil
of turpentine, two or three ounces. All worm medicines
should be given fasting. The best-known and most certain
symptom of worms is a dry yellow matter under the tail ;
worms, however, are often present without this appearance
presenting itself. A proper attention to a supply of salt in
the manger or food, is the best preventive of these annoying
parasites ; and we need hardly repeat that prevention is
better than cure. Clysters, with preliminary back-raking,
will get rid of some sorts, such as ascarides (thread worms),
tcenia (tape worms), seldom found in the horse, and lum-
brici (round worms), the special parasite of this animal
The bots are not affected by our general vermifuges, and
defy their action. The following clyster will often effect ar
ejectment of ascarides, taenia, or round worms : solution of
aloes, 4 ounces ; tepid water, 1 quart ; common salt, 1 ounce.
And give the horse at the same time 1 drachm of tartar
emetic every morning in a ball, and after six of these doses
of the tartar, a moderate dose of aloes, to expel the parasites,
already enfeebled by the previous medicine.

A WORM BALL

Calomel
Barbadoes aloes
Oil of turpentine
Soap

Mix.

WORM drench.

Linseed oil .

Oil of turpentine .

Vesicatories. See Blisters.
Vitriol, White. See Zinc.
Vitriol, Blue.
Vitriol, Grebn.
Vitriol, Oil of.
Vinegar. See

1 drachm.
3 drachms.
1 ounce.
3 drachma.

1 pint.
1 ounco.

See Copper.
See Iron.

See Sulphuric Acid.
Acetic Acid. — The ordinary acetous acid

is often used by the veterinary practitioner. Its purity
is therefore of the first importance. It is, however, very
liable to be adulterated with, or wholly made of, sulphuric
acid, and then becomes very unfit for use as an internal
remedy, being changed into an active stimulant instead of
a refrigerant. Vinegar, not neutralized by salt or sugar, is
capable of proving very noxious to the horse. We have
instances on record of a pint of strong vinegar destroying
life ; but, neutralized with carbonate of ammonia, it forms
a most excellent febrifuge, under the old name of Min-
dererus's Spirit. Neutralized with sugar or honey, it forms
a valuable expectorant, called oxymel. As an external
application, the acetous acid is likewise valuable. In
strains, bruises, and other local injuries, it is the base of
the best remedies ; either in combination with acetate of
lead when active inflammation exists, or mixed with crude

248

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

sal ammoniac, or bay salt, to counteract the effects of
distension. Distilled vinegar is merely ordinary vinegar
deprived of its fecula and water.

Washes. See Lotions. — Of washes for the eye {CoUy-
riuma), Mr. Percivall observes : " A good deal of change
of opinion has taken place among medical men concerning
the strength and proportionate efficacy of topical applica-
tions to mucous membranes : at one time mere astriction or
slight stimulation was considered to be all the effect that
was requisite or safe to be produced ; nowadays, however,
stimulation in the highest degree, verging even on an
escharotic effect, is found to be, in most cases, both war-
rantable and beneficial. Now, a surgeon will order a lotion
for the eye, composed of five grains of lunar caustic to the
ounce of water, and an ointment of double that strength,
when, formerly, he would hardly have ventured to use
such a potent preparation at all, or certainly not in above
half that strength. In veterinary treatment we shall find it
to be good practice to produce a highly stimulant, even an
escharotic, effect on the conjunctival membrane, with a view
of relieving the internal ophthalmia by derivation or revul-
sion. The eye ,even in a state of ophthalmia, will endure
and derive advantage from applications of much more
potent nature than are commonly ventured upon in prac-
tice My favourite colly rium is a scruple of nitrate of silver
to the ounce of distilled water." Mr. Cherry, Principal
Veterinary Surgeon to the Cavalry, uses bichloride of mer-
cury as a collyrium in the potent form of solution in spirits
of wine — one darchm to the ounce — and touches eyes with the
sublimate itself ; his note, in regard to their effects, is — " It
is of importance to remark how soon the very considerable
effect excited by the injection of corrosive sublimate in solu-
tion has subsided ; even the application of it in substance to
the surface of the eye producing a scarcely perceptible effect.
We learn, both from practice and experiment, that our eye-
washes, to do good, have been in general applied in too weak
a form ; we have not dared to do even what farriers before
us did, and this is one reason why our practice, in many
cases, has not turned out so successful as theirs."

Wax, White and Yellow. — The yellow is used to thicken
ointments and stiffen plasters.

Worm Medicines. See Vermifuges.

Zinc, the Spelter of commerce. This y^ell-known bluish-
white granular metal furnishes three remedies to the horse.

1. Oxide of Zinc. This has been occasionally added to
a ball as a tonic ; but its great utility is as an astringent
ointment, known as Calamine Ointment. Three parts of
palm-oil and one of resin are melted together, and when
these are cool, two parts of the oxide in powder are stirred
in. Calamine powder is a good application, dusted on
cracked heels and superficial sores. It is well-known, too,
as the ointment called calam^ine cerate (formerly Turner's
Cerate) as a human remedy for scalds and burns.

2. Chloride of Zinc is valuable as a disinfectant, and

also as promoting healing in suppurating or sloughing
wounds. It has the peculiar property of suppressing
luxuriant granulations. It acts admirably also in the
closing of open joints : preventing fetor, coagulating the
synovia, and at the same time promoting the healing
beneath or the stopping of the orifice. It is beneficial
in thrush and canker. It is used as a solution of various
strengths, — a scruple to the pint, and a drachm to a pint
and a half of water, — in grease, in thrushes or cracked
heels with exudation.

3. Sulphate of Zinc ( White Vitriol). In the proportion
of three grains to an ounce of water, this is an excellent
application in ophthalmia, when the inflammatory stage is
passing over. Quittor is successfully treated by a saturated
solution of white vitriol injected into the sinuses. A solu-
tion of white vitriol of less strength forms a wash for grease
that is occasionally useful, when the alum or blue vitriol
does not appear to succeed. It is also used, in conjunction
with opium, internally in diarrhoea and griping. It must
always be dissolved in water, as spirit renders it insoluble.

CONCLUSION.

The above list, though far less extensive than the druggist'fc
bulky Dispensatory, will, it is believed be found to contain
all the needful articles of a well-regulated veterinary surgeon's
dispensary. We need hardly say how important order, cleanli-
ness, and care are to the proper preservation and availability
of the various drugs and chemicals ; and how necessary it is
that proper bottles, jars, and drawers adapted to each should
be provided. Above all, let the practitioner test for himself,
or prepare, a few of the leading articles he prescribes. We
need hardly say that he should deal with a respectable
druggist, and let him be aware that Ms customer knows-
what he is buying. The weights and measures throughout
are Troy and Apothecaries' Weight and Measure.

Weights and Mea,8ures

weights.

20 grains .
3 scruples
8 drachms

12 ounces

FLUID MEASURE

60 minims or drops
8 fluid drachms .

16 fluid ounces
8 pints

ABBREVIATI0N&

Gut. or Min.

Gr.

9 • •

Drop.

Grain.

Scruple.

3 .

! •
ft.

1 scruple.
1 drachm.
1 ounce.
1 pound.

1 fluid drachm.
1 fluid ounce.
1 pint.
1 gallon.

Di-achm.

Ounce.

Pouiid,

AURANGEMENT OF SUBJECTfcl

249

CHAPTER XXIV.

INTEODtTCTORT.^ — SYSTEMS OP NOSOLOGY REJECTED. — ARRANGEMENT OF SUBJECTS. — REVIVAL OF THE VETERTNARY ART. — 8PE0IWC

DISORDERS : FEVER, INFLAMMATION, INFLUENZA, GLANDERS.

In a treatise like the present, any attempt at the systematic
classification of diseases, after the manner of many veterinary
works, which themselves merely imitate the learned nosolo-
gies of Sauvages, Cullen, Darwin, Copland, and other human
physicians, would, in our opinion, tend to perplex both the
reader and the subject in a medical and practical view. A
scientific classification of horse-diseases may well be aban-
doned when we see the failure of the greatest men in a science
of which this is but a collateral branch of modern growth —
human pathology having claimed the exercise of the highest
intellects in its study for 2,000 years. The arrangement, then,
will be such as recommends itself for simplicity and con-
venience. We first say a few words on equine pathology;
thence pass to a general consideration of the symptoms of the
transition from a state of health to disease ; review the sub-
jects of specific diseases — as fever, inflammation, and glan-
ders ; and proceed to a local system of referring the several
diseases to the region or set of organs which are, or seem
to be, most immediately affected by or involved in the
disease. The appended table will afford an idea of this : —

ARRANGEMENT OF DISEASES AND THEIR
TREATMENT.

Chapter II.

Introductory. — Systems of Nosology Rejected. — arrange-
ment OF Subjects. — Revival of the Veterinary Art. —
Specific Diseases : Fever, Inflammation, Influenza,
Glanders.

Chapter III.

Diseases and Injuries of the Brain, Skull, Eye, Teeth,
Tongue, Palate, Pharynx.

Chapter IV.

Diseases of the Air Passages, Trachea, Bronohije, Lungs,
Pleura, and Diaphragm.

Chapter V.

Diseases of the Heart, Pericardium, and Great Blood

Vessels.

Chapter VL

Diseases of the (Esophagus, Stomach, Peritoneum, and
Intestines.
I I

Chapter VII.
Diseases of the Liver, Spleen, Glands, &c.

Chapter VIII.

Diseases of the Urinary Organs. — Of the Organs of
Generation in the Male and Female.

Chapter IX.
Diseases of the Skin.

Chapter X.
Lamenesses and Diseases of the Forelegs and Feet.

Chapter XL

Lamenebseb and Diseases of the Hock, Legs, and Hinder

Feet.

The several diseases form sections under these headings ;
thus presenting a convenient system, while the remain-
ing chapters are devoted to Surgical Operations, Instru-
ments, Implements, and Shoeing.

In the early history of the horse, in the former part of thig
volume, we have noted the ancient writers on the animal

The ancient name Veterinarius, found in the classics of
the Augustan age, degenerated in the dark ages into that ol
Farrier (ferrarius, ferrier) from the iron (ferrum) in which
he worked. About the period of the revival of learning in
the sixteenth century we find also the old veterinary learn-
ing following the awakening of the general human mind.
After the fashion of the ancients, in the early periods of
our own history, all published directions relative to the
treatment of the horse were mixed up with agricultural
matters in general. We see this instanced in " The Boke ol
Husbandry," by Sir A. Fitzherbert, a judge of the Common
Pleas, which appeared in the reign of Henry VIII. In
later times the sanative code became incorporated with the
arts of the manage, and farriery was either practised and
taught by the professor of equitation, or it descended to the
forger of shoes. Of these additamentary arts we shall
say little ; nor will our limits allow us to do more than to
specify the most popular of the works dedicated to the
medical treatment of the horse particularly, and to hia non-

ado

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

medical treatment generally. One of the first and oldest
works on farriery -was printed in 4to. by Wynkin de "Worde
about the year 1500, under the title of " The Propertys and
Medycines for an Horse." The next was published in 1609,
during the reign of Elizabeth, in small 4to. black letter,
entitled, "The four chiefest offices of Horsemanship : that is
to say, the office of the breeder, of the rider, of the keeper,
and the farrier, by Master BlundevilL" Leonard Pascal,
Gervase Markham, and other writers, followed them.

Francis I. of France ordered the Collections of Ci/n-
stantine to be translated from the original Greek into
Latin, whence it was soon after translated into Italian,
German, and French, and dispersed all over Europe. The
works of Vegetius, too, were translated about the same
period. In the seventeenth century, Italian writers open
the period. Foremost among these are " Caesar Fiarchi's
Treatise on florsemanship and Shoeing;" and the great
work of Carlo Ruini, entitled, " Infirmita h suoi Remedi."
In 1654 appeared the great French work, by Solleysel and
others, "Le Parfait Mareschal." This was afterwards trans-
lated into English, temp. George I., by Sir Wm. Hope,
and formed the basis of numerous books on horsemanship
and farriery. Shortly after Solleysel's great work, appeared
a folio, dedicated to Charles II., by Andrew Snajjc, jun.,
farrier to his Majesty, called, " The Anatomy of an Horse,"
with forty copper plates, copied from Ruini and Saunier.*
The works of Michael Barret (Hippodomia), Gibson s *' Far-
riers' Guide," Bartlett's " Farriery."

It was in France, however, in the eighteenth century,
that the Veterinary Art made the most important advances.
During this period, Bourgelat and La Fosse wrote well on
horse diseases and shoeing. In 1 761, France set the notable
example of founding, under royal patronage, a public veteri-
nary school at Lyons, having the celebrated Bourgelat as
its professor. In 1766, a second was opened at Alfort, near
Charenton, and others subsequently at Montpelier, Strasburg,
&c. Similar establishments have since been founded at
Vienna, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Dresden, Leipsic, Munich,
Hanover, Naples, and indeed throughout Europe. In Egypt,
at Abou Zembal, in Australia, and the East Indies.
Among English writers of the period were Osmer "On
Lameness," followed by Morecroft, Clarke (of Edinburgh),
Bracy Clark, White, Delabere Blaine, the Turners, Percivall,
Castley, Youatt, Stewart, Spooner, and Mayhew, all of
whom have written treatises, or systematic works, upon
Veterinary Science and Practice.

Notwithstanding the labours of the earlier of the writers
liere enumerated, the veterinary art, as distinguished from

* The office of farrier is boasted of in the dedication of this curious
book as being hereditary in the Snapes. " Being a son of that family
;hat hath served the Crown of this kingdom in the quality of Farriers
for these two hundred years, and myself honoured in that capacity."
We may add that a really clever book by another Snape appeared
aobsequeutlv.

the lowest empiricism, is but of comparatively modern
introduction into this country. Sixty years since, its prac-
tice was wholly in the hands of a set of men who, from their
want of education, and the mechanical nature of their
occupation, were unfitted for anything that required science
or art, save the handicraft which they practised at the anvil,
of making horseshoes and nailing them upon the feet. Like
the barber-surgeons of old, from the circumstance of their
operative services being required, and so frequently in one
way, on the body, they were called (there being either a
total want or great paucity of medical practitioners) to exer-
cise an art of which they possessed no other knowledge than
such traditionary lore as might have been handed down to
them by their forefathers. In such hands as these, it was
not to be expected that the art could thrive — that it ever
could sufficiently develope its utility and importance, to
assert those claims on society in general, to which every
year in the present age is adding some fresh ones.

Such was the uncultivated state of the veterinary art
when M. Vial St. Bel, a French gentleman from the veterinary
school at Lyons, arrived in this country. He it was that
prompted the first efi"ort to redeem this art from the abyss of
ignorance and superstition into which it had long and lowly
fallen, and once more to set it on those pedestals of science
and research upon which it had already rested during
the ages of the Greeks and Romans. Such a strong hold,
however, had the children of Vulcan got of the art (or
rather, so unknown and undervalued were the advantages it
held out in practice for skilful or qualified hands), that when
St. Bel arrived in this country, in 1788, and made public
proposals to teach an improved practice of it on the prin-
ciples of science, his ofi'ers met with no encouragement, and
he was compelled to retrace his steps to Francb Un-
daunted, however, by this one unsuccessful attempt, he
made another visit to England two years afterwards ; and
this proved more fortunate ; for, on this occasion, an
agricultural society, " The Odiham," in proof of their good
sense, and very much to their credit, gave ear to what
Monsieur St. Bel had to propose ; and finally resolved them-
selves into a body, called the Veterinary College of London,
with a view to the erection of a public school, over which
St. Bel was to preside. That St. Bel was a man who
possessed some considerable store of medical knowledge, all
who knew him agreed : at the same time, every one who
stood beside him at the time he was at the College, and who
themselves had any knowledge of veterinary matters, were of
opinion that, so far as a veterinary professor was wanted, he
was not, to the degree that might have been expected or
desired, qualified to undertake such an office. However,
he held it but a short time ; for hardly was the erection of
the college at St. Pancras (which was intended but as tem-
porary, and preliminary to something better) completed,
when St. Bel died, leaving the art in little better condition
than that in which he had found it.

That St. Bel, however, had he lived, would have placed

SPECIFIC DISEASES OF THE HORSE.— FEVER

251

the art upon a scientific basis, may be augured from a passage
in his commendable work, entitled, "Observations on the Art
of Veterinary Medicine." The passage runs as follows : —
" The object of this art is therefore not only congenial with
that of human medicine, but the very same paths which lead
to a knowledge of the diseases of man, lead equally to those
of brutes. An accurate examination of the interior parts of
their bodies ; a studious survey of the arrangement, struc-
ture, form, connection, use, and relation of these parts, and
of the laws by which they are intended to act ; as also of
the nature and property of the various foods, and other
agents, which the earth so liberally provides for their sup-
port and cure : these form, in a great measure, the sound
and sure foundation of all medical science, whatever living
individual animal is the subject of our consideration." What-
ever, therefore, may be said of the deficiencies of St. Bel in
practical matters, his name must stand high in veteri-
nary annals, not only from the fact of his having been the
founder of the systematic teaching of the art in this country,
but from having left behind him a series of observations
(with a plan, grounded upon them, for the education of
students), which at the present day are perused with admi-
ration.

On the death of St. Bel, Mr. Coleman was appointed his
successor in the Professorship During the many years Pro-
fessor Coleman held this office, he greatly improved the
position and teachings of the veterinary art. In Edinburgh
lectures on veterinary medicine were first given by Mr. Dick
in 1819, and at his death he bequeathed to that city the
college which he had founded along with his entire fortune
to be devoted to the teaching of veterinary surgery. Since
1861 a veterinary school has also been conducted in Glasgow
with great success. At all the colleges a preliminary examin-
ation is now reonired before a pupil can be enrolled.

It is not intended in this general work on the horse to
supply a purely technical book for the special veterinary
student ; such volumes are properly confined to the school
and college : the object in view is to furnish a treatise of
ready reference, and of such a character as will render a
gentleman, or man of average education, independent of the
dictation of the groom or horsekeeper ; and further, so
qualify him that he may be able to judge of the competence
and acquirements of the veterinary practitioner, and may
himself understand the rationale and principles of the medi-
cal treatment of his most valuable servant, whose dumb
sufferings should plead stronger than speech to his humanity
and higher intelligence for their relief and cure.

As a groundwork for this knowledge, which we hope every
lover of the horse will soon be ashamed not to possess, we
have already sketched out the structure and anatomy of the

animal; its physiology, organs, textures, fluids, and their
functions — knowledge no more to be learned at the anvil of
the forge than the practice of human surgery in the barber's
shop, which for centuries was its theatre or university. The
groundwork of the Veterinary Art is set in scientific study ;
and he who would understand it, must possess himself of that
science. Much has been said and written on the importance
of the respectability of the veterinary profession. Its utility
should command a proper respect and position ; and it de-
serves esteem as an art which involves the study of what
have been styled the liberal sciences.

The respectability or social status of the practitioner
will at all times and in all situations depend upon his quali-
fications and his character. When the connection of Veteri-
nary Science with general medicine — with the pleasures, and
habits, and pursuits of the superior classes of society — with
the interests of agriculture, and even the well-being of our
country — comes to be better understood than it is at
present ; when the Veterinary Art shall be taught and cul-
tivated with advantages equivalent to those under which
medicine has so rapidly progressed, and due encouragement
shall be given to its improvement ; then will those who
practise it assert claims on society, and assume the position
to which by intrinsic merit they are entitled.

$j^mk Wmma nf tlje i^nrse.

5 T. FEVER.

Fever in the Horse was for long a subject of dispute by
many in the veterinary profession ; Professor Coleman and his
disciples roundly denying its existence. Enlarged expe-
rience and observations have, however, disposed of the
question, and the existence of simple or idiopathic fever is
no longer controverted. Upon this point too much stress has
been laid upon the discoveries and researches in human
surgery. The signs and appearances of health or disease
vary in many important points in every animal. Hence the
knowledge and theories of Sydenham, Boerhaave, Cullen,
Bell, Copland, and others, are of little applicability to horse-
practice. The several stages of fever, so marked in the
human subject, do not appear in the horse, whose fever
seems to be what Dr. Cullen calls aynocha (Gr. syneko. t.
continue), or persistent inflammatory fever

Fever in the horse assumes hardly ever any otner than a
mild, inoffensive form ; and is no less insidious in its ap-
proach than (at least until it has made some advance)
indeterminate its character. Now and then a cold and even
a shivering fit is manifest : a sweating stage is rare, but not
uninstanced. To assume that either one or both these
paroxysms is requisite to constitute a fever, is not only to
show ignorance of the pathological nature of horse-fever, but
to argue in opposition to established practical evidence.

Inflammatory fever may be of two kinds ; one idiopathic-

;252

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

(Gr. idioe, peculiar, pathos, afifection), arising without any
manifest cause, or at least not dependant on any other
disease ; the other symptomatic, because it is the conse-
quence of some manifest disease.

Whether fever, however, arise from any local and evident
cause, or be self-creative, the phenomena observable seem in
nowise to differ ; from which we are led to the conclusion
that in either case we may consider it the same disease.

The horse is at first observed to have become spiritless and
heavy In the stall he stands with his head hanging down,
and manifests unusual disinclination to turn or move : out of
the stable, he has evidently lost much of his natural viva-
city, and is found to sweat on comparatively trivial exercise-
The extremities (the ears and legs) and the surface of the
body grow cold ; the coat becomes roughened ; actual shiver-
ing, or an approach to it, may or may not occur. He refuses
the next feed put before him ; or, should he pick at all, he
prefers the hay, or even the new straw. By degrees the
sense of coldness leaves the body : at length both the extremi-
ties and it grow warm — perceptibly warmer than usual The
mouth, likewise, which was livid and cold before, now be"
comes hot and dry ; the pulse rises with the accession of
heat : in all cases it becomes quick ; in most, also full ; in
others, also hard. Respiration is visibly disturbed : the ani-
mal draws his breath, though perhaps still but slowly, with
a sign of labour or weight evidently unusual. By this time,
the early dejection is often succeeded by an unnatural
watchfulness : the horse will have his head raised and his
ears erect, as if he were in the act of listening, when he
proves still, in reality, listless of all around him. He has
now no appetite. His dung, if he should have lately voided
any, is high-coloured, and in small rolls. He stales but
little at a time, oftener than usual, and perhaps not wiiliout
some groan, grunt, or extraordinary effort.

We find that debility is one of the first changes which takes
place ; and in all the varieties and changes of appearance,
debility is always a leading feature.

Causes. — Debility, over-exertion, customary evacuations
suddenly suppressed, cold applied to the body while hot.
Horses that are kept in very warm stables, highly fed, and
have very little exercise are peculiarly liable to febrile
attacks.

Like most other disorders, however, and oftener, indeed,
than most others, fever makes its appearance without any
evident or determinate cause, unless we choose to ascribe it
to those vicissitudes which are so common at the seasons
when fever most prevails. Occasionally it assumes an
epizootic (Gr. epi upon, zoon an animal) form, blended with
catarrhal and suffocative (anginal) symptoms : under which
type it has obtained various appellations, as " catarrhal,
epidemic fever." Catarrh will be treated of under Diseases
OF THE Air-passages.

The only disease liable to be confounded with fever, is
pneumonia.
That disordered or deranged state which assumes the form

of fever in the incipient stage, may continue and develope
itself into a more perfect and decided form of fever ; or it
may prove only to have been the precursor of some other
disease.

The disturbed breathing in fever never amounts to the
hurried, laborious, and painful heaving of the flanks we
find in inflammation of the lungs. It may be said the
same symptoms are present in symptomatic fever, or fever
arising from local injury, or where pus is forming. But
then there are always some other concomitant symptoms to
guide us, such as cold, clammy sweats, indicative of pain ;
or the pointing of a foot, if that be the seat of injury.
Fever arising from external injury, or from local disease, is
commonly more violent and active than any spontaneous
febrile attack. It assumes more the form of painful or
distressing irritation than mild and progressive disease ;
and is altogether such as the experienced observer refers
directly to its proper source ; ever keeping in view the
previous history of the case.

The most unfavourable and frequent termination of fever
is inflammation of the lungs.

Treatment. — In speaking of the treatment of fever, we
confine ourselves to it in its simple form, every thoughtful
practitioner being fully aware, that when it is the con-
sequence of local inflammation, that is the primary object
to be attended to.

We must be guided in the use of the lancet by the state
of the pulse ; for, though blood-letting is indicated under
all circumstances that have reference to inflammation, stUl
here it must be done with circumspection. Older practi-
tioners, in every case and indiscriminately, let the disease
be what it might, bled and physicked.* In the milder
forms of fever the less we do the better, and allow Nature to
act for us ; at least, our measures should be more palliative
than active. In the more violent forms, bleeding, regulated
by the state of the pulse ; physicking in mild doses, so as to
keep the bowels thoroughly open, without amounting to
purging ; acting upon the skin by the use of hellebore and
digitalis; abstinence, green food, cool drinks, and cool air,
appear to be the essential parts of the treatment.

When bleeding is resolved on, take at least three quarts,
and give the horse a mash before any purgative, lest the

* Sufficient attention is not paid to the state of the pulae of the horse
by the veterinarian ; the quantity of knowledge to be ascertained by it
being limited to the quickness or slowness of the pulsations, this being
his chief guide in the use of the lancet ; but the experienced practi-
tioner well knows that the quality of the pulse will frequently inform
him of the nature of the case, and be to him what the tongue of the
human patient would be — his director.

We may elucidate this by referring to the state of the pulse in
enteritis, where it has the quick wiry feel which it is impossible to
mistake.

And again, the full hard pulse we always find when inflammatioi:
attacks membranous parts, as in inflammation of the membrane of tb«
brain.

SPECIFIC DISEASES.— INFLAMMATION.

253

colon be impacted with hardened faeces. If not time for
this, give a warm clyster of simple gruel. Then, when the
bowels are moved, a fever ball (A, Febrifuges, p. 235),
and all corn taken away ; the water should have the chill
taken off ; warm clothing applied ; the stable kept cool ; and
an abundance of litter given. In severe cold weather, the
stable should kept about SS" F. When the coat is staring,
give — sweet nitre four ounces, acetate of ammonia eight
ounces, watrr one pint ; repeat at a quarter of an hour's
interval.

Diseases, no doubt, are often cured by obviating their
remote causes ; and in this way strict attention to the state
of the stomach, from its close sympathy with the brain, is a
matter of great importance, and to be attended to here.
Though we may not be able so readily to apply this to
veterinary practice, still we may do a great deal ; and con-
joining this with our practical knowledge of the pulse, it is
here our medical knowledge will assist us.

Under every form of disease, simplicity of prescription is
desirable, more particularly while our resources and powers
are abridged by the limited pharmacopoeia of the veteri-
narian.

In the incipient treatment, one precaution is to be espe-
cially attended to, and that is, that active purges must not
be administered ; for, in the early stage, it is quite impos-
sible to say that the case may not be one of approaching
pneumonia ; and should this happen, and active purgation
have been established, we shall but too certainly have cause
to rue a practice which has induced so much irritation of
the mucous surfaces of the bowels in combination with
disorder in the lungs : the two, when present together,
being found, invariably, highly prejudicial to the subject of
their attack.

Symptomatic Fevek being the result rather than the
cause of inflammation, can scarcely be considered by itself
The simple fever often arises from exposure to cold, just as
in the dog or in man ; but this species generally arises from
over-stimulation in some form, either by extra warmth or
more food than usual, or by over-riding or driving. What-
ever the precise cause, the effect is always to produce a con-
gestion in some internal organ, generally followed by an
inflammation, and accompanied by symptomatic fever. Thus,
a horse is brought up from grass, and suddenly placed in a
hot stable, with a liberal allowance of corn. In a short
time his eyes become inflamed, his appetite fails, he has a-
violent cough, and he is what the trainers call " all to
pieces." Now, this arises entirely from over-stimulation at
all points, for not only is he kept in a state of increased
heat, but the fire is fanned by feeding him with corn, and
often by giving him an amount of work to which he is un-
accustomed. The symptoms are quick and laborious breath-
ing, stony coldness of the legs and ears, if inflammation of
the lungs is present ; yellowness of the eyes and mouth, if
infli.mmation of the liver.

Tbeatment. — This, as before said, is merged in the treat-

ment of its complication till that is got under, as will be
found when treating of the lungs, liver, &c. The debility
which follows is now met by a boldly stimulant plan, a
generous diet, and the administration of bark and ammonia
in a manner that would have been thought by practitioners
of twenty years ago mere horse-murder We now know
better ; hundreds of cures are effected by supporting the
animal ; by the early abandonment of the antiphlogistic
measures borrowed from the Sangrado school of human
practice, and preventing him from sinking into that state of
exhaustion in which the poor animal dies of a disease
closely allied to putrid or typhus fever.

Malignant Epidemic, Putrid, or Typhus Fever com-
mences either as simple fever, or as common catarrhal fever ;
but this soon goes on to produce great prostration of strength,
together with fetid breath, and discharge from the nostrils,
and entire loss of appetite. Its course is much more rapid
than in man. A congestive state of the vessels comes on, and
they rapidly give way, by which life is soon destroyed. It
is contagious, and few horses seized with it recover ; indeed,
its nature is such that most proprietors determine to destroy
the infected animal, in order to prevent its spreading. See
Glanders and Influenza.

Treatment. — This should be stimulating and strengthen-
ing. Either (H) or (K), p. 244, will be found serviceable.
And if the bowels become relaxed, a little powdered oak-
galls (see Tannin, p, 246), chalk, or opium, may be added,
with half a drachm of carbonate of ammonia, three times a
day.

Fev^ in the Feet will be found under Laminitis ; and so
of other local complaints to which the term is improperly
ajiplied.

§ II. INFLAMMATION.

Inflammation may be defined as a disorder of the capillary
blood vessels, that being its most visible symptom ; this,
however, goes no further than enabling us to recognize its
presence by the heat, distension, redness, and pain which
are so called. The blood passing through the capillaries,
gives forth an abnormal amount of caloric, hence the part is
hot ; the increased quantity of fluid distends them, hence
the swelling ; and from pressure on the nerves the tender-
ness ; lastly, to the red globules of the blood, which, in
health and its accompanying contractile power, are not
admitted to the smaller vessels, but now enter them, the
redness is ascribed. Although in the horse, his thick skin and
hairy covering prevent the last sign from being so percept-
ible, it is nevertheless always present. The pain is the
more acute in proportion as the part is supplied with
nervous fibres : e.g. the brain, eye, internal ear, &c.

Inflammation is divided into difiused and local, external
and internal The first class, — diffused inflammation, — we
shall pass over. It is, in fact, general fever, indicated by
an excessive irritability, carrying the constitutional disturb-
ance of a severe local inflammation to the brain, and thence

254

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

pervading the system. It therefore comes under considera-
tion of diseases of the brain, nervous system, and heart, or
circulation. N'il est in corpore vivente plane sinceruTn :
" Nothing in the living body," said Galen, " is ruled by in-
variable laws ;" in other words, can be subjected to the same
exact calculation as an inanimate machine ; and this is par-
ticularly true of inflammation. In inflammation of the eye,
function is impaired or suspended, and the sight afi'ected ; in
the ear, deafness or preternatural and painful sensibility to
sound ; when of the liver, the faeces are clay-coloured, indi-
cating absence of bile ; in the kidneys, inflammation im-
pairs or stops the secretion of the urine ; in the limbs,
inflammation prevents motion or induces lameness.

Although inflammation appears simple in the symptoms,
we have almost copied the quaint description of Celsus,
two thousand years since, who gives us its concomitants
rythmically, as —

" Rubor et tumor, cum caloie et doloie."

" Redness and swelling, with heat and pain." Yet these
four points have furnished matter, for endless hypotheses
and disputations : a summary of which may be found, with
an especial view to veterinary science, in Mr. Percevall's
" Hippopathology (Vol I, section 2, pp. .53 — 63).

Causes and various Results of Inflammation. — These
subjects involve a vast proportion of the facts of veterinary
and surgical knowledge, and deserve the deepest study
and consideration.

Inflammation may arise from a variety of causes, some
obvious, others veiled from our view, and only discoverable
by reasoning, experience, and investigation. Their origin
may be conveniently divided into — 1. Accidental ; 2. Spon-
taneous ; 3. Sympathetic.

1. Accidental. — In this case the exciting cause is gener-
ally evident enough, and usually a foreign body, which
produces mechanical or chemical irritation.

Mechanical injuries comprise wounds and contusions
and abrasions of all sorts ; sprains, dislocations, and frac-
tures ; undue exertion of any part or organ, or the body
altogether wljich, in hunter's phrase, is called being " over-
marked.'

Chemical, excitants comprise all such substances as pos-
sess properties of an acrid, or corrosive, or poisonous nature ;
these are the mineral acids, the caustic alkalies, the metallic
salts, and every caustic or irritant which we are in the
habit of using in practice.

The state of the atmosphere, heat and cold, moisture and
dryness, all in their turn become excitants of inflammation ;
their mischievous agency residing more in the vicissitudes
from one state to its opposite, than in any obnoxiousness in
our climate from their excess or continuance. Generally
speaking, horses turned out from warm stables and exposed
at once to the open air, even during the inclement seasons
of the year, seldom " take cold," or experience any direct
inflammation from the change ; though the reverse of this

vicissitude cannot be practised without such danger, and
especially with young horses. Cold, without wet, even though
alternated with heat, is not found to be nearly so prejudicial
as when moisture is present too. Hence we are in the habit
of viewing frosty weather as a season of health among
horses ; and hence it is that the spring and autumnal
months are the most unhealthy, the weather then being
moist and variable, and the wind generally in a cold
quarter. Independently of these changes, there are condi-
tions of the atmosphere not understood, which, when they
prevail, are apt to produce an epizootic fever amon? horses,
which has been called " influenza."

Animal Poisons, as well as natural ones, are fo"^nd to be
occasionally suspended in the atmosphere, and through its
medium produce their efi'ects. The air of a hot and ill-
ventilated stable may prove an excitant of inflammation,
not only from its high temperature, but also from the
noxious efiluvise with which it has become impregnated by
the dung, urine, and breath of many horses stabled to-
gether. These poisons may also be conveyed through the
medium of the secretions. Rabies and other diseases pro-
duced by the bites of venomous creatures, are transmitted
through the saliva. Farcy and glanders may be transferred
by inoculation with the matter of either disease ; and mange
is probably conveyed in some peculiar exudation from the
skin.

2. Spontaneous Inflammations are such as arise without
any assignable cause. That there are many of that de-
scription, we have daily proofs. Were our knowledge of
structure and function perfect, and had we a thorough
comprehension of the relations subsisting between the body
and the various agents and influences naturally or neces-
sarily connected with it, we should probably be enabled, in
every instance, to link disease with its cause, and thus
frame a full and satisfactory system of nosology. But at
present we are much in the dark concerning internal causes,
and even lack knowledge about those that are external ;
and, in particular, in respect to atmospheric influence on
the body.

3. Sympathetic Inflammations are such as owe their
origin to disease or disorder already existing in the body.
We know, in human pathology, how apt is one set of parts to
take on disease through what we call " sympathy," at the time
that another is suffering. In man, the digestive organs
oftener than any other evince disorder ; in the horse, the
respiratory apparatus is the most common seat of disease :
both which sets of organs, when disordered, may, in their
turn, become the cause of disease in other parts of the body.
The skin sympathizes readily both with the digestive and
pulmonary organs ; and so do the urinary apparatus and
the brain. Sympathy is also evinced in a remarkable
manner between fellow organs on opposite sides of the
body : one eye is no sooner afi'ected with ophthalmia, than
we begin to entertain apprehensions for the opposite one.

The Progress and Termination of Inflammation may be

SPECIFIC DISEASES.— INFLAMMATION.

255

rapid or may be slow, depending on its violence, its nature, the
part it is affecting, its exciting cause, the condition of the ani-
mal, and other collateral circumstances. In the horse it gene-
rally assumes the violent form, and runs its course rapidly ;
or, in technical language, is of the acute character. At times,
however, it appears in altogether a mild, or sluggish, or
indolent form, taking then the epithet of chronic.

It too often happens in veterinary practice, that, in con-
sequence of but trifling illness or lameness being manifested
by the animal, his master does not imagine it worth while
to call in medical aid : the consequence is, that mischief is
present, and by the time the " vet " is consulted, is out of
the range and power of medicine altogether.

No sooner does inflammation become established, than we
begin to look forward with more or less concern and appre-
hension to its consequences, effects, or terminations. John
Hunter affixed the name of tervxinations, from the circum-
stance of the inflammatory action subsiding as soon as they
had taken place. The terminations of inflammation are —
\ , Resolution ; 2, Suppuration; 3, Ulceration; 4:, Deposi-
tion; and 5, Mortification.

Resolution is the term medical m€n employ to signify
that inflammation has declined and disappeared in a part
without occasioning any breach or material derangement
in its organisation. A horse is brought to us with what is
vulgarly called " a sprain of the back sinews :" we examine
the leg, and find it puffed or swollen at one particular part,
which at the same time manifests heat and tenderness on
pressure. We apply a bandage wet with refrigerant lotion
round the leg, and, perhaps, at the same time bleed and
purge. The swelling, pain, and heat gradually subside : in
other words, inflammation is arrested by the timely employ-
ment of remedies, before it has effected any change of
structure. The leg recovers its natural size or fineness,
and then goes sound again. This constitutes termination by
resolution. But another horse, we will suppose, in reaching
his hay out of a high rack directly over his head, happens to
have a hay-seed fall into his eye. Instantly the eye becomes
closed, a flood of tears is discharged, and the animal twists
his head about in every direction, to get rid of the annoy-
ance and pain created by so irritative a body sticking in a
part so highly sensitive. Some hours afterwards, the groom,
not knowing what has occurred, or being unable to give
relief, brings the horse to a veterinary surgeon, who, on
raising and everting the upper eyelid, discovers the hay-seed
sticking fast to the conjunctive membrane, which by this
time has become as red as a piece of scarlet cloth from
inflammation. However the hay-seed is removed, and by
the following day the eye is seen to have recovered its
natural colour and brightness. Uere is another instance of
termination by resolution. There is, however, an evident
difl'erence between this and the case of the sprained leg,
inasmuch as in the one instance resolution was accomplished
within the space of twenty-four hours, while in the other it
required a week — perhaps a month — to bring it about.

Metastasis (Gr. metastasis, translation, niovin'.' trom one
place to another) implies the sudden shifting or translation
of inflammation from one part of the body to another This
is very remarkably the case in jmeumonia. When ijflam
mation in its acute form suddenly declines and quits the
lungs, we may almost to a certainty predict that it will
attack the feet — in the groom's phrase, "fall into the feet."
In like manner, we find it often suddenly leaving one eye to
invade the other. There are also instances of metastasis
between the internal organs of the body — between the ali-
mentary canal and brain, the liver and lungs, the stomach,
and kidneys, &c.

Suppuration denotes the production o{ pus, or matter, in
the inflamed part. It is the mode of termination we in
general naturally look forward to when inflammation, resist-
ing all we may do, runs higher, or even continues longer
than the circumstances of the case permit us to calculate on
resolution ; or where there is breach of surface or any sort
of wound : suppuration in this latter case becoming the
natural and almost inevitable consequence. This is fully
instanced in the case of a horse having that tumour under
the jaw which we call strangles. We apply our remedies ;
but the swelling, instead of diminishing, increases in size,
grows daily more prominent and tense, and tender on pres-
sure, and then gradually changes to a soft, impressible,
fluctuating tumour. At this stage it contains pus ; which,
unless vent be given to it, will augment and accumulate in
such quantity as to distend the tumour and burst it, leaving
behind a vacuity or cavity in which the matter has been
lodged. All unnaturally exposed parts — wounds and abra-
sions of all descriptions — readily run into suppuration :
to them pus seems to form a sort of natural shield from
injury, and, at the same time, a salve highly conducive to
their healing operations. Mucous membranes — the linings
of the air-passages and alimentary canal — promptly under
disease assume the suppurative action. In common catarrh
we see pus mingled with mucus ejected from the nostrils ;
and in inflammation of the bowels we may occasionally
detect it coating the dung-balls.

In abscess, there needs, however, preparation, and seemingl}
a higher degree of elaboration, before suppuration become?
established ; although it is apparently, from the very first,
the end for which the local inflammation was set up. The
cells of the cellular membrane in the beginning become
filled and blocked up with solid matter, identical in appear-
ance and nature with the coagulable lymph of the blood ; in
the very centre of which solid mass, or at the point where
the inflammation runs highest, is deposited at first a drop of
purulent matter. This drop gradually augments, the sur-
rounding solid substance being as gradually absorbed, until,
at length, a cavity containing a collection of pus is formed :
in other words, an abscess makes its appearance.

Ulceration may be defined to be a loss of substance ap-
parent externally, or a consumption of substance internally,
occasioned by the removal of parts by the absorbents. It

256

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

is an effect of inflammation. External ulcerations are not
common in horses, although we have instances of them. We
see them upon the membrane of the nose in glanders ; and
upon the skin in farcy. One of the best examples we have
of ulcerative inflammation is afforded by the skin of the
heels ; a part which, in consequence of its remoteness, from
the source of circulation, and from the vicissitudes of heat
and cold, moisture and dryness, to which, in the winter sea-
son in particular, it is exposed, becomes very subject to in-
flammation, and in that state very prone to run into
ulceration : hence the origin of the foul troublesome ulcers
we so often meet with in the heels in wet and cold weather.
Some parts are more disposed to ulceration than others ;
a circumrtance ascribable, apparently, to their relative
degrees of vascularity. The skin seems to stand first on this
list; the mucous membranes certainly rank next; then come
cellular membrane and bones ; and, lastly, cartilaginous,
ligamentous, and tendinous textures. Though compara-
tively but rare diseases, yet, when they do occur, poll-evil
and fistula too often afford us dreadful examples of the
ravages ulceration may make among bones and cartilages.
Spavin likewise, and also disease of the navicular joint, fur-
nish us with specimens of ulcerative action in the same
structures.

Granulation is the process by which cavities occasioned
by ulceration or by external injury are filled up again with
fleshy matter, out of which parts similar to those lost are
reproduced : it being commonly flesh that is wanted to fill
the wound. As soon as the ulcerative process becomes
arrested, and the parts remaining recover their healthy
action, we perceive springing up from the innermost recesses
of the chasm little red pointed eminences, which, from
their grain-like shape, have received the name of granula-
tions In the first instance, they consist purely of coagul-
able lymph ; soon after, blood-vessels, and nerves, and ab-
sorbents shoot into them, and they then obtain the power
of secreting purulent matter, which becomes very service-
able in defending them from external irritation of any sort.
When they grow beyond the level of the skin, which they are
very apt in their exuberance to do, they constitute what is
called proud flesh, and require caustic applications to eat
them away.

Cicatrization is the last stage of the healing process — the
skinning over of the wound or ulcer. As soon as the work
of flesh-making, or granulation is completed, and the chasm
is become uniformly filled, the raw surface acquires a level,
smoothness, and dryness — changes which, on close examina-
tion, we shall find to arise from a filmy covering of glutinous
matter deposited upon the granulations, and the consequent
cessation of the secretion of pus. Skin is one of those parts
it is in the power of the constitution to reproduce. The
surrounding old skin contracts over the sore, so as to leave
as little as possible of the surface remaining to be covered
>*ith new skin, which contraction it is that occasions the
puckered appearance we may observe the scar or cicatrix of

all old sores to have : the middle of the scar, the part made
up of the new skin, being commonly bare, or at least possess-
ing but a few scattered hairs, and those mostly grey or white
ones. Hair is speedily regenerated so long as the skin con-
tinues whole, and the bulbs that produce it (which are
lodged within the substance of the skin) consequently
remain uninjured. Indeed, so long as this is the case, hairs
will be reproduced even though they be plucked out by the
roots. Where new skin, however, exists, — or where the
injury to the old is such as to destroy or disorganize the
pilous bulbs, — no hair at all will grow over the place, or, at
least, not for a considerable time; for I believe, in the course
of years, even the bulbs themselves are regenerated, though,
if we may reason from their produce, but in an imperfect
manner. When we perceive weak, scattered grey hairs
growing over the spot as soon as the part is healed up, we
may conclude that the bulbs have not altogether been de-
prived of their organization. Attention to these circum-
stances will enable us to answer a question so frequently put
to us in cases of broken knees : — " Will there be any scar
left?"

4. Deposition includes adhesion, induration, scirrhus, he-
patizati'^o, ossification, softening, and changes of structure.

Adhesion is the mode of healing which the constitution,
in case of wounds, adopts in preference to the tedious one we
have just described. It is a direct union of the divided sur-
faces. Whenever a clean-cut wound is made through the
skin (as in operations with the knife), and the sides of the
wound are shortly afterwards brought together and main-
tained in apposition by plaister, suture, bandage, or other
artificial means, the result, in ordinary circumstances, is
what John Hunter called union by the first intention, in
contradistinction to the process of granulation, which he
designated union by the second intention. The blood
answers an important purpose in the case of the fresh
wound ; for it keeps the divided parts glued together until
such time as the blood-vessels ooze forth the real and per-
manent agglutinating medium, which is coagulable lymph —
the same material as is thrown out in the form of granula-
tions, and which forms the swelling in strangles and other
tumours by being effused into the interstices of the cellular
membrane. The process of union by adhesion is not com-
pleted until such time as this intermediate uniting substance
is organized — is furnished with blood-vessels and nerves ; an
end which is brought about by the vessels and nerves be-
longing to the parts divided shooting through the uniting
material, and joining with one another. From the surface
of a fresh wound, not more than four hours are required to
produce the coagulable lymph ; and, in a few hours after, it
will be found to possess vessels capable of receiving injec-
tion.

The granulating process in horses is carried on witn a
rapidity and healthiness hardly known in human surgery.

Induration, Scirrhus, Hepatization, Ossification. These
surgical terms express changes in the structure and organi-

SPECIFIC DISEASES.— INFLAMMATION.

257

zation of parts, one of which we may look for whenever
inflammation is of long continuance, and so low in charac-
ter as not to rise into suppuration. On some occasions,
inflammation of an acute kind will run to a certain height,
and then, abating gradually, will leave the part swelled and
hard, with diminished heat and sensibility ; in which con-
dition it may continue for some considerable time, and then,
by a process of absorption, recover its natural state. Glands
are especially subject, under long-continued or often recurring
inflammation, to what is called scirrhus, which means con-
solidation, induration, and conversion of cellular and secret-
ing textures. Hepatization denotes something of the same
sort of change, only that the solidified and converted part
has a liver-like aspect : oftenest found in pulmonary cases.
In regard to bony formations, the horse is especially prone
to them. He possesses hardly any structure but what, at
one time or another, has been found partially or entirely
changed into bone ; and where bone itself, or even cartilage,
is concerned in the inflammation, we look for it as a sort of
natural consequence : hence the production of splints,
spavins, ringbones, ossified cartilages, stiff" joint.s, &c.

Softenirig denotes a change the reverse of induration,
which has been occasionally observed to take place in certain
parts that have laboured under inflammation. In the horstj
nervous or medullary substance, the glands and the liver,
frequently exhibit softening, in which the finger may be
pushed into the substance with the same ease that it would
penetrate a rotten apple or pear. The farriers have caught
at this similarity. Nothing is more common for them to
find in the course of their post-^mortem examinations, that
the liver was as " rotten as a pear."

Mortification expresses the death of the inflamed part.
It is comparatively rare in horses. The inflammation that
gives rise to it is of the acutest kind ; we meet with it the
oftenest in the lungs ; though now and then mortification
occurs in the bowels. Wounds, also, of a violent nature, in
horses with bad constitutions, now and then turn to morti-
fication. A part in which inflammation is running to this
fatal issue, turns from red to purple, and from purple to
black in hue, losing at the same time its heat, as well as its
manifestation of sensibility and power of motion. We may
know that circulation and vital action have ceased in it by
its deathy coldness ; its blackness ; its soft and flabby feel ;
its crackling sensation under the finger, produced by the air
extricated within it ; and, finally, by its putrid odour.
Should it be an internal organ that is afi"ected, the signs of
mortification having taken place in general observed are, a
sudden and almost total cessation of the symptoms of pain,
so that, to a common observer, the animal would appear at
first to have experienced a change for the better.

We have spoken of the dangers of inflammation, yet, under
certain circumstances, inflammation is not only to be endured,
but even encouraged. Wereitnotforinflammationand its con-
comitant efi"ects, no wound could be healed, no bone united, no
breach repaired. A puncture into a joint, a lacerated intestine,

K K

is alike repaired by inflammation — the same process by which
the joint is anchylosed and the bowel mortified. Inflam-
mation works good or harm, depending on the nature and
circumstances of the case — on its degree, its duration, the
cause that gave rise to it, the part affected, its character and
tendency, &c., &c. ; and the exercise of a sound discrimina-
tive judgment in these several particulars it is that constitutes
a scientific and experienced practitioner. We often excite
inflammation on the principle of counter-irritation, to remove
inflammation from some internal and more important part :
blisters, rowels, setons, and artificial irritations of all kinds
are practised in cases of sickness with this view ; and the
practice is found not only highly beneficial in relieving the
patient, but also proves a safe one, inasmuch as the fresh
inflammation, artificially excited, commonly exists in a harm-
less and manageable form, although we have no reason for
believing that it at all differs in its nature from that which it
is designed to counteract. We frequently, too, excite inflam-
mation by similar means, with a view altogether different ;
namely, to produce absorption of some deposition, such as
spavins, windgalls, curbs, &c. Now and then we use means
to stir up a fresh and more active inflammation in parts
in which it already exists, but in too sluggish or unhealthy
a form to accomplish the desired end. We act on this prin-
ciple when we pour boiling dressings, or inject caustics, or
introduce a red-hot iron into fistulas, poll-evil, quittor, or
sinuses.

Treatment. — In the treatment of inflammation obtain
the clearest insight possible into its seat, its kind, its causes,
and its present and probable effects, both as regards the
part immediately affected and the constitution at large.

The degree and kind of inflammation must be taken into
account in the treatment. The more active or acute the
one, the more prompt and bold should be the other ; though,
where inflammation is of what is called a specific kind, ex-
perience teaches us that we do but little good in our treat-
ment unless we can meet the case with specific remedies,
such as are found peculiarly adapted for such anomalies.
In specific ophthalmia, in mange, in farcy, and in glanders,
we bleed and purge with but little comparative benefit. To
be of real service to our patient, we must have recourse to
something in the shape of a specific remedy.

The first thing to be done in the treatment of inflamma-
tion, is, to remove the cause, supposing it to be still operating.
In some cases, such as that of a hay-seed in a horse's eye,
this is all that is required to be done. The cause being re-
moved, the inflammation subsides, and ceases altogether.
Should a horse pick up a nail in his foot, and that be found
penetrating the hoof, and simply wounding the quick, its
speedy extraction, with a little subsequent attention to the
cleanliness of the wound, will be all that is commonly
necessary to effect a cure On the other hand, when, from
the depth of the puncture, or from the irritability of the
animal's constitution at the time, violent inflammation may
ensue, the case will call for every attention we can give it

Zbo

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

When the eye is inflamed, the lids and the haw are drawn
OTer its surface to shield it from the light ; which, though
under ordinary circumstances a natural and healthy stimulus,
now that the sensibility of the organ is augmented, becomes
an annoyance to it : this teaches us to take care in cases of
ophthalmia to exclude the light.

It is important to put the diseased part, as far as lies in
our power, into a state of repose. And in no way can we
better accomplish this than by placing the animal in " a
loose box," with his head at liberty, in a pure and cool atmo-
sphere, so as to lie down upon a comfortable bed whenever
he feels disposed, and place himself in any posture that may
afford him most ease.

Inflamed muscles, ana tendons, and joints, should always
be placed in a state of repose, if possible, and at the same
time in that relaxed condition which leaves every fibre
most at ease. We may commonly do much towards the
attainment of this end in the limbs, by raising or lowering
the heel or toe of the foot, as the case may require. Should
the head or any part of the neck be the seat of inflamma-
tion, it may be found beneficial to keep the head elevated
and confined : much mischief is done by suffering the
animal to hang it down upon the ground. The principle by
which we are to be guided in this respect is, to endeavour
to maintain the part inflamed in that position which is most
favourable to the return of blood from it back to the heart.

The next step in a general way, is attention to clothing.
There are but few diseases in which it is not desirable
to keep the surface of the body warm, for which purpose
we employ woollen clothing. The quantity or thickness
of the clothes must of course be regulated by the season
of the year, by the previous habits of the animal, as well
as by reference to the disease under which he may
at the time be labouring. In hot weather, clothing is com-
monly required rather for the purpose of protecting the
animal from the annoyance of flies than for warmth, and,
consequently, linen clothing is mostly to be preferred.
Where warmth becomes the object, rugs or blankets are
preferable to cloths ; when both are used, the former should
be placed next the skin. In no case should their quantity
be such as to become burthensome.

The common food of a stabled horse consists of oats and
hay. During the existence of inflammation or fever in the
system, discontinue the oats, and substitute bran, in the form
of mashes, which are laxative in their tendency, and good,
as you cannot use purgatives. On this last account, green
meat (whenever it can be procured) is to be preferred.
Vetches, lucerne, green clover, and also the various esculent
roots, — carrots, turnips, potatoes, &c., — are all suited for the
sick stable, because they are more grateful to the palate of
the invalid than iis ordinary stable diet. During the
height of inflammatory disorder, however, food is not only
not required, but would by its presence in the stomach be
apt rather to irritate than benefit ; and as the disorder
declines, the appetite commonly returns.

It is of great importance, particularly in cases of inflam-
mation of the lungs, that the air of the box of the sick horse
be cool, free from impurities, and frequently renewed.

The medical treatment of inflam/mation consists in the
employment of constitutional and local means. The con-
stitutional are, bleeding and purging, with the assistance of
sedatives and diuretics and alteratives. The local means
are, bleeding, cold and warm applications, and counter-
irritation.

Bleeding. — When we consider the increased action main-
tained by the blood flowing with greater rapidity and in
greater quantity through the vessels of the inflamed part, it
seems that abstraction of blood must be one of the most
direct means of subduing inflammation. In veterinary
practice, in many cases, it is the only remedy we have it
in our power to employ. In the acute stages of inflamma-
tion of the lungs, and even other organs of importance,
neither internal nor external medicaments will take effect
until we have succeeded in abating the inflammatory action
by bleeding ; and in cases where we cannot purge, we com-
monly effect nothing without the lancet Although, as we
draw the blood out of a part, we reduce the inflammation in
it, yet we do not by this cure the disorder, for no sooner are
the vessels emptied than they are filled again ; in fact, time
must be allowed for the inflammatory action to subside.
Under the head Bleeding, will be found the rtwdua
(yperandi, instruments used, quantity, and effects of abstrac-
tion of blood.

Although the abstraction of blood rapidly from a large
orifice is a check upon inflammation, it has some bad conse-
quences, which in modern practice have been fully proven.
The olden practitioner was so convinced in this respect,
that, as Mr. Mayhew says, "he drew blood with the same
complacency as he would draw beer from a barrel, and quite
as often, even supposing him to be very fond of that ex-
hilarating beverage. In the present day, however, either
the character of disease has changed, or it is perceived the
practice alluded to was founded upon a mistaken basis.
Horses could not now bear the loss of half that quantity of
vital fluid which is, on good authority, believed to have been
formerly taken from them. Many an animal then, having
influenza, has been bled into hydrothorax. Many an animal
has been so reduced by repeated bleedings, that he has
ultimately sunk, not from the disease, but in consequence of
the measures pursued for its reduction. Bleeding has there-
fore lost its repute as the specific means of cure ; for any
disturbance of the circulation is easier and more safely
equalized by the administration of a stimulant, than only
apparently tranquillized by the abstraction of a fluid of
which the animal rarely has a drop too much.

Purgatives, in the human subject, form the next active
agents in combating arterial excitement ; but there are some
peculiarities in the structure and functions of the Horse,
which render these medicines less eligible than in man. To
produce active purging in the horse, causes great constitu-

SPECIFIC DISEASES.— INFLUENZA.

259

lional disturbance, and lowers the powers of the constitution
in a remarkable manner, to say nothing of the time required
for their action.

Sedatives and Nauseanta are often valuable in inflamma-
tion ; as it is a law in animal economy, that whatever excites
the sense of sickness, lowers the pulse in force and frequency,
and so diminishes the flow of blood to the inflamed parts.
Of these, aloes is the first, both as a purgative, a sedative,
and a nauseant. Dose, half a drachm to a drachm every
four, eight, or twelve hours. Hellebore root is another
nauseant (see list of horse-medicines), especially when, as in
diseases of the lungs, aloes are dangerous. In doses of a
scruple to half a drachm every four or six hours, it lowers
the pulse and inflammation ; but is a poison in large doses,
and therefore requires close watching. If saliva oozes from
the mouth, and the animal hangs his head down, or turns
outwards the upper lip, discontinue the hellebore imme-
diately. It should be given only after bleeding has been
tried. Of sedatives, digitalis is the favourite, in doses of
half a drachm to a drachm twice a day. This also is
a dangerous poison, producing stupor, cold extremities,
clammy mouth, vertigo, convulsions, and death. It irri-
tates the bowels less than hellebore. Percivall gives the
following formula : —

Powdered white hellebore root, or powdered

digitalis ..... ^ drachci.
Liquorice powder . . . . i ounce.

Syrup to make a ball.

Diuretics (or " urine-balls," as the stablemen call them,)
are more active in their operation on the kidneys of the horse
than the same class of medicines are with man, who depends
more on the excretions by the skin. The physician pre-
scribes diaphoretics to smooth-skinned man ; diuretics have
the veterinarian's preference. Sweating a horse, except by
exercise, — and that will not do in inflammation, — is next to
impossible. Mow-burnt hay and fermented food act on the
kidneys of the horse. Nitre is the leading diuretic ; and for
its combinations, and Sedatives, see those heads in List of
Horse-medicines, ante.

Alteratives, too, as antimony and mercury, are used in
combating inflammation, as well as cold and warm applica-
tions. Cold water, or salt and water, or Goulard's lotion,
are commonly used. Evaporating lotions have our prefer-
ence. Vinegar and water, or spirits and water, answer the
purpose well. In cases of much swelling, the following
evaporating lotion can be recommended : —

Sal ammoniac
Vinegar
Spirits of wine
Water

1 ounce.
4 ounces.
4 ounces.
1 piut.

Mix the sal ammoniac and vinegar, then add the water and spirits

Or,

Liquor of acetate of anuQonia and spirits of

wine, each , . . . 4 ounces.

Water ..... 1 pint.

Paradoxical as it may appear, warm applications are as
serviceable in many cases of inflammation as cold ones.
When heat, however, is applied, it must always be accom-
panied by moisture.

Blisters (see list of medicines), with rowels, and setons,
and their appropriate instruments, will be found in their
proper place under Operations.

§ III. INFLUENZA, EPIZOOTIC. OR CATARRHAL

FEVER.

This formidable disease has of late years extensively pre-
vailed throughout every part of the kingdom. Malignant
epizootics are on record which so strongly resemble its
symptoms and course, though imperfectly recorded, that
there is no reason to consider it a new disease. It is as
well to be candid in acknowledging that we are ignorant of
its immediate cause, though it is easy to talk learnedly of
" atmospheric influences " of the real constituents or malefic
action of which we know nothing ; investigation having
as yet shown no peculiar poison present in the air at the
period or place of such visitations. Influenza spares neither
young nor old, strong nor feeble, and neither regards season
of the year, nor situation, dry or moist, elevated or low.
Sometimes it is mild in form and action, resembling much a
common cold, at others accompanied with severe internal
inflammation, and destroying like an angel of death passing
through animal creation. The term influenza is that
adopted by almost universal consent, and expresses its
tendency to spread. In 1836, horses in all parts of the
kingdom were scourged with this epizootic disorder. Again,
in the autumn of 1840, it made its appearance in various
places. Olden farriers called influenza by the unmeaning
name of " distemper," which may well be discarded and
thrown " to the dogs." Mr. W. C. Spooner, of Southampton,
in a paper contributed to " The Veterinarian," has given a
clear account of the disease, of which we shall here avail
ourselves. He says, in a paper read before the Veterinary
Medical Association of London : —

" The influenza made its appearance during the month of
September, ISiG, and has continued up to the present time.
My first cases were few and isolated, but they gradually be-
came more numerous and more cumulative. The symptoms
were very similar to those of the epizootic of 1836, at any
rate suflaciently so to justify me in denominating it the same
disease.

" Symptoms. — The first symptom that awakened attention
was the sudden failure of the appetite, which was either
total or partial ; the horse, perhaps, might have appeared
perfectly well in the morning, and at noon refused his
food. The mouth hot, the pulse quickened, varying, how-
ever, from 40 to 80, being sometimes full and strong, but
more frequently soft and weak. There was, generally, a
somewhat dull appearance of the animal at first, although
nothing to what afterwards supervened ; the coat was often
staring, and, when so, the attack usually became more

2W

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

severe. This symptom, however, was far from being uni-
versal. The extremities were rarelj cold. In the course of
six or twelve hours, the symptoms btcame more aggravated,
the pulse increased in frequency, and the appetite more
diminished, and probably the legs and eyelids considerably
swollen. In some cases the respiration became quickened,
and in others there was cough and sore throat ; but in the
majority of my patients, there was no bronchial aifection
whatever.

" In a few instances, the disease quickly reached its acme,
but, generally, the symptoms increased in severity for two
or three days, when, supposing judicious treatment had
been employed, they gradually declined, and at length
totally disappeared, the animal slowly regaining his former
health and spirits.

" The bowels, generally speaking, were not apparently
much deranged, but their mucous coat was particularly
susceptible to the action of aperient medicines ; and the
faeces were frequently enveloped in thin slimy mucus, and
often softer than in a state of health.

" In some cases the affection of the eyes was so violent as
to occasion temporary blindness ; and in others pneumonia
was present, but more frequently severe bronchitis. In
many patients, the oedematous swelling of the legs was
enormous, and continued obstinate when the other symptoms
had abated ; but, commonly, in proportion as the legs and
eyes were much affected, the internal viscera were free
from disease, and vice versa. This rule, however, was by no
means universal, for, in several patients, severe cephalic and
thoracic symptoms were present in the same subject and at
the same time

" Treatment. — vVhen the pulse was full and strong, I ab-
stracted blood, and with the best effect. The blood was slow
in coagulating, and invariably presented a buffy coat. I
took great care, however, not to abstract too large a quan-
tity ; and could produce the desired influence by half the
quantity which, in ordinary inflammatory affections, it would
be necessary to take away. The amount of blood withdrawn
was always determined by its effect on the pulse, taking care,
as soon as its character was materially altered — that is, softer
and less perceptible — to pin up the orifice. This alteration was
sometimes produced by the loss of only 4lbs. of blood, oftener
by 61bs., occasionally by 81bs., and in a few instancesby lOlbs.
In two or three cases where there appeared to be severe inter-
nal inflammation, I repeated the blood-letting on the following
day, and in one instance on the same day ; but, as a general
rule, even in cases where the pulse had on the following day
regained its strength and fulness, I abstained from a second
bleeding, trusting to medicine and the progress of the disease
to soften the pulse, which I found to ta.ke place commonly
on the second or third day.

"Local venesection was more frequently resorted to than
general bleeding ; indeed, whenever the eyes were much
inflamed, or the lids swollen, Mr. Turner scarified the latter
with a lancet, and opened the anglar veins with the best re-

sults ; the local inflammation generally subsiding in the
course of twelve or twenty-four hours, whether the patient
had been bled generally before or not.

"The treatment in the way of medicines consisted in
administering the following : —

Croton oil .... 5 drops.

Nitre . . . . . 4 to 6 drachms.

Tartarised antimony . . .1 drachm.

Spirit of nitrous ether . . . 4 to 8 drachms.

Spirit of Mindererus . . . 2 to 4 ounces.

Warm water, sufficient to form a draught.

" Sometimes 4 drachms of bi-tartrate of potash were added
to the above ; and when the head appeared much affected,
1 drachm of camphor. This draught was administered
generally once, but sometimes twice a day, the croton oil
being omitted after the first dose. After the first day, in
by far the greater number of cases, 2 drachms of gentian
were added to the draught ; and after the second or third
day a ball was substituted for the draught, consisting of : —

Nitre . . . . .3 drachms.

Tartarised antimony . . .1 drachm.

Gentian ..... 2 drachms.
Pimento ..... 1 drachm.

" In one case the above draught produced profuse perspi-
ration immediately after and each time it was administered.
Although this effect may be principally ascribed to the
idiosyncrasy of the animal, yet it proves the diaphoretic
properties of the medicine, though this may not generally
be distinctly perceptible.

" Counter irritation. — In by far the greater number of
cases there was no inflammation of the air-passages ; but
whenever it was denoted, I blistered the throat, the course
of the windpipe, and the breast ; or inserted setons or rowels,
as the particular case appeared to demand.

" Such is a brief account of the treatment found successful,
not only in conquering the disease, but in restoring the
health and strength in a short space of time. Although the
majority of cases were not dangerous, yet many of them
were so ; and it is notoriously the fact, that a great number
of horses have died from the disease in various places.
Indeed, in the establishment to which I have referred, three
horses died from it under the care of another person, not
a member of the College ; and in several instances where
horses have been treated by the owners, although the case
was not dangerous, they recovered but slowly, and with
great loss of condition."

We have had occasional recurrences of this disease, though
not to the same extent as before, and have found the best
results attend the administration of calomel with tartarised
antimony. Either a drachm each should be given once a
day, or one-half this dose both morning and night, continuing
for several days, adding occasionally Febrifuge and Diuretic
medicines. (See List of Horse-medicines in Chap. XXIII.

Mr. Spooner, found a greater disposition to oedematous
swelling of the extremities and sheath in the later epizootics

SPECIFIC DISEASES.— GLANDERS AND FARCY.

2dl

than in that of 1836 ; and so obstinate, occasionally, were
these enlargements, that they were reduced with much
difficulty, and only after the frequent and continued employ-
ment of diuretics, and the insertion of setons in the thighs.
There likewise appeared to be throughout the attack a capa-
bility of taking large and repeated doses of diuretic agents
without exciting the kidneys in any great degree. At least
double the quantity could be given, and with no greater
action than half the quantity in a state of health.

In an addendum to this paper, Mr. Spooner discusses ttie
question of blood-lettingand purgatives in influenza as follows.
Of bleeding he says : — " I take it for granted that the chief
art in treating the disease is to know when to bleed, and
when to abstain ; being guided in this matter chiefly by the
state of the pulse. Where, however, I have not bled gene-
rally, I have witnessed the very best eff"ects from local
bleeding. It has, in a few hours, relieved the tumefaction
of the eyelids, and the heaviness of the head, to a great
extent. One thing is most clear, — we can produce a very
great eff"ect on the system by very moderate bleeding."

To the question. Is aperient medicine judicious? he
replies : — " This, too, is an old disputed point. I am in
favour of a very moderate dose at the commencement, but
against its repetition. I have most commonly administered
five drops of croton oil, which has generally produced a
sufficiently laxative effect. The addition of a few drops
more I have known produce purgation. I am inclined to
believe that a very moderate action on the intestines will
hasten the recovery of the patient. Additional experience
has so far modified this opinion, that in ordinary cases the
gradual administration of a few drachms of the proto-chloride
of mercury in small doses will have a sufficiently laxative
effect on the system."

Cases of superpurgation, arising from the administration
of full doses of physic in this disease by empirical prac-
titioners, often occur.

We would recommend a drink compounded of sulphuric
ether, laudanum, and cold water, then wait an hour and
watch symptoms. Repeat the drink at night ; next day add
to it a scruple of calomel sprinkled on the tongue, and wash
it down with the drink. Persevere with this daily till the
pulse is quicker and so soft as scarcely to be felt. Then
leave off medicine and give a quart of the best stout night
and morning, carrots chopped fine, fresh grass, and scalded
oats. These will be found the best tonics when you have
turned the corner upon the influenza.

§ IV. GLANDERS AND FARCY.

Volumes upon this horrible and fatal malady have
been written. Its bibliography alone forms the subject-
matter of 28 pages of Mr. Percivall's third volume (pp.
252 — 280) ; whereto the studious and curious reader is
referred.

Glanders consists in a discharge, from one or both
nostrils, of matter which by transfer or inoculation will

produce the disease in another animal (either of the equine
or human species), and which discharge is, sooner or later,
accompanied by injection of the vessels and chancrous
ulceration of the Schneiderian membrane, by tumefaction of
the submaxillary lymphatic glands, and by farcy. There is
every reason to believe that glanders and farcy are merely
modifications of the same disease ; or rather that farcy, in
many cases, supervenes on glanders. The seat of glanders
is in the 'pituitary or Schneiderian membrane — that mem-
brane with which the respired air comes in contact, and
which lines the nose, the sinuses of the head, the windpipe,
and its branches. Snape was the first who declared
Glanders and Farcy to be the same disease affecting dif-
ferent parts. He calls glanders, in his quaint way, " Farcy
in the head." The proofs of identity in nature between
glanders and farcy rest upon — 1st, their reciprocity of
production through inoculation ; 2ndly, their traceableness
to the same causes ; 3rdly, their termination one in the
other, which almost invariably takes place, when they are
suffered to run their natural course previous to death ;
4thly, their frequent simultaneous appearance in the same
subject, together with the similitude of the phenomena and
course they exhibit. A clever paper written in 18S9, by
M. Gerard, " Sur V Identity de la Morve et du Farcin,"
in the "Journal de M4d4cine Veterinaire," seems to us to set
the question beyond cavil as to the identity of these
diseases of the lymphatics.

The diseases with which glanders is liable to be con-
founded, or for which it may be mistaken, are catarrh, nasal
gleet, and strangles.

The signs of true glanders are with singular accuracy de-
scribed by old Solleysell in his "Compleat Horseman" (1679).
No better diagnosis has been made since, with all our science.
He says : — " The signs by which the disease may be known, are
when a horse, already too old to be troubled with strangles,
without a cough, voids matter by the nose, and has a kernel
sticking to the bone ; and besides, in glanders, the matter
usually flows from one nostril, whereas in a cold it runs
almost always out of both." — " Some cast the matter that
is voided by the nostrils into water, and if it swim on the
top, they conclude the horse to be free of this distemper ;
but if it sink to the bottom, it is a sign of glanders : the
principal use of this experiment being to distinguish the
pus." — " But you must not depend on the certainty of this
sign ; for if the matter stick to the nostrils like glue, it is a
bad sign, and you may conclude the disease to be the
glanders, though the matter do swim on the top." — "When
either the breath or matter that comes out of the nostrils
stinks, the disease is almost always incurable." — " I have
seen horses troubled with this distemper without kernels,
or, if there were any, they were little and movable ; and
the only sign by which we could discover it to be glanders
Avas by the glueyness of the matter." — Hope's Translation.

Solleysell is well confirmed by a clever article by Mr. J.
Turner on what he calls Insidious Glanders, in Vol III. of

r

^62

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

"The Veterinarian," page 694, in which he adduces instances
where a horse, being glandered, propagated glanders with-
out himself exhibiting anything more than a constant thin
gleety discharge, without offensive smell ; having no visible
ulceration of the nasal membranes, no swelled legs, or even
anything resembling farcy ; yet the chronic discharge was
glanderous, and capable of propagating the disease in all its
virulence in other horses.

The forms of glanders, in modern books, are called acute,
sub-acute, and chronic.

Acute glanders results from inoculation or contagion of
the virus. This runs its deadly course, and includes what
the French veterinarians have termed typhoid or putrid
glanders. The course of acute glanders cannot be better
illustrated than by the following note from the " Cases " of
Mr. John Field.

" May 3rd. — An ass was inoculated in both upper eyelids,
both sides of the loins, the off side of the withers, and on the
inside of the ala of each nostril, with the discharge from the
off nostril of a grey gelding (purchased by Sir P D

three years previous), which was affected with this same
glanderous discharge at the time of purchase, and had
60 continued ever since.

" 7th. — All the wounds suppurating, except those on the
nostrils, which appear to be healing.

" 9th. — Absorbents inflamed from the ulcers on eyelids and
back.

" \ith. — Absorbents much thickened, having diffused in-
flammation about them, and at different parts of their
course circumscribed tumours suppurating ; the inflam-
mation from the ulcers of the loins proceeding to the groin,
that from the offside of the withers to the breast, and, on the
eyelids, producing small fluctuating tumours on the jugular
vein, just below the ear : the alae nasi were beginning to
swell, and there was a snuffling in breathing, &c.

" \.9th. — The alse nasi much thickened, copious discharge
from nostrils, and the swelling increasing.

" 22nd. — Respiration greatly embarrassed. He died on
the following day.

" Exavxination. — Much frothy spume in trachea — general
Infiltration of lungs, which were inflamed — considerable
consolidation of the anterior and inferior portion of right
lobe — warty exulceration of Schneiderian membrane of both
nostrils to a greater extent than I had ever witnessed before."

Mr. Ernes, of Bermondsey, relates a case in the " Veteri-
narian," for 1842, of typhoid glanders, of which the autopsy
was as follows : — " The effusion into the swollen parts of the
membrane was of a hlach colour, resembling oil paint, sticky,
and of considerable consistence. The membrane of the nose
was one mass of gangrene, and in many parts covered with
the same black substance that was found in the swellings.
The lungs were a complete mass of ulceration, and of the
same black hue. The abdominal viscera were all of a dark
colour. The mucous membrane was healthy throughout,
accounting for the absence of diarrhoea, which is a frequent

complication of this disease." The French term this " morve
charbonneuse."

In 1843, acute glanders prevailed as an epizootic disease
in and around Paris to a terrible extent.

Epidemic glanders is merely acute glanders in its spread-
ing form.

Sub-acute glanders is the variety of most ordinary occur-
rence. "It commences with the usual signs — slight or other-
wise— of indisposition ; and the disease may, though the cir-
cumstance is a rare one, in the first instance assume the acute
type. Instead, however, of continuing its rapid course, even
after ulceration has displayed itself, both the inflammatory
and ulcerative processes subside down to a state almost of
total inactivity. The Schneiderian membrane grows pallid,
acquires a leaden hue, and the ulcerations upon it lose their
prominent red-streaked borders, and exchange their rugged
bleeding bases for comparatively smooth and livid bottoms,
throwing up a glass-like reflection from the lymphy matters
covering them. It is evident, the moment the nose is
inspected, that the disease exists in the sub-acute form ; how
long it may continue so is very uncertain It will not visibly
impair the health, nor affect the appetite ur spirits, so long
as it does so remain. The moment, however, anything
occurs to derange the health, or even after a certain time —
after a month or two, or three — without any apparent super-
added cause, we may expect the acute disease to supervene,
and then the destruction of the patient's health commences,
and is speedily consummated in death. Though there be an
evident cessation of the external disease, we are by no
means certain that the inward organs — the lungs in par-
ticular— are not all the while forming a forties for its
spreading. In most cases it is probable this does happen,
inasmuch as, whenever death has followed from the super-
vention of the acute disease, we find those organs in a state
of tuberculous disorganisation. It is this apparent cessation
of the glanders outwardly, and the interval during which
the disease continues in abeyance, that has afforded oppor-
tunities to experimentalists and hunters after a cure to
make trial of their various nostrums. And it is the
topical influence some of their remedies have had upon the
secretion — and even upon the ulceration of the nasal
membrane — that has led so many persons to delude them-
selves at various times, that they have discovered the true
antidote. No sooner, however, has the fire which has
been smouldering within the lungs or head broken out, and
shown itself outwardly in the form of acute glanders and
farcy, than the bubble of a cure has burst, and the boasted
remedy shared the fate of those that have gone before it.

Chronic Glanders consists simply in a discharge from the
nose, oftener from one nostril* than from both, accompanied

* Dupuy says, of eight cases of glanders, only one was affected in the
right nostril. Percivall says, of 58 cases recorded from observation, 21
were in the left nasal cavity, 19 in the right, and 18 in both nostrila}
which shows no decided majority, but nearly an average

SPECIFIC DISEASES.— GLANDERS AND FARCY.

26b

by enlargement of the correspondent submaxillary lymphatic
gland or glands. Symptomatically, it differs from the acute
and sub-acute diseases in the absence of anything like in-
flammation or vascular injection, or chancre, or in fact of
any perceptible change whatever in the aspect of the
Schneiderian membrane denoting morbid activity : all is as
usual in the appearance of parts, and in the animal's health
and spirits and appetite ; nothing whatever seems amiss,
save the flux from the nose and the submaxillary tume-
factioa And in this state, as we have recently observed,
the horse may continue for years. Pathologically, also, it
differs from the acute and sub-acute disorders in having for
its especial seat the membrane lining the sinuses of the
head. It is possible a chronic discharge may proceed from
the nasal membrane : however, it rarely does so for any
length of time without some discoverable change in the
aspect of that membrane. Although it is quite possible
such a case might at first be supposed to be chronic
glanders, a little time would suffice to show whether it
really were so or not. If it be chronic glanders, having for
its seat the nasal as well as the frontal membrane, or to the
exclusion even of the latter, sooner or later we shall detect
the miliary ulceration, the only ulceration present in this
form of disease, and therefore truly characteristic.

Chronic glanders appears sometimes as the sequel of
other disease in the air-passages and lungs. It mostly
attacks its victim in a mild and masked form. The horse is
thought to have caught cold ; and no suspicion, perhaps, is
aroused to the contrary until it comes to be discovered that
this " cold " is lasting a great while longer than it ought to
endure, and that it resists all means of cure. The horse's
ordinary spirits and looks and appetite are not in the
slightest degree impaired : he works as cheerfully as ever ;
but all the time he has a discharge from one nostril, with
an enlargement of the submaxillary lymphatic gland or
glands of the same side. And although the nasal issue may
be of a nature of itself to excite suspicion, and the enlarge-
ment may be such as appears to confirm this suspicion, yet
do cases incipient in their nature too often present them-
selves, in which it is impossible for any practitioner, from
these appearances alone, to determine at once on the nature
of the attack Give time, and the veterinary surgeon, by
watching the progress of the case, will be enabled to solve
the mystery, and at length to demonstrate beyond doubt
the real nature of the animal's ailment.

No cough accompanies real glanders in any of its stages ;
and this, though a negative piece of information, should be
taken as a criterion not to be neglected. A running may
make its appearance at one nostril in glanders, and the
glands may adhere to the jawbone, as they do in real
glanders, but no cough accompanies these symptoms of
glanders. When cough supervenes, the disease may be a
catarrh, a consumption, asthma, or strangles, but these are
not contagious, unless they last a long time, and adhesion of
the glands takes place. In these last-mentioned disorders

the discharge commonly proceeds from both nostrils alike :
whereas, the running in incipient glanders is often confined
to the one nostril, and the gland of one side only is then
affected.

As the disorder proceeds, it affects both sides. Chancres
appear all over the pituitary membrane, occasioned by the
erosive nature of the discharge. This assumes a different
appearance as the fluids of the individual may have been
more or less vitiated. The appearance or quality of the
discharge differs also, according to the manner in which the
disease may have been engendered or caught by infection,
as is already shown in distinguishing the acute and sub-
acute varieties. If it come of the first-mentioned, through
a depraved system, the glands are harder, often smaller, and
always adhere more closely, than in those cases which are
derived from infection, at a time when the animal is other-
wise in comparatively good health. Again, with the
infected horse, the matter comes off copiously; it is curdled,
and may be rubbed to powder between the fingers when
dried. It subsequently hardens, and becomes chalky when
submitted to acids ; whereas, the animal that engenders the
disease without receiving infection, sends forth matter that
is parti-coloured, less in quantity, blackish, watery, and
mixed with bloody and white mucus. Finally, if the
animal that receives the disorder by infection be previously
in a bad state of health, those symptoms are complicated
and more intense, the chancres are more numerous, the
cartilages of the nose become rotten, and the bones likewise,
in a shorter time. The creature seems to have combined
the evils of its own system with that of the sufferer from
whom he has received it. In both cases the swelled glands
are simply hard tumours without any matter in them.

In addition to the preceding tokens for discovering at an
early period glanders from other disorders, let the nostrils
of the animal be examined, and the running nostril will be
found of a deeper colour than usual, whilst the other, or
dry nostril, is of a paler colour than ordinary, or almost
white. At this period the discharge is a white glairy fluid,
and the diseased state of the sub-maxillary gland of that
side is but just perceptible to the touch : but these being
symptoms that belong equally to a catarrh, it is best to
be guided by the varied colour of the two nostrils, re-
membering that in catarrh, or cold, both nostrils run.

Well worthy of remark is the fact that when horses in a
tolerable state of health first receive infection, they show
mettle, and are full of freaks ; as the disorder proceeds in
its ravages this spirit goes off. Other acquired diseases
have the same effects on animals — the venereal, for example,
on man.

A great stench accompanies the discharge in long-con-
firmed glanders, which increases during the latter stages of
the disorder ; and the stableman who has once scented it
may presently ascertain whether glandered horses have
been recently kept in any stable he may examine for the
purpose of detection.

:,04

THE PRACTICE OF VETEKINARY MEDICINE.

In duration, hardly any disease can be more uncertain
than chronic glanders. It may continue, simply as a
discharge from one nostril, accompanied by submaxillary
glandular enlargement, with very little or unimportant
variation in either, for months — nay, for years : on the
other hand, it may run into the acute in as many weeks.
Any person, therefore, having a horse of this description in
his possession can at no period say how long it may be
before the disorder may show itself in an active, nay,
rapidly destructive form. In some cases the nasal flux runs
for a long period with but slight or unimportant alteration ;
in others, in quality as well as quantity, it exhibits most
remarkable fluctuations — at one time appearing so scanty
and trifling as hardly to be worth notice ; at another,
pouring forth in all the abundance of the eruption of
pent-up channels, solid as well as fluid, from the admixture
of lymph with muco or sero-purulent flux; and all of the
most fetid nature, in consequence of having been shut up
for a period, and so undergone a putrefactive fermentation
within the sinuses of the head. Its colour, too, is very
variable, depending upon the time it has been retained
within the sinus. It may be white, yellow, green, brown,
black, according to circumstances ; its colour being often a
sort of guide to us in respect to its composition and
probable duration in confinement.

A. distinction must be made between chronic glanders
and what we are in the habit of calling nasal gleet ; an
aflPection some horses are known to have either all their
lives, or at certain periods of them. We must not set down
every horse that comes to us, having for any length of time
had, either constantly or only at times, a flux from one or
from both nostrils. The membrane clothing the nasal
chambers and sinuses of the head is, the same as other
mucous membranes of the body, liable to derangements in
its functions — to secrete too much or too little, or not of
the proper quality. Therefore, like the membrane of
the human urethra, it may become the source of gleet,
and of gleet of so long duration that in time it becomes
habitual to the secreting apparatus. This is the only way
in which we can account for horses having, at times,
discharges from the nose all their lifetime ; yet they work,
never showing glanders ; indeed, to those acquainted
with them, causing little alarm. The important question
for us to consider' is, how are cases of nasal gleet to be
distinguished from those of chronic glanders ? The discharge
in gleet consists of an unusually white mucous or sero-
mucous matter, and in several instances has been remarked
to be lumpy There is no enlargement under the jaw ; and
this circumstance, as well as the white, mucous, and
lumpy nature of the discharge, together with the history of
its origin, which should be carefully inquired into, may be
found pretty safe ground of distinction between nasal gleet
and chronic glanders.

Beyond any information we can glean from the symptoms,
and such as is to be derived from the history of the case, we

have no means of testing its true nature save through an
operation, or by inoculation of an ass (or another horse)
with the discharged matter.

Mr. Percivall narrates the following : — " The good health
horses having chronic glanders in general enjoy, together
with the condition and apparent aptitude for work they
maintain, it is that has given rise to a fraud often success-
fully practised in horse markets, in days when glandered
horses were more common in the country than they are at
the present time. Three knaves act in confederacy. The
horse, who previously has been made by some sternutatory
means to blow out any matter lodged in his nose, is by one
of them led to the market for sale, where he is soon sold
at a price much below his apparent value, the purchaser
having been persuaded and urged on by a stander-by — a
seeming stranger — who is the second confederate. Pleased
with his bargain, the purchaser takes him away homeward ;
but has no sooner got clear of the market than he is met by
another stranger — the third confederate — who happens to
recognize the horse, and who at once expresses surprise and
dismay that he should have bought an animal with such a
foul and horrible disease upon him ; adding that the horse
ought to be, and must be, in obedience to Act of Parliament,
shot without delay ; and in order that the purchaser may
not be at any further trouble or responsibility, offers at the
same time for a small fee to take the horse of him ' at
knackers' price.' In this way the subject nf fraud finds his
way back into the hands of his former possessors, and is
oflered again for sale ; not perhaps in the same market, but
in some other part of the country. The late Captain
Harvey — a gentleman well known as one of the best riders
in the Old Surrey hunt — was cheated in this manner at
Bromley Fair : in his case there was no third confederate.
The Captain thought he had got an excellent hunter for very
little money, with the trifling drawback of his having 'a
slight cold in his head,' and brought him the following day
to my father for his advice. The opinion sought proved short
and decisive ; — the horse was 'glandered.'"

Cattle and sheep should on no account be trusted with a
glandered horse ; and the mangers and racks in the stable
which have been used by a glandered horse, after being
washed with soap and water, should be thoroughly cleansed
with a solution of chloride of lime.

Strangles is another disorder with which glanders may be
confounded, but not by an experienced practitioner.

Mr. James White, many years Veterinary Surgeon to the
First Dragoons, whose excellent work has gone through
nineteen editions, the last almost re-written by Mr. W. C.
Spooner, paid the greatest attention to the subject of
glanders, and certainly had the greatest opportunities for
practical experience and observation. To that gentleman's
instances of the causes of glanders, the Editor adds : —

"From the circumstance of horses having sometimes
escaped the disorder, though they have been standing in the
same stall or stable, or drinking out of the game bucket or

SPECIFIC DISEASES.— GLANDERS AND FARCY.

265

trough, with a glandered horse, many have been led to doubt
its being contagious ; and the little care that some large
proprietors have taken to prevent the spreading of the
disorder, in consequence of such opinions having been held,
has been the cause of very serious losses, many instances
of which have come within my personal knowledge. That
the glanders is contagious, has been clearly and indisputably
proved by numerous experiments ; and the manner in which
it is propagated has likewise been satisfactorily demon-
strated. At the same time, it is generally believed that the
glanders takes place also independent of contagion ; but
from what causes or circumstances it is then produced, no
author has attempted to state precisely.

" It has been said, in a general way, that close unwhole-
some stables, hard work, and bad provender, sudden changes
from cold and wet weather to hot close stables, hard work,
and insufficient keep, and, in short, anything that will
weaken the animal considerably, is likely to produce
glanders or farcy.

There will be no danger in admitting this opinion if, at
the same time, we keep in view the contagious nature of the
disorder, in whatever manner it may be produced. For if
such cruel and foolish treatment of horses does not produce
glanders and farcy, it produces other disorders which are
often more speedily fatal than glanders ; and if it does not
actually produce a disorder, it weakens the constitution to
such a degree that the animal is rendered more susceptible
of the contagion of glanders, as well as of other diseases.
It is from this cause that glanders spreads so rapidly amongst
post and stage-coach horses, while among horses of a differ-
ent description, its progress is generally slow.

" It has been said that glanders has often been producea in
the cavalry by putting the horses, immediately after coming
from camp, where they are constantly exposed to the
weather, into warm stables, and giving them the full al-
lowance of oats. This, it is true, has often brought on in-
flammatory disorders which were very destructive, and
sometimes of the catarrhal kind, in which case they were
accompanied with a discharge from the nostrils. The
acrimony of the matter would sometimes even ulcerate the
nostrils, and the disease would then be considered as a
decided case of glanders.

" Later researches have fully proved that glanders may be
produced, not only by contagion and the causes before enu-
merated, but also by catarrh, either in its common or
epidemic forms, also by strangles, and by inflammation of
the lungs. In such cases these diseases are said to de-
generate into glanders. In the last three cases that came
under my attention," says Mr. Spooner, " one was preceded
by strangles, another by bronchitis, and the third by
catarrh. That form of the disease called bastard strangles,
in which the glandular swelling does not suppurate kindly,
but becomes hard and scirrhous, is very apt to degenerate
into glanders."

It is a remarkable circumstance that glanders cannot be
L I.

communicated by applying the matter which is discharged
from the nose of a glandered horse to the nostrils of a sound
horse, unless there be an open wound or sore, even though
a piece of lint soaked in the matter be put up the nostrils,
and kept in contact with the pituitary membrane for a short
time ; or even if the matter be thrown up the nostrils with
a syringe. But, if the smallest quantity of matter be applied
in the way of inoculation, either to the membrane of the
nostrils, or to any part of the body, a glanderous ulcer will
be produced, from which farcy buds and corded lymphatics
will proceed. After a few weeks, the poison will get into
the circulation, and the horse will be completely glandered.
The circumstance of glanders not being communicated by
applying matter to the nostril, enables us to account for a
horse escaping the disorder, as he sometimes does, after
being put into a glandered stable, or standing by the side of
a glandered horse. Glanders, however, is frequently com-
municated by (accidental) inoculation ; and there is only
one other way in which it can be communicated, that
is, by swallowing the matter which flows from the nose of a
glandered horse. M. St. Bel, the first Professor of the
Veterinary College, mixed some glanderous matter with
flour, and formed it into balls. These balls were given
daily to three horses for one week. The youngest of the
horses became glandered in about a month ; the others were
not affected till some time after. Glanderous matter has
been rubbed on a sore place, or ulcer, that had a healthy
appearance in a sound horse. It altered the appearance of
the sore for a time ; but, after a few days, the healing pro-
cess went on again, and the sore soon got well From this
it appears that, to communicate the glanders, the matter
must be applied to a scratch or wound fresh made, and not
to a sore on which matter has formed. A sound horse has
been inoculated with glanderous matter that had been
mixed with ten times its weight of water. This produced
some degree of inflammation, and a small ulcer of a suspi-
cious appearance ; but after two or three days it got quite
well. This shows that glanderous matter may be so far
weakened by dilution with water, saliva, or the watery
secretion from the lower part of a glandered horse's nostrils,
when he has the disease in a very slight degree only, as to
render it incapable of communicating the disease. On the
other hand, when a large opening is made in the skin of a
sound horse, and a piece of tow or lint, soaked in glanderous
matter, put into it, in the manner that rowels are inserted,
the disorder is communicated in so violent a degree that the
animal is generally destroyed by it in a few days. The
same effect is produced when glanderous matter, mixed with
a little warm water, is injected into the jugular vein of a
sound horse.

A horse affected with glanders may inoculate himself, and
thereby produce the farcy. This has happened to horses
while at grass. The horse has an itching in the hind leg,
which leads him to rub and bite the part, and, at the same
time, rub on it the glanderous matter which flows from Im

2Qb

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINK

nostril. The possibility of this circumstance taking place
ma;7 be easily proved by inoculating a glandered horse, in
any part of his body, with some of his own matter. There
are many ways in which a sound horse may be accidentally
inoculated with the matter of glanders, for the slightest
scratch in any part of the body is sufBcient. Horses that
are cleaned with a curry-comb are very liable to be scratched
in those parts where the bones are prominent, such as the
inside of the hock and knee, the shank bones, and the head.
To such scratches glanderous matter may be applied by the
hands of the groom after he has been examining the nose of
a glandered horse, or wiping oiF the matter from his nostrils ;
or by the horse himself transferring glanderous matter from
the nose of a diseased horse, or from the manger, or other
part where any matter has been deposited ; for horses are
very fond of rubbing their noses against the manger or
stall, and a glandered horse will generally try to rub off the
matter from his nose against the manger, the rack, the stall,
or against another horse. If a sound horse happens to
stand by one that is glandered, they will often be seen nab-
bing or gently biting each other, or rubbing noses. In short,
having proved that glanders is thus communicated, we can
conceive a variety of ways in which a horse may be acci-
dentally inoculated. When a horse has been twitched, he
generally rubs his nose and lips with considerable force
against the manger, and may thus easily inoculate him-
self with a glandered splinter. The parts where local
farcy first appears are those most likely to be accidentally
inoculated ; that is, the inside of the hocks and knees, the
shanks, the lips, the under jaw — where grooms are often
trimming off the long hair with sharp-pointed scissors, or
singeing them with a candle, and often causing an itching,
which makes the horse rub the part against the manger.
In this way the heels also are often wounded. Horses that
are too highly fed and little worked are liable to prurient
humours, which make them nab or bite their skin, and
scratch the hind leg with the opposite foot ; and we may
often see them bite, rub with the nose, and scratch with the
hind foot, alternately, the other leg.

It is possible that in some cases where inoculation nas
failed, the virus was not sufficiently matured or was in
too small a quantity to effect glanderous inoculation ; it
having been found that by introducing a considerable
quantity of matter, the horse is speedily destroyed. The
same rule will probably be found to hold good, in a certain
degree, when glanderous matter is swallowed ; as the horse's
stomach possesses a wonderful power of resisting the im-
pression of poisonous matter. A fact proved by the large
doses of arsenic, corrosive sublimate, sugar of lead, &c., that
have at different times been given, by way of experiment, to
glandered horses. A horse, therefore, may possibly swallow
one large dose of glanderous matter without being injured
by it, while a repetition of smaller doses will produce the dis-
order. M. St. Bel gave the virus internally daily for a week ;
and the same method has been pursued in other experiments.

The disorder, too, would probably be more readily caught
by eating the glanderous matter mixed with oats or hay,
than by drinking it with water, as in the former case it is
so intimately mixed with the food by mastication.

Having treated of the several ways in which glanders
may be propagated ; the modes of prevention almost suggest
themselves. The glanderous matter exposed to the gas
arising from a mixture of common salt, magnesia, and oil of
vitriol has been so disinfected, that it has become inert, even
when a young ass has been inoculated with it. This gas as
a fumigation may be used when the stable is to be purified
after glandered horses. Some persons advise the stables to
be pulled down ; this is altogether unnecessary. Let every
portion of the stable to which the animals could have had
access be thoroughly washed with chloride of lime, the
following day scrubbed with warm water and soap, and
when thoroughly dry washed over with sulphate of zinc.
Three days after, they may be occupied without danger.

From these observations we gather that the precautions
against the generation and spread of glanders and farcy, are,
1st, Ventilation of Stables ; 2dly, Cleanliness, in which
is included the draining of them ; Sdly, The immediate and
complete Separation of tlie Sick from the Healthy. To
enter here, further than has already been done, into the sub-
ject of ventilation is unnecessary, after the full treatment it
has received in the chapters on Stables and Stable-manage-
ment in the former part ol this volume. It seems right,
however, to remark, in regard to the segregation of a horse
having or suspected of having glanders or farcy, that his
separation can neither be too early nor too complete. To
satisfy every doubt respecting contagion, he should be placed
at such a distance from his associates in health, and in such
a situation, that no direct atmospheric communication can
exist between their habitations ; and his pail, halter, bridle-
even harness and saddle, perhaps, ought to be restricted
to the patient's use, or not used among other horses until
such time as they have undergone the necessary purification.
Moreover the groom looking after the glandered subject
should be careful not to allow himself or his clothes to be-
come the medium of contamination between the diseased
and the healthy animals. In large establishments, where
many valuable horses are stabled together, we can hardly
exercise too much nicety and fastidiousness on the occasion
of any contagious disease, and especially of such a one as
glanders or farcy, breaking out amongst them

Communication of Glanders to the Human Subject. —
Though for a long time disputed, the melancholy fact that
glanders is communicable by the horse to man has received
ample evidence of late years. It is as well proved as inocu-
lation in syphilis, the absorption of the vaccine virus, or
the contagion of itch or mange multiplying the acarides
which produce those irritating skin diseases. Of the nature
of the virus of glanders we know no more than we do oi
those of syphilis, rabies, smallpox, &a ; we can only speak
from observation of their effects. When glanders is commu'

SPECIFIC DISEASES.— GLANDERS AND FARCY.

267

nicated to man, the consequences are indeed horrible. The
whole secretory and excretory systems are affected, the glands
of the armpits, the groin, and especially the salivary glands,
swell painfully and burst, and the sufferer dies pitiably.
Mr. Mayhew says : — " Three cases have come to the author's
knowledge. Two respectable gentlemen, moving in good
society, were contaminated, and both perished miserably of
the terrible disease. Mr. Gowing of Camden Town, informed
the writer of a boy who went out of a shop to hold a cus-
tomer's pony. While the boy was so placed, the pony
cleared its nostrils, and a portion of the ejected matter
flew into the lad's eye. The handkerchief removed the
soil, and the accident was forgotten. The poor youth was
glandered, and died in the University Hospital."

The treatment of glanders in the human subject is not
within the scope of this work. Suffice it to say, that,
from some cases in the Lancet, it appears to be in human
practice also an opprobrium medicorum.

Treatment of Glanders. — The general opinion of En-
glish and French veterinarians has settled down into a belief
that glanders is incurable, and that farcy is curable. This
is not, however, a reason why investigation should be re-
laxed or abandoned, although the long-sought-for and often-
proclaimed specific, or the successful plan of treatment, yet
remains to be discovered ; we shall, therefore, run over the
practice and remedies adopted with the most plausible
appearances of success, and which from time to time have
been asserted to have cured this fell disorder.

Lafosse's method was trumpeted to the world as a won-
derful discovery, and pictures of horses' heads " with holes
cut in them," and syringes injecting " proper and convenient
remedies into the nose," were engraved in his work, in that
of his disciple Bartlett, and in the Cyclopaedias of the last cen-
tury and the beginning of the present. Lafosse's work * was
translated all over Europe ; and, if the results did not answer
expectation, he contributed a good many facts to the know-
ledge of the disease. A very few years of experience shewed
even Lafosse the inefficacy of his " trephine," and in an after
work, we find him covering his defeat by confessing " there
is no answering for the cure " owing to " the stubbornness of
the disease ;" and making, as a bridge to retreat over, another
" discovery," that besides " confirmed glanders " there are
" six other kinds of discharges, jour of which are incurable."
Truly this is admirable and solemn fooling. We may there-
fore dismiss the trephine and local scouring of the nasal
passages. Learned societies and colleges have been as cre-
dulous as the general public in their faith in cures, and
have rewarded the supposed discoverers. The Royal Aca-
demy of Sciences rewarded Lafosse for his " discovery of
the nature, seat, and cure of glanders;" the Royal Society of

• " A Treatise upon the True Seat of Glanders in Horses, togeraer
with the Method of Cure," &c., with cuts. By M. de Lafosse, Master
Farrier of Paris, and Farrier to the King's Majesty's Stables. 1751.

Agriculture in France gave a medal to Professor CoUaine of
Milan who cured(?) glanders with sulphur ; and Professor
Sewell, of our own Veterinary College has been rewarded
for his specific — sulphate of copper. Later stiU, common
salt {chloride of sodium) has been highly favoured by the
Royal Agricultural Society. That sulphate of copper, ad-
ministered in a state of solution, in gum mucilage, two
drachms in a quart of water, twice a day, has a peculiar
effect in healing abrasions and diminishing nasal gleet,
is undeniable.

The sulphate of iron was Mr. Turner's favourite remedy ;
dissolved in the water the horse drinks, in his bucket " sus-
pended in his box, and that he may drink whenever he
pleases."

Cantharides is the sheet anchor of Mr. Vines.

" This medicine I have found of the greatest service,"
writes this author, in his chapter on the " Treatment of
Glanders and Farcy," section, " Remedies to be employed."
" whether alone or in combination. Cantharides appear to
me, when given internally, to act on the system in two
ways : — first, by stimulating the vascular surface of the
inner coat of the stomach and intestines, thus promoting
the greater formation as well of gastric juice as of the other
fluids ; and also increasing the appetite and digestion, and
consequently forming a greater quantity of chyle, or new
white blood. Secondly, by absorption, their active pro-
perties being taken into the circulation, and producing in a
very short time a material change in the mucous mem-
brane, followed by ulcers of the nose as well as ulcers of
the skin." Mr. Robertson, a surgeon, has published an
excellent work on the efficacy of cantharides for gleets or
affections of the urethral membrane, and for unhealthy
sores in the skin ; he (Mr. R), twenty years ago, recom-
mended its use at the Veterinary College, where it failed,
Mr. Vines says, " from its having been given in too large
doses (two drachms)." The principal precautions to be at-
tended to in using cantharides internally in the horse are,
not to administer them either at the commencement oi
early stages of inflammatory diseases, or in too large quan-
tities for a dose, or too frequently to repeat them. For they
are only proper to be used when the symptoms of disease are oi
a chronic, or slow form and nature ; that is, when the system
is either in a state of debility, or approaching to it." The
doses are — " for a middle-sized saddle-horse, four grains ; for
a large carriage or dray horse, six grains, in fine powder,"
made into a ball with ginger, gentian, &c " A ball may
be given every day, or every other day, either in the even-
ing or morning." Should the horse's appetite amend, and
he appear to be going on well, after a week, ten days, or a fort-
night, the dose may be augmented a couple of grains ; but
after another like interval the medicine had better be sus-
pended for a few days or a week, when the first doses may
be resumed, and after a week increased to ten and twelve
grains.

Iodine has been administered, and also the iodide o^

268

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

potassium by Professor Dick, with no appreciable effect.
We will notice diniodide of copper under Farcy.

Iodine and copper mixed (iodide of potass and sulphate
of copper), made up into powders, one grain daily, with
green food ad libitum, were administered by Mr. Lord,
V.S., of Parsonstown, Ireland, to a farcied horse on the
12th of August, and on the 4th of September. The treat-
ment being persevered in, the ulcers of the nostril "had then
dried up and the discharge and farcy-buds disappeared."

Barytes was once insisted on by Mr. Percivall as having
effected cures, but he afterwards admitted, on extended ex-
perience, that " its success must be regarded incidental or
circumstantial."

From an idea of its similarity to gonorrhoea or syphilis,
copaiba balsam, cubebs, and especially mercury, have been
resorted to. " Recoveries " under the use of barytes,
copaiba, cubebs, and cayenne pepper are confidently re-
corded. Internally, mercurials may be said to have utterly
failed with the horse, though some Italian surgeons have
declared they have found blue ointment (ung. hydrarg.),
one ounce, rubbed on to the inside of the thigh daily, cure
farcy.

Mr. Storry relates several instances of glandered horses
cured by him by fumigating the nostrils with carbonic acid
gas, assisted by tonic medicine.

Creosote has been used with success in glanders of the
human subject as a topical application to the ulcers ; and it
has in a few instances been tried on the horse with good
effect. In a case of glanders it has stopped the nasal dis-
charge, and healed the ulcers by its use.

The combination of iodine and sulphate of copper, which
readily unite by adding a little proof spirit, has been recom-
mended by Mr. Norton, and administered with excellent
effect in doses of two drachms daily. It is preferable to
the " powders " mentioned above.

To sum up the system of treatment to be adopted in this
disease, it should first be repeated that there are but few
cases in which the symptoms are sufficiently mild and the
horse of sufficient value to justify the expense incurred in
keeping and treating the animal, except by way of ex-
periment ; we must therefore closely examine the horse
previous to our attempts. If the pulse is increased, though
only eight or ten beats in a minute, the lungs are probably
affected, and it is better to destroy the animal. So likewise
if the animal has been affected for several years, although
the symptoms may still be mild. Should, however, the case
be comparatively recent, and the appearances favourable,
we would then administer daily the tonic recommended by
Mr. Sewell, or that advised by Mr. Vines ; or what, perhaps,
is stfll better, give the one for several days, and then try
the other, or the iodide of copper in doses of one or two
drachms daily. If there are any ulcerations within sight, a
solution of creosote should be syringed up the nostrils daily ;
and if there are none visible, it may be well to try the
effect of fumigating the nostrils with carbonic acid gas ;

if creosote could be applied in this manner it would be
still better.

An ointment of hydriodate of potash should be rubbed on
the enlarged glands ; and if the symptoms should disappear
with the exception of the indurated gland, it would be ad-
visable to excise it, as it generally contains glanderous
matter, which may inoculate the system anew.

All these are given merely as indications of the treatment
to be pursued : were any one of them generally, or even
frequently efiicacious, we should not still be driven to the
stern necessity of passing sentence of death upon the glan-
dered horse.

FARCY.

We have already said that farcy and glanders are modifi-
cations of the same disease. Farcy was for a long time sup-
posed to be a disease of the veins; a natural error, seeing the
lymphatic vessels along which the virus travels were then
considered as a sort of vein, if not veins themselves. Later
writers regard the farcy-bud as the degeneration and
coagulation of the lymph. Farcy may be said to have its
seat in the skin ; that of glanders being accounted to be the
pituitary membrane. Glanders and farcy together consti-
tute one and the same disease of the lymphatic vessels and
their glands. The disease originates in these vessels, and for
a time confines itself to them ; in the course of its progress ;
however, it extends into the contiguous tissues, affecting in
one case the true skin, in the other the mucous lining
of the air-passages, and it is in these parts respectively that
the phenomena of farcy and glanders are exhibited. No
wonder, therefore, that the appearances in farcy (the local
symptoms) should differ so much from those of glanders ;
and that the buds and ulcerations of the one should be
found, in the course of treatment, so much more manage-
able or more " curable " than those of the other form of
disease ; or that one disease should be so much more
dangerous to the animal affected, as well as to horses
(in health) around him, than the other. Inflammation in
the cutis is a different disease from inflammation in a
mucous membrane — productive of different phenomena,
and requiring a different treatment : hence the apparently
wide differences between two diseases essentially or in
nature alike.

In general, in dissecting farcied limbs or other parts,
as soon as we have cut through the thickened and indurated
skin, we appear to have bottomed the disease — to have
reached its depth or profoundest seat ; the subcutaneous
tissue everywhere around is infiltrated, apparently in a
state of local dropsy, but of the farcinous disease the skin
has manifestly borne the brunt. In cases, however, of in-
veterate or malignant farcy, in which the deep-seated as
well as the superficial order of lymphatics have taken on
disease, we meet with farcy-buds and pustules, and occasion-
ally with abscesses of large and irregular dimensions,
situated among the muscles.

SPECIFIC DISEASES.— GLANDERS AND FARCY.

269

Dupuy informs us he has met with "tubercles" (or farcy-
buds) and farcy-pustules upon the mucous lining of the ali-
mentary canal ; and Leblanc, so far as having witnessed
one case of the kind, confirms this account. On the same
authorities also we may state that the liver, the spleen, and
the testicles have all been known to exhibit farcy.

Whatever tends or operates to the production of glanders,
the same has the power of causing farcy. Contagion be-
comes no exception to this admitted truth, supposing its
agency to be through the medium of the constitution. Con-
taminated blood is quite as likely to emit its virus in the form
of farcy as in that of glanders. Professor Coleman, however,
appears to have viewed the operation of contagion in glan-
ders as being local, upon the Schneiderian membrane ; and
that, to take effect, it must have a local operation also in
the production of farcy ; since in his lectures, he informs us,
that, "of all three affections," — viz., acute and chronic glan-
ders and farcy, — " farcy affords the most conclusive evidence
of the production of the disease in the absence of contagion."
Undoubtedly, it is out of the range of probability — out,
almost, of that of possibility — for the inside of the thigh
of one horse to come into contact with the nose of another
horse, or, in fact, with any contagious virus, through
chance or accident ; supposing, however, that the contagion
enters the system before the local disease be produced,
there is in that case quite as much likelihood of farcy fol-
lowing as that of glanders. We know that, by inoculation,
farcy has been produced by the matter of glanders, and
glanders by the matter of farcy, and that, consequently,
there is every reason to infer a similarity, or rather an
identity in the viruses of the two diseases. In further
proof of this, as was said before, one disease, or form of
disease, almost invariably terminates in the other prior to
dissolution. There can be no question but that the same
contaminated or miasmatic atmosphere of the stable or else-
where which produces glanders may occasion farcy ; and vice
versd. Mr. Percivall (" Hippopathology," vol. ii, p. 230), dis-
poses, to our thinking, of this question.

M. Rodet, Professor at the Veterinary School of Toulouse,
in his work on glanders (1830) gives the best description of
farcy-buds we have met with. Detach a moderate-sized farcy-
bud of recent formation, and before the softening process has
commenced in it, and cut into this firm, indolent, rounded,
everywhere-isolated, completely-formed bud, and its interior
will be found composed of a hard, fibrous, condensed, milk-
white tissue, and though exhibiting thoughout, in certain
cases, a homogeneous texture, is nevertheless, in other in-
stances found grooved and traversed by some sanguineous
capillaries. At a rather later period than this, at the time
when it commences growing soft in its centre, and is about to
become adherent to the skin, and sometimes before it has
adhered, we may observe (providing the recent internal
process of liquefaction be not completed) that its circum-
ferent parts still retain the white fibrous indurated texture
which formerly constituted the entire bud, and that within

its interior is inclosed a pultaceous matter of a yellow or
dirty-white colour, or else slightly reddened. \t length,
when the process of softening is completed, and before it
is converted into abscess, we find within the bud several
little morbid productions, united by lamina one to another
— arranged in concentric layers, and resembling serous
membranes slightly infiltrated, the raw interior of which
gives the appearance of ulceration to its inner surface —
forming the walls of the abscess, inclosing a white, thick,
homogeneous matter, of a consistence at one time caseous,
at another puriform, at another analogous to thick jelly.

The peculiar well-known spheroid shape of the farcy-bud,
as well as that of the pustule which succeeds it, is proved to
be owing to the existence of the valves within the lympha-
tic vessel ; these preserving their integrity while the coats of
the lymphatics are vanishing through absorption. In very
bad cases the valves, as well as the tunics, inflame and ulce-
rate or become absorbed. In consequence, the farcy pustules
run one into each other, and by such communication lose
their characteristic shape, lengthening into fistulous ab-
scesses, well known to farriers under the denomination
of " farcy pipes," or spreading into abscesses of large and
irregular shape, burrowing deep in the connecting cellular
tissue.

The skin itself undergoes changes, resembling thicken-
ing and induration of the farcy-bud. In time the " bud "
becomes enormously augmented in substance, remarkably
white, and unusually tough and hard, cutting like so much
white leather rather than skin, especially in the immediate
vicinity of the buds ; several of the more superficial of
which, that have become pustules, will be found embedded
in its thickened substance. We, however, no sooner cut
through the indurated cartilaginous-like cutis than we
expose chains of farcy-buds and pustules, immediately under-
neath it, invested by cellular tissue full of infiltration of a
jelly-like citron-coloured fluid, beyond which bed of effusion
we appear suddenly to lose all vestiges of disease. In inve-
terate farcy, however, the infiltration will sometimes be ob-
served extending deep between the muscles, and every now
and then abscesses, deposits of matter of considerable volume,
will be discovered buried among the fleshy structures. Nor
do the bones, anymore than the muscles, escape the ravages
of farcy and glanders. The turbinated, ethmoid, nasal,
and maxillary bones have suffered in malignant cases of the
former disease : and we are assured by Dupuy and others,
that many of the bones of the limbs and body have proved
extensively diseased in horses that have for a length of
time been afilicted with farcy.

Treatment of Farcy. — The system must be supported by
a generous and agreeable, but not too stimulating, diet, to
which carrots and green food form useful additions. The
horse must be exercised daily. If we determine on empty-
ing the bowels, mix firstly a purgative and diuretic mass
together (see Medicines), into a ball of moderate strength.
Next administer tonics. Of these sulphate of copper, sul-

270

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

phate of iron (see Glanders), in his drink ; chloride of
barium, (muriate of barytes), in half-ounce doses at first,
increased to one ounce daily, in a ball with meal and molas-
ses, have each their advocates. For ourselves, we advise the
tonic to be varied, upon experience of its efiicacy or the
reverse. Blaine tells us that nearly all the mineral acids
have been found useful, and some of the vegetable ones.
All the different forms of mercury have been tried with
some success, but corrosive sublimate appears to have
answered best ; and, when determined on, should be given
to the full extent the stomach and bowels will bear without
salivation or symptoms of inflammation being brought on.
Ten or fifteen grains may be commenced with, ground very
finely with sugar, and given night and morning in gruel as
a drench. If this occasion no distress, it may be increased
to a scruple, and from this to half a drachm, if it be borne
with ease ; but the utmost care and watchfulness should be
exerted when the dose is considerable. When the weakness
and irritability of the horse are too great for the exhibition
of the corrosive sublimate, give half a drachm of calomel
twice a day ; or the blue pill, or the sulphuret of mercury
may be substituted, still carefully watching the salivating
process. Should the stomach suffer much under the use of
these active agents, either join with them bitter tonics, or
alternate them with each other. We would also recommend
that they be in these cases given in solution, and further
sheathed by some ingredient of a mucilaginous nature.

After the trial of mercurials, arsenic ought next to claim
the attention, as that has also proved efiicacious in farcy,
and it may be given in the form of liquor arsenicalis, or
Fowler's tasteless solution. Verdigris was for some time a
favourite remedy at the Veterinary College, in doses of a
scruple three times a day, increased to a drachm. We have
witnessed also good effects from this preparation ; but we
have found it most efficacious when given in a ball in con-
junction with the blue vitriol, half a drachm at a dose.
Some practitioners choose to employ several articles in con-
junction, and they assert the cure is speedier from the
combination than from any one article separately. In this
case, give the following : —

Corrosive sublimate 6 grains.

Arsenic ....... 5 grains.

Verdigris 5 grains.

Blue vitriol i scruple.

Mix into a ball with palm oil and linseed meal ; give every morning.

In addition to the several acids, benefit may be derived from
the following drinks, in conjunction with the ball last men-
tioned.

Sulphuric ether . ,

1 ounce.

Laudanum ....

1 ounce.

Tincture of quassia

1 ounce.

Oak bark ....

1 ounce.

Capsicums ....

2 drachma.

Water ....

1 pint.

Sea bathing and daily doses of sea water have been iound

beneficial in cases of farcy with enlarged limbs and (Edema-
tous swellings.

Local treatTnent in farcy is of as mucn consequence as
constitutional means. In glanders we are, in respect to the
extent and nature of the disease, working in the dark ; we
know neither the precise condition nor the exact situation
of the ulcerations ; in farcy the local disease is under our
eye, and we can apply topical remedies suited to the in-
flamed, tumefied, ulcerated, scirrhous, or other condition of
the limb.

In their inflamed condition, the best application to the
cords of farcy-buds is a refrigerant or evaporating lotion ;
with this they ought to be sponged often enough to keep
the hair wet, the object being to repel or disperse the
swellings.

As soon as heat and tenderness have subsided in the
buds — supposing that, instead of softening and suppurating,
they evince a disposition to diminish and grow harder — we
must alter our treatment. We must use lotions of a discu-
tient character, or, in fact, any applications, liniments or
ointments having the effect of causing absorption of the
swellings. Of this description are, mercurial ointment and
camphor, iodine ointment, blistering liniment or ointment,
&c. Indeed, when there appear signs of hardening and ap-
proaching insensibility in the buds, a blister is by far the
best application. Mr. Percivall advises the acetum cantha-
ridis ; dipping a painter's brush in the blistering essence,
and applying it, after the manner a painter does his paint,
upon the tumefactions ; tying the horse up afterwards, or
putting a cradle on him ; and after an interval of twenty-
four hours sponging the blistered parts with warm water ;
an operation that should be repeated daily so long as any
moisture or issue appears upon the surface. "Sweating
blisters," like this need not interfere with the patient's
regular exercise ; and as soon as one has " worked off"
another may be applied ; the repetition being regulated as
well by the condition of the skin as by the demands of the
case.

The practice of Mr. Percivall seems to us so intelligible
and practical, that we shall not hesitate, with slight modifi-
cations, to adopt it entire.

In the majority of cases of farcy, it happens that, instead
of diminishing in size and growing harder in consistence,
the buds plump up and become soft, and at length turn into
pustules ; and once a pustule formed, it will r'pen and burst,
and turn into an ulcer. As soon, therefore, as we perceive
that it is out of our power to prevent the suppurative stage,
it becomes our duty to contribute all we can to its promotion
For this purpose fomentations may be used to the parts,
poultices likewise, if we can manage to apply them. The
patient's diet, also, must be improved in this stage ; he
should no longer feed on mashes, but have scalded oats,
carrots, turnips, linseed, &c. When the pustules are ripe,
some practitioners make a point of opening them ; others
suffer them to burst and discharge their concents sponta-

SPECIFIC DISEASES.— GLANDERS AND FARCY.

271

neously. The old or farriers' mode of opening ripe farcy-buds
is with the actual cautery — the heated budding-iron ; and it
is a practice still in vogue with many very respectable
veterinary surgeons. In this manner the contents of the
pustule are, as it were, fried by the red-hot iron, while its
base and interior are altogether destroyed, and the result is a
slough, followed commonly by a superficial ulcer of larger
dimensions than the original pustule, and presenting a
healthy granulating surface ; this ulcer is in the end, under
judicious management, very often got to heal. Should
we suffer the pustule to burst of itself, we may still cauterize
Its base with the budding-iron ; or, if we prefer it, we may
rub it with a pencil of lunar caustic. At all events some
caustic or strong escharotic dressing will be demanded ;
without it we shall never obtain what we so much desire —
a healthy granulative action. The bottom of the ulcer once
cleaned out, dressings of various kinds, depending upon its
aspect (healing or spreading, sloughy, stationary, &c.) will
be required by it afterwards. Commonly, mild escharotic
applications answer best, though, at times, stimulant or
astringent ones appear preferable ; in short, the selection of
a dressing must be left entirely to the judgment of the
practitioner.

Water or spirituous dressings are better than greasy ones,
and we have ordinarily observed the best efifects from such as
these : — Solutions of lunar caustic, of the sulphates of cop-
per and zinc, and of alum ; the tinctures of benzoin, and of
myrrh with aloes. The nitric acid lotion is an excellent
dressing for sloughy sores ; and the solution of chloride of
lime an admirable one for such as secrete fetid matters.
The ulcers should always be cleaned, and have any hairs
shooting over their edges trimmed off, preparatory to their
being dressed of a morning ; and it tends to the preservation
of them in cleanliness, and promotes their healing tendencies
as well, to besprinkle their surfaces, immediately after dress-
ing them, with some powder that will imbibe the discharges,
correct acrimony, and have some effect in restraining their
production ; none answers these ends better than common
(baker's) flour. It should be made as dry as possible before
being used, and may, when required to be additionally
astringent, have some powdered alum mixed with it ; which
it will sometimes have already. As a change, on occasions,
we may employ for the same purpose powdered bark or
calamine. Mr. Turner recommends a strong solution of
sulphate of iron plentifully applied over the ulcerations, and
well rubbed into the sound parts likewise. Mr. Blaine, as
we have already noted, found sea water and saturated solu-
tions of common salt good dressings ; he speaks, too, in
favourable terras of sea bathing for farcinous limbs, aided
oy " daily doses of sea water."

The internal remedies and exercise are not to be omitted
on a;;count of the ulcerated condition of the swollen parts.

The Tumefied Lymphatic Glands, in farcy as well as in
glanders, will require treatment. By some French veteri-
narians their extirpation has been recommended with much

assurance of success in farcy, notwithstanding the notorious
failure of a like operation in glanders. For the disease in
the hind limbs, M. Maurice, veterinary surgeon in the First
French Artillery, directs us to cut out the inguinal glanda
For farcy of the back, loins, or flanks, the glands in the
flank ; and for farcy in the fore limbs, neck, and shoulders,
the axillary glands. M. Maurice makes mention of three
hundred cases of farcy cured by such operations. And
Renault informs us that the practice has proved successful
at the Veterinary School at Alfort.

On this Mr. Percivall remarks : " I no more doubt that
horses with farcy have recovered after such operations than
I do that others have returned to health after taking copper,
or iron, or barytes ; between the post hoc and the propter
hoc, however, there is all the difference in the world. It is
absurd to think oi extinguishing a disease proved to be con-
stitutional by the extirpation or destruction of tumefied
lymphatic glands and farcy-buds."

The treatment proper for the enlarged glands is the same
in the various stages of disease, as has been recommended
for the farcy-buds. Endeavour, in the first instance, by re-
frigerant and evaporating lotions, to abate inflammation in
them, and so to effect their dispersion ; secondarily, when
they come to lose their heat and tenderness, apply blisters
over them. It is in vain to try to " bring them forward "
to a state of suppuration, like the ripening farcy-bud ; they
are hardly ever known to take on the suppurative action.

By pursuing such a course of treatment we not very un-
frequently succeed in patching up the ulcerations and get-
ting rid of the corded swellings in which they originate, and
at the same time so far reduce the size of the limb as
to render the patient (his general health and condition being
good) capable of undertaking work. Indeed, it is advisable
that he should do so, since under the operation of slow or
moderate work it often turns out that his limb experiences,
by degrees, further reduction, and that his health and con-
dition, by generous feeding, improve. All, in fact, is
likely to go on well so long as the animal experiences no
return of his disease or fresh attack of it. Should he do so,
in the same limb or part even, it will much lessen the
chances of his second restoration ; and, if it recur in some
other limb or remote part of his body, above all in the head,
wearing the aspect of approaching glanders, we may bid
adieu to all hope of recovery. The destruction of the
animal is now the most merciful course. We have known,
however, kind-hearted masters object to this fatal sentence
being carried out. Should, then, the season of the year be
favourable, pasture may offer a resource, certainly pleasant
to the animal, and one that the medical attendant will,
with satisfaction to himself, if not with benefit to hii-
patient, recommend. A change of diet, from dried to green
and relaxing food, living in the open air, and the constant
exposure of the farcinous limb to a lower temperature than
that of the stable, together with the walking exercise the
animal is from time to time taking upon it, all have a

272

THE PRACTICE OF VETEKIINARY MEDICINE.

tendency to do good, and have sometimes proved of eminent
service. In particular, salt marshes have been regarded as
beneficial, and apparently not without reason. Whenever and
wherever the patient may be turned out to grass, he ought to
have no companions save such as might happen to have on
them the same disease as himself. It would be full of danger
to suffer him to run with healthy horses. In situations where,
or seasons ^hv.n, pasture cannot be procured or resorted to, it

is desirable to soil the patient in his box; vetches or rye, or, in
the winter season, carrots or Swedish turnips, become a desir-
able change of diet. There arrives a period, in this protracted
and indolent stage of farcy, when the resources of medicine
seem to be exhausted ; and when the disease is judiciously
" left to nature," to take, uninterfered with by art, her spon-
taneous course. Mr. Vines recommends cantharides in com-
bination with vegetable bitters as a cure for farcy and glanders.

CHAPTEK XXV.

DISEASES OF THE BRAIN, SKULL, EYE, TEETH, TONGUE, PALATE, AND PHARYNX.

§1. DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES.

INJURIES OF THE BRAIN. — CONCUSSION. — FRACTURE OF THE

SKULL. PHRENITIS. — STAGGERS. — ABSCESS OF THE BRAIN. —

VERTIGO. MEGRIMS. — HYDROCEPHALUS. — PARALYSIS. TETA-
NUS. RABIES. — STRINGHALT. SPASMS.

When we observe the smallness of the brain of the horse,
we find physical causes for the animal's limited intellectual
development. In treating of the Structure and Anatomy
OF THE Horse {ante, p. 3S8), we gave a general anatomical
view of the brain, its membranes and nerves. Insanity, in
the sense of human medicine, does not exist in the horse,
whose sensorium is not afiected by causes of a social or
moral nature ; though his brain may be affected, as the
centre of the nervous system, by wounds and irritating
disorders, through what we now know as " reflex nervous
action." Its sympathy and connection with the stomach is
also clear. The brain is disordered by severe indigestion ;
and a violent blow upon the stomach, or that organ
seriously overloaded, may give rise to what is called " sto-
mach staggers " — a decided cerebral attack. Tetanus, or
locked-jaw, from wounds, is also another example of reflex
nervous irritation. "A horse pricks his foot with a nail, and
tetanus is sometimes the result. The spinal marrow, which
is a continuation of the substance of the brain, exhibits
clearly the same nervous mechanism. Division or injury of
the marrow produces loss of sensation and voluntary motioit
in those parts only which derive their nerves from it beyond
(or below) the part injured or divided. A perusal of the
works of Sir Charles Bell, and of Dr. Marshall Hall, " On the
Excito-Motory Nerves," will give a large insight into these
interesting points of vital economy.

Notwithstanding the brain is the source of all sensation,

it is, in itself, destitute of feeling. In operations on living
animals it has been pricked, lacerated, cut, even burnt, with-
out any manifestation of pain. We remember having heard
the late John Abernethy mention a case where a man lost two
ounces of brain by an accident, and lived many years, at the
head of a mercantile establishment, with apparentlv unim-
paired faculties.

Pressure and Concussion, however, have serious efiects. A
portion of bone depressed from above, prostrates the animal
and destroys life ; not so laterally, or from the side : and
pressure on the spinal cord produces paralysis behind the
part so interfered with.

Injuries of the Brain are not frequent in the horse,
though backward falls and blows are not uncommon, owing
to the immense strength of the parietes or walls of the skull.

Concussion, so fatal to man, with his higher organization,
produces nothing more than fright or giddiness ; a bleeding
a cooling draught, and a warm fomentation to the occiput,
will generally dispose of this apparently dangerous accident

Fracture of the Skull, for the same reasons, is rarely seen
unless at the base, or basilary process. There is in most
cases more danger of bloodvessels giving way than bone,
even in these heavy concussions ; unless abscess of the
brain, of which we shall speak presently, ensue, external in-
jury seems but temporary in its efiects.

Bloodvessels are liable to give way in any part of the
brain ; those, numerous and large, about the base, con-
tiguous to the seat of the blow, are most likely to become
ruptured. The symptoms will of course vary in their
nature and intensity with the kind and degree of the mis-
chief done ; the faculties of motion and sensation will be
more or less impaired, should not death itself immediately
result ; the senses also, one or more, will probably be lost or
disturbed. By the parts afi'ected, and by the extent to

INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN.

273

which they are affected, must we form our opinion of the
nature of the case, as well as our prognosis. Commonly,
the animal is found down, unable either to rise or stand
withDut assistance. Should he still retain feeling, and be
in possession of his senses, and there be means nigh or
at hand of treating him, remedies may be tried upon him ;
but when he has to be removed upon some drag or carriage
to any distance, he will in general do himself so much
mischief by struggling before he has arrived at his place
of destination, that his case will probably be rendered yet
more hopeless than it was in the first instance. Fresh
hsemorrage will be likely to ensue, and may prove fatal, even
when, before the struggling, hopes of recovery had been
entertained On this account, it is of importance, when
the case holds out prospects for treatment, to house the
animal somewhere close to the place where the accident has
occurred. In general, bloodletting will be proper ; though
the symptoms from loss of blood or nervous depression may
be such as not only positively to forbid this evacuation, but
even to demand the exhibition of stimulants.

Vinegar, muriate of ammonia, and spirit of wine, with
warm water, should be applied to the head. A mild purga-
tive, if the animal can stand, may be administered. Where
paralysis is marked, death usually soon supervenes.

PHRENITIS (^INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN), STAGGERS.

The farriers divide inflammation of the brain into three
disorders, called, in their peculiar phraseology, sleepy stag-
gers, mad staggers, and stomach staggers.

Sleepy staggers (or coma) is usually no more than the first
stage of mad staggers. The horse is drowsy and dull, and
falls into a lethargic state. His appetite is rather inter-
rupted than lost. The horse is found with his head hang-
ing between his forelegs, or resting in the manger and
forced against the wall of the stable ; or, if at grass, against
a tree or wall. The eyelids droop, and when forced open ,
show the pupil unnaturally dilated ; the lining membrane of
the nostrils is of a dull leaden colour (we have found them,
as well as the conjunctiva, just the reverse, increased in red-
ness). Costiveness is present ; and the stupor extending to the
absence of all nervous irritability. It is only in this stage of
the disorder that remedial measures prove efficacious.

Treatment. — Copious blood-letting is urgently indicated.
Open both jugulars and let the blood flow till the eye
awakens or the animal sinks. Give purgatives (see List)
every three hours till the bowels are fully relieved : and
sedative infusions. Half a drachm of aconite, or a drachm
of digitalis, with a pint of hot water poured upon it. Cool,
and give this quantity every half hour till weakness, not
stupor, supervenes. He will then (if down) breathe more
gently, open his eyes and look at and perhaps recognize
things or objects. When this treatment fails, and the mere
congestion or surcharging of the vessels of the weakened
brain ensues, then inflammation comes on, and we have the
TOCond stage, or,

H M

Mad Staggers, Phrenitis. — This fatal termination ie
ushered in by the animal waking out of his sleepy state,
and staring about him with a fearful wildness and vacancy,
his breathing becoming quicker and laborious, and the
pulse rising with the respiration. Suddenly, he makes
a frightful throe, dashing himself against rack, manger,
or wall, or throwing himself down, and then lying breath-
ing stertorously, his eyes looking as if starting out of
their orbits ; no light at the time affecting the dilated pupils,
and the animal totally heedless of anything that may be done
or said to him. On other occasions the frantic animal will
rear both his fore legs into the manger, and in this posture
stand, with his head erected, for several minutes, no per-
son daring to approach, lest he should unexpectedly
spring up, or reel and fall upon the intruder. In a word,
our patient is now " mad ; " furiously so, in the worst
sense of the word as applied to staggers ; and how, or
where, or upon whom he may in his delirious plunges
precipitate his body, is so uncertain, that any approach
without extreme caution, or in a way in which ready escape
is at hand, is fraught with imminent peril As the disease
increases, instead of lying quiet as before, in a state of ap-
parent insensibility after a throe, convulsions will follow so
quickly upon one another that the patient will be kept in
a continual struggle ; panting and perspiring, and perhaps
foaming at the mouth ; leading his attendants to believe he
is not only phrenitic but actually rabid. This is a circum-
stance engendering so much apprehension and alarm, thai
not only is a prompt and decisive opinion demanded of the
veterinarian, but, at the same time, such a line of conduct
on his part as will at once convince his employers that he is
right in his decision.

llad Staggers must not be confounded with rabies — there
being no dog, or mad dog at least, visibly connected with
the case, is prima facie evidence. Further, the symptoms
of the two cases are different : there being, according to Mr-
Blaine, in rabid phrenitis, "not merely a frantic, but a
decidedly mischievous disposition :" the animal purposely
attacking everything, living and dead, all around him :
rack, and manger, and stall — are all laid prostrate.

In the true Staggers, nothing of this kind appears ; the
horse is wild and beats himself about, and endangers every-
thing about him, but not with premeditated design. On
the contrary, he merely labours under spasmodic contrac-
tions of the muscles, which force him to these violent
efforts : he rears, plunges, falls, and injures himself in the
frenzy of pain." Veterinary authorities recommend ths
opening of both temporal arteries in mad staggers. Recovery
is, however, scarcely to be hoped for, as a return of the dis-
order is to be feared, or an entire loss of energy, without
which the animal is almost valueless.

Mr. Percivall's experience furnished him witn several
cases of recovery from phrenitis. He says, after speaking
of bleeding from the temples, " I have had several cases
which were despaired of, until, as a last resource, while the

274

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

animals were desperately struggling and throwing them-
selves about, I have contrived to plunge the lancet into
their temples, and allowed them to bleed ad libitum, re-
gardless of the quantity lost, paying attention, in fact, only
to effects. In several instances, to the surprise of all
around, the frantic patient, from kicking about in a pool of
blood, jumped suddenly and unexpectedly upon his legs, and,
after shaking himself once or twice, appeared, as it were, by
magic, almost all at once restored to his senses. Mr. Rick-
wood, veterinary surgeon at Bedford, has likewise related
a case in 'The Veterinarian' for 1839, which tells
eminently in favour of preferring blood-letting from the
temples. Mr. R. was sent for to attend a mare, who had
just come in with the Leeds coach, and was seized with
staggers. She was wandering about, with dilated pupils
and laborious respiration, and symptoms of palsy of the
hind extremities. She was bled to twelve pounds from the
jugular vein, and had administered an aloetic drink and
frequent clysters. The symptoms increasing, both temporal
arteries were opened, from which she was bleeding rapidly
when Mr. R. was compelled to leave her. The bleeding
continued until she became so exhausted as to begin to
make a noise in breathing ' as a roarer would make
in his gallop.' At length she fell ; after which the symp-
toms began to subside, and in a few days she was sent
home."

A black mare, who was attacked with phrenitis after
concussion of the brain, had been bled copiously twice or
thrice from the jugulars, without any very apparent benefit.
When Mr. Percivall visited her she was lying upon her side,
flinging herself about in a state of frenzy, surrounded by
spectators, who were betting any odds she could never rise
again. He promptly plunged his lancet obliquely into one
of her temporal arteries, from which instantly issued such
a stream of blood — spouting up like a jet d'eau — that it
seemed quite unnecessary to endeavour to turn her to
puncture the other temple. She lay, rapidly and profusely
bleeding, for some minutes, when, to the astonishment of all
beholders and despairers, she suddenly sprang upon her
feet, gave herself a rustling shake or two, and immediately
commenced eating some hay which happened to be in her
manger. In fine, from that hour she was a recovered
mare.

Purgation for this disease has ever stood in such high
repute with farriers, that a common saying among them
is — " purge a horse with staggers, and you cure him ;" and
this, like many other veterinary adages, appears to have
been founded in sound observation. In fact, it is a practice
pursued by every surgeon in brain affections, with the two-
fold view of removing any source of irritation or cause for
the head-affection that may exist within the bowels, and of
indirectly abstracting blood by derivation and discharge.
No surer or more effectual cathartic is known than aloes,
which is aided by the addition of calomel. It may be
administered in ball or drench, as most practicable.

Decoction of aloea

Calomel - . - .

Warm the decoction, and stir in the calomel.

Or of

Purging' mass

Calonw-l - - _ .

1 pint.
^ drachm.

I ounce,
i drachm.

Mix into a ball. A drachm of the farina of croton seeds may bo Bsed
instead.

Mr. Percivall concludes: "It would be futile to give
further directions, where so much must depend on the
circumstances of each individual case, and so much rest
on the nerve and discretion of the practitioner." The
French veterinary writers recognise a disease to which
they attach the name of arachnoiditis, or inflammation
of the arachnoid membrane. It is merely staggers in its
inflammatory stage.

Abscess in the Brain may be looked upon as beyond the
reach of veterinary skill. Abscess in its general sense will
be noticed under a separate head, and in the parts in which
it occurs. Abscess in the brain is the result of external
injury. It is usually the result of fracture of some of the
skull bones. A small wound is sometimes seen after a
runaway horse has dashed a vehicle to pieces. It heals, and
there is no discharge. The mischief is within. Abscess
is forming In the picturesque description of Mayhew —
" The horse becomes dull, as in sleepy staggers. It refuses
its food, lies down, and after a time beats its head upon the
pavement. Death ends its misery, and a small abscess,
containing about half a drachm of healthy pus, is dis-
covered in the superficial substance of the brain." Neither
operation nor physic avail here. The only means of relief
would be to afford an exit to the matter, but this is " past
all surgery " of a remedial character.

VERTIGO (megrims).

As apoplexy, in the sense of human practice, can scarcely
be said to be a horse disease, though scientific veterinarians
have recognised a distinction between it and sleepy staggers,
which seems sufiiciently marked, we shall consider vertigo
or megrims as its equivalent ; and megrims as minor
apoplexy, or rather epilepsy, in horse nosology. Megrims,
is known also to stablemen by the names of " sturdy " and
" turnsick."

It frequently attacks horses during their work, particu-
larly in harness : it is, however, now and then seen in hot
weather, in the stable or at grass. When it seizes a horse
in exercise, he stops short, shakes his head, looks irresolute
and wandering ; in this state he remains for a few minutes,
and then proceeds as before. In more violent cases he falls
at once to the ground ; or first runs round, and then sinks
senseless ; or the limbs may continue to move after con-
sciousness is lost, when the animal thus affected becomes
very dangerous. In either case, the whole system appears
agitated by strong convulsions. The horse may dung and

PARALYSIS.— TETANUS.— LOCKED JAW.

275

stale insensibly ; he sometimes is violent^ at others more
passive, but is equally unconscious to everything around.
After remaining so a longer or shorter period, his faculties
return, and he rises. It is frequently brought on by
mechanical causes, which produce a momentary congestion
of the brain ; as tight reining up, or the pressure of the
collar in ascending a hill, which obstructs the return of
blood from the head. It may also be occasioned by a
morbid pressure produced by constitutional causes. Such
are found in the plethoric, over-fed horse ; particularly
when subjected to long confinement.

The Treatment must be regulated by the cause. If it be
mechanical, remove it, or the affection may become habitual.
If plethora be apparent, purge ; or give a course of mer-
curial alteratives, followed by relaxing medicines. It is
said that covering the skull with a wet cloth will prevent
megrims, where the horse is subject to their recurrence. Of
course a Lorse liable to megrims is most dangerous to drive
or ride; the frontispiece of Mr. Mayhew's "Illustrated Horse
Doctor " is an alarming example of the results of this dis-
order.

Hydrocephalus, or water on the brain, is so rare a
disease in the adult horse, that, though recognised by the
French writers, it is not worth wasting space upon. Should
it exist congenitally, serous effusion in the ventricles of tht
brain may bring on mad staggers or megrims, or produce
paralysis. It is useless to try to make a horse so afflicted
serviceable to his master.

PARALYSIS.

Palsy of the whole muscular frame is very unusual in the
horse, except from actual pressure or irritation of the sen-
sorium by blows on the skull, by portions of bone forced in,
or by abscess in the brain : sometimes it is constitutionally
brought on by unknown agencies. Paralysis of one side is
of very rare occurrence. Paralysis of half the body, most
frequently of the hinder parts, is sufficiently common, and
is either primitive or secondary.

The causes are often involved in much obscurity ; in some
cases they are sufficiently obvious. Mechanical injuries are
of this kind, as casting in the stable, turning round in a
confined stall, blows on the spine, sudden falls or slips may,
any of them, luxate, or more likely fracture, the vertebras,
and, by occasioning pressure upon the spinal cord, produce
paralysis. Ulcerations of the bones, or exostoses, abscesses,
or tum'ours within them, may be the cause of the affection.
It may be altogether secondary, as being derived from acci-
dental lesions of other organs, or from inflammations in them :
it may and does occur from a diseased state of the stomach,
bowels, liver, and more particularly from those of the kid-
neys, badder, and womb. The symptoms are total or partial
loss of either the mobility or the sensibility, or both, of some
part of the body, usually of the hinder quarters and limbs.
The secretions are sometimes lessened or almost stopped, or
the urine flows involuntarily ; convulsive twitchings affect

the skin, partial sweats present themselves, and the anima;
remains utterly helpless, although he may fatigue himself
with fruitless efforts to rise. These are, however, extreme
cases.

The treatment of paralysis must, in a great degree, follow
the cause. If mechanical injury have occasioned fracture
in any part of the spinal column, the case is hopeless. U
the injury be less severe, it is possible that extravasated
blood only, or serous deposit, or coagulable lymph, are
effused into the spinal canal, and disturb the functions of thf
part ; in which case, topical applications are requisite, to
encourage an absorption of the obstructing deposit. When
the paralysis can be traced to some visceral affection, or to
disease of the stomach, kidneys, or bladder, the result is not
necessarily unfavourable, although our hopes of a recovery
are lessened. We should, in these cases, primarily attend to
the exciting cause, if it can be discovered. But when there
is loss of sensation without loss of motion, the limbs being
cold and the horse insensible that he is in possession of such
parts, and moving them only when absolutely forced — or
otherwise, when they are entirely paralytic, and yet sensitive,
it is probable that the nervous irritation originates within
the spinal canal. Here, though we may with proj)riety use
external stimulants, there will be but small prospect of
success. Of internal remedies, strychnia has been found
sometimes useful, in one grain, gradually increased to three
grain doses ; and it may be united with other tonics, as gen-
tian, or aromatics. This, with purgatives as required, blisters,
sheepskins, or a charge over the loins, has occasionally
effected a cure, when the paralysis has been confined to the
hinder limbs only.

TETANUS. LOCKED JAW.

The spasmodic rigidity, hardness, and apparent tension ut
the muscles in this formidable disorder, are indicated in its
Greek name tetanos, stretching, from teino, to stretch.
When the spasm exclusively affects the muscles of the jaw
it is called trismus, from trismoe, gnashing [of the teeth].
Tetanus differs from other spasms in its permanency, its
rigid contraction being rarely alternated with periods of
relaxation. Locked jaw, so called from the persistent closure
of the mouth, is the result of a morbid irritation of the
whole nervous system, acting on the brain, and thence by
the excitor nerves reflected on the motory nerves.* As this
irritation is capable of pursuing " a retrograde course along
the spinal marrow," a wound in the hind-foot or hock is
almost as likely to induce a locked jaw as one in the fore-
foot.

Tetanus is divided into symptomatic and idiopathic The
first, also called trawmatic (from the Greek trauma, a wound),

* The reader will do well, if hf desires to pnrsne this subject, to
peruse Dr. Marshall Hall's works on the Diseases and DerangemerUso
the Nervo'iLs System.

276

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

is produced by external injury : the second developes itself
from various obscure or conjectural causes acting on the
spinal cord and brain. Cold, caused by evaporation ; stand-
ing still after a severe burst in the hunting-field ; the
dripping of water from an unsound roof, or the eaves of a
hayrick or shed when the animal has been at grass, have
been known to produce it. Worms, severe visceral afi"ections,
and even bots (when producing solution of continuity in the
lining membrane of the stomach), are assigned as causes of
the tetanic spasm.

Jn traumatic tetanus, upon pushing our inquiries, we may
gain clearer information. There has, perhaps, been some
slight injury ; a nail has been driven too close ; or a piece
of glass has cut the foot ; or a blow has been lodged just
above the eye ; or the knees have been recently broken ; or
the stable fork has been used to strike the horse about the
legs, and the point of it has only gone a little way into the
back sinews. Sometimes an operation has been recently
performed ; let not the proprietor blame the surgeon, if
such should have been the case. Any puncture, however
small, may produce tetanus ; but it may not follow the most
severe and the largest wounds. No means we know of can
originate it, no care or skill can prevent its appearance. We
may learn, however, that the tail has been docked or nicked ;
the wound has very nearly healed, and it may look as well
as could be desired ; or it may all at once have assumed ati
unhealthy appearance ; a thin ichorous fluid may be discharged
fiom it, and there may be a spongy appearance around it.
Most commonly the wound nearly heals, when this alarming
affection bursts forth. Castration, when performed imder
unfavourable circumstances, has sometimes produced tetanus.

The fibril of some nerve has been injured ; irritation ensues
it rapidly spreads along the various branches of that nerve,
and, through the spinal marrow, affects the whole body.

Symptoms. — One of the first observable is a certain stiff-
ness about the head, and a peculiar mode of standing.
Upon raising the head, the haws of both eyes are pushed
out, giving to the countenance of the animal a strange
expression ; but sooner or later it extends all over the body
By the tetanic action, the haw is drawn partly over the
globe, at the same time that the tension of other muscles
gives the eyes a vivid appearance which ill accords with
the more placid effect of a protruded haw. The jaws are
not invariably fixed, though from their being generally
closed springs the popular name of the disorder. As the
disease extends over the voluntary muscles of the trunk and
extremities the appearances are distressing in the extreme.
The head is raised, the ears pointed forwards, the nostrils
dilated, and the nose is protruded ; the legs straddle wide ;
the tail is cocked, and quivers ; and the abdominal muscles
are drawn tigiit over the belly, giving to the horse an
appearance of having just completed some extraordinary
exertion. The complaint presents a few moments of imper-
fect relaxation, sometimes, from the extreme contractions of
o\ ei-strained muscles ; while profuse sweats mark the dis-

tress of continued convulsion. The circulation is, in i&ust
instances, at first not much affected ; but as the disease
increases, the pulse quickens and becomes tremulous and
irregular. The respiration, also, gradually becomes hurried
and intermittent ; costiveness is usually present, and the
urine is sparingly voided. In this state of suffering the
animal may remain from six to ten days, when, worn bv
inanition and irritation, he dies in convulsions. At others,
either from remedies or spontaneously, the contractions give
way slightly ; feeble attempts are made to eat, the limbs
become gradually under the action of the voluntary muscles,
and a slow recovery takes place. Post-mortem examination
shows no change from the healthy state, except some inflam-
matory appearances in the lungs or intestines, one or both.

Treatment. — There are many cases narrated in veterinary
books in which some modes of treatment of very opposite
kinds, have been practised with success. Some bleed largely,
that they may gain the full advantage of this sedative
influence. This depletion is followed by strong purgatives,
and then the disorder is attacked locally by a blister, from
the poll down to the rump, the sides, and, in some cases, all
over the belly. By this system of counter-irritation, they
tell us they have overcome the original affection of the
spinal cord. Setons, too, have been inserted along the
whole course of the spine ; but they have not proved effica-
cious. Sheepskins, applied warm, from the poll to the tail,
have been found to give more relief, and are certainly more
humane. Docking and nicking being barbarities fortunately
out of date, we may forget the treatment given in the older
veterinary books, so often called for by tetanic attacks from
those cruel operations. For ourselves, we do not advocate
the severe treatment as necessary. The pulse is not usually
accelerated in tetanus ; bleeding, therefore, is not in every
case indicated. The bowels are not invariably constipated ;
and purgatives are not required. The benefit of violent
counter-irritation is not demonstrated ; its employment,
therefore, is not justified. The best practitioners doubt
the efficacy of the active tortures of the old school, and
think that perfect quiet is of more use than violent medi-
cine. If the horse be costive, administer a purgative, and
a bold one ; because an ordinary purge will have no effect
during the existence of tetanus. Sedatives are now indicated.
Two drachms of opium, with one drachm of camphor, as a
first dose ; and one drachm of opium and half a drachm of
camphor (with the same drugs as a clyster), have been
found serviceable. The subjoined will be found a powerful
compound : —

Powdered opium -
Sulphuric ether
Camphor

Tincture of aconite
Spirit of Turpentine
Strong ale

- J ounce.

- 1 ounce.
2 drachms.
2o,lr..|.s.
2 ovinceg.
1 pint.

Mix the turpentine with the yolks of two eggs, then the othei
ingredients, and give in two doses, at the interval of two hours ; an(}
repeat if the symptoms do not mitigate.

RABIES.— STRINGHALT.

277

Then place the animal where it cannot be disturbed, and
take care to visit it as seldom as possible. The door being
locked, the horse left alone, and every precaution taken
to prevent the slightest noise. The absolute quietude thus
obtained, has been found to be of more service than anything
else ; and the horse which has thus been shut up in silence
has more frequently recovered than the one which has been
continually annoyed under the pretence of assisting its
restoration

As for food — the horse is not able to take any solid
nourishment ; but he may have a mash more than usually
wet in his manger, and a bucket of gruel may be slung in
some part of the box ; from either or both of which he may,
perhaps, contrive to extract a little nourishment. The
appetite of the tetanic horse rarely fails him ; though he
may be unable to eat, he will, under the influence of hun-
ger, manage to imbibe enough for his support. Even if he
makes no attempt to touch that which is placed before him,
he should be left some days before any effort is made to
drench him ; and if he takes only a little nourishment, a
further period should elapse before he is annoyed by forcing
food upon him. Should he, however, appear to be losing
strength, and to be sinking, he must then at every hazard
be supported. Should it be possible to insert a small horn
or the neck of a small bottle between his tushes and his
grinders, almost any quantity of gruel may be given him ;
and, when he is in a manner starved, it is interesting to see
how eagerly the poor animal will take the nourishment
which is attempted to be given to him in this way. The
dreadful cramp of the muscles of his neck should not, how-
ever, be forgotten ; and the gruel should be given to him as
gently as possible, and without elevating his head more than
is absolutely necessary. Frequent injections of arrow-root
or gruel may also be thrown up. The ordinary horse
catheter, with Read's pump attached to it, will enable any
amount of gruel to be thrown into the stomach ; not only
quickly, but without the necessity of elevating the head.
The catheter is simply passed up the nose, along the floor of
the nasal chamber, and, being pushed onward, it will enter
the gullet. When the tube is inserted its full length, the
fluid may be injected. This plan answers admirably ; sub-
jects the horse to little annoyance, and causes but small
disturbance. There is a good engraving of this method in
" Mayhew's Illustrated Horse Doctor," already referred to.
Some animals, however, are so irritable that any interference
throws them into convulsions ; and, in such cases, perhaps
the injection of nutritive liquids into the rectum is all
which the symptoms will permit to be done.

In a disease of this nature, the humanity and patience of
the attendant must be exerted. These virtues will aid him
more in the end than all his science, however learned he
may be. The disease may terminate quickly. We have
known a horse to die of it in less than thirty hours. So
speedy a close, however, is rather unusual. The animal
with idiopathic tetanus often lingers. It occasionally hap-

pens that the horse does not begin to amend until ten oi
twelve days have elapsed ; and in one case a month passed
without more than an occasional remission of the symptoms.
The treatment was, nevertheless, persevered in, and the
animal perfectly recovered.

When the horse does begin to get better, not a particle of
medicine should be administered. By giving tonic medi-
cines much dangerous excitation may be produced. The
best tonio is nourishing food, and even that should be
supplied with caution. Green meat will in these cases be
useful. If the weather, however, will admit of it, a run for
tv> J or three hours every day will be of essential benefit.

RABIES, OR HYDROPHOBIA.

The ymptoms of rabies in the horse are the only import-
ant points in the present state of veterinary knowledge.
Curative means are unknown. It is never spontaneously
developed in the horse, but induced by the bite of a rabid
dog. Mr. ^ouatt says, " The earliest and most decisive
symptom of the near approach of rabies in the horse, is a
peculiar spasmodic movement of the upper lips, and particu-
larly of the angles of those lips." Close following this is a
depressed and anxious countenance, and an inquiring gaze,
suddenly lighting up, and becoming fierce and menacing at
a slight noise, or the approach of a stranger. Then comes an
irrepressible desire to attack and bite at any person or
animal within reach of the teeth. Then comes an almost
systematic demolition of rack, manger, and stable fittings ;
and the poor wretch lies snorting and foaming amidst the
ruins, paralysis of the hinder extremities incapacitating
him from further mischief by kicking and plunging. The
disease proves fatal in from three to six days. When the
bite of the rabid dog is early known of, and can be found,
of course thorough cutting out, and the actual cautery, will
save the animal. Mr. Spooner relates several cases of this.
When, however, rabies has developed itself, treatment is
useless, and humanity dictates that the animal should be
destroyed without delay.

STRINGHALT.

This spasmodic contraction of some one or more of the
flexors of the hinder leg, is, like most nervous disorders, of
obscure origin. It is seldom seen in the fore-leg, though an
instance is now under our own observation. It is not a
lameness, as the other leg does not sink, and the rider can-
not feel it as he does the " dropping " in hock disease. The
animal is useless as a racer, as he cannot control the volun-
tary nerves for a start, till he has gone through his prelimi-
nary jerks and whippings-up of his leg. It is not usually de-
veloped except in the adult horse. Professor Spooner
attributes it to a pressure or defect of the great sciatic nerve
which supplies the muscles of the hinder extremities. It is
correspondent to chorea, or St. Vitus's dance, in man. There
is no treatment available. Stringhalt has been decided not
to be unsoundness : and we often see instances where this

278

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

singular spasm is merely momentary at going off, disappears,
and the horse has a more than ordinary amount of strength
and courage.

SPASMS.

What we have said generally upon tetanus, staggers, &c.,
renders further remarks upon spasms here superfluous.
Under Diaphragm, Urethra, Bladder, Intestines, the
spasms of those several organs will be treated of.

§ II. DISEASES OF THE EYE.

GUTTA SERENA (GLASS ETE). SIMPLE OPHTHALMIA. SPECI-
FIC OPHTHALMIA (MOON BLINDNESS). CATARACT. FUNGOID

GROWTHS. — OBSTRUCTED LACHRYMAL DUCT.

The eye of the horse is exceedingly liable to disease. Its
structure will be found described ante pp., 19G — 199 ; and
figured in health and disease, Anatomy, Plate VII.

The " haw " (membrana nictitans), at the inner corner of
the eye, is, in health, a thin slippery membrane, thicker or
more cartilaginous towards its base, where it is embedded in
fat ; its action is to remove dust, insects, &c., which may
have fallen on the cornea. It is no unusual thing for a
thickening of this part to take place, and it will then
protrude itself on the fore part of the eyeball. In this
disease the retractor muscle pulls back the eye to protect it
from the irritating effect of the light, and this thickening of
the haw pushing it forward, and the adjacent parts being
also thickened, no retraction can take place.

The olden practice of cutting out this, is absurd, and ought
never to be resorted to. Ignorant farriers have, in this state,
taken the enlarged haw for an extraneous excrescence, and
cut it out ; the eye, consequently, being left unguarded.
Bleeding, gentle physic, and cooling applications, will effect
a cure.

GUTTA SERENA (AMAUROSIS).

This disorder, called by farriers glass eye, from the pecu-
liar greenish glassy appearance it assumes, is dependent
on a paralysis of the optic nerve in its expansion on the
retina. This, however, is disputed by some, who consider
it to arise from inflammation, by which coagulable lymph is
effused over the optic nerve, rendering the retina insensible to
the stimulus of light. Both may be right in different cases.
It is certain, however, that irritation of the brain produces
amaurosis, and it often follows staggers. In this disorder
the horse shows blindness in his actions rather than in his
eyes. He lifts his feet high, moves his ears quickly, and
shows himself anxious to supply want of sight by the
exercise of other senses. A simple test is waving the hand
pretty close to the suspected eye, when of course there will
be no winking : we have, however, seen a cunning horse-
dealer who could make a blind horse wink by the peculiar
manner in which he drove the air upon the eyeball and lid
whUe bringing down his hand. We have also seen amaurosis

supervene temporarily while the mare has been with foal
which would seem to point clearly to a nervous origin.

In gutta serena, local applications are of little service
Bleeding from the jugular veins, calomel and opium, or ir
some cases strychnia, may be tried.

SIMPLE OPHTHALMIA.

This is common or accidental inflammation, and hag
generally its origin in a mechanical cause ; as blows, injury
of the conjunctiva from a whip-lash, hayseeds, or other
matters within the eye-lids, not being removed by the
nictitating membrane, and the like. It is occasionally the
consequence of a common attack of cold.

Simple inflammation of the eye looks outwardly an
affection of the conjunctiva only, whereas specific oph-
thalmia involves the internal parts of the eyeball. Another
distinction is, that in specific ophthalmia there is symp-
tomatic fever, loss of appetite, staring skin, and con-
stitutional disturbance. Both disorders, however, are alike
in impatience of light, in distension of the vessels of the
haw, and sometimes in its extreme protrusion. The
cornea, too, is often opaque. From that sympathy which is
found to exist between double organs, even when the
affection has been entirely brought on by violence done to
one eye, the other will by sympathy become affected also,
but in a minor degree. Such liability should be borne in
mind, as a mistake in this particular might lead the prac-
titioner into important error.

Treatment. — First turn up the eyelid carefully, if the
cause is not apparent, and remove anything which may
have intruded itself Wash the eye with tincture of opium
and a pint of cold water, laying a wetted cloth also over the
eye. If the inflammation is considerable, lance the eye-
branch of the angular vein, and give the horse some food of
which he is fond upon the ground ; this will encourage the
bleeding. If blood does not come freely, bleed also from the
neck, and give a dose of physic. If the case is obstinate,
and a film appears upon the cornea, take two grains of
lunar caustic (nitrate of silver), mix in two ounces of water,
and touch the eye over with a camel-hair brush. The next
article will contain the treatment of the disorder in its
constitutional form.

SPECIFIC OR PERIODICAL OPHTHALMIA.

This destructive disease of the eyes, by which a valuable
animal is often reduced in price from a hundred guineas to
a tenth of the amount, is, as already remarked, distinguished
from the simple disorder by the constitutional disturbance
which accon.>panies it, and its attacking the internal
structure of the eye, the outer covering being merely
involved by sympathy. Among farriers this disease used
to be termed moon-blindness, from a superstition that the
periodical attacks were influenced in their monthly return
by the moon. The period of a monthly recurrence is, how-
ever, merely imaginary.

DISEASES OF THE EYE.— OPHTHALMIA.

279

Symptoms. — ITiese generally appear suddenly ; in the
evening, perhaps, there may have been nothing amiss, but
on the following morning sometimes both eyes, but usually
one eye only, is found nearly closed and suffused with
tears , there is great impatience of light. Indeed it is
somewhat difficult to induce the animal to open the lids
sufficiently for examination, and when he does so, the pupil
is found exceedingly small, so as to keep out the light as
much as possible. The cornea is not so opaque as when the
inflammation is brought on by an external injury ; but on
looking into the interior of the eye we observe that it has
lost its brightness. The attendants of the horse usually
report that some hay seeds must have got into the eye, or
that he must have injured it in some way : but a proper
examination will detect the difference, and this will be
greatly assisted if we can ascertain that the horse has had a
previous attack.

The eye is remarkably retracted, and this retraction
forces the haw over a portion of its "globe, where it is seen
swelled and preternaturally red, from its participation in
the disease. The inner lining membrane of the lids will be
found highly vascular and hot, pouring forth, in most
instances, a flood of tears, which continually trickle down
the face ; and the whole conjunctiva will present a network
of turgid red vessels over its opaque white surface. If the
cornea be not too opaque or too much inflamed, we shall
discover the aqueous humour thick and muddy also ; the
iris and choroid will likewise be found altered from their
natural colour. From this state it follows sometimes, that
a central yellow patch is discovered at the bottom of the
eye ; \n which case matter has formed, from the usual
suppurative inflammation, but it most commonly becomes
absorbed again, and sometimes very speedily. In very
acute cases, however, there is a large deposit of fluid, which
disorganizes the eye. The rapidity of the changes in the
state of the eye is a very marked feature of specific oph-
thalmia ; and the transition from an almost opaque to almost
a clear state of the cornea, and from a simple dimness in
the appearance to a perfect opacity, sometimes occurs in
a remarkably short space of time. We have seen an eye
opaque within and without, which was merely dim the
night before ; and perhaps within twelve hours it would
again have almost become transparent, without any apparent
medical agency.

Specific ophthalmia commonly attacks only one eye in
the horse, leaving the other totally unaffected, or at most
only sympathetically involved. Worthy of remark is the
complete and sudden change which often takes place in this
disease. From being in a very aggravated state of inflam-
mation in one eye, it will suddenly shift its seat to the
other, leaving the original much amended or nearly well ;
and it will not only thus change about from eye to eye, but
may likewise either spring from, or be transferred to, other
jrgans
The eye or eyes, however, thus far recovered, seldom

remain very long sound ; but often are again subject to the
diseased action, and the complaint recurs with all its
pristine violence. As these attacks are repeated, they
leave the eye less and less transparent. The remaining
opacity forms a nucleus for future and rapid accretion :
sometimes, however, it will remain stationary for a long
time, and now and then it never enlarges. But, usually,
repeated inflammatory attacks succeed each other ; and the
whole crystalline lens at last becomes opaque, when the
disease takes the name of cataract, in which almost all
these inflammations terminate.

Causes. — Plethora acting upon a weakness of the parts,
often hereditary, seems a cause of periodic ophthalmia, to
which the horse is more liable than any other domestic
animal. The fumes of ammonia in close, dark stables,
stimulating food, or severe work and bad food, may equally
induce the disorder, which seldom appears before the
fourth year, or, for the first time, after the seventh. Har-
ness horses are more often attacked than saddle horses;
and it has been observed to be more frequent when many
horses are kept together than in gentlemen's studs, which
may be due chiefly to better ventilation.

Treatment. — Though the immediate attack may be re-
moved without great difficulty, its recurrence is not easily
guarded against ; resembling, in this, scrofula in the human
subject. General bleeding, warm fomentations (one dozen
poppyheads in two quarts of water) at first, and then the
cold lotion. (See Lotions, Zinc, &c., in List.) Stimulants,
as tincture of opium, or the nitrate of silver wash, may
also be applied with advantage.

The food should all be boiled, and of the most supporting
kind — roots of all kinds, malt, oats, ground beans, clover
hay, linseed, &c., «S:c. This will probably sufficiently open
the bowels ; but should it not, avoid giving more ihan one
drachm of aloes night and morning ; and even continue
this quantity no further than is imperative tc render the
bowels soft, yet by no means to induce watery stools.

With regard to physic, anything administered must be of
a soothing and supporting description ; therefore give, night
and morning, during the violence of the attack, the follow-
ing drink : —

Sulphuric ether
Laudanum
Powdered colchicum
Stout

1 ounce.
1 ounce.
^ ounce.
1 quart.

Should the inflammation run very high, the superior
branch of the angular or facial vein, called the eye-vein,
may be opened as before directed.

On recovery, remove the horse to a high, clean, cool,
stable, where there are no irritant exhalations from excre-
ment. Listen to no quacks who pretend to infallible
remedies for the remaining defects visible la the eye,
should any remain. You may now and then strengthen
the eye by a little cold lotion of crude sal ammoniac and
red rose leaves, or laudanum and rose-water, if you must

281,

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

be doing something ; but don't let farriers put their ruinous
messes into the sore and sensitive eye.

CATARACT.

Cataract is often the result of specific ophthalmia. Cata-
ract is total, partial, or consists of specks on the capsule of
the crystalline lens. In the first the lens is quite white.

In other cases that have stopped short in their career, spots
only of an uncertain size are visible on the lens or upon its
capsule ; a white opaque spot on either is called a cataract.
Cataracts, however, can and do exist in eyes that have never
been subjected to ophthalmia ; and as they make their
appearance without any apparent cause, so they occasionally
will depart without any treatment. Blows sometimes pro-
duce them ; and when caused in this manner, they are for
the most part stationary. However, in cataract following
ophthalmia, there is generally much derangement of the
other internal parts of the eye ; particularly of the iris, which
sometimes adheres to the lens, at others to the cornea ; and
in some cases its pupillary opening is so reduced by con-
traction as to render the cataract hardly perceptible. This
internal derangement greatly prevents any benefit being
derived from the operation of couching ; added to which, a
horse so operated upon, to have perfect vision, would require
to wear spectacles. It has, however, been suggested that,
even without glasses, so much benefit might be gained from
it as to prevent accidents, like running against posts, falling
into pits, &c. This, nevertheless, would be greatly over-
balanced by the imperfect vision, which would render the
horse so operated on very dangerous from his liability to
shy.

Treatment. — Cataracts of all sizes and shapes are best let
alone. Should they cause the horse to shy, blind the eye
or eyes in which they may exist. The measures generally
pursued, with very doubtful success indeed, are the blowing
of mercurial preparations into the eye, the application of
caustics, either in powerful solutions or in substance, to
the organ ; and, in short, all kinds of cruelties, more likely
to favour the formation than to cause the dispersion of
cataract.

FUNGOID GROWTHS OF THE EYE.

Small polypous excrescences occasionally form on the globe
of the eye ; fungus-like projections are also met with on
the transparent cornea, sometimes from injuries, at others
apparently of spontaneous growth. When these are evidently
of a polypous, or merely fleshy nature, the knife and a styptic
takes them ofl" and stops the hasmorrhage. If fungoid and
bleeding, wash with chloride of zinc in solution ; and red pre-
cipitate ointment, thinned with Florence oil, may be painted
over it daily with a camel-hair pencil. Observe, if the
growth is within the ball of the eye (when a bright yellow
substance will be visible on its interior base), extirpation of
the eye is the only remedy. It has been often performed,
is not difficult, but so barbarous, and withal useless in

an animal of which such services are demanded, that a
speedy death it the more humane and advisable alternative.

In lacerations of the eyelid, from a blow against a nail,
hook, or other projection, obtain union of the parts by a
suture of thread, and it will generally heal from the first
intention. Remember, in cases of laceration, simple cold
water is better than Goulard's or evaporative lotions.

In cases where the injury reaches the eye-ball itself, and
there is active inflammation, the activity of treatment must
correspond. Bleed from the head ; give a strong purgative
and cooling drench, apply anodyne fomentation (boiled
poppy heads) to the eye with soft vdoths or sponge. \V hen
the physic has operated, separate the eyelids and examine
the extent of the injury. If the iris should protrude, touch
it with lunar caustic or butter of antimony, to destroy the
projecting portion, which causes agonizing pain, and to
deaden the morbid sensibility of the parts. Apply the
caustic till the protrusion is got level with the cornea, and
use an astringent wasli or unguent — (E) (F) (G), Astrin-
gents, p. 370 — to repress the discharge of pus and cleanse
the sore. White vitriol, one ounce, twenty drops of laud-
anum, and water at discretion, is a good eye-wash in such
a case.

OBSTRUCTION OF THE LACHRYMAL DUCT.

This disease, called "watery eye" by the farriers, is occa-
sioned by the stoppage of the small canal leading from the
eye to the nostril, at the inner corner of the upper and lowei
eyelids, and ending in the dark skin of the nostril on the in-
ner side. This minute sinus obstructed, the tears flow out
upon the face of the animal, excoriate the flesh, and make
bald places and sores. A bougie, or, better, a thin elastic
probe of catgut a foot long, may be passed through the
channel, an assistant holding open the eyelids, a mechanical
cure is efi'ected. (See, for detailed cases and cure, Perclvall's
" Hippopathology," VoL III., pp. 154—157.)

WARTS.

The eyelids are sometimes afi'ected with warts, which are
very irritating to the animal, in consequence of his rubbing
them on some prominent object : this causes them to bleed,
and increases their number.

They should be cut oS" with a pair of sharp scissors, and
the roots touched with nitrate of silver (lunar caustic), or
blue vitriol.

§ III. DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE TEETH,
PALATE, TONGUE, NOSTRILS, AND PHARYNX.

The " dentistry " of the horse will not occupy much space.
Teeth disorders are the results of domestication, artificial
diet, irregularities in feeding, and injury from the iron bit.

The teeth are often troublesome to the domesticated horse
Sharp edges on the outer side of the upper molars and the
inside of the lower — one wounding the cheek, the other the

._l

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE TEETH, &c.

281

tongue, and causing the horse to swallow his food unmas-
ticated, or producing "quidding" {i.e., throwing out his food
in balls from the mouth) — are a serious though apparently
a trivial defect. The tooth-rasp, which requires no descrip-
tion, is the remedy ; and the same when one of the grinders
stands higher than the others. Sharp ragged teeth have
been often overlooked, and the poor animal physicked and
doctored for all sorts of internal complaints, even ulcera-
tions in the mouth and lampas, when a scrutiny of the teeth
and a rasp were all that was required for the restoration of
the services of a valuable animal.

Carious Teeth. — Mr. Cherry, Veterinary Surgeon to the
Life Guards, and Mr. Percivall, relate cases where this com-
plaint has occasioned a discharge mistaken for glanders. The
smell of the discharge being horridly fetid. The key, and
extraction of the tooth, is the remedy. The " key " will be
found figured in our plate of Instruments.

PARROT MOUTH.

By this appellation horse-people understand what dog-
fanciers call " overhung ;" i.e., a mouth so formed — or rather
so malformed — that the upper jaw projects considerably
beyond the lower ; so much that the inferior incisor teeth,
instead of meeting the upper, come in contact, when the
mouth is shut, with the bars of the palate, while the teeth
of the superior jaw have no opposing surface whatever,
unless the lower lip can be so regarded. This deformity is
not of very common occurrence. The horse has less power of
gathering up his hay and corn with his lips, and of the re-
tention of the food while being transferred to the grinders ;
as is seen by the animal, while feeding, wasting part of his
corn, and slobbering. In grazing, the parrot mouth is yet
more disadvantageous, much difficulty being experienced in
nipping off the grass ; this seems the chief objection to the
purchase of such a horse. There is, of course, no remedy
for such a malformation.

injuries TO THE MOUTH AND TEETH.

Colts while breaking are often hurt in the mouth by pres-
sure of the bit ; and the lower jaw of many horses is injured
by the snaffle between the teeth and first grinder. When
severe damage is done, the bone exfoliates, or abscess is
formed in the jaw. In this case mashes should be given,
and, to prevent the formation of sinuses, the bone cut down
upon, and chloride of zinc, one drachm, water one quart,
and .a little essence of aniseed, syringed into the opening
several times a day. Don't let the wound heal, but keep
open with the knife, so that the exfoliated bone may come
away freely when grasped by the forceps.

Injuries under the tongue, and on the roof of the mouth,
are sometimes occasioned by the " port " of the bit. If
there is much inflammation and tumidness, bleed locally,
use depletory measures, and a weak lotion of alum and
laudanum.

Excwiated Angles of the Mouth. — These arise from bad

N N

driving or riding, "jagging," or " sawing " the animal's
mouth. The treatment is obvious. A lotion of chloride of
zinc, and water, one quart, applied with a soft cloth, and
dress with a little alum, honey, and water. TVe chiefly
mention this because vile and disgusting animal fats as
ointments are often applied, to the horror and nausea of the
cleanly and delicate animal

INJURIES TO THE TONGUE.

In the clumsy administration of a ball, the under part of
the tongue is sometimes lacerated, which renders feeding
painful, and makes the horse slaver and froth at the mouth.
This may be cured by a solution of alum, thrown in with a
syringe.

The practice of tying a horse's tongue to prevent him from
running away, may not be frequent, but it is done, and the
loss of the tongue may be the consequence. Mr. White, in
his " Farriery," says : — " Three cases of this kind I have met
with ; one I was told of by the person who did it, and who
cut off the swollen part of the tongue to relieve the animal
from his intolerable sufferings, the ligature being buried in
the enormous swelling that had taken place. Two others I
have heard of, in which the tongue was liierally drawn out
by the roots. The most common manner in which the
tongue is wounded is, by the horse hanging back when he is
tied up with a coil of the halter in his mouth and over the
tongue ; or, as it is vulgarly termed, with a " chaw " in
his mouth. On this, Mr. Spooner remarks in a note : "The
editor has met with many cases in which the tongue has
been divided in this manner, and a good portion of it cut
off; but though the horses for some time were unable to
take their accustomed food, yet the remaining portion of the
tongue gradually accommodated itself to the mouth, becom-
ing flatter and flexible, and at length capable of gathering
up the food apparently as well as before." When the tongue
is partially divided, sutures must not be used. Metallic
sutures wound the mouth or cheeks, silk or thread soon
sloughs out. The tongue must be left alone after cleansing
with a styptic lotion (zinc is best), and the horse fed solely on
gruel.

Fistula of the parotid duct, and glandular abscesses, will
find their place under Abscess, Fistula, and Tumours, in
Chapter IX.

LAMPAS.

We havu here an opprobrium of farriery, not but that the
older practitioners of human medicine have their barbarities
and blunders on record. Lampas is a swelling of the root
or bars of the mouth or palate, near the front teeth. Blaine,
forty years ago, raised his voice against the barbarous practice
of burning the horse's mouth with a red-hot iron for this
" imaginary disorder," as he properly called it ; Percivall,
years afterwards, says in despair, that " in the army you can
hardly prevent the shoeing smith burning for lampas."
Mr. Mayhew in his book (pp. 58 — 60) has given a drawing

282

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

of a poor horse under the torture of the actual cautery, and
eloquently declaimed against the barbarity.

Lampas occurs from an early age, throughout colthood up to
five years, -when the horse's mouth is perfect. It arises from
fever, the mastication of dry food, and, of course, with a
sore mouth, the poor creature is " off his feed." The groom
looks into the mouth of the animal, when, perceiving the
bars to be almost on a level with the incisor teeth, he pro-
nounces his charge to have the lampas, and takes the poor
creature to be burnt within its mouth accordingly. It is
true the animal has recovered its appetite by the time the
effects of the burn have passed away, but so it would have
done had no hot iron been cruelly employed. The fact is,
the young animal is then cutting a molar tooth, and a day
or two having elapsed, all the fever and pain occasioned by
the process would have been over. " No man," says Dela-
bere Blaine, " should allow his horse to be burnt for the
lampas. It is a torturing and a wanton operation, and tends
rather to do harm than good. In most cases a few mashes
and gentle alteratives will relieve the animal, and a few
slight incisions with a lancet across the bars will relieve
inflammation, and never do harm.

NASAL POLYPUS.

A pear-shaped body, filled with blood-vessels, which pass

through its stalk or peduncle, is often found on mucous

tissues ; it is called polypus, from an erroneous supposition

that it has many feet, or roots. Polypi should never be

sliced off in the old way of farriers, but extirpated by a

single cut, or by ligature or torsion. Torsion is a good

method, and not so painful as might be supposed, for the

polypus has little sensibility under the knife or scissors. A

pair of scissors, with sharp curved claws, are sold by surgical

instrument makers for this purpose. The polypus is grasped

by these claws, which are then drawn down to get a firm

hold, and twisted round several times ; this twists the

stalk, or peduncle, and ruptures it, when it comes away.

The twisting should be done quickly, and the bows of the

scissors secured together by a piece of soft wire as soon as a

good grip of the tumour is got by the claws. Ligature is

more tedious ; but there is no bleeding. It is, however,

doubtful whether it is less painful than torsion. The

ligature is a piece of fine zinc wire, a yard and a half long,

doubled, and the two free ends passed down a small tube,

leaving a loop at the doubled end large enough to put over

the polypus ; then draw the loop tight on the neck or stalk

of the polypus, and secure it to a cross piece of wood at the

bottom of the tube. The horse is to be carefully reined up,

and next day the tumour will feel cold ; if not, give the

cross piece another turn, and tighten the wire. Watch the

tumour, and, when it appears quite dead, twist the pedicle

gently, and it will give way.

NASAL GLEET.

This distressing affliction must not be confounded with
glanders. Horses taken up from grass, are found with the
bones of the face swollen and soft. A blow on the facial
bones is sometimes the cause. Pus gathers in the cavities
of the turbinated bone, and there corrupts. In extreme
cases, these cavities may be cleansed by the use of the
trophine, by which a circular piece of bone is cut out ; an
elastic probe, armed with a tape, inserted and brought out
at the nostril, thus establishes a seton, or gives a passage to
syringe out the pus. To describe such a purely professional
operation in a compendium like this, would be out of place.
La Fosse's work, and Bartlett's " Farriery," contain en-
gravings of the operation and instruments, as a supposed
cure for glanders, where the inquirer may consult them.
When nasal gleet, however, will not yield to medicine, dilute
injections of warm water and chloride of zinc, or of creosote,
the animal is valueless, and should be destroyed.

The ball recommended in this disease, is, copaiba balsam,
3 drachms ; cubebs, half an ounce ; powdered cantharides,
3 grains. Mix. A solution of sulphate of copper, blue
vitriol, or the muriate of barytes, once supposed to be a
specific for glanders, introduced in small quantities into the
water the horse drinks — two drachms of the salt to a quart
of water — may be put in the pail or bucket. The steam
vaporiser, for steaming the nostrils, is also to be recom-
mended. It is described under Catarrh, post.

DISORDERS or THE PHARYNX.

Choking, and the methods of relieving it, will be noticed
in Chapter VI., under (Esophagus. The organs of swallow-
ing may be injured by the practice of giving balls, especially
when they are large or hard. A morbid state of the
pharynx is thereby induced, which renders deglutition
difficult, and sometimes impossible ; the lower part of the
pharynx acquiring a morbid irritability, which causes it
to contract upon the approach of the food, and return it
into the nostrils, or into the mouth, where it is often
re-masticated, and at length thrown out into the manger
like a quid of tobacco.* Such horses have been named
" quidders " by dealers, and are considered of little or no
value : such cases are often incurable, and sometimes so
because not understood. Were the horse, in the early stage
of the disease, kept a few weeks on gruel and bran-mashes,
and then turned to grass, the muscles of deglutition would
sometimes gradually recover their lost power.

Mr. White states that he met with a case, in a mare,
where both swallowing and breathing were much impeded
by ulceration of the pharynx, or upper part of the oeso-
phagus or gullet, produced probably by her having swal-

♦ Sometimes there is a partial palsy of the muscles employed in
deglutition, by which the animal has been gradually starved.

DISEASES OF THE AlK PASSAGES.— BRONCHITIS.

283

lowed hastily some hard or sharp substance, such as a stub
of wood, or the unchewed stalk of a dock, thistle, fern, or
bramble. "The pain and irritation which swallowing oc-
casioned caused coughing, and some of the food to be
thrown into the nostrils, and some into the larynx, where
it produced a great deal of pain and difficulty in breathing,
so much so that they were about to destroy the animal.
Relief was aflPorded by making an opening in the windpipe,
and passing a surgeon's probang into the opening, and up
through the larynx, and then quickly withdrawing it. I
then passed it up again, and withdrew it a second time, in
order to remove completely, or as far as could be, whatever

might be lodged in the larynx. I put two stitches in the
skin over the opening in the windpipe, and did nothing
more. The mare was greatly relieved, and brought up a
colt she had. When the colt was fit for weaning, the mare,
being of little value, was destroyed; and then the ulceration
in the pharynx was discovered. I saw the animal just
before she was killed, and found her breathing freely and
looking tolerably well (considering she had been kept at
grass, and on a common), and with a good udder of milk.
But the owner informed me that she appeared sometimes
much distressed, and coughed a great deal, probably by
some food still getting into the larynx"

CHAPTER XXVI.

DISEASES OF THE AIR PASSAGES : — THE TRACHEA, BRONCHI, PLEURA, LCNGS : ROARING, THICK WIND, BROKEN WIND, SPASM,

AND RUPTURE OF THE DIAPHRAGM.

In considering the important class of disorders which
attack the organs of breathing in the horse, we shall divide
the inflammatory afi"ections of the air-passages into three
sections ; a division justified by recent discoveries and the
improvements of modern practice, thus : —

1. Bronchitis; inflammation of the mucous lining of
the bronchial tubes and trachea.

2. Pleuritis (pleurisy) ; inflammation of the membrane
(the pleura) covering the lungs and lining the chest.

3. Pneumonia ; inflammation of the substance of the
lungs (Gr. pneumon).

I. BRONCHITIS.

Bronchitis may be acute, chronic, or epizootic. The
causes of bronchitis may be set down as the same which
induce common catarrh or cold. Most frequently the ex-
tension of inflammation is from the throat downwards. It
is often a very insidious disease ; though sometimes slight,
and free from danger. In many cases it creeps on so gradually
that it fails to attract attention until too late. It is not
uncommon for a cough and a slight diminution of the appe-
tite to be the only symptoms noticed for several days ;
although, if the animal were examined at this stage, he
would be found to have a quickened and a disturbed pulse
with slightly laborious breathing, with a slight discharge
from the nostrils. The disease, after creeping on in this
manner for several days, sometimes exhibits on a sudden
the most dangerous symptoms ; the pulse being exceedingly
quick and weak ; the respiration greatly accelerated ; the

membrane of the nostrils and eyelids of a red colour, and
the discharge from the nostrils diminished or suspended.
When bronchitis presents itself in this form, it is frequently
fatal — the membrane of the nostrils becomes of a purple hue,
and death too frequently closes the scene in the course of a
week or ten days.

The disease fortunately does not always exhibit itself in
this severe form. We often find the first symptoms are a
loss of appetite, dulness, discharge from the nostrils, and
cough ; it can only be distinguished from a common catarrh
by the quickness of the pulse (advancing from 50 to 70) and
the disturbance of the breathing. From common inflamma-
tion of the lungs it may be distinguished by the warmth of
the surface and the extremities which usually prevails, and
by the more moderate acceleration of the pulse and respira-
tion. It should, however, be obsei-ved, that it is by no
means uncommon for this disease to be complicated with
inflammation of the lungs ; and when such is the case it is
the more dangerous. It is sometimes attended with costive-
ness ; the dung being often ofi"ensive, and coated with
mucus ; and yet the membrane lining the bowels is so
irritable as to be violently acted on if physic is administered.
On applying the ear to the chest. Instead of the healthy
murmur, we generally hear a wheezing or sucking sound ;
sometimes one resembling brickbats being rolled down from
a considerable height is audible, owing to the air struggling
with the mucus ; but this, of course, will depend very much
on the quantity of secretion which is eff"used. The breath
is warm, and the mouth usually hot and dry.

284

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

Treatment. — One of the sequelae of chronic hronchitis is
thickening and change of structure in the air passages
from which decreased capacity follows, with " thick wind "
and wheezing. There may be a seeming necessity for
bleeding, yet, violent as the symptoms may appear, the
patient will not often bear loss of blood ; here, therefore,
more than in any other disease, will appear the propriety of
the caution elsewhere recommended when treating of the
operation of bleeding. No fixed quantity should be ab-
stracted. The operation should never be left to the assistant,
but should take place under the practitioner's own eye, in
order that the bleeding may be stopped on the very first
indication that the system is affected. There is no rule
which admits of so few exceptions as this ; that a disease of
the mucous surfaces (and this is one) requires prompt and
decisive treatment, but at the same time very cautious reme-
dies, from the rapid debility which is connected with all
these affections.

Perhaps, after all, it is better bleeding should altogether
be abstained from. Such a bloodletting as we dare hazard
in bronchitis is not likely materially to afi"ect the disease ;
while the smallest abstraction of the vital fluid is sure to
tell with dangerous (perhaps fatal) certainty during the
subsequent debility.

Although it will be desirable to relax the bowels, aloes
will be dangerous, except in the quantity of one or two
drachms, and not repeated ; but it will be better to sub-
stitute a pint, or nearly so, of linseed oil, guarded by a
drachm of chloroform, and to assist its action by clysters if
there is costiveness.

Sedative medicine, such as the fever-ball, should be given
twice a-day ; digitalis, calomel, and tartarised antimony,
each half a drachm, with three drachms of nitre, is a good
formula. Mr. Percivall prefers white hellebore to the digi-
talis ; it is more active, but requires greater vigilance in the
attendant.

Counter-irritation by means of setons or rowels in the
brisket, or the liquid blister rubbed on the throat down the
course of the windpipe, when the first acute symptoms have
abated, are often attended with good effects. Mashes, gruel,
and green-meat should form the food of the horse, but even
these in stinted quantities.

2. PLEURITIS (pleurisy).

It was formerly the practice to mix up this disorder with
pneumonia or inflammation of the lum/ : but, although in
complicated cases the two are co-existent, yet in most
pleuritis is marked and distinct, and examination after death
shows that the substance of the lung itself is not involved.
The pain of the inflammation of the fine smooth glistening
membrane which invests the lungs is intense, every breath
drawn or expired by the poor animal causing the irritated
surfaces to crepitate in moving upon each other.

Symptoms. — The suffering of the animal is indicated by
a constant pawing of the fore-foot and a looking round,

slightly showing his teeth. The nostrils are dilated, as in
pneumonia, to assist the difiicult respiration, but their
membranes are not much discoloured. Pain, on pressure of
the sides, is intense ; but the pulse is hard, full, and but
slightly accelerated, until suffering has weakened the system.
If the symptoms do not become aggravated by the fifth day,
a recovery may be expected. If, on the contrary, a thin,
wiry, and rapid pulse, with sweats and restlessness come on,
hydrothorax (or death) is at hand. Mr. Field thus enumerates
the distinctive symptoms of pleurisy from pneumonia. " In
the former the pulse is hard and febrile, in the latter,
oppressed ; the peculiar saw-like respiration in the one, the
difficult and convulsive breathing in the other ; the absence
of intense redness of eyelids and nostrils in pleurisy, and its
presence in pneumonia ; the extreme pain of pressure in the
former, and the comparative insensibility in the other ; the
coldness of the extremities in pneumonia, the variable tem-
perature of those parts in the other. The frequent lying down
and getting up in pleurisy, and the obstinate standing up in
pneumonia." The food should be mashes, and no corn.

Treatment. — Mr. Field recommends the immediate abstrac-
tion of ten to twenty pounds of blood. A small dose of aloes
(linseed oil is preferable), sedatives as prescribed in the last
article, seton or rowel in brisket, and blisters on chest and
sides. Mild diuretics when hydrothorax is feared.

pneumonia (inflammation of the lungs)

When we consider how totally we have removed the horse
from a life of nature to one of art, in which the lungs, more
vascular than any other organs, are subjected in an extra-
ordinary degree to the extremes of exertion and temperature,
we cannot be surprised that they should in a great measure
become the seat of acute inflammation.

The causes may be looked for in constitutional plethora,
occasioned by high feeding, hot clothing, stabling with high
temperatures, and accelerated exercise ; all which render
the lungs more susceptible to congestion, and less able to
resist the effects of it. Among the various causes, alterna-
tions between heat and cold are probably the most common ;
and we have the more reason to believe that it is the
alternations themselves which provoke the disorder, as we
find that horses bear the extremes of both heat and cold, in
different countries, with seeming impunity. Heat suddenly
applied may be supposed to heighten the circulation generally,
and produce congestion immediately within the lungs.
Cold suddenly applied may act instantly also by driving the
blood from the skin to the deeper-seated organs. A very
fertile source of it is inordinate exercise, as regards quick-
ness of progression, which wears out the vital activity
of the lungs ; thus pneumonia frequently follows severe
runs in hunting. Cold, moist spring seasons are often
marked with pneumonic attacks, which rage in an epidemic
form.

Symptoms. — This disease sometimes attacks the horse
suddenly, and he exhibits, with one or two shivering fits, _

DISEASES OF THE AIR PASSAGES.— PNEUMONIA.

283

the excited breathing which is symptomatic of the com-
plaint ; at others, it steals on, almost unobserved for two or
three days ; but whether the approach be sudden or retarded,
the general functions are disturbed. One that first shows
itself is the unequal distribution of heat ; the legs and ears
being much colder than the other parts of the body. The
coat stares ; the horse loses his appetite ; Is evidently
uneasy, and occasionally looks gently round towards his
ribs. In the early stages, the nasal linings look paler than
usual ; but as it advances they become of a leaden hue ;
and although the general surface of the trunk may vary in
its temperature, the extremities, as the legs, ears, and tail,
and sometimes the muzzle, are found uniformly cold.
Cough is by no means a pathognomonic symptom ; many
cases are without it ; but when it does exist, it is at first
short, dry, and frequent, and becomes eventually heavy,
thick, and painful ; occasionally some mucus with bloody
striae is thrown up in coughing, particularly when the
bronchi ^/articipate in the affection. The respiration
becomes disturbed as soon as the disease is formed ; the
first febrile attack will hurry it, but, the severity of
that over, it becomes simply laboured. The local inflam-
mation having pervaded the substance of the lungs, thick-
ened the lining membrane of the tubes, and lessened the
calibre of the air cells, respiration now becomes permanently
quickened The flanks are found to heave, and the breathing
is carried on with labour and irregularity ; the inspirations
being delayed to retard the pain produced by the distention
of the chest, while the expirations are more hurried to
relieve it from distress. The cavity is, however, no sooner
emptied, than a new source of distress, in the stagnant
condition of the heart, forces the horse to renew the
breathing. The state of the pulse is variable in this
disease, according as the lungs or the pleura bear the
greatest share in the complaint. It is, however, almost
always quickened, sometimes to 100 even, from the irritated
state of the arterial system ; it is also In most well-marked
cases small and oppressed, the pulmonary congestion pre-
venting the free passage of blood through the lungs. We
have occasionally found it moderately full and bounding,
dependent probably on the membrane being more diseased
than the substance of the lungs. The horse is now seen to
look more anxiously round to his sides ; the whole body
also seems stiff" and sore. Partially elevating the head
occasions great pain, and he Is altogether disinclined to
move ; on the contrary, he stands fixed with his head
extended forwards, his nostrils outstretched, his fore legs
somewhat apart but forward, and he seldom if ever lies
down, or if he does he rises again quickly. The chest, if
tapped with the hand, emits a dead sound ; while the ear,
applied to the side of the chest, will detect a dull but more
urgent murmuring. As the complaint increases, the pulse
becomes still more oppressed and irregular, so as to present,
at the region of the heart, nothing but the faintest flutter ;
the legs, ears, and muzzle feel still more intensely cold.

although partial sweats may visit the carcass. The nostrils
change to a still more livid hue, and the air they expire is
chill. The mouth now becomes cold and pale ; convulsive
twitchings affect the breast, neck, and face ; the teeth
grate ; and death ensues earlier or later, as the disease has
been more or less rapid ; occurring sometimes as early as the
second or third day, but more often between the third and
seventh, being also sometimes prolonged to the fourteenth
or fifteenth.

The terminations of pneumonia are more varied tlian In
most other complaints. Resolution is that most to be
desired ; in which the symptoms gradually subside, either
spontaneously, or aided by the curative treatment. Con-
gestion Is the termination to be dreaded ; which sometimes
suff'ocates the patient on the fourth or fifth day, by filling
up the air cells with thickened blood. In the epidemic
pneumonia, where a considerable degree of malignance Is
occasionally present, instead of blood, the air cells often
become choked with serum.

Gangrene is not a frequent termination of true pneu-
monia. The Irritation or the congestion usually destroys
the animal before the tissues are completely broken up.
Suppuration sometimes follows pneumonia ; in which
case there Is a deceitful remission of the symptoms, but
not so great as In hydrothorax. It Is further marked by
an irritating cough, a purulent discharge from the nose,
with a hard, hurried, and an Irregular pulse. In these
cases a speedy termination follows by suffocation, or a more
protracted one. In which the animal dies emaciated. Hepa-
tization (Gr. hepar, the liver), or degeneration into a liver-
like substance. Is also not an uncommon termination ; In
which the substance of the lungs becomes so blocked up
and solidified as to make them, contrary to the usual state,
sink In water. When the condensation Is only partial, the
affections called thick wind and broken wind are the con-
sequence ; or an Increased Irritability of the lungs them-
selves, or of the mucous membranes of the bronchii and
trachea, may be left, which subjects the horse to a long-
continued or permanent cough. It Is also the parent of
tubercles, which end In phthisis or glanders.

On the subject of symptoms, it remains to guard against
mistaking pneumonia or Inflammation of the lungs for such
other affections as it may be confounded with ; as with
influenza, bronchitis, or other diseases of the mucous mem-
branes. In influenza, the extremities do not continue in-
variably cold ; the distress of countenance Is not so great ;
sore throat is commonly present ; the breathing, though
quickened is less laborious, and the pulse seldom oppressed.
The cough In influenza Is generally deep, sonorous, and very
painful : a weakness, not corresponding with the violence of
the symptoms. Is very early seen in influenza ; and though
the lining of the nostrils may be Inflamed In influenza, it is
seldom so much so as to present a purple hue. The princi-
pal necessity which exists for making a careful distinction
between the two diseases, arises from its not being found

286

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

prudent to push the treatment so far in influenza as in
pneumonia ; for if the two should be confounded, and the
milder be treated as the severer case ought to be, then it is
a thousand to one but disease of the chest supervenes,
hydrothorax sets in, and brings the mistaken disorder to a
termination. Inflammation of the lungs has also been mis-
taken for Colic, from the horse sometimes expressing con-
siderable uneasiness, and often looking round to his sides ;
but in colic the horse evinces acute pain, by kicking at his
belly with his hinder legs. By turns, he lies down and rolls,
and then suddenly rises, appearing quite well for a certain
space, during which he will fall to eating ; while, on the
contrary, in pneumonia, he never lies down, but stands
stupidly quiet ; except now and then, when he may look at
his ribs, but without any of the impatient indications of
pain, or intervals of perfect ease. It may also be added,
that in inflammation of the lungs the pulse announces
danger from the beginning, while in colic it is, at the com-
mencement, of a healthy character.

The Treatment must be prompt. The old practice was
to extract blood immediately upon entering the stable.
The first blood-letting was to the amount of two gallons at
least, the second of one gallon, and two, or even more,
subsequent withdrawals of half or three-quarters of a gallon
each ; thus, at all events, four gallons of blood, or more,
were taken away. A full-sized horse has but eight gallons
of blood in his body, and one moderately fat has not that
amount. Here, however, the veterinary surgeon withdraws
half the blood from the poor horse's body, under the impres-
sion that the animal's disease announced it had too much
of that fluid, to regulate the quantity of which is the care
of the whole system. After this, he used to look upon the
subsequent signs of excessive debility as natural results.

The antiquated notion about a horse having too much
blood, is now exploded ; many excellent practitioners do not
bleed at all ; but if you resolve to take any, watch the
animal ; never mind the pulse at this time ; and at the first
sign of change, though it be ever so slight, pin up the vein,
and on no account repeat the experiment.

Blaine's practice in pneumonia cannot, we think, be
bettered ; we therefore extract it in his own words : — " The
next point to be considered is counter-irritation, and most
practitioners blister both the sides largely, choosing for
their agent cantharides, which is uncertain and slow in its
action. One of the signs of improvement in inflammation
of the lungs, is the animal lying down, which during health
it always does upon its sides. The rendering of these parts
sore seems to be opposing an obstacle to the animal resum-
ing the recumbent attitude. The better plan would be to
reject cantharides, and spare the sides. A more active
vesicatory, and a safer place for its action, can be found. We
proceed to have the hair clipped from off' the entire length
of the back', ihen we take liquor ammonia, diluted with
four times its amount of cold water, and with this we
thoroughly saturate the place from which the hair has been

cut. We next cover the part with cloths several times
folded, to prevent the ammonia from evaporating. This
needs to be watched, but will often raise a blister in ten
minutes, whereas, cantharides rarely has any eflfect before
the next day. The ammonia is likewise more certain than
the Spanish fly, and is altogether to be preferred, as in
inflammation of the lungs in the horse there is no time to
be lost before remedial measures are adopted. While this
is doing, we procure four men if possible, and place one at
each leg, to rub the part with their hands as hard and as
long as they can. Four thick woollen bandages are then
produced, and one wound gently, not tightly, round each
leg. A hood is then put upon the animal's head, but the
whole of the body left uncovered.

" The next thing is to procure a cool loose box, not a
cold one, but a cool loose box, and to have the horse gently
led into it ; and then to look about and observe that no
draughts blow directly upon his body ; this being ascertained,
provided the weather be favourable, the door and windows
may be left open throughout the day.

" All this accomplished, order the following drink to be
prepared and administered : —

Sulphuric ether

1 ounce.

Laudanum

1 ounce.

Extract of belladonna

1 drachm.

Tincture of aconite .

2 drachms.

Cold water

1^ pint.

" Rub down the belladonna in a little of the water. Then
mix with the other ingredients. The aconite (wolfsbane)
should be of the strength of a drachm to an ounce. If
stronger or weaker, make the due allowance, so as to have
but the virtue of the fourth of a drachm in the drink.

"Should the foregoing be rejected, either of the following
may be employed : —

Tartar emetic (in the form of the antimonial

wine of the Dublin Pharmacopoeia) . 1 drachm.

Digitalis, made into a decoction . . 1 drachm.

Nitre ...... 2 drachms.

Cream of tartar ... .3 drachms.

"Mingle with a pint of warm water and give; or the
annexed may be tried : —

Powdered white hellebore
Powdered ipecacuanha

10 grains.
J drachm.

"Make the last prescription into a drink, with half a
pint of thick gruel Either of the above drinks is to be
given four times daily at the commencement, and to be
gradually lessened as the disease abates.

" Great caution is required, in giving a horse with in-
flammation of the lungs anything in the shape of a drink.
Time and patience accomplish wonders. Lower the horse's
head the moment it begins to cough. This last direction
is most important, and should not be neglected, or the
horse may fall dead from the fluid having fallen upon the
lungs, which the examination after death is certain to

DISEASES OF THE AIR PASSAGES.— HYDROTHORAX.— CATARRH, &c.

287

disclose. The best plan is to proceed with firmness and yet
gentleness, dividing the drink into four portions if necessary,
and allowing the animal to take its time over each.

" All food should be removed. No trouble should be
expressed because the horse does not eat. The animal, with
inflammation of the lungs, generally has no disposition to
feed, or if the inclination remain it should not be gratified.
Starvation is one of the most active means of cure, and one
of the surest agents in cutting short the complaint. The
horse will lose more flesh in one day from the wasting
efl^ects of the disorder, than he can in seven days from
actual abstinence. Warm mashes, not hot, however, may
be placed in the manger, because in inflammation of the
lungs it is dangerous to give any physic, lest the bowels
sympathize, and the animal perish. Two ounces of Epsom
salts may be dissolved in every pail of water, which should
be repeatedly changed, and placed continually before the
horse. Enemas of simple soap and water, in conjunction
with backraking, may also be tried, in order to excite the
bowels into action.

" If debility should appear, tartar emetic should be
withheld. If, in spite of this, the weakness increase, the
horse may have linseed tea made thick placed before it, with
two quarts of stout per day. The aconite, likewise, should
be withdrawn, and attention paid to the legs, rubbing them
whenever they are cold. In extreme cases, brandy and
ammonia are admissible.

" When the disease abates, which it generally does in
forty-eight hours, the care must not lessen ; for the attack
is likely to recur, or remain in a chronic stage as thick or
broken wind, or even to degenerate into glanders. It is
apt to involve other structures in its progress, as the
pleurae, when the symptoms will be somewhat confused,
being between pleurisy and pneumonia. In such a case,
the terminations may be either those of inflammation of
the lungs, or of the pleura.

" It is a bad sign when the flanks heave, and the horse's
head is put out of the window ; and a much worse one
when the head is withdrawn and the eye becomes amaurotic.
When the animal keeps walking round and round his box ;
and breaking into partial swea's, sometimes raises its head
and neighs, proving he is delirious, and in imagination
answering the call of his species. In this last case be
certain that death is not far off"

HYDROTHORAX (WATER IN THE CHEST).

This is a result of pleurisy — or pleuro-pneumonia as the
double disease of both pleura and lungs is called — it is
generally fatal. The only chance is by the operation called
" tapping," which is effected by introducing a trocar (a
cutting instrument with a canula four inches in length and
a quarter of an inch in diameter), when the fluid contained
in the cavity punctured escapes. Percivall* recommends

* See Hippopathology, vol. ii., pp. 112, 122, where operations and
successful cases are detailed.

aloes, calomel, digitalis, and tartarised antimony to be pei
sisted in ; and after the tapping the following : —

Blue vitriol ..... 1 drachm.
Digitalis ..... ^ drachm.

Tartarised antimony . . .2 di-achms.

Turpentine . . . . . 9. «. for a ball

Mayhew, who gives drawings of the trocar and its stylet,
with the operation of drawing off the fluid, advises, after the
process, carefully boiled oats and beans, and the following
night and morning.

Iodide of iron .... 1 drachm.

Strychnine . . . . • h grain.

Sulphate of zinc .... J drachm.

Extract of gentian and quassia (powdered) suflBcient to mix the ball.

CATARRH, COUGH, COMMON COLD, SORE-THROAT.

Common cold is an inflammation of the mucous membrane
lining the nostrils and throat. It may attack the neigh
bouring parts, or be confined to one only ; it may be so slight
as to ask no treatment, or become so severe as to threaten
suffocation. We have already noticed influenza or catarrhal
fever. In the simple attack on the Schneiderian membrane,
which shows itself by a thin watery secretion from the nose,
or perhaps the eyes, wc have the first symptoms of common
cold. In a few days the lymphatic glands become inflamed,
swelled, and tender, and symptomatic fever is present, and
the tendency of mucous membrane to form pus without
ulceration begins to shew itself Some cough is not unusually
present. The discharge thickens, then ceases, and the horse
is over the attack.

The Treatment is very simple. Extra clothing, &c.,
warmer dwelling, with a mild purgative ball, bran mashes
with nitre (six drachms) ; a drink of linseed meal or tea,
with an ounce of ipecacuanha wine mixed in, should the
cough be annoying, will sufiice. If there be much fever
(A) or (C) Febrifuges, p 235. When the discharge is con-
siderable, infuse bran or hay in boiling water, and steam the
horse's nostrils with a suspended nosebag. Read's patent
Vapour Inhaler is a most convenient and effective apparatus
where available.

Professor Spooner recommends sulphate of iron, two
drachms ; ginger, one drachm ; and gentian, two drachms ;
in treacle, as a tonic ball, once a day, when the discharge
from the nose in catarrh seems obstinate.

In Sore-throat, where the region of the gullet and fauces
is hot, and the salivary glands swollen and tender, a good
addition to the practice is a blister or mustard poultice to
the throat, with a fever ball, containing half a drachm of
tartar emetic and a drachm of nitre, night and morning.
Purgatives to be omitted, the food scalded, and the water
chilled.

288

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE AIB PASSAGES : — ROARING, CHRONIC
COUGH, THICK WIND, BROKEN WIND.

The artificial life of the domesticated horse occasions
numerous diseases and changes of structure in his respira-
tory organs. Not only do the great lobes of the lungs suffer,
but the passages to them are altered in dimension, and
more or less obstructed, so that the sound produced by the
passage of air is modulated, and " wheezing," " whistling,"
" roaring," &c., become familiar terms among horsemen.
Thus, a horse " wheezes " when any obstruction exists in the
nostrils ; " whistles " when the obstruction is situated farther
back, and near the opening to the larynx ; and " roars "
when the larynx is malformed, or the hindrance to the
passage of air lies within the windpipe.

Roaring. — The causes of roaring are of two classes, acute
and chronic. The acute are from obstructions accidentally
formed, as cicatrices from wounds or injury, foreign sub-
stances lodged in the windpipe, extravasation of fluid or
coagulable lymph, which, once organised, forms a permanent
obstruction : when this extends up to the glottis, it produces
whistling. Whoever has handled the throats of many old
horses must have observed a hardened state of the larynx,
which almost resisted all attempts to what is termed
" cough them." This ossification is not an uncommon
cause ; and a similar state in the cartilages of the trachea
is productive of it also. A cause, also, of roaring is a band
of lymph stretched across the tracheal tube ; at others, an
internal ring of the same matter simply diminishes its
diameter. The obstruction is sometimes so considerable as
to excite the sound upon the slightest exertion ; in general
cases, however, roaring is only exerted when forcible in-
spirations and expirations are made. Mechanical obstruc-
tions to free respiration may eventually be productive of
roaring : the custom of tightly reining in our carriage-
horses, especially such as run in pairs or double harness,
there is reason to think, produces it ; the practice of using
tight throat-lashes or neck-straps may likewise induce it.
In furtherance of which last opinion it may be recollected
that horsemen have a very general supposition that crib-
biting ends in roaring, in thick wind, or in broken wind.
May not the tight collar, strapped around the throat, here
tend to the former of these affections ? The custom of
" coughing " horses, and so frequently as it is practised in
fairs, may be readily supposed as a cause. A horse passes
from fair to fair, having his unfortunate throat brutally
pinched thirty or forty times each day. Is it to be
wondered at if inflammation takes place, and adhesive
deposit follow ?

Treatment. This must be regulated by circumstances.
When it is acute, and depends upon the diseased state of
neighbouring parts, the inflammation of those parts must be
relieved. When it can be discovered to be the consequence
of recent inflammation of the laryngeal or tracheal carti-
lages, a physic ball may be given, and the seat of the disease

blistered, while, from day to day, some sedative medicine is
administered. In every case of roaring, however, excepting
the acute, the cure depends quite as much upon chance as
upon skill.

Chronic Cough. — Coughing is a spasmodic effort of the
diaphragm, intercostal, and abdominal muscles, producing
a forcible expulsion of the air from the chest with such
violence as is calculated to remove any extraneous body
that may intercept the free passage of the air. Whenever
it accompanies a general affection of the constitution, it is
regarded as simply " symptomatic," and the original disease
is attended to for its removal. Thus catarrh is accom-
panied by a cough, but we attend principally to the general
affection, as the best means of subduing it. A " chronic
cough " is often symptomatic of some affection of the air-
passages ; it is also an attendant upon the state called
broken wind. It likewise accompanies glanders ; and ap-
pears when worms are in the stomach and bowels. But
besides these cases, there exist at times, without any
attendant difiiculty of breathing (the horse at the same
time eating well and thriving), a permanent cough, usually
more considerable in the morning and evening, after meals,
particularly after drinking, or on first going out to exercise;
and it will remain in this state, without otherwise affecting
the horse, for years ; sometimes it will even be continued
with no obvious injury for his whole life.

The Treatment of " chronic cough " must depend on our
view of its causes and consequences. When it appears to
arise from a want of mucous secretion, give expectorants
which excite such secretion (A) or (C) Expectorants, p. 235.
When a redundancy of the mucous secretion is apparent,
tonics are required. See Tonics and Stimulants in List.
When the secretion is acrid, try a Demulcent, p. 232. The
cough, which is the effect of an irritable state of the parts,
is sometimes relieved by stimulating the throat externallyi
and by giving internally opium with bitter tonics.

When worms in any large numbers are present in the
stomach, or intestines, a continued cough generally exists,
with irregular appetite and unthrifty coat, stools fetid and
slimy, at one time loose and at another hard and dry ; for
which turn to the head under which those parasites are
specially treated of In all chronic coughs the best effects
sometimes follow from feeding with carrots. Turnips, pars-
neps, beet, and potatoes, may be beneficially used where
carrots cannot be got ; and a mash with bran and linseed,
or malt, may be occasionally given. Try the following every
morning, made into a ball with honey : —

Powdered ipecaxjuanha . . • i drachm.

Camphor .... 2 drachms.

Extract of belladonna . . .1 scrapie.

Thick Wind. — This is also a consequence of either acute or
chronic pulmonary inflammation. In some instances, it is
the immediate consequence of violent or long-continued
exercise, and particularly if the exercise be taken upon a
distended stomach and bowels, or after full drinking ; or it

DISEASES OF THE AIR PASSAGES.— BROKEN WIND.

289

may be brought on by the application of cold. It is often
connected with a plethoric state, and is therefore very com-
mon among pampered animals and gross feeders ; and more
particularlj in low-bred and thick-set horses. The post-
mortem examinations of such cases exhibit, in some instances,
a slight hepatization of lung, the consequence of repeated
congestions ; in others, the minute bronchial cells are filled
with adhesive matter, or the general substance may be per-
vaded with minute granulations of a bluish colour.

The Symptoms of thick wind are sufficiently known to any
one at all conversant with horses. The capacity of the air-
cells being diminished, renders it necessary for the air to be
more frequently taken in, because, being acted on by a less
surface, the blood is not thoroughly oxygenated ; and a suf-
ficient number of air-cells not being expanded, the animal
makes hasty inspirations to remedy the default. The force
with which these are eifected occasions the sound so well
known as the distinguishing mark of thick wind. In this
affection, the obstruction to both being equal, the inspira-
tions and expirations are alike, which serves to distinguish
it from broken wind. Thick is however very apt to de-
generate into broken wind.

The Treatment of thick wind can seldom be more than
palliative, for, once established, it remains permanent. The
remedial means are more in the hands of the proprietor than
of the surgeon. The food must be moderate in quantity,
and of such a kind as will occupy the least possible space.
No hay should be allowed ; and as thick-winded horses are
gross feeders, the muzzle ought to be put on as soon as the
manger has been emptied.

Broken Wind. — This peculiar aSection has long excited
the attention of veterinarians. The older writers indulged
in the most extravagant notions respecting it. On the Con-
tinent it has occupied, in later times, the research of many
eminent veterinarians, but with little satisfactory issue. It
has been attributed to external and internal causes ; to a
defect, and to a superabundance, of vital energy ; to altered
structure of the heart, of the lungs, of the diaphragm, the
stomach, the liver, &c. It is injury with some, nervousness
with others, and simple distension with a third. Among
our own writers the discrepancj' is equally great : Gibson
attributed it to an enlargement of the pulmonary mass
generally ; Dr. Lower to a rupture of the phrenic nerve ;
but in later times it has been mostly attributed to structural
change.

The cause of broken wind is hereditary or constitutional
predisposition. A certain form of body is unquestionably
favourable to its production, and it is from this circum-
stance that it proves hereditary The narrow confined
chest, and the pendent belly, which mark low-bred horses
and gross feeders, predispose towards the affection. It
may be the subjecting horses to a long-continued un-
healthy course of feeding on dry food, as chaff, bran, bar-
ley meal, &c. &c. that brings it on ; as also working in
mills, where much dust is necessarily inhaled. It is seldom
o o

the immediate consequence of pneumonia ; but frequently
it results from those states of disordered respiration which
succeed to it, as thick wind, chronic cough, &c. We are
much in the dark about its origin : we see that it gradually
steals on a horse, occupying months, and even years, with
a slight occasional cough, which, ripening into a state of
impeded respiration, at last ends in broken wind. We see
it also follow one hard gallop ; and we may leave a horse
well one day and find him broken-winded the next.

It is not by any means uncommon to meet with broken-
winded horses whose lungs after death are neither emphy-
sematous or otherwise structurally deranged ; and which,
with the exception of their lighter colour, and greater bulk
than natural, cannot well be distinguished from the sound
lung, although they crepitate or crackle when pressed by
the hand. It appears likely that rupture of the air-cells is
the cause of broken wind, because it is not always sudden,
but gives some years of a warning cough, or of thick-winded
wheeze.

There is another view of the cause of this disease, namely,
that it depends upon derangement of the digestive canal ;
and if the irritability of the larynx favours the opinion
advanced with respect to the lungs, the constant passing of
wind supports the other conjecture. Horses with broken
wind will eat almost anything, which again is opposed to
the conclusion that the lungs are the sole seat of the dis-
order. The belly is enlarged, the stomach distendeo, and
its coats much thinned, which last-named f^icts would seem
to decide the question. But the truth is, broken wind
appears to be a universal derangement , and it is not one
structure that suffers, but the entire body undergoes more
or less alteration.

Symptoms. — These are well marked : the cough anu the
manner of respiration may be considered as conclusive.
The sound emitted by the cough is peculiar, and is often
forced out with a kind of grunt, in a short but vibrating
feeble tone compared with the usual cough of sound-winded
horses. The respiration is conducted with a remarkable
difference between the inspirations and expirations. Inspi-
ration is efi"ected quickly ; and the lengthened laborious
strain of expiration, is performed by two distinct efforts,
in one of which the usual muscles operate, in the
other the abdominal muscles come into violent action,
to complete the expulsion ; after which the flanks fall with
peculiar force, and the air is again inspired as by a spasm.
An auxiliary symptom is the peculiar flatulence of every
broken-winded horse ; this is strikingly characteristic of the
disordered state of digestion common in *":iese cases,
and of the constant thirst which is invariably present.

The Treatment of broken wind can seldom be more than
palliative. Whatever increases the distension of the stomach
and bowels aggravates the complaint, by increasing the difli-
culty of expanding the lungs. Therefore, avoid stimulants,
and promote regular evacuations ; abstain from over-dis-
tension of the lungs by too violent and too sudden exer-

290

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

nons, particularly after eating. By carefully attending to
these principal indications, a broken-winded horse may be
rendered comfortable to himself and useful to his owner.
The food should be regularly given, in moderate quantities
only ; but most particularly it should be of such a nature
as will contain much nutriment in a small space. Hence
corn is more proper than hay, and, above all, a manger
food composed of one part bran, one part bruised beans,
and two parts bruised oats, agrees particularly Avell, if given
somewhat moistened. On a quantity of this food no horse
will need hay. When they can be got, give also carrots,
mangold wurzel, Swedish turnips, parsneps, or cooked pota-
toes, which feeding will be found to combine both medicine
and nutriment, and render little water necessary. Turning
out to grass commonly aggravates the symptoms of broken
wind ; a neglect of moderate exercise also aggravates
the complaint. Water should be sparingly given, particu-
larly in the working hours ; at night a moderate quantity
may be allowed, but on no account let the broken-winded
horse drink his fill at a pond or trough. Medicinally,
benefit has been received from daily small doses of foxglove ;
under these circumstances it has been given to the amount
of a scruple ; a piece of rock-salt placed in the manger has
seemed to do some good.

Horse-copers have a mode of what they call "setting"
broken wind. Fat, shot, opium, in short any substance that
will act as a sedative, is used ; often with a fatal effect on
the animal The test is to take the horse to a trough or
pond and let him swill at pleasure. The cough returns, the
flanks heave, and broken wind reveals itself by all its
ordinary symptoms.

BRONCHOCELE.

Bronchocele is an enlargement of the thyroid gland in
the throat — in the human subject, goitre — and is a disorder
of unknown origin. It is not very serious beyond me-
chanical inconvenience and unsightliness. The gland in its
normal state is about half the size of a pigeon's egg ; but
sometimes, without showing active disease, as large as a
hen's egg. It has, however, been known to grow so large
as to press upon the larynx. It is a well-established
observation, that certain countries and localities are favour-
able to its production. In England, Derby and Nottingham
shires have obtained this repute ; on the Continent, Switzer-
land, the Tyrol, the valley of the Rhone, and others ; and
to an extent to lead us at once to the conclusion that
influence of soil, or climate, or both, must have much to do
with its production. Old medical writers ascribe its ap-
pearance in particular persons to that convenient fons et
origo, " a scrofulous habit." Of late years the disease has
been thought to be hereditary ; and so strong has appeared
the evidence of this in dogs, that Mr. Youatt's forcible
expression on this point is, "I am quite assured that it is
hereditary."

In horses we know nothing further about it than ihat a

tumour, seldom of any great magnitude, makes its appear-
ance in the throat, just below the part we grasp to excite
coughing, either directly in front or inclining to one side,
having a circular or an ovoid form, and feeling soft and
puffy, and movable, without any flinching or sensibility
being evinced by pressing or squeezing it, and without
being the occasion of the slightest inconvenience or dis-
paragement, save what may be considered to arise from its
being regarded as an eyesore.

Tkeatment. — Should the tumour, on account of its
volume, become the subject of medical treatment, iodine is
our sheet-anchor. Supposing the case to be recent, it might,
in the first instance, be advisable to give a brisk purge ;
after which administer, daily, a ball composed of a drachm
— which may be increased to two drachms — of iodide of
potassium and linseed meal, and, at the same time, rub
into the swelling as much of the following ointment as is
equal in bulk to a small walnut. Take of: —

Iodide of potass
Simple cerate

Or, if a drench is preferred

Iodide of potass
Liquor potassae
Distilled water

1 drachm.
1 ounce.

J drachm.
1 iiachm.
J pint.

And after the drink rub in the ointment till no grease
remains. Should the part become sore, you may pause in
the rubbing-in treatment, as the disorder is not active, and
the tumour is not morbidly sensible.

STKANGLES.

Strangles, a name given when there was little morfc
known of this disease than its evident danger of strangling
the patient has come down to the present day. The disorder
is peculiar to young horses between the second and fifth
year. It is seldom met with in aged horses. It is evidently
of febrile origin, yet its proximate causes are not known.
It appears like smallpox or measles in the human subject,
but it is not contagious. Sometimes it is so mild as to come
and go without remedial measures, and the tumour has been
absorbed naturally. Mr. Castley ("Veterinarian," vol. iii.,
p. 426) remarks, that " often when a young horse is looking
sickly, delicate, or thriftless, farmers or breeders will say,
' he is breeding the strangles,' or that ' strangles is hanging
about him, and he will not get better until he gets over that
complaint.' " The explanation of which appears to be, that
the animal is suffering more or less from " strangle-fever " —
a fever, the disposition and tendency of which is to produce
local tumour and abscess; and most commonly in that situa-
tion— underneath the jaws — from which it has obtained tire
appellation of " strangles."

Symptoms. — High-fed colts are moie liable to be seized with
it at an early age than those which are kept upon a lower
diet. The first symptom is cough, differing but little from
that of a common cold, only that there is a more abundant

DISEASES OF THE DIAPHRAGM.

291

discharge from the nostrils, of a yellowish colour, and
unaccompanied by disagreeable odour : it is also in most
cases slightly purulent. There is, besides, a discharge of
slimy stringy fluid from the mouth. The membrane which
lines the nose is red. It will be found that considerable
swelling has taken place under the jaws, accompanied
by fever ; which is distinguished by want of appetite, a
quick pulse, a hot mouth, and a general weakness of the
whole frame, producing a dejected appearance. There is
likewise a quick motion of the flanks, and coldness in the
ears and limbs. The swelling is in the form of a tumour
between the jaws, increasing with various degrees of
rapidity, occupying nearly the entire space, and giving pain
to the horse when eating ; who also manifests a great
disinclination to feed. This is accompanied by thirst, but
the swelling prevents him from indulging in water; and
having swallowed a mouthful or two, he desists. After
which, and even after eating, he is frequently seized with a
spasmodic cough, with suff"ocating symptoms. The swelling
is one uniform body, and consequently differs from the
enlargement of the glands in catarrh and glanders.

Treatment. — As the visible complaint consists in the
swelling between the jaws, the first thing to be attended to
is, to bring the tumour to suppuration. A sharp blister
is the first thing to be applied. This, administered in time,
will facilitate the discharge a week or two earlier than it
would have taken place if allowed to come to a period
naturally It will also have a tendency to draw out the
inflammation from the mucous membrane of the throat, and
consequently ameliorate the cough. The following stimu-
lating ointment may be applied with advantage after the
removal of the blister : —

Camphor ..... 1 drachm.
Hog's-lard ..... 1 ounce.
Oil of origanum . . . • i drachm.

Shortly after having been anointed Avith the above, a large
hot poultice may be applied, and both repeated twice a-day
until the tumour is full of matter and is quite soft. It fre-
quently breaks of its own accord ; but it is better that it
should be laid open with a lancet, from the bottom upwards.
The matter must be well squeezed out, and the lips of the
incision kept open with a piece of lint for several days, until
the matter is completely discharged ; otherwise, a second
tumour may be formed, which frequently proves difiicult of
cure. After the matter is dislodged, a small quantity of
Friar's balsam should be injected into the cavity of the
tumour daily. It will be found mat where tumours break
spontaneously, the lips of the wound, from having uneven
edges, will be more difficult to cure.

Should the neighbouring glands show signs of induration,
tub them with an ointment of hydriodate of potass daily.

At this stage of the complaint, if there is no unusual degree
of fever, a gentle laxative and a tonic to follow may be
administered. Cooling medicines will be beneficial should
there be fever. If there is no fever, the animal will soon
manifest a desire to eat. His food should principally be
oatmeal gruel and bran mashes, with a supply of green
meat, consisting of cut grass, or tares. Should these not
keep the bowels sufficiently open — which is of great im-
portance in diseases of this kind — then a laxative must be
given. This will have the effect of preventing eruptions,
which sometimes follow the strangles ; and nothing more
will be required, if it operates freely.

If, however, the complaint is followed by weakness,
it will be necessary to have recourse to tonic medicine,
which should be repeated daily until tho horse recovers
strength.

In bad cases of strangles the parotid gland will swell to a
great size, and even become ulcerated ; and in other instances
an accumulation of fluid will take place, and burst into the
cavity of the mouth, being discharged through the nostrils.
The Eustachian tubes, too, have been found full of pus. In
some cases the tumefaction has been so great as to call for
Bkonchotomy (see Operations), which is explained else-
where, and delineated in Plate XIV., Fig. 5.

Strangles seems incidental to almost every horse ; and as
it is a complaint which is often of long continuance, foreign
veterinary surgeons conceived the idea of inoculating to
produce a milder degree of the disease. This they performed
either with part of the discharge from the nostrils, or with
matter from the tumour. In many cases this has had a
beneficial result, the disease being both shorter in its dura-
tion and milder in its effects.

DISEASES OF THE DIAPHRAGM.

The ^reat muscle which divides the chest from the abdo-
men, or the organs of respiration and heart from those of
digestion and secretion, is liable to two lesions, spasm and
rupture.

Spasm of the Diaphrag'ni is marked by a loud thumping
noise, audible some yards from the suSerer. The pulse felt
at the chest is feeble and rapid, and but scarcely perceivable
at the jaws. The breathing is quick and laborious, and
the animal shivers distressingly. Over exertion on a full
stomach is often the cause. Bleeding, aperient medicines,
and then a sedative, are the active treatment called for.

Rupture of the Diaphragm, induced by the same causes
as spasm. Is, if extensive, fatal. If slightly ruptured, the
horse has been known to live with symptoms of broken
wind. Extra exertion will be at once fatal, as the viscera
would come through the fissure and become strangulated.
There is no treatment for ruptured diaphragm.

292

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

CHAPTER XXVIL

DISEASES OF THE HEART, PERICARDIUM, AND BLOOD-VESSEIS.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

Air, food, and exercise in good quality, and proper quantity
i.ce the first requirements for good blood ; with these, the
ijroduction of the fluid which builds up every structure of the
!)ody — bone, sinew, and muscle — would remain in due propor-
tion and quality, and disease (if nature did not scorn to be
bound by our limited logic) would be unknown. The
constituents of the blood are given already at Page 350, to
which the reader is referred. The organic functions of the
other viscera may be summed up in two words, assimilation,
and SECRETION. That of the blood, the product of assimila-
tion, is to build up and renovate. Every part of the living
animal is constantly running into decay from use, and
requiring renovation ; a process which begins with birth and
ends with death. The air and food, then, as we said in the
first instance, form the blood, the residue of unassimilated
matter being expelled as foeces. The blood thus supplied
would soon over-nourish the system, and occasion what
is called plethora, but this again has its escape in the excre-
tories which throw ofi'its useless or redundant portions.

The blood is the medium through which all this is accom-
plished ; but we shall here merely look upon it in connection
with the organs which mechanically distribute it, its vitia-
tion embracing the "ivhole range of diseases.

Until the application of the stethescope, and the general
practice of auscultation, dis>^ase of the heart was, as a rule,
unrecognised by the veterinarian, and consequently treat-
ment adopted for other and often non-existent disorders. So
far as the heart itself was concerned, this was, perhaps, of
the less importance, as heart-disease in the horse may be
considered an organic and incurable defect. To form a
correct judgment, however, of the true seat of a disease, is of
the very highest consequence ; and a study and practice of
auscultation is of the greatest use to this end. In the
horse, the practised ear will readily discriminate between the
natural beat of the heart and that accompanying disease.
-4 reference to Circulation and Respiration, Chapter IV.,
in Structure and Anatomy, pp. 204 — 2'^8, will show the
mechanical action of the heart and pulsation. These move-
ments in a state of health must first be well understood,
especially as to the strength of the shock or beat, and to the
time {oT rythm) of its recurrence. We must also examine tha
animal when he is in a state of quietude and has not bee

exciting himself and (ake care that he is not alarmed at oui
presence or proceedings, all of which any observer can
quickly judge of

Of course, we must expect a fat or a thick-made horse to
give less sound than a lean one, with thin Avails or parietes
to his chest. In lean and narrow-chested horses, too, the
heart may be listened to on the right as well as the left
side, while in round fat ones it will be only well audible on
the left and over a smaller extent just opposite the heart.
Violent exercise, or fear, will often cause palpitation, or
such violent beats as may be heard, not only in the region
of the chest, but in the abdomen and other parts of the body.
By hypertrophy, or enlargement of the substance of the
heart, the impulse to the touch is increased, but the sound
diminished ; by simple dilatation, or increase of the size
without thickening of its walls, weakness and diminution
of impulse is produced ; and lastly, when increase of its
substance and dilatation of its cavities takes place, the
violence of the dead abrupt blows strongly repels the hand.

The diseases of the heart divide themselves into three
classes, — those aflecting the substance of the heart ; those
of the surrounding membrane (pericardium) ; those of the
lining membrane, and of the valves and coats of the great
blood-vessels.

inflammation of the heart (carditis).

French writers treat upon this disorder in the routint
style, describing its symptoms, causes, and treatment; but as
it is clearly pe icarditis they describe, further reference need
not be made to them The signs of heart-disease should,
however, be known, as the animal so afilicted is a very risky
investmeiit. " He may appear pleasing and even skittish,"
says Mayhew, " yet his existence shall at any movement
be cut short." Auscultation is the surest means of detec-
tion. The visible signs, however, are sometimes sufficiently
emp^iatic to admit of no doubt. , The eye is expressive of
anguish ; the countenance is haggard ; the pulse irregular ;
the throbs of the heart visible ; and occasionally as visible
on the right side as on the left. The carotid artery can be
seen to pulsate in the neck. The regurgitation within the
jugular vein is nearly always excessive — it often reaches
almost to the jaw. It takes place by jerks, which ascend
higher and higher, each becoming smaller and weaker as it
mounts upward. The appetite is sometimes ravenous, but

DISEASES OF THE HEART, PERICARDIUM, AND BLOODVESSELS.

298

more often it is fastidious. The breathing is not accelerated
in any marked degree, which distinguishes heart disease
from many other disorders. The animal suddenly stops,
trembles, and appears about to fall ; but, often as suddenly
recovers and pro^peds upon the journey. Sometimes the
horse -will refuse to move, and is always very unwilling to
turn in the stall. Occasionally he will open his mouth as
if yawning, and then heave a long-drawn sigh. No peculiar
symptom, however, can be specified as heralding the final
attack. Death is always at hand, and comes without any
special warning. Worse than all, it is most imminent when
the horse is going at speed.

INFIAMMATION OF THE PERICARDIUM (PERICARDITIS).

This is the disorder usually known as inflammation of
the heart. The membranous envelope of the heart is by no
means unfrequently the seat of inflammation. In opening
horses that die of pleuritic disease, nothing is more common
than to find efiusions of lymph and water within the peri-
cardiac cavity, as though the one membrane had morbidly
sympathised with the other.

Mr. Pritchard, veterinary surgeon, of Wolverhampton,
has communicated to "The Veterinarian" some interest-
ing cases of heart-disease, whence we may gather much
information. The effused lymph is mostly disposed in
layers upon the internal surface of the sac, and upon the
exterior of the heart, giving additional substance to the one,
and often a complete coating to the other, and, in some
instances, forming adhesions between the two. In this
manner, the pericardium may be increased in thickness to
an enormous extent. The lymph assumes the same albumin-
ous character as it does in the chest, and on being cut into,
while recent, displays a honey-comb sort of texture, having
its interstices loaded with a yellow serous fluid ; in fact,
putting on the same appearance, only that it is more con-
crete, a? it does within the chest, and undergoing — should it
remain — the same changes towards organization. In process
of time, and when it exists as an additional lining to the
pericardium, it grows close and firm, and attenuated in sub-
stance, and turns of a white colour. It has been found
converted into a substance of the nature of cartilage, an
eighth of an inch in thickness.

Pericarditis may assume either the acute or chronic type.
It may exist as an idiopathic afi'ection ; but in most cases it
will be found to be secondary — consecutive on inflammation
of the pleura. That it may, at least in a chronic form,
commence by itself and run its course alone, is in some
measure proved by the cases of heart dropsy which every
now and then present themselves unaccompanied by disease
•^f other parts.

DROPST OF THE HEART, (HYDROPS PERICARDII),

Is that stage of pericarditis where efi'usion has taken place,
and the membranous sac is supposed to contain both lymph
and water.

" The symptoms of this afi'ection, apart from pleurisy and
pneumonia," Mr. Pritchard informs us, " are well marked.
They are, palpitation of the heart ; the carotid arteries beat
forcibly, and are readily recognized on applying the finger
to their course in the neck. There is a good flow of blood
through the jugulars, a copious return of blood through the
neck, when the state of the pulse is considered, the surface
of the body and extremities is warm ; and these latter
symptoms continue until within one or two hours of the
horse's death." " In addition to the above symptoms, there
is such an expression of alarm and anxiety in the counte-
nance of the animal as no other malady produces." " The
respiration is but little disturbed."

The fluid collected in most cases resembles the serum of
the blood. Sometimes it is red, from being tinged with
exuded blood — at others, it is turbid from lymph floating in
it — often it is sero-purulent in character, and looks like so
much whey. Now and then we find pus in flakes mingled
with it. In quantity it varies considerably — from a pint to
a gallon or more. The horse generally sinks from other
disease, or from constitutional irritation, before the cavity
is filled. Mr. P. mentions the case of a cart-horse which
occurred while he was a pupil at the Veterinary Col-
lege, whose death, without any previous ilness, took place
most suddenly and unexpectedly, in whom the pericardiac
sac was found distended to that degree with water, that it
was inundated and choked in its action.

RUPTURE or THE HEART.

This is more frequent than is supposed. Where it takes
place, even from violent exertion, it is the result of previous
enlargement, dilatation, or aneurism of the aorta. Mr.
Percivall says (" Hipopathology," Vol. ii. p. 167), "During
one of the racing meetings that used to be held annually at
Woolwich, one of the horses, who had vehemently contested,
and lost only by half a neck, a heat, suddenly fell and
died just after he had passed the winning-post ; I after-
wards examined the body, and therein found the heart
burst : I think it was the right auricle that had given way —
the animal had literally died of ' a broken heart.' In my
regimental predecessor's time, one of the troop-horses,
intended to mount king's guard, from the same cause,
dropped down dead on the parade." There are several
cases of rupture of the heart in the " Veterinarian," and
other works. As there is no treatment to be prescribed
for such fatal lesions, we will not waste space upon them.
Where disease of this important organ is suspected, atten-
tion to the general health, and regular, moderate, and
slower work than the animal has been accustomed to, may
prolong life, and preserve the utility of the animal in a
humbler capacity than the saddle, the ast trap, or the
carriage.

294

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

ANEURISM OF THE AORTA.

The horse is by no means so subject to this fatal dis-
organization as man. It is, however, met with generally as
a consequence of ulceration. A number of cases are given
in the French veterinary books. The horse with this
' weak point " in his main blood-vessel, (or in the iliac
artery, which also occurs,) is past all treatment, and may
be looked on as " a dead 'un " for any serviceable purpose.

INFLAMED VEIN (PHLEBITIS).

Inflammation of the vein is an aiFection now and then
met with in practice, and ordinarily a discreditable result
of careless or clumsy bleeding, and the efi"usion of blood in
the divided integuments and membranes. A dirty or rusty
fleame has been known to produce it.

The natural process by which the parts wounded in
letting blood are repaired, may be thus described : — As soon
as the aperture in the skin is pinned up, the blood extrava-
sated between it and the opening in the vein, into the
cellular tissue, becomes coagulated, by which the latter
is so completely plugged that all further escape of blood
is effectually prevented. Soon afterwards, the lips of the
wound in the vein take on inflammation, and adhesive
matter is eff'used, which so perfectly restores their union,
that, in the course of but a few days, it will be found to
liave assumed the appearance and texture of the parietes
of the vein itself. In the interim, the coagulum between
the skin and the vein is becoming every day less and less,
until, by a process of absorption, it is totally removed.
Lastly, the new-formed membrane — that which but lately
was adhesive matter — occupying the site of the puncture,
in time acquires such perfect identity, as to be with diffi-
culty distinguishable from the coats of the vein them-
selves.

Shoula anything occasion a fresh separation of the lips of
the wound, and thereby destroy this natural adhesive pro-
cess, suppuration will probably ensue, the parts will fester,
but the hair will generally become matted over the external
orifice, so that, until we come to disturb it, no matter makes
its appearance. At the same time the parts become tumid
and hot, and tender on pressure. In fine, everything in-
dicates the approach, or rather the presence, of internal
inflammation.

Inflamed vein has also been observed to occur when the
lancet has been employed by operators not long used to
that instrument, which has occasioned the integumental
and venous opening to be not exactly opposed to each
other. Whenever, therefore, an early extravasation of
blood foUows bleeding, first having removed the pin, care-
fully press out the effused blood with the fingers ; and,
if there appear no likelihood of more haemorrhage, do not
again insert the pin, but tie the horse's head up day and
night. Should the swelling not be observed immediately,
or when it happens *;hat inflammation has already taken

place within the cellular membrane, first treat by rest, and
frequent bathing with a cold solution of muriate of am-
monia and vinegar ; or apply a mild blister. If the tumour
suppurate, as soon as fluctuation is felt, make a dependinj,'
opening, or introduce a seton through it. We will now
consider something further than the mere integumental
inflammation, and come at once to the point we set out at —
the inflammation of the substance of the vein itself, which
is either communicated from the integuments, or origmates
within the vessel from the puncture, which is supposed to
occasion a peculiar inflammation of the inner coat of a
wounded vein.

The Symptoms of the injury appear about the third or
fourth day usually, when the lips of the cut begin to gape,
and a little lymph is thrown out ; the next day the edges
are more cast back, as well as more red and expanded. A
sanious discharge issues, or perhaps hismorrhage occurs.
The tumefied vein now feels corded, hot, and tender ; ana if
the progress of the inflammation be not stopped, the tume-
faction extends along the course of the vein. If in the
jugular, it proceeds towards the head ; and if it occur in
any of the other veins of the body, as the saphena and plate
vein, it extends towards the heart, hardening the vessel
into a cord-like substance. This appears to be the con-
sequence of the inflammatory action, by forming the con-
tained blood of the venous trunk into a firm coagulum, and
therefore all attempts to save it afterwards fail. Suppura-
tion of the tumour now often appears ; though sometimes
the punctured part itself will present little more than a
spongy mass, from which a grumous liquid distils, while
abscesses form in various situations around the course of
the vessel. As the morbid action extends upwards, it fre-
quently involves the whole neck, and often affects the side
of the head, from which results hindrance to motion : and
often some difficulty is experienced in eating and arink-
ing. There is commonly constitutional disturbance. In
some cases the symptomatic fever runs very high. The
pulse has been above ninety ; and the excess of irrita-
bility brought on has destroyed life.

Treatment. — The course to be pursued will depend on
the state of the disease. It is of importance to keep the
horse as quiet as possible, and to restrain the neck from
movement ; which latter is best effected by tying up the
head, and giving him gruel for food Tt is also recom-
mended to apply a mild blister in the course of tne tume-
fied vein, which seems to assist by lessening the general
inflammation : this, in fact, is an indication never to be lost
sight of

When, however, we have no hopes of saving tue vein
from obliteration, but, on the contrary, a disposition mani-
fests itself to form abscesses in various situations we must
proceed to more active measures The abscesses must
be opened freely with a knife, or, if one appears to commu-
nicate with another, setons may be passed through the
sinuses by which they are joined. The head must be tied

PLETHORA AND ANEMIA.

295

up, and blister follow blister ; another being re-applied
before the action of the first has ceased. In this fashion
the life will be saved, although the vein will be lost ; the
horse subsequently may become equal to the severest
service, though immediately after the loss of a jugular he
may require some care. He must not be fed from the
ground, or ridden hard, for twelve months succeeding his
recovery. His manger ought to be elevated, and his water
even lifted up, so as to prevent him from stooijing his head.
At first, his food ought to be such as requires little mastica-
tion, but in three months he may return gradually to hay
and oats. At \he termination of a year, he may feed off the
ground.

A marked morbid consequence of bloodletting arises from
bleeding in the plate or in the thigh vein ; in which the
fleame often passes through the vein into the fascia that lies
between the vessel and the muscles. In these cases the
fascia inflames, and a formation of pus takas place within
it, which, as it cannot escape, insinuates itself to some
depending situation : an opening should, therefore, be made
to evacuate the matter, or a seton may be inserted for this
purpose, and the part be repeatedly blistered ; the animal
being taken good care of, and not put to hard work too soon
afterwards.

Mr. Percivall recommends the actual cautery. The
" budding iron " " when haemorrhage takes place, should
be introduced at a red heat, to sear the interior ; our object
being twofold — to seal up the vein, and afterwards to slough
the wound."

PLETHORA AND ANEMIA.

Plethora, or richness of blood, is a condition premonitory
of disease ; poverty of blood, also, may give rise to its
production We are now about to learn that the system
may become vitiated or corrupted, and disease in that man-
ner be engendered in it. There are various ways in
which noxious matters may obtain introduction into the
system, some of which are palpable and open to demon-
stration ; while others elude our observation so far as to
become apparent only through their effects. The channels
through which they gain admission are, the alimentary
canal, the air-passages, and the skin.

An animal may eat that which is unwholesome, mingled
with his food, or he may drink water that is insalubrious ;
or he may, under some casual or incidental circumstance,
lick in and swallow, mixed with his saliva, matter of a con-
taminating or morbific nature ; in either of which Avays he
may lay the foundation of disease in his system. We know
that within the alimentary canal is elaborated the chyle ;
that the chyle feeds the blood ; and that the blood nou-
rishes and repairs every part of the body : consequently it
is natural to suppose that any hurtful or morbific matters
existing within that canal, will contaminate the chyle ; the
chyle, the blood ; and the blood, the system In this man-
ner medicines, given internally, affect tne constitution :

there are many whose presence, independently of their
effects, can, a very short time after their administration, be
satisfactorily attested in the blood. Madder has been
mixed with the food of hogs ; and some weeks afterwards,
on their being killed, has been found tincturing with ita
scarlet dye even the inmost parts of the animal's bones.
As pastures are known to have their degrees of nutritive-
ness, so do they possess their salubrious and insalubrious
properties, arising not only from baneful plants that
may be growing among the herbage, but even from the
quality of the grass itself.

Blood may exist in the animal body to a greater amount
than is required for its economy, or is compatible with its
health ; in like manner the same fluid may, under parti-
cular circumstances, exist in a less aggregate quantity than
is natural or salutary : these conditions are vulgarly
called its richness and poorness. In fact, in the one the
blood is redundant, in the other, deficient in nutritive
properties. In a general way, most domesticated animals
consume more food than is required, or is converted into
nutriment ; a circumstance that, considered in connection
with the customary mode in which horses at the present
day are treated, renders a case of anaemia proceeding from
lack of aliment of somewhat rare occurrence. Such a con-
dition, however, may and does occasionally proceed from
torpid or defective action in the digestive, or absorbent, or
assimilating powers of the system.

Anaemia may give rise to disease, either from the insuffi-
ciency of the quantity of the blood for the purposes of the
animal economy, or from the thinness or poorness of its
quality. It is too prevailing a practice in the regimen ot
the stable, to keeip horses "short of water," under the
impression that much fluid is injurious ; a notion that pro-
bably originated in the very proper custom of giving water
very sparingly at the time the animal is required to exert
himself. Hunters and racers are not allowed any, or but
very little indeed, on the morning of the day they are to go
to work. This, however, furnishes no good reason why the
animal is to be debarred from quenching his thirst after his
work is performed.

The water the animal drinks may prove the vehicle for
the introduction of disease. It may contain some noxious
impregnation, mineral, saline, or of other nature ; or, it
may, from being long stagnant, have become putrescent.
Water forms an excellent vehicle for the exhibition of such
medicinal substances as are almost or quite tasteless and
inodorous. Mr. Percivall recommends the administering of
arsenic and mercury in this mannei. It is in the recollec-
tion of all, that race-horses at Newmarket were poi-
soned by the treacherous introduction of arsenic into theii
water-troughs.

Morbid or contagious matter may likewise gain intro-
duction into the system through the alimentary canal,
though we have not much apparent reason to believe such
is often the case ; nor are we by any means well advised in

296

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

regard to its probable consequences when such does, or is
supposed to occur. A horse running at the nose from
glanders, will drop the discharge into the manger, and
smear it upon the rack and other parts of the stable within
reach of his head, from which situations the matter, become
probably dry and encrusted, may subsequently be licked off
by some other horse occupying the same stable. All this
may, and no doubt does, occasionally happen ; considering,
however, how much alive horse-owners now-a-days are to
the danger of glanders, together with other circumstances of
improvement, it is by no means, a common or even very
likely occurrence.

Through the air-passages it is that disease finds the most
ready inroad into the blood of the horse. Considering how
accessible, and at the same time how susceptible these parts
are, and how much they in particular suffer by the change
from a state of nature to one of domestication, it becomes
no matter of surprise to us that they should prove so frail a
mediun\. The air an animal breathes is a more common
vehicle of the seeds of disease than the food he consumes.
Miasms, influenza, animal and malignant efiluvia, all by
turns pervade the atmosphere, and exert their influences on
the delicate and sensitive membrane lining the air-passages ;
through it tainting the system, either by absorption or by
direct effect on the blood itself in its course through the
lungs. The natural stimulus of this membrane is pure air —
at least air free from any irritating property ; whereas, the
atmosphere of the stable is rarely free from animal exhala-
tions, and but too often imbued with animal poison. The
subject of atmospheric influences, in-doors as well as out of
doors, is one on which we greatly lack information ; and he
will be eminently serving the cause of veterinary science
who successfully embarks in its investigation.

Through the skin, densely clothed as almost every part is
with hair, disease finds a difficult entry into the system.
We know, however, from experience that many medica-
ments rubbed into parts whose skin is thin and almost
hairless, — the insides of the thighs, sheath, muzzle, &c., —
will take effect on the constitution. We therefore cannot
doubt the possibility of disease being imtroduced in a similar
manner, though we believe instances of it to be rare where
there has been no abrasion of urface. For, so long as the
cuticle remains entire, there is an evident indisposition in
the absorbent pores of the skin to imbibe any morbific or
noxious matters : destroy, however, the cuticular covering,
and the disinclination ceases to exist. Even upon the bare
membrane of the nose, glanderous matter may be applied
without ill consequences ; although its effect has proved
certain in any part of the body by inoculation. Such is the
case, likewise, with the virus of rabies. So long as the inte-
grity of the skin remains unbroken, there is little reason to
apprehend any ill consequences, even though the saliva may
have been resting upon its surface.

SANGUINEOUS AND SEROUS CONGESTION.

In those parts of the body in which the serum-bearing ves-
sels terminate, — many of them in exhalants, — through these
terminations exhales a sero-albuminous fluid for the pur-
poses of moisture and lubrication. Now it frequently
happens that accumulations of this serous fluid take place,
imperceptibly to us, as well as unconsciously, at least with-
out producing any inconvenience, to the animal himself,
and without any previous or existent signs of inflamma-
tion, such are called serous congestions. These cases can
hardly be called inflammatory, seeing that they occur with-
out the combination of signs mentioned before : viz. heat,
redness, SAvelling, and pain, which all consider to mark the
existence of inflammation. Indeed, often the only one
among them that we can recognize is swelling, and that
manifestly owing to the presence of the collected fluid. It
is by no means uncommon to meet with a circumscribed
tumour in some part of the body where the skin is loose ;
which, on being opened, proves to be a collection of serous
fluid in the cellular tissue, and which has come on without
any antecedent inflammatory action whatever.

In the internal cavities of the body, likewise, we occa-
sionally find accumulations of serous fluid, without any
accompanying traces of inflammation. In the cavity of
the pericardium ; in the ventricles of the brain ; and, also,
within the thorax and abdomen. In this respect there
appears to be remarkable sympathy evinced between these
several parts. Should a horse die from water in the chest
(hydrothorax), we find water collected in his belly, and like-
wise within his brain ; in which two last-mentioned cavities
the effusion may be regardeii as the result of serous conges-
tion.

Sanguineous and serous congestion may exist in com-
bination. When a horse's legs fill from standing in the
stable (which they do from serous infiltration into the cells
of the cellular membrane), the tumour is not the result of
inflammation, but of sanguineous and serous congestion, in
consequence of standing long without exercise. Blood accu-
mulates in these parts remote from the heart ; the seriferous
vessels especially suffer from distension, and the easiest mode
in which they can relieve themselves is to suffer the fluid to
exude through their exhalant terminations. A similar
disposition of parts may pervade the whole limb, as well as
any cavity, organ, or part of the body, and thus give rise to
that condition which goes by the general name of dropsy.

Windgalls of all denominations may be regarded rather as
the effect of congestion than of any inflammatory disorder.
They are formed, generally speaking, without heat, and witliou'
causing lameness. They are, in fact, enlarged (hypertrophic
bursiE mucosee, originating in congestion and augmented
secretion, induced by the frequent or undue exertion of part>
and are simply indications of over-work.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^'

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE OESOPHAGUS.— STKlUTUlUi.

^97

CHAPTER XXVIIl.

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE CESOPHAGUS, STOMACH, PERITONEUM, AND INTESTINES.

; I. DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE
CESOPHAGUS.

STRICTURE OF THE (ESOPHAGUS. CHOKING. (ESOPHAGOTOMY.

By stricture, in surgery, is meant the contraction of some
tube or passage of the system. The three most common are
those of the oesophagus, of the intestines, of the neck of the
bladder, and (in the human subject only) of the urethra
and vagina. There are two sorts of stricture — the spas-
modic or sympathetic, and the organic or mechanical. In
the first, the contractile or nervo-motory action is at fault.
In the second, the lining membrane is thickened, and there
is often an alteration in structure, almost or quite obstructing
the passage. Sympathetic stricture is owing to other than
local causes, and is noted elsewhere under Strangles, &c.,
the organic or mechanical stricture will be here spoken of

The gullet or oesophagus of the horse is a most delicate
organ, yet barbarous violence is often practised on it by
grooms, carters, and farriers. Its lining mucous membrane
is thrown into small folds or wrinkles, marking the amount
of distension intended by nature. Its outside is enveloped
by a large mass of cellular tissue, to ensure its independence
of motion, unembarrassed by the surrounding parts. Its
channel is small, but large and strong enough for an
animal which masticates a long time before it attempts to
swallow, and to which nature has forbidden the power to
vomit. Yet, when some foreign substance, ignorantly or
accidentally administered, becomes impacted in this deli-
cately-organised structure, the butt end of a carter's whip is
employed to drive the obstructing substance onward. In
the words of Mayhew, " Should the obstruction be situated
low down the gullet, the whip handle is neither small
enough nor pliable enough to reach the offending object.
Should it be high up, the mass is thrust partially onward,
beyond reach of the human hand, and ultimate relief rendered
difficult indeed. As the passage grows narrower, greater
violence is resorted to, and the thrust is persevered in till
the whip moves onward, and the stablemen congratulate
each other that all is right at last."

" When the whip seemed to yield," continues Mr. Mayhev,
" something more than the obstruction gave way ; the mem-
branous wall of the tube was ruptured, and an almost inevita-
ble death awaits the unfortunate animal. He makes every
eflfort in his power to complete his, imperfect swallow, and
P P

gulp down the cause of his distress. Should he not succeed
his throat and neck become, through his inefi'ectual exertions,
spasmodically drawn up ; and probably he gives every now
and then a loud shriek, expressive of anguish. Should he
attempt to swallow water, the fluid, together with the
saliva abounding in his mouth, returns through his nostrils.
The refusal of food, with symptoms of apparent sore throat,
connected with circumstances of a suspicious nature, should
induce us to examine the pharynx and oesophagus well
with our fingers, to detect any prominence ; also, to give
the animal water, with a view of ascertaining whether
there be obstruction of any sort or not. If the fluid is
ejected through the nose, we should be warranted in intro-
ducing a probang, than which, in case the obstructing
body lie below the neck, we possess no other means so sure
of discovering its seat, or so readily removing it. A pro-
bang, however, is an instrument in the possession of
professional persons only, and one which often happens
to be at home when they want it abroad, and therefore they
are frequently forced to seek a substitute. A stout cane
might answer the purpose. In all cases no time is to be
lost : water — often a great assistant — and the probang, are
to be immediately had recourse to."

A word about the probang for the horse. It should be
like that used for the human subject, consisting of a slip of
fine whalebone, having a sponge at one end. When required,
saturate the sponge with water or sweet oil, and sponge it
dry before driving it down the oesophagus. The material
wiU adapt itself to the diameter of the gullet without
injury, and will not be difficult to draw back, even should it
enter the cardiac orifice.

Mr. Percivall suggests a perforated or tubular probang,
through which, when the obstruction had been sent for-
ward, fluids might be injected without the irritation or
loss of time of a fresh introduction. The patent stomach
syringe is more efl'ective, and, following the probang first
described, will be found preferable.

Mr. King, veterinary surgeon, Stanmore, has furnished
some cases to the " Veterinarian," which illustrate the
subject by examples.

The following shows how a practitioner may be led
astray by false accounts : — Mr. K. was called to a horse
belonging to a coach proprietor. The owner said his horse
" had a bad sore throat, and could not swallow." Mr. K.

298

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

examined the throat and gullet, but, finding nothing, sus-
pected nothing. The horse was blistered and drenched ; but
the liquids all returned, without any effort being made to
swallow them. The animal died ; and, on examination,
was found, within the thoracic portion of the oesophagus, a
ball composed of the ashes of tobacco, enveloped in double
paper. At first, all knowledge concerning this discovery
was stoutly denied ; but afterwards a confession came, that
the ball had been administered for worms. Had not such
delusion been practised, the probang would have been used,
and, Mr. K. thinks, have proved effectual.

Mr. King observes, there is a notion among grooms that
a new-laid egg will improve the condition of horses. Its
administration has, in some instances, been the means of
choking the animal.

Mr. King says he was once called to a horse with
a reported " sore throat." The groom " swore " he knew no
cause for it. Mr. K., however, had reasons for entertaining
doubts of the man's veracity, and therefore proceeded at
once to pass a probang. On the return of the instrument,
the bulb was found covered with fragments of egg shell
The horse speedily recovered. Two similar cases fell under
his notice in cattle practice.

The following fatal case of the same description occurred
to Mr. T. Cooper, veterinary surgeon, Coleshill, Warwick.

Mr. C. was called to Dunton Hall, to a bay horse that
was taken suddenly unwell. He found the animal " cough-
ing violently, and stamping with his fore feet ; with saliva
running from his mouth, which he occasionally attempted
to swallow, but the greater part returned through his
nostrils." There was evidently obstruction. He was told
the horse had been eating Swedish turnips. Mr. C. passed
a whalebone probang down the oesophagus, " and a rounded
substance could be distinctly seen driven before it. The
horse after this appeared to be relieved : he ate some hay
and drank some water, and was left for the night." " Next
day he is much worse. He does not cough, but heaves very
much at the flank ; refuses all food and drink ; is dejected ;
saliva with mucus runs from his nose, and much of it he
swallows." He was bled ; took an aperient with digitalis ;
and his throat was blistered, from a notion that "the
substance might have injured his throat." Third day :
much the same. " Takes gruel from a bottle, but will not
eat." Mr. C. from the first had no hope of saving him, and
early next morning he died. On dissection, a large-sized
hen's egg, entirely whole, was found firmly impacted in the
oesophagus, within a few inches of its cardiac termination ;
the parietes of the tube around the egg being "much
dilated, and ulcerated nearly through." The groom con-
fessed he had given the egg a few hours before Mr. C. was
sent for, with a view of improving the horse's condition.
The balls which had been given must have passed the egg
in a liquid state, probably along with the gruel.

The following case shows a successful removal of a soft
obstruction without resorting to oesophagotomy.

Mr. King was summoned to a horse that had had a ball
administered to him by the groom, wrapped up in writing
paper ; since which he had ejected everything he had eaten
or drunk. A prominence appeared in the neck, a little above
its middle, but all means to force the obstructing body
onwards were without avail. At length he determined on
cutting down upon the oesophagus ; having done which —
without opening the tube — he found the obstruction arose
from the lodgment of the ball the groom had given. Feel-
ing the tumour soft and compressible, he squeezed and
kneaded it with his fingers and thumb for some time : after
which he left it in statu quo. Shortly afterwards the ball-
was by natural efforts carried down into the stomach, and
liquids were taken and easily passed. It was not for some
time, however, that the animal became enabled to take
solids into his stomach. They were rejected through the
mouth and nose the moment they had descended as low as
the place where the ball had stopped. Mr. King thought
that this must have been owing to the presence of a stric-
ture— an opinion he conceived warrantable from the circum-
stances of the ball being in itself but a small one and of
soft composition, yet incapable of being stirred by the pro-
bang.

(ESOPHAaOTOMy.

When the means detailed under the head of Chokinq prove
ineffectual for the removal of the foreign body obstructing
the canal of the oesophagus, the operation of cutting into
the tube, " oesophagotomy," is our resource ; unless it happen
that the obstruction is below the neck, when no knife can
reach it. The same operation may likewise be practised
with a view of overcoming stricture, or for the purpose of
injecting medicinal or alimentary matters into the stomach,
when there is no possibility of introducing them through the
mouth. In the hands of a competent veterinary surgeon
there is nothing to dread in the performance of oesophago-
tomy ; although, from the oesophagus lying behind the wind-
pipe, and much deeper, and there being the jugular veins and
carotid arteries, the par vagum, and sympathetic and recur-
rent nerves by the sides of the trachea, the scalpel requires to
be handled with caution as well as skill. Recollecting that
the oesophagus, after proceeding down one-third of the neck,
inclines to the loft of the trachea, and before it reaches the
chest gets quite round to the left of that tube, we should
select the left side of the neck, and below the upper third of
it, for the operation. Supposing we take the middle of the
neck, our first incision should be three inches in length, and
directed along the inferior border of the jugular vein ;
which vessel had better be kept distended the while by
pressure from the hand of an assistani The lips of the
wound being kept apart by the assistant, the operator care-
fully prosecutes his dissection through the cellular tissue
with which this hollow abounds, keeping his knife from
wounding the jugular on his right, and guarding against the
carotid artery and nerves which lie enveloped in the cellular

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE STOMACH.— GASTRITIS.

299

substance contiguous to the windpipe, whose situation he
will best ascertain by feeling for the pulsations of the artery.
His object now is to get behind the carotid, and there feel
for the windpipe ; and this being found, will guide him to a
firm, cordiform, shining, red substance, in close apposition
with it ; this is the oesophagus. In case any injection into
it be required, the oesophagus must be drawn forward with
a blunt hook, and opened by a longitudinal incision, and an
appropriate tube introduced. But where the extraction of
a foreign body is our object — a circumstance that will render
the operation much more facile, the tumour being our guide
for incision — nothing remains to be done after this but to
liberate the enclosed substance, and close the wound in the
oesophagus with a common suture of silk thread, and unite
the lips of the external wound with pins and tow twisted
round them, in the same manner as the wound after bleed-
ing is closed. Lastly, a compress upon the wound, confined
by a roller around the neck, will give support, and, perhaps,
be found serviceable. During the healing of the wound the
animal's diet must be liquid, or nearly so : gruel, thick and
nutritive, and boiled roots, and mashes of semi-fluid consis-
tence. Chopped green meat of any soft and succulent kind,
and short-cut grass, are also admissible.

§ II. DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE STOMACH.

BTOMACH STAGGERS. GASTRITIS. INDIGESTION. DIARRH(EA.

COSTIVENESS. SPASMODIC COLIC. TYMPANY, OR WINDY COLIC.

— RUPTURED STOMACH. — PUNCTURED BELLY. SWELLED BELLY,

(dropsy). — WORMS. — BOTS. — CRIB-BITINO AND WIND-SUCKINO.

Stomach Staggers. The disorder known by this name
may be referred to phrenitis or Triad staggers, of which it is
the first or premonitory stage. See ante p 41 7. In this
case, however, the mischief, if observed in time, must be
relieved by the unbinding of the stomach, whose oppression
has involved the brain by recurrent sympathy. Medicine is
often powerless from the gorged state of the intestines, and
bleeding is accelerating death, although the books recommend
it. The first thing is to back-rake, administer a clyster of
salt and water, and drench him with warm water, in which
a couple of teaspoonfuls of the compound spirit of ammonia
is mixed with double that quantity of carbonate soda, to
soften the contents of the stomach. If bleeding is ventured
on, it should be in the sleepy stage, taken from the jugular
veins. The drenching and clystering must be assiduously
followed up till their good efifect is visible. Some ease will
be given to the animal in the sleepy stage by giving him a
cask with a straw pad on it, to rest his heavy head upon. If a
purgative is advisable after the above-mentioned treatment,
give the following drench : —

Barbadoes aloes . . >

CaJomel ....
Oil of pepperraint . . .

Warm water . •

Tinctiu-e of carawaye . .

1 ounce.

1 drachm.

20 drops.

1 pint

1 ounce.

Instead of the common drenching horn, the fluids may be
injected into the stomach with Read's syringe. White
recommends croton oil, 20 to 40 drops, instead of the aloes,
on account of its smaller bulk and more rapid action.

GASTRITIS.

Inflammation of the Stom/ich (Gr., gaster), is unknown in
the horse, except as the result of poisons, acrid substances,
or some powerful stimulant introduced into the stomach.
However, it is sufficiently common from the above causes,
and every case is attended with great danger, though un-
marked by any characteristic symptom. It cannot be easily
distinguished in its severe stage from twist of the intestines,
stone in the bowels, &c.

The mode of treating it has already been detailed under
Stomach Staggers. The symptoms from poison are extreme
distress and restlessness, a loathing of food ; for if anything
be given by the mouth it creates increased pain a long time
afterwards. The animal breaks out into cold sweats ; lies
down and quickly rises again, as in inflammation of the
bowels ; becomes early and greatly prostrated in strength ;
and has a pulse usually quick and much oppressed. There
may be purging, and generally is, though the opposite state
may also exist. The signs are also materially shaped by the
nature of the substance swallowed. The treatment will depend
on timely detection of the true cause. All tests, however,
are of more use to find out the reason of death, than to save
life. The general treatment consists in a rejection of blood-
letting, the administration of plenty of gruei, starch water,
chalk and water, and abundance of opium. White gives a
number of cases of death under this heading, from " a pinl
of vinegar," an " infusion of two ounces of tobacco in a quart
of beer," " two ounces of ether," &;c. They cannot be pro-
perly considered as " gastritis " in the sense of a disease, but
as cases of chemical irritants inducing inflammation of the
stomach traceable after death. In cases where there is
reason to suspect that the cause is an overdose of mineral
acids, or an ignorant administration of an excessive quantity
of a purgative drug — chloroform, ether, or opium, by produc-
ing insensibility to pain, may give time for the recovery of the
system from the nervous shock. The following is advised,
where the symptoms are doubtful, and what has been done
to the animal cannot be ascertained. —

Sulphuric ether

3 oimces.

Tincture of opium .

3 ounces.

Carbonate of soda or magnesia .

4 ounces.

Carbonate of ammonia

1 drachm.

Cold gruel

1 quart

CHRONIC GASTRITIS.

This afi"ection is, in our opinion, more common than is
suspected. It is set down as merely " indigestion," and a
consequence of a dyspeptic state of th& gastric juice. This
is plausible, but not all the truth. The disorder is said to
be produced by rearing the animal on soft or sown land.

dUO

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

Mayhew, ■whose account is the best, thus describes it : —
Gastritis, in its chronic form, " is frequently first displayed
at the period when the services of the animal are esteemed
most valuable, or between the fifth and sixth years, long
after the mode of rearing has ceased to operate. The
symptoms are various, and hardly ever alike. The stomach
may affect the nervous system ; then, its complications
become difficult to disentangle. The affection is mostly
declared by an irregularity of bowels and a capriciousness
of appetite The animal starts off violently purging. The
looseness btops as suddenly as it commenced. Obstinate
costiveness then sets in, and each state can be traced to no
obvious reason. The straw or litter may be eaten ravenously,
but all wholesome provender obstinately refused. The
dung shows the condition of the appropriating functions; it
crumbles upon the slightest force being imposed ; it appears
to consist of fibres not agglutinated together. Sometimes
it is coated with mucus, and always smells abhorrently. A
dry cough may be present ; the visible membranes are pallid ;
the mouth feels cool ; the breath is tainted ; the eyes are
sunken ; the respiration is catching ; the belly is pendulous ;
the anus is lax and prominent ; the coat dry and ragged ;
while the body quickly becomes emaciated.

" The slightest exertion produces a thick and copious
sweat. The symptom, however, which is most remarkable,
when the cleanly habits natural to the animal are considered,
is the peculiarity of the appetite. The rack and manger are
generally neglected ; but every unnatural or offensive sub-
stance within reach of the extended jaws, is devoured with
avidity. Woodwork has largely disappeared. Soil and
stones have been removed from the stomachs of creatures
destroyed for incurable disease. Either of the substances
last named, however, are usually spared, so long as a morsel
of plaster, a portion of mortar or of brick, is within reach.
Animals, when in the field, will leave the grass and enter
any ditch to gnaw at bricks and mortar. When confined,
they will, under the morbid influence of this affection,
employ themselves for hours searching for a morsel of
either amongst the straw."

The old custom of purging and bleeding for a case of
this kind is positively injurious. It is better to administer
bitters, alkalies, and sedatives ; — the first, to amend the
appetite ; the second, to correct the acidity of the morbid
secretion ; the third, to destroy the uneasy sensation which
provokes too many of the symptoms.

Sti-ychnia

Bicarbonate of ammonia
Extract of belladonna
Sulphate of zinc

i grain.
1 drachm.
^ drachm.
•J drachm.

Extract of gentian and powdered quassia, of each a sufficiency.

Or,
Powdered nux vomica . , .1 scmple.

Carbonate of potash . ■ .1 drachm.

Extract of belladonna . . ■ i drachm.

Extract of gentian and powdered quassia, of each a sufficiency.
Qive. morning and night.

One of the above balls may be given daily. When theii
benefits seem exhausted, give, instead of a ball, half an
ounce each of liquor arsenicalis, the same of tincture of
ipecacuanha, with one ounce of muriated tincture of iron
and of laudanum, in a pint of water. Also, damp the food
and sprinkle magnesia freely upon it. Then, as the strength
improves, introduce sulphuric ether, one ounce ; water, one
pint, daily ; and ultimately change this last for a quart of
good ale or stout.

INDIGESTION.

Indigestion, in a medical sense, is a phrase of much com-
prehensiveness. In man, whose digestive organs are in some
respects differently constructed from those of horses, there is
much reason for regarding the stomach as the grand agent
of digestion ; but in the horse, who is a graminivorous
animal, one that is almost always feeding, and whose food is
for the most part of a nature that occupies a large volume,
notwithstanding his stomach is in itself but small, that
organ appears to do less towards the completion of the
process, leaving much to be done after the alimentary
matters have passed into the intestines. To say, therefore,
that indigestion is owing to some fault in the stomach alone,
is taking too confined a view. Equally in error should we
stand, were we to hold the stomach altogether without
fault.

The comparatively short time the aliment continues
within the stomach, and what remains to be performed
to complete its digestion in the intestines, accounts for the
latter being oftener the seat of indigestion than the former ;
though the stomach, as we have already seen, may, by
being over-crammed with food or over-distended with air,
become the seat of what may be regarded as the most
dangerous kind of indigestion.

The Symptoms of indigestion are : — the horse does not
thrive as other horses in the same stable, nor is he capable
of the same work ; though his appetite, so far from being
impaired, may be even voracious. Often it is fastidious — good
at one time, indifferent at another. Sometimes it is depraved.
He will gnaw and even eat almost anything within his reach —
dirt or stones, — a brick wall, and particularly the plaster or
mortar from it, — his crib or rack, &c. His coat has an
unhealthy aspect ; it is what is called " pen-feathered " and
arid, and, perhaps, scurfy ; nor is it shed at the usual season.
He is hide-bound. His dung has not the appearance it
ought to have ; it is either darker or lighter than is natural,
has an offensive odour, and, when broken, crumbles to
pieces, and appears to consist of lumps of loosely-compacted
chopped hay, mingled with many entire or imperfectly
changed oats. In the stable, the horse is mostly inclined
to be costive ; but when taken to exercise is soon excited
to purge.

The Ordinary Seat of Indigestion would appear to be
within the villous membrane of the stomach, or else that
which lines the intestinal canal ; both these membranee

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE STOMACH.— DIARRHdlA.

301

furnishing secretions indispensably necessary for the due
conversion of the food into alimentary and faeculent matters.
Independently, however, of any derangement in these mem-
branes, various other causes might be mentioned, sufficient
of themselves to account for the incomplete performance of
the digestive process. Mastication may not have been duly
performed ; the salivary secretion may be bad or defective ;
the liver may not have done its duty ; the bile may be
faulty in quality or quantity, or the pancreatic juice ; or
there may exist some derangement in the peristaltic action,
and consequent irregularity in the progress of the alimen-
tary matters. Other causes may exist, although irritation,
or inflammation, or disorder in some form or other of the
membranous lining of the stomach and bowels appears to
be the ordinary one, and that to which our observations in
this place are confined.

Treatment. — The ordinary mode of dealing with these
cases is to administer two or three doses of physic, at
intervals of a week or so. A preferable procedure to this,
is the old one of dividing the ball into two doses, and
giving them at intervals of three or four days. The
bowels being, in many of these cases, in such a state of
morbid susceptibility that a full dose of purging mass is
very apt to bring on diarrhoea. Besides, keeping up a very
moderate discharge from the bowels is, in the end, produc-
tive of more benefit than giving full doses of physic. When
scouring is actually present, without any medicine having
been given, or in a case where ever so little aloes induces it,
much good may be effected by administering hydrarg. cum
creta in doses of a quarter ounce once or twice a-day, made
into a ball with common treacle. Cases in which, on the
contrary, costiveness is a prominent symptom — there appear-
ing to be a deficiency of bile — are benefited by the exhibi-
tion of a scruple of calomel once a day, either in combination
with a drachm or a drachm and a half of purging mass, or
else followed up by a dose of physic.

Change of diet will often much assist in the restoration
of healthy digestive functions. When green meat can be
procured, soiling in the stable will be advisable ; though in
mild weather, and when flies are not troublesome, a run at
grass is to be preferred. Breathing the open air all day
long, with the moderate exercise the animal takes of his
own accord, being both very conducive to his health. In
the winter season, carrots are given with advantage. Swedish
turnips are also commendable ; and bruised or scalded oats
may be tried. Wlien simply the mastication is found
faulty, mingling the oats with chaff often proves a pre-
ventive. Linseed and malt may be given in mashes, or the
latter may be made into tea ; or hay-tea may be offered ;
though the horse is not likely to drink either of them
voluntarily, unless he has been kept short of water. Drink
should be given ad libituin, the pail being so placed that he
can help himself.

DIARRH(EA.

The leading symptom of diarrhoea is the voiding ot the
faeces in a liquid state. In other words, an increased
peristaltic action with a greater secretion of watery fluid in
the intestines, or a deficiency of the absorbent power as
regards the fluid contents ; or, lastly, an irritability or
slight inflammation of the mucous lining of the stomach.

It is distinguished from dysentery by the purging being
incomplete from the very first ; by its being less copious,
having all the fasces in solution without any glairy mucous
matter ; and, also, by being seldom accompanied with
fever, or any great affection of the general health. Some
horses are very liable to purging on exertion, and such are
termed, by grooms, " washy ; " having usually narrow chests
and lank bellies, in which the intestines have not sufficient
room for their natural processes ; but are pressed on,
and thus forced to a hasty expulsion of the unassimilated
contents.

Causes. — Diarrhoea may arise from mechanical pressure
resulting from the last cause ; thus, a light belly is often
found with occasional diarrhoea ; or it may arise from a
debility in the intestines themselves. A weakened state of
the bowels, inclining to this affection, is often brought on
by drastic purges. It may likewise spring from the intes-
tines containing some offensive matter, which nature is
striving to cast out, little dung being emitted at a time.

It may also be occasioned by the sudden application of
cold, whereby, the exhalant vessels of the skin becoming
checked, more fluid is necessarily thrown on the intestines ;
which operates not only by increasing their quantity,
but likewise by the addition of something foreign, hence
irritating to them. In those cases which are marked with
thirst and increased pulse, the restoration of the healthy
action of the skin is necessary to a cure ; diaphoretics, as
antimony, warm clothing, &c., are advisable ; and the use
of outward astringents.

The Treatment. — In general cases, when the motion is
copious, little need be done. Nature is then relieving her-
self, and requires little more than warmth and a change of
diet. If constitutional, we must palliate by a mild but
constant check on the existing causes. A light-bellied horse
should not be worked severely several days together ; avoid
too much water, or too early labour directly after meals.
Let the fseces be examined : if the food passes away un-
digested, the stomach requires tonics ; but if it be a recent
attack, examine well for the probable cause. Has it followed
any undue exposure, any violent exertion, any change oi
food, any great difference in the warmth of the stable ? Is
the water good in quality ? Are the oats, or is the hay, new ?
If none of these causes operate, we must first make ourselves
aware that it is the faecal discharge which passes, for such
appearances have concealed an obstinate constipation. Being
convinced of the diarrhoea, commence the cure by milJ
astringents.

302

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

In general cases of diarrhoea, give the following drink once
or twice a day, according to the violence of the complaint : —

Prepared opium . ... J ounce.

Powdered catechn . . . .1 drachm.

Prepared chalk ... .1 ounce.

Sulphate of iron (green vitriol) . . ^ drachm.

Mix in thickish gruel.

Should the horse be weak, boiled starch, or arrow-root,
or boiled bean-meal, may be passed down the throat
frequently. Give no cold water to drink, but, instead, give
thin gruel or rice-water, tepid. Clothe warmly, encourage
a high temperature also, and carefully avoid exposure to
sudden currents of cold air. The subject will again occur
under Dysentery.

COSTIVENESS.

Some horses are habitually costive, which arises either
from a defective secretion of the fluid of the bowels, or
that the absorbents act too strongly, and take up too much
of the liquid contents, by which the faecal mass becomes
dry, hard, and difficult to pass ; or it arises from a defect in
the formation of the bile, either as to quantity or quality.
This we know from what occurs in jaundice, in which, from
a loss of the bile by extravasation, there is always present a
strong disposition to a costive habit. Some food is prone to
occasion constipation, as -whatever is stimulating or heating.
Corn of all kinds, therefore, has this tendency, but beans
more than all. Habitual costiveness should not be counter-
acted by purgatives, as they generally increase the evil ; but
attention should be paid to the habit itself, and the peculiar
tendencies of that should be counteracted. Dry food should
be remedied by occasional bran mashes. Green meat is
particularly useful in these cases in summer, and carrots in
winter. A costive state of bowels may sometimes be reme-
died by placing a lump of rock salt within the manger.
When costiveness arises from defective bile, treat as directed
under jaundice.

Occasional or accidental costiveness must be treated dif-
ferently. First, back-rake, next throw up a large laxative
clyster ; and then proceed to give a mild purgative by the
mouth.

SPASMODIC COLIC.

Colic, "the Fret," "Stomach Cramp," or "Gripes" of
farriers, is divided by medical authorities into several vari-
eties, of which only two seem worth notice in a general com-
pendium of horse diseases ; these are spasmodic, and flatu-
lent or windy colic. We have preferred treating of it here,
though the section on the Intestines, or Bowels, has fully
as much claim to it.

The pain of Spasmodic Colic is due (unlike enteritis, or
inflammation of the bowels,) to a contraction of some portion
or portions of the intestinal tube. The tube, by virtue of
its muscular coat, possesses a power of contracting its canal,
which contractile property it is that enables it to press

the alimentary matters onward from the stomach, until
they arrive at their ultimate outlet. This muscular tunic,
in common with other muscles, is liable to be affected with
spasm or cramp ; when this takes place the intestinal
canal is locally contracted to that degree that the aliment
is arrested in its course, and the pain, while the cramp or
gripe continues, becomes poignant in the extreme.

The best description of the Symptoms is that of Percivall.
" The symptoms of colic are the same as, with two or three
notable exceptions, denote painful bowel-affections in gene-
ral. The attack is sudden. The horse appears to be all in
a moment seized with acute pain in his belly. He com-
mences violently pawing and stamping, and striking his
belly with his feet. After a few times bending his knees
and crouching his body, and advancing his hind feet under
him in attempts to lie down, he at last drops rather than
lies down, issuing a sort of grunt from the fall, and im-
mediately commences rolling upon his back, endeavouring
every time he turns to balance fcimself in the supine posi-
tion ; though often he is unable to accomplish this until his
legs, in rolling, happen to come against the side of the stall
or box. When once he has got upon his back, he will, with
his feet drawn downward upon his belly, and his head and
neck, perhaps, curved to one side, remain quiet for a minute
or two together, this posture appearing to afford him tem-
porary relief. On other occasions, after several ineffectual
endeavours to roll upon his back, he will suddenly rise
again, and, having given himself a shake, as it were to get
rid of the straws or dust about him, stand so quiet for a
time that he appears by his rolling and struggling to have
got rid of his pain. Soon again, however, he averts his
head and regards his flank, with his ears down and an ex-
pression in his eye as much as to say, ' There lies my pain,
and now I feel it coming on again.' Each successive fit oi
paroxysm turns out commonly to be longer and more vio-
lent than the one preceding. Early in the disorder, the
remissions from pain, or intervals of ease, are evident
enough ; but as the case proceeds, the paroxysms growing
longer, the remissions become shorter, and after a time alto-
gether unobservable. He heaves at the flanks, and breaks
out into profuse perspiration : drops of sweat stand upon
his brows and eyelashes, and every hair in his coat becomes
wet through. The next change, should his torture continue
unmitigated, is one bordering on delirium. He grows heed-
less of all around him ; his eyes turn wild and frantic ; his
violent motions render all approach to him perilous ; cold
sweats bedew his body ; tremors succeed ; he falls down,
maddened and exhausted with pain, and in convulsions ex-
pires. The pulse at the onset of the disease, and during
the remissions from pain, is but little altered ; but while
the paroxysm endures it grows frequent, and becomes con-
tracted to a thread, and indeed, at times, is so indistinct as
hardly to be felt at all Under the extremity of suffering,
its quickness, and with that its strength and perceptibility,
become augmented. The belly is tense, sometimes percep-

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE STOMACH.— SPASMODIC COLIC.

303

dbly swollen, and commonly very tender to pressure. The
bowels are constipated, though oftentimes dung will be
passed on the eve of the attack ; and in the height of his
pain the animal will void his urine."

On this Mr. Percivall remarks : — " To these symptoms, as
enabling us to distinguish colic from enteritis, great import-
ance, by the generality of practitioners, has been attached,
on the score of the remedies prescribed for spasm being of all
others the most improper ones for inflammation ; but I find,
as I grow in experience, that my practice is becoming of a
kind suitable to both cases, and consequently the distinc-
tion is losing much of its interest. I first made the experi-
ment of combining my antispasmodic with a cathartic, and
became so satisfied at the result, that I have, from that
time to the present, continued the practice, and with the
happiest effects."

The cause of colic, ordinarily, is a draught of cold water,
especially while the horse's body is heated. Water from
certain mineral springs has been — apparently from its im-
pregnations— notorious for having this effect. Sudden chill
of the skin is said to have produced gripes. A common
dose of physic will now and then occasion it. Violent
spasms have been produced from linseed or castor oil.
Vetches and other green-meats will at times gripe ; so will
new straw, and particularly that of wheat ; and likewise
peas : in fact, any irritating or acidulous matters in the
bowels may have this effect. Now and then, spasm is
brought on by costiveness, and by hardened dung, or
stony concretions.

Unless some deciaed check, if not a satisfactory stop, be
put to the progress of the disorder within the first half-a-
dozen hours, we may begin to harbour apprehensions. Ordi-
nary cases are relieved by a single dose of medicine ; many
without any medicine at all. Cases that run on unrelieved
to death, seldom exceed twenty-four hours in duration.

In entire horses, particularly in such as have raced or
been in trainings or have been kept as covering stallions,
an attack of colic or enteritic symptoms is on all occasions
to be viewed as, possibly or probably, connected with
hernia. The scrotum should be examined without delay,
and all inquiries made relative to the existence of rupture.
See Hernia, post.

Treatment. — Every farrier and groom, horse-dealer and
horse-keeper, fancies himself quite as competent to treat
colic as the most skilful veterinarian ; and, in point of
fact, providing the complaint be purely spasmodic, his
remedy is likely to prove in the first instance quite as
effectual. It being notorious that almost every sort of
spirits and aromatics possess antispasmodic properties. The
groom, being well convinced of their elScacy from experi-
ence upon his own person, as naturally runs for gin and
pepper, or peppermint water, for his horse when " griped,"
as he does for some agreeable spirituous compound for him-
self. Given at the instant, it seldom does fail ; for it
imports less what we give than when the remedy is

administered. That which is given at the outset appearing
to have a decided advantage over anything exhibited later
in the attack.

Opium holds the first place among antispasmodics. A
very effectual antispasmodic ball, combining the three pro-
perties, narcotic, stimulant, and terebinthinate, is composed
of one drachm of opium, of two drachms of Cayenne pepper
or half an ounce of ginger, and of a sufficiency of Venice
turpentine and meal to make a moderate-sized ball Com-
bine with the antispasmodic a full dose of purgative medi-
cine. Mr. Percivall advises, in a pressing case, to give,
without loss of time, the following drench : —

Decoction of aloes*
Tincture of opium
Spirits of nitric ether
Water, boiling .

12 oz.
2 oz.
2 oz.
i pint.

Mix.

Should the decoction of aloes — that admirable formula —
not be at hand, we must content ourselves with a simple
solution of aloes in hot water ; bearing in mind that the
dose is meant to be either ten drachms of Barbadoes aloes
or twelve of Cape.

Spirits of turpentine, in four-ounce doses, was Professor
Coleman's remedy, and is still in favour at the Veterinary
College. It is dangerous without olive or linseed oil, as
producing sore throat. Hartshorn, with tincture of myrrh,
is open to the same objection Mr. White's formula is un-
objectionable : —

Turkey opium .

Cloves, bruised
Ginger, ditto .
Brandy, Rum, or Gin

1 oz.

2 oz.

3 oz.

1 quart

Exercise is often productive of a great deal of benefit
after the antispasmodic remedy ; it increases the peristaltic
motion, causes often the expulsion of air and dung ; and,
should he sweat, it tends rather to relieve than to augment
the spasm ; however, he must go willingly, and not be urged.

A clyster composed of two ounces of Cape aloes dissolved
in six quarts of soap-water or gruel, may be administered
with a view of emptying the rectum ; or one in which a
pint of oil of turpentine is substituted for the aloes may be
given with a view of relieving the spasm. But what, in
a case of any danger, is better than either, is the clyster
of tobacco-smoke ; and the best apparatus for conducting
this operation is Read's enema syringe, furnished with a
metallic box for containing the tobacco, with a pierced
plate across the inside for transmitting the fumes. An

♦ Barbadoes aloes, powdered . .2 oa.

Carbonate of potasl . . . 1 oz.

Acacia, powdered . . . 1^ or.

Boiling water . . . .1 pint.

Should the decoction be required to keep, two ounoes of some spirit
must be added.

304

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

apparatus for this purpose is figured in our plate of
Apparatus and Instruments.

A warm bath would certainly prove a most desirable
situation for our patient, could one be procured. A sack-
ful of hay, dipped in water nearly boiling, and bound upon
the belly, may likewise relieve him.

FLATULENT COLIC.

Tympany, or windy colic, is produced by the distension
of the intestines by gas. It is most frequent in summer,
when horses are fed with green meat, but may be produced
by indigestion of any description of horse fodder. A
draught of cold hard water, having sulphate of lime in sus-
pension, will often cause flatulent colic. It somewhat
resembles in symptoms the inflated paunch of ruminating
animals called " hove," " hoven," or " blown," which is
induced by overloading the stomach with succulent herbage,
especially clover, by the fermentation of which gas is gene-
rated in such volumes as to distend the animal almost to
bursting. The horse, however, unlike the cow, has no
ruvien (paunch), and cannot be, strictly speaking, " hoven ;"
though it is by no means unfrequent for him to be aflTected
by tympany, or windy colic. Windy colic is frequently an
affection of the aged horse. The notion that tympany is
produced by crib-biting or " wind-sucking," though enter-
tained by such authorities as Blaine and Percivall, is now
obsolete. It is not the entrance of atmospheric air (which
does not pass down the oesophagus in any case, though
a small quantity of air is found in the intestines), but the
generation of carbonic acid gas, or sulphuretted hydrogen
gas, the products of decomposition. Either of these gases
will destroy life by asphyxia if drawn into the lungs.

Symptoms, — Mr. Mayhew, in his lively and picturesque
style, has sketched the symptoms of flatulent colic so accu-
rately that we make no scruple of substituting them for any
description we could indite. He says : — " The horse which
is to be oppressed by flatulent colic, exhibits uneasiness
after feeding ; it hangs the head ; breathes laboriously ;
fidgets ; rocks the body, and rests first on one leg, then on
the other. These symptoms are exhibited before any
enlargement of the abdomen is to be detected. With the
swelling of the belly pawing commences ; that action is,
however, far too leisurely displayed to be for an instant
confounded with the same energetic movement which cha-
racterises spasmodic colic.

" The horse will stand in one spot throughout the day ;
even the movement of the foot, before noticed, appears to
be an exertion. The eye is sleepy, the pulse heavy, wind
frequently passes from the body ; and in such a condition
the animal remains, slowly becoming worse. Almost in the
same place the horse may stand three or four days ; then
the abdomen is much increased in size ; the animal is rest-
less ; the pulse is extremely feeble ; the breathing is very
fast ; the pupil of the eye is dilated, and the sight is lost
A walk, as in a mill, is commenced ; obstacles are run into

or upset ; delirium begins ; weak neighs are uttered, in
reply to visionary challenges ; the coat is ragged ; copious
and partial perspirations break forth ; the beat of the artery
is lost at the jaw ; an intermittent flutter is indistinctly felt
at the heart. At last the limbs fail ; the body falls ; and a
death struggle ensues, the creature dying in consequence of
the distended abdomen compressing the lungs and prevent-
ing the breath being inhaled."

Mr. Mayhew recommends in extreme cases, puncture of
the belly with a trocar, sheathed with a canula. The ope-
ration is thus performed : — Draw the skin up tightly over
the place selected for puncture, and nick the integument
with a sharp scalpel. Insert the trocar, push in the stylet,
withdraw it, and the gas will rush out, having a probang
ready to clear the canula lest it become -choked. The trocar
should not be larger than that used in hydrothorax. When
the trocar is withdrawn, the skin, having been drawn aside
in the manner above directed, at once closes the orifice by
returning to its place. For ourselves, we think, so far as
the stomach is concerned, that this operation is not advisable,
though in inflation of the small intestines it may be ven-
tured on. It should be remembered, that when gases are
generated the intestines change their position, and, owing to
the pressure, communication from one convolution to another
is obstructed ; thus, the trocar empties only one cell, and
one convolution holds so little that its evacuation does not
give the relief sought for. It is otherwise with the " hoven ''
ruminant. We need hardly say that no food should be
given during the attack of windy colic, and that the groom
should sponge out the eyes, mouth, and nostrils. Mayhew
recommends the administration of tobacco-smoke per anum
by the apparatus already described. It is worth a trial.
Should the animal recover, give gruel and bruised oats, and
a ball compounded of extract of gentian, powdered quassia,
and sulphate of copper.

RUPTURED STOMACH.

This is sometimes the result of tympany or gorged sto-
mach. Percivall gives several cases (" Hippopathology," vol.
ii., p. 201), and others will be found in the pages of " The
Veterinarian." Copious draughts of water on a full sto-
mach have occasioned rupture. Another class of injuries
— blows, falls, or strains — have lacerated this organ. As
the lesion is past remedy, we shall not devote further space,
except to observe that the extravasated matters have been
known to be forced into the sheath, so that a hasty
examination might cause rupture to be mistaken for in-
guinal hernia. See Rupture, post.

PUNCTURED BELLY.

A stab by a pair of scissors, a pitchfork, or some sharp
instrument, in the lower, middle part, or side of the abdo-
men, though a disgraceful, is by means an uncommon occur-
rence. It is oftentimes the result of carelessness or bad
temper in the person engaged in trimming or bedding down

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE STOMACH.— DROPSY, &c.

305

the animal In the section specially devoted to wounds,
lacerated, punctured, or contused, the treatment will be
found.

SWELLED BELLY, DROPSY, ASCITES, ANASARCA.

External dropsy, either in the form of swelled belly,
sheath, and breast, or in that of swelled legs, is a frequent
consequence and an occasional accompaniment of constitu-
tional disease. Hydrothorax (water on the chest) is denoted
by dropsy of the breast, extending often to the belly, and
by swelled legs. Ascites is strongly indicated, in combina-
tion with certain other signs, by dropsy of the belly and
sheath, such proves of an obstinate or permanent nature,
or else speedily returns, after having been by remedy
entirely dissipated. The swellings in these cases being the
attendants or consequences of other disease, the treatment
of them must form a part of that adopted for the original
disorder, whatever it may happen to be. Occasionally,
however, anasarca presents itself as a constitutional chronic
disorder. The cellular membrane underneath the skin be-
comes filled with a watery fluid, the result of which is one
or more diffused puffy swellings, having no defined limits,
but most fuU in those parts of the body that hang lowest,
from the circumstance of the fluid gravitating through the
cells of the subcutaneous tissue into them. These swellings
have a soft, doughy, or flabby feel, and pit on pressure.

The symptoms of a general attack of dropsy are, swelling of
the belly, the sheath, the loose skin in the space between the
arms, the breast, the sides of the face and nostrils, the arms,
thighs, and legs. These are the ordinary situations for dropsi-
cal swellings ; though it does not always happen that all these
parts are affected. In general, the legs are only secondarily
affected ; the tumour in the first instance appearing in the
body and arms and thighs, and from them gravitating into
the legs. At times the tumefaction is, when once it has
commenced, very rapid in its progress, and spreads to such
an extent in the course of a few hours after its first appear-
ance, as to render the animal almost incapable of locomo-
tion. Although the animal, when first attacked, evinces no
apparent pain or uneasiness, and seems totally unconscious
and indifferent concerning what is going on, feeding and
looking as lively as ever, yet, after a time, the pulse rises,
the respiration becomes accelerated, the mouth hot, the
eyes and nostrils reddened. A common accompaniment of
the irritation now necessarily excited in the skin, is a sym-
pathetic inflammation of the air passages. The animal
coughs up, on occasions, a slimy straw-coloured sort of fluid,
looking like a mixture of saliva and mucus and sero-albu-
minous effusion/ at the same time there is, probably, a
bloody frot);i issuing from the nostrils. Where anasarca
takes this turn, unless an immediate and effectual check be
put to the disorder, it is likely to end in farcy and glanders.
The urine is scanty, and now and then it will happen that
the serous as well as the mucous membranes will partake of
tils dropsical disposition ; and the animal consequently be
QQ

in danger of losing his life from water in the chest or belly,
or even head.

Causes. — Horses that are turned out to the strawyard in
the winter season, are the frequent subjects of dropsy. They
leave a warm atmosphere for a cold and humid one ; a
generous diet for one that comparatively starves them ; and
they drink ad libitum of water which may be, but most pro-
bably is not, of the most wholesome description. The skin
will certainly receive a check in regard to its perspiratory
functions ; the air-passages, also, will feel the effects of cold
and moisture ; while the digestive organs will experience
more or less alteration in their economy in consequence of
the change of aliment.

The Treatment of ascites promises little ; because it is
rather a symptom of visceral disorganization than of simple
irritation. We are warranted, however, in attempting the
removal of the fluid by exciting the absorbents, as observed
in Hydrothorax, and by strengthening the system generally
by tonics. We must, however, use no depletion. It may
also be observed, that purgatives are not admissible here :
on the contrary, they may be expected to occasion much
constitutional disturbance. Mild blisters, &c., external
friction, frequent and long-continued, are best ; with gentle,
repeated exercise, aided by warm clothing.

Mr. Mayhew sensibly recommends that the food should
be small in bulk, but nutritious in quality ; no work should
be imposed ; he prescribes

Strychnia

Iodide of iron

Extract of belladonna
Extract of gentian
Powdered quassia

A quarter of a grain, worked
gradually up to one grain.

Half-a-drachm, worked gra-
dually up to one drachm-
and-a-half.

One scruple.

A sufficiency.

A sufficiency.

Make into a ball ; give one at night and at morning.

Should the fluctuation and tumidity not yield, we must
proceed to the operation of tapping, which offers the most
reasonable chance in the complaint, when performed early.

Tapping {paracentesis abdominis) is a simple operation
The spot chosen for the opening should be upon the linea
alba, midway between the umbilicus and the sheath : in the
mare, between the umbilicus and pubes. This point should
be chosen for the puncture, which ought to be made directly
upwards ; and both this and the former operation for wind
must be conducted and treated upon similar principles, with
the exception that in ascites the whole of the fluid may be
evacuated at once, and allowed further to drain off by the
simple application of a linen bandage. Should benefit be
derived, endeavour to prevent a recurrence, by strengthen-
ing the general habit.

Water farcy, general oedema, dropsy of the skin, and col-
lections of fluid within the cellular membrane, are disorders
which, in their treatment, ask for no separate directions
beyond those here given.

306

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

Swelled legs shall receive separate cousideration, for
obvious reasons.

WORMS, BOid, AND PARASITIC ANIMALS.

Worms, most frequent in the stomach and bowels of the
horse, have been found in every part of his system. In
abscesses, in the mesenteric glands and artery, in the sub-
stance of the abdominal muscles, in the liver, in the wind-
pipe, in the salivary ducts, and even in the pancreas.

The worms most generally found in the stomach of the
adult horse are Bots. The parasite most inimical to colts
is the taenia, or tape -worm. Lumbrici teres, or round-
worms, most frequently found in the small intestines ;
Ascarides, a small worm infesting the large intestines ; and
Stronguli, found occasionally not only in the bowels but in
the kidneys and cceliac artery of both man and horse.

The groom always pronounces the symptoms of chronic
indigestion to be what he calls " a wormy condition." The
consequence is, that the most potent " worm-powders,"
most of them so strong as to peril the life of the animal,
are at once administered ; with what result, in hundreds of
instances, we need not say. Ignorance, " with the best in-
tentions," is the most charitable verdict.

Bots. Our knowledge of the origin and habits of the
oestrus equi or stomach bot, before the investigations of
Bracy Clark, was nil ; we shall, therefore, with this acknow-
ledgment, condense from that author's " Essay on Bots in
Horses," his account of this troublesome parasite.

"When the female has been impregnated, and the eggs
sufficiently matured, she seeks among the horses a subject
for her purpose, and approaching him on the wing, she
carries her body nearly upright in the air, and her tail,
which is lengthened for the purpose, curved inwards and
upwards : in this way she approaches the part where she
designs to deposit the egg ; and suspending herself for a few
seconds before it, suddenly darts upon it, and leaves the egg
adhering to the hair : she hardly appears to settle, but
merely touches the hair with the egg held out on the
projected point of the abdomen. The egg is made to adhere
by means of a glutinous liquor secreted with it. She then
leaves the horse at a small distance, and prepares a second
egg, and, poising herself before the part, deposits it in the
same way. The liquor dries, and the egg becomes firmly
glued to the hair : this is repeated by these flies tiU four or
five hundred eggs are sometimes placed on one horse.

" The skin of the horse is usually thrown into a tremulous
motion on the touch of this insect, which merely arises from
the very great irritability of the skin and cutaneous muscles
at this season of the year, occasioned by the heat and con-
tinual teasing of the flies, till at length these muscles appear
to act involuntarily on the slightest touch of any body
whatever.

" The insido of the knee is the part on which these flies
are most fond of depositing their eggs, and, next to this, on
the side and bank part of the shoulder, and less frequently

on the extreme ends of the hairs of the mane. But it is a
fact worthy of attention, that the fly does not place them
promiscuously about the body, but constantly on those parts
which are most liable to be licked with the tongue ; and the
ova, therefore, are always scrupulously placed within its
reach.

" The eggs thus deposited, I at first supposed were
loosened from the hairs by the moisture of the tongue, aided
by its roughness, and were conveyed to the stomach, where
they were hatched. But on more minute search I do not
find this to be the case, or at least only by accident ; for
when they have remained on the hairs four or five days,
they become ripe, after which time the slightest application
of warmth and moisture is sufficient to bring forth in an
instant the latent larva. At this time, if the tongue of the
horse touches the egg, its operculum is thrown open, and a
small active worm is produced, which readily adheres to the
moist surface of the tongue, and is from thence conveyed
with the food to the stomach.

" At its first hatching it is, as we have observed, a small
active worm, long in proportion to its thickness, but as its
growth advances, it becomes proportion ably thicker and
broader, and beset with bristles.

" They are very frequent in horses that have been at
grass; and are in general found adhering to the white insen-
sible tissue or coat of the stomach.

" They usually hang in dense clusters to this white cuti-
cular lining of the stomach, and maintain their hold by
means of two dark brown hooks, between which a longi-
tudinal slit or fissure is seen, which is the mouth of the
larva. When removed from the stomach by the fingers by
a sudden jerk, so as not to injure them, they will, if fresh
and healthy, attach themselves to any loose membrane, and
even to the skin of the hand. For this purpose they sheath
or draw back the hooks almost entirely within the skin, till
the two points come close to each other ; they then present
them to the membrane, and keeping them parallel till it is
pierced through, they expand them in a lateral direction,
and afterwards, by bringing the points downwards towards
themselves, they include a sufficient piece of the membrane
to remain firmly fixed for any length of time as at anchor,
without requiring any further exertion.

" These bots, as is also the case with two or three other
species, pass the autumn, winter, and spring months in the
stomach, and arrive about the commencement or middle of
the summer at their full growth, requiring a twelvemonth
fully to complete their structure.

" The CEstrus Hwmorrhoidalis, or Fundament Bot. — The
part chosen by this insect for the purpose is the lips of the
horse ; which is very distressing to the animal, from the ex-
cessive titillation it occasions ; for he immediately after
rubs his mouth against the ground, his fore-legs, or some-
times against a tree, with great emotion ; till the animal at
length, finding this mode of defence insufficient, quits the
spot enraged, and endeavours to avoid it by galloping

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE STOMACH.— WORMS, BOTS, &c.

307

away to a distant part of the field ; and if the fly still con-
tinues to follow and tease him, his last resource is in the
water, where the oestrus is never observed to pursue him.
These flies appear sometimes to hide themselves in the
grass ; and as the horse stoops to graze, they dart on the
mouth or lips, and are always observed to poise themselves
during d, few seconds in the air, while the egg is preparing
on the extended point of the abdomen.

" When several of these flies are confined in a close place,
they have a particularly strong, musty smell ; and I have
observed both sheep and horses, when teased by them, to
look into the grass and smell to it very anxiously ; and if
they by these means discover the fly, they immediately turn
aside and hasten to a distant part of the field.

" I once saw in a meadow or field upon the clifi's at Mar-
gate, a fly of this sort teasing a horse that was confined to a
small space by a spike stuck in the ground, to which a cord
was tied. He could not get away from its attack, and be-
came quite furious, for in kicking at the fly with his fore-
foot, which he did vehemently, he often struck the bone of
the lower jaw, creating excessive pain ; for in that direction,
while grazing, the fly comes to the beard of the lower lip.

" The eggs of this species are diflicult to be seen upon the
horse's skin or beard, owing to the agitation of the beast,
and from the colour of the egg being dark like that of the
skin of the horse The animal has been generally too
impatient, while undergoing this operation, to let me ex-
amine them very well. I ascertained, however, its form
by pressing one of these eggs from the abdomen.

" The larva or grub of this species inhabits the stomach
as the former, generally adhering to the white lining, and is
disposed promiscuously in dense clusters, after the same
manner ; they may, however, be distinguished from them
by being in general smaller, and longer in proportion to
their bulk.

" The larva of this species may be obtained from almost
any horse that has been much at grass the preceding year,
and exposed to these flies, and will be found during the
summer months sticking more or less within the verge or
opening of the anus, adhering to its soft lining, and pro-
ducing considerable irritation and uneasiness. Indeed, I
once well remember being on a tour of pleasure in the Isle
of Wight, and experiencing much annoyance from these
larvae. The little horse I had hired for the journey became
so lazy and unwilling to go on, and moved so awkwardly,
that I could not keep pace with my company, and I was at
a loss how to proceed ; on taking up the tail, I discovered
three or four of these insects hanging to the rectum, and
their removal instantly proved a cure." — Bracy Clark.

The tcenia, or tape-worm, is classed by naturalists among
the entozoa (Gr. entos, within, zoon, an animal) ; modern en-
tomologists call this family of worms cestoidea (from Gr.
cestus, a band, eidos, like).

The tcenia infesting the horse is a long, flat, jointed
worm, every joint of which, when broken, will from a new

animal. It has been found from 20 to 50 feet in length
and an inch in breadth. The colour is dirty white. Its
head, which is tuberculous, is placed at the slenderest end
of its body, and is said to be always directed towards, and
sometimes to be actually within, the pyloric opening of
the stomach. Percivall says he never met with the tape-
worm in the horse, often in the dog ; in the human subject
it is common.

The lumbricus is a round worm, found ottener in the
small intestines than in the stomach. Cuvier classes them
among the Annelidas, on account of their blood being red,
as in the leech and earthworm, and their bodies formed of
a number of rings {annella, a little ring, and eidos, like).
White and other veterinarians speak of a " fluke-worm,"
which is merely a lumbricus wliich occasionally penetrates
living tissues, and difi'ers nothing in its suctorial apparatus,
which, under certain circumstances, seems to be used in a
sort of mechanical boring through soft and permeable
tissues. The " fluke-worm " is classed by naturalists as of
the order Trematoda (Gr. trema, foramen, a little opening
The lumbricus is often found in the dung of horses, nearly
as thick as the little finger, and from three to fifteen inches
in length. Gibson says, "I have seen them eighteen inches
long, and larger than a man's finger." The worm is largest
round its middle part, from which it tapers ofi" to each end,
where it is pointed. They are more generally white than
red. A French veterinarian, Chabert, says he found four-
teen pounds of them in a horse's small intestines ; and balls
of them are often found in aged horses' small guts, compli-
cated with hots (if the animal has been at grass) clinging to
the vascular part of the stomach itself They are always
sheathed in mucus.

Ascarides, of these, the most frequent of entozoa, eightj'
species have been described, one, the small needle-like
lively parasite which we find so commonly tormenting the
rectum of the horse, is the only variety we are concerned
with. It is thin as a stocking needle, inhabits the large
guts, and is often found in the blind pouch of the coecum.
It is sharp at one end and blunt at the other, seldom more
than half an inch in length, and of a dull white. It frisks
or coils eel-fashion when immersed in fluid, and is often de-
tected escaping from the anus.

The strongylus, (Gr. strongulus, round), is an allied
worm to the ascaris, but is distinguished by the power ot
eating through or perforating important structures. It is
slender, from two or four inches in length, consisting
of two distinct portions : — a body, constituting not quite
one-half of its entire length, rather smaller than a crow-
quill ; to which is appended a contracted thread-like
part or tail, making up the remainder of its length When
first voided, the body appears black ; the tail transparent.
No sooner, however, are they taken out of the dung than
they vomit up their black contents, which have the appear-
ance of writing ink ; and then their bodies, like their tails,
become transparent. This ejectment seems to be their last

308

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

act of life, for they never move afterwards, but gradually
shrink and dry up to almost nothing. Numbers of strongyli
were voided by a young horse, under the operation of physic,
who had given no reason to believe he harboured worms of
any sort.

Symptoms. — The best-known symptom of worms in the
rectum or coecum, is a dry yellow matter under the tail ;
but it is not invariably present even when worms are known
to exist. When worms are irritating, there is unequal appe-
tite and an irregular state of bowels ; at one time costive,
and at another loose, with glair or mucus around the dung-
balls. When ascarides prevail, the horse is much disposed
to rub the tail, to ease the itching of the fundament. The
presence of bots is seldom detected by any distinct signs,
except in the spring, when one or more may be detected
half protruded through the anus ; the reason of its appear-
ance being, that the time has arrived for it to quit the state
of a grub for that of a fly. The lumbricus, or round worm, is
probably the most generally found ; but it is only when it
exists in great numbers, or itself becomes morbidly irritated
to seek a change of situation, that it seems to trouble the
animal. This symptom also applies to ascarides, in which
cases both may interfere with digestion and the regular
bowel discharges. The provender of the horse, although he
eats heartily, does not digest healthily. The skin, also,
sympathising with the stomach and intestines, occasions
a staring coat and harsh feel of the hair. There are fre-
quent attacks of slight gripes ; the horse stands with his
legs wide apart, and his belly hangs low. The breath is
often hot and foetid, and it is not unusual for a short
dry cough to be present. Worms, however, exist without
any of these symptoms. Whoever will take the trouble to
visit a knacker's, and to turn over the dunghill in his yard,
will find it to be composed quite as much of worms as of
excrement. This dung is taken from the aged horses sent
to be slaughtered, and is sufficient proof that worms are
much more common than is generally supposed.

Treatment of worms. — Nature has endowed these animals
with such tenacity of life, that no matters known to us will
effect their destruction, though a few may answer the pur-
pose of their expulsion. Bots are so hardy as apparently to
survive immersion in oil, in alcohol, spirits of turpentine,
and even powerful solutions of mineral acids. The con-
tinued use of salt mixed with the food appears, however,
obnoxious to them ; for sometimes under its use their hold
gives way, and they are ejected. Bitters, purgatives, and the
mechanical irritation of pointed bodies, as pewter, tin filings,
&c., have no effect whatever upon bots ; but with regard to
the other parasites, rather more success may be expected
from medical aid, in the form of vermifuges. It has been
attempted to effect the removal of worms mechanically, by
dissolving Ihe mucus they are supposed to be imbedded in,
for which purpose lime-water, oil, solutions of aloes, &c.
have been injected by clyster up the rectum, and which
practice is most to be depended on for the ejection of asca-

rides when in the rectum. This practice of washing away
the mucus of the intestine, and thus depriving the intes-
tine of the secretion given for its protection, is not to be
recommended, though oil for this end would be harmless.
Strong purges are given with the same intent, which may
remove them also from the whole alimentary canaL Re-
medies have likewise been exhibited to destroy them within
the body, by the mechanical irritation of their spicula ; under
which view tin, brass, iron, pewter, are thought remedial
The Indian caustic barley, and Indian pink, are reputed ver-
mifuges against the teres and ascaris. The oil of turpentine
has also been strongly recommended as an excellent general
vermifuge ; but, except for the destruction of the taenia, or
tape-worm, it does not appear to deserve that character.

The mode most in favour with modern practitioners, is to
give the horse having worms a drachm or two drachms of
tartar emetic, for six mornings running. The tartar emetic
is to be administered in the form of a ball, and to a fasting
stomach. On the seventh, administer a sharp dose of aloes,
to drive out the parasites, enfeebled by the previous medi-
cines. Mr. Spooner recommends the following : —

White arsenic
Powdered cantharides
Sulphate of iron
Tartarized antimony

5 grains.

6 grains.

2 drachms.
1 drachm.

Mix with a handful of bran, and give in a feed of corn every evening
for a fortnight. Administer a dose of " physic " after two-thirds of
the medicine has been given, and, as soon as it " sets," the remainder.

Under Vermifuges, page 247, ante, will be found some
formulae and remarks. Mayhew gives a scale of doses of
turpentine adapted for the difi'erent ages of the horse : — e. g.
for a three months' foal, half an ounce ; for a six months'
foal, an ounce ; one year old, an ounce and a half;
two years', two ounces ; three years', three ounces ; four
years', and upwards, four ounces. Take one pound of quassia
chips, pour on them three quarts of water, strain, beat up
the turpentine with yolks of eggs to make it blend with the
infusion, add one scruple of powdered camphor, and give
fasting in a drink before any food, in the morning. If
the taenia are expelled, a tonic (see Tonics in List) till
the coat is smooth.

The tobacco smoke enema (see Apparatus in Plate op
Instruments, &c.,) is also used to advantage in the expul-
sion of ascarides.

CRIB-BITING AND WIND-SUCKINQ.

This curious and dangerous practice, which rapidly grows
into a confirmed habit, and is taught to, or initiated by,
animals who have the misfortune to be stabled with those con-
firmed in the vice, has been the subject of much extravagant
speculation and wild theory. Ignorance has invested it
with mysterious significance, and a symptom of existing
acidity of the stomach, or of its distension by gases, has been
made, by a post hoc propter hoc sort of reasoning, into the
caiise of flatulent colic and other intestinal disturbancea

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE STOMACH.— CONCRETIONS AND POLYPUS.

309

The premonitory symptom of a resort to crib-biting is
that of heartburn. The animal begins by licking the
manger ; and if there should be iron anywhere, which im-
parts a sense of coolness, that is particularly grateful.
The licking of cold substances is a sign of disordered
stomach The act of crib-biting is thus performed : — The
incisor teeth are firmly pressed against any solid substance,
say the edge of the manger, he violently extends his neck, and
then, after a convulsive action of the oesophagus, a portion
of gas is belched up with a grunting noise. This heated air
expelled, the animal draws in his breath with a sucking
sound, and the horse finds relief in the process. As the
animal will leave the most tempting food to go through this
peculiar performance, we cannot look upon it in the light
of a mere habit, but as an instinctive mode of seeking relief,
sometimes practised when the first motive has ceased, and
hence becoming an inveterate propensity. We find, then,
that crib-biting is most prevalent among horses that pass
long weary intervals in the stable, consuming a diet of
" oats and hay, varied," as Dr. Kitchener facetiously says,
" by hay and oats, for a change." Such an animal, in a close
and impure atmosphere, and without the slightest excitement
for eye, ear, or brain, may well have a disordered stomach,
and fall into a solitary and, to him, agreeable pastime.
Crib-biting has been cured in an early stage by a common
stimulant, and this would point to a confirmation of our
opinion. A lump of rock salt placed in the manger has
stopped it, to which we would add another of chalk, or
damp the food and sprinkle on it carbonate of soda.

The name, "crib-biting," is a blunder. The horse does not
"bite" his "crib;" the manger is simply used as a point of
pressure for the upper teeth, and thus the animal is enabled
by pulling back to act on the muscles of the gullet, and to
force a portion of the offending acid gas up a passage, which
is so constructed as to prevent vomiting. The human being
in a state of dyspepsia, is relieved, in like manner, by an
eructation, but through a more open channel.

For the cure of crib-biting a turn out at grass is recom-
mended. This arises from a misapprehension of the case.
The crib-biter will at once make for a gate-post or rail, as
soon as the fit comes on. Lining the edge of the manger
with iron is evidently inefficacious, as it forms nearly as
good a fixed point as before. Sheepskins rubbed with aloes
or spread with tar will not keep the inveterate crib-biter
from his game. A muzzle with bars across the bottom,
sufficiently open to enable the horse to pick his hay, but
not to fix his foreteeth on the edge of the manger, has been
tried, and the horse, after some time, has been supposed to
have abandoned his " habit." Let his stomach become dis-
ordered and it will be seen immediately that he is at his
old trick to relieve it.

We would advise in every case the treatment of crib-
biting as a case of windy colic, chronic gastritis, or of indi-
gestion, according to the methods already laid down ; and
where it is evident that the practice has, which we doubt,

become a mere wanton pastime, to try the muzzle, not neg-
lecting to persevere with the medicinal remedies. Blaine says
a strap which constricts the oesophagus has prevented crib-
biting, which we can perfectly understand, though no cure.

Although crib-biting has been declared to be unsound-
ness, we have known many horses work well and freely
and their usefulness, where their work has not been fast
not perceptibly deteriorated.

The injury to the teeth by crib-biting, though dwelt upon
by Youatt and other writers, is merely imaginary.

Wind- sucking we take to be an imaginary variety of crib-
biting — a distinction without a difference.

CONCRETIONS AND POLYPUS IN THE STOMACH.

Concretions, and especially calculi in the stomach, are not
so common as in the bladder, intestines, and kidneys ; and
to the lesions of those organs we refer the reader. We are
under obligation to Mr. Percivall for the following cases : —

" It is no uncommon circumstance for hard substances to
be found within the stomachs of horses. I have seen seve-
ral specimens. They were chiefly calcareous. The largest
I ever saw was taken from a horse of my father's, that died
of old age after having worked in a clay-mill for a number
of years. I think this was nearly as large as an ostrich's
egg, and not very dissimilar in appearance ; it was of an argil-
laceous nature, and was, doubtless, formed of the fine dust
of the clay which the horse was continually imbibing with
his food. Its nucleus was the large end (about half) of an
old nail. I believe they are always found to contain a
nucleus." Thus much, on the subject before us, writes a
correspondent, who signs himself J. F., of " The Hippia-
trisf'for 18-30.

In " The Veterinarian," vol. vii., is to be found the case
of an Andalusian horse — reported by M. Blavette, veterinary
surgeon — who was, in addition to being a notorious crib-biter,
a depraved feeder. " Neither manger nor rack, nor the frag-
ments of the bars, escaped him : he gnawed his halter, and
licked the walls, ate up all the earth he could get at, and
was a confirmed roarer." For many years he had been sub-
ject to violent colics, which became latterly more and more
frequent. In one of these paroxysms, at last, he died. There
was found in his stomach, after death, four pounds and a
half of earth and sand. He had, as was learned afterwards,
escaped from his groom on the morning of the day he died,
and galloped to the riding-school, where he was found
eating the earth and sand composing the floor. A brass
wire, about the size of a knitting needle, and eight or nine
inches long, was found sticking in the intestines, through
whose walls it had penetrated and had run into the lumbar
muscles.

Polypus in the Stomach. Mr. Brown, veterinary surgeon
of Melton Mowbray, has a preparation of a polypus which
was taken out of a horse's stomach.

The subject — an old brown horse, named Sheffield — was
found, early in the morning of the 1st of May, " labouring

310

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

under an attack of the bowels." The animal experienced
great pain, cold sweats, quick pulse, &c. No veterinarian
attended. Oily purges and frequent clysters were exhibited
without giving relief The horse died on the fifth day from
the first attack. About fifteen inches in extent of " the
first small gut were mortified." — " The stomach was full,
but its contents were liquid, and at the lower extremity
there was a pendulous substance, which was plugged into
the gut, totally obstructing the passage. I am informed
that the animal was a remarkably healthy one, and appa-
rently suffered no inconvenience from the polypus, until it
formed a mechanical obstruction to the pylorus. The
pedicle is rather tortuous, with an artery and two veins in
the centre, having an expanded origin, which becomes con-
verged into a firm cord, one inch in diameter and three
long, terminating obliquely in the body of the polypus,
which is a firm flat substance, weighing seven ounces and a
quarter."

§ III. DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE PERI-
TONEUM AND INTESTINES.

PERITONITIS. — ENTERITIS. DYSENTERY. TYMPANY.— INTUS-SOS-

CEPTION. — STRANGULATION. HERNIA : STRANGULATED, INGUI-
NAL, SCROTAL. HERNIA OF CASTRATION, AND VENTRAL. —

RUPTURE OF THE INTESTINES. — CALCULI ETC. IN THE INTES-
TINES.

PERITONITIS.

The three varieties of inflammation of the bowels are
called — Peritonitis, inflammation of the investing membrane
(peritoneum) ; Enteritis, inflammation of the muscular coat
(Gr. enteron, a bowel ) ; and Dysentery, inflammation of the
mucous or internal coat {dys, bad, entera, the bowels), un-
derstood in the horse as a flux, and synonymous in veteri-
nary practice with human diarrhoea.

Peritonitis is so little diff'erent either in its symptoms or
treatment from Enteritis that we may defer directions to
that head.

Acute peritonitis is seldom met with except as the result
of injury, such as accidents in castration, puncture of the
belly, an overstrain in leaping, or over-exertion. Hence the
peritoneum is found inflamed in hunters who die " over-
marked." Accidents, too, in operations for stone in the
bladder, hernia, &c., bring it on. After wounds, an access of
cold will cause gangrene to supervene : see Enteritis. The
tendency of chronic peritonitis is to dropsy of the belly
(ascites) or of the chest (hydrothorax), which see.

enteritis.

The intestines are composed of three layers of substance,
called coats, any one of which may become the seat of inflam-
mation, to the exclusion — although all three are intimately
connected — of the other two ; or, at least, so far to their ex-
clusion, that the others appear to be but secondarily and

comparatively mildly affected. Enteritis consists in an in-
flammation of the middle or muscular coat — that which
forms the principal substance of the gut We have evidence
of this when we slit open an enteritic intestine : although
the exterior looks as red as scarlet, the interior is found to
be hardly flushed ; even the aspect of the exterior is like-
wise deceptive ; for, if we strip ofi' the external or peritoneal
coat we shall discover that the redness is underneath, the
raised membrane being in itself translucent, with a red
bloodvessel to be seen only here and there, instead of such
crowds of them as appear in the muscular tunic.

Enteritis is the " red colic " of farriers, under which name
they also include dysentery. There are, however, sufficient
grounds for a division of the inflammations of the bowels
into enteritis — or that which principally afi'ects their middle
coat, and is generally accompanied by costiveness — and that
which primarily attacks their vibous surface, and is produc-
tive of diarrhoea or dysentery Between these states there
is a sufficient mark ; but between inflammation and spas-
modic colic the distinctive lines are familiar only to the
experienced observer. When the gripes, or fret, as spasmo-
dic colic is called among farriers, attacks a horse, it is usual
and useful to give him powerful stimulants, active motion,
and strong friction, all which would be extremely baneful
in the red colic. A careful distinction should therefore be
made between the two diseases, which may be readily done
by attending to the characteristic marks of each, as parti-
cularly detailed in spasmodic colic.

Enteritis sometimes commences by a shivering fit, to
which succeed heat of skin, restlessness, loss of appetite ;
the mouth being particularly hot and dry ; the inner mem-
branes of the eyelids, and the linings of the nostrils, being
rather redder than natural. As the inflammation advances
the pain increases, so as to force the horse to lie down and
get up again frequently ; yet, unless the pain be very acute,
he seldom rolls on his back or remains stationary there ;
but as he will occasionally do so in particular cases, this
should not be considered as a criterion between this dis-
order and gripes. He will kick at his belly, stamp with his
feet, scrape his litter or stall with his hoofs, and look wist-
fully round towards his sides. The pulse in most cases is
frequent, as 90 or 100, and invariably very hard, small, and
wiry. The breathing is accelerated : the belly is sometimes
painful to the touch, which never occurs in colic ; it is also
hot to the feel, and the pain, instead of remitting as in
colic, is constant ; the extremities being cold, while the
surface of the body is often warm. The bowels are usually
constipated, and if any dung be evacuated, it is small, hard,
and in dry masses. The anus, if examined, will be found
very hot ; and if the hand be intruded up, it will be felt
sometimes even internally inflamed ; it also, in many cases,
quivers with the intensity of the general aflfection. Fre-
quently, towards the later stage, there is some tympanitis
or distension of the belly, which much aggravates the
general tenderness evinced on examination. The urine is

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE PERITONEUM AND INTESTINES.— DYSENTERY.

311

painfully evacuated in small quantities, and very highly
coloured ; sometimes it has much mucus suspended in it.
In the progress of the disease these symptoms increase in
intensity : the distress of the horse is expressed by his
groans, his violent efforts to change his position, as if to fly
from his malady ; while perspiration, partial or general,
breaks out, and is then succeeded by a chilly state, with
muscular twitchings ; the pulse becomes more and more
hurried, intermittent, and at last nearly imperceptible ; the
respiration is as quick and irregular as the pulse, and occa-
sionally interrupted by a convulsive sigh. The vital powers
are now fast ebbing, and the animal sinks after a few feeble
struggles, or he parts with life with more violent convul-
sive movements.

Treatment. — The clearest and most judicious treatment
we have met with is that contained in an editorial addition
by Mr. Spooner in the last edition of White's " Veterinary
Art ;" and as it has the further merit of brevity we here
transcribe it : — " Having properly examined the case, we
should immediately have recourse to bleeding, and that as
extensively as possible ; for this purpose, a large opening
should be made in the jugular vein, or one on each side,
and from six to eight quarts taken as quickly as possible,
continuing the bleeding till the pulse becomes almost imper-
ceptible. The bowels being costive, the dung should be re-
moved by back-raking, and a copious injection thrown up.
A pint and a half of linseed oil and one drachm of pow-
dered opium may next be given, and a half pint of the oil,
with half a drachm of opium, may be repeated every six
hours, till the bowels are relaxed ; the injections being also
frequently repeated.

" The abdomen should be fomented with very hot water,
which should be continued for some time ; and it will after-
wards be very useful to apply hot sheep-skins, just removed
from the dead animal, to the abdomen, the woolly side
outermost. If these cannot be procured, the fomentations
should be repeated, or the abdomen may be stimulated by a
blistering application.* The legs must be kept warm by
flannel bandages, assisted, if necessary, by rubbing in a sti-
mulating liniment, composed of oil and spirits of turpentine.
During the continuance of pain the horse will, of course,
take no food, nor is any desirable. He will most probably
be disposed to drink, of which circumstance advantage
should be taken, by offering him oatmeal gruel, or linseed
tea, as often as he will take it.

" If relief be not obtained in the course of six hours, our
prognosis will be unfavourable, particularly if, on again re-
sorting to bleeding, we find the blood very dark and thick,
and with difficulty obtained.

• " Mr. Mavor has introduced some apparatus, whereby the steam
from hot water may be applied to the abdomen for an hour together ;
this is likely to prove of great service in cases of enteritis, as well as in
inflammation of the chest." — "Veterinarian,'' vol. xii., p. 198 ; "Veteri-
nary Medical Association."

" A second, and even a third, bleeding should be tried,
though in less quantity than at first. If the pain ceases, oi
greatly diminishes, the pulse becoming more distinct or mode-
rate, we may then augur a favourable result, which opinion
will be greatly strengthened by the bowels becoming gra-
dually relaxed. If a favourable result should attend, great
caution is necessary for some little time as to the diet ; and
soft food should be given for several days.

"When death occurs, we find, on examination, the mus-
cular coat, particularly of the large intestines, quite black
from inflammation, and the other coats likewise involved in
a secondary degree."

DVSENTERY (MOLTEN OREASE).

This disorder is an inflammation of the internal surface of
the bowels. It is caused by obstructed perspiration ; the
continued use of certain kinds of food ; but more frequently
by the injudicious administering of improper purgatives,
either as to quantity or quality, by which such irritation is
brought on as ends in inflammation. Dysentery is com-
monly accompanied with purging, whereas enteritis is
almost always associated with costiveness ; neither is the
pain so acute in dysentery, consequently the horse seldom
expresses his uneasiness by rolling or stamping ; the pulse
is also quick and small, but is seldom very hard, even from
the beginning. However urgent may be the symptoms, and
whatever the pulse may denote, no blood must be with-
drawn in this disorder ; for it is inflammation of the
mucous membrane, and after all we can do to support the
horse, he will hardly have strength to get through the
attack. Stimulants should, however, be applied to the
bowels, as in inflammation of the intestines, properly so
called. The stable and the clothing also should be warm,
and means should be taken to keep up the circulation in
the extremities by hand-rubbing and bandaging. The fol-
lowing drink may be given every two hours : —

Prepared chalk , . . .1 ounce.

Laudanum . . . . .2 ounces.

Liquor potassge . . . .1 ounce.

Tincture of catechu . . . . i ounce.

Tincture of ginger . . . .1 ounce.

Tincture of capsicums . .2 drachms.

Water . . . . .1 pint.

Mr. Spooner 's prescription is more simple.

Powdered opium . . . .1 drachm.

Powdered catechu . . . .2 drachms.

Prepared chalk . . . .1 ounce.

In thick gruel made from wheaten flour, or in boUed starch.

Throw up frequent injections of rice-water, and have a
pail of thin cold gruel in the manger, which, however,
should be repeatedly changed, though most likely the poor
animal will drain it almost as fast as it can be prepared.

The reader is referred to the preceding section under the
heads Diarrh(Ba and Costivene.?."

312

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

Tympany. — A reference to our observations on windy
colic, D. 448, will save repetition.

IKTUS-STTSCEPTION OF THE BOWELS.

Strangulation, intervagination, volvulus, or intus-suscep-
tion — for by these names a twisting, knotting, or unnatural
torsion of the bowels is called — is more frequent than has
been supposed. Fatal cases of this disorder having been often
treated as colic, and post-mortem examination neglected.

Intus or Intro-susception means the slipping of one por-
tion of intestine into another — commonly into the one
behind it. In the human subject, especially in children,
this appears to be an accident by no means uncommon, and
one that happens and rights itself again without any know-
ledge on the part of the person in whom it occurs. The
two most frequent descriptions of strangulation will be best
understood by a drawing. We give them from Fercivall : —

Fig 1. Fig. 2.

The first represents a strangulation of the small intes-
tines, the second, a strangulation of the rectum. The
spasmodic action of the ileum long continued, may be suc-
ceeded by an inverted action from the coecum towards the
stomach, more powerful than the natural action ; and the
contracted portion of the intestine is thus forced into a por-
tion above it that retains its natural calibre ; and the
irritation caused by this increases the action, until more is
forced in, and an obstruction is formed which no power can
overcome. Even the natural motion of the bowels will be suf-
ficient to produce intus-susception, when the contraction in
the ileum is very great. There are no symptoms to indicate
the presence of this, except continued and increasing pain ;
or if there were, all our means of relief would here fail.

There is another singular consequence of colic. Although
the ileum 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 twisted into nooses \nd knots, drawn
together with a tightness scarcely credible. Nothing but
the extreme and lengthened torture of the animal can lead

us to suspect that this has taken place, and, could we ascer-
tain its existence, there would be no cure.

The Symptoms. — Internal stricture and strangulation of
intestine are, in general, violent to a degree, though the
same in kind as resnlt from colic, or, rather, enteritis. The
poor sufferer paws, and lies down, and rolls, and looks
at his flank, and pants, in horrible agony ; his belly
becomes tympanitic, tense, and enlarged ; and his pulse
is quick and small, 70 or 80, but not thready. For
the first three or four hours, all that we do appears of
no avail. Afterwards a calm takes place, and we are
apt to think our remedies have worked it ; if, however,
we again examine the pulse, we shall find our patient
evidently sinking ; perhaps, at the time, all over in a
tremor and cold sweat. This deceitful calm is nothing but
the too certain precursor of mortification. The animal
commonly dies in convulsions.

HERNIA (RUPT0RE).

The signification of the Greek word, 'ernos, a branch, is too
narrow to express properly what we understand by rupture
in its varieties. We shall here confine ourselves to a dis-
placement of the intestines from the abdominal cavity,
either through some of the natural openings, or through
artificial ones, as the effect of accident.

The places where these protrusions commonly take ptace
in the horse, are, the groin, the navel, the sides of the belly,
and the diaphragm. It is these differences in situation that
constitute the different sorts of hernia: — that protruding,
at the groin, called inguinal ; the same extending through
the canal and descending into the scrotum, called scrotal ;
that at the navel, umbilical ; that apparent upon any part
of the belly (the navel excepted), ventral ; the one passing
through the diaphragm, diaphragmatic.

The parts protruded in hernia are commonly either the
intestines or the omentum, or both. Every viscus, however,
even the thoracic and cerebral, is liable to hernia.

Hernia is again divided into reducible, irreducible, and
strangulated. When the contents of the tumour admit
of being returned into the abdomen, the hernia is said to
be a " reducible " one ; when, either in consequence of their
bulkiness, or their adhesion to the sac containing them,
or to each other, that is found impracticable, the hernia
becomes an " irreducible " one. Should there be constric-
tion at the mouth or contracted part of the sac, which
in inguinal hernia is at the internal abdominal ring, to that
degree that the circulation is either impeded or altogether
arrested, the hernia is said to be " strangulated."

The hernia most frequent, as well as most important,.
is inguinal. To which, on both these accounts, it will be
necessary that we should give our fullest consideration.
Many of the following observations become equally appli-
cable to the other kinds of hernia, a circumstance that wiL
tend still further to abridge our description of the rest.
The reader who would pursue the subject is referred to th'

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE PERITONEUM AND INTESTINES.— HERNIA.

313

translation of M. Girard's treatise, by Mr. W. Percivall, and
to a paper on hernia, by Mr. Simonds, in the " Veterinarian,"
vol. xi.

Inguinal hernia, as we have just said, is the most com-
mon, of which the scrotal (when the bowel descends into
the scrotum) is most frequently observed in the stallion.
Bubonocele, or that of the groin, is a very rare form of
disease, but is occasionally witnessed in geldings. In the
former, the intestine accompanies the spermatic cord by the
inguinal canal through the abdominal rings into the scro-
tum : in the latter the bowel alone lodges in the groin.
The ruptures we have named may be considered as the only
ones common to the horse. Hernia is more frequently on
the right than on the left side ; and scarcely ever appears
in mares. However, ventral hernia or rupture of the mus-
cles of the abdominal sides, and protrusion beneath the
skin of a portion of intestine, is sometimes found in either
sex, and perhaps occurs more frequently in the female.

The causes which produce hernia are various, but all
arise from violence of exertion, or the effects consequent
upon external injuries. With us the efforts used in racing,
and the leaps taken in hunting, are causes, as we may
readily suppose ; when we consider that the dilatation of
the abdomen, restrained as it is by weight and tight girth-
ings, must press backwards the intestinal mass. Rearing
and kicking also, and being cast for operations, particularly
the rising up after castration, have all brought it on. Blows
with a thick stick, or from the horn of a cow, may likewise
induce it.

The Symptoms of strangulated hernia are in this respect
very similar to acute enteritis ; there is the same uneasiness,
shifting of position, getting up and lying down again. The
horse rolls in the same manner, and in turning on his back
sometimes seems to get a momentary respite from pain ; yet
it is but momentary, for the suffering is not one of remis-
sion ; it is constant. This serves as one distinguishing
mark between it and spasmodic colic, with which it has
been confounded. In stallions, the testicle on the ruptured
side is drawn up to the abdomen, and is retained there,
with only momentary fits of relaxation, the scrotum often
drops with sweat. Towards the last, the pulse is quick and
wiry ; the horse paws, looks at his flanks, but seldom kicks
at his belly. We assure ourselves of hernia by an oblong
tumour in the groin, of larger or smaller bulk ; hard or soft,
as it may contain either faeces or gas, in which latter case it
will also be elastic. When the tumour is raised by the
hand, or pressed, a _ gurgling sound is emitted ; or if the
horse be coughed, it will be sensibly increased in dimen-
sions. The Schneiderian membrane is often injected, and
the horse gazes at his groin or scrotum.

Treatment. — Supposing the animal to be a stallion, we
first examine the hernial sac. In this both hands are em-
ployed ; one is introduced into the rectum, the other into
the sheath. The one within the rectum must seek the
'uternal ring ; while the other, pursuing the course of the
B B

cord on the side affected, is to be pushed up to the external
ring ; and thus, in the natural state, the opposed fingers
may be made nearly to meet, and so estimate the size of the
opening. However small the protruded portion of gut, the
practitioner will be able to detect, and even to reduce it
This exploration may be made in the standing posture ; but
it will be conducted with more facility and certainty if
the animal be cast, which is the preferable mode of pro-
ceeding.

Bleed and partially paralyse the parts by administration
of chloroform ; lessen the volume of distension by dashing
the parts with cold water ; or, if the horse be already cast,
by spreading ice over the belly.

Next, endeavour to return the displaced gut. The horse
is thrown upon the opposite side to that disordered ; and
after one hind leg has been drawn and fixed forward, as for
castration, he is to be turned upon his back, and in that
position maintained by bundles of straw, while other
bundles are placed under him to raise the croup. With
both arms well oiled, the operator will now commence his
exploration, taking the precaution of emptying the rectum
as he proceeds. As soon as he shall have ascertained that
it is a case of hernia, — having assured himself the gut pro-
truded through the ring is undergoing neither stricture nor
strangulation, — he may endeavour to disengage the hernial
part, by softly drawing it inward within the cavity, at the
same time pushing it in the like direction with the hand
within the sheath. Should he experience much diSiculty
in these attempts, he is to desist ; violence being too often
the forerunner of strangulation and gangrene. He must
bear in mind that, although the reduction is effected, unless
it be followed by immediate castration, it does not always
prove a cure. The protrusion recurs after a time, and
occasionally even the moment the animal has risen. If the
hernia should be reduced by taxis,* and it is not intended
to castrate the horse, apply a well-wadded pledget, or folded
cloth to the part ; this may be retained with a bandage
crossed between the legs from side to side, and fastened
by one part under the belly to a girth ; and also, passing
between the legs, it may be again made fast to the back
portion of the same girth. The intention of this is, to pre-
vent the protrusion of the gut by the exertion of rising ; and
consequently it should be removed as soon as that danger
is over.

Mr. Rogers (after M. Girard) recommends a bistourie
cache as an operating instrument, and from his paper on
" Hernia " we extract a description of the operation for
scrotal hernia.

We will suppose the horse thrown as described in the last
paragraph, and the examination made. The operator takes
the testicle of the affected side in both hands, and, manipu-

* Taxis (from the Greek taxis, order,) means merely the putting
back of the intestine in its place in the cavity of the beUy : this ie
called " reduction by taxis."

314

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

lating it so as carefully to bring it in close contact with the
scrotum, leaves it in the left hand. Tightening the skin,
and guided by the raphe, he makes a free incision through
the integuments, and then through the tunic, which latter
he dilates to the extent of three or four inches by means of
the scissors or scalpel, first introducing one of his fingers as
a guide. If the operator has a knowledge of the parts, he
need not be afraid of opening the scrotum by free incisions,
made with caution. On opening the scrotum, a quantity of
serum, depending on the length of time the strangulation
has existed, will escape.

If the operator takes the testicle firm in his hand, there
will be little danger of wounding the gut.

After having opened the scrotum, by putting aside the
testicle, he may generally obtain a view of the intestine.

He next attempts to introduce the index finger of his
left hand into the stricture ; but this is sometimes difiicult,
as the spermatic cord becomes occasionally enormously
enlarged, the stricture preventing the return of blood by
the veins, but allowing it to proceed to the testicle by the
arteries. In such a case it is an advantage first to castrate,
and so get this distension out of the way.

Having carefully passed the finger into the stricture, he
then introduces the bistoury, and, having taken great care
to avoid the intestine, very carefully dilates the stricture ;
but this is to be done with the greatest caution, so as just to
enable him to return the gut and no more, for if he much
enlarges the opening he will, in all probability, have a re-
turn of the hernia, and lose his patient. Having reduced
the hernia and removed the testicle, he dresses the scrotum
with turpentine liniment, and allows the horse to rise.

Treatment of strangulated hernia in geldings. — Inguinal
hernia taking the same course, is susceptible of the same
terminations, and requires the same treatment, as in stal-
lions. The operator (the horse lying upon his back) ex-
tends the hernial sheath with one hand, while he mani-
pulates with the other ; or, should this fail, by instructing
his assistant to hold up the hernial mass from the belly, so
as to take its pressure off the ring, and thus give him an
opportunity to renew his efforts with more effect. In some
cases, the introduction of one hand into the rectum becomes
necessary. The reduction of the hernia should be followed
up immediately by the application of the clams, if we unite
with the reduction an attempt at permanent cure of the
hernia; taking care, at the time, to draw out the part of the

scrotum to which the vaginal sheath is adherent, and to
push up the clams as close as possible to the belly ; they
are then to be closed, as for castration.

Of congenital hernia, our limits allow of little more than
the mention ; nor need more be detailed, as its consequences
are seldom injurious. It appears that inguinal hernia com-
monly exists in the foetus in utero. Chronic or permanent
hernia, our observations being limited to geldings, we see
little of. Castration, however, with the armed clams, is the
evident remedy.

RDPTURE OF THE INTESTINES.

There are a number of cases in veterinary books, of rup-
ture of the intestines, especially of the colon. A rent of
the ileum nine inches in length, at the part where the me-
sentery is attached, is recorded by Mr. Spooner. The me-
sentery was also split. It has been said that rupture of the
stomach or intestines is an effect of colic ; we suspect that
the rupture having taken place by some accident, or dis-
organization of the parts, the symptoms of colic supervene,
and hence the cause is mistaken for an effect.

CALCULI IN THE INTESTINES.

Stones in the intestines of the horse are not unfrequent.
They are occasionally of enormous size. Mr. Spooner has
one, round as a cricket ball, and weighing six pounds,
found in the colon of a miller's horse. They often occasion
dangerous colics, by accidentally altering their situations.
Whenever, therefore, colics occur frequently without any
apparent cause, they often prove, after death, to be refer-
able to irritation from these displacements.

It is evident that this is an evil we have little power to
combat ; if a horse, by passing a stone with his fteces, indi-
cates a constitutional disposition to separate chalky matter
from his food, and afterwards to concrete it by the mucus
of his bowels, the removal of a stone actually formed is
hopeless. The abdominal calculus generally has a nucleus,
or centre, consisting of a nail or stone. It is composed of
the triple phosphates, is generally round, and is easily re-
cognized by its external surface bearing a polish so bright
as to seem the creation of art. Others are composed of
the fine hairs which cover the substance of the oat, and
some, called dung-balls, are formed by the faeces becoming
impacted. The first is usually found within the small in-
testines, the two last invariably in the hinder bowels.

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE LIVER, &a

315

CHAPTER XXIX

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE LITEB, SPLEEN, AND QLANDS.

§ I. DISEASES OF THE LIVER.

HEPATITIS (inflammation OF THE LIVER). — JAUNDICE

LAROEMENT OF THE LIVER. RUPTURE OF THE

BILIARY CALCULI. — WORMS AND HYDATIDS.

EN-
LIVER. —

The liver of the horse is less frequently diseased in
early and middle life than in man and many other
animals. Oxen and sheep, having a gall bladder and
cystic duct, which the horse has not, are more liable to
biliary obstructions. Cows are specially the subject of
liver disorder, called by herdsmen and cow-doctors by the
characteristic name of " the yellows."

The liver of the horse, then, is seldom primarily affected
with inflammation ; but hepatitis is induced when this im-
mense gland participates in other abdominal inflammations
or injuries. When the liver is involved, there is the addi-
tional symptom of the yellow or biliary tinge in the schnei-
derian, the buccal, and the conjunctival membranes of
nose, mouth, and eye respectively. Blaine thus describes
the disorder : —

The chronic or torpid state of the disease, which is very
common among high-fed and slightly-worked carriage and
brewers' horses, may be unsuspected till the animal is sud-
denly seized with gripes, or otherwise shows signs of being
seriously ill. These symptoms are caused by the rupture of
the fibrous case of the liver, called Glisson's capsule, and
the escape of blood into the peritoneum or serous covering
of the huge gland. It is then almost too late to try calomel.
A few days' quiet, and a dose to open the bowels, will be all
that can be ventured ; and the horse is returned to its
owner, with a caution to work him gently and feed him
sparingly for the future. Such cautions, however, are
rarely long attended to. Nevertheless, the peritoneum
stretches, and at the same time thickens in substance, con-
taining, and at the same time restraining, the fluid that
is poured into it. Another rupture in time takes place, and
the same measures are repeated ; however, the peritoneum
at last gives way. If the rent should be large, the animal
inay suddenly fall dead. If small, he is apparently labour-
ing under a severe fit of colic, but the dilated pupil, the in-
ability to bear the head lifted up, and the yellow tinge of
all the visible membranes, declare the seat of the disorder ;
and the examination after death shows the cavity of the
abdomen fiill of thin black fluid. It is a curious fact, and

one upon which we shall comment hereafter, that in liver-
complaint, the horse is often lame of the right foreleg, as if
(which is the case in man) the pain extended to the shoulder.
What does the inquiring reader think of the following case
given by Percivall ?

" The horse belonged to the Artillery, at Woolwich, and
was lame in the oS" foreleg, through which ultimately he
became so disabled, that he with difficulty projected the
limb even in walking. No cause whatevei being discover-
able, and the lameness continuing in defiance of all that
had been done by way of remedy, it was deemed advisable to
destroy the animal. The limb was dissected ; but every part
appeared healthy. His body was then opened, and, strange
to say, a thorn of considerable length was found sticking in
the substance of the liver." Hunters kept in stable are
subject to hepatitis ; which may arise from liberal feeding,
injuries to the right side, gall-stones, and mischief in the
immediate neighbourhood of the liver in which this gland
sympathises. The brain is always disturbed when the liver
is congested.

Treatment. — In the first instance, four to six quarts
of blood should be abstracted ; and this immediately fol-
lowed by ten drachms of purging mass in a ball, or twelve
drachms in solution ; the operation of which may be accele-
rated by the occasional administration of a clyster. Calomel,
and indeed every other preparation of mercury, being a sti-
mulant to the liver, is to be scrupulously avoided. As soon
as we perceive the physic to be setting, should there be
occasion for it, we may take away another gallon of blood ;
and at the same time, after having had the hair shorn ofi",
apply a blister to the right side, extending it from the
borders of the ribs as far forwards as the place of girthing.
The first dose of medicine once " set," we may resume our
operation on the bowels by giving daily the following ball,
omitting it only at such times as purgation shall have
recommenced : —

Take of Purging mass . . . 2i drachms.

Powder of digitalis . • 1 drachm.

Powdered nitre . . . Z\ drachms.

Soft soap, sufficient for a ball

Should the blister not have taken proper efi'ect, twelve
hours after its application, it may be repeated. In case the
disease appear to be merging into the chronic form, the

316

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

insertion of two or three setons through the skin of the
right side is a commendable practice.

Mr. Cupiss, to whom we are indebted for a very clever
essay ("Veterinarian," vol. xii.,) on liver diseases in the
horse, describes three other affections under the names of
unnatural enlargement, decayed structure, and wnMalthy
secretion. The second may be included as one of the
sequelae of hepatitis, the third as general biliary fever, or a
form of jaundice.

JAUNDICE.

The remarkable yellowness of the skin, eyes, and mouth
in this disease have obtained for it the name of " Yellows."

The Symptoms of jaundice are the same as those of hepa-
titis. It has been said that vetches and green food produce
jaundice ; we do not believe it. Its treatment is, like en-
teritis, by alteratives. Try the following : —

Calomel
Aloes

Powdered gentian
Castile soap

^ drachm.
2 drachms.
2 drachms.
2 drachms.

Form into a ball, and give night and morning until the
bowels are actively purged ; then continue only so much of
the same, for a week or ten days, as will keep the bowels
lax, not in a purging state. If the symptoms be such as
bespeak chronic inflammation or incipient consolidation,
blister the right side. In cases where costiveness is not
present, but, on the contrary, a relaxed state of the bowels
appears, give the following : —

Calomel
Blue vitriol
Gentian, in powder
Oak bark, in powder

. 1 scruple

. ^ drachm.

. 3 drachma

. 3 drachms.

Make into a ball, and give night and morning, unless the
calomel should affect the mouth, in which case give only
once a day. Should the looseness increase on this plan,
add powdered opium, a drachm to each ball. In all cases
of yellows, a change of food is proper, and generally neces-
sary. In winter, spear the corn, or give carrots ; in sum-
mer, soil, or give green grasses ; but, in such case, avoid
exposure to the night air, making use of moderate clothing
so long as the calomel is continued.

ENLARGEMENT OF THE LIVER.

Mr. Cupiss says of enlargement of this gland : —

" Unnatural enlargement of the liver sometimes takes

place. It is swollen to two or three times its natural size.

It presents an appearance of general congestion ; it becomes

gradually filled with a black bloody fluid. The progress of

this variety of liver disease is uncertain, generally slow, and

almost invariably fatal

" The symptoms are, an enlarged and tense abdomen ;

the bowels sometimes constipated, at other times relaxed ;

there is sometimes considerable thirst ; the pulse is accele-

rated to 100 or more, loud and thumping, and easily mis-
taken for a primary affection of the heart.

" The most effectual treatment will consist in a cautious
administration of laxatives, accompanied by diuretics and
counter-irritants. To this tonics may succeed. In my
opinion, the ioduret of iron, in doses of half a drachm, two
or three times every day, would be preferable to any other
medicine.

" One post-mortem examination presented the liver abont
three times its natural size, and consisting of a mass of
coagulated blood."

RUPTURE OF THE LIVER.

As there is no curative treatment for this lesion, we shall
dwell on it briefly. The age and habits and condition of
horses disposed to this accident are such as conduce to and
indicate some morbid condition of the liver. Enlargement
and degeneration of substance alike conduce to rupture.
Since the stall-fed ox is so prone to disease of the liver, is
it not reasonable to suppose the stall-fed horse should be
subject to some similar disorder? Chronic hepatitis is a dis-
ease so obscure and insidious in its course, that horses in
general have it without any knowlege on our part of its ex-
istence. In fact, we know nothing about it until the subject
of it comes to die, perhaps from ruptured liver, and we find
the gland clay-coloured, softened, and so rotten in texture
that it will hardly bear handling without falling to pieces.

The rupture in most cases happens all at once ; but the
haemorrhage from it would appear as if it became partly —
nay, in some cases perhaps completely — stanched, and then
relapsed. In a case that occurred to Mr. Siddall, the horse
had been ill, and subject to frequent faiutings for upwards
of three weeks before he died ; which appeared afterwards
to have been caused by small ruptures of the peritoneal
covering of the liver in different places, of all which he
rallied, not sinking until the grand rupture had happened.

A grey coach-horse, belonging to his late Royal Highness
Prince Albert had been unwell the day before — heaving at
the flanks, and off his feed — when Mr. Siddall was sent for
to attend. His respiration was now short and accompanied
with sobbings, and particularly when moved, though com-
paratively tranquil while standing alone undisturbed, ex-
cept now and then, when a sort of paroxysm came on.
Extremities cold ; pulse frequent and small, and easily
compressed. Sclerotic coat and buccal membrane blanched ;
tongue covered with frothy saliva ; breath stercoraceous ;
faeces scanty and dry. Medicine and gruel were prescribed.
The next morning the groom found he had eaten his mash,
and thought he appeared more cheerful Soon afterwards,
however, while doing something upstairs, over the stable,
the groom heard him faU, and in a very few minutes after
he breathed his last.

In the above case, the horse survived forty-eight hours
after the rupture.

The immediate cause of the rupture appears to be either

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE SPLEEN AND GLANDS.— RUPTURK

817

excessive distension, or some effort of respiration or bodily
exertion, or some injury. In a case of enlargement fol-
lowed by rupture, the liver had acquired the weight of sixty-
two pounds ; was intensely black ; and from a rent in its
lower border three gallons of blood had escaped.

BILIARY CALCULI, WORMS, AND HYDATIDS.

Biliary calculi, from the structure of the livei in the
horse, and his want of a gall-bladder, are not so frequent
as in the ox or cow. Urinary calculi will be noticed under
the Bladder and Kidney.

Worms are said to have been found in the liver of the
horse ; we never met with any. In the sheep they are not
uncommon.

Hydatids are sometimes hid in the horse's liver. In
sheep they are so common that rot was at one time attri-
buted to them by the cow-doctora.

§ II. THE SPLEEN AND GLANDS.

SPLENITIS. — CANCER OF THE SPLEEN. — ENLARGEMENT AND
RUPTURE OF THE SPLEEN.

Splenitis (or inflammation of the spleen), we know only
in post mortem examinations. In this compendium we
have merely to record the fact that no veterinarian doubts
that the spleen is the occasional seat of inflammation ; but in
what its symptoms differ from ordinary colic, we know not.
Mr. Cartwright, in the "Veterinarian" for 1836, describes
a case which he confesses he treated " as obstruction of the
bowels," in which the spleen — the only viscus diseased —
proved " double its usual size, gorged with blood, and black
as jet. Its natural tough texture was quite broken down,
and it was soft, and in a manner approaching to gangrene."
There appears the singular coincidence between this and

a case recorded by Mr. Blaine, that both patients died on
the fourth day.

The French veterinarians elaborately describe splenitis
and its symptoms, but, as we said before, they do not differ
from those of colic.

Cancer of the Spleen has several cases recorded under
the name of carcinoma melanosis — black cancer. In one of
the cases in the " Veterinarian " for 1837, Contraband, a
dark brown stallion, eight years old, was treated for disease
of the kidneys, and died. The spleen weighed, with the can-
cerous tumours on the gastric side of it, 102 pounds, and was
sixty-eight inches circumference : the portions of spleen re-
maining were of all colours. Mr. Huntley, veterinary sur-
geon, relates a case where " the spleen weighed fifty pounds,
and was a mass of scirrhus ; and the pancreas in a similar
condition, weighing more than thirty pounds. Emaciation
was the only actual symptom of this frightful state till the
animal, a mare, died suddenly.

RUPTURE and enlargement OF THE SPLEEN.

This formidable lesion is occasioned by enlargement,
spasm, or accident ; often the presence of the first rendert
an accident fatal that would not otherwise be so. Interest-
ing cases are related in Perclvall's " Hippopathology," voL
ii., p. 331, and in various volumes of the "Veterinarian,"
to quote which would overload our pages. One case, in
which Mr. Cunningham, veterinary surgeon, found a rup-
tured spleen weighing ninety-two pounds, is recorded in the
"Veterinarian " for 1855, p. 72.

Disorders of the glands, naturally, range themselves under
several diseases, specific and general, as glanders, farcy,
indigestion, enlargements of structure, inflammation of
tissues. &;c

318

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

CHAPTER XXX.

DISEASES or THE URINART OKQANS, AND OF THE OBOANS OF QENERATION, IN THE HORSE AND MABE.

§ I. THE URINARY ORGANS.

HEPHRTTIS (INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS). ABSCESS, SOFT-
ENING, INDURATION (SCIRRHUS), AND ENLARGEMENT. — DIA-
BETES.— ALBUMINOUS URINE. — BLOODY URINE (HEMATURIA).

CYSTITIS (inflammation OF THE BLADDER). — SPASM OF THE

URETHRA. — URINARY CALCULI. — TAPPING THE BLADDER.

The kidneys and bladder are the chief parts of the urinary
apparatus. The ureters and urethra being merely channels
for the fluid, which is elaborated by the fi/rmer organs, and re-
ceived and retained by the latter until such time as becomes
convenient for its ejection. The exemption of horses from
venereal afl"ections, and their less liability than men to
generate stone, contracts the list of their diseases of these
organs. Indeed, were it not for injury — inwardly as well as
outwardly inflicted — we should probably hear but little of
chem. Over-exertion, particularly under heavy burthens, is
one grand cause of kidney disease ; medicine and food pos-
sessing diuretic properties constitute another; bearing which
in mind, it will at all times become a leading desideratum
in the treatment, to take care to remove or avoid the repe-
tition of such influences. The kidney of the horse is a pecu-
liarly susceptible organ. It is easily acted on ; and many —
indeed most — medicines that we are in the habit of using
take some effect or other upon it. Mr. Percivall says, this is
one reason why so very few medicines will purge horses; the
majority of them being so readily carried out of the system
through the kidneys. A fact strongly corroborative of this
opinion, is that of a copious flow of urine of a dark colour
being frequently observable in horses who have been but
slightly afi'ected by doses of physic they have taken, and
who, notwithstanding the little or no purgative efl"ect they
have experienced, have shown afterwards quite as much
temporary weakness and loss in condition as if the physic
had worked their bowels. This the same authority sets
down as a reason why mercury produces salivation with
such comparative tardiness and uncertainty in horses. This
susceptibility of the kidney, in veterinary medicine and
dietetics must never be lo<t sight of It is of vast import-
ance in practice, and renders our treatment in many cases
diff'erent from what surgeons would pursue under similar
circumstances , we being able to efi"ect so much more
through the agency of these organs in the system of the

horse than is to be accomplished in that of ths human
being. The veterinary surgeon, in fact, must often eff'ect
that through the medium of the kidneys, which the human
surgeon does through the agency of the skin and bowels.

Nephritis (Gr. nephroi, the kidneys), or inflammation of
the kidneys, as a primary disease, is not very common with
the horse ; but by its fatal tendency, it becomes important.
Small as these organs are, they are most essential to life, and
the quantity of blood passing through them is very great ;
therefore, we cannot wonder at their aptitude to inflame,
nor the great derangement that inflammation occasions the
machine.

Inflammation of the kidneys is not now so common,
because horse owners are not so much the slaves of the
groom's and their own ignorance. In the words of Mayhew :
" Urine balls are no longer kept in every loft. Nitre — one
ounce of sweet-nitre (that is, an overdose of harsh saltpetre),
may be yet permitted by some horse-owners, who regard it
as a charm for every ilL It is true that such a dose of a
powerful diuretic is four times the strength which science
would prescribe ; yet certain people, we hope only in remote
parts, yet are happy in the conviction that ' an ounce of
sweet nitre can do no harm.' It is fortunate the urinary
organs of the horse are so little disposed to take on disease,
or half the horses in England would be disabled by inflam-
mation of the kidneys."

The causes are, exposure to cold, standing in the rain,
water dropping on the loins we have known bring it on ; a
heavy awkward rider by his motions, or even the action of
the psoaa muscles in great exertion, may bruise the kidneys ;
and occasionally it may be caused by a sympathetic inflam-
mation. Mow- burnt hay, musty or even kiln-dried oats, in
common with other diuretic substances, which under the
name of staling or urine balls, are such favourites with
every groom, may produce it. It may terminate in reso-
lution, suppuration, or gangrene.

Symptoms. — Dull appearance ; pain, expressed by looking
at the flanks ; urine made frequently and in small quantities,
with much efibrt or groaning ; often red or bloody, and as
the inflammation increases almost wholly suppressed ; still
attempts are made by the bladder to evacuate, and the
mucous secretion from the organ and urethra only are
pressed out with much pain. Pulse at first rather hard.

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE URINARY ORGANS.— ABSCESS, &c.

319

frequent, and somewhat full ; but, as the disease advances,
it becomes smaller, oppressed, and intensely quick. The
animal stands with his legs wide apart, as though going
to stale, and shrinks when the loins are pressed. If it be
an entire horse, the spermatic glands are alternately drawn
close to the belly, and pendulous or relaxed. To distinguish
it from inflammation of the body of the bladder, or from
spasm of the neck of that organ, the horse should be exa-
mined by passing the hand up the rectum ; when, if the
inflammation exists in the kidneys, the bladder, whether it
contain anything or not, will not be hotter than the sur-
rounding parts, or more tender ; but should the aflection be
confined to the body of the bladder, it will be surely found
empty, but very hot and painful to the touch ; if, again,
spasm of the neck of the bladder, as sometimes happens,
should be the seat the disease, no heat or tenderness will be
felt, but the bladder will be found distended with urine.
The horse shows much disinclination to move, straddles
wide behind, and his back is " roached."

Treatment. — This must be directed to the equalization of
the arterial action. Back-rake, and examine carefully by
inserting the hand up the rectum, and feeling for heat and
tumefaction of the diseased organ. Throw up frequent
clysters, consisting of cold water, in every gallon of which
one ounce of sulphuric ether, and one ounce of crude opium,
are dissolved, both with a view to promote a soluble state
of bowels, and to act as a fomentation to the Inflamed
organs ; and if any costiveness be present, give a purgative
without any diuretic substance intermixed. It should,
because aloes contain resin, consist of linseed oil, a pint and
a half, in which a drachm of chloroform is mingled ; and one
half of this may be repeated in six hours, if the animal dis-
play no improvement. It will be prudent also to endeavour
at exciting an external inflammation on the loins. The
administration of cantharides is here questionable, from a
disposition in them to stimulate the kidneys. Turpentine,
for the same reason, should not be applied ; but no such
fear prevents the use of liquor ammonise, in the manner
before directed, when treating of enteritis ; neither can any
objection be formed to the application of a simple mustard
poultice, which may be renewed every two hours ; and if a
newly-stripped sheepskin be laid upon the place the liquor
ammonias or mustard poultice has occupied, the activity of
each will be increased. In acute pain, give belladonna extract,
half a drachm, and crude opium, two drachms, thrice a day, in
linseed meal and honey. Without giving violent sudorifics,
which would increase the action of the heart and arteries,
we should attempt to moderately determine the blood to the
skin and the limbs by clothing, friction, and bandaging up
the extremities ; as well also by nauseating the stomach
with white hellebore. Injections of warm linseed tea may
be thrown up every two hours, and a pail of the same
placed before the horse ; he will want no other provision
during the attack Diluting liquors are among the best
means of lessening inflammation, for which reason a pail of

tepid gruel should be kept constantly in the manger. These
cases, however, generally last some time, during the whole
of which the eQ"orts should be continued, and exertion only
relax as death, from known and well-marked signs, appears
certain.

Percivall says : " should the inflammation not abate, keep
the bowels soluble and the skin supple by the following : —

Purging mass . . . .1 drachm.

Tartar! sed antimony . . .1 drachm.

Carbonate of soda . . .3 dracnms.

Mucilage to make a ball. If this produces purging, reduce the purg-
ing mass to half a drachm, or discontinue.

ABSCESS, SOFTENING, INDURATION, AND ENLARGEMENT OF THE

KIDNEYS

Most of these are preceded by acute nephritis. The first,
abscess, is sometimes the result of accident. The French
veterinarian Hurtrel d'Arboval, relates the case of a mare
who fell into a hole, and was got out with difiiculty, it being
supposed she had received a spinal injury. Her urine was tur-
bid, with streaks of blood. After a time a tumour appeared
in the right flank, which was opened, and discharged an
immense quantity of pus : the wound did not heal, but
a fistula formed. The horse sunk After death the right
kidney was found to be four times its natural size ; the
pelvis, greatly distended, contained three pints of pus
streaked with blood. The left kidney was also enlarged,
and its pelvis filled with a quart of limpid urine. The
bladder was thickened and inflamed, and contained merely
a sediment of urine.

Mr. Cartwright, veterinary surgeon, records a case where
the kidneys were light blue, in a complete state of putre-
faction, and " the finger would pass through their substance
like so much mud."

Induration, or scirrhus, also follow on injuries or inflam-
mation.

The symptoms of kidney disease are foetid, bloody, or
filamentous urine ; a small irregular pulse ; recurrence of
sweats, especially in the flanks ; these ceasing, the patient
falls, and convulsions close the scene. The gait of the horse,
and his wide mode of standing, are characteristics of these
disorders. The animal, too, can bear no pressure on the
loins. In some cases he will resist in evident agony any
attempt to press his back, at others he will sit down on his
hinder parts like a dog, and there is obstinate retention of
both urine and faeces.

The treatment is included in that of nephritis.

DIABETES.

Diabetes, polyuria, or profuse staling, has been divided
into a number of distinct disorders according as the compo-
sition of the urine exhibited different constituents or pro-
portions. Thus we have diabetes insipidus (watery diabetes,)
diabetes mellitus (sugary diabetes), &c. We shall here
merely speak of excess of urine, as inflammation is already
mentioned as the cause of deficiency.

820

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE

Simple augmentation of the urinary discharges, without
any material change in the composition of the urine, is the
eflfect of a multitude of causes, some alimentary, others
medicinal, others again of a nervous nature. Every horse-
keeper knows how certain kinds of hay and corn cause horses
to stale more than they ought to do, and that drinking
a large quantity even of plain water will produce the same
result. Medicines called " urine balls," or diuretics, are given
for the especial purpose of increasing the urine. But ner-
vousness will likewise do it, fright, or anxiety of any kind
almost, will make a horse stale inordinately. How fre-
quently do we see hunters at the covert side, when the
hounds are about finding, staling or continually stretching
themselves out to do so ; and a horse having wounds will
commence staling the moment the twitch is put on, from
the remembrance that some painful cutting or dressing had
followed this, to him, unpleasant operation

Profuse staling can only be regarded in the light of
disease when it amounts to much more in quantity than is
natural, and continues for that length of time that the well-
being of the animal is evidently affected by it.

The cause for this must in general be sought for in the
food or the water. Dark-coloured, highly fermented, or
mow-burnt hay ; kiln-dried oats, or such as have speared or
become musty from lying long in heaps ; barley that has
malted, and water having some mineral impregnation, are
each and all injurious agents, notwithstanding they are con-
sumed in many cases with impunity.

The kidneys, too, may be subject to this excess of secretion
from the tampering of the groom with diuretics. Mayhew
advises the following test, in his amusing but practical
style. " Take into the stable two slips of blotting paper. Dip
the ends of one of them into the interspaces of the brick floor
where some of the urine is retained. Smell the piece : if it
smells like violets, that is proof positive that turpentine has
been given to the animal. Dry the other piece after dip-
ping ; should that, when dry, and a light is applied, prove
to be touch-paper, the evidence is conclusive : sweet nitre
has been given to the animal. Should both these tests fail,
the groom is innocent ; other diuretics are unknown in the
stable."

The symptoms, in ordinary cases, attendant upon this
immoderate flux of urine are — insatiable thirst, with,
unless this be satisfied, a refusal to feed as usual ; unhealthy
appearance of the coat, dispiritedness, inability to bear
fatigue, loss of flesh, and debility.

The quantity of urine voided in some of these cases is so
great as to be quite incredible. The stall is deluged with
the flow. In an account of the disorder as it occurred at
one time in France, M. Lassange informs us, " the horses
attacked voided five or six pints of perfectly clear urine
every hour.

The urine is thin, aqueous, and perfectly transparent.
Carbonate of lime, sulphate of soda, muriate of soda, ben-
roate of soda, and phosphate of lime, amounting altogether

to one-eighth of the fluid, and seven-eighths of water, make
up the healthy urine of a horse ; but in simple diabetes the
water forms more than ninety-five per cent, of the fluid.

Treatment. — Should the animal be attacked during the
spring or summer season, a desirable change would be from
the stable to the grass-field ; or, when this cannot conve-
niently be done, soiling may be practised with advantage
Should the water appear to be the cause, and there be no
means, or very great difiiculty of obtaining any other kind,
we may put a piece of chalk into the pail with a view of
neutralizing the obnoxious impregnation.

The medicines most serviceable in this disorder are
astringents and tonics. Mr. Percivall's prescription is com-
posed of sesqui-carbonate of iron and prepared chalk, of
each half an ounce, made up with syrup, and given once a
day. Mr. Castley gave powdered galls, alum, and bole
armeniac, each one ounce, ginger one drachm, in a quart
of beer : half at night and half in the morning. Mr. Stewart
speaks in laudable terms of opium. He recommends daily
a ball consisting of three drachms of opium, and of catechu,
gentian, and ginger, two drachms of each, made up with a
little tar.

Should fever exist, such medicines, of course, become
inadmissible. In their place moderate blood-letting and
purging must be practised. In case the urinary disorder
outlive the febrile one, which it will not often be found to
do, recurrence may be had to the opiate and astringent
medicines.

A pail of linseed tea, made by pouring boiling water on
whole linseed, and letting it stand till lukewarm, should
stand within reach. Attend to the skin, and employ friction
if the horse takes it kindly. A ball daily of one drachm of
iodide of iron, with linseed meal and honey ; or a drink
of phosphoric acid, one ounce to a pint of water, is
extolled, and rightly, by Mr. Mayhew. The iodide of iron
acts as a tonic, and reduces thirst.

ALBUMINOUS URINE. BLOODY URINE. H^lMATUKI/i,

Albuminous or serous urine is a symptom of kidney
disease, which it is well to be acquainted with. The water
becomes of a deep straw colour, and thick as a solution of
gum water. With a test of bichloride of mercury it will
precipitate a copious milky flocculence, resembling white of
egg, which may be coagulated by heat or a little vinegar
and prussiate of potass. The symptoms, as in other kidney
disorders, are straddling behind and " reaching " the back.
Though sometimes the straddle is made backward and the
spine curved in, with an expression of intense pain.
Stimulants, mustard plasters, sponged off before destroying
the hair, are first employed, then abstinence from exer-
cise, and, finally, opium in repeated doses, are our only
dependance.

Hcematuria, or Bloody Urine, is a complaint often met
with, and our first suspicion is that a strain, blow, or other
injury should be looked for. The blood may come in clote

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE URINARY ORGANa— URINARY CALCULI.

321

or mixed with the urine, or show itself in its pure form
only upou coagulation.

The Treatment is guided by the circumstances of the
origin of the attack. Examine the kidneys by the rectum,
and sweat the loins and pelvis ; then let the animal rest
without any disturbance or irritation, and administer gently
two drachms of acetas plumbi in half a pint of cold water ;
then, in a quarter of an hour, give the like dose of the
acetate of lead, with one ounce of tincture of opium.
Repeat these till four doses are given, when, if the patient
is not benefited, take four drachms oi the ergot of rye, and
infuse in a half pint of boiling water, when cool add one
ounce of laudanum, and four of dilute acetic acid. Throw
pails of cold water from a height upon the loins, and inject
cold water per anum. Should the hiemorrhage cease, and
the kidneys not be enlarged or hardened (scirrhous) give
the following : —

Extract of catechu

1 ounce.

Oak bark infusion .

3 pints.

Alum ....

1 ounce.

Sulphate of u-on .

1 ounce.

Muriatic acid

6 drachms.

This quantity to last the day, administered at four, five, or rix
periods, as most convenient.

URINARY CALCULI — STONE IN THE BLADDER.

We believe these to be much more talked of than seen.
Renal calculi are unfrequent, but vesical or cystic calculi
(stone in the bladder) are more common. A reference to
Percivall (" Hippopathology," vol. ii., pp. 356—373) will put
the inquiring reader in possession of what English and
French veterinarians have done in investigating the varieties
of calculi, and the diseases produced by them, or of which
they are the products. Mr. Morton, late Professor of
Chemistry, at the Royal Veterinary College, has published
a volume on " Calcular Concretions," which exhausts the
subject.

The symptoms of renal calculus are not certain. The
urine may or may not become purulent, opaque, gritty, or
bloody. The first of these symptoms occurring when we
have convinced ourselves there is no stone in the bladder,
may lead us to suspect renal calculus, especially if the
animal shrinks from slight pressure on the loins. Our only
treatment is hydrochloric acid in the water, in hopes to
arrest the increase of the deposit.

The chemical composition of calculi in horses is nearly
uniform, consisting of carbonate of lime (common chalk,)
and carbonate of magnesia in varying proportions, mixed
up with albumen and mucous secretion. There is in the
Museum of the Veterinary College a stone found in the
bladder of a horse as large as a man's head ; the animal
for many years had been accustomed to stale every ten
minutes, and was known by the peasantry through the
country he lived in as " the Pissing Horse."

Stone in the bladder is denoted like other kinds of stone
8S

by altered conditions of the urine and difficulty and irregu-
larity in its discharge. The water, when flowing freely, will
sometimes be stopped suddenly, and great pain come on,
small emissions being effected by violent straining. The
back is oftener hollowed than " roached," and in some cases
the point of the penis is constantly exposed. The horse
often stops short, especially in going down hill, from a
sudden spasm, or in hopes to relieve the bladder.

In order to make certain of the presence of stone in the
bladder, an examination by the rectum is necessary. A
firm substance will be felt near the neck of the bladder,
which generally contracts pretty firmly upon it. The size,
form, and outline of the stone can be ascertained by the
experienced surgeon.

Lithotomy or lithotrity is the remedy for this disease, as
well as urethral calculus — the one being the cutting down
on the stone (Gr., lithos, a stone, and tonno, to cut), the
other breaking or comminating the stone (Gr. lithos, and
tero, to break). Of the first we have a large number of
recorded cases from the time of Lafosse downwards. A
single case, as related by Percivall, will convey a clear idea
of the operation, for further details of which the technical
class-books of veterinary surgery must be consulted.

" On the 26th Feb. the animal appeared to be in a
favourable state for the operation of lithotomy, which was
performed by securing him upon his back, with the hind
legs drawn forwards to the shoulders. The penis being
drawn out, a three foot whalebone staff was introduced as
far as the perinaeum, and the urethra opened by an incision
about three inches in length ; a grooved sound was then
passed straight into the bladder, and the stone was most
distinctly felt, and heard on being struck. It was attempted
to be extricj^ited without cutting open the pelvic portion of
the urethra and the neck of the bladder, being readily
grasped with the forceps, assisted by pressure made upon
the calculus by the left hand introduced into the rectum ;
but being too large, these parts were laid open by a lateral
incision made with a strong, curved, and probe-pointed
bistoury. It was then, by the same means, but with con-
siderable force, brought gradually forward to the perineum,
when it was forcibly contracted upon, and a further exten-
sion of the external incision was necessarily made to effect
its removal The hemorrhage was not very great or alarm-
ing, but it was thought best to secure a perineal vessel with
a ligature.

' The calculus is of the mulberry kind, very rough, of a
depressed oval form, weighing nearly three ounces ; it has
no distinct nucleus. Dr. Prout, having obligingly under-
taken to analyse it, found it composed principally of the
carbonate of lime, some phosphate of lime, and a little
phosphate of magnesia.

" The horse, immediately after the operation, became
tranquil and cheerful, and the pulse fell by evening to the
healthy standard, of 32 per minute, and so continued until
noon the following day, when, being rather agitated by

322

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

numerous visitors, it rose to 38, and by night to 45.
Four quarts of blood -were taken from the jugular vein, a
mild purgative given, and frequent clysters.

" Feb. 28. — Pulse 40 ; in the evening, 44. Bowels relaxed.

"ilarch 1.— Pulse 44. Purgative and clysters repeated.

" March 2. — Pulse 42 ; and so continued until the 8th,
when it declined to 38, and subsequently to 32, at which it
continued this day (the 18th), three weeks since the opera-
tion. The bowels having been kept open by aperient doses
of aloes and by clysters. The urine was evacuated partly
by the orifice until this time ; but the wound is now healed,
and it flows through the whole length of the urethra without
the least impediment. The horse is exercised daily, and is
fit to be discharged."

In cases of urethral calculus, that is, of a stone passing
from the bladder and becoming fixed in the urethra by its
.muscular contraction, it has been found possible to extract
it without an operation, by the dilatation of the passage by
mechanical means, aided by relaxing lubricatory injections
and fermentations ; in all these cases hydrochloric acid
should be administered. Mr. Spooner observes : in the case
of urethral calculus, "lithotomy consists merely in laying open
the canal along its median line and from behind forwards :
it is to be performed with a bistoury directed by one of
the fingers of the left hand. In this manner, M. Dufils,
veterinary surgeon at Bourdeaux, in 1821, extracted a
stone from a mare, which was lodged in part in the meatus
urinarius ; whereby she, who was before the subject of fre-
quent colics, became at once restored to ease, and speedily [
afterwards to health. In the centre of the stone was found
an almond, forming its nucleus. At the time it was shown
to us, M. Dufils assured us that it had lost much of its weight
and volume, proving thereby that these calculi contain a
large proportion of fluid, the evaporation of which evidently
brings on this diminution." *

CTSTITIS (INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER).

Inflammation of the bladder is said, but not proved, to be
more common among mares than horses ; but of aU the
causes of this affection none can compare with the powerful
diuretic* in general use with every stable-man or groom.
The symptoms are frequent — nay, continual — emissions of
small quantities of urine, voided with much straining,
during which the dung commonly is passed. The bladder
will be felt by the greased hand passed gently up the

* A case has recently come under the attention of the writer, in
which a stone was removed from the urethra by operation with success.
This case was complicated with perineal abscess and stristure of the
urethra, and was followed, as well as attended, by a remarkable disposi-
tion of the horse to earthy depositions in the urine. This latter
disposition was treated with hydrochloric acid, in doses of 2 drachms,
given in solution, with much advantage. The stricture was removed
by caustic, carefully applied to the part. When the caliwiliis in the
bladder is too large for removal, it may be softened or dissolved by acid
injectioDa.

rectum, hot, tender, and contracted into a firm substance of
about the size of a cricket-balL

The treatment is the same as for nephritis, and equall}
as urgent ; every precaution pointed out when treating ol
inflammation of the kidneys, should be rigidly adopted ; in
addition to which, warm water, in every gallon of which a
quarter of a pound of gum arable and an ounce of crude
opium have been dissolved, may be injected into the bladder
by Read's syringe with an elastic catheter attached.

SPASM OF THE NECK OF THE BLADDER.

We have preferred the old name of this attack, though it
is not so correct as spasm of the urethra, inasmuch as it is
not the neck of the bladder, but the urethra which acts in
this case in the retention of urine. It is distinguishable
from inflammation of the kidneys by the large secretion of
urine held in the bladder, and the consequent endeavours
of the horse to empty it. The true nature of the disorder
is discovered by passing the hand up the rectum ; the
bladder will be found distended ; the distension may indeed
be felt in the front of the pubes. The retension of urine,
however, is the principal symptom, although in spasm of the
neck of the bladder there may be a small quantity of urine
evacuated at different times ; for after the bladder is dis-
tended, there will be, by the force of the accumulation, a
few drops now and then squeezed out But in this disease
frequent or copious staling will not take place, whereas in
the previous disease it will be continual.

As to the Causes of this complaint we know little ; but it
may be reasonably supposed that the spasm of the part is
occasioned by morbid irritation, and our opinion of the pro-
bable termination must depend on our being able to empty
the distended bladder, and restore the lost tone of the
oriran. Every effort must be made to accomplish this, or
tlie animal may perish under irritation ; he may sink
ttirough gangrene of the distended bladder supervening, or
he may, as he usually does, die of rupture of the bladder,
in consequence of the kidneys continuing to secrete urine
but the spasm offering an obstacle to its emission. Attempt
therefore to accomplish the ejection by introducing the
hand up the rectum, and gently pressing the fundus of the
bladder forwards, which may force the passage. If this fail,
the urethra must be opened by a catheter. In a mare, the
catheter may be easily passed up, and the water drawn off;
but in the horse, to effect this, a flexible catheter must be
introduced, and gently guided forward. When a horse is
affected with spasm, the penis is generally much retracted
but with a little patience, aided by a handkerchief wrapped
round the hand, inserted up the sheath, this may be over-
come. The part is then given to an assistant to hold firmly,
while the practitioner inserts the point of th.- catheter,
which he pushes forward with his right hand, while he
places his left beneath the anus, in order to turn the tube
by manipulation when it shall have reached the perinaeum.
The rest is straightforward work ; only be careful to make

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS.

323

steady, continued, rather than sudden or violent pressure.
After the urine has been evacuated, inject a gallon of cold
spring water, with which an ounce of tincture of gall-nuts has
been mixed ; and if this last is at the time, or shortly after-
wards, ejected, no fears need be entertained about the lost
tone. If it is not cast forth, draw it off, and inject another
gallon, and continue till the bladder freely contracts. At
the same time you may give a clyster, composed of two
quarts of cold water, with two ounces of sulphuric ether,
and the same quantity of laudanum, which may be repeated
for three times. Mild food and good water, both procured
from a new source, are all that is required to perfect the
cure, excepting it may be thought proper to give a dose of
physic upon recovery.

Strangury, Stricture, &c., may be passed with the
remark that, to draw off a horse's urine, it was formerly
thought that, in the male, you had no resource but to
cut through the perinaeum into the urethra. We now know
that a flexible catheter can be passed by a skilful veterina-
rian. Should the cutting be thought necessary, it is per-
formed by a full-sized whalebone staff, flattened and ground
at the end, passed through the penis till its extremity is felt
by the other hand protruding in the perinaeum. In this situ-
ation it is cut down upon sufiiciently to admit the straight
(or female) metallic catheter into the bladder, when the
distended bladder is emptied, and the desired relief given.

§ II. DISEASES, fee, OF THE REPRODUCTIVE
ORGANS.

SYPHILIS NON-EXISTENT IN THE HORSE. — URETHRITIS. PHYMOSIS

AND PARAPHYMOSIS. VAGINITIS AND LEUCORRHCEA (WHITES).

SCIRRHOUS TUMOURS. OBSTETRICS. EMBRYOTOMY . — CAS-
TRATION.

Extensive and important as the variety and modes of
treatment of the diseases of the sexual organs are in human
surgery, the absence of those vices in the lower instinctive
animals to which proud reasoning man is prone, fortunately
renders this branch of veterinary science comparatively
meagre. The practice of castration, too, makes disorders of
the testicles nearly a blank, except to veterinarians prac-
tising in breeding or racing establishments, where entire
horses are more frequent. Even here disease is rare. Older
writers, and especially Continental veterinarians, in love with
systematising, have set down diseases akin to syphilis, and
described cases to bolster up their theory. We may safely
dismiss them, and that too with the authority of one of their
own greatest writers and practitioners. Hurtrel d'Arboval,
in his veterinary dictionary — " Dictionnaire de Mddecine,
de Chirurgie, et de Hygiene Veterinaire," Paris, 1838, — re-
pudiates with disgust the imputation that the horse is the
subject of syphilis, and expresses his surprise that the
authorities at the College of Alfort should have admitted
it into their pathology. He shows that lues venerea is a
disease peculiar to man, and can have but one specific

origin. If an animal could contract the disorder, it must be
from a crime of man of too revolting a description to be more
than alluded to. D'Arboval continues, " I have not passed
through a long course of practice without meeting with
cases which biassed minds might have taken for syphilis.
I have had occasion particularly to observe and to treat
irritations, inflammations, paraphymoses, discharges, ulcera-
tions, &c. I have even remarked an obstinacy in some of
these genital affections, with sympathetic swelling of the
inguinal glands, and of one or both testicles, without, for all
that, entertaining any notion of the disease being syphilitic.
So far from it, I have always been contented with simple
antiphlogistic treatment, modified as circumstances required,
and I never had cause to repent of not having introduced
mercurials." To this we need only add, that although cases
of urethritis (inflammation of the urethra) have occurred,
with a flow, or gonorrhoea (Gr. gone, seed, reo, to flow), yet
it has been what Cullen calls in his " Nosology," gonorrhoea
pura vel benigna. D'Arboval declares its causes to be,
foreign substances within the urethral canal, too frequent
acts of copulation, diuretics or balls of cantharides often
given by injudicious grooms to excite the stallion, ascarides
within the rectum, and inflammation of the bladder, causing
retention of urine.

The treatment in all these cases is simply antiphlogistic, —
tepid, bland, and mucilaginous drinks, with nitre, green meat,
and, if that is scarce, mixed with sound straw, together with
fomentations and clysters ; and, if the pain be intense, both
fomentations and drenches may be rendered narcotic In
entire horses, leeches may be applied to the testicles, or
local bleeding practised. If there be any foulness, dilute
acetate of lead or dissolved alum may be used as an astrin-
gent and discutient.

PuYMosis (Gr. phimos, a bridle) is a contraction of the
orifice of the sheath, which prevents " drawing," or protrusion
of the penis. Paraphimosis (Gr. para, beyond, phimos, a
bridle) is, on the contrary, a contraction of the sheath when
the penis is protruded and swollen, preventing its being
drawn back again, and thus bridling or strangulating the
glans penis. Both of these occur from blows, kicks, contu-
sions, or wounds. In the first, a troublesome disease ensues,
from the animal urinating within the sheath. In the
second, which has been seen after accidents in attempts at
copulation, a kick from a vicious mare — or worse a blow
from some human brute with stick or whip upon the yard
while in a state of erection, — the treatment is similar. Cold
lotions to abate inflammation ; local scarifications, pro-
ducing free evacuation of blood If there are concealed
ulcerations, or purulent collections in phymosis, we must cut
through the prepuce, and slit it far enough back to insure
its retraction, then treat the disorder as in cases of abscess or
ulcerations elsewhere described. In paraphymosis, remember,
all cuts must be made lengthwise, and along the upper part
and sides of the penis, to avoid the urethra, and that they
cannot well be too long, as they shrink up on the part

324

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

recovering from its distension, and retiring within the
sheath.

Amputation of the Penis by ligature and the knife will be
found described, with cited cases, in Pernivall's " Hippo-
pathology," vol ii, pp. 385 — 388.

Vaginitis and Leucorrh(ea. — These, to use the words of
Percivall, is no more than catarrh of the vagina, an inflam-
mation of the same sort as may attack the nose, the bladder,
or any other mucous canal Mares who are not allowed the
horse, invariably have derangements of this kind during the
spring season, when " horsy." At times it is white like
whey, at others yellow and almost purulent in character.
The discharge collects, and comes away, when the lips of the
vulva are opened, with a gush. A cooling drink, or a ball,
as follows, may be given : —

Acetate of lead
Opium . .
Linseed and turpentine to form a ball.

1 drachm.
1 scruple.

An astringent injection five or six times a day :

Decoction of oak bark

Sulphuric acid ...

J pint.
1 drachm.

Mix.

Or,

Sulphate of zinc . . . .4 drachms.

Distilled water . . . . 1 pint.

Sprinkle wheaten flour on the external organ and the inside of the
thighs after the injection.

Scirrhus of the Vulva is recorded in the books, but we
have never met with it. The treatment would be excision
of the tubercles, and rubbing the parts with ointment of
iodine. If it spreads to the udder, the animal should be
put out of its suffering.

Diseases of the Ovaries are too obscure, and hitherto too
little investigated by the veterinarian, to deserve more in a
compendium like the present than a record of their occa-
sional existence.

OBSTETRICS.

Parturition with the mare is generally a natural and
unassisted act. Cases of protracted and difficult parturition
do, however, occur ; and in these instances the veterinary
practitioner should be au fait to the position of affairs, and
the intelligent horse-master should not be under the tutelage
of the farrier or the often pretentious groom. We shall here
quote the simple and practical observations of Blaine in his
"Outlines of Veterinary Art," edit. 1854, p. 365. "The
principal cases that occur arise either from weakness in the
mare, or from a disproportion between the foetus and the
mother. False presentations are also to be witnessed, but
chiefly of the back and croup : that of the back requires much
labour, but the foal is to be delivered, the hind legs being
presented, without turning in the womb being necessary.
When, either from debility of the mare, or disproportion in

the size of the foal, a natural birth is despaired of, the prac-
titioner, having introduced his arm, and having ascertained
that the presentation is a natural one, should draw the feet
gently forward, and then endeavour to place the head
between them. If the head only is met with, seize it by
the muzzle and draw it gently onward, searching for the
feet, and drawing them one after the other in the line of
the head ; which manipulations are, of course, only to be
attempted during the throes of the mother. So soon as the
head and legs are got near the external orifice, enclose each
foot within the loop of a rope, then, holding both ends so
attached, endeavour to liberate the foal by steady not
violent pulling, timing your pull with each throe or labour-
pain, unless by debility or protraction they have ceased.
When this is the case, try to revive them by the administra-
tion of stimulants, especially infusion of the ergot of rye, in
two-drachm doses every twenty minutes. Should this not
effect the object within the hour, proceed to extract the foal,
longer delay may lose both mother and offspring. The blunt
hook is sometimes used on these occasions where the hand
cannot be introduced : it is a powerful aid with those who
can direct it skilfully."

When the obstruction arises from an unnatural presenta-
tion of parts — that is, of other parts than the head and fore-
feet, as of the loins, the croup, and one leg, the other being
doubled backward — it is evident we should endeavour to
change the position to the natural one (of the head) if
practicable. If not, we must bring the hinder feet forwards,
and endeavour to make the extraction by this method.
Lastly, if all these means fail, we must proceed to lessen the
foetal mass by cutting out the embryo.

Embryotomy. — When, from weakness, a very narrow pelvic
opening on the part of the mother, or monstrosity on the
part of the foal, no efforts can bring the foetal mass away
entire, it must be dismembered. A knife made for the
purpose, having the blade concealed, with the haft lying
within the hollow of the hand, is to be taken up into the
vagina. We are told that, occasionally, hydrocephalus in
the colt prevents the head from passing Such a case will
detect itself by the volume that wiU be felt on examination,
and which will be easily lessened by plunging the point of
the knife in the forehead, and evacuating the contents by
pressing the skull in ; when, laying hold of the muzzle, the
head may be brought through the pelvic opening. But it is
usually the natural size of the head which forms the obstruc-
tion ; in which case the head itself must be removed. When
the head has been dissected ofl" and brought away, it will be
necessary probably to contract the volume of the chest,
which will not be difficult, by cutting the cartilaginous
portions of the ribs, detaching the thoracic viscera, and
then crushing or kneading the empty chest together ; after
which, the rest of the body will ofi"er little obstruction.
When the head cannot be got at, the limbs must be de-

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS.— CASTRATION.

325

tached ; after which the body, and at last the head, may be
drawn out entire, or reduced for that purpose.

CASTRATION.

In England, the practice of castration may be said to be
almost universal ; the exceptions being a small number of
horses kept for racing purposes and covering, and a few
entire horses used in draught and for " black jobs," where
the stallion crest is considered to add to the majestic appear-
ance of the animal. Length in the arms and wider-spread
angles of the limbs are asserted to be obtained by early
castration ; certainly the docility and steadiness of the
animal are vastly improved. Hernia, founder, and some
skin disorders are less frequent with geldings than entire
horses.

The best period for castration depends much upon the
breed of the horse and the class of work for which he is
intended. If there is no object in obtaining a heavy and
arched neck and a prominent crest, then the earlier the
animal is castrated, the safer and simpler is the operation.
From the fifteenth day to the fourth month is the most
eligible period, and " foals castrated early grow larger than
those cut later," says Mr. Brettargh a veterinarian of exten-
sive experience. He adds : — " Colts are foaled with their
testicles within the scrotum, which remain there, in ordinary
cases, until the fifth or sixth month, when they are taken up
between the internal and external abdominal rings, and
there they remain until the eleventh, twelfth, or thirteenth
month, all depending upon the degree of keep, as in some
that are particularly well fed the testicles can at all times
be found within the scrotum."

Colts, therefore, can be castrated any time between the
first and fourth month ; and this period is preferred by some
persons, from the little disturbance it occasions to the con-
stitution. Some breeders of horses castrate at twelve months ;
others object to this period, because they think the animal
has not sufficiently recovered the check experienced from
weaning, before this new shock to the system occurs. In
the more common sort of horses, used for agricultural
purposes, it is probably indifi"erent at what time the opera-
tion is performed ; this consideration being kept in view,
that the earlier it is done the lighter will the horse be in his
fore-hand ; and the longer it is protracted, the heavier will
be his crest, and the greater his weight before, which in
heavy draught work is desirable. For carriage horses it
would be less so, and the period of two years is not a bad
one for their castration. The better sort of saddle horses
should be well examined every three or four months ; par-
ticularly at the ages of twelve, eighteen, and twenty-four
months ; at either of which times, according to circum-
stances or to fancy, provided the fore-hand be sufiiciently
developed, it may be proceeded with. Waiting longer may
make the horse heavy : but if his neck appear too long and
thin, and his shoulders spare, he will assuredly be improved
by being allowed to remain entire for six or eight months

later. Many of the Yorkshire breeders never cut till two
years, and think their horses stronger and handsomer for it.
Some wait even longer, but the fear in this case is, that the
stallion form will be too predominant, and a heavy crest
and weighty fore-hand be the consequence ; perhaps also
the temper may suffer.

In regard to season and weather, the operator should —
where he can — object to castrate either during very cold or
v^iry sultry weather, or while the horse is shedding his coat)
or in the season when, or situation where, flies prevail.
These precautions will especially demand attention when
our subject is an aged horse, or one that has been highly
groomed or fed. The time to be preferred is late in the
spring, after the horse has shed his coat, and before the flies
have made their appearance.

The colt should be prepared for castration by being kept
on short diet for a few days and his system slightly lowered,
but by no means to a state of debility.

There are several methods of castration, the commonest
with us is that of castration by cauterization. On the Con-
tinent, the general practice is by the " caustic clam," by two
methods, the " covered " and " uncovered." Castration by
torsion has also its advocates and practitioners, we shall
therefore add it to our list.

A preliminary observation should be made previously to
casting, to see that the horse is not suffering from a rup-
ture : such cases have happened ; and as in our method we
open a direct communication with the abdomen, when the
horse rises it is not improbable that his bowels protrude
until they trail on the ground. Hernia as a consequence of
castration may easily occur by the uncovered operation, as
it makes the scrotal sac and abdominal cavity one continuous
opening. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, if the vio-
lent struggles of the animal should force a quantity of
intestine through the rings into the scrotal bag. Should we
be called on to operate on a horse which already had hernia,
it is evident we ought not to proceed with it unless the
owner be apprised of the risk, and willing to abide by it.

As unbroken young horses are the most usual subjects of
this operation, and as such often have not yet been bridled,
if a colt cannot be enticed with oats, &c., he must be driven
Into a corner between two steady horses ; where, if a halter
cannot be put on, at least a running hempen noose can be
got round his neck ; but whichever is used, it should be
flat, or the struggles, which are often long and violent, may
bruise the neck, and produce abscess or injury. When his
exertions have tired him, he may be led to the operating
spot. Here his attention should be kept engaged while the
hobbles (see Plate XX) are put on, if possible ; if not, a long
and strong cart-rope, having its middle portion formed into
a noose sufficiently large to take in the head and neck, is to
be slipped on, with the knotted part applied to the counter
or breast ; the long pendent ends are passed backwards
between the fore-legs, then carried round the hind fetlocks;
brought forward again on the outside, run under the collar-

326

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

rope ; a second time carried backward on the outer side of
all, and extended to the full length in a direct line behind
the animal. Thus fettered, says Mr. Percivall, his hind feet
may be drawn under him towards the elbows. It has been,
however, often found that, at the moment the rope touches
the legs, the colt either kicks and displaces the rope, or
altogether displaces himself; but his attention can generally
be engaged by one fore-leg being held up, Rarey fashion, or
by having his ear or muzzle rubbed, or even by the twitch.
The rope may now be carried cautiously round each fetlock,
which then acts like a hobble ; and the rope may be gradually
tightened. This last, however, is a very questionable method,
and the others, therefore, ought to be tried before it is
resorted to. In either way, as soon as the rope is fixed,
with a man to each end of it behind the colt, let them, by a
sudden and forcible effort in concert, approximate his hind-
legs to his fore, and thus throw him. Before the colt is cast,
however, it should be endeavoured to ascertain that he is
free from strangles and hernia.

Being satisfied that no hernia exists on either side, pro-
ceed to cast the colt, turning him, not directly on the left
side, but principally inclining that way ; and if possible let
the croup be very slightly elevated. It is usual to place him
directly flat on the left side, but the above is more convenient.
Next secure the near hind-leg with a piece of hempen tackle,
having a running noose ; or, in default of this not being at
hand, make use of the flat part of a hempen halter, which
should for safety be put on before the hobble of that leg is
removed ; as may be readily done if the hobbles having
shifting or screw D.s are made use of Every requisite
being at hand, the operator, having his scalpel ready, should
place himself behind the horse, as the most convenient way
to perform his manipulations. Firmly grasping the left
testicle with his left hand, and drawing it out so as to
render the scrotum tense, he should make an incision
lengthways, from the anterior to the posterior part of the
bag. The resistance of the cremaster muscle has to be
overcome before the testicle can be forced to the bottom
of the scrotum ; and this is the more readily accomplished
if the animal's attention be engaged. The incision may be
carried at once through the integuments, the thin dartos
expansion, and the vaginal coat of the testicles, with a
sweep of the scalpel. But with one less dexterous at the
operation, it will be more prudent to make the first incision
through the scrotum and dartos only, to the required extent;
and then to do the same by the vaginal coat, thus avoiding
wounding the testicle, which would produce violent resist-
ance, and give unnecessary pain. Cases have occurred, when
the tunica vaginalis was divided, that no testicle followed ;
firm adhesions between this coat and the tunica albuginea
having retained it fast. In such cases the scalpel must be
employed to free the testicle, by dissecting it away from the
vaginal sac. When no such obstruction occurs, the testicle,
if the opening be sufficiently large, will slip out ; but- the
operator must be prepared at the moment of so doing to

expect some violent struggles, more particularly if he
attempt to restrain the contractions of the cremaster, and
by main force to draw out the testicle. Preparatory to this,
therefore, the twitch should be tightened ; the attendants,
especially the man at the head, must be on the alert ; and
the testicle itself, at the time of this violent retraction of
the cremaster, should be merely held but not dragged in
opposition to the contraction. If the clams (see Plate XXI.)
have been put on over the whole, according to Mr. Percivall's
method, they will assist in retaining the retracting parts ;
but they must not be used with too much pressure. The
resistance having subsided, the clams must now be removed ;
or, if they have not been previously in use, they must now
be taken in hand, and having been prepared by some tow
being wound round them, should be placed easily on the
cord, while time is found to free from the grip of the pincers
the spermatic tube, which is seen continued from the epidi-
dymis. The Russians, Mr. Goodwin informs us, cut it through
when they operate. Humanity is much concerned in its re-
moval from pressure, because of the excess of pain felt when
it is included. It is necessary, before the final fixing of the
clams, to determine on the part where the division of the
cord is to take place. Mr. Percivall says, " If it be left too
long, it is apt to hang out of the wound afterwards, and
retard the process of union;" on the other hand, if it be
cut very short, and the arteries happen to bleed afresh after
it has been released from the clams, the operator will find
it no easy task to recover it. The natural length of the
cord, which will mainly depend on the degree of the descent
of the gland, will be our best guide in this particular- The
place of section determined on and marked, close the clams
sufficiently tight to retain firm hold of the cord, and to
effectually stop the circulation within it. There are now
two modes of making the division : the one is to sever it
with a scalpel, and then to sufficiently sear the end of it so as
to prevent a flow of blood. The other, and in some respects
the preferable method, is to employ a blunt-edged iron,
which is to divide by little crucial sawings, so that, when
the cord is separated, it shall not present a uniform surface,
but ragged edges, which will perfectly close the mouths of
the vessels. This done, loosen the clams sufficiently to
observe whether there be any flow of blood ; gently wipe
the end of the cord also with the finger, as sometimes an
accidental small plug gets within the vessel ; this had better
be removed at the time. Retain a hold on the clams a few
minutes longer ; and while loosening them gradually, observ-
ing to have an iron in readiness, again to touch the end of
the cord, if any blood makes it appearance ; satisfied on
this point, sponge the parts with cold water. No sort of
external application is necessary, still less any resin seared
on the end of the cord, which can only irritate, and will
never adhere. On the after-treatment much difference of
opinion has existed, and even yet exists. The powerful
evidence of accumulated facts has now convinced us of the
necessity and propriety of some motion for the newly ca.s-

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS.— CASTRATION.

327

trated horse, as a preventive of local congestion ; such prac-
tice is common in most countries, and seems salutary in all.
Hurtrel d'Arboval, thus impressed, recommends the horse,
immediately after the operation, to be led out to walk for
an hour ; and it is a general plan in France to walk such
horses in hand an hour night and morning. Mr. Goodwin,
in proof of its not being hurtful, informs us that whole studs
of horses brought to St. Petersburg to be operated on, are
immediately travelled back a certain portion of the distance,
night and morning, until they arrive at home. We have,
therefore, no hesitation in recommending a moderate degree
of motion in preference to absolute rest.

The French method of castration is advocated by Mr.
Goodwin, who quotes its description from Hurtrel d'Arboval.
" Castration by means of the clams is the method in general
use, if not the only one now employed ; it is the most
ancient, since it was recommended by Hierocles among
the Greek' It is performed in two ways, the testicle being
covered or uncovered. In the former, the exterior of the
scrotum, formed by the skin and dartos muscle, is cut
through, and the testicle is brought out by dissecting away
the laminated tissue, the gland being covered by the tunica
vaginalis ; the clam is then placed above the epididymis,
outside the external peritoneal covering of the cord. In
the uncovered operation, the incision is made through the
serous capsule of the testicle ; the tunica vaginalis being
divided, the testicle presents itself, and the clam is placed
well above the epididymis, on the cord. The operation,
performed in either way, requires us to provide ourselves
with a scalpel, a pair of clams, a pair of long pincers, made
purposely to bring the ends of the clams together, and some
waxed string. The clams may be formed of different kinds
of wood ; but the elder is considered the best, and generally
made use of. To make a clam, we procure a branch of
old and dry elder, whose diameter should be about an
inch, and whose length should be from five to six inches :
of course, the dimensions must at all times be propor-
tioned to the size of the cord we have to operate on. At
the distance of half an inch from each end, a small notch,
sufiiciently deep to hold the string, must be made, and then
the wood should be sawed through the middle lengthways.
Each divided surface should be planed, so as to facilitate
the opening of the clams, either when about to place them
on or to take them off The pith of the wood is then to be
taken out, and the hollow should be filled with corrosive
sublimate and flour, mixed with sufficient water to form it
into a paste. Some persons are not in the habit of using
any caustic whatever ; then, of course, scooping out of the
inside of the clam is not necessary : notwithstanding, the
caustic, inasmuch as it produces a speedier dissolution of
the parts, must be useful, and ought not to be neglected."
The addition of the caustic, however, Mr. Goodwin objects
to with great reason, remarking, that unless it be a very
strong one, and therefore dangerous to employ, it cannot be
of any use to parts compressed and deprived of circulation

and life. He further informs us that he has operated in

six cases in succession with the same effect, without any
caustic matter whatever. An experimental case of Mr.
Percivall's terminated fatally : by the use of caustic, the
cord was greatly inflamed, as high as the ring, which
unquestionably produced the unfortunate result. " The
covered operation," continues Mr. Goodwin, " is the one that
I am about to advocate, and which differs only inasmuch as,
that the scrotum and dartos muscle must be cautiously cut
through, without dividing the tunica vaginalis. It wat
Monsieur Berger who was accidentally at my house when 1
was about to castrate a horse, and who, on my saying that
I should probably do it with the cautery, expressed his sur-
prise that I should perform the operation in any other way
than on the plan generally approved of in France. Being a
stranger to it, he kindly consented to preside at the opera-
tion, and, after seeing him perform on the near testicle, 1
did the same on the right, but of course not with the same
facility. After opening the scrotum, and dissecting through
the dartos — which is very readily done by passing the knife
lightly over its fibres — the testicle, and its covering, the
tunica vaginalis, must be taken in the right hand, while the
left should be employed in pushing back the scrotum from
its attachments ; and, having your assistant ready, as before,
with the clam, it must be placed well above the epididymis,
and greater presure is, of course, necessary, as the vaginal
covering is included in the clam.''

Mr. Goodwin further observes, that in Russia he has seen
hundreds of horses operated on, even after the human
fashion, with safety ; and he remarks it certainly produces
less pain, the animal loses less flesh and condition, and is
sooner recovered than when operated on by the actual
cautery.

Castration by torsion is advocated, among others, by
Messrs. Daws, Simonds, and Wardle, and is thus described
by Mr. Daws : — " The operation of castration by torsion is
performed as follows : — An incision through the scrotum on
one side is first made with the scalpel, sufficiently large to
admit the free escape of the testicle ; the vasa deferens is
then divided with the same instrument about an inch above
the epididymis. By pursuing this plan, the resistance ol
the cremaster muscle will be defeated ; and the testicle, with
its vessels, will lie in a quiet state until the conclusion of
the operation.

" A longitudinal incision is now to be made through the
tunica vaginalis reflexa, and a portion of the spermatic
artery laid bare, and freed from its adjacent attachments.
The torsion forceps is then to be applied to the artery, which
should be divided in that portion immediately below the
grasp of the instrument, the thumb and index finger of thf
left hand pressing back the blood in the vessel The artery
is then to be twisted by the forceps, held in the right hand,
until the elasticity is destroyed, and it will no longer recoil
but remain curled up in a knot. The torsion forceps may
then be removed with safety, and the remaining portion o'

328

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

the cord should be divided, and returned within the scrotum.
Should the haemorrhage from the artery of the cord prove
at all troublesome, it may be arrested in a similar manner.
The number of twists will depend upon the size of the
artery, from four to six revolutions being sufficient for
small,'and eight or ten for larger vessels. The effect which
torsion produces on the vessel, independent of destroying
its elasticity, is a laceration of its internal tunic, the edges
of which become speedily agglutinated by means of plastic
lymph : a clot of blood plugs up the end, so that the oblite-
ration is rendered doubly secure." This description is fol-
lowed by numerous cases, in which this method of operating
has been practised by the three practitioners before men-
tioned with success.

Castration by ligature is a painful, barbarous, and very
dangerous practice ; and consists in enclosing the testicles

and scrotum within ligatures until mortification occurs and
they drop off. It is practised by some breeders on their
young colts, but it is always hazardous, and disgracefully
cruel. The substance of the testicle in some countries is
also broken down either by rubbing, or otherwise by pres-
sure between two hard bodies : this is practised in Algiers
instead of excision, and tetanus is a frequent consequence
of it. In Portugal they twist round the testicle, and thus
stop the circulation of the gland. Division of the vasa defe-
rens has been performed, it is said, with success on many
animals ; and is proposed as a safe and less painful process
than the emasculation of the horse. It consists in a longi-
tudinal section through the scrotum, dartos, and vaginal
sheath, so as to expose the cord, from which the vasa deferens
is to be separated, and severed from the vein.

CHAPTER XXXL

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE SKIN.

MANOE, ITCH, PRURIGO. — RINGWORM. — SURFEIT. — HIDEBOUND. —

LICE. LARVa IN THE SKIN. MALLENDERS AND SALLENDERS.

— MELANOSIS. WARBLES. SITFASTS. QALLS. WARTS.

WATER FARCY. — ABSCESS (PURULENT AND SEROUS). — ULCERS.

Under this head we propose to consider the diseases and
injuries of the integument and the cellular membrane.

The structure of the three coats of the skin a.n^ of the
hair have been described, ante, pp. 192 — 193.

MANGE. — ITCH. — PRURIGO.

Mange, the form in which, in hairy animals, the itch
makes its appearance, is the most contagious of a loathsome
class of diseases.

The irritation has been shown by microscopic observation
to depend upon the presence of minute insects called acari.
The mange insect of the horse is of a different species to
that of the human itch-insect, yet it is abundantly proved
that itch may be caught by man from a mangy horse, dog,
or other hair-coated animal. Though mange is, in the vast
majority of instances, the result of contagion, yet poor
living, neglect of cleanliness, and a lowering of the vital
system generally, will produce it spontaneously, and it will
then spread ruinously, even to better-conditioned animals.

The most remarkable characters of mange are, the annoy-

ing itch it creates, and the bare scabby places it occasions
on the skin. A mangy horse will rub himself against any
part of the stable or yard where he may happen to be. He
will even rub himself against his companions, should he be
at grass or strawyard with others ; and by frequent and
violent rubbing, will irritate and excoriate the diseased
places, and thus considerably aggravate the malady. Though
no part of the skin can be said to be exempt from mange,
the places it commonly occupies are the neck, shoulders,
withers, sides, thighs, and head. On removing with a
brush the incrustations, or rather the kind of scaly dust
produced by the dried pustules, and examining it atten-
tively in the sun or any warm place, a person may dis-
tinguish, even with the naked eye, little organised, trans-
parent, shining bodies moving about ; these are acari —
insects belonging to the same family as the sarcoptce of
human itch. There is almost always to be discovered, in
places within the substance of the skin, more or less larvae
of these animalcules. In the horse, the insect is large
enough to be seen without the aid of a lens, in its travelf
over different parts of the mangy animal's body.

Symptoms. — The symptoms of mange are seldom noticed
till the disease is established. They are very simple : the
animal is observed to rub himself uneasily, and then, on
examination, the hair is found loose and coming off; and

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE SKIN.— SURFEIT.

329

the multitude of minute pimples leave no doubt of the
nature of the case. Mange being suspected, its existence
may also be readily ascertained by inserting the fingers
among the roots of the hairs of the mane, and slightly
scratching the parts. The horse will extend his neck and
head, and continue motionless so long as the hand remains
upon its crest.

Treatment. — Though mange is principally treated by
local remedies, yet constitutional ones, — cleanliness, warmth,
malt-mashes, carrots, beet-root, speared corn, &c., — will
materially assist and expedite the cure. As in human
itch, sulphur is most relied on. When ointment, liniment,
or wash is to be applied, should the weather be fine, place
the animal in the sunshine for an hour ; if not, put it in a
warm stable, clean the coat sedulously till the scurf is
removed, and allow nothing to be used for other horses
that has touched the animal — brushes, combs, cloths, or even
halter or harness. Then rub in, with the hand or a piece of
flannel, either of the following, missing no part from the
nose to the end of the tail.

MANGE OINTMENT.

Sulphur vivum (yellow sulphur) . . 6 ounces.

Linseed oil (or Olive oil, 12 oz. ; and oil

of tar, 4 oz.) .... 1 pound.
Oil of turpentine .... 2 ounces.
Mix.

If the colour of the horse is desired to be preserved, add
some soot for a black or brown animal, or bole armenian
where the colour is bay or chestnut. Yellow sulphur and
antimony, in a dose of six drachms the two, may be mixed
with the food.

ANOTHER OINTMENT.

Strong mercurial ointment
Soft soap

Mix.

LINIMENT FOR MANGE.

Glycerine .

Creosote

Oil of turpentine

Oil of juniper

4 ounces.
2 pounds.

12 ounces.
2 ounces.
4 ounces.
2 ounces.

Soak the coat thoroughly, and the third day after wash
thoroughly off and dry the animal, letting him stand an
hour in the sun, if possible. Rub down, and apply the
liniment once again, washing off as before. Or a lotion
may be used as follows : —

LOTION FOR MANGE.

Corrosive sublimate .1 drachm.

Spirits of wine . . . . 1 ounce.

Tobacco-water, 1 quart, made from 2 ounces of tobacco.

Though mercurial preparations cure mange, they are not
BO certain in operation as sulphur. Percivall says, Barba-
does tar and linseed oil, simmered a few minutes in an old
T T

kettle, surpasses all more compound remedies. Some pow- [ |
dered hellebore root, say half the quantity of the yellov.
sulphur, mixed with that mineral, is an improvement on
our first recipe.

A common prurigo or itchiness sometimes occurs in spring,
which makes the horse rub himself violently and remove
patches of his coat. It is merely heat of skin, and may be i j
relieved by a wash of glycerine and rose water, or a lini-
ment of creosote and oil, with a cooling drench of

Liquor arsenicalis

1 ounce.

Tincture of muriate of iron

2 ounces

Water ....

1 qiiart.

In four doses.

RINGWORM.

Ringworm, though not common among horses, does occa
sionally present itself.

Although we have little or nothing to apprehend from
" tetter," it often turns out a very intractable disorder
when we try to cure it ; and especially when it has
become inveterate through negligence or long standing.
It is ascribed to a variety of causes, constitutional as well
as local. It is very apt to make its appearance, in the
spring and autumnal seasons, among horses that have
suffered from exposure and bad keep, and wil' attack
many at the same time.

Treatment. — Unacquainted with the specific organic dis-
turbance to which tetter owes its existence, our " remedies,"
as they are called, are empirical. We must attend to the
general health and condition of the animal, and take care
that his diseased skin is well washed with soap and water,
as often as required ; without which the dressings cannot
take proper effect. Should the bare places exhibit inflam-
matory action, we must foment, and (if practicable) poul-
tice them, and bleed and purge the animal. Sulphur
ointment, empyreumatic oils, corrosive sublimate in weak
aqueous solution, &;c., are recommended. At the Alfort
Veterinary School, good effects have been derived from the
use of the liquor plumbi in combination with nitric acid.

Creosote and simple cerate, and an ointment of the
nitrate of lead, with the liquor arsenicalis as a drink, may
be tried. A solution of copperas applied with a sponge are
known to have perfect success.

SURFEIT.

The appearance of surfeit is a quantity of round, blunt,
heat spots on the skin, which occasionally proceed to exu-
dation and form small scabs. The horse has generally an
unhealthy coat, or hidebound, or is in a plethoric state.
It is a consequence of excessive feeding. Prurigo may be
looked upon as the simplest form of surfeit.

The Treatment must be such as tends to relieve plethora,
and to remove any inflammatory disposition that may exist
in the system ; at the same time the eruption itself should
be as much as possible encouraged. In cases of simple

330

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

evanescent eruption, nothing more is required, in general,
than the substitution of a mash for a corn diet — green-meat,
if it can be procured, for hay — chilled water, warm clothing
and bandages, and additional walking exercise. Should
the eruption evince a permanent character, or should it
shew a disposition to relapse, it may become requisite to
bleed and purge moderately ; and these evacuations may be
followed up by cooling febrifuges — antimony and nitre —
mingled in powder with the animal's mashes. The follow-
ing is good :

Nitre . . . . • 3 drachms.

Sulphur ..... 4 drachms.

Black Antimony .... 2 drachms.
Mix with bran and give in the corn.

D'Arboval truly remarks, however, when the lumps on the
skin are bursting and discharging, the time for evacuating
remedies seems to have gone by. We may then content
ourselves with a cooling regimen, and the exhibition of
alteratives ; and sponge the surface with warm water.
Though, " should the skin require excitement," the same
author recommends " frictions with camphorated spirits."

HIDEBOUND.

When a horse's hide or skin sticks to his ribs, as it were,
and cannot be drawn out or moved, as in the healthy state,
he is said to be hidebound. It indicates great weakness
and poverty, and sometimes a diseased state of the mesen-
teric vessels, and consumption. It is generally occasioned
by ill-usage, and bad or insufficient food, and cannot be
removed without proper feeding and good treatment.
One of the great causes is turning the animal out in a
straw yard.

The following powder may be given daily in the food,
"•he effect of which will be, by stimulating the stomach and
bowels, not only to assist digestion, but also to affect the
skin by sympathy : —

Cantharides, finely powdered . . 5 grains.

Pimento ..... 2 drachms.
Sulphate of iron .... 2 drachms.

If the horse refuse this powder in his food, it may be
made into a ball with treacle, and given for a week or a
fortnight. Or a tonic alterative drink may be given. See
Tonics in List.

LICE.

The vicinity of a henroost is often the cause of this
annoyance. These parasites cannot be destroyed by the
same means as those of the horse, which die when anointed
with oil or grease, and washed off. When lice occur with
hidebound, they generally disappear with the disease.

LARViE IN THE SKIN.

Mr. Mayhew has given not only a verbal description but
drawings of this pest of horseflesh ; and from him we
condense the following : —

These annoyances are another result of turning an animal
out to grass, the fly whence the trouble is derived never
entering the stable. The insect rejoices in the freedom of
the field ; and man, by turning out his horse, finds the
creature a fitting spot for the deposit of its eggs. The
warmth of the animal hatches the larvae ; no sooner is it
endowed with life, than, with the instinct of its kind, it
burrows into the skin. The integument of the horse, how-
ever thick it may appear, is soon pierced by the active little
maggot, which, thus snugly housed, retains its lodging until
the following spring. During the winter, a small lump
denotes its abiding place ; but as the second summer pro-
gresses, a tolerably large abscess is instituted. The interior
of the abscess, of course, contains pus- Upon that secretion
the insect lives and thrives.

Such swellings are acutely painful, and prove the sources
of much annoyance. They mostly occur upon the back.
The saddle cannot be laid on one of these tumours ; and, as
the spine supports much of the harness, the proprietor has
the vexation of beholding his horse rendered useless ; for
suffering, should service be exacted, occasions the creature
to excite displeasure ; besides, the pranks thus provoked by
torture often continue after the cause has been removed.

Upon the summit of the abscess appears a black spot. It
is at this spot the larva receives the air needed to support a
dormant existence. This fact being known to certain peo-
ple, the knowledge is employed to destroy the parasite.
The swelling is first slightly greased, and then a drop of
melted tallow is let fall upon the breathing place. By such
means, the insect is effectually suffocated, and assuredly dies.

Others employ a darning needle as the instrument of
execution. The needle is thrust through the central spot
into the swelling, for three-eighths of an inch. The larva
thereby is pierced, and the life certainly is sacrificed.

Neither methods occasion at the time the slightest pain to
the horse. In either case the maggot dies ; but the business,
unfortunately, is only rendered worse by killing the source
of evil. The dead body putrefies. A foreign and corrupt-
ing substance, beneath the skin, may enlarge the abscess to
many times its original dimensions. After all, the system
has to cast forth the irritating matter ; and for that purpose
inflammation, with its attendant fever, must be perfected.
Much suffering is thus occasioned, and the proprietor is,
for several weeks, forced to forego the employment of a
valuable servant.

The safest, the surest, and the quickest manner of
eradicating these parasites is, with the point of a lancet,
slightly to enlarge the central opening ; and then, with the
finger and thumb applied on either side of the swelling, to
squeeze out the intruder. The abscess rapidly disappears ;
and it only requires a few dabbings with the solution of
chloride of zinc, one grain to the ounce, to close the wound.
However, the best manner to avoid such annoyances is, not
to turn the horse out, and treat a domesticated as an un-i
tamed quadruped.

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE SKIN.— MELANOSIS.

^31

MALLENDERS AND SALLENDERS.

When a scurfy or scabby eruption at the posterior part of
the bending of the knee appears, it is termed mallenders :
and when a similar one appears at the bend of the hock, it
is called sallenders. Neither of them lame or do much
harm ; but sometimes, when neglected, they degenerate
into a foul ichorous discharge, a little more troublesome,
and always unsightly. Both of them are easily removed by
washing with soap and water, and by applying the fol-
lowing : —

Camphor . . . . .1 drachm.

Subacetate of lead (sugar of lead) . i drachm.

Mercurial ointment . . .1 ounce.

Mix.

Tonic and alterative drinks should be given. This is
Mayhew's ointment for the disorder : —

Animal glycerine .... 1 ounce.
Mercvtrial ointment . . .2 drachms.

Powdered camphor . . .2 drachms.

Spermaceti .... 1 ounce.

Mix and rub in gently.

Crown Scab, and Rat Tails. — These are of the same
nature as mallenders, and may be cured by the same means.
They generally, however, leave a blemish, consisting in a
loss of hair, and a thickening of the cuticle. Crown scab
occurs on the coronet, and rat tails in lines on the back
part of the leg, extending from the fetlock upwards.

MELANOSIS.

This curious disorder, which seems exclusively to at-
tack horses that have once been grey, consists of a black
deposit in the cellular tissue, and occasionally in other
parts of the body. In India it has been called " tail-
disease," from the remarkable fact of a tumour or ex-
crescence being almost always present at the root of the
tail. Mr. W. C. Spooner gives a case in White's Farriery,
p. 258, of a white Arabian who was destroyed with
melanosis. Melanosis is defined by Laennec as "a patho-
logical production deposited upon the surface, or in the
substance of an organ, of a darkish or blackish colour,
having no analogy with the healthy tissues of the body."
The disease, which was described by Brugnini in ] 781, as
being hereditarily transmitted among the horses of Chevasso,
and which he termed hemorrhoids, was evidently melanosis;
it was usually developed around the root of the tail and
the anus.

Some years later, in 1 784, the same disease was observed
at Bresse Gollety. Latournelle transmitted an account of
it in 1809. He says, "there supervened in a young stallion
on the second year of his covering, black 'boutons,' or buds,
around the anus. They soon extended to the scrotum and
sheath. They were placed between the skin and muscles
at first as large as a small nut, and they increased until
they attained the size of a pullet's egg ; they did not sup-

purate, and were insensible to the touch. In a short time
all the cellular tissue was similarly affected, and the animal
died. When cut into, a matter like the grease of a cart
wheel flowed out. All the progeny of this stallion which
had the same colour was similarly affected ; those whicl
were black, bay, roan, or iron grey escaped."

The opinions of most writers as to the composition of the
melanotic substance, agree that its black colour is owing to
the presence of a large quantity of carbon. Many persons
are of opinion that the black principle is an aberration of
the pigment destined by nature to be deposited elsewhere,
as the rete mucosum, the choroid, or the hair. It is said that
persons with light hair, and elderly persons whose hair is
white, as well as light grey or white horses, are most com-
monly the subjects of this disease. As horses thus affected
are usually slaughtered, we may dismiss the subject by
saying that a glycerine wash to cleanse the skin, and the
administration of iodine to promote absorption, seem the
most likely palliatives, where the animal is desired to be
preserved.

GREASE AND CHAPPED HEELS.

These important disorders we shall postpone from this
chapter to that where we treat of the diseases of the hinder
foot.

WARBLES, SITFASTS, AND GALLS.

Warbles are enlarged bursas inflamed by the pressure of
the saddle. Open them with a sharp-pointed knife, thrust
in, and cut outwards. Then, to prevent inflammation, take
a piece of lunar caustic, and apply it freely till the sac is
burned out. Wash and sponge with chloride of zinc and
water, and keep a rag wet with the lotion over the wound.

Sitfasts are very annoying. They are a patch of horn,
somewhat like a corn on the human foot. They are not
simple corns, however, as they have an ulcerated margin.
They are tedious and sometimes obstinate. The knife and
lotion, as above, offer the best chance : it is more humane,
too, than the slow process of rubbing in blistering ointment
Bran-mashes and a tonic drink (Liquor arsenicalis — see
List), may be given.

Harness Galls. — Poultice till the swelling has subsided
or suppuration come on. If the matter has not sufficient
vent, open the channel of discharge. Dress with digestive
ointment, and finish with an astringent application (C. or E
in List.)

WARTS

Are best removed by tying a ligature round them ; or,
with scarcely any pain, by applying every day, with a
camel's hair pencil, a small portion of strong acetic acid ;
or they may be cut off with a knife or scissors, and the root
touched with any caustic body. There is sometimes seen
a sprouting luxurious species, whose roots are larger than
their heads, so that a ligature is not easily passed around

3,32

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

them ; these are best removed by touching their surface
daily with the following paste. The following application
will seldom fail to remove such as cannot be conveniently
got at by the knife or ligature, dressing with it once a
day : —

Sulphuric acid
Powdered sulphur

t a sufficiency of each.

Make into a paste, and apply a little to the wart. Blaine
recommends : —

Muriate of ammonia
Powdered savin
Palm oil

2 drachms.

1 ounce.

2 ounces.

WATER FARCY, (EDEMA, ANASARCA.

Water farcy is quite another disease from farcy (already
considered, p. 412, Specific Diseases), in causes, symptoms,
or effects. Gibson thus describes it : —

" Water farcy is of two kinds ; one the product of a fever-
ish disposition ; the other is dropsical, and of that kind
which in man resembles the anasarca, where the water is not
confined to the belly and limbs, but shews itself in several
parts of the body, with soft swellings which yield to the
pressure of the fingers, as is usual in all dropsical habits.
This last kind usually proceeds from foul feeding, or from
the latter-grass and fog, that often comes up in great plenty
with long-continued rains, and breeds a sluggish viscid
blood."

Treatment. — However much practitioners may differ on
the questions of the origin, specific nature, and organic seat
of this disease, there exists little variation of opinion con-
cerning the most efficient mode of treatment. Gorged with
blood, distended — to bursting even — by internal effusion,
hot, tense, and tender as the limb evidently is when first
attacked, nobody can hesitate for a moment to draw blood :
and this ought to be done to an amount that will sensibly
impress the system. Abstract two gallons from a horse in
condition ; one even from a subject not so ; and follow the
bleeding up by the immediate administration of the follow-
ing ball : —

Take of Piu-ging Mass . . .9 drachii*

„ Calomel .... 1 drachm.
Mix and make into a ball.

ATUisarca is noticed under Swelled Belly, &c., p. 449,
ante. (Edema will fall naturally under Swelled Legs.

abscess.

As connected with the skin, we here consider abscess
generally : its particular treatment will be found under Poll
Evil, Strangles, and other diseases wherein it occurs.

By abscess, in its most extensive sense, we mean any col-
lection of fluid which interposes between parts in a kind of
sac. In its limited sense, the word represents a collection of
pus formed by a quick process of suppuration, and con-
tained within a closed sac. When a purulent abscess forms,

the following process takes place. An injury, generally a
bruise, is received : part of the vital body is crushed or dies,
and nature is desirous to repair the loss, and to cast off the
dead substance. The minute vessels of the part are stimu-
lated to effuse coagulable lymph within the cellular tissue ;
the consequence of which is distension or swelling ; that
here, as elsewhere, produces tenderness and heat, and, when
the hair allows us to detect it, a reddened blush. The
effusion around the immediate part which is dead, thickens,
grows vascular, and ultimately forms a closed sac. Arrived
at this state, the tumour may take on various changes by
peculiar processes within it. The suppurative one is sup-
posed to ensue all over the internal sides of the sac,
where, by a change in the action of the inflamed ves-
sels, pus begins to be secreted. It then presses against
the adjacent muscles, causing these structures to be ab-
sorbed : and it is fortunate that, by an apparent conserva-
tive law of animal life, such absorption is most active
towards the surface of the body, thus aiding the eva-
cuation of its contents, which can be effected without
prejudice to the constitution.

The treatment of abscess. — In the early stages of such
tumours, endeavour to forward them, through the applica-
tion of warmth and moisture, both of which are gained by a
poultice. A blister may likewise be applied to the surface,
and a poultice over that, when it is very important to draw
the abscess forward. Horse poultices, on account of their
magnitude, are generally formed of bran, upon which boil-
ing water is poured, and the whole well stirred together ;
or a very good poultice may be formed of hay, soaked in
hot water, any excess of moisture being squeezed out after-
wards. About a gallon of substance is sufficient for one
application. Being assured that maturation is completed,
the thickness of the integuments, and the fear of the exten-
sion of the suppurative process inwards, make it always
prudent to form an artificial opening in the more dependent
as well as prominent part of the tumour. This may be
done by direct section. Incision is effected by the abscess
knife : but in every case the opening should be sufficient to
give a ready exit to the matter which has formed, and that
which may subsequently be secreted. In some situations,
as where the natural outlet has appeared on a place we do
not desire it should point in, or where the abscess does not
point upon the precise spot we could have wished, it may be
prudent to make an incision in the natural prominence,
and insert a seton through the place we could desire the
fulness should have occupied. It is, however, necessary to
be careful in making the incision when it dips downwards,
that it is made in the course of the muscular fibres, and not
in the direction of considerable branches of nerves or blood-
vessels.

Nothing further need be done for the eradication of an
abscess than the establishment of a free depending orifice.
Putting the finger into the opening and stirring it round, is
unnecessary, to say the least of it. All injections are ob-

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE SKIN.-FISTULiE.

333

jectionable, to speak of them in the mildest terras. Should,
however, the sac of an abscess display an indisposition to
contract after its contents have been evacuated, apply a
blister over it, and when the effects have somewhat abated,
support the pendent parts by means of bandages.

S^JBons Abscess. — As a termination of inflammation, and,
in the form of Strangles and Poll-evil, purulent abscess is
considered. There is a second kind, called serous abscess.

The ordinary situations for these swellings are upon the
outer side of the quarter or thigh, in front of the stifle, and
upon the breast, the shoulder, and the arm. They are
occasionally of considerable volume. They are usually egg-
shaped, flattened upon the surface, and have a soft, elastic,
fluctuating feel. When punctured, they emit, with con-
siderable force, a limpid, straw-coloured, aqueous fluid, like
the serum of the blood.

Treatment. — Percivall's practice is clear and decisive.
He says it is time lost to set about attempts at dispers-
ing or resolving these tumours. The most summary mode
of getting rid of the swelling, is to plunge a lancet into it
and evacuate it. Were we, however, to do nothing beyond
this, we should find in a day or two that the tumour had
become as large as ever. Evacuate it a second time, and
the fluid still will speedily re-collect. To make a cure, we
must either follow up the evacuation by throwing into the
cavity with a syringe one of the following injections, or else
pass a seton through the sides' of it.

Mix.

Mix.

Take of White vitriol
Distilled water

Take of Lunar caustic
DistUled water

1 scruple.
1 ounce.

5 grains,
1 ounce.

After the injection, or even after the withdrawal of the
seton, which should only be retained until a laudable pus is
produced — a compress and roller (should they be applicable)
will be found much to assist the granulation and cohesion of
the sides of the cavity.

ULCERATION.

An ulcer is a sore arising from imperfect granulation,
secreting an unhealthy, impure, thin, irritating (sanious)
pus ; these imperfect granulations cannot fulfil the purpose
of building up muscle (flesh) or tissue, while absorption
goes on and a loss of substance ensues. Granulation ceases
to build up regularly ; absorption removes irregularly, and
hence comes an uneven surface, more or less a hole, with
hard irregular edges, called an ulcer. In most cases, ulcers
are attended with great irritability of system, which must
be attacked by opium or generous digestible food. The
general treatment of ulcers is to cleanse by means of a
poultice, then stimulate, and keep up the system by a
nutritious diet.

Ulcers are often found of a greater extent internally than
externally, when the fluid which is secreted by them

absorbs in different directions, forming narrow pipes, the
sides of which are scirrhous, from which issues a glairy dis-
charge. These pipes are called sinuses by the surgeon. In
general cases, the longer an ulcer has lasted, the more diffi-
culty there will be to bring it back to a healthy state. The
external means employed for this purpose are usually stimu-
lating injections, or incision. Ulcers are apt to be treated
by farriers erroneously, by plugging up the sinuses. When
the caustic penetrates farther than was intended, sloughing
away the diseased and the healthy parts, the true remedy
is equally simple and effective, namely, to slit them up,
and then to lay within the divided pipe a piece of tow,
saturated with some caustic solution. By this means the
scirrhous lining will be cast forth, and that which was a
sinus will be converted into a simple wound.

FISTULffl.

There are three fistulous disorders in the horse, which
more particularly demand notice, and to these we shall
confine our attention. ], Fistula of the Parotid Duct. 2,
Poll-evil. 3, Fistula of the Withers.

FISTULA OF THE PAROTID DUCT.

The outward sign of this disease is an unnatural outlet
for the saliva in some part of its passage. A recent wound
of the duct itself shows little more than an opening wet with
moisture, except when feeding, at which time the saliva will
pour or spirt from the aperture like blood from an artery.
The edge of the opening becomes ulcerous and soon changes
to a true fistulous ulcer, the pipe itself, in old cases,
becoming as hard as cartilage. The digestion, too, becomes
deranged, from the loss of that valuable secretion the
saliva, which is squirted out through the fistula instead of
being conveyed, as when the duct is whole, into the mouth
to be mixed with the food and conveyed from thence to the
stomach. The position and function of the parotid gland
have been already described. The fluid expelled is semi-
transparent, afterwards tinged with pus from the ulceration,
and occasionally coloured with thin blood.

The causes of fistula of the parotid duct are generally
accidental injury, or abscesses resulting from strangles;
hay seeds, and particles of hard food entering the open-
ing of the duct during mastication, have produced it
These afterwards swelling, obstruct the egress of the saliva,
which accumulates ; the confined secretion produces agony,
inflammation, and abscess, which nature relieves by burst-
ing ; the pent-up secretion pours forth, and fistula is esta-
blished.

Treatment. — In olden times the horrid torture of the
" budding iron " was resorted to. The late Professor Cole-
man and his disciples proposed to apply the iron " at a dull
heat over and over again, to create an eschar" which
should " plug up the orifice ; " and the " heat starting up
reparative inflammation beneath it," the opening " would be
eff'ectually closed," by the time the roasted living flesh would

364:

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

be sloughed off ! We pass from these useless barbarities to
the modern practice. This we greatly owe to Mr. Gowing,
veterinary surgeon of Camden Town, whoee name we feel
proud to record in connection with this painful disease and
its cure. Mr. Gowing's treatment may be thus described : —
A firm, agglutinating liquid is formed by dissolving gun
cotton in sulphuric ether, which is called collodion. Upon
applying this liquid to the surface of the body, the vital
warmth occasions the ether rapidly to evaporate, leaving
the cotton in an altered form, sticking firmly to the part.

Mr. Gowing first applied some mild caustic to the wound,
till the orifice presented the reddened appearance he desired
it should assume. He then places above the opening a
buliiy pledget, sufiiciently large to thoroughly close the wound,
and sufficiently solid to resist the solvent powers of the
saliva. A piece of cork, cut to the required shape, answers
the purpose admirably. Over this, to bind it to the part he
wished it should close, he passed some cotton thread, the
ends of which he fixed to the hair of either side by a liberal
allowance of the liquid we before alluded to. This he
repeated several times, till the plug was held firmly to the
place by the cross bands of cotton. He repaired this dress-
ing from day to day as it was necessary, having the horse's
head tied up, and supporting the animal entirely by fluids.
After a few days had elapsed, the horse was allowed to lie
down ; and a short time subsequently the bandage was
removed, when the orifice was effectually stopped. This is
a far better, and a far more effectual plan than any of the
old measures once fashionable, but now we trust, on account
of their barbarity, discarded. Treated after the above method,
should the first trial not succeed, a second can be made ;
and this plan may be repeated an indefinite number of
times, without inflicting suffering amounting to positive
torture.

Should it be more convenient, a solution of gum mastic in
spirit of wine, or a solution of India-rubber in sulphuric
ether, will answer the same purpose as the collodion.

We may add that the horse should be allowed no food that
requires mastication, and his head should be fixed by pillar-
reins during the process of cure ; and make hJo bed of tan,
not straw, lest he should eat it.

POLL-EVIL.

This loathsome and troublesome disease consists in a
deep abscess, with sinuses or pipes, working outwardly to
an ulcerous sore, preceded by swelling and inflammation
in the poll <5r nape of the neck, just between the ears,
towards the mane.

The causes of poll-evil mark it as discreditable to the
stable where it occurs. Mechanical injury from blows,
bruises, &c., are the ordinary origin. Farm horses and
cart horses are most frequently the subjects of poll-evil.
Their coarse, ill-made, stiff and hard head-collars or bridles
chafe their polls, and cause them to be continually rubbing
the part The halter or bridle, from constant friction,

begets a mangy affection of the skin about the nape of the
neck, from the itchy annoyance of which the animal en-
deavours to relieve himself, by rubbing his poll against the
manger, occasioning that part to inflame, swell, become
excoriated, and generate among the roots of the hair foul
ulcerations Or, it may happen that the roof or beams of
the stable, or the threshold of the door, may be so low, that
the horses are daily hitting their heads against it. Or,
worst of all, the brute who drives the team may be fond
of exercising the butt end of his cart-whip in preference to
the lash. Hanging back in the halter (to which stalls with
a great slope from the manger to the drain much dispose the
animal), by impeding the circulation, produces numbness
and itching. The horse rubs his head violently against the
travis or division of the stall, a bruise of the fleshy sub-
stances, between the hard woodwork and the bones at the
base of the skull ensues, and a deep-seated abscess results.
The first cause, therefore, of poll-evil is wilful, neglectful,
or purely accidental external injury.

Tenderness on pressure on the poll or nape of the neck,
and the peculiar stiff and crouching manner in which the
animal carries his head, indicate poU-evil. The symptoms
of course depend upon the extent of the disease and the
stage the inflammation and abscess have reached. You
may find a solid tumour, or a matured abscess, or it may
have advanced to the ulcerative stage, exposing cavities and
sinuses horrible to behold.

Treatment. — The knife and caustic tents of chloride of
lime are our great resources in poll-evil. In the early stage
of abscess, whether deep or superficial, open the parts freely,
and then we may hope to induce the healing process in due
time. Should the abscess not be fully formed, we should
use our best endeavours to ripen it; which will be best
attained by a mild blister rubbed in as often as required,
till the fluctuation is felt either on one side or the other.
The next object is to procure a speedy evacuation of the
contents, and a depending orifice for its future passage, that
no sinuses may form. This may be done by the introduction
of a seton, first inserting the needle in the middle of the
tumour, and passing it out at the most depending part.
In case the tumour is a central one, and its limits extend
equally over the neck, do exactly the same by the other
side. But when, from improper management, matter has
not only formed, but has been suffered to remain, or has
only evacuated itself by a superficial opening, either natural
or artificial, and not from one in a depending situation, in
such cases the healthy secretion of pus always ceases, and,
instead of it, a thin ichorous discharge succeeds. The
ulceration also extends further ; sinuses form in every
direction, and even the bones of the cervix (nape of the
neck) become absorbed. The ravages which this disease
makes are truly dreadfuL It has been known to disease
the occipital and parietal bones, burrowing around the ear,
and has insinuated pus into the parotid gland, as well as
into the spinal canal, or the brain itself. Under any

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE SKIN.— FISTULA OF THE WITHERS.

335

appearance, a very strict examination must be made, which
is best done when the horse is cast, having his head
elevated by a bundle of straw, and turned towards the
light. Enlarge the lateral opening so as to admit of a free
examination, by means of the finger, of every part liable to be
injured. Carious bones must be laid bare, scraped, and
then exposed to the caustic effect of a strong solution of
chloride of zinc. Hardened callous edges must be removed,
and the smaller sinuses laid open, so as to form one con-
tinuous cavity, If all this be not thoroughly done, it will
happen, that, when the whole seems on the point of healing,
a new tumour will suddenly appear, and frustrate all our
hopes. In this way the expert operator, well acquainted
with the anatomy of the parts, will combat the worst cases.

We have mentioned caustic tents ; these are recommended
by White and other practical men, and denounced by May-
hew, who relies solely on the knife. We have many well-
authenticated cures by means of caustic pledgets of chloride
of lime ; the sinuses being examined carefully from time to
time with a probe, carious bone freely scraped, and, if there
be exostosis, the piece removed. The horrors of boiling
injections, of forcing hot irons up the sinuses, and plugging
them with arsenic — for these are among the tortures of
country farriers' " remedies " — we hope never again to see
or hear of

In the fifth volume of the " Veterinarian," Mr. A.
Gray relates a case of successful treatment of poll-evil,
in which pressure by means of splints greatly aided the
cure. He thus describes their application and the result : —
" When the mare was sent to me, I proceeded to examine
the extent of the disease. I found two deep sinuses, one on
each side of the neck, the bones of which could be dis-
tinctly felt with the probe. After cleaning away the mat-
ter, I took a scalpel, and laid both orifices open in an
oblique direction downwards ; then, having fomented the
parts with warm water, I dressed the wounds with tincture
of myrrh and aloes ; and, in order to apply pressure to the
parts (for in this I founded all my hope of success), I had
two pieces of wood prepared, about twelve inches long and
three broad, thicker in the middle than at the edges, which
were rounded off, and also a long flannel bandage, four
inches broad. I then placed two pledgets of tow next
the wounds, putting on the pieces of "vood one on each
side, and then applied the bandage v/ver all, and as
tightly as I could, without impeding deglutition. It is
necessary, while putting on the bandage, to keep the nose
extended, in order to adapt the bandage more perfectly to
the part, and apply it more closely. I removed the bandage

night and morning, and had the parts well fomented and
dressed with the tincture. In the course of four weeks the
mare was well"

FISTULA OF THE WITHERa

Continuous and undue pressure of the saddle, either bj
its misfit or the improper management of a careless groom
or incautious rider, and this evil repeated day by day and
at frequent intervals, establishes an inflammatory tumour-
This generally originates in one of tiie bursse in connection
with the tall dorsal spines (see Skeleton, Plate I.). This
should be immediately laid open, and subsequently treated
after the manner explained under the head of Warbles.
When this is not done, the whole hardens, suppuration
generally takes place within the part, and the strong fascia on
the back prevents the pus escaping. The pus becomes virulent,
being confined : it absorbs, thus creating numerous pipes,
and a case of fistulous withers is established. Should the
attention be called to a case that has proceeded to a fistulous
state, treat exactly in the same manHer as with poll-evil
Instances have occurred where the matter has penetrated
under the scapula, and made its way to the point of the
elbow or the front of the breast. In these cases a depend-
ing orifice should be made, and a seton introduced through
the whole extent of the sinus ; for which purpose seton-
needles of sufiicient length, with their points guarded, to
prevent them injuring important vessels, are manufactured
(see Plate of Instrumekts). Occasionally the disease ex-
tends and involves the dorsal spines. The stench will offer
disagreeable proof when the bones are affected. When the
bones are diseased, slit up the fistula, and scrape them,
until a healthy surface is exposed ; after which, the milder
lotion of chloride of zinc and water may be used. But
when the cartilage that tops the spines is affected, without
delay saw it off, leaving a healthy surface of bone. When
the sinuses, likewise, are slit open, to cut from within out-
wards produces less pain, which in surgery is a considerar
tion. After the incision has been made, lay into the
opened sinus some tow, saturated in the strong solution
of chloride of zinc, which, after twenty-four hours, may
be removed, and the wound subsequently dressed with the
milder lotion.

Mr Mayhew recommends, when the sinuses burrow from
the withers towards the chest or elbow, and cannot be
opened up by the knife, that an elastic probe, having been
passed down the sinus, should be dipped in a small quantity
of powdered bichloride of mercury, and repeatedly pushed
down it, until you have used up the whole of the salt

d36

THE PKAUTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

CHAPTER XXXII

lAMENESSES, DISEASES, AND INJURIES OF THE FORELEGS AND FEET.

THE SHOULDER. — THE ARM AND ELBOW. — THE KNEE. — THE
LEO. THE PASTERNS. THE FETLOCKS. THE FEET.

Before entering on the diseases and injuries of the foreleg,
the reader may refer with advantage to the description of
the bones {ante, pp. 184, 185), and of the muscles (pp. 190,
191) ; and Anatomy, Plates VIII., X., and XI., witli their
letterpress descriptions.

The causes of lameness in the horse are so various, and
often so obscure, that we may almost say that a hasty and
confident opinion on the nature and origin of lameness is a
sign that the man consulted has little judgment or know-
ledge of the difficulty of the question before him. Rashness,
self-conceit, and a desire to obtain an undue reputation for
acumen, may be almost invariably assumed as regards these
positive gentlemen, who deliver oracular opinions on mat-
ters which demand sound knowledge, careful investigation,
and deliberate reflection, even from the most experienced.
Above all things we would warn the horse-owner against
people who have " secrets " for curing lamenesses. They
are generally ignorant and dishonest barbarians, with
neither humanity nor principle, and we always look with
extreme suspicion on those who recommend their advice or
services to be called for. Shoeing, as a cause of lameness,
is now hardly known, however convenient a stalking-horse
the farrier's shortcomings may be to a drunken or careless
groom. Where the smith is really in fault, the mischief is
obvious enough ; where the causes lie deeper, the skilful
veterinarian or the well-read anatomist alone can trace them.

In the present chapter we propose to arrange the several
disorders and injuries as follows : — The Shoulder : The
Ai'm, and Elhow : The Knee : The Leg : The Pasterns :
The Fetlocks : The Feet.

THE SHOULDER. SPRAIN OF THE SHOULDER. — BLOWS.

SHOULDER LAMENESS. — RHEUMATISM.

Sprain or Strain of the Shoulder. — When the farrier
finds himself at a loss to point out the exact seat of lame-
ness, he generally takes refuge in the convenient generality
of " sprain of the shoulder." The occurrence is rare, but
when it does occur is easily detected. The tenderness of
the muscle itself, inside the shoulder, and its inflammation,
together with the peculiar action of dragging the toe along
the ground, then dropping the knee suddenly, are indications

of sprain of the shoulder. Its causes are a side fall, or a
wrench, by which the forelegs are suddenly stretched apart
so widely as to sprain either the muscles or ligaments, pro-
bably both. In this case the animal cannot move down
the slightest declivity without intense pain, from the weight
being thrown upon the shoulders ; and, in the attempt,
swings round the leg in a peculiar manner, endeavouring so to
accomplish the movement as never to call upon the shoulder
muscles to elevate the scapula. If the foot be laid hold of,
raised, and brought into a straight line, the seat of pain will
be indicated by the suff'ering animal. Again, pressure on
the serratus muscle* will cause the horse to shrink. Of
course, if lameness has its seat in the arm or foot, neither
of these tests are even noticed by the patient A decep-
tive appearance of shoulder sprain occurs when, viewing
a lame horse from the front, we find the muscle of one
shoulder wasted, imparting an appearance of swelling to
the sound limb ; this resulting from the lame limb having
been saved from exertion by the sufi"ering animal, and there-
fore diminished in volume. In this case the sound limb is
condemned as the seat of lameness, and treated, or ill-
treated, accordingly. Never, therefore, omit both the tests
above mentioned.

White says : " There is one kind of shoulder lameness
which is consequent on an injury of the great synovial
cavity, or bursa mucosa, through which that great tendon
passes which arises from a protuberance on the lower part
of the shoulder-blade and slides over the large grooved pro-
cess at the head of the shoulder bone. This large grooved
process is covered with a slippery cartilage, as in other

• The shoulder-blade is united to the chest by muscle alone. Here
is a large muscle, with 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 Tvidest leap or the most rapid motion is sustained. Had there been
a bony union between the shoulder and the body, the vital parts con-
tained in the chest could not have endured the 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, im-
mediately regain their former situation. — Youatt,

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE FORE LEGS AND FEET.— SHOULDER LAMENESS.

337

synovial cavities, to prevent any friction while the limb is
in motion. I have seen shoulder lameness that appeared to
depend upon a rheumatic affection of this part. The manner
of the horse's going, when this part is the seat of lameness,
is very remarkable. In endeavouring to trot, and some'
times even in walking, the fore leg suddenly gives way
or bends, and it is only by a considerable effort that the
horse can save himself from falling. I had a filly under my
care for this lameness, which fell down several times in walk-
ing. The remedies I employed were, passing a seton over
the point of the shoulder, and blistering all round it pretty
freely. This, and confining her some weeks in a box,
effected a cure."

The general Treatment of shoulder sprain should be to
bleed freely from the plate vein (see Bleeding, post), just
opposite the elbow joint. Three to five quarts is not too
great a quantity. Bathe frequently and copiously with a
lotion consisting of half-a-pint of tincture of arnica in a
gallon of water. Should the case be recent, and the symp-
toms not violent, bathe with cold water only ; and in either
case, when the inflammation subsides, change the cold
water for hot.

In this manner, keep the shoulder wet for a week or
longer, when, every sign of active disease having departed, a
blister may be applied. With regard to the manner of
applying the blisters in these cases, the late Mr. Blaine
speaks very confidently ; he says : — " I would recommend
the following practice, which I have long pursued in
these cases with invariable success. As soon as the
more active inflammatory symptoms are abated, I proceed
to raise an artificial inflammation by the free use of stimu-
lants, generally of the liquid blister, in the following
manner : — Mix six ounces of common oil with two or three
ounces of liquid blister, and with this rub the whole affected
part twice a day until the swelling and inflammation it will
bring on prevent the use of more. In two or three days
these will subside, when it should be repeated, until the
same effects again prevent the application. In this way
keep up a mild inflammation for a week or ten days, accord-
ing to the original violence of the affection : in general
cases, the subsiding of the second swelling will leave the
horse sound. This will be found a much more efiicacious
mode of practice than the common blister ; but it must be
more particularly remembered, that I know of no affection
so liable to return as this ; consequently, although the
horse may appear sound, it will be very dangerous to put
him to immediate work."

There are awful barbarities in old books, professing to
relieve this or the next-mentioned affection — rheumatism ;
among them, "swimming the horse," as it was called.
Imagine a horse plunged in river, pond, or sea, with a
sprained shoulder, and called on to " swim " with a rufiian
on his back, Hinds, in his " Veterinary Surgery " (Whit-
taker, 1829), tells a story of one Dennis Lawler, a Dublin
farrier, who was great in this line of " cure." He tells us,
V u

" His method was to ride his horse to a convenient depth of
water in the bay, and then, jumping forward suddenly on
the animal's neck, thus souse it head-foremost to the bot-
tom. The feat caused great marvel at the time ; but not so
the total disappearance, upon one occasion, of the performer.
Poor Dennis is supposed to have received a kick to the bot-
tom, and that his body drifted out to sea. At any rate his
Howth friends saw no more of him." Without quite wish-
ing the fate of poor Dennis to every horse-swimmer in
shoulder-sprain, we trust never again, as we have done, to
witness tin's cruelty.

SHOULDER LAMENESS. RHEUMATISM.

To this head we have preferred to refer Rheumatism, a
disease which many writers have denied as existent in
the horse. Its presence, however, in the muscles of the
shoulder, and occasionally of the loins, is too often recognis-
able not to place its existence beyond doubt, if not beyond
controversy.

Of acute rheumatism, well-marked cases are occasionally
encountered, which are traceable to the effects of cold or
moisture. The leading characters are alike in all ; the
attack being ushered in by universal stiffness, but more
particularly of the fore extremities. Sometimes the case is
attended with considerable tumefaction in front of the
breast.

Rheumatism is remarkable for " flying about " (metastasia,
as it is termed by the surgeon) Sometimes it attacks one
or two joints, then another member, shifting from the shoul-
der to the knees and hocks, and back to the shoulder.
These being its favourite points of attack in the horse.

The Treatment consists in first decreasing the food to so
much only as will support life and diminish fat. Then give
the following ball night and morning, until the bowels are
freely opened, when it is to be withheld till purging has
ceased, and then recommenced :

Powdered colchicum . . .2 drachms.

Calomel ..... 1 scruple.
Opium ..... 1 drachm.
Aloes . . . . .1 drachm.

Powdered capsicums . . • i drachm.

In the mean time the swollen parts may be freely fomented
with very hot water, and afterwards well rubbed with soap
liniment, to every pint of which a quarter of a pint of liquor
ammonias has been added.

Should the above ball not succeed, try the following
drink, which, in some cases, is even more effective : —

Iodide of potassium . . .1 drachm.

Sulphuric ether . ... 1 ounce.

Cream of tartar .... 4 drachms-
Give night and morning in a pint of grueL

Chronic Rheumatism may be the sequel of the acute ; in
some cases it appears as the immediate consequence of ex-
posure to rutting winds, humid atmosphere, &;c. ; and is

338

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

indicated by stiflFness and tenderness of the parts it attacks.
When the extremities suffer, it is not unusual to observe
some tumefaction, but always great disinclination to move.
It occasionally visits the loins, but is most common in the
fore quarters. Sometimes one extremity and occasionally
both are affected, when sudden metastasis will often remove
it to the other parts ; these cases were well characterised
by the old term of " flying lamenesses."

The Treatment of chronic rheumatism does not materially
differ from that recommended to be followed in cases of the
acute description, excepting that strychnia, in doses of a
grain, gradually increased to three grains, has occasionally
been attended with benefit.

THE ARM AND ELBOW.

FRACTURES. — PUNCTURES. — CAPPED ELBOW.

The arm extends from the elbow to the kTiee, and consists
of two bones; the front long bone, the radius; and the
short hinder bone, the uliia.

The elbow joint is sometimes punctured, either acci-
dentally, or through the brutality of the groom or carter.
The swelling is often rapid and extensive, and fatal inflam-
mation may ensue. Rest, and the closing of the wound, are
the most important considerations.

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 slinging (see Plate XXI.),
will be indispensable.

Capped Elbow, or capulet, is in its treatment similar to
capped hock. These enlargements about the elbow are
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 KNEE

BROKEN KNEES. — OPEN JOINTS.

This important and complicated joint is the seat of the
most frequent and the most deteriorating of accidents to
which this powerful animal is liable ; in most instances
from the incautiousness, the severity, or the incompetency
of the driver or rider, or the requirements of ostentation
and fashion in severe bearing reins, monstrous blinkers, and
the like, rendering the horse comparatively helpless and
blind, and punishing him for every false step, hesitation,
and blunder.

We will suppose the horse has fallen, no matter how. the
question is the treatment of the injury.

Treatment. — If called in while the wound is recent, ttie

first thing is to sponge the knee clean from any grit, dirt, or
extraneous substance ; and even in this simple operation
there is much difference in the right and wrong way of
using the sponge. Slopping, smearing, and wiping should
be eschewed ; the immediate wound not touched in ordinary
cases, but tlie sponge saturated with warm water squeezed
dry above the laceration. The sponge will thus not become
charged with dirt, and do the very mischief it is intended
to relieve, nor will the water in the pail be fouled with
grit (most important trifles are these), but the foreign
matters clean washed away, the animal saved much pain,
and the parts cleared for surgical examination. Let the
horse get easy and calm after the washing, take him to his
stall, give him a feed of corn, and water him.

Place the palm of the hand over the joint, and ascertain
if there be much heat or swelling. Should no synovia
appear upon the surface, it is prudent to avoid probing ; it
can " merely gratify curiosity," says Blaine, " and a surgeon
has no business with any such meddling impulse ; the
welfare of his patient should be his single thought, and
experience should tell him that the dimensions, depth, and
magnitude of the wound are not at first to be ascertained.
Such knowledge is not to be acquired till the slough has
taken place." In this we agree ; we have often seen the
probe recklessly used ; we believe to the aggravation and
extension of the injury. When the joint is ascertained to
be open, the injury must no longer be treated as a common
wound. Our prognosis in such case will depend on the
extent of the wound, particularly that in the capsular liga-
ment, and on the circumstance as to whether inflammation
has been set up in the cavity of the joint.

Our object must now be to close the joint as quickly as
possible, and thus prevent the escape of synovia, or joint oil ;
unless we succeed in doing this, the inflammation of the knee
will greatly increase, and the discharge of synovia become
augmented in quantity, partly coagulating as it escapes fi-om
the knee, and hanging in large flakes from the wound ; the
animal, from the pain experienced, keeps the knee in a bent
position, or paws with the foot continually. A vast deal of
fever is excited in the system, which in some cases wears
out the animal, and produces death. In other cases, bony
substance is thrown out round the joint, which at length
closes the wound, but destroys the motion of the joint and
renders the animal useless.

It is, of course, important that the animal should be kept
perfectly quiet, and the leg as straight as possible. If the
horse can be slung conveniently, it will vastly facilitate
the cure ; for he must not lie down, lest he opens the wound.
Mr. Turner's method is excellent in severe cases of open joint
The wound being cleansed, he prepares a paste of wheaten
flour and table beer, mixed with a little bole armenian,
which he spreads thickly above and below and round the
knee. A pledget of tow is then wound round the joint and
covered with some stout brown paper, and over all a cotton
stocking. Outside the stocking is another layer of the paste,

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE FORE LEGS AND FEET.— SPLINTS, &c.

339

and a calico roller bandage, six yards long, is passed outside,
all wound round with a gentle and continuous pressure ;
then another bandage of the same length the contrary way.
The horse having been dressed is then bled, and a laxative
is administered ; the dressing is not removed until the joint
is closed. It is understood that the horse is slung. If the
leg swells from pressure of the bandages, he makes small
cuts in each layer on each side the knee, but never in front.
In six or seven days, should there be a great accumulation
of fluid within the bandages, an incision will afford it a
way out, and another dressing of the paste, with a similar
bandage, applied. The horse is to be kept suspended a week
after the joint is closed, when the paste is removed, the knee
washed, and the usual wound dressing applied. If there is
still swelling above the knee, bathe with cooling evaporating
lotion, but don't allow it to wet the dressings. A very
superior splint or knee-cap may be now made by moulding
gutta-percha, softened in hot water, to the shape of the
knee.

With respect to concealing the after blemish, no power of
earth can make the hair grow on a scar. It is not skin, and
it cannot be covered with the appendage only to be seen upon
true skin. But the cicatrix will with time become less.
Often the wound, which on first healing appears rather
large, in the course of three months will be all but imper-
ceptible. Any application of blisters, be they mild or strong,
can but increase the blemish it is their intention to remove.
Let the scar alone. If you have thrown down a horse, no
veterinary surgeon can be sure he shall afterwards stand upon
perfect limbs. You must, therefore, take the consequences
without complaint, and be grateful that you have, in the
effects of time, some hope left when science has abandoned
you.

Brolcen Knees without opening of the Synovial Cavity. —
Occasionally broken knees prove to be mere skin injury, with
slight contusion. Undue and too early exercise may force
these into permanent thickening of the part, with injury to
the free motion of the joint, whereas an extra rest and
fomentation would complete a cure. When, therefore, a
cut has taken place without injury to the cavity of the joint,
the wound having been washed, bring the edges of the in-
tegument as closely together as possible by strips of adhesive
plaster, as already directed ; or, if the wound be extensive,
it would be well to sling the horse. A cure by the first
intention, or adhesive process, can only be hoped for in this
way. If heat and tumefaction come on, use the lotion
composed of arnica and water, two ounces of the tinc-
ture to a quart ; and, after applying the arnica and water
night and day for forty-eight hours, if the skin be broken,
exchange the lotion for one composed of chloride of zinc
and water, in this way a cure may often be established,
without injury to motion or blemish to the animal

STRAIN OF THE KNEE-JOINT.

The knee-joint is seldom strained, so well is it secured by
ligaments. It, however, occurs to young horses and colts in
training, the seat of injury being the side of the knee, by
slipping outward on the turf. Bleeding from the arm,
warm fomentations followed by cold lotions, and a little
iodine ointment when the inflammation has gone, are advis-
able.

THE LEG.

SPLINTS.— INJURIES. — SPRAIN OF THE FLEXOR TENDON. — WIND-
GALLS.

This we consider as the part between the knee and the
fetlock, consisting of the cannon-bone in front, and the two
splint-bones behind, and is the seat of that common calamity
of the horse —

Splints. — These are exostoses or bony tumours, formed
by inflammation of the periosteum, and are found in three
positions : on the inner side of the leg, close under the knee-
joint ; half way down on the inside ; and sometimes on the
front of the cannon-bone, in which last position they would
more properly be called " nodes." Splints are formed by the
animal being worked too soon or too severely. Inflammation
follows, and a bony instead of a ligamentous deposit takes
place. A bony union, too, is set up between the two smaller
bones and the cannon-bone, and hence the ease of motion is
impaired. In the young and vigorous horse, however, other
elastic principles are called into action, and the 8ase of
action is not strikingly deteriorated ; though at some dis-
tant period the mischief will crop out in stiff joint or splints
in an aggravated form. The disposition to bony deposit,
moreover, seems a spreading complaint, and is not confined
to the space between the larger and smaller bones of the
leg. A tumour, at first callous, afterwards bony, is formed
with a part of its base resting on the line between these
bones. This is a simple splint, and is invariably found
outside the small bone and inside the fore-leg, and outside
the hinder one. *

When a splint is not situated immediately under a tendon,
or contiguous to ligamentary matter, it occasions no lame-
ness. The veterinary practitioner should, therefore, in his
consideration of the consequences in these cases, be guided
in a great measure by the situation of the splint. If placed
in front, it is productive of much less injury than when
placed behind ; for, as already pointed out, in this latter
case, the swellings may press on the ligaments, or interfere
with the flexor tendons. For the same reason also, a splint
placed at the lower end of the cannon is still more preju-
dicial than when situated higher up the leg. It is not un-
common to attribute that lameness to a splint which is
dependent on other causes. A fully developed splint never
lames, unless it interferes with a tendon or ligament A
splint, in the course of formation, however, may produce
the most acute lameness, and often does so in young horses

340

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

A splint, also, by its situation, may excite imflammation in
the ligaments and tendons themselves. As a splint is
neither more nor less than a conversion of fibro-cartilage
into bone, once formed, it can never be entirely removed ;
nevertheless, from the absorption common in later periods of
life, the splints "ften diminish in bulk, or, as farriers call it,
" wear away."

Treatment. — As we have just said, " a splint once is a
splint always." Periosteotomy, or division of the skin
which covers the bone, is the modern treatment for splints.
It may be thus described. The horse is cast, and the leg
straightened and properly secured. A small opening is
then made just below the splint, sufficient to introduce a
long, narrow, convex, probe-pointed knife (see Plate XXIII.)
Instruments), the edge of which is on the convex side.
This knife is passed under the skin, and by drawing it
backwards and forwards the periosteum is completely
divided. A small opening is then made through the skin
above the splint, and a narrow seton passed from one orifice
to the other, after which a bandage is placed on the leg and
the horse released. The seton is moved daily and dressed
with digestive ointment, and at the end of a week removed
and the wound allowed to heal. Our own dictum on splints
which do not involve lameness, is to let them alone ; or, if
the horse goes slightly stiff, to apply a little tincture of
cantharides, which may be repeated if benefit is derived
from it.

In the olden time, dreadful measures were adopted with
splints, most of which left matters worse than before ; of
these we may speak when we come to spavin and ring-bone.
Among these were " thumping with a hammer, rubbing the
swelling with a stick, piercing it with a gimlet or hot iron,
and pressure by means of sheet lead, blistering, ' sweating '
with acrid 'oils,'"* <fcc., &c.

We have mentioned nodes in conjunction with splints ;
of these Mr. Spooner says : — " Bony tumours form on
various parts of the cannon bone ; but, though sometimes
large and offensive to the eye, they rarely produce lameness.
They are more frequent with hunters than other horses,
from blows in leaping. Iodine ointment is the best treat-
ment. They also occur by the side of the sesamoid bones.
When near the suspensory ligament they often cause severe
lameness. Should they arise from strains of the ligaments
they are more obstinate, and blistering or even firing
becomes necessary. In the latter case, persevere with the
iodine ointment.

strain of the flexor tendons, or " CLAP " OF THE BACK

SINEWS.

This serious injury is of frequent occurrence, owing to
the violent exertions to which the horse is too often urged.
The structure and relation of the parts implicated in the
injury will be understood by a reference to page 191 ante,

* Blaine, Outlines of VeUnnary Art, edit. 1854, p. 411.

where the muscles of the foreleg are described, and to
Plates II. and VIII., Anatomy, where they are delineated.

There are, of course, degrees of this injury, and the terms
a strain of the flexor tendon, a sprain of the back sinews,
a " clap " of the back sinews, a bad break-down, may be
taken as mere progressive expressions of the degree of mis-
chief inflicted by one and the same kind of accident. In
the case of " break-down," however, it is a rupture of the
suspensory ligament, as will be noted hereafter.

When the strain is slight, we may not discover tne injury
for some hours, when the animal, without being positively
lame, will go in an unusual manner, as if slightly cramped
or stiff. Pass the hand gently down the affected limb, and
a small swelling will be felt, and tenderness on pressure be
shown. Do not listen to any fellow who tells you " Oh ! he
will work sound." As Mayhew shrewdly says, " The many
horses seen in the London cab-ranks with fore-legs perma-
nently contracted, bear witness to the result of such very
knowing treatment." To which we may add the thousands
of cases where complicated and permanent disease destroys
the wretched animal from first neglect. Where there is
strain, bind a linen roller round the leg tightly, and wet it
diligently with cold water day and night ; examine the
limb every morning ; give four drachms of aloes and a very
small suggestion of nitre, to cool the system Pressure
may be gently and conveniently applied by a broad vul-
canized India-rubber band, and a wetted piece of spongio-
piline. Of old, the farrier was ready with his firing-iron
even in cases of sprain : the veterinary surgeon has in the
interest of humanity driven him out.

When the sprain is more severe, bleed copiously from the
arm ; put the horse where he may be quiet, and have a
high-heeled shoe placed on the foot of the affected leg ; a
good form of this is figured letter H, Plate XIX. Cold
applications, in the very early stages, particularly when the
swelling is considerable, will tend to unload the vessels ;
and the same indications will be followed by immersing the
whole limb in spring water. In two or three days, change
this plan for formentations or embrocations. Any treat-
ment more stimulating than this in the early stages tends
to increase the deposit of lymph, and to organize it into a
permanent tumour. But when the active stage of the in-
flammation has subsided, then mildly stimulating applica-
tions are proper ; and they should be accompanied here with
due friction and bandaging. The recovery from a severe
case is usually very slow ; the parts being ligamentous, do
not readily reinstate themselves ; the after-treatment must,
therefore, fully accord with this view, which is that of giving
sufficient time ; and in most cases it ought to be some weeks
after the horse may seem sound before he is put to full
work. It is better, in the most favourable cases, to give a
few weeks' rest, using, as already recommended, a vulcanized
India-rubber bandage and spongio-piline, saturated with
ivater. A lotion of muriate of ammonia, 1 oz., pyroligneoua
acid and spirits of wine, 2 ozs. each, camphorated spirit,

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE FORE LEGS AND FEET.— RINGBONE, &c.

341

2 drachms, and cold water, 1 quart, may be applied. Where
the induration remains obstinate, repeated blisters, applied
as recommended by Mr. Blaine in shoulder lameness, are the
best means of reducing the tumours.

8PEEDY-CUT. OVERREACH.

The inside of the leg, immediately below the knee, and up
to the head of the inner splint bone, is liable to the injury
called " speedy-cut." A horse lifting his legs high in a fast
trot, strikes this part with the hoof or edge of the shoe.
Occasionally, bony enlargement is the result, preceded by
great heat and tenderness ; and sometimes the pain from
the blow is so great that the horse drops as suddenly as if
shot. Care is necessary that with such horses no part of
the shoe projects beyond the foot. In our plate of Shoes
will be found a special shoe to prevent speedy-cut, and
under Shoeing the subject will again occur. The term
overreach is also applied to a blow inflicted on some part of
the fore leg by the hind foot ; frequently it strikes the flexor
tendon, and produces inflammation and tumour. We shall
have something more to say of this when we come to the
pasterns, to which we shall also defer the subject of " break-
down."

THE PASTERNS AND FETLOCKS.

BREAKINQDOWN (RDPTURE OF SUSPENSORY LIGAMENT). — CUT-
riNG. — RINGBONE. — GROaOINESS. — SPRAIN OF THE COFFIN-JOINT.

BREAKING-DOWN.

This accident, as already observed, is not strain of the
back-sinews, though that is bad enough as a disablement.
The distinction should be made, for the sake of the accurate
local application of remedial measures, and the correct ob-
servation of the progress of amendment. " Break-down,"
then, is a rupture of the suspensory ligament of the leg, or
of those passing from the sesamoid bones to the pasterns.
The treatment is the patten-shoe, as already mentioned
under sprains — or, more commonly, a pistol-shot. With
valuable racehorses, where work is not demanded, breaks-
down have been followed by a stud-life, and nature has
partly repaired the rupture, the intervening space of the
severed ligament filling up with granulations.

Sprain of the fetlock-joint arising from injury to the liga-
mentous and tendinous connexion of these parts, has some-
times been mistaken for a common swelling, and the horse
exercised to " take down the enlargement." Hence in-
curable deposits of coagulable lymph, forming stifi" joint.
The treatment should be the same as in other cases of
sprain.

CUTTING.

We have already mentioned " speedy -cut " as a blow in-
flicted on the inside and lower part of the knee joint, when
the anima\ is urged to a very fast pace. Some carriage-
horses (the bearing rein must with these be dispensed with)

strike the fetlock of the fore foot, and produce lameness,
often without external wound : when fatigued or weak, the
lameness is increased. Mr. Morecroft advises the raising of
the outer side of the shoe so as to make it much higher
than the inside. He says : — " When a horse is at rest, he
supports his weight equally on both feet ; but having the
inner heel and quarter raised when one foot is elevated, he
must be supported obliquely on the other, and hence have
a tendency to fall outwards ; to prevent which, he brings
the moving foot nearer to the supporting one, by -v/hich he
strikes it ; but by raising the outer instead of the inner
branch of the shoe, we necessarily give it a disposition to
lean inwards, which will induce the horse to throw or in-
cline the moving foot farther from the supporting foot."

Mr. Goodwin describes an improvement of the common
boot, as it is termed, for defending the fetlock joint, when
cutting cannot otherwise be prevented, which may be had
at Mr. Long's, veterinary instrument maker, Holborn,
London.

Mr. Spooner adds on this point : " The best boot for cut-
ting the leg, is made with leather fitted to the leg and laced,
the leather being double at the part struck by the other
foot.

" In some instances it is found that a boot buckled round
the hoof that cuts, and softly stufi"ed, prevents injury from
the blow, when other methods fail.

" For cutting the fetlock, a piece of cloth tied round
above the joint and doubled down over it, answers the
purpose."

RINGBONE, OSSIFICATION OF CARTILAGES.

This is a formation of bone (or exostosis) surrounding the
whole or a part of the circle of the coronet, and involving
the joinings of the large and small pastern bones. The
situation of ringbone is marked on Plate VIII. From the
great mobility of the pastern joints and the shocks to
which, despite their admirable contrivance, the ligaments
are exposed when man overtasks the animal machinery,
inflammation is induced, followed by the deposition of bony
matter. Sometimes ringbone begins as high up as the
superior articulation of the larger pastern bone ; oftener
about the joint formed by the two pastern bones ; and
sometimes it involves only the lower pastern bone. The
lateral or side ligaments are those that are oftenest or
soonest aff'ected ; ringbone is then discovered, in its earliest
state, by a rounded hard projection on each side, imme-
diately above the coronet. The hind legs are not so subject
to ringbone as the fore legs.

Ringbone is always accompanied by lameness at the com-
mencement : but the extent of the after lameness depends
on the degree in which bony tumour interferes with the
action of the joint. In some cases it goes ofi" altogether,
particularly in the hind feet, where the concussion is not
so ^reat and the inflammation is not generally so intense.
In the fore feet, which support more of the weight of the

342

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

body, and are liable to severer injury, the bony deposit is
usually greater, and commonly involves one or both of the
pastern joints. Lameness, and of an incurable nature, is
the result if side bones also exist, or the ring should extend
under the cartilages ; and it not unfrequently happens that
the coffin joint, being surrounded by unyielding bone, is
entirely lost.

Treatment. — Local bleeding (from the toe), and evapo-
rating lotions, should be first employed ; the inflammation
being removed, setons should be inserted, or the part should
be stimulated. All, however, will often fail ; for the inces-
sant action of the parts, and the pressure on them, render it
very difficult to arrest the progress of the inflammation.
In a confirmed case of ringbone, especially when the joint
is lost, it would be the height of cruelty to subject the poor
animal to the useless torture of the iron ; and when side-
bones and ringbones exist together, neurotomy (see post,
" Operations ") is the only means to afi'ord relief

Professor Sewell recommends periosteotomy in case of
ringbone, as well as splints ; which refer to for method of
effecting.

Ossification of the lateral cartilages is known as " false
ringbone.' It is produced by concussion, and is most
frequent among heavy horses driven on London pavement.
When unattended with lameness, leave alone ; when it
appears in lighter horses, blistering, iodine ointment, a
cessation from active work, and sometimes firing, may
be necessary.

QROaaiNESS. — KNUCKLING, ETC.

This is a frequent tremulous motion of the fore leg, with
a bowing of the knee, and some degree of knuckling of the
fetlock ; while upon the slightest tap behind the knee the
joint yields. There is an evident loss of power and energy
in the limb ; and though in some measure a natural defect,
it is often a proof that the horse has been hardly worked,
and it is probable that he can endure little more exertion.

The various structures which compose the limb have
been overtaxed ; they have become weak ; their debility
preventing the animal from giving to the leg that fixed
position which the member otherwise would assume. There
is little remedy for it but stimulation, or the constant appli-
cation of cool lotion with comparative rest, while the horse
enjoys the salutary and bracing, and not sufficiently appre-
ciated, influence of cold on weakness of the legs and feet.

SPRAIN OF the coffin-joint.

The lameness is sudden, and the heat and tenderness just
about the coronet. Bleed at the toe, physic, and foment ;
blister if obstinate. This accident is often confounded with
shoulder-lameness, and consequently wrongly treated. It is
then the precursor and cause of ringbone.

THE FEET.

LAMINITIS. — FEVER IN THE FEET. ACDTB FODNDEB. CHRONIC

FOUNDER. — PUMICED FEET. — SAND-CRACK, SEEDT-TOE, FALSE

QUARTER. QUITTOR. CONTRACTION. TREAD. PUNCTURED

SOLE. — CORNS. — THRUSH. CANKER.

The sensible laminae, or fleshy plates on the front and
sides of the coffin-bone, are full of blood-vessels, and there-
fore, like other highly vascular parts, liable to inflammatory
action.

When it is recollected what the laminae, which are inter-
posed between the hoof and the coffin-bone, have chiefly to
sustain, the violent concussion to which the feet are ex-
posed when in rapid action, it will not appear surprising
that intense inflammation of these parts sometimes ensues.
Besides this, there is no structure in the body of the horse
so exposed to other causes of inflammation as the foot.
After the animal has been ridden far and fast, while he is
reeking hot, he is occasionally plunged up to his belly in
pond or river. Almost every groom immediately washes
the feet of his horse ; while very few of them take the pains
carefully to dry the dripping members. What is so likely
to follow as inflammation ? A horse may have been travel-
ling many a mile up to his coronets in snow ; and when he
arrives at his journey's end, instead of having the warmth
gradually restored to his feet by half-an-hour's good hand-
rubbing, he is put up to his knees in straw, or his legs are
immersed in warm water. Is it not reasonable to expect
that fever in the feet will follow this sudden change of
temperature? In other cases, there may be a metastasis, or
change, of the place of inflammation : the animal is recover-
ing from inflammation of the lungs, and suddenly the feet
are attacked ; and that without any fault of the surgeon or
the groom.

Inflammation of the laminae can scarcely be mistaken.
The horse is continually shifting his posture ; yet without
violent action. The feet are constantly moving ; but they
are moved as gently as possible. When the hand is passed
down to them, the heat of the feet is evident enough.
Generally, however, the horse, tired of shifting his place,
and yet retaining the {)ain, lies down, and can with difficulty
be induced to rise again. All the characteristics of general
inflammation are exhibited. The pulse is hard and fast —
the breathing sharp and quick — the skin harsh — the mouth
hot — and the ears cold. But there are also signs which
indicate the seat of the disease ; for, besides the hoofs being
unnaturally hot, the arteries of the legs throb ; while the
horse often points to his feet as the seat of pain, by looking
at them, and resting his muzzle upon them.

The treatment of inflammation of the feet must be
prompt.

Other inflammations may possibly, to a certain degree,
brook delay ; but here not a moment is to be lost The in-

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE FORE FEET.— FOUNDER.

343

flammation must, if possible, be made to terminate in
" resolution ; " for, if the next process, and in some inflam-
mations, a salutary one, commences — if pus is thrown out
within the foot — the hoof will inevitably come off.

Without a moment's delay the horse must be bled, taking
blood from the toe ; but it is not always safe to wound a
part during the existence of acute inflammation within it.
The jugular may in that case be opened, and the stream
allowed to flow till the pulse falters. If in five or six hours
the pulse regains its inflammatory character, the coronet
may be punctured in several places. A third bleeding, but
of a local character, may be justifiable ; yet it should be
remembered that such excessive depletion retards the
recovery, although it may check the primary disease.

A full dose of physic should be administered ; and in-
jections should be thrown up to quicken its action. Seda-
tives and febrifuges combined should also be freely given ;
not only to allay the general fever, but also to subdue the
vascular excitement as well as to deaden the pain. The
following ball should be repeated every second hour until
the pulse intermits : —

Digitalis
Opium
Calomel

Colchicum, in powder
Nitre

Emetic tartar
Make in a ball with treacle.

1 drachm.

2 drachma.
^ drachm.
1 drachm.

3 drachms.
h drachm.

We would desire to do something to the feet, but often
the horse obstinately stands and will not sufier them to be
raised or touched. If the shoes can be removed, they
ought to be taken ofi"; and the soles, should it be possible,
be pared. The feet then should be put into poultices ; or
constantly fomented. If, however, the horse resists, these
things had better not be attempted. Moisture is necessary
to soften the horn of the hoof, so as to allow the inflamed
parts to expand ; and the low temperature is required to
reduce the inflammation. Ice is of great service, if it can
be constantly applied ; but if only for an hour or two, with
an intermission during the night, it does more harm than
good. It should only be applied when the inflammation is
high ; but when that is the case, and the foot is very hot, a
lump or two of ice constantly kept in the poultice will be of
great service. Wet cloths can be placed upon the legs ; and
these can be kept constantly moist with the coldest water.
The straw should be removed ; and its place supplied with
damp tan, or even sawdust, which may be moistened, and
will be less heating to the animal's feet. The body should
be clothed — a sheep's skin placed upon the loins ; even if
the horse will eat, only a few spare bran-mashes should be
allowed ; but water ought to be constantly before him.

When the first symptoms abate, the coronets and legs
may be blistered ; but this ought not to be done until the
acute stage has passe' A seton, however, may at the
commencement be pUced in the chest ; and often, when

thrust through the diseased frog, seems to be attended with
benefit.

The practitioner will carefully look out for the worst
symptoms, as well as those of amendment. When sepa-
ration begins to take place at the coronet, between the
hoof and the hair, it indicates that the process of sup-
puration is established by exudation ; and, that process
once thoroughly set up, it will go on, in defiance of all that
can be done to stay it. It will be useless further to punish
the horse ; but some relief may be obtained by surrounding
the feet with poultices. Another hoof will in process of
time be produced ; but it will be smaller and weaker than
the first, and liable to inflammation.

It is seldom that intense inflammation of any kind ter-
minates without effecting some change of structure. Dis-
union to a very considerable extent between the horny and
fleshy laminae is a frequent consequence ; and the result of
that is, that the coffin-bone is no longer retained in its
place ; but sinks backwards and downwards. A malforma-
tion which no surgery can remove is the result. The sharp
edge of the coffin-bone rests upon the sole, and often pierces
through it. This is an incurable state of the foot. The
attempt at forcing up again the coffin-bone betrays ignor-
ance of anatomy, and of the progress of disease. When the
coffin-bone begins to recede from the crust, the hoof follows
it to a certain degree; but its structure limits this, and
another process commences in order to fill up the vacuum :
an unnatural quantity of plastic matter is secreted by the
sensitive laminae ; the crust thickens, and inclines inward
as the coffin-bone retires : it has sometimes been observed
more than two inches in thickness. Nature is, as it
were, attempting still to maintain the union between the
parts.

What power applied to the sole can force back the coffin-
bone, pressed upon and kept down by this thickness of horn ?
or what power can be applied to the external sole without
bruising the internal and sensitive one ? Lameness, which
no art can relieve, ensues ; it is lasting and incurable. The
horse should be destroyed ; but many animals in this state
are forced to do slow work ; and, by the whip, compelled to
move in agony.

CHRONIC FOUNDER.

Lameness often appears in a chronic form, but is always
distinguished, no matter in what state it may exist, by the
peculiar manner of going which it induces. The horse with
inflamed laminae endeavours to cast all his weight upon the
heels ; in order to spare, as much as possible, the wall with
which the diseased part is connected. The gait is peculiar,
and the toes pointing upwards denote the condition of the
animal.

Chronic laminitis may be the consequence of the acute
disorder ; more frequently it comes on gradually ; and is at
all times difficult to remove. Setons through the frogs,
with repeated purgatives, and a course of alterative medi-

344

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

cine, have answered best, although too often this form of
the disease resists every treatment.

Laminitis may appear in one or all of the legs.

Most frequently the two fore feet are attacked, and the
animal then brings his hind legs under him, as much as
possible, with the intention of taking the weight from the
affected members. When only one foot is attacked, the
other is always ultimately the seat of poignant lameness,
and what once was the healthy limb becomes the most
diseased ; because the animal, to spare the lame leg, con-
tinually casts his whole weight upon the sound one. The
horse with laminitis in one leg, should be destroyed. With
all four limbs attacked he may recover, but when laminitis
appears in one only, he has no chance of being relieved, and
it is mercv tn shorten his sufferings.

■^TTMlCED FEET.

When, Irom inflammation, the sensible horny little plates
which were separated by the heat and swelling do not unite
again, their elasticity is lost, and the coffin-bone, no longer
supported, comes down and renders the foot convex, or
rounded outwards : this is a " pumiced foot." The crust of
the hoof also falls in at the front, leaving a hollow of a
remarkable character in the middle and front of the fore
foot.

The treatment of this disorder can only be palliative, and
no skill is competent to effect a re-union between the
separated fleshy and horny leaves, or to restore to them the
strength and elasticity of which they have been deprived, or
to take up that hard horny substance which very speedily
fills the space between the crust and the receding coffin-
bone. Some efforts have been made to palliate the disease,
but they have been only to a very slight extent successful.
If horses, on the first appearance of " flat foot", were turned
out in a dry place, or put into a box for two or three
months, sufficient stress would not be thrown on the leaves
to increase the evil, and time might be given for the growth
of horn enough in the sole to support the coffin-bone ; yet
we much doubt whether these horses would ever be useful
even for ordinary purposes. The slowest work required of
them would drive the coffin-bone on the sole, and gradually
the projection would reappear, for no power and no length
of time can again unite the separated leaves of the coffin-
bone and the hoof. All that can be done in the way of
palliation is by shoeing. Nothing must press on the pro-
jecting and pumiced part. If the projection be not great, a
thick bar shoe is the best thing that can be applied, but
should the sole have much descended, a shoe with a very
wide web, bevelled off so as not to press on the part, may
be used. These means of relief, however, are only tem-
porary, the disease will proceed ; and, at no great distance
of time, the horse will be useless.

SAND-OBACK. SEEDY-TOE. FALSE QPAKTEB.

Sand-crack is a well-named disorder. It is a solution of
continuity of the horny fibres of the hoof in the direction of
their growth, that is from above downwards. It is con-
sequent upon a dry, brittle state of the hoof, and attacked
the horses of the British cavalry and artillery when in
Egypt to a great extent. These fissures are much more
frequent upon the fore than the hind feet ; but they are
sometimes seen on cart-horses in front of the hinder foot,
from the violent strain put upon this part in drawing heavy
loads. They are mostly on the inner side of the fore foot,
where the weakness of the quarters, when accompanied by
brittleness, renders it liable to separation. As a sand-crack
generally extends to the sensitive parts, it requires that the
horse should be taken from work for a time. If the sand-
crack shows no signs of active suppuration, although it have
completely penetrated the horn, and a little blood or serous
moisture shows itself at the edges, but only under the effects
of motion, proceed to pare away the horn around it ; and
next, by means of a camel's-hair pencil, introduce within
the edges a small quantity of the solution of chloride of
zinc, as recommended for thrush. Bandage the hoof up
moderately tight for two days, then again examine the
fissure ; when, if the oozing be altogether stopped, and no
inflammation appear, proceed to draw lines of a moderate
depth with a sharp tiring-iron ; one very little above the
upper limit of the crack, another just beyond the lower
limit also, and afterwards bandage as directed below. If
preferred, these lines of separation may be made with a
rasp, or fine drawing-knife ; but the iron is best, as the
seared line of distinction is stronger or more perfect, while
the melted horn binds the edges together. But in case no
moisture at all has appeared at the crack, then the insertion
of any caustic matter is unnecessary, and the treatment for
this kind of fissure is very simple. The measures necessary
for such an injury wUl be as follows. The horse being shod
with a bar slioe, and the hoof either pared away in a line
with the crack ; or otherwise the shoe chambered, so that
the horn immediately under the fissure may not be pressed
on : proceed to bandage up the foot, so as to fulfil the fol-
lowing intentions. Bring the divided edges of the fissure
together, and completely retain them there, in such a
manner as totally to exclude moisture from entering the
opening. Whatever mode will answer these purposes best
may be adopted : some shoemaker's wax, melted and applied
all over the hoof, may be bound round, while yet soft, with
some three yards of tape, fastened with a hard knot, the
knot again covered with wax. Then smoothe off to an even
surface, and rub over with lard or grease. In all cases of
simple " crack," pare away the divided edges so as to cut
out the crack, and then with a hot iron draw a line above
and below the place where the division has been.

Seedy-toe. — We are indebted to Mr. Mayhew for the
most lucid and practical notice of this variety of sand-crack.

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE FORE FEET.— QUITTOR.

345

It consists in a separation of the two layers of horn which
compose the crust of the hoof These layers have a separate
origin. The outer, which is harder, darker, and thinner
than the inner, is secreted from the coronet. The inner,
which is softer, lighter in colour, and thicker, is built up
by the sensible laminae, elsewhere described. When the
foot is sound and the animal healthy, these two are one
substance, and together make the "hoof" to which the shoe is
nailed. When overwork, interrupted or disordered secretion,
or unobserved injury affects the functions of the parts, the
mischief begins, and the two kinds of horn begin to separate,
as the human nail does from the " quick " as it is popularly
termed. This beginning is always at the front, hence the term
" seedy-toe." On gently tapping a foot with this affection,
a peculiar hollow sound is perceived if the mischief is exten-
sive ; and upon removing the shoe a cavity between the two
layers of horn is visible, up which a piece of soft wood may
be passed, to ascertain the depth of the lesion.

Treatment. — Put the horse in a loose airy box, and feed
him with sound, dry, food, and give a mild dose of cooling
medicine. Then gradually cut away so much of the outer
wall of the hoof, beginning at the toe, as is clearly detached
from the inner. Examine from time to time, and cut away
the crust as far as the detachment, should it not have been
already completely removed. The new solid hoof will be found
to be growing downwards from the coronet, and in a month
or two rapidly forming and hardening. Rest and good feed-
ing accelerate the secretion ; the cure is in most cases
complete.

FALSE QUARTER

is the absence of a portion of the outer crust of the hoof,
and the sensible laminae are consequently exposed at the
point where this deficiency occurs ; the spongy inner wall,
spoken of in the last article, alone covering them — an in-
sufficient protection, and liable to painful injury and rup-
ture, when bleeding and fungous growths follow; the latter
being squeezed painfully between the edges of the remain-
ing hoof, and laming the sufferer. The treatment of sand-
crack is to be followed ; but as the hoof will not grow again
in false quarter, owing to a portion of the secreting coronary
band being absent entirely, there is no remedy but a pallia-
tive. This is found in the bar-shoe (Plate XVIII. E), with
a clip at the toe, the bearing of the foot being eased off at
the place where the want of hoof is visible. Then place a
piece of softened gutta percha of the required thickness to
fill up the hollow between the foot and the upper face of
the shoe, and mould it up the side of the injured part. This
will keep on for several days, when it may be renewed.
The part being thus relieved from pressure, the horse — at
moderate Li hour, on fail ground — has long preserved his
usefulness.

X X

QUITTOR

is the serious consequence of a severe wound of the coronet
The injury, whether from an accidental tread, a side slip in
frosty weather, or a blow upon the inside quarter, should be
carefully and immediately attended to ; because if sand or
gravel get into the wound, it is likely to produce those deep-
seated ulcerations and sinuses which constitute the disease
called " quittor."

Quittor may also proceed from any wound of the foot ; and
there is much difficulty in the matter proceeding from ulcera-
tion finding its way from under the hoof, which covers the
foot with its various complicated parts. The consequence
is, it accumulates under the hoof until it has increased to
such an extent that it forces itself out in all directions,
separating the little fleshy plates from their connection with
the horny ones of the crust ; or disuniting the fleshy sole
from the horny one ; and in extreme cases eats its way deeply
into the internal parts of the foot, forming pipes or sinuses
which run in all directions.

Treatment. — White's practice is as follows : — The extent
and direction of the sinuses must be ascertained with a probe.
Then spread some powdered corrosive sublimate on pieces
of paper smeared with lard ; cut them into narrow slips, and
twist them up to a point, insert them into the sinuses and
push them to the bottom with the probe. It often becomes
necessary to remove the greater portion of the horny sole,
and thereafter restore the healthy state of the tender sur-
face beneath. When this has been effected, the horn wiU
quickly be reproduced. But in cases where much of the
sole has been removed, it will take at least six months to
restore fully the deficient part, so that the horse may again
be subjected to labour.

If it is found, when the probe is inserted into the fistulous
openings on the coronet, that the direction of the sinuses is
backward, it is probable a cure may be effected ; but if the
direction of the fistulas be forward, and more especially if the
probe touches bone, the case is of great difficulty and doubt.

Mr. Spooner objects to White's "severe treatment" with
caustics ; and says there is danger of destroying the lateral
cartilage and producing false quarter, in which we agree.
Mr. Newport, in the " Veterinarian," reports cures by inject-
ing a saturated solution of sulphate of zinc every twenty-
four hours, poulticing also the foot. This is much less pain-
ful, and we believe quite as efficacious. In severe cases,
setons from the lower parts of the sinuses and brought
out at the heels, or between the bars and frog, are often
serviceable.

contraction.

This disorder or defect, to which such prominence an<i
space has been given in many veterinary works, especially
Continental, may be conveniently referred to two articles
that on " SiloEliNU," andin its ohroiiic t'orm, to Naviculak-
JOINT Disease. Contraction is produced by bad shoeing:.

346

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

NAVICULAR-JOINT DISEASE. — " GROGGY " LAMENESS.

In stable-phrase, the horse afflicted with what some
modern veterinarians have called " navicularthritis," is not
inaptly described by the grotesque term "groggy." The
learned compound term " navicularthritis "* is simply
pedantic nonsense, and expresses what the disease is not.

The perforans tendon is inserted in the hinder part of
the coffin-bone, and to reach that part it passes under the
navicular-bone, which rests upon it, with the interposition
of a small synovial sac, for facilitating the motion of the
little bone upon the tendon. It is on the upper side only
of this sac that the appearances of navicular disease are
found after death. The sac above the navicular-bone, and
between it and the lower bone of the pastern, is never
found partaking in the disease.

The cause of the disorder, which is direct injury, is
obvious. The immense weight of the animal has been
placed with an impetus on some hard substance, which has
taken the foot at a disadvantage, and bruised the navicular-
bone — the first solid substance receiving the extreme con-
cussion. True, that the fleshy frog and the body of the
dense perforans tendon lie between the face receiving the
blow and the injured bone ; but the fleshy frog is, by
nature, highly organised, and adapted by its secretory
powers to recover its tone ; while the tendon, less organised^
is Wonderfully elastic and yielding in the living subject.
The bone, then, the first unyielding substance, receives per-
manent injury from the concussion, forced downward as it
is from above by the coronary-bone. When the injury is
recent, the horse is found simply lame. The foot is examined,
but it is generally quite cooL, There is no apparent reason
to be assigned for the lameness ; indeed, it often goes off,
and the circumstance is forgotten. After a period of three
to six months, during which unseen mischief has been going
on, the lameness reappears. It is relieved, comes back
again, and the horse is lame for life. As one foot is painful,
greater stress is thrown upon the sound member, which is
often injured in consequence, and hence both feet are found,
in so many instances, with disease of the navicular-joint.

We may observe that a sure sequel, — we might rather
say a symptom, — of navicular disease, is contraction. The
foot is thrown out of use, or " saved by the animal," indeed
he wiU be found "pointing" it in the stable; hence the
quarters draw inwards, the heels narrow, the frog hardens
and diminishes in size and plumpness, the sole thickens,
the hoof itself grows higher, and is marked by ridges. In
short, " contraction " marks navicular disease.

Navicular disease is of an ulcerative tendency, and most
seriously affects the adult and the aged animal Mayhew
remarks, — which is confirmatory of the view we have already
taken, — " the foot in the first instance exhibits no heat, and

* Inflammation of the naviciilar joint. Navicvla (Lat, navicula, a
little boat) arthron (Greek, a joint), and itis, the affix for inflammation.

in the after stages becomes no more than warm. Moreover,
the consequences of this disease are absorption, which it
takes years to effect ; not deposition, which is accomplished
in a few days. All internal structures of the foot lessen,
till the hoof becomes visibly small and contracted ; for it is
a law in nature that, in the living creature, the contents
should govern the covering. Thus, the brain controls the
skull ; the lungs regulate the chest, &c., &c. ' With these
views the treatment of Mr. Mayhew corresponds, and has
our fullest assent.

Feed liberally on crushed oats and old beans. Soak the
foot in hot water for one hour every night for fourteen
days ; put tips on the hoofs, which part smear over with
animal glycerine. Put the feet in a sponge-boot (see
Plate XIX. L), and wrap the shank in flannel. Remember
Professor Coleman's " remedy " — a frog-pressure shoe — is
the provocative of the disease, if not often the cause of its
incurable aggravation. A leather sole, applied when the
horse is shod, is of the utmost importance to his more
permanent utility. Never use clay as a stopping, as the
cold is apt to yet further enfeeble parts already deficient in
blood-stimulus. Neurotomy, in extreme cases, is resorted to-
It affords in these cases the only chance of the horse being
serviceable for a time. Of course it does not cure the
disorder, but it destroys sensibility. Hence, the animal
often ruptures the tendon, or fractures the bone by a violent
contact of the insensible foot with the ground. The animal
must then be destroyed.

TREAD.

This, which often results in quittor, will be noted under
disease of the hinder feet, in which it is more frequent ; and
see Speedy Cdt and Overreach.

P0NCTURED SOLE, OR WOUNDED CRUST.

The sole is obviously very liable to wounds by nails,
flints, pieces of glass, and the like. Frequently too, but not
so often as in former times, the laminae are wounded by the
nail in shoeing ; or if the nail does not penetrate through
the internal surface of the crust, it is driven so close to it
that it presses upon the fleshy parts beneath, and causes
irritation and inflammation, and at length ulceration. When
a horse becomes suddenly lame, after the legs have been
carefully examined and no cause of lameness appears in
them, the shoe should be taken off. In many cases the
offending substance will be immediately detected, or the
additional heat felt in some part of the foot will point out
the seat of injury ; or, if the crust be rapped with the
hammer all round, the flinching of the horse will disco^^er
it ; or pressure with the pincers will render it evident,

When the shoe is removed for this examination the smith
should never be permitted to wrench it off, but each nail
should be drawn separately, and examined as it is drawn,
when some moisture appearing upon one of them will not
unfrequently reveal the spot at which matter has been thrown

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE FORE FEET.— CORNS.

347

out. In the fore-foot the injury will generally be found on
the inner quarter, and on the hind-feet near the toe, these
being the thinnest parts of the fore and hind-feet

Sudden lameness occurring within two or three days
after the horse has been shod, will lead us to suspect that
the smith has been in fault ; yet no one who considers the
thinness of the crust, and the difficulty of shoeing many feet,
will blame him for sometimes pricking the horse. His
fault will consist in concealing or denying that of which he
will almost always be aware at the time of shoeing, from
the flinching of the horse, or the dead sound, or the peculiar
resistance that may be noticed in the driving of the nail.

When the seat of mischief is ascertained, the sole should
be thinned round it ; and, especially at the nail-hole or the
puncture, it should be pared to the quick. The escape of
some matter will now probably tell the nature of the in-
jury, and remove its consequences. If it be puncture of the
sole by some nail, or any similar body picked up on the road,
all that will be necessary is a little to enlarge the opening,
and then to place on it a pledget of tow dipped in Friar's
balsam, and over that a little common stopping. If there be
much heat and lameness, a poultice should be applied.

The part of the sole wounded and the depth of the wound
must be taken into consideration. A deep puncture towards
the back part of the sole, penetrating even into the sensible
frog, may not be productive of serious consequence. There
is no great motion in the part, and there are no tendons or
bones in danger. A puncture near the toe may not be
followed by much injury. There is little motion in that
part of the foot, and the internal sole covering the coffin-
bone will soon heal ; but a puncture about the centre of the
sole may wound the flexor tendon where it is inserted into
the coffin-bone ; or may even penetrate the joint which unites
the navicular-bone with the coffin-bone ; or pierce through
the tendon into the joint which it forms with the navicular-
bone ; and a degree of inflammation may ensue, which, if
neglected, may be fatal. Many horses have been lost by the
smallest puncture of the sole in these dangerous points.
All the anatomical skill of the veterinarian should be called
into requisition, when he is examining the most trifling
wound of the foot.

If the foot has been wounded by the wrong direction of a
nail in shoeing, and the sole be well pared out over the part
on the first appearance of lameness, little more will be
necessary to be done. The opening must be somewhat
enlarged, the Friar's balsam applied, and the shoe tacked on,
•with or without a poultice, according to the degree of lame-
ness or heat, and on the following day all will often be well.
It may, however, be prudent to keep the foot stopped for a
few days. If the accident has been neglected, and matter
begins to be formed, and to be pent up and to press on the
neighbouring parts, the horse evidently sufiers extreme
pain, is sometimes scarcely able to put his foot to the
around, and much matter is poured out when the opening

is enlarged, further precautions must be adopted. The fact
must be recollected, that the living and dead horn will never
unite, and every portion of the horny sole that has separated
from the fleshy sole above must be removed ; and, as directed
in Seedy-toe, &c., the separation must be followed as far as
it reaches. Much of the success of the treatment depends
on this. No small strip or edge of separated horn must be
sufi"ered to press upon any part of the wound. The exposed
fleshy sole must then be touched, but not too severely, with
chloride (butyr) of antimony, some soft and dry tow placed
over the part, the foot stopped, and a poultice placed
over all if the inflammation seems to require it. On the
following day a thin 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 afibrd considerable
yet uniform pressure. Many days do not often elapse before
the new horn covers the whole of the wound. In these ex-
tensive openings the Friar's balsam will not often be suc-
cessful, but the cure must be effected by the judicious and
never too severe use of the caustic. Bleeding at the toe,
and physic, 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 for the shoe to be securely fastened.

Youatt adds : — " When a free opening has been made j
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.

A corn in the human subject is a very difierent thing
from that of the horse, although both arise from pressure.
In the horse they are ordinarily seated in that part of the
horny sole which is situated between the inner quarter and
the bars. When violent pressure is applied, even for a short
time, it produces inflammation and extravasation from the
secreting sole, the vessels of which becoming ruptured, a
" sappy " or " bleeding " corn, called a " new corn," makes
its appearance, presenting a blood-marked spot. The sup-
purating corn we will notice presently. The sensible sole
thus injured, unless immediately relieved and not again sub-
jected to pressure until perfectly reinstated, takes on a per-
manently diseased state. Ever after, instead of perfect
horn, a morbid secretion is deposited, and in some cases a
semi-purulent matter, or pure pus, fills up the place, thei
inflamed vessels retaining an exquisite sensibility-

348

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

Corns are usually found upon the inside of the foot,
because the inner wall and heel are weaker, and also bear
a greater portion of weight than the outer. The coiEn bone
not reaching to the heels, is the reason why these structures
are the seats of corn, for the coffin bone is the active agent
in its production. This bone is moved upwards and down-
wards at either end, as the weight rests upon one extremity
or the other of its articular surface. It is the wings of the
coffin-bone which cause corns. The descent of these wings
squeezes the sensitive sole between them and the shoe in open
feet, the shoe in this case being the passive agent ; but in
the contracted foot, the high, thick, hard, and unyielding
sole becomes the passive agent, and between that and the
wing of the coffin bone the sensitive sole is bruised. Too
little horn subjects the feet to corns, because a slight
pressure will indent weak feet. The best shoe, suffered
to remain on a foot too long, will produce a corn or corns.
Neglecting to prepare the foot for the shoe is also a fruitful
source of corns ; for in preparing a foot, this angular
portion should be so pared as to remove it from contact
with the iron, without weakening the horny covering of
the sensible sole. Another common cause is the neglect of
removing or renewing the shoes at proper intervals. When
a shoe has been long worn, the growth of the hoof carries it
forwards, by which the parts originally opposed to the
heels are carried beyond them, and now press on the sole,
often becoming indented within the line of the crust, and
producing a most injurious pressure. Sometimes, also,
either from the original form of the shoes, or by long wear,
they become loose or " springy " at the heels, as smiths call
it ; in which case gravel is apt to make its way between the
shoe and foot, which, by the pressure of the heels during
action, is indented into the substance of the horn ; other
gravel is received in the same manner, which presses still
onward, until at last it harms the sensitive part of the sole.
Extravasation of pure blood ensues, and forms a corn, or it
may proceed to suppuration

Corns, when new, are deeply seated, and of a bright
crimson colour, requiring much digging with the drawing
knife to be found. When old they are black and near to
the lower surface of the sole, which has then only to be
scraped clean to perceive them. A corn, however, should
be followed with the paring knife to its source in the
sensitive part ; for horses with old corns only go well when
fresh shod and newly pared ; and as soon as the portion of
sole between the bars grows to a level with the surrounding
horn, the sensible sole receives a fresh bruise, and lameness
again appears.

Treatment. — When a corn of moderate extent first ap-
pears, it is not difficult by proper means to remove it com-
pletely : but when it has existed some time, the injured part
becomes weakened, and the diseased action established. As
soon, therefore, as it is discovered, the cure should be im-
mediately attempted ; first, by removing the shoe, then with
a fine drawing-knife cutting away every portion of horn

around ; avoiding, however, wounding the sensitive sole
underneath. If any contraction of the heels be present, the
sole should be thinned till it yields to pressure of the thumb,
and the blood appears like dew upon the surface. A unila-
teral shoe should be then applied, chambered opposite the
weak part. Every third week remove the shoes, and pare the
horn away from the seat of corn. In this way corns maybe
cured at their outset. But having become habitual and per-
manent, a palliative treatment only can be pursued. In the
first place, the pressure of the horn must be guarded against
by a regular and frequent paring out of the sole ; and if the
hoof be very strong, and at all disposed to contract, the
quarters also should be attended to, and not allowed to be-
come too thick. We have also in very strong feet found the
short shoe or tips sometimes of the greatest possible service.
To a weak foot, a chambered shoe is preferable. When the
weakness is very considerable, or the corn a very bad one,
a bar shoe is the most proper support ; more particularly
remembering, in these very aggravated cases, to remove
occasionally all the surrounding horn likely to press on the
injured part. Animals that could not wear tips or bear
a bar shoe upon the foot, have gone well when shod with
leather, and with a shoe shortened at the quarter, which
is the seat of corn. By regularly attending to this, horses,
before useless, have been able to perform work with comfort
to themselves and satisfaction to their owner. In slight
cases of corn, the shoe proper to be used is one of rather
more substance than common, with the web a little wider
than usual, and its width equal throughout, that is, as wide
at the heels as the toe ; it should also extend rather farther
back than it generally does, and present a perfectly level
surface to the sole. This affords ease and protection :
future pressure must be avoided by keeping the seat of corns
clear from offending horn.

Thrush. See Diseases of the Hinder Feet, 230st. — When
thrush occurs in the fore-feet it may be considered indica-
tive of navicular disease : by inserting a piece of tow in
the suspected frog, the characteristic odour will be at
once discovered.

canker.

Canker is distinguished by the growth of a fungoid
substance, instead of healthy horn, over the surface of the
soft parts of the sensitive frog and sole, exuding a thin and
offensive discharge, which has the property of decom-
posing horn.

In mild cases every portion of diseased horn must be
removed ; otherwise the confinement of the fungus will not
only exceedingly torture the horse, but, by the irritation
which it produces, will prolong the disposition to throw out
the unhealthy substance. The owner must not be terrified
at the extent to which the foot is laid bare : not the
slightest good can be effected while there is any portion of
fungus confined.

Having laid the unhealthy part perfectly open, the

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE FORE FEET.— CANKER.

349

practitioner will consider what kind of surface it presents.
If there is much fungus, he will probably resort to the
knife. The fungus must be destroyed, and it cannot be
done too soon, or with too unsparing a hand. A level
surface being thus produced, the muriate of antimony may
be lightly applied over the whole of it.

There is no disease for the relief of which there are niore
numerous remedies, all strongly recommended, than for
canker. All and each of these will sometimes be successful ;
but on other occasions every one will fail. Solutions of the
various caustics ; the different acids, either diluted or of
the full strength ; powders in which the sulphates or
chlorides are mingled with chalk, bark, or charcoal, and
compounds of all kinds of things have their advocates.
Nitric acid and tar is in great favour with some parties.
Others employ verdigris, mixed with tar and treacle, or
honey, to which is often added a portion of sugar of lead.
In fact, the recipes are too numerous to be repeated ; but
they all have one and the same intention, namely, to act as
a caustic and astringent ; reducing the fungus, and stimu-
lating the part to take on a healthy secretion. No recipe
can strictly be given in a case of this kind. The strength
of the agent should be suited to the state of the disease,
and in this particular no two cases will be alike. Let,
therefore, the judgment be exercised ; and at the same
time let it be remembered that it is better to change the
application than to continue its use when it appears to
produce no marked or beneficial effect. A rapid succession
of different agents employed in different forms will often
do that which a pertinacious adherence to a favourite
nostrum will too frequently fail to accomplish. When not
judiciously employed, the more potent remedies for canker
not only destroy the surface to which they are applied, but
deeply and injuriously eat into the foot. The whole
cankered surface being exposed, sprinkle it with the fol-
lowing powder : —

Chloride of zinc
Eesin

Chloride of lime
Alum and resin

or,

1 drachm.
4 ounces.

1 ounce.

2 ounces.

Obseive, neither of these powders will keep dry, and, therefore, must
be made fresh for use.

A layer of lint and dry soft tow must be spread over
the whole of the exposed surface, and made firmly and
equally to press upon it by thin strips of spring-steel slid
under the shoe , the horse must be put into a thoroughly

dry box, from which the urine will immediately run off,
and where no kind of moisture can reach the diseased part.
A cankered foot, however, must not be dressed too frequently.
The two or three first dressings may be given on succeeding
days ; but, when the fungus has been in some degree sub-
dued, the bandages should only be removed every fourth
day, or even once a week. Every time that the foot is
exposed it should be carefully examined, in order to see
that there is no portion of unhealthy horn ; for if there is,
it must be immediately removed. The appearance of the
exposed surface must also be inspected with great attention.
Fresh fungus will require a fresh application of the powder,
or possibly of the knife. Every little pellicle of skinny
matter or soft and porous horn must also be pared away :
the healthy horn which has been secreted must be lightly
run over with the knife ; and then the butyr of antimony
applied to the whole of the surface ; the quantity used
on the different portions of it varying with the pro-
gress towards a cure. After this the foot must be bound
up as before.

A few days having passed — if the sprouting of the fungus
has been quite checked, but yet the horn does not grow so
healthily as could be wished, — a pledget of tow may be
dipped in the solution of the chloride of zinc, and spread
over that portion of the foot, with more dry tow placed
upon that. A sudden change will thus often be effected ;
but, should not this take place to the desired extent, try
muriate of antimony, laid on with a brush.

The secret of the treatment of canker consists in the use
of superficial caustics or stimulants ; pressure as firmly
and as equably as it can be made ; and the careful avoid-
ance of greasy applications or of moisture, either applied
immediately to the foot, or suffered to penetrate to it
through the dressing. The solution of chloride of zinc is
an exception to this last rule, for it corrects the exudation
from the foot and stimulates the sensitive parts to the secre-
tion of healthy horn, while the small quantity that need be
used will be far from supplying constant moisture.

If wet can certainly be avoided, a horse with a cankered
foot will, immediately after the first apparent growth of
good horn, do much better at work than standing idle in
the stable.

As canker, however, is a constitutional disease, local
applications must not be singly depended upon. It is often
connected with grease (see Grease), and with grossness of
body. The condition of the horse must be considered, and
measures adopted to improve the system.

350

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

LAMENESSES, AND DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE HOCK, LEGS, AND HINDER FEET.

THE HAUNCH. — THE STIFLE. — STRAIN OF THE " ROUND-BONE. —
DISLOCATION AND FRACTURE OF THE PATELLA. ANCHYLOSIS.

The bones of the haunch and hinder leg are described, ante,
pp. 183, 184, and the mu.scles, pp. 190, 191. The Plates
(X. and XI.) of The Foot and Neurotomy, and Plate IX.,
representing the hinder extremities and their diseases, should
be referred to.

The haunch consists of three bones : the ilium, which is
joined to the spine, and, when projecting at its wings, pro-
duces the appearance called " ragged-hip ; " the ischium, or
hip-bone, behind and below the ilium, and which projects on
each side under the tail ; and the pubis, which unites the
two last-named.

Fracture of the projecting part of the ilium or haunch-
bone occasionally occurs. When it is of a simple kind,
adhesive inflammation is set up, and the parts re-unite ;
owing, however, to the action of the muscular fibres inserted
in the loosened portion, the piece is sometimes drawn aside,
and no surgical application can keep it in its proper position.
In these cases the horse is what is called " let down in the
hip."

Although the " stifle," in comparative anatomy, corres-
ponds with the " knee " of the human subject, yet the
difierent proportions of the bones of the horse cause the
parts below it to be called the "thigh," instead of the
"leg."

As in old books of farriery " chest-founder " was the cloak
for almost every obscure lameness in the fore-limbs, so to a
" strain of the round-bone " or of the " stifle," the lame-
nesses of the hinder-limbs were conveniently referred.
Violence, doubtless, occasionally injures the ligaments,
especially of the inside of the thigh. The deep situation
of the part presents difficulty. Cold applications, where
tumefaction and heat are present, followed by stimulant
fomentations, a mild blister frequently repeated, and local
bleeding may be tried with good efifect. What is called
" lameness in the hip " proves, however, in most cases, on
careful examination, to have the "hock" for its true seat.

Strain or Injury of the Ligaments of the Stifle, or Patella,
is shown by the difiiculty the horse feels in putting forward
the hind leg ; also by swelling and tenderness of the part.

The Treatment should consist of bleeding, either generally
or from the thigh ; warm fomentations to the part, followed

by cold lotions ; and, if the lameness continue, the joint
should be blistered, or setons inserted over it.

Dislocation, or Fracture, of the Patella. — This injury,
also included under " lameness In the stifle," is often mis-
taken for " cramp," as farriers term it. The signs of a dis-
located patella (knee-pan or whirl-bone) are the rigid thrust
of the hind-leg backwards, where it remains fixed ; the head
is erected, and the muscles quiver, while the pastern of the
injured leg is bent upwards. An unusual swelling will be
perceived at the outer and lower part of the buttock. By
grasping the condyles (knobs) of the thigh-bone, the dis-
placement of the patella can be felt, and the absence of the
protuberant patella from its proper position, and its shift to
the outer edge of the thigh, are visible, though not so to the
unskilful observer in coarse, fleshy horses.

The bone, is always dislocated outwards ; the form of the
lower end of the femur, the strength of the ligaments, and
the power of the muscles on the outward side, all prevent
the bone from being dislocated inwards. It sometimes
happens from weakness, when mere motion will be sufficient
to reduce it. Nevertheless, in other instances, surgical aid
is needed. In such cases proceed as follows. In the first
place, have the leg drawn forward, if necessary, by means of
a rope passed over a beam or rafter, and around the fetlock ;
then push violently against the dislocated bone, the position
of which will be accurately told by the swelling it produces.
It will generally fly back, with some noise ; and having got
it in its proper situation, partially release the drawn-up leg,
and have an assistant to hold the bone justly, by pushing
against it for several hours ; afterwards blister the part, to
render the animal averse to using it.

Fracture of the Patella is occasioned by a violent kick or
blow. When the action of the tendons inserted into its sur-
faces disunites the fractured portions beyond the power of
veterinary surgery to bring them together, the limb is use-
less, having lost the antagonism to undue flexion. It will
be, therefore, of no avail to attempt a course of treatment.

In human surgery, the treatment of dislocations and
fractures forms a most important branch of practice. In
the horse, though these separations sometimes occur, the
immensity of the muscular resistance is such, and our sur-
gical machinery at present is so little calculated to make
resistance to the power thus exerted, that the subject may
be briefly dismissed in such a treatise as the present.

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE HOCK— CURB.

351

ANCHYLOSIS (STIFF AND BENT JOINT).

When bony matter is deposited within or upon the car-
tilaginous extremities of bones, or upon the capsular and
investing ligaments, so as totally to destroy the motion of a
joint, it is called anchylosis, from the Greek word ankyloo,
to bend. This tendency is remarkably shown in the horse.
Few of the joints of the animal escape anchylosis, as none
of his bones are out of the ordinary reach of bony deposit.
The joints of the spinal column, particularly of the dorsal
and lumbar vertebras, are frequently the seat of this affec-
tion, which seems to be occasioned by heavy weights. It is
anchylosis which renders old horses stiff, and in some in-
stances unwilling to lie down, or when down averse to ris-
ing up again.! When anchylosis of the knee or hock occurs,
it usually follows injuries extending into the cavities of
those important joints. The treatment is of course merely
palliative, promoting absorption where possible by iodine
and stimulants, and soothing pain, where present, by wet
bandages, warm and cold.

THE HOCK.

STRAIN OF THE LIGAMENTS. OUKB. ENLARGEMENT OF THE

HOCK. CAPPED HOCK. — BOG-SPAVIN, BLOOD-SPAVIN, BONE-
SPAVIN. — THOROUGH-PIN. WINDGALLS.

Strain of the Ligaments of this important joint is by no
means unfrequent, and, as we have said before, the injury
is supposed to be higher up. If taken early, the horse
rested, and the case treated on the principles before laid
down, we shall generally succeed in effecting a cure. When
inflammation can be detected at the hock, bleeding, from
the thigh or saphena vein, will effect great relief

By violent and long-continued exertion of the hock joint,
so great is the consumption of synovia, in consequence of
its peculiarly extensive motion, that the synovial membrane
becomes at length incapable of supplying any more, and in
this exhausted state is itself the subject of friction. The
joint then becomes inflamed and ulcerated, and the lame-
ness is " past all surgery."

CURB.

This, which is, in fact, extension of the ligaments of the
hock, is usually brought on by some violence offered to the
sheath of the perforans tendon, passing downwards at the
back of the hock. It is often the effect of leaping, rearing,
kicking, &c., and as such is usually sudden in its appear-
ance. A kind of predisposition to curbs from conformation
is apparent in horses with " sickle hocks." For the con-
firmation of this fact the public are indebted to the dissec-
tions and observations of Mr. W. Percivall, a writer whose
diligence and research cannot be too highly commended.
The lameness arising from curbs is not, in general, severe :
occasionally, however, it may and does prove considerable.
We have alre>»dy noticed under Ligaments the ring-like bands

which, in the horse, tie down the tendons at the joints ;
these, by sudden extension, are injured, and hence a curb.
An enlargement at the back of the hock, three or four
inches from the point (see Plate IX., Fig. 5), is visible.
Horses are found to " throw out " curbs after a severe race,
an extraordinary leap, a fast gallop over heavy ground, or a
sudden pull-up. Youatt thus describes the usual treatment
of curbs : —

" The first object in attempting the cure is to abate
inflammation, and this will be most readily accomplished
by cold evaporating lotions, frequently applied to the part.
Equal portions of spirit of wine, water, and vinegar, will
afford an excellent application. It will be almost im-
possible to keep a bandage on. If the heat and lameness
are considerable, it will be prudent to physic the horse,
and to bleed from the subcutaneous vein. Whether the
injury be of the annular ligament, or the sheath of the
tendon, more active means will be necessary to perfect the
cure. Either a liquid blister should be rubbed on the part,
consisting of a vinous or turpentine tincture of cantharides,
and this daily applied until some considerable swelling
takes place, which should be allowed to subside, and then
the liniment again resorted to ; or, which is the preferable
plan, the hair should be cut off, and the part blistered as
soon as the heat has been subdued. The blister should be
repeated until the horse goes sound, and the swelling has
disappeared. In severe cases it may be necessary to fire,
but we cannot recommend the indiscriminate recourse to
the hot iron in every case of curb, and we would uniformly
give a fair trial to milder measures. If the iron be used,
the strokes should be in straight lines.

" There are few complaints in which absolute and long-
continued rest is more requisite than in curb. An injury
so serious leaves the parts very materially weakened, and,
if the horse be soon put to work again, the lameness will
frequently return. No horse that has had curbs should be
put even to ordinary work in less than a month after the
apparent cure, and even then he should very gradually
resume his former habits.

" A horse with a curb is manifestly unsound. A horse
with the vestige of curb we should regard with much
suspicion, or generally condemn as unsound ; for although
the neighbouring parts may have accommodated themselves
to the slight enlargement that remains, they are not in their
natural situation, and have lost a portion of their natural
strength. Some latent disposition to relapse may continue,
which extraordinary exertion may rouse to action ; and,
besides this, it should be remembered, that curb is an
hereditary complaint, and that there may be some constitu-
tional weakness of these parts."

ENLARGEMENT OF THE HOCK-JOINT. — CAPPED HOCK

The point of the hock is sometimes swelled, and a soft
fluctuating tumour appears. This is an enlargement of
one of the mucous bags (bursae mucosae), which assist the

J

352

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

motions of the os calcis, and surround the insertion of the
tendons in the point of the hock. It is very unsightly, and
sometimes becomes of a great size, particularly when it is
occasioned by the practice of kicking ; in which case not
only is there an immense increase of the secretion, but the
integuments also thicken, and accumulations take place
about the capsule, which become of semi-cartilaginous
consistency. It has been punctured occasionally with
partial success, and the contents have been drawn off
by setons, but the inflammation raised has endangered life.
It has also been opened, and its contents, which in the
enlarged state are partly fluid and partly semi-solid, eva-
cuated, but after-irritation has endangered life ; and no
great advantage has been gained, for the incision made
has united, and the sac has filled again. Hand-rubbing,
almost continuously applied, has done more good with
regard to diminishing the size, than all the puncturing,
blistering, and firing put together. The hand is also as-
sisted by an India rubber bandage made to fit the part,
and worn at such times as the friction is stayed. When,
however, opening the sac is insisted upon, it is best to
dissect away the lining membrane, or to destroy it by the
application of caustic

It is exceedingly difficult to apply a bandage ; and
puncturing the tumour, or passing a. seton through it,
would be a most injudicious and dangerous practice. Blis-
ters, repeated as long as may be necessary, are the usual
means employed. Sometimes the tumour will disappear of
itself, but at others it will attain a very large size, or will
assume a callous structure that wiU bid defiance to all
curative appliances.

BOG-SPAVIN. — BLOOD-SPAVIN. — BONE-SPAVIN.

Bog-spavin is the commonest form among young horses,
chiefly at the time of breaking.

Bog-spavin may be termed " wind-gall " of the hock.
From over exertion, the bursa mucosa, which lubricate this
complicated joint (see Plate IX. Fig. 4), become inflamed
and enlarged ; hence the subcutaneous vein, which passes
over these bags on the inside of the hock, is compressed,
and the blood interrupted in its flow ; blood-spavin is thus
produced, but bog-spavin may exist without it. Blood-
spavin is a mere fanciful distinction, which may be dis-
missed without further comment.

Spavin and splint in their most advanced stage are the
conversion of ligament into bone ; yet when spavin is found,
though it may be small, no one can tell where it may stop.
It is alarming to find them in young horses ; but in old
animals they are often perfected, and will not only grow no
bigger, but often decrease, and become partially absorbed.
The bones locked together by exostosis never become loosed,
though the swelling may disappear. As a general rule, we
would say, when spavin does not produce lameness, let it
alone. However unsightly, do not risk setting up a new
action where the disease is quiescent.

The Treatment of bog-spavin may be briefly given in the
words of Youatt, to which we will append the shrewd and
lively observations of Mr. Mayhew : — " Uniform pressure
will sometimes cause the absorption of the fluid contained
in cysts or bags like these, but in a joint of such extensive
motion as the hock, it is difficult, or almost impossible, to
conflne the pressure on the precise spot where it is required ;
and could it be made to bear on the enlarged bag, it would
likewise press on the vein, and to a great degree hinder the
passage of the blood, and increase the dilatation below the
obstruction. The old and absurd method of passing a liga-
ture above and below the enlarged portion of the vein, and
then dissecting out the tumour, is not, in the advanced stage
of veterinary science, practised by any surgeon who has a
regard to his reputation. The only method of relief which
holds out any promise even of a temporary success, is by
exciting a great deal of inflammation on the skin, and thus
rousing the deeper-seated absorbents to carry away the fluid
effused in the enlarged bag. Repeated blisters then will
afford the fairest prospect of removing the tumour, or firing
may be tried ; but in the majority of cases, the disease will
bid defiance to all our means, or will return, and baffle our
hopes when we had seemed to have been accomplishing our
object."

Mayhew's advice is worth the space we here give, as a
contrast of the "difference of doctors." He says: — "The
regular treatment is to purge, give diuretics, bleed, blister,
rowel, seton, periosteotomy, neurotomy, fire, and punch.
The bleeding may be great or small, local or general ; the
blister, mild or severe, applied over half the joint at a timei
or rubbed in after the limb has been scored by the iron.
Rowels and setons may also be simple, or they may be
smeared with irritants, which are made of different
strengths. Periosteotomy may be single or may be made
compound by the addition of a seton and a blister. Neuro-
tomy is very unsatisfactory, and very often a most tedious
affair when employed to cure spavin. The fire may be
down to the true skin ; it may be through the skin and on
to the tumour ; or it may be inflicted by means of a blunt-
pointed instrument, which, when heated, burns its way into
the bone itself The punch also admits of variety ; it may
be with or without a blister ; it may be holes made in a
living body, which holes are filled with a corroding paste.
Or the operation may consist of the exposure of the bone,
and cutting off the offending portion with a saw, or knock-
ing away part of a breathing frame with a chisel and a
mallet !

" All these tortures have for centuries been inflicted ;
they have been practised upon thousands of animals, only
for men at this day to doubt whether the cruelty has been
attended with the slightest service. Flesh, as capable of
feeling as our own, has been cut, irritated, burnt, and
punched for hundreds of years, and now, at the twelfth
hour, such operations are not discarded, but their efficacy
is mildly questioned-

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE HIND-LEGS, &c.— SWELLED LEGS.

353

" Reader, if you have a horse which is lame from spavin,
ind your calculations tell you it will not pay to nurse the
cripple, have it slaughtered. Do not consent to have it
tortured for a chance ; do not sell it to the certainty of a
terrible old age and of immediate torment.

" The cure for spavin is good food and rest, — perfect rest.
Such rest or stagnation as a healthy horse submits to in the
stable. This enjoined for months, with the occasional appli-
cation of a mild blister, with the best of food to enable
nature to rectify man's abuse will do more good, cost no
more money, and occupy no more time than the devilries
usually adopted, and very often almost without success.
As an additional motive on the side of humanity, it may be
stated that the horse suiTers much more when disease is
located in the hind, than when it is exhibited upon the fore-
legs. The ravages which in the first case would endanger
the life, in the last would be borne with comparative tran-
quillity. The posterior parts of the animal seem to be en-
dowed with exquisite sensibility ; yet, in spite of this, the
so-called cure for spavin and the boasted treatment of ages
only consists in torturing the hocks of the animal.

" While inflammation exists, apply poultices, and well rub
the part with a mixture of belladonna and of opium ; one
ounce of each drug rubbed down with one ounce of water.
Or place opium and camphor on the poultices ; or rub the
enlargement with equal parts of chloroform and camphorated
oil. The pain having subsided and the heat being banished,
apply with friction some of the following ointment. It may
reduce the disease by promoting absorption, at all events it
will check further growth by rendering further deposit
almost an impossibility : —

Iodide of lead .... 1 ounce.

Simple ointment .... 8 ounces.
Mix.

Bone-spavin is an exostosis, or deposit of bone on the
inner side of the hock, which, when low, is called by the
horsedealer a "jack ; " it corresponds to splint in the fore-
leg, and originates at the head of the splint bone. The "high-
spavin "is the most mischievous, as it locks the joint, or
renders the motion of the hock excruciatingly painful, the
tendons having to move over the rough bony deposit. The
mode of lifting the hind leg in the trot will show spavin ;
the foot, instead of being freely raised from the ground and
sliglitly rotated outwards, drags, with the toe pointed stiffly
forward, describing a much less curve in its passage through
the air. The toe being thus brought forward, is worn
blunt with the shoe. Look then at the horse's shoes (if
worn), and see the horse when first brought out of the
stable ; when warm, the stiffness, in less severe cases, will
disappear. Horses with " sickle " or " cow-hocks," i.e., with
the great joints of the hinder- limbs approaching each other
like the knees of a knock-kneed man, are most liable to
spavin, thorough-pin, and splint. On Plate IX, Fig. 5, will
be seen represented the locality of spavin and other diseases
of the hinder extremity.
T y

THOBOUaH-PIN.

This is of the nature of bog-spavin, and allied to the
" wind-galls " of the farrier. We have more than once
mentioned the bursas mucosae as the seat of disease ; there
are two situations in which thorough-pin appears, one
rather above the point of the hock, the other below it.
Thorough-pin derives its name from the circumstance of
its appearing as a round swelling on both sides of the hock,
between the flexor of the tendons of the foot and the exten-
sor of the hock, and is a sign of heavy work, though often
not accompanied by decided lameness. Thorough-pin, when
not interfering with work, is not unsoundness, though a
serious diminution in market value.

Thorough-pin and bog-spavin often exist together, and
then the fluid can be pressed from one to the other, though
not readily. These thorough-pins are generally produced
by the sudden violent straightening of the limb, whilst bog-
spavin is probably caused by its sudden bending.

Mr. W. Spooner says : — " I have, however, known a
troublesome and obstinate lameness produced from the
upper thorough-pin, or perhaps rather from some strain
of the tendon which attended it. It gave way, however,
at length, to a seton placed over the part, — not through it.
I have also succeeded in removing a very large thorough-
pin in the lower situation, in a high-class race-horse, by the
long-continued application of equal parts of iodine and
mercurial ointment, previously, however, stimulating the
part with a mild liquid blister. The subject was a race-
horse of great value, and the thorough-pin entirely dis-
appeared in about ten weeks. In some cases the synovial
fluid in the thorough-pin coagulates, and becomes organised
and firm."

THE HIND-LEGS, PASTERNS, AND FETLOCK-JOINT

MALLENDERS AND SALLENDERS. — SWELLED LEGS. — GREASE. —

WEED. — SPRAIN OF THE FETLOCK-JOINT. HALTER-CASI. —

TREAD. — RINGBONE. WINDGALLS.

Mallenders and Sallenders. — On the inside and front of
the hock, or a little below it, is often found a scurfy erup-
tion called Sallenders ; and a similar one on the back part of
the knee bears the fantastic name of Mallenders ; words ol
which the derivation is unknown. Their treatment is
identical, and will be found, ante, p. 331, under DiSEASEg
OF THE Skin.

SWELLED OR " FILLED " LEGS.

This common grievance of the stable is commonest among
coarse and heavy horses ; though the exactions of the ani-
mal's hard taskmaster, man, render the best-bred ones sub-
ject to the visitation. The hinder-limbs, below the hock,
are the most affected, though the fore-legs, below the knee,
come in the same way to grief from undue exertion. De-
bility is also the constitutional cause of swelled legs. Some

354

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

horses are liable to swellings in the limbs in the spring and
fall of the year. This can be accounted for by the principal
activity of the circulation being employed in preparing a
fresh covering of hair at those periods, so that the vital
influence in the extremities is somewhat diminished ; and
the same cause produces swellings in the legs.

Frequently, when a horse seems to be aflected with no
other disease, the hind-legs will suddenly swell to a very
great extent from the hock to the fetlock, in some instances
even from the stifle downwards. This is accompanied by
heat and tenderness of the skin, inducing lameness of a
peculiar character. A quickened and hard pulse are usual
concomitants of this seizure, with a considerable degree of
fever. This complaint is acute inflammation of the cellular
substance of the limbs, sudden in its attack and violent in
its degree, consequently attended with the secretion of fluid
in the cellular tissue. Young horses, and those which are
over-fed, with little exercise, are most liable to be thus
attacked, and without having had previous inflammation.

Swelling of the legs is common to horses which are used
for hunting and pleasure only. This, it will be seen, arises
from irregularity in their habits ; one day having a more
than sufiicient exercise, and probably standing for days or
weeks in a stable, and only walked out or trotted for a
short distance. In such cases the limbs should be well
hand-rubbed, to stimulate the vessels. Bandaging judi-
ciously is advisable : but do not allow the groom to adminis-
ter diuretics, as he says, to " cool the animal ; " the remedy
is ruinous to the constitution, and aggravates the tendency
to " filling."

The most troublesome, as well as the most frequent swell-
ing in the limbs, is that caused by inactivity, from high feed-
ing, and want of due exercise. One kind is accompanied by
local or comparative debility, or loss of power in the part
afi'ected. Those horses which are over-fed, without exercise,
are liable to swellings in the limbs from the capillary vessels
having sent forth an over-supply of fluid to the extremities ;
and in consequence of the want of muscular exertion and
the perspiration naturally connected with it, the fluids accu-
mulate in the extremities, the vessels not having sufiicient
power to return them. The heart is thus acting upon an
additional quantity of fluid ; while, by the want of exercise,
the limbs are deprived of that power by which the fluids are
returned. Here " physic " a little soft food, exercise, and a
mild diuretic are indicated, with active hand-rubbing.

Horses taken in from grass are often seized with swelling
in the legs. This is occasioned by the diff'erence of food,
owing to its containing a greater proportion of nutriment,
which increases the quantity of the blood, and the want of
muscular and respiratory exertion necessary to carry it ofi"
by the skin. Exercise and a little opening medicine will
efi"ect a cure.

Treatment. — This, of course, must vary as the cause of
the complaint varies. If from fatness of condition, bleed
moderately ; you will find the upper surface of the blood at

first colourless, and a thick coat of buff afterwards. If the
cause is debility, and the horse has had too much moisture
in his food, bleeding is improper, and if a diuretic is given,
follow it by a tonic. White recommends, if the swelling ex-
tend much above the hock, that we make some punctures
with a lancet, which will produce great relief, particularly if
the leg be afterwards fomented with warm water. Care,
however, must be taken to rub the leg dry afterwards.

Place the animal in a good roomy box ; give no hay.
Sprinkle a handful of ground oak bark on each feed of oats,
which should be damped to prevent the powder being lost.
Walking exercise should be given twice or three times a
day. It will be necessary to repeat the diuretic medicine
every alternate day ; and if the animal is debilitated, give
in addition the following tonic : —

Powdered ginger . .

Sulphate of iron
Either as a powder or Ln a ball.

2 drachras.

3 drachms.

If in the course of two days the leg is not so materially
reduced in size as to lead us to infer its speedy restoration
to a normal state, we may insert a rowel or seton in the
thigh. If abscesses should form in the thigh or leg, we
must take care to distinguish the case from farcy, to which
it then bears some resemblance ; but in the latter disease
the abscesses are usually smaller, and lie in the course of the
absorbents, which are enlarged, whilst in oedema the abscesses
are larger and more independent in their position. These
abscesses being opened, usually heal with little difficulty ;
but if the skin should slough, as it sometimes does, the cure
is much more tedious. There is, however, a difference in
this respect between the human and the equine subject ; for
whilst, in the former, the cure of ulcers is tedious and pro-
tracted, in the horse it is generally speedily accomplished.

QBEASE.

This offensive disease is consequent on a morbid alteration
of the quantity and quality of the fatty matter secreted by the
sebaceous glands of the heels. Its sign is a white discharge
from the skin of the heels, sometimes extending as high as
nearly to the hock or knee. There is usually dropsical en-
largement of the legs, the skin is red, and the hair staring,
with pain and stiffness of the part. Horses with much hair
on the leg are most subject to grease. Dr. Jenner supposed
grease to be a specific disease, communicable by inoculation ;
but the idea has not been confirmed by experience.

In the simple form of grease, the stiffness and pain of the
limb go off after a while ; but if the disease is neglected, the
discharge increases in quantity, the skin becomes thickeneJ,
and large excrescences, — called from their shape "grapes," —
cover the heels and back of the legs, while ulcerations form
about the heels, and slough large portions away Mayhew
says, with proper indignation, " Grease is a filthy disorder,
and a disgrace to every person concerned with the stable in
1 which it prevails ; it proves neglect in the proprietor, want

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE HIND-LEGS, fee— GREASE.

355

af fitness or positive idleness in the groom, and culpable
ignorance or the absence of the slightest moral courage in
all people entering the doors of the stable. It is one of
those disorders which it is easier to prevent than to cure.
By an ordinary regard to cleanliness, and by an average
attention to the necessities of the animal, this taint may be
avoided ; wherever it is witnessed, it not only argues the
human being to whom the building belongs to be in the
lowest stage of degradation, but it also testifies to the
sufferings endured by the poor creatures which are com-
pelled to drag out life in such custody."

There is so much honest and just indignation here, that
we forgive a little exaggeration. Grease is not always
produced by mere neglect, though hand-rubbing, free
ventilation, and cleanliness have almost banished it from our
cavalry horses and well-regulated stables. Swelled legs,
cracks, and grease are so much more common in winter;
that grease has even been called a winter disease, and the
" chilblain " of horses. Moisture is likewise favourable to
the complaint, for it first produces a determination to the
parts, and then, as a parent of cold, it weakens the already
distended vessels Grease sometimes follows injuries ; as
halter-casting. The disease may become serious when it
occurs under other circumstances favourable to its produc-
tion, as in moist, cold, and particularly frosty or snowy
weather ; or when, from previous illness, a horse has been
thrown out of condition ; and, more than all, when such a
case has been maltreated by the idleness or ignorance of
those around, who, finding a swelled heel, immediately fly
to urine balls, or purging balls, whereas a little local atten-
tion will cure the surfaces at once. Colour, likewise, as it
marks debility, so it influences grease ; thus, it has been
remarked that white-legged and light-coloured horses gene-
rally are more liable to cracks, to grease, and to diseases of
the feet, than others which are darker, or whose legs are
black. After all, however, the grand origin of grease is —
bad stable management. No matter of what breed, or how
old the horse may be, the groom is to blame if the animal
becomes greasy. In all well-regulated stables, the appear-
ance of this loathsome disorder should be a signal for a
change of attendants therein ; for as the affection is now
banished from the army, what earthly reason can be urged
why it should be found in private stables ?

Treatment. — In the older veterinary books, pages are
devoted to this opprobrium of the stable. Our directions
shall be simple. Clip off the hair ; it can only heat the skin
and retain the discharge. Wash the leg with warm water
and curd soap. Then take a soft cloth saturated with the
following lotion : — animal glycerine, eight ounces ; chloride
of zinc, one ounce ; water, one gallon ; and lay it on the hot
skin. As soon as it is warm, change it for another left ready
in the lotion, and persevere in this till the temperature is
lowered Two men should be employed, and four cloths,
eacl- ao removed being thrown over a line to expose as large
a surface as possible to the cooling action of the air. The

chloride of zinc deodorizes the discharge. When the crackf
are ulcerated, a stronger lotion is to be used, of the perman-
ganate of potash, one pint to a gallon of water, or : —
creosote, four ounces ; chloride of zinc, two ounces ; and a
gallon of decoction of oak-bark, cooled. A good powder to
sprinkle grease is made thus : — chloride of lime, one ounce !
chalk, four ounces, powdered gall nuts, two ounces.

A drink of tincture of muriate of iron, one ounce ; liquoi
arsenicalis, one ounce ; and one quart of sound beer, may be
administered. Blaine recommends sound ale, one quart ;
carbonate of ammonia, half a drachm ; extract of gentian,
one ounce ; tincture of capsicum, half a drachm ; but we
prefer the first, with the addition of the gentian if the animal
is low and lymphatic.

It is, moreover, essentially necessary to the cure, that all
sprouting luxurious granulations should be reduced to the
level of the surrounding integuments. Caustics only render
the " grapes," as they are termed, of greater size. The mode
best adapted for their removal is the knife. Cast the ani-
mal, having a flat piece of heated iron ready to pass over
the surfaces, in case the haemorrhage is profuse ; as the horse
having grease can but ill afford the loss of blood. Employ
the strongest lotion into which chloride of zinc enters, and
sprinkle the legs with either of the powders before men-
tioned, only rendering each weaker as the symptoms abate.
In this manner a cure may be accomplished. Moderate
exercise is of the utmost importance ; indeed, the pain of
grease goes off greatly during gentle motion of the parts.
The disease, however, is apt to return. Should it display
this disposition, discharge the groom, and procure one that
is less sparing of his labour.

WEED.

This name is applied in the north country to a disease
simulating oedema, or swelled legs ; yet is quite distinct in
its nature, and should be looked for. It consists in a swell-
ing of the thigh vein, extending sometimes from the hock
up to the groin, very hot and tender. It is not mentioned
by Percivall, Blaine, Mayhew, or in ordinary books ; but is
important, as its other symptoms are similar to ordinary
swelled leg. When this affliction of the vein is found,
bleedings, fomentations, and mild purgatives, to lower the
system, should be adopted.

SPRAIN OF THE FETLOCK-JOINT.

This we have noticed, ante, p. 341. When occurring in
the hinder feet, it may be mistaken by a superficial observer
for oedema. Put the limb in a bucket of hot water, bleed
from the leg, then apply a cloth wetted with muriate of
ammonia, one ounce ; pyroligneous acid, two ounces ; cam-
phorated spirit, half-an-ounce ; water, one quart ; and if
much lamed, apply a patten shoe, and give absolute rest —
which is the reverse of the treatment for oedema

An OversJiot Fetlock-joint sometimes renders a horse use-
less ; he is only just able in this case to bring the toe to the

356

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

ground. There is but one remedy — division of the flexor
tendon. The divided ends recede, and the intervening space
is filled with granulations. The operation will be described
hereafter.

HALTER-CAST.

The horse often injures himself by entangling his hind-leg
in the halter, and injuring his fetlock or his heel. Wrap the
part in a large linseed poultice, and then apply an astringent
paste ; pipe-clay mixed with water in which a piece of
alum has been dissolved, is a cheap and useful application.
When this is taken off, soften the cicatrix with a little
Florence or palm oil.

WINDGALLS.

The similarity of windgalls to bog-spavin and thorough-
pin, — the two latter, however, being looked upon as hock
diseases, and the former as affecting the fetlock joint and
the sheath of the flexor tendons, — renders detail almost
unnecessary. They are almost always on the hind legs.
There are two situations in which they most usually appear;
one on each side, and at an equal distance from the front
and back of the fetlock joint ; the other on each side of the
flexor tendons. The former communicates with the fetlock
joint itself; the latter, which are larger and more frequent
than the others, with the sheath of the flexor tendons.
Thus connected, there must be considerable danger in
opening them. Windgalls are, therefore, neither more nor
less than a distension of the synovial bags with synovia,
and sometimes an extension of these bags by a rupture of
their connections. Blaine says : — " In the treatment of
windgalls we must attend to three particulars ; the removal
of any diseased alteration they may have occasioned in the
neighbouring parts ; the removal of their own distension ;
and the prevention of its recurrence. Stimulating appli-
cations are the most likely to produce a removal of any
coagulating deposit ; these are likewise still more proper,
as they will tend to effect a removal of the contents of the
windgall itself The " liquid blister " will be very proper
for this purpose. But simply to promote absorption of the
contents of the windgall, continued pressure will be found
the most convenient and efiicacious remedy. A calico or a
flannel roller may be prepared, of two, three, or four yards
long, according to the part affected : four inches is a proper
width, and, from its superior elasticity, flannel is preferable
to calico or linen. In addition to this, be furnished with
one or two pads, stuffed with horse-hair or other elastic
matter. Begin to apply the roller, and after having made a
turn or two below the swelling, place the pad exactly upon
the windgall ; if in the pasterns, one should of course be
placed over each side : continue the roller firmly and evenly
over all, and fasten off It however must not be forgotten,
that but little benefit can be expected unless this be con-
tinued as a constant application for a considerable time,
during day and night, when not in exercise ; also, it must

be remembered, that upon a repetition of the original cause
(hard work), they are apt to return ; the dilated capsule
seldom regaining, with its original size, its original strength.
It may be necessary here to warn the practitioner never to
puncture a windgall. Most of those of great bulk and long
continuance actually communicate with the cavity of the
joints they surround ; and the others of themselves excite
similar effects with open joints, when they are laid open ;
and even if no mischief followed, no good could result ; the
cyst would be only momentarily emptied ; for its capacity
would commonly remain the same, and it would almost im-
mediately fill up again. Such an operation is, therefore, not
only useless, but usually produces such inflammation as
destroys the horse, or ends in stiffness and anchylosis of the
joint." Youatt recommends iodine and mercurial ointments.

"' RUPTURE OF THE BACK-SINEW.

This, which in racing parlance is called " breaking-down,"
is a tearing asunder of the suspensory ligament, causing
the fetlock to come to the ground. A patten shoe, rest, and
a good constitution have got over this frightful lesion in
valuable animals. The treatment will be found, ante, pp.
339—341, under Fore-leg and Pasterns.

Ringbone (ossification of cartilages) is described and
treated of ante, p. 341. Splints, Sprain of Tendons, &c.
under Fore-leg, p. 339, &c.

THE HIND-FEET.

CHAPPED OR CRACKED HEELS. TREAD. INJURIES IN SHOEING.

Chapped or Cracked Heels are, like grease, penalties
suffered by the poor horse for man's mismanagement or
neglect. They are most prevalent in winter, and with
horses that are entirely denuded of nature's hairy covering,
(the " fet-lock "), by fantastical or oftener lazy grooms, who
fancy because thorough- breds have clean (not naked) legs,
they must trim up their roadsters or harness horses equally
fine. The skin does not get dirty under this small mat
of hair ; and if masters would see that the servant rubs
the horse's fetlocks dry, instead of drenching the poor brute's
heels with water and leaving them to chap in the wet and
cold, prescriptions for chapped heels would be out of date.
The milder remedies for Grease are resorted to in this dis-
order. Forbear exercise, give bran mashes ; and, should
ulceration come on, the advice given under the head just
referred to will need to be carried out.

If in lower-bred horses, — or in better animals, from laziness
I or unpardonable neglect, — an ulcerative process should have
been set up, creosote or permanganate of potash must super-
sede the chloride of zinc for a time ; this must be mixed in
proportions of half an ounce of creosote, or permanganate of
potash, with two ounces of animal glycerine to a quarter of
a pint of water, and the state of the general health attended
to ; the system however, must not be reduced, or depletory
measures resorted to. A drink composed of the liquor

DISEASES AND INJURIES OF THE HIND-FEET.— TREAD.

357

arsenicalis, half an ounce ; tincture of muriate of iron, an
ounce ; and water, half a pint ; should be given once a day.
But never forget that leaving nature's covering on the heels,
merely — if the master is so fantastical as to require it —
trimming off the ends of the fetlock, and diligent cleaning,
first with cold water, then drying them thoroughly with
more than two cloths, and lastly, diligent hand-rubbing, will
prevent, in animals thus stripped and exposed, a return of
chapped heels. Where there is a marked predisposition, from
light colour and tender skin, to this and similar disorders,
after the drying and rubbing already directed, smear the
heels with glycerine, and stop the feet now and then, in cold
weather, with corroborative stopping of tar and linseed
meal, wetted with chloride of zinc. We have found one of
the convenient felt pads, slipped into the shoe, smeared
with thin tar, after the washing with the white vitriol, a
good preventive.

Mayhew pleads so eloquently against the practice of
denuding the fetlocks of their ornament, that we are sure
the reader will be pleased with his earnest appeal. He
says : — " The liability to disorder, induced by removal of
the natural covering, exemplifies the folly of those practices,
which have lately become so very fashionable as, at the
present time, to be almost universal But there has always
appeared to exist in the human mind a restless desire to
improve the beauty of the horse. Now, the tail has been
docked ; then the ears have been cut. A short space prior
to these amendments, the skin was tampered with, to pro-
duce a star, as a white spot upon the forehead was termed.
At the passing hour, almost every man who owns a horse
must have the body clipped or singed. The length of hair
is given in this climate as a necessary provision. Nature
never forms anything without its use ; though man, in his
ignorance, may not always be able to comprehend her inten-
tion. « * * * Were the legs of
horses allowed to retain that adornment which Nature gave,
and were the parts not shorn of their shaggy beauty, — were
men not inclined to confound the different breeds of horses,
and, because the thorough-bred has clean legs, to imagine
the cart-horse can be artificially made to display members
equally fine — were masters more resolute in resisting the
selfish suggestions of lazy grooms, who love to have the
bushy heels clipped — were the stable-keeper not afraid of
doing his duty, but would go down upon his knees and rub
the fetlocks dry, instead of drenching them with water, and
then leaving them to chap in moisture and in cold — were
these things attended to, there is no reason why cracked
heels should not speedily become a thing which has been,
but no longer is.

" However, if animals arc exposed throughout the wintry
season, under the pretence of being placed in a straw-yard,

the proprietor must expect to take the creatures up with
some defect. The worst case of cracked heels the author
ever looked upon, was produced after the last-mentioned
method ; the skin was much thickened and deeply marked
by fissures. In places it had sloughed, and, where the in-
tegument was absent, fearfully deep ulceration was estab-
lished. Fortunately, the absorbing process had reached
none of those important structures which are situated about
the heel of the horse ; and the animal, after lengthened
treatment, was cured."

TREAD.

This is a wound inflicted on the coronet of the hinder
foot by the act of crossing the feet when the animal is
fatigued. In some cart-horses it happens in coming down
hill, the calkin of the one foot striking its fellow in front,
and tearing away a portion of the coronet. In light fast
horses a very similar injury is produced by the inner part ol
the hind foot striking the outer part of the fore coronet,
when it is called " overreach." Quittor or false-quarter
results from this tearing away of the part which nourishes
the hoof Cut away the separated pieces of flesh, and wash
with chloride of zinc, and give the animal generous diet. If
a slough takes place, dress as for ulceration, but do not
poultice. In slight cases a pledget of tow moistened with
Friar's balsam, inserted in the wound, after washing carefully
with rvaim water, will suffice to effect a cure.

In the first instance, all cases of " tread " are to be con-
sidered as simple wounds, or rather as bruises, which if
extensive have produced death in the surface and adjacent
parts of the hurt ; in which some inflammation must occur
and be followed by slough of the edges thus injured. Some-
times the injury is so great as to cause sloughing of the
extensor pedis tendon and opening of the coffin joint. In
no instance, therefore, should an early application of irritat-
ing or caustic matters be made, by which more extensive
inflammation and an increase of sloughing are produced.
On the contrary, wash with water to remove dirt, &c., and
if the wound be considerable, wrap up the foot in a poultice ;
if not, apply over it simply the mild lotion of chloride of
zinc. Should tlie injury be slight, it may heal at once ; but
if not, sloughing and suppuration will occur. Under some
circumstances, however, more extensive mischief will follow,
as " quittor," or " open joint ;" the treatment of which, will be
found under the proper heads.

INJURIES IN SHOEING.

These, arising from carelessness in nailing the shoe to the
foot, or " pricking " him in the operation, from ill-shaped
shoes, and the like, will come to be considered in the
Chapter on Shoeing.

358

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE

CHAPTER XXXIV.

OPERATIONS, INSTKUMENTS, ETC.

CASTING THE HORSE. — HOBBLES. THE TRAVIS. SIDE-LINE.

SLINGING THE HORSE. — THE TWITCH. CHLOROFORM. BLEED-
ING. BOWELS. — SETONS. TRACHEOTOMY. — (ESOPHAGOTOMY. —

LITHOTOMY. PERIOSTEOTOMY. — NEUROTOMY. DIVISION OF

THE FLEXOR TENDON. — FIRING. NICKING AND DOCKING.

BLISTERING, POULTICING, AND BANDAGING.

CASTING THE HORSE. THE HOBBLES.

As a preliminary to the more serious operations of veteri-
nary surgery, the mode of casting the horse has far more
importance than is generally attached to it. To avoid
awakening resistance from fear or suspicion of injury, is
most important in so powerful an animal Yet to see the
violence and force with which a horse is too often brought
down, what is emphatically termed, " a burster," by a set of
hard-handed clumsy clowns, is a sorry sight. Terror,
exciting to stubbornness and resistance, possesses the ill-
used horse, aggravates the pain, and half maddens the firmly-
bound sufferer, who, with his four legs drawn into a cluster,
and with a heavy-sterned stable-helper sitting on his head,
and another with his knee and fists upon his cheeks and jaws,
is held down amid exclamations, confusion, tugs, threats, sly
punches, and oaths. Let us, after a brief mechanical descrip-
tion of the improved hobbles, devote a few paragraphs to a
more rational and humane method of securing a horse,
especially for the less severe operations.

The Hobbles, as represented on Plate XV., are of the sim-
plest construction. Four straps of strong leather, a yard long,
are doubled to eighteen inches, one end having sewn strongly
into it a stout iron buckle. Five inches from this buckle is
a strong iron D, consisting of a half circle of iron and a flat
iron pin on the inner-side of the straps. Through these
passes the rope or chain with which the horse's feet are to
be drawn together. The rope in our picture is first fastened
to the hobble on the fetlock of the foreleg, thence threaded
through D of the near forefoot, so running to the near hind
foot, the off hind foot, and thence the loose end comes out
at the D on the off forefoot. Pulling at this, the near fore-
foot is first brought home, followed by the hind-feet in the
same order, and these, being brought up to the forefeet, the
whole are together, and the animal gently but quickly
pushed down on his near or left side, on a number of trusses
of straw, neatly arranged The side for throwing the horse

is easily reversed by placing the hobble with the fixed end
of the rope on the opposite foot, and pulling in the contrary
direction.

Mr. Gloag has introduced some improved hobbles which
possess all the advantages of the ordinary apparatus, and
are far more convenient. Each of his hobbles he advises to
be furnished with a buckle, as well as with a D at each end, of
unequal sizes, so that one D can be passed through the
other. Thus, by means of the buckle, the size of the hobble
can be varied so as to suit different legs, as well as to
unloose any one leg that may be required during an opera-
tion ; the D.s will enable each separate leg to be free the
instant the screw is withdrawn.

The safety of the horse and of the operator requires the
use of the improved hobbles, by which 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. 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 —
are evidently needful to a proper and safe position of the
thrown animal. After all, however, this is a method of
securing the horse to which we should not resort except
necessity compelled, for reasons which we will briefly state,
and on account of an improved practice having been in-
augurated. If the horse is to be thrown with the hobbles,
he should have his eyes covered before they are put on, and
in some instances the " twitch " may be necessary, but
should be removed before he is thrown. The men who pull
the rope should not be more than two yards from the horse,
as the power of lifting the legs from the ground is doubled
by being at this short distance ; and observe, above all, they
must be silent. The man who has charge of his head should
stand directly in front of him, holding the halter, steadily
and without bustle throwing himself on the neck, and must
lift the halter so as to raise the horse's nose the moment he
is over on his side.

M. Girard, in his Traits du Pied, proposes an improve-
ment in throwing horses, which is very simple. If the
horse is to be thrown on the right side, a long piece of web

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OPERATIONS, INSTRUMENTS, &c.— CASTING THE HORSE.

359

)r a rope is to be fastened round the right fore arm, close
up to the elbow. The other end is then to be passed over
the withers, and held at a little distance by one or two
men. The force which is applied in this way will cause the
horse to fall more readily, and with more certainty, and
exactly in the situation where he is required to be thrown.
This contrivance, therefore, is extremely useful in confined
places, where there is just room enough to throw a horse,
and no more Rarey's method of securing the fore legs,
presently noticed, is yet superior to this. The horse being
thrown aown, and his legs closely drawn together, the end
of the hobble rope is to be passed under the hobble rings,
between the fore and hind legs, and secured with a hitch, as
it is termed, so that he cannot separate them again until
the hobbles are unbuckled, and then they all may be taken
away at once, and the horse suiFered to get up.

A suspicious affectation of mystery, the outward and
visible sign of quackery, attended the introduction, in 1858,
of the system adopted and partly invented by Rarey, and con-
sequently its immense merits and advantages have been de-
cried by prejudice and rejected by conceit and ignorance.
The " grand secret," for which the original subscribers paid
their ten guineas, and which the general public were ad-
mitted to see practically illustrated for a shilling, has
suffered from the " showmanship " with which a really
important process was accompanied. Resolution, firmness,
gentleness, and apparent kindness, with a simple securing
of the animal, enabled the American horse-trainer to pro-
duce by the simplest means almost miraculous results. The
horse thrown by Mr. Rarey's method (which will be found
fully described under " Breaking," anfe, page 75), instead
of being in the usual state of fear, will be found entirely
quiescent. Indeed, for minor operations, the strap which
doubles the fore-foot up to the elbow will be found sufiicient
security. The extent of influence which this simple process
has over the hind-legs of the most vicious horse, might have
been known before, but was never so convincingly illus-
trated as by Mr. Rarey. The " gentling" of which he makes
so much, and at which brutal conceit is so tempted to scoff,
will be found by no means over-rated, when applied with
nerve and coolness, and directed by an enlightened feeling
of humanity.

It was thoug"lit, before tne system was divulged, that some
drug, the smell of which was pleasing to the horse, was em-
ployed to produce that disposition to follow the operator
about, which almost every horse exhibits on being sub-
mitted to the process ; and even now there are obstinate
persons who insist upon some such influence being used to
induce the horse to follow the operator. We have found no
such trick necessary for this purpose.

The Travis* is a frame of heavy bars of wood, into
which, on the Continent, the quietest horses are placed to be

» The French term travet, merely means the space between two
t>eams or pillars.

shod ; even when padded, it is a most dangerous apparatus,
and horses have been known to kill themselves in theii
struggles, when confined in it. A picture of this clumsy
contrivance, formerly used here for cropping, docking,
nicking, and other blacksmith barbarities, may be seen in
Bourgelat's " Essai sur les Appareils propres aux Quadru-
pfedes." The term travia is now applied to the separation
between the stalls of a stable.

7%e Single and Double Side Lines are also used to limit
the capability of resistance. The single side-line is thus
applied. A soft collar is put over the horse's head, and a
hobble is fastened to the foot it is desired to have elevated.
From the collar is dependent a metal loop, ring, or other
contrivance. By the side of this a strong rope is attached.
The cord is then passed through the D of the hobble ; after-
wards, it is brought back and run through the side ring or
loop. A man then takes hold of the end of the rope, and,
by gradual traction, causes the leg to be advanced. It is
neither wise nor humane to drag the foot off the ground-
The side line is most useful when the hocks or hinder parts
are examined. Many unbroken horses, though quiet in
other respects, will not allow these portions of the body to
be touched. By causing one leg to be advanced, the other
is deprived of all power as a weapon of offence. The horse
would obviously fall, if he were to project the only free
hind member.

The Double Side Line consists of a rope fixed to a loop
on either side. The loop or ring is attached to a soft collar.
The rope is afterwards threaded through a hobble on each
pastern. Both legs are then gently pulled forward, and the
animal, having its posterior supports drawn from under it,
comes to earth. The ropes are held tight, while the horse
is turned upon its back. The instant it is in that position, a
man seats himself upon the head, while the body of the
animal is propped up by numerous trusses of straw.

For every minor operation, and even for many that are of
more importance, this mode of restraint is sufiicient ; especi-
ally if the operator has active and determined assistants: and
we confess that we are no friends to the ordinary casting of
horses if it can possibly be prevented. When both legs are
included 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.

Slinging is clearly represented in Plate XV. ; it is a
restraint which horses submit to with great impatience,
and not without much inconvenience, from the violent ex-
coriations occasioned by the friction and pressure of thf
bandaging around his body. Graver evils are also brought
about by the abdominal pressure. Some horses stale and
dung with difiiculty when suspended, and inflammation of
the bowels has not unfrequently come on during slinging.
The slings are, however, forced on us in some cases, as in
fractured bones, the treatment of open joints (the horse
slung in our picture is thus injured), and some other wounds

860

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

where motion would be most unfavourable to the curative
treatment. Suspension may be partial or complete. Sus-
pension of any kind will require the application of pulleys
and ropes affixed to the beams, that the whole body of the
horse may be supported. A sling may be formed of a piece
of strong sacking, which is to pass under the belly, the two
ends being fastened firmly to pieces of wood ; each of about
three feet long, and which are to reach a little higher than
the horse's back. To the pieces of wood, cords and pulleys
are to be firmly attached, by which means the sacking can
be lowered or raised at pleasure. To the sacking, also, are
to be sewn strong straps, both betore and behind, to prevent
the horse sliding in either direction, without carrying the
sacking with him. Upon this so formed-cradle he is to re-
cline. If horses when they are fresh should be placed in
this machine, most of them would either injure themselves,
or break through all restraint. However, by tying up their
heads for three or four nights, their spirit is destroyed. The
slings may then be applied without the fear of resistance.
It is best not to pull the canvas firm up, but to leave about
an inch between the horse's belly and the cloth, so that the
animal may stand free, or throw his weight into the slings
when he pleases. In this fashion a horse may remain for
months in the slings, and at the end of the time display
none of the wear and tear described by old authors.

Among the older " Vets," several other restraints are
common, among them The Twitch. When too frequently
used, it has the evil effect of making many horses violent in
resisting its application. The Twitch consists of a noose of
cord passed through a hole in the end of a stout stick of
wood ; in this noose the muzzle is held and pressed in the
most cruel manner ; and as every turn of the stick follow-
ing a struggle aggravates the pain, he ordinarily becomes
quiescent, though we have seen cases where the madness of
agony produced frantic resistance. The barnacles is a name
given to the handles of the smith's pincers placed over and
compressing the muzzle or upper lip, and torturing the
animal, like the twitch, into submission.

In many instances blindfolding will do more than the
twitch ; and some horses may be quieted, when the pain is
not excessive, by holding the ear in one hand, and rubbing
the point of the nose with the other. A soothing manner
will often engage the attention and prevent violence ; but
it is seldom that either threats or punishment render an
unruly horse more calm. Inexperienced persons guard
themselves only against the hind legs ; but they should be
aware that some horses strike terribly with their fore feet.
It is prudent, therefore, in all operations, to blindfold the
animal, as by this he becomes particularly intimidated, and
if he strikes he cannot aim. When one of the fore ex-
tremities requires a very minute examination, it is prudent
to have the opposite leg held up, or even strapped ; and
when one of the hinder feet is the object of attention, the
fore one of the same side should be held up, as by this
means the animal is prevented from striking.

CHLOHOFORM.

This important agent has been recently experimented
upon with the horse with marked advantage in severe
operations. The inhalation of the vapour of sulphuric
ether or of chloroform is easily effected. A sponge
wetted with chloroform being applied to the nostrils of a
horse, the first effect is a certain degree of excitement ;
this is followed by insensibility, and the comatose state is
found to continue during the severest applications of the
knife and cautery. The stupor remains for some time after
the operation is over. The utmost care must be taken that
the vapour does not escape externally, and at the same time
that the animal is not wholly deprived of atmospheric air.
Castration and the extirpation of tumours have been effected
under its influence. The horse, unlike man, being little
subject to heart-disease while in ordinary service, is a safer
subject for the action of chloroform.

BLEEDING.

The modern instruments usedintakingbloodfrom the horse,
are figured and described in Plate XVI. B 1, B 2, B 3, B 4, and
the accompanying letterpress. The olden instruments, the
common fleam and blood-stick (a piece of hard wood loaded
at the end, to drive the fleam into the vein by a blow on the
back) should be dismissed to the limbo of obsolete contri-
vances, and superseded in skilful hands by a large and
strong lancet (B 1) ; or better still, with so strong-veined
and thick-skinned an animal, the abscess-lancet (B 2) ; or,
best of all, either of the two patent fleams (B 3 and 4),
with their regulating machinery and powerful and steady
depth of incision. The two latter may now be procured, by
order, of any surgical-instrument maker.

Bleeding is of two kinds, from a vein, called iMehotomy
(Gi.phleps, a vein, tomoa, section), or from an artery (arteri-
otomy). Some bleedings (as at the toe-point, division of the
vessels of the eye, &c.,) combine both these operations. Blood-
letting is further divided into " general," and " local," or
" topical "; the first being intended to act on the constitution,
the second, very near to the affected part, is intended to act
more rapidly and directly than general bleeding, and to pro-
duce more effect with less abstraction of blood. Local bleeding
is usually practised on the lesser branches of arteries or veins,
as the temporal artery, the " plate " vein, the thigh
(sapliena) vein. In inflammation of the eye, bleeding is
effected by scarifying the inner surface of the eyelid and
opening a small vein which is seen passing from the inner
corner of the eye towards the nose. Cupping and leeches
may be left to human surgery, though the latter may be
useful in affections of the eye. We shall flrst notice
" general " bleeding.

Bleeding from the Jugular Vein. — The near side in
ordinary cases will be found most convenient for the fleam ,
the off-side for the lancet. Elevate the head so as to stretch
the vein, which should then be pressed with the fingers of

OPERATIONS, INSTRUMENTS, &c.— BLEEDING.

361

the left hand, to stop the blood. It is advisable to blindfold
the horse, or to turn away his head from that side from
which blood is to be taken. The hair is smoothed along
the course of the vein with the finger, which has been
previously moistened ; then with the third and little fingers of
the left hand, in which the fleam must be held, sufiicient
pressure is applied to the vein to bring it completely into
view, taking care, however, not to distend it too much,
as the too rounded surface is apt to roll or slip when the
incision is about to be made. Never forget that immaculate
cleanliness in lancet or fleam is a duty to neglect which is
an atrocious crime. The particular part from which the
blood is taken lies three to four inches below the union of
the two branches of the jugular vein at the angle of the
jaw. Farriers sometimes tie a cord round the neck, to
" raise the vein ; " it is unnecessary and dangerous. The
fleam or lancet must be placed in a direct line with the
course of the vein, and over the precise centre of the vein^
with its point as close as possible to the skin, without
touching the vein. A large-bladed fleam should always be
preferred, which wiU make a greater opening, and thus
facilitate the operation ; besides, what is of greater import-
ance, blood drawn speedily has far more efi"ect on the
system than double the quantity taken slowly ; and the
wound, although larger, will heal as fast as a smaller one.
A slight pressure on the neck with the pail, or other vessel
used while blood is taken, will be enough to cause the blood
to flow sufiiciently fast. Some persons introduce the finger
into the mouth between the tushes and the grinders, when,
by gently moving it about, motion in the jaws is induced,
and the stream of blood flows more rapidly from the action
of the muscles surrounding the vein ; but by keeping the
fingers of the left hand firmly pressed on the vein, so as to
obstruct the reflux of the blood, the stream will flow freely.
The blood should be received into a vessel the dimensions
of which are exactly known, so that the operator may be
able to judge from time to time of the quantity that has
been taken. A graduated tin can, holding six or eight
quarts, is most convenient ; pints being marked on the
inside of the vessel. The blood should flow in a regular
stream into the centre of the vessel ; for if allowed to
trickle down the edges, it will not, when cold, exhibit those
changes necessary for ascertaining the degree of inflammation.
When it has been necessary to repeat the bleeding, if more
than three or four hours have intervened, it will be better
to make a fresh incision lower down than to open the old
wound The blood coagulates soon after it is drawn. That
portion wf it which is coagulable is composed of two sub-
stances— that which gives colour to the blood, and the thin-
ner part in which the red particles float.* By degrees these
separate, and the red particles sink to the bottom. If coagu-
lation takes place slowly, the red particles have more time

* The composition and properties of the blood are treated of ante,
pp. 350, 351.
Z Z

to sink through the fluid portion, and there appears on
the top a thick, adhesive, pale, yellowish-orange substance,
called the bufiy coat. In proportion to the slowness of
coagulation and the thickness of this coat, the degree of
inflammation is determined. In the healthy condition,
coagulation is more rapid, and consequently the red par-
ticles have not time to sink, and the bufi'y coat is thin-
When the horse is much exhausted, and there is a general
decay of his constitution, coagulation will not take place
at all, but the blood will exhibit a uniform blackish colour,
with a thin and loose consistence. When blood is drawn
from a large orifice, coagulation is slower, and from a small
wound it is more rapid ; so that the difference must be care-
fully considered, and the changed condition of the pulse
attentively marked.

Some persons consider it unnecessary to pin up the orifice
after bleeding. These bleedings may not renew, but we
would advise the edges of the wound to be brought close
together and kept in their place by a small pin being passed
through the contiguous skin, with a little tow wrapped
round the extremities of the pin, figure of 8 fashion, so as
to cover the entire wound. The pin should not be large,
and care should be taken that no hairs are between the lips
of the cut. In bringing the edges of the wound together,
care should be taken not to draw the skin too much from
the neck, otherwise blood will insinuate itself between the
skin and the muscles, and cause a swelling which some-
times proves troublesome. The edges of the wound will
heal in twenty-four hours, after which the pin may be
withdrawn.

For aff'ections of the head, as well as extended inflamma-
tory action and fever, the jugular vein is decidedly the best.
Blaine has some cautions and cases which should be present
to the practitioner's mind ; for common as the operation isi
and qualified as every one thinks himself to perform it, very
serious accidents occasionally arise. " It has occurred that
the carotid artery has become penetrated. When the punc-
ture has been made through the vein, the accident is known
immediately by the forcible and pulsatory gush of florid
arterial, and dark venous blood together. In one instance
of this kind, which occurred to a French practitioner, he
immediately thrust his finger into the opening, through the
vein, and thus plugged up the artery, intending to wait for
assistance. In this state he remained, we believe, an hour
or more ; when, removing his finger, to his surprise, he
found the haemorrhage had ceased, and did not again re-
turn. In another case, where an English practitioner ac-
cidentally opened the carotid, he placed a compress on the
orifice, and had relays of men to hold it there for eight-and-
forty hours, when it was found the bleeding had stopped.
The admission of air is also another serious accident that
now and then attends bleeding It sometimes happens from
the sudden removal of the fingers or blood-can, or whatever
was used to distend the vessel by obstructing the return of
the blood. This being suddenly taken away, allows the escape

362

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

of the blood towards the heart, and occasions a momentary
vacuum, the air being heard to rush with a gurgling noise
into the vein through the orifice ; it then mixes with the
blood, and occasions, in some instances, almost immediate
death. The animal begins to tremble ; he next staggers,
and finally falls in a state of convulsion. If the quantity of
air taken in has been considerable, death ensues. The
remedy must, therefore, be instantaneous, and consists in
again opening the orifice, or making a new one, to gain an
immediate renewed flow of blood, which will, in most cases,
renovate the horse, who has been found afterwards to be
tormented with an intolerable itching.

Local, or Topical Bleeding. — The leading operation in
local bleeding is the puncture and division of the temporal
artery in inflammation of the brain. These vessels do not
supply the brain, it is true; but by opening them an artificial
drain is made, through which much of the blood escapes
that would otherwise have gone to the brain ; besides which,
a large quantity of blood is abstracted in a short time, when,
perhaps, it would have been difficult to have bled from the
neck at all, owing to the violence of the animal. The lancet
is here vastly safer than the common fleam. The spot for
its puncture or division is where the vessel leaves the paro-
tid gland, to curve upwards and forwards round the jaw, a
little below its condyle. It aflbrds much blood, and when
the desired quantity is taken, divide the vessel, then the
parts will recede, lessening by their own contractility, and
the bleeding will stop.

Bleeding from the Palate. — This is a favourite spot with
ignorant farriers, who recommend it in spasmodic colic and
stomach staggers, or megrims. Fatal haemorrhage has often
resulted from the incomplete severance of the palatine
artery. This artery and its vein run near each other on
each side the roof of the mouth, so as to divide the inner
surface of the hard palate into three nearly equal parts.
The vein only should be divided by plunging a lancet across
the ridges, one inch inside the mouth, between the middle
and second nippers. If the artery should be wounded, it
must be completely severed so that its retraction may check
the flow of blood. Bleeding from the palate, except under
extraordinary circumstances, had better be avoided.

Bleeding from the Plate Vein. — This is resorted to in
afl"ections of the shoulder, fore-leg, and foot, and sprain of the
back sinews. The principal trunk of the superficial brachial
vein ascends along the inner side of the radius or arm-
bone. If, when taking blood from these veins, a difficulty
is found in making it flow, lift up the other foreleg, which
will call the muscles of the punctured one into action, and
force the blood in greater quantity. The external thoracic
(plate vein) is best opened just as it emerges from behind
the fore-arm-, as it is here easily got at and readily piLned up.

Bleeding from tlie Thigh Vein. — The saphena is a
prominent vein, continued from the inner part of the hock.
The opposite leg to that to be operated on having been
raised, the practitioner places himself in front of the thigh ;

grasping the hock with his left hand and pressing the vein
with the side of the right, he punctures the vessel with his
adjusted fleam. It is a troublesome vein to pin up.

Bleeding by the Toe. — This is practised in acute founder,
or laminitis, in our opinion most mischievously We have
here, however, only to do with the mode of effecting it,
should it be deemed necessary. A searcher, or drawing-
knife is driven down between the crust and sole at their
line of union, then, by puncturing the part with a lancet, an
immense flow of blood will follow.

If the blood should not flow with sufficient freedom, place
the foot in warm water : the bleeding finished, cover the
puncture with some tow and a little tar, and lightly tack on
the shoe. There are, however, other methods of bleeding
from the toe. Mr. Mavor uses a drawing-knife with a long
curve, so that one sweep of the blade may cut a piece out of
the foot. This seems dangerous, as it leaves a space to be
filled, instead of a mere cut to heal. Others take away none of
the horn, but merely make a slit through the outer covering
on to the vascular portion of the foot. The flap of horn
they hold up so long as they desire blood, by the insertion
of a piece of wood ; and when they have obtained blood
enough, they take out the wood, so as to let the horny flap
down. The last method appears to us the easiest and best.

Sometimes the plantar vein is opened as a substitute.
Scarifications are also occasionally practised, which, of
course, divide both venous and arterial branches.

As it was the practice of our fathers to bleed themselves,
their wives, and horses " for everything and for nothing," of
course the horse-doctor followed the fashion, and the poor
patient, temperate servant of man, without his vices and
their consequences, was murdered or debilitated, secundum,
artem,, his life-blood drained, and even the " constitution of
a horse " ruined, by what doctors called " antiphlogistic
remedies." We must not, however, err on the other side
and reject bleeding, when a judicious diagnosis indicates its
necessity. In order to reap the advantages of general bleed-
ing, we must continue to draw blood, when once a vessel is
opened, until such time as some visible impression is made
on the system. Some horses will bear to lose a much
larger quantity than others, without our being well able to
explain the reason of the difference. In a general way, the
quantity an animal can afford to lose will depend on his
condition at the time ; his age ; and on the nature of his
disease, should there happen to be any present. Horses
that work hard and live well, will bear bleeding best : fat,
bloated subjects, worst. Under acute inflammatory disease,
especially of the brain, an animal will support the loss of a
much larger quantity than if he were in health Under or-
dinary circumstances, a gallon is reckoned a moderate bleed-
ing : under pressing disease, take three gallons : four have
been taken. By way of a rough estimate, a gallon of blood
may be reckoned equal to the loss of about a pint in man.
Though under conditions of health and forms of disease of
no great consequence, we are in the habit of prescribing st!

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OPERATIONS, INSTRUMENTS, &c.— ROWELS AND SETONS.

363

many pounds or quarts of blood to be drawn, yet, when it
becomes necessary to make a sensible impression on the
system, our only safe and true guide, as to quantity, is a
steady observance of the effects produced on the animal as
the blood flows from its vessels

The effects of bleeding will depend on two circumstances.
The fuller and more rapid the stream, the greater will be
the effect created by any given quantity ; when we are
desirous, therefore, of producing what is called " an impres-
sion on the system," and to do this at the least possible ex-
penditure, we make a large opening into a large bloodvessel,
and draw away the blood as quickly as we can. In order to
know when this impression is made, we keep our fingers,
during the time the blood is flowing, steadily upon the
pulse, with pressure just sufficient to feel its beats distinctly;
the declining force and perceptibility of which, with their
subsequent total failure and simultaneous shrinking of the
artery from beneath the fingers, indicate to us that the
required effect is accomplished: this we call "the sinking
of the pulse." Ab^ut the time that the pulse sinks or fails,
the animal himself commonly evinces signs of uneasiness :
he becomes restless and fidgety ; jerks his head up and
down ; and moves step by step backward, feeling, as it were,
for support, until he has backed himself against the side or
corner of the stable, where, finding a rest for his hind
quarters, he becomes once more tolerably tranquil again for
a time. Should the bleeding be continued beyond this
(which, by the bye, it ought not to be), the respiration be-
comes disturbed ; the animal heaves at the flanks and puffs
at the nostrils, sighing, as it were, deeply for want of breath.
His strength also now begins to fail him ; his body rocks
from side to side ; if he lifts a foot, he quite staggers in
putting it down again : in fine, things are now arrived at
that pitch that there is danger every moment of his falling
headlong upon the persons about him. These symptoms of
distress are quickly followed up, if not accompanied, by a
profuse sweat all over the body ; and this is often succeeded
by a sort of rigor or shivering fit. In some instances, these
symptoms make their appearance some little time after the
operation of bleeding is all over, and even in cases in which
we hardly expected their supervention. After the animal
has been tied up for a time, on returning to him, we find
him heaving and puffing, and wet with sweat. When we
perceive exhaustion approaching, we may often succeed in
arresting its further progress by turning the animal's head
towards or (if possible) into the open air, and suffering him
to drink three or four go-downs of cold water ; and with
the same water afterwards sponging out his nostrils and his
eyes ; all which will so refresh him as probably to arrest
the fainting fit altogether.

In bleeding horses that live idle and pampered lives, it
not unfrequently happens that this puffing and blowing
comes on even as early as during the flowing of the second
or third quart of blood. When this happens, take away the
blood-can, and suffer the blood in the vein to circulate for

two or three minutes, by which time the animal will com-
monly have recovered himself The operation may then be
resumed, and the required quantity generally be obtained.

ROWELS AND SETONS.

These are merely different modes of applying the principle
of counter-irritation ; thus drawing away the inflammation
from the point attacked in the form of purulent issue. In
this point of view, blisters, roweld, and setons are merely
three methods to attain the same object, and their applica-
bility is merely governed by circumstances ; the blister
being the most expeditious in acute cases, the rowel and
seton more certain and permanent in chronic affections.

A Rowel can only be formed where the skin is loose, as in
the chest. The instruments for rowelling, and the rowel
itself, are figured on Plate XVI., H, H, H. Having prepared
a round piece of leather, with a hole in the centre, and
about the size of a crown piece, wrapped with a skein ol
fine tow (see H 3), smeared with digestive ointment ; we
cut the skin with the rowelling scissors, and with the fore-
finger, or the " cornet " (a piece of crooked horn made for
the purpose), or the handle of the improved scissors figured
in our Plate (H 2), separate the skin from the underlying
tissue for the space of an inch. The circular leather is then
introduced, the opening plugged up with tow, and in four or
five days suppuration is established. The rowel should now
be turned every twelve hours, the matter allowed to flow
out, and the rowel be kept scrupulously cleansed every
twenty-four hours. We do not think the digestive oint-
ment, or any other application beyond the tow, at all
necessary.

Setons are tapes, threads, or lamp-cottons passed under
the skin by needles made for the purpose. (See Plate XVI.,
I 1, 2, 3, 4.) Setons may be introduced in almost every
part of the body : the side or front of the face, the poll, the
throat, the neck, the back, the loins, the arms, and feet are
all available for this counter-irritant, which can be made
longer or shorter, deeper or shallower, as skill may dictate.

The skin should first be punctured with a lancet, which
will much facilitate the subsequent insertion of the needle,
whether the sharp or the blunt one be used. The latter will
be found preferable in every situation where it is possi-
ble to make way with it through the subcutaneous tissue :
in fact, the sharp-pointed needles are but seldom used. It
would be idle to pretend to give any specific directions for
using these needles : the operation can be learnt only from
actual observation. The best material for setons is the
coarse brown or beggars' tape, as it is called ; which will
admit of being medicated (if thought necessary) in any
manner the operator may fancy. The practitioner must
not tie the ends of the seton, making a bow of it From its
liability to hitch against anything and be torn out with
risk of laceration of the skin, this becomes objectionable
and even dangerous. The ends had better be made into
knots, and left hanging out of the extremities of the wound

364

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

When a seton is placed in a sinuous track for the pur-
pose of inflaming, it is moved twice a day frequently, and
moistened each time with some stimulant, as oil of turpen-
tine, tincture of aloes and of benzoin. All setons require
daily cleaning and moving. When they are required to act
more quickly, the tape is infused in turpentine, with pow-
dered cantharides ; or small pieces of black hellebore are
sewn -within it. An old material composed of woollen, flax,
or cotton and hair, is also used instead of tape.

The frog-seton recommended in navicular disease (see I 4),
is to be inserted through the heel. The animal being secured
by the twitch, an assistant holds up the foot. The needle is
then plunged into the heel, and by a second push brought
out at the cleft of the frog (previously thinned ofi"for the pur-
pose). Then draw the tape through and knot the ends. If the
horse is down, insert the seton-needle from below upwards.

OESOPHAOOTOMY. — BRONCHOTOMY. TRACHEOTOMY.

A wound or division of the oesophagus or gullet, was long
supposed to be a fatal injury ; this is now known to be a
fallacy. The operation is described under Choking, p. 298,
and need not here be repeated.

Bronchotomy. — Tracheotomy. — Cases occur when this ope-
ration is the only hope of saving life. It consists in making
an opening into either the larynx or the windpipe, through
which the animal is enabled to breathe with ease ; and is
an operation practised in some cases to the saving of the
animal's life, in others to the affording him instantaneous
and eflfectual relief, at a time when he has difficulty in
drawing his breath through his nose. The animal's head
being kept elevated by an assistant, the windpipe may be
plainly felt projecting underneath the skin, as it proceeds in
its course along the anterior and inferior part of the neck.
About one-third of the length of the neck from the head
will be found a convenient place for operating. Make a
longitudinal incision, three or four inches in extent, through
the ski\., and carry the point of the knife at once down to
the windpipe, which must be laid bare nearly to the same
extent by lateral dissection. The surface of the pipe being
freely exposed, the point of a double-edged scalpel is to be
thrust through its substance in a direction to make a cross-
section of two of its rings ; the object being, to excise either
a square or circular portion of the substance of the tube, of
about an inch in diameter. This done (in order to prevent
the skin from closing over the opening, as well as the aper-
ture itself from becoming plugged by lymph, or obstructed
by secretion) it will be necessary to introduce a canula, or
tube, into the windpipe, and confine it there by carrying
tapes or strings from it around the animal's neck. A piece of
elder, about three inches in length, with a notch cut around
its middle, -will answer the purpose ; though an ivory or
bone tube with shoulders to it, and holes through the
shoulders, will be found still better adapted. After the
performance of the operation, and the introduction of the
tube, the animal will appear as in Plate XIV.. Fig. 5.

The tube will require to be taken out from time to time,
and cleansed. A weak solution of sulphate of zinc is best.
The animal ought to be continually watched ; and as he will
be unable to swallow any solid food, he should be abundantly
supplied with well-made gruel and malt-mashes, which
(providing he be kept without water) he will, after a time,
drink with avidity. Should the case take a favourable turn,
the breathing tube is to be removed as soon as the natural
passages become sufficiently cleared to carry on free respira-
tion. Mr. Gowing's tracheotomy tube, with its trochar,
figured in Mr. Mayhew's work, is a most efficient and inge-
nious contrivance.

LITHOTOMY.

Cutting for the stone in the bladder of the horse is rather
a curiosity of veterinary surgery than a part of customary
practice. In Hurtrel d'Arboval's Dictionary, art., " Litho-
tomie," and by other Continental writers, minute accounts
of this operation may be consulted. At p. 321, ante, under
the head Urinary Calculi, will be found a general descrip-
tion of these abnormal deposits, with a case relieved by
lithotomy.

PERIOSTEOTOMY.

This term is applied to an operation which has grown
into much favour with modern practitioners for the reduc-
tion of splints and ringbone. It is, as its name implies, a
cutting of the periosteum, or membrane surrounding the
bone, and is efljected with a curved knife, having a blunt
probe point, and sharpened on the inner or scythe edge.
The late Professor Sewell, of the Veterinary College, has
strongly advocated periosteotomy for the removal of bony
tumour, and it proved highly successful in '■he cases he
thus treated.

The horse is thrown upon his side, and tne leg to be
operated upon released from the hobble, and extended on a
bag of straw. A piece of webbing is passed round the hoof
and given to a man to hold, who pulls the foot steadily for-
ward. The operator kneels and examines the splint or
node ; then, with a pair of rowelling scissors (Plate XVI.,
H 1) he snips the skin just below the exostosis. He then
forces a blunt seton-needle, — fixed in the shifting handle
(Plate XVI. , 11), and armed with a tape — through the
cellular tissue, under the skin covering the tumour. He
then makes another cut with the rowelling scissors above
the splint, pushes the needle through it, and then draws it
back. The probe-pointed knife is then introduced, and
turned with its cutting edge downwards, and the periosteum
cut through and through ; the tumour being sliced in pieces,
when not too solid, as it sometimes is in older animals. This
cutting down over, the seton-needle, armed with a tape with
a knot at the end, is passed through the opening, knotted at
the other end, and treated as an established seton, being
moved daily. A blister is sometimes applied over all,
which is considered more likely to defeat than to assist the

OPERATIONS, INSTRUMENTS, &c.— NEUROTOMY.

365

object in view. When periosteotomy is successful, it is
generally so at the first start ; if not, the seton may be
abandoned, to avoid a certain blemish for an uncertain
benefit.

NEUEOTOMY.

This important operation has been the subject of the
fiercest polemic among veterinary writers and practitioners
Like most discoveries, vehement partisans have obscured
its real merits by their indiscriminate and unmeasured
praises of its value, without allowing a qualification or draw-
back. It has restored innumerable useless animals to useful-
ness, and has occasioned destructive injury to others ; but
it is probable, as these were diseased subjects, it merely
somewhat hastened the inevitable end. No neurotomized
horse goes with the same freedom and safety ; and from the
loss of sensation he has battered the feet to pieces, or frac-
tured his legs. On the other band, hunters and hacks have
gone " as well as ever " in horseman's phrase, after division
of the nerve. Improvement in the constitution of the ani-
mal has also marked the relief from pain which neurotomy
confers. Blaine tells us, that " an aged and crippled stallion,
from constant and painful irritation, became so emaciated
as to be unable to fecundate ; but being relieved from a con-
stant state of suffering by neurotomy, he improved in health
and condition, and was again used to cover. It happened,
also, that a mare similarly circumstanced ceased to feel
" oestrum ; " but after neurotomy it returned, and she re-
sumed her character of a brood mare. It appears to act
with most certainty when a piece of the irritated nerve is
cut out. One case has actually occurred where tetanus,
occasioned by a wound in the foot, was arrested and removed
by neurotomy. It also promises much in the painful state
of severe cankers, where the irritation has rendered the appli-
cation of dressings almost impossible. Here, by depriving
the foot of sensibility, we deprive the horse of that which is
injurious to him. The sore itself is often amended by it ;
but in every instance the dressings can be effectively
applied, and the healthy processes cannot be at all suspended.

When, however, the sole of the foot is convex (pumiced
foot), neurotomy is mere destruction. The sole of the foot,
scarcely able to bear the pressure of the cofiin-bone, which
has fallen below its natural situation, having now no feeling,
will be battered against hard substances, worn through, a^d
destroyed ; and this will be aggravated should any tendency
to ulceration exist among the ligaments or cartilages. Never-
theless, neurotomy, dependent as it is on the judgment and
experience of the surgeon, is the most important and valu-
able discovery in veterinary practice of the present century.
It would, therefore, be unjust to omit the name of Mr. Sewell,
then Assistant Professor of the London Veterinary College,
who first communicated the modus operandi and its results
in a paper contributed to the Royal Society. It has been
asserted that Mr, Moorcroft and others had previously per-
formed neurotomy : if so, they never published their success

or non-success, or recommended it to their professional bre-
thren. To Professor Sewell, then, belongs the credit of this
invaluable discovery, of which Mr. Spooner truly and can-
didly says in his work " On the Foot : " — " Although it is
vilified by a few veterinary surgeons, and often condemned by
the ignorant as a cruel and barbarous operation inflicted on
a dumb creature, yet, for my own part, having fairly tested
its merits, I regard it as one of the most merciful and
humane operations that surgical science has ever invented
for the relief of suffering quadrupeds."

" Nerving," " unnerving," or " neurotomy " signifies the
cutting out of a piece of the metacarpal (or pastern) nerves
on each side, to the extent of an inch or more. From
Plates X. and XL (Anatomy), the reader may form a clear
idea, not only of the structure of the parts, but in the latter
(Fig. 6), a clear representation of both the upper and lower
operations is given, with letterpress references. For our-
selves we would recommend the lower one, for the reason
that in this case the coronet and front of the foot will still
retain a certain degree of sensibility, which (if those parts
are not involved in the disease), will greatly improve the
style of going and safety of the animal

Mode of performing the Nerve Operation. — The tiorse
being thrown as directed (ante, p. 358), and having decided
as to whether the upper or lower incision would be ad-
visable, examine the part to be operated upon Remember,
the hair should be clipped from the part. A piece of tape
tied tightly round the leg just below the knee or hock will
be found to deaden sensation. The instruments being in
readiness,* the operator kneels over his subject. An ac-
curate acquaintance with the course of the nerve is indis-
pensable. It descends in two main branches from the knee,
one on each side of the leg. It proceeds in company with
and behind the artery and vein on the inner side of the fore
leg, while on the outer side it has no blood-vessel near it
About the middle of the leg the two nerves join by a branch,
which goes over the perforans tendon, and connects the
fibres of nerve on each side. The "high " incision is better,
therefore, " below " this. At the pastern the nerve divides ;
the hinder branch runs to the frog, the front travels in
front of the artery a little way, then divides into several
branches, in which reside the sensibility of the foot. We
will suppose you are operating on the inside. Ascertain
the exact course of the artery by its pulsation ; then make
a cut close to the edge of the flexor tendon. Let the in-
cision be near to but rather behind the artery ; if below tht
fetlock joint, an inch in length. The cellular substance
being cleared away will bring the vessels into view, and the
nerve will be readily distinguished from them by its white"
ness. In horses of very clean legs there is little cellular
membrane to remove. Having clearly distinguished the
nerve-and artery, elevating it from the vessels and its mem-

* See Plate XVL, where the nerving knife, D 1, for making tne
Laciaion, and the curved knife for dividing the nerve. I 2. are deluieated.

366

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

branous attachments by means of a tenaculum, or crooked
needle, armed with some small twine, pass the needle
under the nerve, withdrawing it, leaving the twine be-
hind, and tie its ends firmly together. Inserting your
finger in the loop, raise the nerve, and insert the curved
nerving knife (Plate XVI., D 2), turn it, and the nerve is
instantaneously severed by a drawing stroke, as near to the
upper angle of the section as possible. The violent spasm the
division of the nerve produces may be somewhat lessened by
pressing the nerve between the finger and the thumb, when
the opportunity may be taken of dividing it ; then, taking hold
of the lowermost portion between a pair of forceps, clip out
about three-fourths of an inch of its trunk. Having finished,
if both feet are affected, proceed to operate upon the con-
trary side of the other leg ; after which turn the horse, and
repeat the operations on the like parts of each leg as they
come in succession.

The reason of dividing the nerve at the upper part of the
incision, is, that from the moment of severance all below the
cut is deprived of communication with the sensorium, and
the after-dissection and cutting is upon a substance deprived
of feeling. The nerve should be always dissected out to
the length of the incision, about an inch, or it will probably
reunite and restore sensation. The skin may be closed with
a single stitch ; no bandaging is required, but a compress or
linen roller may be applied, as looking more surgical and
neat. For the first three days, sponge the leg with luke-
warm water ; and, if there is any heat, change this for cold
water, with cloths frequently changed. No dressing is
required, and the wounds should be healed in three or four
weeks.

White says, in his excellent practical " Farriery," the
horse may be "turned to grass after three weeks." To this we
positively object. The animal, relieved from pain, gallops
wildly about the field, and is apt to injure the tendon
opposite the navicular bone, if not to produce a mechanical
rupture of the parts. Of the success of neurotomy under
his own eye, Mr. Spooner says : — " We have collected no
less than sixty-three cases of the successful performance of
neurotomy, nearly all being on horses that stood sound a
considerable time afterwards ; some of them having been
hunted, and others severely worked. Of these cases we find
twenty-seven in which it is not mentioned whether the
operation was performed above or below the fetlock ; and
there are eight cases of the low operation on one leg, and
two in which it was thus practised on both legs. We have
thirteen cases of the high operation, nine out of which are
on one fore-leg, two on both fore-legs, one on one side of the
leg only, and one on both legs, but one side of each. Besides
\\hich we have six cases in which it was performed on one
or both hind legs. There are many other cases mentioned,
though not related ; and there are two instances in which
the operation failed."

DIVISION OF THE FLEXOR TENDON.

" Clap of the back-sinews," already treated of, and sprains
of tendon, are the cause of that " knucking over " seen in
many horses that have been overworked to so disfiguring
and disabling an extent. Some look ready to fall forward
on their knees, while others can only put the toe of the hind
foot to the ground. In these cases, division of the tendon
is both humane and serviceable. The operation consists in
making a longitudinal incision of about three inches in
length along the inner lateral edge of the tendon ; dissecting
each portion from its cellular attachment, so as to expose
the nerve, artery, and tendons. A stout curved knife, with a
probe point and a blunt back, cutting at the inner edge, is
used, when the above-cut has been made. The leg is then
bent. This opening will allow the perforans to be freed from
the perforatus, when a division should be made by a scalpel
applied to its surface. It is evident that this should take
place below any thickening or adhesions which may have
permanently connected the tendon with the neighbouring
parts. Any lesser attachments will be broken through by
forcing back the foot to the just position. By Mr. Dick this
was done "by placing his knee against the front or projecting
part of the pastern, at the same time laying hold of the foot
with one hand and the upper part of the leg with the other,
and using considerable force ; and this appears to be neces-
sary, in order to break any adhesions that may have formed."
To return : We will suppose the leg bent; the knife is inserted
behind the nerve and artery, and under the tendon ; the back
is towards the former, when by a simple turn of the wrist the
operator brings the cutting edge to the tendons, and an
attendant forcing the leg straight, the perforans is brought
against the knife, while the suspensory ligament and blood-
vessels are safe behind it. If the tendon resist the edge, the
curved knife is brought out with a drawing cut. Sometimes,
on the division of the flexor tendon, the extensor pedis
muscle, relieved of its antagonism, brings the fetlock joint
straight. The wound is then closed with a pin and twisted
tow, and treated in the usual way. A shoe with a long piece
projecting at the toe should be worn for a few weeks, till the
leg is welL

FIRING.

There is not in the records of blacksmith brutality —
though for that matter our older professors of the veterinary
art were fully their equals, if not their masters, — a more
humiliating record than that of the application of red-hot
iron to the uncomplaining and tortured horse. They seared
his palate for lampas ; the end of his tail after docking ;
the under vertebrae of the same appendage in nicking ; his
legs (with more reason) in the special operation of " firing ;"
and frizzled and fried his skin for wounds, cuts, ulcers, and
farcy buds ; in short, for anything — when the red-hot iron
was handy. Professor Coleman, an eloquent and plausible |
teacher in his day, was a very apostle of the actual cautery- i

OPERATIONS, INSTRUMENTS, fee— FIRING.

367

He viewed a scorching or sudden roasting of the skin as a
permanent bandage, and of the flesh, as the readiest of
stypticb. It was declared excellent to promote absorption
of the callus ; it was inconsistently asserted to promote
granulation in broken knees, and to check granulations
when too luxuriant. In glanders, they slit the nostril,
scraped the bone, and then fired the swelled gland with a
hot iron ; and ore writer says, by the use of the searing
iron " ulcers, and abscesses generally, may be reduced to
common scalds." (See " Hinds' Veterinary Surgery," 1829).
Finally, it is related by Lafosse, the eminent French veterina-
rian, that in 1801, several regiments in Alsace and Lorraine
employed the actual cautery as a cure for glandered horses.
Some " applied fire to the jugular gland in three lines ;
others cauterised the bones of the forehead and nose ; " but
the most ridiculous affair of all was, to see " forty horses
together which had fire applied round the eyelids to cure the
running," common to all glandular affections in the head !
In short, there was no cruelty or folly which hot iron was
not guilty of, through the ignorance of its manipulators.
Firing may now be confined to its legitimate use ; that of
constricting those parts of the leg which consist of tendon
and ligament, enclosed with a skin and lined with the
hardest bone ; and its application to farcy-buds [ante, pp.
270, 271) ; though in both it may often be advantageously
substituted by caustics, blistering, fomenting, and detersive
lotions.

The iron lor firing is represented in Plate XVI. (E.), and
there are various modes of its application. Old books contain
some grim drawings of attempts at fancy patterns scored
with red-hot iron on the integuments of the prostrate beast,
bearing a remote resemblance to the tattooing of South Sea
savages. The Veterinary College, erewhile the head-quarters
of the firing iron, recommends that the legs should always
be scored in perpendicular lines. White recommends the
" feather " pattern ; others, horizontal, vertical, and oblique
lines. Some veterinarians cast the horse, others fire him
standing. We prefer the former. Some recommend the
firing to be very light and superficial, others declare that
there is no virtue in hot iron unless you go deep. Messrs.
Turners, good and intelligent surgeons, say they find firing
quite through the skin most effectual ; and, if the iron is
resolved on, we agree with them. The theory of the benefit
of firing is, by creating a superficial inflammation, to draw,
by counter irritation, the inflammation from a deeper-seated
part ; also, by the thickening and constriction of the skin, to
create a permanent bandage, or compress, on parts inclined
to " fill." Firing leaves a blemish ; which should also be a
reason for avoiding its application, unless deemed indis-
pensable.

The horse being thrown, and the legs secured in the man-
ner already directed, the hair is cut off close from the part
to be operated upon. The firing iron should have a smooth
round edge, the thickness of a worn shilling. For ourselves,
We would never penetrate the skin while running the vertical 1

lines. This direction, in the upright line of the leg, produces
the most efiicient contraction, while the cross way, or horizon-
tal, leaves less blemish. A combination may be adopted by
which the horizontal lines are combined with lighter lateral
scorings in a sort of herring-bone pattern : these should not
be close. Mr. Spooner proposes, where deep cauterization is
thought advisable, that small punctures with a pointed iron
may be made in various places, when a glutinous exudation
will be seen after the operation. These punctures must not
be too close, or there is danger of the skin sloughing between
them and making an extensive blemish. We have said thus
much of firing, once so prevalent. The absence of the hot iron
from the hands of the veterinary surgeon, — though we would
not squeamishly reject a remedy of the "heroic" sort — is a
proof of his judgment and skill, as well as of his humanity.

NICKINa AND DOCKING.

These once prevalent, dangerous, and barbarous disfigure-
ments having passed away — except in some dark parts of the
sister island, where animals thus mutilated and deformed
are still to be seen — we shall merely record our satisfaction
that they are obsolete. The first-named consisted of tying
the hair at the point of the tail in a bunch, and attaching to
it thereafter a heavy weight passed over a pulley, to keep it
drawn up. The tail being lifted, the torturer sought for the
middle of one of the vertebrae (not its point of articulation),
and fiercely slashed through the depressor muscles from one
side to the other with a curved sweep of a sharp knife.
With a thoroughbred, we are told, one "nick" was sufficient,
with a hunter, two ; while a hackney had three gashes under
his tail, as he was thought to look handsomer for an extra
cock-up of the caudal appendage. With a pair of scissors
the " fibres," if any appear across the incisions, must be cut
off, and pledgets of tow inserted deeply in the wounds.
We are also cautioned to see that " the muscles are divided
equally on each side the tail ; " for, risum, teneatis, " you
would not like to see him carry his tail sideways" It is
confessed that intense inflammation, swelling, and death,
frequently followed these painful barbarities, when the
weight dragging up the tail was too heavy, or long continued.
Yet " the tail must be kept back for some weeks, until after
the wounds are healed ; for, if allowed to hang doivn, the
edges of the cuts would unite, and the object be defeated !"
Credit is taken for a double line carried to a pulley on each
side of the stall, by which the suffering wretch's caudal
appendage can be regulated " when growing awry." Lastly,
we are told, if "severe inflammation come on, take the
weight off the tail-ropes and foment the part with warm
water ; but if locked-jaw comes on, take off the tail at the
first joint above the highest nick." And we read this, and
more, in " The Complete Modern Farrier," by Thomas Brown,
published by a highly respectable firm in 1 861 ; from which
work also, as we shall never consent to be a party to such
mutilation, we extract this curious rather than useful
account of docking.

368

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

Docking. — " It has been a long-established custom to dock
the tails of horses. Convenience justifies it, and fashion
guides it (?) The length of the stump varies with the taste of
the times, or the fancy of the owner. A medium length is
undoubtedly the best, and a very short one is not only un-
seemly, but also a very great injury to the animal, as he is
thus deprived of that which nature intended as a switch, and
as a substitute for hands to drive ofi" insects.

" The operation of docking is performed at different ages
of the animal ; some consider it best to do it at two years,
while others think the earlier the better. From what we
have ourselves noticed, we coincide with the latter opinion.
At a fortnight it may be done with perfect safety, and even
sooner ; and it unquestionably affects the foal less at this
period than at the age of two years.

" The manner of performing the operation is, to fix upon
a part of the tail, and having determined on that, take the
one next joint to it ; let the hair be turned up and fastened
with tape for an inch or two above the joint, while that
which grows upon the vertebra itself must be cut off. The
horse is then restrained by the side line, and the surgeon
now applies his docking machine, and cuts it through at the
division between the vertebrae, at one stroke. It is not
uncommon for farmers and other breeders to perform the
operation with a sharp knife, resting the tail on a board,
and striking the back of the knife with a mallet or hammer.
Although considerable bleeding is caused by this operation,
there is no danger to be apprehended from it. To stop this,
the speediest manner is, to sere the stump with a red-hot
iron, with a hole in its centre to prevent it from touching
the bone, which would cause exfoliation ; or, if severely
injured, it would fall off at the joint above, and thus shorten
the desired length of the tail. The bleeding vessels are all
on the outside of the bone. The iron must not be too hot,
nor much pressure applied to it, neither should it be long
continued. No kind of dressing is required after this
operation. In some cases slight bleeding occurs after the
use of the cautery ; but when this occurs, it is better to
allow it to stop of its own accord, as a repetition of the
burning might cause locked-jaw, or constitutional irri-
tation."*

BLISTERING.

The preparation and ingredients of Blisters will be found in
List of Medicines, ante, p. 227. When a " vesicatory " be-
comes absorbed through the pores of the skin, it inflames the
sensible cutis underneath ; the consequence of which is an
effusion of serum through the part, which, in man, elevates the
cuticle into a bladder of the same extent as the surface in-
flamed ; but in the horse, from the greater tenacity of the
cellular connections, it becomes separated in the form of small
distinct vesicles only. If the irritating cause be quickly

♦ The Complete Modern Farrier, by Thomas Brown, M.P.S., London ;
Virtue, & Co, 1861, pp. 328, 329.

removed, the serum may be re-absorbed, and the surface
restored by a slight effort of adhesive inflammation. If the
irritant act in a still minor degree, it simply stimulates the
vessels of the skin to an infiltration of fluid through the
sensible pores, but produces no destruction of cuticle : such
has been called a sweating blister. But when by continued
irritation the cutis is exposed, suppuration succeeds, and the
part is fully blistered. The salutary action of blisters is
exerted in several ways ; in promoting absorption ; in com-
bating deep-seated inflammations, and in aiding others. As
a stimulus to the absorbents, they act beneficially in the
removal of injurious deposits; as the coagula remaining after
inflammatory lesions. Blisters are very important aids in
inflammatory affections, as counter-irritants, derived from a
law in the animal economy, that two inflammations seldom
exist in the vicinity of each other. Therefore, when such an
affection has taken place in any part, and we wish to
remove it, we attempt to raise an artificial inflammation in the
neighbourhood by means of blisters ; which, if persevered
in, destroy, or at least lessen, the original one. Occasionally
also, we blister the immediate inflamed part, with an
intention to hasten the suppurative process by increasing
the activity of the vessels — as in deep-seated abscesses, and
also in those which attack glandular parts. We, therefore,
employ blisters to hasten the maturation of the tumours in
strangles.

In applying a blister, cut the hair as close as possible
from the part ; then hand-rub in the blistering compound
from ten minutes to a quarter of an hour. In blistering
the legs, take care the hinder part of the heel, under the
fetlock joint, is rubbed with lard or melted suet, to prevent
the action of any of the blister that may run down the leg ;
this will often prevent some troublesome sores forming,
from the blistering ointment falling on these sensitive parts.
While a blister is acting, the litter should be removed from
under the feet, or it will tickle the legs, and irritate ;
the head ought to be carefully secured for two days and
nights, to oppose lying down, more especially to prevent the
horse biting the blistered part. On the third evening he
may be permitted to repose ; but a prevention should even
then be continued, by means of what is called a cradle.
(This apparatus may be bought at every turnery shop ; or
may be made of eight or ten pieces of round wood, an inch
and a half in diameter, and two feet long : these are strung
at each end on a rope, and fastened around the neck.) When
it is intended to blister repeatedly, the effects of the first
blister should have subsided before the second is applied ;
the scurf and scabs also be cleared away, and the part well
washed with soap and water. In all cases, the third or
fourth day after the application, the part should be thoroughly
painted over by means of a long-haired brush (such as are
in use with pastry-cooks to glaze their crusts) v/ith lead
liniment, which should be repeated every day ; and when it
is proposed to turn a horse out, it should never be done
until the whole blistered surface is quite healed ; otherwise

OPERATIONS, INSTRUMENTS, &c.— POULTICING AND BANDAGING.

369

dirt, flies, fee, may prove hurtful. Some practitioners blister
mildly one day, and on the next wash off the blistering
matter, thereby saving loss of hair. But there is more of
apparent than real good in this plan. If a bliste- be
necessary, it requires all its activity.

Ammoniacal Blister. — Mr. Mayhew strongly recommends
this in spasmodic colic and enteritis. Spanish flies are only
efiicacious when the animal can afford to wait their action,
which is rather slow. In most of the acute diseases, the
horse would perish before the blister began to rise, where-
fore resort has been had to boiling water and red-hot iron.
The action of these last coarse and brutal measures was
alone controlled by the violence of the internal inflam-
mation. We have in the liquor ammonia an agent quite as
formidable as boiling water or heated iron, but it is rather
longer in displaying its force ; wherefore it allows time for
watching its action, and for checking it the instant it has
sufficiently blistered the skin. It is true the liquor ammonia
upon the skin cannot be removed, neither need it be
counteracted. The ordinary soap liniment, if covered over,
would, because of the ammonia it contains, produce a lasting
blemish ; but every veterinary surgeon knows how very
harmless a preparation that is when simply rubbed upon the
surface. So, when we desire the active effects of liquor
ammonia, we double a blanket or rug four or five times, and
hold it over the liquid. It takes from ten to twenty
minutes to raise a blister, and it consequently can from
time to time be observed ; and when its action has reached
the wished-for point, all we have to do effectually to stop it
is, to take away the rug or blanket. That removed, the
free surface and the heat of the body occasion the am-
moniacal vapour to be dispersed, and the animal is safe.

POULTICINQ AND BANDAGING.

There is much comfort and relief to the animal in the
neat-handed application of poultices and bandages. With
this object we have devoted Plate XVI. to delineating some
of the more generally useful bandages. Fig. 1, is adapted for
poulticing for sore ^^^roat, &c. The cloth to be employed

AAA

should be of stout but supple linen ; Russia duck, or fine
sailcloth, or if you have it at hand, a piece of sheepskin or
a chamois leather will do. You need not steep the cloth
in any solution to make it water-tight.

When spread out, the cloth will be of an irregular octagon
shape, at each corner whereof is to be strongly sewed on a
piece of broad tape for the purpose of fastening to the girth,
or round the neck, and to a breasting of broad web, which
is supported by another piece, that passes over the withers,
and which two should be previously fastened together by
stitching the cross-piece ends upon the breasting. The two
extremes of the bandage will be the fillet across the forehead
and the fastening at the girth ; therefore, measure should
be previously taken of the whole length proper for the indi-
vidual patient, lest the tie, which would otherwise be
necessary at the ears, might discommode the animal and
occasion uneasiness ; on the other hand, the application
would not be kept in its place properly. A glance, however,
at the figure will instruct a tolerably expert workman (or
workwoman) how to manufacture such a bandage as would
answer every purpose.

In Bandaging for Strangles (the steaming apparatus is
shown Plate XVI., A, a), another form of cloth and straps
is required. The explanation above, and the drawing on
Plate XVI., Fig. 4, are sufficiently explanatory.

The Bandage for Foil-evil is represented on Fig. L. The
poultice (see Poll-evil) should be of sufficient quantity to
cover the whole swelling two inches thick at least, having
a small quantity of sweet oil, hog's lard, or oil of tur-
pentine mixed therewith. Fix it on by means of a contri-
vance sufficiently explained by the figure, in which it will
be seen that the girth is to have a web breasting, to which
the lateral corners of the cloth are to be attached by broad
tapes, as was explained above. The bandage in the drawing
is longer than requisite for poll-evil, so that it may not be
liable to shift, and be serviceable for other diseases lower
down the neck.

Fig. 2, Plate XVI., — the bandage for "critical abscess"' —
is equally intelligible from the representation.

370

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

CHAPTEH XXXV.

ON SHOEING. — PaEPARINQ THE FOOT. — MAKING THE SHOE. — FORM OF THE SHOE. — NAILING. — CLIPS AND OALEIHS.

The history of horse-shoes may be read in Beckmann's
"History of Inventions," Bracy Clark's works, and other
compilations. We may presume that the cavalry in ancient
Greece were not shod, as Alexander the Great and Mithri-
dates were stopped in military expeditions by their horses
requiring time to restore the horn of their hoofs. There is
little doubt that at an early period the Tartars of central
Asia, and probably the Chinese, — though the latter are no
horsemen, except in imitation of their conquerors, — shod
their horses. Numerous barrows and tumuli about Tomsk,
on the Amoor, the Yenissai, and the Sener, have of late
years been opened, where, with the bones of ancient Tartar
and Mongolic warriors, have been found rude carved idols
and the remains of horses with their shoes on, of a circular
form, and (alas for modern invention) nailed on the outer
side only, as in the " unilateral " shoe. In the western
world, Cardanus, Beckmann, and Mr. Bracy Clark refer the
introduction of horse-shoes to a period even later than the
age of Augustus ; the latter in their comments endeavouring
to prove that golden, silver, and even iron shoes were not
what we understand by them, but mere plates, more or less
thin, according to the metal, fastened to leather, and this
secured by Ugamenta (straps or shackles) to the hoof or fet-
lock.

Suetonius, in his " Life of the Emperor Vespasian," tells
an anecdote in which the fact of the Emperor's mules being
shod, is incidentally mentioned ; though the manner of shoe-
ing is by no means indicated. The historian says, that the
Emperor was wont to travel eighty miles to his Castilian
villa. On an occasion of this kind, a petitioner (litigator)
having bribed the driver of the imperial carriage to contrive
to loosen a shoe of one of the mules, that worthy found
himself under the necessity of alighting to fasten it ; thus
giving the petitioner the opportunity of access to the Empe-
ror at a leisure moment. Vespasian, we are told, suspecting
the trick, facetiously put off the supplicant by addressing
his driver, and inquiring how much was to be his reward
for this well-timed shoeing ; intimating that he, the Empe-
ror, " meant to go shares with him." * Our inference from

♦ The words of Suetonius immediately relating to the shoeing,
are : Mulionem in itinere quodam suspicatus ad calciandus mulus
desilisse, ut adeunte litigatori spatium moramque prseberet : interro-
gavit, quanti caloiasset : pactusque est lueri partem.— Si<«<o>w'!M, Vit
Tmp. Vespasian, de Facetia p 120.

this, would be in favour of metal shoes with ligamenta—
horse sandals, in fact — rather than nailed shoes ; though
Schceffer, in his learned work " De Re Vehiculari," jumps
the conclusion, that the muleteer got down to nail on a loose
shoe, " soleam ferreum pede unius ex mulis." A proof of
this mode of fastening, extending high up the shank of the
leg, will be found in a drawing from a Roman tablet of terra
cotta, in the British Museum,-}- wherein the bands of these
boot-like defences of the feet are shown on the legs of four
chariot-horses engaged in a race. These boots, being intended
only for a special occasion and a brief exertion, may have
been no more than leather : indeed, in cases of tender hoofs,
Columella, writing in the time of Augustus, speaks of aolea
spartea (shoes made of the apartum or broom twigs) ; Vege-
tius and Clusius also mention shoes made from this tough
material, t Leather, with iron " acorn-shaped " (fflantes
ferrei), is advised for healthy feet, to be exchanged for the
spartum (broom shoe) detritis pedibus; and here, perhaps,
lies the whole question.

It is, however, obvious, where once iron or other plates
were applied, the form of the shoe was necessarily adapted
to the animal's foot ; and the internal surface was of very
secondary interest, the whole difficulty in question being in
the mode of fastening them on. In some cases this was
clearly by nails driven, as now, through the corneous sub-
stance, as is evident from poetical notices, such as that of
Catullus : —

" Ferream ut toleam tenaci in voragine mula dereUnquit."

We know that Nero had his horses shod with silver ; and
Poppea, his wife, had her mules similarly protected with
gold. The exact form of these shoes, it is sufficiently
probable, was the same, or nearly the same, as the modern
shoe of France and Italy ; for on the battle-piece discovered
at Pompeii, the horse standing before the chariot wheels of
Darius, about to be mounted by a Persian satrap, is shod as
here stated. This remarkable work of art cannot be of
later date than 79 of the Christian era, when Pompeii was
destroyed ; and, it being to all appearance the copy of some

t It forms the frontispiece of Bracy Clark's Essay on the KnowUdgt
of the Ancients respecting Shoeing the Horse, dec.

I They were probably no more than boots for inflamed feet. At any
rate they could not have been used on modem roads, if they even were
on the flat stone causeways of the Bomana.

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SHOEING, AND THE VARIOUS FORMS OF SHOES.

371

celebrated picture of the Greek school, the original may be
older than the Roman supremacy among the Hellenic na-
tions. If, therefore, the mosaic really represents horse-shoes
on the feet of the Persian steeds, the antiquity of the inven-
tion is carried up to a date coeval with, and most likely to
one anterior to, the Christian era by more than a century.
Upon the whole, there is no real objection to the existence
of horse-shoes — not during the wars of Alexander, for we
have already noticed his cavalry being detained in con-
sequence of their worn hoofs — but a century at least before
the Augustan era. The date affords time for the appearance
of them in the mosaic, and the use of them at Rome for the
use of the imperial family, and for horse-shoes in the tombs
of Tartar chiefs. This also makes the tradition not im-
possible, that the iron work about the banner of Hossein, at
Ardebil, is made from a horse-shoe belonging to Abbas,
uncle of Mahomet, by order of his daughter Fatima. It
was brought from Arabia by Sheik Bedreddeen, son of the
holy Sheik Sefi, who was son of another holy villager, after
the manner of the Moslem.

It is most likely that the story of the horse-shoe is true ;
but that it was one of a horse belonging to th6 Beni Coreish
— a camel-riding tribe, without horses till the Prophet had
begun his successful military career — may be doubted.
Horse-shoes, from the foregoing observations, are suflSciently
proved to be of more ancient date than Beckmann will
admit ; he referring them to the ninth century, notwith-
standing his thorough acquaintance with the passages in
Roman authors on the subject. The fact is one more in
illustration of the inconceivable tenacity there is in man to
defend an opinion once adopted. Whether the iron shoe is
fixed by means of three nails clamped round a hoof, or by
eight or ten driven in, as now, through a plate more or less
different in form, or alleged to be used for mules, are one
and all so many amusing quibbles to escape from a self-
evident fact.

Although the practice was long opposed, and ages passed
before shoeing was general, yet when it was once under-
stood, the presumed difficulty vanished, and Tartars and
Cossacks at this day very generally understand the shoeing
of their own horses. In England it is pretended that it was
William the Norman who introduced it ; but the assumption
is like that which, some years ago, maintained that there
were no stone churches in England before the Conquest,
and none in Ireland before Henry 11. — they are mere
instances of the audacity of ignorance. Saxon England
contained a number of Northmen adventurers, Danes and
others, who had served, and who continued to serve after the
Conquest, among the Varangi — life-guards of Greek em-
perors ; it had monks that went regularly for education
abroad, and travelled to Rome. England was infatuated
with female saintship, then most fashionably exemplified by
a pilgrimage to the Papal throne, and that in such numbers
that the 11,000 virgins of Cologne, martyrs, &c., were held
to be, in general. Englishwomen ; besides more authentic

records describe the crowds passing up and down the Rhine
on their route, with rather equivocal characters. It is
impossible, therefore, that horse-shoes should not have been
known and used ; though, as the Anglo Saxon is not shown
to have been essentially a horseman, it is likely that the
practice was confined to the nobility, as indeed it was till a
late period in parts of France.

Horse-shoes have varied little in Europe, retaining now
very nearly the form even of that figured in the wall-pictures
before-mentioned. But the most ancient Circassian horse-
shoe appears to have been round ; and if the figure of it
remaining in a brand be correct, it had only three nails or
clamps secured on the outside of the hoof. Another round
horse-shoe is in use among the modern Egyptians, and
partly the Syrians ; it is a round plate with a hole in the
middle ; the common shoe, also used, has the heels turned
against the heel. In other parts of Turkey, the plate is
square behind, and rounded at the toe. On the continent
of Europe, the ends, particularly in winter, are always turned
up ; and when there is ice on the ground, both are fre-
quently pointed. The forms of modern shoes, many of them
adapted to special purposes, will be found engraved in
Plates XVIII. and XIX., and described hereafter.

Considering the apparent simplicity of the process to an
ordinary observer, the method of fastening a piece of iron
to the horse's foot has been the occasion of more disser-
tations, essays, guides, manuals, " practical " instructions,
theories, disputes, and — we sorrow to write it — hard words
and abuse, than any subject we are acquainted with. It
will be our aim here rather to simplify the matter than to
overload it ; and instead of wearying the reader with the
investigations of something like a hundred (many of them
ingenious) writers on the mode of defending the horse's foot,
endeavour to combine the proven facts of all with the
results of our own experience in a plain and succinct com-
pendium. A reference to Plate XL, Figs 2, 3, 4, where the
sole, frog, &c., are delineated in its natural and its con-
tracted states, will help to elucidate the subject.

Shoeing, then, is a necessary evil Among the evils
inseparable from every kind of metal shoe, is the severe bat-
tering upon hard roads, rendered yet more severe by the
interposition of an unyielding substance, such as iron.
Every step the horse now takes, is made upon iron ; and the
wonder should be, not that a foot occasionally gives way,
but that any part of a living frame should be able to with-
stand such treatment. Then, not only are the roads hard,
and the pace at which the horse is driven along killing, but
we have also to weigh properly the treatment the horse
receives within the stable. Here he stands often for days
together, cramped in a stall where he can only stand, fre-
quently he cannot turn round, and very seldom can he lie
upon his side, and stretch out his limbs. He stands here
generally for twenty hours out of the four-and-twenty, with
iron upon his feet, resting upon wet stones or damp bricks.
No wonder if the feet should become cold ; and those wbo

372

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

are accustomed to bleed horses from the foot can tell how
cold the first drop or two of blood flows from the part,
owing to muscular action being suspended, which is neces-
sary to circulation and to vital warmth.

With regard to shoeing itself, and the share of the farrier
in producing lameness, Mr. Youatt says, sensibly, " We must
protest against the opinion that contraction is the necessary
consequence of shoeing. There can be no doubt that an
inflexible iron ring being nailed to the foot, prevents, to a
very considerable degree, the descent of the sole and the
expansion of the heel before ; and it is likewise possible^
that when the expansion of the heels is prevented, they will
often begin to contract. But here again, nature, cut oS" from
one resource, finds others. If the cofiin-bone has not so
much descent downward, it probably acquires one backward,
and the functions of the foot are usefully if not perfectly
performed. The plain proof of this is, that although there
are many horses that are injured or ruined by bad shoeing,
there are others, and they are a numerous class, who suffer
not at all from good shoeing, and scarcely even from bad.
Except it be from accident, how seldom is the farmer's horse
lame ? and it might even be further asked, how seldom is
his foot much contracted ? Some gentlemen who are care-
ful of their horses, have driven them twenty years, and
principally over the rough pavement of towns, without a
day's lameness. Shoeing may be a necessary evil, but it is
not the evil which some speculative persons have supposed
it to be : and the undoubted fact is, that when the horse is
put to real hard work, and when the injury produced by
shoeing in destroying the expansibility of the foot would
most of all shew itself, the foot lasts a great deal longer than
the leg ; nay, horsemen will tell us that one pair of good
feet is worth two pairs of legs."

As we address ourselves specially to those who love the
horse, it will not be too much to ask the horse-owner to
spare an hour a month to see his horse or horses shod.
Mary a valuable horse may thus be saved some sufi'ering, if
not injury. Do not have your horses shod at an ill-lighted
place, but one with side-lights as well as skylights. Cast
your eyes about for signs of drinking, and see that there is
no screaming or bawling at the horses, rough tossing of the
hammers and tools, and a prevalence of cant and self-suf-
ficiency— all these we have seen, but never in conjunction
with good shoeing and trustworthiness. See, too, that in
tying up, the halter or rope does not annoy the horse's
ears or fore top, rub his eye, or constrict his throat, as a
" vicious " resistance, as it is called, is often thus estab-
lished.

With these preliminary remarks we shall proceed to the
Practice of Shoeing.

Preparation of the Foot. — The horse is standing in
the forge with his old shoes on, and these have to be
taken ofi". We have gathered much of the character of
the smith, by watching the way he has gone about this
seemingly trivial preliminary See that he handles his

" bufier"* properly, and does not cut pieces out of the hoof
in raising each clench separately. The clenches of the nails
should be raised, which few do ; but, after turning one or
two of them, he seizes first one heel and then the other, and
wrenches them loose, then, seizing the toe with his pincers,
tears off the iron. By this the hold of the new shoe is
weakened, the nail-holes enlarged, and sometimes a portion
of the hoof splintered or torn off. The horse often shows
that he suffers, by a sudden shrinkijg or trembling, when the
pincers are thus used. Stubs, too, are sometimes left in the
crust of the foot by this off-handed violence, and prove the
seeds of future lameness or exfoliation, to say nothing of
the animal being rendered timid and difficult to shoe.

The general principle of healthy shoeing is, to support the
foot off the ground by means of the "wall," and by this
only ; so that the frog shall not come in contact with the
hard plain road, whilst it may be allowed to receive pressure
upon going over soft ground. The first prevents inju-
ries and resists wear and tear, the latter promotes the se-
cretion of healthy horn, by a proper degree of pressure — that
is to prevent this being received by the heel, frog, and bars.
Whatever is here said, the fore foot is still kept in view, un-
less the hinder foot is particularly mentioned ; and occasion
will present itself for the distinction, as there is great dif-
ference in the wall and other external shape between the
two, especially as regards heavy draught cattle. The shoe
removed, the crust is to be rasped down at the edges ; and
although a little roughness may be exercised in this, yet
there is little danger of injury to the hoof, only that too
much must not be removed, so as to render it too thin.
The hoof requires considerable labour to pare, and this is of
great importance to the comfort of the animal, as well as his
safety on the road. It is a part of the operation of shoeing
which is too often done in a hurried and slovenly manner.
We would advise the owner of the animal, when he employs
a new or strange farrier, to see that paring is thoroughly
performed ; because, if the sole is not well pared, its elasti-
city will be destroyed, and the internal portion be prevented
from descending. This will impair the functions of the foot,
and induce many of the maladies to which it is liable —
navicular disease, contraction, coma, inflammation, and the
diseases of which we have already treated. Nothing is of
more consequence than to prevent an accumulation of the
horny substance of the sole, which, it is easy to see, must
increase, because, being protected by the shoe, it cannot get
worn down as it would in a natural condition. Sufficient
thickness should be left, so as to protect the internal parts
of the foot from injury, and enough taken away to allow the
external sole to descend. This can easily be determined by
the pressure of the thumb on the sole, which should yield
slightly in all its breadth. This operation is performed by
the drawing-knife, figured in Plate XVII.

It will happen that the horn of the sole becomes so hard

* The buffei is a square, short iron knife. See Plate XVil.

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SHOEING, AND THE VARIOUS FORMS OF SHOES.

373

that it is removed with very great difficulty, in which case
it becomes necessary to soften it by heat. This is effected
by means of a flat heated iron, drawn over the sole, and even
kept close to it for a little time. If the sole is thick, no in-
jury will be sustained from it, and, on the contrary, it will
render the paring more easy and less disagreeable to the
horse ; but if the sole has been regularly pared out during
shoeing, this must not be permitted. The quantity of par-
ing necessarily varies much, according to the formation and
condition of the foot, "^he foot which is pumiced should
only have the ragged parts cut away; when the foot is flat,
little paring is needed ; from that which is concave, the
crust must be pared until it yields slightly to strong
pressure from the thumb ; if the foot is strong, a great deal
of paring is requisite. Care must always be taken that the
crust is not reduced to a level with the sole, as this would
permit the sole to press upon the edge of the seating, and
thereby be bruised and injured. The entire circumference
of the crust should be perfectly level, but projecting a little
beyond the sole.

We must now direct attention to the heels. More stress
is thrown on the inner heel than on the outer, and, from
natural weakness of the quarter there, it generally wears
quicker than the outer one. This being the case, less horn
must be pared from it than from the outer, as taking the same
quantity of horn from it would leave it lower than the other,
whereas they should be perfectly on a level. Almost all
smiths have a fancy for opening the heels, from the idea
that it does good by rendering the foot neater, which is a
fallacy, as they ought seldom or never to be touched ;
nothing should be removed but the ragged portions.

It is intended that the heel of the shoe should rest partly
on the heel of the foot; consequently the bars should be
allowed to remain nearly in their natural condition from the
first inward bend, and down the side of the frog. When
the frog becomes level with the crust, however, paring of
the frog becomes necessary. The quantity to be taken from
the frog depends on its greater or less prominence, and the
shape of the foot. It should project so much as to be just
within and above the inner surface of the shoe, that is, upon
a level with the hoof when no shoe is on the foot. This
will give it room to descend with the sole. If it is much
higher, the bars will contract; if lower, it will be bruised
on hard roads.

Blaine, one of the best of veterinary writers, places
" neglect and insufficiency of paring " at the head of the
causes of misshapen feet. The hoof is continually growing,
the crust is lengthening, and the sole is thickening. This is
a provision for the wear and tear of the foot in an unshod
state; but when the foot is protected by a shoe, and none
of the horn can be worn away by coming in contact with
the ground, the growth of horn continues ; the hoof gets
high, and the sole gets thick ; and in consequence of this,
the descent of the sole and the expansion of the heels are
prevented, and contraction is the result. The smith might

lessen, if not prevent the evil, by carefully thinning the sole
and lowering the heels at each shoeing; but the first of
these is a matter of considerable labour, and the second
could not be done eflPectually without being accompanied
by the first, and therefore they are both neglected. The
prejudice of many owners of horses assists in increasing the
evil. They imagine that a great deal of mischief is done by
"cutting away the foot." Mischief may be the result of
injudicious cutting, when the bars are destroyed, and the
frog is elevated from the ground ; but more evil results
from the unyielding thickness of horn impairing the elastic
and expansive principle of the foot. If gentlemen would
stand by, and see that the sole is properly thinned and the
heels lowered — and occasionally, perhaps, give the workman
a trifling gratuity for his increased labour — they would be
repaid in the comfort and usefulness of the horse.

When the foot is fitted to receive the shoe, the bottom
somewhat resembles the hollow rim of an oval dish. Being
placed on a plane surface, the frog and heels should bear
equally, leaving the thickness of the shoe, as above ex-
plained, to save the frog. At the heels, for an inch of its
length, the rim of the shoe is to project a trifle outside the
hoof, lest the growing horn should cause the shoe to imbed
itself at this part, where the substance is soft and the wear
little.

Having completed our directions for the preparation of
the foot, we will here interpose a few paragraphs on the
forming of the shoe, and its material, aa a more fitting
opportunity will not present itself. *

Making the Shoe.— The forge of the modern smith, in
addition to bars of iron of various thicknesses, from which
to select such as may come nearest to the size and weight
of shoe required, is supplied with a large assortment of
shoes ready made, hanging on the walls or disposed on bars.
These being placed horizontally, with the shoes ranged on
them, are much more handy to select from tlian when piled
one upon another, as is common, with a perpendicular bar
of iron to keep them from slipping down. Tiie modem
malleable cast-iron shoes are very durable and economical.
In working up old shoes, one and the half of another will
be found an average quantity for a new one. This half
should be laid on one side of the old shoe, then the half of
the entire one lapped over it; thus, when welded into a
mass, the middle of the quarter of the old shoe will form
the toe of the new one. The hind shoes are thus made of
old shoes, the work not being in general so regular and neat
as that of the fore shoes.

In forging the shoe from the bar, a piece is to be cut off
somewhat shorter than the intended shoe, to allow for ex-
tension under the hammer, and that there may be as little
waste as possible by cuttings from the heels when the shoe
is finished. Two or three of these pieces may be placed in
the fire at one time, to save fuel. With saddle-horses, how-
ever, it is an expeditious, as well as more correct method,
to divide or cut the bar into pieces or lengths forming

374

THE PRACTICE OF VETEEINARY MEDICINE.

pairs, according to the sizes required. The iron for these
shoes not being very stout, there is no difficulty in turning
it in the tongs over "the bick" with the hand-hammer;*
but with tne heavier cart-horse shoes, it is usual not to cut
it from the bar till a circular figure is given it, for which
the bar itself serves as a powerful and convenient handle.
Some, however, prefer cutting the cart-horse iron into equal
lengths first, as we have just described, and then bending
these pieces, by placing one end upon the anvil, and resting
the other against the liead of the sledge-hammer, bending it
by a few blows of the hand-hammer, which thus gives to all
the shoes an equal weight and size. The iron, having received
the requisite curve, is then cut off, and is termed " a mould."

It is usual for the workman to finish the outer limb of the
shoe first, which being roughly formed, and the web thinned
and hollowed out, is commonly reversed by the smith, that
is, the hammered side is brought to the anvil ; that which
was before next the anvil being more smooth and uniform
in its surface, and of better appearance.

The shoe, or rather the outer limb of it, is then fullered ;
that is, a deep groove or channel is driven round it, at a
small distance from the outer edge, indenting it more than
half through the thickness of the iron. The tool for " fuller-
ing " is a sort of chisel, about four inches long and two wide,
flat and almost concave on one side and very convex and
rounded on the other, and circular below on its cutting edge.
It is generally used in a rod of hazel, the flat side to the in-
terior of the shoe, and the convex side to the exterior : it is
hastily driven along the limb, deeply indenting it, and form-
ing a channel at a suitable distance from its exterior edge.
(See Plate of Implements.) The fullering is useful on
several accounts ; as, preparing it for the nails, as the
pritchelf can then pass through the iron without much
difficulty : it also renders the shoe somewhat wider with-
out adding to its weight, and gives it a much more agree-
able and lighter appearance. The hind shoes, even for
saddle-horses, are often not fullered ; at least only on the
sides and for a short distance : nor are the cart-horse shoes,
either fore or hind.

In France and Spain they do not fuller any of their shoes,
even for nag-horses, but a stout square stamp is driven deep
into the web of the shoe, and the perforation is tlien com-
pleted by the finer point of the pritchel. The fullering has
this advantage also; that the holes for the nails can be
made nearer to the outer rim of the shoe, rendering the
work finer, — to use a phrase of art opposed to coarse, as
they say of a shoe wliose perforations are far within the rim.
The French shoes, therefore, are stamped very coarse by
necessity, as there would be danger of bursting the iron out
with their coarse tool, if applied near to the outer margin of

• The tools of the shoeing smith, given in Plate XVII., will explain these imple-
ments without repetition of references where mentioned.

f The " pritchel " is a shaft of iron, steeled at the end, and drawn out to a fine
■qoare point. To " pritch " the shoe, in farrier's language, is to perforate it.

the shoe. The fullering gives the " doorman " more latitude
in inserting or pitching, as also in driving his nails; and
with us in England they are brought out higher up the
hoof than in France and Spain, where they drive their nails
more obliquely and suddenly outward.

The outer limb being finished, the inner limb is next
formed, somewhat narrower and finer than the other, — that
is, straighter, and less projecting in the middle exteriorly ;
the nail-holes, also, are more carefully brought nearer to the
exterior edge, and are made smaller, especially the last, and
not so far back, or near to the inflexures, as in the outer
limb ; and generally with four holes only instead of five, the
number usually given to the outer limb. The inside quarter
of the horse's hoof is very often bent and curved inwards
about its middle height ; whereas the outer is quite straight,
or frequently somewhat bulging exteriorly at this part, and
requiring less care in driving the nails, and distinguishing
easily the feet, whether ofi' or near.

In forming the nail-holes, attention must be paid to the
direction or sloping of the hoof, as those nearest the toe or
front of the shoe should be made strongly sloping back-
wards, agreeably to the figure of the hoof at this part,
whilst those on the sides or quarters of the hoof should be
more upright, otherwise it must be obvious the nail cannot
be inserted in the hoof without bending in the hole to
accommodate this difference of direction.

In the next place, the " pritchel bumps " and " burs "J in
the iron about the holes are to be knocked down : these
arise from the distension of the metal by the entrance of the
pritchel, and are seen upon the outside of the rim of the
shoe, and also on its upper surface. This is done upon the
anvil-bick by chasing the shoe round with the hammer.
The burs, also, should be forced down, as they endanger
coming in contact with the sole, or " vein " as the smiths
call it, which is running round it. Lameness may result
from this cause, when, on the removal of these roughnesses,
the horses have gone well again.

Fonn of the Shoe. — The surfaces, also, of the web of the
shoe will admit of great variety of form ; which do not at all
constitute a change of principle, as has been vulgarly
apprehended. It is the mode only of figuring the ring that
is changed, the principle remaining the same. On the
whole, those made concave next the foot or opposite the
sole, and flat below, to the ground, are with good reason
preferred by the soundest and most experienced writers on
this subject. However, a shoe such as is commonly made,
with the web and whole upper surface with a gentle incli-
nation inwards, is as good and useful a shoe as any, and has
this great recommendation belonging to it, that it is the
most readily made. The former, or seated shoe, can be made
rather lighter perhaps; but its flat level upper surface,
where it receives the hoof, is not so good, we believe, as a
very gentle inclination or slope of this part, as by its flatness

X " Burs " are splinters abont the edges of the boles.

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SHOEING. AND THE VARIOUS FORMS OF SHOES.

375

it is more liable to split the hoof, and to carry oppressive
bearing towards the vein and sole. The concavity is useful in
admitting the play of the sole, and in permitting the free use
of the picker, and letting out again all dirt or stones that may
get in. The Varieties of Shoes for special purposes, defects,
or disorders, delineated on Plates XVIII. and XIX., will be
explained in the letterpress accompanying those engravings.

Putting on the Shoe. — The first thing in ordinary shoeing
is the selection of the shoe; and in this, experience and a
judicious eye is worth all the learning of a college. The
judgment of a shoeing smith is shown in the adaptation in
quantity and quality of the iron to the horse. The thick-walled
foot will require a good bearing ; the thin hoof cannot carry a
heavy shoe, though it stands most in need of defence. The
hoof, too, should guide the farrier in the number of nails. The
shoe is tLe work of the "fireman," as he is called in the
forge ; the preparation, of the " doorman," who also nails on
and clenches the shoe made by the " fireman." The " door-
man " takes the task of preparing the foot, as already
described, to receive the shoe, by removing the superfluous
horn of the sole.

For hunting, the shoe must be narrower than for the road,
and an additional nail may be placed on the inside ; no evil
will result from this, because in the field the pressure on the
crust is, in a great degree, relieved by the sole and frog.
There must be space for a picker to pass between the foot
and inner rim of the shoe, but no more, as the foot can then
be withdrawn from heavy soil with less difiiculty than when
the usual space is permitted. To avoid overreaching, the
heels of the fore shoes should scarcely project beyond the
heels of the crust, and they should be rounded off", instead
of being left square, as is usually the case. The hind shoes
should also, where there is any disposition to overreach, be
square at the toe, set a little within the crust ; and the inner
rim at the toe should have a piece cut out, so that, instead
of a sharp edge, there should be a rounded surface, which,
of course, is not so likely to catch the heels of the fore feet.

" Nailinsr." a very important operation, requires much
previous study of the formation and functions of the inter-
nal sensible parts of the foot, many injuries being inflicted by
penetrating those parts to the quick. A good aphorism has
it thus — " If it were possible to keep the shoe in position
without nailing, we should then have arrived at perfection
in the art of shoeing ; it follows that the least number of
nails that are driven, consistent with safety, is the most
commendable practice." Mr. Bracy Clark, among his many
inventions, once proposed to fasten on the shoe by envelop-
ing the whole hoof in an " iron defence," and fastening it by
outside screws ; but the scheme failed for obvious reasons.

The nails for shoeing horses, are received from the hands
of the manufacturer soft, without point, variously bent, and
unfit for use till they have passed through a process, requir-
ing some dexterity, called " pointing the nail ; " they receive
for this purpose a smart hammering from the hand of the
" doorman," on an upright steel-headed shaft, termed " the

stake," beginning at the head of the nail and continuing it
along the shank on both sides and edges to its extremity,
which is then drawn out to a clear point. By this means,
the nail is rendered hard and stiff', and its surface smooth
and polished. But of as much or more consequence than
this, is the figure which the point of the nail is made to
receive ; for after it has been drawn to a clear good point,
the workman gives it a final stoke, obliquely directed over
or upon the very extremity of the nail, so as to impart to it
the figure of an inclined plane on one side, leaving it per-
fectly flat on the other. This bevelling of the point of the
nail is of the greatest use in driving it, giving it always a
tendency to pass out of the hoof, from the bevel being
placed next the interior of the hoof, which facilitates the
process of shoeing very much, and greatly diminishes the
risk of pricking the horse ; for the, foot being softer within
than it is externally, would naturally draw the nail in that
direction.

The nail mostly used at present has a long conical square
head, with a view of fixing it tight in the shoe ; and the
pritchel point is directed to be made of the same figure,
that it may be the more firmly fixed.

This conical nail, when made too long in the head, or
neck, is apt to enter the hoof and distend it unduly, rend-
ing or splitting the horn ; a short shoulder or neck is there-
fore to be preferred.

The first nail usually driven is one near the toe, on the
side of the foot next the right hand of the workman, as
more convenient to the hammer. This may draw the shoe
out of its place, which is again adjusted by a blow or two of
the hammer on the projecting side, bending the nail or
forcing the hoof, or both ; the second nail is then passed
through the hoof on the opposite side, which renders it in a
degree fixed ; the rest are then driven indiscriminately,
smaller nails are however used near the heels or inflexions,
on account of the horn being thinner. The presentation or
planting the point of the nail first in the hoof, in order to
give it a proper direction for driving, is called by the smiths
" pitching the nail ;" this is done with the finger and thumb,
and on its being judiciously chosen, the success of driving
the nail, it is obvious, will much depend. In giving the
first strokes of the hammer, they strike, not on the flat part
of the head of the nail, but on its exterior edge ; and when
safe in the hoof, or nearly home, upon the flat head. The
smith is led to judge by the sound, as also by the resistance
the nail makes to the hammer, whether it be in its right
course or not, and he aims to bring out the nails as nearly
at equal distances round the hoof as may be, and at equal
heights up the hoof, the accuracy of which exhibits the skill
of the workman. On the first entering of the nail, he pro-
ceeds with caution ; but when the point is felt by the finger,
or makes its actual appearance, he strikes more boldly till
the head is driven home to the shoe. The nail having
passed through the hoof, the shank or extremity of it is
turned down and bent against the side of the hoof, so that

376

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

the horse, in struggling or suddenly withdrawing his foot,
should not tear the clothes or wound the thigh of the work-

man.

In England, ii. is usual to see the doorman perform the
nailing on of the shoe by himself, unless with very heavy
draft horses, when he gets assistance. In France, two men
are generally employed, one to hold the foot, the other, how-
ever, standing behind the foot. In France and Holland,
also, the travis, described in the last chapter, is used, and
a hind foot lashed to a post.

The nails being driven and turned down, the smith next
proceeds to give them all round a smart hammering upon the
head, to fix them more firmly ; and, by holding the pincers to
the shank of the nail, he draws the shoe tighter against the
hoof This done, he wrings ofi" the shank or point of the nail,
and files the clenches with a rasp to a uniform length, filing
away, also, a little of the hoof, that they may lie the more
closely. He should not use too much force, as that may
draw the sole too strongly against the coifin-bone, and dis-
tress, stun, and benumb the sensitive sole. Now, by reversing
the situation of his pincers and hammer, and holding the
former against the head of the nail, which prevents its
return, he beats down the clenches with his hammer, and
forces them into the hoof. The clench is in part imbedded
in the hoof; but if any part projects, or if there should be
any irregularities, they are removed with the rasp, and the
process is completed.

The various forms of nails are shown on Plate XVII., and
described in its accompanying letter-press.

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 consistent 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.

The Hinder Shoe. — As the hinder limbs are the chief
instruments of progression in the animal, except while
walking, the whole stress of the frame rests upon them.
In consequence of this, the shoes of the hind feet are always
made broader than those of the fore feet, and the toe is
widened still more by rasping. When there is the slightest
tendency to over-reaching, the toes of the hind feet should
be shortened by sloping in the surface, and rendering the
shoe somewhat less projecting than the toe. The hinder
diifers a little from the lore foot, in being straighter in the
quarters. The nails in the hinder shoe should be situated
nearer to the hpp.l than in the fore shoe.

Calkins. — It is scarcely possible that a shoe thinner at
the heel than at the toe, can ever be serviceable ; on the
contrary, it will generally occasion lameness, by throwing
undue stress on the flexor tendon. It will be a fruitful
source of sprain of the back sinews, also of navicular
disease. On the other hand, a shoe a little elevated at
the heel may favour a leg weak in the back sinews. In
the hinder foot, and particularly in draught horses, custom
has sanctioned the use of a shoe raised at the heel by
calkins. This certainly gives the horse a better purchase ;
enables him to descend a hill more securely, as well as to
draw a heavier load. A draught-horse always digs his
toe into the ground when he has a heavy weight to move ;
and he can do this more effectually when the heel is raised.
But this practice is carried to an absurd and ruinous
length. In many horses of heavy draught, the only bearing
points — the only parts of the shoe which touch the ground —
are the tip of the toe, and the end of the calkin. There
must be inequality of pressure here ; and by it the ossi-
fication of the cartilages ; enlargement of the pasterns ;
and other diseases with which the draught-horse is often
aflBicted, are too well accounted for by shoes too high
in the heeL

Clips are portions of the upper edge of the shoe, ham-
mered out and turned up in such a way as to lap over the
outer surface of the crust, which is also pared away a little,
to bed the clip. Their use is to give greater security in
attaching the shoe to the foot, and lessening the stress upon
the nails, which might prove injurious. In horses subjected
to heavy draught, clips are indispensable, and are useful to
all employed in draught of any kind. They will be found a
useful preventive in securing the shoes from being torn off,
when the strain is great on the feet while drawing. Clips
are also beneficial when horses are given to stamping and
pawing, as either of these tricks are likely to loosen the
simple shoe. But clips should only be used in such horses
as we have named, because they press upon the crust as it
grows down, and are therefore unsuited to animals employed
in light draught or hackneys.

We trust we have given a simple and clear account
of the practice of an art obscured by much mystery and
pretence, but without a difficulty in the mastering of its
main principles and practical details which need deter, or
can perplex an inquiring and a well-instructed mind. It
would have been easy to extend even the present chapter
by compiled accounts of the merits and demerits of a large
number of varieties of shoes, but we have preferred ap-
pealing to the eye, aided by a brief description of their
differences in the letter-press accompanying the Plate en-
gravings.

BREEDING THE RACE HORSE.

•Ml

Clje %ut-'^)nu anir Pmitcr.

BKEBDING, BREAKING, AND TRAINING THE RACEHORSE TRAINING GROUNDS. EXERCISE. SWEATS. THE TURKIHH

BATH. TRIALS.

The two great objects in breeding domestic animals may be
summarily stated. The first, purely profitable, or commercial,
aims at multiplying their numbers ; the second, of a higher
order, has the object of improving their forms and raising
their qualities. To the latter, the sportsman and the breeder
of the superior class of animals directs his judgment and his
attention.

So much has been written on the subject of breeding for the
turf, that it would be absurd in a work intended for general
perusal to overlay its pages with scientific questions of phy-
siology or psychology ; such as what share each parent takes in
impressing the sex, the temper, the form and qualities of the
future progeny, and the like.* It will suffice if we speak
generally of the main admitted facts in breeding as they relate
to the race-horse, the hunter, and the saddle-horse.

BREEDING THE RACE-HORSE.

The requisites necessary to render breeding the race-horse
profitable as a "business," are, judgment in selecting, and
plenty of money at command to secure mares and staUions of
the first blood ; paddocks and necessary buildings on a suitable
soil ; and intelligent and trustworthy grooms to look after the
establishment. With these essentials in proper order, breed-
ing, distinct from racing, cannot fail to pay, on the average,
whether the foals are sold ofl" at weaning time, or as yearlings.

The present race of stud-grooms and trainers are a very
difierent class of men from their predecessors, whom they far
excel in point of respectability and intelligence, the result of
education and the general diffusion of knowledge. Books
written by those who have taken practical experience and
nature for their guides, have been published for the service of
breeders and trainers, who have both read and reflected on
their contents. The breeder, taught by practical knowledge
the bad effects of a humid atmosphere, and rank and succulent
food, now provides warm sheds, small paddocks on a dry
upland soil, and, as we shall presently show, plenty of com
for his young racing stock.

Having fixed on a dry, healthy situation, such as, for in-
stance, the neighbourhood of Downs, and provided every
convenience and accommodation for the mares and young

• The reader desirous of becoming thoroughly au fait in the minutiffi of
training, may consult the Philosophical Transactions, vol. lirxii. p. 173,
(paper by Sir Everard Home), Phil. Tram, for 1809, p. 357, (paper by
Mr. Knight). The Veterinanan, vols, for 1832 to 1840, articles by Mr.
Castley, and Mr. Karkeek, of Truro. Percivall's Lectures, part iii. p. 112.
Breeding for the Turf, by Mr. N. H. Smith. Blaine's Cyclo., art. Breeding,
p. 277. Professor Morton's Works. Darvill on the Race-horse. The Stud
Farm, by CecU, io., &c.

3 B*

stock, together with loose boxes, and a small exercise ground,
well secured with a high and impervious fence for the stallions,
the breeder's next care is to purchase brood mares and entire
horses, particularly the latter, as experience has long confirmed
the truth of the supposition, that in breeding a racer in his
highest form and excellence, the stallion is of more importance
than the mare. On consulting the racing calendar for the last
seventy years, it will be seen that the produce of the highest
bred and most successful mares by inferior staUions, has turned
out comparatively worthless, while all our most celebrated win-
ners have been got by the best entire horses. The judicious
breeder from this sees that it is the worst possible economy to
purchase cheap stallions, and never grudges paying the differ-
ence between the price of a fixst-rate and an inferior one.
Above all things, it is essential that both mares and staUions
should be free from " constitutional infirmity ;" by which term
is understood a tendency to defects in the wind, and of their
legs and feet to give way in training.

The most eminent authorities on human pathology have
agreed as to hereditary transmission of certain diseases and
defects, such as scrofula, gout, insanity, &c., and guided by
their discoveries, able veterinarians, both foreign and British,
have shown that the horse is subject to the same law of nature.
This opinion, which is founded on reason, common sense, and
experience, existed in the days of the Csesars, and is beautifully
expressed by Horace in the following lines : —

Fortes creantur fortibua et bonis.
Est in juvencis est in eqiiis patrum
Virtus ; neque imbellem feroces
Progenerant aquilse columbam.

Inattention to this important law of nature has occasioned
many an owner of race-horses large sacrifices of money, by
breeding from favourite stallions and mares a weedy progeny
incapable of standing the severity of training, or which " goes
amiss," before making the sHghtest return. On the other
hand, the knowledge of this defect has frequently prevented
breeders sending mares to stallions of otherwise good repute ;
instances of which it would be invidious to quote.

To the defects above mentioned, we must add badnesss ol
temper, which is a great drawback to a fuU and safe exercise
of the powers of the racer, and which is often found to be
hereditary.

In the choice of the brood mare, after the soundness of her
constitution, and freedom from the above disqualifications
have been ascertained, the breeder should direct his attention
to shape and substance, selecting an animal with a good

378

BREAKING AND TRAINING THE RACEa

roomy frame ; what is termed a " fashionable" pedigree is
also requisite, in case her produce is to be brought to market
previous to performing in public.

The racing capabilities of both mare and staUion form an
important consideration with the breeder ia matching them ;
his object being to combine the good qualities of both sire and
dam in the produce ; as, for example, should the forte of the
mare lay in speed, then a staUion remarkable for the stoutness
of his running should be selected.

The system of breeding in-and-in with race-horses, has
occasioned much difference of opinion, and given rise to much
discussion among those most interested and best capable of
forming a judgment on the subject. The advocates in its
favour certainly appear to have the best of the argument, as
they adduce many instances of its success, against the
theory of its opponents. Among these instances are Fljdng
Childers, and very many of our best racers from his time up
to the present ; the case also of George IV.'s favourite mare,
Maria, has been particularly dwelt on, her produce by Rubens
and Soothsayer being worthless, while that by Waterloo and
Rainbow, both closely allied to her, proved winners.

In a former part of this volume, under " Turf Celebrities,"
many confirmations of this wUl be found. Mr. Hankey Smith,
who resided a considerable period among the Arabs, remarks in
his " Observations on Breeding for the Turf," that " colts bred
in-and-in, show more blood in their heads, are of better form,
are fit to stai-t with fewer sweats than others ; but when the
breed is continued incestuous for three or four crosses, the
animal degenerates."

It must be understood, however, that by breeding in-and-in,
this writer does not mean breeding from brother and sister,
or from a mare with her own sire, but " after the first cross,
to return to original blood."

Contrary to the practice pursued with other sorts, blood
mares are put to the horse very early in the year, the object
being that their produce may be dropped as soon as possible
in the commencement of a new year ; colts dating their age
from the first of January. This is a great point, as the
modem racer is called upon to show his quahty before he is
two years old.

The careful stud-groom will make it a point to pay the
utmost personal attention to the comfort and safety of the
sires and dams imder his charge, leaving no important duty
to the mercy of underlings.

According to the conditions of the most important racing-
stakes now annually the subject of competition, thorough-bred
stock must be considered in traiuing from the moment they
first see the light, ioo much care cannot be taken in shelter-
ing the foals from the rain and weather, in warm sheds,
constructed with rollers on the side of the entrances, so as to
prevent injury to the timid little animals as they rush in and
out by the sides of their dams. These entrances, as well as
the walls or hedges of the paddocks, should be free from any
projection against which they might hurt themselves in their
quick and giddy movements.

As they are required to display at the " starting-post" at two
years old, in a form and with power as nearly as possible
approaching to maturity, their constitution must be forced
with the most generous nourishment ; consequently, we find
that com, in large quantities, is given to the young animal,
in addition to the milk of the highly fed dam ; and, as occa-
sion may require, physic is administered under the direction
of the careful stud-groom.

BREAKING AND TRAINING THE RACER.

Young blood stock cannot be handled too soon, too carefully,
or too gently ; as their tempers, good or bad, in after life
are almost invariably the result of their treatment at this
period. We are, however, happy to say that the present sys-
tem of breaking colts is conducted with less severity, and
therefore with less danger to the animal than formerly.

To command obedience and insure confidence are the first
points aimed at ; and, as such, the importance of the early
handling we have recommended must be evident, as greatly
simplifying this part of the process. Colts are now taken " in
hand " much earlier than formerly ; racing colts at a twelve-
month, and saddle colts of promise are now bitted and suppled
at two. They are finally and fuUy broken and trained, some at
three, and few later than four years old. When a colt has had
early " handling," and at two years old is subjected to some
initiatory discipline, his full breaking being protracted to his
fourth or even fifth year, much may be expected from him, for
the usual wear and tear will hardly make an impression on a
constitution that has had all its powers developed.

The breaking of racing colts and fillies commences at twelve
months old. Nor would this be so injurious as is supposed,
were the exercising less severe. On the other hand, what is
done is perhaps actually necessary to bring about that early
extension and suppHng of their limbs and joints, so essential
to the future speed of the animal ; at least, it certainly is
so, to bring such young horses out for two-year-old stakes.
Rope dancers, stage dancers, posture masters, &c., never acquire
celebrity unless their initiatory exercises are begun at an early
period of life ; and to insure high form in the racer, and first-
rate speed, mild training, but mild training only, cannot be
commenced too soon. To such an extent, however, is this
early engagement of the race-horse now carried in large
racing establishments, that it is not uncommon to m.iKe severe
trials of the speed and bottom of colts and fillies at very early
periods, that time and keep may not be thrown away on such
as give no promise of future excellence ; bufe that, if necessary,
they may be at once disposed of for inferior purposes. By
three years old, the breaking of the young racers of the present
day is completed ; about which time the breaking of the better
sort of saddle-horses of aU descriptions commences ; imless an
early initiatory handling, lounging, and partial backing at two
years old have preceded, which is a very prudent practice.

The details of the application and use of the cavesson, and of
saddling, bitting, and backing the colt, have already been
treated of under " Breaking the Hokse foe genekal

TRAINING THE RACER.— TRAINING GROUNDS.

379

Purposes," we shall, therefore, pass them over here. The same
remark will apply to food and physic.

We have already observed that training-stables should be
in the vicinity of open downs, as well for the benefit of the
air as for suitable exercise. Their extent also presents greater
variety, and avoids the necessity of constantly using the same
track or course, a practice which much injures the surface
for galloping. When, however, this cannot be avoided, rolling
at a proper time may be resorted to with advantage.

Mr. Darvill is of opinion, that it is not so much the hardness
of tlie ground as the uneven surface that occasions horses
to break down; and that small molehills and cart-ruts are
the principal causes of this injury. This is reasonable enough ;
but, at the same time, the bad effects of galloping horses over
the hard soil which the principal training-grounds of the south
of England present in summer and a dry autumn, are too well
known to require further explanation. A remedy, however,
has been found which, to a great extent, if not completely,
remedies this evil, and it has the advantage of being both
cheaply and easily obtained. The material is common tan,
which may be obtained from the tanner's yard, sometimes for
the trouble of carting, but always for a few shillings a load ;
this, having been exposed to the sun and air, should be
spread over the turf, which should be afterwards rolled.

Training Grounds. — At Newmarket, as may be supposed,
there is great variety of ground to gallop over, and in spring
and autumn it is generally in good order — that is, if a mode-
rate portion of rain should fall, without wliich it is mostly
very hard ; it is, therefore, not good for summer work ; but,
as that is a season when there is not so much going on at
that place, it does not operate so importantly, except with
horses which are in preparation for country meetings. In order
to obviate this evil, Marson had a ploughed gallop contiguous
to where he usually exercised. This has been much resorted
to ; it presents a yielding surface at all seasons, and a similar
practice has been adopted at other places where there are
many horses in training.

The very fact of a number of horses being constantly exer-
cised over certain places, must in time have the effect of ren-
dering the land very solid ; and it is astonishing how some
ground appears to have a tendency to shaking horses — that is,
of making them gallop sore and short.

Although a considerable portion of the downs in the vicinity
of Newmarket has been inclosed for many years, enough
remains to afford both racecourses and training-ground of
great extent and variety. The horses standing at the west
end of the town, are generally galloped and sweated on that
part of the Heath where the courses are situated ; for which
there is ample space along the Flat by the side of the Ditch,
and home up Cambridge Hill, or over the Flat coming home
round the Turn of the Lands on the lower side of the Beacon
Course, without touching the running ground. The principal
training-ground for the horses that stand at the east end of
the town is the Warren Hill, on the road leading to Bury.

The Downs of Epsom and of Ascot are the principal training-

grounds of the south. In the neighbourhood of Epsom various
places are resorted to on the approach of those races; and
there are several training-sRfbles in the vicinity, where horses
are kept at work throughout the year. The first that may be
noticed is the exercise on Epsom Downs, which has not much
to recommend it : in dry weather it is sufficiently hard, and
the natural solidity of the surface is enhanced by the numerous
race meetings which have been held, and which have attracted
such multitudes of persons, who, with their carriages and
horses, have trampled more or less over every inch of it ; in
wet weather it is slippery. The surface is a light chalky clay,
with a substratum of chalk and flint, upon which tan has an
admirable effect.

Leatherhead Downs demand a preference over all others
in this locality, especially so far as the nature of the soil is
concerned ; the only objection to them is, that they are not
quite so extensive as might be wished, therefore it is necessary
to make several turns in order to get a gallop of sufficient
distance.

Mickleham Downs, which are only on the other side of the
hill, are very good, and it is almost impossible to conceive a
more picturesque or interesting spot ; the upper part, parallel
to which the termination of the gallop extends, is protected by
a narrow belt or plantation, and the Downs are studded over
with hawthorn and juniper bushes, which, though wildly
arranged, produce a very pretty contrast, as the hawthorn is, at
the season of the year, in full blossom. Its appearance is that
of a gentleman's domain, rather than the uncultivated rudeness
of a common. The gallops pass between the clumps of haw-
thorn and juniper, which serve to define the track.

Many horses are trained for the Midland Counties' lleetings
at Hednesford, between Cannock and Rugeley, in Staffordshire.

A portion of Delamere Forest, in Cheshire, is used for train-
ing racers. It is a light sandy soil, which never becomes hard
but in dry weather. It is liable to work into holes, the land
not being good enough to carry a sound turf.

There is a training-ground arranged at Aintree, near Liver-
pool, connected with the racecourse, comprising a circle, or
rather an oval, within that upon which the races are held. The
intention is giving gallops to those horses which are sent to run
there, although it has been occasionally used for regular train-
ing at other seasons. The nature of the soil is good, but it
wants that important auxiliary to the establishment of con-
dition, a hill — without which horses cannot be brought to the
highest state of perfection.

Cleeve Hill, near Prestbury, Wilts, is the site on which
Cheltenham races are held. The nature of the land, taken
altogether, is good ; there is, however, one disadvantage — the
horses have a long hill to ascend in going to their work, and, of
course, the same to descend afterwards. The situation — two
miles from Cheltenham — is central for many country meetings
worthy of notice.

The ground over which John Scott trained at Malton is highly
spoken of; indeed, nothing could more truly demonstrate the
fact of its being well calculated for the purpose than the excellent

380

TRAINING THE RACER.— EXERCISE.

condition in which his horses always appeared when brought
to the post, especially the remarkable freshness which they
invariably exhibited in their legs. He had stables at New-
market, as also at Pigburn, near Doncaster, at which place
most of his horses underwent the latter part of their pre-
paration for the Great Northern Meeting.

Yorkshire contains the four best training-grounds in the
north of England. Of these, the most extensive is Black
Hamilton, on the high road leading from Thirsk to Helmsley.
Notwithstanding that the soil is a strong stiff clay, this ground
gallops well — the turf being very much intermixed with moss,
which prevents it from becoming hard, and preserves it elastic
even in the di'iest weather.

Langton Wolds, the next ground, is extensive, contains
every variety of surface, and is principally covered with a short
heather, intermixed with moss, affording a fine springy turf
for galloping. These wolds, or downs, are divided into the
training-ground and the racecourse, by the high road leading
from the town to Malton, the latter lying on the right of it ;
and the only drawback on them is their difficulty of access
from the training-stables.

The Middleham Moors, divided into the upper and lower
moor, is the third training-ground, and is open to the same
objection as the Whiteclift I\Ioors, on the score of not con-
taining sufficient space ; the upper moor contains the best
galloping ground. The Whiteclift Moors, about two miles from
the town of Richmond, are likewise divided into higher and
lower moor. The latter is the racecourse, and is within a
mile from the town.

Perhaps the best training-ground in Britain is that of the
Curragh of Kildare in Ireland. It is a fine open heath of
nearly five thousand acres of elastic turf.

In Scotland, Gullane Links, to the east of Edinburgh, and
close to the sea, is the most celebrated training-ground. It is
a large tract of sandy soil, never hard, but apt to work into
holes.

Whether training-ground be public or private some atten-
tion is requisite to keep it in order ; and if it be a very poor,
weak, hungry soil, occasional dressings of manure will be
found the greatest auxiliary possible. The description of
manure must depend upon the nature of the land ; on some,
stable manure will have an admirable effect, but upon almost
all tan will be found to be the best.

Rolling during wet weather is, in many instances, indispen-
sable to press in the tracks and holes which have been made
by the horses' feet ; but the less this practice is resorted to the
better, as it must tend to render the land more solid ; there-
fore, the lighter the roller which is used for the purpose, the
more advantageous, so that it is sufficiently ponderous to press
in the turf which has been misplaced. If, previously to roll-
ing in the spring, some seeds of the finer grasses, which are
natural to the land and productive of a firm, tough, and elastic
sward, be sown, it will add greatly to the verdure and improve
the closeness of the turf. In order to avoid the use of the
roller as much as may be, the boys should be sent on to turn

down the footmarks and tread them in their proper places
whenever the surface is so soft as to be cut up. This should
be done when they have not got their horses to attend to.
The employment keeps them out of mischief and does good in
another way.

Exercise. — The exercise necessary to get a racer into proper
condition varies of course with constitution, the forward or
backward state of the colt, and other incidental circumstances;
and in no one thing is the talent of the trainer more evinced
than in regulating the work according to the time for prepara-
tion, the " sluggish " or " free " disposition of the animal, and
the nature of his coming engagements. Exercise is of three
degrees — walking, galloping, and sweating. After getting
the horses into form by walking exercise every morning and
evening, for from half an hour to two hours, as may appear
requisite, the training-groom commences giving them short
gallops, increasing their length gradually, as his horses' con-
dition and wind improve; taking care, however, to observe
from day to day the manner in which they stand the work,
and relaxing or adding to it accordingly. These gallops not
only have the effect of preventing a horse from getting on too
much flesh and of improving his wind, but at the same time
they teach him to stride and to be active on his legs.

At exercise the horses are divided into classes, the arranging
of which depends principally on their age, but sometimes on
their qualities — such as stoutness or speed ; each class having
a horse to lead the gallops or sweats. When the pace is slow,
a common hack is good enough for this sort of work ; but
should it be severe, or should the trainer wish to form some
idea of the rate of going of any of his untried horses, then a
horse of superior powers, and of known public running, is
generally selected.

The length of gallops for different horses varies from half a
mile to a mile and a half; but distances of three quarters
of a mile and a mile and a quarter are most frequent.

The horses being at length in proper condition to undergo
sweating, this severe exercise is to be given them from time
to time. While some horses are so extremely delicate, and
have to run such short lengths, that they may be brought to
the post without sweating, others require this severe sort of
exercise as often as three times a fortnight.

In addition to the important task of regulating the quantity
of work according to age, constitution, &c., the trainer must
observe the length of ground necessary to make them sweat
well ; and bear in mind that in the commencement of their
training, his principal object is to get the flesh off them.
But as they are getting forward in their work, and approach
the day of public trial on the racecourse, it will become
necessary to increase the rate of going sufficiently to bring
them stout to pace.

The trainer, or in his absence a groom he can trust, having
mounted a hack, accompanies the horses about to be sweated.
The horses are clothed in their sweaters, and, on the way, the
trainer gives such directions and advice to the boys who have
to ride as they may require, more especially to the head lad,

TRAINING THE RACER.— THE TURKISH BATH.

381

who has to lead the gallop and regulate the pace. While the
horses are taking their gallop the trainer is occupied in watching
their action and rate of going, making the lads increase or
diminish the latter as may be necessary, and taking care to be
where the horses are pulled up^ so as to perceive the effect
of the sweat on each horse.

The ground selected for this purpose should be at least two
miles, and, if possible, considerably more in circumference;
and a place having in some parts one or more gradual ascents
and descents is preferable to a perfect level. According to
Darvill, the proper length for a yearling to go a sweat is two
miles; for a two-year-old, two miles and a half; a three-
year-old, three miles or three miles and a half; a four-year-
old, four miles or four and a half; while a five or six-year-old
may, at times, sweat five miles. But, as we have before
observed, these lengths are frequently altered fi:om circum-
stances as the trainer may deem requisite. We consider these
prescribed distances purely empirical.

After the horses are pulled up, they should be allowed to
stand a minute or two to recover their wind a little, and as
it is phrased in stable vernacular " blow their noses." They
should then be ridden gently to the rubbing-house, or should
there not be one on the training-ground, to the stable, where
the lads having turned them about in their stalls, dismount
and proceed to loosen their horses' girths and unbuckle their
boots. The next proceeding is to heap on the horses a quantity
of additional clothing, which has the effect of immediately
and considerably increasing their perspiration, and causing them
to break out into a violent sweat. This operation occupies
from five minutes to a quarter of an hour, during which time
the horses may be refreshed by having their heads wiped and
their legs rubbed.

When they are considered to have perspired sufficiently
the cloths are removed, and the boys proceed immediately to
scrape the sweat off them with a wooden scraper and well
rub them down ; after which they should be refreshed with a
few mouthfuls of lukewarm water, be warmly and drily
clothed, and then again walked out until sufficiently cool to
be dressed. During their absence from the stable, the stable-
doors and windows may be thrown open, the beds set
fair, &c. The length of sweating gallops, and weight of
clothing, are matters of much variance in modern and former
training.

Tlie Turkish Bath, or more properly speaking, the Roman
bath — for the world's masters bequeathed the hot-air bath
to the Greeks of the Lower Empire, and from them it was
inherited by the Turks, Moors, and Saracens — is by no means
a novelty in horse-training. Professor Gamgee, of the New
Veterinary College in Edinburgh, speaks of having been con-
sulted by Sir Hedworth Williamson on the substitution of
the hot-air bath for the ordinary process of sweating horses
then in vogue. This took place at Florence, where Lord
Normanby, with some English noblemen and gentlemen, had
established races.

We must confess that from a study of the physiology of

the horse, and of the phenomena of absorption and excretion
in the animal economy, we cannot view this with the fervour
of its advocates, by whom it is elevated, as we think with
indiscreet zeal, into a panacea for all the ills which horse-
" flesh is heir to." We shall, however, place before the
reader points of Admiral Rous' essay, appending thereto such
observations as may tend to elucidate, confirm, or controvert
its theories and propositions.

After some laudatory remarks on that very eccentric
individual, Mr. David Urquhart, as the introducer of the
said Turkish or Roman bath, Admiral Rous proceeds to
say : — " There was always a difficult problem to be solved.
How is a trainer to prepare a horse to race ? alias to get
his inside clean and his muscles in full vigour, without
the assistance of strong purgatives, and galloping dis-
tances under a weight of heavy woollen clothing. I do
not deny the necessity of giving horses the strongest exer-
cise, wisely adapted to their age and condition. It is proved
that you can lighten a horse's frame as well by the operation
of a hot-air bath as by a four-mile sweat ; and the question
arises, which is the best practice to get them into condition ?
My belief is that a smart two-mile or a three-mile gallop with
the horse stripped, carrying a light weight, and a hot-air bath
afterwards, is more beneficial to a horse's lungs, and, no doubt,
to his legs and sinews, than a four-mile gallop under heavy
clothes. Try it on a jockey ; let him take his usual walk of
nine miles under sweaters ; and the next time walk half the
distance, and then take a hot-air bath; I fancy he will find
himself a lighter, a stronger, and a wiser man after the second
process. Owing to the exhaustion of a four or five mile sweat,
a horse is only fit to walk the following day, and many horses
are annually disabled by this severity ; but after a hot-air bath
a horse is fit and ready for any task. I therefore pronounce
the hot-air bath a most powerful and valuable auxiliary : with
this assistance you may bring an infirm horse to the post
which would break down in two orthodox four-mile sweats.
With respect to the sound horses, why should not we try to
keep them sound ? — -is not prevention better than cure ?

" The Roman bath invigorates a horse's frame, gives in-
creased action to his liver, improves his appetite, cleanses the
pores of suppressed perspivation, and fortifies the skin from
extreme heat and cold ; the joints become more supple, the
sinews more elastic, and the heart, lungs, and kidneys being
freed from fat, horses are able to take the strongest exercise
without suffering fi-om internal fever. Rheumatism, sore shins,
and cutaneous eruptions are speedily subdued by hot air.
Under this system no horse ought to be exercised in heavy
clothes; in my opinion it is always objectionable to give a horse
a sharp or a very long gallop when he is clothed; and lookin<T
to hot air as an agent, we may keep our horses sound for thrice
the estimated period of their present efficacy ; the veterinary
surgeon and the saddler will send in diminished bills: this will
balance the expenses of the bath, and will save large sums of
money to the proprietors of racehorses."

The next important physiological question noticed, is the

382

TRAINING THE RACER.— THE TURKISH BATH.

use of the bath for absorbing the fat and superfluous flesh of
the yearling colt. A healthy well-managed colt, which has
been allowed space for voluntary exercise, will not, at the age of
eighteen or nineteen months, have accumulated deposits of fat
that require other means to diminish than the necessary break-
ing and training proces As to the superfluous flesh spoken
of, we had always believed tliat trainers, in conformity with
physiological laws, tried to increase flesh, it being the very
element of power and speed; any process, including starvation,
that causes tlie flesh to be absorbed, would prove as destructive
to the racehorse as to any other animal. " Whilst I am no
adherent to old errors," observes Professor Gamgee, " I con-
sider it eqixally important that we should not run from one
extreme to another. The old errors were of slow growth and
have had their sharp errors taken off. New projects, plausible
in themselves and warmly advocated, may mislead; and if so,
the retracing of our steps may be very difiicult and very
costly. If tlie tender yearling could, by being submitted to
the hot-air bath, be prepared for trial as to speed and power,
what will not art be able to accomplish ? Such doctrine con-
templates a reversal of some of Nature's fundamental laws ;
physical power in all animals, as well as mental power in
man, increases by exercise."

We omit the Admiral's remarks on the allowance of water
to horses in training, as irrelevant to the questions under con-
sideration. The writer proceeds : —

" Thus the raw material, in the shape of a healthy, well-
grown colt, eighteen or nineteen months old, is introduced to
the care and tender mercies of the groom. After the usual
process of leading him about, lunging him, backing him, his
proud spirit bends to the yoke ; from gentle exercises he is
abruptly called upon to mend his paces, and within fourteen
weeks he is tried with older horses, from six hundred yards to
half a mile. A trainer may justly complain and object to
these early preparations. He generally quietly acquiesces,
owing to a natural curiosity to find out a trump, or to be able
to select the wheat from the chaff. As far as these early trials
are concerned, the experiment can now be made at half the
risk of destroying the colt, or, in other words, laying the seed
for future unsoundness, by using the hot-air bath for absorb-
ing his internal fat and superfluous flesh, without having
recourse to strong medicine or long preparatory gallops.

"At two years old the trainer considers it necessary to clothe
the unfortunate colt more warmly, on the principle that he
becomes more tender as he advances in age (a novel doctrine),
and he is not satisfied until he makes the horse uncomfortable
by a flannel or a woollen hood when he goes out to exercise.
A showman thinks it right to dress up his dancing dogs or
his monkey at a fair ; that is quite admissible : but a hood
makes a hovse susceptible of cold ; it is laying a trap for a
sore throat. A hood is excusable in a railway van : for all
other purposes it is .only good for trade. Ask a trainer why
he uses it, you will receive an unmeaning answer.

"If their predecessors quarrelled with fresh air, and stopped
up the holes for the pure love of ammonia, which propagated

the disease of roaring, and made a great many horses blind,
there was one redeeming point, they took out their horses
twice a day to exercise for eight months in the year, which
gave two opportunities for reventilating a putrid stable. This
practice was in vogue for many years after I went to New-
market and highly approved ; it is now changed because it
disturbs the domestic felicity of the trainer.

" You would imagine that during the height of summer the
horses would be out at daybreak, when the dew makes the
grass pleasant to their feet, and that the work would be over
and the stables made up and the horses fed by seven o'clock.
Not at all. Instead of exercising their horses in the cool of
the morning, and taking them out a second time at 6.30 p.m.
to walk them for an hour when the stables might be thoroughly
cooled, the trainers consider it a more judicious plan to com-
mence work at seven in the morning, and to keep the horses
out till ten o'clock, frequently the hottest time in the day,
before the breeze springs up. By this policy they evade the
trouble of saddling their horses a second time.

" When oxygen is a scarce article in the stabk, and am-
monia gets the ascendency, horses suffer from lassitude, loss
of appetite, and a dull coat significant of disease. This is ex-
pected as a matter of course, and parried with calomel and
aloes.

"When a horse's coat breaks in October, and racehorses
are deeply engaged, a cough is heard, and coughing runs like
wildfire through the stable. What is this owing to ? The
stable temperature charged with ammonia, the warm clothes,
flannel bandages, hoods, and deleterious physic have won the
battle ; every horse's skin impregnated with suppressed per-
spiration was susceptible of disease, and they have caught
what the trainers have so studiously engendered. I have
known more horses coughing in a stable at Newmarket than
in all the cabs from Hyde Park Corner to Somerset House,
simply because the cab-horses stand for fourteen hours in the
open air, and racehorses are shut up for twenty-one hours in a
hot stable. The laws of Nature cannot be defied with im-
punity.

"The trainer now has a lucid interval. He turns the horses
into open boxes from a temperature of 65° to 40° ; the cold air
invigorates them, the fever is checked, the cough ceases, and
the horse gets well in a week. Woe to the invalids if they are
still confined to the warm stable. They may be on the sick
list for months. But the racing season is over, and the money
is lost. Again the trainers fall back to the ancient system,
and all experience is lost upon tliem."

Four-fifths of Admiral Rous' essay are devoted to an eulogy
of pure oxygen, and a fierce denunciation of ammonia and an
exhausted atmosphere. On these points no one will join
issue; but their merits seem to be confused inextricably with
those of low or high temperature : and " pure air " is almost
converted into a synonym for " cold."

Of clothing the Admiral says : —

"My training theory is that no racehorse should be clothed
beyond a linen or a cotton sheet, either in the stable or at

THE TURKISH BATH.— TRIALS.

383

exercise, excepting during a cold winter, when a simple rug
may be allowed both indoors and when his work is confined
to a straw bed during a frost. It is an outrage on common
sense to say that an old horse is more tender than a sucking
foal The hot-air bath, by cleansing and opening the pores
of the skin, restores its tone and reinstates the animal in his
original purity to despise the changes of the weather, the
trainer having exerted all his ingenuity to make him tender,
helpless, and susceptible. As the hot air stimulates the action
of the liver, physic will seldom be required, and then in very
small doses. When a yearling comes into the stable fat and
fleshy, instead of giving him extra slow work and keeping
him out four hours, it saves a great deal of trouble to physic
him well. Extra physic is less troublesome than extra work,
and it is supposed to be all the same thing in the end.

" From the 15th of March to the end of the racing season
the horses should be exercised twice a day, and be kept out
altogether four hours, instead of the present system, from two
hours and a half to three hours at one interval. They should
always have access to water, or, according to the American
system, it should be offered to them in small quantity six or
seven times in the course of the day. Most horses you cannot
feed too highly when they are in strong work; and my belief
is that no three horses require exactly the same food and the
same exercise.

"A stable should be built on brick arches, unless the
foundation is chalk or limestone. Rooms about seventeen feet
in height, with large windows, ventilated near the ceiling by
hollow or perforated bricks; no mangers to the stalls or boxes;
large white wooden basins hooked on to staples in the wall for
corn — the said basins to be taken away and washed when the
horses have fed ; and in every stall a fixture for a water-pail.
There are three appendages necessary to a perfect establish-
ment: a dormitory for the lads, who should not be allowed to
sleep in the stable, because, when the night air is cool, they
will sliut the windows ; a Roman bath ; thirdly, a weighing-

machine, to register every horse's weight after each operation
of the hot air, and after every public race or trial, A wooden
grating over the floors of the stalls, fitted with iron hinges to
trice up to the sides, in order to be washed and purified, would
be a great improvement, and there would be no necessity for
straw litter."

Dr. F. Page, an eminent physiologist, thus gives his decision
on the "last new adjunct" to training: — "I fear the plausible
reasoning upon this subject may have a mischievous influence
on tlie minds of persons to whom it is more particularly
addressed, and thus propagate the humbug. Everybody who
understands the structure and functions of an animal must be
quite aware that it is not only having the machine in a favour-
able condition — that is, sound, with the muscles fully developed,
and the system free from superfluous flesh, &c. — but that the
force or power by which the machine is propelled, and by
which the animal undergoes its great exertion, shall be at its
maximum ; without this the machine, however perfect, is use-
less. I maintain that the nerve force or vital power in an

animal subjected to this parboiling system will be so depressed
or exhausted, so enervated, that he will be good for nothing for
racing purposes ; and therefore the idea of training racehorses
by such a system is perfectly absurd.

" What autliority has any person for saying that the fat of
the animal is the only tissue removed by sweating under a high
temperature ? Why may not the muscular, the tendinous, and
the nerve fibre be reduced, and thus rob the animal at once of
his mechanical powers, instead of increasing them? Is the
Turk famous for his great muscular development ? his great
powers of endurance ? Or is he not emasculated both in body
and mind by the use of this great depressing agent ? Let an
advocate for the Turkish bath subject himself to one every day
for a week, and see what he will be fit for. He will prefer his
quiet cigar on the sofa to a gallop round the Bury Hill, I
imagine. The feeling of the racehorse will be the same, for
all animals are governed by the same physical laws.

" This bath may be of use in some cases of disease, and,
under judicious advice, highly beneficial ; but as to its applica-
tion to animals in health for training purposes, it is a 'delusion,
a mockery, and a sham.'"

Having thus placed the leading pros and cons of this moot
point before our readers, we leave the subject to the criterion
of "Time," which "tries all things;" coupled with the opinion
that the hot-air bath will be found in practice rather a remedial
application for abnormal states of tlie horse's condition, or a
direct agent for the removal of disease, than a systematic
adjunct to ordinary training processes.

TRIALS.

Among the divisions of practical training which especially
require the attention of the trainer, the trials of racehorses
require particular notice ; for unless the greatest care be taken
in selecting a horse of known public running, and in proper
condition at the time, the nicest skill in regulating the weights,
according to age, fixing the distance, &c., and putting up the
best jockeys, will not prevent the trainer and his employer
from being misled by the result.

The necessity of ascertaining a horse's powers before he is
brought out to run in public, must be obvious to every one,
and it is a subject of no mean importance ; by the opinion
which is formed of him in his trials, the propriety of paying
forfeit, or starting him for such stakes as he may be engaged
in will depend; and, fm-thermore, the propriety of backing
him for a still greater sum must be determined.

It is a very common thing to find that old horses, as they
improve in stoutness, diminish in speed ; thus, single-handed,
they are not honest tests of the merits of young ones. To
have a trial which is really to be depended on, it is requisite
to start two or three young ones, with a horse four years old or
upwards, who has not lost his speed, to make the running ; at
the same time, also, it is necessary that the latter has recently
been running in public — they are found to vary so much at
difierent times of the year. Before it is possible to form an

384

TRAINING THE RACER.— TRIALS.

accurate estimate of the powers of a horse, three or foiir trials
must be obtained, and the important fact established whether
his speed or stoutness be his specialty. The weights at which
the horse is tried must depend upon the goodness of the trial
horse and the time of year, which latter circumstance may
easily be determined by reference t<j the Calendar. The
nature of the course, whether hilly or flat, on which a horse
can run to the greatest advantage should be ascertained ; some
little judgment of this may be formed iu the common course
of exercise; but it may be taken as an established fact that,
previously to running, no true opinion can be formed of any
horse, except after two or three well directed and unbiassed
trials ; favour and affection to any animal, pedigree, or owner,
being completely set aside in the deductions made from the
experiment.

If trials are to be looked upon as affording real infoimation,
each horse must be prepared with as much scrupulous attention
as if he were going to run in pubKc ; unequivocal proof should
be sought for, and nothing deemed satisfactory until it is
established. In order to ascertain a horse's power, it is obvious
that he must be beaten ; because, however often he may be
tried, either in private or in public, it is impossible, so long
as he be a winner, to say how much farther he could
have won had there been a horse superior to his second
to have urged greater efforts of the victor. The rock upon
which so many persons founder in trials is having a slow
old horse in the capacity of schoolmaster — one whose speed is
so much reduced that, at the distance which young ones are
tried, he cannot go fast enough to get them out ; in conse-
quence of which they win their trials, and are immediately
supposed to be flyers. The best horse to try young ones with
is a speedy animal who can run but a mUe ; if his rider have
orders to make the pace as good as he can, he will stretch the
tyros, and give some measure that may be relied upon.

It frequently happens that a boy is put up to ride the trial
horse, and jockeys are employed to ride the juveniles. This is
just reversing the order of propriety, because the boy is required
to perform the most difficult and important duty, that of
making the runniag, and the experienced jockeys being upon
the young ones, their performances are made to appear more
flattering than they really ought to be.

There are many persons who place but little faith in pri-
vate trials. That they should not be held cheap in many
instances is neither to be wondered at or condemned ; inde-
pendently of the mistakes which are made, the misrepresenta-
tions of the results are frequently so great that little reliance
can be placed on them.

There is no contrivance by which more money can be
thrown away, than in so-caUed trials. The trial horse is
often stale with hardly a leg to stand on, at high weights,
and perhaps on a course which does not suit him ; and thus is
brought out against a young one in the highest possible train,
freah, and ready to fly out of his skin, and a light weight
on his back. The old one, whether it be his forte or not,
mnst make the play ; and, as naturally may be expected,

the young one runs up to the old like a shot, as the trainers
say. He is accordingly backed lie.-wily, and on the day gets a
comfortable beating, to the great surprise of those who are not
in the secret. The solemn secrecy which, on many occasions,
is employed to keep the result of a trial from the knowledge of
a vulgar public is oftentimes exceedingly unnecessary, as weU
as marvellously troublesome to those who are concerned.
Indeed, if a trainer knows his business, he need not care who
witnesses the trial ; because, if properly managed, no man can
be wiser from what he sees — indeed, he is certain to be misled.
Here, however, to avoid inculcating a principle of deception,
we must explain the difference between misinforming a friend,
and using those precautions which the peculiarity of the
transaction requires for the purpose of maintaining secrecy
into that which the intruding eye of a bystander has no
right to penetrate.

Any man who would be guilty of misinforming an acquain-
tance, and thereby inducing him to back a bad horse, does so
for the purpose, directly or indirectly, of robbing him. It
matters little whether he actually win from the person so de-
ceived, by directing an agent to bet with that individual. His
friend is caused to lose his money ; others foUow his example
in backing the horse ; and the treacherous knave wins his stake
from some one. Such deception cannot be too severely con-
demned, or too conspicuously exposed to public contempt. But
against other persons, who will not scruple to resort to any
measures to gain information for their own pecuniary profit, to
the exclusion of all who are first entitled to that profit, on a
subject which they have clearly no right to be permitted to
discover — aU stratagems are warrantable for defeating their
object.

Every man who acquires fair and honest information has an
imdoubted right to turn it to his own advantage. A merchant
learning from certain sources that a rise or fall in the markets
is likely to take place, buys or sells any commodity in which he
deals : so has any one who bets a right to avail himself of the
knowledge of a horse's powers, an equal right to back him or
to lay against him ; but the owner of the horse is clearly
justified in keeping that secret to himself, or submitting it only
to his intimate friends.

In order, therefore, to defeat the ends of those who may be
desirous of watching trials, one ruse is readily managed — for
the horses to gallop on some distance beyond the place where
the trial actually terminated, and, in so doing, to change places ;
when it is very easy to have the horse which won the trial last
at the point where a spectator imagines it is finished. Another
thing — the weights never ought to be suffered to transpire.
Thus, by having saddles and saddle-cloths, the weight of which
none of the boys or other persons about the establishment have
any knowledge of, the secret cannot transpire through their
agency.

That the reader may have a thorough understanding as to
the regulations concerning trials, he should become acquainted
with the laws of the Jockey Club ; we would also recommend
to the trainer the careful perusal of that part of Mr. Darvill's

TRIALS.— CLOTHING THE RACER.

385

excellent work on racing which treats on this subject, and in
which he will find proper directions for trying horses of every
age, and of every description of temper and constitution.

In no calling of life are shrewdness and caution more re-
quired than in the trainer ; in fact, without these qualifica-
tions a man might as well attempt to scale the moon as
to do any good on the turf. In addition to these indispensables,
he should be of the strictest integrity ; which, sooner or later,
amply repays its possessor, by obtaining for him the confi-
dence of his employer and the public. He must also be sober,
that he may always have a clear head to study and attend to
the various tempers and constitutions of the horses placed
under his management, so as to do the best with them in train-
ing, and afterwards run them to the best advantage. Finally,
he must be close to all the world, except his employer, con-
cerning the secrets of the stable.

As the trainer is expected to know everything relating to a
racehorse and to the turf, his apprenticeship to his calling
cannot begin too early in Ufe. The knowledge we speak of
may be briefly defined under the following heads, which are
not unworthy the attention of those noblemen and gentlemen
on the turf, who may not be ashamed of learning.

In the first place, the trainer should acquire a competent
knowledge of the Stud-book, so as to be able to advise and
guide his master in the purchase of brood mares, the selection
of staUions, or even the purchase of young horses to run.
This has reference to their selection with regard to pedigree, or
what is commonly called fashionable or running blood.

From actual observation, in preference to theory, he should
endeavour to make himself a good judge of the formation and
action of a racehorse The very nature of his calling, of
course, gives him abundant opportunity of doing this.

The Racing Calendar should be his constant study and com-
panion ; the laws, rules, and regulations of racing, he should
have at his fingers' ends, and he should know with accuracy
the running of all the horses of the day, the length of the
courses they run over, the weights they carried, and the op-
ponents they defeated.

In addition to mere works of reference on racing, and the
best works on the training and management of racehorses,
the trainer should furnish himself with the works of our best
veterinarians, and make himself thoroughly conversant with
the difi'erent symptoms, modes of treatment, remedies, &c.,
which they explain and recommend. A catalogue of such
works can be readily obtained at booksellers who deal in
sporting works. A visit involving a short stay at a veterinary
college wiU be of immense service in his practice.

In conclusion we must mention, as not the least impor-
tant of a trainer's duties, that, in a moral point of view, he is
bound to make the lads under his control as happy as circum-
stances will permit, to instruct them in knowledge fitted for
their station, and to keep them from the temptations of bad
examples which so much surround them. John and Isaac Day,
and several of our most eminent trainers, were and are
remarkable in these creditable particulars.

3 c*

CLOTHING THE RACER.

In the article on the Turkish Bath, we have given inoi-
dentally the opinions of Admiral Rous on clothing, which we
look upon as rather heterodox. Upon this point, and the
routine of stable physic, we shall here say a few words.

Clothing forms an important article in the economy of the
training stable, and is of the greatest utility to the trainer, as
by its use in sweating his horses, he is enabled to reduce them
to the necessary lightness of body, without running' the
risk of injuring their legs by extra strong gallops, or their
constitutions by physic ; these latter, and the hot-air bath,
being the means of effecting his object.

The clothing in general use in the racing stable is made of
a sort of kersey check, of much finer and lighter quality than
that which is used for hunters or other horses. It may be of
whatever colour the owner may fancy ; and the initials of his
name are commonly embroidered on it.

The clothing may be divided into the following parts,
viz. : — the sheet, breast-cloth, quarter-cloth, pad-cloth and
hood ; the latter piece being generally used to throw over the
horse's loins after he has been dressed, instead of what was
formerly called the fillet cloth.

These different pieces are secured with proper rollers and
strings ; but as these and other details are perfectly understood
by saddlers, it is not necessary to proceed with furthei
particulars ; a few general explanations and remarks are,
therefore, aU we propose to offer.

The clothes commonly called sweaters are made of swan's
skin, a sort of woollen stuff. They consist of nearly the same
pieces as those mentioned, and care should be taken that
the sheet is of sufficient size to cover the whole body, shoulders
and quarters of the horse, and to lap well over beneath his
belly ; for which purpose Mr. DarvQl observes, that the centre
part of it should be nearly two yards and a half long.
Accoi-ding to the same authority, the breast-cloth or sweater
should be made full three yards in length, and three quarters
of a yard in breadth.

Judging from the prints of horses sweating, dated the middle
of the last century, the hood was not then in use ; nor are we
aware when this article of clothing was introduced. Of those
used in sweating, when only one hood is required, it should
have ears to it ; but in the case of more than one being
required, the last only should have them, to enable the groom
to put them on with greater facility. When the trainer deems
it necessary to put additional clothing over the above, he
should use old cloths for the purpose, having, of course, first
seen that they are in proper repair, and that any necessary
alterations have been made. Admiral Rous's condemnation
of the hood, we have already noticed.

In the hottest part of summer, lighter clothing, made of
serge, Hnen, or calico, may be used both in the stable and at
exercise.

A proper supply of rollers, straps, boots, knee-caps, fetters,
&c., should always be kept in the stable, in such order and

386

MEDICAL TREATMENT OF THE RACER.

place as to be serviceable at a moment's notice. A list of
these, and of all the other articles of saddlery used in the
racing-stable, can be at all times obtained from the principal
saddlers at Newmarket, York, Doncaster, Epsom, &c. The
trainer should make it his business to inquire, from time to
time, at these places, as to any inventions and improvements
in these matters which may have been made, so as to avail
himself of them if really serviceable.

It is not our purpose, in offering these details and remarks
to the reader, to have it for a moment supposed that we are
laying down a complete system of training racehorses. We
are perfectly aware that it would require a reasonably-sized
volume to do this fully and eiEciently. Feeling, however, that
a work of this nature might be considered incomplete were we
to pass this subject entirely, we flatter ourselves that, to the
general reader at least, these remarks may not be found
altogether barren of interest, as yielding him some little insight
into the training and management of the horse in his highest
form. Should fuller information be desirable, we would
recommend the works of Messrs. Nicholas Hankey Smith, and
Darvill, and a series of papers by " Cotherstone," in the
Sporting Review ; these gentlemen having written after much
practical acquaintance and study of their subject.

Physic. — The next point to which we would direct the
attention of our reader, is the use of physic in the training-
stable ; not as administered to horses labouring under serious
diseases, and which require the services of the veterinary
surgeon, but in those cases which come directly within the
province of the trainer.

The occasions we refer to are, when at the end of the
autumn, and in the spring, the animal has to undergo a
regular course of physic, or, when in training, the state of his
legs or any minor ailment may require the use of medicine.
On the conclusion of the racing season, after being kept for
some months on dry and highly nourishing and stimulating
food, and constantly in work on the hard soils of the different
race-courses and exercising-grounds, three or four doses of
physic, administered with an interval of about ten days or a
fortnight between each dose, will be found necessary to get rid
of that worn and feverish state commonly known under the
name of staleness, and will at the same time bring the horse's
legs, which will almost always then be found swollen and
inflamed, to their proper size.

In the spring, too, before the animal is again put in
training, a repetition of the same treatment is desirable, in
order to carry off the grossness of humour he contracts when
" soiled." At these periods, it is not necessary that the physic
should be of the same strength as that given in training ; the
preparation for it, however, is the same, that is to say, mashes
of bran and oats for two or three days. The precautions and
general treatment in use with horses of other descriptions

when in physic, should be of course adopted with the racer,
and are too well known to require mention in this place.

Horses in training are very liable to suffer from injuries in
the legs, from blows while exercising, and other causes, and
these cases require the utmost attention and skill on the part
of the trainer. He must necessarily stop the horse from his
work, as rest is indispensable to his cure. But this remedy is
sometimes productive of, if possible, worse evils ; for should
the accident occur not long before the horse has to race, he
may put up more flesh while idle than can be trained off
again in sufficient time to bring him in proper condition to the
post. It is now that the trainer calls in the aid of physic,
and by its judicious use, keeps his horse from getting fat in
his inside until his leg shall be sufficiently recovered to stand
work. This of course should be gradual ; in fact, too much
caution cannot be exercised in this respect, and to prevent any
risk from the thoughtlessness or trickiness of boys, the trainer
should himself watch his first gallops and sweats, taking care
to put one of his best and most steady riders on the horse.

Every training stable should be provided with a medicine
chest, in which the following drugs, Sec, should be kept; and
to prevent accidents, as some of them are deadly poisons, the
key should never be out of the possession of t)ie trainer.

Aloes, Barbadoes,

Alum,

Arrow-root,

Basilicon, yellow,

Camphor,

Castile soap,

Ginger, in powder,

Goulard's extract.

Honey,

Hog's lard.

Laudanum,

Linseed meal,

Nitre,

Oil of carraway,

Oil, castor.

Oil of cloves.

Oil of olives.

Oil of origanum,

Prepared ammonia,

nesm,

Sal ammoniac,

Spanish flies (Cantharides),

Sweet spirits of nitre.

Spirit of turpentine,

Spirit of wine.

Salt, common.

Soft soap.

Tar, Barbadoes,

Tartar emetic.

Tincture of myrrh,

Treacle,

Venice turpentine,

Vinegar,

Vitriol, blue.

Vitriol, white,

Verdigris,

Wax,

White lead ;

also apothecary's weights, a measure for fluids, an apparatus
for compounding medicines, &c. In addition to these, the
following instruments and articles should be kept, viz. : — fleam
and blood-stick ; tooth-rasp, with a guard ; seaton and curved
needles; abscess lancet; firing, searing, and budding irons,
casting hobbles, improved balling-iron ; drenching horn, flannel
for fomentations and poultices, woollen and linen bandage''
tow, &c.

THE HUNTER.

387

THE HUNTER.

THE HUNTEK OF THE OLD AND THE NEW SCHOOL — GLENGARRY — FORM AND CHOICE OF A HUNTER — PURCHASING AND

HIRING TREATMENT IN THE FIELD — OVER-MARKING.

Thb modem hunter, to "live the pace," must be a blood-horse,
or one of those very best of stout cocktails, who, with four-
fifths of " blood " in them, pass dealer's muster as thorough-
breds. His height should be not under fifteen nor over sixteen
hands ; over the latter he will scarcely be handy through dirt
and at his jumps, under the former standard he cannot so weU
measure the height of the object before him. True, some
exceptional and wonderful, if not quite credible, cases are in
tradition of the jumping of cobs and galloways, but these are
so very exceptional that they do not invalidate the general rule,
that under fifteen hands is too small, and over sixteen is too
big for a hunter. In a former chapter, pages 81 to 86, wiU be
found some general remarks on the conformation of the race-
horse, many of which will apply, with little modification, to
the modern hunter. In a work like the present, which aims
at giving the best thoughts of the best thinkers, and the expe-
riences of the most practised upon the varied and numerous
subjects of which it treats, it would be unpardonable to omit
the neatest sketch of what a modem hunter is or should be, as
depicted by that facile princeps of hunting writers, " Nimrod,"
in his celebrated Quarterly Review article, " The Chase."

" The half-bred horse of the last century was, when highly
broken to his work, a delightful animal to ride ; in many
respects more accomplished, as a hunter, than the generality
of those of the present day. When in his best form, he was
a truly-shaped and powerful animal, possessing prodigious
strength, with a fine commanding frame, considerable length
of neck, a slight curve in his crest, which was always high and
firm, and the head beautifully put on. Possessing these ad-
vantages, in addition to the very great pains taken with his
mouth in the bitting, and an excellent education in the school
or at the bar, he was what is termed a complete snaffle-bridle
horse, and a standing as well as a flying leaper. Held well in
hand — his rider standing up in the stirrups, holding him fast
by the head, making the best of, and being able, from the com-
paratively slow rate at which hoimds then travelled, to pick or
choose his ground — such a horse would continue a chace of some
hours' duration at the pace he was called upon to go, taking
his fences well and safely to the last ; and he would frequently
command the then large sum of one hundred guineas. But all
these accomplishments would never have enabled a horse of
this description to carry the modem sportsman, who rides well
up to hounds, on a good scenting day, over one of our best
hunting countries. His strength would be exhausted before he
had gone ten minutes, by the increased pace at which he would

now be called upon to travel, but to which his breeding would
be quite unequal ; and his true symmetry, his perfect fencing,
his fine mouth, and all his other points, would prove of very
little avail. If ridden close to the hounds, he would be power-
less and dangerous before he had gone across half-a-dozen
Leicestershire enclosures.

" The increased pace of hounds, and that of the ^.orses that
follow them, have an intimate connection with each other, if
not with the march of intellect. Were not the hounds of our
day to go so fast as they do, they would not be able to keep
clear of the crowd of riders who are now mounted on horses
nearly equal to the racing pace. On the other hand, as the
speed of hounds has so much increased, unless their followers
ride speedy, and, for the most part, thorough-bred horses,
they cannot see out a run of any continuance if the scent lies
weU. True it is that, at the present time, every Leicestershire
hunter is not thorough-bred ; but what is termed the cock-
tail, or half-bred horse of this day, is a very different animal
from that of a hundred years back. In those days, a cross
between the thorough-bred, or perhaps not quite thorough-bred,
horse, and the common draught-mare, was considered good
enough to produce hunters equal to the speed of the hounds
then used. There was not such an abundance of what may
be termed the intermediate variety of the horse in the country
— ' pretty well bred on each side of the head' — which has of
late years been in demand for the fast coaches of England, in
which low-bred horses have no chance to live.* Mares of this
variety, put to thorough-bred stallions, and their produce
crossed with pure blood, create the sort of animal that comes
now under the denomination of the half-bred English hunter,
or cocktail. These are also the horses which contend for our
several valuable stakes, made for horses not thorough-bred,
though, when brought to the post, they are sometimes so much
like race-horses in their appearance and their pace, that it
would be difficult to detect the blot in their pedigree. A
prejudice long existed against thorough-bred horses for the
field, particularly such as had once been trained to the course;
and in some quarters it still lingers It is argued by their
opponents that the thinness of their skins make them afraid

* The reader must bear in mind that though this was written before the loco-
motive had thrown the " fast coaches " off the road, the fact of the improved
racing blood of the modem hunter is yet more general. The park hack of the
present day would have been a cocktail racer, if not a so-called " blood-horse,*
of the last generation. The popular prejudice against the thorough - bred is now
extinct.

388

THE HUNTER.

of rough black-thom fences, and that they lose their speed in
soft, or what, in sporting language, is termed deep ground ;
also, that haying been accustomed from their infancy to the
jockey's hand, they lean upon their bits, as when in a race,
and are therefore unpleasant to ride. Such of them as have
been long in training may undoubtedly be subject to these
objections, and never become good and pleasant hunters ; but
when purchased young, and possessing strength and bone, they
must have many counterbalancing advantages over the infe-
rior-bred horse. So far from not making good leapers, the
firmness of bone and muscle peculiar to this variety of the
breed is prodigiously in favour of that desirable qualification.
Indeed, it has been truly said of them, that they can often
leap large fences when lower bred horses cannot leap smaller
ones, — the result of their superior wind when put to a quick
pace.

" Whoever wishes to see two distinct species of the horse in
the most perfect state, should go to Newmarket and Melton-
Mowbray — to the former for the race-horse, to the latter for
the hunter. In no place upon the earth is condition attended
to with so much care, or managed with such skill, as in this
renowned metropolis of the fox hunting world. Indeed, we
conceive it would be useless to expect horses to live with
hounds in such a country as Leicestershire, unless they were
in condition to enable them to contend for a plate."

Colo'^tel Cook, in his Observations on ITunting, fully indorses
this r /ew. " Many fox hunters," he says, " prefer thorough-
brec? horses, others cocktails ; I always gave the preference to
the former, if it was possible to get them. It is the general
opinion that thorough-bred horses cannot leap so well as cock-
tails : I think otherwise ; and if you will try the experiment,
by taking ten young horses of the former, and ten of the latter
sort, I am convinced you will find the thorough-bred ones to
have the advantage, and naturally to clear their fences with
more ease to themselves. Horses that have been in training
for years cannot be expected to make hunters ; but, neverthe-
less, what superiority has a thorough-bred one in every respect
— above aU, in speed, bottom, and wind ? It often happens,
when a cocktail is at the height of his speed, a thorough-bred
horse is only at three-quarters, and the latter will always go
through dirt (as the term is) best." This absolute opinion
requires some qualifications. A cocktail, with a well-placed
head, a good bridle neck, high withers, deep and oblique
shoulders, broad and low-placed knee, muscular arms, deep
girthing-place, good loins, muscular and blood-like haunch and
thigh, and low-placed deep hocks, such as Harry Hall has
drawn in the opposite plate of Glengarry,* should have our

• The following note from the artist accompanied the portrait of (Jlbn-
aA.BBT : — " He is a dark-bay horse, with black points, clear of white, standing
16 hands 3i inches, rather long on the legs, with magnificent shaped shoulders
— neck rather thin and straight j is very deep in the girth, round in the
barrel, and well ribbed home ; has great power in his thighs, loins, and hind-
quarters. He has been in the possession of his present owner, Mr. Sadleir
Bru^re, for eight years, and has been hunted now for nine years, and is a
mo9t extraordinary animal for endurance and bottom. Mr. Brufere has regularly

vote for a weltei weight : all but his head, which we cannot
admire — but " handsome is that handsome does."

In the selection of a hunter a primary consideration is the
nature of the country to be hunted over. In stony and thickly
enclosed countries, the heavier and lower-bred horse may get
along creditably ; but in the best countries where " racing " is
required, such an animal is " out of the hunt " in no time.
Where a heavy deep soil predominates, presenting also a large
portion of ploughed ground, intersected by wide and strong
fences, like those of Essex and some of the midland counties,
such localities will require a horse of sufficient height with
much substance ; while one with lighter bmld, and in height
not exceeding fifteen hands and a half, is best adapted to a
hilly country, as the Surrey Hills, the Sussex and Wiltshire
Downs, the Cheviots, &c., &c.

The sportsman who rides a welter weight should always
be " over-horsed." It is imperative on him that he be mounted
on one presenting a combination of power, activity, and dura-
bility. These are essential requisites to him, and when such
a form is united with high-breeding, the rider, spite of his
weight, may hope to be in the right place. Some Irish horses
are well adapted for the purpose of carrying heavy weights ;
and if they do not always go at a racing pace, their admirable
fencing will tend to make up the deficiency. Neither are the
Irish hunters at the present time defective in their breeding,
as their local races and steeple-chases testify.

As to the choice of a hunter a condensed enumeration of
his " points " will serve to form an ideal of his best form.

The first property of a good hunter is, that he should be
light in hand. His head must be moderately small, the neck
thin beneath, the crest firm, the jaws wide ; it will then form
that angle with the neck which gives a light and pleasant
mouth.

The forehand should be loftier than that of the racer. A
turf horse may be forgiven if his hind quarters rise an inch
or even two above his fore ones. His principal power ia
wanted from behind, and the very lowness of the forehand
may throw more weight in front, and cause the whole machine
to be more easily and speedily moved. A lofty forehand,
however, is indispensable in the hunter ; a shoulder as

hunted him through every season for the last eight years with the Bedale
hounds ; and the horse has done the work of any two animals throughout
each season — sometimes going twenty-five miles to cover on the morning of
hunting, distinguishing himself afterwards in a severe run ofanliourorso, and
having perhaps twenty or thirty mOes to get home on bad roads. G-lengarry
has never been known ' off his feed ' after such exertions ; and could come
again in three or four days as fresh as ever. Need I add, he is one of the
soundest horses possible in every way — is very speedy, and a most extraor-
dinary careful fencer, and has never been down in his Ufe at any jump ; and,
at his present age, thirteen years, he can still keep his own with the very best
of horses, and would be hard to beat. To prove his good quaUties, his owner
ran him for the Hunters' Stakes at Calleuch tliis spring {vide the Calendar,
1860) J and, carrying the heavy weight of 12st. 71b., he beat the field of thirteen
horses (all of a superior class), with the exception of a 5-yr. old mare, and lost
his race of two miles by a head only, with the difference of Ist. 21b. in the
mare's favour. He is considered one of the best, if not the very best, horse
that hat been known in the county for these twenty-five years at leait."

|LnJ

8=

THE HUNTER.

389

extensiye as in the racer and as oblique, and somewhat thicker.
The saddle will then be in its proper place, and will continue
80, however long may be the run.

The barrel should be rounder, in order to give greater room
for the heart and lungs to play, and to send more and purer
blood to the larger frame of this horse, especially when the
run continues unchecked for a time that begins to be distres-
sing. A broad chest is always an excellence in a hunter. In
the violent and long-continued exertion of the chase the
respiration is much quickened, and hence more blood is hur-
ried through the limgs in a given time than when the animal
is at rest. There must be sufficient room for this, or he will
not only be distressed, but 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 racer, or even
more so, for both strength and endurance are wanted.

The leg should be deeper than that of the race-horse —
broader as we stand at the side of the horse — and especially
beneath the knee. In proportion to the distance of the tendon
from the cannon or the shank-bone, and more particularly a
little below the knee, is the mechanical advantage with which
it acts.

The leg should be shorter. Higher action is required than
in the racer, in order 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
considerable obliquity. The long pastern is useful, by the
yielding resistance which its elasticity affords to break the con-
cussion 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 connected, and the race-horse occasionally
breaks down in the middle of his course. The hunter, from
his different action, takes not this length of stride, and there-
fore wants not all this elastic mechanism. He more needs
strength to support his own heavier carcass, and the greater
weight of his rider, and to undergo the fatigue of a long day.

The foot of the hunter is a most material point. The narrow
and contracted foot is the plague-spot of most of our racing
blood. The work of the racer is, however, all done on the
turf: but the hoof of the hunter is battered over the hard
road and the stony field, and if not particxilarly good must
soon be rained.

The position of the feet in the hunter requires some atten-
tion. They should if possible stand straight. If they turn
a little outward there is no serious objection ; but if they turn
inward his action cannot be safe, particularly when he is
fatigued or over- weighted.

The body should be short and compact, compared with that
of the rM6-horse, that he may not in his gallop take too extended
a stride. This would be a serious disadvantage in a long day
and ffith a heavy rider, from the stress on the pasterns ; and
toore serious when going over clayey poached ground during

the winter months. The compact short-strided horse will
almost skim the surface, while the feet of the long-reached
animal will sink deep, and he will wear himself out by efforts
to disengage himself.

Every sporting man knows how much 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 horse decidedly superior 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
muscular ; the hocks well-bent, and well under the horse.

The reader needs not to 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 methods of procuring hunters are of course various.
Many are passed from one gentleman to another in the different
hunts, while more are purchased from the London and country
horsedealers. The inexperienced hand will most readily suit him-
self at once in purchasing from among those horses he may see
performing in any celebrated hunt. There is a pleasure in
horse-dealing, that makes almost every horse comeatable ; and
it is better for a novice to give a good price at once for a
known good horse, than to be taken in two or three times with
cheaper but indifferent ones. The enormous prices now given
for hunters of character would almost call the grandfathers of
some of the buyers out of the grave to stop the bargain. 500
guineas have been frequently paid, and in some instances even
a larger sum has been given for a hunter ; 200 and 300
guineas are every day prices.

The London horsedealers of respectability furnish their
stables with hunters of some pretensions, and occasionally of no
small ones either ; such, if young, are usually horses bred by
sporting farmers, which, having been a httle fielded, are then
warranted as steady hunters, and many of them turn out so.
The west end dealers have high-bred and seasoned hunters of
known repute on sale ; and, at all times, we beheve, they have
well-bred yoimg horses, that a little good fielding, under a
judicious rider, wiU make good hunters.

Colonel Cook is favourable to purchasing at Tattersall's, and
says, " If you wish to give a large price for what is called a
well known made himter, from one cause or other, there are,
every spring, some such valuable horses to be purchased at
Tattersall's. It is a lounge three times a week, where you are
sure to meet your friends, and can listen with pleasure to their
reports of the achievements of the different packs of hounds the
season past, and the arrangements for the future. Suppose
you purchase half-a-dozen young horses, at a hundred guineas
each, to carry fourteen stone ; if two out of the six turn out
well, you ought to be satisfied, as there is every probability of
your selling the remaining four for 50 each, barring accidents."
We are acquainted with several sporting characters, some of
them owners of hounds, who make a point, tow ards the autumn,

390

THE HUNTEB.

of buying such blood-like nags as are Kkely to suit tbeir purpose
from among those parted with by the Londoners and others, to
ayoid the expense and trouble of keeping through the wiuter.
These are taken to the country, and, having been tried, the
buyers select perhaps three out of five that wiU suit either
themselves or others. The remaiader they sell, probably by
the same hammer, at £5 or £10 loss, stUl leaving the others
decided bargains; and, if so inclined, "obliging a friend"
with one of the remaining three, at a " good figure," serves to
pay for the whole lot.

Masters of hounds, who have sufficient and extensive range
both of paddock and stable, have many better opportunities of
obtaining horses than by breeding them. Horse breeding,
except on fancy occasions, or when it is done from some par-
ticular strain, where all the progeny turn up trumps, is a losing
speculation to most gentlemen. If such an one should be a
thorough judge of colts — a judgment by the bye that requires
half a life and close attention into the bargain to gain — we
repeat, if he be possessed of this judgment, he can use it to
great advantage in selecting from the colts of the neighbouring
breeders such as promise well. These being picked up as
occasion offers, at three or four years old, having been already
early handled, bitted, and backed, but not worked, are now to
be trained, and gradually conditioned, and worked in turn by
the xmder- attendants in the field, which soon enables the eye
of the master to judge what will suit and what will not. The
40 or 50 guinea horse thus soon grows into a 200 guinea
hunter; and others, rejected from the hunting-stable, fetch
80, 90, or 100, for the saddle, cabriolet, brougham, &c.

Many country horse-dealers, who reside in the breeding
districts, have opportumties of furnishing their customers with
horses of high hunting quahties : but the best of these are
generally collected and brought to the great metropoUtan or
provincial emporiums.

The hiring of hunters is a modem custom, and much
favoured by the facilities for human and equiue locomotion
afforded by the development of railroads.* The hiring may be
by week, month, or season — and in some cases includes
groom and appointments of every description. To foreigners,
who come to this country for a few months ; to mercantile and
professional men, who can spare only a few weeks in the
hunting season ; this mode is most convenient, and, we think,
economical also. Speaking of Leamington — and it is the
same in many other parts of the country — Lord WUliam
Lennox says : — " If a gentleman distrust his own judgment, or
does not like the trouble and expense of getting such a stud
together, he has nothing to do but to hire them in the county
(Warwick). In Vm town and neighbo\irhood of Leamington
he will find plenty of sporting liverymen, farmers, and horse-
dealers, who, for a fair consideration, and with the chance of

• The reader will find this point dilated upon amusingly in a couple of
light papers by Lord WilUam Lennox, called " Chaunting for the Million,"
aiul " Sporting Life from London," in the coUectiou published by his lord-
sliip entitled MerrU England : London, Newby, 1859.

seUing, will furnish him with horses that can go the pace, and
do the trick."

Of the love of the chase inherent in the old hunter so many
anecdotes are told, that a small volume might be fiUed with
them. In the chase, in the days of his activity and strength,
he shares the enthusiasm of his rider. No one who has seen
an old hunter turned into a park for Ufe, but must have
marked his animation when the distant cry of the hounds or
the horn of the huntsman meets his car. If power and chance
is left him, he wiU join the chase, and come in at the death.
It is recorded by an unimpeachable authority, that a hunter,
who had shortly previous been fixed in both hind legs, and
placed in a loose box, with a hatch-door four feet high, and an
aperture of three feet square above it, hearing the cheering of
the huntsmen and the cry of the dogs, sprang through the
opening, and joined the hunt. The horse was nearly sixteen
hands, and master of fifteen stone.

It is, then, easily credible that, entering as fully as his
master into the sport 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 oftener, the poor animal
inteUigibly enough speaks his distress — unwilling to give in,
yet painfully and falteringly holding on. The true sportsman,
though unwilling to relinquish the chase — he who " is mer-
ciful to his beast" — soon recognises the symptoms of v.'xcessive
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 may 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.

Over-working the hunter is a too frequent occurrence, and
often requires very judicious and prompt treatment to save hfe.
It unfortunately also happens, that when death does not
immediately ensue, from the congestion which has taken place
in the lungs, either broken wind or founder follows, and thus
the horse is equally ruined for active service. "We wiU, how-
ever, premise, that there appear to be two dangers to be
anprehended from inordinate exertion ; one from a cessation of
the powers of life, the other from the tendency which such
inordinate excitement has to produce congestion of the lungs,
or active inflammation of some of the vital organs : sometimes
spasm of the midriff occurs, and rupture of it has taken place.
When the vital powers have been brought almost to a stand-
still, the horse with great difficulty reaches home, and often
scours, and stales bloody urine on his journey there. He
breathes with irregularity and difficulty ; becomes hot and cold
by tiims ; or a clammy sweat breaks out, at first partially, but
if he cannot rally, it becomes universal. His sHn has a
peculiar feel and loses its elasticity ; the haw* is drawn
forward ; the nose, at first fiery, now becomes pale ; the breath-

* See in Oloss abt, jpott.

THE HUNTER.

391

ing is hurried, and the pulse is found to be tremulous, and
almost invariably intermitting. Some cases are marked with
a settled determination in the horse not to lie down ; while
others not only lie down, but are with difficulty made to rise
again. Bleeding as a remedy is commonly resorted to ; but
Blaine advises, if no active symptoms of inflammation are
present, not to do so. Place the hand on the chest ; does
the heart vibrate quickly rather than beat lustily, by no means
bleed. Press any one of the larger veins, and, unless it swells
up at once, let bleeding alone, at least until the medical
adviser arrives. Should it, however, happen that no veteri-
nary surgeon is near, if the breathing becomes hurried, the
nostrils dilated, and the horse reaches out his neck as though
reaching for more rein liberty, if the linings of the nose,
although at first pale, now begin to look flushed and red, and
the mouth becomes hot, proceed to bleed. If the vein rises
well, make a large orifice, so that it may discharge the blood
quickly, watching the effects of the flow. If it rushes out, and
the horse does not falter, take three quarts, or even more,
away. Let his head be turned to the door, and rub and
bandage liis legs up. As soon as the first symptoms go off,
or his legs and ears become cold, briskly hand-rub them,
clothe the body also, and throw up a gruel clyster ; and, unless
the weather be very cold, allow a free current of air, but clothe
the body and give the following : — Sweet spirit of nitre, half
an ounce ; mix with a pint and a half of gruel. Should
active symptoms of weakness come on, horn down equal parts
of gruel and sound ale; and, should the debility increase, horn
these down every half hour, with occasional full doses of
opium also, to allay irritability in the system, and to arrest
the looseness that is usually present.

When active inflammation follows the over-exertions of a
hard day, the over-marking does not immediately show itself.
The horse probably appears at first only moderately fatigued,
but he soon gets a strong shivering fit, accompanied with an
oppressed pulse. The linmg of the nose becomes highly in-
jected, and the breathing much disturbed. The symptoms
which follow vary according to the organ which is the principal
object of attack, and the treatment also must vary with that.
While proper medical assistance is procuring, the groom,
under these symptoms, with propriety may bleed, back-rake,
and bandage up the legs if cold ; but he should avoid giving
any heating, i.e. stimulating, drinks, under the name of
cordials; indeed, he should not give anything supposed to be
medicinal until the horse has been seen by a veterinary
surgeon.

In the article "Fox-Hunting," in our companion volume,
"British Field Sports," will be found some Remarks on
" Riding to Hounds," When treating of " Breaking and
Training the Horse," we shall avoid useless repetition by
noticing the several peculiarities of " Education " required
by horses, according to the purpose for which the animal
under consideration is intended. The article on " The
Paces of the Horse," will also furnish numerous incidental
suggestions.

TRAINING THE HUNTER,

Training the hunter is a simple process, all that is required
being to bring him into good wind, without, at the same time,
reducing him too low in flesh or injuring his sinews; since, on
a long chase, more especially over a heavy country, a horse
needs the aid of his full bodily strength and of his un-
impaired tendinous and muscular powers. It is extremely
dangerous to ride a horse over the countiy which is weak in
its joints, or has the common hurt on the back sinews ; but
the danger is tenfold in taking a flying leap upon such a horse
where the opposite descent is considerable, and the stress upon
his lower limbs in his landing, with a heavy weight upon hia
back, must be excessive. Training must commence with two
or three doses of physic, should the horse be gross and not
have been previously trained. A young horse in his first
training will require most work; but it is an error of the
surest side rather to underdo this business than exceed, because,
if a horse come into the field rather under-worked, being full
of good meat and heart, the easy remedy is to favour and ride
him carefully the first week or two ; but should your training-
groom set you upon a horse harassed and weakened by too
much exercise, he will get worse as the season advances, and
perhaps be totally ruined by tlie end — exclusive of the probable
disgrace of failing you in a long and important day. Old
hunters from spring grass can scarcely be trained too lightly ;
the true test is, that their wind in its course be free and un-
embarrassed; to that point, however, their exercise must at
any rate extend. The lighter the horse's clothing the better,
in view of the heats and colds he must necessarily undergo
in the chase. An early morning's gallop at a good steady
stride, but not speedy, of a mile or two, with a canter after
water in the afternoon, is sufficient for the hunter, and two
months ought to bring him into good condition. A young
horse may have once a week a tolerably sharp rally for one
or two miles, a method which should never be practised with
a seasoned hunter; with which, indeed, walking exercise
may be substituted for the gallop.

Some years since a wordy warfare broke out with respect to
" summering the hunter," in which the disputants bespattered
each other with much animosity. Fiery zealots arose on
either side : the one maintaining the " old " or " natural "
system — to wit, the turning out the hunter after his winter's
work to a summer holiday in the grass. The other party, at
the head of whom was the celebrated writer " Nimrod " (Mr.
Charles Apperley), contended that if we wished really to be-
friend and preserve the animal that has carried us gallantly
through many a long day, we must keep him near us, -confine
him within doors, and feed him upon "hard meat.'' Mr.
Williaio Selby Loundes, M.F.H., turns all his horses out
during the summer months, and insists on its being most
conducive to the strength, health, and endurance of his
hunters during the hunting season, — a system, of course,
like every other about which there is a difference of opinion,
to be tested by experience ; but for ourselves, while con-

392

TRAINING THE HUNTER.

sidering " turning out " as both humane and advisable in
cases of blistering, ill-health, fever, firing, &c., we must give
our vote, from an extensive observation of cavalry and hunting
stables, in favour of the in-door system.

Count Veltheim's opinion is strongly in favour of stable-
summering the hunter : and he assures us that the cavalry
of all continental countries, except Turkey, are no longer
turned out in the summer. " 1 hope," he says, " I may be
permitted to adduce something from my own experience, having ;
for nearly thirty years constantly had at my country seat from
seventy to eighty horses — partly saddle, partly coach, draught,
and breeding horses and colts ; and that, from predilection to
horses, I have always bestowed particular attention upon them.
For a long time it has not been customary on well-managed
estates in this part of the country, to turn horses to grass in
summer, or to give them green food in the stable, with the
exception of brood mares and their foals."

Mr. Apperley's method of summering the hunter is tiius
stated : — " The first step I should take, would be to put the
horse into a loose box, if convenient, and by degrees diminish
his corn, giving him an hour's walking exercise as usual.
I snoaid then give him two doses of physic, which would not
only cool his habit of body so as to prevent the danger of
inflammatory attacks, but wor.ld have that effect on his legs

as would enable me to see what injury had been done to them
in his work — whether there were any ligamentary enlarge-
ments— any injury to the joints or sinews — any callous sub-
stances produced by blows — or, in short, anything going wrong.
The clear state of his legs which this treatment will produce,
would prevent the possibility of working in the dark, as they
will become finer, to use the language of grooms, in three
weeks than they would at the expiration of a three months'
run at grass in the summer." [Letters on Condition, p. 104.)
We must not, however, do this ingenious writer the injustice
to suppose, that he is so wedded to this system as never to
relax from it when occasion requires ; on the contrary, we find
him observing, " so far from beng averse to it (i. e. to
turning out), I would strongly recommend it under favourable
circumstances. In case of having recourse to blistering it is
most serviceable ; and, after firing, almost necessary ; but then
they (the hunters) should be turned out only at night, and
into a place where there is but little grass, and have two, if not
three feeds of corn a day, but nothing else to eat till they go
out, unless it be a few vetches, for four or five days at a
time, when they are young and tender, in the months
of May or June ; but these should not be repeated more
than three or four times, as they tend to make horses very foul,
and when in pod axe most injurious to them."

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c

c

to

H

cc

-n

CD

O

WINNERS OF THE GREAT RACES.

393

WINNERS OF THE GREAT RACES.

THE DERBY.— (Epsom, May or June.) — 1 mile 1 furlongs.

1780
1781
1782
1783
1784
1785
17815
1787
1788
1789
1790
Kill
17 '.12
171)3
17Sli
1795
1796
1797
1798
1799
1800
1801
1802
1S03
1804
1805
1806
1807
1803
1809
1810
1811
1812
1813
1814
1815
1816
1817
1818
1819
1830
1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835
1836
1837
1838
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1«59
18G0
1861
1862
1863
1S64
1865
1866
1867
1808
1869
1870

Sir C. Biinburv .
Ml-. O'Kclly ' .
1.01'd Egreinunt .
Mr. Parker .
Mr. O' Kelly
Lord Clareinnnt .
Mr. Piiiitoii .
i.orti Derhy
Prince of Wales .
Dulte ol' Bedford
Lord Grosvenor .
Dul<e of Bedford
Loni Grosvenor .
Sir P. Poole
Lord Gro.svenor .
Sir F. Staiidisli .
8ir F. Standish .
Duke of Bedford.
Mr. Cocikson
Sir F. Standish .
Mr. Wilson.
Sir C. Hunbury .
Duke of Grafton
Sir II. Williamson
Lord Egremont .
Lord Egremont .
Lord Foley .
Lord Egremont .
Sir II. Willlamhon
Duke of Grafton .
Duke of Grafton.
Sir J. Shelley .
Mr. Ladliroke
Sir C. Bniibnry .
Lord Stawell
Duke of ( i rafton
Dnkc of York .
Mr. Payne .
Mr. Thonihill .
Duke of Portland
Mr. Thornhill .
Mr. Hunter
Duke of York
Mr. Udiiy .
Sir J. Shelley .
Lord Jersey
Lord I-'greraont .
Lord Jersey
Duke of Rnlland
Mr. Gratwicke .
Mr. Cliifney
Lord Lowtlier
Mr. Ridsdale
Mr Sadler .
Mr. Batson .
Mr. Bowrs .
Lord Jersey
Lord Berners
Sir G. Hi'athcote
Mr. W. Hi.lsdnle
Mr. Itobeitson .
Mr. Kawlinson .
Colonel Anson .
Mr. Bowes .
Colonel Peel
Mr. Gvntwicke .
Mr. Gully .
Mr. Pedley .
Lord Clifden
Lord Kglinton .
Lord Zetland
Sir J. Ilawley .
Mr. Bowes ,
Mr. Bowes .
Mr. Gully .
Mr. Popliani
Admiral Ilarcouil
Mr. W. 1' Anson
Sir J. I! aw ley .
Sir J. Ilawley .
Mr. Meny
Colonel Towncley
Mr. Snewing
Mr. R. C. Maylor
Mr. W. P Anson.
Ct. F. de Lagrange
Mr. Sutton .
Mr. Chaplin
Sir J. Ilawley .
Mr. J. Johnstone
Lord Falmoutli .

3d

Diomed, by Flnrizel .
Y. Eclipse, by I-^clipse
Assassin, by Sweetbriar .
Siillram, by Eclipse .
Serjeant, by Ecli|tse .
Aimwell, by Marc Antony
Noble, by Higliflyer .
Sir P. Teazle, by Highflyer
.Sir Thomas, by runtac
Skyscraper, by Higliflyer
Khailamanthus, by Justice
Eager, by Florlzel

John Bull, by Fortitude .
Waxy, by PotSo.s

Dffldalus, by Justice .

Spread Eagle, by Volunteer

Didtrlot, by Trumpeter

c. s. to Pharamnnd, by Fidget .

Sir Harry, by Sir I'eter .
■ Archduke, by Sir I'eter .
tCliarapion, by PotSos
cElennnr, by Whiskey

Tyrant, by PotSos

Dirto, by Sir Peter .

Hannibal, by Driver.

Card. Beaufort, by Gohanna .

Paris, by Sir Peter .

Election, by Gohanna

Fan, by St. (.ieorge .

Pope, by Waxy . . . .

\Nhalebone, by Waxy

Phantom, by Walton

Octavius, by Orville .
fiSmoleusko, by Sorcerer .

Blucher, by Waxy

Whisker, by Waxy .

Prince Leopold, by Hedley

Azor, by Selim . . . ,

Sam, by Scud . . . .

Tiresias, by Soothsayer .

Sailor, by Scud ■ . . .

Gustavus, by Election

Moses, by Seym, or Wh'lebu .

Emilius, by Orville .

Cedric, by Phantom .

Middleton, by Phantom .

Lapdog, by Whalebone

Mameluke, by Partisan .
oCadland, by Andrew .

Frederick, by Little John

Priam, by Emilius

Spaniel, by Whalebone

St. Giles, by Tramp .

I>angerous, by Tramp

Plenipotentiary, by Emilius

Miindig, by Catton .
nBay Middleton, by Sultan

Phosphorus, by Lamplighter .

Amato, by Velocipede

Bloonisbury, by Mulatto .

Little Wonder, by Muley.

Coronation, by Sir Hercules

Attila, by Colwick
rtCoiherstone, by Touchstone

Orlando, by Touchstone .

Merry Monarch, by Slane .

Pyrrhus the First, by Epirus .

Cossack, by II. Platoff
c Surplice, by Touchstone .
cF. Dutchman, by Middleton
cVoltigeur, by \'oltaire

Tedilington,by Orlando .

D. O'liourke, by Birdcatcher .
(X'-Australian. by Melbourne

Andover, by Bay Middleton

\\ ild Dayrell, by Ion

Ellington, by F. Dutchman
ft Blink Bonny, by Melbourne

Be;tdsnian, by Wiatberbit

Musjid, by Newmiuster

Tlinrmantjy. by Melbourne

Kettledrum, by Rataplan .

Caractacus. by Kingston .
aMacaroni, by Sweetmeat .
c Blair Athol, by Stockwell
cGladiateur, by Monarque .
(irl.ord Lyon, by Stockwell

Heruiit, by Newminster .

Blue iJown, by Beadsman
aPretender, by Adventurer

Kingcraft, by King Tom .

S. ArnuIL

Hindley.

S. ArnuIL

Hindley.

J. ArnuIL

Hindley.

J White.

S. ArnuIL

W South.

Chifney. sen.

J. AinulL

Stephenson.

Buckle

Cljft.

Buckle.

Wheatley.

J. Arnull.

J. Singleton.

S. Arnull

J. Arnull

Clift.

Saunders,

Buckle.

Clift.

W. Arnull

Fitzpatriclc.

Shepherd.

J. ArnuIL

Collinson.

Goodison,

Clift.

Buckle

W. Arnull.

Goodison.

W. Arnull.

(ioodison.

Wheatley.

Kobinson.

S. Chifney.

Clift.

S. Chifney.

S. Day.

Goodison.

Buckle.

Hobinson.

Robinson.

Dockeray.

Hobinson.

Kobinsoa.

Forth.

S. Day.

Wheatley.

ScoU.

Cliapple.

Conolly.

Scott.

Robinson.

G. Edwards.

Chappie.

Tenipleman.

Macdonald.

Conolly.

Scott.

Scott.

K hitman.

F. Bell.

S. Day.

Templeman.

Templeman.

Marlow.

J . M arson.

J Marson.

F. Butler.

V. Butler.

A. Day.

Sherwood,

Alder oft.

Charlton.

Wells.

Wells.

Custance.

Bullock.

J. Parsons.

Challoner.

J. Sm^wden.

Grimshaw.

Custance.

Daley.

Wells.

J. Osborne.

T. French.

THE V^nBY— Continued.

Year.

Own.r.

Winner.

Istr.

Jeckejr.

1871

Baron Kothschild

Favonius, by Parmesan .

17

T. .TCnch.

1872

Mr. H. Savile .

Cremome, by Parmesan .

23

Maidmcnt,

1873

Mr. .Merry .

Doncaster, by Stockwell .

12

Webb.

1874

Mr. Cartwright .

G. Fiederick, by Marsyas

20

distance.

187S

Prince Batlhyany

Galopin, by Vedette ,

18

Mturis.

1876

Mr. A. Baltaz7,i .

Kisber, by iluccaneer

15

Mftidment.

1877

Lord lalniouth .

c Silvio, by Blair Athol

17

1878

Mr. Crawfurd

Sefton, by Speculum .

22

Constable.

1R79

M. Ac:on

Sir Bevys, by Favonius .

S!3

l^rdharo.

1880

Duke of Westminster

Bend Or. by Doncaster

19

F. Aicher.

1881

Ml. Lorillard

c li oquois, by Leamington .

15

F. Archer.

1882

Duke of Westminster

((8hoiover, by Hermit

14

T. Cannon.

1883

Sir F. Johnstone

St Blaise, by Hermit

11

C. Wood.

1884

f Mr. J. llanimonJ
(Sir J, Willougliby .

St Gatien, | .„. , , „.,
cHarvester; r''''""'^'" • '

15

C. Wood.

S. Loates.

1885

Lord Hastings .

Melton, by Master Kildare

12

F. Archer.

1886

Duke of Westminster

tcOrnionde, by Bend Or

9

F. Archer.

1887

Mr. Abington .

Merrv Hampton, by Hampton

11

Watts.

18S.S

Duke of Portland

^Ayrshire, by Hampton

9

!■•. Barrett

1889

Duke of Portland

cDonovan, by Galopin

13

T Loatcs.

1890

Sir J. Miller

Sainfoin, by Springfield .

8

J. Watts.

1891

Sir F. Johnstone

acCommon, by Isononiv

11

G. Barrett.

1892

Lord Bradford .

Sir Hugo, by Wisdom

1.3

F Allsopp.

1893

Mr. H. M'Calmont .

iclsinglass, by Isonomy

11

T. Loates.

1894

Lord Rosebery .

TLatlas, by Hampton .

7

M. Catinon.

1895

Lord Rosebery .

Sir Visto, by Barcaldine .

15

S Loates.

1896

Prince of Wales

cPersimmon ....

11

J. Watts.

1897

Mr. J. Gubbins .

acGaltee More ....

11

C. Wood.

1898

Mr. Larnach

Jeddah

18

0. Madden.

Those horses marked (a) also won the Two Thousand, (b) the Oaks, and (e) the
St. Leger.

THE OAKS.— (Epsom, May or June.)— 1 nille 4 furlongs.

1779

1780
1781

1782
1783
1784
1785
1786
1787
178S
1789
1790
1791
1792
1793
1794
1795
1796
1797
1793
1799
1800
1801
1802
1803
1804
1805
1806
1807
1808
1809
1810
1811
1812
1813
1814
1815
1816
1817
1818
1819
1820
1821
1822
1623
1824
1825
1826
1827

Ld. Derby .
Mr. Douglas
Ld. Grosvenor
Ld. Grosvenor
Ld. Grosvenor
Mr. Burton
Ld. Clermont
Sir F. Standish
Mr. Vernon
Ld. Egremont
Ld. Egremont
D. of Bedford
D. of Bedford
Ld. Clermont
D. of Bedford
Ld. Derby .
Ld. Egremont
Sir F Standibh
Ld. Grosvenor
Mr. Durand
Ld. Grosvenor
Ld. Egremont
Sic C. Bunbury
Mr. Wastell
Sir T. Gat,coigne
D. of Grafton
Ld. Grosvenor
Mr. Craven
Gen. Grosvenor
D. of Grafton
Gen. Gower
Sir W Gerard
D. of Rutland
Mr. Hewett
D. of Grafton
D. of liutland
D. of Grafton
Gen, Gower
Mr. Watson
Mr. Undy .
Mr. Thornhill
Ld. Egremont
Ld. Exeter .
D. of Giafton
D. of Grafton
Ld. Jersey .
Gen. Grosvenor
Mr. Forth
D. of Richmond

Bridget, by Herod
Teetotum, by Match 'em
Faith, by Herod .
Ceres, by Sweet William ,
Md. of the Oaks, by Herod
Stella, by Plunder .
Trifle, by Justice
Peidita fiUy, by Tandem
Annette, by Eclipse .
Nightshade, by PotS*^s,
Tag, by Trentham, .
Hyppoiita. by Mercury
Portia, Ity Volimteer .
Violante, by Highflyer
Ccelia, by Volunteer .
Hermione, by Sir i'eter
I'latina, by Mercury .
Parasote, by Sir Peter
Nik^, by Alexander .
Bellissima, by Phenomenon
Bellina, b* Rockingham
Ephemera, by Woodpecker

c Eleanor, bv Whiskey
Scotia, by Delpini
Theophania, by Delpini
Pelisse, by Whiskey
Meteora, by Meteor .
Bronze, by Kuzzard .
Briseis. by Beningbrough
Morel, by Sorcerer. .
Md. of Orleans by Sorcerer
Oriana, by Beninybrough .
Sorcery, by Sorcerer .
Manuella, by Dick. Andrews
Music, by Waxy
Medora, by Selim
Minuet, by Waxy
Landscape, by Rubens

Z*Neva, by Cervantes .

iCorinne, by Waxy
Shoveller, by Scud .
Caroline, by Whalebone
Ausrusta. by Woful .

'iPastille. by Rubens .

^'Zinc. by Woful .

/.Cobweb, bv Phantom
Wings, by The Flyer
L-ilias, by Interpreter
Gulnare, by Smolensko

Goodison.

Chifney, sen.

Chifney, sen.

C. Hindley.

J. Bird.

J. Edwards.

Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick.

Chifney, sen.

Chifney, sen.

J. Singleton.

C. Hindley.

J. Singleton.

S. Arm. 11.

Fitzpatrick.

J. Am-Jll.

Buckle.

Buckle.

Buckle.

Fitzpatrick.

Saunders.

Buckle.

Buckle.

Clift.

Buckle.

Edwards.

S. Chifney.

Clitt.

J. Moss.

W. Peirse.

Chifney.

W. Peirse.

Goodison.

Barnard.

T. Goodison.

S. Chifney.

Buckle.

Buckle.

S. Chifney.

H. Edwards.

J. Hobinson.

H. Edwards.

Buckle.

J- Robinson.

S. Chifney.

Lye.

F. Boyce.

394

WINNERS OF THE GEEAT EACES.

THE OAKS—Continued.

Ye»r.

0\vner.

Winner.

Str«.
14

Jockey.

1828

D. ofGraftoQ

Turquoise, by Selim.

J. B. Day.

1828

Ld. Exeter .

Green Mantle, by Sultan .

14

Dockeray,

1S30

Mr. Stonehewer .

Variation, by Bustard

18

G. Kdwards.

1831

D. of Grafton

Oxygen, by Eniilius .

21

.1. B. Day.

1832

Ld. Exeter .

JGalata, by Sultan

19

ConoUy.

1833

Sir JI. Wood

Vespa, by Muley

19

Chappie.

1834

Mr. Cosby .

Pussy, by Pollio

15

J. B. Day.

1835

Mr. Mo.st>n

.;Q. of Trumps, by Velocipede .

10

Lye.

183G

Mr. SciKt .

Cvprian. by Partisan

12

Scott.

1S37

M. Powlett .

Mis3 Letty, by Priam

13

J. Holmes.

1838

Ld. Cliestei-field .

Industry, by Priam .

16

Scott.

1839

Mr. F. Craven .

Deception, by Defence

13

J. B. Day.

1840

Ld. G. Bentinck.

iZ.Crucifix, by Priam .

15

J. B. Day.

1841

Ld Westminster

Ghuznee, by Pantaloon .

22

Scott.

1842

Mr. G Dawson .

Our Nell, by Bran .

16

Lye.

1843

Mr. Ford .

Poison, by Plenipotentiary

23

P. Butler.

1844

Col. Anson .

The Princess, by Slane

25

F. Butler.

1845

D. of Richmond .

Refraction, by Glaucus

21

H. BclL

1S46

Mr. Gully .

/'Mendicant, by Touchstone

24

S Day.

1847

Sir J. liawley .

Miami, by Venison .

23

Templeman.

1848

Mr. H. Hill

Cymba, by Melbourne

26

Templeman.

1819

Ld. Cheslei-field .

l.'adv Evelyn, bv Don John

15

F. Butler.

1850

Mr. Hobson

Rhe'dycina, by Wintonian

15

F. llutler.

1851

Ld. Stanley

Iris, bv Ithuriel

15

F. Butler.

1852

Mr. J. Scott

Songsiress, by Birdcatcher

14

F. Butler.

lh53

Mr. Wanchope .

Cath, Hayes, by Lanercost

17

Marlow.

1854

Mr. W. Cookson

Mincemeat, by Sweatmeat

15

Charlton.

1855

Mr. R.Ee.d

Marchioness, by Melbourne

11

Templeman.

185G

Mr. H. Hill

Mincepie, by Sweatmeat .

10

A. Day.

1857

Mr. W.l' Anson.

c Blink I'.onny. by Melbourne .

13

Charlton.

1858

Mr. Gratwicke .

tGoverness. by Chatham .

13

Ashmall.

1859

Ld Londesboro' .

Summerside, bv W. Australian

15

G. Fordham.

1860

Mr. Eastwood

Butterfly, by f urnus .

13

.1. Snowden.

1S6I

Mr. J. Saxon

B. Ducliess, by F. Dutchman ,

17

L. Snowden,

1862

Mr. Naylor .

Feu de Joie, by Longbow .

19

T. Chaloner.

1863

Ld. Falmouth ,

Queen Bertha, by Kingston

20

Aldcroft.

1864

Ct Lagrange

Fille de I'Air, by F. a Ballagh

19

A . Edwards.

18S5

Mr. W. Graham .

Regalia, by Stockwell

18

Norman.

1866

Mr. Dunbar

Tormentor, by King Tom .

17

J.Mann.

1867

Baron Rothschild

Hippia, by King Tom

8

J. Daley.

1868

Mr. W.Graham.

feFormosa, by Buccaneer .

9

Fordham.

1869

Sir F. Johnstone

Brigantine. by Buccaneer.

15

T. Cannon.

1870

Mr. W. Graham .

Games, by Saunterer

7

Fordham.

1871

Baron Rothschild

tiiHannah, by KingTom .

9

Maidmeut.

1872

Mr. Lefevre

6Reine, by Monarque .
idMarie Stuart, by S. Chief

17

Fordham.

1673

Mr. Merry .

18

T. Cannon.

1874

Mr. Launde

&(/Apology, by Adventurer .

11

J. Osborne.

1875

Ld. Falmouth .

JSpinaway, by Macaroni .

7

F. Archer

1876

M. Lupin

Engnerrande, by Vermont

14

Hudson.

1877

Mr. Pnlteney

Placidii, by Lord Lyon

9

H. Jeffrey.

1678

Ld. Falmouth .

rfjannette, by Lord Clifden

8

F. Archer.

1879

Ld. Falmouth

Wl. of Fort., by Adventurer .

8

F. Archer.

1880

.Mr. Perkin .

Jenny Howlet, by The Palmer

13

J. Snowden.

1881

Mr. Crawfurd

Whebais, by Hermit .

12

Fordham.

1882

Ld. Stamford

Geheimiiiss, by Rosicrucian

5

T. Cannon.

1883

Ld. Rosebery

Bonny Jean, by Macaroni .

14

Watts.

1884

Mr. Abinpton

Busybody, by Petrarch

9

T. Cannon.

1885

Ld. Cadogan

Lonely, by Hermit .

10

F. Archer.

1886

D. of Hamilton .

6Miss Jummy, by Petrarch

12

Watts.

1887

D. of Beaufort .

IReve d'Or, by Hampton .

9

C. Wood.

18S8

Ld. Calthorpe .

dSeabreeze, by Isonomy

6

Robinson.

1889

Ld. R. Churchill

L'Abbesse de Jouaire

12

J. Woodburn.

1890

D. of Portland

dMemoir, by St. Simon

7

J. WatlB.

18<)1

Sir T. Sykes

Mimi.hy Barcaldine

6

Bickaby.

1892

Baron de Hirsch

MLa Fleche, by St Simon

7

G. Barrett.

1893

Duke of Portland, .

Mrs. Butterwick. by St. Simon,

17

J. Watts.

1894

Duke of Portland

JAniiable, by St. Simon, .

11

W. Bradford.

1895

Sir .J. Miller .

La Sagcsse, by Wisdom .

15

S. Loates.

1S96

Lord Derby

Canterbury Pilgiim

11

Eickabv.

1897

Lord Hindlip

Limasol

8

W. Bradford.

lb98

Mr. W. T. Jones

Airs and Graces

13

Bradford.

(a) also won the Two Thousand, (J) One Thousand, (c) Derby, (i) St. Leger.

THE

ST. LEGER— (Doncaster, Septemlier.)
1 mile 6 furlongs 132 yards.

THE ST. LEGER — Continued,

Year.

Owner.

Winner.

Strp.

Jockey.

1776

Ld. Rockingham

Allahaculia, by Sampson .

6

Singleton.

1777

Mr. Sotheron

Eonrbon, by Le Sang

10

J. Cade.

1778

SuT. Gascoigne

Hollandaise, bv Match'era

S

G. Hearon.

1779

Mr. Stitpleton .

Tommy by Wild^iir

10

G. Lowry.

17S0

Mr. Bethell .

Ruler, by Young Marske .

7

Mangle.

1781

Col. Radcliffe .

Serina, by Goldtinder

9

Forster.

1782

Mr. Pratt .

Imperatrix, by Alfred

5

Searle.

1783

Sir J. L. Kave .

Plienomenon. bv Herod

4

Hall.

1784

Mr. Coates .

Oinphale, by Highfiyer .

7

Kirkton.

1785

Mr. Hill

Cowslip, by Highfiyer

4

Searle.

1766

Lord A. Hamilton

Paragon, hy Pavniaster .

8

Mangle.

1787

Lord A. Hamilton

Spadille. by Highflyer

6

Mangle.

1788

Lord A. Hamilton

Yonng Flora, bv Highflyer

5

Mangle.

1-89

Lord Fitzwilliam

Pewet, by Tandem .

fi

Mangle.

1790

Mr. Denltry

Ambidexter, by Phenomenon .

8

Searle.

• 1791

Mr. Hutchinson .

\ g Trjiveller. bv K. Fergus .

8

1792

Lord A. Hamilton

Tartar, by Florizel .

11

Mangle.

1793

Mr. Clifton . .

Ninetv-three, by Florizel .

8

Peirse.

1794

Mr. Hutchinson .

Penin-jbrouph, by K. Fergus .

8

Jackson.

1795

Sir C. Turner .

Hambletonian. by K.Fergus .

fi

Boyes.

1796

Mr. Cookson

Ambrosio, by Sir Peter .

7

Jackson.

Tear.

Owner.

Winner.

i?tn.

Joek«7.

1797

Mr. G. Crompton

Lounger, by Drone .

8

Shepherd.

1798

Sir 'P. Gascoigne

Synimetiy, by Delpini

10

Jackson.

1799

Sir H. T. Vane .

Cockfighter, by Overton .

7

Field.

160O

Mr. Wilson

Cliampion, by PotSos

10

Buckle.

1801

Mr. G. Crompton

Quiz, by Buzzard

8

Shepherd.

1802

Lord Fitzwilliam

Orville. by Eeningbrongh

7

Singleton, jun.

1 803

Lord Strathmore

Remembrancer, by Pipator

8

B. Smith.

1804

Mr. Mellish

Sancho, by Don Quixote .

11

Buckle.

1805

Mr. Mellish

Staveley, by Shuttle .

10

Jackson,

1806

Mr. Clifton .

Fyldener, by Sir Peter

15

Carr.

1807

Lord Fitzwilliam

Paulina, by Sir Peter

16

Clift.

1808

Duke of Hamilton

Petronius, hy Sir Peter .

12

B. Smith.

1809

Duke of Hamilton

Ashton, by Walnut .

14

B. Smith.

1810

Duke of Leeds .

Octavian.'by Stripling

8

Clift.

1811

Mr. Gascoigne .

Soothsayer, by Sorcerer .

24

B. Smith.

1812

Mr. Rob . . .

Ottrington. by Golimipus .

24

Johnson.

1813

Mr. Watt .

Altisidora, by Dick Andrews .

17

Jackson.

1814

Duke of Hamilton

William, by Governor

12

Shepherd.

1815

Sir W. Maxwell .

Filho da Puta, by Haphazard .

15

Jackson.

1816

Sir B. R. Graham

Duchess, by Cardinal York

13

B. Smith.

1817

Mr Peirse .

Ebor, by Orville

18

Johnson.

1818

Mr. Peirse .

Reveller, by Comus .

21

J ohnsoiL

1819

Mr. Ferguson

Antonio, by Octdvian

14

Nicholson.

1820

Sir E. Smith

St. Patrick, by Walton .

27

J. Johnson.

1821

Mr. T. 0. Powlett

Jack Spigot by Ardrossan

13

W.Scott.

1822

Mr. Petre .

Tlieodore, by Woful .

23

Jackson.

1823

Mr. Watt .

Barefoot, by Tramp .

12

Goodisnn

1624

Mr. Gascoigne .

Jerry, by Smolensko .

23

B. Smith.

1625

Mr. Watt .

Meinnon, by Whisker

30

W. Scott.

1826

Lord Scarborough

Tarrare, by Catton .

27

Nelson.

1827

Mr. Petre .

Matilda, by Comus .

2S

J. Robinson

1828

Mr. Petre .

The Colonel, by Whisker ,

19

W. Scott.

1829

Mr. Petre .

llowton, by Oiseau .

19

W. Scott.

1830

Mr. Beardsworth

Birmingham, by Filho da Puta

23

P. Conolly.

IMl

Lord Cleveland .

Chorister, by Ijottery

24

J. B. Day.

1832

Mr. Gully .

Margrave, by Muley .

17

J. Robinson.

1833

Mr. Watt .

Rockingham, by H. Clinker

20

Darling.

1834

Lord Westminster .

Touchstone, by Camel

11

Calloway.

1835

Mr. Mostyn .

Trumps, by Velocipede

U

Lye.

1836

Lord Lichfield .

Elis, by Langar . . . .

14

J. Day.

1837

Mr. Greville

Mango, by Emilius

13

S D.ay.jun.

1838

Lord Chesterfield

D. Jon, by Tramp (Wavcrleyj .

7

W. Scott.

1839

Major Yarburgh.

Charles XII., by Voltaire .

14

W. Scott,

1840

Lord Westminster .

Launcelot, by Camel .

11

W. Scott.

1841

Lord Westminster

Satirist, by Pantaloon

11

W. Scott.

1812

Lord Eglinton .

Bine Bonnet, by Touchstone .

17

Lye.

1843

Mr. S. Wrather .

Nuiwith, by Tomboy .

t.

J. Marson.

1844

Mr. E. J. Irwin .

Faugh-a-Ballagh, by Hercules .

9

II. Bell.

1845

Mr. Watt .

The Baron, by Birdcatcher

15

F. Butler.

1846

Mr. W. Scott .

Sir Sa. Sykes, by Melbourne .

12

W. Scott.

1847

Lord Eglinton .

Van Tromp, by Lanercost .

8

J. Marson.

1848

Lord Clifden

Surplice, by Touchstone .

9

Flatinan.

1849

Lord Eglinton .

F. Dutchman, by B. Mi-.ldleton .

10

Marlow.

1850

Lord Zetland

Voltigeur, by Voltaire

8

J. Marson.

1851

Mr. A. Nichol .

Newminster, by Touchstone

18

Templeman.

1852

Lord E.\eter

Stockwell. by The Baron .

6

Norman.

1853

Mr. Bowes .

W. Australian, by Melbourne .

10

F. Butler.

1854

Mr. Mori-is .

K. of St. George, by Birdcatcher

18

Basham.

1855

Mr. T. Parr.

Saucebox, by 8t. Lawrence

12

Wells.

1856

Mr. Nichol .

Warlock, by Birdcatcher .

9

Flatman.

1857

Mr. J. Scott

Imperieuse, by Orlando

11

Fiatman.

1858

Mr. Meriy .

Sunbeam, by Chanticleer .

18

L. Snowden.

1859

Sir C. Monck .

Gamester, by The Cossack

11

Aldcroft.

1860

Lord Ailesbury .

St. Albans, by Stockwell .

15

li. Snowden.

18til

Mr. W. I'AnsoB

Caller On, by Stockwell .

18

T. Chaloner.

1862

Mr. S. Hawke .

The Marquis, by Stockwell

15

T. Chaloner.

1863

Lord St. Vincent

Lord Clifden, by Newminster .

19

J. Osborne.

1864

Mr. I'Anson

Blair Athol, by Stockwell

10

J. Snowden.

1865

Count de Lagrange .

Gladiateur, by Monarque .

14

Grimshaw.

1866

Mr. Sutton .

Lord Lyon, by Stockwell .

11

Custance.

1867

Colonel Pearson .

Achievement, by Stockwell

12

T. Chaloner.

1868

Mr. Graham

Formo.sa, by Buccaneer .

12

T. Chaloner.

18K9

Sir J. Hawley

Pero Gomez, by Beadsman

11

Wells.

1870

Mr. T. V. Morgan

Hawthornden. by L. Clifden .

19

J. Grimshaw.

1871

Baron Rothschild

Hannah, by King Tom

10

Maidmeut,

1872

Lord Wilton

Wen lock, by L. Clifden .

17

Maidment.

1873

Mr. Merry .

Marie Stuart, by S. Chief

8

T. Osborne.

1874

Mr. Launde .

Apology, by Adventurer .

13

J. Osborne.

1876

Mr. W. Crawfurd

Craigmillar, by Blair Athol

13

T. Chaloner.

1876

Lord Dupplin

Petiarch, by Lord Clifden

9

J. Goater.

1677

Lord Falmouth ,

Silvio, by Blair Athol

14

F. Archer.

1878

Lord Falmouth .

Jannette, by Lord Clifden

14

F. Archer.

1879

Count Lagrange .

<; Rayon D'Or. by Flageolet

17

J. Goater.

1880

Mr. C. Brewer .

Robert the Devil, by Bertram .

12

T. Cannon.

1881

Mr. Lorillard

ilroquois. by Leamington .

15

F. Archer.

1882

Lord Falmouth ,

Dutch Oven, by Dutch Skater .

14

F. Archer.

1883

Duke of Hamilton

Ossian, by Salvator .

9

J. Watts.

1884

Mr. R. C. Vyner .

The Lambkin, by Camballo

13

J. Watts.

1885

Lord Hastings .

cMelton, by Master Kildare

10

F. Archer.

1886

Duke of Westminster

acOrmonde, by Bend Or

7

F. Archer.

1867

Lord Rodney

Kilwarlin, by Arbitrator .

9

Robins m.

1888

Lord Calthorpe .

Seabreeze, by Isonomy .

16

Robinson.

1889

Duke of Portland

Donovan, by Galopin

12

F. Barrett

1890

Duke of Portland

Memoir, by St. Simon

15

J. Watts.

1891

Sir F. Johnstone

tcCommon, by Isonomy

9

G. liar.ett.

1892

Baron de Hirsch

iLa Fleche, by St. Simon .

U

J. Watts.

1893

Mr. H. M'Calmont

aclsinglass. by Isonomy

7

T. Loates.

1894

Lord Alington .

Throstle, by Petrarch

8

M. CannoiL

1895

Lord Eosebery .

cSir Visto, by Barcaldine .

11

S. Loates.

1896

Prince of Wales

cPersimmon , . , .

7

J. Watts.

1897

Mr J. Gubbins

acGaltee More

6

C. Wood.

1898

Capt. Greer

Wildfnwler

12

C. Wood.

(a) also won the Two Thousand, (6) One Thousand, (c) Derby.

WINNERS OF THE GEEAT RACES.

395

ASCOT GOLD CUP (June.)
2 miles 1 furlongs.

Tear.

Winner.

Age.

Weight.

Jockey.

yn.

8t. 11..

lSfl7

Master Jackej'

3

6 12

—

1808

rtlirighton

4

8 2

—

1809

Andcria

4

7 13

—

1810

Loiterei-

4

8 2

—

1811

/'Jannetto

4

7 13

—

181-2

Flash . .

3

6 10

—

1813

Lutzen .

4

8 2

—

1814

Pranks .

b

8 9

—

1816

Aladdin .

D

8 12

.—

1616

Anticipation .

4

8 2

.—

1817

Sir liichard .

4

8 2

—

1818

BelTille .

a

H 3

—

1819

Anticipation .

a

9 3

—

1820

Champignon

4

8 2

—

1821

Banker .

ft

8 12

—

1822

Sir Hildebrand

4

8 2

-~

1823

c Marcellus

4

8 2

Wheatley.

1824

Hizarre .

4

8 2

W. Arnull-

1825

Bizarre .

f>

8 12

W. Arnnll.

1826

Margaux

4

8 2

G. Dockeray.

1827

Meranon

5

8 12

S. Chifney.

1S28

Bobadilla

3

6 7

T. Lye.

1829

Zinganee

8 2

Chifney.

1830

Lucetta .

7 13

Robinson.

1831

Cetiis

8 2

Robinson.

1832

t/Caniarine

7 13

Robinson.

1833

Galata .

7 13

Arnnll.

1834

Glaucus

8 2

Scott.

l83fl

Glencne

8 2

Robinson.

1836

Touctistone .

.T

8 12

J. Day.

1837

Touchstone .

R

9 3

Scott.

1&38

Grey Momus

3

0 10

W. Day.

1839

Caravan

f>

9 0

Itobinson.

1840

St. I'rancis .

5

9 0

Cliifney.

1841

lianercost

fi

9 3

Noble.

1812

Beeswing

a

9 0

Cartwright.

1843

Ralph .

5

9 0

Robinson.

1844

eThe Emperor

3

6 3

Wliitehouse.

[The Empekor's Plate.]

1845
1846
1847
1818
1849
1860
1851
1852
1853

Tlie Emperor

Alarm .

The Hero

The Hero

Van Tromp .

Flying Dntcliman

Woolwicli

Joe Miller

Teddingtou

4

8 5

4

8 6

4

8 5

."i

9 0

5

9 0

4

8 5

5

9 0

S

6 10

5

9 0

Wliitehouse,
Flatraan.
A. Day,
A. Day.
Mfirlow,
Marlow.
J. M arson.
G. Mann.
J. M arson.

[Ascot Gold

CUF

—Ren

EWED.]

1834

West Australian .

4

8 6

A. Day.

1&=.5

Fandango

3

6 10

Asliinall.

1856

Winklield .

5

9 0

Bartliolomew,

18,57

Skirmislier .

3

6 10

Cliarlton.

185S

Fislierman .

5

9 0

Wells.

1R59

Fisherman .

6

9 3

Cresswell.

1860

Rupee .

3

6 7

H. Grimsliaw.

1861

Thorraanby .

4

8 7

Cnstance.

1862

Astei-oid

4

8 7

Wells.

1863

/Buckstone

4

8 7

A. Edwards.

1861

Scottish Chief

3

7 5

H. Covey.

1865

jEly . . .

4

8 10

Custance.

1.S66

Gladiateur .

4

8 10

H. Grimsliaw.

1867

Lecturer

4

8 10

Fordham.

186,8

Blue Gown .

3

7 5

Cameron.

1863

Brigantine .

3

7 2

D. Butler.

1870

Sabinus.

.3

7 2

Rowell.

1R71

Mortimer

6

9 6

Fordliam.

1872

Henry .

4

8 10

Foidliam.

1873

Cremorne

4

8 10

Maidment.

1874

Boiard .

4

8 10

Carver.

1875

Doncaster

5

9 3

Fordham.

1876

Apology

5

9 0

J. Osborne.

1877

Petrarch

4

8 10

Cannon.

1878

Verneuil

4

8 10

Goater.

1S79

Isonomy .

4

8 10

Cannon.

18S0

Isonomy

5

9 3

Cannon.

1881

Robert the Devil .

4

9 0

Cannon.

1882

Foxhall . .

4

9 0

Cannon.

1R,S3

Tristan .

5

9 4

Fordliam.

1884

St. Simon

3

7 9

C. Wood.

1885

St. Gatien .

4

9 0

C. Wood.

1SS6

Altliorp .

4

9 0

Cannon.

1S'<7

Bird of Freedom .

5

9 4

Warne.

1888

Timothy

4

S 0

Robinson.

1883

Tiavles .

4

9 0

Robinson.

IRfln

Gold .

4

9 0

F. Webb.

1891

Morion .

4

9 0

J. Watts.

lfi92

Buccaneer .

4

9 0

G. Barrett.

1893

Marcion

3

7 7

S. Chandley.

1894

La Fleclie

5

9 1

J. Watts.

1895

Isinglass.

5

9 4

T. Loates.

18',I6

Love Wisely

3

7 7

S. Loates.

1897

Persimmon .

4

9 0

J. Watts.

1698

Elf II. . . .

5

9 4

E. Watkins.

DONCASTER CHAMPAGNE STAKES— (Sept.)
2 year old— ^ furlongs 152 yards.

18-33
18J-i
1H:'5
182fi
1827
1828
1829
18:i0
1831
1832
1833
ltt34
1835
183ti
1837
18:^8
1839
1840
1811
1812
18-13
1844
1845
1^46
1847
181S
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
1660
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
181)8
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1S74
1875
1876
1877
1873
1879
1880
1.S81
1882
18S3
ls8i
1885

1886

1837
1S8S
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
18P5
1896
l'^97
1898

Siviss .
JMeninnn

Kin^ Catton .

Moonshine .
jThe Colonel ,

Cant

Bud

Frederic a

Francesca

Mulev Moloch

Cotilion .

Coriolanns

neeswing

Jeieed .
JDon John

Eliza
tLauncelot

Kedge .
*AttiIa .

British Yeoman

The Cure

Lanes. Witch

Piiiieess Alice
JVan Tromp .

Assault .
•JF. Dutchman

The Italian .
gAphrodit^

Aut;ur .

Vindex .

Champagne .

Bonnie Morn
♦Ellington

Tasmania

Gildermire

Prelude .

King of Diamonds

Walloon
tThe Marquis
JLord Clilden .

Ely

Zarabe.^i .
ARedan .
JAcliievement

Virtue .

Morn a .

Sunshine

K. of the Forest

Cremorne
•Kaiser .

Napoleon III.

Camballo

Farnese .

Lady Golightly

Clementine .

Charibert

Evasion .

BalGal.

Kermesse

Hauteur

Superba .

Langwell

Minting.
j Panzer.-chiflf > dead
1 Grandison j heat

Ayrsliire

Chitabob

Riviera .

Haute Saone .

La Fleche

Prize

Ladas

Solaro .

Omladina

Vela?quez

Ayah

Mark For'ard

Jockey.

W. Scott.
W. Scott.
J. Jackson.
G. I'idwarda.
W. Scott.
T. Lye.
Owner.
S. Darling
W. Scott.
T. Lye.
W. Scott.
P. ConoUy.
Cartwright,
W. Scott.
W. Scott.
T. Lye.
W. Scott.
J. Holmes.
W. Scott.
S. Templeman.
HeBseltine.
Flatman.
W. Abdale
J. M arson.
Edivarde.
Marlow
Templeman.
J. M arson.
J. Marson.
J. Marson.
S. Rogers.
J. Marson.
Aldcroft.
Holmes.
Aldcroft.
J. Osborne.
Fordham.
A. Edwards.
Fordham,
Fordham.
Aldcroft.
H. Covey.
J. Grimsliaw.
Custance.
J. Snowden.
J.Adams.
Fordham
J. Snowden.
Maidment.
Maidment.
F. Webb.
J. Osborne.
F. Archer.
F. Archer.
Goater.
F. Archer.
Snowden.
F. Archer.
Cannon.
Fordham.
F. Archer.
F. Archer.

F, Archer.
Watts.

G. Barrett
0. Wood.
Fagan.

T. Loates.

F. Barrett.

G. Barrett.
J. Watts.
A.White.
M. Caimon.
M. Cannon.
J. Watts.
T. Loates.
M. Cannon.

a After a dead heat with Butler's Epsom, 4 yrs. Sst. 21b.
;) Ashmole'3 Sniallhupes, 6yrs., came in first, but was
disqualified, his owner having omitted to make stakes.

c Mr. J. Dilly's Netherfield, 4 yrs., came in first, but was
disqualified on the ground of a cross.

d After a dead heat with Mr. W. Chifney's Rowton, 6 yrs.,
9st. 31b. I S. Chifney).

e Carried 31b. over-weight.

/After a dead heat with Lord W. Poulett's Tim Whiffler,
4 yrs., Sst. 71b. (S. Rogers).

g After a dead heat with Lord Glasgow's Gen. Peel,
4 yrs. Sst. 101b. (Fordham).

h Redan walked over, after a dead heat with Lord Lyon
(J. Osborne).

i Stakes divided, and Surinam w.o.

(*) Subsequently won the Derby; (t) the Two Thousand;
(J) the St. Leger; (g) the One Thousand.

GRANB NATIONAL STEEPLECHASE -

(Liverpool, March.) — 1 miles 856 yards.

Year.

Winner.

Ag..

WelghL

et»rt«™.

yr«.

•t. lb..

1870

Colonel .

"S-

11 12

23

1871

Lamb

a«.

11 6

25

1S7J

CaBse Tete

«S-

10 0

25

1873

Disturbance .

U

U 11

28

1874

KenL,'ny .

6

10 1-.'

22

187.5

I'atliander .

»!?•

10 11

19

1876

Kegal .

5

11 3

19

1877

Austerlitz

6

10 8

16

1878

Shifnal .

"B-

10 12

12

1879

Liberator

OK-

11 4

18

1880

Empress

0

10 7

14

1881

Woodbrook .

»g-

11 3

13

1882

Seaman .

6

11 6

12

1883

Zoedone

8

n 0

10

1884

Voluptuary .

6

10 6

15

1885

Roquefort

«

11 0

19

1886

(JId Joe

ag.

10 9

23

1887

Gamecocit

"g-

11 u

16

1888

Plajfair

ag.

10 7

20

ItS'J

Frigate

ag.

11 4

20

1690

Ilex

6

10 5

16

1891

Come Away .

»g-

11 12

21

1892

Father O'Flynn .

ag-

10 6

25

1893

Cloister

»g-

12 7

15

1894

Wl.v Not

ag-

11 13

14

1895

Wild Man, fr. Borneo

ag.

10 11

19

1896

Soarer .

ag.

9 13

28

1897

Manilesto

ag.

11 3

28

1898

DroKheda

6

10 12

23

NORTHUMBERLAND PLATE-

(Newcastle, June) — 2 miles.

Year.

Winner.

Ag..

Weight.

Jocker.

yra.

<t. \b.

1833

Tomboy .

8 2

It. Johnson.

1834

Fanny .

7 2

Wintringham.

1835

Satan .

8 4

T. Lye.

1836

Cyprian

6 0

J. Gray.

1837

Wedge .

8 4

T. Lye.

1838

St. Bonnet .

7 0

T. Lye.

1839

St. Bennet .

8 8

T. Lye.

1810

Hetman Platoff .

8 4

Flatman.

1841

Calypso .

8 0

Templeman.

1842

Heslington .

7 4

J. Joy.

1843

Moss Trooper

7 6

Francis.

1844

The ^ra

7 1

T. Lye.

1845

Inheritress .

R

7 10

T. Lye.

1846

Dolo

3

6 fi

J. Prince.

1847

Ery.x

3

6 8

J. Prince.

1848

Chanticleer .

6

8 8

Biimby.

1819

John Cosser .

4

7 0

Charlton.

1850

Elthiron

4

7 7

Cartwright

1851

Neasham

3

6 4

llaxby.

1852

Stilton .

3

6 10

Aldcroft.

1853

Kingston

4

8 7

Basbam.

1854

Grapeshot

4

6 12

Ashmall.

1855

Whitelock .

4

5 9

J. Walters.

1856

Zeta

3

5 5

T. Chaloner.

1857

Underhand .

3

6 1

Plumb.

18.^8

Underhand .

4

8 0

Basham.

1859

Underhand .

5

8 12

Aldcroft.

1860

First Lord .

3

5 8

Page.

1861

Joey Jon<-' .

3

5 7

J. Dovle.

1862

Montebell ■ .

3

5 7

J Grimshaw.

1863

Caller 0 .

5

8 8

T. Chaloner.

1861

Caller u

6

8 12

T. Chaloner.

1865

Brown 1 lead

3

6 5

Carrol.

1866

Rococo .

3

6 3

Cameron.

1867

Fervactjues .

3

5 13

D. Butler.

1868

Fortun o

4

K 7

J. Snowden.

1869

The iSpy

4

8 3

Morris.

1870

Kennin^ton .

3

7 0

Hunt.

1871

Taraban.

a

7 0

Gradwell.

1872

Spennithorne

4

6 12

W. Gray.

1873

Falkland

fi

7 9

T. Osborne.

1874

Lily Agnes .

3

6 11

W. Chaloner.

1876

Harriet Laws

3

5 7

H. Morgan.

1876

Snail

fi

7 6

Morbey.

1877

Hampton

5

8 12

F. Webb.

1878

Glastonbury .

B

7 8

Cariile.

1879

Clearliead

5

6 9

Luke.

IbSO

Mycenffi

4

7 13

Slorgan,

1881

Bonnie Doon .

4

7 3

Keller.

1SS2

Victor Emanuel .

5

8 0

W. Piatt.

1883

Barcaldine .

5

9 10

F. Archer.

1884

I.awminster .

6

7 13

J. Fa-an.

1885

Blue Grass .

5

7 13

A. Giles.

1886

Stone Clink .

4

7 8

Goodway.

18S7

Exmoor .

4

8 12

Watts.

1888

Matin Bell .

4

6 10

Chandley.

1889

Drizzle .

5

6 10

Blake.

1890

Houndsditcli .

4

7 11

Morf^an.

1891

Queen's Blrtliday .

4

9 0

J. Watts.

1892

NewC'Urt

4

7 3

Mullen.

1893

Seaton Delaval, .

4

7 5

Finlay.

1894

Newcourt

6

8 6

Colling.

1895

Docker .

4

7 6

Finlay.

1896

Dare Devil. .

ag.

8 7

Fagan.

1897

Bradwardine

4

8 5

Wood.

1898

King Crow .

4

8 7

F. B. Black.

396

WINNERS OF THE GREAT RACES.

GREAT YORKSHIRE

STAKES— (York,

LIVERPOOL SUMMER CUP— (July.)

ASCOT STAKES— (June).

August.)— 3 year old— 1

mile

6 furlongs.

1 mile 3 furlongs.

2 miles.

Yas.

Winner.

Weigh

Btra.

Jockey.

Te)U-.

Winner,

Age.

Weight.

Starte™.

Year,

Winner.

Age.

Weight.

Jockey.

1843

rrizcflghter .

12

F. Butler.

1839

Marchioness

T-

St lb.

fea.

H. BelL

yrs.

6t. lb.

ISM

Joe liOvell

15

Flatman.

1853

Goorkah

3

5 5

—

1840

Darkness

3

5 4

Percy,

1845

Miss Sarah .

_

10

Holmes.

1854

Ammonia .

5

6 2

—

1841

Welfare

4

7 11

Flatman.

1846

roynton

—

13

Templeman.

1855

Seducer

4

7 5

8

1842

Vibration

3

5 13

H, BelL

1847

Ellerdale

—

14

J. Marson.

1856

Pretty Boy .

3

5 10

8

1843

Teetotaller .

4

6 6

Kiley,

1848

Maid of Mashjiin .

—

10

Templeman.

1857

Bashi Bazouk

3

6 4

14

1844

Johnny

ag-

7 2

Flatman.

1849

Old Dan Tucker .

—

12

A. Day.

1858

Roman Candle

4

6 9

13

1845

J (1st cl.) Lothario

5

8 1

Flatman.

1860

Pitsford .

—

10

A. Day.

1839

Ancient Briton

4

6 5

8

\ (2nd cL) Q. Mab .

6

8 7

Flatman.

1851

N;incy .

—

9

F. Marson.

1860

Moorcock .

4

7 0

9

1816

l(lstcL) Akbar ,

5

8 2

Chappie.

1852

Slockwell

—

13

Norman.

1861

Doefoot

3

6 12

7

\ (2nd cl.) Petitioner

3

5 7

W. Marson.

1853

Umbriel .

—

10

F. Butler.

1862

Fairwater .

4

8 3

11

1847

Wood pigeon

5

7 13

S. Mann.

1854

Acrobat .

—

8

Templeman.

1863

The Knave .

4

7 8

11

1848

Vairipyi'e
Vampyre

4

6 5

Kitchener.

1855

Kifleman

—

8

Flatman,

1864

lilack Deer .

4

7 2

3

1819

5

7 9

Flatman.

1856

Fazzoletto

—

11

Flatman.

1865

Success

3

6 1

7

1850

Wanola

6

8 0

J. Marson.

1857

Vedette .

—

5

Ashniall.

1866

Terror .

3

5 10

7

1851

Vatican

6

7 7

Flatman.

1858

Tunstall Maid

—

7

Bullock.

1867

Challenge .

4

6 5

8

1852

Lucio

3

6 7

Wells,

1859

Napoleon

—

9

Bumby.

1868

Dean .

3

6 12

6

1653

Buckthorn .

4

8 5

A. Day,

1860

Sabreur .

—

4

J. Osborne.

1869

Spy

4

8 3

0

1851

Little Harry

5

S 7

Wells,

1861

Oldminster .

—

10

G. Fordham.

1S70

Fidelia .

5

S 0

3

1855

Mortimer

5

7 1

Cleuient,

1862

Zetland .

—

4

G. Fordliam.

1871

Pretty John

6

8 7

S

185G

hedemption

4

6 12

Prior,

1863

Tlie Hanger .

—

7

J. Goater.

1872

Indian Ocean

5

7 G

7

1857

Claude Lorraine •

3

6 3

Parry.

1864

'I Iiu Miner .

—

6

J. Osborne.

1873

Jarnac .

6

7 9

8

1858

PeuNioner

3

6 7

Pritchard.

1865

Klririnska

—

6

T. Chaloner.

1874

Blantyre

3

7 1

13

1859

Rouble .

3

5 0

J, Adams,

1866

Mi-atliconan .

—

7

Snowden

1875

Tarn o' Shantei

4

6 12

8

1860

Mouravieff .

4

8 5

Aldcroft

1867

Acliieveraent

—

5

T. Chaloner.

1876

Controversy

5

8 12

1

1861

Optimist

4

7 13

Fordham,

1868

Viscount

—

7

Custance.

1877

Snail .

aged

7 12

27

1862

Kapparee

4

8 8

t 'sbome.

1869

Ryshworh

—

6

Maidment.

1878

Strathmore .

4

7 2

9

1863

Stanton .

5

7 8

Midgley,

1870

Gertrude

8 6

9

Morris.

1879

Maximilian .

4

7 7

11

1864

Hipjtolyta

3

6 6

Grimshaw

1871

Hose of Athol

8 5

7

T. Cannon.

1880

Blackthorn .

4

6 7

G

1865

Tomato .

4

8 4

Daley,

1872

Cieinorne

9 3

4

Maidment.

1881

Dimiinic

4

7 0

9

1866

War

3

6 10

Cameron,

1873

Kaiser .

8 10

4

Maidment.

1882

Ishmael

4

7 9

4

1867

Zenobia .

5

7 4

Ilibbeid,

1874

Trent

8 10

4

T. Cannon.

18S3

The Jilt

4

6 4

10

1868

F.migration ,

5

6 7

Kenyon.

1975

Mintdrop

8 5

6

J. Osborne.

18S4

John Jones .

4

G 7

5

1869

liOte Noir

3

5 8

Gradwell.

1876

Coltness

8 10

3

J. Osborne.

1885

Sandiway

4

7 10

5

1670

Musket .

3

S 12

Chaloner.

1877

Lady Golightly .

8 5

6

Morris.

188G

f Middlethorpe > dead

6

8 8

14

1871

Kosicrucian ,

6

9 0

Wells,

1878

Castlereagh .

8 10

4

J. Osborne.

1 Perdittall. "

neat

6

7 6

1872

Molly Cobroy

4

7 8

Gray,

1879

Riiperra .

8 10

5

C. Wood.

1887

Castor .

4

7 8

7

1873

Uhlan ,

4

7 12

Maidment

:8so

Napsbury

8 10

11

Morgan.

1888

Satiety

8

8 7

8

1674

Coventry

3

6 3

Clav,

1881

Ishniael .

8 10

6

J. Osborne.

1889

Veracity

6

8 0

14

1875

Organist

4

8 8

Griffiths.

1SS2

Pepperment .

8 10

5

J. Osborne.

1890

Father Confess

or

6

8 8

8

1S7G

Whitebait .

5

7 4

Newhouse.

1883

Ossian .

9 0

6

AVatts.

1891

Kathbeal, .

4

8 1

8

1877

Chyiire ,

3

7 8

Wood.

1884

Damietta

8 9

3

T. Cannon.

1892

Nunthorpe .

6

8 n

9

1878

Chesterton ,

4

7 8

Wood.

1885

King Monmouth .

8 11

5

J. Watts.

1893

Siraonian

5

7 9

7

1879

Ridotto ,

4

7 11

Constable.

1886

Gay Hermit .

8 11

5

F. Archer.

1894

Son of a Gun

4

7 3

9

1860

Teviutdale .

3

5 13

Kellet.

1887

Panzerschiff .

8 10

6

Watts.

1695

Bnshey Park

.

6

7 13

8

1831

Teviotdale ,

4

8 2

Osborne.

1888

Ossary .

9 2

3

T.Cannon

1896

Canterbury Pilgrim ,

3

7 5

8

ISS2

Retieat .

5

8 7

F. Archer.

1889

Chitabob

8 12

4

Fagan.

1897

Brayhead ,

3

6 6

6

Ib63

Ishmael.

5

7 10

Fordham.

1890

Queen's Birthday .

8 12

3

Bruckshaw.

1893

Diuna Forget

6

8 7

6

1664

Greenbank .

4

7 6

Bowman.

18-91

Orrieto .

8 12

2

M. Cannon.

1S85

Altliorp .

3

6 12

b. Barrett.

1892
1893

Dunnre .
Harbinger .

9 2
9 2

2
3

M. Cannon.
M, Cannon.

16^6
1S,S7

Belinda .
Eurasian

5
5

7 1

8 6

J. Woodbum.
F. Barrett.

18<>4

Koran

8 5

9

J. Watts.

CITY AND SUBURBAN Hi

4JJDICAP—

1668

Dan Dancer .

4

6 7

AUsopp.

1895
1896
1897

Btiiirdale
Labrador
Ht5tory .

8 5

9 3
9 4

3
4

9

F. 1 inlay.
M. Cannon.
M. Carinoii.

(Epsom, April.

)— 1 mUe 2 1

furlongs.

1669

16:i(»
1891

Lnrd Loi-ne .
Lord Lorne ,
Houndsditch ,

3
4
5

6 T

7 13
7 9

Chandley.

Fagan.

Fagan.

1898

Greenan

9 4

4

AUsopp

Year.

Winner.

Age,

Weight

Jockey,

1892
1693

1894

Billmv .
Enniskilleu .
Aborigine

4
6

4

6 7
8 7

7 12

A. Watts
•I'. Loates.
G, Barrett.

LIV

^ERPOOL AUTl

JMN

CUP-

(November).

yrs.
6
3

•t. lb.

ImUe

J furl

ongs.

1851
1852

Elthiron
Butterfly

8 5
4 12

Marlow,
Kendall,

1695
1896

Ravensbury .
.4rlequin . ,

5
3

9 9
G 5

M. Cannon.
Ferres.

18.53

Kthelbert

3

6 13

Wells.

1697

.Masque II, -

3

7 9

Weatherdon,

Tear.

Wiiiner.

Age.

Weight.

Jockey.

ISM
1S55

Virago .
Ireland's Eye
Hospitality .
Adamas .

3

5

6 4

7 4

Wells,
Wells,
Bullock,
Foj dliam.

1898

Herminins .

4

7 11

C. Wood.

1856

Md. of Derwent .

3

•t. 11,.
6 11

J. Snowden.

1856
1857

3
3

6 2
6 5

PRINCE OF WALES STAKES— (Ascot,

1857

Special Licence .

3

5 7

Pritchard.

1858

Mdle de Chantilly

4

7 0

Spreoty,
J. .\dams.

June.)— 1 mile 5 furlongs. 1 1

1858

Speci^il Licence .

4

7 10

Plumb.

1S59

Glenbuck

3

4 12

1859

Meg Merrilees

3

4 10

Buck.

1860

Comfoiter

4

7 0

Custanci*,

Year.

Winner.

1 StI5.

Weii-U

Jockey.

1860
1861

The Brewer .
Petra

ag-
5

7 1

c; 9

Brav.
Midgley.

1861
1662

Cantine .
Sawcutter

6
4

8 3
7 12

L Snowden,
T, Chaloner.

1

•t. lb.

1862

Gardener

4

G 6

G. Noble.

1863

Adventurer ,

4

6 12

Noble.

1SS2

Carisbrook .

—

8 10

S, Rogers.

1863

Blitlifield

3

6 13

T. French.

18C4

Merry Hart .

4

7 6

Morgan.

1863

Avenger

—

6 3

A, Edwards,

1864

Tartar .

3

6 4

J. Grimshaw.

1865

Argonaut

6

8 11

Wells.

1664

Elv,

—

9 1

Custance.

1865

Elland .

3

6 4

G. Sopp.

1866

Delight .

3

5 9

Kenvon.

1865

Bi-ead.albane ,

—

8 3

Custance.

1866

Beeswin;;

3

6 7

Kenyon.

1867

Aberg.-ldie .

4

7 1

Huxtable.

1666

Rustic .

8 13

Fordham.

18t;7

Mandrake

3

6 10

J. Hudson.

1S68

Siieculum

3

6 12

Cameron.

1867

Vauban .

—

9 1

Fordham.

1868

The i'almer .

4

8 2

Morris.

1S69

Alpenstock .

3

G 3

Jeff'eiy.
Roivell.

1S68

King Alfi-cd .

—

8 10

Daley.

1869

Lictor

4

7 0

D. Butler.

1870

Sabinns .

3

5 9

1669

Martyi-dom .

—

8 10

Fordham,

1870

Exciseman .

3

6 i

W. Gray.

1871

J.ack Spigot .

3

6 9

F. Crickmere,

1870

King o' Scots

—

8 10

Hunt.

1871

Whinyard

5

6 0

T. Osborne.

1S72

Digby Grand

4

7 10

F, Webb,

1671

King of tlie Forest

—

9 1

J, Snowden.

1872

Vanderdecken

3

7 8

H. Jeffery.

1873

Mnrnington .

5

7 13

Mordan,

1872

Queen's Messenger

—

9 1

T. Fi-ench.

1873

Sterlinj;

5

9 4

Custance.

1S74

Aldrich .

3

6 4

Morbey.
Mills

1873

Kaiser .

—

9 1

Maidment,

1874

Louise Victoria .

5

7 9

Constable.

1875

Dalham .

4

7 1

1874

Leolinus

6

8 3

T, Osborne,

1875

Activity

3

7 2

F. Archer.

1876

Thunder

6

9 4

F. Aicher.

1675

Earl of Dartrey ,

12

8' 10

J, Goater,

1876

Footstep

3

6 13

Hopkins.

1877

Julius Csesar

4

7 10

F, Archer.

1676

Petrarch

6

9 1

Morris,

1877

Arbitrator

3

8 0

Glover.

1878

Sefton .

3

5 8

Gallon,

1877

Glen Arthur ,

8

8 3

Dodge,

1878

Belplitcbe

8 1

H. Jeffery.

1879

Parole .

6

8 2

F, Archer,

1678

Glengairy

7

8 3

Fordham,

1879

Master Kildaro

8 13

F. Archer.

1880

Master Kildare

6

9 2

F, Archer,

1679

Wheel of Fortune

11

9 0

F. Archer,

1880

Prestonpana

8 2

Fordliam.

1881

Bend Or.

4

9 0

F. Archer.

1660

Zealot .

12

a 10

Macdonald.

1881

Pirffius .

6 7

Woodbum.

1882

Passaic .

4

6 7

Weston.

1861

Iroquois.

7

9 5

F, Archer,

1882

Gogg'ies

7 11

Huxtalile.

1883

Koysterer

5

7 0

Gallon.

1682

Quicklime

10

9 1

C. Wood,

1883

Boswell .

8 3

C. Wood.

1884

Quicklime

5

7 5

K. Tomlinson.

1683

Galliard ,

7

9 1

F. .-Vrcher.

1SS4

Thebais .

9 4

F. Archer-

1885

Bird of Freedom

3

6 4

F. Barrett.

1684

Sir Ueuben .

4

8 3

C. Wood.

1885

Kilcreene

G 1

J. Wall.

1&S6

Royal Hampton

4

8 4

C. Wood.

1665

Pepper and Salt ,

8

8 3

G. Barrett

1886

Melton .

9 3

Watts.

1887

Merry Duchess

5

7 5

S. Loates.

1866

Button Park .

9

8 10

G. Banett

1887

SL Mirin

8 12

T. Cannon.

1888

Fiillerton

5

8 4

T. Woodbnrn

1887

Claymore

7

8 S

F. Barrett

16S3

Lady Kosebery

5 12

W. Wood.

1689

Goldseeker .

4

8 0

T. Cannon, jnii.
JH, Cannon.

ISSS

Ossory .

9

8 13

T. Cannon.

1889

Philom.'I

7 12

J. Woodbum

1890

Reve d'Or .

6

7 13

186-9

Donovan

8

9 5

F. Barrett

1890

Lady Kosebery .

7 8

S. Loates-

1691

Nunthorpe .

5

8 4

M. Cannon.

1690

AUoway,

5

8 3

Warne.

1891

Madame d' Albany

6 G

Wall.

1892

Buccaneer

i

7 10

G. Barrett.

1891

Melody

8

8 9

J. Watts.

1892

Windgall

8 2

U. Barrett.

1893

King Charles

4

6 6

Gough.

W. Bradford

1892

Watercress ,

12

8 3

G. Barrett.

1893

La Fleche

9 6

J. Watts.

1894

Grey Leg

3

7 0

1693

Red Ensign ,

6

8 3

T. Loates.

1894

Son of a Gun .

8 4

M. Cannon.

1895

Reminder

4

8 9

M Cannon,

1894

Contract

4

8 3

Bradford.

1895

Rush

6 13

Grimshaw.

1896

Worcester

6

8 12

M, Cannon.
0. Madden.

1895

Match Maker

8

8 3

M. Cannon.

1896

Count Schomberg.
Chiselhampton

7 11

S. Loatp..

1897

Balsamo

4

7 4

1896

Shaddock

3

8 4

il. Cannon.

1897

4

8 1

S. Loates.

1598

Bav Ronald .

5 6 0

Bradford

1897

Galtee More ,

4

9 5

0. Wood.

189S

Alt Mart . .

' 3

7 0

Sloan.

1

15SS

Jeddah , , ,

8

9 5

J. Watts.

WINNERS OF THE GREAT RACES.

397

CESAREWITCH STAKES— (Newmarket,
October). — 2 miles 2 furlongs 35 yards.

Year.

Winner.

Ago.

Wright.

Jockey.

yra.

at. lb.

1839

Cruiskeeu

6

6 6

Stagg.

1840

Claiinn .

4

8 4

Robinson.

1841

llioTi.^i

4

fi 11

U. West.

1842

Arc.iiiiis

8

6 4

T. Day.

1843

Coraniia

4

7 11

W. B.ivce.

18 M

Fauf,'li-a-liallaj;h .

3

8 0

II. Hell.

IMo

'I'lio r.arou .

3

7 9

Flatman.

1.840

Wit's-end

3

6 2

Donaldson.

1.817

Cauronch (h-b)

4

7 0

G. Abdale.

1848

The Cm-

6

8 3

Rogers.

1849

Legerdemain

3

6 7

Hiett.

18.^)0

Glauca .

4

7 7

Chappie.

1861

Mrs. Taft (h-b) .

6

6 0

S. Slcggles.

1852

Weatliergage

3

6 11

Welis.

1853

Unco

3

6 12

Palmer.

1864

Muscovite

5

8 3

Flatman.

1865

Mr. Svl<es(li-b) .

6

6 8

F. Bales.

1856

Vengeance .

4

7 7

Aldcroft.

1867

PriorPSS

4

6 9

G. Fordham.

1868

Kocket .

3

6 4

Custance.

1859

Artless .

3

5 3

Drevve.

iseo

Dnicilrella .

3

6 U

A. Sadler.

18C1

Audrev .

6

8 5

Custance.

1802

Ilartington .

3

6 10

J. Griinsliaw.

1863

LioTicss .

4

6 8

11. Covey.

1864

Tlialt^stria

4

6 2

J. Grimshaw.

18f5

Salpiiictea

3

6 3

8corey.

1866

Lecturer

3

7 3

Ilibberd.

1867

Julius .

3

8 0

T. Chaloner.

1863

Cecil . .

3

6 13

Wvatt.

1869

ChiSrie .

3

5 7

F. Webb.

1870

Cardinal York

4

7 8

Parry.

1871

Corisaiide

3

7 12

Maidment.

1872

Salvanris

3

5 7

F. Archer.

1873

King Lnd

4

7 5

Bnicksluiw.

1874

Adventnritve

3

6 12

Glover.

1875

Duke of rarma

3

6 0

Rossiter.

1876

4

7 6

F. Archer.

1877

Hilarious

3

6 6

J. M'Donald.

1878

5

6 10

Luke.

1879

Chip]ipndale .

3

7 5

W. M'Donald.

18.^")

K.ilnrt the Devil .

3

8 6

T. Cannon.

IRSl

F.xliall .

3

7 12

W. M'Donald.

1882

Corrie Key ,

4

8 7

C. Wood.

1883

Don Juan

3

5 10

K. Martin.

1884

St. Gatien

3

8 10

C. Wood.

1885

Plaisanterie .

3

7 8

Hartley.

1886

Stoue Clink .

4

7 7

\V. Glover.

1887

Hiimewnud .

3

7 6

Robinson.

1888

Tenebreuse .

4

8 12

T. Canuon.

1,889

rrimrose Day

i

6 1

W. Wood.

1890

Sheen .

6

9 2

F. Webb.

1891

Itagimunde .

3

6 10

It. Chaloner.

1892

liarnaby

6

6 11

J. Dovle.

( Red i;.ves ) dead
t Cvpria ( heat.

4

7 10

T. Loates.

3

6 6

W. Pratt.

1894

Chelilwick

4

7 9

Bradford

isns

Rockdove

4

f, 10

C. Ward.

1896

8t. Bri.s .

3

6 6

K. Cannon,

l.'i97

Merman

5

7 5

J. Sharpies.

1898

Chaleureux .

4

7 5

0. Madden.

MIDDLE PARK PLATE - (Newmarket,
October)— 2 year old— 6 furlongs.

THE GREAT METROPOLITAN STAKES-
(Epsom, April.)— 2 miles 2 furlongs.

Year.

Winner.

Age.
yre.

Weight.

Jockey.

n. \l,.

1846

Chamois

8

6 7

Sharpe.

1847

Clermont

3

5 3

Treenjun.

1848

Glen Saddel .

a

5 3

Crce.

1849

Fernliill.

4

6 13

Pearl.

1860

Backbiter

5

7 3

Dockeray.

1851

The Man

3

6 4

'I'. Smith.

1S,')2

Stilton .

3

4 11

Carroll.

1853

Gadabout

8

5 7

Carroll.

18.'->4

Virjigo .

3

6 0

Wells.

1865

Fandango

3

fi 2

Sleggles.

18.'i6

Cannobie

3

5 12

Bullock.

1857

Poodle .

a

8 0

D. Hughes.

IR-iS

Telegram

3

6 6

T. Chaloner.

1859

Lifeboat

4

7 9

L. Siiowden.

1860

St, Albans .

3

5 9

T. French.

1861

Parmesan

4

7 3

A. Ld wards.

1862

Hlcho .

4

8 0

J. Adams.

1863

Haddington .

4

7 1

J. Doyle.

1864

Joco

4

7 2

S. Adams.

1865

Planet

4

7 10

r. French.

18G6

Treasure Trove .

3

6 0

Cameron.

1867

Kndsleigh

6

7 0

Mui'ray.

1868

Blueskin

3

G 0

Hammond.

1869

The Drummer

3

6 9

W. Piatt.

1870

Sabinus .

3

G 9

Rowell.

1871

Captivator .

4

8 6

Fordham.

1872

Dutch Skater

6

8 13

Fordham.

1873

Moi-IritigtOU .

6

8 5

T. Cannon.

1.874

Royal (Jeorge

4

7 7

(i lover.

1875

Hampton

3

6 3

Weedon.

1676

New ll.dland

4

7 2

Rossiter.

1677

John Day

4

7 5

Morbey.

1878

Mida

5

fi 7

T. Hopper.

1879

Parole .

6

8 2

F. Archer.

1880

Chippendale .

4

8 10

Osborne.

1881

Blown Bess .

6

6 8

Weston.

1882

Fiddler .

4

7 11

Iluxtahle.

1883

Vista

4

7 0

S. Lciates.

1884

Zadig

■4

5 7

Tomlisson.

1885

Althorp .

3

5 7

T. L"ates.

1886

Postscript

5

7 6

Robinson.

1887

The Cob

4

7 10

C. Wood.

188.S

Tissaphernes

4

7 4

Liddiard.

1889

Tissaphernes

5

7 9

(i. Barrett.

1890

Parlington

3

6 2

R. Chaloner.

1891

Raginiunde, .

3

6 7

H. Chaloner.

1892

Colorado

4

8 6

M. Cannon.

1893

Madame Neruda .

5

7 9

T. Loates.

1894

Paddy .

6

7 13

Calder.

1895

Cornbury

4

6 7

H. Covey.

1896

Fatherless .

6

7 8

J. Woodburn.

ie97

Soliman

6

7 4

Allsopp.

.1808

History .

4

8 6

M. Cannon.

ROYAL HUNT CUP— (Ascot, June).— 1 mile.

Year

Winner.

Weight.

Jockey.

St. lb.

1866

The Rake

8 9

Loates.

1867

Green Sleeve .

8 3

Kenyon.

1808

|l'ero Gomez

8 6

J. Adams.

1869

Frivolity.

8 10

T. Chaloner.

1870

Albert Victor

8 6

Morris.

1871

Prince Charlie

8 6

Hunt.

1872

1 Surinam .

8 6

J. O.iborne.

1873

Newry

8 6

F. Webb.

1874

Plebeian .

8 6

Mordan.

1875

11 Petrarch .

8 0

J. Goater.

1876

Chamant .

8 13

J. Goater.

1877

IJeaiiclerc

8 9

Snowden.

1878

Peter

9 0

C. \Vood.

1879

Beaudesert

8 10

F'irdhara.

1880

St. Louis .

8 10

Fordham.

1681

Kermesse

9 0

Cannon.

1882

Wacheath

9 3

C. Wood.

1883

Busybody

8 7

F. Archer.

1881

Melton .

9 3

F. Archer.

1885

Minting .

9 3

F .\rcher.

1886

Florentine

9 0

Watts.

1887

Friar's Balsan

9 3

Cr. Barrett.

1888

Donovan .

9 8

F. Barrett.

1889

Signorina

9 0

G. Barrett.

1890

Gouvcrneur

9 0

J. Woodburn.

1891

Orme

9 3

G. Barrett.

1892

Isinglass

9 S

G. C'haloner.

1893

Ladas.

9 3

White.

1894

Speedwell

8 10

F. Pratt.

1895

St. Frusquin

9 3

F. Pratt.

1896

Galtee More

9 0

M. Cannon.

1897

Dieudonne

9 3

0. Madden.

1893

Caiman .

9 0

Sloau.

Year.

Winner.

Age.

Weight.

Jockey.

7".

St.

lb.

1866

Forbidden Fruit .

3

6

0

Creswell.

1857

Rosa Bonheur

3

6

10

C. Eayner.

l.«58

Ilesperithusa

3

5

6

T. Chaloner.

1859

King at Arms

3

7

2

Brittoii.

1860

Crater ,

3

6

13

W. Bottom.

lb61

Buccaneer

4

8

7

J. Goater.

1862

Canary .

4

6

0

Deacon.

1863

Victor .

4

6

12

Morris.

1864

Gem of the Sea

4

7

10

11. Grimshaw.

1865

Gratitude

5

7

8

H. Co\ey.

186G

Attachd .

4

7

12

Parry.

1867

Jasper .

3

6

4

11. Jeffei-y.

1868

Satyr .

4

8

1

.1. Adapjs.

1869

See- Saw

4

8

7

Fordham.

1870

Judge .

i

6

S

Newliouse.

1871

Valuer ,

6

6

6

G. Jarvis.

1872

Ripponden . ' .

4

7

2

H. Covey.

1873

Winslow

4

8

9

Fordham.

1874

Lowlander .

4

7

7

Constable.

1875

Thuriugian Prince

4

7

4

V. Wood.

1876

llopbloom

3

6

0

Hopkins.

1877

Cradle .

4

6

4

Hopkins.

1S78

Julius Ciesar

6

8

6

F. Archer.

1879

The Mandarin

ag.

8

4

C. Wood.

1880

Strathern

4

6

5

Brockwell.

1881

Peter

5

9

3

F. Archer.

1882

Sweetbread .

3

6

4

Woodliiirn.

1883

Elzevir .

3

7

7

C. Wood.

lS.'-4

Acrostic

4

6

5

F. Barrett.

1685

Eastern Emperor .

4

6

2

Tomlisson.

1886

Despair .

ag.

7

13

C. Loates.

l.'»7

Gay Hermit .

4

7

13

C. Wood.

1888

Sliillela_-h .

3

6

3

G. Chaloner.

1689

Whitelegs .

4

6

6

W. Blake.

1890

Morion .

3

7

9

G. Barrett.

1891

Laureate IL .

5

7

12

M. Cannon.

1S93

Suspender

3

7

10

G. Chaloner.

1893

Amandier

5

7

3

T. Loates.

1894

Victor Wild .

4

7

7

J Harrison.

1895

Clorane .

4

8 11

M. Cannon.

1S96

Quarrel .

6

7

11

Fagau.

1897

Knight of theThistl

; 4

7

5

.\llsopp.

18'8

Jaqtiemart .

4

8

6

T. Loates.

CAMBRIDGESHIRE HOUGHTON STAKES
(Newmarket, October). — 1 mile 240 yards.

1839
1840
1841
1812
1813
1814
18)5
1816
1817
1848
1819
1850
1851

18.53
1854
1,S55
18,-,6
1857
1858
iai9
1860
1861
1862
1863
1564
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1671
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1.SB7
1888
1889
1890
18'„'1
1892
18;)3
18114
1895
1896
1897
1698

Lanercost

RosciuH .

Vulcan .

kalpli .

Nat

I'-venus .

Alarm .

Prior of St. Marg

The Widow .

Dacia

Raby

Landgrave

Truth .

Kt of the Shire

Little David

Sclierz .

Sultan .

Malacca .

Odd I' rick

Eurydice

Red 1-agle

Weatherbound

Palestro.

Bathilde

Catch 'em Alive

Ackworth

Gardcvisure

Actaia .

Lozenge

See-Saw .

Vestininster

Adonis .

Sabinus .

Playfair .

Montargis

Pent C'tre

Sutton .

Rosebery

Jongleur

Isonomy

La Marveille

Lucetta .

Foxhall .

Hackucss

Bendigo .

Florence

Plaisanterie

The Sailor Prince

Gloria tion

Veracity

Laureate

Alicante

Comerly .

La Fl.'clie

Molly Morgan

Indian Queen

Marco .

Winkfield'a Pride

Comfiey .

Georgic .

Aje. Weight.

Jo«k«y.

tt. lb.
8

6 13

6 2
5 10

7 7

6 10

7 2
6 10

7 0
7 0
6 2

6 6

7 2

8 2
6 4
6 3
8 7

6 3

7 13
6 10
5 13

8 5
4
1
0
1
0
4

8
7
8
7
9
6

6 10
9 1
8 12

7 7

8 10
6 7

6 2

7 9

6 10

7 2
7 8

W. Noble.

Chappie.

Flatman.

Robinson.

8impson.

Flatman.

Flatn an.

A. Daj .

Pettit.

(}. Brown.

Arnold.

Chappie.

Wells.

Harding.

Fordham.

Birbeck.

J. Goater.

Ilibb.'rd.

Fordham.

Britton.

H. Grimshaw

.J. Adams.

Watkins.

R. Martin.

S. Adams.

Cannon.

A. Carter.

Iliixtable.

S. Adams.

Fordham.

Gradwell.

F. Lynbam.

Fordham.

Ashworth.

Carratt.

Rolfe.

Morgan.

Constable.

Rolfe.

Morgan.

Constable.

Greaves.

J. Watta.

.s. Loites.

Luke.

F. Webb.

Hartley.

White.

Glover.

(.'alder.

Warne.

F. Barrett
Ibbett.

G. Barrett
Bradford.
W. Croft.
F. Allsopp.
Robinson.
K. Cannon.
S. Chandley.

STEWARDS' CUP— (Goodwood, July)—
6 furlongs.

Year.

Winner.

Age.

Weight

BtATten.

yrs.

St. lb.

1870

TvphcEUS

5

8 10

28

1871

Anton .

3

7 0

39

1872

Oxonian

6

S 12

28

1873

Sister Helen .

5

7 8

81

1874

Modena .

6

7 1

£5

1875

Trappist

3

7 10

22

1876

Monaco .

i

6 7

27

1877

Herald .

6

7 0

23

1878

Midlothian

4

7 2

20

1879

Peter

3

8 0

30

IKSO

Elf King

4

7 9

28

1861

Mazurka

3

6 10

28

1882

Lo\yland Chie

1 .

4

8 3

19

1883

Hornpipe

6

S 9

18

1884

Sweetbread

6

9 3

23

1685

Dalmeny

6

6 13

18

1686

Cratlon .

4

7 11

2.

15:87

Upset .

4

6 3

23

1888

Tib .

6

5 7

21

1889

Dog Rose

6

7 1-2

18

18'J0

Marvel .

3

7 6

22

1891

Unicom .

3

6 2

21

1^92

Marvel,

6

8 8

28

1893

Medora .

3

6 12

19

1894

Gangway

i 4

6 7

21

1895

Wise Virgin

3

6 6

22

1896

Chasseur

1 <

8 5

24

1897

Amphora

4

8 8

23

1898

Altesse .

4

8 4

15

398

WINNERS OF THE GREAT RACES.

GREAT EBOR HANDICAP— (York,
August). — 1 mile 1 furlongs.

Year.

""• inner.

Age.

Weight

Jockey.

yre.

•t. lb.

1S43

Pagan .

5

7 13

Templeman.

1.S44

Godfrey .

3

4 6

Berwick.

1S15

Colleiress

4

6 0

W. Abdale.

1S46

Arthur .

4

6 3

J. Sharpe.

1S17

Mathematician

3

6 9

Donaldson.

1S48

Meau.t .

4

7 6

Flatman.

1S49

Tlie Hero

6

9 4

A. Day.

ISoO

Mark Tapley

3

6 9

Arnold.

ISol

Nancv .

3

6 13

Charlton.

1S52

Adine

3

3 9

Rickards.

1853

Pantomime .

3

3 8

T. Olliver.

1854

Grand Inquisitor .

3

0 7

Fordhara.

1853

Vandal .

3

5 0

Cresswell.

1856

Warlocll

3

5 8

Withiiiglon.

1837

El Haliim .

3

5 4

Little.

1838

Vedette .

4

8 V

J. Osborne.

1859

Underhand .

5

9 1

Aldcroft.

1860

Pa.x

4

6 11

A. 1 dwards.

1861

Rising Sun .

4

7 9

Fordliain.

1862

Makeshift .

5

6 8

Hardcastle.

1863

Golden Pledge

3

6 0

J. Loates.

186i

Raj^Ian .

4

6 6

Morris.

1865

Verdant .

3

6 7

Heartfield.

i&;6

Westwick

3

6 6

II. I ov. y.

1867

Mandrake

3

6 3

Cameron.

1868

Fairwind

4

6 6

W. Piatt.

1869

Fortunio

5

8 12

Chaloner.

1870

Paganini

6

9 4

J. Sni-wden.

1871

Not Out .

4

7 0

D. Butler.

1872

Albert Victor

4

8 12

Custauce.

1873

Louise Victoria

4

6 13

Constable.

1874

Chivalrous .

4

7 0

Griffiths.

1875

Lilv Agnes .

4

8 8

W. Wood.

1876

Lilian .

a

7 11

F. Archer.

1877

11 Gladiatore

3

6 0

Morrell.

187S

Cearau .

3

6 9

Lemaire.

1879

Isonomy

4

9 8

Cannon.

1880

Novice .

3

6 9

Bell.

1881

Mother Shipton .

3

5 U

Percival.

1882

Victor Emanuel .

5

9 0

J. Osborne.

1883

Corrie Roy .

5

9 12

C. Wood.

1884

Ben Alder .

4

7 8

J. Fagan.

1885

Mate

6

8 12

F. Archer.

1886

Le Caissier .

S

6 7

Allsopp.

1887

Silence .

5

6 9

Calder.

1888

Nappa

4

8 10

T. Snowden.

1889

Kin^' Monmouth .

ag.

8 12

J. Watts.

1890

Silver Spur .

4

7 1

T. Loates.

1891

Buccaneer

3

7 5

J. Woodhurn.

1S92

Alice .

5

9 0

S. Chandley.

1893

Senaputty

3

7 3

Bradford.

1S94

Qiiilon .

4

7 4

S. Loates.

1895

Llanthony

6

7 6

Finlav.

1816

Dingle B^v .

4

7 9

T. Loates.

1S97

Harvest Mtney

4

7 7

Madden.

1898

Invincible II.

3

7 5

Madden.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE STAKES—
(March or April). — 1 mile 6 furlongs.

Year.

Winner.

Age.

Weight.

Jockey.

yra.

et. lb.

1844

Vitellius

4

7 0

J. Williams.

1845

Discr.rd .

a

8 0

Flatman.

1846

Moi-peth

5

7 9

Bumby.

1847

Wolldog

5

8 11

F. Butter.

1848

Wildair .

6

8 5

Flatman.

1849

Femhill

4

6 8

Pearl.

1830

Priestess

4

6 10

Arnold.

1851

Valentine

4

6 1

T. Sherwood.

1S52

Poodle .

3

4 6

Carroll.

1853

Defiance

3

5 13

Wells.

1854

Jacqueline

4

6 8

Ashmall.

1855

Hungerlord .

a

7 13

Charl ton.

1836

Siding ,

4

6 6

Quinton.

1S37

St. Giles

3

fi 4

Hibberd.

1858

Borderer

4

7 4

Fordham.

1859

Bcvis .

3

4 11

J. Adams.

1860

Simple Simon

3

6 9

Mitchell.

1861

Danae .

4

6 9

J. Adams.

1862

Stampedo

5

8 2

Foidhara.

1863

Fairwater

5

8 10

Custance.

1864

Dollar .

4

7 9

Kitchetier.

1863

Scamarider .

5

7 8

T. (.'annon.

1866

John Davis .

!>

9 0

T. Chalnner.

1867

Havelock

4

6 7

G. Jarvis.

1868

Mariner .

3

5 11

Hudson.

1869

Marquis of Carabas

4

6 7

Hunt.

1870

Midsummer .

4

8 3

Maidment.

1871

Jester .

3

6 7

G. Jarvis.

1872

Messaget

4

6 6

Neivhnnse.

1873

Flurry .

5

7 10

Mordan.

1874

GleneaRle

3

5 12

Thompson.

1875

Peeping Tom

4

7 3

F. Archer.

1876

Prodigal

a

8 0

Clement,

1877

Queeu of Cvprus .

4

6 10

W. Johnson.

1878

Prince George

5

7 13

C. Wood.

1879

Rochamplon .

6

8 6

Snowden

1880

Dresden Clnna

4

8 4

Snowden.

1881

Commandant

5

7 11

Fordh.im.

1882

Sun of York .

fi

6 12

Bowman.

1883

Glenluce

5

7 7

S. Loates.

Northamptonshire Stakes. — Continued.

Year

Winner.

Age.

Weight.

Jockey.

yrs.

Bt. lb.

1884

Loch Ranza .

3

7 6

Luke.

18S.5

Marmora

3

6 11

Rickaby.

1886

Sir Kenneth .

4

8 C

C. Wood.

1.S87

Middlethorpe

a".

8 12

F. Banett

1888

Oliver Twist.

5

8 11

Webb.

1889

Clavmore

6

8 6

Allsopp.

1890

Padua

4

7 3

J. Woodburn.

1891

Lusignan

4

6 12

Harper.

1S92

Colorado

4

6 10

Bradford.

1893

Paddy .

4

8 3

Calder

1894

Rodoniont

3

6 7

W.Pratt

1895

Barbary .

4

7 7

S. Loates.

1S96

Paris liL

ag.

8 6

M. Cannon.

1897

Telescope

5

8 7

M. Cannon.

I*IS

Barford

5

6 11

H. Jones.

GOODWOOD STAKES -(July).
2 miles i furlongs.

Year.

Winner.

Age.

Weight.

Jockey.

yr^

Bt. lb.

1823

Elfrid .

3

7 4

Hammond.

1824

Vitellina

3

5 8

J. Hairett.

1825

Stumps. .

3

6 13

G. Edwards.

1826

Stumps .

4

9 0

W. Arnull.

1827

Miss Ci-aven .

3

7 2

F. Buckle, jun.

1828

Souvenir

4

8 6

walked over.

1829

The Alderman

a

8 9

F. Boyce.

1830

Aaron

4

7 13

F. Buckle.

1831

Conciliation .

3

6 12

A. Pavis.

1.S32

Lucetta .

6

9 5

Robinson.

1833

Litile Red Rover .

6

8 6

J. Day.

1834

Rob. Roughead

4

7 7

Norman,

1833

Glaucus .

ft

9 8

Scott.

183G

Felix .

4

7 8

Chappie.

1837

Lucifer .

5

7 10

Twitchett.

1838

Loutherbourg

4

7 1

Wakefield.

1839

BaruacleB

6

8 1

Conolly.

1840

Orelia .

4

6 9

Percy.

1841

Orelia .

5

8 8

Conolly.

1842

Retriever

6

7 11

Mui-phy.

1843

Lucy Banks .

4

7 7

11. Bell.

1844

Franchise

5

6 0

A. Day.

1843

Miss Ellis .

3

5 7

Kitchener.

1846

Jonathan Wild

3

4 7

Ryder.

1847

Hydiangea .

4

6 10

J. Sharpe.

1848

Chanticleer .

6

9 2

Marlow.

1849

Maid of Lyme

6

6 13

Evans.

1850

Windischgratz

3

5 10

G.Mann.

1851

Backbiter

6

7 9

Flatman.

1852

Weathergage

3

5 6

Wells.

1853

Adine

4

7 8

Flatman.

1854

Bribeiy .

3

5 11

T. Cliff

1833

Quince .

4

6 10

Ashmall.

1856

Pretty Boy .

3

7 8

Aldcroft.

1857

Leamington .

4

8 6

Aldcroft.

1858

Roman Candle

4

7 0

Bray.

1859

Starke .

4

7 7

Plumb.

1860

Wallace

3

7 4

T. Chaloner.

1861

Elcho .

3

5 13

Daley.

1862

Bobadil .

4

6 6

Daley.

1863

Blackdown .

3

6 2

Mordan.

1864

Blondin .

4

7 6

lleslop.

1863

Suspicion

3

6 13

J. Grimshaw.

1866

Rama

3

5 12

Kenyon.

1867

Gomera .

5

9 0

Fordham.

1868

Tabouret

3

6 0

Hudson.

1869

Starter .

3

6 10

Hunt.

1870

Pagauini

6

8 10

Fordhara.

1871

Taraban

a

8 6

Foidham.

1872

Spennithorne

4

7 7

W. Gray.

1873

Uhlan .

4

8 8

Maidment.

1874

Scamp .

3

6 8

Glover.

1875

Freeman

6

8 6

Fordham.

1876

Hampton

4

7 10

Mordan.

1877

Prince George

4

7 0

Huxtable.

1878

Norwich

4

7 3

Fordham.

1879

Bay Archer .

3

6 8

Gallon.

1880

Reveller

4

7 4

Kellet.

1881

Brown Bess .

5

6 8

Weston.

1882

Fortissimo .

4

8 3

Fordham.

1883

Corrie Roy

6

9 0

C. Wood.

1884

Stockholm

4

6 8

Tomlisson.

1885

iLavert .

4

8 5

T. Cannon.

1886

'Winter Cherry .

3

5 7

Cleminson.

1887

Carlton .

4

9 0

G. Barrett.

18SS

Stourhead

a

7 11

G. Barrett.

18S9

Ingram .

4

7 1

T. Loates

1890

Papyrus .

4

7 12

T. Loates.

1891

White Feather .

8

6 10

Allsopp.

1892

Rahih Neville

5

7 12

Finlay.

1893

Ri-d Eyes

4

8 1

G. Barrett.

1894

Spindle Leg .

4

6 13

Allsopp.

1895

Campanajo

3

7 0

C. Ward.

1896

Carlton Grange, .

4

7 7

Allsopp.

1897

Glnten .

4

7 1

K. Cannon.

1898

Marins II.

6

7 12

S. Loates.

a Tlie Goodwood Stakes became void in consequence of
there not being 10 acceptances for it, and the Goodwood
Plate was substituted.

MANCHESTER CUP— (June).
1 mile 6 furlongs.

Tear.

Winner.

Age.

Weight

Starten.

et. lb.

1834

Giovanni

6

8 12

1835

Red Rover

4

7 12

1836

Vestment

5

8 0

1837

The Carpenter

4

7 9

1838

Catberina

aged.

8 7

1839

Gasparoni

4

7 4

1840

Colchicum

4

6 1

1841

Galaor ,

3

7 0

1842

The Young-un

5

7 7

1843

Aristotle

4

7 10

1844

Trneboy

4

8 2

1845

Best of Three

4

7 12

1846

Slayer's Daughter .

3

5 0

1847

Sheraton

4

7 2

1848

Swiss Boy

3

5 6

1849

Sylvan .

4

6 12

1850

Legerdemain .

4

7 6

1851

Paquetta

3

4 0

1852

The Black Doctor .

4

8 3

1863

Chiefjustice

6

7 10

1854

Rataplan

4

9 3

1855

Saucebox

3

6 10

6

1856

Pretty Boy ,

3

5 4

9

1867

Underhand

3

7 10

10

1838

Heme

3

6 10

13

1839

Little Agnes ,

3

6 5

6

1860

Ben Webster

3

7 1

5

1861

Ivanhoff

3

6 0

8

1862

Ivanhoff

4

8 12

3

1863

Isoline

3

6 4

7

1864

Trust

4

7 6

3

1865

Cathedral

4

8 12

5

1866

Retrousse

3

6 10

6

1867

ftDunsany

5

8 12

6

1868

Buttercup

S

5 7

4

1869

Ploughboy

6

7 3

4

1870

Muster

3

7 9

3

1871

Monseigneur ,

4

7 3

12

1872

Sir Bertram ,

4

6 12

7

1873

Indian Ocean

6

8 12

8

1874

Cambuslang .

4

7 5

15

1875

Innishowen

3

6 7

16

1876

Conseil .

5

7 3

12

1877

Umpire .

4

8 12

19

1878

Attains .

3

6 4

16

1879

Lartington

3

6 1

18

1880

Isonomy

6

9 12

21

1881

Valour .

6

8 9

18

1682

Wallenstein .

5

8 5

16

1883

Primrose II. .

4

7 6

16

1884

Florence

4

7 2

18

1885

Borneo .

4

7 1

15

1886

Riversdale

3

6 1

10

1887

Carlton .

4

8 9

14

1888

Merry Andrew

3

6 1

9

1889

Cotillon .

4

8 3

16

1890

L'Abhesse de Jonarre

4

8 8

18

1891

Lily of Lnmley

6

7 0

13

1692

Balmoral .

4

7 6

14

1893

Shancrotha

6

7 1

14

1894

f Shancrotha ) dead
(Red Ensign J heat.

6

7 12

16

1895

Florizel II. .

4

8 1

11

1896

Docker .

5

7 6

10

1897

1 iety .

4

7 3

9

1898

King Crow .

4

6 to

10

ECLIPSE STAKES — (Sandown, 2nd Summer).
1 mile 2 furlongs.

Year.

Winner.

Age.

Weight

Starters.

6t lb.

1886

Bendigo

6

9 7

12

1887

No race.

18S8

Orbit .

3

8 12

13

1889

Ayrshire

4

10 2

6

1890

No race.

1891

Surefoot

4

10 2

9

1892

Orme

3

9 1

7

1893

Orme

4

10 2

6

1694

Isinglass

4

10 2

7

1895

Le Justicier .

8

9 1

8

1896

St Fiusquin .

3

9 4

4

1897

Persimmon .

4

10 2

5

1898

Velasquez

4

10 2

9

6 Divided, after
10 lbs.

a dead heat isitb Deceit, 3 jrs. 6st,

WINNERS OF THE GREAT RACES.

399

GT. YORKS. HANDICAP— (Doncaster,
September.)—! mile 6 furlongs 132 yards.

Teu.

Wmner.

Age.

Welglit.

Jockey.

yra.

nt

Ih.

1842

Galantlius

3

fi

12

G. Abdale.

IfM.'i

Poilipey .

3

6

7

G. Noble.

1841

I'ompey .

4

7

8

J. Hewlett.

1846

My Miiry

3

6

U

Kitchener.

1846

Craiiebrook ,

3

fi

7

ei. Abdale.

1847

Yardley . . .

a

7

6

Whitehouse.

1848

Miss Sarah .

6

U

S

F. Butler.

1S19

Snowstorm

3

5

12

J. Arnold.

1850

Mark Tapley.

3

6

9

J. Arnold.

1851

The Confessor

3

6

4

Charlton.

1852

Uunjierford .

4

6

8

Hiett.

1853

Hungerford .

6

8

7

Clmrlton.

1864

Grapeshot

4

7

8

Ashniall.

18-)5

"Wild Huntsman .

4

7

0

Bates.

1856

Types . . .

6

8

12

Flatiuan.

1S67

Warlock

4

K

2

Flatman.

1858

Prioress .

5

7

3

Fordhani.

1859

Paul

3

5

10

I. Sadler.

1860

Moorhen

3

6

o

H. Grimshaw

1661

Wallace

4

8

7

L. Snowden.

1862

Cowley .

4

7

8

Drewe.

1863

Dulcibella .

fi

7

8

A. Edwards.

1864

Magiuim Bonum .

5

8

5

Norman.

1865

Jolin Davis .

4

8

2

Fordliam.

1866

Caithness

3

6

o

Thomson.

1867

Seville . .

3

6

10

I>. Butler.

1868

Romping Girl

4

7

fi

Kenyon.

1869

Gt. des Batailles .

4

7

10

Hudson.

1870

Border Knight

4

K

10

Custance.

1871

The Dwarf .

3

7

11

Hunt

1872

Dalnacardoch

4

S 12

T. Clialoner.

1873

Pirate .

3

6

2

Newhouse.

1874

Louise .

5

7

7

Constable.

1875

Saint Leger .

3

fi

2

Thomson.

1876

Bersaglier

3

6

R

J. M'Donald.

1877

Albert Edward

3

«

8

Hopkins.

1878

Flotsam .

3

6

9

W. M'Uonald.

1879

Dresden China

3

fi

0

Coates.

1860

Reveller

i

7

12

Kellet.

1881

Pctronel

4

R

12

F. Archer.

1882

Baliol .

3

fi

7

J. Woodbum.

1883

Vista .

4

fi

11

S. I.oates.

1884

Lawminster .

6

R

6

J. Osborne.

1&S5

King Monmouth .

3

7

13

J. Snowden.

1886

Selby

4

7

1

F. Barrett.

1887

Merry Duchess

6

R

2

G. Barrett.

1888

Button Park .

5

7

R

G. Barrett.

1889

Houndsditch .

S

fi

11

Blake.

1890

Silver Spur .

4

R

5

T. Loiites.

1891

Alloway,

4

R

11

M. Cannon.

1892

Springtime .

4

7

11

Pratt

1893

Cliesterfield .

5

9

0

G. Barrett.

1894

Busliey Park

5

8

12

M, Cannon.

1895

Bard of Avon

4

7

K

S. Loates.

1896

Drip

S

7

0

N. Robinson.

1897

Cat Iton Grange .

6

7

12

S. Loates

1S98

Locarno .

3

6

6

A. W. Pratt.

LINCOLNSHIRE: HANDICAP— (Lincoln,
March.)—! mile.

Tear.

Winner.

Age.

Weight.

Starters.

yra.

Bt. lb.

1870

Royal Rake .

4

7 8

10

1871

'Vulcan

aged.

6 8

24

1872

Guy Dayrell

5

7 13

27

1873

Vestminster

aged.

S 1

21

1874

Tomahawk

3

6 4

35

1875

Gunner .

4

6 0

32

1876

Controversy

5

7 7

30

1877

Footstep

4

7 2

32

1878

Kaleidoscope

6

7 12

27

1879

Touchet

6

8 4

27

1880

Kosy Cross .

6

7 13

25

1S81

Buchanan

4

6 10

36

1882

Poulet .

5

8 7

26

ias3

Knight of Burghlei

r aged.

7 8

17

1884

Ton;ins .

6

8 4

29

1885

Bendigo .

5

8 6

21

1886

Fulmea .

6

7 13

23

1887

OberoQ .

4

7 8

20

1888

Veracity

4

6 10

25

1889

Wise Man .

4

7 8

26

1890

Rejected

6

8 11

19

1891

Lord (.ieorge .

5

8 0

21

1892

Clarence

3

6 8

25

1893

Wolf B Crag .

3

6 7

20

1S94

Le Nicham ,

4

8 7

19

18,15

Euclid .

6

7 12

15

KS96

Clorane .

5

9 4

1897

Winkfield's Pride

4

8 9

18

1898

Prince Barcaldine

5

7 5

14

' Walked over, after a dead heat with Veranda 3 years.
6 stone 8 lbs.

THE ONE THOUSAND GUINEAS

STAKES— (Newmarliet, April or May).

1 mile 11 yards.

Year.

Owner.

Wiuiier.

Jockey.

1814

Mr. Wilson .

Charlotte .

1815

Lord Foley .

.Selim

1816

Duke of Rutland .

Rhoda

1817

Mr. Watson .

IINeva.

1818

Mr. Udny

llCorinne .

1819

Duke of Grafton .

Catgut

__

1820

Duke of Gralton .

Kowena .

1821

Duke of Grafton .

Zeal .

1822

Duke of Grafton .

Whizgig .

F. Buckle.

1823

Duke of Grafton •

||Zi„c . . .

F. Buckle.

18ii4

Lord Jersey .

llCobweb .

J. Robinson.

1825

Duko of Grafton •

Tontine .

J. Day.

1826

Duke of Grafton .

Problem .

18a7

Diike of Grafton .

Arab.

F. Buckle.

1828

Mr. Molony .

Orville

J. Roliius(jn.

1829

Lord Cavendish ■

Mouse

Arnull.

1830

Lord Jersey .

Charlotte West

J. Robinson.

1831

Sir M. Wood .

Galantine.

Conolly.

1832

Lord E.xeter .

lIGalata

Arnull.

1833

Mr. Cooke .

Tarant.lla

Wright.

1834

Lord Beruer .

May-day .

J. Day.

183.-1

Mr. Greville .

Preserve •

Flatman.

1836

llouldsworth .

Destiny .

J. Day.

1837

Lord Bentinck

Chapeau .

J. Day.

18:38

Lord Albemarle .

Bacarolle .

E. Edwards.

1839

Mr. Watt

Cara .

1840

Lord Bentinck

gllCruiifix .

J. Day.

1811

Mr. Batsou .

I'otentia .

J. Robinson

1842

Lord Bentinck

Fiiebrand

1843

Mr. ThornhiU

Extempore

S. Chifney.

1844

Osbaldiston .

Sorella .

1845

D. of Richmond

Pic-nic

W. Abdale.

1816

Mr. Gully .

lIMcndicant

S. Day

1817

Mr. Payne .

Clementina

Flatman.

1848

Lord Stanley

Canezou .

F. Butler

1849

Mr. F. Clarke

Flea .

A. Day.

1860

Lord Oxford .

Slane

F. Butler.

1851

Sir J. Hawley

AphroditS

J. M arson.

1852

Mr. Sargent .

Kate.

A. llav.

1853

Baron Rothschild .

Mentmore Lass

Chailton.

1854

Mr. Howard .

Virago

Wells.

1855

Duke of Bedford .

Ilabona

1856

vv. H. Brook

Manganese

J. t)sborne.

1867

Mr. J.Scott .

^Imperieuse

Flatman.

1868

Mr. Gratwicke

IJGoverneBs

1859

Mr. Crawfurd

Mayonaise

Foidham.

1S60

Lord Derby .

Sagitta .

Aldcroft.

1861

Mr. Fleming .

Nemesis .

1862

Lord Falmouth

Hurricane

1863

Lord Stamford

Lady Augusta .

1864

Biiron Rothschild .

Tomato .

Wells.

1865

Duke of Beaufort .

Siberia .

Fordliam.

1866

M. of Hastings

Repulse .

T. Cannon.

1867

Col. Pearson .

<fAchievement ,

Custance.

1868

Mr. Graham .

[•[Formosa

1869

Duke of Beaufort .

Scottish Queen

Fordham.

1870

Mr. Dawson .

Hester .

1871

Baron Rothschild .

i^Ilanuah .

1872

M. Lefevre .

[IKeine

Parry.

1873

Lord Falmouth

Cecilia

1874

Mr. Launde .

[Apology .

J. Osborne.

1875

Lord Falmouth .

Spinaway .

F. Archer.

1876

Ct. Lagrange

(/Camelia .

1877

Lord Hartington .

Belphoebe .

H. Jeffery.

1878

Lord Lonsdale

gPilgrim.age

Cannon.

1879

Lord Falmouth

Wheel of Fort.

F.Arcber.

1880

Mr. Walker .

Elizabeth

C. Wood.

1881

Mr. Crawfurd

Thebais .

Fordham.

18S2

Mr. Crawfurd

St Marguerite.

C. Wood.

ima

C. J. Lefevre .

Hauteur .

1884

Mr. Abington

[[Busybody.

T. Cannon.

1886

D. of Westminster

Farewell .

G. Barrett.

1886

Duke of Hamilton

||Miss Jumnty .

Watts.

1887

Duke of Beaufort .

Reve d'Or .

C. Wood.

1888

Mr. D. Baird .

Briar-root

Warne.

1889

Mr. Vyner .

Minthe .

J. Woodburn

1890

Duke of Portland .

Semolina .

J. Watts.

1891

Sir T. Sykes.

IIMimi

Rickaby.

1892

Baron de Hirsch .

{La Fleche

G. Barrett

1893

Mr. P. Peck .

Siffleuse . f

1894

Duke of Portland .

[[Amiable .

Bradford.

1895

Mr. A. W. Cox .

r.alcottia .

F. Pratt.

189S

Prince of Wales .

Thais

J. Watts.

1897

Lord Itosebery

Chelandry

J. Watts.

1S98

Sir J. B. Maple .

Nun Nicer

S. Loates.

THE TWO THOUSAND GUINEAS

STAKES— (Newmarket, April or May).
3 year old— 1 mile 11 yards

ia'9

islO
1611
1S12
1813
IS 14
181o
1816
1817
1818
1819
I8,i0
18:^1
1S-J2
18-'3
1824
1825
18-J6
1827
18:^8
1829
is;ja
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835
18;}6
1837
1838
1839
ISiO
1841
],S42
1843
l&4t
1845
1846
1847
1818
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1S54
1S.J5
1856
1857
1858
1859
1860
1^61
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1SC>S
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
J 876
1877
1878
1879
1880
18SI
1682
1883
1884
1885
1886
l.N-;7
1888
16S9
1890
1S91
18!-)2
1S93
1S94
1895
1896
1897
1898

Owner.

Mr. Wilson .
J... Grosvenor
Mr. Andrew .
L. Itarlinjiton
(J Biiiiljury .
Mr. Wyiidham
Lord Koiis
h. CdvendisU
Htonehewer .
Lord Foley .
Sir J. Shelley
Duke of Grafton
inike of Grafton
Duke of Grafton
Mr. Kogers .
Mr. Ilaffenden
Lord Exeter .
Duke of Grafton
Duke of Grafton
Duke of Itutland
Lord. Exeter .
Lord Exeter .
Lord Jersey .
Colonel Peel .
Lord Oxford .
Lord Jersey .
Lord Jersey .
Lord Jersey .
Jord Jersey .
Lord Bentinck
Lord Lichfield
Lord Bentinck
Lord Albermarle
Ml'. Bijwes
Mr. Bowes
Mr. J. Day .
Lord Stradbroke
Mr. W. Scott
Sir K. Pigot .
Mr. B. Green
Mr. A. Nicliol
Mr. H. Hill .
Lord Enfield .
r,ord Exeter .
Mr. Bowes
Mr. Gully
Mr. Merry
Lord Derby .
Lord Zetland
Sir J. Hawley
Mr. W. Day .
Mr. Nichol .
Lord .Stamford
Mr. Hawke .
Mr. Naylor .
Lord Glasgow
Ct Lagrange.
Mr. Sutton .
Duke of Beaufort
Mr. Crawfurd
Mr. Juhnstone
Mr. Merry
Mr. Johnstone
Mr. Dawson .
Ml-. Crawfurd
Lord Falmouth
Mr. 11. Vyner
Lord Dupplin
Ct. Lagrange
Lord Lonsdale
Lord Falmouth
Duke of Beaufort
Mr. Norman .
D. of Westminster
Lord Falmouth
Mr. Foy
Mr. Bro.-Cleote
D. of Westminster
Mr. D. Baird .
Duke of Portland
Mr. D. Baird .
A. \V. Merry .
Lord Alingtoa
Mr. llose

Mr. 11. M Calraont
Lord Eosebery
Sir J. v. Maple
L de l.'otlischild
Mr. Gubbins .
Mr. W. Johnstone

Wluner.

Jockey.

Wizard

lleiilifblion

Trophonius

Cwrw

Smolensko

Olive
1 igiis

Nectar

Manfred .

interpreter

An tar

I'indarrie .

l.'eginald .

Pastille

Nicolo

8cliahriar

Enamel

Dervise

Tuicoman

Cudland .

Patron

Augustus .

Kiddlesworth

Archibald .

Clearwell .

Gleucoe .

Ibrahim .

Bay MiddletoQ

Achmet .

Grey Momus

The Corsair
ICrucifix .

Kalph

Meteur

Cotherstone

Tlie Ugly Buck

Idas .
:JSir T. Sykes

Conyngham

Flatcatcher

Nunnykiik

Pirsfoi d .

Hermandez
JStockwell .
JW. Australian

Hermit .

Lord of Isles .

Fazzoletto

Vedette .

Fitz Roland .

Promised Land

The Wizard .

Diophantus
^The Marquis .

Macaroni .

General Peel .
•tGladiateur
•jLord Lyon

Vauban

Mi.slem

l^retender

Macgregor

Bothwell .

Prince Charlie.

Gang Forward

Atlantic .

Cambalio .

Petrarch .

Cliamaut .
|Pilgrimage

Chaiibert .

Petronel .

Peregrine .

Shotover ,

Galliard .

Scot Free .

Paradox .
'lOrmonde

Enterprise

Ayrshire .

Enthusiast

Surcfoot .

JCummon

Bonavista

Isinglass .

Ladas

Kirkconoel

St. Frusquin

IGaltee More

Disraeli .

] z

F. Buckle,
Whcatley.
Wheatley.
J. Kobinson.
J. Day.
Buckle.
J. Bobinson.
I'. Boyce.
f'onolly.
Itobinson.
Pavis.
liobin^on.
Robinson.
Robinson.
Bobinson.
i:. Edwards.
J. Day.
Wakefield.
J . Day.
J. Day.
W. Scott.
W.Scott.
J. l>ay, jun.
Flatman.
W. Scott.
J. Robinson.
J. Bobinson.
F. Butler.
A. Day.
Flatman.
Normau.
F. Butler.
A. Day.
Aldcroft.
Flatman.
J. Usborae.
Wells.
A. Day.
Ashmall.
A. Edwards.
Ashmall.
T. Chaloner.
Aldcroft.
Grimshaw.
Thomas.
Foidham.
T. Chaloner.
J. Osborne.
J. Daley.
J. Osborne.
J. Osborne.
T. Chaloner.
F. Archer.
J. (Jsborne.
Luke.
J. Goater.
T. Cannon.
F. Archer.
Fordham.
F. Webb.
T. Cannon.
F. Archer.
W. Piatt.
F. Archer,
a. Barrett,
'i'. Cannon.
J. Osborne.
T. Cannon.
I.iddiaid.
G Barrett.
W.Robinsor
T Loates,
J. Watts.
J. Watts.
T. Lnatc;.
C. Wood.
S. Loates.

c After a dead heat with Mr. W. Graham's Formosa (Fordham), who aftenrards divided the stakes.

d Ran a dead heat with Enguerrande for the Oaks.

Those marked (g) also won the Two Thousand, (||) the Oaks, (^ the St Leger.

Horses marked (•) also won the Derby, ft) the Oaks, and (J) the St Leger.

400

WINNERS OF THE GREAT RACES.

DONCASTER CUP— (September).
2 miles.

Tear,

Wiimer.

Age.

Weight
^t. 'ih.

Jockey

yrs.

IR-M

Lottery .

5

8 10

G. Nelson.

1826

Fleur de Lis .

4

8 3

G. Nelson.

18-27

Mulatto .

4

8 3

T. Lye.

lR5fl

Laurel .

4

8 3

T. Nicholson.

1829

Voltaire

3

7 0

T. I.ye.

1830

Retriever

4

8 3

T. Lve.

1831

The Saddler .

3

7 0

Chappie,

183"

Gallopade

4

8 3

K. Jnlnison.

1833

•Rockingham .

3

7 3

T. Nicholson.

1834

Tomboy .

5

8 10

R. Johnson.

1833

Touchstone .

4

8 3

W. Scott.

1836

Touclistone .

5

8 10

W. Scott.

1837

Beeswing

4

8 3

Cartwright.

1838

'Don John

3

7 3

Flatman.

1839

■Charles XIL .

3

7 3

T. Lye.

1840

Beeswing

a

9 0

Cartwright.

1S41

Beeswing

a

9 0

Cartwriglit.

184"

Beeswing

a

8 13

C'arlwriglit.

1843

Alice Hawthorn .

5

8 9

Hesseltine.

1844

Alice Hawthorn .

6

8 13

Eumby.

1845

Sweetmeat

3

7 0

Whitehouse.

IHe

The Hero

3

7 0

A. Day.

1847

War Lagli .

3

7 7

S. Mann.

I84S

Chanticleer .

5

8 12

Flatman.

1849

Canezou

4

8 4

F. BtifUr.

18sn

Voltigeur

3

7 7

Flatman.

1851

•The Ban

3

7 0

Arnold.

J 852

Teddiiigton .

4

8 12

J.M;irson.

1853

Hungerford .

5

8 12

Charlton.

la54

Virago .

3

7 4

Wells.

1855

Rataplan

5

9 1

A. Criwlev.

1856

Fandango

4

8 12

J. Marson. i

1857

Vedette .

3

7 0

T. Chaloner.

1858

Vedette

4

8 12

J. Osborne.

1859

Newcastle

3

7 4

G. Fordham.

1860

Sabreur .

3

7 0

T. Chaloner.

1861

^Kettledrum .

3

7 7

Bullock.

1862

Tom WliifBer

3

7 7

Bullock.

1863

Macaroni

3

7 7

T. Chaloner.

1864

General Peel .

3

7 3

H. Covey.

1865

Aclcwurth

4

8 2

G. Fordham.

1866

Kama

3

7 0

Ken von.

1867

'Achievement .

3

7 4

Kenvon.

1868

Mandrake

4

8 5

J. Osborne.

1869

Good Hope .

3

7 0

W.dray.

1870

Sornette

3

6 U

Hand ley.

1871

Shannon

3

7 13

Hunt.

1872

Dutch Skater

6

9 0

Fordham.

1873

Uhlan .

4

8 10

Maidment.

1874

Lily Agnes .

3

7 6

W. Chaloner.

1875

Fraiilein

5

8 11

J. Coater.

1876

Craigmillar .

4

9 3

T. Chaloner.

1877

Hampton

5

9 7

F. Webb.

1878

Pageant

a

8 U

T. Cannon.

1879

Isonomv

4

9 3

T. Cannon.

1880

Dresden China

4

9 0

Snowden.

1881

Petronel

4

8 10

F. Archer.

189'!

Retreat .

5

9 0

C. Wood.

1883

Thebais .

6

8 11

C.Wood (wo)

1884

Louis d'Or .

a

9 0

T. rannon.

1&85

Hambledon .

3

7 9

J. Fajan.

1886

The Bard

3

8 2

C. Wood.

1887

Carlton .

4

8 10

G. Barrett.

1888

Grafton .

3

7 9

G. Barrett.

18?9

Claymore

5

9 0

F. Webb.

IMO

Tyrant .

5

9 0

Cabier

1891

Queen's Birthday.

4

9 4

J. Watts.

1892

Chesterfield .

4

9 4

r. l,o«tes.

1893

Prisoner

3

8 6

M. Cannon.

1894

Sweet Duchess

3

8 1

S. Cbandlev.

1895

Kilsallagliau

6

10 1

M. Cannon.

1SS6

Landaniia

6

9 2

F.. ;iunt.

1897

Winktield's Pride

4

9 4

M Cannon.

1898

Pinfold .

3

8 1

0. Wood.

GOODWOOD CUP— (July).
2 miles 4 furlongs.

Horses marked [') won tlie St. Leger the same year.
a Walked over and divided after a dead heat with Mr.
Saxon's Brown Duchess (Midgley).

1825

1826

1827

1828

1S29

1830

1831

1832

1833

1834

1835

1836

1837

1838

1839

1840

1841

1842

1843

1814

1845

1816

1847

1848

1849

1830

1851

1852

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

1861

1862

1863

1864

1865

1866

18G7

1868

1869

1870

1871

1872

1873

1874

1875

1876

1877

1878

1879

1880

1881

1882

1883

1384

1883

1886

1887

1888

1880

1890

1891

1892

1893

18'd4

18S5

1896

1897

1898

Cricketer
Stumps .
Linkboy
Miss Craven

Fleu]- de Lis

Fleur de Lis

Pri.un

Priam

Rubina .

Glencoe .

Rockingham

Hornsea

Carew

ILirkaway

Harkaway

l^egganiian

Charles XII.

Charles XII.

Hyllus .

Alice Hawthorn

Miss F.lis

Grimston

Hero

Van Tromp

Canezou

Canezou

Nancy .

Kingston
cjouvence

Virago .
:Baroncino

Rogertliorpe
cMonarqiie

Saunterer

Promised Lan

Sweetsauce
iStarke •

Tim Whiffler

Isoline .
cDollar

Ely.

The Duke

Vauban .

Speculum

Restitution

Siderolite

SliJinnon

Favonius

Flageolet

Doucaster

Adventurifere

New Holland

Hampton
SKincsera

Isonnmy

Dresden China

Madame du Barry

Friday .■

Border Jlinstrel

St Simon

Althorp .

The Bard

Saville .

Eada

Trayles .

Phiiomel

Gonsalvo,

Martdgon

Barmecide

Kilsallaghan

Florizel II.

Count SchomI erg

Count Pchoniberg

Kings Messenger

8t lb.

7 0

8 11
8 4

8 1

9 3

9 13
9 9

7 4
9 4

8 10
8 1

8 8

9 4
8 5

8 13

9 9

8 11
9

6 13

7 2

8 9
9

7
7

0

7
7

8 10
7 7

3

0
7
0
7
7
0
0
4
3
7
3
8 7

8 10

9 0

8 7

9 3
8 7
8 11
7 11

7 5

8 0
7 7
7 7
7 7

7 4

9 10

8 13

9 6
9 10
8 6

8 2

9 6

G. Edwards,
walked over.
F. Boyce.

F. Boyce.
Robinson.

G. Nelson.
Conolly.
ConoUy.
F. Boyce.
Flatman.
Robinson.
W. Scott.
Flatman.
Wakefield,
t-'alloway.
Robinson.
J. Marson,
Robinson.
F. Butler.
Templeman.
W. Abdale.
T. Lye.

J. Day. jun.

Marlnw.

F. Builer.

F. Butler.

Chai-lion.

Flatman.

T. Sherwood,

Wells.

Fordham.

Fordham.

Asbmall.

,J. Osborne.

Bray.

Charlton.

Fordham.

Bullock.

T. French.

Kitciiener.

Custance.

Fordham.

Parry.

Kenyon.

Daley.

Wells.

Hunt.

Maidment.

Hu-xtable.

F. Webb.

T. Chaloner.

T. Cannon.

F. Webb.
Madden.
T. Cannon.
Snowden.
Snowden.
E. Martin.
Fordham.
C. Wood.

G. Barrett.

C. Wood (w.o.)
G. Barrett.
Loates.
Robinson.
T. Cannon,
ti. Barrett.
J. Watts.
G. Barrett.
T. Loates.
J. Watts.
Walked over.
S. Loates.
Madden.

CHESTER CUP— (May).
About 2 miles 2 furlonss.

18'>4

1825

1826

1827

1828

1829

1830

1831

1832

1833

1834

1835

1836

1887

1838

1839

1840

1841

1842

1843

1814

1815

1846 !

1817

1818

1849

1850

1851

1852

1853

1854

1835

1856

18.J7

1858

18.59

1860

1861

1862

1863

1864

1865

1866

1867

1868

1869

1870

1871

1872

1873

1874

1875

1876

1877

1878

1879

I8S0

1881

1882

1883

1884

1883

1886

18S7

1888

1889

1.890

18S1

1892

1893

1894

1895

1896

1897

1898

Doge of Venice

Ilymettus

Brutandorf .

Grenadier

Fyldc .

Ilalston

Felt

Independence

Colwick

Pickpocket .

The Cardinal

Birdlime

Tamworth

General Chasse

King Cole

Cardinal Puff

Dey of Algiers

Cruiskeen

Alice Hawthorn

Millepede

Red Deer

Intrepid

Coranna

St. Lawrence

Peep o' Day Boy

Mai ton .

Motniseer

N'ancy .

Joe Miller

Goldtiuder

Epamiuondas

Scythian

One Act .

Leamington .

Vanity .

Leamington .

St. Albans .

Ben Webster

Tim Whiffler

Asteroid

Flash in the Pan .

Dalby .

Dalhy .

Beeswing

Paul Jones .

Kt. of the Garter .

Our M.u-y Ann

Glenlivet

Inveiesk

Field Marsh.tl

Oi'ganist

Freeman

Tarn o' Shanter .

Pageant.

Pageant

Reefer .

Fasliion .

Windsor

Pruohomme ,

Biserta .

Havock .

Men y Prince

Eastern Emperor .

Carlton .

Kiusky .

Millstream ,

Tyrant .

Vasistas,

Dare Devil ,

Dare Devil ,

Ou.'Bsitum

Kilsailaglian

Eush .

Count Schomberg

Up Guards ,

Age. Weight

St lb.
9 2
8 3
8 7
8 9

7 12

8 0
8 3
8 9
8 3
8 9
8 7
8 1

8 5

9 7
7 8
9 3
7 10
7 9

0
3
0
6

8 12
7 1

6 5
6 6
8 4

6 3

7 10

7 3

8 2

7 11

8 12
7 4

7 0

8 3

7 6

8 1
8 0

7 9

8 5
8 10
6 13

Jockey.

T. Nicholson.

B.Smith,

SCO It.

Templeman.

Nelson.

Templeman.

Johnson.

Dai-ling.

Darling.

Darling.

E. Wright.
Lye.
Spring.
Holmes,
Marlow,
barling.
Flatman,
Stagg.
Buniby.
Bumby.
Kitchener.
Arthur,

F. Butler.
Ford.

A. Day.
Fenn.

G. Dockeray.
Kend,<ll.

J. Goater.

A Idcroft.

Fordham,

Wells,

Hibberd.

D. Hughes.

Withington.

Well.s.

T. French.

L. SnowdeiL

Dovle.

Wells.

Morris.

llil.berd.

Hibberd.

Prior.

Jeffrey.

Fordham.

Newhouse.

G ..larvis.

Grirtiths.

Griffiths.

Glover.

Glover.

Thompson.

Glover.

T. Cannon,

Luke.

Greaves.

Weston.

Lemaire.

S. Loates.

C. Wood.

S. Loates.

G. Barrett.

G. Barrett.

Watts.

T. Loates.

S. Cbandlev.

G. Barrett.

Mullen,

Fagan.

T, Loates.

Finlay.

O. Madden.

S. Loates.

C, Wood,

b Bred in Hungary, c Bred in Fraoft

d Bred in America,

111!

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

401

DIVISION III.

€Mt: t|cir Management in Jlain|, Jfiellr, anlr ^tall,

By JOHN WALKEE,

AUTHOR OP "FARMING TO PROFIT," &o.

BREEDS OF CATTLE AND THEIR MERITS.

There is in Great Britain and Ireland a variety of breeds
of animals, far too numerous to comment upon here. The
quaint, semi-wild Scotch kine, and others, on their native

soil —

" Hard, ragged, and rough as their heathery haunts,
As the hills where they love to dwell,"

are only occasionally brought farther south, to be fattened
for the butcher on luxuriant pasture, under a more genial
sky. Just over the Borders the productive little breed of
Ayrshire thrives.

The North and South Welsh cattle are reared for the most
part in mountainous districts, where only scanty herbage pre-
vails for them in summer and still harder fare in winter.
Between the ages of eighteen months and three years they
are disposed of annually to the English graziers in large
herds. Having fared hardly, and arrived at nearly full
growth, they make rapid improvement on the rich English
pasture-land.

Ireland can boast of the far-famed Kerry cattle, and some
other kinds, most of them being, however, of a nondescript
breed ; but here and there the blood of good English Short-
horns has made marked improvement in the herds. Then
there are, among a variety of others, the Shorthorn, the
Hereford, the Long-horned, and the Suffolk Dun. These
latter kinds are indigenous to our country, and can be found
on no other portion of the globe, bred, reared, and fattened to
such perfection. Lastly, the Channel Island breeds, which
will presently be fully discussed.

77i« Scotch breeds do not, as a rule, yield large quantities of
milk, although such as they do give is of excellent quality,
and when more generously fed on English land the cream
is peculiarly rich in butter-forming constituents. In some
districts it is a practice to introduce one or two Highland or
Kyloe cows into the English dairies, in order to increase the
richness of the milk of other cows, the produce of which may
be remarkable rather for quantity than quality. The Ayrshire
is essentially a dairy breed, and possesses such admirable

^ E *

qualities for the latter purpose as to be held in high esteem in
districts other than those of Scotland. The Angus cattle are
more valuable as meat makers than milk givers. They have
been so honourably spoken of on both sides of the Border as
to need little comment here. Indeed, no showyard is com-
plete without them.

The colour of the Ayrshires is for the most part red and
white, in distinct patches ; occasionally they are all of a red
colour, more or less deep. We have sometimes seen the
patches approach a fawn colour, and we have also seen prize
Ayrshire bulls of a grayish colour Red and white spotted
may, however, be considered the standard marking of an
Ayrshire. The horns are short, spreading a little at their
junction with the head, and then turning upwards. Their
other prominent points are a fine, tapering head, with pleasing
countenance ; thin neck ; narrow chine, back, and hocks ;
flat ribs, large belly, thin buttocks, fine bone, thin hair, and
soft hide; udder of a hemispherical shape, well formed,
having loose, soft skin behind. The milk produced is rich in
butter-making properties. A feature of the Ayrshire cow is
the length of time over which its milk-producing powers
extend. The following results of a milking competition at
Ayr show the milking capabilities of this breed : —

bn

^

tZ

^

c .

Cow belonging to

i4

§5^

vis

Hi

1

Amount 0
Produced

m

(So

at

eo

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

hs. ma.

1. A. Wilson, Car-

rick St., Ayr.

22 14

21 14

27 12

24 6

96 14

24 3-5

3 4

0 25

2. James Hendrie,

Balston, Ayr.

22 5

24 11

26 0

24 4

97 4

24 5

2 14J

0 50

3. W. Rcid, Clnne,

St. Quivox.

23 0

25 7

11 3

22 9

82 3

20 8-75

2 9

0 45

4. W. Reid, Clune,

St Quivox.

30 15

25 12

24 12

27 15

109 6

27 5-5

3 6i

1 45

5. R.Wallace, Kirk-

landholm, do.

28 11

28 6

28 14

28 3

114 2

28 8-5

1 H

2 5

6. R. Wallace, Kirk-

landholm, do.

25 5

23 13

23 9

22 0

94 11

23 10-2

1 15

1 45

402

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

The North and South Welsh are a hardy breed, supplying
to our markets some of the best beef on offer. The cows are
good, fair milkers, and when crossed with the shorthorns are
hard to rival. They will not, however, answer for the English
breeder and rearer to utilize, as their progeny would not be as
valuable as something more closely approaching the shorthorn.
A cross between the shorthorn and the Welsh must not, how-
ever, be depreciated. Steers of this mixture have ere now proved
good enough to compete successfully in the showyard; indeed,
as a rule, they are splendidly fleshed animals, hardy in consti-
tution, and apt at fattening. Howbeit, the writer has reared
them side by side with well-bred, or rather nearly pure,
shorthorns, and the latter have ever proved the most valuable
animals in the end. For the first eighteen months the Welsh
will hold their own, but during the next year or two a marked
difference is observed. Again, there is still another draw-
back— viz. after the first cross the progeny are not so much
to be depended upon. This experienced men find to be the
case in crossing pretty well all animals. The first movement
is a success, but later on all kinds of nondescript creatures
turn up.

I'he Kerry Cow is a large yielder of milk, and a remarkably
useful little animal, as light-hearted as its countrymen. It is
to be regretted that up to the last few years it has been much
neglected ; but in these days of pastoral farming it is again
Bought out and found to be remunerative. This cow is hardy
in constitution and active in habits. The head is small, fine,
and furnished with bright intelligent eyes ; the horns are
short, and turn upwards. The carcase is round and rather
long ; the legs are short. The hind-quarters are light, but
high-boned, and wide over the hips. The colour is of a
varied description, sometimes black, sometimes brindled, some-
times of a grayish mixtui-e, and occasionally mingled with all
these shades.

ENGLISH BREEDS.

The Shorthorn or Durham stands out far in advance of
any other kind. It is the breed par excellence of Great
Britain, although now distributed over many parts of the
globe. It is distinguished by its own excellences, the facility
with which it communicates these to the animals of other
breeds, and by its remarkable adaptability to the various
circumstances of soil and locality. It has been said re-
garding this excellent breed of animals that the shorthorns
have such an aptitude to lay on flesh that they will get
fat while many other breeds are thinking of it. Indeed,
the writer himself has many times marvelled at the short
interval it takes for cows or heifers of this description to
get fat upon some really rich pasture-land. They usually
arrive at a ripe state before the steer and bullock; but in
Lincolnshire, and one or two other favoured spots in England,
the first lot of large oxen can be got off from pasture in June,
and the next lot before the entry of winter.

One drawback, however, attends these otherwise faultless
animals, and that is, they are not, as a rule, good milkers.

Many lovers of the shorthorn try to disbelieve this, but
years of experience have taught the writer that just as a
shorthorn will go round a lower breed in fattening, so will
many a three-cornered cross-bred animal, rejoicing in per-
haps many mixtures of blood, put the Durham out of sight
in milk and butter production. The milk of the latter is
only of moderate quantity, and the quality varies very much,
while it is seldom that they hold up the supply for an ex-
tended period. We have had an abundant supply of milk
for three months, and suddenly the quantity has been reduced
to half, and shortly from half to none. Others supply for a
more extended period, but few longer than seven or eight
months. Nevertheless it is found, as a rule, that where these
animals are not too highly fed, and forced out of their
natural healthy state, they are more capable of imparting
very fair dairy qualities to their progeny. Our judges in
the cattle showyards are now doing wisely by encouraging,
in all ways possible, more natural and healthily fed animals
to compete for prizes. Another point in these animals' favour
— and it is an important one — is the readiness with which
they may be fattened for the butcher, after being used for
the dairy. The colour of the true-bred shorthorn is either
dark red or white, mixed red and white, or roan; any ad-
mixture of black is fatal to its pretensions — roan, however,
may be said to be the favourite colour. As regards the
points of merit of a shorthorn cow, the following are the
ideas of the writer, and will doubtless compare favourably
with the prominent features of many of our prize-takers in
the showyard : —

Head, .

Neck,

Neck-vein, . . . .
Shoulder and crops.

Breast, . .

Back,

Loin,

Hocks

Rumps,

Quarter,

Thigh

Twists,

Hock,

Flank,

Back-ribs, . . . .

Fore-ribs,

Quality and hair,

Colour, . . . .

Udder and milk vessels,

Number of
Points.

What constitutes Goodness.

Moderate length, wide, and rather

disked, with yellowish horns and

flesh-coloured nose — not black.
Being well sprung from shoulders and

slightly arched.
Prominent and full
Former being well thrown back and

wide at top, points well covered, and

not prominent, crops being very full.
Coming well forward, wide and fulL
Breadth and levelness.
Breadth, and being well covered, not

low.
Breadth, and being at right angles

with backbone.
Not being drooped.
Length, levelness, and being well filled

up.
Length and fineness, and being well

beefed inwards.
Coming well down.
Being well bent, and not turned in.
Full, and coming well forward.
Well sprung from back and round.
Round, and coming well down.
Skin not being too thin, but soft and

mellow, hair long and silky.
Roans and reds.
Well-formed teats and udders, large

milk-veins.

The Hereford breed is a noble class, surpassed in value
as feeders by the Durham only. Much of the richest pasture-
land in England is yearly stocked with pure Hereforda,
and they hold their own with any other large breed in our

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

403

metropolitan markets. They grow to great size, and are
usually given a year or two extra time over the shorthorns in
which to develop. Indeed up till recently, and even now in
a few isolated instances, they were used for drawing the
plough, and were not sold off for fattening until six or seven
years old. Oxen of such an age are now few and far be-
tween; they are much sought after by wealthy graziers in
the rich Midland counties, and being got up for Christmas
markets, are pictures worthy of observation.

Like the shorthorns, the Hereford cows have a failing, and
it is in their milk-production. They are in this respect even
less remunerative than the former, and are much used in
their native county for calf-rearing. Hence it will be seen
that the Hereford calf, being thus reared by the mother, has
a really good start in the world, a great matter with all
young animals on the farm.

Like the shorthorn, and some other breeds, the Hereford
of to-day is a much nobler animal than it was a few decades
ago ; and the native county breeders may well be proud of
their favourite. Foreign breeders are not so partial to it as
to the Durham — perhaps from its inadaptability to various
climates.

The colours of Herefords are a rich red on the body,
and a clear white on the face, throat, belly, the lower part
of the legs, and the tip of the tail. The forehead is broad,
the hide thick but mellow, the hair soft and sometimes
curly. The oxen are very heavy, and much larger in pro-
portion than the cows. The flesh is excellent, and the
animals are easily fattened. Although, as before observed,
they are not a dairy breed, we have seen cows which were
heavy milkers, and doubtless the attention which has been
paid to the development of the grazing properties of the
breed has destroyed whatever qualifications it may have
possessed at one time for the dairy. George CuUey says, on
the authority of Mr. EUman, referring to the Hereford cattle —
" The calves run with the cows till they are eleven or twelve
weeks old, when they are weaned and turned to grass. A good
cow, after the calf is taken from her, if well kept, will produce
from 6 to 8 lbs. of butter a week for three or four months after
taking off the calf, and double that quantity of skimmed-
milk cheese. They do not give so large a quantity of milk
as the Suffolk cattle, but it is much richer in quality." The
above quantity of butter is liberal for any cow to make after
rearing a calf, and it may be taken for granted that such a
yield seldom occurs from the Hereford. Perhaps a cow may
sometimes be slightly crossed with a good milk-producing
kind; or one that is fed beyond the common might milk
freely ; but it must not be expected, and will scarcely occur
in a breeder's herd in a lifetime. So it will be seen that
though the Hereford reaches within measurable distance of the
top of the bovine standard in meat-producing qualities, it is
by no means a remunerative milker.

The Longhorns are coming again to the front, and are readily
discernible from all other breeds by the disproportionate length
and sometimes encumbering forms of their horns. In the

old Craven breed the horns projected almost horizontally,
but in the offspring and improved varieties they sometimes
grew perpendicularly down, so as to render grazing difficult,
or made such curvatures as to threaten to mept before the
muzzle, or swept so round as to threaten to lock the under
jaw, or turned their points so inward upon the nose or other
parts of the face as to seem to be about to pierce them.
Most of the present English longhorns have long, spreading
and sometimes drooping horns ; a dark red and brindled

LONGHORN

colour, with white along the back ; good coats of hair ; rather
coarse bones; fair symmetry; a good adjustment of beef
along the back; a capacity of attaining great weight; and
a habit of both sound and somewhat rapid feeding. But
even the Craven group, like the whole of the Irish longhorns,
though with no such wide difference of value, is divisible
into two great and very distinct sections. The smaller
Cravens inhabit the moorlands and hills, are hardy and
easily kept, yield a large produce of excellent milk, have a
capacity of rapid fattening when removed to good pastures,
and are much and justly prized by cotters and small farmers.
The larger Cravens inhabit the low and level districts, and
yield less milk, in proportion to their size and food, than
the smaller Cravens, but possess an extraordinary tendency
to fatten rapidly, and to acquire a great bulk and weight.
" As either of these found their way to other districts," re-
marks Mr. Youatt, " they mingled to a greater or less degree
with the native cattle, or they felt the influence of change
of climate and soil, and gradually adapted themselves to
their new situation, and each assumed a peculiarity of form
which characterized it as belonging to a certain district, and
rendered it valuable and almost perfect there. The Cheshire,
the Derbyshire, the Nottinghamshire, the Staffordshire, the
Oxfordshire, and the Wiltshire cattle were all essentially
longhorns, but each had its distinguishing feature, which
seemed best to fit it for its situation and the purposes for
which it was bred. Having assumed a decided character,
varying only with peculiar local circumstances, the old
longhorns, like the Devons, the Herefords, and the Scotch,
continued nearly the same." The longhorns were cherished
in preference to all other breeds, and maintained to be the
best by the celebrated improver, Mr. Bakewell ; but they
are generally admitted now to be decidedly inferior in
aggregate worth to the shorthorns, and not equal for the
shambles to any one of several of the Scotch breeds.

The writer saw some bullocks and heifers being got up

404

MANAGEMENT

OF CATTLE.

for a Christmas market, crossed from the longhorns and
Herefords, that showed good size, excellent quality, and ex-
traordinary aptitude for fattening. The longliorns scarcely,
however, as a pure breed, meet with the requirements of the
present day in many districts.

The Suffolk Dun, or the Suffolk cow, is the last species
we can find space to treat upon here. It is a good all-round
milker, being proved by the dairymaid alike for making good

^-^

cheese, high quality of butter, and giving rich milk. It is the
only true hornless breed in England, and is supposed to have
originated from the polled or hornless breeds of Scotland.
The colours generally met with are a light dun or yellow-
ish cream, red or red and white. The carcase generally
is rather narrow and flat, legs short and thin, ribs well
arched, belly heavy, chine thin and hollow, loin narrow.
The head is fine, throat clean, dewlap not large. The
udder is large and square, the milk veins large. The skin
is fine, the hair silky. The general appearance of the
Suffolk is bony or angular, not presenting the fine rounded
outlines of the shorthorn, the Devon, or the Hereford. It
is an animal, when dried off, capable of being quickly fat-
tened up for the butcher when generously fed, and might,
we think, taking it all in all, be more widely utilized in
our dairies, either as a distinct breed or for crossing purposes.

THE CHANNEL ISLAND BREEDS.

It may not be at first quite apparent to my readers why
certain cows are more suited to hold different positions; further
on, however, it will be shown that while the Channel Island
cows are most at home in the nobleman's paddock or park, a

W AN ALDERNEY.

different class is called for on the tenant-farmer's holdings,
Again, between the rearer, or what we will in future term the
breeder, and the seller of milk, other varieties still are needed.
The gentleman's cow is required to find milk, cream, and
batter for the owner's household; cheese-making is seldom

touched upon here. It is essential that the milk, cream, and
butter should be of irreproachable quality, quantity not being
taken so much into consideration. A warm cowshed and
generous treatment are usually provided, therefore animals
live in happiness that would waste into "screws" in more
exposed quarters.

Again, rich men's dwellings are seldom situated in un-
fertile quarters, therefore nutrition and luxuriant herbage can
be obtained in summer time, this being highly advantageous
to a cow required to produce milk of the best quality.

Of all the breeds in the world none is more suitable for
this position than the Channel Islanders. Small, lean, and
ill-favoured as they are, they nevertheless produce a higher
class of milk than any other of the bovine species.

The beautiful yellow imparted to the butter cannot be
obtained from any other source, while the cream is almost
too thick to be termed a fluid. Even the breeder who desires
to rear high-class animals is often induced by the dairy-wife
to keep just one Aldemey in his herd to give a better
colour to the butter. Under the most generous treatment
this cow carries comparatively little flesh, and is about as
bad an animal to prepare for the butcher as can be found.
Coming from a warmer climate than most parts of Britain,
it requires careful attention in winter; but with such favour
amply repays its opulent owner. It is of a gentle disposition,
and when not abused by an unkind herdsman seldom displays
any vicious habits. One disadvantage is, that it is more
liable to suffer from parturient apoplexy (dropping .after
calving) than any other sort. This may also be said of the
other two breeds, viz. the Guernsey and Jersey.

M. Le Cornu, writing in the Journal of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society some time since, considered the following
points of merit to be regarded in a high-class Aldemey: —
(1) Pedigree on the male side; (2) pedigree on the female
side; (3) head small, fine, and tapering; (4) cheek small;
(5) throat clean ; (6) muzzle fine and encircled with a light
colour ; (7) nostrils high and open ; (S) horns smooth,
crumpled, not too thick at the base, and tapering, tipped
with black ; (9) ears small and thin ; (10) ears of a deep
orange colour within; (11) eye full and placid; (12) neck
straight, fine, and lightly placed on the shoulders ; (13) chest
broad and deep ; (14) barrel-hooped, broad and deep ; (15)
well-ribbed home, having but little space between the last
rib and the hip ; (16) back straight from the withers to the
top of the hip; (17) back straight from the top of the hips
to the setting on of the tail, and the tail at right angles
with the back; (18) tail fine; (19) tail hanging down to
hocks; (20) hide thin and movable, but not too loose; (21)
hide covered with fine soft hair ; (22) hide of a good colour ;
(23) fore-legs short, straight, and fine ; (24) fore-arm swelling
and full above the knee, and fine below it ; (25) hind-quarters,
from the hock to the point of the rump, long and well filled
up; (26) hind-legs squarely placed, not too close together
when viewed from behind ; (27) hind-legs not to cross when
walking ; (28) hoofs small ; (29) udder fall in form — i.e. well

^3

lUJ

(3

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

405

iu Hue with the belly ; (30) udder well up behind ; (31) teats
longish and squarely placed, being wide apart; (32) milk
veins very prominent ; (33) growth ; (34) general appearance ;
(35) condition.

The above would be the beau ideal of an Alderney, and
some of the points would be difficult to find. Within the
last few years this breed has come very much more into
favour, and in some instances has been crossed with other
kinds to advantage. The dairy cow proper may be looked
for in a cross between a sliorthorn and Guernsey ; indeed
for a small farmer a mixture between the latter and an
Ayrshire is valued. Too abrupt crosses, however, have not
favour with the writer as a rule, for nondescript progeny
may result. A step has been taken in the right direction
in the issue of a pure herd-book, entitled the " English
Guernsey Cattle Society's Herd-Book," and this will be likely
to lead to an improvement in the breed.

The colour of the Alderney varies, but is usually of a faint
yellow shade, mixed sometimes with white, and sometimes
white and dun. The hair is short, and the warm winter
garment provided for most other cows is not vouchsafed to
this breed. Thus it is necessary to provide the animal with
comfortable winter quarters.

In addition to large imports from the Channel Islands,
and occasional shipments from Normandy and the adjacent
ports of France, great numbers are now annually bred in
the more genial districts in England.

There are, and always will be, certain classes, not stock-
owners by occupation, who feel pleasure in keeping one or
two cows. For instance, the clergyman with his glebe, the
opulent county gentleman, and the wealthy retired tradesman,
have almost without exception a pet milk-supplier.

To those then who are blessed with plenteousness, and who
reside in any but the most exposed localities in Britain, I can
advise Channel Island cows as being most suited to their pur-
pose. For it has been shown that their milk is most highly
esteemed, the cream is of such consistency as to bear the pro-
verbial mouse, and the butter is second to none.

It should be understood that the Channel Islands can boast
of three distinct breeds of cows — viz. the Alderney, Jersey, and
Guernsey ; the latter are the best fleshed animals.

SELECTION OF COWS FOR BREEDING PURPOSES.

In choosing a herd of cows to breed and rear from, the
young stock-master needs to use great care and foresight.
It is not so much required that every animal should have
reached a high state of perfection at the outset, as that cows
should be bought that will in future improve into a valuable
herd. The ordinaiy grazier cannot afford to go in for pure
blood. It would be too expensive ; besides, the attention, accom-
modation, and general requisites for a pure-bred herd are
not to be found upon an ordinary farm ; and unless every
appliance and means are at hand, it is unwise to start a
pure-bred herd with a view of making profit. Indeed even
those who have everything at their disposal often find the

balance-sheet on the wrong side at their banker's. There-
fore it will be clearly seen that the common stock-master
had better refrain from spending money on too high-class
and fancy stock; but at the same time he must bear in
mind that infeiior animals should not find their place on
the breeder's establishment. It is well for stock-keepers
generally that certain people should keep good pure breeds.
They are the greatest boon to those who desire mixtures ol
blood, for in making crosses a pure strain can be procured
either through sire or dam. What the breeder really requires
to commence with are some nice breedy-looking heifers, such
as would be perhaps three-fourths bred sliorthoms. A good
age to buy them at is two years old, and in choosing the

SHORTHORN.

sort, clear judgment is required — such judgment as the stock-
keeper can only get by years of experience. Another time
to lay in a stock is at three years old, this being the proper
time for them to bring their first calves. Some farmers
believe in breeding from heifers at an earlier date, either
from two years or two years and a half old; but while the
milking qualities of an animal are improved by this early
bleeding, the general size, symmetry, and constitution are
deteriorated. It was for some time doubted if early breed-
ing did really give a greater capacity for free milking, but
practical and experienced men have now decided that such
is the case. It is, however, the object of the breeder to
produce a good herd of beasts, that he may breed and rear
from them animals that will meet a ready sale at any age.
He may keep or sell the males, and use the heifers for the
dairy, or he may keep both steers and heiferg to go oft when
at maturity.

The object must be to breed steers that possess an aptitude
for fattening, and heifers with a compact frame, gay carriage,
and approved colours, so well appreciated by judges of high-
class cattle. There is far more character in the head of
a dairy cow than the inexperienced farmer might think.
It should be carried with a jaunty air, and should be
rather small than otherwise ; not too short, but by no means
long and thin, and not too far from the eye to the nostrils.
The latter should expand, the forehead should be toler-
ably wide, while the eye should be large, full, soft, and
expressive. There is something peculiarly interesting in
the expression of a well-bred cow that will always be
found wanting in one descending from questionable parents.
The horns should have that stout, mellow appearance that
denotes a strong constitution and perfect health. In buying
in a herd, colours will of course vary ; but they should only

406

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

be divided between deep reds, roans, and clear reds and
whites, with flesh-coloured nostrils. White animals will
turn up in a course of breeding, for it is a colour natural
to the Durham breed, but not one to be encouraged.

The Bag or Udder is particularly to be examined. A
fortnight before calving it will have become so developed
that a good judge should make no mistake. The teats
should hang square ; should be rather long and slender
than thick and short. Slender teats denote good milking
qualities in the cow, while thick short ones point to the
reverse Moreover, when they are short, it is a most tedious
process to milk the animals until they have had several
calves. The result often is that such cows go dry first, this
state being frequently brought about by the milkers neglecting
to clean out the bag, being desirous of dispensing with an
animal that gives them so much trouble. The bag needs
not to be too big ; it should, however, extend well up to the
twist. The udder is formed by the assemblage of the glands
which secrete the milk, by the cellular tissue, fatty matter,
ganglion, and by the outer skin or bag which envelops the
whole. The milky glands are four in number, two on each
side, and the whole constitute what are called the "quarters,"
so that each gland in a well-proportioned udder is about the
fourth part of it. And here it is necessary to add that it
is of great importance to see that all the quarters are perfect.
It is a vulgar error to suppose that the udder is like a single
bag oi vessel, the contents of which may be withdrawn by
any one of the teats. The very opposite is the fact : each
quarter is separate from its neighbour, distinct by itself; so
that if any one of the quarters is deficient — as is sometimes
the case in practice — it simply amounts to a loss of so much
of the milking qualities of the cow. In the majority of cows
the supply of milk is in proportion to the size of the mam-
melles or milky glands. The following signs are indicative
of a good constitution of glands : — (1) Large development
of the hind-quarter; (2) lumbar region wide and strong;
(3) rump extended ; (4) large space to contain the udder,
gained by width apart of hind legs and haunches ; (5) mam-
melles well developed, giving considerable size to the udder.
It is necessary, however, to pay close attention to the struc-
ture of the udder, for it may be large, and yet the yield of
milk may be small. The bulk of it should be made up of
the milky glands, so that when the cow has been milked
these shrink in dimensions, and the udder, from a state
of tension, becomes shrivelled up in creases or folds, soft
and flabby. A fat or greasy udder, which does not yield
much milk, remains almost of the same size after milking
as before ; it resists applied pressure, so that squeezing
scarcely lessens it, its texture being uniform and firm. An
udder of this sort is called fleshy. While, therefore, the
udder should be large, it should not be fleshy, or rather
greasy. Dealers, to prove to their customers that the udder
is not greasy, draw back its outer covering or skin, and if
it stretches much it is considered to be a good skin. It is
easy to understand that skin which has been habitually

distended and relaxed by great quantities of milk and its
withdrawal, is sure to be more capable of being stretched
than that which has not been subjected to such influences.
Dealers have another object in view while thus extending
the skin of the udder, namely, to prove that the cows have
a fine, pliable, and soft skin. But inasmuch as the skin of
the udder of all cows has these properties to some extent, it
is necessary to go elsewhere — to the skin of the barrel or ribs
— to prove the touch of the animal. The form of the udder
is considered by some to be of great importance ; some deem
the udder best shaped when it is extended well forward, and
tlie glands clearing in close contact to the belly. We have
seldom found very good cows in which the udder has been
shaped like a bottle hanging well downwards. Contrary
to popular notions, the number of teats attached to the uddei
is six; four only are large and well developed, the othei
two being very small and placed behind, and seldom giving
milk. The four large ones only are those to which atten-
tion is necessary. Their size depends upon the length of
time which the cows have been milked or suckled by the
calf; cows, therefore, which give much milk have large
teats, because they are milked frequently and for a length-
ened period. In this way only their size indicates the yield
of milk. Usually more milk is obtained from the two back
or hinder than from the two forward or front teats, and this
because the hind-quarters of the udder are larger than the
fore-quarters. The teats should be soft and flexible, not
obstructed in their passage ; and smooth, not indurated or
shrivelled, on their surface. Warts are often present; but
although they do not affect the milking capabilities of the
cow, still they are better absent, inasmuch as they may be
painful when touched, and thus cause the cow to be restless
when being milked. Frequently they wear away from the
friction of the hand after the cow has been milked for a
short period. The position of the teats indicates the size ot
the glands. If they are huddled closely together, as each teat
is connected with its own quarter, it follows that the quarters
must be also closely together, and that the milky glands can-
not be extensive. The teats, therefore, should be placed,
as before observed, well apart from each other. But the
form, nevertheless, of the udder exercises an influence on
the position of the teats. Cows which have been long un-
milked have the udder much extended, hard, and painful.
Dealers, to convey the notion that bad cows are good milkers,
endeavour to bring about this full appearance of the udder,
and to effect it do not hesitate to carry out cruel plans. If
the udder is hard, and much distended in proportion to its
real size ; if the teats are hard, wide apart, painful when
touched ; or if milk is seen to exude from them, even when
untouched, it may at once be decided that the poor cow has
been long unmilked.

Milk Veins. — The best signs indicative of a good milk
cow are those afforded by the bloodvessels. If those sur-
rounding the udder are large, bend in their course, and are
varicose — that is, are not of uniform diameter throughout

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

407

their length — they indicate that the ghinds receive much
blood, are in full activity, and therefore that the milk will
be abundant. The veins on the stomach, or what are called
the milk veins par excellence, are very easily observed, and
are acknowledged by nearly all authorities to aflford one of
the best indications of the milking qualities of the cow. The
milk veins issue from the udder in front and at the exterior
angle, and in good cows form at this point a varicose swelling
or dilation. Proceeding towards the fore-quarters, they form
angles more or less marked, frequently dividing towards their
hinder extremity, and finally disappear into the body by
several openings. By compressing the milk veins at the
points where they disappear into the body, we can make
them dilate, and their size then can be well ascertained.
The openings through which the milk veins disappear into
the body are termed the milk ways [partes du lait) or foun-
tains ; but improperly so, for the blood contained in the veins
which traverse them, instead of going to is returning from
the glands, so that it is that portion which has not been
utilized in the formation of milk, and may be termed the
residue of the secretion. When the cow is not giving milk,
the milk veins, from being little swollen, are not in propor-
tion to or in accordance with [en rapport) its milking qualities.
Hence it is necessary to give an artificial swelling to the
milk vein by compressing it at its anterior extremity. The
best way is to thrust the end of the finger into the opening
through which the milk vein disappears into the body, and
we can then determine the size of the vein, for the opening
contracts more slowly than the vein.

Most of these indications and signs of good milking
qualities in cows are more fully developed after the animals
have had several calves, although even with heifers the
clever stockman will form some true conclusions. With an
eye to beef-making qualities, some desirable features in the
udder and milk veins have frequently to be overlooked ;
yet the purchaser will do wisely to secure as many favourable
marks as may be, with other outward signs of a well-made
beast. The rumps should lay wide, as also the hips, and the
back display the flatness of a table, while the skin should
give the soft feeling to the hand which we will now explain
in extenso.

The Touch. — It is only men well educated in the art of
buying cattle that are good judges of touch, and to such men
the feeling of the skin and hair of the cow is as important
a guide as the rudder to the ship. The touch may be good
or bad, fine or harsh, or, as it is often termed, hard or mellow.
A thick, firm skin, which is generally covered with a thickset,
hard, short hair, always touches hard, and indicates a bad
feeder. A thin, meagre, papery skin, covered with thin, silky
hair, being the opposite of the one just described, does not,
however, afford a good touch. Such a skin is indicative of
weakness of constitution, though of good feeding properties.
A perfect touch will be found with a thick, loose skin, floating
as it were on a layer of soft fat, yielding to the pressure, and
springing back towards the fingers, like a piece of soft, thick

chamois leather, and covered with thick, glossy, soft hair.
Such a collection of hair looks rich and beautiful, and seems
warm and comfortable to the animal. It is not unlike a bed
of fine soft moss ; and hence such a skin is frequently termed
' mossy.' The sensation derived from feeling a fine touch
is pleasurable, and even delightful. You cannot help liking
the animal that possesses a fine touch, with which is generally
associated a fine, symmetrical form. A knowledge of touch
can only be acquired by long practice ; but, after having
acquired it, it is of itself a sufiicient means of judging oi
the feeding quality of the ox ; because, when present, the
properties of symmetrical form, fine bone, sweet disposition,
and purity of blood are the general accompaniments.

Unfortunately it is too frequently found that good milking
qualities are not met in conjunction with the signs indicative
of good form. The best milkers are often indeed badly
shaped, lean, raw-boned, and in no way distinguished as
beautiful. Hence, then, the danger there is in choosing from
a herd of cows the most beautiful as the best milkers. On
the contrary, we not unusually find that in a good milk cow
the hind-quarters are defective in form, being largely de-
veloped ; flesh too little in proportion to the bone, so that
the bones and haunches protrude ; the pelvis is wide, and
the hind legs are wide apart to afford space for the udder ;
the muscles are slender, and the buttocks and thighs small
and narrow. The breeder must sacrifice milk rather than
introduce such a cow into his herd, or the steers reared from
this kind of stock will be ill-adapted to fiU the stalls, and
to be made up at three years old for the good ripe Christ-
mas beef for which England has justly gained renown.
Still by good judgment and perseverance in tracing out the
qualities for milk-producing and beef-making, both may be
very fairly combined. Such animals, on the majority of
breeding farms, are the best class to keep. There are other
breeds which are eminently adapted for certain localities, but
year by year the well-bred shorthorns take the position of
even our other cherished breeds ; and ere the present century
has passed away we anticipate that the Durham cattle will
occupy the major part of our pasture-land.

Seeing, then, that such herds of beasts as we have de-
scribed are the most profitable kind for the breeder and
rearer to keep, he will further improve them at little
extra expense by continually using a really good pure-bred
Durham sire. Thus in years to come a herd of beasts will
be formed very nearly pure bred — a herd that any man may
well be proud of, and one sure to prove remunerative to the
owner under judicious treatment.

THE dairyman's COW.

The animals specially adapted for the dairy-farm are those
that will give an abundance of milk. Quality is not so
much the object as quantity; and although it is desirable
that an animal should be bought that looks like holding its
money together, yet size, uniform appearance, and colour must
give way to power of milk production. These free milkers

408

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

are not found among the better class of shorthorns, and the
Herefords must be totally discarded for this purpose. The
Channel Island cow's milk is rich, but not plentiful enough
for the milkseller. The hardier Welsh excels more in the
richness of its milk than its plenteousness, while the small
Ayrshire is a nearer approach to what is required, being a

AN AYRSHIRE.

wonderful milker as far as it goes, but unfortunately, being
of such diminutive size, does not go far enough. No cow,
however, in the British Isles gives more milk according to
its weight than the Ayrshire.

Where, then, are we to look for the beau ideal of a cow
that shall give such a plenteous supply of milk as to make
the selling of it profitable to the cowkeeper? Probably
amongst all the above, or rather from a general mixture of
blood. Some of the best milkers we have ever had have
been strongly dashed with Ayrshire blood, the other parts
being shorthorns and Alderneys. The first cross between
the two latter kinds is hard to beat, providing a good strain
on either or on both sides is chosen. Here the Alderney
male should be used to mate the shorthorn cow. Probably
either Jersey or Guernsey would answer as well as Alderney
for crossing purposes. There is an extraordinary breed of
cows for milk of the race Flamande or Flemish; thesej
however, are not British animals. The best and purest
specimens are found in France, and are to be met with
on the rich pasture -land in the districts of Hazebrouck,
De Bergue of Bailleul, and Cassel. It is the favourite animal
of the north to north-east of France, and especially of the
celebrated districts of East and West Flanders. It owes
its origin probably to the same source as the cattle of

Holland. Generally speaking, in their native country, the
Flemish cows are kept permanently in the cowhouses, being
allowed a run in the stubble fields when the crops have
been cleared off in early autumn. Here they are either
tethered or attended by the lads or lasses of the district,
for hedges or fences are few and far between. In some

districts, however, these animals are depastured in the field
during the day and sheltered at night; and at Bergue,
near Dunkirk, they are pastured out night and day for
the summer months. This fine herd of milking cows is
now being improved by crossing with our shorthorns and
the Normandy breed — the combination having for its aim
to impart to the animals the facility of being rapidly fattened
which distinguishes the English shorthorn, the fineness of
the tissues, and the milk-giving faculties of the Flamande,
and to retain the milk-giving properties of the Normandy
breed, while toning down its coarseness. The Flemish blood
might be used to mix with our home breeds, but would sadly
reduce the value of the carcase, while it improved the apti-
tude for milking. This is a consideration ; for, although a
plentiful supply of milk should be the prior object, yet some
sort of regard should be paid to what the animal will bring
when sold out dry to the farmer or grazier for breeding from
again, or for fattening purposes.

The London milkman requires not only free milkers, but
such animals as will hold their flesh, and go off direct to the
butcher when they no longer answer for milking. Therefore

these milksellers buy all the best cows in the autumn time
that can be procured. The animals must be fat, or they
will not pass for the London market, and large-framed
animals with promising udders are mucli prefen-ed. They
are required to give two gallons of milk at a meal, and this
they often do for some months, for the food-supply consists
of everything that will produce milk, without regard to
expense. The object is to force the milk-supply and keep
the cows fat at the same time, and no sooner does the milk
diminish than they are sent off to the butcher, and the stalls
are filled with a new importation from the rich pastoral farms
of Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, and Leicestershire.
Grazing cows for the London milk market has been one
of the most remunerative occupations associated with farm-
ing for the last two decades. Warwickshire particularly is
favourably suited for grazing these cows, as, in addition to
its rich pastures, warm strawyards are provided for the winter
season. This shelter is needed, as the beasts have to hi
bought in during early winter, served by the bull, and be
sold out done calving, or with calf at foot, between the 1st
September and Christmas. In most other towns, aside from
London, a lower class of animals is used, which are milked
out and sold, much reduced in flesh, to the farmers to fatten
or breed from again.

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

409

The purchaser of these milking cows is not particular to
a year or two in the age. Usually animals showing a few
wrinkles in the horns give a more plenteous supply of milk
than heifers with their first calves ; and as the traders in milk
only keep the animals, as a rule, during one year, they do
not deteriorate much on hand if they have passed their best.
Still even here anything approaching a worn-out cow must
not be invested in, for however great may be the show
of milk, the worn-out constitution, weakened by age, will
assuredly prevent the animal from proving remunerative.

We do not, then, counsel milksellers to adhere to any fixed
breed or cross-breed, but rather prefer several mixtures of
blood in animals that show light flesh and many of the good
qualifications for giving milk which we described in the last
section It may be looked upon as an established fact that
richness of milk will be best procured through the Alderney
blood; hardness of constitution, through the Welsh; large
fi-arae and aptitude to feed, from the shorthorn ; and quantity
of milk, through the Ayrshire.

The Constitution. — This is the next matter for considera-
tion, and though it applies to all animals, three-fourths of
the cow-buyers fail to investigate sufficiently closely into it.
A large milk return will not be given long unless the cow
is in perfect health. The drain on the system is only drawing
upon nature's laws, and it may be kept up in a healthy animal
if she is supplied with generous diet ; but if the constitution
becomes weakened by age or any other infirmity, or the feed
is dealt out too sparingly, or of an unwholesome character,
the milk fonts will decline their office, and shortly cease to
produce at all.

A good milk cow should, in addition to the signs indi-
cative of active development of the mammary glands, pos-
sess good digestive organs, large lungs, and a prominent
chest. The appetite should be good for solid and wholesome
food — not, as is sometimes the case, depraved, so that the
animal is desirous of devouring all kinds of innutritious sub-
stances. The inclination for fluid should be strong, as such
a desire is promoted by an abundant flow of milk. When
these signs are present the cow makes good blood, so that
activity is given to the whole nervous system ; the organs
are rendered animated, and the gland amply provided with
the material necessary for a copious secretion. Possessed
of all these characteristics, cows give much milk for a
lengthened period, and sometimes possess the additional
advantage of fattening rapidly after they become dry. It
happens frequently, however, that activity in the mammary
glands is united with bodily characteristics the opposite
of those now named, so that we find cows abundant milkers
which have the ribs closely set, the brisket narrow, the
digestive organs delicate, the appetite only moderate, but the
thirst frequently great; with such signs the milk may be
large in quantity, but it is poor in quality, and the animals
are liable to sufier from lung disease. Animals of this
kind are very often shy breeders, although they display
the usual natural restlessness at intervals. They are also
Sf*

ill thrivers, even when in apparently good health, and
when not yielding much milk. Still, good milking cows
sometimes turn up in all kinds of three-cornered shapes.

As a good milk-producer, without regard to anytliing
further, Mr. Mayne gives the following description : — " As
regards the general appearance of the cow, preference in all
cases should be given to those whose form is furthest re-
moved from that of the male. They should possess, then,
(1) a small bony development; (2) fine and slender legs; (3)
the head should be small and somewhat long, and get narrow
as it approaches tlie region of the horns; (4) the horns should
be of a clear colour and transparent, should taper gradually
to the extremities ; (5) the skin should be soft, and covered
with fine soft and shining clear hair; (6) the natural passages
should be provided with a soft silky down ; (7) the neck
should be small ; (8) the shoulders slender, especially near
the head ; (9) eyelids not much shrivelled ; (10) the eyes
prominent and bright, but with a mild, feminine expression."

The following will, however, perhaps be more generally
received by English cowkeepers as the truer specimen of a
dairy cow: — She should have a long thin head(?), witli
a brisk but placid eye, be thin and hollow in the neck, nar-
row in the breast and point of the shoulder, and altogether
light in the fore-quarter, but wide in the loins, with little
dewlap, and neither too full-fleshed along the chine, nor
showing in any part an indication to put on much fat. The
udder should be especially large, round, and full, with the
milk veins protruding, yet thin-skinned, but not hanging
loose. The teats should also stand square, all pointing out
at equal distances, and of the same size ; and although
neither very large nor thick towards the udder, yet long
and tapering to a point. A cow with a large head, a high
backbone, a small udder and teats, and drawn up in the
belly, will, beyond all doubt, be found a bad milker. It
is important that the temperament of a milk cow should
be considered, for it is a bad sign when the animal is
habitually restive or uneasy, especially when the milking pro-
cess is going on. On the contrary, she should have all the
appearance of being happy, and the greatest kindness on the
part of the attendant is essential ; it is singular how instinc-
tively a cow discriminates between one who is careful with
her or otherwise. She loves to be fondled, and in return
yields extra profit.

The kind milking cow will be observed to chew the cud
while the milking process is going on almost invariably when
not feeding. Some cows that are in the habit of suspending
their milk will give it down quite freely when fed with some
tempting morsel when the milking is going on. Care in all
these things is essential ; and if regard is not paid to them,
good cows may be spoiled.

The master should ever be present during muUing-time,
and nothing that goes on amiss should escape his vigilant
eye. Conducted under such management, milk-selling is a
good business, providing the market or station is near; but
otherwise expenses eat up all profit. It is not, in our opinion,

410

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

generally known how nutritious a fluid milk is, or it would
be more largely used. It is wholesome for all persons eitlier
in health or illness, and the more children live on it the
better/ Even skim milk has valuable nutritious qualities,
and should in some way or other be more freely conveyed to
the centres of vast cities. Millions of gallons of skim milk
are annually given to pigs, which often do not answer to
pork ; while if it were conveyed to large towns, it would be
a perfect boon to mothers who have families to provide for.
No food could be more wholesome, neither could any other
be obtained at so cheap a rate. Expense of conveyance
is the one gi-eat burden now, and railway companies would
do well to reduce their charges for such commodities, and
then the occupation of cowkeeping for milkselling would be
rapidly sought after, more milk would be submitted to the
public, and the community at large be benefited by it.

THE cotter's cow.

The cows that are needed by cotters or labourers with
allotments are such as will subsist upon hard fare at times,
and feed in the paddock or orchard, with little other change
perhaps than an occasional run along the roadside to graze
the sparse herbage which is there to be found. In some
instances they get a wider range, it is true, on lean grass
fields, or on the over-stocked common, where only cows
of a hardy kind could find support. Still, thousands of
animals are kept under such circumstances in England,
Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and very much help the well-
to-do peasant to live in a more comfortable manner, while the
poorer neighbours are benefited from the spare milk. In
many cases the owner is the thrifty servant who has saved
sufficient from his hard-earned gains to purchase a cow, and
fiom one the number may be increased under favourable cir-
cumstances to two or three. It is, however, to be regretted
that at times impartial disease seizes the much-cherished
animal, and does not relinquish its grasp until death has
claimed the victim for its own. Such cases are sad indeed,
for all the hard-gotten gains of the peasant are wrested from
him at once.

We have found, from careful observation, that cows kept
upon limited spaces of ground are much more liable to
diseases than when they are allowed to roam over wider
pastures. These animals need change of food, and one
plant counteracts any evil results that may arise from
another, providing the range of ground is sufficiently wide
to supply the antidote. The ranunculus or buttercup has
been greatly condemned by some stockowners, and vete-
rinary surgeons too, as being the cause of red water and
other malignant diseases. It may tend to such complaints
if eaten by an animal of depraved appetite, but a creature in
health only takes just sufficient to help to digest other food.
How a practical man can retain the doctrine that this plant
is poisonous we are at a loss to explain — considering that all
the richest pastures in England abound with it. Such
lands as a rule are reputed as being particularly wholesome

and nutritious for homed cattle. Again, if this species of
herbage is so poisonous, wherefore is it that no injury arises
from animals taking hay containing great quantities? If
mankind would reason and commune with nature a little
more, and leave her laws to take their course, a much more
correct conclusion would be arrived at. The fact is, that
when the young free-growing gi'asses of spring first prevail,
they contain much watery sap, and if taken largely by the
bovine species which have been wintered on dry food, the
sudden change is likely to cause colic, or hoven, or blown,
and inflammation might follow. Howbeit in many pastui'es
the buttercup or ranunculus at this season carpets the whole
face of the earth like a cloth of gold. Animals will scarcely
take the plant in by choice, but it is impossible for them
to feed without occasional flowers mingling with the grasses.
The buttercup is of a hot and most acrid nature, and mixing
with the cold grasses, stimulates the stomach into action, and
thus assists digestion — indeed it acts upon a cow much as a glass
of spirits would do upon a human being. Towards midsummer,
when the grasses become more wholesome, the buttercups de-
part, leaving only a few hard stems which cattle refuse to take —
neither does their stomach then need any stimulant to aid the
digestion of the fast-maturing grasses. As the cotter's cow is
more liable to disorder than such as roam at large, and con-
sidering that he can less afford to lose his animal, as probably
with it would go his all, it would be well if the more opulent
classes would assist him to insure against such disasters.

The poor man's choice of a cow is between three breeds —
viz., the Ayrshire, the Welsh, and the Kerry. The Channe
Islanders have been tried many times, but found wanting in
constitution, being unable to rough it, as the peasant's animal
ever has to do. The Ayrshire will doubtless thrive on a
less span of land than any other breed ; we have, however,
already commented upon its many advantages.

Welsh cows are most hardy, and may be roughly divided
into the North and South " Walers." Those of North
Wales are of a hardier breed, having much more hair to
protect them against the cutting winds than their southern
neighbours, which are much more highly prized for dairy
purposes.

Those termed Pembrokes, from being bred in Pembroke-
shire, are the pick of the country for milk produce, butter-
making, and for fattening for the butcher when milked out.
The flesh is well mixed, and held in repute for its good
quality ; but Welsh cattle do not appear to be improved
much of late, or rather, there is a deterioration, arising in
no small degree from the circumstance that the breeders
in Wales have for some time been selling their best heifers
for fattening purposes, instead of retaining them to breed
from. Such a system is enough to spoil any breed. By
careful selection of the heifers, and a due attention to the
character of the bulls which are used, much improvement
might be effected in the cattle of the mountainous districts
of Wales ; and with this there might well be an infusion
of other blood derived from mountain breeds — the best for

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

411

the purpose being the Argyleshire and West Highland.
The true colour of Welsh cattle is black, and the horns are
fine, turned upwards at the points, and tipped with black.

They have hardy constitutions, and will live on land
where others would starve; some of them have also the
advantage of retaining their supply of milk longer than
almost any other beasts. It is not uncommon to milk them
quite round — i.e. until they calve again. This, however, is
ever a reprehensible practice, and will, if repeated, spoil any
cow. These animals only need housing during the coldest
niffhts in winter, and even in the dead of that season are
better depastured by day.

Of the Kerry we can but speak favourably ; and it is no
doubt well suited for the cowkeeper who has a limited space
to graze. While these animals are not so hardy as the
Welsh, and therefore not so fitted for exposure and northern
localities, still they will endure more hardships than our Eng-
lish breeds.

The Kerry cow is as small as a cow of the Scottish
skibos, and somewhat similar to her in points and shape.
She is, compared to her size, a very copious milker ; and
she possesses the same kind of reputation throughout a large
portion of Ireland which belongs to the Ayrshire cow in the
western districts of the Scottish lowlands. Kerry heifers are
in constant demand at comparatively high prices, and they
may be met in droves, in many parts of the low country,
ready to be sold in pairs or singly to the small farmers
of the rural districts, and the cowkeepers and milksellers in
towns. Xerry cattle, when unmolested or very gently treated,
are perfectly quiet ; but when disturbed or even slightly
irritated, they break all bounds and overleap every ordinary
fence. A writer observes: — "The Keny is an Irish
breed of great value, both for dairy purposes and the value
of the beef when fattened. It has, however, been sadly
neglected. Kerry cattle are small, many of the cows not
exceeding, and being sometimes under, forty inches in height
at the shoulder. Their milk is rich, and when fattened the
beef is fine-grained and well mixed. Black is the general
colour, but black and white and brown or brindled are also
common colours. The cows are gentle (?), and while suited
for poor mountain pastures, they are also an appropriate
kind for the villa farm."

Leaving, then, the small cowkeeper to make his choice
between the above breeds, which he will from locality and
other prevailing circumstances be best able to do, we will
now close this part of the subject for other matters also de-
manding attention.

INDICATIONS OF AGE.

It is of the first importance that the purchasers of cows
should be conversant with the signs of age. The rough-
and-ready scowl-of-brow conclusions that certain men use are
not sufficient in many instances, and other more truthful indi-
cations must be sought for. It is requisite to be able to mark
the signs of youth as well as of old age, for the young

animals may be spoiled by being bred from too soon, or by
being exposed to hardship, while the old should be disposed
of at a certain period, before they have far advanced on the
downward path of life.

The mammary glands of cows, like all other organs, develop
themselves in proportion to the exercise of their functions:
hence it happens that a cow does not give so much milk after
its first or second calf as after the third or fourth, although
the milk is never richer than in the younger animal. It may
be taken as a fact, then, that the cow yields its maximum of
milk after several calvings, if she has been treated on a good
system of management. It is not a good plan to buy five or
six year old cows at fairs or markets, for it rarely happens that
they are sold at reasonable prices at this age, if free from
faults ; and, further, they will shortly begin to go downhill.

It is obvious, therefore, that in judging the value of a milk
cow, it is particularly important to be able to determine its
age, for after it has reached a certain period of life its milk-
ing capabilities are decreased. A cow when she has had
her fourth calf, or is in her sixth year, may be said to have
reached her best point; after which the milking qualities will
get yearly less valuable. The flow of milk may be pretty
well kept up, but the quality will become much deteriorated,
and the animal more quickly goes dry after calving when
advanced in years.

The horns and the teeth afi'ord ready and sufficiently
accurate means to determine the age of a cow. The horns
vary much in length and in general appearance. Tlieir
annual growth is indicated by a ring more or less visible.
The sign of the first year of the calf's existence is a circular
depression between the skin and the bulging horn ; that ot
the second year, a second bulge, with a depression ,below it ;
that of the third year, a third bulge, with a depression below
it. These marks, or annular bulges and depressions, are,
however, by no means easily observed ; and it is not till the
third year that the mark is distinct. Culley, in his cele-
brated treatise on " Live Stock," says that the first wrinkle
upon the horn does not take place until the animal is three
years old, after which there comes another circle or wrinkle
every year as long as the horn stands on, though not always
equally discernible in all horned cattle ; and stockowners gener-
ally believe in CuUey's doctrine. We are sorry to say that it
is too common for jobbers and cow-dealers to scrape, rasp,
or file down these wrinkles in old cattle to prevent the age
being known, and by that means to deceive and impose upon
the unwary, the ignorant, and the unsuspicious; and this
process is called among the fraternity " bishoping." In
reckoning the age of a cow, then, by the circles on the horn,
they should be counted from that nearest to the tip and point,
and as the last well-developed circle will be the third (being
the first which is plainly observable), two more will have to
be added to the number. Thus, if there are five well-developed
circles, the last furthest from the tip of the horn will be the
third year's circle ; so that, reckoning the two first years, the
age of the animal will be shown to be seven. If there are four

412

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

well-developed circles, the age will be six ; if six circles, the
age will be eight ; two being added in all cases to the number
of well-developed circles will give the age of the cow.

But from what we have stated above it will be noticed
that the indications afforded by the circles of the horns can-
not always be relied upon, as they are frequently subjected
to the tampering of dishonest dealers ; and although the
same may be said regarding their practices with the teeth in
some cases, still these are generally taken and relied upon
as affording pretty correct indications of age. It seems a
somewhat strange thing to say, but it is nevertheless true
enough, that the indications afforded by the teeth of the age
of cows and oxen are less to be depended upon since the
improvements made in breeding and feeding than when the
animals were raised in a more natural condition, and this arises
from the circumstance that these improvements naturally in-
duce a " precocity of development " and exercise "a modifying
influence upon the teeth in common with other parts, and
even more particularly upon them as parts of the digestive
system." Another cause is much hard food, such as cake,
which is now extensively given, and tends to break and wear
out the teeth.

Professor Simonds, in his paper on " The Teeth of the Ox,
Sheep, and Pig, as indicative of the Age of the Animal," in
vol. XV. of the Journal of the Agricultural Society^ has
thoroughly exhausted the subject, and shown the errors
which have crept into our agricultural treatises through in-
sufficient knowledge of the subject. Thus a very general
opinion amongst breeders, which has found a place in several
treatises, is, that the ox cannot be said to be " full-mouthed "
— that is, possessed of all his teeth — " until he is six years
old." Professor Simonds, as the result of a most extended
and carefully made series of observations and investigations,
finds, on the contrary, that, " as a rule, even under unfavour-
able circumstances, the dentition of the ox is completed before
the fourth year of his age." The following table of the den-
tition of the ox is given by this excellent authority : —

Table of Early A verage (the breed and
other causes favouring development).

Table of Late Average (the breed and
other causes retarding development).

Years.

Months.

Years.

Months.

1
2
2
3

9
3
9
3

Two permanent incisors.
Four do.
Six do.
Eight do.

2
2
3
3

3
9
3

9

Two permanent incisors.
Four do.
Six do.
Eiglit do.

The following remarks and table are quoted from Professor
Brown's paper on the same subject in the Bath and West of
England Agricultural Society's Journal some time ago : —
In all animals whose ages are matters of inquiry, we gain
most evidence from the incisors, or front teeth, from the ease
with which the appearances may be ascertained ; but in any
doubtful cases the molars, or back teeth, will be referred to
with advantage for the purpose of correcting the opinion.
The farmer can, however, hardly be expected to know suffi-
cient of the anatomy of these parts to consult them success-

fully, although to the professional examiner they are more
definite than the incisors, besides being less subject to ex-
ceptions, and undergoing very marked changes at a time
when the incisors are almost useless as tests. It is satis-
factory to be able to add that no authenticated case has
occurred in which both incisors and molars have shown
exceptional appearances; on the contrary, a peculiarity in
the one has been invariably corrected by the absence of it
in the other. To enable the stock exhibitor to examine his
animals and form an opinion of the condition of their mouths
at intervals, the following tabular view of dentition will, it
is hoped, suffice. As no average can be taken in many cases,
it will be advisable in such to take two or three periods, such
as early, late, and ordinary times, for the changes that will
be mentioned. Even a fourth period might be permitted
to include instances of extreme precocity; but these are so
few that no practical benefit could follow their classification,
although they may often affect the opinion of the examiner
who is familiar with them. To economize space as far as
may be, we shall use the letter T for temporary or milk teeth,
and P for permanent or adult teeth. The ages in any cases
are only pursued as far as the restrictions extend.

Dentition of the Ox.

8 incisors (T) in lower jaw only. 6 molars (T) in both jaws.
8 " (P) " " 12 " (P) " "

Incisors.

Molara

Early.

Late.

Average.

Eight (T) just pricking

Six (T) jnst pricking

up.

in both jaws.

...

Birth.

Eight (T) fairly up.

Six (T) fairW up.
4th (P) behind the

6 weeks.

3rd (T).

...

6 months.

Incisors worn and get-

6th (P) behind the

ting apart from each

above.

15 months.

other.

Central (P) np, 1st

6th molar behind the

pair (2-toothed).

above.

1 yr. 6 ms.

2 yrs. 4 ms.

2 years.

Middles, 2nd pair (4-

toothed).

...

2 yrs. 4 ms.

2 yrs. 8 ms.

2 yrs. 6 ms.

Laterals, 3rd pair (6-

toothed).

..

2 yrs. 5 ms.

3 years.

Corners, 4th pair (8-

toothed).

...

2 yrs. 10 ms.

3 yrs. 9 ms.

3 yrs. 6 ms.

Between the second and third years the three anterior
molars are changed for permanent, and their examination is
indispensable for the formation of an opinion ; during this
time the incisors, as will be seen by the table, being subject
to extraordinary variations. The remark "early" and "late"
refers only to the incisors.

Those cattle-buyers who do not wish their purchased
cows to have more calves, nor to retain them long in

their possession, sometimes find it

advantageous to

buy

rather older animals, taking care that they are in good
condition and have good teeth. In such instances the
condition should not be lost. There is a chance of these
animals answering certain purposes; they give a large
yield of milk, and when dried off and well fattened they fetch
a pretty good price from the butcher — not, however, so much
per pound as younger animals. There are such other in-
dications of age as loss of teeth, or teeth worn short and

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MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

413

standing a distance apart, an overgrown carcase, long bag,
and general ancient appearance that at once reminds the
experienced cattle-buyer that old age is coming on, and that
the milkmaid has sung too many songs under the cow to
render such a purchase likely to prove remunerative.

PURCHASING.

In laying the foundation of a herd of cows the breeder
needs to use his whole stock of knowledge, for as he com-
mences so may he expect to follow on. It is not so easy to
correct defects in animals by way of mating them with ap-
proved sires as people are apt to imagine — far more easy to
engender more faults. It is a common error made in breeding
to try and improve a fault that the dam may have, by using
a sire that is particularly good about such a point, while possibly
at the same time overlooking some other defects of his. This
proceeding is clearly wrong, for it should be the object to lose
nothing, while any improvement that can be made should be
taken advantage of. As an instance, if a cow has a little
slackness of the loin, it would be well to choose a sire extra
good in this part, but it would be just an open question if
the offspring would prove as correctly made in the same part,
while any disapproved make in the sire might, and likely
enough would, be imparted to the calf. A sire should be
perfectly made, and it is better at all times to sacrifice size
rather than make.

In choosing heifers for a permanent herd, therefore, the
buyer should not be too extravagant in his idea of size, or
defects in make are almost sure to be overlooked, and these
will descend to the offspring pretty much as they are
present in the parent. They may not be imparted to the
first calf, perhaps not to the first generation, but glaring faults
are sure to display themselves sooner or later in the offspring,
although they may lie dormant for such a prolonged period
that the stock-master has congratulated himself that he is
well rid of them. Thus it is that true make must be tJie first
motto, and then ijs much size as may be. Another rock on
which the purchaser is often cast is in buying animals that
are too fat, for flesh covers a multitude of defects, and high
condition not unfrequently deceives good judges. Rather
poor healthy animals that have been subsisting on hard fare
improve from the day they are bought, and receiving more
generous treatment, please the owner more each visit he
makes to them. The sleek, high-conditioned animal has,
ten to one, been living on all imaginable good food, and
languishes under ordinary treatment. In buying poor, im-
proving cows, touch, of which we spoke at length in a
previous section, must be the grazier's beacon and guide.
It is not un'-.ommon for the inexperienced to pick up a poor
animal which is a confirmed " screw," but in such a case the
good qualities of the skin and hair will be ever absent. No
sooner does the young beginner enter the market than he is
besieged by all the dealers that have " screwy " animals to
dispose of, and he is lucky if he escapes them all. These
chafferers do not " try it on " with experienced hands, know-

ing full well that their nefarious tricks will not work there;

so tiieir victims are the amateurs. The "

screw " will be

found to have a dry hard coat, the skin fixed on to the flesh
as if glued there, and such signs as dry nostrils, sunken
eyes, tucked-up belly, wasted twist, bareness of flesh, and
an unnatural gait in walking. It often proves that the lungs
are the seat of the disorder, and a dry husk or cough will
betray the secret. This cough will be brought on by stin-ing
the animal suddenly along. Practical men look upon this
sudden movement as a test, and whether it is practised in the
fair or field it will generally bring on a fit of coughing. Diar-
rlicea or looseness must be looked upon with suspicion when
present in a poor animal, while rumination is a favourable
symptom, and seldom practised by a cow far gone in decline.
The tail, too, often shows a weak, thin appearance, the
bottom part being void of muscular power; hence the ignorant
attribute the whole decay of the animal's health to what they
are pleased to term tail-worm. So the tail is cut with a pen-
knife at the extreme end, the small muscular cords — which the
operator terms the worm — removed, and the cow is expected
at once to return to a state of convalescence. We need
scarcely say all this is utter nonsense, for no such thing as
tail-worm exists, and the stupid stockowner might as well
expect to cure his animal by cutting a nick in the nearest
gate-post.

There are a few more common defects to be guarded
against in buying beasts, such as partial or total blindness,
displaced hips, ill-shaped bags, defective teats, &c. The last
peculiarity, however, will not be detected in the maiden
heifer. In purchasing a cow that has already calved, the
first step will be to take a general view of the animal, and
if she appears suitable, to study more minute particulars.
The age should first be ascertained, for on no account
should any one be induced to buy an old animal, no matter
how tempting the price may be, for they decline on hand,
and always turn out too dear. Few people would credit
the extra food that old animals take. The " touch " of
the cow should next be proved satisfactory, and then the
udder carefully examined. Each teat must not only give
milk, but the same free stream should flow from all. If the
milk runs of itself from the teats, suspicions may be had that
the cow sheds her milk. This is objectionable ; in such
instances dealers take caie to keep the udder pretty empty.
Small tumours often form in the passage of the teats, which
are liable, later on, to cause the loss of the quarters where
they are located. These tumours can be detected, even when
very small, by carefully passing the finger and thumb over
the milk passage. By standing in front of the animal, a
good idea will be formed of the fore part, consisting of the
head, neck, and brisket, or chest. It is, however, behind
where the judge loves to take a general survey, for from such
a situation the rumps, hips, loin, ribs, and chine will at once
come under view. If there is one thing more essential than
another — in not only a cow, but in all other animals — it is
a good set of ribs. They should not be flat, but placed

414

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

evenly well back into the loin, in barrel shape, or well curved.
In the cow the back rib is of vast importance. It is con-
sidered a great point with the butcher, and is about the
6rst riart that his hand is put upon. Other particulars of

the proper shape of the cow will be found elsewhere. The
question of colour is of importance to the breeder, who
intends rearing his stock, while to those who do not intend
rearing calves, but selling oflF fat, colour is not of paramount

-MtXi

SHORTHORN COW.

importance. The breeder, however, chooses such colours as
deep reds, reds and whites, light roans, strawberry roans, and
avoids dark nostrils. Thus the oflFspring will prove of good
colour also A neat head, gay colour, with jaunty gait, adds
much to the appearance of the beast, and such qualities so
attract the eyes of customers that a higher price is paid, the
purchaser knowing full well that they are never pronounced
in the mongrel-bred cow.

It is preferable to buy stock on the farm where they are
bred, if possible, as not only are animals often injured through
the abuse of drovers at fairs and markets, but a risk of taking
or creating disease is run, and in pregnant animals abortion
is often brought about. The manner in which cattle are
abused in our fairs and markets is a crying disgrace to the
enlightened age in which we live, and it is high time the
police authorities bestirred themselves in the matter, for they
are empowered to do so ; indeed, it is their duty. Blows are
applied as if the poor creatures had no feeling, and over-
driving without food or water is commonly practised.

If purchasing could be done on the home farms, besides
the above evils being avoided, all middle-men — for whom
there is no spare profit in these depressed days of farming —
would be shut out, animals would be more healthy, and
many contagious and other diseases would be avoided. The
general closing of fairs owing to the prevalence of " foot-and-
mouth disease" proved this, for not only was this disease
arrested in its progress, but other contagious ones also dis-
appeared from our herds and flocks. Every experienced
grazier knows how often cows are bought that have been
driven from fair to fair until they are so footsore and jaded

that they are half a summer before they commence to thrive
and lay on flesh. Therefore the grass season passes away,
while they are not nearly made up for the butcher — the only
resource left being expensive stall-feeding, or selling out
at little, if any, over cost price. Buying and selling stock
at home, then, is to be commended in every way The ad-
vantages to the seller are that they never look so well in any
other position, and therefore he gets the best price without
paying any outpocket expenses whatever, while the advan-
tages to the buyer chiefly are that the animals are healthy,
rested, and in a good state to go on immediately they are
removed to fresh quarters.

TREATMENT DURING GESTATION.

Approved animals having been bought in, we will now
consider their further treatment — assuming that a herd ot
maiden heifers have been purchased in the spring-time, at
the age of two years, just as the grass fields begin to display
a verdant face. After the animals have passed a month
and become settled to their pastures, it will be time to mate
them with an approved sire. We are now advising for the
breeder's herd. A young sire is essential here, say from
twelve to eighteen months old ; and to ensure the fruitfiilness
of all the animals, he should lie with the herd, or within
measurable distance. Otherwise the shepherd, upon whom
attention to these matters generally falls, may fail to interest
himself to take the heifers to a distance, and thus a portion
of the herd prove unfruitful from neglect. When in a healthy
state, cows usually come in use every fortnight or three weeks
until impregnated, and their period of gestation is forty-one

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MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

415

weeks — a few days more or less. The heifers would calf
down from two years and nine months old to three years.
For the breeder, under all circumstances, this is quite early
enough, although for the dairyman or milkseller six months
younger would be considered a good age for heifers to have
the first calf. No doubt breeding from animals too young
stops their growth, bad times at calving are liable to result,
wliile the first calf is often but an undersized creature, totally
unfit to bring into the herd It should, however, be understood
that heifers that have been well cared for the whole of their
lives are as forward at eighteen months old as others that have
subsisted on less generous diet, or that have been neglected,
are at two years, so that the graziers may best judge when to
commence breeding from the animals under their care.

The sire should be of pure shorthorned blood, and an
animal as near perfect shape as possible. Extra size may

be passed over — a mass of fat is not needed; but stainless
blood, good make, and colour are sine qua non to the improve-
ment of the herd. If a pretty numerous one, the owner will
best serve his own interest by keeping a bull on the farm ;
but in cases where only several cows are kept this will scarcely
answer, and the services of the neighbour's must be utilized.

During gestation the quiet field is the best place until
winter sets in, but it is above all things requisite that the
animals should not be subject to fright. No dog should
be allowed to disturb the quiet of the herd, for nothing
would be more likely to bring on cases of untimely birth.
Tiie water supply should be pure and wholesome ; and it is
the exception rather than the rule to find such the case in the
common pasture-fields. Too often stagnant pools, offensive
to the smell, are the only drinking-places that cattle have
to quench their thirst at. The bottom of the pond pro-

SHORTHORN BULL, "SIRE OF THE HERD."

bably contains the relics of fallen and decayed branches and
leaves of many years' accumulation from trees above or
around. The excretion and urine of many herds of beasts
may have been added to the filthy fluid for many a sum.ner
owing to the botfly {QHstrus hovis) or the heat having driven
the excited and panting herd into the water ; while many a
pond is made a general sepulchre for all animals that Ai.^
in its immediate vicinity. Is it a wonder, then, that disease
prevail in our land ? No ; but it is marvellous that more dire
maladies do not rage than is now the case. The nearest waj
to produce an unhealthy system is foul water, and the most
fruitful method of causing abortion amongst any pregnar.t
animals is ill-health.

While animals are upon a summer pasture their food con-

sists wholly of grass, and if the plants are healthy nothing is
more wholesome for the breeding cow. But there is a disease
now common to our grasses, known as ergot, which in wet
seasons produces more cases of abortion than any other one
cause ; and this fact is far too little known and understood by
the ordinary stock-keeper. Ergot is a parasitic fungus that
fixes itself on the grasses in the shape of a minute balloon-
like germ. This germ lodges on the bloom of the grasses,
taking possession of the small cavity provided for the
grass-seed. Here the germ grows into a dark-brown or black
spur, varying from a quarter to three-quarters of an inch in
length, and in thickness between that of a fine needle and a
wheat-grain. It is characteristic of the plant that it invari-
ably grows in the shape of a cock's spur ; hence the Freacb

416

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

give it the name of ergot. Eaten in sufficient quantities, it
causes inflammation of the uterus or womb of any pregnant
animal, when abortion is liable to result. Breeding cows
should be removed from pastures which are so diseased.
Spurs are not often present before the end of July or the
beginning of August, so that before this time the poisonous
parasite need not be feared, and it is never found to any
extent upon aftermath in meadows in the year they have
been mown. Therefore the farmer can generally remove his
cows from the " eigoted " uplands and ensure wholesome
herbage on the mown pastures. The hay should be
examined in winter time, as the spurs sometimes prevail

amongst it.

In the winter season the pregnant cow needs more atten-
tion. First, the food must all be of a light, wholesome, nutri-
tious character. It is essential that animals should come
down calving in good condition, or there will be small hopes
of a profitable dairy cow. The hay must be neither over-
grown nor weather-beaten in the field, nor mouldy or over-
heated in the rick. The best hay is such as holds the
fragrance of that newly made in summer time — so much the
better if the colour is not changed. Roots are quite whole-
some diet given in moderation, and in a matured state;
indeed they are requisite where the animals cannot get a run
to pasture for a few hours during the day. Mangel-wurzel
are unfit to use before Christmas — better to be withheld until
past Lady-dav Some veterinary surgeons deem them poison-
ous before Cliristmas. CaiTOts are a most wholesome root at
all times, and should be more widely cultivated by the farmer.
Ground oats or three or four pounds of mixed linseed and
cotton-cake are wholesome food, and beans, pease, and rice
meal may be given in judicious quantities. It is better to
underfeed than to overfeed, and the man who breeds from
animals that he intends keeping on need not force them into
such high condition as if they had to be sold to dealers.
Indeed, really prime hay and roots are sufficient in themselves,
but if straw is mixed with the hay in the chopping process a
little meal or cake may be required. The roots should always
be pulped and mixed with some chaff until they begin to
ferment ; thus the food is served up in a slightly warm state,
when it is much more wholesome for the cow's stomach than
when taken in cold.

Secondly, the water must be pure ; but we do not approve
of it taken from the cold spring. If it is too hard and cold, it
should stand in some warmer temperature for twelve hours
before it is given. Cold spring water served out to a thirsty
cow living upon dry food is positively unwholesome, and still
more so if the animal has just been feeding on cold roots. It
is better to take the water from a clear stagnant pool ; but
the best water of all is pure rain-water ; and cows like it
better than any other. Many a washing-woman has applied
the broom freely to the poor dairy cow that has made too
free at the soft-water butt. Nature's laws are always
displayed by animals, if their owners would but study
them. It would be better if buildings were so arranged

that all rain-water could be saved for cattle ; the extra outlay
would thus be repaid over and over again in a few years.

Thirdly, exercise is requisite for cows during gestation,
and a few hours' run in the pasture-field during the day all
winter is desirable. In such cases they get a little grass and
seek their own drinking-places. The shed or yards should
be cool and well ventilated, or the animals will feel too severely
the chill in the pastures. Cool yards promote the growth of
a warm garment in the shape of hair, and when tliis is assumed
cows seldom take cold. It is folly to tie animals by the
neck during gestation, even during the night. A comfortable
roomy bed on a high and dry spot should always be provided,
and if under an open shed so much the better. It is most
important that heifers should not lie too crowded, for they
are far more spiteful than older cows or steers ; and any more
than usually quarrelsome one should be removed to other
quarters. It is a good practice to tie them up while they are
taking their extra food, such as cake, roots, and any other
diet that they are likely to fight over.

Fourthly, no frights or disturbance should be allowed, and
no bad smells should prevail. The attendant should be a
steady, trustworthy, good-tempered man, one who feeds hia
animals punctually, and is fond of and takes delight in his
work. These men are now difficult to procure, and any one
getting hold of such should pay them well, for many a herds-
man who has a quantity of stock to attend to wastes more
than his week's wages come to. When cows have passed
half their time of gestation their food should be of a more
generous kind, or they will be found to decline in flesh, hav-
ing the living foetus then to support.

TREATMENT DURING PARTURITION.

In cases of heifers bringing their first calves, little if any
change of treatment is required until they calve. In winter
they should lie in a roomy yard, be frequently watched, and
in summer the precaution should be taken that those whose
time is accomplished do not lie in a field where treacherous
watering-places exist, such as brooks, rivers, and ponds. If
these watery graves could render up an account of their dead,
they would amount to myriads. Often the thirsty mother
goes to drink when the calf can scarcely stagger along, and
the latter upon blundering over the river bank has little
power to save itself. Ponds may be easily so mounded that
no fear need arise from such a loss, but how seldom are these
important matters considered on the farm ! Young lambs
and foals also at times share the same ill fate of drowning.

When the heifer shows signs of calving, "the labia pudendi
— or external shape — increases in size, and discharges a thick
viscid mucus ; the mammary gland becomes swelled, hot,
and full of colostnim, or the first milk ; and, what is always
regarded by the breeder as an immediate forerunner of de-
livery, the ligaments of the pelvis give way, or, to use the
farmer's language, the cow is down in her boties.'' Delivery
being at hand, the animal displays great pain and restlessness,
lies down suddenly, only, however, to rise as quickly ; labour

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417

pains come on at first in a slight degree, but later on grow
in intensity even until delivery is complete. Although it
is desirable to render some assistance, more particularly to
heifers, yet too much haste must not be used, for the heifer
needs much more time than the cow that has had several calves.
The amnion, or, as it is commonly called, the water-bladder,
is first presented, and this should be ruptured by the attend-
ant, when, if natural delivery is taking place, the fore-feet
and nose of the calf shortly are presented. The fore-legs
being just protruded, the head will be observed resting upon
them about the knees. Assistance should now be rendered,
and the birth will be at once accomplished. Should any
unnatural position of the calf be observed, the veterinary
surgeon should be called in. In too many instances both
master and servant are in too great haste and fear evil con-
sequences, when if only a little more patience was exercised
all would be well ; and this more often occurs with heifers,
whicli frequently require three or four hours to bring forth.

When the mother has been safely delivered, if in the genial
days of summer, she may be brought into a cool shed at
night and have given to her a bran-mash a little chilled, or
rain-water, and the bag must be eased if painfully full. It
must now be ascertained if the calf has sucked : if so, it will
look after itself for the future ; but if it has not, it must be
assisted to the udder. There is, however, seldom much
diflSculty with the young calf, for it is by no means a delicate
or tender creature — very different in such respects to a foal.
We do not approve of milking the bag quite out for the first
two or three days after calving ; such is contrary to nature's
course, and might lead to parturient apoplexy. Still more is
the practice to be condemned of milking before the birth has
taken place. The first milk taken after calving, called colos-
trum, is too rich for forming a cream and making butter,
therefore is kept apart from the other milk for the first three
days ; this richness is seen more in the heifers' than in older
cows' milk. The umbilical cord or navel-string of the calf is
generally — we may say almost always — ruptured or broken
in the act of giving birth ; and should such not be the case,
it will be sure to break when the cow gets on her legs or the
calf is moved. This natural breaking of the navel-string is
far preferable to the herdman or attendant severing it. Tiie
placenta or after-birth is withheld a few hours, and should
be removed from the presence of the cow immediately it falls
away, but must not be forced away from the animal. In
severe weather in winter a large airy loose-box, with plenty
of clean litter, is the best place for both cow and calf for the
first week, after which time the calf is generally weaned. Chilled
water, bran-mashes, pulped roots, with a little sweet hay, form
proper food for the newly-calved cow in the winter season,
when green herbage is not procurable. The more aged cow
requires a little difi'erent treatment, particularly when par-
turient apoplexy is suspected. Then the food-supply for a
week or a fortnight before calving should be of a sparse kind,
and several doses of mild purging medicine may be given.
When one dose has worked off another may be administered,
3g*

After calving the same precaution should be taken for the
first week, when danger from this malady will be past. Heifers
seldom if ever suffer from this fearful malady, and upon
certain land older cows are seldom known to be attacked.
Therefore we do not advise purging and such artificial means
to be used unless an attack is suspected. Free milkers full
of flesh, and more particularly the Channel Island breeds, after
the second calf, are the most liable to "fall." We counsel that
the calf should remain with the cow as well as the heifer for
a week after birth. Thus the youngster has the advantage
of sucking at frequent intervals and getting the colostram,
so needful to its tender stomach. An exception to this rule
may be made with the milkseller's cow, where the milk is
more valuable than the calf. The calf should lie loose
with its mother, when it will suck at frequent intervals — a
much more commendable plan than its being fasted twelve
hours, and then perhaps supplied with inferior milk. In the
summer season it is not desirable, as a rule, to separate the
heifer or cow from the herd until signs of delivery are ob-
servable ; and even then it is better for the birth to take
place in the open field, for suddenly removing the animal
does not tend to hasten labour. When cows calve that are
intended for sale, they are just as well left in the paddock
night and day, the only thing being needed is tliat their
bags should be eased when showing signs of being too much
extended with milk. In instances where the calf is fattened,
after the first week the youngster gets milk twice a day, is
kept up in a small pen, and either takes its milk direct from
the cow, or the milk is milked into a vessel and tlien given.
The former plan is the better one.

FOOD FOR DAIRY COWS.

Whether our readers are the owners of single cows, to
which they look for a supply of good wholesome milk for
their families — whether they are dairymen supplying towns,
or dairy farmers in remoter country districts, we would desire
to impress each of them with the importance of treating their
cows liberally with regard to food ; reminding them, that
whatever tends to render the yield of cows less than it should
be, recoils on the owners, no matter what particular breed
of cattle they may prefer, and that in all cases " the cream
comes by the mouth."

In the feeding of dairy cows four main points must be
kept in view — (1) to aid the increase of milk ; (2) to improve
the quality of the milk ; (3) to maintain the condition of the
cow ; (4) to produce manure of high quality. Too often the
careless dairyman only looks as far as his milk-pail is con-
cerned, and fails to notice that his cow is wasting flesh day
by day, until at last the milk falls off, and the beast has to
be dried much sooner than she need have been under more
judicious treatment. Sweet, well-harvested hay that is got
in the latter end of June or first week in July is the very
best quality, providing it is not gathered in too quickly to
heat in the stack. Grass cut at the above season contains
the maximum of sap. Most of the plants are in full bloom,

418

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

and therefore the crop is in its proper state for cutting.
Grass is not the most nutritious when the seed is ripe.
Many of the seeds are dislodged in haymaking, and the
remainder of the plant is woody, indigestible, and innutri-
tions, thus such fodder is unwholesome for the dairy cow.
Clover hay, when well got, is supposed to be a better milk-
provider than meadow hay ; but, in the writer's opinion,
this would much depend upon the sort of land the hay was

cut from
either

However, it is sufficient for us to observe, that

meadow or clover hay

when well harvested, and must,
over, form the principal food

is wholesome for the cows
when the grass season is
Bran stands very high in the
list of good milk-producers. It increases the flow of milk,
improves its quality, and holds up the condition of the cow,
while no unpleasant flavour is imparted to the butter : it is
also a cheap diet. This food should be given warm in mash
shape, and two gallons per day will be a good allowance with
other food. Oats are very similar in favourable results to
wheaten bran, and from one to one and a half gallons, witli
other food, per day may be given. lu most instances it is
needful to have them crushed, or they are liable to pass whole,
when of course no nutriment is obtained from them, besides
the pain and inconvenience felt by the cows in passing undi-
gested food. Bean and pea meals tend more to improve the
carcase of the animal than to increase the milk-supply, while if
given too freely an unpleasant flavour is imparted to the butter.
Therefore we only advise these meals to be used very
sparingly, amongst other mixtures. Linseed-cake is rich
in both milk and flesh producing qualities, and gives no
bad taste to the butter, unless used in too large quantities.
Cotton-cake is still more strongly advised ; it is cheaper than
linseed, produces nearly as much milk, and does not make
the butter strong. Both these cakes render milk of high
quality. Rice-meal, when got pure, is strongly advised for
cows. It needs, however, to be purchased at wholesale price
from large firms, for such as is obtained in odd sacks is often
much adulterated. This meal tends to sweeten all other
food, in addition to its own nutritious qualities, and is best
mixed with pulped roots and chaff. Roots need using with
caution. Swedes, when well matured, may be given pretty
liberally where the milk is to be sold, but must be used with
caution where butter is made, or the flavour will be spoiled.
They should be well matured before being used for dairy
cows, and this is best done by storing them early; in this
situation they soon attain a ripe state. Mangel-wurzels are
a much-overrated root ; during ilarch, April, May, and June
they are the most nutritious. Given earlier, they are unripe,
cause scour, and produce milk of poor quality, although they
increase the quantity later on. They are, however, at no time
rich milk- producers, being more profitable to the seller of milk
than to those who keep a butter dairy. The condition of the
animal is almost invariably lost when these roots form a
considerable portion of the food. Cow cabbages stand high
in our list of foods, and not only produce excellent milk, but
keep the cow in good order. The only thing against growing

cabbages to a great extent, is that they come in before the
grass is consumed, and therefore when keep is pretty plenti-
ful. The carrot, however, is the root. It is equalled by no
other, and should be grown much more largely. Sutton's
long red cattle carrots, or such as are sold by other large
firms, are the most profitable roots the stockowner can grow.
If an animal is sick, nothing is more wholesome or more
thankfully received. If the cow has a fastidious appetite,
carrots prove a nutritious and tempting diet. This root is
also a rich milk-producer, and gives even in winter that rich
yellow colour to butter that is so much admired, and which
is only otherwise obtained when cows are in the summer
pasture. Carrots also keep the animal in first-class condition,
and may be used nearly all the year round. The stock-
owner's own discretion must be used in dealing out these
foods, and he should bear in mind that a mixture and change
of diet is most essential. Let all possible food in winter be
given in a slightly warm state — which can be arranged with
the assistance of the bran mash, and by leaving the pulp and
chaff eighteen hours to ferment. Apropos of the bran mash,
water should be put on at a slightly lower temperature than
boiling heat, or some valuable properties are destroyed; but
so long as boiling heat is not reached, these are retained.

In the ordinary pastures, during summer, one cow usually
requires one and a half acres to graze. No sheep or horses
should be allowed in the field at that season, although
they will do good by nipping off rough grass in winter,
when the cows are in the yard. Three or four pounds
of cotton-cake per head per day is not badly given even
during the grass season. Ensilage is coming fast to the
front, and as far as our experience goes, is especially good
for dairy cows, given with hay, when no grass is fcrthcoming.
However, the ensilage should be made of grasses or clover
of good quality. It is nonsense to imagine that all weeds
and innutritions herbage will make first-class ensilage.

The value of manure produced by varieties of food employed
is well described by Mr. Lawes, Rothamsted, as follows : —

Description of Food.

Estimated Money Value of
the Manure from One
Ton of each Food.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
26.

Decorticated cotton-seed cake, . . . . . £6 10 0

Rape cake,

Linseed cake,

Malt dust.

Lentils,

Linseed,

Tares,

Beans,

Pease,

Locust beans,

Oats,

^Tieat,

Indian corn.

Malt,

Barley, . •

Clover hay,

fileadow hay,

Oat straw,

Wheat straw.

Barley straw.

Potatoes, .

Mangolds,

Swedish turnips,

Common turnips.

Carrots,

4 18 0
4 12 0
4 5
3 17
3 13
3 13
3 13
3
1

1 14
1 13
1 11
1 11

1 9

2 5
1 10
0 13
0 12
0 10
0 7
0 5
0 4
0 4
0 4

0

0
0
6
6

2 '6
2 6
6
0

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

419

The dairy cow should be fed at intervals, and should
always clear up one serving before the next meal is given ;
from six until nine in the morning, hay, meal, and roots,
with water, will be required ; from nine until the middle of
the day the animal should take rest and chew the cud. At
midday an hour or two's feeding will again be needed.
Most of the food up till now consists of long or chopped hay
and pulped roots. Towards four or five in the evening feeding
must again commence, and at eight o'clock a final meal of
long hay should be given, with what water the animal
will take. A knob of rock salt should be always in the

MILKING.

A good milkman is of paramount importance, and there
is perhaps no requisite so often overlooked by the modern
cowkeepers. The small holder who milks his own animals has
an advantage, and it is seen by his profits how much the mas-
ters' interests are neglected who have to depend upon hired
men. Women are the best milkers, and to women cows will
give down their milk when they would not do so to a man.
The woman is gentler and kinder in all her dealings with the
cow, and this animal appreciates such treatment to a high
degree. The rough-handed coarse milkman, with his threat-
ening attitude, is quite sufiicient to induce the cow to with-
hold her supply ; what, then, must be the result when the
milk-stool, the besom, or ash-plant is applied freely? The
result often is that cows frequently either go dry, prove kickers,
or lose flesh, notwithstanding a liberal allowance of food ; again,
they abort their calves or prove fruitless, and then the stock-
owner finds that he is losing money by his occupation. The
cow by nature only gives milk to her calf, for which she
has great afiection. How far, then, is nature lost sight of
when the coarse, ill-tempered man substitutes the loved
offspring !

It would be much to tlie benefit of the farmer if he
would study more deeply the habits and nature of his
animals, instead of, as is usually the case, treating them as
mere machines rather than creatures possessing instinct and
feeling in a high degree. Whether it be the horse, cow,
sheep, or pig, each animal has great affection for, and frater-
nizes with, those who show it kindness.

Assuming that a lad or maid is being instructed in milk-
ing, the first thing to advise is that the animal be driven
slowly from the pasture, and as quietly as possible tied up,
without any ill-usage or even a harsh word. When the cow
walks to the shed chewing the cud, and continues doing so
during milking time, the owner may know all is going well ;
but if, on the other hand, rumination does not go on, it is
most likely that the animal is not well, or is in fear of the
milkman. Some are of a far less nervous disposition than
others, and here the attendant needs to use discretion. We
always approve of a little dainty food being served to the
cow during milking time, for it gives her confidence, leads
her to look upon the operation with pleasure, and induces

all milk to be given down readily. The milker should not
force the stream out more freely than the passage can take
it. From too much force being used many a cow has
turned out a confirmed kicker. Neither should the teats
be pressed too freely until the animal opens tliem first, as it
were, or gives the milk down; but as soon as that time comes
the work should be finished with despatch. The last dregs
should be taken out of the udder, as they supply the richest
milk by far — the first half pint being little better than skim
milk. When the animal has been milked and fed, she
should be gently driven back to the pasture in summer or
yard in winter. Punctuality is a most important matter;
cows should be milked to the minute at a corresponding time,
night and morning. So much should this be observed, that
each should be taken in its turn. When the gadfly abounds
in summer, the milking-cow should be kept under a shed
during the heat of the day. In milking young heifers with
their first calf, much patience is needed. Often the udder
is inflamed and painful, and the mother is much concerned
about her offspring; generally, however, in the course of a
week the bag will become all right. The mother will allow
the calf to take the milk, although the pain would not be
endured if caused by the milkman. We do not, as a rule,
approve of lads for milking, for they are not to be depended
on, and should only be employed under the eye of a good
man. The master should examine the udders of the cows
after they are milked, to ascertain if all the milk is taken ;
indeed, it is a good plan to measure each cow's produce at
every milking-time. Thus bad milking, inferior food, or any
ailment that has attacked the cow, is at once discovered.
Buckets with marks of measurement by inches can easily be
obtained, thus saving the stockowner much daily trouble
measuring. Nothing proves more clearly that something is
amiss with a cow than a sudden decrease in the milk.

The cow should be dried off two months at least before
next calving; the milking should be stopped gradually.
Once a day for a fortnight, twice a week for the next fort-
night, will leave the bag so that it only occasionally needs
drawing out. When an animal is a good milk-producer, the
supply will not go unless the diet is given less generously,
and an occasional dose of physic may be needed. It is
important that this drying-off process should be conducted
with care, or a quarter of the udder may be lost at the
future calving from the passage in the teats being closed.

In a lecture upon milk, delivered before the Royal Agri-
cultural Society by Professor Voelcker, there is much matter
that is interesting and instructive. On the constituent ele-
ments of milk, the Professor stated that " it was essentially
an emulsion of fatty particles in solution of caseine and milk-
sugar. The fatty matter was not contained in it in a free
condition, but was inclosed in little globules which, when
the milk got sour, were precipitated. In other words, the
butter and fatty portions were encased in curd or caseine.
Those cells were of different sizes in different animals, and
varied from 3-sVt to i^Vs of an inch in diameter, some

420

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

of them being round and others egg-shaped. In addition
to the substances just mentioned, milk invariably contained
a certain proportion of mineral matter, which consisted of
the same material as the incombustible part of bone, the
asli of which was rich in phosphate of lime and phosphate
of magnesia. Thus bone, earth, butter, curd, milk-sugar,
and mineral substances were the normal constituents of milk.
In diseased milk there were a number of accidental substances
which could not be identified by chemical tests, but only by
the microscope. Pus generally manifested itself under the
microscope in diseased milk, but even the microscope was
not sufficient in all cases to prove whether milk was whole-
some or not. Many things which possessed a medicinal
power were speedily absorbed into milk, that often became
as medicinal as the original remedies ; and in the same way
colouring matter, such as the red of madder, the blue of
indigo, or the common weeds, Mercurialis and Polygonum,
passed into the milk and tinged it. The flavour of milk
was sometimes materially affected by the food of the

cows.

" Milk was white on account of the suspended opaque
globules, and, generally speaking, the bluer it was the less
cream there was in it, because the globules separated and
rose to the surface; consequently, in testing milk by the
eye the more opaque it was the more curd and butter it
contained, and the richer it was. From September to
November, generally speaking, the quality of milk became
better, but it decreased in quantity ; and if animals were
stinted in food, not only would they yield very little, but
what little they did yield would be very poor." The Pro-
fessor further observed : " He had analyzed the milk of the
cow, the ass, the goat, ewes, and also the milk of a carnivor-
ous animal, the dog, and it was a most singular fact that in
all the various constituents of milk, and more especially in
curd and butter, the milk of the dog was by far the richest-
No kind of food could at all compare with it, and solid
butcher-meat contained less nutritive qualities by far than
did this description of milk. This would explain the diffi-
culty of bringing up puppy dogs by hand ; and indeed, if
any one wished to preserve a rare and valuable puppy that
had lost its mother, the only food that could be given at all
approaching in nutrition the natural food of the puppy was
a very strong and concentrated effusion of beef-tea. It was
also singular that naturally there was no sugar in the milk
of a bitch ; but after it had been domesticated and fed upon
bread and starchy food it made its appearance. That showed
the intimate connection between food and the composition of
milk."

DISPOSING OF THE DAIEY COW.

In most instances when the cow gets past her prime she
should be fattened off, and sold to the milk-dealer; or if
she fails to be in calf, to the grazier. It is of little conse-
quence which course is adopted ; but one thing is quite certain,
and that is, that the man who breeds his own stock should

never have any old animals about his ground. His object
should be to rear and keep the cows until they reach maturity,
and then dispose of them either in high condition, coming
down calving, or fattened up for the butcher. In either case,
if due precaution has been taken to select good calves, and to
rear them well, large prices will be made.

In setting about making up a cow for the butcher in
summer time, little more will be needed than a good rich
pasture. No other animal lays on flesh with the rapidity of
a well-bred shorthomed cow that has arrived at maturity.
Some of the other breeds are by no means so easily fattened,
and for tliat reason the dairyman often prefers to sell them
for what they will make as stores, thus leaving the fattening
to be done by the grazier.

Stall-feeding will be the only plan in winter time, and a
couple or three months will generally be sufficient to produce
a ripe animal. The agents needed are good hay, swedes,
cake, and meals. The animal must be lightly fed at first,
and gradually brought on to its full diet. Too often the
farmer hurries on his animals, giving them most injudicious
quantities of food, and that of such a kind as their stomachs
are unaccustomed to. Thus the cow becomes sick, refuses
its food, and sometimes more serious disorders follow. Im-
mediately the feeding cow refuses her food from being so
overforced, a pint and a half of linseed oil should be given,
and after an interval of two days the dose may be repeated •
in the meantime, all richer food should be withheld until the
patient is again in a fit state to take it. Again, a cow hurried
on into condition "so fast does not touch firmly, or come out
well in fat when killed ; this the butcher speedily detects,
and buys at a low price accordingly. Stall-feeding is often
found unprofitable : in many instances this loss is greatly
increased by using improper diet, and by thus making the
animal averse to all food.

TREATMENT OF THE CALF.

It should be impressed on the mind of the breeder that to
rear a profitable and creditable animal he must begin at birth,
and generous but discreet treatment must be continued until
the animal is matured. Few animals find their way into a
showyard that have not been treated well from their earliest
days, fewer still carry off honours. A large percentage of
the animals bred are neglected in the first fortnight of their
existence, not a few die from bad management, and not one
in twenty is so reared as to maintain its calf's flesh. If ever
this flesh is lost it is never regained, and twelve months are
lost in the process of fattening the animal. No sooner does
poverty display itself in the young animal than disease, finding
the gates open for its attack, steps in. If a true return could
be given of calves that never survive the first year, it would
astonish every breeder.

We observed above that a year was lost when the calfa
flesh was allowed to fall ofi"; and we aver that a young beast
that has not lost its early flesh will come out worth as much
at two and a half years old as the neglected one will at three

and a half. Nothing ensures this generous rearing so much
as letting the offspring run with the cow, and this is a common
practice with Hereford breeders, and has doubtless much to
do with the excellent white-faced bullocks we see got up for
our Christmas markets.

But it is too expensive for the ordinary breeder of good
bred beasts to allow the calf to take all the milk, and
therefore more economical means must be used. Many a
time the writer has reared a couple of calves upon a Welsh
cow or some animal not too valuable ; and one cow will rear
two calves better than they can be reared with the bucket
if the cream is taken off the milk. When this method is
followed, however, it should be on the summer pasture, and
calves reared in this manner may afterwards be identified by

a stranger among any number brought up in the ordinary way,
being so much better developed.

A few remarks upon calves' foods is essential. The leading
dealers (Messrs. Bibby & Son, and others) give some excellent
substitutes for milk; few breeders of cattle fail to find the
use of some kind in cases of emergency most useful and
even necessary; but often the feeds are but substitutes,
and do not prove as nutritious as the mother's milk. Still
where the latter runs short, we advise free use of such
feeds, for liberal treatment the young animals must have.
The calf-feeds do not frequently receive proper care from the
farmer and his servants, thus the seller scarcely gets his dues;
and so it comes to pass that while one man's herd of calves
looks excellent upon some bought diet, his neighbour's have

a very indifferent appearance. In many instances, doubtless,
such a state may be traced to carelessness on the part of the
servant in preparing the food. Indeed, the same fault is
observable in supplying the mother's milk. Food given to
calves a little too warm or a little too cold may bring on
scour or other disorders that may be either of trivial conse-
quence or may lead to death ; and seeing how diflScult it is
at the present day to get reliable servants for ordinary domestic
work, it may be considered tenfold more so to find agents for
the most responsible of all offices— viz. that of calf-rearing
and general attendance upon young animals. The fact is,
that the master's eye and the master's hand ^ne will guar-
antee the necessary attention.

We will now commence with the treatment of the calf at
birth. Assuming that the mother has a comfortable bed, the
calf can be left for a few hours after birth, and upon next
visiting the shed it must be ascertained if it has taken any

AND CALF.

milk. The herdsman will form a good opinion about this
by examining the udder of the cow. If the young animal
has helped itself, well ; but if not, it must be assisted to do
so. When it has once sucked, no further fear need be felt
on this head. It should be allowed to enjoy the mother's
milk and company for a week ; the practice of removing the
youngster immediately after birth should be discouraged, if
its future welfare is to be studied. Aside from the mother s
bag being reduced considerably and more nuturally by thu
calf, the rich milk or colostrum that the mother gives the
first few days acts as a slight purge upon the bowels and
clears offensive matter from the intestines, leaving them in
healthy working order. When the calf is removed from the
cow at birth it has not the advantage of the beastling, or
colostrum, or first milk, and in consequence becomes in not
a few cases costive, and this costiveness generally, later on,
leads to the opposite evil, diarrhoea ; this is hard to cure, and

422

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE.

even when remedied the young creature looks an abject thing
indeed. The uneducated cattle-breeder "gangs his ain gait."
He removes the call' at birth, and as a substitute for its
mother's milk gives some new milk perhaps from a cow
that has been milked some time, and which contains scarcely
an atom of the colostrum so needful to prevent constipation,
which is frequently followed by acid secretions on the lining
membranes of the intestines. These acid secretions coagulate
the milk and separate it into component parts; the curd or
cheesy part remains as a foreign or irritating agent in the
intestines, and the fluid or whey part comes away in the
form of semi-fluid fajces. This disease is above all things
to be avoided in calves, and goes by the name of gastro-
enteritis or white scour. To prevent such a complaint the
ignorant breeder givee the young calf doses of some purging
medicine such as castor-oil ; this is perhaps the best thing
he could give under the circumstances, but avails little while
milk of inferior quality is still supplied to so tender a stomach ;
others give medicine to cause costiveness, and this is much
to be condemned. The fact is, nature's laws are being
abruptly broken, and in animals so young results are sure
to be unsatisfactory. Therefore we do not advise that the
calf should be weaned from the cow until a week old, when
its intestines will be in a state to receive food of a less
delicate character. The calf, when removed, should be
placed out of hearing of the cow in a dry, warm, but well-
ventilated shed, and a good bed of straw is of the utmost
importance.

We now put the calf upon three meals per day, each meal
to consist of three pints of milk — not such as has been
robbed of the cream, neither necessarily very rich new milk,
but just such as is of fair quality. This treatment may
continue until the animal is one month old. At this age
calves are too often supposed to only require milk of the
thinnest character, such as has been skimmed "sky blue."
This has not the needful nutritious qualities in it. In some
instances, questionable messes are added to the milk, boiled
linseed is frequently used, but not being well cooked gives
but an unsatisfactory result. Here some well -prepared
advertized calf food had far better be used. However, those
who cannot spare milk of good quality should not attempt
to rear, and breeders must at times be content to put up with
less butter in the calf-rearing establishment.

From one to three months old give the calf three quarts
of milk each end of the day, and the cream may be taken
from it once. The animal will now begin to pick a little
sweet hay, and for economy's sake a small coarse net should
be placed filled with the fodder near the head. Hay is little
given unchopped at this time, although later on the small
trough may be introduced, and a little linseed-cake dust and
some pulped carrots or swedes supplied with chopped hay. It
is most essential that the hay and all other food given at this
time should be of the best quality, for the digestive powers
of tlie young animals are by no means strong, and are un-
accustomed to the work required of them. The hay that

is got without exposure to rain, in June, is the best for calves,
providing it has not been allowed to heat in the rick. We
like to see it come out the same colour as it goes in, and to
contain the same sweet aroma. Hay got later on is too woody
in the stems, and indigestible for calves, and is often the
cause of several common ills to which calves are subject.

From three to six months old the quantity of milk may
be increased and the quality reduced. The hay and roots
should be increased, but up till twelve months old, cotton
cake must be carefully withheld. The latter is too indigestible
for calves — portions passing through them whole, thus causing
purging and irritation of the stomach and bowels. Carrots
may be looked upon as the most wholesome root, and mangel-
wurzel as the least wholesome. Cow cabbages are very good
when they can be obtained, and swedes are advised when the
young animals get strong enough to digest them. A little
linseed cake, rice meal, pea or bran meal, or wheaten meal,
are each wholesome wlien given prudently.

In rearing calves with the bucket, it is very essential that
the animals should be all tied separately before they are fed,
and if left tied for a quarter of an hour afterwards they will
not acquire the much-detested habit of sucking each other.
Moreover, when tied, each animal gets its share of milk,
without being subjected to the blows frequently administered
by the unfeeling attendant in order to keep one calf from
interfering with its companion's food.

After six months old, milk can be entirely withheld ; in-
deed it should be rendered of very poor quality during the
last month, then it is not so much missed. Until twelve
months old, light and wholesome food is the proper diet, and
the judicious stockmaster will judge what kind is suitable,
according to the condition of his stock. Chopped hay, and
sweet straw mixed with pulped roots, and laid by to ferment,
will form the standing diet for yearlings. The young animals
will then be easily treated by any ordinary herdsman, and
may be considered safely reared. With regard to water,
that termed soft, or rain water, is preferable.

Our above advice has chiefly pointed to the winter season,
but even in summer calves should not be turned to grass
too young. It may be taken as sound counsel not to allow
them to be depastured while they are taking milk, for grass
and milk do not go well together. There is no objection to
a little green vegetables mixed with chopped hay, but they
should not be offered otherwise.

Michaelmas is a good time to bring calves in for rearing,
and then they go to pasture in May straight from milk.
Many rearers will not allow their youngsters to go to grass
before twelve months old, and such rearers can often show
the best herds of cattle.

Only full-sized and healthy-looking calves should be chosen
for rearing. Any not reaching the standard should be fat-
tened for the butcher. They are fattened best by being kept
confined, and the mother being allowed to visit them twice
a-day, or by being given a full supply of new milk of the
best quality.

THE DAIRY.

423

THE DAIRY.

Within the last decade there have heen so many improvements
in dairy utensils and contrivances as to cause a complete re-
volution in that important branch of the farmer's industry.
To enumerate a tithe of the inventions lately introduced
would take up far more space than I have at command; there-
fore, while enlarging on a few of the most important contri-
vances, I must invite my readers who may require further
information to pay a visit to the Dairy Supply Company's
works in Museum Street, London, where every new and
useful invention is on view.

The first thing to consider is the situation of the dairy.
It is of paramount importance that the building should have
a northern aspect, to get as little of the sun as possible ; if
shaded, so much the better. It is essential that everything con-
nected with a dairy — room, utensils, and attendants — be kept
perfectly clean. Milk and butter are most susceptible to taints
from any impurities in utensils or the air; for which last
reason the dairy should be far removed from piggeries or
anything emitting offensive effluvia. The dairy should be
well ventilated, and so built that a cool temperature in sum-
mer and a warm one in winter can be ensured. Shady trees
and low-growing shrubs are advised in the vicinity, but not
so near as to droop upon the building.

On the requisites to be attended to in the construction of
dairies, the following resumi of points are worthy of considera-
tion : — Air to circulate freely round the dairy ; shelter to be
had from the south and west ; trees excluded fi-om close con-
tact with it, none nearer than thirty feet, and all neighbouring
shrubs to be close standards ; the soil, if possible, a gravel
subsoil ; ample ventilation to be secured within the building,
both at top and sides ; windows to be double, to secure warmth
in winter and cold in summer ; water to be plentifully sup-
plied; means for rapidly flushing the drains; no cesspools
allowed near the building ; walls to be hollow ; floors and
walls to be paved and covered with glazed tiles ; tables and
shelves of marble or slate ; roof such that no vicissitudes of
weather can affect the milk ; a thatched roof, tiled over for
neatness, will give the most uniform temperature, summer
and winter. The milkpans are best shallow, say six inches
deep, as milk, thinly set, keeps better than when in deeper
vessels ; although it may be preserved longer in winter than in
summer, I would not even then recommend deep pans being
used. Before being milked, cows must on no account be
hurried so as to overheat them ; hence during summer the
shorter the distance they have to travel home the better; and in
the pastures where they lie there should be some trees or other
shelter from the sun, as overheated milk will not keep well.
It is a good plan to tie up cows in some adjoining sheds in
the sultry hours of the day, when the bot-fly is troublesome.
At such times cows are harassed by this pest to such an
extent that their milk becomes so overheated as to be rendered

nearly useless. When brought into the dairy the milk should
be allowed to cool a little before it is poured through a fine
strainer into pans, in which it is set for cream. The latter
should be taken off only once in twenty-four hours, instead of,
as is commonly done in small dairies, every twelve hours;
the reason being that the oftener the milk is skimmed the
more is taken up with the cream, thus giving it a tend-
ency to become soon sour, as cream keeps longer fresh than
milk. To ensure really good butter, cream should not be
kept in summer more than four days, or in cold weather
longer than a week. Care must be taken that neitlier cream
nor churn be above 60° Fahr. Where circular churns are
used, they should be turned slowly at first, gradually increas-
ing the pace till butter is formed, which ought to be in about
an hour. The churn requires turning much faster in winter
than during summer. When the butter has come, wash and
salt it in the churn, then scoop out and place it on the " butter
worker," which will effectually remove all water; thus handling
the butter is avoided. When new milk is sent to market
a great deal of trouble is saved in the dairy — the cows only
requiring to be milked regularly, and the milk cooled before
being despatched. To expedite the latter when time is limited
a refrigerator is used, by which the milk is soon rendered in
a fit state for transit.

As to the new inventions, previously alluded to, readers can
judge which are most suited to their dairies. Old customs are
apt to be adhered to in all branches of business, but nowhere
more than on the farm. I am strongly opposed to the practice,
so common, of men rushing in undue haste to invest in every
new invention that offers, but when such inventions have been
duly tested and proved beyond doubt to be useful and decided
improvements, it is great folly to disregard them. The British
dairyman has much trouble in the present day in competing
with the vast quantity of foreign butter, &c., which gluts
our markets. It will be impossible for him to withstand
articles sent over the sea unless he avails himself of many
new and useful contrivances which are offered. Irish dairy
folk have stepped in advance of their English neighbours of
late years by making use of improvements in dairy utensils.
Canon Bagot has done much good by his lectures on that side
of the Channel, and all enterprising dairy farmers on this side
ought to avail themselves of the good example set by the sons
and daughters of Erin.

In carrying on any important business or industry at the
present day, it is a sine gud non that labour be economized.
This cannot be done unless useful machinery be brought to
the front. Further, it is now much more difficult to get skilled
labour than in the days of our forefathers, or rather, I should
say, that servants are more careless than in olden days.
Wherever machinery works well it surpasses hand-work,
but too complicated inventions are to be avoided. I will

424

THE DAIKT.

illustrate some of the mechanical contrivances in the dairy
that I deem most useful, at the same time give brief details
as to the advantages of such.

1 have pointed out that it is important to cool milk intended
for transit with despatch. The following refrigerator is most

REFRIGERATOR.

useful for the purpose. Through it an immense trade has
lately been carried on in milk-selling with large towns.

Railways and all other means for rapid transit are useless,
without some means of rapidly reducing the temperature of
milk after it is drawn from the cow. But if milk is well
cooled immediately after milking, it will keep for a sufficient
length of time to enable it to travel for practically any dis-
tance. The first successful apparatus introduced for cool-
ing or refrigerating was an invention of Mr. Lawrence,
and the original idea and various improvements on it hav-
ing been patented, it has retained its prominent position,
and although having many rivals, none surpass it for
rapidly and thoroughly reducing the temperature. It is
universally acknowledged that the souring of milk is caused
by the action of certain germs in the fluid, and under certain
limits the higher the temperature the more rapid its decom-
position; whereas rapidly cooling the milk renders these
germs powerless and inert so long as the lovvness of tempera-
ture is maintained. The apparatus referred to is illustrated
above, in which A is the receiver for warm milk, whence it
runs over both sides of the refrigerator B, and leaves the
latter at C, falling into the vessel ready for despatch by rail.
The water from a spring or well — the colder the better — en-
ters through the pipe D, and working upwards the inside of
refrigerator leaves from pipe E.

Seeing the vast amount of milk that is conveyed from the
country by train and other ways to our thickly populated
cities and towns, the usefulness of a refrigerator is at once

apparent. A machine for 80 gallons of milk costs about £4,
while one of a larger kind, to cool 250 gallons, can be bought
for about £9 10s.

The next contrivance in the dairy that I have to deal with
is " the separator," and taking all things into consideration,
I have seen none to surpass Laval's Baby Hand Separator.
The extra profit resulting from the use of this mechanical
cream separator is universally acknowledged by modern dairy
people, but there are those of the old school who are still
somewhat ignorant on the subject. I will now make the
advantages of this contrivance plain to all, when doubtless
many will avail themselves of it. As soon as a farmer has
become acquainted with the use of the separator, and learnt
its advantages, he often commences a better system of feeding

LAVAL'S SEPARATOR.

his stock, and procures better cattle in order to obtain a richer
quality of milk. In fact, such an introduction imparts new
energy in the dairy, seeing that greater profits are made.
The illustrated machine, which gained the champion cup
offered by the Lord Mayor and Corporation at Tiie Dairy
Show, will separate 15 gallons of milk per hour.

In a dairy supplied by ten or twelve cows the Baby will
be found sufficient ; and if the farm has only five or six cows
the saving in one year will, it is claimed, pay the whole cost
of the machine. For larger dairies the separators are made
in various sizes. The one known as the Windsor, separating
by hand-power 35 gallons per hour, is as easily worked as
the smaller machine. It is stated that the amount of butter
resulting from a daily yield of 14 gallons of milk will, by
the use of a good separator, be increased by about 1;^^ pounds
per day, or 456 pounds in a year. On this basis it can be
calculated that on any farm where the quantity of milk set
for butter-making is over 650 gallons a year, it will pay the
farmer to purchase one.

Speaking at the show of the Merionethshire Agricultural

THE DAIRY.

425

Society, Lord Harlech mentioned the case of Mr. Vaughan,
one of his tenants, who worked a hand separator. The milk
from the dairy being divided, and half passed through the
separator, tlie other half was skimmed in the ordinary way.
The result of nineteen days' working was that the separator
produced 173 pounds of butter against 132 pounds from the
set milk, or a gain of 41 pounds in favour of the separator.
The above statement, which, however, no one has a right to
dispute, seems somewhat startling. Besides giving an in-
creased butter yield, the separator permits of the use of fresh
skim milk, either for calf-rearing or for sale. I will give
details on the advantages of such milk presently, when writ-
ing upon the Cooley Creamer.

The following description, with illustrations, will give a
clear idea to my readers of the simplicity of an invention
known as the Cooley Creamer. Fig. 1 shows a portable
vessel containing four tins: it can be made to hold more.
It is filled with water and the tins are submerged, while, to keep
them under water, will be noticed four strips of wood fixed
across the creamer. Fig. 2 exhibits a magnified tin taken from
the water ; A is the lid, B is a glass fixed in the tin, which
shows the cream as it rises ; C is a second glass, which is very
requisite to show when the milk is run ofi" and only cream
remains ; D is the tap that draws off the milk ; and E shows
the distance that the handle of the tap should be turned to

THE PORTABLE CREAMER, HOLDINQ FOUR TINS,

prevent the cream running off with the milk. Fig. 3 repre-
sents a tin submerged in water ; the position of water, air,
cream, and milk is here clearly defined.

The advantages of the creamer are as follows : — First, the
new milk being placed in water at from 45° to 52° Fahr., the
whole of the cream rises in twelve hours. If the water stands
at a lower temperature the cream rises in a correspondingly
shorter time. The advantage of securing the cream so quickly
in the heat of summer is great. It is in sultry weather, when
thunder is in the air, that milk goes sour before half the cream
can be taken under the old system. Then milk which
should be fresh and wholesome for calves, or such like, is
3h*

sour and unfit for use. If given to young animals it often
causes scour. Where the creamer is used no loss is sustained
by the foregoing cause, while much more butter is made and
the skim milk is as wholesome as in winter. Second, much

FIO. 2.— ONE OF THE TINS MAGNIFIED

FIQ. 8— A TIN SUBMERGED IN WATER.

less dairy room is needed. No long rows of shelves for milk
vessels are required. Tlie apparatus may be placed in the
garden, orchard, or any out-building where the water supply
is laid on. It is better that it be under cover, particularly in
winter, for then it would be unpleasant work taking the milk
and cream away and setting the new milk, although the
operation would only last a few minuses. Third, the saving
of labour is a feature not to be overlooked. A. tol -able milk-
man can, with a little care, do in a few minutes all that is
required. Only the tins need to be cleaned, and as they are
continually in use, and hold four gallotis each, not many of
these are required. They can be made^to hold more or less,
but four gallons is the usual size. When the evening meal
comes in, the morning one is removed, and the same tins
used. The same process is gone through in the evening meal.
Fourth, more butter is made from a certain quantity of cream,
by about half-a-pound to the ordinary cow per week in the
summer months. There is no advantage gained by allowing
the milk to stand in the Cooley Creamer above twelve hours,
providing the water is at the low temperature I have pre-
viously advised. The inventor claims that the creamer tends
to produce better butter, as the milk does not become con-
taminated by impurities of the atmosphere, and that the taints
of turnips and artificial foods in the milk are effectually
disposed of. Fifth, it is much cheaper than working milk
in the ordinary manner, no other vessel being needed except
a cream tin and churn, thus great expense in utensils is
avoided. Sixth, we estimate that all calves reared from this
system of managing milk, average, when twelve months old,
a pound more per head in value than where the old process
of setting milk is carried out. Where calves are reared in

426

THE DAIRY.

the hot summer months farmers are put well-nigh to their
wits' end to arrange provision for them. The milk is at
certain times all sour, and if some substitute were not at hand
the youngsters would fare badly. Finally, a good supply
of water is necessary for working the Cooley Creamer to
advantage.

Another useful contrivance in tlie dairy is a mechanical
butter-worker. Its advantages over kneaded butter by hand
are universally acknowledged. However cool or clean dairy-
maids' hands may be, butter must be purer if through its
entire process of manufacture it is untouched by hand. A

BUTTER WORKER,

small worker suitable for farm dairies is the Aldemey, shown
in illustration. It is made either with stand or to place on
an ordinary table. To work the butter the loose handle. A,
is held to revolve the fluted roller, and the fast handle, B, is
held to give the roller a sliding motion to collect the butter
into a lump for re-rolling. When not in use as a butter-
worker, the fluted roller can be placed underneath the tray
out of the way, as shown in the drawing, and the tray used
for making up butter, &c.

The Sandringham Dairy Herd Recorder is also useful. To
obtain a good milking herd it is necessaiy to breed only from
those cows which give a full supply of milk. The only reli-
able means of ascertaining this is to carefully measure or
weigh the milk occasionally. The appliance named above,
and shown in sketch, is a patent of the Dairy Supply Co.
It is specially designed to readily measure milk when warm

from the cow. Not only is the quantity shown by the gauge
marks in pail, but the dial points to both weight and measure,
the weight in pounds and ounces, and measurement in pints
and gallons. The pail is allowed for on the balance, so that
no reduction or calculating is necessary. The recorder can
be set in any desirable place, or if preferred it may be hung
to any beam most convenient to milkers. To simplify the
necessary accounts as far as may be, the patentees of the

THE DAIRY HERD RECORDER.

contrivance have also compiled some " Record Sheets '' and
simple account-books to be used in conjunction with it if
desired. There is no better criterion of a cow's health than
a uniform flow of milk. If this falls ofi' suddenly the animal
is amiss, and should be carefully watched to see that whatever
ailment she is suffering from does not reach dangerous limits.
Again, when milk gradually falls off it is often owing to one
of three causes — either (1) the food is unsuitable ; (2) the
milkman does not do his work in a proper manner ; or (3) the
cow is getting into an advanced stage of pregnancy. The
above invention plainly indicates such a state of things.

CATTLE RAISING.

427

CATTLE RAISING.

I HAVE previously treated upon calf-rearing, and now pur-
pose to devote some space to the raising of cattle after they
have passed the age of calfhood, and are what is termed in
farming parlance " reared." Until twelve months old the
young animals need much more care than afterwards, and
until that age they are usually termed calves. Simple work
as it appears to raise cattle when they begin to shift for them-
selves— that is, to take ordinary diet — there are not 5 per
cent, on an average in the United Kingdom brought up in an
approved manner. This is a bold assertion, I am aware, but
one which I will presently make plain to every reader of this
work. Animals for fattening purposes should never be allowed
to lose flesh from their earliest days until disposed of to the
butcher. Every experienced hand knows that when the calf's
flesh is lost it is never regained ; yet how seldom is it retained.
Let anyone look through the store herds throughout the country
in the spring, and he will find many little better than frames.
Then comes a season of plenteousness, and the animals im-
prove in flesh until the following winter. Such as are too
young to be made ofi' to the butcher are either put in the straw
yard, or so sparsely fed upon a lean pasture throughout the
ungenial winter months, that in the following spring the same
miserably poor state is again seen that I have previously
spoken of. So it transpires that a game of see-saw is prac-
tised. The summer's gain is lost in winter, and the only ad-
vantage left to the raiser is that his cattle grow and become
older. As soon as they are considered of sufficient age to
finish ofi" for the fat market, they are made up on generous
food in field or stall, but prove not so heavy by scores of
pounds per quarter as they would have been if proper treat-
ment had been given from the beginning. Even growth is
retarded, and disease is courted, while a general ill-thriftiness
is set up. An enormous amount of extra food is required
to make the animals in a fit state for the butcher when they
have been neglected. It is a fact beyond dispute, that an
animal in good condition does not cost so much to keep in
that state as such as are brought up on the see-saw principle.
Neither will a poor animal, whose constitution has been im-
paired, eat coarse food with such relish as one that has been
kept in robust health. Further, it is found that well-reared
animals stand hardships far better than such as have been
neglected. The former produce a warm garment that will
withstand the most severe winter weather, providing a little
shelter be given. The poor cow will be seen quaking under
some hedge when the searching east winds in spring prevail,
while the robust animal will be browsing or ruminating in
exposed parts of the field. A lean ill-thrifty animal's blood
is so reduced in quality that the whole system is liable to be
upset by a trivial hardship, which would be endured without
inconvenience by the cow whose high condition and rich blood
protected her. I have found indigestion the first trouble that

often besets the ill-cared-for animal. This may, and often
does, lead to nearly all the ailments to which the bovine race
is subject. Even if nutritious food be given when the di-
gestive organs are impaired, the result is often unsatisfactory.
Particles of the diet pass through the stomach and bowels un-
digested, so that not only is there no support gained from it,
but scour, colic, and such like complaints often cause much
pain, which the animal is little able to bear. So it will be
seen that the true method of bringing up cattle may be summed
up in a few words, viz. — to keep them in a flourishing state
from youth to age. But how to carry this out will need con-
siderable space.

TREATMENT IN THE SECOND YEAR.

When cattle enter upon the second year, supposing spring
to have commenced, the farmer will contemplate getting them
into the grass fields. All is not plain sailing even here. The
old saying is, that " May, early and late, makes the old cow
quake." As a matter of fact, the season is a trying one. If
the spring is a backward one there is but a sparse bite of grass,
and if the season proves forward, as was the case last spring,
herbage is too plentiful. The grass in early spring contains
overmuch water and sap, and being new food, causes several
malignant ailments in young cattle as well as old. On the
other hand, a common error is made by stock-raisers to depas-
ture their cattle before a necessary quantity of grass is found.
Bitterly cold winds at intervals are typical of April and May
in our variable climate. It is the sudden changes that cause
so much mischief. A continuance of cold weather would be
better endured. Hedges prove but a poor shelter to animals
that have been wintered in a comfortable yard. The long
winter coat is just being cast for a fine summer garment, hence
animals in robust health have enough to endure, while half-
starved ones often succumb to the hardships which they can-
not bear.

The farmer may take three useful precautions: — (1) He
should introduce the animals gradually to their new food and
exposed quarters. This is done by at first only giving the
herd a few hours' run in the field during the middle of the
day, and by extending their liberty until they will not only
become accustomed to their food, but inured to exposure.
(2) Give a liberal quantity of dry food. It must be of better
quality than has been served before the dainty bite of grass
was ofi'ered, otherwise it would be rejected. The dry diet
will not only counteract any ill efi"ects from young grass, but
guard against over-gorging on the herbage, which is a common
practice of hungry animals. (3) There are, on most farms,
some pastures much more sheltered than others. A thick
fence, although it may not be in full foliage, afi'ords useful
shelter. Sound ground to lie on gives comfort and prevents
chills, while hill and vale often lend natural protection.

428

CATTLE RAISING.

Then a sound bank under a copse, wood, or spinney will
give welcome shelter. Before leaving this important part
of the subject I wish to point out how essential it is that winter
quarters be not made too warm. Airy sheds and open yards
ensure needful comfort and establish good constitutions. So
it proves that with care the herd may be introduced to their
new homes in the pasture-field without any rude shock to
the system, and a gentle improving condition be sustained
without a check.

There is little further car^- needed after the animals have
settled down in their pasture until winter approaches.
They should be visited twice a day by the shepherd, and fre-
quent visits from the master will ensure all necessary attention.
In the second year, where early maturity is not the order of
the day, only an ordinary pasture is needed. Sheep and
horses may be grazed with cattle so long as there be
sufficient herbage for all. There are pasture-fields, often
found above blue limestone rocks, that are not suited to cattle,
although the herbage may be most wholesome for sheep and
horses. Here scour is often set up. A continuation of such
a relaxed state should be a signal that the fields are not fit
for bovine animals. It is a common error to overstock fields.
This is a most reprehensible practice. Better by far let a
little grass run away. The rank spots may be mown as
broken grass if the season prove more than usually fruitful,
or hungry animals will take ofi' the rejected patches in winter
time, when all green vegetable food is eaten with avidity.
A dressing of salt or lime will induce animals to eat coarse
grass with relish, and also encourage sweeter herbage.

When leaves have fallen from tree and fence, and field-
fares begin to chatter above head, it is time to prepare yards
and sheds for wintering the herds. Still I have found that
there is not such immediate hurry to house the animals at
latter end as many stock-raisers suppose. A warm winter
coat has taken the place of the fine summer one, and the
colder temperature, as a rule, comes by degrees. Where one
case of illness takes place in late autumn or early winter from
sxposure in the field, ten will be found in the spring. As to
the time for yarding beasts, I am often guided by the
amount of grass on the fields. Just as the herd is introduced
gradually to its pastural food in spring, so ought a similar
precaution be taken not to withhold the grass diet all at once.
It is true roots prove a good substitute for grass, but on the
approach of winter swedes are scarcely ready, and mangel-
wurzel are unwholesome. Thus it will be seen that I advise
tardiness in depasturing in spring, and the same as regards
bringing beasts into yards upon the approach of winter.
Exposure at latter end encourages the growth of a long warm
coat, and this is of infinite comfort to animals in an inclement
winter, when severe frosts, deep snows, and boisterous winds
have to be endured.

The diet of young cattle in the second winter need not be
expensive, but should be wholesome and sufficiently nutri-
tious to ensure a gentle thriving state. Where roots are
available the chafi"-cutter and pulper should be brought into

active use. Chafi" should be cut, mixed with pulp, and
lie for twenty-four or thirty-six hours until a gentle fermenta-
tion is set up. One part hay to three of sweet oats, barley,
pea, or even wheat-straw, will make a good mixture, and with
a liberal allowance of swedes will carry the herd through the
winter at little expense. A little inferior hay might well be
given at night, or a portion of unchopped straw. It is not
prudent to feed animals altogether upon chopped diet, as
rumination is not then enjoyed in a normal manner. Where
there is sound pasture-land with rough grass upon it near the
farm-yard, I prefer that store-cattle run out a few hours each
day. They get exercise, a little grass diet, and are invigor-
ated by the change. Moreover, while the grass-fields are
being trimmed up by the cattle, the latter take such whole-
some herbage that saves more expensive dry food in the yard.
If there is convenience it is better that the animals be tied
up, especially while the pulp and chaff is given, for then each
has its fair share of food.

Water should be provided ad libitum. Pure rain-water is
the best. Landlords ought to arrange the drainage of farm
buildings so that rain could be secured for the herd. Few
stock-keepers are aware how much is lost by neglecting to
give proper fluid. In many a farm-yard the whole of the
cattle drink at ponds in which possibly the very essence
drains from their own excreta. Moreover, other foul matter
finds its way into the home pond, and to allow animals to
drink thereat is folly in the extreme. If ponds could be
kept pure they would be much more wholesome than water
that is drawn from a cold spring, for. the tempered would
correspond in a great measure with rain-water. Still where
one wholesome draught of fluid is taken from a pond only
filthy stuff is imbibed in innumerable cases. It is much
better that animals be allowed to drink at will, rather than
only visit drinking places occasionally, for too copious
draughts sometimes cause colic, particularly when roots
compose a considerable portion of their food. Swedes con-
tain over ninety per cent, of water, therefore animals feeding
freely upon these would not take nearly so much fluid as
when fed on all dry diet. It is only when long abstinence
has been endured that over-copious and injurious draughts
are taken. When the herd runs to water at will there is no
danger of harm arising.

The cost of carrying store animals through the second
winter, when they get a run out into fields, and all provender
is grown on the farm, will be from Is. Gd. to 2s. 6d. per
head per week. This will, under proper treatment, keep the
animals not only growing, bat gradually improving in flesh.
Considering the value of the manure made even this low sum
might be made less. Upon the face of this, why are so
many half-starved animals seen in the majority of straw-yards
in the country ? They cost quite as much kept in a miserable
state as in a more approved and creditable manner. I have
carefully reckoned the cost, and watched the result of the
different processes of raising, and speak from actual experience
extending over many years.

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CATTLE RAISING.

429

FATTENING IN THE FIELD.

Making beef in the present day is conducted with much
more despatch than in the days of our forefathers. Even
three decades back the majority of farmers did not sell their
fat oxen until they were hard upon four years old. Few
animals are kept until that age now-a-days. So it comes
to pass that thousands of heifers are sold straight from the
pastures when about two and a half years old, some younger ;
while oxen are finished off in the stall on or before their third
birthday. Still, to make such progress the grazier needs to
set systematically about his work. Heavy weights may be
made of animals brought to moderately early maturity, and
plenty of profit left behind, providing my advice in raising is
carried out. Indeed by raising animals in the orthodox
manner they will weigh as much at three years as neglected
ones would a year older. If the extra year's food and labour
be saved, it leaves a good profit to the raiser. Too often the
farmer errs in leaving all the fattening to be done in the last
summer and back-end. This is unwise : the thriving state
should commence at the birth of the calf— then the finishing
off is but a trifling business.

In the spring of the last year, however, such extra food
must be given as is necessary, until the pasture grasses are
not only sufficiently luxuriant to give a full bite, but the
herbage so far matured as to provide the necessary nutriment
to put on fat. There is not a day then to lose, and a few
extra pounds of cake or meal per head per day is often well
spent. In the far-famed Leicestershire pastures many of the
shrewdest graziers give cake all summer. This they supply
to their oldest and best beasts, and on the richest land. With
what result? (1) They get their cattle ready for market
early in the season when beef is in demand — hence a penny
per pound is made more than would be obtained when markets
become over-done towards Michaelmas ; (2) the land being
cleared of fattening animals, stores can be bought in early for
making off the following year; (3) the land is improved by
cake being consumed thereon.

In some instances home-grown corn can be used instead of
cake. Bean-meal at the rate of 2 gallons per day is an ex-
cellent food for fattening animals at grass, while pea-meal is
equally useful. If meals are used instead of cake, home
industry is encouraged. The great complaint about giving
meals is that they are not so convenient for feeding as cake.
Even where the greatest care is exercised there is waste in
meals. Troughs are frequently turned over, the meals spilled
out of the feeding hods, or chaff which is fed with the meal
becomes separated from the more tempting diet. Hence cake
is the favourite article for hastening on fattening cattle in the
field all over the kingdom.

It will now be well to define what really constitutes fatten-
ing land There are many farms, even of considerable magni-
tude, that will not feed either oxen or heifers. Oxen require
a much better class of land to fatten upon than heifers or
cows. It is a common error to attempt to make beef where

the land does not produce such herbage as will ripen off cattle
without much assistance from extra food. Such middling
ground will do well for running stores upon, prove all that
is required for sheep, and keep horses in good condition ; but
it is pulling against wind and tide to endeavour to fatten either
heifers, cows, or oxen thereon.

Assuming, then, that well-chosen land is at our command,
beasts should be depastured as soon in tlie spring as a fair and
wholesome bite of herbage offers. The very best land, such
as is found in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire,
and some parts of Warwickshire, will fatten a beast to the
acre. Still, as a rule, on ordinary rich land, eight beasts to
twelve acres are all that can be profitably made up. Where
fields are utilized for fattening beasts, sheep must be run very
thinly, or kept entirely therefrom. One sheep to the acre is
all that ought to be grazed amongst the cattle. Horses are
not suitable to be depastured with the latter. They take the
sweet grasses, such as horned cattle would not only eat with
relish, but which would prove most wholesome to mix with
the coarser herbage.

Towards the latter part of July a few of the most forward
heifers can generally be found fit for market. This is the
time when beef usually sells dearer than at any other season.
It is wise to make a draw early, for oftentimes as much money
is made as if the animals were kept to get heavier, when they
would probably only meet with a slack sale. There is another
object in getting them off betimes — viz. such as are left be-
hind get a more generous diet. It is generally found that
grass on old pasture-fields begins to go off after midsummer,
so that if no stock were marketed in July the land would
be over-stocked — a state of things to be steadfastly guarded
against.

About the beginning of August some good aftermath should
be ready for fattening animals to be drawn on. These fields
must not be stocked after mowing until the cattle are depas-
tured thereon in August. If this grass is a foot or so long it
will be all the better. Cattle, to fatten fast, should not be
expected to graze about for hours to satisfy their hunger.
The more abundant the herbage the sooner appetites are
satisfied, and longer time is thus given for repose, rumination,
and sleep. Upon the first signs of frost coming on, some sweet
hay, cake, and meal should be given ; just as much hay as is
well cleaned up, and for ordinary sized beasts foui' or five
pounds of mixed cake and meal. The extra food may be in-
creased weekly until eight pounds per head is reached.

The grazier will continue drawing fi-om the herd for market,
but in doing this will sell the closest grown animals, such as
do not indicate much improvement. The largest, best fleshed
ones will be put aside for the Chinstmas market. Steers, oxen,
and maiden heifers are usually chosen for this purpose.
Butchers need heavy weights at Christmas, and at the same
time top quality. The best are found among shorthorns,
Herefords, and Angus, or amongst crosses from these. It
will generally be found that some of the above-named are
found at the head of the fat classes at the large Christmas

430

CATTLE RAISING.

shows. There is a great deal more judgment needed in
selecting proper animals to bestow expensive food upon
than is generally supposed. The ordinary grazier can point
out a good fat animal when he sees one, but it requires a good
and experienced judge to see in advance what an animal will
come to It is better to choose a growing animal to keep on
tor extra beef, but it must at the same time give indications
of good points all round, and making prime quality of beef.

Assuming, then, that judicious selections have been made,
it answers to keep these approved animals up till Christmas,
for nine years out of ten a penny per pound more money is
made than during the two or three prior months. Of course,
in some instances, it is profitable to keep animals on until
February, or even until the following spring. Farmers are
often guided in this plan by their large or small store of roots,
hay, and meal.

Thus far I have not spoken upon the grazing of Welsh
and the hardier kinds of Scotch beasts. They are usually
wintered in the pasture fields, only getting a little extra
food when frost and snow prevail. Brought up as they are
in exposed districts of Wales and Scotland, they pass through
the most inclement seasons in England without any incon-
venience. These animals will fatten on more inferior land
than many English cattle, and are generally made off to
market before expensive diet in the late autumn is needed.
They do not pay so much per head, as a rule, as larger
beasts, but they are profitable, as they subsist on rougher
diet. Indeed, after plenteous seasons of grass, there always
is a great deal of old sour herbage left on the fields against
winter. Welsh and Highland herds are not over-fastidious
in their food, so they make clean work in the pastures, before
the advent of young grass in spring.

It is important that every grass-field be grazed bare some
time in the year, and that time, for choice, should be in March
or April. It will always be found that this dressing ofi' the
land must be done with hungry store stock, for it is not prac-
ticable to keep a field grazed evenly with fattening cattle.
The latter soon begin to reject coarse grasses for sweeter herb-
age. When coarse plants are allowed to grow up in fruitful
seasons and rot down unconsumed, they encourage super-
abundance of cocksfoot, timothy, and other sour plants, which,
although useful in every field, should not be allowed to accu-
mulate to the crowding out of finer and more enticing grasses.
Further, careless management encourages weeds, pests in the
soil, and invites fungoid and other diseases in plants. The
malignant ergot parasite may be named as being almost ever
present on the parts of fields where sour grass is allowed to
mature.

THE STALL.

Stall fattening has engaged the attention of farmers in all
ages, and while under favourable conditions it proves a pro-
fitable business, in other cases it results in disappointment.
In periods when grain and other produce of the farm make
high prices, the stockowner needs to be careful how he en-

gages in fattening in the stall, particularly when meat is not
making a good price. All kinds of home-grown stufis have
been very low of late, much too low for the tiller of arable
land ; meat has, however, generally sold well Therefore it
is in such times that stall-feeding often proves remunerative.
Still there are many other things to consider than the fore-
going : — (1) Roots are essential diet to use in the stall, for
their cheapness, nutritious qualities, and their wholesomeness;
(2) good hay is indispensable ; (3) the manure from beasts in
sheds should be looked upon as a considerable part of the
profit. On stiff clay land, or on purely pastural farms, roots,
if used, have to be purchased, and probably drawn a con-
siderable distance, which renders them expensive. A good
supply of hay is likely to be at hand on a grass farm, but
the manure made from the sheds is not so valuable as on
mixed holding. Thus I offer a word of caution to farmers
occupying certain farms, lest they rush into stall-feeding, and
find, as a result, the balance on the wrong side of the sheet.

On mixed farms, where a fair proportion of hay is grown —
where animals will get three-parts fat on summer pastures —
where roots are grown, and every load of manure is valuable,
fattening in the sheds is an occupation which, if skilfully con-
ducted, will not fail to give satisfactory returns. On root-
growing faiTDS, turnip crops are the making of the land, pro-
viding they are consumed in a proper manner. If two-thirds
are eaten on the land by sheep, and the other third drawn off
for stall-fattening cattle, it makes such use of the roots that
gives a rich manuring for the farm. So it transpires that thi
farmer gets two returns — one in his well-fattened animals, the
other in his manure heap. It is not found profitable to tie
up lean animals, and many a farmer has found out this to his
cost. Where they are — as before observed — got forward in
the pasture, it often answers well to finish them off in the
stall, and that for the following reasons : — By the latter end
of October beef is usually a drug in the market, especially
such as is not ripe, therefore it is then only practicable to sell
at a great disadvantage. If cattle are finished in the stall,
the flat markets are in the interval tided over, and the animals
are ready by Christmas. They improve in weight and quality,
too, so that often l^d. per pound more money is made than
could have been realized at Michaelmas. Roots are among
such beasts profitably consumed, and are indispensable diet.
They are not so valuable as fat-producers as many men sup-
pose, containing as they do 92 or 93 per cent, of water, yet
they prove a good substitute for grass, and are very useful to
feed with chaff, meals, and other food. It is seldom that cattle
get out of sorts when a prudent amount of roots are given, and
this point should not be overlooked, for when a fattening ani-
mal goes amiss it often sinks at a rapid rate, when much ex-
pensive diet is literally thrown away. Manure from prudently
fed beasts is of high quality, and tells its tale wherever it is
applied.

It is important that the different kinds of food given should
fulfil two ends. They should fatten rapidly, and prove rich
in manurial value, after passing through the stomachs of the

CATTLE RAISING.

431

eaters thereof. On page 420 of this work a tabulated list
is given of the manurial value from diflferent kinds of feeding
stuff. Decorticated cake is very rich in manurial value, being
estimated at £6 10s. per ton, nearly or quite its original cost.
Linseed cake, which costs much more money, is estimated
as only productive of £4 12s. per ton as manurial value. All
roots give but a very low return to the dunghill, about 4s. or
5s. per ton. However, too much in the way of fat and flesh
making must not be sacrificed for the sake of the dung-heap ;
still, he who pays regard to all these things will be able to
make good ripe Christmas beef at shillings per head per week
less cost than others who do not study the best methods of
feeding. Before leaving this part of the subject I should point
out that no animals, excepting horses and pigs, give better

manurial return for their food than full-grown stall-fed cattle.
Dairy cows make inferior manures, as do also young animala
that have bone as well as meat to provide for.

THE SHEDS.

Cowsheds now demand attention. The majority are far
from what they ought to be. Dark, badly drained, ill-venti-
lated, draughty, they certainly are not suitable quarters for
animals that have breathed the fresh air of pasture fields for
the previous half-dozen months to which they are introduced
to the stalls. It is the exception, rather than the rule, to find
sheds sufficiently cold. Thus newly tied-up beasts perspire
a great deal the first week or so. This state is liable to
lead to ailments that prove tedious and weakening. More-

FOOD PREPARING MACHINERY BY MESSRS. BARFORD AND PERKINS.

jver, valuable time and expensive food are thus lost. Over-
•irowding is a common and reprehensible practice ; few stalls
are made sufficiently large. Seeing the confined scale on
which cowsheds are often built, one would imagine the land
on which the building stands to be as valuable as it is in
large cities. As to draining, there is frequently literally
none. Every cowshed should be drained with piped drains
and trapped gullies. These should be flushed often, say
twice a week, and have good fall. The fluids ought to be
discharged into a tank. Thus, in addition to the sheds being
made dry and clean, the urine is saved, and proves a valuable
fertilizer. If the latter is not saved there is at once a sum
lost which ought to be added to the right side of the balance
sheet. Ventilation is seldom given on an approved plan, even

in modern buildings. Usually apertures are made compara-
tively low in the walls, causing draught. All sheds should
be ventilated from the top. If there be no loft, ventilators
can be easily fixed in the roof; if there is a loft, a zinc pipe
can be carried through the ceiling and outer walls. One ven-
tilator to two beasts would suffice. Thus the air is purified
in all parts of the shed, and a suitable temperature Is ensured.
Water-troughs should be placed conveniently for cattle, and
so that they can be filled or emptied at will.

Light is a necessary adjunct to the cowshed, yet not 1 per
cent, get sufficient. It is better that animals have ordinary
light in the day. The attendant cannot feed his animala
properly in the dark. It is not possible to see when each
animal has made a clean manger unless light is admitted.

432

CATTLE RAISING.

Darkness is a cloak for filth and waste. Finally, cattle thrive
better in good light. It is of primary importance that there
be sufficient space in front of all the animals, to allow the
herdsman to feed and water them without risk of being inter-
rupted by them. There are no neater and more approved
sheds than such as have skylights. The latter prove three-
fold useful: they give light, ventilation, and fresh air. Of
course the windows in the roof should be made to open and
shut conveniently. This is easily arranged by hinges to the
skylights, pulleys, and cords.

I am not in favour of lofts unless side ventilation is given
to the sheds in the way I suggested previously when foul
air is allowed to pass through the ceiling of the shed. Other-
wise the hay and other diet in the loft is rendered in a measure
unwholesome and unpalatable. Gases will ascend, and through
the smallest crevices. Thus it is seen how essential it is to
deal with foul air in an effectual manner, and with the great-
est possible despatch. There should be adjacent to the cow-
shed a well-arranged room for pulping, grinding, cake-breaking^
chafF-cutting, and steaming. In the illustration on preceding
page my views of a properly arranged food department are
shown.

THE FOOD.

The kind of food that proves most profitable depends upon
what the farmer has at hand. The more home-grown pro-
duce is served the more satisfactory will be the result, for
not only is it usually cheaper, but its wholesomeness is en-
sured. I disapprove of grain being sent from the farm to the
mill for grinding. All the necessary machinery for this work
can be arranged in the food-preparing room, and here the
grinding can be done at leisure when the steam is ready
for other work. Grain sent away to be ground might be
changed, adulterated, or even tolled, and if this occurred it
would go sadly against the profits of feeding in the sheds.

Fodder and grain vary much in their composition accord-
ing to the land they are grown upon, the atmosphere and
temperature they are ripened in, and the weather they are
harvested in. Even Dr. Voelcker pointed out how the public
might be led astray by certain would-be scientific ones. He
observes : — " In speaking of the nutritive value of any article
of food, too precise a language is out of place ; and it is simply
absurd to draw general conclusions from small difierences
which the analysis of different feeding materials may have
yielded. Unless the differences are strongly marked and
constantly observed in a great number of cases, it is unsafe
and irrational to attach a precise nutritive value to different
articles of food, especially if the opinion is founded solely
upon analytical data, and not corroborated by actual experi-
mental trials ; for, after all, the chemical composition alone
of an article of food is insufiBcient to determine its practical
value." The following would, however, be the average
nutritious value of home-grown cattle food : — Beans, 570
parts of nutritive matter out of 1000 parts; pease, 574; barley,
920 ; wheat, 955.

As for giving an analysis of either grass or hay, why, it
could lead to no reliable end unless every ton were tested.
Some grass, like hay, from rich land will fatten animals of
itself, while other qualities give but little aid to the extra
food supplied. Seeing this, it is obvious that the farmer who
stall-feeds upon inferior hay is hereby handicapped, as this
provender should form the staple food. There are many kinds
of cake in the market, and as many qualities. Good sound
mixed cakes are essential auxiliaries to other food in the stall;
therefore such reliable firms should be dealt with as supply
the genuine article.

In returning to hay, it is most in perfection when about
twelve months old. When of this age it retains, or should
retain, somewhat of its green colour, its agreeable smell, and
its pleasant taste. It has undergone the slow process of fer-
mentation, by which the sugar it contains is developed,
and its nutritive quality is fully exercised. After grass is cut
and the hay stacked, a greater or less degree of fermentation
takes place. Some fermentation is necessary for the develop-
ment of the saccharine principle. Occasionally the heating
goes too far, and the hay becomes mowburnt, when it is
unwholesome. The herdsman generally prefers overheated
hay, on account of its rich smell, but cattle soon sicken on
such diet, and not uncommonly go amiss from being com-
pelled to feed upon it. I have said that hay is preferable
when twelve months old. It is, however, difficult to use it
at this age in the stall, as the animals are mostly fed in the
winter. Therefore a stump of old hay to commence on is
useful, then the new hay can follow on. In choosing the
latter it is better that it should not have heated much; such
as has gone through many degrees of heating needs extra
time in the stacks, and therefore should be left until the
following winter. It is not in the farmer's power to get his
hay in any uniform state, as the weather may, in a few hours
possibly, change the condition ; but it is in his power to cut
his grasses while in bloom, and so avoid the over-ripe seeding
state which leaves the material woody and innutritions.

FEEDING.

It is better that cattle for the stall be brought at once,
rather than gradually, to the shed. It would be well to bring
the animals by degrees to their new quarters, were it not
that they would lose flesh through restlessness. Roots can
be used as a substitute for grass, so that there really is no
necessity for pastural herbage. Animals that are to be got
off to the Christmas markets should be housed by the latter
end of October. This will give scarcely two months in the
shed, which is only just sufficient time to finish them off' as
prime Christmas beef. There are frequently prolonged inter-
vals of warm muggy weather in late autumn ; when this
atmospheric state prevails, cattle should be supplied with all
the fresh air possible in their new quarters. It is oftentimes
necessary to leave open both doors and windows during the
day, for too high a temperature proves injurious.

The feeding hours should be firom 6 to 8 a.m., from 12

CATTLE RAISING.

43»

to 1 (midday), and from 5 to 7 p.m. Of course, during the
foregoing hours opportunity will be taken of completing all
the necessary cleaning out of the stalls and bedding of the
cattle. So long as animals are judiciously fed, the more
hours given for rumination and repose the better. It is a too
common practice to disturb them unnecessarily during the
day, thus fattening is retarded. Beasts in the stall ought to
be kept as quiet as possible, and only the herdsman allowed
to attend on them.

The first food in the morning should consist of a little
unchopped sweet hay. Water vessels must then be replen-
ished; if from a fresh rain-water tank so much the better.
Three servings may then be given as fast as the mangers are
cleared — the servings consisting of chopped hay, pulped roots,
cake and meals. Another serving of long hay will complete
the morning repast. At the midday meal a serving of short
food (similar to the above-named), a fresh supply of water,
and a little unchopped hay will suffice. The evening meal
to be similar to the morning, with the exception that no un-
chopped hay need be served at commencement; but an extra
quantity of the latter should be supplied to finish up with, so
as to last the animals during the night.

Salt should be always kept in the manger of the cow in
the lump state {i.e. rock salt), for it is essential to ensure the
healthy state of the animal ; and the importance of this sub-
stance in the animal economy may be learned from the fact
that when the blood and other nourishing liquids in the
animal system are burned, the ash which is left consists of
one half its weight of common salt. Indeed, instinct appears
to guide animals in their search for common salt. Thus in
North America there are inland districts into which the water
flows during the rainy season, and which become dry at other
times, and the surface of the ground is left covered with a
deposit of salt. To these districts the cattle come in herds
3i*

from great distances to lick up the salt, and hence the valleys
are called " Buffalo licks." Similar districts in South
America to which cattle resort are named " Salinas."

It is not practicable to give hard and fast rules as to quan-
tity of food, as animals vary much in size, and not a little in
their natural requirements. It is essential that rich diet be
supplied in moderate quantities at first, and gradually in-
creased as the animals become accustomed to it. The first
signs of food being rejected should be a signal to lessen the
food for several days. In feeding ordinary full-sized oxen,
I have found the following a good ratio of diet to commence
with in the stall, assuming that they have received extra diet
in the field: — 3 lbs. linseed cake; 3 lbs. cotton cake; 1 gallon
bean or pea meal ; ^ gallon barley meal ; and ^ gallon of
wheat, with long hay ad libitum. Rice meal, too, is useful.
This allowance may be increased by a fourth or so, as time
goes on. Swedes may be given liberally so long as they do
not act too freely on the bowels.

The preparation of the food is an important work. Swedes
should be pulped and mixed with chaff until the heap begins
to ferment. Meals, &c., should be added fresh before serving.
Thus the diet is given in a warm state, which is desirable,
as cold food does not give nutriment until it becomes of the
same temperature as the animals' stomachs ; further, the diet
is rendered in this manner more appetizing and digestible.
The heap will be from twenty-four to forty-eight hours
getting of a proper temperature, according to the quantity of
swedes used. As to steaming, there is no doubt some
advantage in thus cooking the food, but practical men
differ upon the system. One thing is quite clear: no
extra nutritive qualities are added to articles of food by
cooking — there is rather a detraction therefrom ; therefore
in this matter I will leave each of my readers to " gang hi?
ain gait."

434

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

\Mtmt brasses anlr Jf^rage flaitts:

THEIR SEEDS, WEEDS, AND PARASITES,

By SAMUEL P. PRESTON.

INTRODUCTORY.

There have latterly been much discussion and divergence of
opinion regarding the comparative merits of the different cul-
tivated grasses, some authorities praising beyond measure
certain varieties and depreciating others, while other autliori-
ties as strenuously advocate the opposite. Others, again, ad-
vocate the use of forage plants and grasses hitherto unknown
to our agriculture; and so far has all this gone that a large
section of the agricultural public is puzzled what guide to
follow. Again, it may be noted — if one may draw inferences
from the queries addressed to the agricultural press, and from
the results of many conversations held by the writer with
farmers, and with people who sell seeds in diflFerent parts of
the United Kingdom — that there is a surprising lack of infor-
mation on the subject of the parasites that injure or destroy
the forage plants, and the weeds that rob or stifle them.

Under these circumstances it appears to the writer that
there is room for a work, the plain and practical object of
which is to bring within handy reach the essence of the
opinions of the best British, Continental, and American
authorities, many of whom are of world-wide celebrity and
acceptance, and all of whom have devoted the best part of
their lives to the study of this and kindred subjects.

In the part devoted to the grasses the writer has set him-
self the task of sifting out those passages which most directly
illustrate the points that have practical importance to those
connected with agi'iculture, summarizing and arranging same
by the aid, on the one hand, of an experience derived from a
long connection with the home and foreign seed trade, and
on the other hand, of an enthusiasm developed by long appli-
cation to a particular line of study.

The aim also has been to avoid elaborate statements of
matters with which most intelligent farmers are already ac-
quainted ; and to abstain from cumbering the work with
botanical descriptions, or with historical accounts of the de-
rivation of species and varieties — matters which, whatever
interest they may have for the curious student of botany, are

of small importance to the farmers and seedsmen for whose
use this treatise is intended.

The contents comprise the following : —

1. The opinions, in brief, of the best authorities up to date
on the comparative merits and values of the principal pasture
and forage plants used in the agriculture of Europe and North
America, with notes on suitable soils and situations

2. Analyses of the leading natural and artificial grasses,
notes on their comparative values as regards produce and
nutritive matter, deduced from the celebrated Wobum ex-
periments.

3. Notes on the weeds and parasitic plants that infest our
pastures and forage crops (a large proportion of which objec-
tionable vegetation finds its way there through the medium
of the seed).

4. Revised standards of purity and germinating faculty of
agricultural seeds as recognized or used in the home and
foreign seed trade.

5. Remarks on the impurities and adulterations of seeds,
with extracts from the Act of Parliament known as, but mis-
called, " The Adulteration of Seeds Act."

6. Detailed instructions as to how the quality (purity,
genuineness, &c.) of a parcel of seed may be judged ; accom-
panied by illustrations giving enlarged sketches of those seeds
that are somewhat difficult of recognition.

7. Notes on the manures that suit, or are unsuitable to, the
various pasture and forage plants.

The information contained in this treatise has been collected
from works that are in many cases bulky, rare, and expensive,
insomuch that but few men could spare the time for, or care
to go to the trouble of, collecting them, and plodding through
their contents. On these grounds the compiler ventures to
hope that his labours, in collecting and arranging, will be
appreciated by a large number to whom the information will
be useful.

Of original investigation into the subject ot pasture andi
forage plants there has been a surprising dearth in the United
Kingdom; which is all the more to be wondered at when

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

435

one remembers that in such a humid and uncertain climate
as ours there is no tribe of plants so important as the natural
and artificial grasses.

Since the time of Sinclair little or nothing has been done
n the same line in the British Islands. The only break in
:he clouds is that afforded by the investigations of Sir John
B. Lawes, but these, while highly valuable, are only directed
to one branch of the subject — viz. to the question of the effects
and value of manures in diflferent combinations on the growth
and character of the grasses, &c.

On the Continent of Europe and in North America, on the
the other hand, there has been a great activity of inquiry into
those subjects. Dr. Stebler, of the Swiss Governmental Seed-
control Station, in his wonderfully complete work on " The
Best Forage Plants," makes reference to an astounding num-
ber of works, published in Germany alone, on the subject of
the grasses ; and Dr. Vasey, of the United States Department
of Agriculture, quotes a long list of works on the grasses
of the United States, some of which are treatises on the
grasses of a single State. The reports issued by the United
States Department of Agriculture afford evidence of much
valuable leading and assistance given to the cause of agri-
culture (in particular to the subject of the grasses) in the
great Republic of the West ; and in Denmark the agricultural
schools and the Copenhagen Seed-testing Station (subsidized
by the Government) are centres of activity and investigation.
The various German states pay special attention to agricul-
ture and forestry ; some of their seed-testing stations have
been in operation for almost half a century. The Swiss
Seed-testing Station and its superintendent, Dr. Stebler, are
of more than European reputation ; and Dr. Stebler's book
on " The Best Forage Plants," in the publication of which
he was assisted by his Government, is a monument as well
of scientific arrangement and accuracy as of profundity and
completeness of information.

As the great bulk of our seed supply is drawn from the
continents of Europe and North America, and as particidar
attention has been paid to the seeds of the agricultural grasses
in Dr. Stebler's book, I have given his opinions a special
prominence.

There are signs that this subject is about to receive more
attention than it has hitherto received in these kingdoms.
Our situation and our climate point to the fact that the cul-
tivation of grass and other forage plants is one of those things
our country is best suited for, and now that the introduction
of the silo promises to make us, so far as these plants are
concerned, to a considerable extent independent of the weather,
it cannot be doubted that the careful selection and growth of
the pasture grasses and forage plants suitable to locality, soil,
rotation of cropping, and other circumstances, will form a very
prominent feature in the farming of the future.

The following is a list of the authorities whose works have
been consulted and quoted from : —

\>r. Stebler, Supermtendent and Director of the Swiss Seed-testing
Station (Station F^derale de Controle des Semences).

Dr. Pamell, author of the " Grasses of Scotland," a standard work.

Dr. Vasey, of the United States Agricultural Department.

Chas. Johnson, author of the " Grasses of Great Britiiin."

Sinclair, author of the celebrated " Hortus Gramineus Woburnensis,"
and director of the renowned Wobum experiments.

Mr. M. J. Sutton, author of " Temporary and Permanent Pastures,"
and member of the well-known firm of Sutton & Sons of Reatling.

Mr. Hunter, of Chester (to whose kindness the compiler is under obli-
gations for loan of the major portion of the illustrations).

Lawson's " Agrostographia," which still remains second to none as a
standard of careful arrangement and accuracy.

Mr. Carruthers, Botanist to the Royal Agricultural Society of England.

Sir John B. Lawes, Bart., whose Rothamsted experiments are known
and appreciated in every quarter of the globe where improved
agriculture has obtained a footing, and whose name is a household
word at the fireside of every intelligent farmer in the United
Kingdom.

Mr. Faunce De Laune, of Sharstead Court, Kent, whose spirited ex-
posure of the erroneous processes by which land has been laid down
to grass has had wonderful effects in bringing about desirable im-
provements in the said processes.

Curtis and Stillingfleet, early and honourable pioneers in this field of
investigation.

J. C. Morton's "Encyclopaedia," a surprising monument of industry,
careful research, and intelligent classification.

And other authorities too numerous to particularize.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS ON THE GRASSES.

It has been remarked of the grasses that they are the true
plebeians of the vegetable kingdom, constituting as they do
the broad understratum of its vast society of flowering plants.
They form a group of great extent and of universal distribu-
tion, occupying every range of temperature, from the most
extreme of polar lands to those under the equator, and from
the low ocean shores of the tropics to the alpine limits Oi
perpetual frost.

The grasses have found a name in every tongue and time,
from the earliest periods of human record or tradition; and
the application of the seeds of many of them to the support
of mankind is of such remote origin as to be not only beyond
the earliest annals of the human race, but even to fisrure as

7 O

a myth in the traditions which preceded them, and to occa-
sion the practice of agriculture amongst all nations of anti-
quity to be deduced from the teachings of a god. We can
understand how the attention of people would be attracted to
certain of the larger fruits as articles of food ; but it seems
extraordinary that the various races of mankind should have
adopted grass-seeds as their principal support, and pursued
the cultivation of the same till it has become a science involv-
ing the subsistence of millions, and engrossing the paramount
consideration of kings and governments. Equally singular,
in connection with some of the cereal grasses, is the fact that
neither change of climate nor treatment under cultivation
during thousands of years has brought any important altera-
tion in general character, so that the cereal grasses grown
under the rainless and burning skies of Egypt and those of
the same species grown in Northern Europe differ no more
than varieties which may be reared on the same field.

Every grass has its stem cylindrical and jointed at intervals
throughout — the erect or ascending portion (the culm or straw)

436

PASTUKE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

being almost universally hollow between the joints ; and this
applies irrespective of stature — equally in the little Poa annua,
which finds a living, and even thrives, in the chinks between
the paving-stones of an unfrequented street, and in, for in-
stance, the Fanicum arborescens, which contends for elevation
with the loftiest trees of the forests of Hindustan, through the
branches of which its slender stems, scarcely thicker than
a goose-quill, penetrate till they reach the upper air.

We may make a rough division of the grasses in the
following way : —

1. Those which are cultivated for the purpose of using
their seeds in the manufacture of food for mankind. This
would include the cereal grasses (wheat, barley, rye, oat,
maize, &c.), and of these two prominent facts are worthy of
notice: (1) they are annuals; and (2) they are never found
in a wild state, unless where met with as solitary and tem-
porary productions from seeds of chance distribution. Also,
it would include rice, millet, and other grasses which have
acquired local or occasional valift in cultivation. Such, for
instance, are some species of Fanicum, also Setaria, Zizania
aquatica, Stipa pennata, Poa fiuitans, &c.

2. Those grasses that are cultivated for their foliage, and

used for pasture or forage purposes. It is with this very
important section we deal in detail in the following pages.

3. Grasses such as those of the Saccharum or sugar-cane
family, from the expressed juice of which sugar is manu-
factured.

4. Those grasses considered by the agriculturist as weeds,
but which, while of little or no value as producers of food for
man or beast, are yet extremely useful in the economy of
nature as colonizers and pioneers to vegetation of a higher
grade. The grasses which come under this section fulfil most
useful functions — some as land-formers, slowly changing
marsh or morass into land that will bear ameliorative pro-
cesses, or contributing largely towards fixing and rendering
solid the mud-flats that accumulate about the mouths of rivers
on low coasts. Others act as land-protectors — sand-binders —
spreading a dense and rapidly-formed network over the surface
of the loose material, as well as fixing it below by an inter-
laced root-system.

We may be sure that in nature there is a place and a use
for everything, if we only knew, and would confine it to its
right place and purpose ; and in no tribe of plants is this better
exemplified than in the grasses.

WEEDS.

Ruskin defines a weed to be a plant out of place ; and fur-
thermore, a plant that has an invincible tendency to get out
of its place. J. C. Morton defines a weed as any plant,
different from the crop, found growing with the crop to its
hindrance. This will hold as a general definition, but still
there are certain wild plants which are more specifically
known as weeds. Weeds may be roughly classified as
follows : —

1. Flat or Prostrate Weeds (such as ribgrass and some of
the thistle tribe). — In addition to their other objectionable
characteristics, these weeds are obnoxious, inasmuch as they
cover the ground and shade it, taking up considerable space.

2. Creeping Weeds, such as crowfoot (buttercup) and cer-
tain of the inferior grasses. — These do not attract much atten-
tion at first ; but as each plant — by sending out side-shoots,
which root and form distinct plants — is able to create a large
colony of weed tufts, they would, if allowed, soon take entire
possession of the field.

3. Running Weeds (such as coltsfoot, stinging nettle, brake
fern, couch-grass, &c.) — These not only increase by seeds, but
almost every joint or division of the creeping root (rhizome) is
capable of producing a separate plant. They are amongst
the most troublesome in the whole list, and they are very
exhaustive to the soil Again, the ordinary processes of agri-
culture only result in propagating them by subdivision — the
patches get broken up only to be spread over a large area.
Removing the underground stems is the only eflfectual way
of dealing with this class of weed — a special attack with a

three-pronged fork, for instance, would be found detrimental to
their existence.

4. Deep-rooted Weeds (such as the dock, burdock, marsh
mallow, ragwort, and wild carrot). — They are for the most
part biennial, and seed the second year. Some of them can
be easily pulled up by hand when the ground is soft after rain,
or they can be mastered by hoeing if cut below the crown.
The foregoing operations should be performed before the seeds
of the weeds are perfected, otherwise the ground may be
stocked with fresh seed, and the weeding process have to be
repeated all over again on a future occasion. After having
pulled or cut the weeds they should be burned, as their fleshy
taproots possess great vitality, and they have the capacity
of perfecting their seed even after being pulled up.

Most of the common species of weeds will be found to com-
plete their growth and ripen their seeds in a single year. The
best known specimens of this class (the annual weeds) are
the common groundsel, chickweed, wild mustard (charlock),
cleavers, &c.

Nothing is more surprising than the lengtli of time the
seeds of some of the above will remain dormant in the soil,
until, in the course of events, they are turned up and exposed
to tlie influence of light and air, when they start into growth
and produce a luxuriant vegetation, to the astonishment of
the farmer. The latter in his perplexity to understand how
such a crop of weeds came there, usually takes a short cut
out of the difficulty by trying to connect the seedsman with
it in some way or other. Almost every seedsman can furnish

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

437

from his experience instances of this nature — some of the
instances being of an extraordinary and almost unaccountable
:haracter.

Professor Buckman, in his prize essay " On the Extirpation
of Weeds," mentions how charlock will often make its appear-
ance in great quantities after the breaking up of pasture or
old sainfoin lea; how quantities of wild plants will spring up
quickly and abundantly in woods after trees and underwood
have been removed ; and how newly-formed earthworks fre-
quently caused the sudden growth of wild plants which had
never before been observed in the district.

Sir John Sinclair has given us some observations to the
effect that though it is impracticable to extirpate annual weeds
altogether, yet the number of them may be so much lessened
as to prevent them from materially injuring corn crops. Two
measures, he says, are necessary for that purpose — first, to
bring the seeds within the limit of vegetation ; and, secondly,
to destroy every weed that vegetates — thus regularly lessen-
ing the original stock. By the operations of ploughing, har-
rowing, and rolling — first to cause the weed-seeds to start into
growth, and afterwards to kill the young weeds — many farms
which formerly were nests of weeds have been brought into
such order that the weeds are kept under subjection, and are
easily managed.

Certain weeds in meadows betray a want of drainage —
such, for instance, are the sedge grasses, hassock-grass or
bull-snouts [Atra ccespitosa), water dock, wild forget-me-not,
&c. Others show poverty in the soil, such as ox-eyed daisy,
sorrel, ribgrass, cowslip, and common daisy when in quantity.

Plants coming under the head of weeds, whether growing
in poor or rich soil, not only take up space we should rather
have occupied by the crop, but appropriate the most valu-
able part of its food ; they impede the due growth of the crop
by cramping and confining it ; they clog the ground mechani-
cally; they keep air and light from the young seed; and they
delay the processes of harvesting and stacking, and make the
work more expensive.

It will, in some measure, illustrate the loss caused by weeds
to quote the results of an experiment which demonstrated
that the diflference in produce of an acre of wheat that had
been weeded over that of an acre of wheat that had not been
weeded was 4^ bushels ; and that the same process applied to
oats showed a gain of 10 bushels on the weeded acre, and
applied to barley showed a gain of 15 bushels.

Bearing in mind the immense loss caused to the country
at large by the prevalence of weeds, it is not going too far
to say that their suppression is a matter of national import-
ance. Relentless and continuous war should be waged against
weeds, and there should be official direction and supervision
to ensure that systematic efforts shall be made towards the
destruction of these impoverishing pests of the plant world.
There can be no greater nuisance, and none calling more
loudly for the interference of the authorities, than a field or
dyke or common covered with weeds which are allowed to
seed and spread themselves all round ; and those who attempt

to estimate the national loss caused by weeds will yearn for a
revival of that statute of King Alexander II. of Scotland,
which denounced that man to be a traitor " who poisons the
king's lands with weeds, and introduces into them a host of
enemies."

Professor Buckman remarks that one of tlie most fertile
sources of the continuation of weeds is that of constantly
allowing them to seed on the land.

In addition to the weed-seeds produced on the land, there
are other agencies at work to increase the weed colony. The
seeds of weeds are brought on land, for instance, by (1) the
wind, (2) by floods in the case of low-lying lands, (3) in
farmyard dung that has not been sufficiently decomposed, (4)
in the excrement of fowl, and (5) through the medium of
impure seeds.

THE SALE OF IMPURE SEEDS.

However difficult it might be to prevent the introduction
of weeds by the first four of the processes alluded to above,
there should be no important difficulty in preventing the sale
of impure seeds.

If we include bad grasses as weeds, which we are certainly
bound to do, those of us whose connection with the seed trade
supplies a means of knowing can easily understand how largely
the weed family may be, and is, recruited from this source.
Yorkshire fog, hassock-grass, useless brome grasses, couch or
scutch, &c., find their way in immense quantities into land
where they should not be through the medium of dirty or
badly-cleaned seeds. It is not alone the bad grasses that are
thus introduced, but many other weeds more or less injurious.
In the proper place the reader can note how, for instance, we
may — through the medium of badly-cleaned ryegrasses — get
ox-eyed daisy, buttercup, trefoil, large dock, sorrel dock, rib-
grass, dragon-grass, &c. Through impure samples of the
clovers we get sorrel dock and ribgrass in large quantities,
corn camomile, haresfoot trefoil, and sometimes that worst
pest of all, the clover dodder. Along with the natural grasses
we may get large dock, sorrel dock, brome grasses, hassock-
grass, self-heal, and sometimes ergot. So if we begin with
perfectly clean land, and if there were no other source from
which weeds could be introduced, we could soon accumulate
a good stock by the use of unclean seed alone.

Writing on this subject, ilr. Carruthers, botanist to the
Royal Agricultural Society of England, says : — " It would be
difficult to calculate the injury done to a meadow by the
introduction of Yorkshire fog, and of the two Airas (hassock-
grass, &c.), which form so large a portion of some of the
mixtures " (that had been sent in to him for examination).

In

mixtures for laying down land examined by him, he
found samples showing as much as 25, 26, and even 41 per
cent, of Yorkshire fog, which — in some cases, at any rate —
must have been added as a substitute for meadow foxtail.
In other mixtm-es Mr. Carruthers found 27 per cent, of Aira
flexuosa added as a substitute for yellow oat-grass. He has
had samples of a seed sold as meadow fescue that contained

438

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

scarcely a single grain of the seed of that grass, while samples
of it containing 20 and 10 per cent, of ryegrass were quite
commonly met with. He has seen samples of dogstail con-
taining up to 50 per cent, of blue melick grass (a grass found
on all moors in Great Britain and Ireland, but possessing no
agricultural value).

This is not the place to multiply instances of natural im-
purities or of substitutions, which will be found detailed
under the proper head further on, but one observation
made by Mr. Cavruthers may be quoted, viz. : — " I have no
reason for supposing it (substitution or adulteration) is done
by any one connected with the trade in Britain, and I have
little doubt that the worthless seeds are introduced before the
goods reach England. It is greatly to be desired, then, that
the buyers employed by the trade should be able to detect
the presence of adulteration in samples offered to them."

Many people think that there should be a law putting a
penalty on the sale of seeds that contain a conspicuous quan-
tity of tlie seeds of weeds or inferior plants. It certainly does
seem strange that a grocer may be fined for selling as coffee
a harmless compound of coffee and chicory ; while the same
grocer may with impunity sell, as ryegrass seed, a most hurt-
ful compound, in which it is quite possible there may be as
much as (let us say) 50 per cent, of the seeds of bad grasses
and other weeds. Those who buy the adulterated coffee
suffer only to a most insignificant extent in comparison with
those who buy and sow the adulterated or impure seed. In
the latter case, not only is the purchase money wasted, but
the crop is deteriorated, the land poisoned, and much expense
incurred in getting rid of the weeds thus introduced.

Many who have heard of the " Seeds Adulteration Act,"
but who have not read it, may think that it deals fully with
the adulteration of seeds, as its name implies ; but the fact
is that it is a " Seeds Adulteration Act " in name only, and
would be more properly entitled " The Dyeing and Killing
of Seeds Act," as it deals only with the killing and colouring
of seeds^a practice never very general, and, in any case, one
not a tenth part so damaging to the farmer, or so hurtful to
the commonwealth, as the practice of selling weed-seeds, be
they present as natural impurities or introduced as adulterants,
(A copy of the " Seeds Adulteration Act" will be found on
page 439).

In view of the evil consequences resulting from the sale of
impure seeds, there are many who think that, in addition to
imposing penalties on the sale of such by Act of Parliament,
the sale of seeds — as of drugs — should only be entrusted to
the hands of those holding a certificate of qualification. That
certain steps, on some such lines as these, will be taken sooner
or later, there can be no doubt; but it is very necessary to
remark here, that measures of such a character would be
incomplete and ban-en of good result unless accompanied by
a regulation placing a liability to prosecution on such land-
owners or farmers as allow weeds to grow and seed on their
land. It is obvious that there is not much use in one's going
to the trouble of cleaning his land, or taking pains to procure

seeds of high purity, if there is a weed nursery on a neigh-
bouring farm, or on some contiguous railway embankment or
piece of common.

Those remarks apply with much force to the sister king-
dom of Ireland, of which it has been said with perfect truth
that, as far as weeds are concerned, she is the richest country
in the world.

Dr. Macaulay, in his " Tour of Observation in Ireland in
1872," says : — " The amount of weeds is a national disgrace.
It is not uncommon to see a ton of weeds in a dozen tons of
hay. Many a field has more weeds than a whole parish in
England. Fields and roadsides are alike neglected, and
weeds help to keep Ireland green but poor. 1 never saw
such a country for weeds. I am sure it is no exaggeration
to say that the direct loss to Ireland from weeds is above a
million and a half sterling per annum, and I have heard the
loss estimated at nearly double that amount." From obser-
vations made during a recent and extensive tour in Ireland,
the writer can indorse every word of the above ; indeed, it is
a question whether matters are not now in a worse condition,
as unchecked reproduction would naturally increase and ex-
tend the evil. The fertility of the soil, combined with the
humidity of the climate, produces thistles, nettles, ragworts,
&c., as large as bushes, and as profusely as if they had been
sown for a crop. Whatever little is done, and it is only a
little, to remove weeds from the fields, there is no attempt
made, apparently, to remove them from the waste corners, the
roadsides, the wide fences (known as " double ditches "), the
railway embankments, and such like ; and in the latter end
of the autumn the gigantic nettles, luxuriant ragworts, and
great flaunting thistles sending their down forth into the
breeze, are conspicuous objects of the landscape. Registrar-
General Donnelly, in his Irish Agricultural Abstract of 1874,
stated his opinion that " until legislation affords some remedy
to those who keep their land free from weeds against such
parties as allow weeds to grow and seed, the practice of clean
agriculture in Ireland cannot be hoped for."

The enormous increase which may result from allowing
weeds to seed may be conceived from a study of the following
list, which shows the number of seeds each of the weeds
named is capable of producing in a single season : —

Name of Weed.

Number of

Seeds ou a

Single Plant.

Name of Weed.

Number of

Seeds on a

Single Plant.

Groundsel, . .
Com cockle, . .
Red poppy, . .

6,500
2,590

50,000
4,000

19,000
3,750
3,000

Shepherd's purse, . .
Cow parsnip, . . .
Stinking camomile, .
Ox-eye daisy, . . .
Burdock, ....
Common dock, . .
Dandelion, ....

4,500
5,000
40,650
13,500
24,520
13,000
2,040

Corn sow-thistle,
Mask thistle, .
Blackhead, . .

From the above may be gathered the significant fact, that
after allowing a wide margin for the casualties to which
seeds are constantly liable, yet plenty would be left, even
where seeding is allowed but for a single year, to give trouble
for many years after.

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

439

Most people have noticed the beautiful parachute-like
apparatus attached to the seeds of the thistle, dandelion, and
other weeds, by which they are capable of being wafted miles
away from where the parent plant grew. Again, the seeds
of Yorkshire fog and those of the Aira family (hassock-grass
or bull-snouts) are so light that they can be blown by the
wind to a considerable distance. Bearing these things in
mind, one can realize to some extent what damage can be
done by even one foul field in a district, or by neglected waste
spots, railway or canal embankments, on which weeds are
allowed to grow.

It is apparent to all who have studied the matter, that
if farming in Great Britain and Ireland is to continue to
afford a living to those connected with land, it can only
be done by allowing none of the resources of the soil to go
to waste, or to be diverted from the use and benefit of
mankind. We must consider weeds as the persistent and
implacable enemy of the farmer, and through him of all
mankind. If we are to flourish they must go to the wall,
and vice versd. Whatever way the problem of weed extir-
pation is solved, it must be faced ; and, impelled by a sense
of responsibility, but with great difSdence, the writer ventures
to put forward a few suggestions, which, if put in practice
would, he considers, go a long way in coping with this evil.

1. Steps must be taken to prevent by law the sale of im-
pure seeds ; and to effect —

2. The establishment of governmental seed-testing institu-
tions in each of the three kingdoms.

3. Grand juries should be obliged to compel those who
contract for the care and repair of roads to remove and destroy
all weeds found on, or growing on, the roadsides.

4. The police or other local authority should be empowered
to prosecute owners of fields or railway embankments, and
overseers of commons, on which weeds are allowed to seed
to the detriment and injury of the neighbourhood.

[It will not do to throw the 07ius on the aggrieved neigh-
bour (as the law does in some countries) of prosecuting the
offending party. People will suffer a great deal of this kind
of loss and annoyance sooner than go to law with their neigh-
bours and arouse bad feeling.]

SEEDS ADULTERATION.
(32 & 33 Vict., Ch. 112.)
An Act to Prevent the Adulteration of Seeds.
Whereas the practice of adulterating seeds, in fraud of Her Majesty's
subjects, and to the great detriment of agriculture, requires to be re-
pressed by more effectual laws than those which are now in force for
that purpose :

Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by
and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and Commons, in tliis Parliament assembled, and by the authority of
the same, as follows : —

1. This Act may be cited as "The Adulteration of Seeds Act, 1869."

2. In this Act —

The term "to kill seeds" means to destroy by artificial means
the vitality or germinating power of such seeds :

The term " to dye seeds " means to give to seeds by any process
of colouring, dyeing, sulphur-smoking, or other artificial means,
the appearance of seeds of another kind.

3. Every person who, with intent to defraud or to enable another per-

son to defraud, does any of the following things ; that is to say,

(1) Kills or causes to be killed any seeds ; or,

(2) Dyes or causes to be dyed any seeds ; or,

(3) Sells or causes to be sold any killed or dyed seeds, shall be

punished as follows ; that is to say,

(1) For the first offence he shall be liable to a penalty not exceed-

ing five pounds.

(2) For the second and any subsequent offence he shall be liable

to pay a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds :
Moreover, in every case of a second or subsequent offence against
this Act, it shall be lawful for the Court, besides inflicting upon the
person guilty of such offence the punishment directed by this Act, to
order the offender's name, occupation, place of abode, and place of
business, and particulars of his punishment under this Act, to be pub-
lished, at the expense of such offenders, in such newspaper or news-
papers, or in such other manner as the Court may think fit to prescribe.
(The other sections of the Act deal with summary proceedings for
offences ; recovery of penalties ; intent to defraud .particular person
need not be alleged ; appeal from summary conviction ; limiting time
for proceedings ; court may order prosecutor to pay costs of unreason-
able prosecution ; and so on.)

In 1878 the above Act was amended by a short Act of two

sections — the second section of which is the only important

one, and alters section two of the first Act as follows : —

Section 2 of the Adulteration of Seeds Act 1869 shall be read as if
instead of the words, "The term 'to dye seeds' means to give to seeds
by any process of colouring, dyeing, sulphur-smoking, or other artificial
means the appearance of seeds of another kind," there were therein
inserted the words, " The term 'to dye seeds' means to apply to seeds
any process of colouring, dyeing, or sulphur-smoking."

ERGOT AND ERGOTISM.

Ergot has been described as a monstrous condition of the
grain, in which the enlarged and diseased ovary protrudes
from the floret in a curved form resembling a cock's spur
(hence the name ergot — from the French — meaning a spur).
This spur is of a blackish-brown shade outside, while inter-
nally it is whitish, and contains much oil. In this condition
it is taken by animals in grass and hay ; causing, when taken
in sufficient quantities, abortion in the case of in-calf cows
that have arrived at a certain stage of pregnancy, and disease
of a more or less acute character in other animals.

Ergot spurs ripen with the grasses in the autumn, and
tailing to the ground, remain there diuring winter and spring
— unchanged and unaffected by frost or rain. About the
beginning of May the ergot commences to develop minute
fungi, which ripen in June and discharge spores in every
direction. Such of the spores as alight on the grasses when
in flower attach themselves to the seed-case, cast the embryo
seed from its position, and commence at once to grow as
parasites. When the ergot reaches its full growth in August,
it has a second stage of reproductiveness, giving off spores

440

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

from its tip or snout in greater numbers than those which
were developed from the fringi. Misty, foggy weather and
light rains assist the propagation of the spores, but heavy
rains are apt to wash them away. Dry, hilly pastures — with-

A, a spike of ryegrass {Lolium perennt) showing ergot spurs.

B, a head of coclcsfoot grass (^Dactylis glomerata) thickly studded with ergot
spurs.

out trees or hedges to prevent free ciu-rents of air — are not
favourable to the growth of this parasite. In medicine, ergot
is employed in modern practice to stimulate the motor nerve-
centres which are connected with the uterus, in order to cause
active contraction when that organ has lost its muscular
force. In large doses ergot is an acrid poison — causing
dullness, vertigo, dilated pupils, intoxication, muscular ti-em-
blings, and tetanic spasm, especially of the hind extremities,
which afterwards become paralyzed. Dry gangrene is a final
result of the action of the poison; and by degrees the extremi-
ties, and even portions of the trunk, are rotted and fall off.

" The action of the ergot," says Mr. J. Walker, " taken
in such quantities as it is found in our grasses, acts as an
excitant upon the womb of the pregnant cow, whereby the
parts contract, and give the animal a desire to abort the calf.
Its malignant influences are little dreamt of by the majority
of graziers. Thousands of cows annually abort during wet
seasons from eating the ergot grains amongst the grass and
fodder. It is no imaginary evil, but has been proved by direct
experiments instituted by men of undoubted veracity. It has
been given to the mare, the cow, the ewe, and the cat, and

has never failed to cause untimely birth when given iu
proper quantities and when the animal had arrived at a cer-
tain stage in pregnancy."

In many cases it has been noticed that when a cow aborts
in a herd many others follow suit. This is commonly ascribed
to some infection or sympathy, but it is quite clear that many
cases assigned to sympathy are really caused by the poisonous
ergot. A case is mentioned in the Field where ergotism
appeared amongst eighteen cows in a dairy. The animals'
legs began to swell as high as the hock joint, and in about
a week the hoofs began to slough off. Some cases assumed
a more severe form — the appetite failed, scab formed from
the top of the hoof to above the fetlocks, and the parts below
the line of the scab rotted off.

This subject is worthy of the most serious attention, for
losses, one year with another, from abortion and other animal
ailments incurred by ergot in Britain may be estimated at as
much as is caused by foot-and-mouth disease.

Treatment of ergotism, as a matter of course, includes the
removal of the animals from the place where ergot is found ;
or, in the case of ergotized fodder having been supplied, a
change of food at once. Medical treatment, including the use
of antiseptics and restoratives, will prove in some instances
beneficial ; but it is obvious that in this disease prevention
is far more important than cure, and what is wanted is a de-
termined effort to stamp out the pest. Meadow grasses should
be cut before the period when the ergot spurs develop on the
flower-head. Special attention should be paid to the corners
of fields, to places under the shade of trees, and to the banks
of streams and ditches. It is in such situations, where coarse
grasses grow, that ergot is most likely to be found, and care
should be taken to cut down such grasses in good time to
prevent the pest being propagated.

Farmers might offer a small reward per dozen for flower-
heads of grasses showing ergot spurs, thus stimulating the
boys and unemployed' persons of the locality to search for
same. A few shillings spent in that way might save many
pounds; and if a suflicient quantity of the spurs could be
collected, there might be a market for them in the drug trade.
Tall meadow fescue grass seems to be particularly liable to
attack of ergot, and on that account should not be allowed to
go to seed.

As in the majority of cases it would not be worth while
collecting the ergots, the next best course to pursue is to cut
and collect the ergoted grasses and burn them — taking care
that they are shaken and tossed about as little as possible,
as the grains of ergot have only a slight hold on the seed
stalk, therefore are easily detached, and if allowed to drop off
and remain on land each grain will se>-ve as a centre for the
propagation of the pest at a future time.

A writer in a recent number of the Agricultural Gazette
suggests that experiments should be made with ergot on
in-calf cows, with the view of getting answers to the follow-
ing questions — viz. How much ergot is required to produce
abortion ? Is the effect of ergot greater or less aa the time of

pregnancy advances? Does ergot affect a cow when given
on a full stomach? Does it act immediately on the cow,
or must she consume it for a length of time to make her
abort? This is a subject on which fmtlier investigation is
very urgently required.

CLOVER DODDER (jCuacuta trifoHi).

This is a genus of leafless annual plants allied to the bind-
weeds, and like them strangling the plants they lay hold of.

A dodder plant maintains its existence by twining round
other plants, into whose stems it inserts its suckers and de-
stroys the plants by appropriating to itself the sap. The

A Clover Plant attacked by Dodder.

seed of the dodder on being sown with the crop comes up at
first an independent plant, but when it seizes a plant and
Bends its suckers into the stem thereof, it lets go its hold of

3k*

jf^^^T^.

■v;;jff;

I.

Seeds of the Clover Dodder
(enlarged and natural size).

the ground and lives thenceforth as a parasite. In appear-
ance it resembles a number of fleshy threads twisted round
a branch. One writer describes it as appearing like a large
mass of yellow horse-hair shooting up through the clover and
twining itself round every stalk of it It commences in small
patches all over the field, and gradually extends itself— de-
stroying in its progress all vegetation, and leaving the whole
area as black as if a fire had existed on the spot. The seed of
clover dodder is of a pale gray colour,
and looks so like fragments of gray-
ish clay that it takes a keen sight
and a close inspection to detect it
amongst the seed. As it is not much
more than half the size of any clover
seed it is easy to get rid of it by
sifting. When dodder appears the only remedy is to dig
up the crop on, and for a considerable distance around, the
spots where the dodder appeared, and then to burn all the
plants along with the pared soil. If the dodder is allowed
to mature and shed its seeds those may lie dormant in the
soil for many years.

LESSER AND GREATER BROOM-RAPE
{Orohanche minor and 0. elatior).
These also attack clover, attaching themselves to the roots
of the seedling clover, and drawing nourishment therefrom.
The tall broom-rape sometimes has a stem as much as an inch
and a half thick and a foot and a half high, and looks as much
out of place growing on the clover stump as does the young
cuckoo in the hedge-sparrow's nest. The qualities of this
parasitic plant are powerfully astringent. When it has once
established itself it can only be removed by hand-picking.

442

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

THE GRASSES.

MEADOW FOXTAIL (^Alopecurus pratensis).

Seed of ordinary quality weighs from 5 lbs. to 9 lbs. per bushel ; best quality, 12 lbs.

Standard of germinating power of H.M.'s Office of Works, 60 per cent

Dr. Parnell (author of the " Grasses of Scotland ") says
that this is one of the most valuable grasses to the farmer
— one of the earliest and best for permanent pastures, and
most grateful of all grasses to every
kind of cattle. Its produce is nearly
three-fourths greater on a clayey loam
than on a sandy soil, and the quantity
of nutritive matter is also greater in
the proportion of three to two.

JIartyn says it possesses the three
great requisites— quality, quantity, and
earliness, in a degree superior to any
other.

Charles Johnson (author of the
" Grasses of Great Britain ") reports
that its strong fibrous roots take a
firm hold of the soil, but the plants
have little or no tendency to extend them-
selves laterally. It has been affirmed
Seed of the Meadow Foxtail, to yield more bulk and weight of hay
than any other grass hitherto subjected
to experiment. The first crop may be cut about the middle
of May, and the aftermath is unusually productive.

Sinclair (director of the celebrated Woburn experiments,
and author of " Hortus Gramineus Woburnensis ") holds
the opinion that it should never form a less proportion than
one-eighth of any mixture prepared for permanent pasture.

Dr. J. A. Vcelcker says that in meadow foxtail, perennial
ryegrass, and timothy, the amounts of nitrogen and true
albuminoids are considerably higher than in the other grasses.
Meadow foxtail, indeed, shows a marked superiority in almost
every respect ; for, besides being so rich in nitrogen, it has
also the highest amount of digestible matters.

Mr. J. S. Gould (of New York) says that pastures well
covered with this grass will afford a full bite at least one
week earlier than those which do not have it. No grass bears
a hot sun better, and it is not injured by frequent mowings —
on which account, as well as for its early verdure, it is valuable
for lawns.

Dr. Stebler (of the Swiss Governmental Seed -control
Station) counts this and sweet vernal as the earliest of the
good grasses of our meadows. It puts forth its long succulent
leaves at the commencement of April, and its flower-spikes
begin to appear about the middle of the same month. It
reproduces itself by means of short stolons from the stump,
and consequently does not grow in thick tufts. It does not
acquire its full development till the third year.

Mr. Hunter (of Chester) says that it thrives best on a rich,

moderately stiflF, moist soil, and does well under irrigation,
but it is of little value on poor dry soils.

Mr. Martin J. Sutton (author of " Temporary and Perman-
ent Pastures") thinks it is only suitable for alternate hus-
bandry when the ley is to remain at least three or four years.
There is scarcely a forage plant known which endures cold so
well as this, and spring frosts do it little harm. Also, it is one
of the few grasses that thrive well under trees. By the third
week of May it is in full flower, and should be cut if there is
sufficient of it in the meadow to warrant early mowing. This
necessity for early cutting should influence the proportion of
foxtail in a permanent prescription. The aftermath frequently
exceeds the early growth in bulk.

Manuring. — Experiments at Rothamsted proved that both
nitrate of soda and ammonia salts did equally well with the
foxtail plant.

The Seed. — True seed of foxtail, as Mr. Sutton says, is
always expensive, and so light and delicate as to require ex-
ceedingly well prepared land to ensure vegetation. It has
been pointed out by Dr. Stebler that in the ordinary seed of
commerce the germinating power stands at a low figure, which
is due to the fact that the seed is often gathered while unripe.
They used to consider it fair seed that grew 30 per cent., and
called it excellent when it grew over 40 per cent. From
seventy-nine trials he found an average of only 19 per cent,
of germinating faculty. Since the above was written, how-
ever, the quality of this seed has been improving year by
year. The collectors, more particularly in the North of
Europe, are becoming more awake to the necessity of allowing
it to ripen properly. The sorting and cleaning of the seed
is also receiving much more attention, so that at the present
time seed may be obtained with a guaranteed germinating
power as high as 70 per cent. This notable improvement
has been brought about in a great measure by the investi-
gations and reports of the botanist to the Royal Agricultural
Society of England. Also some credit for this change for
the better is due to Mr. Faunce de Laune in calling public
attention to the low germinating power of the foxtail seed at
that time usually supplied. According to Mr. de Laune one
could formerly meet with samples of foxtail seed, of which
not a single grain would germinate, and in other cases the
germinating power would run to such figures as 5 per cent.,
8 per cent., and so on.

It would not be a difficult thing to collect the seed of tjie
meadow foxtail. The best plan is to cut the flower-spikes
with a portion of the stem attached, bind them in little
bundles, and let the seed come to perfect maturity. By this
plan seed of a much higher germinating faculty will be
obtained than by the plan of stripping the seed from the stand-
ing stem.

A few years ago it was not an uncommon thing to meet

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

4-43

Seed of the Black Grass.

with a good many samples of foxtail containing a con-
siderable proportion of Yorkshire fog, and, it may be pre-
sumed, samples of that class are not yet quite extinct. Such
impurities, however, can be easily
recognized, as the seed of the York-
shire fog is usually whiter in colour,
and not so hairy as that of the foxtail.
Furthermore, the kernel of the latter
is of a yellow hue, while the kernel
of the Yorkshire fog is of a silvery
white colour.

We have it on the authority of

Mr. Hunter that the seeds of Alope-

curus agrestis (black grass) were also

much used to adulterate meadow

foxtail; and the same authority adds

that " this black grass is one of the

most execrable of weeds, and not

a seed of it should be permitted to

enter into the composition of any permanent pasture, yet

tons of this seed are annually used to adulterate the true

Alopecurus pratensis."

SWEET VERNAL

{Anthoxanthum odoratum).

The beat seed weighs from 10 to 12 lbs. per bashel. Standard of germination
of H.M.'s Office of Works, 60 per cent.

W. Carruthers, F.R.S. (botanist to the Royal Agricultural
Society of England), thinks that this is a perennial grass
deserving of a place, though not an important one, in per-
manent pastures. It is one of the earliest grasses, showing
flowering heads even at the end of April. The foliage is at
the best but scanty, and it is never a favourite food with stock.

Mr. Sutton says it is one of the earliest grasses, coming
into full flower at the beginning of May, and therefore no sur-
prise will be felt that it yields only a small hay crop. It is a
true perennial, and continues growing until late in autumn,
this fact clearly indicating that it is even better for grazing
than for cutting. It grows luxuriantly on deep, rich, moist
soils ; and in wet peaty land it becomes so large and reed-like
as to deceive any but the most experienced botanist. Strange
to say, it is equally at home on thin moors and exposed sandy
dunes, and will live in soil which will not feed any other grass.

Dr. Stebler's opinion is that, as it starts to grow so early
in spring, it has the advantage of the moisture remaining in
the soil from the winter, and thus is enabled to thrive even
on the driest soils. After being sown it starts growing more
quickly than any of the other grasses, and gives, even in the
first year, a fair return. In warm situations it comes so rapidly
forward that it has ripened and shed a portion of its seeds
before the hay-cutting season, by which means the quantity
of it in the land is increased (perhaps out of proportion to its
value. — Ed.) At the time of hay-making the flowering stems
and heads are almost as hard as straw, and not much more
nutritious. It is on account of its fine aroma that the

culture of it has been so strongly recommended, but it is not
by any means certain that the odours which are pleasant to
mankind are equally agreeable or in any way of advantage to
the beasts of the field. The latter will judge their food by
the tongue and palate ; and as sweet vernal grass, notwith-
standing its name and smell, has a bitter taste, it is probable,
and more than probable, that, instead of being liked by cattle,
it is avoided by them, and only eaten when they are almost ,
famished.

Mr. Hunter says its yield is somewhat scanty, and its early
produce not nutritive. The latter-growth is more nutritious ; i
and as the peculiar aroma of this grass gives a relish to and j
improves the flavour of other grasses, the addition of a mode- !
rate quantity of seed to mixtures for permanent pasture is
recommended.

Dr. Parnell found that it constituted a part of the herbage
of pastures on almost every kind of soil, though it only attains
to perfection in those that are deep and moist. It is said that
the flavour of mutton is greatly improved when sheep are fed
on pastures where this grass abounds.

The seed as imported contains a good deal of sorrel and
other weed seeds that are collected with it. It is also very
necessary to bear in mind that the seeds of a worthless annual
variety [Anthoxmithum Puelli) are in a great many cases sub-
stituted for the true sweet vernal. It requires a very close
examination to distinguish the seeds of the one from the other.
In the true kind the apex of the palea is evenly rounded, and
the edge uniformly and finely serrate. The hairs are scattered
irregularly over the surface. In the false kind the apex of
the palea is roughly serrated, and the hairs are arranged along
the midrib and veins and along the edges. These distinguish-
ing characteristics are not, however, always to be depended
on, and would not by themselves be a safe guide. The smell
of the seed furnishes some help towards arriving at a con-ect
opinion, but the most reliable test is an examination of the
kernel. Rub some of the seed between the palms and blow
away the chaff'. The kernels of the false kind will be found
pale coloured and short, while those of the true kind are dark
brown (or almost black) and are more elongated than those
of the Puelli, The seed of the true sweet vernal [A. odoratum)
is, and must always be, costly. It is gathered by hand from
plants growing wild in the woods and clearings of Central
Germany, and only a very small quantity is sent to this
country.

TALL OAT-GRASS

{Avena elatior, Linn. ; Arrhenatherum avenaceum, &c., &c. ;
Holcus avenaceus).

Standard of germination, per Dr. Stebler, 70 per cent.

This grass is known under a variety of botanical names ; in
France it is called Fromental, and in other parts of the Con-
tinent it is known as French Ryegrass.

Dr. Parnell says this grass produces a plentiful and early
supply of foliage, and is valuable either for hay or pasture.
On the Continent it is highly prized. All kinds of cattle eat

444

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

it with avidity, although it is said to be unpalatable to
horses.

Dr. Stebler's opinion is that it is certainly one of our best
forage grasses. In mixture with other grasses it is an excel-
lent plant, which should not be omitted from any mixture,
provided it is not sown on too moist a soil. It is most valu-
able as a grass for meadowing purposes. On account of its
deep-rooting propensities it succeeds well on dry soils that
have depth and are not too compact, but if the soil is too poor
the plant becomes sickly, and gives but a mediocre produce.
It is a quick-growing grass, flowers at the beginning of June,
and gives considerable produce the first year, but the second
year's cutting is the most important. Having a bitter taste,
it should not be given by itself to cattle in a green state.
For hay it is especially suited, as it is easy to save and keeps
well. In dry waim situations it might be used in mixtures
to the extent of 20 per cent. If only for one year's cutting
Italian ryegrass is of more value, but if for two or three years'
meadowing the tall oat-grass should get the preference.

Sinclair's remarks upon it are rather contradictory, but
certainly very little in favour of its agricultural value. After
mentioning the properties it possesses, which would entitle
it to a high rank among the grasses adapted for alternate
husbandry, he adds that it contains tC'O large a proportion of
bitter extractive and saline matters to warrant its cultivation
without a considerable admixture of other kinds.

Charles Johnson says : — So long as it has to struggle for
existence with other self-established tenants of the soil, it is
harmless, and probably beneficial to the animals feeding upon
the mingled herbage among which it is an admitted but never
a prominent associate.

Mr. Sutton says that its roots penetrate so deeply as to
enable the plant to withstand the effects of both cold and
drought. It is almost indifferent to soil, and may be grown
pretty nearly everywhere. It cannot be called strictly peren-
nial, but is twice as long-lived as Italian ryegrass, and grows
as much herbage in its first year, while in its second and
subsequent years it is far superior to its better known rival.
When sown in autumn a much larger produce is obtained in
the following year than from a spring sowing. For a three
years' ley one-fifth of entire sowing would not be an unreason-
able quantity on good deep soil.

Dr. Vasey (of the Agricultural Department of the United
States of America) says : — The cultivated grass best adapted
for winter pasture in the South is the tall meadow oat-grass,
which will thrive on a more sandy soil than most of the
cultivated gi-asses (though it prefers a rich upland), and will
yield more green food in winter than any other grass. It
and cocksfoot are thought to endure the heat and drought
better than any other cultivated grasses.

Professor Phares (of Mississippi) says: — It may be sown in
March or April and mown the same season, but for a heavier
yield it is better to sow in September or October. Not less
than two bushels per acre should be sown.

The Seed. — According to Professor Phares it is a little

difficult to save the seed. In about ten days after blooming
the seeds begin to ripen and fall off, the upper ones first;
therefore, as soon as the top seeds are sufficiently ripe, the
panicle or flower-head should be cut off and dried, when the
seed will all thresh out readily. For an acre of arable land
20 lbs. of seed is sufficient ; but as it is seldom desirable to
cultivate it except along with other sorts, from one-fourth to
one-half of that quantity will be found sufficient.

There is a variety of this grass {Arrhenatherum bulbosum)
of which the base of the stem forms small bulbs. This is
rightly looked upon as a weed — or, as one writer puts it,
" the cultivation of it under any circumstances would not
fail to create suspicions of lunacy against the owner." Aa
there is no way of distinguishing the seed of the one variety
from that of the other, it would perhaps be as well not to
sow either of them unless there is the clearest proof that what
is about to be sown is beyond question firee from any admix-
ture of the bulbous-rooted kind. It is owing to the latter
being so commonly mistaken for the true variety that tall
oat-grass is so little used in these kingdoms. One ia no
better than a couch or squitch grass, while the other — used
with judgment — is capable of filling a very useful place in
our agriculture.

GOLDEN OR YELLOW OAT-GEASS.

{Avena Jlavescens; Trisetum flavescens.)

The best seed weigha np to 10 lbs. per bushel. Standard of germination of
H.M.'s Office of Works, 60 per cent. Flowers at the end of Jnly.

Mr. Carruthers reports that it is found in dry meadows and
pastures, and may be grown in any kind of soil or situation.
It produces a considerable quantity of foliage, is a favourite
food of sheep, and is important as a late grass in pastures.

Dr. Stebler quotes Langethal's remark to the effect that
this grass is always an indication of the superior quality of
the fields in which it is found ; and observes further that it
thrives in almost all soils except those that are extremely
strong or extremely light. Its produce is sure as well in wet
seasons as in dry, though excess of either moisture or drought
will hinder its development. It is entirely unsuited to
meadows that are liable to be flooded but are not provided
with suitable drainage, is very advantageous in meadows
and pastures, gives a grass of good quality which beasts eat
greedily, and should never be omitted from mixtures unless
they are destined for places quite unsuited to it.

Curtis (an early pioneer in the field of investigation) says
that in excellence it comes near to meadow foxtail, for which
it may prove no bad substitute.

Dr. Parnell says it grows naturally in almost every kind
of soil, fi-om the limestone rock to the irrigated meadow, and
is always present in the richest natural pastures. It thrives
best in dry calcareous soil, and does well only when combined
with other grasses. It is to be noted that sheep prefer it to
most grasses.

The Seed. — The supply of the seed of this grass is exceed-
ingly small, as it is very difficult to collect. In fact, so

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

445

Yellow Oat- Grass.

Bcarce is the real article that a totally diflferent thing, viz.

Aira Jkxuosa, has been quite openly oflfered and sold for it

(see below).

There is a very strong resemblance — i.e. to the naked eye —
between the seeds of the two grasses,
so buyers should be on their guard
in this matter. Indeed, when we
consider the scarcity and dearness of
the seed of yellow oat-grass, and the
danger of getting instead the seed of
a perfectly useless grass such as At'ra
flexuosa, it is a question whether it
would not be better to omit yellow
oat-grass altogether from prescriptions
for laying down land. At the same
time, true seed of it, with good germi-
nating faculty, can be had if one goes
to the right source and pays the price.
The enlarged illustrations given herein

will enable the reader to notice the distinguishing features

of the seeds of the two grasses.

HASSOCK GRASS OR TUFTED HAIR-GRASS
{Aira ccespitosa).

Dr. Parnell says this grass has a most unsightly appearance
in meadows, pastures, and parks. It forms large tufts
(termed by farmers hassocks) very hard to get rid of. The
leaves are extremely rough and coarse, there-
fore cattle seldom touch it; and as it possesses
little nutritive properties it does not merit the
attention of agriculturists.

J. C. Morton says it forms unsightly
rigid tufts, which should invariably be eradi-
cated by grubbing them out with a mattock or
strong hoe, at the same time dropping amongst
tlie loose soil a few seeds of cocksfoot, timothy,
or some other strong and rapid-growing grasses.

The seeds of this grass are found as impurities or adulterants

among the seed of the Poas (rough-stalked and smooth-stalked

meadow grasses), and among the seeds of others

\ of the natural grasses. Wherever met with it

\ is most objectionable.

WAVY MOUNTAIN HAIR-GRASS

Hassock Grass.

{Aira flexuosa).

W. Carruthers, F.R.S.,

that it is
, and hilly

reports
common on sandy heaths, moors,
y pastures, and is no doubt of value as an in
^ gredient in such exposed native pastures, but

Aira JUxuosa.

not recommended for cultivation.

is otherwise a worthless weed.

Dr. Parnell says that sheep eat it, but it is

THE BROME GRASSES.

J. C. Morton says that among modem agriculturists there
are not wanting some who question the propriety of so rigidly
excluding the brome grasses from field culture, seeing that
they yield a weighty produce in stems and seed, and do this,
especially in the case of Bromus mollis (soft brome-grass
or goose-grass) on very poor dry soils.

MEADOW BROME GRASS
{Bromus arvensis).
That grown at Woburn on a sandy loam gave of green food
per acre —

Tons, cwts. qrs. lbs.

At time of flowering, 10 12 2 2

Affording of nutritive matter, . . . 0 13 1 4
But at time of ripening the seed gave only per

acre, 3 0 3 0

Yielding of nutritive matter, . . .0117

BROMUS ERECTUS.

(Sometimes called Bromus pratensis and riiontana, also Fesiuca erecta

and montana).

Dr. Stebler reports that this grass has been for a long time
in cultivation in the south of France, is fibrous rooted, and
grows in compact tufts forming a level turf. It can be sown
in autumn or spring, is not usually sown by itself, but
generally with a mixture of sainfoin or lucern. It is not
remunerative on good land, but is a useful and lasting grass
on dry warm chalky soils, and suits dry hillsides that are
exposed to the sun. In favourable situations it begins to
grow early in spring, flowers at end of May or early in June,
and should be cut before the flowering stage. After cutting
it grows more leaf foliage, which is eaten with relish by cattle.

BROMUS INERMIS.

Dr. Stebler reports this as a perennial stoloniferous grass,
useful for binding the soil of embankments of railways or

Bromus secalinus.

Soft Brome Grass
{Bromus mollu).

canals because of its property of pushing out a large number
of long twisted underground stolons. It is capable of resisting

446

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

a drought that would kill any other grass, and is equally
insensible to cold. It has only a small nutritive value.

The seeds of the brome grasses are found in very large
quantities as natural impurities in badly cleaned ryegrass.
Bromus secalinus will be found in large proportion in some
samples of perennial ryegrass, and as it is rolled together
in such a manner as to be of about the same thickness as the
seed of the perennial ryegrass, it is impossible to separate the
one from the other. The great flat white seeds of Bromus
mollis, and occasionally the slender, long-awned seeds of
Bromus sleinlis and Bromus asper, may be easily recognized
in impure samples of home and foreign Italian. Agricultur-
ists should carefully avoid sowing seeds that contain admixture
of the seeds of any of those brome grasses. In any land
except the very worst they are out of place, and come under
the head of weeds.

schrceder's brome grass.

Mr. Sutton says that this grass has not been sufficiently
cultivated in England, and strongly urges its inclusion in
mixtures for two or three years' ley which are mainly to be
fed off. There is a prejudice against it because of the harsh-
ness of its foliage, yet it is a valuable forage plant. It is one
of the earliest grasses to start in a temporary pasture, grows
so strong as to crowd out weeds, feeds on the surface, and will
thrive on the thinnest soil. In warm moist seasons especially
its usefulness will be manifested. Mr. Sutton once saw a
field of this grass keeping an extraordinary flock of sheep,
which were penned on it during a hot summer. The crop
was ready at one end of the field as soon as the sheep had
finished at the other.

Professor Phares says it varies in the time of starting
growth, but when once started its growth after the successive
cuttings or grazings is very rapid. It is tender, very sweet,
and stock eat it greedily. It makes also a good hay, and
produces an immense quantity of leaves.

CRESTED DOGSTAIL (Cynosvnis cristatut).

Ejtra good seed will sometimes weigh np to 36 lbs. per bushel. Standard of ger-
mination of H.M.'s Office of Works, 90 per cent. Some seedsmen guarantee 95
per cent.

Charles Johnson reports that this grass frequently forms
the principal part of the sward in situations natural to
it — viz. high and dry pastures or sheep downs.
In such situations no species is more valuable.
Owing to the depth to which its roots penetrate,
it remains green long after most other species have
withered. It is not at all, however, adapted for
general cultivation — the stems being too harsh and
wiry, and the herbage unproductive where a crop
j of hay is required.

Curtis (who bases his qualifications to pronounce
DogstaiL opinions regarding the grasses on " twenty years'
culture and observation of them") says that, find-
ing this grass produces but little foliage; that its stems are

wiry and constantly refused by cattle; that, on account of
its roots being fibrous and penetrating to no great depth,
it becomes in dry summers little better than an annual —
he is induced to think less favourably of its intrinsic
merits.

Dr. Stebler considers it one of the best grasses — valuable
not so much in respect of its produce as in regard of its high
nutritive qualities. It prospers best in a humid climate, and
forms an essential part of the best pastures in England,
Holland, Schleswig-Holstein, and Switzerland. It begins
to throw up foliage early, and flowers firom the middle to the
end of June.

Dr. Parnell pronounces it to be a most valuable grass for
permanent pasture, but not recommended for hay. It thrives
better in tenacious elevated soils than in those of a drier or
sandy nature, and in irrigated meadows attains an unusual
size.

Mr. Hunter says it should be included in all mixtures for
permanent pasture, but the quantity of seed should be very
moderate, as when once established it will increase from year
to year by self-sowing. The leaves are fine and form a
dense turf.

J. C. Morton says of the crested dogstail, that from a
more intimate knowledge of its actual merits, it is not now
generally considered worthy of field cultivation. Few grasses,
however, are better adapted for bleaching-greens and scythe-
kept lawns.

Manuring. — At Rothamsted it appeared to thrive equally
well on unmanured plots and on plots that had been dressed
with mineral manures only. It showed a dislike for ammonia
salts and a preference for nitrate of soda.

Tlie seed varies in quality very much, owing to carelessness
in collection and in handling by those who save it. A
difference in price of as much as 100s. per cwt. between a
superfine and a poor sample is not an unusual occurrence.
Through bad handling (during the process of drying the
seed) many samples get heated and become discoloured.
Many inferior samples will be found to contain various weed-
seeds — sometimes ergot in addition ; and again, the shelled
seeds of Yorkshire fog are prominent in many samples.

Considering the price of good pure dogstail seed, and the
adverse opinions of the grass expressed by some of the
authorities we have quoted, it is a question for the farmer —
especially in districts where it abounds naturally — whether it
would not be as well to exclude it entirely from the mixtures
for laying down his land. Certainly, as a general rule,
considering how copiously it resows itself, it is well to
diminish the quantity of this seed in specifications to the
lowest point.

It is stated that crested dogstail is frequently adulterated
with the seed of the blue melick grass {Molinia ccerulea) — a
grass of no agricultural value which grows on heathy and
moory land. The seeds of Molinia may be distinguished
by their larger size and darker colour, and can be recognized
by the naked eye on a close scrutiny.

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

447

FIORIN OR CEEEPINQ BENT
{Agrostis alia, var. stolonifera).

As there are a number of varieties of Agrostis, all of
which are next to useless except this one, and as the seeds
of the other varieties are usually sent out instead of the true
fiorin, it is as well to give here a short botanical description
of the plant: — This is a variety with the branches of the
panicle (flower-head) densely tufted ; sheaths roughish ; stems
long, smooth, and procumbent, putting out roots from the
nodes or joints. It differs from Agrostis vulgaris in having
broad leaves ; a much closer and larger panicle, with green
or pale flowers ; the large glume minutely toothed all along
its back ; the ligule long, narrow, and sharp.

Dr. Stebler's view of it is that, if it has been grown on a
suitable soil, it will produce herbage of a succulent nature
which cattle eat with pleasure ; but if grown on poor or dry
ground it will be avoided, as it becomes hard and without
flavour. It suits best on a. light moist soil, and on peaty
soils that have not been drained ; also on wet clayey soils ;
but does not succeed on dry soils, especially if composed of
compact clay, into which its fine roots cannot penetrate.

Professor Baldwin (Ireland) writes as follows : — " Fiorin
grass is extensively grown in Donegal. On reclaimed moor
and other deep land there it makes most valuable permanent
meadow. I speak of the true Agrostis stolonifera^ with which
worthless and even noxious plants are confounded."

Charles Johnson says that the value of all the varieties of
Agrostis alba depends upon the creeping stems, which afford
a heavy crop of hay late in the year, and also supply leaves
for early feeding. The fiorin of nature's own planting
flourishes in a rich well-watered soil, and produces an almost
miraculous quantity of fodder; but it is unreasonable to
suppose that, in the absence of such conditions, any parallel
success can attend its cultivation. The creeping bent may
be a useless weed — wiry, nearly leafless, and unpalatable to
cattle — or it may be succulent, abundant in foliage, and as
grateful to them as it is productive, according to the soil and
situation in which it finds itself. The creeping runners,
stems, or stolons of this and other grasses of similar habit
are highly nutritive.

Mr. Sutton says it affords very early feed in spring, but its
power of yielding late keep in autumn is its most remarkable
feature. It has been pastured as late as the middle of De-
cember, and the herbage, if allowed to remain till the following
spring, not deteriorated. In wet seasons it overpowers other
grasses, and its creeping roots become almost as objectionable
as couch. It is also very exhausting to the soil.

Mr. Hunter says this grass is suitable for affording a supply
of herbage during winter and early spring months when other
grasses are dormant. The habit of growth resembles the
strawberry — long trailing shoots or stolons being produced
during the autumn and winter months. It thrives on all good
soils, particularly those that are wet ; also does well on peaty
soils, but is not suited to dry pastures.

As the fiorin grass came at first prominently into notice
through the writings of Dr. Richardson, who had experience of
it in the north-east of Ireland, we give the following report
from a gentleman in Donegal, who farms some reclaimed bog
there on which a plantation of fiorin had been made by sowing
pieces of the creeping stems and covering lightly with soil : —
" I believe it is an excellent grass for our soil ; in fact, we
could not raise anything like the same quantity of any otlier
kind of grass. My experience is that newly-broken bog is
the most suitable land for it. I believe we have had as much
as ten tons of hay per acre (Irish), but this I consider an extra
good crop, and you will not have that quantity except for one
or two years on good land well manured." The following
report on this grass is from another Irish correspondent of
experience : — " Fiorin grass^the kind with the creeping
stem — should be cultivated by itself on moist ground for hay,
of which it gives several cuttings in the year of enormous
produce and excellent quality. Cattle are extravagantly fond
of it, and the farmer by its use may convert almost un-
profitable swamps into the most valuable land on his
holding."

The Seed. — As has been pointed out by Johnson, the fiorin,
as is the case with plants generally which propagate them-
selves by lateral extension, produces very little seed. Hence
those who are desirous of cultivating it will succeed best by
planting cuttings of the creeping stems in drills an inch deep
and slightly covering them with soil. The seed of commerce
is almost invariably not that of the true fiorin, but is the seed
of some of the other worthless varieties — such as Agrostis
disparj Agrostis vulgaris, Agrostis canina, &c. Some of the
leading seedsmen having discovered this, and having ascer-
tained by experiment the impossibility of getting seed of the
true fiorin, have struck it out of their lists altogether — which
is a much better plan than to send out seeds of grasses that
are no better than noxious weeds. Even when the seed
of the bo7id fide fiorin grass has been procured it is very difii-
cult to get it to grow. Our Donegal correspondent writes : —
" I have no faith in the seed of fiorin, as I have seen it sown
and it never came to anything, but we plant the stems and
cover them lightly with earth." Another correspondent writes:
"I have tried to raise it from seed, but have entirely failed to
do so."

According to the Woburn experiments, the fiorin grass
grown on an active peat soil produced —

A. At time of flowering, per acre, .
Which yielded of hay, per acre,

B. Yield at time of ripening its seed, per acre,

C. Further produce of green aftermath, per

acre,

D. Portion left uncut tiU December produced

at rate of, per acre, . . . .

So as to give the reader an idea of the merits of the other
varieties of Agrostis, which are so commonly sold as the true
fiorin, the following is appended: —

Tons. cwts.

qre.

lbs.

7 18

0

0

3 9

0

14

8 10

0

17

448

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

heed's GEASS, or EEDTOP of AMERICA

{Agrostis dispar).

J. C. Morton says that, however suitable it may be in

comparatively warm climates for dry soils, yet to the British

grower it can only, like Agrostis vulgaris, be recommended

for the most barren and worthless land.

FINE BENT GRASS
{Agrostis vulgaris).
Dr. Pamell says it grows on dry heaths and pastures, is
said to be disliked by cattle generally, and is not of sufficient
importance to merit the attention of agriculturists.

COCKSFOOT
{Dactylis glom.tr aid).

Seed weighs 18 lbs. per bushel. Standard of germination of H.M.'s Office
of Works, 90 per. cent.

Dr. Parnell says it succeeds best when the subsoil is porous
and not stagnant, so that the fibrous roots can penetrate deep.
It is less impoverishing to the soil than ryegrass ; and though
it is as a pasture grass that it possesses most value,
yet even for hay it is superior to ryegrass and
many other grasses. In pastures it should not be
allowed to grow coarse, but should be kept closely
cropped either by cattle or by the scythe.

Charles Johnson says for an alternate crop it is
by far the best grass that can be employed alone.
Rooting deeply, it is less liable to suffer from
excess of drought than most others on dry sandy
\ soils. As moist retentive land is more favourable
J to its luxuriancL, and induces an overgrowth
Cocksfoot, destructive of those of weaker habit but equally
productive, it may be advisable, as a general
rule, in laying down land to grass to exclude cocksfoot where
other species of a fine quality are found to flourish. This
grass, Johnson thinks, is more valuable for pasture than for
hay.

Mr. Hunter says, for permanent pasture, for alternate hus-
bandry, or for hay, there is not a more valuable grass. It is
one of the earliest, most productive, nutritious, and valuable
of the cultivated grasses, and no grass comes sooner to perfec-
tion. If kept closely cropped its produce is enormous, and
it is relished and greedily eaten by all kinds of stock.

Dr. Stebler's opinion is that it is an excellent grass, grow-
ing quickly and ripening early. It constitutes in his country
(Switzerland) the principal part of the best pastures. It
should be cut before the flowering stage, as at and after that
period it contracts a toughness. After each cutting it pro-
duces less stems and a large proportion of root leaves, which
give excellent forage whether in a green state or as hay. Of
all grasses this one furnishes the most substantial aftermath.
It reaches full development the second year after sowing. It
is not advisable to sow it alone, or in too large proportion for
forage purposes, as it forms large clumps with bare spaces
between. It is best to use it in mixture with clover, ryegrass.

foxtail, and timothy — the proportion of cocksfoot not to exceed
(unless in exceptional cases) 15 per cent. A good rolling in
the spring serves cocksfoot, the operation reducing the project-
ing clumps to the level of the sward. In irrigated meadows
it does very well, attaining in such situations a very large size.

Sinclair recommends a mixture of three parts cocksfoot with
one part each of hard fescue, rough-stalked meadow grass,
tall oat-grass, timothy, perennial rye-grass, and white clover —
to secure the most productive and nutritive pastures in alter-
nation with grain crops on soils of the best quality ; and even
on soils of an inferior nature, under the circumstances of un-
favourable seasons, this mixture will afford nutritive herbage
when the land would have been comparatively devoid of it
if one species of grass only had been employed. It is further
stated, on the authority of Sinclair, that when cocksfoot is
suffered to grow rank or old for want of sufficient stocking, it
contains nearly one-half less nourishment than that which is
of recent growth.

Professor Phares says it may be mowed from two to four
times a year, according to latitude, season, and treatment. It
will grow well on any soil containing sufficient clay and not
holding too much water. Cocksfoot grass is easily cured and
handled ; also it is readily seeded, and catches with certainty.
I know but one objection to it — i.e., like tall oat-grass it is
disposed to grow in clumps and leave much of the ground
uncovered. This may be remedied by thick seeding, using
2^, or better, 3 bushels of seed per acre. In common with
others I prefer red clover with cocksfoot — it fills the gaps and
matures at the same time. One peck of red clover seed and
six pecks of cocksfoot is a good proportion per acre. Sheep
leave all other grasses if they can find this, and, acre for acre,
it will sustain twice as many sheep or other stock as timothy
Cut at the proper stage it makes a much better hay than
timothy, and is greatly preferred by animals, being easier to
masticate, digest, and assimilate, in fact more like green grass
in flavour, tenderness, and solubility.

Mr. Sutton says that its proper place is on good, strong,
damp soils in low-lying districts, where it produces an enor-
mous quantity of leafy herbage. It is entirely out of place in
upland meadows. Its valuable qualities are better realized
in a three or four years' ley than in a permanent pasture.
With ryegrass and clover it forms a superior feeding ley. Its
quality is always higher before flowering.

Mr. Elliott (of the Border Union Agricultural Association)
gives a contrary opinion to that of Mr. Sutton with reference
to suitability of cocksfoot for inferior lands. He says he saw
it growing luxuriantly at Sharstead Court (Mr. De Laune's
place) on poor land at the head of a steep bank. Also he has
grown it himself successfully on poor and high land.

Mr. Gould says it affords a good bite earlier in spring than
any other grass except the meadow foxtail. It gives a very
large amount of aftermath, and continues to send out root-
leaves until very late in the autumn.

Manures. — We have it stated that when not liberally
fed cocksfoot almost disappears. Ammonia salts and mineral

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

449

manures are conducive to its growth, but it does not take
kindly to nitrate of soda.

The Seed. — We draw our supplies of cocksfoot seed from
a wide area — viz., from North America, from New Zealand,
from France, and Germany. The New Zealand seed would
be almost perfect if it were free from the seeds of Yorkshire
fog, which is present in large proportion in many samples.
American seed, on the other hand, is free from fog, but some-
times contains seeds of dock, &c. French seed is worst of any
in the matter of impurities, containing, it might almost be
said, a little of all sorts.

At Woburn cocksfoot produced green food per acre —

Tons. cwta. qrs, lbs.

At time of flowering, 12 9 0 17

Which gave of hay, 6 6 0 0

THE SHEEP'S FESCUES.

Some Continental authorities comprise under the heading
of sheep's fescues all those sub-species and varieties that
grow in compact tufts, and increase by lateral intra-vaginal
shoots. Of those sub-species and varieties as many as
eight are speciiied ; while of the creeping -rooted fescues
(such as F. rubra and its sub-species and varieties) six are
specified.

Of the sheep's fescues there are only two that have import-
ance from an agricultural point of view — viz., F. ovina, var.
vulgaris, and F. ovina, var. duriuscula. In commerce, with
the exception of fine-leaved sheep's fescue, we cannot tell by
ordinary examination of the seed which sub-species or variety
that particular sample of seed belongs to. It may belong to
one of the sheep's fescues, or it may be seed of red fescue or
of F.fallax, or F. heterophylla. The latter seed is the longest
and largest of the lot, but the size of the seed is no certain
guide. Seeds as well as plants vary in size according to soil
and situation, and for that matter each plant of each variety
will have some seeds larger or smaller than the normal size,
and so a process of sifting will easily equalize the sizes all
round.

How unsatisfactory this is from the farmer's point of view
will appear when we discover that each of the various kinds
which are liable to be sold as sheep's fescue requires a special
soil and situation in order to attain its maximum develop-
ment.

Some of the kinds, for instance, are only suited for dry
soils, while others are served by irrigation. Some creep at
the root and exhaust the surface soil, while others are fibrous-
rooted and go deep. Some do best under shade, while others
prefer the open. It would clearly, therefore, be of great
advantage to get the kind that suits the circumstances of our
land ; but the seed is little or no guide, and the farmer has
no remedy except to deal with seedsmen of skill, experience,
and integrity.

3 L •

HARD FESCUE
{Festuca duriuscula).
Seed weighs 20 lbs. per bushel. Standard of germination of H.M.'« Office of
Works, 75 per cent. Some seedsmen guarantee from 10 to 16 per cent, higher
than this.

Dr. Stebler's opinion is, that the variety known as hard
fescue is only distinguishable from the other sheep's fescues
by its somewhat more robust growth. For good land, or
even for poor land that can be irrigated, grasses of more
value can be found ; and it is only on dry and thin soils,
where the better grasses will not do well, that the sheep's
fescues become of much importance to agriculture. On good
soils it is useful as a bottom-grass in mixture with other
grasses, and may be mixed with the clovers for soiling ; but
by itself, or in large proportion, it can only be used to advan-
tage on land that is dry, poor, and thin, of a sandy or silicious
nature. On such it is truly a godsend, as it supports extreme
drought, and is absolutely insensible to temperature and to
climatic influences. It should never be sown alone even in
the worst land, as it grows in thick close tufts and does not
cover the ground. To fill up the blank spaces it is necessary
to mix it with other grasses or forage plants — with Anthyllis
vulneraria, for instance, on soils of the poorer class ; and with
white clover, smooth meadow grass, or perhaps timothy, on
soils of a somewhat better kind. The year it is sown it
develops slowly and gives but a poor yield. It is the second
or third year that it reaches its maximum, after which it
begins to decline. Cattle will not eat it except under pres-
sure of extreme hunger. Sheep like it well enough, but not
so well as they like some other grasses.

Sinclair remarks that it withstands the efi'ects of severe
dry weather better than many other grasses, and recommends
its use to a small extent in laying down new pastures. He
adds that it attains greatest perfection when combined with
meadow fescue and rough-stalked meadow grass.

Dr. Vasey says it is indigenous in the mountainous parts
of New England, in the Rocky Mountains, and in various
northern localities. It is without doubt the very best of the
grasses growing on sandy soils. It is only as a pasture grass
on such soils that it is valuable, and in these when highly
manured it is driven out by the more succulent species. It
roots deeply, and forms a dense, short turf, which adapts it
admirably for lawns and pleasure-grounds where the soil is
sandy.

Mr. Sutton says it is the most robust of all the small
fescues. The herbage is tender, succulent, and much liked
by all kinds of cattle. On moist and rich soils it afibrds an
immense amount of herbage. It is of importance in forming
a close bottom to the turf amongst stronger-growing varieties,
and in this respect is of especial service for upland pastures.
It may properly be considered one of the least expensive and
most desirable of bases or bottom-herbage grass of a per-
manent mixture for all soils that are not very wet.

Charles Johnson says that it is generally regarded as one
of our most valuable grasses, being very productive consider-

450

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

ing the slender character of its foliage, and thriving in most
soils and situations. Few grasses retain their verdure during
the severest winter to an extent so remarkable. The spring
produce, however, is but trifling, the foliage not attaining
mucX length until the approach of the flowering season.
Meadows in which it abounds should be mown when it is in
flower, as both bulk of produce and proportion of nutritive
matter are greater at that time.

The Seed. — The great bulk of what is offered in commerce
is collected (we may presume for the most part in a hasty
and careless fashion) from plants growing wild in the woods
and clearings, consequently it contains a great many seeds
of weeds in its natural state. The most noticeable of weeds
to be found in it are sorrel, tufted hair-grass, and soft brome
grass.

The writer remembers meeting with a sample of hard
fescue a few years ago. It was offered by a Continental
house, and looked so bad that he analysed it, with the
following result : — A hundred grains contained 58 of hard
or red fescue, 27 of tufted hair-grass, 4 of
meadow grasses, 4 of sorrel, 1 of chickweed,
2 doubtful seeds, and 4 bits of quartz. This,
of course, was a very bad case, and there are
not many like it (let us hope), but still a
sufficient number of impure parcels of the
smaller fescues may be met with to warrant
the statement that almost all the seed of this
species that is imported would be the better
of a special cleaning and recleaning before being sown.
There are wholesale and retail seedsmen who devote them-
selves to the cleaning of the natural grasses, and the buyer
can purchase perfectly pure seed if he will go to the trouble
to look for it.

Stimulating manures do little or nothing for hard fescue ;
they only encourage other grasses at its expense.

At Woburn, hard fescue, grown on a hard clayey loam,
gave of grass per acre —

At time of flowering,

Wliich yielded of hay per acre, ,

Tons. cwts. qrs. lbs.

8 4 0 0
3 13 3 9

At the seed-ripening period it increases its weight of grass,
but loses nutritive matter.

FINE-LEAVED SHEEP 8 FESCUE

(Festuca ovina tenuifolia).

Extra good seed weighs 24 lbs. per bushel Some seedsmen guarantee a
germination of 80 per cent.

Curtis says that it appeared to him applicable only to the
purpose of making a fine-leaved grass-plot that shall require
little or no mowing.

Dr. Stebler describes it as a dwarf variety, with the leaves
very fine and almost hair-like. The seeds are not awned.
It has no agricultural value, but is useful in lawns and
ornamental grounds, particularly in shady places.

Charles Johnson says also that in the practice of agricul-
ture it is almost useless, being entirely unproductive as hay;
while for grazing purposes, on temporary pasture, grasses of
larger growth are proportionately far more pro-
fitable. Nature in her distribution of it on poor,
rocky, sandy soils, where other species would dwin-
dle and die, points out the only situation to which
it is properly adapted. He shares the opinion of
the other authorities as to its suitability for lawns,
bowling-greens, and pleasure-grounds.

The seed is of a tawny orange colour, something

, . . . Fine-leaved

less than half the size of hard fescue, and differs Fescue.
also from the other sheep's fescues in being awnless.

It is stated on good authority that only a small quantity
of the true seed comes into the United Kingdom, and that a
small-seeded sample of hard fescue is usually sold for it. How-
ever, there is no difficulty whatever in procuring
the true F. ovina tenuifolia if people will go to
the price of it, which is usually about three
times the price of hard fescue. It is also stated
that it is sometimes adulterated with the seeds
of the blue melic grass, which is a most
objectionable adulteration in this instance, as
it is a most obnoxious grass to introduce into
lawns in the formation of which fine-leaved

fescue is much used. B'"" Melic grass.

, -^, - ... T -1 (Molinia cmruled).

At Woburn, grown on a light sandy soil,
it gave of grass per acre —

Tons. cwts. qrs. lbs.
At time of flowering, 2 8 2 13

At time of seed ripening did not increase in weight, but
nutritive matter had decreased very much.

VARIOUS-LEAVED FESCUE

(Festuca heterophylla).

Dr. Stebler's opinion of it is, that it is a first-rate grass, and
that he has obtained very satisfactory results firom it. It
succeeds better in the shade than in the open. It requires
strong rich land and a warm situation, as it belongs naturally
to the south of Europe. Most of the seed sold as F. hetero-
fhylhx and F. rubra is really the seed of F. fallax.

Mr. Sutton says it is a most valuable fescue grass, and
indeed one of the best of the finer grasses. The earliness
of its growth makes it exceedingly useful in a pasture. For
hay it is comparatively unimportant, and the aftermath is
small. It will not make a continuous turf alone, but in com-
pany with red fescue and smooth meadow grass will fully
occupy the soil.

J. C. Morton says it is suited for a strong class of dry
soils, and for permanent pasture on such it is recommended
to sow 1 or 2 lbs. of it per acre.

The Seed. — See remarks on the seeds of the small fescues
under the head of Sheep's Fescue. Considering the uncer-
tainty whether one gets the true seed, it is little use going

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

451

to any pains to particularize this fescue or F. rubra in our
specifications.

At Woburn, grown on a sandy soil with manure, it gave of
grass per acre —

Tons. cwts. qrs. lbs.

At time of flowering, 6 12 4

Yielding hay, 1 16 1 23

At the time of seed ripening the yield of grass was about
one-fourth less, but the yield of hay did not suffer much
diminution.

RED OR CREEPING-ROOTED FESCUE
{Festuca rubra).

Dr. Stebler's opinion is, that the only essential difference
between this and the sheep's fescues is to be found in the
roots, the root-systems of the latter being fibrous and deep,
while that of the red fescue is creeping, having underground
stolons with extra-vaginal shoots or scions. It succeeds best
on soils of a porous or somewhat peaty character, as in such
it can freely develop its stolons. It can be cultivated with
success even on shallow soils if same are fairly good and not
too dry. In the mountains of Switzerland, where it has but a
thin layer of earth, it forms the principal part of the vegeta-
tion. It flourishes on the dry sandy banks of rivers, and will
exist even on the sandy dunes by the sea. As its roots ex-
tend themselves principally through the upper spit of the soil,
it is that section that is exhausted by it. In point of nutrition
it is not up to meadow hay of average quality.

Mr. Sutton says this grass derives its name from the reddish-
brown colour of the lower leaves. He is quite of opinion that
hard fescue is infinitely superior, except for poor, dry, harsh
soils, and on uplands where red fescue may fairly be con-
sidered essential, especially for its great power of withstanding
drought. This quality fits it for use on railway slopes, and
for all burning soils and hot climates. It must be regarded
as exclusively a pasture grass. All cattle like it, but for hay
it is of small utility, and the lattermath is inconsiderable.

J. C. Morton says that it and its varieties, like all creeping-
rooted grasses, exhaust the fertility of the soil and extirpate
the more valuable fibrous-rooted sorts; hence they should
never be sown on ground suited for the growth of hard
fescue and its varieties.

At Woburn, grown on a light sandy soil, it gave of gi-ass
per acre —

Tons. cwts. qrs. lbs.

At time of flowering, 4 11 0 17

Yielding hay 1 18 3 0

At time of seed ripening the quantities of grass and hay
had increased to a small extent.

THE MEADOW FESCUES.

The German botanist Hseckel, whose ruling in the matter
also adopted by Dr. Stebler, places Festuca pratensis and
arundinacea as sub-species of F. elatior, and divides those

again into varieties and sub-varieties. He states further that
/''. loHacea (darnel or slender fescue grass) is a hybrid between
F. pratensis and perennial ryegrass, and adds that there are
also in existence hybrids between meadow fescue, Italian
ryegrass, and F. gigantea (giant wood brome, or fescue gra.ss).
Dr. Parnell also thinks it is very probable that F. pratensis
is only a variety of F. elatior.

TALL MEADOW FESCUE

• {Festuca elatior).

Seed weighing 20 lbs. per bushel. Standard of germination, per
H.M.'s Office of Works, 75 per cent

Mauke, a German botanist, so far back as 1818 wrote that
this was one of the best and most useful of grasses.

Dr. Parnell describes it as growing from three to five feet
high, the root being perennial, fibrous, somewhat creeping,
and forming large tufts. It is a nutritive and very productive
grass, grows naturally in rich, moist soils of a clayey nature,
and notwithstanding its coarse appearance cattle appear fond
of it, especially cows.

Professor Fnares says it grows well in nearly all situations,
wet or dry, on hill or bottomland, even though subject to
ovei-flow, and matures an extraordinary quantity of seed.
The seeds germinate readily, and it is easy to set a piece
of land with this grass. On account of remaining green
throughout the winter, it is sometimes called " evergreen
grass." Mowed and dried it makes good hay, much relished
by stock.

Dr. Stebler reports that it flowers at the end of May or
beginning of June, some days later than tall oat-grass and
cocksfoot, and ripens its seed about end of July. It gives
abundant produce of good quality, and, being a true perennial,
should never be omitted on land that is suitable to it — viz.
good loam or clay soils where a sufBciency of moisture can
be had. It will also do fairly well on a cool sandy soil that
can be irrigated ; in fact, there is scarcely any grass that
profits so much by irrigation as this one. It takes rather
longer to develop than some of the grasses, and it is only in
the second or third year that it reaches its complete develop-
ment. When established it commences to vegetate early in
spring, and grows quickly, so that on good ground one can
get three good cuttings in a favourable season. In point ot
earliness it comes immediately after meadow foxtail.

Although tall fescue is usually represented as doing well
only on damp soils — moist clay, and so forth — it is reported by
Mr. De Laune that plants of it during the exceptionally dry
summer of 1884 retained their fresh green colour, and con-
tinued to grow, when all other grasses in the same pasture
were suffering from the excessive and long-continued drought.
From this it would appear that it might be used with advan-
tage on light soils as well as on those that are heavy and wet.

Mr. Sutton would exclude this grass entirely from prescrip-
tions for meadows wliich are generally cut for hay, not only
because of the tendency of the grass to become ergoted, but
because of the extreme coarseness of the hay produced. This

452

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

authority adds, further, that the plant when indigenous to
this country is practically sterile, yet on the Continent of
Europe, where it is known as Festuca arundinacea, it is
fertile, and seed of it is saved and exported to England
annually. The plant, whether produced from the divided
roots of the indigenous variety or from seed of the Continental
F. arundinacea, equally maintains the characteristic creeping
habit of the root, which is a distinctive feature as compared
with F. pratensis.

The seed of the true tall fescue is larger, flatter, and more
pointed than that of the common meadow fescue. Formerly
it used to be diflScult to get seed of tall fescue free from
admixture of perennial ryegrass, and in some cases even yet
such samples may be met with. Mr. Hunter says that
" absolutely pure seed of F. elatior cannot be obtained, the
purest samples usually containing from two to five per cent,
of ryegrass, about the same proportion of cocksfoot, and some
meadow fescue."

In addition to a natural sterility, a good deal of the seed
of the tall fescue grass is rendered useless by the attacks of
an insect which penetrates the ovary and destroys the germ.
Therefore, from one cause or another, as much of the tall
fescue seed of commerce is of low germinating power, it
follows that if a proportion of perennial ryegrass (which ger-
minates well) be present in it, either as a natural impurity
or as an adulterant, the produce may perhaps show little else
but ryegrass plants, leading the experimenter to suppose that
there was a larger proportion of ryegrass seed in the sample
than in reality was present.

At Wobum, grown on a black rich loam, it gave of grass
per acre —

Tons. cwts. qrs. lbs.
At time of flowering, . . . . 22 15 3 3
Yielding dried hay, .... 7 19 2 2

MEADOW FESCUE {^Festuca pratmHs).

Seed weighs 26 lbs. per bushel. Standard of germination, per
H.M.'s Office of Works, 90 per cent.

Dr. Stebler's opinion of the meadow fescues generally will
be found under the head of Tall Fescue.

Sinclair states that it constitutes a very considerable por-
tion of the herbage of all rich natural pastures and irrigated
meadows, and makes excellent hay. The leaves are succulent
and tender, and they never form rank tufts. It is of greater
value at time of flowering than at the time the seeds are ripe,
in the proportion of three to one.

J. C. Morton says that it possesses high merits both as
a spring and autumn pasture grass, and is surpassed by few
as a hay grass when cut at the time of flowering.

The " Agrostngraphia " of Lawson pronounces it to be an
excellent grass, either for alternate husbandry or permanent
pasture (particularly the latter), combining as it does most
of the properties without the defects of common ryegrass.

Mr. Hunter reminds us that this is one of the six grasses
recommended by Curtis for laying down moist or moderately

dry soils to permanent pasture, and adds that no grass has
a stronger claim to that position, and that it should be a
large constituent of all mixtures of seeds fo permanent
pastures. Although it loses much of its nutritive value if not
cut at the time of flowering, yet, as the seed is not ripe till
about the 1st of August, the sowing of this valuable grass
along with ryegrass, cocksfoot, &c., for hay crops or alternate
husbandry need not be restricted, as the seeds of these grasses
ripen two or three weeks earlier than tliose of the meadow
fescue, so that such crops would be ready for mowing at the
time the meadow fescue was in flower and in its most
nutritious state.

Mr. Sutton's opinion is that meadow fescue may properly
be regarded as one of the most valuable, perhaps the most
valuable, grass that can be sown. Its presence is a pretty
certain indication of good land. It flourishes in strong deep
land, especially in low-lying meadows and valleys where a
moist atmosphere prevails. Scarcely any grass equals this
for land under irrigation, though entirely unsuited to a water-
logged soil. As it requires three years to attain maturity,
Mr. Sutton looks upon it as a landlord's grass, to be used
principally for permanent pasture. With cattle the plant is
ever a favourite, and, if possible, is even more relished than
foxtail. The early growth of meadow fescue is not large by
comparison, but before the end of June it leaves foxtail far
behind.

TTie Seed. — A few years ago complaints of the diflScuIty of
getting genuine seed of meadow fescue were numerous and
emphatic. The adulteration of it by means of perennial rye-
grass must have been carried on to a very large extent — vide
the reports of the botanist to the
Royal Agricultural Society of
England. Taking the report for
1883, for instance, we find that
of the samples of meadow fescue
examined by him only 29 per
cent, were free from ryegrass.
Of the balance 12 per cent, con-
tained ryegrass to the extent of
one-half 1 22 per cent, contained
ryegrass to the extent of over
one-fourth, but under one-half;
and 37 per cent, contained rye-
grass to the extent of less than
one-fourth.

The great difficulty of dis-
tinguishing by the naked eye
(and sometimes even by the magnifying glass) the seed of the
one species from the other smoothed the way for such mal-
practices. Of late years, however, there is no difficulty in
getting the seed perfectly pure. From America especially we
get some splendid seed of this grass, and most seedsmen are
now prepared to supply seed which they can guarantee per-
fectly pure, allowing a small margin for seeds of ryegrass
that may get into it during the collection. It should never

Seed of Jleadow
Fescue (magni-
fied and natural
size).

Seed of Peren-
nial Ryegrass

(magnified and
natural size).

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

453

be bought unless specified as " recleaned," as in the rough
state it contains often a considerable proportion of seeds of
bad grasses and weeds — notably seeds of the brome grasses.
The illustrations appended (see also p. 447) will give an idea of
the characteristics of the different seeds as they appear under a
magnifying glass. It is easy enough to distinguish the seeds
of the brome grasses by the naked eye, but not so easy to
find distinguishing marks between the seeds of meadow fescue
and perennial ryegrass without the aid of a good magnifier.
At Woburn meadow fescue gave of grass per acre —

At time of flowering,
Yielding in hay, .

Tons. cwts. qrs. lbs.
.6124
. 2 17 2 26

At the time of seed-ripening the weight of crop per acre
had increased considerably, but the quantity of nutritive
matter had fallen ofi" to less than one-half.

SQUIRREL-TAILED FESCUE GRASS
{Festuca bromoides, Linn. ; Festuca sciuroides, Koch).
The seed is known in tlie trade as hairgrass, being long
and slender, with a long hair-like awn. The plant is of no
agricultural value, being rigid, dry, and innutritions. It is
mentioned here in detail only because its seed is so often
found as an impurity in Italian and perennial ryegrass.

SPIKED FESCUE GRASS
{Festuca loliacea).

Mr. Carruthers sa}'S it is hybrid between meadow fescue
and ryegrass, is occasionally met with, but nowhere has been
able to keep its place as a permanent variety. Like other
hybrids, it does not perfect its seeds, the flowers being gener-
ally abortive. It has no special merits.

The seed generally oflfered for it is Glyceria fluitans, or
manna grass.

Professor Buckman (author of " Natural History of British
Meadow and Pasture Grasses") holds it is a variety of
meadow fescue, and says — " It is not only found, but is
constant, and a most valuable grass for hay or pasture, in
meadows by the side of rivers, especially where subject to
floods."

Mr. Baker (of the Royal Herbarium, Kew) reports that
F. loliacea is a mere variety of F. pratensis. A friend of his
experimented with it on garden soil, and it simply grew into
pratensis.

Mr. Sutton says that he does not recommend the sowing
of F. loliacea, and does not consider the high cost of its seed
a necessary outlay, although the plant is admirable on those
soils where it will remain constant.

YORKSHIRE FOG, OR MEADOW SOFT GRASS

{Holcus lanatus).

The average gemuDation, according to Dr. Stebler, ia 60 per cent.

There seems to be a wonderful divergence of opinion about
this grass. Some authorities dismiss it as a noxious weed,
or denounce it in most vigorous language, while others seem

%

Yorkshire Fog.

to take a more appreciative view of it. The reading of the
contradictory opinions given below ^ill cause one some
bewilderment. ^

Dr. Parnell says the only advantages tliis
grass possesses are its being productive and
easy of cultivation. It has no merits either
for pasture or hay, as cattle of every kind,
especially horses, seem to dislike it. It at-
tains its greatest degree of luxuriance on
light moist soils of a peaty nature.

E. F. Hansen (Plon) says it is a sweet and
succulent grass, much sought after when in a
green state by cows and sheep. If cut and saved before the
opening out of the flower-stalk, it gives a hay which cannot
be excelled in quality, and which is much liked, especially by
horses.

Curtis thinks that, if not disliked by cattle on account of
its wooUiness, it may rank with some of the best grasses.

Sinclair states that in consequence of the soft down which
covers the surface of this grass, it is not willingly eaten either
by liorses or horned beasts.

Dr. Stebler, though his written opinion of it is not very
flattering, yet gives it a place in his book on " The Best
Forage Plants." He describes it as an early perennial grass,
but of little value in agriculture. He alleges that the most
competent contemporary writers are unanimous in recognizing
in it a plant not deserving of a place on land capable of grow-
ing the better grasses ; but on peaty ground, or on poor sandy
places where other grasses will not succeed, it has a certain
value. In humid climates or situations it shows less of the
woolliness which is so objectionable to cattle. To neutralize
this woolliness it is recommended to sprinkle salt on it, which
renders the small hairs moist and soft. It should always be
cut up and mixed with other food.

Professor Pliares quotes the case of the Hon. Mr. Lewis of
Louisiana, who has cultivated this grass many years with great
satisfaction, and adds — " It is by no means the best of our
grasses ; but best for some lands, and on such lauds more pro-
fitable than other grasses."

Sir Humphrey Davy, in accounting for the dislike of cattle
to this grass, puts it that its nutritive matter consists entirely
of mucilage and sugar, whilst the nutritive matter of the grasses
most liked by cattle have either a sub-acid or saline taste.

An Irish agriculturist, who is one of the largest stock-
breeders and butter-producers of the county of Limerick,
writes — " We like ryegrass and Yorkshire fog in our pastures,
and stock here appear to relish them."

ITALIAN RYEGRASS

{Lolium italicuin).

Seed weighs np to 22 lbs. per bushel. Standard of germination, 80 per cent

Charles Johnson says the great value of this grass con.'jists
in its being of more rapid growth from seed than any of the
other kinds, and in the quantity of fine close herbage it pro-
duces under favourable circumstances. The water-meadow

454

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

seems to afford the widest scope for its capabilities, as being
the nearest approach to its natural habitat, and most accordant
with the circumstances under which it originated.

Lawson's "Agrostographia" says that it is an invaluable grass
for alternate husbandry, yielding as it does an early, bulky,
and quickly succeeding herbage. General experience, since
the first introduction by Messrs. Lawson of this grass to Britain,
has demonstrated that two seasons of Italian ryegrass are all
that can be depended upon with certainty ; and in very wet,
cold, spongy soils, it will often exhibit a thin stock the second
season. nstances have, however, occurred in which as many
as five or six successive years' produce have been reaped from
the same field, yielding annually, on an average, about 7^ tons
of dry hay per acre ; but this has arisen more from the ground
having been resown in the course of reaping the seed, than
from the actual duration of the original plants.

Mr. Hunter says that no agricultural plant of greater value
has been brought into notice during the present century. It
is indispensable for alternate husbandry, but as it does not
last for more than two years it is of no use in permanent pas-
tures. It is indeed a mistake to include it in mixtures for
permanent pasture, as the spaces left bare at the end of the
first or second year will most likely be occupied by worthless
grasses, such as Yorkshire fog, brome grass, annual meadow
grass, &c. The produce of one year's growth of Italian rye-
grass compared with one year's growth of perennial is as 23 to
14. The nutritive value of Italian compared with perennial
is as 35 to 28.

Dr. Stebler's opinion is, that as a grass for cutting or soiling
purposes the Italian ryegrass is that which occupies the first
rank. On light warm soils it suits well to sow it in August
in association with crimson clover [TrifoUum incarnatum),
which will give an abundant cutting in the month of May
following. It is with clovers other than the above that it is
usually associated, but in sowing it in mixture with ordinary
clover there is this drawback, that the Italian grows more
rapidly, and is already over-ripe and past its best when the
clover is only commencing to develop. This is why that
latterly the custom is becoming more general to decrease the
proportion of Italian ryegrass and substitute an equivalent of
other grasses (such as timothy, tall oat-grass, and cocksfoot)
when sowing down land for alternate cropping.* No other
grass shows such a return for manure as this does, especially
when treated with the liquid manure of the farm. By the use
of liquid manure as many as eight or nine cuttings have been
got from it in certain years. It succeeds best on warm, moist
soils, particularly on loams rich in vegetable matter, and also
does well on clay soils of which the subsoil is permeable. In
warm situations and on light land it is much benefited by
irrigation. Its quality of rapid, vigorous, and luxuriant
growth has caused it to be occasionally used for the extirpa-
tion of weeds which are difficult to get rid of in the ordinary

• Dr. Stebler's remarks have reference to the Continent, and more especially to his
own part of it, viz. Switzerland.

way, and the same qualities make it suitable for filling up the
blanks in meadows of clover, lucerns, or sainfoin. [For this
purpose the soil is stirred with a harrow, the Italian sown,
and the ground then rolled.]

Mr. Sutton says, given the desire of obtaining from an acre
of liberally fed land the largest possible produce within twelve
months, and Italian ryegrass has no equal. The most profit-
able way of growing it is alone, because the crop can then be
cut before any of the stalks become hard and lose their nutri-
tious qualities. Many farmers make it a rule to sow in Octo-
ber, and crops have sometimes been cut on warm, moist soils
at Christmas, and again in the following April. Valuable as
it is for alternate husbandry in company of other grasses, such
as cocksfoot, perennial ryegrass, and timothy, yet in a per-
manent pasture it is distinctly harmful, and should never be
included in a prescription for that purpose. It is so gross a
feeder as actually to choke and smother the Poas (meadow
grasses) and finer fescues, and when its own ephemeral course
is run it leaves the land destitute both of plants and nourish-
ment. It is objected that twitch is produced by Italian rye-
grass. With pure seed this is impossible, but plenty of
Italian ryegrass with twitch in it is freely bought and sold
every season.

T/ie Seed. — That portion of the seed which is imported from
the Continent yields a very heavy crop, but is so infested
with pernicious weeds as to need most careful cleaning before
it is fit to sow. The writer lately took an ordinary sample of
average French Italian, weighing 3J ounces, and out of it
picked 253 seeds of ox-eyed daisy alone. That is equivalent
to 1157 seeds of the weed to each pound weight of ryegrass,
or over 250,000 to each bale of 2 cwts. Besides the above-
named weed it also contains trefoil (in the husk), wild forget-
me-not (dragon-grass), buttercup, bromus, &c. ; and as there
can be no doubt that the great bulk of the imported seed is
sold without being cleaned, the consequences of sowing such
a quantity of weed seeds may be guessed at. The impurities
found in home-grown Italian are generally the same as those
mentioned in connection with perennial ryegrass. It may be
interesting to note that the seed of this grass when fijst intro-
duced in 1831 was sold at 42*. per bushel.

PERENNIAL RYEGRASS

{Lolium perenne).

Seed weighs np to 30 lbs. per boshel.

Seed weighing 22 lbs. per bushel will germinate as well
as, or even better than, the very heavy weights ; and the 22-
Ib. or 24-lb. seed, if equally pure, is the best value for the
money. Dr. Stebler's trials gave an average germinating
faculty of 70 per cent. ; but his standard for good seed is 75
per cent. Some seedsmen guarantee 80 per cent.

There has been more controversy over this grass thau over
any other in the list — that is to say, over its qualities, its
duration, its feeding value, and so forth. We must only
let the various authorities speak, and draw our own con-
clusions.

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

455

Lawson's " Agrostographia " says it possesses several good
qualities to recommend it to the attention of cultivators, tlie
principal of which are —

1. Its suitableness to a great variety of soils.

2. The fiicility with which it is propagated by reason of its
seed being produced in abundance, and their uniformity in
ripening.

3. The fibrous structure of its roots, which fits it in an
eminent degree for alternate husbandry.

In respect to duration the most permanent varieties of it
have no claim to any title beyond tliat of subperennial.

Stillingfleet, writing more than a century ago, says that
many are tempted by the facility of procuring the seeds of
this grass to lay down grounds near their houses (where they
want a fine turf) with it, for which purpose, unless the soil is
very rich, a worse grass cannot be sown, as it will certainly
die off entirely in a very few years.

Curtis, alluding to the many varieties of this grass he had
met with, reports that he had seen a double-flowered variety ;
also one with awns (Curtis's work was published thirty-five
years before Lolium italicum was introduced by the Lawsons).
Again, he had seen a variety with viviparous florets, and
another with branching panicle.

Charles Johnson says it is exclusively in the successional
system of cultivation, and in a few isolated instances apart
from it, and dependent upon peculiarity of soil and situation,
that the importance of this grass is chiefly manifested. As
an uncultured pasture grass, it holds perhaps a very subor-
dinate rank, but admitting this to be the case is not denying
its utility in other respects. It readily vegetates on almost
every kind of soil, and produces a plentiful supply of early
herbage before the young plants come into flower. In the
spring it is highly valuable — being greatly relished by cattle,
by which, however, the rigid flowering stems are left un-
touched ; and, unless the latter are removed by timely mowing,
the after-crop is nearly worthless. No grass so rapidly im-
poverishes the soil — or, rather, takes from it that which is
necessary to its own support to an extent equally prejudicial
to its future growth As a pasture grass it is of much lower
rank than several other very common species; but, considered
in its proper place, or merely as an artificial grass adapted
only to peculiar circumstances, its worth cannot be reasonably
disputed. Other species of grass may be more extensively
applicable, but this is one that — of small account in its
original state — culture has modified, has indeed forced into
unnatural productiveness. Ought we to be surprised that a
plant so conditioned should fail when the stimulus that first
wrought the change is exhausted or withheld ?

Sinclair comments upon the diflferences of opinion respect-
ing the merits and comparative value of ryegrass. He notes
that it produces an abundance of seed, readily vegetates on
most kinds of soil, soon arrives at perfection, produces in its
first years of growth a good supply of early herbage, which
is much liked by cattle. On the other hand, the after-crop
is very inconsiderable, and the plant impoverishes the soil in

a high degree if the culms, which are invariably left untouched
by cattle, are not cut before the seed advances towards per-
fection. When this is neglected the field, after midsummer,
exhibits only a brown surlace of witherea .straws.

Dr. Parnell endorses the statement that for permanent
pasture, the produce and nutritive powers of the rj'egrass
compared with those of the cocksfoot grass are inferior nearly
in the proportion of 5 to 18, and inferior to meadow foxtail
in the proportion of 5 to 12, and inferior to meadow fescue
in the proportion of 5 to 17.

Mr. Faunce de Laune, in vol. xviii. of the Journal of the
Royal Agricultural Society of England, says that this is a
short-lived grass ; and that, owing to the shortness of its
roots, it exhausts the surface of the soil, so tliat, when it dies
out, the bare space is so impoverished that though grasses
may germinate upon it they will fail to live unless highly
manured by accident or on purpose. Besides, the feeding
qualities as determined by chemical analysis do not encourage
its cultivation. In his own experience it has proved at some
seasons injurious to stock. The grasses most pernicious to
newly formed pastures are, first and principally, ryegrass in
all its varieties, and Yorkshire fog. Both these grasses are
rapid in growth and make a great show ; they produce an
abundance of seed and are very cheap, hence their popularity
with superficial observers.

Mr. Sutton says that, while other grasses are dependent on
season and weather, ryegraiss is able to hold its own under
all circumstances, enduring winter frost and summer heat.
Another great advantage is that it is so little injured by
being allowed to grow old before it is cut. It deserves to be
widely known that ryegrass straw cut into chafl:' is a very
substantial food for cattle. Even on land where it is certain
to die out, excellent service will be rendered while it lasts;
and, by yielding up its place when other kinds are sufficiently
established to occupy the land, weeds are kept in check, and
crops of valuable herbage are secm'ed meanwhile. On all
those grounds Mr. Sutton advocates the use of perennial rye-
grass in prescriptions for permanent pastures ; and adds that
for alternate husbandry it may be regarded as indispensable
for all soils. Even on land where it certainly would not be
permanent, it should be liberally sown for a short term of years.

A burning sand or thin gravel is least suited to it, but it
answers on a gravelly clay, is at home on all loams, and
positively revels on tenacious land. The poorer and drier
the soil the shorter will be its duration. The roots are very
shallow ; and as a poor soil speedily becomes exhausted by
the rapid growth, of necessity the plant dies. Pastures
which are stimulated by the droppings of cattle, or are dressed
at proper intervals with farmyard manure, continue to grow
ryegrass year after year without the sowing of seed.

The objections which have been urged against tli'' use of
perennial ryegrass for pastures are largely owing to the im-
proper employment of annual ryegrass in its place. The
latter is only adapted for one year's ley, and its use in a
permanent prescription is no better than a fraud.

3l:

456

PASTUKE GKASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

Dr. Stealer's views on perennial ryegrass read to the effect
that while sometimes highly praised and at other times de-
nounced, still it is, in spite of all, one of the best of our
forage plants, and should never be omitted when laying down
good land. It will not suit moory or dry light land, but for
hea-y clay soils its place could not be filled by any other
grass. It furnishes a rapid and dense growth, is not injured
by trampling, and has other high merits as a pasture grass.
For mowing purposes, however, it is notably inferior to other
grasses, and chemical analyses of ryegrass hay shows that
its nutritive value is a little inferior to that of meadow hay
of average quality. On light soils, and with a dry atmo-
sphere, it will be scarcely more than biennial ; while on good
heavy land, with a humid atmosphere, it should last seven
years or more.

Professor Wallace (of Edinburgh University) holds the
opinion that it cannot be said to be a permanent grass unless
when grown on rich old pastures where there is an abundance
of humus or decaying vegetable matter. He adheres to what
may be termed a modified view of Mr. De Laune's opinion
of ryegrass — viz. that it is not necessary to exclude it alto-
gether, provided we do not allow of or encourage the adultera-
tion of other seeds by its admixture.*

Ryegrass is vigorous and has some very good qualities,
especially when grown on good soil. Its disadvantages are —

1. A tendency to run to seed and take ergot when in that
condition ;

2. The small amount of aftermath ; and

3. Its liability to disappear in a few years.

The better the after-treatment, the better will be the results
got from ryegrass.

Mr. Hunter says that the use of a large proportion of rye-
grass cannot be justified now that it is possible to obtain
most of the true permanent grasses equal in germinating
power to perennial ryegrass, and in some cases surpassing it.
It is a grass that quickly exhausts the soil, and becomes year
by year less productive. Although the plants are short-lived
they do not disappear from the pasture, but are reproduced
from the seeds which are freely ripened and shed, tlie flower-
stems being invariably left untouched by cattle. Again, as
regards cheapness, when the number of seeds in a pound of
each of the leading kinds is ascertained, it will be seen that
ryegrass seed is really dearer than the seed of some of the
permanent grasses.

The Seed. — Perennial ryegrass seed of less weight per
bushel than 24 lbs. cannot be thoroughly cleaned, so that
lighter samples should always be avoided. On the other
hand, there is no advantage, except perhaps on the score of
extra purity, in the use of seed of very heavy weight, as it
has been proved that seed of 22 lbs. or 24 lbs. per bushel
will yield a greater bulk of produce than seed of 28 lbs. per
bushel.

• This allusion is to the adalteration of meadow fescne seed by admixture of
perennial ryegrass seed, a practice on which some comments will be found under
the head of Meadow Fescue.

The weed seeds usually met with in ryegrass (both perennial
and Italian) are those of the buttercup (called " crawtae " or
crowtoe in Scotland), ribgrass, large dock, sorrel dock, hair-
grass [Festuca sciuroides), wild forget-me-not (sometimes
called scorpion grass), goose grass [Bromus mollis and seca-
linus), and " last but not least," Yorkshire fog

The grass-seed merchants of Scotland and the North of
Ireland take great pains to remove all weed seeds from the
ryegrass ; and, by the aid of expensive and elaborate ma-
chinery, succeed in producing samples of a very high degree
of purity. The total quantity of weed seeds thus removed
annually in the cleaning process would astonish most people.
The labours of the merchants to produce pure seed are, how-
ever, in many cases rendered useless by the foolish and short-
sighted practice of many farmers, who throw into this pure
seed a mixture of some cheap rubbish, perhaps hayloft sweep-
ings or rough uncleaned seed got from a neighbour, and thus
restore a considerable proportion of the bad grasses and weed
seeds which the grass-seed cleaners have been at such pains
to remove.

The presence of annual ryegrass seed amongst perennial
must likewise be looked upon as an impurity. As has been
pointed out by Mr. Sutton, the selling of the annual for the
perennial variety is " no better than a fraud." The seed of
annual lyegrass is large, flat, and can be easily distinguished
from the seed of perennial or Italian varieties. It is almost
as broad as the goose grass, but is more chaffy, and has no
awn. It is impossible to remove the seeds of Bromus seca-
linus from perennial, as they are rolled up tight, and will slip
through any mesh that will let ryegrass through. A sharp
scrutiny is required to detect the presence of this impurity,
but it may be recognized by its roUed-up appearance, and by
the short awn that is attached.

Weight per Bushel. — On this point Dr. Stebler gives a
table, showing results of an examination of four qualities of
ryegrass seed, and demonstrates that, while No. 4 quality was
only one-third the price of No. 1, yet by making a calculation,
founded on the purity and germinating power of each, the
No. 4, or worst quality, was actually eight times dearer than
the No. 1, or best. Something similar could be demonstrated
of the seeds of almost all species of plants used in agriculture.

At Woburn, Pacey's perennial, grown on a brown rich
loam, gave of grass per acre —

Tons. cwtB. qrs. lbs.

At time of flowering, 3 9 3 15

Yielding hay, 1 10 1 1

A variety called Russell's perennial, gave of grass per
acre —

Tons. cwta. qra. lbs.
Under same conditions, . . . 6 19 3 2

BLUE MELIC GRASS

{Melica ccerulea or Molinia coerulea).

As mention has been made of the seed of this grass being
found as an impurity or adulterant in the seeds of other

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

457

T

species, it becomes necessary to briefly allude to its leading

characteristics.

It is a perennial grass, is frequent on moors and wet

heaths, and has a conspicuous purple flower, somewhat
resembling a sprig of lavender. The roots are
extraordinarily long and numerous.

Johnson says that it is eaten by sheep, but
that cattle generally refuse it, or crop it only
when compelled by hunger, or early in the spring
before the flower-stems shoot up. Its slender
rigid stems have considerable elasticity, and in
places where this grass is abundant they are
employed to make brooms, mats, baskets, and
even ropes.

Sinclair remarks upon the presence of this

grass as indicating those deep peat soils which are adapted

for the production of ash, alder, and willow.

TIMOTHY GRASS {Phleum pratense).

Seed weighs 50 lbs. per bnshel. Standard of germination — some seedsmen guarantee
95 per cent. Flowers third week in June, and ripens its seed at end of July.

Sinclair says it is a most valuable grass for hay, but as
the aftermath is inconsiderable, it should be combined with
other species, whose produce consists chiefly of lattermath.
It is remarkable for its weighty produce of culms, which are
more nutritive than those of any other grass. It should
always form a part of mixtures for permanent pasture or
alternate husbandry.

Dr. Parnell says it is a hard, coarse grass, not much liked
either by horses, cows, goats, or sheep. It has been highly
recommended for hay, as the stems — during the time the
seeds are ripe — contain more nutritive matter than the stems
of most other grasses.

Curtis says it affects wet soils, and is very productive, but
coarse and late. It has no excellence, that he could see,
which meadow foxtail does not possess in an equal degree.

Charles Johnson says that where quantity rather than
quality is an object in making hay, the timothy is fully
equal, if not indeed superior, in yield to meadow foxtail, but
the hay is harsh and wiry. All of its better qualities are
dependent on the depth and retentive character of the soil.
On a moderately rich and tenacious soil it is a durable and
nutritious grass, though too coarse to be generally liked by
cattle, unless in the spring, when the early and abundant
foliage is often remarkable in those pastures in which it is
plentifully distributed amongst the scanty verdure of the later
grassep Unless in very dry soils, it has a tendency to creep
at the root and interfere with the growth of other grasses.

Mr. Hunter says that notwithstanding its coarse appear-
ance, it is a grass of the highest nutritive value, and for
productiveness stands in the very first rank. It produces an
abundance of early herbage, which may be cropped till a late
period of the spring without injury to the hay crop. It
attains greatest perfection on deep, moist, retentive soils ; on
dry soils it is of less value.
3m*

Dr. Stebler reports that in Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklen-
burg, and over large districts of the Northern States of
America, it constitutes the chief part of the pastures, and
from year to year its cultivation is becoming more general
in Northern and Central Europe. It takes a high place for
nutritive qualities, but to secure these in largest proportion
it should be cut just as the flowers begin to make their
appearance (about the end of June), as later on it develops
woody fibre, and gives a coarse hard hay. Being deficient
in albumen, it is advisable to use it in conjunction with other
grasses in which that substance is prominent. It associates
best with red clover and alsike. When grown by itself, or
in large proportion with clover, it is better to use it for soiling
than to save it for hay, as it becomes hard in the saving.
For permanent pasture mixtures the quantity used should
never exceed 10 per cent., as it is not a lasting grass, and its
herbage thins out after the third or fourth year. It resists
the rigours of winter better than most other gi'asses, and it
is said that it suffocates and destroys moss. Another advan-
tage about it is that its seed is easily saved, and is very
cheap. Taking it all round it is an excellent grass.

Dr. Vasey in his report on grasses of the United States of
America says, " As a hay grass timothy has no superior ; for
a pasture grass it gives out too early in Julv."

Mr. Sutton says that a substantial advantage about it is
that it reaches the height of its produce the first year after
being sown, but unless properly fed there is a tendency to
weakness the third or fourth year. No other grass will bear
extremes of heat and cold better than timothy. All cattle
eat it greedily, and horses manifest especial fondness for it.
It produces a heavy hay crop, is exceedingly nutritious when
young, and becomes still more so when old and the seed is
formed. Still, its hard wiry stems when dried can scarcely be
called hay ; they may be very nutritious, but they will have
to be cut into chaff before being given to tiie cattle. The
crop is really mown to greatest advantage before the ears are
out of their sheaths, having regard to the fineness of the hay
and the aftermath.

Timothy should form a principal constituent for heavy
soils, but mischief may be done by using it in excess. The
herbage is coarse ; the stocks soon become hard, and their
increased feeding value in that state is of no avail if cattle
refuse to graze them (as they undoubtedly do), or if the
presence of this grass in abundance lowers tiie price of the
hay. When seed is freely shed there is a danger that the
plant will take almost exclusive possession of the land, es-
pecially on those formations that favour its growth ; and
once sown it is a very difiicult grass to eradicate Timothy
is not so suitable for sowing with clovers for alternate hus-
bandry as other grasses, on account of its late flowering ; but
with cowgrass, which flowers considerably later than broad-
leaved red, this difficulty does not arise, and perhaps it would
be impossible to find two plants wliich could more suitably
be sown together.

Manures. — Those of a nitrogenous nature appear to have

458

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

a very marked effect in promoting the growth of this
grass.

The seed being cheap, there is little temptation to adulterate
it. Besides, it is easy to detect adulteration or impurity, as
there is no other seed which resembles it to any extent.
Samples from which the silvery husk or covering has been
separated should not be discarded or undervalued on that
account, as it does not affect the germination. Some samples
of Continental seed may be occasionally met with containing
a very large proportion of weed seeds.

It is impossible not to notice these weed seeds, they are so
different from the timothy seed ; so that people who buy such
seed must do so either through most culpable carelessness, or
actuated by a desire for a little extra gain in the retailing of
it, as such samples, being discarded at once by the better class
of merchants, can only find buyers by being offered at a price
that will induce some people to take them up.

At Woburn, timothy grass, grown on a clay loam, gave of
grass —

Tods. cwts. qrs. lbs.
Cut when flowering, . . . 18 4 2 13

Which yielded hay, . . 7 14 3 24

Further experiments showed that, in the grass cut when
the seed was ripe, the loss in drying was smaller, and the
nutritive matter was more than doubled ; but this was fully
counterbalanced by the deficiency of the aftermath.

THE MEADOW GRASSES.

ROUGH-STALKED MEADOW GRASS

{Poa trivialit).

Extra good seed weighs np to 26 lbs. per bnsheL Standard of germination, of H.M.'s
Office of Works, 75 per cent. Flowers third week in June, and ripens seed in the
middle of July.

The roots are fibrous, not stoloniferous ; flowers acute, and
connected by a web. Lower palea five-veined — the middle
vein only having silky hairs, the marginal veins smooth.

Sinclair states that the superiority of this grass over others
of its species — its high nutritive qualities, and the marked
partiality which oxen, horses, and sheep have for it — dis-
tinguish it as one of the most valuable of those grasses which
affect moist rich soils and sheltered situations. He further
adds, that it is unprofitable for any purpose on dry, exposed
situations, and advises its use exclusively for permanent pas-
tures on rich soils and in slieltered positions. When combined
with other grasses it gives almost double the produce that it
would give if grown on the same soil by itself, which shows
how beneficial shelter is to it.

Charles Johnson says it is certain that not any among our
indigenous species are more generally liked by sheep and by
cattle of all kinds. Its merits, however, have their limits,
and a moist rich soil is essential to its development. On such
soils no grass is better adapted for constituting a leading
portion of both permanent and alternate pasture.

Stillingfleet makes mention of a meadow at Orcheston, near

Salisbury, which produced enormous crops. Curtis got pieces
of its turf sent to him (cut from five different parts of the field)
and planted same in his garden, when he found they contained
the following grasses: — Rough-stalked meadow grass in all
five, twitch grass in four, meadow foxtail in two, Agrostis
palustrts (Fiorin ?) in two, and Avena elatior in one.

Dr. Stebler reports that a humid climate and a strong rich
soil suit it best, and that it is not absent from any good grass
land of Central and Northern Europe. The first year it
makes only lateral growth, pushing out stolons which lie
along the ground, strike root, and brandling off in all direc-
tions form a thick interlaced gi-owth, which gives, however,
only a spare yield. In the second year it makes a dense
upright growth, so close and compact that the scythe has
difliculty in cutting its way through it. Notwithstanding
this vigorous growth, it gives, however, but a feeble second
cutting. It is a very suitable grass for irrigation meadows.
Being a shallow-rooting grass, it takes its principal supply
of nutriment from the soil nearest the surface. It should be
cut before the flowering season.

Mr. Hunter says that rough-stalked meadow grass, compared
with the smooth-stalked [Poa pratensis), is 25 per cent, more
nutritious.

Lawson's " Agrostographia " says it is a valuable grass in
a mixture for pasture land, particularly on damp soils, and
where partly shaded by trees. It is well suited for irrigated
meadows. Its creeping shoots begin to grow pretty early
in spring, and, by lying prostrate on the ground, form a
beautiful verdant sward. As the season becomes more ad-
vanced, however, these shoots are apt to get dried up by the
effects of the sun, but they shoot out again towards the end
of the season, and continue green during the greater part of
winter.

Mr. Sutton says that, valuable as this grass is for rich soils
in very moist and sheltered situations, he does not consider
that, for any other land, it is worth while to incur the cost of
the seed, which, if true, is always extremely expensive. On
strong moist soils it is now generally considered to be superior
to Poa pratensis^ but the favourable comparison does not
extend to light land liable to burn. It is liable to injury by
spring and autumn frosts, and by severe winters.

Manures. — It takes from the soil, according to Dr. Stebler,
a large proportion of phosphoric acid and potash, and a heavy
manuring in the autumn promotes the development of this
grass. The Rothamsted experiments established that nitrate
of soda, combined with mineral manures, has a marked effect
on the development of this grass, while, on the contrary,
ammonia salts diminished its growth. In this respect it
differs altogether from smooth-stalked meadow grass.

The Seed. — The pure seed of this grass is very scarce iu
commerce, because it is seldom or never grown by itself io:
seed. Thus the bulk of what is offered and sold as rough
meadow grass is in reality the seed of some of the other
species of the Poa tribe, with, in the worst cases, a fair
sprinkling of the seeds of bad grasses and weeds {Aira coes-

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

459

pitosa, for instance). It takes a very close examination with
a magnifying glass in most cases to distinguish the rough-
stalked meadow grass from the seeds of the other Poas,
some of the distinguishing features being obliterated in the
process of cleaning, This is a serious difficulty in the path
of the seedsman and farmer, for we can easily comprehend
that to substitute one seed for another is to defeat the ends
of the agriculturist, and to impose on him not only loss of
time and of money, but the greater loss of that increase and
return which the use of plants rightly suited to his soil
and to the circumstances of his land would have brought
him.

The following descriptioHS aflford a few indications by which
the seeds of the different meadow grasses may be distinguished
from each other: —

The seeds of rough meadow grass incline to a bluish colour,
are more deeply grooved in the interior than any of the others,
are but slightly woolly at the base, and have hairs on the keel
only. " It has a neat, slender, and tapering appearance "
(Hunter).

Smooth Meadow Orass. — The seeds of this are a little thicker
than those of the other, are more of a brown colour, much
more woolly, and have hairs not only on the keel, but on
the marginal ribs also.

Annual Meadoio Grass. — The seeds of this are a little longer,
more pointed, thinner, and of a lighter colour.

WOOD MEADOW GRASS
{Poa nemoralis).

Extra good seed weighs up to 23 lbs. per bushel. Standard of germination, of
H.M.'s Office of Works, 75 per cent.

The root is fibrous, and not stoloniferous ; florets are more
or less webbed at the base. Lower palea five-veined; the
central and marginal veins silky; the web sometimes wanting.

Dr. Parnell says it ranks amongst the superior permanent
pasture grasses, producing a considerable deal of fine succulent
and nutritious herbage, which horses, cows, and sheep are
remarkably fond of. It will grow freely in exposed situa-
tions, but in its natural state is found only in shady places,
or in woods on rich soil.

Charles Johnson says that this is a grass of variable habit,
and that for agricultural purposes its value seems doubtful.
In mountainous districts he never saw it eaten down by sheep,
and deer generally leave it untouched in parks. Hares and
rabbits devour the herbage, and game birds are fond of the
seeds ; hence it may be worth introduction in preserves where
it does not grow spontaneously.

Mr. Hunter says that its pleasant green colour and fine
herbage adapt it for sowing in mixture with other fine-leaved
grasses for lawns and pleasure-grounds ; and when these are
much shaded by trees, no other grass is so well suited to the
purpose.

The seed is often adulterated with the seeds of hassock
grass {Aira coespitosa), a small shiny seed (see p. 447).

SMOOTH-STALKED MEADOW GRASS

(Poa pratentis).

According to Dr. Stebler, good seed sbonld have 95 per cent, of pure seeds, ani

60 per cent, of those should germinate.

The root is creeping ; flowers acute, and more or less copi-
ously webbed; the lower palea five-veined; the intermediate
veins, and sometimes the marginal ones, are liable to be
obscure and inconspicuous; the middle and marginal veins
are hairy.

Curtis says it has a root which creeps like the couch grass,
and is almost as difficult to extirpate. It ought therefore to
be cautiously introduced where the pasturage is not intended
to be permanent. As it only throws up flower-stems once in
a season (in May), it should be suitable for lawns and grass
plots.

Dr. Parnell says that, although it is called iwooi/t-stalked
meadow grass, this characteristic cannot always be depended
on, as in some varieties of Poa pratensis the sheaths are
occasionally roughish, while in Poa trivialis they are some-
times nearly smooth. It is an early grass, producing a large
quantity of herbage which is liked by all cattle; but its
creeping root is said to impoverish the soil, and it is therefore
not recommended for cultivation.

Sinclair says it cannot justify its claim to a place in the
composition of the best natural pastures, and on this account
it should be carefully avoided as an unprofitable plant.

Charles Johnson says it produces abundant foliage, and at
an earlier season than most of our other common meadow and
pasture grasses, and being a favourite food with cattle gener-
ally might be considered one of the most valuable did not
its creeping habit interfere with the growth of others equally
luxuriant and better adapted for the promiscuous crop of the
hay field. Its habit of early flowering has this disadvantage
— that its seeds are ripening while the other grasses are only
in blossom ; and if it is not cut before the seeds are ripe, a
loss of more than one-fourth of its produce is sustained.

Lawson's " Agrostographia " says it is liable to be injured
by the disease called " rust," and from its growing in large
patches all the other grasses within its reach are destroyed.

Dr. Stebler says it does not succeed on heavy stiff soils
or on those that are very light and poor in vegetable matter,
gives but a small produce the first year, and only reaches its
full development in the second or third season. It does not
agree well with clover in a mixture; is extensively cultivated
in North America, notably in the State of Kentucky ; and as
it succeeds best in soils that are friable, mellow, and rich in
humus, its presence is taken as an indication of good agricul-
tural land. It will succeed fairly well on bog or fen land
that has been well drained. Possessing a dense and spread-
ing root, and having its underground stolons protected by the
soil, it is able to withstand a considerable degree of heat or
cold. It is an early grass, and flowers from end of May to
middle of June, according to situation of the ground. The
produce of the aftermath is small. The plant may be dis-
tinguished from Poa trivialis by its deeper colour, and by its

460

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

sending out underground stolons ; while those of tlie Poa
trivialis creep along and root on the soil.

Dr. Vasey says that it forms, in all the middle portions
of the United States, the principal constituent of pastures,
though its excellence is said to be rather depreciated in the
Eastern States. As illustrating the different estimates formed
about this grass. Dr. Vasey mentions that it is very much in
favour in southern Ohio, whilst in the north and north-eastern
portions of that State it is considered a very unwelcome guest
in the grass-lands. He adds that this difference of estimate
is probably due to varieties, or to difference of soil and to
treatment.

WATER MEADOW GRASS
{Poa aquatica, Linn. ; Olyceria aquatica, Smith and others).

This grows from 3 to 6 feet high. Root perennial, creep-
ing ; leaves long, broad, and flat ; florets not webbed.
From its large size and broad leaves cannot be mistaken for
any of the other Poas.

Curtis says that in flat countries which do not admit of
being sufficiently drained, it is almost the only grass for hay
and pasture.

Dr. Parnell says that, grown in suitable places, it affords
abundant crops of valuable winter fodder which cows and
horses are fond of. Its nutritive matter is greatest at time
of flowering. It flowers second week of July and ripens its
seed about middle of August.

Lawson's " Agrostographia " describes it as growing natu-
rally by the side of muddy pools, fresh-water lakes, and
sluggish rivers ; also on rich alluvial soils where occasionally
flooded. It is apt, by its rapid growth and creeping roots, to
choke up ditches and small streams. It is one of the tallest
and at same time most productive in herbage of all the
British grasses.

Charles Johnson also refers to its tendency to choke up
streams (and even slow rivers) by its roots, and thus to con-
stitute a formidable obstacle to the improvement of the land
by drainage.

Mr. Sutton says it is nutritious, and generally liked by
cattle. In the fen districts it forms a large part of the herb-
age, and yields abundant crops of hay. It may be included
in permanent mixtures for undrained clay.

J. C. Morton says that this is the most productive in
herbage of any of the British grasses, and it is astonishing
that its cultivation should hitherto have been so little prac-
tised, seeing that it might be used advantageously both for
the summer and winter feed of cattle. On the banks and
small islands of the Tiiames, as well as in the fens of Cam-
bridge, Lincolnshire, &c., it is generally mown twice in the
year and dried in sheaves for hay (which improves by under-
going a slight heat in the rick). On lands intended for
irrigation it may be sown at the rate of 4 to 6 lbs. per acre
either in autumn or in spring.

At Woburn, grown on a strong tenacious clay, it gave at
time of flowering —

CWtB.

qrs.

Ib6.

10

1

8

18

0

21

13

8

12

6

3

20

Tons.
Grass, per acre, ...... §6

Yielding hay, 33

Cut at the time of seed ripening, it gave
of grass, .... . . 64

Yielding hay, 27

FLAT-STEMMED MEADOW GRASS
{Poa compressa).

Creeping-rooted; florets obtuse, the lower ones webbed.
Lower palea with three hairy or silky veins.

Charles Johnson is inclined to believe that this is only a
variety of Poa pratensis. Indeed, he believes the latter to be
not only the type but the origin of all the stoloriiferous forms
of the genus. He adds that it is said to be liked by cattle,
and produces its foliage early in spring ; but the yield is too
scanty to prove of much service.

Dr. Parnell says that, were it not for the small quantity
of foliage this grass produces, it would rank as one of the
most valuable, as it shoots its leaves early in spring, and
possesses a large share of nutritive properties.

Dr. Vasey says that this grass has been sometimes con-
founded with Poa pratensis, from which it differs in its
flattened, decumbent, wiry stems, its shorter leaves, and
shorter, narrower, and more scanty panicle. Very contra-
dictory accounts have been given as to its agricultural value —
some denouncing it as worthless, and others entertaining a
good opinion of it. It thrives well on clay, or hard-trodden
and poor soils. One report says : — It is certain that cows
fed upon it both in pasture and in hay give more milk and
keep in better condition than when fed on any other grass.
Horses fed on this hay will do as well as when fed on timothy
hay and oats combined.

These discrepant opinions may be due in part to having
mistaken the Poa pratensis for this grass. It is probably a
nutritious grass, but from its spare yield can hardly attain
much favour for a hay crop.

ANNUAL MEADOW GRASS
{Poa annua).

Dr. Parnell says it is one of the commonest of all our
grasses — flowering throughout the whole summer, and grow-
ing on any kind of soil and in every situation. It produces
an early herbage, which cattle are fond of, especially cows ;
but being an annual, and often destroyed by a continuance
of dry weather, it is unprofitable to the farmer for cultivation.

The seeds do not possess wool at base of the floret, and are
never to be found suspended from the calyx, as may be
observed with some of the other meadow grasses.

WOOD-EEED MEADOW GRASS
{Poa sylvatica, or Festuca calamatia).
The root is perennial, creeping, tufted ; the leaves are broad,
flat, and of a light green colour — roughish on both surfaces.
It grows in damp shady woods of rich soil.

Dr. Parnell says that its broad, tender leaves, which are

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

461

produced in great abundance, and are much sought after by
cows and horses, render this grass worthy of agricultural
attention.

REFLEXED MEADOW GRASS

(Poa distans, or Olyceria distans).

This is only mentioned here because its seeds are sometimes

used to adulterate the other meadow grasses. As a grass it

is said to rank amongst the most inferior of the British grasses

for agricultural purposes.

MILLET

{Panicum miliaceum).

This is the brown and yellow millet of Southern Europe,
and the Gheena of the Hindus.

Dr. Vasey says it has been cultivated in the United States
to a limited extent for forage, and will thrive and ripen in the
Northern as well as in the Southern States.

Charles L. Flint (another American authority) says that
millet is one of the best crops we have for cutting and feeding
green for soiling purposes, since its yield is large, its luxuri-
ant leaves juicy and tender, and much relished by milch cows
and other stock. For feeding to cattle it should be cut in
the blossom, as, if allowed to ripen its seed, the stalk is no
more nutritious than, probably, oat straw.

REED CANARY GRASS
{Phalaris arundinacea).

Flowers second week of July, and ripens its seed about
middle of August. Flower-stems vary in height from 2 to 5
feet.

Charles Johnson reports that it creeps widely at the root,
but, unlike many grasses of similar habit, tends to form
dense tufts, which contribute greatly to the consolidation and
support of the banks on which it grows. It is one of nature's
pioneers ; and though exceedingly valuable in habitats of its
own selection, is of small economical importance elsewhere.
The herbage is too coarse and rigid to be liked by cattle
generally.

Dr. Parnell says it produces a large and early crop, and
will bear cutting three times during the summer. From the
coarseness of the foliage cattle are said not to be fond of it.
It is best suited for tenacious clay soils, and grows naturally
by the sides of rivers and standing pools.

Dr. Stebler's opinion is that it is not at all suitable for
pastures, but on wet soils it has considerable agricultural
value, considering that in such situations it gives a large yield
of vegetation which, if cut before the flowering period, is

freely eaten by cattle, and is especially useful as forage for
horses. It is not affected by extremes of temperature, nor by
inundations ; and though growing to a considerable height,
does not lodge. It receives no injury from the overshadowing
of trees, &c., and when once established it never dies out.
Its chemical composition is somewhat similar to that of maize.
When young it has a sweetish taste, due to the sugar in its
composition; but if not cut till after the flowering period its
produce is only fit for litter. Owing to its extensive root-
system, and numerous and vigorous underground stems, it is
useful for consolidating the borders of rivers and lakes, and
for rendering marshes and mosses more firm and access-
ible. It is sometimes used in mixture with fiorin for moist
land.

Curtis says that where great quantity of produce is the
object, he would recommend planting this and tall fescue in
marshy ground.

Sinclair says that the superior nutritive matter which the
striped reed canary grass possesses recommends it to the
notice of occupiers of tenacious clayey soils. The foliage
cannot be considered coarse when compared with other
grasses which afibrd a produce equal in quantity. Dry straw
is a much coarser food than the hay made from this.

J. C. Morton mentions the case of a Mr. Black, who
cultivated it on the home farm of the Duke of Buccleuch
at Dalkeith, and who had a high opinion of its merits, having
invariably cut it earlier than clover or ryegrass in the spring,
for feeding horses as well as shorthorns and Ayrshire dairy
stock.

The Seed. — From 20 to 25 lbs. of its seed will be sufficient
for an acre, but even half that quantity may be made to do,
as the rapidly-spreading roots of the young plants will soon
fill up all the interstices.

At Woburn, the variegated variety, grown on a strong
tenacious clay, gave of grass per acre —

Cut at the flowering period, .
Yielding hay,

Tons. cwts. qrs. lbs.

15 3 3 11

7 11 3 19

GREEN BRISTLE GRASS
(Setaria viridis, or Panicum viride).
This is an annual, flowering in July and until end of
autumn.

Charles Johnson says it would be a valuable grass to sow
in game-preserves and warrens, hares and rabbits feeding
upon it with eagerness. It will flourish in the poorest and
driest of light soils — indeed, in almost any medium (water
and shifting sand excepted)

162

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

THE CLOVERS.

RED CLOVER.

Seed weighs 64 lbs. per bushel. Standard of germination, 90 per cent. (Some

seedsmen guarantee 95 per cent.)

Dr. Stebler says very justly that this plant has had a con-
siderable influence on, and is of general interest in connection
with, European civilization. By greatly augmenting the
supply of meat necessary for the support of human life, it
indirectly has been a source of energy by which science,
industry, and commerce have received an immense develop-
ment. For forage and house-feeding during the summer it
is of more importance than any other forage plant — although
it does not succeed everywhere, and requires more attention
and more skill than the majority of other forage plants. It
can be depended on to prosper only in well-prepared fertile
soils, on which clover has not been grown for several years.

Of red clover there are two principal varieties— viz. (1)
Trifolium pratense (Linn.), var. perenne (otherwise, and per-
haps more correctly, Trifolium pratense, var. pratorum) ; this
variety is sometimes erroneously confounded with one known
commonly in Great Britain and Ireland under the name of
cowgrass. (2) Trifolium pratense (Linn.), var. sativum.

Though of the two varieties the latter is capable of the
greatest development, yet the former is most durable, and
being endowed in a larger degree with capacity to adapt
itself to variations of climate and of soil, a crop from it can
be depended upon under conditions where the success of the
latter would be doubtful. Nevertheless it is not always easy
to distinguish one of those varieties from the other ; and if
the two varieties are cultivated together in the same field for
some years, they do not in the end present any points of
difference, and become of equal value.

The values of red clovers derived from different countries
vary a good deal.

American red, which is largely imported of late years,
gives a yield about equal to that of the average of European
reds, but is less robust than they, and consequently oflFers less
resistance to the variations of temperature and of humidity.
Some interesting observations made at Copenhagen showed
that the severe winter of 1878-79 killed three plants of the
American clover for one of European parentage. In milder
winters the American clover does not appear to suffer in any
greater degree than the others.

Encjlish and Swiss red excel all others in regard to dura-
bility, size, and robustness of plant.

Styrian and Silesian red rank next after English and Swiss
in respect to the qualities mentioned.

French red has neither the size nor robustness of the pre-
ceding, and is more delicate every way.

Italian red is very early, and germinates well, but exhausts
itself quickly, and stands frost so badly that it often disappears
the first winter.

Red clover in a green state, and while in full flower, contains
80 per cent, of water, which is 10 per cent, more than what
the grasses contain ; and when the clover plant is made into
hay the proportion of water is 16 per cent. During the
process of haymaking (by the ordinary process of saving)
clover loses a quantity of ita leaves. Now the leaves con-
stitute at least a fifth of the total produce ; and as they are
at the same time the richest in nutritive matter of any part
of the plant, it follows that the loss in question is very serious,
amounting as it sometimes does to one-third of the feeding
value.

The experience of all agriculturists goes to show that, in
feeding with a view to the production of milk, clover in a
green state has a decided advantage over an equivalent quantity
of clover hay.

Common Red or Broad Clover. — Writing of this plant, Mr.
Sutton says that it is quite unsuited for permanent pastures,
but should form a large proportion of an alternate mixture.
The prejudice against foreign seed, especially that imported
from America and France, is well founded.

Soils. — The red clover plant succeeds beat in rich loamy
soil, also on good clays, and on soils of an alluvial nature.
Bog or marsh land does not suit it any more than soils of a
dry, sandy, or arid, chalky class. Peaty soil is also unsuit-
able, unless it has been dressed with marl or lime. It espe-
cially delights in a well-mixed soil, rich in vegetable matter,
and containing a moderate proportion of marl or chalk.

Trifolium pratense perenne. — Under this head Mr. Hunter
says : — It is the variety of red clover usually found in old
pastures, is more durable than the common broad-leaved red,
and suits medium and heavy soils better than light ones.
It is of greater value for permanent pastures than the true
cowgrass (except on light soils), being more productive and
nutritious.

Mr. Sutton states his belief that perennial red clover origin-
ated in a cross between common red and the zigzag clover.
The root of perennial red clover reaches down into the sub-
soil, thus enabling it to obtain moisture and nourishment in
the hottest weather, when common red gives up from drought.
This penetrating habit also affords a means of sustenance to
the plant on land which is too poor to grow the common or
broad red, and makes it desirable to increase the proportion
of this seed for pastiu-es on thin uplands. It does not begin
to flower until at least ten days later than broad clover, and
its more robust and solid stems remain succulent and eatable
by stock long after broad clover has become pithy and
withered. It fills up the gap between the first and second
cuttings of broad clover, coming into use at a time when there
is no other available green food for the horses of the farm ;
but it rarely gives a second crop of any consequence. It
produces comparatively little seed from its single ciop (it is

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

463

sometimes called "single-cut cowgrass"), and the seed of it
is consequently high in price, and is rarely obtainable except
from those wlio make its culture a study. It is an invaluable
plant for permanent pasture. Its presence in a pasture at
midsummer, when alsike is giving up, is of greatest service,
and although it does not produce a good crop for the scythe,
it yields a quantity of excellent feed.

Cowgrass, in Berks, Oxon, Hants, and a few other
counties, means a perennial variety giving only one cutting
per annum, coming into bloom fourteen or twenty-one days
after other red, and having a solid stem (though this pecu-
liarity is not invariable). Grown for seed it gives on an
average 3 cwts. per acre.

Single-cut Cowgrass. — One grower says it produces very
large crops on good land. He has had it so luxurious as to
measure 5 feet long, but in such cases it exhausts itselt in
one season.

Dr. Masters, F.R.S., thinks English red and single-cut
cowgrass are the same species — i.e. both might have been
developed from the same stock ; but as to Trifolium medium,
he does not believe it could have sprung from the same stock.
(See " Improvements of the Plants of the Farm," Journal of
Boyal Agricultural Society of England, vol. xx.)

Mr. Hunter thinks single-cut cowgrass only a variety of red
clover, which flowers about three weeks later than the common
species, and would be more correctly named late-flowering
red clover

TRIFOLIUM MEDIUM
{Marl-Clover or Cowgrass, sometimes called Zigzag Clover).

This is the true cowgrass of botany, but does not exist in
the trade. It is not cultivated, and is only found in a wild
state and in botanical collections. It has zigzag stems, and
the flower-heads are usually two inches distant from the
uppermost set of leaves. As pointed out above. Dr. Masters
thinks it could not have been developed from the same stock
as red clover.

Mr. Carruthers says it is not in commerce. Its roots are
creeping, and the stem takes a fresh turn at every leaf, which
gives it a zigzag appearance. Its produce is said to be less
than that of red clover ; and though it may not be of equal
value in alternate husbandry, yet it is perhaps a more impor-
tant ingredient in permanent pasture than common red.

For the production of seed it is best to cultivate clover in a
light and dry soil than in one that is moist or strong. In
the latter the plant is liable to shed its seed, and carries
besides a larger number of barren flowers. The seed is
usually taken from the second crop, as the luxuriance of the
first crop renders it more likely to shed its seed. Also, a
number of objectionable plants usually grow up wifli the first
crop, and their seeds get mixed with the clover seed.

The weed seeds most commonly found in red clover seeds
are those of the ribgrass, but this is quite easily distinguished.
Sometimes dock seeds are found, also those of the clover
dodder. The latter is a most destructive parasitical plant,

the seeds of which are very difficult to detect, being so small
and of an earthy brown colour, resembling minute pieces of
soil. In season 1877-78 the seed-testing station in Switzer-
land found that 46 per cent, of the samples of red clover sub-
mitted to them had more or less of dodder. Year by year,
however, the percentage of samples containing dodder is
growing smaller ; still it must be remembered that it is only
the better class of seeds that finds its way to the seed-testing
station. Those who have inferior samples to vend take care
to keep them out of the reach of testing stations. The clover
dodder [Cuscuta trifolii) is the most terrible enemy of the
clover plant. It is sown with the seed, and develops simul-
taneously; it winds its hair-like stems round the clover
plant (as explained already), and fixes itself on to it by
means of suckers, which extract the sap from the clover
plant. The roots which the dodder possesses in the early
stages of its growth wither after a while, and then the
parasite is altogether dependent on the sap it draws from the
clover plant, in consequence of which the latter wastes and
perishes.

Clover Sickness. — The phenomenon called clover sickness
arises, according to Liebig, from the deficiency of mineral
matter in the subsoil, which opinion is sustained by Kutzleb,
whose experiments have demonstrated that it is brought
about by the want of a sufficient proportion of potash in a
soluble state in the subsoil. On soils which, by their com-
position, are not suitable to the culture of this plant, it should
not be planted at shorter intervals than from nine to twelve
years, if a satisfactory crop is to be expected. Experience
has also proved that red clover is more likely to fail when it
succeeds a plant of the same family, such as the pea, bean,
vetch, Trifolium incarnatum, &c.

Manuring. — At Rothamsted ammonia salts had the effect
of eliminating this plant from the various plots to which they
were applied, whether in conjunction with mineral manures

or alone.

Nitrate of soda also diminished the growth.

ALSIKE CLOVER {Trifolium hybridum).
Weight per bnshel, 65 lbs. Standard of germiDation, P5 per cent.

Mr. Sutton says of this clover that it flourishes on the
same deep moist soil as timothy, and makes an excellent
companion to that grass ; but it is equally suitable with tall
oatgrass, Italian ryegrass, and cocksfoot. For meadows it is
far superior to white clover, as it produces a crop tall enough
for the scythe, and materially adds to the total weight of hay.
It also produces more keep, and is better relished than white
clover.

Mr. Hunter sums it up as follows : — It grows as tall as
red, and produces abundant crops. Nutritive value almost
equal to red, and grows on some soils where red will not
succeed.

Dr. Stebler's opinion is that alsike lasts longer than red
clover. Its average duration is three years, but it has been
known to give a fair return for five years, and in meadows
where sown with other grasses endures even longer. It can

464

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

be cultivated on soils where other clovers do not succeed, and
gives an abundant produce of such chemical composition as
shows it to be a forage plant of first-class quality. The fact
of its having been for a long time cultivated in the north of
Europe shows that it is capable of resisting cold well. It
suffers little from late frosts; and humidity, instead of being
injurious, is advantageous to it. It is the only species of
clover that succeeds under irrigation, and it will grow on
clover-sick land if well manured and in good condition. On
the other hand, it is not weU qualified to resist long drought,
as its roots do not go deep It is more leafy than red clover,
and as it contains a little more water in its composition it is
more diflScult to make into hay. It is at the flowering season
that it presents the largest proportion of nutritive elements,
and that period is therefore the most suitable for cropping it.

On account of the slightly bitter taste of alsike, it is not
eaten so readily as white clover is ; but its feeding value,
according to chemical analysis, is fully equal to that of white.
Its yield is larger and of better quality when sown in mixture
with other plants than when used alone, as the other grasses
support the clover plant and prevent it shedding its leaves.
The best grasses for mixing with alsike, named in the order
of their merit, are timothy, cocksfoot, English ryegrass, tall
oatgrass, and Italian ryegrass. Those who have been in the
habit of sowing red clover by itself should try instead a
mixture of 50 per cent, red, 25 per cent, alsike, and 25 per
cent, timothy.

Soils. — Alsike can be cultivated on the strongest clay soils
— even where the subsoil is impermeable — as well as on peaty
soil, and on ground so moist that other clovers will not grow
there, provided always that such soils do not retain too
much water.

The Seed. — In the alsike seed ot commerce many samples
contain a number of weed seeds of different varieties, and

I sometimes an admixture of trefoil seed. Of the weed seeds,

1 the worst are clover dodder and ribgrass.

I Alsike clover seed is sometimes uncertain as regards ger-

l mination. The appearance of the seed is very little guide
towards enabling us to guess what faculty of germination
resides in it. It may have a beautiful fresh colour, yet be
under-ripe; or be of a dark glossy green, and yet be over-ripe
and hard. In both cases the germinating power would be
feeble. It follows from this that retail seed-merchants should
make a point of ascertaining the percentage of growth of
samples of alsike submitted to them.

There is a species of clover, very similar to alsike, called
Trifolium elegans, which, according to Dr. Stebler, sometimes
grows among alsike, and has been known to produce a
peculiar disorder in horses that have eaten of it. Whether
it produces the same or any injurious effect on horned cattle
has not been as yet ascertained.

WHITE OR DUTCH CLOVER {TrifoUum repens).
Weight per bnshel, 65 lbs. Standard of germination, 95 per cent.

Dr. Stebler gives it as his opinion that this species is
indispensable for low-lying pastures. Compared with red

clover its produce is not so large, but it is richer in nutritive
matter. It will succeed in land of inferior value, is not
injured by grazing, and is less sensitive to atmospheric
influences. It is regarded as a valuable bottom plant in
pastures, but in certain soils it becomes excessively luxuriant
and smothers the other plants with its creeping stems and
thick foliage ; in such cases it is so hurtful as to almost
deserve to be characterized as a weed. Although its fibrous
roots extend but little below the surface, yet it is enabled to
stand drought well by the aid of the principal root of the
parent stem, which penetrates deeply and keeps up the supply
of sap in times of drought.

Wet seasons favour the development of this plant ; and, in
general, a climate that is warm and humid is best suited to
its nature. It succeeds well even on drained bog or marsh
land.

Mr. Sutton says it does better in poor land than red clover;
all cattle eat it with relish, but it is less useful for the pro-
duction of milk than of flesh, and is of special service in fat-
tening sheep. In early spring it produces very little food,
and the plant is so dwarf that it is practically useless for
cutting, so that alsike should take its place for a crop of hay.

Manuring. — In the list of mineral matter which white
clover extracts from the soil, potash and lime are the most
prominent. The application of ammonia salts alone reduces
the plant to insignificant proportions, and nitrate of soda is
little better in its effects. Both these result in a smaller
growth of white clover than when the land is left unmanured.
Mineral manures — potash especially, with a small quantity
of nitrate — considerably augment its growth; so also do
dressings of marl or vegetable ash.

It has often been observed that when land has been suit-
ably top-dressed, a vigorous growth of white clover has made
its appearance where none had been previously perceived.
In such cases its roots and creeping stems have lain almost
dormant in the soil, and escaped notice until re-invigorated
by the manurial stimulus.

The application of liquid manure is especially effective in
increasing the growth of white clover. Not only does it
yield to the plants already in existence such nourishing pro-
perties as are exactly suitable, but it also conveys to the land
a considerable number of white clover seeds which have passed
uninjured through the digestive organs of the cattle. An
examination of the dry residue taken from the bottom of a
liquid-manure tank showed that about 2 lbs. of such residue
contained no fewer than 11,816 seeds (or about one-fomth of
an ounce) of white clover, of which 62 per cent, were capable
of germinating.

The Seed. — There is a great deal of inferior white clover
seed in the market. Buyers do not appear generally to take
so much interest in the appearance and quality of white clover
as they do with reds, consequently the quantity of old, brown,
withered seed that finds a market somewhere is far larger
than one would wish who had the interests of agriculture at
heart. Very few samples are entirely free from sorrel, while

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

466

a good proportion of samples contains the seeds of that weed
in strong proportion. Sorrel in the husk is of a brown, earthy
colour; and shelled it is a small triangular seed that glistens:
in either state it is easily recognized, and samples containing
it should be promptly rejected. Another weed-seed that
appears prominently in many samples of white clover is
ribgrass. This is not quite so objectionable. Yet one does not
want to pay the price of white clover for ribgrass seed — the
latter being worth commercially only about one-te!ith the
price of white clover. The seeds of corn cimomile are also
found in many samples of white clover ; but it is stated that
a little of this plant may be of advantage in a pasture or
meadow on account of its aromatic properties. Among the
other impurities, which are objectionable in a minor degree
only, may be enumerated the seeds of suckling clover, hares-
foot clover, and trefoil or yellow clover.

COMMON YELLOW CLOVER OR TREFOIL

{Medicago L^ipulina).
Weight per bushel, 64 lbs. Standard of germination, 95 per cent

The " Agrostographia " of Lawson says that this is a
fibrous-rooted biennial or sub-perennial, and that it grows
in dry pastures. Although its produce is bulky, cattle are
not generally fond of it either in a green or dry state.

Mr. Sutton says trefoil starts so early in spring as to give
a bite before any other clover, and it flowers ten or fifteen
days in advance of the red variety. Chemical analysis shows
the herbage to be nutritious. It grows compactly and helps
to make a good bottom to a pasture, but its procumbent habit
of growth prevents it from having much value for the scythe,
and there is no aftermath worth speaking of.

Trefoil is seldom sown alone, but frequently in company
with white clover. The following combine well with trefoil

in affording early and valuable herbage — viz. foxtail, sweet-
vernal, and Poa pratensis.

Dr. Stebler's opinion is that trefoil should never be sown
by itself, and only in mixture intended for a period not longer
than two years. Whilst it is not very productive nor very
durable, it is nevertheless very useful for certain soils in
which red clover would not succeed. It should, however,
be confined to such soils, even though it is true that in ret^ard
to nutritive matter it takes a higher place than red clover.
It is more adapted for grazing purposes than red clover is,
but is not so well suited for meadowing, as its stems lie close
to the ground and escape the scythe. Its roots do not go
deep, but confine themselves to the top spit of the soil, there-
fore the nature of the subsoil is not of much importance where
this plant is concerned. Although possessing a sliglitly bitter
taste, it seems to be eaten with relish by cattle, and it is said
that it imparts a nutty flavour and a rich yellow colour to the
butter. Nevertheless the balance of evidence is against em-
ploying it in pastures on good land, particularly as — owing
to its overshadowing and partly creeping habit — it stifles
better plants than itself.

Manures. — A dressing of fresh manure does not serve
trefoil, but an application of certain artificial fertilizers, par-
ticularly those with a large proportion of potash or of phos-
phoric acid, causes a surprising development, even in cases
where the plant was previously struggling for existence.

The seed comes to hand generally more free from impuiities
than that of any other sort. This can be accounted for partly
on the ground that the trefoil plant smothers all other vege-
tation, and its seeds can therefore be gathered pure, and
partly because it is so cheap that it is not worth while adul-
terating it. Trefoil seed possesses great vitality, and wijl
grow a fair percentage even though several years old.

OTHER FORAGE PLANTS.

LUCEEN {Medicago sativa).

Weight per bushel, 64 lbs. Standard of germination — average, 98 per cent of

pure seeds, of which 90 per cent, should be capable of germinating.

Its height is about 3 feet, and it flowers in June or July.
Root perennial, thick, branching, and penetrates very deep
into the subsoil — sometimes 10 or 12 feet.

A writer in a recent number of the Agricultural Gazette
says that lucern will grow almost anywhere if there is a
depth of soil ; but it requires a fine tilth and a very gentle
covering. Once successful, it may be maintained for years
with fair manuring and with very little labour in hoeing. It
is one of the most advantageous grasses that we have. It
yielded an immense crop at the beginning of the summer,
and might have been cut a second time three weeks ago
(letter dated 30th July), when it was fully ready and almost
3 feet high, but is being given to cattle, thus maintaining
their milk and their condition at the same time.
3n*

J. C. Morton says that nothing is so fatal to lucern
as to allow sheep to graze it, as tliey mutilate the crowns
of the plant to such extent as to render the plantation
useless. Ten pounds of seed is enough when sown in drills
with the rows, as they ought to be, at least 12 inches apart.
The quantity must differ essentially according to the distance
of the drills, and it must be the highest where the broadcast
system is adopted. This writer says that between May and
November he mowed over the entire breadth four times at
least, and found no subsequent treatment required beyond
hoeing or pecking between the rows to keep under the grass
and weeds. Roots 13 feet long have been measured by the
side of a sand-pit.

American authorities say that in California (especially in
the southern part of the State) lucern — under the name of
alfalfa — is cultivated largely for hay, and large crops are
made by irrigation. It succeeds well in Montana. In some

466

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

parts of Utah scarcely anything else in the way of forage
plant is cultivated. The same may be said of New Mexico.
It is also cultivated largely in Texas, and does very well.

Dr. Stebler's opinion is, that when green, and cut before
the flowering stage, lucern gives a forage of the best quality —
in fact, more nutritious than red clover of average quality.
It is first-rate for milch cows ; and is so rich in albumen or
tiesh-forming materials that it answers well for mixing with
fodder which is poorer in that substance — for instance, with
chopped straw, &c. It does well only on a free, deep,
mellow soil which has been cleared of weeds, and suits to
follow after a potato or root crop. It is sown at end of April
or early in May, when no further fear of damage from late
frosts. Some people mix red clover with the lucern, but Dr.
Stebler does not approve of that, as the clover hinders the
development of the lucern, and after two or three years —
when the clover disappears — a large number of blank spaces
are left in the field. In good land it comes to its full de-
velopment in the second year. It commences to make growth
at end of April, and gives good cuttings before, during, and
after the red clover. At the end of from five to seven years
the yield begins to diminish, and it then becomes advisable
to break up the plantation at any time from thenceforward —
although in some favourable situations it may be found grow-
ing on same soil from ten to twenty years, and even longer.
As its roots go very deep, it can stand drought better than
any other of the leguminous plants, but it is not suitable for
climates of excessive humidity. Owing to its deep-rooting
habit, it is the nature of the subsoil that has the most import-
ance for this plant. It wants a subsoil that its roots can
permeate. Those of a calcareous or marly nature suit it best,
but clay land, with a compact subsoil, does not suit it at all;
neither does land that contains an excess of moisture. The
deeper the subsoil the better does lucern succeed.

Manuring. — It is not recommended to dress the land with
farm-yard manure just before sowing lucern, as this favours
the growth of weeds, which become very injurious to the
young plants. If the latter are slow in developing, it will be
found advantageous to apply a dressing of nitrate of soda.
The ash of lucern contains large proportions of potash, lime,
and magnesia.

TIlc seed of commerce is found sometimes to contain grains
of dodder. In view of the great injury this vile parasite
causes the crops of lucern (and of clover), it is of the utmost
importance that buyers should always look for a guarantee
that the seed they buy is free from dodder. It is also stated
that the seeds of trefoil (common yellow clover), as well as
the seeds of two or three other more or less useless annual
varieties of the Medicago family, are used for adulterating
M. sativa.

According to M. Ville, lucern takes between 250 and
350 lbs. of nitrogen per acre from the air, which would be
a sufficient supply for four times as large an area under
wheat.

Sir John B. Lawes (whose Rothamsted experiments are

known and appreciated wherever improved agriculture has
obtained a footing), however, in commenting on this point,
is not sure that this nitrogen is not derived from the subsoil.
There is (July, 1886) a field of lucern at Rothamsted which
is seven years old, and yields from 250 lbs. to 350 lbs. of
nitrogen per annum ; but the roots of the lucern have been
followed into the chalk, some 8 or 9 feet below the surface,
[The land had received mineral manure, but none of nitro-
genous for thirty years.]

GOAT'S RUE {Galega officinalis).

This is a leguminous plant, growing to from 2 to 5 feet
high, well furnished with foliage.

Messrs. Carter & Co., who took an interest in recommend-
ing the culture of this as a forage plant, say of it, that its
perennial habit and robust growth are points worth attention,
as seeming to imply abundance of forage with little labour.
It is also useful for green-manuring, as it contains much
nitrogen. It stands drought remarkably well, and has been
successfully used as a forage plant in the south of France,
where its only drawback — viz. a certain peculiarity of flavour
— has been overcome by perseverance in the tuition of the stock.

From April till June is the time to sow, at the rate of
24 to 30 lbs. per acre broadcast.

Another authority says it is an excellent forage plant for
warm sheltered situations, and succeeds in such places on dry
and even poor soil, provided it has depth, and that the sub-
soil is free from moisture. Its long root enables it to resist
drought well, and as it draws its support mostly from the
subsoil, it can be grown on the warmest soil. It possesses a
similar temperament to that of the lucern, but does not
require the same manurial dressings, and on that account is
found on the Continent a very useful and durable plant in
sheltered places amongst mountains, to which manure could
not be carried. It is most generally used as a green forage,
as it is difficult to dry and save. It gives two cuttings even
in the first year, if sown in the spring. [A sowing made the
4th of May was in flower the 21st of July.] The second
cutting is almost as large as the first, and it makes its second
growth quicker than sainfoin, but not so quickly as lucern. It
should be cut when the leading branches are beginning to
flower, as up to the flowering period the plant remains soft
and succulent, but afterwards becomes hard, and is not
voluntarily eaten by cattle.

It should be sown in spring without a crop, and without
mixture with any other seed. The best way to plant it is in
lines, so that the ground around the plants can be kept clear
of weeds.

Analysis shows that the Galega furnishes a very nutritious
forage. It is rich in albumen, showing 3 per cent, more of it
than either sainfoin or red clover.

PRICKLY COMFREY {Symphytum asperrimum).

Caucasian prickly corafrey is a distinct plant from the
common comfrey {S. officinale). Sutton's Fanner^s Year-

PASTUEE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

467

Book says : — This forage plant is rapidly increasing in favour,
and although we do not agree with all that has been said in
its praise, yet we believe the plant to be valuable for giving a
supply of green food in hot and dry seasons. The long roots,
which penetrate a great distance into the ground, enable it to
obtain moisture which lies beyond the reach of ordinary plants.
Prickly comfrey will succeed in almost any soil, but is
especially valuable on soils of a dry or sandy nature. It is
very hardy, gives an early cutting, supplies a constant succes-
sion of green food, and is permanent. The plant is cultivated
by dividing the roots, and spring and autumn are the best
seasons for the operation. Instead of 24 or 30 inches each
way, we recommend from 16 to 18 inches only as the most
profitable distance. The roots should be covered with about
1^ or 2 inches of soil. It is very important to keep the
ground clean and free from weeds. The cutting should com-
mence early, and be frequently repeated, that the plant may
not run very much. It must certainly be done before the
bloom appears, for the leaves are most relished when in a
young state. As many as five heavy cuttings, each 20 tons
per acre, or 100 tons per acre, in one season have been ob-
tained by good management. We recommend prickly com-
frey especially for small occupations, as few crops can be
more easily grown, or prove so useful to those whose live
stock consists of a horse, cow, and a few pigs.

Mr. Phillips, a recognized authority on comfrey, says: —
It may be planted all the year round, excepting when the
ground is frost-bound. The sets planted early in autumn
almost save a season, as they become somewhat established
before winter, and form crowns for the next season ; those
planted in spring and summer rush into immediate productive-
ness. All kinds of land suit comfrey, but it thrives best in
rich moist loam, with plenty of manure, especially liquid
manure; it loves warmth and moisture. Dig or plough the
land to a fair depth (if double-dug or subsoiled all the better),
working in a heavy dressing of manure. If you give comfrey
a double dressing of manure you will have a double crop,
and only one rent to pay ; on poor land, where luanure is
scarce, you will get a greater crop of comfrey than of anything
else you can grow ; and when once planted it is there for
ever, only requiring a heavy dressing of manure to be dug in
(every season. As one or two comfrey-growers seem to have
had a little difficulty in getting their stock to eat it, it may be
well to state that, in feeding it to stock for the first time, only
a little should be given, and not that till it has been allowed
to stand for a few hours after cutting, so as to allow the
prickles on the under surface of the leaves and along the
stalks to wither slightly ; or the young leaves only may be
given at first.

Sets can be obtained for 10s. per thousand. About 5000
sets will plant an acre if planted a yard apart each way.

Mi Rochford, of Nenagh, Ireland, says : — It has now
been planted in about twenty places in the Nenagh district,
and there is sufficient evidence to prove beyond a shadow
of doubt its great value as food for dairy cows and stores for

horses, sheep, and pigs. It can be used early in May, thus
saving other expensive food, and the last crop of the season
comes in during September, and is available up to the middle
of October. There is no difficulty in preventing it from
spreading beyond the area on which it is planted if proper
means are taken, but it is very difficult to get it out of laud in
whicli it has been planted.

The two English varieties of comfrey may be distinguished
from the Caucasian by the colour of the blossoms. The
English varieties have flowers of a yellowish-white tinged
with green, and occasionally pale purple flowers will be found
on the same stalk with the greenish ones. The Caucasian
flowers, on the other hand, are all purple.

SERRADELLA

{Omithorpus tativa).

This is an annual plant frequently cultivated in Northern
Germany. It is there considered one of the most im|jortant
plants for good light soils. Its nutritive value is considered
equal to that of red clover, while its produce is larger. It
gives good results, except on land that is too heavy or too
poor. On very light land it is considered best to sow it with
hard fescue. Cattle like its produce either as hay or green
fodder. It is usually sown in spring — from middle of March
to middle of April — sometimes alone and sometimes in a corn
crop (oats or rye), and furnishes after the removal of the corn
crop a good cutting or pasturage. The quantity of seed
required is about equivalent to 30 lbs. per English acre.

ANTHYLLIS VULNEEARIA.

This is a forage plant much used in Northern Germany for
soils too light for red clover. It is cultivated both for mow-
ing and grazing — does not stand more than one year's mowing,
but in a pasture will continue for three or four seasons. In
summer it fills the gap in the fodder-supply between the first
and second cutting of red clover. As a resister of drought it
will compare even with sheep's fescue, but on arid soils its
leaves become somewhat woolly. It is a very hardy plant,
resisting the heat of summer as well as the cold of winter.
As it is almost insensible to atmospheric influences, it is of
very rare occurrence for it to fail, and then it gives a sm-e,
though not a large, return. It is not recommended for land
that will grow clover, but is very useful for soils on which
clover does not succeed, and where seiTadella or yellow lupins
give but a feeble and uncertain return. Horses do not care
for it; but sheep, goats, and horned cattle eat it greedily.
If one wishes to have two cuttings in the season, it is neces-
sary to take the first before the flowering stage ; but if only
one cutting is wanted, and tiie second crop to be fed off, it
is best to cut it when in full flower, so that the second growth
may consist of leaves without flower-stems. The proportion
of nutritive matter in cured anthyllis is larger than in clover
hay of average quality.

468

PASTUKE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

GORSE, WHIN, OR FURZE (_Ulex Europaius).
Standard of germination, 70 per cent.

J, C. Morton says it is a nuisance or weed in our hilly
pastures when allowed to attain the size of a bush ; but
considered most valuable forage, and extensively collected or
cultivated as such, in Brittany and other provinces of the
West of France, and well worthy of attention in our own
western counties.

From dry sandy soils, where turnip husbandry is unadvis-
able, a large quantity of useful fodder may be procured by
the cultivation of this plant ; but, excepting where climate,
or the steepness of the land, or the expense of any attempt
to improve the soil, forbids the adoption of the alternate hus-
bandry, its cultivation does not offer any advantages sufScient
to warrant its adoption. In North Wales and in many parts
of Ireland the horses of the farm are maintained upon it
almost wholly during the winter months, receiving about
40 lbs. daily each of the crushed two-year-old shoots. It
has also been found useful for dairy cows, along with hay,
during the winter and spring months ; and as for sheep, the
experience of many a northern flockmaster can testify to the
merits of gorse as food.

It may be sown from February to May, in drills one foot
apart, with or without a light corn crop. Sow 20 lbs. of seed
per acre for cover, or 25 lbs. for forage. It is better to sow
in drills than broadcast, as the weeds can be got at more
easily under the drill husbandry. In the second autumn
after the sowing — having been cleaned at intervals during
both summers — the crop will have attained a growth render-
ing it worth cutting.

MUSTARD iSinapit).

This is one of those coarse, quick-growing plants with wide-
spreading leaves which obtain a very considerable portion of
their nourishment from the atmosphere ; hence it may be
considered an ameliorating crop, giving back to the soil more
than it takes from it. Ordinarily it is of trifling value as
forage ; but the failure of other plants may make it valuable
for this purpose, and at anyrate it assists in the preparation
for grain crops. It may be sown with some advantage for
autumn feed, or it may be taken as a second crop after vetcheSj
early pease, &c., when, from the season being too far advanced,
it is impossible to grow anything of greater value.

The white mustard {Sinapts alba) is the variety grown for
the purpose of forage or green-manuring. If sown or drilled
at rate of one to two pecks per acre in last week of July or
in August in a tolerably favourable season, it will be fit for
ploughing-in or folding-off in two months from time of sowing.
Sheep are generally healthy when feeding upon it, but make
little progress if kept to it alone. The experience of heavy-
land farmers in Suffolk is in favour of sowing about a peck
of white mustard on the long fallows in August or early in
September, and ploughing-in the herbage about six or eight
weeks from time of sowing. The effect upon the barley crop

is considered by practical farmers as equal to half a coat of
farm-yard dung. (J. C. Morton, abridged.)

CRIMSON CLOVER {Trifolium incamatum).

This extremely useful forage plant is pretty extensively
grown in England, particularly in the southern counties,
where it is sown on stubbles immediately after removal of
the corn crop. It is also sometimes sown on bare patches
of spring-sown clover, and may be sown up to the middle of
September, or might even do well up to October; but that
would in a great measure depend on the kind of winter fol-
lowing the sowing.

Treatment. — According to J. C. Morton, the only requisite
preparation of tlie land is a course of harrowing, just suffi-
cient to stir the surface soil so as merely to facilitate the
covering of the seed. On very stiff soils shallow ploughing
is sometimes resorted to, but as a general rule the young
plants stand the winter and thrive best when the soil is left
in an unloosened state. When so treated the crimson
clover forms excellent feeding for horses and cattle in the
early part of the following season ; or it may be finally cut
in June for hay, in time for late turnip-sowing, or for fallow-
ing the land preparatory to wheat or other crop.

Soils. — It does well on a variety of soils, but a moderately
stiff deep soil suits it admirably, and if at all disposed to be
loamy all the better.

Seed required. — If sown broadcast and alone, an acre will
require from 18 to 24 lbs. of seed; sown in mixture with
Italian ryegrass, the allowance is 16 lbs. clover to one bushel
Italian. If sown in drills, at from eight inches to a foot
apart, about 12 lbs. seed will be required.

COMMON VETCH OB TARE {Vida sativa).

This is a well-known forage plant of the leguminous family,
and is universally cultivated over Europe and a great part of
Asia. There are several varieties known, the most important
of which are the winter vetch and the spring vetch, differing
more in their physical constitution adapting them to these
different seasons, than by any tangible external characters.
They are supposed to have acquired their different habits of
growth and ripening simply by having been sown respectively
in spring and autumn.

Tares form a most valuable green crop, and will grow in
almost any soil; but the best soils for their growth (according
to Morton) are clayey loams. On poor clays it is customary
to sow considerable breadths, either feeding them off with
sheep or mowing for summer-soiling in foldyards — this course
being an admirable preparation of the land for wheat. Green
tares, according to chemical analysis, are about equal in nutri-
tive value to the better sorts of clover. As live stock of all
sorts are very fond of this green food, there is a danger of
colic being produced from overloaded stomachs; consequently,
when tares have grown too succulent or are overcharged with
moisture, they should be mown some hours before being given

PASTUKE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

469

to the animals, or mixed with straw and hay, or passed with
these dry foods through the chaff-cutter.

IVJieii intended for hay, tares should be left standing until
the flowers have for the most part given way to the pods, and
some of the seeds become well fdrraed. The crop is then
ready for the scythe. When well saved it forms excellent
fodder, surpassing meadow hay in nutritive power; but if
saturated with rain it becomes injured more than other
grasses. The produce may yield about three tons of hay per
acre, but is commonly coarse in quality.

The time of sowing, for winter tares, is from the beginning
of October to the middle of November ; for summer tares,
from the beginning of March to the end of June, according
to the purposes for which they are intended. For spring
sowing use three bushels of tares and one bushel of oats,
and for winter sowing three bushels of tares and one bushel
of rye.

COMMON BYE (_Secate cereaU).

J. C. Morton says that rye is extensively and increas-
ingly cultivated as a forage crop for early spring feeding.
Cultivated as a grain crop it is an exhauster of the soil, but
when fed off green the crop improves and ameliorates. As
a green crop it follows wheat, and is itself succeeded by a
late crop of turnips. For a green crop, the rule is to sow as
thickly as possible — namely, from three to four bushels —
sometimes drilled, but more generally broadcast.

The chief use of rye as a forage crop is to supply food for
sheep and lambs in the spring, in the interval that elapses
after the turnips are consumed. This rye is sown on the
root-fallow, and is followed by white turnips. Rye is pecu-
liarly suited for animals giving milk, as ewes and milch cows;
to the latter it may be given with the addition of straw chaff.
As a soiling crop its chief advantage is its earliness. When
in a forward state it is mown for horses ; but the best method
of applying it is by being cut into chaff with a mixture of
straw and hay, increasing the proportion of green to dry
fodder as the season advances. Green rye, from its laxative
nature, requires this addition ; and this application is useful
as supplying a gradual change from the dry food of winter
to the green food of summer.

From the toughness and pithy nature of rye straw it is
little liked by cattle, and is of slight use as fodder. It is
probably, however, the most nutritious of any, as containing
a less proportion of silica and more organic matter. Cut into
chaff, steamed, and given with a proportion of linseed, it
would perhaps become more palatable to stock.

COMMON SAINFOIN (^Onobrychis sativa).

The standard of purity, according to Dr. Stebler, should be
98 per cent., and of germinating faculty 80 per cent.

The root is perennial, somewhat woody, and penetrates to
a considerable depth. The stems are nearly upright, and
the height two to three feet ; it flowers from June to August.
This is considered the most important leguminous herbage

and forage plant in the calcareous districts of France and
England, and particularly on the poor, dry, thin chalky hills
and downs in the South of England. The usual period of
duration of sainfoin in a profitable state is from eiglit to ten
years in chalky soils, and seven or eight in those of a sandy
or gravelly nature. The duration of the crop may, however,
be increased by judicious top-dressing. A very judicious
method of raising this plant, which is practised in some
parts, is to sow it with about half the quantity of barley or
other grain used for a full crop, which gives it the advantage
of being shaded and kept moist during the first summer with-
out weakening the sainfoin plant.

Mr. Sutton strongly urges that, instead of sowing sainfoin
alone, it should be used as a predominant constituent in a
mixture of grasses and clovers for three or four years' ley.
The sowing of sainfoin alone, he says, is an expensive and
more or less a precarious proceeding. It is by no means
certain to produce a plant, but combined with strong-growing
grasses there is less risk. Again, the grasses keep down
weeds and prevent the growth of couch and other pests which
almost invariably overrun a pure sainfoin ley after the first
two years. In Norfolk and some other of the Eastern
counties, sainfoin takes the place of red clover, and is rarely
allowed to remain down more than two years — generally
only one. Against this practice nothing can be urged ; but
the method adopted in Berks, Wilts, Hants, and Oxford of
putting down sainfoin alone for four or five years has grave
disadvantages.

Dr. Stebler reports that this plant has proved a great boon
to certain districts in Switzerland, and that, although best
suited to warm climates, it does fairly well even in those
cantons that possess a comparatively cold and harsh tempera-
ture. By this plant, he says, it becomes possible to turn
ground to use which otherwise would be without value. It
stands excessive drought, succeeds even without manure, and
is of long duration. If sown too often in the same land, or
at short intervals, the land gets "sainfoin sick," and refuses to
grow it. As its roots descend to twice or thrice the depth that
those of lucern do, the nature of the subsoil is of much import-
ance to it. However unfavourable the surface soil may be,
sainfoin will prosper if the subsoil is favourable, always pro-
vided that the surface soil is, at all events, sufficiently fertile
to nourish the plants the first year so as to allow them time
to push their roots into the subsoil.

It prospers best in fertile land of a calcareous or marly
nature, with a sunny aspect ; and requires a subsoil which,
without being humid, is sufficiently mellow to allow the
roots to penetrate it. Compared with other plants the growth
of sainfoin is slow. The yield is poor the first year and pretty
good the second, but it is in the third year that the plant
comes to its full development, after that the roots have estab-
lished themselves in the subsoil. People make the first cut-
ting when the plant is in full flower, as it loses its value soon
after that period. When well established it is not so liable to
injury from winter frosts as from the evil effects of wet cold

470

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

summers. It lends itself better to the haymaking process
than red clover does, loses less of its leaves in that ordeal,
and as regards value as forage is superior to red clover.
Sainfoin hay is not only nourishing, but is also health-giving
or tonic in its effects, from which peculiarity it derives its
name. It is especially beneficial to horses. The best crops
to precede sainfoin are those which clear the soil of weeds and
leave it in a. mellow condition. The best time to sow is in
the spring — about the end of March or early in April. It
can be sown with a cereal, but this is not usually done, and is
somewhat risky, unless the cereal is to be cut green. It is
for the most part sown alone, and seldom in association with
other grasses, as in such circumstances it is liable to perish.

The seed is very seldom adulterated, but in its natural
state it contains many impurities, of which the most prominent
are the seeds of the common salad burnet [Poterium sangui-
sorba) — the pimprenelle of the French — and seeds of the
bronie grasses. These are both easily removed, and the seed
usually offered in Great Britain and Ireland is clean and
merchantable.

GUINEA GRASS

{Panicum jumentorum).
We see this, and the two grasses which follow, sometimes
referred to as strong growing grasses, giving a heavy produce
which might be suitable for ensilage. The guinea grass is
described by Dr. Vasey as a large vigorous perennial grass,
attaining in good soil a height of from 6 to 10 feet. The
leaves are 1 or 2 feet long, and frequently an inch or more
wide— rough on the edges, and with a few scattered hairs on
the surface. It is a native of Africa, but has been introduced
into many tropical countries, and in the West Indies is ex-
tensively cultivated for pasturage. It has been introduced
into Florida, but is not yet much known in the Southern
States. It seldom matures seed in the United States, but can
be propagated by dividing the roots, or by obtaining the seeds
from foreign countries. If the roots are planted in March or
April, it is said they will be ready for the first mowing by
the end of May, and that mowing may be repeated every six

weeks till frost occurs. It is too tender, Dr. Vasey says,
to be cultivated except in the warmest portions of the States.
He adds, further, that an analysis made by the chemist of the
Agricultural Department showed this grass to be very rich in
nutritive materials.

SUGAR CORN OR SUGAR GRASS
{Sorghum vulgare; Sorghum halapeiue, &c.)
Dr. Vasey reports that Sorghum vulgare (known in North
America as Johnson Grass) is frequently sown thickly for a
forage crop in certain of the States, and in good seasons, with
proper cultivation, furnishes a very heavy yield. Sorghum
halapense was Imported from Turkey to South Carolina in
1835, and is highly valued by agriculturists in the Southern
States. It is said to have been introduced into California
from Australia, and is there known as evergreen millet. A
Kansas farmer reports that he has tried it on very dry soil on
an upland farm with very good results. It is reported to be
perfectly hardy, rapid in growth, affording three cuttings in
one season, and producing a heavy growth of aftermath for
fall-grazing. Horses and cattle are fond of it, both in its dry
and green condition. Probably no grass gives better promise
for the dry and arid lands of the West. In Utah it has been
cultivated under the name of Arabian millet grass.

INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE
{Zea mays).

The maize is a stout, erect annual, growing to a height of
from 3 or 4 feet to 8 or 10 feet, according to the variety;
the leaves are from 1 to 2 feet long and 2 to 3 inches
broad. Grown for its grain, according to J. C. Morton, it
has constantly failed in England as an object of permanent
cultivation.

The common large maize is, however, sometimes grown for
mowing, with great advantage in climates where the grain
will not ripen. Its abundant produce and excellent quality
as green fodder, especially for horned cattle, would make it
worth a trial for the same purpose in this country.

APPENDIX.

TO JUDGE SEEDS.

The quality of a parcel of seed is to be judged according to
the following points — colour, weight, size of grain, purity,
genuineness, and germinating faculty, and of these the three
latter are the most important.

Purity is understood to mean freedom from seeds of any
other species or variety, as well as from weed seeds, broken
seeds, or dirt.

Genuineness means trueness to name.

Oerminating faculty means the proportion per cent, of true
and pure grains that possess the faculty of growth. This is

tested by taking a hundred grains from the bulk as they
come, picking out and discarding the foreign matter — i.e.
seeds of other plants or broken seeds, bits of dirt, &c. (by
counting these you get the percentage of impurity). Put the
remainder — i.e. the true and sound seed — through the process
of germination, and ascertain how many seeds grow.

Colour. — New, well-saved seed has a fresh, bright, plump
appearance. According as seed gets old it becomes faded,
brown, and wrinkled, loses the plump appearance, and oi
course takes lower rank as regards germinating power.

Weight. — An important consideration in estimating the

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

471

value of grass seeds is the weight per bushel of the sample,
as there may be a very wide difference in different samples
of a particular species — chaffy, unripe seeds weighing perhaps
only one-third of what a prime, well-cleaned sample of the
same species would show.

For instance, Italian ryegrass seed can be had as light as
8 lbs. to the bushel, and as high as 22 lbs. (in some rare
cases even higher). Foxtail, according to Mr. Hunter, may
vary from 5 to 12 lbs. per bushel, cocksfoot from 6 to 20
lbs., and meadow fescue from 10 to 28 lbs.

Grass seeds should therefore never be bought by measure,
which is quite misleading. As a matter of course, light,
chaffy seed will germinate badly, as the light weight implies
the absence of kernel. As a farmer wants seed, and not
empty husks, it follows that a knowledge of the weight per
bushel is the next best thing to a knowledge of the ger-
minating faculty.

In practice it is not easy for a seedsman to give guaranteed
germinations in the hurry of a season, especially when, as in
the case of seedsmen in country towns, they have to make up
many small orders ; but there is no difficulty whatever about
ascertaining the weight per bushel, and grass seeds that
approximate in weight to the standards given in this work
should germinate well if pure and sound.

CHEMICAL ANALYSES OP THE GRASSES.

Undernoted will be found a table extracted from an
extremely interesting and useful report on the grasses of the
United States compiled by the United States Department
of Agriculture. A study of the tables given in the above-
named report shows clearly that the composition of the plant
varies according to difference of soil, situation, climate, time
when cut, and general environment, so that the publication

of chemical analyses is of little use unless accompanied by
descriptions setting forth all tlie above particulars. The
conclusion the compiler of the report arrives at is, to use his
own words : — " Species are not in themselves at all fixed in
their composition, there being as large variations among
specimens of the same as between specimens of different
species." For instance, in the case of timothy grass, procured
from different localities, the undernoted will show a wide
margin of difference in some of the most important con-
stituents of the plant : —

Analyses of Timothy Orast
(Cut in full bloom).

Locality.

Ash.

7-16
5-6U
4-93
4-57
7-05

Fat.

Nitro -

gen

tree

Extract

Crude
Fibre.

Albu-
mi-
noids.

Total
Nitro.
gen.

Non-
albumi
nnid Ni-
trogen.

Per cent, of
Total Nitro-
(?en as Non-
albuminoid.

Dept. Garden, 1st Year,
Do. 2nd Year,

Maryland,

New Hampshire, . . .
Indiana,

4-47
3-58
422
4-20
2-18

50-03
58-93
5-2-83
57-lG
52-99

27-35 1IO-99
21-93 ! 9-90
30-43 i 7-69
28-28 5-79
32-26 6-52

1-75

1-58

1-23

•93

•88

■51
•38
•15
•10
•00

29^1
24^0
12^2
10-8
•0

Even a superficial glance at the foregoing will show that
in the grass grown in the Department Garden in the first
year there is twice as much fat and albuminoids as in that
grown in Indiana; and again, one cannot fail to be struck
with the difference in tlie analysis of the timothy grown in
the Department Garden in the second year as compared with
that of the first. A similar table is given showing the varia-
tions in composition of cocksfoot grown in different localities ;
also tables showing composition of the grasses cut at differ-
ent periods of growth, which are highly instructive, but too
long for reproduction here. We have, however, compiled
from these a table which will be interesting as showing the
average and comparative compositions of some of the most
important of the grasses : —

Perennial ryegrass,

Cocksfoot,

Do., later growth,

Do., first year's growth,

Tall oat grass, .... ....

Yorkshire fog,

Meadow foxtail,

Timothy, good soil,

Do., poor soil,

Smooth-stalked meadow grass, good soil,

Do., poor soil,

Schroeders broiye grass,

Poa compressn, from poor soil, light gravel,
Sheep's fescue

Average of

Five cuttings. May 1 to June 1, .
Four cuttings, April 23 to June 1,
Three cuttings, June 18 to July 1,
Four cuttings, June 12 to Oct 25,
Two cuttings, May 25 to June 4,
Two cuttings, April 2 to May 25,
Four cuttings, April 19 to May 12,
Six cuttings, June 1 to June 23, .
Two cuttings, June 4 to July 1, .
Four cuttings, April 23 to June 5,
Five cuttings, April 27 to June 8,
Five cuttings, April 23 to June 1,
Four cuttings, June 1 to June 23,
Five cuttings, April 27 to June 1,

Dry Substance.

Total

Nitro-

Fresh Grass
some conslituenta;

Nitro-

Ash.

Fat.

gen

Free

Extract.

Crude
Fibre.

Albumi-
noids.

gen.

Water.

Fat.

Crude
Fibre.

Albumi-
noids.

8-40

3^59

56-26

21-26

10-49

1-67

74-63

•86

5^49

2-53

8-90

3 33

53-08

23-65

11-03

1-74

77-22

•77

6 -44

2-47

7-12

3-65

55-03

24-73

9-48

1-51

63-13

1-34

9-11

3^44

10-78

6-65

48 84

2149

12-34

1-98

73-77

1-71

5-64

3^25

7-90

411

53-34

22-92

11-72

1 88

68 35

1-29

7-34

3-53

9-10

4-21

55-00

21-82

9-86

1-64

66-45

1^36

7-82

2-91

8-26

4-00

53-09

22-44

1218

1 95

70-10

l^lo

6-84

3 25

7-85

3-74

65-49

21-75

11-16

1-78

70-00

1-13

6 52

3-31

6-10

3-46

59-28

23-18

7-97

1-28

67-06

M4

7 51

2-60

7-6

4 27

51-00

22-34

15-30

2-47

66-32

1^32

7^10

4-61

6-96

3-52

56-44

23-73

9-35

1-50

61-30

134

9^35

3-31

8-82

3-38

53-14

21-73

12-93

2-07

73-52

•83

5-80

328

6-44

4-52

68-83

19 4

11 16

1-79

64-77

1^56

6-67

3-83

6-00

3 39

56-37

23-76

10-47

1-67

6200

1^25

9-06

3-90

The detailed tables famish data from which is derived the
general conclusion that as a grass grows older its contents of
water decrease, and so also does its ash, fat, and albuminoids,
while there is an increase in the carbohydrates (sugar, starch,
and gum) and in the crude fibre.

There is almost no exception to the fact that the water

decreases in the maturer specimens ; that is to say, the plant
gradually dries up and becomes less succulent. Tlie ash is
very dependent on locality and surroundings, and as the
analysis here given includes whatever soil may be mechani-
cally adherent to the blade or stock as collected, it sometimes
shows irregularities. The albuminoids decrease in amount

472

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

with great regularity. The fibre sometimes decreases (as, for
instance, in Bromus erectus), but the change in that direction
is never large. The non-albuminoid constituents (of the
exact value of which to the animal our knowledge is rather
uncertain) are often quite the reverse of constant in their
manner of appearance and disappearance, and show them-
selves to be more affected by environment than any other
constituent is. The averages show that the best grasses
contain the least non-albuminoids. The usual changes in
the non-albuminoids seem to point to the possibility that
they increase at the time of the formation of the seed, in the
act of transferring to the seeds, as amides, the nitrogen of
the plant.

SOME POINTS IN HAYMAKING.

Hay is not simply the dried stems and leaves of grasses
and clovers ; in other words, there is more than mere drying
required in making hay.

The first point is to cut the grasses and clovers which are
to form the hay, at the proper time, so as to have the largest
quantity of food. This time is immediately after flowering,
when the pollen has been shed, and before the seed has
begun to ripen. When a plant has shed its pollen and
ceased to flower it has reached its full growth, and it then
contains the maximum amount of feeding in it. No further
sustenance is derived from the soil to any appreciable extent,
but the fertilized ovules begin to swell and mature into ripe
seeds. The material which forms the seed is derived from
other parts of the plant, where it previously existed as starch,
sugar, &c., by a process of transition, so that the stems and
leaves lose all their succulent nutritious parts, and only the
woody fibre is left ; thus hay ripened for seed is not so good
for feeding as it would be if "green cut." As different
grasses ripen at different times, however, it is not possible
to catch all those in a mixture of " seeds," or in meadow hay,
at the proper stage, so that an average must be hit on. In
practice, of course, the state of the weather, and the forward-
ness of other work on the farm generally, have more to do
with the time of beginning to cut than anything else, but
strenuous endeavours should be made not to let the crop get
ripe, but rather cut green ; the aftermath will be all the better.

The turning, cocking, and piking are all preparatory to
getting the hay safe in the stack ; and as these depend on
the nature of the stuff and the state of the weather, it is
impossible to lay down rules. Everything is done for the
purpose of drying the fodder to prevent heating; but the
writer has seen more stuff spoiled firom being too dry, or from
getting too much weather, than from over-heating. If it has

been dried too much from actual sunshine it becomes hard,
brown, and wiry, and there is not enough of moisture left in
to start the " haying fermentation " (of which more anon) ; ii
it has been exposed to too much wet weather the juices (con-
taining sugar, soluble albumen, &c.) get washed out, especially
if the crop is tossed about much ; whilg, if it is lying in a
heap and wet, alcoholic fermentation is set up at the expense
of the sugar. The fragrance of grass and good hay is due
to the presence of a volatile organic principle known as
coumarine (C9Hg02), and this is dissolved out by the alcohol
in the presence of warm rain water. The green colouring
matter (chlorophyll) is also separated by alcohol, and becomes
yellow by oxidation when the swathe lies too long. Thus
the valuable food elements, the fragrance, and the colour of
the hay are all lost by weathering.

It is pretty much a matter of opinion as to whether a little
heating ("sweating") improves the quality of hay or not.
Circumstances differ ; horses and cattle generally relish it
better if the process has been properly done, while in some
markets — notably in London — the hay which has the appear-
ance and odour of tobacco finds the readiest sale. Over-
heating, however, will produce the same effect as weathering,
while it is deleterious to the animals that eat the stuff.
When a field of grass is cut the plants are, in a sense,
immediately killed ; but though a stalk of grass, as a whole,
ceases to live, yet the individual cells of which it is formed
still retain their vitality so long as the moisture and tempera-
ture are suitable. When the plant's connection with the root
is severed, a process called by Mr. Fry " intercellular oxida-
tion," or, in other words, " haying fermentation," takes place.
This oxidation is the cause of heating in stacks, and if not
overdone is a desirable state of matters. Its action is to
change starch into sugar, and this actually takes place in the
stems of the grasses. To this change is due the fragrance
of hay when half dried, and the avidity with which cattle eat
it at this stage.

When the stuff is completely dried, however, the cells are
killed by desiccation, and the action ceases. For this reason
over well-dried hay is a mistake, as the process of converting
the starch into sugar ought to go on in the rick, producing a
gentle heat if not overdone, and improving the flavour and
digestibility of the product. The point to be attended to,
therefore, is to put up the hay not too much dried, so that
the cells may be living and able to form sugar, but yet dry
enough to prevent oxidation or heating from going past the
sugar stage, and thus spoiling the stalk : keep it green,
fragrant, and with the maximum of sugar. The' way to do
this can only be learnt by experience.

ENSILAGE: SILOS AND STACKS.

47a

Ensilage: S>\hs aitlr Stacks.

Ensilage (Fr. sih, a pit) is a process of storing the various
grasses and other crops while green, and preserving them in
this condition for consumption by cattle during the winter
months. The system is said to be not so much a new idea as
one of the lost arts which has been improved and adapted to
the requirements of modern civilization — the process being
seemingly as old as the hills, though as a practice of modem
farming one of quite recent adoption. Green food, grass, and
even leaves, such as those of the mulberry, have been stored,
salted, and preserved in many countries, notably in Hungary
and in the Steppes of Russia, for all the years of this century;
and it is believed that Virgil refers to the process. It is,
however, only within the past few years that ensilage has been
tried on a large scale, and it was at the Chateau Burtin, in the
department Loir-et-Cher, France, that M. GofFart, in 1874,
pitted Indian corn in a cheap and satisfactory manner. From
time to time French agriculturists paid their visits of inspec-
tion, and some few followed the example, but the practice did
not become general; and it was reserved for Americans to
take up the " new fashion " with enthusiasm, to build im-
mense silos, and announce to the world that ensilage was the
best winter food for stock, and especially for milch cows.

Ensilage may be defined, in a few words, as simply the
placing of green herbage in a pit, which is termed a silo, and
in such position and circumstances as will first get rid of and
afterwards permanently exclude the destroying oxygen of the
atmosphere. The silo is made either above or below the
ground, or partly in and partly out of the ground. It ought
to be as far as possible air and water tight, and must be so
constructed as to admit of great superincumbent pressure on
the contents of the silo, this pressure being absolutely neces-
sary to get rid of the inclosed air. The silo is intended for
the storage and preservation of green forage, which may be
either wet or dry, and if properly constructed it allows of the
least possible change in substance of that which is packed in
it. The object of its construction is to supply the stock-
feeder and dairy farmer with nutritious food for his stock,
which can be secured independently of the state of the
weather, and be convenient of access at all seasons.

It has been found, however, that a pit or building is not
absolutely necessary, and that good ensilage may be made in
a stack above ground, provided some efficient means exists
of applying sufficient mechanical pressure to secure the
expulsion of the ^ir. Several methods of supplying this
pressure by mechanical means have been invented, some
of the simplest of which are here described. The best
3o*

guide to the amount of pressure required is the temperature of
the material, which is lowered in proportion as the pressure is
increased. Mr. H. Kains-Jackson recommends that it should
be kept between 120° and 130° Fahr. The following table of
temperatures and their coiTesponding products will, he con-
siders, be a pretty reliable guide in ordinary practice : —

Under 120° — " Sour " silage (more or less).
From 120" to 130"— Slightly acid.
From 130° to 140° — " Sweet " green silage.
From 140° to 160°— "Sweet" brown silage.
Over 160°- Burnt.

The direct application of weights to compress ensilage is
most applicable to silos which are more or less sunk below
the ground level. The silo being filled and the material
well trodden down, it is covered with boards, and the weights,
whether stones, earth, or any other material, placed upon

Fig. 1.

^'p77:rLgimCT^\ ^ \\j^

m:

0//////liiTM \\\\\\\

these until the required compression is obtained. It has
been found advantageous to cover the ensilage with a layer
of bran immediately beneath the boards.

The chain-and-screw system of compression is applicable
either to silos or stacks. In fig. 1 we give an illustration of
this system as applied to a brick-lined silo sunk below the

474

ENSILAGE: SILOS AND STACKS.

ground level, by the patentees, Messrs. F. W. Reynolds
& Co., Engineers, Blackfriars Road, London. One of the

Fig. --i.

walls is removed to show the position of the chains, th'3 lr>wer
ends of which are secured to metal plates sunk in the ground
or in concrete, or else attached to beams at the foot of the
walls Thence they are led up close to the inside of the
walls in pairs, and when the silo has been filled are brought
over movable puUeys on the ends of wooden pressure-beams,
which rest across a quantity of stout boards with which the
silage is covered, as shown in the figure. These beams are
generally made of two deals, 9 inches deep by 3 inches thick,
with distance-pieces nailed between them, so as to give
strength combined with lightness. For covering-boards for
the silage, 7x2 inch battens are sufficient, and they should
not be so close that the air cannot easily escape. A coupling
screw, or chain-tightener, is now applied to any suitable link
of each of the two opposite chains, and on turning the screw
pressure is applied, causing the chain and covering-boards to
sink, and so compress the material below them. When the
chain-tightener has been screwed up as far as it will go, a
pin is inserted above the pressure-beam at each end, passing
through a link of each chain, so that on releasing the screw-
tightener the pressure is retained on the beam. The tiglitener
can now be run out again, and made to take a fi-esh hold on
the chains for further compression, or it may be removed,
along with the two pulleys, to another beam. The one
tightener and two movable pulleys are sufficient to tighten
up any number of chains. A man of average strength is
capable of putting a strain of 4 tons on the chain, which, by
means of the pulleys, becomes 8 tons of pressure on the beam.

It is stated that a surface pressure of 200 pounds upon each
square foot of upper surface of the silage is found to be the
best for preserving it. To produce this pressure
■_ _ each beam should command 90 square feet of

^~ surface of the silo, an extra beam being used for

each additional 90 square feet or portion of 90
square feet. If it should be desired to arrange
the apparatus to give a greater or less surface
pressure than 200 pounds per square foot, it is
only necessary to place the beams nearer together
or further apart, so that they command a smaller
or greater area. In fig. 2 the same system of
compression is shown as applied to a silage stack.
This is, of course, less costly than a silo, requir-
ing no permanent buildings, but there is a loss
of material where the air has access to it at the
outsides of the stack. It is, however, claimed
by some experimenters that this loss can be pre-
vented by dressing the outsides of the stack with
salt to the depth of eight or ten inches. The
stacks are built in the ordinary way, the chains
being securely anchored in the ground, attached
to sleepers or rough pieces of timber When
the stack is finished the covering-boards and
crossbeams are placed on the top, and pressure
applied with the screw -tightener in the way
previously described. The illustration shows the
edges of a waterproof cover or of strips of felt
J!'i£. a.

^;m^^y^:

projecting

laid under the covering boards to keep off the rain. Stacks
with sloped or rounded tops may also be pressed by a modi-

ENSILAGE: SILOS AND STACKS.

475

fication in the form of the pressure-beams, so as to admit of
the stack being roofed or thatched.

Somewhat similar in principle is the " Johnson " system
of pressure, with wire-ropes wound on ratchet-drums, for
which the agents in Great Britain and Ireland are the
Aylesbury Dairy Co., 31 St. Petersburg Place, Bayswater,
London. This system is applied to ensilage stacks, and its
chief feature is the ratchet-drum, of which we give a repre-
sentation in fig. 3. The apparatus consists of two or more
pairs of such drums placed exactly opposite each other on
either side of the stack, and of wire-ropes attached to both
of each pair of drums, and passing over the top of the stack.
The ropes are tightened by means of a lever fitted with two
pawls for engaging with the rack-teeth of the drums, as shown
in fig. 4. Each set of teeth on the drums is also provided

Fig. 4

with a pawl, so that the drum is held in the position it has
reached until the next stroke of the lever brings it round to
another tooth. The framing or foundation of the stack con-
sists of as many timbers as there are pairs of drums. These
are let into the ground so that the upper sides are level
with the surface, and are placed 3 feet apart from centre to
centre. They must be long enough to project 2
feet beyond each side of the stack, and should be
8 inches deep and not less than 6 inches wide,
and the top surface should be flat, so as to re-
ceive an 11-inch by 3-inch plank laid flat across
the ends the full length of the stack for the
drums to rest upon, as shown in section in fig. 5.
A few pieces of rough wood, such as usually form
part of a stack bottom, may be placed across this
frame lengthwise, and close inside the 11 by 3-inch
plank, to prevent the timbers from being forced
up into the stack. The spaces between those
rough pieces should be well filled with earth, so
as to make a perfectly level bottom. The ratchet-
drums are secured to the wooden framework by
bolts, which pass clean through the 3-inch plank
and the 8-inch timbers, as shown in fig. 5.
Suitable lengths of galvanized steel wire-rope
are supplied with each pair of drums. These
ropes, which pass over the stack, as shown in fig. 5, are
fastened to the drums by passing about 4 inches of the
ends through the holes in the drum-faces. When in use the
ropes should not be allowed to lap on themselves or the drums.

The length of the lever is so adjusted that a man pressing
with a weight of 8 stones upon it puts a pressure of 3 tons on
each ratchet-drum. As these drums are placed with a space
of 3 feet between each pair, a stack 17 feet in width has a

Fig. 6.

III I.' "" ' ' ' ;' ' ' 'ill' li'iri Jirii lulii". i I '. Li' I !

111

pressure of about 250 lbs. per square foot Alter the cro]) is
stacked the wire-ropes should be attended to every day for
the first few days, and should always be kept as tight as a
man can make them.

The lever system of pressure differs from those above
described in making use of weights; but these, in place of
being deposited on the top of tlie silage, are attached to levers,
by means of which the pressure exerted is greatly increased,
and the weight required correspondingly diminished. Fig.
6 represents an ensilage stack with Blunt's Screw and Lever
Ensilage Press, as manufactured by the Ensilage Press Co.
of Leicester. The fulcrum beams A A are sunk in the ground,
so as to be level with it. A number of strong boards are

Fig. 6.

laid across the fulcrum beams to serve as a foundation for the
stack, and to prevent the beams being drawn up into the
same. The staples B for the levers c are securely fastened
by nuts and screws to the beams a a, as near to the side of

476

ENSILAGE: SILOS AND STACKS.

the stack as possible at one end, and 6 inches further from
the sides at the other end, so as to allow the levers to cross
each other. To keep the pressure on when the ensilage is
being used, a third fulcrum beam A a is placed about the
middle of the stack, so that the staples may be removed, and
the crossbeam worked from the centre when found necessary.
Before putting the press on, it should be seen that the
sides of the stack are level all round, and fairly solid, and

Fig. 7.

rather higher than the middle. The beams d d d are then
placed on the ensilage 20 to 30 inches apart, and the cross-
beams E E (which may be made of two beams with distance
pieces between them) placed as shown in the figure. Each
crossbeam is placed in such a position that the iron stiiTup
when hanging down shall be one foot from the corresponding
fulcrum staple. The iron rod F with block attached is passed
through the crossbeam, the wooden lever G is placed in the
stirrup at the end of the rod, and the short end of the lever
is caught under the fulcrum staple B. The levers are then
screwed up into position by means of the wheel and screw,
and weighted by attaching the boxes 1 1 to the longer ends,
which boxes may be filled with stones or other weights. If
tlie sides sink more rapidly than the middle, the crossbeam
will bend and may break. In such a case blocks D^ D' should
be placed between the crossbeam E and the beam D, at the
edge of the stack. To remove silage from the stack for con-
sumption, the levers are lowered by the screw until the pres-
sure is taken off. The beams D are then driven back from
the end of the stack as far as necessary, and the silage is cut
from top to bottom. The pressure can then be again applied.
This can be repeated until aU is consumed up to the cross-

beam, which, with the staples, must then be removed to the
centre fulcrum beam A a, and the cutting can be continued
as before. The mode of applying this system to a round
stack is shown in fig. 7, in which the reference letters denote
the same parts as in fig. 6.

The anxiety, expense, and risk which haymaking involves
in our uncertain climate, especially in the case of late meadow
hay, are all (it is claimed by the advocates of this system),
swept away by a process which renders the farmer perfectly
independent of the weather, and also provides a forage which
cattle prefer to hay, and on which they thrive better. At a
dairy conference in 1886, Sir John Lawes said — " It is pro-
bable that when both (hay and ensilage) are of the very best
quality that can be made, if part of the grass is cut and placed
in a silo, and another part secured in the stack without rain,
one might prove as good food as the other. But it must be
borne in mind that while the production of good hay is a
matter of uncertainty — from the elements of success being
beyond the control of the fanner — good silage, by taking
proper precautions, can he made loith certainty." It
is, however, claimed by the chief advocates of ensil-
age, that it more nearly approaches the qualities of
fresh grass than any other preserved fodder, and in
support of this view may be quoted the following
analysis of grass and of ensilage made from it, by
Dr. J. A. Voelcker on behalf of the Royal Agricultural
Society : —

Grass.

Silage.

Water,

. 73-67

72^51

Soluble albumiuoids,

•21

•65

Insoluble albuminoids, .

. 1-94

•83

Digestible fibre, ....

. 8-64

7^64

Woody fibre, ....

7-36

7-93

Soluble carbo-hydrates, chlorophyl, &c.,

. 6-38

7^42

Soluble mineral matter,

. 1-19

1-55

Insoluble mineral matter.

■61

•76

Volatile acids, ....

—

•36

Non-volatile acids, . ...

—

•35

10000

100-00

Total nitrogen, ....

•42

-51

Albuminoid nitrogen.

•34

■24

Non-albuminoid nitrogen.

•08

•27

M. Goffart, to whom we have already referred, was the first
to publish a work on the subject, and an English translation
of it was brought out in America in 1879. The system was
at once widely adopted in the State of New York, and in
1882 an ensilage conference was held, at which samples of
stored forage were exhibited, chiefly maize, clover, rye, and
various grasses. Some of those present suggested the pro-
priety of ensilaging nitrogenous fodder, such as rye and clover
together, in order that cattle might be fed on the product
without grain. Others recommended that pease, oats, maize,
and vetches might also be ensilaged together. So important
was the process considered in its bearings on British agricul-
ture, that in 1885 a select Commission was appointed by the
British Government to take evidence and collect reliable in-
formation on the subject. They issued an interim report in
August, 1885, and a final report in March, 1886, both of
which we give here.

ENSILAGE: SILOS AND STACKS.

477

PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE ENSILAGE COMMISSION.

The CommiBsioners have, up to the present time, held eleven
sittings and examined thirty-eight witnesses, comprising among
their number owners and occupiers of landed estates and their
agents, tenant farmers, designers and inventors of different
forms of silos, or of different systems of applying the neces-
sary weights to stacked or ensiled green fodder, chemists, and
authors of pamphlets on the general subject. They have also
had the advantage of hearing the views of Sir John Bennett
Lawes, whose eminent knowledge of all matters relating to
the chemistry of agriculture, combined with the fact that his
published opinions on the process of ensilage have been re-
garded as unfavourable to the system, has rendered his evi-
dence of great value and interest.

Tlie Commissioners have by no means desired to exclude
unfavourable evidence; on the contrary, they have endeavoured
to induce some of those who were believed to be opposed to
the system to give them the benefit of their opinions, but they
have so far heard no expression of any decidedly unfavourable
views. The evidence tendered has been entirely voluntary,
all witnesses attending at their own expense.

The evidence of all those who have practically tested the
various methods of converting green fodder crops into pre-
served food for animals without putting them through any
process of drying, such as is necessary in the making of
hay, has, without exception, established their claims to a con-
siderable amount of success ; and although, in some cases,
the results have been evidently more satisfactory than in
others, the advantages which the diflferent operators, one and
all, have claimed for their systems seem to show that a
nourishing and useful food for animals can be preserved, in-
dependently of any drying process, within wide lines of diverg-
ence in the details of the methods adopted.

It has been conclusively shown that, by different degrees of
weighting and of expulsion and exclusion of atmospheric air
from the material stacked or ensiled, different degrees of heat,
and of consequent chemical change, are produced.

The degree to which such chemical changes increase or
diminish the feeding value of the silage itself or its relative
value in comparison to the green crop, is, in the present state
of knowledge, in great measure a matter of opinion, and care-
ful feeding experiments conducted with a view to test the
exact effect of these changes will be highly important to a
solution of this question.

Silage which has been covered in immediately after cutting,
and not again uncovered, has been shown to retain its colour
and freshness, although developing small quantities of certain
acids indicative of a process of fermentation, without any con-

siderable accession of heat. Other silage which has been put
in at intervals, and from which the air has not been immedi-
ately or entirely excluded, has undoubtedly developed con-
siderable lieat, and in this case the colouring matter of the
leaves has been less well preserved. Yet in both cases a use-
ful feeding material has been rendered available which, in
unfavourable weather, would have been practically lost if any
attempt had been made to convert it into hay.

Bearing in mind the importance of economy, the Commis-
sioners have inquired into the efficiency of various sys-
tems of stacking unchaffed green fodder crops without dry-
ing, by which it has been contended that, with a proper
system of pressure, the necessity for a silo can be done away
with.

The Commissioners are not at present prepared to express
any opinion upon the economy of any such system, or to
compare its advantages with those which are claimed by
the advocates of chaffed and close-stored silage; but it
seems to be established that a temperature sufficiently higli
to involve danger of fire can be controlled by a proper
and efficient system of applying weight to the stack of green
fodder.

The different systems of applying weight have greatly occu-
pied the attention of the Commissioners, but as the quality
of the silage does not appear to be materially affected by this
question, it becomes simply one of economy, and may safely
for the present, be left to each operator to decide lor himself
according to the special circumstances affecting the particular
locality in which his farm is situated.

Some of the best samples of chaffed silage have been pro-
duced with pressure not exceeding 70 lbs. per superficial foot,
but the degree to which weighting is necessary or desirable
remains to be decided upon the greatest amount of evi-
dence that may become available to us. Good results are
claimed to have been obtained by means of weights vary-
ing from 7 to 300 lbs. per superficial foot on the top of the
silage.

The experience of dairy farmers does not appear to justify
the assertion which has been more or less circulated, that
dairy produce is in any way injuriously affected by silage
as food ; on the contrary, much valuable evidence has been
received to show that the feeding of cows with well-made
silage distinctly improves the yield of milk and cream, and
the quality of butter.

Where complaints have arisen of milk becoming tainted,
the cause has been, in our opinion, traceable to its having
been in proximity with strong-smelling silage, or with per-

478

ENSILAGE: SILOS AND STACKS.

sons who have handled it, rather than to the use of such
material as food.

The Commissioners have already heard sufficient evidence
to justify them in encouraging the development of the system
of storing undried green fodder crops as a valuable auxiliary
to farm practice. In addition to other advantages, the losses
occurring through weather unfavourable to haymaking may
be avoided, and some crops not hitherto grown in this country
on account of the impossibility of ripening their seed (such
as certain varieties of maize), may probably be successfully
cultivated in certain districts, to the increase of our present

means of feeding various kinds of live stock on arable oi
partly arable farms.

Walsingham (Chairman).
H. A. Brassey.
A. M. Cardwell.
Drogheda.
n. eckersley.
Egerton of Tatton.
J. S. Gathorne-Hardy.
Wm. J. Harris.
Mitchell Henry.
James Howard.

H. Kains-Jackson.
Nigel Kingscote.
C. DE L. Faunce de Laune.
J. C. Lawrance.
Peter M'Lagan.
Fredk. Marshall.
Henry Eobinson.
Stanhope Tollemache.
Jacob Wilson.

PINAL REPORT OF THE ENSILAGE COMMISSION.

1. The Commissioners in their Preliminary Report have
already expressed the opinion that the system of storing un-
dried green fodder crops is a valuable auxiliary to farm prac-
tice. The questions, for what reasons and to what extent it is
so, are simply and entirely questions of economy. A number
of different considerations affect the answers to these ques-
tions.

2. The primary object to be aimed at in the storage of
crops is the preservation to the greatest possible degree of the
nutritive properties which they contain. It will be obvious
that, however perfectly this may be done, the value of the
results attained should be estimated only in connection with
the expense incurred in securing those results. If the cost
of preserving the largest possible proportion of nutriment per
acre be found to amount to a serious deduction from the final
value to the farmer of the crop which he grows, it becomes a
question how far he may be justified in incurring loss by waste
or by deterioration in order to reduce the expense of the pro-
cess. The value to a farmer of silage, as of other food, must
depend, in the first place, upon what consumable or market-
able commodities it enables him to produce ; and, secondly,
upon the actual expense incurred in securing the requisite de-
gree of perfection in the food itself.

3. The products to be considered may be briefly classed
under three heads — meat, milk, and manure. The quantity
and quality of these products must depend directly upon the
chemical constituents of the food given to animals, as well as
upon the degree in which such food is palatable and easy of
assimilation; and, therefore, indirectly upon the mechanical
means employed to render that food available, in so far as
mechanical means affect the changes to which it is liable.

4. The scientific chemist claims to estimate by analysis the
value of the different constituents of the dead matter of various
food plants. He can evaporate the water and critically ex-
amine the residue, clearly determining what proportion of so-
called fat-forming, bone-forming, and flesli-forming matter it
contains. The practical farmer, on the other hand, estimates
by observation the general effect of such food-plants, in dif-

ferent conditions of preservation, upon the growth and de-
velopment of the animals to which he gives them.

5. It has been made plain to us throughout this inquiry
that there is a general consensus of opinion among practical
farmers who have adopted the system of ensilage, that the
results are of much economic value, and in this respect their
experience must be admitted to be somewhat more favourable
to ensilage than the not very sanguine estimates formed, in
the first instance, by scientific authorities. It is admitted that
all known methods of chemical analysis involve a destruction
of the perfect natural distribution of water throughout the
cellular tissue of plant-life, and that this distribution cannot
be re-established by the subsequent addition of a similar
quantity of water to the dry residue. We think it possible
that this fact has not been sufficiently regarded in estimating
the feeding value of different kinds of forage.

6. It has not been proved to our satisfaction that any
chemical change occurring in the process of ensilage increases
the value for feeding purposes of the plant preserved ; except
in so far as it may render it more palatable or more easy of
assimilation. We think that the object to be striven for is to
retain the crop, whatever it may be, up to the time of feeding
with it, as nearly as possible in its natural condition as at the
time of cutting.

7. No feeding experiments at present carried out have gone
so far as to prove that the beneficial effect to farm stock of
preserved forage is equal to that of the same forage in a con-
dition of life and growth, although in the case of many kinds
of silage they undoubtedly consume it more readily.

8. The question thus arises, what is the method by which
forage may be preserved subject to the least possible change ?

9. Chemical change, as affecting vegetable matter, requires
the presence of moisture and air. The degree in which such
change becomes destructive is dependent upon the influence
of these elements, in so far as they promote oxidation and
fermentation.

10. A certain amount of moisture is practically unavoidable,
and is, moreover, inseparable from the chief advantages of the

ENSILAGE: SILOS AND STACKS.

479

system of ensilage. Excessive heat in a silo or stack can
only arise by excess of oxidation, and must therefore be con-
trolled by the exclusion, as far as possible, of air. The various
meana whereby this can be most completely eSected form tlie
first and most important part of the subject.

11. Among tlie plans of silos which have been submitted
to us, those which consist of external walls, either above or
below ground, whether of concrete, or of stone, brick, or clay
lump, cemented within, appear to be the most efficient ; but
in all cases the absence of air depends upon two conditions :
first, upon its expulsion from the mass of forage ensiled, and
secondly, upon its exclusion when this is covered. Whatever
may be put into a silo, it should be thoroughly well trodden
in, and rammed down at the edges into a compact mass ; with
this object the advantage of rounding off the corners has been
impressed upon us by some witnesses. Compression is greatly
facilitated by first passing the material through a chaff-cutter,
as the longer stalks of unchaffed herbage occupy a greater
space and oppose more resistance to the expulsion of air. To
secure the exclusion of the outer air, it has been found useful
to cover the mass with close-fitting boarded lids or shutters,
in one or more divisions, with ■ a layer of bran, sawdust, or
earth above them ; air-tight roofs or covers have also been
used Bran, being itself a useful feeding substance for sub-
sequent admixture with the forage, may be recommended as
cleanly and unobjectionable. Weights, being required above
this layer to keep the mass compact, may be applied either in
the form of any convenient dead weight, such as bricks, boxes
or baskets of stones, &c., or of mechanical pressure exercised
by means of various systems of chains, screws, or levers. In-
stances are known of silos being successfully weighted without
the use of boards, by simply covering the ensiled material
with rushes, ferns, or other waste substances, and above these
with dry earth or sand to the depth of nine inches or a foot.
Where a silo can be filled at one time, and where there is no
intention of reopening it for additions, dead weights appear
to be the most economical. But where the coverings have
to be removed to compensate by addition for waste of space
through shrinkage, the value of mechanical appliances becomes
apparent. To avoid the necessity of refilling, a super-silo, or
false silo, removable at will, consisting of a screw-bolted,
boarded structure, fitted above the coping of the silo proper,
has in some cases been usefully employed. By filling to the
top of this, sufficient space is allowed so that the silo itself
may still be full after shrinkage, which should not amount
to more than one-fourth of the bulk, if the material be chaffed
and well trodden when first put in.

12. The system above described can be followed out by
means of newly-constructed buildings above or partly above
ground, which should cost not more than 15s. to 30s. for every
ton of their contents ; but this estimate must necessarily vary
according to their size, and according to the cost of labour and
materials in different localities.

13. If old buildings, such as barns, sheds, ice-houses, &c.,
be converted for the purpose, the cost of conversion will pro-

bably vary from 8s. to 12s. per ton contained, according to the
work required.

14. Where old chalk pits are available, a long trench cut
back into the soil, with a sliding roof, enabling it to be filled
from the surface, while emptied from the level of the bottom
of the pit, should not cost more than from 8s. to 14s. per ton
contained, according to what lining of brick or cement it may
require, in all cases exclusive of the cost of any system of
weighting. These figures are necessary to enable us to con-
trast the advantages of such a system with those of other and
cheaper methods.

15. Expense can be saved on three items connected witii
the preservation of green forage— viz. (1) on chaffing, should
this be regarded as unnecessary; (2) on treading and ram-
ming where it is not desired thoroughly to expel the air ;
(3) by dispensing with the structure of the silo itself, the cost
of which is a serious objection to many tenant farmers, and
storing the forage in stacks under heavy pressure.

16. The saving on the first of these items may be taken
roughly at Is. per ton, and in the case of meadow grass as
good results are claimed to be obtained by the storing of un-
chaffed crops as by the alternative method. Owing, however,
to the greater amount of air left in the silo, it will be found
that most unchaffed materials have a greater tendency to heat,
and therefore to undergo chemical change, more perceptibly
varying their condition from that of the growing crop. What-
ever advantage is to be derived from the facility with which
chaffed silage can be mixed with dry straw, hay-chaff, or other
food when given to animals, is sacrificed by storing it in an
unchaffed condition, unless it be subsequently passed through
the chaff-cutter when taken out for use, which cannot usually
be done with equal facility.

17. If any saving be effected on the item for treading and
ramming, the operator must be prepared to expect far greater
chemical change in the material ensiled, unless greater ex-
pense be incurred in administering external pressure to the
mass, whether by hydraulic or other mechanical means.

18. In the system of stacking there will usually be found
to be not only such increased chemical change as must arise
from the development of a considerable degree of heat in the
mass, but also a very appreciable waste on the outside of tlie
stack, where decomposition, through the unavoidable ingress
of air, must to some extent occur. This will be found to
constitute a loss, seldom less, and frequently much more, than
5 per cent, of the mass of the material, even in large stacks.
The stack which gained the prize offered by the Eoyal Agri-
cultural Society must at present be regarded as a remarkable
instance of the minimum of external loss.

19. Another consideration affects the question of stacking _
but the available data are not at present sufficient to form'
an estimate of the degree of importance which it assumes.
Whereas in close-built silos, if the amount of moisture con-
tained in the forage when carried be not greater than can
be evenly distributed and retained throughout the mass by
capillary attraction, no occasion need arise for drainage, and

480

ENSILAGE: SILOS AND STACKS.

thus the loss of valuable constituents of the food arising from
this cause, whatever such loss may amount to, can be avoided.
In a stack there is no means of preventing drainage, and with
it the loss of whatever value may attach to the expressed
juices of the forage under the influence of the weight
applied.

20. In order to contrast the most perfect system by which
green fodder crops can be preserved as nearly as possible in
their natural condition, as when cut, with other systems which
less perfectly effect that object, and with a view to determine,
at least approximately, the money loss which different degrees
of imperfection represent, it is first necessary to establisli what
are the precise advantages gained by the process of ensilage
in its highest degree of efficiency.

21. The advantages which are claimed for the process may
be classed under three heads : —

1. In rendering the farmer independent of weather in saving

his crops.

2. In inc easing the productive capabilities of farms :

(a) In greater weight of forage saved.

(i) In greater available variety and rotation of

crops,
(c) In increased facility for storage.

3. In connection with feeding :

(a) Dairy stock.
(6) Breeding stock.

(c) Store stock.

(d) Fattening stock.

(e) Farm horses.

1. Independence of weather in saving Crops.

22. In this respect it has been abundantly proved to us
that ensilage is of great economic value.

In Scotland, in Ireland, and in the north and west of Eng-
land, few seasons occur in which more or less difficulty is not
experienced in reducing green fodder crops to a sufficiently
dry condition for stacking in the ordinary way. This is es-
pecially the case with second crops of clover and aftermath.
The loss occurring through ineffectual attempts to dry such
crops, or through their inferior condition when carried, is
often very considerable, and it is obvious that any system
which enables a farmer to store these in good condition for
future use must be a great saving of expense and anxiety.
It has been objected that the cost of carting green forage,
when fresh cut, must necessarily be heavier, owing to its
greater weight, than the cost of carting the same when dried
in the field. The evidence received tends to show that this
disadvantage is amply counterbalanced, in the majority of
seasons, by the saving of expense in the turning and making
of hay, and in the certainty which the system affords that the
men engaged will be required only for such time as is neces-
sary to carry the crop as it is cut.

2. Advantages in increasing the Productive Capabilities

of Farms.

(a) In greater weight of Forage saved.

23. It is obvious that unless the forage in a weighty con-
dition be of more feeding value per acre than when saved in a
less weighty form, there can be no gain to the farmer. It
has been contended that the loss of weight in the process of
drying is simply loss of water by evaporation, and that by
avoiding this nothing is saved. If such were truly the case,
dry forage should give the same feeding results per acre as
green forage. No practical farmer would contend that it does
so, and the difference is especially noticeable in the case of
dairy stock. So far as we have been able to ascertain the
opinion of competent men on this subject, we estimate the
value of green forage well preserved in a silo at somewhat
more than one-third, weight for weight, of the value of the
same material made into hay' under favourable conditions.
The very wide difference of value between good and bad
silage cannot be too strongly insisted upon. It is found that
grass well preserved in a silo, after deduction for loss, will
yield approximately five times the weight of the same grass
made into hay. We have, therefore, say, five tons of silage,
whicli, taken at one-third the value of hay per ton, yields
a profit of over 60 per cent, as compared with one ton of hay.
If we take it at one-fourth it still leaves a profit of 25 per cent.

24. Any waste that may occur to reduce the weight of
nutritious forage, whether by evaporation or by excess of
chemical change, must necessarily affect this calculation, which
is based upon the highest degree of perfect preservation so
far known to be attainable.

(b) In greater available variety and rotation of Crops.

25. By the process of ensilage many crops can be preserved
which would not otherwise be found profitable if used in the
form of green forage. Rye, oats, millet, maize, barley, and
even wheat, if cut about the time of attaining their full de-
velopment, but before the seed begins to harden, have been
successfully used as food for cattle through the medium of the
silo. Such of these crops as are found to reach the required
condition before the middle of June, if cut before that time,
will leave the land free for a second sowing, and thus in-
crease its capabilities of annual production, while maintaining
the fertility of the soil. Where land is well treated, maize,
buckwheat, or in some parts of England also turnips, can be
sown after green rye or oats are cut and caiTied, and thus
a second crop may be secm-ed for preservation in the silo
or for consumption by sheep on the land.

(c) In increased facility for Storage.

26. This advantage has been forcibly impressed upon us.
It enables farmers to guard themselves against emergencies,
such as frequently arise in our climate through prolonged
cold in February, March, and April, causing great scarcity
of food for cattle and sheep where the supply of roots is in-
adequate.

ENSILAGE: SILOS AND STACKS.

481

3. Advantages connected with Feeding.

(a) Dairy Stock.

27. We have received the strongest evidence of the un-
doubted advantage of the system for the feeding of dairy stock.
The effect of dry winter food given to such stock has always
been to reduce in quantity and to deteriorate in quality milk,
cream, and butter, as compared with the same products result-
ing from green summer food. Although the degree of per-
fection attainable in summer has not been reached, it has been
at least much more nearly approached by ensilage than by the
use of hay and other dry foods, while at the same time the
objections inseparable from the employment of roots for this
purpose have been overcome. A sensible improvement in the
colour of butter has been especially noticed. Where the pro-
cess has been properly carried out without destructive fermen-
tation, no trace of disagreeable flavour has been detected in
dairy products except such as has been traceable to external
proximity or contact of these products with the food supplied.
Since there is reason to believe that the somewhat pungent
smell of forage thus preserved, varying in degree according
to its nature and quality, does communicate some taint to
dairy products when brought under its influence, care should
be taken to keep these separate, and that the vessels used for
the dairy should not be left where the food is stored or
handled.

(J) Breeding Stock.

28. Green fodder preserved by ensilage has been success-
fully employed in feeding sheep and cattle, at tlie time of
breeding, and as it has been shown to increase the flow of
milk, it will undoubtedly be found useful for this purpose,
although the proportion of its admixture with other kinds of
food must always require care and judgment.

(c) Store Stock.

29. It forms a complete and wholesome food for store stock.

(rf) Fattening Stock.

30. The value of this process for the purpose of forming
flesh and fat has not yet perhaps been so widely demonstrated
as in the case of dairy produce. At the same time the results
attained show that it compares favourably with the use of
roots, and, if given in proper proportions with other food, it
affords a cheap substitute for the same bulk, which would
otherwise be required in some different form. The advantage
of its use is most apparent in the degree to which it enables
a farmer profitably to consume straw chaff, rough hay chpff,
and other dry materials, which, without admixture with some

3p*

kind of moist food, would not be palatable or advantageous to
the growth of stock.

(e) Farm Horses.

31.

Strong as the evidence has been of the advantage ol
ensilage for keeping all stock in healthy condition, farm
horses have by no means been excepted. We have received
highly satisfactory accounts from several quarters of the
health of working teams when given a limited proportion of
silage mixed with other food.

32. As in the case of all important innovations, it is not
surprising that the introduction of the system of ensilage into
this country has been met by a considerable amount of pre-
judice and incredulity. During the progress of our inquiry
we have endeavoured amply to discount all exaggerated esti-
mates of its merits. After summing up the mass of evidence
which has reached us, we can without hesitation aSirm that
it has been abundantly and conclusively proved to our satis-
faction that this system of preserving green i odder crops pro-
mises great advantages to the practical farmer, and if carried
out with a reasonable amount of care and efficiency, should
not only provide him with the means of insuring himself to
a great extent against unfavourable seasons, and of materially
improving the quantity and quality of his dairy produce, but
should also enable him to increase appreciably the number of
live stock that can be profitably kept upon any given acreage,
whether of pasture or arable land ; and proportionately the
amount of manure available to fertilize it.

33. We would conclude by expressing our thanks to the
numerous witnesses and correspondents who have gratuitously
supplied us with valuable information, and by commending
to the grateful consideration of the agricultural public the
name of one of our members, Mr. H. Kains-Jackson, at whose
initiative, and through whose exertions, this inquiry was in-
stituted, and has been conducted to its present conclusion.
We are also indebted to the Agricultural Department of the
Office of Her Majesty's Privy Council for the special facilities
they have afforded us in our labours.

Walsinqham (Chairman).
H. A. Brassey.
A. M. Cardwell.
Drogheda.
n. eckersley.
Egerton of Tatton.
J. S. Gathorne-Hardy.
Wm. J. Harris.
Mitchell Henry.
James Howard.

H. Kains-Jackson.
Nigel Kingscote.
C. DE L. Faunce de Laune.
J. C. Lawrance.
Peter M'Lagan.
Fredk. Marshall.
Henry Robinson.
Stanhope Tollemachb
Jacob Wilsos'

482

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

Clje fraclia 0f ^^eep-Jf arming,

By CHARLES SCOTT,

ADTHOK OF BLACKFACED SHEEP, ETC

INTRODUCTORY.

From the earliest times the value of the sheep has been |
appreciated by the human race. It is supposed to have been
the first animal domesticated for the use of man, and we read ■
in almost the first pages of the oldest records that a man's
possessions or wealth were computed by the number of his
flocks and herd." It does not appear, however, that in those
times sheep were valued much as an article of food. They
were principally regarded on account of their wool ; and
doubtless they held much the same position with the ancients
as they now do in some parts of the world where the species
is still unimproved, or where they are yet reared solely on
account of their wool.

With regard to the earliest existence of sheep in Britain
we have no authentic record. They were not much known
until after the invasion of the Romans, and it may be pre-
sumed that previous to that time sheep either did not exist at
all in this country, or only occupied a very insignificant posi-
tion. Julius Csesar never alludes in the most distant manner
to the sheep, or the employment of its wool, when he describes
the habits and employments of the inhabitants of Britain.
But the conquerors soon turned their attention to the improve-
ment of the country, and established a woollen manufactory
at Winchester, which produced cloths that equalled any
other in the Roman Empire. In later years, as the feudal
system declined, the quantity of the sylvan game decreased,
and better laws were made for the protection of property,
the attention of the flockmaster was directed more to the
improvement of the carcase than the fleece. It was not,
however, until the middle of the last century that any real
progress in sheep husbandry was efi"ected. Previous to that
time farming had been exceedingly primitive, and more
especially in the breeding of stock. But as more peaceful
times began to dawn, so did agricultural pursuits begin to
receive greater attention. Sheep, which formerly were reared
in an almost wild condition, were now more thoroughly
domesticated, and counted upon as a source of industry and
wealth by the farmer They became more and more an
article of food, and have now for fully a century been bred
and reared more on account of their mutton than for their
wool. The day has long passed when wool-growing of itself
could be made profitable. We cannot compete with the
colonies and foreign lands, where limitless grazings aflford

a cheaper and more congenial opportunity for the production
of this staple.

The sheep being adapted for every locality in the British
Isles, it received much attention from the farmer, because it
could be raised with greater ease, and in situations where
other animals could not exist ; making a better return than
other animals, as supplying to the nation a staple article
of food, and giving employment to thousands of artisans by
converting its wool into manufactured goods. Where Nature
is left to herself she always produces animals suitable to her
vegetation, from the smallest sheep in the highest mountains
to the largest sort on the richest pastures. But good hus-
bandry admits of our increasing the value of the one in
pror)ortion to that of the other ; and as improvement in the
production of the soil has progressed, so have improved
breeds of sheep come into existence. The flesh and wool
of the sheep are but the products of the soil, and contain
only what has existed in the plants which the sheep have
consumed. Thus it comes that we have so many different
sizes and breeds of sheep. Soil and climate exert an all-
powerful influence on the character of the animals which
inhabit any particular locality; and by great care and observ-
ance of these facts, man has been successful in propagating
and distributing various breeds over the face of a variously
constituted soil, until it may now be said that every descrip-
tion of soil and climate has its own variety of sheep.

Sheep-keeping is, after all, but a means to an end, that
end being the conversion of the green crops of the farm into
marketable produce. It subserves, at the same time, the
double purpose of maintaining and increasing the fertility of
the soil. But before stock can be kept, there must be some
crops grown to feed them. In too many cases, however, it
is found easier to grow cattle crops than to dispose of them
with profit. Simple as farming seems to be, it presents a
peculiar difficulty in the secondary manufacture which is in-
volved in the feeding of stock. This is the most important,
as well as the most difficult, branch of farming. Crops that
can only be disposed of by selling them to the live stock of
the farm, have no determinable value until realized in the
meat, wool, and manure which are in turn produced. This
secondary manufacture, moreover, with all its uncertainty,
is not carried on without much additional outlay of both time
and capital, which must needs be reckoned in taking account
of the raw crops. It is one of the reasons why meat manu-

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

483

facture on pasture land with a smaller head of stock, is
oftentimes more profitable than sheep - feeding on arable
land.

The ways and means by which sheep husbandry can be
made profitable require years of practical study, just as any
other business must be learned before the man engaging iu
it can reasonably expect to master it. It is supposed by
many that sheep are more easily managed than most other
farm stock. They fancy that sheep can very well take care
of themselves, and any further attention is simply waste of
time and labour. Those, however, who entertain such ideas
are very greatly mistaken. Indeed there are no other animals
on the farm more difficult to manage than sheep, and there
are none which will so quickly respond to the treatment they
receive, be it good, bad, or indifferent. Single animals, such
as the horse or cow, for example, are much more easily taken
care of than any large number of the same. Where animals
are kept separate their food can be duly apportioned, each
receiving its proper share; and should anything be amiss in
the health of the animal, it can at once be detected, and the
remedy applied. With a large flock of sheep the same faci-
lities for providing all with an equal share of food do not
exist, and according as there may be any scarcity of food,
or insufficient accommodation for the whole flock, a like pro-
portion of the sheep will be unprofitable. Now no flock, be
it large or small, can afibrd to retain these unprofitable mem-
bers. For every sheep kept a certain return ought to be
made ; but when the average results are reduced by a large
number of thriftless culls, the profits from the whole are
consumed. In sheep-farming, therefore, one of the most
important points is in having every sheep a source of profit.
Tiiis, however, can only be done by great care in everything
pertaining to the supply of food ; and yet, where a large
flock is maintained, it is equally essential to study economy
so as to avoid waste. Next to a sufficiency of food it is
necessary that it be fed in the best possible manner, securing
to the timid as well as the more forward of the flock their
due share ; and the skill of the shepherd is best shown in the
methods he adopts in carrying forward his flock from one
season to another. At certain periods of the year there is
abundance of keep, and at others it may be scarce ; but the
experienced feeder looks ahead, and calculates how to provide
a regular fare throughout the year, so as to prevent either an
over or under supply, and thus maintain his sheep at all
times in an even and thrifty condition. Sheep cannot be
profitably kept in any other way, and the more knowledge
put in force in aiming at such results, the greater will be the
chances of success. If well managed, they are fully more
certain to yield a profit than any other description of stock.
In the course of a year they give two returns — the lamb and
the fleece ; and things are sadly out of joint indeed, if they
do not leave something over the cost of their keep. But, on
the other hand, with injudicious treatment, they may prove
a means through which the money of their owner may be
squandered.

BREEDS OF SHEEP.

The origin and history of the various breeds of sheep would
no doubt be exceedingly interesting, but for the present we
can only briefly enumerate and classify the principal varieties,
as typical of the different regions they occupy. As to tlie
extent of territory occupied, or the numbers of each breed,
we can form no definite idea. From the agricultural returns
we only ascertain that the total number of sheep in the
country amounts to fully 30,000,000 head, and that may
be reckoned about the general average maintained. The
numbers occasionally vary a few millions, from different
causes which nobody knows very much about. When sheep
are dear they are apt to be pretty freely marketed, and in
this way the total numbers may be considerably reduced;
whereas, on the other hand, when they are cheap, farmers do
not sell more than they can help, and thus an increase takes
place. The numbers are also affected by disease and un-
favourable seasons, but we can give no account of the actual
losses from such causes, which is much to be regretted.
Farmers do not care to give a statement of their losses, and
seem to consider such a question a reproach on their manage-
ment. If they do not choose to tell their losses, it would at
least do no harm to give a description of the breeds of stock
kept, and that information, in addition to the numbers given
in the returns, would be greatly welcomed by all breeders
of live stock.

The different breeds may be classed as follows : —

LOWLAND BREEDS.

1. Leicester.

2. LiDcoln.

3. Border Leicester.

4. Cotswold.

5. Rents or Romney Marsh.

6. Devon Long-wools.

7. Wensleydales.

8. Roscommon.

9. Sonthdown.

10. Shropshire.

11. Hampshire Down.

14. Dorsets.

15. Exmoors.

17. Cheviot.

18. Blacltfaced.

DOWN BREEDS.

12. Oxford Down.

13. Suffolli.

UPLAND BREEDS.

I 16. Half-breds.

MOUNTAIN BREEDS.

I IP. Herdwick.
20. Welsh.

The Lowland breeds are typical of a great variety of soils.
The Down breeds represent the driest and warmest soils.
Then the Upland breeds occupy a higher region, while the
Mountain breeds are typical of the very highest grazings.
There are still some other breeds not mentioned, but the
above include all the better known varieties. Within the
last few years there has been considerable shifting iu the
relative importance of the breeds, which is still in progress,
some gaining in favour, others losing, and we need never be
surprised to see entirely new breeds contesting for honour
and recognition. At the present time the Cotswold-Hamp-
shire cross in England, and the Leicester-Cheviot or Half-
bred in Scotland, are attracting much attention, and there is
no doubt but that both ot these crosses will yet come to be

484

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

widely known. The latter has received partial recognition
from the Highland and Agricultural Society, as we notice
they have lately been honoured with a place in the prize-
list. New breeds of sheep, or any other variety of stock,
ought to be recognized and encouraged by every agricultural
society, instead of, as is usual, debarring them until they can
no longer be kept out. Nearly every one of the most valu-
able breeds has had to fight against public opinion for years
before our national societies would entertain their claims to
a place in the prize-lists; and when we look back and observe
the benefits which have been derived from these sheep which
were so strenuously opposed, it seems absurd to find certain
individuals ever ready to discourage new varieties, that may
probably have greater merits than any breed now in existence.
It should be the object of every society to encourage new
breeds, and unless that be their line of march they become
a hindrance instead of a help to those they
pretend to benefit.

The Lowland breeds are chiefly remarkable
for their great size of carcase and length of
wool. None of them are considered as pro-
ducers of the finest quality of mutton, there
being too large a proportion of fat in their
meat. They have the merit, however, of
growing an enormous quantity of both meat
and wool, which in a measure counter-
balances the deficiency in quality. Tlieir
wool is long and coarse, and usually brings
a low price in the market. Each breed is
adapted for a different region, and one breed
is found to thrive where others do not suc-
ceed at all, but as a rule they are best suited
for rich and heavy soils.

Of the Down breeds, the Southdown, a
model of symmetry, is the type and origiuBi.
It has been extensively used in crossing and
improving other breeds, and is especially
well suited to the dry soil and climate of the
eastern and southern counties, though it
answers well on the lighter class of soils
over the greater part of England ; but on tlie heavier soils,
and in the humid climate of the north, and in very cold and
exposed situations, some other breeds are found to do better.
For quality of mutton the Southdown is equalled by very
few other breeds, and is surpassed by none. They mature
early, are apt fatteners, and thrive on the barest keep, though
some growers complain that they are large consumers in pro-
portion to the increase of mutton made by them. Their small
size is perhaps their only fault, and is certainly much against
them in any comparison with some of the heavier breeds.

The other Downs are all of them larger but coarser sheep
than the Southdown, but still noted for producing excellent
mutton, and for health and endurance under hard stocking
and occasional bare keep. Wherever the land is not quite
good enough for the heavier breeds, then one or other of the

Downs will be found the most profitable. They are also
better for folding on roots and green crops than any of the
long-woolled races.

The Hampshire Down, though a larger sheep than the
Southdown, does not mature so early, and is not such a
kindly fattener. It is also a large consumer, but is extremely
hardy and strong in constitution, and adapted to a wide
geographical range. The ewes are not very prolific, but they
are in great request for raising early lambs. The improved
Hampshire owes all its good qualities to Southdown blood.
When fully matured they make heavy weights, but their
fleece is generally rather light.

The Shropshire is of similar size to the Hampshire, and
is a more handsome sheep, whilst it is equally hardy. It
is a lighter consumer, makes better mutton, with less oflal
in proportion to meat, and clips about a pound more wool.

SHROPSHIRE SHEABLINQ RAM.

The ewes are very prolific, and capital nurses. For quality
of mutton, the Shropshire, by universal opinion, comes next
to the Southdown. It is the most popular sheep of the day,
and has of late years proved itself well adapted to thrive
under great varieties of soil and climate.

The Oxford Down is still larger than the Shropshire, whilst
it is an equally apt fattener, comes as early to maturity, and
carries a heavier fleece. Both the wool and mutton are, how-
ever, coarser than that of the Shropshire.

The Suffolk is a similar sheep to the Shropshire, and the
formation of a Suffolk sheep society is likely to bring this
breed into greater prominence. Like the other Downs they
possess the peculiarity of having black legs and faces, which
the butchers take much pleasure in exhibiting to their cus-
tomers. The wool of the Down breeds brings the highest

[ii^[^^lD)@ ©p ©M[il^„

OXFORDSHIRE DOWNS.

SHEARLING SUFFOLK EWES.

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

485

price in the market, on account of its teing of a generally
fine quality.

Among the Upland breeds the Dorset horns are famous for
rearing early fat lambs. No other breed can excel them for
this purpose, and they are also the only breed which will
bring two crops of lambs the ^ame year. The Upland breeds
are all of them hardy, and well adapted for high-lying arable
farms. Their mutton and wool are of medium quality and
weight, and altogether they form a sort of go-between sheep,
dividing the Lowlands from the Highlands.

The Mountain breeds excel all the others in hardiness,
which makes them adapted for situations where other races
could not exist. The Cheviot occupies the lower and grassy
hills on the borders, and is found more or less throughout
Scotland. The Blackfaces are the typical Scotch heath
breed, and possess a wonderful stamina for enduring severe
weather, whilst at the same time subsisting on meagre fare.
The Herdwicks are confined to the mountains in the north
of England, and although they are a small sheep they hold
their position on these hills against all other breeds. The
Welsh sheep are also indigenous to their own country, and
no imported breeds can oust them from their position. The
Mountain sheep are also celebrated for the flavour of their
mutton, which invariably brings a high price,

DENTITION.

In sheep the teeth are not only of extreme importance, but
may be said to overlie the whole question and economy of

Incisors of Lamb at birth-

iDcisors of Sheep at one vear.

food and feeding. Their function is to bite and masticate
the solid parts of the food, and in proportion to the ease and
perfectness with which this is performed the animal thrives
and profits by the consumption of a given quantity of food.
When this function becomes impeded or suspended, either
through accident, wear, or natural decay of the teeth, the
animal will often pine with hunger, because it can no longer
bite or masticate, and fails to appropriate the aliment con-
tained in what it eats; so that except under altered conditions
it can no longer be fed and nourished without a direct loss
and waste of food. In a state of nature the teeth of the
animals which man has domesticated to his own use would
probably continue fitter for mastication until a much later
period of life than they do, now that their natural moist and
soft food has been changed for that which is hard and dry.
The coarser and harder the food, the earlier the teeth become
worn down, and so much more complete the loss of function.
In the case of sheep fed on turnips, cake, and corn, the ewes
of the flock have to be drafted when a year or two younger
than is necessary where they are only grass fed. Tlie prac-
tical efi'ect of this is, that, with the ewe so artificially
fed, the teeth begin to loosen and fall out, or get broken,
almost before tlie animal is full-mouthed ; and, as a rule, it
does not pay to keep ewes until they begin to fail in condition
from this cause, as they are no longer fit to rear a lamb with-
out extra nursing, and would soon be very difficult to fatten.

Tlie accompanying diagrams by Professor Brown, in the
Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, show

^^Mm^^M^

Molars of Lamb at three months.

Incisors of Sheep at two years and three
months.

Incisors of Sheep at fonr years.

Molars of Sheep at one year and ten months.

very clearly the position of the teeth of the sheep at the
difierent stages of development.

There are two sets of teeth in all the domestic animals —
a first, deciduous, or milk dentition; and a second, pennanent,
or adult dentition. Each set when complete consists of
incisor, canine, and molar teeth. The incisor or front cutting
teeth are easily distinguished by their sharp chisel-like edges,

and to their condition chiefly depends the facilities for feed-
ing. The canine or eye teeth come next. They are never
more than four in number, and are stronger and more deeply
fixed in the jaw than the incisors, but both the canine and
incisor teeth have only one fang. The other teeth are molars
or grinders. They have two or three fangs each, and their
crowns are broader than any of the other teeth. The molar

486

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FAEMING.

teeth are well adapted for masticating and reducing the food
to a pulp, when it is afterwards returned to the mouth in the
process of cliewing the cud. Sheep never suffer from decay
or injury to the grinders. At whatever age they may be
examined the molars will always be found sound and perfect.
The age of the sheep can be determined by the incisor or
front teeth. At a month old a lamb will have eight incisors
or milk teeth, which are temporary. At from ten to twelve
months old the centre pair of incisors will be replaced by
two larger teeth, wliich are permanent. At from fifteen to
twenty months the second pair will have appeared ; the third
pair at two years and three months ; and the fourth and last
pair at three years or shortly after. The age at which the
teeth are shed greatly depends upon the nature of the food
which the sheep receive. If fed on grass or soft food only,
the period of development will be much later than when they
are fed upon roots or other food which exert a loosening
effect on the teeth. Since early maturity and precocity have
been cultivated and encouraged by breeders, the dentition in
sheep is developed at a much earlier age. As a rule, a sheep
when well fed from birth onwards will acquire its permanent
teeth several months sooner than one that is maintained in
a poorer condition. There are, however, instances of irregular
development of the teeth, as has sometimes been discovered
in show-yards ; so that, while a generally correct opinion can
be formed of the animal's age, it cannot be called definite in
every instance, yet it is sufficiently accurate to be depended
upon for ordinary purposes.

NAMES OF SHEEP.

In difi'erent localities the names or terms used to express
the age and description of sheep are somewhat ambiguous.
A North-countryman scarcely can understand the definitions
given by those of the south, and the Southerns, no doubt,
experience a like difficulty in the north. Generally speaking,
the age of a sheep is reckoned from the time it is first shorn,
although the first year may include two or three months over
that period. The following are the usual terms :—

Aqb. Male. Femals.

("Tup or wether lamb.
Lambs till weaned. <A heeder.

(A pur lamb.

Ewe lamb.
A chilver.

_ . ..,, , . (Wether tee, tnp or wether
From weanmg till sheanng. ■)[,„„

Ewe teg.
Ewe hogg.

( Dinmont ram or wether.
From first to second shearing. - Sliear-hogg.
(Shearling.

Gimmer.
Theave.
. Shearling ewe.

e J . .u- J v (Two-shear ram or wether.
Second to third shearing. ^ t. , ,
* (Two-year-olds.

Two-shear ewe.
Twinter.
Maiden ewe.

After the third shearing, three-shear or four-shear, three or
four year olds, are the definitions employed, until the sheep
are drafted, when they again assume difi'erent names. Ewes
drafted at the regular age and uncrossed are simply termed
draft ewes. When they have been crossed with rams of a

difi'erent breed, they are called crones, crocks, or milled ewes.
In buying draft ewes, by whatever term they are named, it
is also essential to know whether they are good or bad in the
mouths. The condition of their mouths is usually given by
the seller, but it is well to make certain on this point before
buying at auction marts, as mistakes sometimes occur merely
from neglect to mention the fact, even when no intention to
deceive is at all intended. Barren sheep are termed eild,
yeld, or yell ewes, and these may imply any age. When a
lot of sheep are drafted, they are assorted according to quality
before being sent to the market. The best lot are called
" tops," the next "seconds," and the next thirds, shots, or culls.
Deformed and crippled specimens in Scotland are termed
" pallie lambs." The descriptive names of sheep are thus
not a little confusing, and strangers frequenting districts where
different terms are used with which they are unacquainted,
require to be careful in ascertaining the real meaning of the
definitions given.

SELECTION OF BEEEDING STOCK.

To maintain a flock of sheep in an improved and profitable
condition, it is necessary, once or twice a year, to weed out
every animal that fails to come up to the required standard
of excellence. However much attention may be devoted to
securing good rams or a few choice ewes, their influence will
entirely fail to effect an improvement unless the whole flock
be subjected to a thorough and careful selection. The large
hole through which the profits of the farm are constantly
dropping, is the poor utterly profitless members of the flock.
The influences that are desti'uctive of profits are often beyond
our control, but it is recklessness of which any man ought to
be ashamed to keep a leak of this kind dropping from year
to year. It is a necessary duty of eveiy flockmaster to ex-
amine his flock carefully, and rid it of any unprofitable sheep
it may contain. No sheep should be kept that will not pay
for what it consumes. Turn it ofi" as quickly as possible, and
better give it away than retain such stock on the farm. It is
such an easy matter to cull a flock and keep it up to the
highest standard, that this element of weakness in sheep
husbandry which poor sheep represent should never be per-
mitted to exist. It ought to be realized that only good stock
is really profitable. When drafting is being done, it is a
very common practice to select by numbers instead of for
profit. The usual plan of maintaining a certain number, en-
tirely regardless of the quality, is a decided mistake. It may
be very important to keep up the flock to a certain number,
but retaining every kind of sheep for this purpose is a wrong
principle to go by. Drafting should be done according to
merit in the first place, and if the number be afterwards defi-
cient never attempt to make it up from the culls. For fatten-
ing stock we want the best, and surely for breeding purposes
the very utmost care should be taken to select only those likely
to yield a profit.

The selection of breeding stock is a matter of the utmost
importance to the flockmaster. It ia not only important to

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

487

pay great attention to the race, but individual merit must be
looked after to ensure success. As to the best breed, this is
a point that each individual breeder must decide for himself,
taking into consideration location, object in view, available
food, and preference. A man is not likely to succeed witli
any breed of sheep that he has no particular fancy for. He
soon loses all interest in his flock, and neglect means failure
sooner or later.

When the intention of the breeder is to grow sheep for
show or stock purposes, animals must be selected that com-
bine the hishest individual merit with the most fashionable
or favourite pedigrees. If he is not posted upon these points,
the breeder should have some reliable veteran in the business
to make selections for him. There are certain families in all
breeds of sheep that produce a greater number of first-class
animals than others ; and certain crosses will invariably show
up the most important characteristics of a breed in the highest
degree of perfection. When the sole object is to breed for
slaughter, a certain amount of laxity may be permissible in
the females of a flock, but even then a high-class male is of
prime importance. One of the first and most important prin-
ciples in the breeding of our domestic animals is the well-
known fact that the sire and dam, or their ancestors, transmit
to their progeny the characteristics peculiar to themselves.
In starting a flock we should select only those animals for
.breeders whose ancestors possess, in a marked degree, the
excellences we desire in the progeny. In other words, if we
would have strong constitutional vigour, a good tendency to
fatten, and whatever other desirable quality we want in the
lamb, they must be possessed by its sire, dam, and their
ancestors.

In selecting a r&m observe carefully the important points
of constitution, feeding quality, and good breeding. These
your sheep must have, and as much of finish, style, and
symmetry as you can afford to buy. It is in the male we
look for quality. He should show in a marked degree all
the attributes of the improved type he represents, carrying,
with a masculine appearance, a head far removed from
coarseness, and whose fine muzzle and mild eye betoken
aptitude to fatten. He need not necessarily be upon an
extra large scale. In fact we would prefer a medium-sized,
close-made, level-backed animal, fine in bone, but not weak,
with wool of the right length, thickness, and quality. In
selecting rams, notice closely whether they show a tendency
to weakness in the hind legs. Some rams stand up as
squarely on their feet as a horse, while others are extremely
faulty. The model ram of any kind should have clean bones,
pretty straight hocks, and free motion sufficient to carry him
over any ground.

While the ram is fitly termed the head of the flock, it by
no means follows that little or no attention must be paid to
the selection of the ewes. Breadth and depth of frame are
of paramount importance in the ewes, and, as a rule, the
short close-made ewe is not as good a suckler, or as prolific
a breeder, as those more rangy and of greater length. But

in selecting an animal of great length, be careful to observe
that she is strongly coupled. A ewe should invariably have
a strong constitution. The full girth around the heart tells
of lung power, strength of kidneys arc told by broad strong
loins, and the round well-developed barrel tells of strong
digestion and ample room for food and foetus.

The breeders thus selected, we would develop gradually,
attempting to remedy every defect in the next generation,
by pairing the faulty individual with one of the other sex
which is free from the blemish in question. This is the
whole secret of breeding animals to perfection. While,
however, this is the line on which improvement must pro-
ceed, it may be laid down as a main principle in breeding,
that the male and female cannot show too close an assimila-
tion in general characteristics, if we would keep up the
standard we have with reasonable success. Cross-breeding
with a view to improvement, although a valuable means to
that end when judiciously pursued, is often totally misapplied.
If we have the best-shaped breed, we can obtain no advan-
tage on that point at least, but may very probably lose ground
by crossing. There is much prejudice in many quarters
against breeding in-and-in — that is, inter-breeding too closely
between members of the same family ; but if we set off right,
feed well, and carefully select the fittest, we may breed from
the same stock, with increasing success, to the end of the
chapter. The reason why many have failed here — why
their animals suffered in size, in fertility, in constitution —
is simply because they have ignored attention to details anc
principles, or never understood them.

While greater care may at times be necessary in selecting
rams for special breeding purposes, there need be no difiiculty
in securing those suitable for ordinary use. When the flock
is maintained by the home-bred ewe lambs, it is advisable to
secure at least a proportion of better class rams than where
the flock is maintained by purchasing the necessary number.
And yet, although many breeders do not hesitate to pay high
prices for several of their rams, it is surprising how little care
many of them bestow in selecting ewes for these rams. In-
stead of selecting the choicest of the ewes for the rams spe-
cially purchased to improve their flock, they deliberately turn
good and bad rams all together amongst the ewes. Now this
kind of breeding is simply an absurdity. The man who pays
a high price for a ram, and does not take the trouble to select
his ewes, spends his money needlessly. Tliere is only one
method in breeding that can bring success, and that is selec-
tion of both ewes and ram. It takes a little extra work to
keep each ram and his ewes in separate lots, but where good
results are required no other system will be effective

The ways and means by which sheep husbandry can be
made profitable require years of practical work, just as any
other business must be learned before the man engaging in
it can reasonably expect to find it profitable. If the following
experiences of one who has served his apprenticeship be of
any value to those less fortunate, the writer's object will have
been accomplished.

488

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

SHEEP LANDS.

Sheep are known to prosper and thrive under nearly every
condition of soil and climate found in Great Britain. It would
be difficult to state in what part of the island sheep arrive at
their fullest perfection. Perhaps such a locality does not exist.
In every district where the same geological formation pre-
dominates, a similar influence is effected upon the herbage
produced, and the breeds of sheep which have, as it were,
been grown from such materials, are alike well suited for the
lands they occupy. Animals differ essentially under the
variations of soil and climate ; but they are always found of
the fairest stature and finest flesh in localities abounding with
herbage and moderately warmed by the heat of the sun.

Better land enables us to keep a better class of stock, and
vice versa. There are, however, some breeders who would
have us believe in the comparative merits of the different
kinds of sheep, regardless of either the quality of soil or food ;
but it is only those who have no experience of sheep lands
that can be gulled by such doctrine. There is no breed of
sheep without some particular merit which fits them for cer-
tain localities and circumstances, and for which they are pe-
culiarly adapted ; but while one breed may lay claim to one
or two points of superiority, it is perfectly clear to the un-
biassed mind that the merits of any breed entirely depend
upon the conditions under which they exist. It is possible
in some localities to improve both land and sheep to a higher
degree of excellence than they can elsewhere be maintained,
and it is for this reason that sheep well adapted for one locality
may be very unfit for another.

Hills, downs, and high lands produce small or middle-sized,
and lively breeds of sheep, having small and hard bones, firm,
finely-grained flesh, inclining to the wild or venison flavour.
These small breeds are obviously proper for situations where
the keep or pasturage is not very abundant ; they will also
thrive on good keep to a pitch of fatness they never attain
upon their native downs, and they are susceptible of great
improvement in bone and size, but probably with the loss
of a considerable share of the original flavour of the flesh,
unless that can be retained by the cultivation and use of the
mountain grasses. Low country pastures and marshes, afford-
ing a full bite of rich and rank grass, produce large, bony,
and fleshy animals ; but stock on these lands are apt to over-
top the mark in point of size, their flesh to become close-grained
and insipid, and to lose in flavour and nutritive power as it
gains in weight. Such animals will not thrive when trans-
ported to poor land and short pastures. Farmers with indif-
ferent grass land must take care to proportion the size of their
sheep to suit the quality of their pastures ; the animals had
much better be too small than too large. Any attempt to in-
crease their size without improving their food, by which their
size is regulated, is a fruitless effort to counteract the laws of
nature. To increase their size under such conditions is to
make them worse in form, less hardy, and more liable to
disease. The only satisfactory and judicious mode of en-

larging the size of any breed of sheep is by maintaining better
the original stock on the farm, more especially during their
youth. In every case where the enlargement of the carcase
is brought about by cross-breeding, the cross bred must be
better fed than the native parent.

Profit from sheep, or any other stock, depends greatly
on having the proper number for a given quantity of food.
Whether the animals be pastured or hand-fed, they require
a certain amount of food on which to produce a given amount
of meat and wool. If the food be insufficient, the sheep will
suffer and cannot possibly grow to the same value they would
otherwise do on a full diet. On the other hand, when there
is more food than can be profitably consumed, there will be
waste, and consequently loss. In hand-feeding the rations
can be served out in exact proportions, and the maximum of
results obtained with certainty ; but it is different when the
animals are to be grazed. An idea may be formed from the
quality of the soil and pasture of how many sheep per acre
the grazing will maintain, yet there are many influences at
work which may considerably alter the value of a pasture.
The weather, for instance, has a very great deal to do in de-
termining results. A continued drought may affect the growth
sufficient to cause almost starvation ; or a very wet season
will affect the quality of the pasture, and this, together with
the injury done to the animals, may materially alter the most
experienced calculations. As we cannot form any definite
opinion as to what the season will be, we must hark back and
form conclusions from past experiences But every prudent
grazier will stock his land rather under its resources. Should
an unfavourable season occur, there will then be a surplus
which the sheep will fall back upon, and which may be the
means of carrying them through a trying period without much
damage being done ; and should a more than ordinary season
occur, it will give the sheep a greater abundance of choice
food, which will always pay in proportion to the condition
of the sheep. In sheep-farming, then, one of the chief points
in determining the profits or the excellence of a flock depends
on having the maximum number of head for the given quality
of food.

The stocking of land with the most suitable description of
stock is, indeed, one of the nicest points in the science of
farming. When sheep are the stock preferred, the next pro-
blem is, Wliat particular breed will in the long run return
the most profit? and this question must be viewed in strict
relation to the management that can be adopted on the par-
ticular farm. It is not merely, which breed will make the
most meat and wool ? but, which will make it in the shortest
time and on the least food ? which can stand bad weather,
or hard keep, or a particular mode of management the best?
From want of first taking all the points into consideration,
fatal mistakes have sometimes been made in estimating the
value of sheep lands.

Sheep pastures ought, as a rule, to be pretty well stocked,
as the younger the grass is the better they thrive on it. This
should be more particularly attended to on rotation grasses,

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

489

where ryegrass forms very often a large proportioD of the
herbage ; for unless ryegrass is kept well fed down it runs
to seed, and as the ears of this grass are particularly liable
to ergot, it then becomes dangerous not only to sheep, but
to milk cows and other cattle.

In grazing the great object is, no matter what the stock,
to carry the animals forward as fast as is desired, without
the herbage being wasted. To do this, both the land and the
stock must be carefully inspected every day; and fattening
animals especially are liable to suffer if this is neglected, as
it sometimes happens that, in order to keep them progressing,
they require an immediate change of pasture, even where in
addition they are liberally fed with oilcake and other kinds
of food.

SYSTEMS OF STOCKING.

ON ARABLE FARMS.

On arable sheep-farms the rotation of cropping is generally
controlled by the stock, but in many cases where sheep are
not so much the object the rotation of cropping regulates the
system of stocking. In other words, the stock is either master
of, or subject to, the crop. The location of a farm, and the
nature of the crops produced, also materially determine the
number and description of the stock. Owing to the variety
of circumstances which aflfects the nature of management, and
the vast number of systems practised both in cropping and
stocking, the profits from any of the methods cannot be shown
from fictitious examples. In comparing the results of two or
more systems, it is necessary that the whole working expenses
of the farm be included ; and as these are subject to infinite
variation, it is impossible to arrive at any definite conclusions.
What might appear, on paper, to be the most profitable
method to adopt, may in practice prove the reverse ; conse-
quently we will merely show the systems possible to pursue,
leaving each one to decide for himself which is likely to be
the most profitable.

A regular ewe stock is maintained by keeping a propor-
tionate number of the top ewe lambs, and is necessarily a
pure-bred flock. On arable farms the ewes are generally sold
at four years old, after having brought three crops of lambs.
Thus a regular ewe stock consists of four different ages. In
a flock of 500 sheep under this system, the following numbers
and ages should produce the quantity of sale stock shown : —

Keeping Stock.
132 ewe hoggs.
125 two-shear ewes-
120 three-shear ewes.
115 four-shear ewes.
8 rams.

500

Sale Stock.
275 wedder lambs.
143 second ewe lambs.
115 draft ewes.

2 rams.
132 top ewe lambs.
600 fleeces.

The 132 top ewe lambs are retained to keep up the stock,
and there will only be two rams to purchase annually. The
Bale stock are disposed of according to the system of cropping
pursued ; but of course, whatever method may be adopted in
disposing of these, it will be understood that the numbers of
the keeping stock are subject to alteration, unless the quantity
of food provided is sufiicient to fatten all the produce without
encroaching on that which belongs to the keeping stock.
3q*

With a regular ewe stock, either of the following systems
may be carried out : —

(a) Selling the lambs at weaning time, and also the draft ewes, lean.

(6) Selling the draft ewes fat, together with their lambs, before weaning time ;

the balance of the lambs sold a-s before.
(c) Fattening of the lambs as hoggs, and also fattening the draft ewes, or parts of

the same.
(rf) Rearing young rams for sale at six or twelve months; selling the remainder

of the lambs and draft ewes fat or lean.

By a running ewe stock is understood the practice of buy-
ing-in ewe lambs to maintain the flock, and selling all the
produce. This system is followed where half-bred ewes are
kept. The expenses are much the same as with a regular
flock, but with this difference, that having to buy the ewe
lambs to maintain the flock, we should probably have to pay
a proportionately higher price for them than we could sell the
home-bred lambs at. The keeping stock would be the same
in number and ages as in the previous system, but there
would be 132 more lambs to sell ; and the methods of dis-
posing of the sale stock would be as follows : —

(a) Selling all the lambs fat before weaning time, and also the draft ewes,
(6) Selling all the lambs and draft ewes in store condition.
(c) Fattening off all the lambs as hoggs, and also fattening the draft ewes, or
parts of the same.

With a running stock some prefer to buy in gimmers in-
stead of ewe lambs, which is probably an improvement, as
more ewes can be kept when there are no hoggs to keep. The
only difficulty about this system of buying gimmers, is in not
being able to secure so suitable a description of stock ; in the
lamb market a much better choice can be had.

A flying ewe stock is one where the ewes are bought in
annually, and sold out again after bringing a lamb. Where
a stock of this kind is kept, the best system is to fat both
ewes and lambs ; sometimes, however, they are both sold lean ;
at other times the ewes are fattened, and the lambs sold to go
to keep ; and in other cases the lambs are kept on and fattened
as hoggets.

Where the stock is subject to the crop, store sheep or lambs
are bought in, and either grazed for six months and then fat-
tened, or put to fatten right away ; in other cases they may
be bought in and wintered or gi-azed, then sold out again in
store condition.

In some situations the farmer who grows root and green
crops may find it pay better to have them fed on the land by
somebody else's flock, than to keep one of his own for that
purpose. By doing so he can net a definite sum for the crop
he has already been at the trouble and expense to grow,
without incurring the additional risks and outlay which are
necessarily involved in the conversion of vegetable into animal
produce. Under ordinary circumstances, however, this plan
is not advisable, where the farm is suitable for the maintenance
of a regular flock, and the farmer understands the business
of stock-keeping and stock-feeding. But the latter is con-
fessedly the most difficult branch of farming j and where the
farm is not well adapted to it, it may be better to leave the
risks of this secondary manufacture to another.

On arable farms where root crops are grown and no flock
is kept, it is the practice to let the roots to be fed on the land.

490

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

sometimes at a stipulated price per acre, thougli more generally
at a fixed charge per sheep. The charges vary a good deal,
according to the season and the crop ; but usually the price
of turnip feeding ranges from M. to 7d. per week for hoggs,
and from 6d. to lOd. per week for ewes and old sheep. These
prices are occasionally exceeded when turnips are scarce, and
as much as Is. a week is sometimes paid in the spring for
turniping old sheep ; but when it comes to an extreme price
like that, feeders quickly fall back on other descriptions of
food. On dairy or cattle farms the winter grass is usually
let to sheep graziers in the same way, from 5s. to 10s. per
head being charged for young sheep, according to the quality
of wintering ; extra food in the shape of hay or turnips, which
is sometimes necessary in the time of a storm, being charged
also at a fixed rate. This system is practised largely by the
Kentish sheep graziers of Romney Marsh.

ON HILL FARMS.

The stocking of hill farms is a much simpler affair, as it
does not admit of so much variation. A hill ewe flock is
always regular or self-maintaining, the top ewe lambs being
retained for this pui-pose. Hill ewes are never turnip fed, and
keep good in the mouths longer than arable land flocks. For
this reason they are not drafted at so young an age. For-
merly the practice on hill farms was to keep six ages, taking
five crops of lambs ; but latterly keeping only five ages, and
drafting a year earlier, has become more general. On most
hill farms the ewes have their first lambs as gimmers, or at
two years of age ; but on some of the highest-lying breeding
farms no lamb is taken from the gimmers, which makes them
stronger ewes, and they afterwards do better. In a good
season the top wedder lambs, and a few of the eild sheep
from some of the best farms, are occasionally sold fat from the
hill, but otherwise all the stock are sold in store condition.
There is no other system but selling lambs and ewes at the
usual time on hill farms, except keeping a few of the best tup
lambs and selling them as young rams. A breeding flock
of about 1000 sheep is made up of the following numbers and
ages, and should produce the stated quantity of sale stock : —

Keeping Slock. Sile Stock.

215 ewe hoggs. 360 wedder lambs.

210 two-shear ewes. 145 second ewe lambs.

205 three-shear ewes 195 draft ewes.
200 four-shear ewes. 4 rams.

195 five-shear ewes. 215 stock ewe Iambs.
20 rams.

1045 fleeces.

104fi

The 215 top ewe lambs are kept to maintain the flock, and
five rams are purchased annually. If ram breeding is pursued
then there may be these extra to sell, but there would then
be fewer lambs to dispose of.

Wedder flocks are generally kept on the highest hirsel of
the farm, and are maintained from the wedder lambs of the
lower hirsels. Where wedders are, kept the land will usually
graze one-fifth more of these than ewes. Wedders are drafted
at two or three years of age, and generally they bring good
prices for feeding purposes.

In high districts the hill farmers are dependent on lowland
farms for winter keep for hoggs. The hoggs are sent to the
low grounds from October to April, and are wintered at a
fixed sum, being about 6s. to 8s. a head. The ewe hoggs
are wintered on grass, and only get hay in the event of a
storm. The wedder hoggs are generally allowed a run on
turnips for a couple of months in spring, which makes them
stronger in the bone. All the lambs or their skins have to
be returned, and in some years they come back mostly in
skins. It has often been a wonder to me how it pays at all
to send them.

FOOD AND FEEDING.

In the Appendix a table is given showing the approximate
composition and the albuminoid ratio of the principal foods.
A careful study of that table is the first and most important
step in the science of feeding, and every stock -man may pro-
fitably devote a leisure hour to its perusal. Until the stock-
feeder acquires a thorough acquaintance with the composition
of the substances used as food he must continue to grope in
the dark. In every operation of nature simple elements
combine in direct mathematical ratio. One volume of oxygen
to two volumes of hydrogen are required to produce water —
neither more nor less of either, or there will be waste, but
with just the right proportion of each there is no waste. The
same principle is true when we consider the production of
animal organisms. Every kind of food requires an equiva-
lent of something with which to unite in forming a part of
the organism. The food that nourishes the animal must
contain not only the right elements, but in the right propor-
tion. If there is a lack, the animal may have stored up the
means of supplying the deficiency for a season ; but sooner
or later the supply will be used up, when the organism will
collapse for want of the missing element This shows the
necessity of a knowledge of the composition of foods, and the
value of having a correct proportion of the different elements
properly balanced in the ration. The feeder should not for-
get, however, that the tables of analyses are only approxima-
tions to real facts. Very much depends upon the quality of
the food — the stage at which it was cut, and the condition
in which it was secured. The tables may be accurate so far
as the samples from which they were made were concerned,
but still the question arises. How nearly does the quality of
our food correspond with those on which the tables were
based? An analysis of somebody else's fodder does not
determine the quality of ours ; and until every feeder is able
to analyze foods for himself, he can only examine the feed
tables, however correct they may be, and guess at the quality
of his own fodders. But still the tables are not without use.
They enable us to tell what foods are rich in nitrogen and
what are rich in carbon, and about the proportions of each
ingredient. Then we can combine the foods with a much
greater degree of intelligence, and approximate much more
nearly the proper balance. With such information, we would
not readily commit the blunder of feeding all carbonaceous

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

491

food, or all nitrogenous food, nor of combining two foods of
the same general character.

Feeding substances may be classed under three distinct
heads : —

(1) Non-nitrogenous compounds, which fulfil the office of
supporting respiration and animal heat, and the production
of fat.

(2) Nitrogenous compounds, which repair waste of body
and build up new tissues.

(3) Mineral matter, which forms bone, &c., and the saline
matter of blood.

The non-nitrogenous compounds consist of legume or woody
fibre, starch, sugar, gum, oil or fatty matter. These form
the greater part of the dry substance of vegetable productions
used for food, and when received into the animal system,
become the fuel necessary for sustaining the animal heat in
the process of respiration. The breath of animals affects the
combination between combustible materials in the blood and
the oxygen of the atmosphere, and as in this process a certain
amount of heat is liberated, the animal heat requisite for the
animal's functions is kept up. These combustibles may be
called animal fuel. When a larger quantity of this kind of
food is taken by an animal than is required to sustain the
proper heat of its body, the excess is stored up in the shape
of fat. Thus an animal confined in a small space, and not
exposed to a chilling atmosphere, lays up fat from the forma-
tion of this material from .the food that would otherwise be
consumed by exertion or the influence of the weather. There-
fore the members of this group of organic compounds, when
used as food, act either by supplying the animal system with
warmth, or by furnishing material for the formation of fat.

The nitrogenous compounds constitute the smaller and
choicer portion of the vegetable substances used for food.
They differ from the preceding ones in having a less simple
composition. They contain, in addition to carbon, hydrogen,
and oxygen, 7iitrogen ; as also smaller quantities of the rarer
mineral substances, sulphur and phosphorus. They all closely
resemble in character the animal substance called albumen,
or white of an egg — hence they are called albuminoids ; and
from the fact of their being the more valuable principles of
food, or that portion of it which supplies animals with the
materials of which their blood, flesh, and structures are made,
derive their more common name of flesh-forming principles.
The names of these compounds are albumen, vegetable casein,
gluten or vegetable fibrin, and legumin. Since it is from
these nitrogenous materials that the bodies of animals are
built up and strengthened, it follows that the nutritive value of
food, as far as its power of forming flesh is concerned, depends
on the amount of those substances it contains, provided, of
course, they exist in a condition that will admit of appropri-
ation by the digestive organs of the animal that receives them.
The greater the amount of exposure the animal undergoes,
the larger must be the quantity of these substances that must
be given in order to sustain its condition. In young growing
animals the proportion of these materials in the food must be

still larger. With young animals we have not only to pro-
vide for building up new muscle, &c., but at the same time
the food must contain sufficient non-nitrogenous substances to
support respiration and keep up animal heat, and also a supply
of soluble phosphates for the formation of bone. When we
want to fatten an animal these different compounds must be
given in excess. The young lamb is nourislied by milk.
Now milk is a natural and most perfect food. It contains a
proper mixture of the flesh-forming elements, along with
tliose of respiration and fat. It contains (1) casein or curd,
which is precisely the same as the fibrin or lean part of
flesh ; (2) fat, in the shape of butter or oil ; (3) sugar, which
is required in the process of respiration ; and (4) certain
mineral substances which are connected with the earthy part
of the bones and the saline matter of the blood. The next
food a lamb has after birth is probably grass, and here again
we have all these materials — heat and fat producing, flesh-
forming, and mineral matter present, only in different propor-
tions ; and the same may be said of swedes, oats, hay, &c.,
each of which again is seen to vary, not in the elements of
composition, but in the form of that composition.

Next to providing a sufficient quantity of nutritive matter
in the food, its bulk is to be considered, and this is important.
Tlie function of digestion requires that the food shall properly
fill the stomach ; and however large the supply of nutritive
matters may be, the effect is imperfectly brought out if the
food be too small in bulk. On the other hand, if a food be
too bulky, the sense of repletion causes an animal to cease
eating long before it has obtained a sufficient supply of nutri-
tive matter. It is most needful, then, to study the bulk of
the food, and to consider how to mix different substances in
such a manner as to adjust the proportions of nutritive matter
to their bulk. Thus it is that in practice we generally find
a very bulky food is combined with another of opposite pro-
perties— turnips or hay, for example, being fed along with
oil-cake or bean-meal.

Sheep and other ruminants in collecting their food, such
as grass, form it into a bolus with little or no mastication,
and with the expenditure of saliva they pass it down the
gullet into the paunch, which, when it has become distended
with a sufficient quantity, causes the animal to seek for rest
and quiet, when it generally lies down. The paunch begins
now to exert its extraordinary powers of separating a portion
of the contained mass, and to return it into the mouth, where
it undergoes a complete mastication ; being retained from
falling out of the mouth again by the numerous papillae or
roughnesses of the tongue, which are pointed backwards, and
also by the ridges of the palate. When sufficiently masticated
and mixed with the saliva it is again passed down the throat;
but instead of again entering the first stomach, the muscular
gutter forms itself into a tube, and carries it at once into the
third stomach, where, having to undergo a further change,
it is pressed into the red bag (fourth stomach), to undergo
a further solution by means of the gastric fluid, preparatory
to its being converted into nutriment under the name of chyle.

492

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF FOODS.
Grass.— Grass as pasture is the cheapest of aU foods that
can be given to sheep, and it must ever form the staple food
supply in sheep husbandry. Wherever grass is found to
flourish, there sheep also are found to prosper. In all
countries and in all climates grass is found to flourish for so
many months in the year, but it is only in a few where it
remains green and growing for more than half of that period.
It is for this reason that the British Isles, New Zealand, and
other temperate zones, stand pre-eminent in sheep husbandry.
The grass, of course, can be supplemented, but where sheep
have to be fed on auxiliary foods for six months in the year,
we may rest assured that sheep farming will never become
a leading industry under such circumstances. Pasture, then,
is the chief source of food supply for sheep ; and where it is
found in greatest abundance, in moist, temperate climates,
is where sheep of the best descriptions are most numerous.

The nutritive qualities of grasses depend, to a large extent,
on the nature of the soil. Where the soil is naturally poor,
or deficient in material essential for plant growth, the pasture
is of a like quality, and equally deficient in feeding sub-
stances; whereas, on a rich soil, full of manure, and in a
favourable climate, the herbage has a higher nutritive value.
Nearly all kinds of grasses are relished by sheep, but neither
the very richest nor the poorest are best suited for sheep
pasture. Where the grass is most abundant, the reason of
its not being best adapted for sheep, is because the number
of sheep it is capable of maintaining is greater than the space
provides for preventing the food from becoming soiled ; and
on a poor pasture, the nourishment provided is generally
insufficient to maintain sheep in a profitable condition. Pas-
ture that will carry from two to three sheep per acre, will
give better results than that which carries either a greater
or a smaller number. The thinner sheep are pastured the
healthier they are, and the better they will thrive, provided
they receive a certain amount of nutriment. A sheep pasture
need not be of the richest kind, so long as it consists of a
variety of grasses in sufficient quantity ; and if the soil and
climate be favourable, there is no fear but that the sheep will
thrive. No animal, but especially a sheep, cares to eat foul
or tainted food ; and it is generally sound policy to be rather
under than over stocked, more particularly when it is desired
to rear the best quality of sheep or lambs of which any
certain land may be capable. Young grasses are better
adapted for feeding sheep than old pasture, and will carry
a considerable number more per acre. The closer a pasture
is eaten to the ground, the greater value will be the food. It
is sweeter, and sheep prefer the fresh growth to matured
blades ; but there is a danger in eating pasture too close, and
it is hardly possible to eat any young or rich pasture very
near to the ground without injury to the stock. Any pasture
that will carry more than four ewes with lambs per acre is
too rich for sheep, and unless it will pay to graze that
number, it had better be stocked with cattle.

On very rich pastures, or those specially manured for the
purpose, hurdle-grazing has been tried on several occasions,
but it never seems to become generally adopted. There is
no doubt but that a larger number of sheep per acre can be
kept, but the expense of working, it appears, is greater than
the advantage to be gained. Still, on a smaU scale, the
system appears feasible. With the aid of manure and irri-
gation, an extraordinary weight or quantity of grass can be
grown on a single acre of choice land, but the difficulty lies
in supplying it to the sheep cheaply and without waste.
Grass is altogether difi'erent from turnips or cabbages, which
can be folded without being trampled under foot ; but with
the former this is why it often does not pay to fold sheep on
pasture, or all such crops where there is no vacant space for
the sheep to move in. By using revolving hurdles, through
which the sheep can eat, the difficulty is partly overcome.
But it is evident that even this method is impracticable on
anything like a large scale. The distance a sheep can eat
through a bar or a fence is so very limited, that a constant
attendance is necessary. Unless for small flocks, on the
very best quality of land, hurdle-grazing can never become
general.

This method of grazmg has been practised with irrigation
at Stoke Park, near Windsor ; at Newbattle, on the property
of the Marquis of Lothian ; by the Duke of Sutherland, at
Dunrobin ; and by Mr. Brown, at Colinton, near Edinburgh.
But at each of these places the system has been abandoned,
not from any fault in the system, it is said, but solely owing
to the want of facilities for carrying out the experiment on
a large scale, and also owing to the fact that proper land
had not always been selected suitable for the purpose in view.
Mr. Brown, Edinburgh, who patented a revolving hurdle for
this kind of grazing, and carried out a trial of the system
on a small scale, without irrigation, drew up a report of his
experiment, which he read before a large meeting of Lothian
farmers in Edinburgh, October 1881, from which the follow-
ing interesting facts have been extracted : — " The land under
the system at Colinton may be described as a strong boulder
loam of medium good quality, 500 feet above sea level. Its
condition after a potato crop succeeded by two white crops,
was in the spring of this year reduced to the lowest state of
fertility, or, in other words, exhausted. It was cultivated in
the usual way. No farm-yard dung was applied, but suitable
manures for the growth of grass and clover, without any
soluble constituents, were ploughed into a depth of nine
inches, and a portion was also harrowed in upon the surface.
. . . The weights of the ten sheep as weighed by Mr.
Penman of Bonaly on the 28th of July, when put upon the
grass, gave a total of 11 75 J lbs., and varied between the
heaviest, 126 lbs., and 100^ lbs., the lightest. When taken
off and weighed again by Mr. Penman, the total weight was
ascertained to be 1463 lbs. ; the heaviest sheep weighing 155
lbs. and the lightest 127 lbs. The total gain is 288 lbs. for
the ten sheep, or a little over 3^ lbs. for each sheep per week
for the eight weeks." In addition to the grass the sheep

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

493

were fed with 1^ lbs. of cake and grain daily; but during that
time, owing to the grass being too early stocked, the sheep
were removed to another poor pasture for the space of three
weeks, which, it was stated, did not improve them, and con-
sequently the gain was virtually made during five weeks.
The ordinary number of sheep on such land varies from three
to five ; but Mr. Brown estimated that, under his system,
with artificial rain showers, thirty-five sheep might be reared
on that space, and without irrigation at least twenty. As
previously stated, however, this experiment did not meet
with much favour, and like the others was discontinued.

Hay. — Hay is the principal winter fodder for sheep.
Clover hay, or, what is better, a mixture of grasses preserved
in good condition, is a perfect food for sheep. It is, how-
ever, not so extensively used as one would suppose ; a good
many farmers do not use it at all, even where a supply is
to be had. Its price is doubtless the reason why many do
not find it a profitable food, yet there are none who do not
admit that it is a most suitable winter food for sheep. Hay
can be fed more profitably by itself than any other single
food we could name — that is, when its price is in proportion
to that of other foods. Alone it will sustain sheep in good
store or breeding condition, but its greatest value is found
when fed in conjunction with roots or grain. It is also a
healthier diet for sheep in winter than cold watery turnips,
and especially so for breeding ewes. Abortion in cows has
in many cases been traced to ergotized hay, but we have
never seen it similarly to afiect ewes, although admitting
that feeding ewes on such food would certainly favour the
disorder. On hill farms, where hay is generally the only
winter food provided, abortions are uncommonly rare, and
when they do occur, are not always attributable to the hay.
Bad hay, no doubt, is to be avoided in any case, and is
neither good for sheep nor any other animal ; but, singularly
enough, we seldom hear of or see much harm being done
by feeding hay of any kind. On the contrary, many farmers
feed nothing else but hay in winter, and their ewes never
do better than when maintained chiefly on this food. The
cost of the hay crop in some districts is its greatest fault ;
still, where it can be cheaply grown, no better food can be
had. Average-sized sheep fed on hay alone will consume
about three pounds each daily, but where they can get a
bite of grass, or a few roots or grain in addition, they will
thrive excellently on one pound or even less per day. But
sheep that are being fattened on roots or grain only, should
not have less than one pound of hay daily. If the cost of
hay does not exceed that of roots or grain, calculating the
value of one pound of hay equal to one pound of grain or eight
pounds of roots, hay will invariably give the best results,
and especially when the sheep are to be grazed, not fattened,
the following summer.

Strew.- — Straw can also be profitably used in feeding
sheep. Indeed the value of straw is not sufficiently known,
otherwise its use might become more general. One ton of
good oat straw, cut before it was over-ripe, contains of fat-

formers 952 lbs.; flesh-formers, 90 lbs.=1042 lbs. A ton
of good linseed cake contains of fat-formers 1508 lbs.; of
flesh-formers, 582 lbs.=2090 lbs. This comparison shows
well in favour of the straw when the difference in the price
of the two articles is considered. Sheep on roots will eat
a large quantity of straw supplied to them in racks the same
as hay, but the best mode of preparing straw for feeding to
sheep, is to put a large quantity through the chaff-cutter, and
mix it with treacle or pulped roots, which must be evenly
distributed so as to permeate the whole mass, and then fed
in boxes the same as cake or grain. Its feeding value is not
of course very high, but it supplies the required amount of
dry bulk, which is so essential in the feeding economy of
roots, and as a health agent is nearly equal to the best hay.
For ewes on roots a supply of good fresh straw uncut is in-
valuable in preventing abortion, which is often caused by a
too watery diet. It is not at all recommended as a food upon
which sheep can be fattened or even maintained, but as a
cheap and healthy material for supplying bulk and dry sub-
stance lacking in grain and roots.

Silage. — Ensilage must now rank as one of our principal
foods. It has been proved that all green forage crops can be
preserved by means of the silo or stack process, and that any
loss in saving these crops in bad weather can be entirely pre-
vented.* No further proof of the practicability of ensilage
is necessary than to say, that wherever it has been tried great
satisfaction has been the result in almost every instance. On
arable farms, where roots involve a great deal of labour for
their successful cultivation and storage, ensilage can take
their place, and a great saving in labour will be gained. On
clay land root-culture is always attended with very serious
difficulties, but now green forage crops can be grown in
summer, and preserved until the season when no other
succulent food is available. And while ensilage is of im-
mense value to lowland farmers, it is even more so to those
on upland or hill farms, where, from wet weather, haymaking
is so often an uncertainty. Ensilage will probably become
the chief winter food on all sheep farms. It has been found
a most suitable food for bringing ewes forward to lambiug
in good condition, and it causes an abundant flow of milk
afterwards, which makes it invaluable in rearing early or late
lambs. It will also be of great value to the wool-grower.
It has been found that the change from pasturage to dry
winter feed often injures the wool at that period, causing a
break or a weak part which destroys its value for some pur-
poses. The use of ensilage overcomes many difficulties in
sheep management, and when its cost is compared with that
of other foods, it again shows a handsome balance in its
favour.

Roots. — Roots form the principal winter food supply in all
cultivated districts, the most valuable of which are turnips
and mangold. Sheep will fatten on either of these crops
without the addition of any other food. It is, however, bad

* See p. 473 for details of process.

494

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

economy to use them alone, as experiments have proved that
a much greater increase of meat will result when they are
judiciously augmented with dry food, such as hay or grain.
Turnips contain, according to variety, from 86 to 96 per cent,
of water ; still they are admirably suited for the food of sheep.
Yellow turnips have to a great extent taken the place of
swedes on sheep farms, and the growers of them find that
they are little, if anything, inferior in their feeding qualities.
They also keep well, and have bulky tops. A heavier crop
of white turnips can generally be grown than of other varie-
ties, but they are not suitable for keeping purposes, and
require to be eaten early, or before the advent of frost.
They are most valuable in the autumn when the pastures
are beginning to fail, and supply an enormous amount of
fairly substantial feeding to sheep when first commenced to
fatten, but further than this it is useless to go with them,
and yellows or swedes must be resorted to.

The nutritive value of turnips varies with the variety, the
climate, the soil, and also the manures used in their cultiva-
tion. They become less nutritious after being stored for some
time than they are when newly taken up, and also lose a
proportion of tiie water which they naturally contain, although
storing for a certain period greatly assists in perfecting their
maturity, which is most essential to the health of the animals
to which they may be fed. Turnip-tops contain a consider-
able amount of nutritive matter, but they are only of value
for feeding store or lean sheep. When turnips are allowed
to stand in the field until they put forth a second growth, a
deterioration in their quality is the result, owing to certain
of their elements becoming changed into indigestible woody
fibre. Of all varieties of turnip the swede is probably the
best. It yields a larger proportion of nutritious food than
any of them ; it is the hardiest, and best withstands the
severities of winter weather; and if properly stored up in
dry weather, will retain its nutritive juices long after all other
turnips have become withered and valueless.

Next in importance to the turnip for feeding purposes during
spring is the mangold; and, where soil and climate are suited
to, its growth, even more dependence is placed on it, as it has
fewer diseases, and yields a heavier crop of greater feeding
value. It is needless to attempt its growth if the soil and
climate are not suitable — for which reason in Scotland it is
seldom grown. In England and Ireland, again, it is exten-
sively grown, and is highly valued for its productiveness and
excellent feeding qualities. At the time of lifting the crop,
however, in October and November, mangolds are not good
food, as they are too full of sap at that time, which is of an
acrid nature, and acts injuriously on the health of sheep fed
on them; But in spring, when turnips lose much of their
nutritive properties, mangolds are excellent in condition,
having, from keeping, lost much of their watery nature, and
gained in saccharine richness.

Potatoes are also well adapted to the fattening of sheep, if
used in combination with other food. When given raw,
which is the preferable way to ruminating animals, they are

served in the same manner as turnips ; but care must be
taken to begin with them gi-adually, as tliey are apt to scour
and injure the animal at first. Like other roots, they are
most economically given along with cut dry food. Three
or four pounds of potatoes and half a bushel of chaff will be
a fair allowance for a breeding ewe, and their palatability and
nutritiveness will be beneficially raised by adding a little
cake or grain to the mixture. So long as potatoes are not
fetching more than 50s. a ton, it pays to use them for sheep
and convert them into meat, rather than sell them in their
natural state. Potatoes contain about 75 per cent, of water,
and from 2 to 3 per cent, of flesh-forming ingredients, conse-
quently dry food rich in these elements should be used in
combination with them.

Two-year-old sheep folded on roots will require about ten
weeks to fatten them for the butcher. In that time 100
wethers will consume 80 tons, which is equal to 5 acres of
an average crop of 16 tons. The same number of ewes will
consume rather more, and will also require a month longer
to fatten, so that they will not eat less than 8 acres of a
similar crop in that time. Younger sheep or lambs will eat
proportionally less, but these figures make no allowance for
waste or destruction from bad weather. Sheep on an average
will consume about 28 lbs. of roots daily. It is generally
believed that frosted turnips are not so good or so fattening
as when they are fresh or unfrosted, but experiments have
somewhat contradicted this belief. Mr. John Caverhill,
Greenbum, Berwickshire, read a paper before the agricul-
tural association of that county, on the results of experi-
ments he conducted to ascertain the relative value of firosted
and unfrosted turnips in the feeding of sheep. ' He selected
two lots of ten sheep, which each weighed 1256 lbs. The
first were fed on stored turnips, and weighed at the end of
three weeks 1305 lbs. ; and the second, which were fed on
frosted turnips, weighed 1292 lbs. At the end of six weeks
the first lot weighed 1431 lbs., and the second 1390 lbs.
The total gain of the first lot, fed on stored and unfrosted
turnips, was 175 lbs. ; and the second lot, fed on frosted
turnips, was 134 lbs. When the two lots were killed, they
each yielded an equal amount of dead meat — viz. 707 lbs.
The quantity of frosted turnips consumed by the second lot
was one-sixth more than that of the stored and unfrosted
turnips eaten by the first lot. Dr. Aitken, chemist to the
Highland and Agricultural Society, analyzed the frosted and
unfrosted turnips. The first contained 90'7 per cent, of water
and 9'3 per cent, of solid matter, while the latter contained
91 "5 per cent, of water and 8"5 per cent, of solid matter.
He was of opinion that the frosted turnips were the better
feeding material.

The root crop of Great Britain is an extensive as well as
a very valuable one, and it follows that the extent to which
it is used in feeding sheep must also be very great. Roots
are fed in every possible way, cut and uncut, with other
foods and without, and by all of these methods good results
have been given ; but, on the other hand, their too free use

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

495

has often been fraught with disastrous events, both from an
economical as well as a health point of view. We will not
here discuss their cost, but any one who investigates the
point will find they are a most expensive food. It has long
been supposed that without roots it was impossible to keep
up the fertility of a farm, but recent scientific researches have
shown their value in this respect to have been overestimated.
As to their being a healthy food we do not deny, yet it is
well known some of the severest losses amongst breeding
ewes have been traceable to their over or injudicious supply.
Swedes have been oftener blamed for causing abortion than
yellow turnips, owing to their being deficient in saccharine
matter and the nitrogenous element abundant, causing irrita-
tion of the bowels and foetal derangement ; but let the same
conditions or unripeness be present in any kind of roots, and
their effects will be much the same. There are many flock-
masters who practise flushing their ewes at tupping-time, and
it is very customary with them to fold their ewes on green
or unripened turnips. Now at that time, which is early in
the season, there is scarcely an acre of turnips in the country
fully matured, and as a consequence we continually hear of
abortions among ewes. That is a long time previous, some
may say, and no doubt it is, but our best veterinary authori-
ties tell us that abortion in its very worst forms can easily
be traced to the period of conception. At any time there is
a danger in feeding ewes solely on turnips, but when they
are well ripened there is never so much barm done if they
are fed clean and free from an undue amount of dirt. Again,
in winter they are liable to get frosted, and to feed them
largely in that condition is not unfrequently the cause of ewes
aborting. There are other fatal disorders attributable to
feeding too many roots, and it is evident that a certain
amount of caution is required, taking care always to augment
them with an addition of dry food. Still there are some
who feed them in almost every conceivable way, regardless
of all experiences, and have met with no mishaps. But
these are more lucky than prudent, as they may yet find to
their cost.

There are two methods of consuming roots with sheep.
The first is turning the sheep on to them where they grow;
the second is pulling and carting them into heaps, where they
are sliced and fed in boxes. Which system is best to pursue
will depend on the kind of sheep being fed, the nature of the
soil, and the system of rotation followed. Full-mouthed sheep
can very well be allowed to eat them whole, but for old sheep,
or those not good in their mouths, and lambs or hoggs that
are also not strong toothed, the better plan is to cut tlie roots
and feed from boxes If the soil be light and subsoil porous,
no injury will be done by folding on the land ; but if wet or
of a clayey nature, then the roots are better carted off and fed
on dry ground. By either method of feeding, when the roots
are consumed on the ground, the manurial value of the crop
will be equal, but if necessary the turnips can be carted to
where the soil is most in need of enriching. The labour in-
volved by the first mode of consumption is comparatively

trifling, much less than by the improved modem way of pull-
ing and cutting; and the whole operation we may briefly
describe.

After fixing on a certain breadth or portion of the turnips,
called a " break," tlie extent of which is regulated by the
number of sheep to be put on, pull two or three drills of tur-
nips around the intended space, which facilitates the setting
up of the nets, and likewise leaves no temptation for the sheep
to put their heads through the meshes of tlie net to nibble the
tops of the fresh turnips or the shoots of the thorn hedge,
should there happen to be one along the end or side of the
break. A clear space being made round, a cart is brought
up with the requisite quantity of " stakes and nets," which
on going round lays out a net at intervals of fifty yards, or
whatever may be the length of the net, and the stakes are
laid out in bundles of about as many as a man can carry on
his shoulder. The man then, provided with a " gavelock "
or " piercer " — a strong iron bar rounded and sharpened at
the heavy end — makes holes at intervals of eight or ten feet
for the reception of the stakes all round the break. Having
completed this, he next shoulders a bundle of the stakes, and
walking smartly on, deposits one in each of the holes pre-
viously made, all the way round ; this finished, he gets his
wooden " mall," and with a stroke or two fastens the stakes
in their holes ; next he fastens on the nets, and the break is
ready for the flock.

Having the work carried on as described, an active man,
and one who knows how, will set a great length of nets in an
incredibly short space of time. After three or four days the
shells or bottoms of the turnips will want picking up, and
after another day or two the sheep will want a fresh break,
which can be provided as already described, though more netf
will be required, as those set round the first break must be
allowed to stand until a third break is wanted, to enable the
sheep to fall back and pick up all clean, which they will do
to a nicety if the weather be dry, leaving nothing but the
smallest top roots. By the above mode of consumption an
active man will, with the assistance of a boy or woman at
picking shells, manage 600 full-mouthed sheep.

The process of cutting and feeding in troughs requires more
labour, and consequently entails a much heavier expenditure.
In carrying out this system, the first operation is to pull the
turnips, cut off tops and roots, and cart into heaps of one, two,
or more loads all over the field ; and this ought to be done
when the weather is dry and without frost, so that the roots
may be stored in good condition, to keep them sound during
the winter. Some prefer to puU only as wanted for feeding.
The turnips being pulled and stored, the nets set as before,
and immediately adjacent to a row of heaps, the turnips are
then sliced and put into the troughs, and the nets removed
as the heaps are finished. By this system of feeding the sheep
have always the advantage of a clean bite, but the extra
outlay is considerable. A moderately active man can tend
from 200 to 300 sheep, but he should have assistance op
Sundays.

496

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

Oreen Cropg. — On good land cabbages make excellent
aheep food, and also stand the winter well. An acre of
these, if a fair crop, will equal nearly two acres of turnips,
and they are also a more healthy food. In the autumn,
when the pastures are failing, a few cabbages carted out to
the flock will keep them going on cheaply and well. On
many accounts they are a superior crop to turnips. They
are not subject to so many diseases, or liable to so many
failures ; they grow above ground, and less dirt is eaten with
them. They are easier taken up if necessary, and they never
need to be cut for the sheep, which is a great saving of labour.
On wet soils they must not, however, be eaten where they
grow, but cut and carted out to a dry pasture. Sheep will
fatten on cabbages alone, but the addition of a little dry food,
such as hay or grain, will give a better return for food con-
sumed. A sheep will consume from 20 to 30 lbs., or three
or four good cabbages, daily. Thirty to forty tons per acre
is not an unusual crop. They are also preferable to turnips
for ewes at lambing time, and are very " milky." Those who
make a practice of growing field cabbages find they cannot
get on without a supply all the year round, and accordingly
plant out in spring and at midsummer, as well as in autumn,
for successional crops.

For early spring feed and summer fattening, green crops
of rye, tiifolium, trefoil, rape, vetches, sainfoin, mustard, and
lucem will be found invaluable. There are other crops, such
as pease, beans, and maize, which are also used in a green
state for feeding sheep. As to the relative merits of these
crops we do not profess to decide, but they all have their
advocates, which no doubt depends a good deal on the nature
of soil and climate of the district in which they are grown.
All of them have been found to succeed, and each one must
decide for himself which will be most suitable. A variety is
best, however, and those who go in for summer green crops
can have no difficulty in securing it here. There is at least
little doubt that any of them would be better than a summer
fallow, and in many cases they may be made to leave a greater
profit than almost any other kind of crop that could be grown.
Most of all green crops may be folded with sheep, but some of
them are better adapted for the soiling system. They are all,
also, capable of being converted into silage, and the time is
not far distant when by this process they will supersede the
present methods of growing turnips and haymaking. In a
good climate, with good land, a regular succession of green
crops may be grown, and a continuous draft of fat sheep taken
from the farm every week in the year.

The quantity of green forage required to maintain a sheep
varies according to the purpose in view, and it necessarily
varies among different breeds. It will be sufficiently correct,
however, to reckon on an average-sized sheep consuming
twenty-eight pounds of green food daily. At this rate nearly
five tons will be required for its yearly maintenance. This
quantity will not be required when an allowance of dry food
is substituted.

Cake and Grain. — Of concentrated food in the shape of

cakes there are an almost unlimited variety and supply, nearly
all of which are suitable for sheep. Cake is, more strictly
speaking, however, better adapted as food for cattle than sheep,
as we have observed that more beef than mutton can be made
from a given quantity, and more especially when only one
kind of cake is used. Of all the cakes manufactured we would
prefer linseed for sheep. Linseed cake, or oil-meal as it is
sometimes termed, is always relished by a sheep, as it is
soothing in its effects, and exceedingly nutritious beyond the
percentage of oil in it. Nearly all the other cakes are too
heating, and if largely ted will bring the wool off the sheep.
Linseed will not do this. It will, instead, increase the growth
of the wool and add to its lustre, as well as nourish the body.
The yolk in wool is nothing else than a certain kind of oil
which perspires from the body through the fine tubes called
staple of wool, and upon which the growth of the wool de-
pends. Now all sheep-men know that unless the wool on the
sheep's back is moist and strong in the staple, the sheep is
not thriving. When the wool becomes dry and weak, and
hangs down by the sides of the sheep, it is a sure sign that
the animal is being insufficiently nourished. It is thus that
linseed, from the oil it contains, proves so valuable a food.
But while linseed may be the best single cake we could use,
it is not recommended to use it alone. A far better sheep,
and a heavier growth of both mutton and wool, can be ob-
tained by feeding a mixture. A change of diet always works
well, and more especially in high feeding. This point is not
so fully appreciated by farmers as it ought to be, as many
suppose that one kind of food is all that is necessary.

Nearly all the grains raised are healthy for sheep unground,
with the exception of millet, which is probably neither healthy
nor economical when fed unground ; because of its hard
husk and small size it is not masticated nor digested, but
mostly passes through the animal whole. And while all other
grains can be given profitably, oats and pease are probably
most relished by the sheep. But, like the cake, only one
kind of grain should not be fed. Sheep are fond of a mix-
ture, and feed faster when allowed a variety. They never do
well when fed wholly upon dry food ; and besides a combina-
tion of cake and grain, require a certain amount of succulent
and bulky material, such as roots, grass, or green forage.
When the green food is scarce linseed is a good substitute,
as it is laxative and nutritious, and prevents feverishness, so
apt to accompany heavy feeding on dry food. The quantity
of cake or grain fed to a sheep should never, in any case,
exceed two pounds per day, and generally from one to one-
and-a-half pound is sufficient. The most economical and
appropriate combination of foods will in measure depend upon
the cost. The cereal grains contain on an average rather
more than six parts of total non-nitrogenous to one of nitro-
genous compounds, and the leguminous seeds often not much
more than two parts to one. Oil cakes and foreign corn con-
tain rather more than six-sevenths, and home-grown corn
rather less than six-sevenths, of their weight of dry sub-
stance.

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

497

FEEDING EXPERIMENTS.

The whole art of feeding sheep lies in a judicious combina-
tion of foods ; and by having these intelligently supplied, in
suitable proportions and at the proper time, success is virtually
assured. On a farm all kinds of food and several kinds of
sheep may be found. The problem then is, how to consume
the food so as to give the largest increase of weight in the
sheep. If the sheep cannot be made to increase a certain
amount in weight and value for every pound of food con-
sumed, the operation had better be left alone, and the sheep
and food disposed of in some other way. A profit, of course,
cannot always be reckoned upon, for as long as farmers will
persist in buying and selling their live stock by guess instead
of by weight, no definite calculation can be made of what the
real value of the fattened beast will be. It entirely depends
on the cost of the lean animal to begin with for making a
profit out of the feeding. If the cost of the lean beasts per
pound be in proportion to what they will fetch when fat, the
fattening process is then a certain operation ; but when, as
it often happens, lean sheep are bought at 2d. per pound
live weight, and sold when fat at Qd. a pound, no man on
earth, be he ever so good a feeder, can make it pay. How-
ever, no one need have any doubt about the profit and loss
of converting farm produce into mutton, as by having a full
knowledge of the food analysis, a very nearly correct estimate
can be made of how much meat may be produced from a given
quantity of food.

According to Sir J. B. Lawes, '' fatting sheep, fed liberally
upon good food, composed of a moderate proportion of cake or
corn, some hay or straw chaff, with roots or other succulent
food, and well managed, will on the average consume about
15 lbs. per week, and should yield over a considerable period
of the time one part of increase in live weight for about nine
parts of the dry substance of their food. If the food be of
good quality, sheep may give a maximum amount of increase
for a given amount of total dry substance of food, even pro-
vided the latter contains as much as five parts of total non-
nitrogenous to one of nitrogenous compounds."

Feeding experiments showing the amount of increase from
different compounds of food are among the most important
that can be made, and it is rather unfortunate that farmers do
not, as a rule, make this a greater study. They are apt to
study only the best they can do with what food they have at
command, without considering whether it would be advan-
tageous to purchase the elements necessary to give the highest
percentage of increase from food consumed. Tests of this
kind, made by Professor Brown at the Ontario Experimental
Farm in 1883, are most interesting, the results of which are
as follows : —

OATS AND HAT IN SHEEP FEEDING.

Results per head per day, with four head for fifteen weeks
beginning 10th November : — The sheep in this test, and all
the others hereto noted, are Oxford Downs and Shrops grade
3r*

wether lambs, dropped on an average in March, and, with the
exception of the high and low feeding, were alternated to the
different foods in pens, as described.

The average wether lamb receiving If lb. oats, 2§ lbs. of
clover hay, and 1| lb. turnips, gave a daily increase of fully
\ lb., at a cost of 9 cents per lb. to the added weiglit of the
animal.

PEASE AND HAY IN SHEEP FEEDING.

Results per head per day with four head for fifteen weeks: —
In this experiment the average wether lamb consumed fully
\\ lb. of pease, nearly 2^ lbs. of hay, 2{^ lbs. turnips per day,
and increased in live weight at the rate of \ lb. per day ; cost,
12 cents per lb. added weight.

BEANS AND HAY IN SHEEP FEEDING.

Results per head per day with four head for fifteen weeks: —
The daily consumption by this ratio was \\ lb. beans,
2-ny lbs. liay, and 1;^ lb. turnips, and the increase to live
weight scarcely 1 lb. per week, which makes a cost of 19
cents to produce every pound added to the live weight of the
average wether lamb.

LOW FEEDING OF SHEEP.

Results per head per day with four head for fifteen weeks: —
Upon a daily ration of 2^ lbs. of clover hay, 1 lb. pea
straw, and 4 lbs. of turnips, the average wether lamb increased
in weight at the rate of nearly § lb. per week, and the cost of
producing 1 lb. to live weight amounted to 22 cents.

HIGH FEEDING OF SHEEP.

Results per head per day with four head for fifteen weeks : —

Food consumed.

S

03

£

0

i
I

c

ill

Oats.

Pease.

Beans.

Bran. Hay.

Roots.

lbs.
1-269

Oilcake.

Thorley.

lbs.

•507

lbs.
•354

Iba.
■101

lbs. lbs.
•601 1^992

lbs.
•27

lbs.
-2

lbs.
•2

lbs.
1^4

lbs.
125

The food above enumerated is the daily ration as con-
sumed by the average wether lamb, upon which it increased
in weight at the rate of i lb. per day ; cost of production,
12^ cents per lb.

COMPARATIVE RESULTS IN SHEEP FEEDING. — WETHER
LAMBS.

Weekly I
increase per
head.

Oats and hay,
Pease and hay,
Beans and hay,
Low feeding, .
High feeding.

lbs.

2^60

1-75
•95
•63

1-40

Weight at
finish.

lbs.
143
124
117
112
126

Cost per lb.

CenU.
9
12
19
22
12i

ANALYSIS.

The rapid and cheap production of mutton in winter has
been attained best by the use of oats and hay ; and, second,

498

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

by pease and hay ; this places six wether lambs as equivalent
to one two-year-old steer. The average of these two only
distinct ordinary forms of feeding sheep in this test equals
J lb. per head per day, and 10^ cents for the added pound
in weight.

Beans do not seem to act as profitable grain for sheep, as
the rate of growth of the average wether is little over half,
and the cost of production is double, that of pease.

That poor feeding is expensive feeding is well illustrated
here ; not one-third the ordinary rate of progress, and twice
the cost of production, must be very much the position of
those who practise what they consider economy.

The case of what is called " high feeding," although appa-
rently good in results, is yet not equal to moderate manage-
ment of lambs, which can evidently be expensively fed for
their age, and even kept back by a high-pressure process.

Another report of the Ontario Experimental Farm gives
details of some experiments in feeding grade shearling wethers
of the various breeds, embracing Cotswolds, Leicestera, Ox-
ford Downs, and Southdowns. The lambs were got by pure-
bred sires of the above-mentioned breeds, and out of common
mixed-bred Canada ewes. They were dropped about the
middle of March, and weaned 1st July. The exact date
when the weights and measurements were made is not given,
but it is not especially material, as these were all taken at
one time, and simply for the purpose of comparing the
various breeds with each other. The measurements were as
follows : —

Heart Girth.
Ft. in.

Flank Girth.
Ft. in.

Cotswolds,

Leicesters,
Oxford Downs,
Southdowns,

3
1

Oi
Hi

Oi

1

11
"i

Length.
Ft. in.

4 2

4 0

4 0

3 10

The Cotswolds averaged 199 lbs.; Leicesters, 198; Oxford
Downs, 177; and the Southdowns, 157. In commenting on
the above result, the report states : —

Practically the two long-wools are equal in weight as shear-
lings, and even to ourselves this result has been somewhat sur-
prising, because we have been accustomed to look upon the Cots-
wold as a slower and more irregular fattener. That they are
so in the latter respect we have already seen ; and while they
do not want in weight, they certainly do not give it propor-
tionally to size of bone, of length and height of frame. The
two Downs are, relatively to height, very much greater in
girth than either of the long-wools.

Counting the cost of all food, attendance, keep of dams,
casualties, &c., the report estimates the cost as follows :—
Cotswolds, 9-30 dols. ; Leicesters, 8-10 dols. ; Oxfords, 7-40
dols. ; and Southdowns, 6 dols. The value of the wool is
given, in the order above-named, as 2-52 dols., 2-24 dols.,
2-80 dols., and 2*40 dols.; and of the mutton, naming them
in the same order, 9-50 dols., 9-90 dols., 10-62 dols., and
10-20 dols. — which leaves the balance-sheet showing a profit
on the Cotswolds grade shearlings of 3-17 dols. ; Leicesters,
4-04 dols. ; Oxford Downs, 6-02 dols. ; and Southdowns,
6-60 dols.

The report sums up by stating that : — Most of our farmers
are well aware of the important fact, that under the best
management there is always most money in getting rid of
fat sheep as shearlings, instead of holding them on for
another year. It pays best — (1) in earlier returns, (2) in
greater weight proportionally to time, (3) in quality of flesh,
and (4) in quality of wool. On an average of kinds, the
increased weight during the second year is only at the rate
of one-fifth pound per head per day — that is, the average
shearling of 183 lbs. would not exceed 250 lbs. twelve months
afterwards.

EARLY MATURITY.

The early-maturity craze has of late years been eminently
manifest among sheep breeders. The old theory that prime
mutton could only be had from three and four-year-old
wethers has exploded. Ripe three-year-old wethers are now
rarely seen in the market. Indeed the proportion of two-
year-olds is also on the decline. One-year-olds seem to be
growing more numerous every year, and are becoming the
staple mutton of the country, notwithstanding it was once
thought that sheep could not be put in first-class order at
that age. At present everybody goes in for early maturity,
and probably it is only by doing so that meat-making can
be made to pay ; excepting, of course, in the case of old
ewes, which make up a considerable proportion of the fat
sheep killed every year, and which may, under certain con-
ditions, leave a good profit for fattening. Mountain wethers
are also excepted, which are sold for fattening at two and
three years of age. When the grazier finds it profitable to
keep his sheep till three or six years of age, the fattening of
these comes under quite a different account. It is only to
sheep that are bought or bred for the sole purpose of being
fattened that early maturity applies.

Nothing is more certain than that the age at which sheep
can be fattened is being constantly lessened. During recent
years the Smithfield and other fat stock clubs have been
compelled entirely to recast their prize lists and the arrange-
ment of classes, so as to put themselves more en rapport
with the requirements of the times, and be of gi-eater service
to feeders of stock. Classes for lambs have been instituted,
and since their introduction they have been the leading
feature among the sheep classes, besides carrying off the
champion honours for the best sheep in the show. These
illustrations of early maturity are too strong logic for the
old-style feeders, who hold the opinion that an animal must
have completed growth of frame before it can be profitably
fattened. Alternate fattening and starving will no longer pay
in the process of making a certain weight of meat from a
certain quantity of food; and the system of carrying on
animals to a certain age on merely sustenance diet, before
commencing to fatten them, is also proved to be unprofitable
feeding. These methods may be pursued in the case of coarse
ill-bred sheep that are slow to fatten, but they will not suit
improved breeds that lay on flesh early, and with food so

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BLACKFACED SHEEP.

"~!

GROUP OF COTSWOLDS.

\. FIRST PRIZE; 2. SECOND I'RIZE . 3, THIRD PRIZE— EWES AND RAMS

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

499

adjusted to meet the wants of nature that there shall be no
check in growth from birth to maturity.

It has been alleged that a sheep aged two years yields a
greater or heavier quantity of flesh than a sheep one year
old. But this is a fallacy. It is now ascertained that a sheep
from its birth till it is one year old makes as much flesh as
one double the age, provided the young sheep be fed carefully,
plentifully, and methodically ; that is to say, there shall be
no starvation or short commons stoppages in the rations.
Now it is a law of physiological growth, that the time lost
by insufficient feeding or the absence of sanitary care in the
development of animals, can never be recovered. In the first
year of its growth, the assimilation of food and the formation
of the tissues of the sheep proceed the most actively. No
food is thus lost in the system ; all is applied to build up j
nothing is demanded for repairs. At one year old the period
of development in a measure terminates, and henceforward
the animal has not only to feed to keep up life, but to
repair the daily waste of the tissues. Thus more food is
necessary to produce a pound of flesh when, after one year
old, the tissues have to be restored, than before and up to
that period, when all vitality is not repairing waste but de-
veloping growth.

It has been demonstrated that the quantity of meat pro-
duced by sheep delivered to the butcher at the precocious
ages of from nine to fifteen months, costs exactly one-half
less expense to those retained double the time. Sheep sold
oS" at one year old implies a double profit in point of meat
realized for the market, the return of the capital invested in
half less time, the allowing of double the number of sheep
to be kept without any augmented demand on the food. By
bringing the animals early to the block, we reduce risks and
labour and time to the minimum. The liability to disease
is averted for one whole year, and when the average annual
mortality of sheep stock cannot be calculated at less than five
per cent., it is evident that the practice of early maturity has
many favourable aspects.

The great fight among the mutton breeds of sheep here-
after, must hinge on the matter of early maturity more than
on anything else. Contest after contest has demonstrated
that there is but little difference in the quantity or quality
of the mutton they yield. Indeed so close has been the
fight, that there has never been a fat stock show held in
which there was not some division of honours among the
different breeds. Under such circumstances as these it is no
easy matter for either breed long to hold any special honour
gained, a fact which heightens the struggle for development
of precocity in mutton points.

IMPLEMENTS USED IN SHEEP FEEDING.

The implements required for practical use in feeding sheep
are comparatively few, and need not be expensive. When
hay is fed it should be put into racks, and not scattered on
the ground, which will keep the food dry and prevent waste.
Hay-racks are best made with a light roof and frame set on

low stout legs. If mounted on wheels, the racks can be
drawn by a horse from one part of the field to another ; but
they are equally handy without wheels, as several of them
can then be easily loaded on to a cart or waggon and moved
from place to place. The ordinary sheep hay-rack is made
to stand above the sheep, so that they eat from under it, but
unless a railing is put around the sides to prevent the sheep
from trampling what hay they pull out, a good deal of waste
will occur. A rack 9 feet long will accommodate twenty
sheep. Sheep racks can either be purchased from implement
makers or made by any country joiner, and cost from 15«. to
25s. each. If well taken care of they will last many years.
Whenever the racks are taken out to the fields for use, they
should be tied to two stakes driven into the ground at alter-
nate corners, and this will prevent them from being blown
over and dashed to pieces by the wind. When not in ase
they should be carted to some place of safety, under cover
if possible, where they will take least harm from weather or
other destroying influences. Many farmers consider hay-
racks too costly, and use instead bags made of cord or wire ;
but these methods are really the most expensive in the end,
from damaged hay and less satisfaction to the sheep. Hill
farmers, who use hay only occasionally, and for indefinite
periods, seldom use racks. They either scatter the hay on
the top of the snow, or put up a double line of wire netting
on stakes, from which the sheep can eat their hay. This
plan is certainly better than nothing, as it at least prevents
the hay from being trampled upon or blown away by the
wind. A different kind of a rack is necessary for feeding
ensilage. The hay-rack is slatted so closely that the sheep
cannot put their heads through the bars, but this kind of a
rack is not adapted for ensilage, and especially if the silage
be made from rougher crops than grass. A.n ensilage-rack
does not require to be on legs at all, nor is it absolutely
necessary that it should be roofed. It should be made
to stand low, and so as the sheep can put their heads through
the bars while eating. The sides of the manger should be at
least 3 feet high — if lower the sheep will get into them ; the
width from 24 to 30 inches. Make the slats 3 or 4 inches
wide, with rounded edges. For grown sheep, nail the slats
on 14 inches apart ; for lambs, 9 inches apart. This will
give the animals plenty of standing room, one slat being
between each two sheep. Such racks, without a roof, can be
made by any handy shepherd out of common fence rails.

In feeding grain, cut roots, or chaff, boxes or troughs of
different sizes are required. It is best to have different boxes
for the different kinds of food. When the same boxes are
used for both corn and roots, there is generally much of the
grain wasted from the troughs not being clean. Corn boxes
do not need to be so large as the root troughs, but they had
better be large than too small. The small Y-shaped boxes
made by nailing two narrow boards together at right angles,
although very common in use, are not the most suitable.
They are very light and easily moved, but they are only
serviceable for feeding on pasture land. When they are used

500

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

on turnip land, the sheep from having so much mud on their
feet and getting into the troughs, are certain to dirty a good
deal of their food, which they will not afterwards eat. From
their being so very small, the food is also apt to be dropped
from the sheep's mouths on to the ground, and trodden under
foot. Corn boxes are best made of three boards — having
two sides and a bottom, with a top-rail or cross section. A
trough of this kind, 9 feet long, 6 inches deep, and 5 inches
wide on the inside, will be found the most suitable, and can
be used on either pasture or turnip land. Turnip or root
troughs should be made on the same principle, only larger —
always with a cross section, about 10 inches deep and 6
inches wide on the bottom. Boxes of these dimensions will
cost about 5s. and 7s. 6d. respectively. A trough 9 feet long
will feed from fifteen to twenty sheep, according to size.
Ewes in lamb should never be allowed to crowd each other,
but have plenty of box-room provided when feeding.

A large corn-bin or barrel is requisite for storing a supply
of feeding-stuffs near the feeding ground. If the fold be
adjacent to the farm granary, from whence the food can be
carried out as needed, then a bin will not be required. A
bin that will hold from four to six sacks of feed, placed by
the sheep, will give the shepherd better facilities for regular
feeding than when the food has to be carted from the barn
once or twice daily, which is an everlasting trouble and apt
to be done irregularly. The corn-bin should be made
thoroughly waterproof by having a zinc covering to the lid,
and furnished with lock and key. It may also be better to
have it made in two divisions for keeping different kinds of
food, but all the food should be mixed in the proportions
intended for feeding before leaving the barn, and not after
being taken to the field.

The implements required in sheep - folding are hurdles,
nets, and stakes. Hurdles can be made of either iron or
wood. The former are the most durable, but they are more
expensive ; still they are highly recommended by those who
have used them. Hurdles of any kind we do not favour,
and would never on any account use them for folding sheep.
They are expensive to begin with, unwieldy to handle, and
do not make any better fence than can be made by nets and
stakes, which are much lighter and cheaper. Hurdles are,
moreover, not so safe a fence as the nets. No matter how
securely they may be set, should it happen to storm over
night, they are sure to be all down in the morning, and the
sheep all over the field. There is nothing provokes a shep-
herd more than this, and it is very hurtful to the sheep, as it
unsettles them, and for ever keeps them on the alert for a
break-out. Nets of either cord or wire are stronger and less
liable to be blown down by the wind The wire is more
expensive than the cord, the cost per yard varying accord-
ing to strength and size of mesh. Wire is also thought to
be more durable than cord, but under certain conditions such
is not the case. When frequent shiftings are required, the
rolling out and in of the wire is apt to break it, whereas with
cord the shifting does not injure it. If the fence is not

moved too much wire will many times outlast the cord, but
not when daily shifting has to be done. In some parts it is
difficult to procure stakes. If young larch trees, from 4 to
6 inches in circumference and about 5 feet long, can be had,
they are the most durable ; but suitable ones can be sawn
out of timber, 2 inches square, and these will do quite as well
as the natural grown stakes. It must not be thought, how-
ever, that nets and stakes are an impregnable fence. They
are quite the reverse ; and if sheep once learn the habit of
getting over or through them, they will serve a very bad
purpose, in fact will not keep the sheep at all. In setting
nets care should be taken to pull or clear away the row of
turnips immediately behind where the fence is to stand.
This prevents the sheep from trying to reach food through
the meshes, which is generally the cause of their making
holes, or getting hung by the neck in the nets. Where there
are many hares, holes will be eaten in the nets, which the
shepherd must patch up before the sheep make them any
larger, from trying to get through them. But if the annoy-
ance from hares is anything serious, wire nets only should
be used — they can't eat holes in them. When the nets are
well attended to and kept in good repair, they will keep the
sheep quite securely ; whereas, if they are carelessly set, and
allowed to become tattered from want of mending, they be-
come an everlasting source of trouble.

A heairy wooden mallet and an iron " gavelock " or
" piercer " are used in setting up light fencing of this kind.
Where the ground is hard, the holes for the stakes are made
with the pointed piercer, which saves the points of the stakes.
Having the holes well pierced, and the mallet lightly used,
the stakes will last a long time ; whereas, if they are driven
home from the top, they will soon be all in splinters. The
stakes are set about eight or nine feet apart. With a handy
turnip hoe or picker, for picking up the shells of the roots,
these, together with a good turnip cutter, are about all the
tools requisite for feeding sheep.

SHEEP AS FERTILIZERS.

The dung of the sheep is more valuable than that of horses,
cattle, or pigs. From its coldness it does not ferment, and
consequently retains its value much longer than the manure
from either horse or ox. All grazing animals extract a cer-
tain amount of mineral matter from the soil, but sheep take
the least in proportion to live weight. The experiments of
Lawes and Gilbert show that 1000 lbs. live weight of sheep
or lambs carry off about twenty-six pounds or less of phos-
phate of lime from the soil. The quantity of phosphate is
less in a given live weight of fat than of lean animals. In
regard to each description of animal, it may be asserted that
a given live weight will contain less of every constituent of
mineral matter the more it is matured or fattened. Growing
sheep will cause a greater loss to the land, or will make a
poorer quality of manure from augmented food, than those
which have arrived at maturity. The loss of mineral matter
to the farm by mere increase of fat is almost insignificant ;

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

501

and the estimate is made, that the increase of sheep during
the final four or six months of the fattening period will not
contain more than about 1^ per cent, of such constituents.
It is also concluded that an acre of land would lose more
phosphoric acid in milk, and four or five times as much in
wheat or barley, or in hay, as in the fattening of sheep. Of
lime the land would sustain a loss of about twice as much
in the animal increase as in hay; and of potash said acre
would yield only a fraction of a pound in animal increase,
six or eiglit times as much in milk, perhaps twenty times as
much in wheat or barley, and more than one hundred times
as much in hay. The loss to land by annual increase is
chiefly in phosphate of lime, in amount varying from five
to ten pounds per acre.

The mineral matter taken from the soil by a five-pound
fleece of wool is only 1'6 ounce in a year and 5 ounces of
nitrogen. In order to show what part of the food is stored
up in the body of the sheep, and what is passed in solid and
liquid excrement, we will quote from the German tables of
experiments. It was found that when sheep consumed 100
lbs. of nitrogen in their food (being barley meal), 16'7 lbs.
were voided in the solid excrement, 79 lbs. in the liquid ex-
crement, and 4'3 were stored up as increase of the body.
Thus 95-7 per cent, of the nitrogen of the food was voided
ift the excrement, leaving as a loss to the soil (stored up in
the body) only 4'3 per cent. Of the mineral or ash constitu-
ents of the food, it was found that sheep voided in the excre-
ment 96"2 per cent, and used in the body only 3'8 per cent.
When sheep were fed upon good clover and meadow hay, the
solid excrement contained of ash 3'5 per cent., and of nitrogen
0"7 per cent. ; while the urine contained of ash 5'6 per cent.j
and of nitrogen 1'4 per cent.

By far the largest proportion of the fertilizing substances
contained in the turnip crop, probably about seven-eighths, is
returned to the land if the crop is consumed by the sheep on
the field, and only about one-eighth of the materials useful
as manure is carried away by the sheep in the form of bone
and the nitrogenous matters which enter into the composition
of the animal organism. The bulk of the animal is produced
from the sugar, pectin, vegetable fibre, and other non-nitro-
genous constituents of turnips, and these constituents have
no value as manuring agents. The land is left in a better
agricultural condition after the turnip crop has been con-
sumed on the ground by sheep, and the latter has been sold
off, than it was before the turnip crop ; for there is but little
fertilizing matter carried away by the sheep, and the manur-
ing elements in the turnip crop are deposited in the shape
of sheep-dung and urine over the surface of the soil, and in
a perfectly prepared and readily available state. In general
the land is more productive after a turnip crop has been con-
sumed on the ground by the sheep than before ; but this is a
point which some doubt.

The Italians have a proverb that " A sheep is the best
dung-cart," and modem science tells us on what the truth
of that proverb is founded. It is because thirty-six pounds of

sheep manure are equal, as a fertilizer, to one hundred pounds
of ordinary farm-yard manure. Richer in nitrogenous sub-
stances than the manure of the horse or cow, it is scattered
upon the field, the sides and tops of the hills, in the most
desirable form to be easily trodden into the earth and mixed
witli the soil. We are yearly paying enormous sums for
foreign fertilizers to secure the means wherewith our sterile
fields may be enriched, while we sometimes overlook tlie best
of all agencies with which nature enables us to accomplish
that object. Pastures wliich are stocked to their full capacity
with cattle or horses, will still give acceptable sustenance to a
few sheep. Sheep will eat weeds and grasses the dainty cow
passes by ; and from what would corrupt the pastures, they
glean an abundant living, and return to us a right royal bene-
faction for the little they ask at our hands. Sheep by nature
are constituted to gather up the very fragments of the vege-
table kingdom, and work them up into materials of the highest
use and importance to man.

SHEEP ON ARABLE LAND.

AUTUMN MANAGEMENT OF EWES.

After the lambs are weaned the ewes may be kept for ten
days or a fortniglit on rather bare pasture till the milk goes
off them. There is then less danger of garget; and to make
sure that none of the ewes are ruined at this stage, the shep-
herd ought to look out for any that seem to suffer from inflamed
udders, and take the trouble to draw a little milk from them
every other day. In obstinate cases an occasional rubbing
with camphorated oil may be advisable, and in severe cases a
dressing of cold tar will be beneficial. When the milk has
left them, the draft ewes should be taken out and put on rape
or other improving feed, whether they are to be sold lean or
fattened for the butcher.

Draft ewes that have been well fed while nursing their
lambs should have the feed continued, and gradually in-
creased, after the lambs are weaned. This is the best way
to prepare ewes for the butcher, and is much more profitable
than to allow them to get very poor from nursing on insuffi-
cient food. When ewes are in thin flesh, their feeding should
be begun very moderately. They cannot be brought up in
condition very rapidly without a great deal of good food,
which is expensive. It is better to start them slowly, and
after they fairly get used to the food it may be further in-
creased, when they will fatten rapidly, and with profit. The
quantity of grain or cake that may be given, should be from
half a pound at startmg, and increased to two pounds per ewe
daily towards the finish. When the grain ration exceeds one
pound daily, it will do more good to the sheep if they receive
it twice — morning and evening. Roots or other green food
should also be given liberally; and if the ewes are done in
their mouths, they will require to be cut. Sheep will feed
faster netted on the turnip land than when the turnips are
laid on grass land. All sheep feeders are agreed on this
point. When folded, it is a great point not to give too large
a break at once, but shift the nets or hurdles at least twice a

502

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FAEMING.

week, or every day if possible. With careful attention and a
well-appointed diet old ewes may be fattened in from six to
nine weeks, but when they are very low in condition to start
with a month longer will be required.

As soon as the flow of milk has been checked, the keeping
ewes may have a few days' run on the newly cleared stubble.
They will pick up any heads of grain left, and eat off all the
grass by the sides of fences ; and while this lasts the pastures
are freshened up a bit. It is well known to practical sheep-
farmers that this is a most important period of the year in the
management of breeding ewes. Yet not a few flockmasters
are in the habit of treating their ewes rather carelessly during
the last four months of the year. They try to keep them as
cheaply as possible, which is commendable ; where they err,
is in not keeping them straight on through autumn into winter
in the same even condition.

As the tupping season approaches it is well to have the
ewes in good thriving condition before then. It should not,
however, be accomplished by a process of hurried and tem-
porary stimulation. The improvement should be gradual,
and not above what it is intended to sustain. The practice
of supplying the ewes with turnips, cake, or corn two or three
weeks previous to putting out the rams is open to grave
question. It certainly goes against nature to feed the ewes
extra well one month at this stage, and then put them on
mere sustenance diet for the next three months. It is from
mismanagement at the period of conception, and subsequently,
that we can trace, months hence, the causes of abortion, or
weak and dead lambs, and other disastrous results. Nor is
this the only evil of " flushing " the ewes when they are put
to the rams. •Trom actual test we are convinced that ewes
which have Taeen flushed one year are never so prolific the
next. Most shepherds will have observed this fact. And
indeed the extra number of lambs raised in any one year by
this system is, on the average, not very great. Twenty lambs
per 100 ewes is about the most we could expect to increase
the yield of lambs by a month's extra keep, costing £12 for
that number of ewes. This is a heavy tax on the twenty
lambs ; and if on the other side we throw in a little extra for
the better quality of more single lambs, and a better average
condition of the whole flock, there remains little, if anything,
to be credited to the practice of " flushing " ewes, even when
no injury follows from subsequently letting them down in
condition. We are not to be understood as advocating a poor
diet at tupping time ; by no means, give them as good a diet
as can be sustained through the autumn and winter.

The period of gestation in the ewe is twenty-one weeks.
Where early fat lambs are reared, tlie rams are admitted to
the ewes accordingly. The usual tupping time for ordinary
lambing is some time in October, as best suits the locality.
The lambs should generally be made to arrive with the
grass in spring ; if sooner, they are more expensively raised,
and seldom so good. The number of ewes allowed to a
ram depends on his age and the nature of the ground. A
good strong lamb ram wiU serve as many as twenty-five

ewes without hurt, a shearling may be allowed from fifty
to sixty, and forty to fifty for an aged tup. If the ram be
confined and not allowed to run with the ewes, he will serve
a hundred ewes quite well ; but it is a deal of trouble bring-
ing up the ewes in this way, and is only advisable with some
very special stock -ram, whose progeny is valuable. The
older ewes should be served first, reserving the shearlings to
the last, as these make but indifferent nurses, and it is there-
fore desirable that there be plenty of fresh grass before they
begin to lamb.

The breast of the ram should be rubbed with ochre ; and
the ewes that are served marked at the end of every week,
on the shoulder or rib, with a dot of oil paint, so that the
shepherd who makes a note of the different dots he puts on
weekly, may have a key, as it were, to the order in which the
ewes will lamb.

WINTER MANAGEMENT OF EWES.

To say how much or how little condition should be main-
tained on breeding ewes in the winter season, is a point on
which depends the system of summer management. But, as
a rule, the surest guide is the condition in which the summer
grazing will sustain them. Every farm, and indeed every
field, has a certain feeding quality of its own, which makes
the sheep just as good, or bad, and this of a remarkably
distinct character. To give the best possible return for food
consumed, a sheep must be kept near a certain level of con-
dition ; neither higher than what is likely to be maintained
throughout the year, nor lower than the standard we have
just indicated. This, then, is the object in view; and, al-
though food may be extremely short, every farmer should make
his best endeavour to come as near to this mark as possible.

It is the usual practice at this time of the year to keep the
ewes as cheaply as possible ; but at the same time it should
not be forgotten, that while it may seem a favourable oppor-
tunity to practise economy, it is nevertheless a very important
period with the ewes. Up to this time they have maintained
their summer condition, but now, from a less nourishing diet
and colder weather, they begin to lose flesh. Of this fact a
man may be aware ; yet he is apt to consider the consequences
too trifling, and is sometimes tempted, from short supplies,
to withhold the food he would otherwise deal out liberally.
A slight reduction in condition is not at this period hurtful
to ewes, most shepherds will admit. For some reason or
other, breeding ewes that are kept too well all through
winter, and never allowed to fall off in condition, seldom
acquit themselves at lambing time, or bring as strong healthy
lambs as those that have been slackened a little in winter.
This is a nice point in sheep management, and requires much
skill to bring to a successful issue But, generally, more
harm is done in the opposite direction, by allowing too much
condition to be lost. When this is the case the final result
is never so satisfactory as might be, and will require heavier
feeding in spring, or else the ewes will be deficient in milk,
and make poor lambs.

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

503

When the grass begins to get scant, and there is any fear
of the ewes falling away in condition, they should get some-
thing extra, and it could not possibly be begun at a better
time. Commence gradually, and do not go beyond what
will be kept up, or nearly so. In fact we could not advise
a lowering at all, and would rather choose a smaller but
steady supply all the time. As long as the pastures are
available they will be of great service while the weather
remains open Keep the ewes spread over the fields as
thinly as possible, and in each division may be placed a
rack, and half a pound of hay allowed to each ewe. With
a small bite of grass this will keep them going along nicely,
but with a bare pasture, or in the event of a storm, in addi-
tion to the hay, half a pound of cake or grain might be given
with advantage. A month on this keep will save a lot of
turnips, and the cost need not be great. As the season
advances and the ewes require a fuller diet, they can then
be given an allowance of turnips. These can either be carted
out to the pastures, or the ewes folded on the turnip break
for an hour or two daily, or all night if the turnips are plenti-
ful. Ewes will be quite as healthy netted on to the turnip
land all the time, even if they be only getting a small share
of roots; and besides preventing them from picking up dirt
on bare fields, it will leave the manure where it ii wanted,
and the pastures will be earlier in spring from not being eaten
too close in winter. The hay and grain ration will be subject
to the quantity of turnips given, and their portions may be
adjusted accordingly

It is not uncommon to see ewes put on turnips entirely —
''all turnips, as it is termed — for a month or two previous to
lambing time, and although we do not question the result —
some do — it is undoubtedly expensive feeding. But full
turnips are even more expensive in spring, when the tops are
withered and the bulbs are often dry and tasteless. A few
turnips should be given all the time, but there is no necessity
for using them to so great an extent as some do, and the
relative cost of feeding between turnips and a mixed ration
of grain, hay, and turnips, is decidedly in favour of the latter.
A bad turnip year has also proved to us that the worst results
in the lambing fold are not then obtained ; in fact, it is often
remarked that when turnips are plentiful so is the death-rate
in the flock. There is no better winter food for sheep than
good sound fresh hay, and in ordinary years we question if
there is any cheaper. In Canada and the Northern States of
America large numbers of sheep are kept, and in most cases
they get nothing but hay the whole winter, or nearly six
months, and they thrive excellently every year. Those who
have gone in for ensilage may bring their ewes equally well
through the winter, and cheaper on silage alone, without
either roots or hay.

Bring the ewes forward to the lambing healthy and hearty.
They should not be fat, as there is then some danger in
lambing, and if they are in higher condition than their pas-
ture is likely to sustain them, they will fall away and not
nurse so well. Experience has taught us that although the

ewes were put to grass in the best condition, even fat, they
did not make the lambs so good as we expected. The reason
is plain: the ewes were not receiving the same amount of
nourishment from the grass as they had from hand feeding
in winter. If high feeding be practised at all, it must be
continued. Still the ewes must be kept in good flesh, for if
they are lean even worse results will be obtained, and there
is a possibility of overstepping the mark on either side.

THE LAMBING FOLD

No other event during the year can in any way compare
with "the lambing" for creating enthusiasm and interest.
Not only is this so with the farmer himself, but with every
workman on the farm ; and as to the feelings of the shepherd,
his ideas of the aff"air are at least sincere, if not oftentimes
sacred. It is well this is so, for when all take an interest in
anything, tlie effect must appear in some way or other. We
do not mean that this man or the other should be allowed
to interfere with the ewes ; but every shepherd knows the
advantage it is to have a man who will, when (say) carting
turnips to the lambing field, instead of getting his load off all
in a heap the handiest way possible, use his best judgment
in selecting the most sheltered and cleanest part he can find,
and distribute the food carefully and evenly.

Those who have carefully watched and tended their flocks,
and who, at all times, have been careful to provide a suffi-
ciency, of good wholesome food, will every day have proof of
reward for their untiring zeal and liberality ; whereas those
who have been inattentive, and have grudgingly provided
for them, will probably find the results correspondingly dis-
appointing. It is not always where we find the most lambs
per hundred ewes that we find the most successful lambing.
It is essential to have numbers, but they must also be good.

The lambing of the ewes on an arable farm is of the very
greatest importance, and every needful preparation should be
made beforehand. The fold should be on dry ground, and
the site which combines that condition with the best natural
shelter should be chosen. A field sheltered from the north
and east offers the most desirable exposure. It need not be
level ; in fiict an incline is an advantage, the ground keeps
cleaner and sweeter, and on bright days, when the ewes are
apt to roll, there is less danger of their "awalding" than
there would be on the level.

Having selected the site, next consider what shelter has
to be provided. The number of the flock must determine
this ; but whatever the number may be, there should be
sufficient covered pens to accommodate singly as many ewes
as can possibly lamb on any one day. Temporary erections,
which can be removed as soon as done with for the season,
and be pitched on fresh ground every year, are found to be
in every respect preferable. Some flockmasters have sus-
tained serious losses through permanent buildings of this
kind, and it is well to diminish the risk as far as possible by
fresh ground and a new construction every year. Still, since
becoming aware of a remedy for the most fatal of all diseasea

504

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

in the lambing fold, we would not hesitate, under certain
conditions, to erect a permanent building.

Admirable lambing folds can be constructed very readily
by the shepherds, with no other materials than wattled
hurdles and straw. A fold inclosing sufficient space to hold
all the ewes comfortably is first erected. This is done by
setting a double row of hurdles, which are stuffed between
with old straw or litter so bad that the sheep will not eat it.
This will form a complete barricade against the wind, and
a fold with this provision alone would afiFord a vast amount
of shelter to the sheep. But with a little more labour covered
huts or pens may be formed, at suitable parts, against these
lines of stuffed hurdles. Single hurdles are set up trans-
versely within, and on their tops, together with those of the side
hurdles, more wattled hurdles are laid down flat, and straw
laid overhead to form a roof, which declining from within to
without, allows no rainfall to drip therefrom inside the fold.
Thatch is then laid on, and if the work be well executed,
such a place will give every comfort to the young lambs.

The floors of the pens will be much improved by having
them covered to about 6 inches deep with burnt clay or
gravel, and if the yard inclosed be raised in the same way
the whole will keep drier and healthier. The yard should
also be made large enough to allow a straw stack to be built
in the centre. This will give a great deal of warmth to the
premises. Everything needs to be kept clean and tidy, and
all the pens and yard well bedded with litter from the stack.

A root store, a small hay shed, a corn-bin, and a comfort-
able hut for the shepherd, are all requisites of the lambing
fold, and these can also be erected so as to give additional
shelter. A number of small feed boxes, suitable for feeding
the ewes in the pens, are also required. A few covered pens
in different corners of the adjacent pastures are also necessary,
for sheltering weak or hungry lambs on stormy days. Only
a single night's shelter in these side pens is often the means
of fairly setting young lambs on their legs.

The ewes will have been marked at tupping time for each
week's lambing, and the first lot should be brought into the
lambing field a day or two previous. At the end of the first
week the second lot of lambers may be brought in ; and at
the end of the second week all that are left may be brought
in, as all but a few are due to lamb in the third week. They
should have the run of tlie field during the day, and be put
into the fold during the night, and where the shepherd can
see them as often as necessary, having a lantern for the pur-
pose. In case of stormy and wet weather the fold will be
a protection by day or night.

Two shepherds are necessary — one for night, and the other
for the day. When the flock does not exceed 300 ewes, how-
ever, one shepherd has generally to suflSce. Two men can
take care of 600 ewes, but in stormy weather they will need
the assistance of an active boy to attend to the hungry lambs
needing care out in the fields. A few lambs saved pays for
extra help, and the shepherds, who are already overworked,
are sometimes unable to give sufiicient attention to everything.

The flockmaster ought to make it a matter of pride that no
lamb which once sees daylight shall be lost through any fault
or failure on his part. Every lamb ought to count one. After
the ewe has passed her whole period of gestation, it is arrant
folly to allow the lamb to be lost through neglect of some
little service which could be rendered in five minutes.

The duties of the shepherd in the lambing fold are un-
ceasing, and demand great skill and attention, both in giving
assistance to the ewes and care in reviving weak lambs.
Whenever a ewe requires assistance in delivery, he must be
there to give it. The experienced man, however, never acts
hurriedly. He gives the ewe ample time for nature to operate,
and only when he suspects that all is not well he makes an
examination. If his fears be groundless, he will allow the
ewe to take her own time ; but when he discovers that the
presentation is awkward, he must exercise his skill in putting
the head or limb of the lamb into proper position. There
is often difficulty in such cases, and they are also so various,
and often intricate, that long experience only can teach a man
how to act. When a ewe is exhausted from severe parturi-
tion, she is in a very critical condition, and requires careful
nursing for the next few day? She should be placed in a
dry comfortable pen, and have absolute rest. The lamb, if
alive, is put beside her, but if her lamb be dead, as it not un-
frequently happens, the ewe should not be troubled with
another until she is completely recovered in health. The
hospital pens should never be used for newly lambed ewes.
They should be kept solely for this special purpose, and al-
ways thoroughly clean. Foul pens are generally the origin-
ators of inflammation, and when once it begins, the premises
should be daily disinfected with a weak solution of carbolic
acid and water, which will usually arrest further spread of the
infection.

Reviving weak lambs is likewise a delicate task. Those
naturally puny need to be kept in good shelter for some days,
and if their dams have plenty of milk they will soon gel
strong. The usual trouble with young lambs is cold and
hunger. A lamb so chilled that the thumb and finger held
on opposite sides of the chest can scarcely detect the heart-
beats, can be restored by an immediate plunge into blood-
warm water. But this should be resorted to only in des-
perate cases, for the water is likely to obliterate the scent,
by which alone the ewe recognizes her ofispring. For the
same reason it is equally dangerous to wrap the lamb in
malodorous cloths, and allow it to lie before a fire. It will
probably be a long time in recovering, and the chances are
that the natural scent will be lost ; then there will be trouble
in establishing relations again between it and the mother.
Then, too, the lamb will most likely have to be fed on cow's
milk, which is the greatest evil that could happen. If at all
possible the lamb should never be removed from its mother.
Carry out soft woollen wraps, well warmed, and wrap it up,
letting the head remain out where the ewe can smell and lick
it when disposed ; she will thus keep up her acquaintance
with it. The sooner some warm milk is given it the better.

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

505

The creature may be so chilled that it cannot suck, yet it may
not be advisable to carry it to the fire. Catch the ewe gently
with the crook ; lay her on her left side, yourself being
squatted at her back ; lay the lamb on its right side ; with
the thumb and finger of the left hand hold the jaws apart;
and milk a few drops into the mouth. Still holding the jaws
apart, rub the throat with a downward stroke, and it will
swallow. If it cannot swallow, it will probably have to be
carried to the kitchen. But try every expedient before carry-
ing the lamb away from the sight and touch of its mother.
Never give a young lamb more than a tablespoonful of milk
at a time ; and a teaspoonful every ten minutes will be more
effective still, when life is but a spark.

The number of lambs reared varies considerably. In unto-
ward seasons, or with bad management, the lambs often do
not exceed 100 per cent, of the ewes. There are instances in
some years where the percentage of lambs exceeded 160 per
cent, on arable sheep farms, while on the same farms in other
seasons only 60 per cent, of lambs were reared, the deficiency
being caused as much by abortions as by barrenness of ewes.
Some breeds are, of course, more prolific than others ; but
twins, or couples, in the proportion of one-third to one-half
of the ewes, may be expected where the keep is good and the
management judicious. The following statistics of several
difierent flocks may be accepted as afibrding evidence of fairly
average results. In a flock of half-bred ewes the percentage
of lambs is 140 ; in a small flock of Southdown ewes the
number of lambs is 130; in a larger flock of Oxford Down
ewes it is 129 ; in another large flock of Shropshire ewes it is
145; in a flock of 500 cross-bred Hampshire ewes it is 110 j
and in a flock of 600 Southdown ewes the percentage of lambs
reared is 109

It is well to give the shepherd a bonus of sixpence or a
shilling for every lamb above the number of ewes at weaning
time. This encourages him to do his best to bring the lambs
safely through the most risky period ot their lives. The
Lincolnshire Agricultural Society gives prizes to the shep-
herds who have reared the largest percentage of lambs from
ewes put to the tup. The prizes are distributed in three
classes: — A, for shepherds whose flock exceeds 300 ewes,
at least one-fourth of which must be shearlings ; B, for those
whose flock has between 150 and 300 ewes ; C, those whose
charge is below 150, but above 40 head. By far the best
percentages are those from flocks of the middle size ; showing
that, if a shepherd be overtaxed, or have so srnall a charge as
to lead to his having to follow other employments, the returns
are less than where a man has enough to occupy his whole
time fairly, but no more.

The feeding of the ewes while in the lambing fold is not
the least important matter in leading to success. If they are
short of milk, it is better to feed the ewes on a little grain
than have endless trouble with starving lambs. Yellow
turnips are better for milk than swedes, but they should not
be fed alone. Fewer roots, with a handful of oats and a
little hay, can be fed more economically. The common plan
3 s*

is to give daily three moderate cartloads of turnips to about
80 ewes. But we have found one cartload of turnips, with
two bushels of oats and 40 lbs. of hay, give equally good
results, and at a less cost. Charging turnips at say 5.«. per
load of 10 cwts., oats at 2s. 6d. per bushel, and hay at 1«. del.
per 40 lbs., the mixed ration costs 3s. 6d. per day less than
the full turnip ration, and this on 80 ewes is a saving of
nearly 3^d. per ewe per week.

When the lambing is over, and the ewes dispersed into
diflferent fields, the hand feeding must be kept up until they
have a full bite of grass.

Let us now add that nothing is more conducive to a suc-
cessful lambing than a good shepherd. And we can say this
of those of our acquaintance, that, compared with other agri-
cultural labourers, they stand a liead and shoulders above
their fellows for intelligence and faithfulness of trust.

MANAGEMENT OF EWES AND LAMBS.

The management of ewes and lambs differs very much
according to the time of the lambing and the climate and
food supply of the district. On the hills in the north, for
example, the ewes and lambs never get a change of pasture,
and rarely or never any extra feeding. On the arable lands
in the same districts the management is still very simple,
owing as a rule to the small variety in the crops to be fed.
The lambs begin to arrive while there are a few turnips still
on hand, and when the last of these are consumed there is
seldom any choice of sheep keep, except perhaps between
first year's grass seeds and second or third year's grass. The
seeds in the north consist largely of rye-grass, and the younger
they are the earlier the spring growth, and the more esteemed
they are for ewes and lambs. As the first year's seeds are
not enough for the entire flock, it is customary to put the
"couples" into them, and the ewes with the single lambs
go upon the older grasses, ileadow grass, though quite as
early as first year's seeds, is usually too scarce in such districts,
where the flocks are large, to count for much. When the
spring is late and the grass backward, the only resource open
to the northern farmer under these circumstances is to give
corn or cake to the ewes and lambs on the pastures.

Very different is the practice of the southern farmer. He
would think he was badly placed indeed if he had only the
choice of turnips or grass to produce early and fat lambs
upon. Although the lambing time is earlier with him than
it is in the north, he takes care to provide a nice piece of
winter rye or barley for the ewes to turn upon, long before
the turnips are finished, and long before there is a bite of
young grass even. The rye is soon followed by trifolium,
vetches, cabbage, &c., and by the cultivation of the two
latter only, no sheep farmer in any part of Britain need ever
be in want of good keep for his flock at any se»son of the
year.

When the spring is a forward one, turnips are worth little
for ewes and lambs after the middle of April, before which
time the rye or other green food sliould be available. In

506

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

open seasons the rye will indeed often aflford a good bite
early in February, in which case the blade should be eaten
down, and a second growth will be ready to feed in April.
Toward the end of April or beginning of May the winter
vetches or tares will be fit for feeding, and by the time the
tares are eaten ofif the trifolium, clover, sainfoin, &c., will be
ready to receive the flock.

In a late spring it may happen that the turnips are all
consumed, and also the first bite of rye, before there is any
feed of vetches or clover. Under such circumstances the
grass on the water-meadows or marshes, if the farm be for-
tunate enough to possess any, will be of the most signal
value, and will indeed often afi'ord a good bite to a sheep
at the beginning of April. Where there are no water-
meadows on the farm, it is a prudent measure, against a
backward spring, to have in reserve a winter-hained old
pasture, which the ewes and lambs can fall back on. Some-
times a forward piece of wheat may be fed down with ad-
vantage, and will help to lengthen out a supply of green food
until the vetches or a second bite of rye is ready. Then
by shifting from one to another of these, the lambs may be
carried forward in good condition in the most backward
of seasons. It is management of this sort that shows the
good farmer. A resort to corn and cake in such circum-
stances is no doubt possible, but that means a heavy expense,
which a better manager would try to avoid, while yet keeping
his sheep well.

When folded on turnips the lambs should be allowed a
pen ahead of the ewes, so that they may have the first
nibble at the fresh tops. This is easily accomplished by
bringing into use one or more " creeps." It is indispensable
to the prosperity of a breeding flock that the ewes, during
the time of suckling, should be kept in a healthy and thriv-
ing state. For this purpose they should be thinly stocked
on the sweetest and best suckling pastures the farm will
afi'ord; but by no means selecting the most fattening pastures,
as in such case they will accumulate fat, and decrease in
their milking properties. The lambs will, if thus thinly
stocked, have room to roam about in search of such varieties
of food, or of such natural grasses, as instinct appears, to direct
them to, for their better sustenance ; at all events we know
that the more pasture-room lambs have to roam over, the
better they thrive.

The ewes should be shorn before the middle of June.
This will cause both ewe and lamb for a short time to im-
prove fast in condition. The ewe, having no fleece to support,
will yield more and richer milk, and will also add to her
own fattening considerably. As this proceeds her milk will
slightly decrease, pnd it will soon become desirable, and may
be sufficiently evident, that the time for weaning has arrived.
The lamb, which will now be larger and require more milk,
will be constantly teasing the ewe, and abstracting every
drop of milk from her udder. This constant application,
and consequent drawing of the udder, will begin to show
detrimentally on the ewe; and it then becomes requisite,

and in accordance with good management, to wean the lamb
immediately, for which contingency every good breeder will
have made provision.

We have previously refeiTed to the variable percentage ot
lambs reared, but a high percentage in mere numbers is not
everything. A fair crop of good lambs is better than a larger
number of inferior ones. The latter are not only worth less
relatively to begin with, but are more subject to misfortunes
and diseases of every kind, and all the care and trouble which
it is possible to bestow upon them will never succeed in
making them good lambs. They are a loss in every way, as
a rule, from first to last, and the sooner they are oS' the land
generally the better.

In taking note of the percentage of lambs, let it be remem-
bered, however, that many discrepant returns might be recon-
ciled were a uniform system of reckoning to be adopted.
Thus while some flockmasters count all the lambs dropped,
others reckon only the number of lambs castrated and tailed,
while others again do not take stock of their lambs at all till
they come to be weaned. Now it is unquestionable that a
very large percentage of lambs die before the time of weaning
arrives, and that even in the best managed flocks and under
the most favoured circumstances. What must this loss, then,
amount to under adverse circumstances and bad management?
Speaking generally, and for all classes of farmers, we do not
suppose it can be put at less than 10 per cent. This loss,
be it recollected, occurs within a period of three or four months,
and is not on the whole year. The death-rate amongst young
lambs is greater than among sheep of any other age, and it
is greater amongst hoggets than amongst old sheep. In the
absence of statistics the actual loss cannot of course be arrived
at. If, however, we are nearly right in assuming the average
loss of lambs before weaning to be 10 per cent., which is
well within the mark, then the average loss of tegs or hoggets
between weaning and first shearing will be about 7 per cent. ;
of one-shear sheep, 6 per cent. ; of two-shear sheep, 5 per
cent. ; and of three and four-shear sheep, 4 per cent. Occa-
sionally the loss of old sheep does not exceed 1 or 2 per cent,
but that is rare, and generally greatly below the average.

The difficulty with lambs in most cases begins with over-
stocking. Any one who has tried it knows that a good lamb
cannot be raised where this is practised. Not only is there
a greater "tail" among the lambs, but the death-rate is higher.
" Over-sheeped " land has become too common in some parts
of late years, and has shown itself in nothing more clearly
than in its efi'ects upon lambs.

There is also much wet-bottomed land in various parts of
the country, which is ill suited for rearing lambs. On these
lands the lambs, whether store or fattening, are sure to go
wrong unless they are skilfully managed The only safety,
and the only chance of rearing good lambs in such cases,
lies in thin stocking, and giving a liberal supply of dry
nourishing food. Even store ewes and lambs will require
half a pound of corn or cake per head daily to keep them
right on such lands.

[13[K^1[1©© ©IF ©oaniipo

PRIZE CHEVIOT RAM.

^^ V\\\v>

PRIZE DORSET HORN RAM.

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

507

To the flockmaster no e.arthly scene can bring more joy, or
tune his tiioughts to sweeter satisfaction, than to see his lambs
at play. Neither is it altogether this show of sportiveness in
the young flock that brings him all the pleasure. It is the
fact of knowing that the food he has provided for them is being
put to good use ; that his labour and expense have not been
in vain ; that their well-doing means his prosperity.

A prettier sight one cannot see
Tlian lambs at play round rock or tree ;
Their gambols tell of buoyant health,
Of thrift, of growth, and future wealth.

There is, however, another side to the picture, where we
see " lambs at work," aye, and hard at work, with not a
moment to spare, busy all day nibbling at the scant and
withered blade, trying their very best to keep life and limb
together.

Their lambkin life is doomed to toil,
By some hard master of the soil.
Who neither feeds his land nor stock,
Nor tends with care the bleating flock.

A thrifty lamb means money, a poor starved thing money
thrown away. Who can take pleasure in pallie scrubs or even
penny murts ? Years ago a certain individual conceived the
bright idea of teaching his horse to live on a straw a-day ;
but alas! the animal died before completing its education.
This is not the age of chance or happy-go-lucky golden sheep
days; these times are gone, but they have left us in possession
of the knowledge that he who would keep sheep must keep
them if he would have them keep him.

Thus lambs that play the rent will pay,
And fatter grow from day to day ;
But he that grudgeth lambs their keep,
Will lose his all, and curse the sheep.

REARING EARLY FAT LAMBS.

In certain districts rearing early lamb is extensively prac-
tised. In the south and west of England, and on arable
farms in the neighbourhood of larger towns, the date of the
lambing is a mere question of management — where the
climate is favourable for winter cropping and the production
of early spring food, and where provision can otherwise be
made for tiding the flock safely through the early spring
months. In Devon and Wilts there are numerous sunny
glades and warm sheltered vales where, assisted by the hot
vapours of the Gulf Stream wafted across the Atlantic by
south-western breezes, the grass is ever green. This is prob-
ably the leading reason why it is considered in this part of
the kingdom, that lambing and the new year should commence
concurrently, or at least fall tolerably close together. Many,
however, do not wait for the balmy breezes, and have their
lambing, or yeaning, take place at a much earlier period.
In Dorset and the Isle of Wight lambs are looked for in Sep-
tember, and are fit for the butchers by Christmas.

All breeds are not equally fitted for rearing early lambs.
The Dorset Horns have long been pre-eminent for this pur-
pose, but latterly the Hampshire Downs have come into

repute. Nor can all the art of the flockmaster avail in im-
parting this valuable characteristic to any other breed;
neither are there any other ewes capable of forcing their
progeny so quickly into the market for slaughtering ; nor are
these propensities the consequence of any local circumstances,
influenced, as may be supposed, by rich, stimulating food.
In all situations these two varieties will be found to drop
their lambs three months before any other breed, produce
a great number of twins, and yield a more abundant supply
of milk; and it is no uncommon occurrence for a flock of
Dorset ewes to produce two crops of lambs in one year —
but the practice is not to be recommended, as nature becomes
the sooner exhausted, and the value of the ewe consequently
deteriorated.

Formerly there was no choice between " house lamb " and
" grass lamb," but now the earliest fat lambs go to market
long before the grass comes, and yet the old house lamb
system is pretty much abandoned. With artificial food at
command, and with a greater variety of root and green crops
available for cultivation, the possibilities in the direction of
open-air feeding have correspondingly increased. It is not
implied that on the whole the most artificial system pays best.
Grass-fed lambs usually make capital prices ; as much as
57s. Qd., and even 60s. each sometimes, when they have had
some artificial food on the grass. Each lamb commonly sells
at from 9d. to lOd. per lb. live weight, while Christmas lamb
not unfrequently makes Is. or more per lb. These prices
are all the very highest that can be obtained, but whether
they leave a satisfactory margin to the feeder entirely depends
on the cost of production. There can be no doubt, however,
but that lambs of these ages make a large quantity of meat
in the shortest time possible ; and if the ewes can be cheaply
maintained during the remainder of the year, there ought
to be at least a fair profit from the transaction. Fattening the
ewes along with the lambs would seem to be the siuest mode
of receiving a full return for food consumed, but we still
think a good deal might be made from a "ewe dairy" after
the lambs are weaned. This point is noticed under ewe
milking.

To be successful in rearing fat lambs for Easter or earlier,
it is obvious that a proportional quantity of winter cabbage,
rape, carrot, rye, &c., in addition to the usual mangolds, must
be provided. It is of no use to have young lambs so early in
the season unless abundance of succulent food of some kind
can be depended on, otherwise their dams would give little
milk, and the lambkins themselves, when big enough to eat
a little solid food, would famish, there being none to partake
of. The water-meadows of the south-western chalk country
are in many parts the source of food supply upon wliich large
finely matured lambs are reared, the small streams which
trickle through the valleys being utilized for this purpose.
Most of the large farms have a few acres of such land, the
advantage of which enables them to depend on a crop of fresh
succulent grass, even in the depth of winter, at a very small
cost. On dry land, however, quite as good succulent feeding

508

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FAEMING.

can be obtained by cultivating tbousand-headed kale. The
value of this plant is only slightly known to sheep farmers as
yet, but one extensive breeder of Hampshire rams in Kent
finds that by growing it largely he can afford to bring his
ewes to yean as early as those who have water-meadows to
fall back upon. In feeding kale it should never be allowed
to grow sticky and hard before being consumed. When it is
fed down close to the ground ere becoming too much advanced,
the plants will sprout again, which prevents any waste and
trouble in carting such from the ground. Vetches and trifolium
may come in between the rye and the grass for ewes and lambs
after Easter.

To fatten lambs rapidly, the utmost care must be given to
their feeding. When folded on green crops they should feed
in advance of the ewes, by having " creeps " provided, with
space between the rounds to allow the lambs to pass through
freely, without being sufficiently wide to admit the ewes.
Feeding should commence as soon as the shepherd can see
in the morning, giving hay first to both lambs and ewes;
after which the troughs may be filled with cut roots, taking
care to have them cut finest for the lambs, which is done by
passing them twice through the cutter, a plan which reduces
the food into a state which the lambs can readily consume,
and induces them to eat at the earliest period, without loss
of time and without waste. After the roots have been fed, a
supply of oil-cake and pease should be given, the ewes getting
nearly one pound each, and the lambs just as much as they
will eat up clean. The troughs should in all cases be made
with a cross section, to prevent the lambs from getting into
them with their feet, or dropping the food on to the ground,
and the cake should be broken a suitable size, not too big, for
them to chew easily. Feeding should be done three times a
day, and great regularity observed in the attendance. The
ewe lambs may be kept separate from the rams, and the couples
favoured with a better dietary if possible. At a month old the
ram lambs should be castrated.

WEANING.

To keep the lambs improving after taking them from the
ewes is the problem of weaning. The ewes in their natural
and free state would continue to suckle the lambs for about
nine months in the year. Experience has shown, however,
that the amount of nourishment so given is not equal to what
can be supplied in a cheaper form, and that the cost, or drain
on the condition of the ewes, is greater than the benefit
derived from the lambs. Whether the lambs be intended
for immediate sale or further keep makes little difference as
regards the economy of nursing ; keeping up the condition of
the ewes is an important consideration in either case. The
state of the market, as well as the supply of food, are also
important factors in determining the date of weaning. There
are buyers for all lambs in their season, and weaning, as a
rule, goes on during several months.

When the lambs are strong and healthy at weaning time,
it is a sign they have been well nursed, and will require keep

in proportion. Poor, ill-nursed lambs will not require so
much food, nor as rich, to keep them progressing. Inferior
lambs have been reared on inferior food, so that what would
be sufficient to improve them after weaning may be alto-
gether inadequate to maintain condition in better lambs.
This shows us that, whatever may have been the condition
of the keep previously, we must improve on it after weaning
if the lambs are to be successfully managed. It does not pay
to let lambs fall off in condition after weaning. Every sheep-
man will grant this, yet it is surprising how little it is guarded
against in actual practice. Neither lambs nor any other
young stock can be profitably kept at only sustenance point —
they must be kept gaining in flesh and weight, or they will
not leave a profit for the food consumed.

When lambs are weaned, they should be put on a clean
pasture, where no other stock has been very recently, and
where they can get a full clean bite. They must have clean
pasture, and plenty of it ; yet it must not be too rich, for fear
of bringing on scour. Young shoots of grasses and clovers,
on land that has been previously folded and allowed to
freshen up, are particularly to be avoided. This second
growth of grass, from the droppings of previous stock on the
same land, often harbours the germs of various diseases, and
particularly those of filaria and tapeworm. A change of pas-
ture every three or four days will do much to keep the lambs
healthy ; and nice clean old pasture is preferable to better-
looking young seeds, if they have been previously heavily
stocked. When grain or cake is fed to lambs there is less
danger of disease, and they can with greater safety be put on
succulent food. Plenty of good clean water, easy of access,
is also very essential for lambs newly weaned.

WINTERING AND FATTENING HOGGETS.

Lambs intended for fattening purposes should be good to
commence with after weaning, and they should be carried
right along by box-feeding. A quarter of a pound of grain
or cake and bran per head daily will take the place of the
ewe's milk, and will easily repay the expense by the con-
tinued growth in the lambs. Frequent changes of green
fodder and a daily supply of diy food are the right materials
for making fat hoggets. Keep them improving all the time,
and never give them more than will do them good.

When tegs or hoggets come to be put on roots it should be
before the grass gets too bare, beginning with white turnip,
to be followed by yellow turnip, swedes, or mangold, as the
case may be. Roots should never be fed before they are
matured, but where it cannot possibly be avoided, their in-
sipidity can be remedied by pulling them a few days in ad-
vance of the sheep. In teaching them to eat turnips, a break,
in size suitable to the number of sheep, should be netted or
hurdled off, and the hoggets put on the turnips for several
hours daily, and in a few days all will have learned to eat ;
but until they get accustomed to them they are better not to
get full turnips for the first fourteen days; after that they
may be netted on where the turnips grow, and hove as many

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

509

as they can eat. They should also have hay in racks. The
size of the breaks should be calculated to serve a week or ten
days at longest ; but in the event of a hard frost, they should
only have what they can eat daily, shifting the nets or hurdles
every irorning, the shepherd picking up the shells in the
afternoon. In this way there is no waste, and the hoggets
do better \a such weatlier than on a larger break.

These remarks apply to store hoggets, and to fattening
hoggets as well, during the first fourteen days ; but for the
latter, after that time, the turnips should be cut and put in
boxes, being stored previously and protected from frost.

Assuming they have since weaning been fed on cake or
corn, this feeding must still be continued, and the quantity
increased — say, from ^ lb. linseed cake daily when put on
turnips, they should now have added to that J lb. of Indian
com, oats, or, what is better, pease, and the mixture increased
gradually, until at the finish they are getting from 1 to 1^
lb. daily, along with as much hay as they can eat. If this
system is properly carried out, the hoggets will be prime fat
by Christmas, or they may be carried on to the end of March
if thought desirable, and shorn before being sold.

As regards store hoggets, after being folded on turnips as
above described, they begin to lose their teeth about February,
when they too should have their turnips cut and put in boxes,
taking care this is done before they suffer from the loss of
teeth. Store hoggets should always have a part of hay along
with their roots, but it may not be advisable to allow them
any grain until the spring, when half a pound of oats and
linseed cake will be a decided advantage in keeping them
healthy and growthy at a time when there is comparatively
little nourishment in the roots. When a full bite of grass
can be had, the corn may be gradually discontinued.

FEEDING IN YARDS.

Shed or yard feeding is now much practised in winter, and
with considerable advantage when extra feeding is to be
given ; but the system requires a great deal of attention. It
will, however, in all probability become quite general on
clay-land farms, when green forage crops converted into
ensilage take the place of roots. On such farms the difficulty
in keeping sheep is on account of poaching the land, by feed-
ing them over the roots or other crops grown ; but now since
ensilage has given such satisfactory results, it is with every
reason of feasibility that growing green crops and shed feed-
ing may be practised. In exposed situations, too, there is
little doubt but that shed feeding might be carried out bene-
ficially. In the course of a year a tremendous waste occurs
from the sheep being exposed to the severity of the weather,
and the economy of feeding must be greatly improved by
sheltering such sheep as are intended for the butcher. Ex-
posure to a single storm will consume enough feed for fuel
to add several pounds' weight, and with sheep, as well as all
other animals, one step backward is harder to recover than to
take a dozen steps forward. A fattening sheep in the open
field will gain several pounds weekly in dry weather, while

in bad weather it will not gain at all, however well it may be
fed. The loss which may thus occur in a single week in a
large flock, is far more than is required to provide artificial
shelter for the whole of the sheep.

The following is tiie theory of this subject, and in the
whole compass of the art there could not be a more satis-
factory instance of scientific explanation: — "One hundred
sheep in the turnip field during the four winter months from
November to February will inhale about 1,400,000 cubic feet
of air at an average temperature of perhaps 38°, weighing
therefore 100,000 lbs., which will burn within them about
6000 lbs. of carbon, corresponding to 100,000 lbs. of turnips,
or 40 per cent, of their whole consumption, and thus maintain
the heat of their bodies. Now if this heat were maintained
artificially, or, to speak within bounds, if the waste of it by
excessive external cold were diminished by shelter against
wintry winds, the necessity for this enormous loss by com-
bustion within the lungs of these animals would also be
diminished, and a great saving of food would follow. And not
only the necessity, but the possibility also, of so great a con-
sumption would be avoided ; for as shelter and confinement
produce warmth, they will rarefy tlie air breathed ; and even
supposing the animals to inhale an equal bulk of it, this will
no longer represent an equal weight, or a quantity of equal
ability to bum up the food they consume."

It is, at the same time, perfectly possible to injure sheep
by too much shelter. There is no animal stands crowding
in sheds worse than sheep. In fact they had ten times rather
be exposed to the very worst storms than be huddled up in a
close rhed, where they have neither room to breathe freely,
to esei-cise, nor to lie down comfortably. If they are closely
confined in an ill-ventilated shed over night, with no room to
move about in during the day, they will make slow progress
in fattening. All the shelter that a sheep requires is protection
from rain and cold winds, and a partial shelter is to be pre-
ferred to one where the sheep would be crowded. For fatting
sheep it is best to have their shelters portable, so that they
may be shifted when required, although in some situations
permanent erections may be constructed. Tiiere are now so
many light roofing materials — such as the Willesden roofing
paper, galvanized iron sheeting, &c. — that a comparatively
light framework is needed. The sides may either be weather
boarded, or covered with iron sheeting. Where other ma-
terials are wanting, nothing is more suitable for sheep than
thatched hurdles. All that is needed is to make a close fence
of the hurdles, behind which the sheep and lambs can find
shelter. A lean-to-hurdle against a side wall or fence will
sometimes be the best plan ; and another plan is to set up
two or more rows of vertical hurdles, the rows four or five
feet apart, and lay others horizontally on the top of them to
form a roo*". If a more permanent erection is required, it
may still be covered with straw. A straw covered roof, how-
ever, requires a sharp pitch to prevent leaking But thatch-
ing is understood by most farm labourers, and the principles
upon which good work depends are so simple, that any handy

510

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

man will make a light roof after a little experience. There
are several methods of using straw to form the sides or walls
of the sheds. A convenient way, when the shelter is not
intended to be portable, is to set upright poles about eight
inches apart, and draw wisps of straw round each, so that
both ends of the wisp shall be outside. It is best to lay
these in horizontal courses, and beat down each course as it
is laid, keeping it uniform and tight. As the fiUing-in with
straw progresses, there may be a split pole woven in, once in
three feet or so, to hold the uprights in place. The straw has
finally to be raked down on the outside, so as to shed rain
well. The inner side is quite even, and it may be sprinkled
with mud if there is danger of the animals pulling out the
straw to eat.

For the accommodation of a hundred sheep, a shed sixty
feet long and eight feet wide, with a yard at least four times
that size, must be provided. The yard and sheds should be
divided, by a railing four feet high, into five compartments,
80 as to separate the sheep into lots of twenty. Troughs for
ensilage or roots should be placed in the yards, and boxes
and racks for corn, cake, or hay should be fitted up around
the outside walls, and the floors of the sheds should be kept
well bedded with plenty of dry straw. Keep the shelters
clean. Of all farm animals sheep are, perhaps, the most
quickly and seriously injured by filth, which cannot be in a
situation worse for sheep than in their shelters. If manure is
allowed to accumulate therein, it will get into the cleft of the
foot and produce scald; and while scald may not progress
into foot-rot, it at least favours it. Clean out the manure
every morning, and bed liberally. It is no economy to be
sparing of bedding in the shelters.

A flock of one hundred sheep in the yard will nearly occupy
a lad's whole time, as if turnips are fed they must all be cut,
and carried to the troughs. In feeding, the sheep should
only get as much food as they will eat up clean, and no more.
As soon as they have done feeding, the troughs should be
swept out and kept fresh for the next feeding time. The food
should always be given at stated hours. Feed at a certain
hour, and then stick to that time ; for where feeding is done
regularly .you can go among them, and the sheep will not
pay any attention to you until the feeding hour. The allow-
ance of cake or grain may vary from three quarters of a pound
to a pound and a half per head per day ; half the quantity to
be given in the morning, and while they are eating it the
keeper should be filling the troughs with what green food
they are getting, and during the time the sheep are feeding
he should clean out the sheds. The fresh hay should be put
in the racks, and their water attended to. To feed success-
fully, sheep should have water accessible at all times. The
fold should then be closed, and the animals left in quietness
till the next feeding time, which should be about noon. The
second allowance of cake or corn should now be given, and
turnips to follow — adopting the same process as in the
morning. They should again be fed late in the afternoon
with fresh hay, and their boxes left full for the night. Quiet

and rest are the two grand requisites in yard feeding, with
regularity and cleanliness.

Sheep versus cattle have not unfrequently been tried in
yards during such times as when the lung plague was pre-
valent, and many found sheep quite as profitable as cattle,
kept in the very same yards. Six lambs will tread down as
much straw, and make it into as good manure, as a full-sized
two-year-old bullock. One acre of roots, an average crop,
will fatten twenty-five lambs ; old sheep would consume more,
and twenty per acre would be a fair estimate — that is, when
the roots are cut and fed in boxes, and the sheep receiving in
addition an allowance of cake or grain.

HILL FARMING.

Hill grazings are of a most variable character; still they
can generally be classed under two heads — soft land and hard
land. The former produces the heaviest and most valuable
sheep, and canies a greater number of them, the soil in most
cases being composed of deep clay, moss or peat, and bog
land; the latter consists generally of a more variable soil,
patches of light, rocky, and heathery land alternating with
a limited quantity of peat and bog. Provided this land be
not overstocked, it makes equally as well-conditioned sheep
as the former, though not so heavy. Good deep soils are the
best and most healthy. There is a great deal of hill-land
which has only a few inches of soil overlying a subsoil of a
difi'erent nature ; that sort of land, with a hard wet bottom,
always makes an inferior sheep.

Not two grazings are alike, 'ihey may be found of the
same size, the same altitude, and the same rent ; but two
farms with the same mixture of soils and grasses, the same
exposure, and the same situation, are not in existence.
Again, there are many farms that can produce sheep of
equal quality with similar management, although some of
them would appear vastly superior to the other. It is on
these points that many are deluded, especially those who are
not thoroughly acquainted, from experience, with all the
different situations, soils, and grasses most suitable for sheep,
in offering rents for such farms. Sheep of all kinds do best
with a mixed pasture ; but the health, the size, the quality,
and the number of sheep the land is capable of carrying, all
depend upon the nature of the soil.

The time of entry to hill farms is at the Whitsunday term.
In most cases the ingoing tenant takes the stock on the farm
at valuation, otherwise it is sold by auction. Hill stocks
should always be fixtures on the farm. The sheep having
been bred and reared upon the ground for many generations,
are perfectly acclimatized and domiciled, so that they know
their heaf, and will not wander therefrom. Bringing strange
sheep on to new ground is surrounded with many dangers.
They may not have been accustomed with the same kind of
soil and pasture, and when such is the case are very liable to
disease and death. It is very seldom sheep can be moved
from one hill farm to another with success. They do not
know the ground, and there being usually few or no fences

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

511

to confine them, they are liable to wander ; and from being
unsettled in their feeding, it is not to be expected that they
will thrive so well as those acquainted with their heaf. The
transference of hill stocks by valuation has very many favour-
able aspects. It enables the outgoing tenant to get a cheap
and quick sale of all his stock, and the ingoing tenant has an
equal advantage in getting a full stock of all tlie appropriate
ages, and is thus saved much trouble in securing others from
a distance, which in most cases he would fail to accomplish,
at least satisfactorily.

It is questioned whether Whitsunday term is the most
favourable time to enter a hill farm. At that term the in-
comer takes possession when the largest amount of capital is
required. He is obliged to take not only the stock ewes, but
the whole cast of the farm for that year, which he had no
hand in producing, and has to pay for what he may probably
never realize. The farm may happen to be under-stocked or
over-stocked, and the period of most sickness and death in
the flock immediately follows. But the greatest objection to
a Whitsunday entry and valuation, lies in the impossibility
of correctly judging what the price of sheep and wool will be
the following summer. At that time there are no public sales
for that description of stock, and the arbiters have to take a
retrospective as well as a prospective view to guide them in
their decisions. These methods of arriving at a conclusion
have in so many cases proved unsatisfactory, that a change
from Whitsunday to Martinmas entry is being strongly ad-
vocated by many hill farmers.

The Whitsunday term is not the time of year when a
correct valuation of the stock can be made. It is the middle
of the year, so to speak, when the work of the farm has
advanced to the stage that it cannot be altered, and must be
carried out whether it be right or wrong. A Martinmas
entry, on the other hand, gives a better opportunity for arriv-
ing at the true value of the flock. The autumn sales have
just then been held, and a fairer valuation could not possibly
be made than according to cuiTent prices. There would be
no young lambs to take, the ingoing tenant could breed as he
thought fit, and he would also be able to winter his stock as
he pleased. Another great advantage of a Martinmas entry
lies in from one-half to a third less capital being required to
begin with. Martinmas, properly speaking, is the beginning
of the year on a hill farm. The stock is then reduced to their
minimum number, and the ingoing tenant pays for nothing
but what is really necessary, and the chances are he would
not be called upon to pay above market price, or the proper
value of the sheep. By a Martinmas entry, of course, several
other changes would also be necessary. The away-going
tenant would have to be bound to leave a certain amount of
winter provender on the farm, to be taken at valuation by
the ingoing one, and some other arrangements, such as engag-
ing shepherds; but these are obstacles which would soon
conform to the requirements of the other, although at the first
a difficulty is possible. How such a change could be effected
is the knotty point. Tenants who entered at Whitsunday

term are entitled to quit at that term ; and as it gives them
a larger sale than a Martinmas outgoing, they will not forego
that advantage unless by special arrangement. It then comes
to be more a landlord's question than a tenant's. In fact the
whole thing is in the owner's power, and unless he sees it to
be an advantage to pay the difference between the two valua-
tions, or arrange to carry on the farm for the summer six
months, it will be some time before any such change need be
looked for. It is at least evident that the farm offering a
Martinmas entry would stand a much better chance of letting
than the same would do at Whitsunday, and it may safely
be assumed that the farm showing the best inducements to
entry would also bring the best rent.

The method of calculating the rent of a hill farm is based
upon the number and quality of sheep the holding is supposed
to keep. Having ascertained the number, and estimated the
value of what stock there would be to sell, the expenses of
working and management, with every probable outlay and
interest on capital invested, are deducted, and what remains
will be the amount chargeable as rent, which if divided by
the total number of stock will give the rate at so much per
sheep. Blackfaced sheep farms run from Is. to 6d. a sheep
less rent ; but both are subject to great fluctuation, according
to the quality of the grazing and the price of sheep.

When the stock on a hill farm is taken at valuation, the
out and in-going tenants each appoint an arbiter to fix the
value of the stock. These arbiters mutually choose a third
party to settle any disagreement. A certain day is fixed for
the valuation to take place, which is devoted by the neighbour-
ing farmers and shepherds to giving a farewell to the party
leaving, and a welcome to the new tenant, by assisting in
collecting the stock for the inspection of the valuators. A
number of the farmers present are deputed to make a count
of all the stock as soon as passed upon by the arbiters. When
this has been completed, the company adjourn to the house,
where a lunch is provided ; and while the valuators are dis-
cussing the price to put upon the stock, the others amuse
themselves by speechifying and drinking toddy. The price
is not always agreed upon that day ; the valuators sometimes
considering it advisable to wait for a time before deciding.

The routine of management of hill flocks is simple and
unvarying. Of course, on any kind of farm there is always
something that can be done ; still, no class Iiave more time
in which to do tlieir work than hill farmers. They have short
spells of busy periods, such as lambing and hay-time, but for
other work they take it at their leisure. The chief operations
will be described in detail, but the sortings, &c., are performed
in the same manner as with arable flocks, and, therefore, we
will here only give them as they occur.

Let us suppose it is the month of November. The first
work to be done is to have all the lambs, or hoggs as they
are now called, ear-marked with the stock and age "bit;"
then the whole flock should be dipped and afterwards "keeled."
Every farm has its own particular stock and keel mark. On
high-lying farms the hoggs are usually sent to wintering about

512

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

this time. The rams are put out with the ewes about No-
vember 22nd ; and taken in at the end of the year. Sixty
ewes are allowed to each ram. Lambing time thus commences
about the 17th of April, and finishes at Whitsunday, It is
an anxious time with the shepherds, and much depends on
the condition of the sheep and the state of the weather for a
successful lambing. Castration and docking of the lambs
take place when they are from a month to six weeks old.
Washing and clipping begin about the last week in June
and the first week in July respectively. Hill farmers assist
each other with this work, so as there may be only one gather-
ing of a hirsel. A good hand can clip four score of hill sheep
in a day. After the sheep are clipped the hay season ensues, and
requires the active attention of the farmer, so that no oppor-
tunity may be lost in securing as much as possible for tlie
sustenance of the flock during the winter months. In wet
seasons hill farmers will, we hope, not forget that they can
provide winter provender equally as well and cheap by making
ensilage, although hay is probably to be preferred when it
can be got. There is no other food that can be given to hill
sheep in the time .of a storm equal to hay or ensilage. In the
month of August the lamb sales commence ; as many of the
best ewe lambs as are required to keep up the stock are re-
tained, and all the wether and the second ewe lambs are sent
to the market. The wedder lambs go to make up wedder
flocks, and at two or three years old are sold from the hill,
and afterwards finished off on turnips in the lowlands. The
second ewe lambs find a ready purchaser in breeders who
cross the Cheviot ewe with the Leicester ram. On this
account the mid ewe lambs are as valuable as the top wedder
lambs, or worth about 3*. a head more than the wedder side
of their own class. The ewe lambs for keeping are herded
apart from their dams for ten or twelve days, when they are
put back to where they were bred. A new system of not
weaning the keeping ewe lambs at all has lately been prac-
tised on some hill farms, and those who have tried it speak
very favourably of the result in helping to check sickness or
braxy, which in many districts is most fatal to the lambs in
autumn. In the month of September the ram sales take
place, and what breeding tups require to be sold or bought
are attended to at this time. The draft ewes are next sold
in the month of October ; and this finishes the sales of stock
for the year, with the exception of a few eild ewes and old
rams, which are sent to the butcher. The wool is sold at any
time during the year, but it is generally best to dispose of it
at the wool fairs held in July.

Thus proceeds the work of hill sheep-farming from year
to year, the farmer, as a rule, when prices are good, leading
a comparatively happy and enjoyable life. A great deal
depends on the shepherd for bringing out the sheep in good
condition ; and it is but right to say, that in most cases the
shepherd is fully as anxious as his master that his flock should
do well.

LAMBING ON THE HILL.

A successful hill lambing depends very much upon two

things — the state of the weather during the lambing season,
and the condition of the ewes at that period. Hill ewes are
never in too high condition ; the danger is all the other way.
If the winter has been a mild one the flock may come to the
lambing in fair condition without having been hand-fed, but
in severe winters extraneous feeding must be the chief de-
pendence ; and it is a question for consideration whether, in
mild winters, it would not pay to hand-feed with hay or ensil-
age, at least more than is commonly done.

On hill farms the regular lambing season begins about the
third week in April. It is held better to be late than early
in this matter in high districts, so that there may be a full
bite of grass on the hills when the lambs begin to arrive.
When such is not the case, the ewes have no milk for the
lambs, and then troubles and difKculties begin. Hill ewes
when in good condition are kind mothers, but when they are
very lean they not unfrequently drop their lambs, and never
own them, which becomes a serious matter for the shepherd.
When a ewe refuses to attend to her lamb, the only way of
restoring her affection is to take her along with the lamb and
pen them up together. This of course is no small job if the
ewe happens to be away miles out on the hills, and far from
any stell or keb-house, when at the same time there may be
several such cases demanding similar attention, and equally
far apart.

Hill sheep are allowed the full range of their pasturage
during lambing time, as at other seasons ; but it is a great
convenience to have one or two fields inclosed on the earliest
ground of each hirsel. A few weeks before lambing time the
weakliest of the ewes should be drafted into these inclosures,
and later on ewes with twins, and any others which seem to
need assistance with single lambs, and there sheltered and
hand-fed until they are strong enough to go back to the hill.
Couples are in very small proportion amongst hill sheep, and,
when they do come, are generally broken up to fill the places
of dead lambs. A lamb for every ewe on a hill farm is very
extra luck, and yet in some seasons it has been exceeded, but
more generally the crop of lambs on a hill farm does not
average more than from 85 to 90 per cent, of the ewes. Five
per cent, is the very least that will run eild, and the loss of
young lambs no fewer in any year ; while in a bad season
the number of lambs reared may be reduced by storms or
bleak weather to a percentage almost shocking to mention,
but in many instances to as low as twenty-five for every
hundred ewes.

At various parts of the hill, or where there may be a stell,
small sheds should be erected for sheltering or penning up
any lamb or ewe that requires it. Such a shed, in shepherd's
parlance, is termed a keb-house — a " keb " being a ewe that
has lost her lamb, and the house the place where she may be
confined while being made to adopt another. There should
also be a large keb-house in one or both of the fields, so that
any weakly ewes and lambs can be put under shelter when
necessary in wet or stormy weather. In these sheds several
small pens are set apart for confining any ewe whose lamb

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

613

has died until another can be put to her. A twin lamb is
taken from some ewe that is least able to keep a pair, the
skin of the dead lamb put upon it, and the little stranger
placed in the pen with the ewe, when the foster mother, as a
rule, soon takes it. If there are no couples, and a good ewe
requires a lamb, it may be advisable to lift a small gimmer's
lamb and put it to her.

The shepherd requires to go over his hill three times a day
during the lambing season. His first round should be at
early dawn, and his duties for the day end only with day-
light. He gets the assistance of a boy at lambing time, and
that is generally all the help allowed. But where there are
two or more "hirsels" on a farm, a lambing-man is employed,
and he takes a share of the ground from each shepherd.
About twenty scores of hill ewes are sufficient for a man to
attend to. In going his round the shepherd carries a bottle
of new milk in his pocket, to help a newly-dropped lamb
when needful. After pouring a little of the milk down its
throat, it may be left with safety until he has seen the rest
of his flock, knowing that it will not die of hunger at any
rate before he can more fully attend to it.

Lord Kames in his " Sketches on the History of Man,"
says — " I have it upon good authority, that ewes pasturing
in a hilly country pitch early on some snug spot where they
may drop their young with safety. Hence the risk of re-
moving a flock to a new field immediately before delivery.
Many lambs perish by their being dropped in improper
places." This statement is not wholly correct. There have
been instances known of mountain ewes selecting a particu-
larly favourable spot to lamb on, and very curiously the same
spot for consecutive years ; but, as a rule, hill ewes seldom
lamb at or near the same place, even when they have the
opportunity to do so. Ewes, on either hill or low land, when
about to lamb, if undisturbed, will often become partial to
certain parts of their ground, and will be seen to keep near
to that place for a day or so before delivery, but generally
they will pitch on their favourite spot without consideration.
They all choose a spot from which they will not move until
they lamb; but, as Lord Kames says, many lambs perish
from being dropped in improper places, which is quite true,
as while some ewes will select remarkably secure and well-
sheltered places, others again consider the brink of a precipice,
or the bank of a stream, an equally safe retreat, even although
they have wandered beside these dangers for many years.
We have seen remarkable instances of wisdom and care
shown by some ewes in leading their young from danger;
but sheep, as a rule, are only gifted with ordinary intellect,
while some of them are profoundly stupid, and will heed-
lessly go astray.

The mountain breeds of sheep being active and hardy, the
young lambs, if all right, are soon upon their feet. Were
they to lie as long as the softer breeds of the lowlands before
getting to their feet, they would soon be frozen to death.
For a chilled lamb that has lain all night in the cold, it is
generally recommended to give a little "gin toddy," and most
3t*

shepherds are averse to taking the lamb to the house or away
from the ewe if it can at all be avoided. After a cold and
rainy night in the lambing season, instead of having the
kitchens filled all day with drooping lambs, it may sometimes
be an advantage to dip them one by one for five minutes into
a tub of hot water, at the temperature of an ordinary warm
bath, wlien they will sooner be restored to life and activity.
But great care will afterwards be required with the lamb.-,
and they will have to be kept warm for some time, and
gradually put out again into the cold.

When a young lamb first endeavours to suck — which it
will do as soon as it is on its legs — if the ewe repels it, the
sheplierd must take hold of her and examine her udder. If
it be all right, and she is found to have plenty of milk, it
may be necessary to confine her for a day or two in a small
pen, to which the lamb has free access, until she becomes
reconciled to the nursing of it. It will sometimes be found,
however, that the ewe's unkindness in refusing to let tlie
lamb suck is owing to sore teats. This is usually indicated
by an inflamed appearance. The remedy in such cases will
be to draw the milk from the teat by hand, until it begins to
flow freely, then allowing the lamb to suck. A little care in
this way is better than applying salves to the udder, as they
generally only prevent the lamb from taking hold of the teats.
If the ewe must necessarily be confined for some days in the
pen, she needs to be liberally fed on a cooling diet. There
are two distinct cases of deficiency of milk in the ewe, from
which the lamb may sufi'er equally. The first is, where there
is only a small appearance of milk, in which case the lamb
must be helped on with cow's milk for a day or two, until by
more liberal and succulent food the milk is brought upon the
ewe. The second case is that known as " false udder," when
there is a good appearance of milk, but in reality none.
Here also good feeding and constant sucking generally soon
put matters right.

HILL HERDING.

Hill lambings terminate about the 26th of May. After
that the shepherds have a comparatively easy time, which is
chiefly devoted to herding the sheep. Castration and dock-
ing of the lambs take place as soon as possible after the
finish of the lambing, and a full count made of all the lambs.
Between that time and the latter part of June, or beginning
of July, when the sheep are shorn, the shepherd requires to
be amongst his sheep early and late, so as to prevent any of
them from dying " awald," or rolled on their back and unable
to rise. There is a continual anxiety from this cause, and
even with the most vigilant care a few sheep may be lost.
Careful dipping is about the only preventative for sheep roll-
ing, so that when that work is being performed it is well to
have it done thoroughly, as it may be the means of saving
the lives of several sheep at this period.

Hill herding may seem a very simple employment, but it
is an occupation where much scientific skill can be displayed.
The shepherd who imagines his duties are merely the per-
formance of a few mechanical rules widely mistakes his

514

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

calling. It is not going round his hill once or twice a
day, to see the sheep move in from the heights in the morn-
ing, and out again in the afternoon, and to pick up what
dead ones he may find, which constitutes the work of the
shepherd. That is not what he is there for at all. The
natural instinct of the sheep will lead them to accomplish
that by themselves, and the dead ones could be lifted periodi-
cally much cheaper than by having a man constantly em-
ployed for the purpose. The duties of the shepherd are " to
lead his sheep, to herd them by the green places, where they
will get good — not evil — all the days of their lives." On a
wide expanse of any mountain land there are a certain amount
of herbage and a certain number of sheep, supposed to be
sufficient to consume or profitably subsist upon what food
the said land is capable of producing. This, then, is the
shepherd's work — to herd his sheep in such a manner so
that they will consume a given quantity and quality of food
to the greatest benefit. Let the sheep have their own free
will of their pasture, and what will they make of it ? They
will seek out the sweetest places, and leave uneaten other
parts, which would consequently bring disease and ruin to
the whole flock.

The successful herding of hill sheep consists in distributing
them equally over their pasture, giving each and all of them
a variety of the existing grasses, and having them feed such
food as is most abundant at certain seasons of the year, re-
serving other portions until the time when their use becomes
more valuable. Every flockmaster and shepherd should be
familiar with every grass and every herb that grows upon his
hill, its nature and feeding quality, its season of growth, and
the best time for pasturing. An acquaintance with geological
formations, and the influence of soil on pasture and on the
growth of wool and the health of the flock, are equally neces-
sary. Each farm has its own peculiarities, so that no rule
will apply to all ; but a study of the botany and geology of
a sheep-walk is one of the first steps to successful herding.
When a farmer or shepherd has advanced that step, he will
be able to divide the hill into " hirsels," and the hirsel again
into " cuts," so that each division will contain a share of all
the different grasses sufficient to provide a suitable variety of
food for the sheep all the year round. On an occupation of
this kind, with which we are well acquainted, there were three
shepherds. When one of these shepherds went to that farm
he got the worst hirsel of sheep ; but he was not there many
years until his sheep were the best on the farm. For some
reason or another he was then shifted to one of the other
hirsels, which had become the worst, and before long the
hirsel under his care again became the best. He did this
merely by good herding. The breeding of the flocks was
under the farmer's own personal charge, so there was no
partiality or dilFeient judgment used in that respect. He had
no advantage in the way of food for his flock that the other
shepherds had not, only he knew how to manage his sheep
so that they were always supplied with the best grasses the
hill provided at the proper seasons.

It is evident that the man who can most skilfully distribute
or " herd " his flock, so that they find the most nourishment
at all seasons, will, by long odds, produce the best sheep.
That there is a great diflference in the results obtained by
difi'erent shepherds is a fact, and we believe that better
results might be obtained generally if the science of hill-
herding was better studied. How far fences will enable us
to pasture wide and variable sheep ranges, so as to obtain
from them their full value, is a problem deserving of
consideration.

WINTERING HILL SHEEP.

The winter management of hill sheep is attended with much
that is both interesting and diflBcult, and is not altogether, as
some may suppose, monotonous repetition winter after winter.
It is the season when the natural food of the sheep is brown
and bare, with comparatively little nourishment left in the
withered grass, and besides the food being scant, the sheep
have to contend against the full fury of the winter's blast, in
wind, in wet and snow. This is how mountain sheep are so
much dependent upon a mild or open winter for their welfare ;
and, owing to the uncertainty of the weather, and the phases
which it is wont to assume, the wintering of hill sheep is ever
a subject of vital importance to the pastoral farmer. It is one,
moreover, which has connected with it a great variety of prob-
lematic theories, many of which have been put into practice,
and the results obtained have been so conflicting, that the
question of whether hill sheep should or should not be fed
every winter, is still among flockmasters an unsettled point.
With some it is the practice to feed every winter, mild or
severe; more, however, believe in feeding only in times of
a storm ; while a few act on the other extreme, and never
think of providing food of any kind, allowing the sheep to
subsist as best they can.

It is questioned whether our winters are as severe now as
formerly, and the belief is gaining ground that we have not
the same depth of snow and fearful drifts as used to bring
terror and ruin to many a mountain cabin. " Storms," says
Hogg, " constitute the various eras of the pastoral life. They
are the red lines in the shepherd's calendar — the remem-
brancers of years and ages that are past, the tablets of
memory by which the ages of his children, the times of his
ancestors, and the rise and downfall of families, are invari-
ably ascertained. Even the progress in Scots farming can
be traced traditionally from these, and the rent of a farm or
estate given with precision, before and after such and such
a storm. Though the narrator is uncertain in what century
the said notable storm happened, 'Mar's year,' and the year
of the ' Highlanders' raide,' are but secondary mementoes
of the year nine and the year forty — these stand in bloody
capitals in the annals of the pastoral life, as well as many
more that could be mentioned." " But of all the storms,"
he continues, " that Scotland ever witnessed, or, I hope,
ever will again behold, there are none of them that can once
be compared with the memorable 24th January, 1794, which
fell with such peculiar violence on that division of the south

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

515

of Scotland that lies between Crawford Muir and the Border.
In that bounds there were seventeen shepherds perished,
and upwards of thirty carried home insensible. But the
number of sheep that perished far outwent any possibility of
calculation One farmer alone lost seventy-two scores, and
many others from thirty to forty scores each. Eskdale
suffered severely in that storm." Hogg says he witnessed
" one particular instance on the farm of Thickside, where
twelve scores of excellent ewes were missing all the time the
snow lay, which was only a week, and no traces of them
could be found When the snow went away they were dis-
covered all lying dead, with their heads one way, as if a
flock of sheep had all dropped dead coming from the wash-
ing. Many hundreds were driven into waters, burns, and
lakes, by the violence of the storm, where they were buried
or frozen up, and these the flood carried away, so that they
were never seen or found by the owners at all. The greater
part of the rivers on which the storm was most deadly run
into the Solway Firth, on which there is a place called the
' Beds of Esk,' where the tide throws out and leaves what-
soever is carried into it by the rivers. When the flood after
this storm subsided, there were found at that place, and the
shores adjacent, eighteen hundred and forty sheep, nine black
cattle, three horses, two men, one woman, forty-five dogs, and
a hundred and eighty hares, besides a number of meaner
animals." " The mere mention," said the bard, " of these
traditionary stories and pictures of desolation to an old shep-
herd on a stormy night, never failed to impress his mind with
a sort of religious awe, and often set him on his knees before
that Being who alone can avert such another calamity." We
have good and bad winters yet, but they do not make such
gaps as Hogg tells us about. It was nothing uncommon then
for whole farms to be entirely divested of their sheep stock,
in which condition they sometimes remained for many years.
So low an opinion was held of the high-lying grazings, that
a lease could be had for the rent of a gray coat and 9. pair of
hose, for the same farms as are now let at £600 per annum.
The seventeenth, eighteenth, and beginning of the nineteenth
century bear record of these dismal events; since then no
such losses have occurred. Now and again we hear of a
shepherd being lost, and a score or two of sheep being
" smoored " in the snow, with occasional serious reduction
in the condition of hill sheep, which in spring are carried off,
or are unable to bring their lambs, but the wholesale destruc-
tion of entire flocks is fortunately a thing of the past.
Napier, in his " Store Farming," estimated the winter losses
of hill stock during the last century at 25 per cent. ; whereas
it will not now exceed 10 per cent., and in many years is
much less, even without any particular care, which would
indicate a more temperate climate or better management, the
latter being the most likely.

Winter feeding hill sheep was introduced early in the
century, and as the practice gradually became known, so did
severe winter losses gradually pass away. Before that time
cattle were kept on hill farms in great numbers, and the

grassy sijots on the hills were cut and made into hay for
tlieir use only, and not for the sheep Enclosed meadows
were doubtless first constructed about the time when it be-
came important to have a supply of hay for both slieep and
cattle. But even tlien it was found impossible to obtain a
sufficiency, and the sheep being the more remunerative of the
two, the remainder of the cattle, which at one time pastured
tlie most of the hills in Scotland, were displenished in favour
of the slieep. Improvements were looked upon as innova-
tions in those days, and so slow were any new methods of
management adopted, tliat it might be said the old men died
before the rising generation could put advanced ideas into
practice. Progress, however, eventually prevailed. Hay
was provided for winter feeding in the time of storms, and
" stells " were erected at various parts of the hills for shelter-
ing the sheep, and these have proved a lasting benefit in the
preservation of our flocks. Then on farms where little or no
hay can be had, artificial feeding has been used in assisting
the sheep through trying times, and the use of turnips for
wedder flocks has become quite general. The latest advance
in wintering hill sheep has been made in ensiling the grass
on the hills, when in wet and moist seasons it is impossible
to procure hay. This system is as yet a new one, and com-
paratively untried, but it presents many favourable aspects
for the solution of this important question of wintering hill
sheep. Removing the flocks in winter to low country graz-
ings is another of the methods extensively practised on the
highest lying farms, and by adopting one or other of these
methods no farmer need now dread the consequences of the
weather. Expense in providing for emergencies will of course
be necessary, but on that every prudent man will calculate
before undertaking the management of hill sheep. Those
who trust to chance or negligence in bringing their sheep
through severe weather, will even now-a-days, with milder
winters, find themselves in no better plight than those the
Ettrick Shepherd so woefully describes in the last century,
and have graven on their memories reflections of the disastrous
day which came at last.

It is universally admitted that hill flocks ought to receive
more attention in the way of winter feeding than they usually
do ; but it is a very unsettled point how far this can be done
with benefit. Most necessary it is, however, where hand
feeding must be adopted, that it should be begun in time, and
not put off' until the sheep have lost condition ; and it is
equally necessary, when the season is advanced, that hand
feeding, if once begun, should be continued until there is
grass, or, at all events, as long as the sheep look for it.
Cheviot sheep do not xvork in a storm with the same energy as
blackfaced sheep do, hence they require to be sooner hand-
fed ; and, again, some farms storm far easier than do others.

Natural hay, or ensilage, made on the farm, is the best
provender for hill sheep, and it should always be largely
provided, otherwise great losses are sure to occur in severe
seasons. A hay park, or meadow, should be set apart on all
hill farms and hained for this purpose, and all the better if

516

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

there is a iield or two of this kind for each hirsel. In moist
summers, however, if the land is at all grassy, large supplies
of hay can be cut from the bogs and marshy spots on the
hills ; but In dry summers it is seldom to the farmers' interest
to cut a great quantity of bog hay. Some flockmasters make
a rule of having always two years' supply of hay on hand,
and the practice is to be commended for several reasons ; for
when a winter of more than ordinary severity or devastation
occm-s, the hay is not so liable to run short, and, on the
other hand, in a droughty summer cutting may be dispensed
with altogether for that year, and the sheep allowed the full
benefit of the pasturage. A sheep is known to eat an equiva-
lent of grass and dry hay ; and as grass losses three-fourths
of its weight by evaporation, it follows that a sheep that eats
10 lbs. of grass will consume 2^ lbs. of hay. This multiplied
by the number of days in which hay feeding may be neces-
sary, affords a ready rule for calculating the quantity of hay
which should be provided.

The usual mode of feeding hay to hill sheep, is to scatter
it in handfuls on the top of the snow, and the sheep will pick
it up quite cleanly; but in windy weather this method of
feeding is wasteful. The most economical plan is to put up
a double line of wire netting, about 2 feet apart, on stakes
driven into the ground. The sheep will eat the hay nicely
through the meshes of the wire, which also prevents the hay
from being trampled upon, or blown away by the wind.
When feeding either fully or partially, it is well not to have
too large a number of sheep together at one place, not more
than two hundred if it can be managed. The greater the
number of sheep in a cut, there is just the less room for them
to feed on what bare ground there may be available.

When recourse must be had to more artificial measures
for feeding hill flocks, supplies of cake and corn are best
suited for this purpose. If it be intended to use box food,
the sheep require to be trained to eat from the boxes when
hoggs, and for this purpose they are brought into the field
for a time. They generally soon all learn to eat, if they are
brought in early in the winter, while they are in good heart
and condition. They only require to be accustomed to hand
feeding, and then put back to the hill. In this way all the
sheep may be brought to know box-feeding, and they will
not soon forget it. But if circumstances should compel box-
feeding when the sheep are reduced in condition, and they
have not been taught beforehand, it will be found of little
benefit, and they will die of hunger rather than take the corn
or cake offered them. Box-feeding hill sheep is, however, a
practice that should only be attempted when no other means
are available, and care should be taken not to feed too highly
— not more than from ^ lb. to 1 lb. per sheep daily. There
are several who have fed cake or corn, and who put great
faith in the system, but from what we know of it we would
never practise it on a whole flock. In the early months of
the year a good plan is to be always on the lookout for any
ewe that begins to show signs of poverty, and have all such
brought in from the hill, and hand-fed with hay and corn if

absolutely necessary. But all those sheep that have been so
treated should be drafted the first opportunity, and not
wintered again. That is how to take care of the leanest of
the flock, and for bulk we would provide a supply of hay or
ensilage to feed only when the ground was stormed.

There should be more systematic management of the feed-
ing business than is generally the case. How far any method
can be carried on with profit, depends on the conveniences
the farm is provided with — in meadows for hay, in fences to
confine the sheep where wanted, and some of these things.
If the farm cannot supply sufficient hay or ensilage, then
some other course will have to be pursued. But lacking a
supply of hay, removing to low ground for a time is about
the next best and cheapest course to take. The various
phases which storms assume, and what can be best done
under the circumstances, requires a good deal of experience,
both in understanding when and where not to feed, and how
to handle the sheep while the storm remains.

SHEEP SORTINGS.

WASHING.

Sheep-washing is generally considered an indispensable
operation in this country, although in some others it is not
much practised. The advocates for not washing say, that to
immerse sheep in cold water for several minutes is unnatural
and dangerous to their health, and that the handling and
tossing about the animals get is injurious. With regard to
the inferior value of unwashed wool, we have heard it said
the extra weight (in dirt) compensates for the lower price at
which it is sold. We have our doubts on this point, however;
but even if the wool could be sold so satisfactorily from the
farmer's point of view, we still hold with the time-honoured
custom of sheep-washing. It is hardly necessary to state to
a practical man, that a washed fleece is easier to sliear, and
easier to do up, than an unwashed one. " Shearing in the
dirt" is hard work, and the fleece falls to pieces in a vexatious
fashion on the table, especially if the sheep has been fed for
the shambles, or is naturally very yolky. ■' It is essential,"
says a manufacturer, " to the ready and accurate sorting ot
a fleece into the half-dozen or more grades to which it is
ultimately assigned, that it should be kept well together, and
washing is a great aid thereto. It should also be borne in
mind, that wool is never so well washed, and never washed
with so little injury to the fibre, as when it is washed on the
sheep's back. The increased severity required to get dirty
wool clean in the process of manufacture is injurious, and
consequently reduces its value." It is not worth while to go
the length of some non-advocates of washing, who assert that
the buyer cannot classify wool so correctly when unwashed
as when it is washed. A genuine expert, though he may
declare that he likes the "feel" of washed wool better, can
pronounce upon the actual merits of a clip as well in one con-
dition as another ; if not, he has mistaken his calling.

Nor do we believe in the injury to the sheep. Granted

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

517

that they will not plunge into the water like a duck of their
own accord, still we believe tlie bath is not displeasing to
them on a hot summer's day. As to the handling, we have
seen thousands of sheep washed, and do not remember ever
seeing a slieep hurt therefrom. Tiiere is a right way and a
wrong in getting them into the water, and those who are
accustomed to handle sheep will not hurt them. Instead of
washing being hurtful to sheep, we have noticed quite the
opposite eflfects, and consider it highly beneficial. It will
invariably be noticed that the lambs thrive and grow better
after the ewes have been washed, than they do during any
other month in the year.

The chief object is to improve the wool in quality, and
make it bright and clean. Wool buyers pay for lustre, and
they tell us that, however carefully we may breed our sheep,
and however superior the wool may be which they grow, our
returns will be disappointing unless the greatest attention is
bestowed upon the washing of our clip. The only chance of
obtaining full value for the wool is to have it well washed.
Still, on many farms, even where the facilities for sheep-
washing are convenient, it is omitted.

There are various methods of washing sheep. With large
flocks, all the sheep, before being shorn, are washed by being
made to swim two or three times across a running stream
or pool, as described so graphically by Thomson in the
" Seasons "; —

*' Or rushing thence in one diffusive band,
They drive the troubled flocks, by many a dog
Compelled, to where the mazy-running brook
Forms a deep pool ; this bank abrupt and high.
And that fair spreading in a pebbled shore.
Urged to the giddy brink, much is the toil,
The clamour much, of men, and boys, and dogs,
Ere the soft fearful people to the flood
Commit their woolly sides. And oft the swain,
On some impatient seizing, hurls them in.
Embolden'd then, nor hesitating more,
Fast, fast they plunge amid the flashing waves.
And, panting, labour to the farthest shore."

Pool-washing is most general, and, all things considered,
is perhaps the best. Sheep do not wash clean in a running
stream. A stagnant pool is much better, as the yolk of the
wool, which consists of fatty acids combined chiefly with
potash, being left in the water, acts like soap, or better than
any soap, in scouring and giving a bright lustre to the wool.
The pool should be twenty-five yards long, five yards wide,
and at least six feet deep at the jump, gradually ebbing to
the point where the sheep can walk out on a well-gravelled
beach. In a pool of this description the sheep can be washed
very clean, if they get a good high "jump," and are put
across two or three times. The jumping-stage should be
three feet higher than the water. The ewes soon learn to
jump into the water of their own accord, and are much less
liable to get injured than when each one has to be pushed in.
Sometimes the washing-pool is formed directly facing the
sheepfold, where the lambs are shut up for the time being,
and having the ewes looking straight in that direction they

then jump freely, and swim the pool to get to their lambs.
The old saying, " If a'e sheep loup the dyke, a' the rest will
follow," is very true, and many illvntrations of it are to be
seen at the washing-pool.

Tub-washing is sometimes more convenient for small flocks,
and is certainly preferable to driving the washed sheep over
dusty roads from some neighbour's washing-pool, if there is
not one on tlie farm, as by the time they get back they are
often as dirty as before. " Tubs " can be made in almost
any form, the situation being the architect in that respect.
Many of them are somewhat novel, but a little ingenuity will
generally contrive a handy sort of bath. Here is how an
Irish farmer describes the course he has adopted, with marked
success in result and price of wool: — "I wash by a clear
running river about four feet deep. There is a causeway
at one side ; here is set up my sheep-dipping trough, which
is kept full of hot water and soft soap. Each sheep is taken
by the legs and is soused on its back four times in the water
and soap, then placed on the rack to drip back into the tub;
then the sheep is slipped into the river. As soon as it rights
itself a ring is put over its neck, attached to the end of a pole.
It is then guided swimming twenty yards against the stream,
and then let walk out. The result is all that can be wished.
One great benefit is that no man need wet a foot, and no drink
is required. We usually wash 500 sheep in three or four
hours ; then the pens are struck, and all hands go to a hearty
dinner. We never have an accident. My wool sells for ^d.
or Id. per lb. more than inferior washed wool."

Sheep-washing usually takes place about the beginning of
June, a little earlier or later, according to locality and con-
dition of the sheep. As soon as the new wool begins to rise
the sheep may be washed; and in six or eight days after
washing they may be shorn. If the weather should become
wet so as to prevent clipping at the time intended, it may
be advisable in some cases to repeat the operation of washing.

Foreign wools are noted for their cleanness and qualit}',
which is in a great measure due to the care taken in the
washing of the sheep. It may not be amiss to give some
idea of the pains taken by the Germans and Australians in
some of the best districts to wash the wool before shearins:.

The process of washing sheep at Alcarth, in Hungary, says
a Patent Office Report, is done under the roof, and accordingly
no sudden showers or rainy weather can interfere with it.
Before the shower bath is administered to the sheep, their
dirt and pitch have to be dissolved and loosened. For this
purpose a soaking vat has to be put up, which is covered and
tightly put together of strong planks or boards. It is filled
with hot water, equal to 84° Fahr. ; the sheep are then placed
in two lines, and constantly handled until the yolk and dirt
are dissolved, which ordinarily takes from fifteen to twenty
minutes. The solvent effect of the water is increased bj
adding a few pounds of potash, and also by the lye arising
from the natural oily matter of the wool. The sheep, after
being well soaked, are placed under shelter, where they have
to wait their turn of the shower bath, in order that the animal,

518

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

now too much heated, may not pass immediately from the
hot soaking-vat into the shower-bath, this being from 61° to
63° Fahr. The water is let upon the sheep through a hose
ivith a strainer at the end. It falls with considerable velocity)
and is brought to bear upon all parts of the sheep until the
wool is of a snowy whiteness. The sheep are then driven
to a warm dry shed, and shorn as soon as the wool is dry,
generally about the sixth day. On an average forty sheep
are thus washed in an hour.

In Australia sheep farmers do not stick at £1000 or £2000
for steam engine and washing gear. The sheep wash at
Mount Fyans is an excellent construction, and has attracted
the attention of many sheep farmers. The plan adopted is to
pass the sheep through a cold water tank over night, which
washes a good deal of the loose dirt oflf the bellies and legs,
and thoroughly saturates the fleece. They are then packed
pretty closely in a sweating house, with numerous subdivisions
in it to prevent the sheep from being smothered. By this
means the points of the wool are softened, and the work of
cleansing the fleece is rendered very much easier than it would
be if the sheep were taken into the wash without this pre-
paration. The hot-water tank into which the sheep are put
next morning has three divisions, in each of which they are
well crutched. At the end of this tank there is a movable
floor, which is raised by a lever, so that the sheep leave the
tank without having to struggle up a steep incline. The
water is heated to about 108° or 116° Fahr., and bar soap
is used to soften it, and render the process of cleansing the
wool more easy. After draining for a short time, they are
passed down shoots to the men at the spouts, where, on
Sharp's patent sheep rollers, they are well spouted ; and
when the hot water has been fairly driven out of the wool,
they go on to the landing stage, where they drain for a time,
and are then allowed to walk on the grass by a long battened
stage. The water for the wash is drawn from a large dam,
which is kept constantly full by a stream from the spring in
front of the house. Centrifugal pumps are used to throw
up the water to a height of twelve feet, and one spout will
wash about five hundred sheep a day.

Many of the foreign wool-growers wash their wool after
it is shorn. At the Wool Exhibition held at the Crystal
Palace, London, some years ago, Messrs. J. & W. M'Naught,
of St. George's Foundry, Rochdale, Lancashire, exhibited an
apparatus for this purpose, which appeared to do admirable
work. The wool was placed on a self-feeding table. It then
passed into a trough twelve feet in length, containing soap
of an alkaline character and water. In this trough the wool
is stirred with forks, worked by a most ingenious crank, and
carried forward to the far end. Here it is carried up an in-
clined plane of glass, on which the greater portion of the
alkaline fluid drains and falls back into the trough. The
mechanical contrivance for carrying the wool from the frough
consists in a double set of rakes, which act alternately simi-
larly to the action of the shakers of a threshing machine, but
of course the teeth of the wool-raker are at the bottom. On

reaching the top of this inclined plane it is received by two
heavy pressed rollers, where it is well pressed, when it is
passed into another trough of the same length, and again
agitated in another quantity of liquid. Having bv.en agitated
by the same form of machinery in this second trough, it is
conducted at another inclined plane by the same form oi
machinery, when it is again passed between rollers. On
leaving this second pair of rollers it is met by a drum, which
threshes it — so to express the opinion — into fine loose locks,
when it is ready for the drying machine which is attached.
This drying machine is simply a trough or box with a wire-
net covering, in which are revolving the blast screws that
circulate air rapidly. This air may be heated, or of a natural
temperature, according as the wool is required to be dried
rapidly or not

SHEEP SHEARING.

Eight or ten days usually elapse between washing and
shearing; not that it requires so many days for the wool to
dry, but it takes about that time to recover " yolk," without
which the wool lacks lustre. The time it takes to recover
this depends much on the condition of the sheep and the
temperature of the atmosphere. Fat sheep can be shorn
earlier than lean sheep, and the hotter the weather the sooner
will the yolk rise after washing.

In sheep farming districts it is commonly the practice for
eight or ten farms to unite their clippers, and shear their
flocks alternately. In this way only one gathering of the
sheep on each farm is necessary, and much time is saved in
other respects. The hands arrange to meet at a certain farm
one day, and when that flock is shorn they go to another
farm, generally taking about two weeks to get over them all.
The farmers provide the shearers with food and drink of the
best, but clipping festivals are not the affairs they were half a
century, or even a quarter of a century ago. . In those days
the farmer who supplied the best food and the most whisky
was accounted the best stockman, and the "herd" who could
perform the greatest feats in jumping and wrestling was
reckoned the best shepherd. Clipping-time came only once
a year, and the pastoral worthies made the veiy most of it.
Nowadays there is less merry-making at these annual meet-
ings, but something of the old spirit still survives at the clip-
pings on the hill farms.

On lowland farms the clippings pass off" more quickly.
Most of the work is done by hired hands, who are paid by
the day, or according to the number of sheep they shear.
When the latter is the case, the price varies from 3s. to 5s,
per score, according to the kind of sheep and their condition.
A good hand can shear eighty hill sheep, and from forty to
sixty lowland sheep in a day. Sheep intended for the fat
market or for the showyard are done up in extra style and
cost a little more. The men in such cases are employed by
the day, or the shepherd does it himself.

The flock about to be shorn should be gathered by early
dawn, as the sheep are less liable to injury than when brought
into the pens with paunches full. When penned the lamha

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

519

should be separated from the ewes, then both lambs and ewes
counted, and the numbers entered in the stock book. Clipping
may then begin, each shearer going to the catching-pen for
his first sheep, after which the catcher or " gripper " supplies
the shearers with a fresh sheep as soon as he is finished with
the former. One man can " grip " for about ten or twelve
clippers. Lowland sheep are mostly shorn round the rib,
but in many places it is customary to shear lengthways, and
when well done it looks as well as the other, and is quicker.
The shearer gets a longer cut the long way, and does not have
so many turnings. Heavy sheep should not have their legs
tied " all-fours," and should be shorn on the ground and not
on stools. Hill sheep are best shorn on the stools, as they are
easier to lift and turn, and not so liable to injury.

The " buist " or brand mark is put upon every newly shorn
sheep, before the clipper lets it go. This consists in marking
the initials of the owner upon each sheep immediately the
fleece is off The stamp or buist is made of iron, and is dipped
in boiling tar or pitch before applying it to the sheep. On
the clipped tegs, or shearlings, the mark is put on the shoulder,
to distinguish them from the older sheep, the latter being
buisted on the loin or rib. The draft ewes, which are known
by their ear mark, are also looked out at this time, but instead
of being buisted they only receive a "pop" or dot of the same
tar from a round stick on the shoulder, so that they can be
readily taken out from the flock at any time they are required,
and before being sold receive a fresh buist, which looks better
than when it is put on at clipping time.

As soon as the fleece is off the sheep, it should be rolled
up. A boy or girl is usually employed to pick up the
fleeces as they are ready, and carry them to the wool-winders.
Women make the best winders, and it requires two to do it
well and expeditiously. This should be done on a sparred
table, so that all dust or dirt in the fleece may fall through
between the boards in the process of handling. The fleece
is spread lengthwise on the table, outside up. One of the
winders has a pair of shears, which are used to clip off any
dirty wool from the tail of the fleece ; the other in the mean-
time twists a rope out of the neck wool. Then the sides are
folded in till they meet, after which the whole fleece is rolled
firmly up, beginning at the tail end, and tied with the neck
band. After the fleeces are rolled, they are either packed in
i sheets on the spot, or cartd to the barn or wool store and
piled up. The ewe and hogg wools are kept separate, so as
to distinguish them and afford the wool buyers better facilities
for examining them. Wool should only be stored in good
barns or houses. Vermin, dust, and damp very soon render
it an inferior artic'ie. If a good store room is not available, it
is best to pack it into sheets as soon as clipped, when it will
keep cleaner and brighter, besides taking up less room.

The practice of shearing lambs is far from common in this
country, but it is on the increase. Shearing in the case of
lambs does not, or need not, take place until midsummer or
later, when they do not miss the wool. Those who have
tried this practice say that, while it rather tends to dimin'sh

the next clip, any loss in this way is counterbalanced by the
greater progress made by the sheep in the interval. And how
many hoggets are fattened off during the winter and early
spring, and never come to the shearing of the following summer!
In all such cases the shearing of lambs may be taken with
advantage. If the fleeces are small, the fine short lamb's wool
is the most valuable of its kind. Lamb-shearing has long
been an established practice in East Cornwall and other parts.
We find it repeatedly mentioned in the reports of the Royal
Agricultural Society's prize farms, and, from the lambs picking
up much less mud in the wet season of winter and spring,
great benefit is found to be derived from the practice. At
the end of June, or early in J uly, Cotswold lambs are shorn
on some farms, and yield about 2^ lbs. of fine wool.

In shearing it is essential to observe a few rules in the
execution of the work. " Running " or " ringing," in shear-
ing phraseology, is a practice to be discouraged. It is well
that the shearing be done rapidly, but it should not be rushed
in a careless manner, at the expense of cutting the sheep or
destroying the fleece. The master needs to insist on good
clean shearing, and have it accomplished at a reasonable
speed. A man that cannot do his part in a workmanlike
style, and at a proper rate, without injuring the sheep, should
not be employed, or else made to work at a slower pace, on
a lower wage. All cuts or wounds should be dressed with
tar before letting the sheep go, and any man noticed to turn
a sheep away without tarring the cuts, should be made to
bring back the sheep. Make every shearer notify the
shepherd, or master, of anything he sees wrong with a sheep
— such as a bad udder on a ewe, when she should be marked
the same as the draft ewes, or a hoof or horn growing the
wrong way, when it can at once be pared or sawn off, which
prevents further trouble. Do not overcrowd the sheep in
the pens, and especially after being shorn, as they are then
liable to crush each other. Avoid dogging the sheep as much
as possible, and let their time in the yard be limited after they
are shorn.

Large as some of our flocks are they fall far short of the
immense herds in the colonies, and we have only a faint idea
of the magnitude of the work which has to be got through
at shearing time. We do not imagine that any sheepowner
in the United Kingdom shears more than 10,000 sheep in a
season ; what will then be thought of the shearing of upwards
of 250,000? Yet some of the Australiaj ranchmen shear
as many as 250,000 sheep in a season. Shearing takes place
there in November and December. For such a flock 100
shearers, 50 " rouseabouts," and some 20 musterers are re-
quired. Shearers are paid a sovereign for every 100 sheep,
rouseabouts about an equal sum per week, and musterers six
shillings a day ; tlie total expense of the shearing, so far as
labour is concerned, may be calculated at £2000 The yield
of wool averages nearly five pounds weight to each sheep,
lambs included. The gross weight of the clip from a single
ranch is 1,250,000 pounds, made up into 2500 bales, and valued
at probably £60,000. That one run should be capable ol

520

THE PRACTICE UF SHEEP-FARMING.

producing some 500 tons of wool is indeed marvellous, and
the fact that 150 waggons are employed in conveying the
clip to the railway is enough of itself to show the great amount
of work entailed by the ownership of upwards of 250,000
sheep.

Shearing «heep by machinery has also been invented in
that country. A steam sheep- shearing machine has been
successfully used in Melbourne. It consists of a cutting
wheel geared to the shaft of a small turbine, about three
inches in diameter, and which is operated by a current of
steam conveyed from the boiler by an india-rubber tube. In
front of the cutter is a comb which serves as a guard against
cutting the skin of the sheep. The apparatus is made of
brass, something in the shape of a small trowel. It is used
in the same fashion as the shears, but cuts much more rapidly
and cleaner, without the least danger of injuring the fleece
or the sheep.

DIPPING.

In all climates and on all soils, and under all kinds of
management, sheep are liable to become infested with para-
sites, the most troublesome of which are the ked, the louse,
the acarus or scab insect, and the maggot. To destroy and
prevent the attacks of these insects it is necessary to " dip "
the sheep once or twice every year. On this point all flock-
masters are agreed, but they are not all so decided in their
opinions as to what is the best preparation that will most
efiectually kill all vermin, and do least injury to or promote
the growth of the wool. The old-time practice of " salving "
or "smearing" with tar and butter is now laid aside, and
not likely ever again to come into use. Smearing was super-
seded by " pouring " with poisonous liquids, but that method
has also been abandoned in favour of dipping. It might be
supposed that oil would be an excellent material for water-
proofing the fleece, but such is not the case. Greased wool
is of less value than white ; and it is the opinion of many
practical men that sheep heavily greased do not dry so soon
after rain, nor thrive so well as those with their wool free and
unfettered. The grease makes the wool clog, and shed or
open in the very worst places — viz. along the back and about
the neck ; thus the rain penetrates to the skin, and the outside
of the fleece is so clogged that the water will not run ofi", and
the sheep cannot shake it out. As, however, the addition
of grease or oil is quite distinct from the killing of the vermin,
those who think it does good may still continue to use it,
from the idea that it waterproofs the fleece. This is best per-
formed by the natural yolk of the wool, and that can be best
promoted by good feeding and keeping the skin of the sheep
free from vermin.

Of patent manufactured sheep dips there are great abund-
ance, and as to their efficacy when used according to direc-
tions, they generally give good satisfaction. The greatest
fault farmers have to find with these patent dips is their
very high price. It may be possible that the manufacturers
sell at the lowest prices possible, but it is nevertheless a fact
that any farmer can procure the substances of a like material,

and mix for themselves, at a considerably less cost. The
patent compounds cost from 6s. to 12s. per 100 sheep ; whereas
a home-made dip, which is equally efficacious, does not cost
more than 2s. or 3s. We have not tested all of the " dips"
in the market, but have used both Bigg's and M'Dougall's
with very good results. For those who wish to try a home-
made article, we give several receipts, all of which have been
recommended by practical farmers : —

No. 1. — 1 galL Carbolic acid.

2 lbs. Arsenic
4 lbs. Soda.

No. 2. — 2 lbs. Arsenic.

1 galL Pitch oil.
No. 3.— 1 galL Pitch oil.

4 lbs. Soft soap.

3 lbs. Soda.

No. 4. — 1 gall. Carbolic acid.

2i lbs. Arsenic.

^ gall. Spirits of tar.
No. 5. — 1 gall. Carbolic acid.

2 lbs. Arsenic.

3 lbs. Soda.

3 lbs. Soft soap.

The dips will all be best prepared by dissolving in boiling
water, and then added to about 80 gallons of water; which
will be sufficient for 100 sheep.

The use of more than 2 lbs. or 2^ lbs. of arsenic per 100
sheep is not free from danger, especially with young sheep.
An instance of arsenical dip having been too strong once
came under our notice. It was in the lambing-fold, and all,
or nearly all, of the gimmers lost one or both teats. It
was a very serious afi'air; the teats were so destroyed and
sealed up that the young ewes could give no milk, although
the udders were quite full, and the lambs had to be removed.
Investigation led us to the conclusion that the teats had been
burned off' by an overstrong dip which they had received
when lambs. It was also remembered that the lambs had
not thriven well after that dipping.

If a dip kills the vermin and keeps the sheep's skin clean
and healthy, it is all that is to be expected from it. There
is no such thing as a dip promoting the growth of wool ; but
the man who can invent a dip that will in a measure water-
proof the fleece, without injuring the sheep or wool, will
confer a benefit on the flocks. M'Dougall's winter dip comes
the nearest to this of any we have tried. But dipping with
almost any of the dips in use very much improves the fleece,
and gives to a lot of sheep, especially lambs, a nice buff coloul
and a uniformity which is very desirable. In the sale ring
let a lot of lambs which have not been dipped follow a lot
which have, and although they may be of equal quality, the
latter will make one or two shillings a head more, simply be-
cause they have a fresher and thriftier appearance.

The time to dip must be regulated by the kind of flock
kept, the conditions of climate, and other circumstances.
Most flockmasters make a practice of dipping all their sheep
at least once a year, but this is not sufficient where there is
a regular stock to deal with, even assuming it to be in a per-
fectly healthy state. Two dippings at least are necessary
if the sheep are not to be the prey of vermin at one season
or another; the first of these should take place soon after
shearing, and the second after the stock has been made up
for the winter, and the saleable lambs and draft ewes have
been disposed of. It costs less to dip the sheep when they
have been newly shorn, and the dipping is more effective;

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FAEMING.

521

besides, summer dipping goes a long way in preventing the
attack of maggots and flies generally. Some dip the lambs
only, maintaining that all the ticks fly to them as soon as
the old sheep are shorn. This is correct so far, but it never
suffices to thoroughly cleanse a flock from vermin. Dry
weather is very essential, both immediately before and after
dipping. If the weather be wet, the fleece is already full of
moisture, and absorbs less of the dip than it would do when
dry ; while a heavy rain after dipping washes most of the
solution out of the wool before it has exercised its full
effect.

The description of dipping trough most suitable for the
operation will be subject to the size of the flock. For small
flocks an expensive apparatus will hardly pay, and therefore,
in such cases, a small tub with a simple dripper will be all
that is necessary. For large flocks a more expensive con-
struction will be required. A trough made to accommodate
one sheep at a time will be big enough for a flock of 500
sheep; and if the size be calculated at the same ratio for
every 500 sheep, the work can be overtaken in a single
day. But taking 1000 sheep as an average flock, the size
of the apparatus may be something like the following dimen-
sions— length, 15 feet; depth, 4 feet 6 inches; width, 1 foot
8 inchef The bottom of the bath is sloped at both ends, so
that the sheep can walk both in and out with ease. Thus
the total length embraces a 4-feet entrance slope, 5-feet swim,
and 5 feet of a slope for the sheep to walk out. It is very
essential that the bath be made with an entrance slope, al-
though a good many dipping apparatuses are made so that the
sheep are all to be hand-lifted into the bath. It is, however,
not good for the sheep to be dragged from a pen and forcibly
hoisted over the end of a tub, by sometimes not too gentle
hands. It costs no more to make a grade for the sheep to
descend than the one at the opposite side for ascending ; and
it will besides save a considerable amount of hard work)
especially when the sheep are newly shorn, and little but the
skin for the " gripper " to hold by. Another advantage of
a sloping entrance is found in the case of ewes heavy in lamb,
as they can then be dipped without the least injury. The
material best adapted for making the tub of a dipping machine
is concrete. It can be made of wood, too, but the rays of the
summer sun and the winter frost very soon make it leaky,
which both wastes the dip and makes it very uncomfortable
for the men who have to stand low down by the side of the
trough. For a permanent construction concrete is much to be
preferred, and on a sheep farm the dipping-trough should be
always the landlord's property, and a fixture. The dripper
of a bath consists of a couple of pens capable of holding from
thirty to forty sheep, set upon a water-tight floor. A small
gate at the exit of the bath directs the sheep into either pen
desired, and while one pen is filling, the sheep in the other
will be dripped sufficiently, so as not to drop any material
quantity of dip on to the ground after being let out. The
floor of the dripper is pitched so that the water which runs
from the sheep will all flow back into the tub. With a con-
3 u*

venient catching or entrance pen, the operation of dipping
is rendered simple and easy for both sheep and men.

The selection of the site for to set up a dipping machine
requires due thought. In the first place it must be placed
near to a plentiful supply of water, which can either be sup-
plied by hose or carried by hand. In the latter case it takes
a deal of work if the distance is anything great. Next, the
machine sliould be built on dry ground, and if it be on the
slope of a bank so much the better, as the whole surroundings
can then be kept cleaner and more comfortable. It is also an
advantage to have it convenient to the regular " sorting folds,"
in fact it should be part and parcel of the same if possible.
The whole apparatus, complete, will cost from £5 to £10,
more or less according to size.

CASTRATING AND DOCKING.

Castration is usually performed when the lambs are from
two to four weeks old. The younger the lambs the less risk.
But it is still more important that the lamb be in a healthy
condition at the time it is operated on, and that the weather
be mild. It should only be done when there is a prospect of
a fine evening; and the shepherd should be frequently amongst
the lambs for a day or two afterwards, gently stirring them up,
as they are better for moving about at intervals until all fear
of inflammation is past. With these precautions, it is seldom
that any casualty results. The operation is usally performed
by the shepherd. It should be done as gently as possible.
One person holds the lamb with its back pressed against
his left shoulder, and a hind and fore foot grasped firmly in
each hand. Then the shepherd with a sharp knife cuts off
the lower part of the scrotum, and starts the testicles by press-
ing both hands against the belly of the lamb, afterwards
drawing them away with his teeth. The operator then pulls
the lamb's tail sharply two or three times, to replace tlie
cords and vessels which have been so violently disarranged.
Where the lambs are older and stronger, the testicles should
not be entirely drawn, but cut away with the knife when the
spermatic cord is reached. Searing is not recommended for
young lambs.

Before the lambs which have been castrated are let go,
they should be docked or have their tails cut. Docking is
necessary to the health and comfort of the sheep that have
to be folded, and therefore it requires to be performed on ewe
lambs as well as others. The operation is, however, often
rendered needlessly severe, by shortening the tail too much,
and causing excessive bleeding. The different breeds have
their own style or length of tail, which seems to be pretty
generally adopted. The Down breeds, for instance, have
their tails entirely cut off; then some other breeds have about
a couple of inches left on ; while in the case of mountain
sheep, the tail is not shortened above the hock, merely cutting
away the fleshy part of the tail below the last joint of the
vertebrse.

SHEEP MARKING EAR MARKS.

The flock mark, the age mark, and the pedigree mark, are

522

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

all put on the ears of the stock lambs at weaning time. The
markings are sometimes tattooed, but the more general plan
is to mark by clipping a small snip or bit out of the ear by
means of the ear-nippers. The marks made are of different
kinds and shapes, as well as differently put on. The main
thing is to have the marking as simple and distinguishable
as possible, and not to disfigure the lamb. A " cropped " or
a split ear looks extremely bad. A small hole in one of the
ears answers very well for a private flock mark, and every
sheep, of all ages, belonging to the same owner, should have
this mark on the same ear. The barbarous practice of brand-
ing on the cheek with a hot iron is now abandoned by all
except a very few old flockmasters, who are opposed to every
change in the system they were taught when young. The
age mark is of course different every year. If the flock is
drafted at five years old, then there must be five different age
to use in turn. For example : —

marl

Age Mark of Ewe Stock.

Back bit near ear, . .
Back bit far ear, . .
Fore bit near ear, . .
Fore bit far ear, . . .
Double back bit near ear,
Back bit near ear, . .

One

Two

Three

Four

Shear.

Shear.

Shear.

Shear.

1890

1891

1892

1893

1894

1891

1892

1893

1894

1895

1892

1893

1894

1895

...

1893

1894

1895

...

1894

1895

*..

...

.••

1895

...

...

...

...

Draft

Ewes.

1895

Thus in the year 1895 the ewe lambs would take the same
mark as the draft ewes. Some prefer to have their lambs
marked the same as the oldest age of keeping ewes, consider-
ing the difference between the hogg or teg and the old ewe
sufficiently distinguishable without the aid of a separate mark.
This plan does away with one of the stock marks, and for the
above number of ages kept four instead of five marks will
only be required. But the former method is the more satis-
factory of the two, because at drafting-time, if the flock happens
to be all in one lot, the shearlings have an altogether different
mark from the draft ewes, and the latter can be drawn out
more readily without trouble or mistake. If the shepherd is
allowed a "pack," then of course the "pack sheep" have
marks totally different from the flock.

The pedigree is indicated by some other mark that can be
easily registered in the pedigree book of the flock. With a
large flock there is some difficulty in having the marks simple
enough so as to avoid multilating the ear, and yet perfectly
plain in recognition. One very good plan is to have all the
ewes in a flock belonging to a particular tribe tattooed with
the letter B on the near ear, then the individual ewes of this
tribe must be numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, &c., so that their names
would stand thus, Bl, B2, B3, &c.

For example : —

Ewes — Gaity's Tribe.
" Fore bit far ear. "
Year of Birth. Name. Sire. Dam.
B3. Guide N6

The rams have the same tattoo marks as their dams.

A Canadian plan of recording pedigree without having to
tattoo — which, by the way, is expensive and difficult — by

simple punch marks only, can be readily seen from the accom-
panving figures : —

The above diagram denotes what a mark in a certain part
of the ear signifies. Thus : — To number a sheep 333, make
two semicircular nips in the under side of the left ear, and
a hole through near the top part of the right ear, as shown
below : —

The snip and hole are used alternately, to designate with
more certainty the exact part of the ear intended to be marked.
This system does not require more than three marks till 500
is reached, after which by adding another mark the numbering
can be carried on into thousands.

Buisting. — The ear-marking, it should be observed, only
applies to the ewe lambs kept for stock ; but at weaning time,
likewise, all the lambs are marked on the wool with a stamp
or buist, which sometimes combines the initial letters of the
owner of the farm, the iron being dipped in boiling tar oi
pitch before being applied. This work should be done on a
dry day, particularly with the lambs for sale, as if the wool
is wet the tar spreads in it and disfigures the lamb. Indeed
much care and judgment are needed to buist lambs properly.
If the letters used are too large, the buist detracts in appear-
ance from the size of the lamb ; and if not judiciously put
on, it has an equally bad effect The wether lambs are
buisted on the off-side, and the ewe lambs on the near-side.
The older sheep on the farm are buisted at shearing time.

Keel-Mark. — On a hill farm, some days after dipping, and
when the stock has been made up for the year, the whole
flock are usually " keeled " or ruddled. As with the stock-
mark, every farm has its own keel-mark. The keel-mark
being more distinguishable at a distance than the buist even,
is of much use to the shepherd. The keel is put on various
parts of the sheep, farmers in the same district studying to
have them all different, such as a mark round the left hip,
down the off-rib, or across the shoulder. Each farm having
its own keel, strayed sheep can be readily detected from a
distance and brought back ; whereas without such a mark
there would be difficulty in finding sheep that have wandered
amongst others. In some parts of the country the marks on
the sheep of each farm are registered, and an annual meeting
advertised at some appointed place, to which all found sheep

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

52a

are taken, and those who have any missing attend to claim
what they have lost. In the north of England there is a
record of stock-marks, compiled and published by Mr. Gate
of Keswick The register displays the ear-marks, the buist,
and the keel-mark on illustrated diagrams, together with the
names and addresses of the owners of the sheep bearing the
respective marks. By this means any strayed sheep can at
once be identified by referring to the guide. " Keel " is a
paint composed of red ochre mixed in oil, which prevents it
from washing out. A nice keel considerably improves the ap-
pearance of a flock. At weaning time the sale ewe lambs in hill
flocks are also keeled on the neck to distinguish them from the
wether lambs.

SCORING NUMERALS.

" Probably few are aware," says Professor Wrightson in
the Agricultural Gazette, " that there are such things as
'sheep-scoring numerals.' They exist, however, and the
subject certainly struck me as novel when I first met with it
in that delightful work of Mr. Joseph Lucas, ' Studies in
Nidderdale.'

" Dale shepherds, it seems, have a way ot their own of
counting their fleecy charges, but this way savours of high
antiquity. I went to my own shepherd at once, but was
disappointed to find that, saving for a slight difference in
pronunciation, he counted his sheep much as most of us
would count them.

" In Nidderdale and Swaledale, in Yorkshire, Wasdale,
Borrowdale, Man, Cornwall, and other places where the Celt
long lingered, an old form of scoring, it appears, exists, closely
related to what is found in Sanskrit and Hindustani, Old
Welsh, Modern Welsh, and Gipsy (Romany). This is a
most important philological fact, and must be of interest to
all who add a taste for antiquities to their love of agriculture.
The fact strikes me as strange, and as highly creditable to
the person who unearthed it.

" Perhaps some of the Agricultural Gazette readers may
be able not only to confirm what is known of these sheep-
numerals, but also to add other forms as modifications of the
same. As an example I will first take Nidderdale number-

" At Middleton, in Teesdale, the score is thus told :—

Yan.
Tean.

Tether.
Mether.
Pip.

Sezar.

Azar.

Catrah.

Horna.

Dik.

Yan-a-dik.

Tean-n-dik.

Tether-a-dik.

Mether-a-dik.

Buiiifit.

Yan-a-bum.
Tean-a-bum.
Tetber-a- bum.
Mether-a-bunL

" In order to show the Celtic origin of these expressions,
the old Welsh numerals are also given : —

Un.

Dan.

Tri.

Pedwar.

Pnmp.

Chwech.

Saith.

Wjth.

Naw.

Deg-or-dec

Un-ar-dec.

Dcu-dec.

Triar-dec.

Pctuarar-dec

Pymlhec

Un-ar-pjmtbec.
Dea-ar-pyrathec.
Tri-ar-pymthec
Petaar-ar-pymthec.

Ucent.

"A study of the Sanskrit, Hindustani, and Breton forms of
numerations, shows clearly that these curious old methods of
counting are the actual remains of an ancient language once
spoken over ancient Britain, then confined to the remoter
portions, and finally only discernible in such fast-dying relics
as the above."

ing. ' Yain ' evidently stands for one ; but what are we to

think of the remaining numerals up to twenty, which run on
as follows ? —

Yain. Tayter. Yain-dix. Yain-o-bumfitt.

Tain. Later. Tain-dix. Tain-o-buin6tt.

Eddero. Overro. Eddero-dix. Eddero-o-bumfit.

Peddero. Coverro. Peddero-dix. Pedero-o-bumfitt.

Pitto. Dix. Bumiitt. J'gg't, t Giggit.

" The Eskdale numerals are thus given : —

Yaena. Hofa. Yaen-a-dec. Yaen-a-bumfitt.

Taena. Lofa. Taen-a-dec. Taen-a-bum6tt.

Teddera. Seckera. Teddera-a-dec. Tedder-a-bumfitt.

Meddera. Lekera. Medder-a-dec. Medder-a-bumfitt

Pimp. Dec. BumfitL Giggot.

« Af "K'rmvoaV.nrr.nn.li Yorkshirc, the corrcsponding nume-

Yah-dick. Yah-de-bumper.

Tiab-dick. Tiah-de-bumper.

Tether-a-dick. Tetber-de-bumper.

Metber-a-dick. Metber-de-bnmper.

Bumper. Jigger-

At Knaresborough,

are: —

Yab.

Teezar.

Tiab.

Seezar.

Tetbera.

Catterab.

Metbera.

Horna.

Pi^

Dick.

RAM BREEDING.

For a century or thereabouts ram breeding has been an
important branch of sheep farming, and now exceeds in
magnitude the traffic in all male stock of every other breed
of animals put together. The name of Air. Bakewell is
associated with the earliest efforts in the trade. Marshall,
in his " Rural Economy of the Midlands," states the hire of
tups, prior to 1780, to have been from one guinea to ten for
the season ; at which latter price Bakewell, in that year, let
several. His stock from that period rose rapidly in value,
from 10 to 100 guineas, and in the year 1786 he let two-
thirds of one ram to two breeders at 100 guineas each; thus
valuing the entire service of the animal at 300 guineas.
From thence to 1789 the prices still kept rising, until the
sum of 400 giiineas was repeatedly given for a single ram.
In that year Bakewell received 1200 guineas for three, and
for his whole stock of rams, 3000 guineas ; and several other
breeders made from 500 to 1000 guineas each. The spirit of
enterprise kept increasing so fast that 500 guineas were
occasionally paid for the hire of a single tup ; and in three
seasons one ram produced to its owner the enormous sum of
1300 guineas. That Bakewell succeeded in producing a
marked advance in the sheep world, was evident by the
appreciation and wonderful prices he was able ultimately to
command for his stock. Within a period of thirty years he
raised the value of his rams from 15s. to as high as 500
guineas a-piece. His success was remarkable, and is yet
unequalled in live stock history. He raised, we miglit say,
at a jump an animal from the lowest grade to a perfection,
which, after the lapse of a hundred years, has hardly been
improved upon, and which stiU stands unrivaller' amongst
our breeds of sheep. The monopoly he held was no doubt
the secret of the high prices he obtained, still he must have
been a rare shepherd, and well deserved the honours he lived
to enjoy. To him is due, also, the example of improving all
our other breeds of stock. Collings and Bates copied from
his laws in developing the shorthorn, and all other improvers
who followed only turned the ball which Bakewell set

524

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

a-roUing. Shepherds are often accredited with more than
ordinary intelligence, but we have here an example of it,
which has proved a blessing to the world.

The business of breeding pure-blooded rams for sale has
certainly been somewhat overdone of late ; still it will have a
beneficial effect in weeding out a good many of the inferior
sheep. It is a frequent complaint, too, that these sale rams
are injured, and in many cases rendered useless, by over-
feeding. But we see less of this year by year. Breeders
are beginning to understand that it is to their interest to have
their sheep prove well. Getting them up for the sale-ring is
all very good, but they must be got up to stay. The way
to secure buyers is to give them sheep with sound constitu-
tions, that will thrive on good plain keep. Besides, an over-
fed sheep never shows to the best advantage in the ring;
at least never so well as when it moves freely and easily.

The increasing number of ram lambs now offered at these
sales is a very recent departure in the ram trade. And one
of the most remarkable points in the lamb trade is shown by
the number of these now sold amongst the blackfaced breed —
the breed which is noted above all others for its hardiness and
slow maturity But buyers say they find the lambs quite
as serviceable as shearlings, while the former are far less
liable to be spoiled fi-om over-feeding. There is a great
diversity of opinion whether it is wise to use ram lambs, some
claiming that it will ultimately lead to the ruin of the flock ;
while, on the other hand, it is stated that by using ram lambs
many breeds have been immensely improved, rendering them
more susceptible to early maturity. Since the use of ram
lambs has been attended with good results in the case of
some breeds, there is good reason to think that other breeders,
who have not yet tried the system, would do well to follow
the example.

In establishing a flock for ram breeding, those contemplat-
ing the business should make mature calculations beforehand.

o

It is asserted that the thoroughbred horse, the shorthorn, and
some other animals can be reared with equal success, and to
the same perfection, regardless of soil and elevation, other
things being equal. This we doubt very much with horses or
cattle, at least it is not the case with sheep. Most of our
breeds of sheep are indigenous to locality ; and a location
which is well adapted for one breed would be altogether un-
suited for another. Therefore, in commencing a flock which
it is intended to bring to tlie very highest state of excellence,
it is well to make sure the breed is adapted for the situation.
Never attempt to raise a Down sheep where a Cotswold would
be better, or a Leicester where the Cheviot would succeed.
The soil and climate are the two influences which determine
the size, the quality, and the constitution of the sheep. The
Down breeds are known to thrive best on light dry soils,
in not too cold a climate ; and the long-wooled breeds have
the reputation of being most suitable for heavy soils. Then
as we ascend to higher situations, the mountain breeds only
can be profitably kept. Having made certain that the situa-
tion is every way adapted for the breed, the next point is the

selection of the ewes to breed from. There are wonderfully
few specimens in a flock that are fit to fill this bill, and even
after securing the best, they will not be faultless. However,
do the best possible, but never think that success will be
achieved by careless selection. The ewes should have the
characteristics of the breed clearly defined in every point.
They should be equal in size, have heads alike, wool alike,
and all symmetrical, with plenty of style and quality. Type
is a great thing in a flock of sheep ; but, unfortunately, we
cannot describe what is the true type of any one of the breeds.
There is no standard guide, or scale of points, drawn up for
our direction. What would seem to be a favourite type in
one district, is different in another; and, in fact, this local
fancy has drifted so far as to result in the creation of new
breeds — for instance, the Leicester and Border Leicester.
These two breeds were of the same origin, and are now the
Scotch and English types which each country consider
the correct one to cultivate. This proves the necessity there
is for a recognized type in all our breeds. No one who has
attended a ram sale where several different breeders were re-
presented by the same breed of sheep, but must have been
struck by the diversity of character displayed by each of the
lots. But since there happens to be no standard basis to
guide us in selecting a certain type, each one must depend
upon his own judgment, and the nearer that coincides with
public opinion the greater will be the success. Have a model
in view, and strive for it at every move. It takes years of
patient breeding to form a character which the sheep will
maintain, and great perseverance is required to gain even a
very small point.

The ram to use is the next consideration. No ram, how-
ever valuable or good-looking he may appear, should be put
to ewes without first having been proved. In his first season
a few ewes should be selected likely to suit him, and then
a careful examination of the progeny will reveal his true
worth better than any outward signs can indicate. 1'he
strictest care must be taken on that point, or a valuable flock
may be ruined by the indiscriminate use of a single ram.
In choosing a ram, pick only from well-known healthy flocks.
Let him be masculine and healthy in appearance, having a
frame as nearly perfect to your ideal as is possible, and
specially good on the points where the ewes are most de-
fective. He should have plenty of bone, with a straight
back, strong loins, wide ribs, deep chest, heavy quarters, and
good on his legs. The latter point is highly essential in a
ram. Then in wool he should possess the exact texture and
quality of the breed, covering his body evenly and on all
parts where the wool ought to grow. A ram that is im-
perfectly wooled on the under parts of the body should be
avoided, and any superfluous growth generally indicates a
coarse bred sheep. For every stud ram in the flock select
the ewes weak in the points he is strong, and keep each lot
separate during the breeding season. Mark the rams and
ewes with colouring of different shades, and make a correct
entry of these in the breeding-book, so that when lambing

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

525

takes place the sire of every lamb can be given. It may
also be necessary to mark the lambs by the different rams
with a small snip in the ear, as a pedigree mark, as soon as
tliey are dropped. An extra good ram should not be allowed
to run with the ewes. If he be confined in a yard and well
fed, and the ewes brought unto him morning and evening, he
will serve about double the number he would otherwise do if
allowed to remain with the ewes all day.

As to the price which may be given for a good ram there
is no rule. A £50 ram may get better lambs than one cost-
ing four times that money, yet it as often happens that the
highest priced sheep are the cheapest in the end. When
a ram can be found that appears to be what is wanted, and
has proved himself suitable, he is cheap at any price, as his
progeny should sell at a similar rate if they are properly
brought out. It would, however, be a mistake to suppose
that because £200 had been given for a sire, his progeny are
worth a corresponding value. That entirely depends whether
the ewes to which he is bred are equally valuable and the
flock has a public reputation of being pure and of the very
choicest blood.

Ram breeding need only be attempted under the most
favourable circumstances, on good land, and where high
feeding can be carried on profitably. Much as buyers decry
overfed rams, it generally happens that the fattest sell best,
so that the breeder cannot very well help himself. If he
brings out his sheep lean they sell in proportion, consequently
a certain amount of feeding is indispensable for success. High
prices are only made by sheep of known character, and such
as are endowed with special qualities which they have the
power of transmitting to their progeny. For gaining a reputa-
tion, it is now essential that the flock should have an authen-
ticated pedigree.

The average price at which it will pay to breed young rams
for sale, will of course be found to vary greatly in the case of
different breeds — such as the Down breeds, for instance, as
compared with the Cheviot or Blackfaced. Any breeder can
settle that to his own satisfaction, as it largely depends on the
expense of rearing. The cardinal point, as already observed,
is not to lower the average by retaining too large a lot of
ram lambs. Select them carefully, and start with the best
only, and the result is sure to be satisfactory, if the same
watchfulness is displayed throughout.

PREPARING SHEEP FOR SHOW.

Tlie sheep department of the showyard never fails to
attract a large share of interest. In some districts, indeed,
the sheep are more closely inspected and admired than any
of the other classes of stock. There are comparatively few
farmers who have not got some interest in sheep, and whether
they are judges of them or not, all enjoy the pleasure of ex-
amining them at the shows. Amongst exhibitors of sheep
as well as their attendants, keen rivalry always prevails.
Let the show be great or small, there is sure to be something
lively and instructive going on amongst the sheep-men. It

cannot be denied that the sheep stocks of this country have
been greatly benefited by showyard competition ; and, taking
them all in all, our flocks are probably in a more improved
state than either our horses or cattle.

There may not be more direct profit in showing sheep than
other descriptions of stock, but there is at any rate more room
to clear expenses. Extra care and feed ought to give an
increase in wool, and the lambs will also be better than those
of the ordinary flock ; so that these helps, together with the
opportunity of selling the show sheep fat, or for breeding pur-
poses, gives the sheep exhibitor an advantage tliat others
do not have. We do not mean to say that, as a rule, sheep
can be shown with profit, but when an exhibitor can lay hold
of the premiums he should do more than clear expenses.
Great time and labour are required to fit them up, and they
take the best of the food from the other sheep. Still, those
who can bring their flocks into notice can well afford to show,
for the better prices they can obtain for rams or ewes that
tliey may sell to other breeders ; and besides the pecuniary
benefit, there is always an honour attached to it, which is
worth a good deal.

The worst feature some think in showing sheep, is its effect
upon the remainder of the flock. The best being taken, it
reduces the average quality ; and when a cast lot comes to be
sold, the want of the top is severely felt. However, if the
show sheep clip more wool, rear better lambs, and sell for
more money, they may more than counterbalance this dis-
crepancy, even without the premiums. So long as the show
sheep pay their own way they do very well, without making
up any shortcoming of the bulk. The fact of the top being
awanting does not alter the value of tliose that remain. They
are only worth so much wliether they be sheltered at the side
of a good one or not ; and if the value of the one is raised
with the help of the other, we must also remember the value
of the best is correspondingly lowered.

Every famous flock has had to prove its merits in the
showyard, and but for its success in the ring it would prob-
ably never have acquired its celebrity. Moreover, many
breeders, who in the first place were at great expense and
trouble in bringing out their sheep for the shows, are now
resting on their oars, and reaping ten times over any prelimin-
ary outlay they incurred in the showyard. Nor have any
a better right to rest on their laurels than those who have
won fame by actual test. We like to hear the old enthusiast
recount his battles won, and although the open game may be
left to others, the same sl'tewd care in breeding is pretty
certain to go on at home. Each year never fails to bring
back former buyers, and many new ones, all confident that
the once successful exhibitor will still preserve his flock in
their former pm-ity. This is where the profit comes in. But
those who have earned such reputation know full well it was
not gained without an effort. Every point was made a study,
and success was only achieved after many attempts to win.
But for every one that maintains his reputation after leaving
the showyards, there are a hundred never more heard of;

526

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

80 that when the showyard is chosen as a field to gain a
name in, it is not every one who can keep that name. At
any rate those who count on after success must make sure
they deserve it.

In breeding sheep for show, besides the attention required
in mating, we must not forget that the soil and climate exert
a powerful influence on the character of the stock, and over
which we have little or no control. The adaptability of the
sheep to the soil is, however, sufficiently powerful, either to
advance or retard all other efforts. When any special breed
is favourite, and wished to be reared, we have to consider the
conditions under which their best properties have been acquired,
if the fullest success is to be attained, or even an ordinary
profit assured. Take any of the breeds we please, and
examine the description of soil on which they are found in
greatest perfection, and it will become plain that in breeding
sheep of the most perfect type, we will have to regard very
closely the nature of the soil on which they are reared before
we can succeed. It makes no difference what experience or
skill a man may have, he cannot alter the character of the
sheep further than the quality of the soil will allow ; so that
in breeding or showing, it is in the first place necessary to
have a farm with a soil and climate well adapted for the pur-
pose and breed of sheep.

If a few breeders have failed in improving their flocks even
after having taken prominent places in the lists, it is no reason
why the showing of sheep should be deprecated. If they
have not done well, it was not from the fact of their having
exhibited, it may rather have been caused through injudi-
cious feeding and breeding. Many a time we have seen
breeding sheep fed to their ruin, and as often have we seen
wrong selections in mating, all through trying to raise some-
thing for the show. Success might attend the effort as far as
show sheep were concerned, but then the system pursued, and
the result with the regular flock which had been similarly
bred, turned out to be a vast failure, merely because the sheep
were bred for one single purpose — the showyard. They had
been bred without an eye to general utility, and thus the
whole were ruined. Instances of this kind have been common
amongst Cheviot breeders, who raised fine show sheep, but
which were hardly fit to roam the hills ; and thus the show
was blamed for the evil. No doubt it was, so far, but then
the real error was a want of forethought, and failing to see
the ultimate result. Let the lessons of the past be a future
guide, and where no misguided notions are pursued good
results are sure to follow.

SELECTING SHOW SHEEP.

It is scarcely possible to expect to buy show sheep, or
even advisable to do so. A good ram can sometimes be pur-
chased, but it is very seldom any other sheep of a suitable age
are to be found for this purpose. At any rate there are more
honour and satisfaction in showing those of our own breeding.
The exhibitor will have to breed and rear them on his own
account. Having selected the best ewes in the flock, and

mated them with the best ram, their progeny may be ex-
pected to be good, and most likely they will be the best
obtainable. It is to be regretted that the sheep-men of Great
Britain do not draw up a scale of points for their respective
breeds. The Shropshire breeders are in advance of the others
in this matter. It would be well if there was a standard to
guide the inexperienced regarding the points of all the various
breeds. It is very annoying when a long price has been paid
for a sheep, to find that when transferred to another quarter
it is not the fashion of that district, merely because of some
very trivial point. In the absence of a recognized type or
fixed standard, every one is free to indulge his own fancy
about the points of any particular breed.

Selecting lambs for show is not always an easy matter. It
may be simple enough to tell which are the best lambs, but
it is more difficult to say positively which will be the best
sheep. There are many things to consider besides present
merit in the lamb. The owner will know how his lambs
have been bred, and a lamb that is well " comed " may
eventually be worth more and prove better than one that is
not so well bred, although the latter beats the other at the
start. Then there are lambs with some remarkably good
points, but having say a bad head, or some other prominent
fault. Such are not desirable, and neither are those that do
not appear to be growthy. The best and most likely lambs
to come out well are those with a head rather long and wide,
a strong neck, thick lengthy body, heavy quarters, and strong
bone. These qualities, along with fine symmetry and carriage,
a good coat of the right kind of wool, and a pleasing head
and ear, are indicative of lambs likely to make show sheep.
When a number are required for a pen, get them as much
alike in size and character as possible. " Like as pease "
goes a long way towards making a good pen, even although
the lambs have some faults. Having them all exactly alike
in shape and quality of wool, is also very essential when
prize-taking is the object. Single lambs will generally be
stronger and more suitable than twin Iambs, although the
latter may in the course of a year make good their deficiency
at the start. There are very few ewes able to nurse twins to
the same weight that they can a single lamb, and for this
reason the single lambs are the best. The same rules apply
in selecting older sheep.

FEEDING SHOW SHEEP.

Show lambs need attention from the day of their birth.
Milk is the first and most important agent in rearing lambs.
No matter how well a lamb may be bred, unless it is well
nursed it will never do for the showyard. To produce the
milk, the ewe must be liberally fed ; and it is better to feed
the ewe, than to try and cram the lamb at this early stage
with grain or other concentrated foods, and especially if the
lambs are to be carried on for a future showing or breeding
purpose. The ewes will require, besides good pasture, about
one pound of artificial food from and after lambing. The
lambs themselves will begin to eat at the boxes at about a

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

527

month old, and it will then be necessary to gradually increase
the allowance of cake or corn to the ewes. If the ewes and
lambs are folded, lamb creeps can be brought into use, and
the lambs allowed to run over the ground ahead of the ewes ;
they can then also have a trough for cake or corn to them-
selves on the opposite side of the hurdles. From about the
third month half a pound more grain or cake may be given,
and finally, when the pasture begins to fail, the daily ration
of box food for ewe and lamb may amount to from 2 to 3 lbs.,
and this will be sufficient to make them both fat. If a
change from grass pasture to rape, cabbages, or turnips can
be given them, that quantity will scarcely be required.

With fat lambs or wedders for Christmas show, that are
to be then slaughtered, no respect need be paid to the ulti-
mate results of feeding, making good Iambs at any cost being
the sole object. The lambs may then be encouraged to eat
as soon as possible by giving them plenty of trough room.
Supposing both ewes and lambs are intended for fat stock
shows, too much care and art cannot be devised for heaping
on fat. They will need from two to three pounds of grain
per ewe daily, and should be fed this at twice, morning and
evening. Plenty of change and variety of food, with regular
feeding, is the way to make them grow ; and they should
also be confined to moderately close quarters, not having to
go in search of their food.

It is not necessary to wean fat lambs at all. They may
be allowed to run with their dams up to Christmas, or as
long as may be found suitable.

Feeding cannot be commenced too early, no matter whether
the show be two months or twelve distant. It takes every
day in the year to fit sheep for show, but generally from six
to eight months will be sufficient if the sheep are in average
condition to start with. When they are well kept all the
time very little extra condition is required, which can easily
be put on in the last three months. The way to make real
good shearlings, is to commence early with the lambs, and
keep them growing, never having them fat, though next door
to it all through winter. Steady progress is far cheaper and
much better for the constitution of the animal than attempting
to rush the feeding a month or two before the show. No
sheep can be fiilly developed by irregular feeding. They
must be gradually grown, not standing still one week and
making up the next. It is easy enough to fatten sheep in
three months, but having them fat is about the last object
any breeder should aim at. Their whole frame needs build-
ing up, and three months extra keep will fail to develop all
their points. It can only be done by regular feeding, and
that never at any time too heavy. A mistake often made in
feeding young sheep is getting them ready too soon. It is
not always easy to find suitable food all the year round, and
at certain stages they would seem to make but little progi-ess.
This is sometimes on account of the feeder not knowing the
real strength of the food supplied. The food should be
arranged so that every change is for the better. It is not
at all times easy to keep up improvement in the quality of

the food, but it is well, at any rate, not to consume the best
first.

If the lambs intended to be brought out the following sum-
mer or autumn are weaned about the beginning of August,
they will do very well during that month and September if
they have the run of a good aftermath or foggage. If they
have been accustomed to grain along with their dams they
will still require it, but if they have never previously had
grain they need not just yet receive any. As long as the
aftermath lasts the lambs should keep growing for the next
two months, but as soon as there is any sign of the pasture
failing they should be allowed some grain. Begin them with
a quarter pound each, and as soon as they get accustomed
to the troughs, and have also acquired a taste for turnips or
cabbages, the grain ration should be advanced to half a pound
per head. With this and plenty of cut turnips or other green
food and a little hay, they ought to go on well until the New
Year.

January and February are generally cold, and less growth
will be made during these months. It is not advisable, how-
ever, to augment the grain ration. If the lambs are fed much
grain in the winter they will not develop so well in summer.
Rather, if possible, provide better shelter, and give a fuller
supply of roots and hay three times a day. About March
the roots and hay become rather stale, food, still, if nothing
better be at hand, they will do well enough. When the wool
assumes a dry appearance in the spring months, about March
the grain may again be increased, and the best food at that
time is linseed cake or oil meal. The lambs should not pre-
vious to this time of the year receive linseed, and its use then
has a wonderful effect in keeping their wool from becoming
loose and open. To the half pound of grain already given
add a quarter of a pound of linseed cake. This then brings
the artificial food up to three-quarters of a pound per head
daily at the beginning of March, and will be sufficient for
the next three months if a fair supply of roots or other green
food is available. The grass will by that time be forward,
and will be an acceptable change. The box food may then
be increased to one pound per head. The better the pasture
is, the better it will be for the sheep; and when an extra
push is required, the next resource is summer green crops
of rape, lucern, &c. Should the pasture or summer grazing
be only medium quality, from one to one and a half pounds
of cake may be allowed to each sheep. On such fare they
may be brought to shearlings in good healthy condition, not
by any means overfed, and their breeding powers uninjured,
while at the same time they will be in first-rate show con-
dition.

With older sheep for fat stock shows, the feeding may be
of much the same description, only in larger quantities.
About double the quantities named may be given full-grown
sheep, but we warn those who feed much lieavier than recom-
mended that they cannot do so with impunity. It is the
practice with some to feed just as much as the sheep will
eat. This may be allowable with fat sheep, but it is waste-

528

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

hil, and in any other case it would be a mistake to ruin valu-
able sheep for the sake of a prize when rational measures
may be employed to secure the object.

A great many show sheep are fed almost exclusively in
sheds, and there is little doubt that, with a few sheep and
nice roomy sheds, greater progress can be made in fattening ;
or in other words, sheep can be fattened to greater weights
in sheds than they can in the open field. This, however,
only holds good under certain conditions. If the sheep are
not well attended to, regularly fed, and kept thoroughly clean,
they will do better outside. Sheep that are in preparation
for a Christmas show may be housed, but breeding stock are
better not confined ; and in any case the sheep should not be
kept in sheds all the year round. If they are kept in good
order at all times, three or four months is about as long as
they will require to be housed. They need not be hindered
to get out into a yard, and the exercise will do them good.
Let them always have access to plenty of pure water, and a
supply of salt within their reach. Give them cabbages all the
time if they can be had, turnips and mangolds in their season^
and as much clover and green pea straw as they will eat up
clean. Well made hay will be a good change, and the dry
food may consist of a variety of grains, such as bran, oa<*'s>
maize, pease, linseed cake.

SHEARING AND TRIMMING.

This may be termed the shepherd's fine art. The sheep
should be clipped as early as possible, but not before they
can be shorn on the new wool. Blocking them out on the
old wool is often done, but it should be remembered that
any old wool left may disqualify a winner.

Begin by making a sheep stand in a perfectly natural
position, letting it be held the while by an assistant. Then
proceed to cut into the wool at the tail head, level with the
back. Clip along the centre of the back, making it as level
as possible, and not too bare. Then the point of the shears
may be turned down the sides, commencing at the head,
and working from head to tail gradually down to the belly,
which last it is best to shear first, turning up the sheep for
the purpose. The shearer must thoroughly understand the
shape a perfect model of the breed he is dealing with should
be ; and ever keeping his hand and eye in concert, will make
good or bad work according to his skill in the art.

Trimming is the modelling or clipping from time to time
of the already rough shorn sheep. They may be trimmed
once a fortnight up to the last, when they may get an extra
or final trim a month or a day, according to the breed,
before the show. Before they are trimmed they should be
washed ; but too many washings are not advisable, as it
takes the lustre out of the wool. Two washings are as much
as are necessary, and for some breeds one is sufficient. Choose
a bright forenoon for washing, and then there is no fear of
giving the sheep a chill. Soft soap and water slightly tepid
may be freely used, rinsing off with clean water. Three or
four days should elapse between washing and trimming, so as

to give the wool time to set. If trimmed too soon there ia
a danger of cutting holes in the fleece, which can never be
taken out again without much hurt. The first trimming
should only be to mark or cut out the block in rough shape ;
as the wool grows, opportunity is afforded to give the final
mould and polish.

To be able to trim well it is necessary to be a good judge
of sheep, but the quickest and surest way of becoming a good
judge is to practise trimming ; and unless a man can trim,
and understands trimming, he is not by any means fit to be a
judge. There are some very dexterous hands with the shears,
and the art they can display is very fine.

Colouring is the art of painting the wool on the sheep's
back, so as to give the animals a better or a more character-
istic appearance. The sheep should not be too highly coloured
— just sufficient to make them all alike. If this is done we
see no objection to colouring ; for, as is well known, the
colour of the soil gives a certain hue to the fleece, and sheep
from different parts of the same fann even will sometimes
show a great want of uniformity in colour when they are
brought together. The colour, if any be used, is best put
on with a fine syringe, and rubbed in with a brush. The
substances used for colouring are usually red or yellow ochre
and burnt amber dissolved in water.

Light cotton sheets are useful for covering the sheep while
in transit to the shows, so as to keep the wool from being
soiled ; and if they are waterproof they are sometimes of fur-
ther service in keeping the sheep dry on wet show days.

JUDGING SHOW SHEEP.

There can be no fixed rule for judging all breeds, but a few
general points may apply in judging sheep as well as other
animals of the same kind.

First take note of the character or type of the sheep. No
matter how good they may otherwise be, they must show
plainly the characteristics of the breed in size, shape, colour,
and staple of wool. Every breed has its own peculiar features,
and unless these be prominent and clearly defined, the speci-
men should be passed over.

Then their mutton qualities may be examined. This is
done by handling. The hand will at once reveal the amount
of mutton the sheep carries, or is capable of carrying. In
male sheep the neck should be strong and thick, not flat and
long. The shoulders should be broad, and scarcely percept-
ible to the touch, from being nicely rounded and well filled.
The ribs should spring evenly, wide from shoulder to loin ;
and the hind-quarters should come out lengthy and well
rounded, not pointing behind. The back should be level
and evenly covered with meat, the bone nowhere projecting ;
the breast wide and deep ; the underline straight ; and the
thighs full, and well shaped.

In breeding sheep, frame and bone should count for more
than fat. Then the wool, which in some breeds is paramount,
requires careful scrutiny. Whatever the breed, the wool
should be particularly noticed as to length, fineness, evenness.

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

and strength of staple. But not only is it important to have
the right staple, it must be growing in the right place.
Some sheep may show a good coat on back and sides, and
yet be very inferiorly clad below or in other parts. They
should be well covered from head to hock with an even com-
pact fleece.

Then the head, ears, legs, and general symmetry have to be
observed. Constitution and quality are strong points in favour
of animals possessing them, as well as beauty and carriage.

PREPARING SHEEP FOR MARKET.

In preparing sheep for market, the object should be to
have them look to the very best advantage, and any extra
work incurred in this not only pays, but affords an oppor-
tunity for displaying skill and taste in sheep management.
The more equal in size, quality, type, colour, and age a lot of
sheep are, the better tliey will sell. Of course, the sheep can-
not be remade — the aim is to make the most of them. In the
case of fat sheep, the best of the lot are frequently picked out
week by week, and sold as they are ready. But take the case
of a large lot that have to be cleared out at once.

Having brought the sheep together into a large pen or
yard, commence by catching out the worst ones, and while
drafting is being done, if the lot be ewes, do not hesitate
about sending off all that are considered bad specimens of
the breed, no matter what their age may be. Sell every
sheep, in fact, that has any unhealthy signs present, either
from accident or natural causes, and only keep those that
are likely to thrive and rear a good lamb. Rather keep a
good over-age ewe than a bad young one. After the worst
have been drawn, it can then be seen if what remains are fit
to go as one lot. If they still appear unequal, it is often
better to divide them again, making a top lot, a second, and
a third. There are buyers for all the classes, so that each
lot will sell for what it is worth ; and the average obtained
in this way will generally be better than if the whole had
been sold in one lot.

After the lots are arranged, any superfluous wool on the
head or legs is pulled or cut off, to give the sheep a more
uniform character. Formerly ewes and wedders were sent
to the market with wool in its natural state of growth, but
now almost all of them are trimmed or dressed with the shears,
the same as show sheep. The wool on their backs is cut
level, and their sides are nicely rounded off, so as to give
them a trim appearance. Tliis does not, of course, benefit
sheep that are to be kept on for further feeding or for breed-
ing purposes. Clipping the ends of the wool on the back,
making it stand erect, is not what nature intended, for naturally
the long ends of the wool hang over and carry the rain off
the sheep's back ; whereas, by clipping the back wool short
the rain goes straight to the skin. Whatever pecuniary ad-
vantage it may bring to the seller is certainly at the buyer's
expense, except when the sheep are sold for slaughtering, and
even in the latter case there is a damaged fleece.

A lot of sheep can be improved in appearance by colouring.
3x»

This may be done by dipping, or by showering any coloured
liquid over the sheep's back with a syringe or otherwise.

The different lots are next marked, each of the three lots
bearing the same mark, but on different parts of the body.
The top lot may be marked on the near side, the secona on
the far side, and so on. Ewes and ewe lambs are marked
differently from the wethers. The former are generally
marked red across the loins, wethers on the shoulders, or in
many cases the latter are only buisted. In different markets
the marks for distinguishing ewes from wedders are very
variable.

Sheep and lambs for the fat market are generally marked
with colour in red or blue. The less of this, however, the
better, especially for lambs. A great blot of red or blue
on a lamb's neck makes the animal look smaller than it
is, and other marks of the same kind are all more or less
open to the same objection when applied to lean sheep or
lambs. On fat sheep and lambs a little colour, if neatly
applied, improves their look. A thin streak along the back
is perhaps the best style of putting it. This shows out the
length of a fat sheep, and does not diminish its appearance
otherwise. But it is only very large sheep that look well
with a strip of colour drawn the whole length, from the crown
to the rump. Smaller sheep and lambs show better when
the line is drawn from the shoulder top as far back only as
the hinder rib, or at most not more than from the shoulder
to the rump.

EWE MILKING.

Ewe milking, at one time general on all sheep farms, has
during the present century gradually fallen out of practice.
From time immemorial the milking at the ewe-buclits was
considered a kind of annual holiday or festival. It came when
the mornings and evenings were balmy and inspiriting, and
the pleasures of the season have been handed down in old
songs in almost all languages. The poet has enumerated
among sylvan pleasures " the lilting at the ewe milking," and
the lover's pride in singing " I've nine milk ewes, my Marion,"
which he would present to her on her bridal day. Hogg
alludes to the milking when he says —

" When o'er the hill, the eastern star,
Tells buchtin' time is near, my jo!"

Burns also mentions it in many of his songs, and there is
little doubt but that it was quite common in his time. Besides
the two quotations of his above, he sings —

" The salt sea we'U harry, and bring to our Charlie,

The cream from the bothy, and curd from the pen."

" Hark the mavis' eyenin' sang
Soundin' Cluden's woods amang,
Then a-faulding let us gang,
My bonnie dearie 0 !"

Ewe milking is one of the old institutions now exploded,
where systematic thrift was a main essential to success. Our
ancestors had many ways of gathering small things, which

Again,

530

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

we now-a-days do not consider worth stooping for ; and ewe
milking was one of these pickings. Time is no doubt money,
but it is often not in taking sufficient time about a thing that
fails to pay.

About the beginning of this century farmers began to milk
the ewes less, not considering it judicious management, and
as a general principle they were perfectly right. It was not
to be expected that ewes after rearing a lamb to fall size,
could afterwards give sufficient milk to pay for milking. In
former days a man's time was of comparatively little value,
and it then probably did pay to milk even for small returns.
But doubtless ewe milking was kept up for many years after
it was understood to be no pecuniary advantage ; it was one
of those inherited practices, handed down from generation to
generation, and persisted in by sheer force of habit or custom.
It was believed to be essential and humane, until some far-
seeing genius discovered that it was about the same thing to
let the lambs suck a little longer. There is now about two
months' difference in the time of weaning since ewe milking
was abandoned. We have not the least intention of advising
a return to the old practice, but wish to point out a system
by which ewe milking might be very profitably pursued.
At the present value of mutton and lamb, it is not to be
imagined that ewes can be spared for any other purpose than
nursing their lambs; but where the system of rearing early
fat lambs is practised, ewe milking seems to suggest a way
of overcoming the greatest obstacle to that system — viz. very
long keep of the ewes for very short service. When the
lambs are sold fat early in the season, just at a time when
there is abundance of succulent food forthcoming, it is difficult
not to believe that the ewes might be milked a few months
without injury, when, as we will presently show, the practice
can be turned to good account.

Ewe cheese is richer than cow-milk cheese, and used to be
counted a great dainty ; but the home-made article is not
now obtainable except at an extravagant price. In France,
however, the industry is carried on on a large scale. In the
district of Roquefort there is a factory where the milk of
some 250,000 sheep is made into cheese of that name, and
the amount turned out averages from 3000 to 3500 tons
annually. It is also said that many of the choicest Conti-
nental cheeses owe their fine flavour to the presence of a
proportion of ewe-milk. Considering the new energy that
is now being infused into dairying, it may be worth suggest-
ing that the ewe is capable of contributing very materially to
the making of fine cheese.

We do not, however, recommend ewe milking for the
purpose of assisting in the production of a fine-flavoured
article of diet only. We recommend it as a business com-
plete in itself, the same as an ordinary cow dairy — with this
exception, that every ewe would have to nurse her lamb for
a short time. As already mentioned, the only disadvantage
that attends the rearing of early fat lambs, where the ewes
are not fattened and sold off fat also, is the heavy expense
of bringing the ewes into condition for rearing fat lambs.

when they have to run barren for the remainder of the year.
It stands to reason that the ewes most suitable for making
fat lambs would naturally have good milking capacities, and
would therefore be the best for dairy purposes. We hope,
some day before long, to see early lamb and ewe cheese being
turned out from the same farm, and those who keep sheep
near to large towns may find this scheme more remunerative
than any other they can adopt.

We are not in possession of any test giving the compara-
tive yield of milk by different breeds, yet there is evidence
enough to prove that some of the breeds of sheep milk very
heavily, and would easily, by selection, give sufficient to
satisfy even the most sceptical. In Iceland they milk the
ewes for six weeks after the lambs are weaned, and from
a hundred well-kept sheep easily realize from 12 to 15 lbs.
of butter daily. If this can be done with the small Iceland
sheep, what ought we not to expect from some of better de-
veloped breeds? At Roquefort each ewe is estimated to
produce 24 lbs. of cheese in the year, besides suckling her
lamb for two months. Now taking three months as the
average milking period of the ewes after rearing an early fat
lamb, and allowing 1 gallon of milk to 1 lb. of cheese, reckon-
ing on the same total as above, the daily yield of milk would
be something like two and two-third quarts per ewe. The
milk made into cheese might be expected to command 1«. per
lb. or even more. How far the Roquefort estimate could be
exceeded we will not predict, but we have little doubt that
there are milk ewes in this country that are capable of
averaging three quarts of milk daily.

WOOL GROWING.

Wool is not only a source of wealth to the farmer but to
the nation. It is a provision of nature to supply heat and
wealth to its producers, and to be afterwards used as clothing
for man. Its mode of growth on the sheep's back is exceed-
ingly simple. Beneath the skin are a series of small cells,
from one of which each fibre of wool emanates, so closely
packed together that the whole surface is completely covered
with a dense growth, which varies according to the climate
and breed of the sheep. Like every other organic structure,
it needs suitable nutriment upon which it may feed, and
from which it may extract the materials required in building
up its framework. This nutriment is secured by the small
cells by which the wool is rooted beneath the skin, which
absorb all that the wool requires from the blood circulating
beneath them. If the blood does not contain the materials
required for the wool, it is simply impossible for any growth
to be secured. The cells cannot absorb the necessary supplies
if not presented to them in the blood. It therefore becomes
evident, that unless the animal's food is of such a character
as to supply the nutriment required, its growth must cease.
On the other hand, a liberal supply of proper matter promotes
a rapid growth, and gives it a strength of texture considerably
greater than is obtained from inferior food, whilst its softness
is fully preserved.

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FARMING.

531

The food required for promoting the growth of wool
differs but little from that usually given under any liberal
system of feeding. The special requirement is a supply of
sulphur, which it usually secures from such green crops as
clover, vetches, pease, &c. The influence which these have
on wool has been frequently observed, and we have in this
fact an explanation of much of the softness of texture which
is thus produced. Wool appears to require other materials
for growth, but only such as are necessary for the production
of the other parts of the body. In addition to the ordinary
supplies of food, if we give the animal some variety of the
leguminous crops named, or feed more directly a quantity of
sulphur, there is no doubt but that the growth and quality
of the wool can be greatly promoted. In this country the
practice of feeding the sheep a mixture of salt and sulphur
is little practised, whereas in America no sheep farmer ever
thinks of allowing his sheep to be without a constant supply.
The condition of the skin has a most important influence
upon the character of the wool. It acts as a sort of gauge,
regulating the size of the fibre. Any circumstances which
enlarge this gauge produce an opening for the growth of
coarser wool, and the opposite result is secured by any
agency which decreases the size of these apertures, thereby
producing a finer fibre. It is essential to the character of a
good wool, that there should be an evenness of staple.
Irregularities in the size of the fibre are always undesirable,
causing weaker portions, which do not withstand equal ten-
sion, and consequently decrease the general strength of the
wool for manufacturing purposes. This arises from the in-
fluence of the skin in contracting or expanding the pores,
and usually originates in a change of food or temperature.
Excessive heat naturally opens the pores, and favours the
production of coarse wool ; any great severity of cold con-
tracts the pores, and makes the wool small in the fibre ; and
the same effects are caused by abundant or short supplies of
food. It is generally noticed that when the growth of wool
is rapid and of a healthy character, there is not only an
abundance of yolk in the wool, giving it a soft greasy feel,
but the skin has much the same condition. This is never
found upon sheep which are badly fed and in poor condition.
Dnder such circumstances the blood is naturally free from
any oily matter, and consequently the roots of the wool can-
not get their supply, neither can the skin maintain its soft
and greasy condition. A liberal supply of good food, and
shelter from extremes of heat and cold, are therefore essential
for the production of the best quality of wool. The influence
of food does not end here, for a regularity in the supply is
almost as important as the quality. Any period of short
supplies, or of inferior food, leaves a clear record in the fibre
of the wool, producing a harsher and weaker structure, which
is readily distinguished from the growth produced when the
animal is well fed. These portions are of necessity less able
to stand the strain of manufacturing processes, and the value
of the wool is decreased. Large quantities of wool are thus
injured by irregular supplies of food, which would have been

materially increased if some additional food had been given
at the time wlien the ordinary supplies were iiisufticient.
These cases unfortunately occur more frequently at a time
of the year when tlie severity of tlie cold increases tlie damage;
but, on every principle of economy, they sliould be very care-
fully guarded against. A climate tiiat is cold, yet not too
cold — that does not know a temperature ranging from ex-
cessive to extreme frigidity — that knows neither a torrid sun,
nor severe storms of frost and snow — is certainly the most
favourable for the production of the best wools.

The soil also exerts a great influence on the growth of
wool. The best wool of the United Kingdom comes from
sheep fed on open downs or marshy lands, both of which
are much colder than many of the inclosed counties where
the wool is not of so much value. This leads us to think
that it is the soil and the grasses that affect the quality of
the wool, rather than the warmth of the climate. We have
heard it said that a flock of sheep brought from Norfolk into
the rich warm inclosures of Essex or Herefordshire do not
retain the quality of their wool for one year, and that the
longer they are kept there the more is the difference observable.
At all events, the counties which produce the finest wool do
not always afford the finest pastures. The downs about Hert-
ford, in Norfolk, Salisbury, and Marlborough, and tlie pas-
tures of Cotswold and Leominster have nothing peculiar to
them that is not to be found in other parts of the kingdom,
and yet the wool of these places is superior to that grown
in most other parts of the country. Sometimes we find that
richness of pastures and excellence of wool go together, as in
Lincolnshire and Romney Marsh, where the sheep are fed
on rich deep grass, and yield fleeces of a fine quality, for
length of staple especially. But this is not generally the case,
for in Buckinghamshire, where the pasture is equally rich,
the wool grown is of a much coarser quality. This proves
that the soil, or the mineral matter contained in the herbage
it produces, is an important factor in determining the quality
of wool grown. The softest wools are grown on an argil-
laceous or a silicious soil ; whilst a calcareous soil, whether
limestone or chalk, produces wool remarkable for its harshness
in touch. Not only is the quality of wool in regard to its
softness affected by the soil, but even its colour undergoes
a change from the same cause. In Gloucestershire, for in-
stance, it acquires a deep yellow. In Hertfordshire, War-
wickshire, and other counties possessing a similar soil, the
wool partakes of the same hue, inclining to brown. In Lin-
colnshire and Cambridgeshire, the fenlands communicate a
dark brownish tint. On a chalky soil the wool is distinguished
by its whiteness ; on heath and peat lands the colour is more
blue ; and thus, in every district, the colour of the fleece
evinces the action of the soil, either by insinuating its particles
into the fleece and its fibres, or chemically uniting with its
surface ; and it is remarkable that the colour thus obtained
is indelibly fixed in the wool, so that no washing or other
method can remove it, nor can its whiteness be quite restored
by any artificial process hitherto discovered.

532

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP-FAKMING.

It is interesting to note the differences in tlie quality of
wool as exhibited in the different breeds of sheep. Whether
all the present diversities of the sheep race are descended
from one original pair or not, we may take it for granted
that in progress of time a variety of circumstances was suffi-
cient to have created a variety of races. The original sheep
in most countries where improved species are now found were
invariahly fine-wooled, and by cultivation and crossing of the
different tribes the wool has in many instances become both
longer and coarser, having altered to a greater extent than even
the form of the sheep themselves. However, the property
for which wool is most valuable is not so much in variety
of breed as in the trueness of breeding. In a trae-bred sheep
the staple of the wool is of an equal length and texture on all
parts of the body. It will not be fine on one part of the body
and coarse and shaggy on another, and the more even it is the
more valuable it becomes. In ill-bred sheep the variety of
wool found renders the article unsuited for the manufacture
of fine cloths, and, consequently, its value is diminished.
Hairy wool, or what is better known as " kempy " or dead
hairs, is another kind deprecated by manufacturers. These
" kemps " vary in length and coarseness according to the
breed of sheep. They appear to be fibres of wool, which
have tteen killed by some cause or other, so far as power
to grow beyond a certain length is concerned. But they still
continue to grow in thickness and hardness, till they become
glazed and hairy looking ; and, owing to their horny qualities,
they resist the substances of the dye. They never alter in
the process of carding, combing, or spinning, nor do they unite
with the rest of the wool to form the thread, but lie on the
surface, only held down by other fibres of wool which may
be wrapped round over them. It should be the object of
every breeder of sheep to diminish, if possible, these very
kempy varieties of wool.

To grow wool without tault or flaw in its fibre, it is neces-
sary that the sheep be kept in uniformly good and thrifty
condition every day in the year, and not exposed to extreme
degrees of heat or cold, and most especially to wet in cold
weather. The sheep must not be overfed or underfed at any
time, so as to fever the system or to allow it to become debili-
tated, as either condition is likely to weaken the fibre or make
it brittle. If the sheep are allowed to get out of condition,
or to lose flesh, the wool deteriorates in direct proportion, and
there will be a weak place in the fibre, no matter if their con-
dition is afterwards improved. It is a fact beyond dispute,
that the flockmaster has the making of the quality of the
fleece almost entirely in his own hands, and if his clip of wool
is not first-class he has only himself to blame.

The quantity of wool which each breed of sheep will pro-
duce cannot be given with any degree of accuracy. Individual
specimens have been known to shear as much as 30 to 40 lbs.
of unwashed wool, but the average fleeces of such beeeds under
ordinary treatment may not weigh more than 8 lbs. It en-
tirely depends on how the sheep are fed, and whether the soil
is adapted to the particular breed. The following table gives

the actual clip of wool from thirteen different breeds on the
Cirencester College Experimental Farm: —

Breed of Ewes.

Weight of

Price of

Wool

Remarks.

per

lbs.

oz.

s.

d.

Lincoln, ....

13

2

1

0

Long in staple, bright and silky.

Cheviot, ....

8

6

1

0

A wool of medium length, soft and rich.

Shropshire, . . .

7

5

1

1

Longer in staple and more Instre than
other Down wools.

Border Leicester, .

6

13

1

0

Not so soft and silkr in staple as Lincoln.

Oxford DowD, . .

6

10

1

04

Equal to Shropshire in quality.

Leicester,. . . .

6

6

1

0

Similar to Border Leicester.

Blackfaced, . . .

4

8

0

9

Coarse and long.

Dorset, . . .

5

6

1

0

Longer in staple and not so fine as the
Downs.

Hampshire, . . .

6

2

1

0

Short wool very similar to South Down,
bnt longer in staple and not so fine.

Herdwick, . . .

6

0

0

9

Coarse and long.

South Down, . .

4

5

1

04

A short, small-haired wool.

Exmoor, ....

5

0

0

11

A long stapled wool or medium quality.

Cotswold, . . .

8

0

1

0

Long, and rather coarse lustre.

The above figures represent the average of three ewes of
each breed. The sheep of each lot were all fairly equal,
and the treatment of all the lots during the previous winter
and spring had been exactly alike. All the ewes, also, had
reared one or more lambs during the summer. It is more
than likely, however, had the trial been made in another
district, with a soil and climate different fi-om that of
Gloucestershire, there would have been more or less variation
in the results. According to the best calculations, the average
weight of fleece is in England and Wales 5f lbs., in Scotland
4f lbs., and in Ireland 6 lbs. ; but the average may vary as
much as from a quarter to half a pound per fleece, according
to the season.

British breeds of sheep are chiefly cultivated on account ol
their mutton qualities, their wool-bearing properties not being
considered of sufficient importance to warrant special attention.
For this reason 90 per cent, of all our British fleeces belong
to the class technically described as "long-haired" or "lustre"
wool, and consequently, foreign wool, where mutton is con-
sidered of no account, being grown for a single purpose, is of
a much finer quality. The finest of all wools — the only wool,
in fact, that can be used for the finest broadcloths — comes
from the Merino sheep; and an inspection of these animals
will show at the first glance how distinctively a wool-producing
breed they are. Compare these species with the British breeds,
and it will not need the lecture of a naturalist to define the
marked distinctions between the wool-producing and the flesh-
producing species. Wool and mutton productions in sheep
are exactly similar to milk and beef propensities in cattle,
from no one breed can the highest quality or value of either
product be obtained. And as the British fanner finds the
mutton producer the most profitable, the supply of fine wools
is left to other countries.

While speaking of fine wools, it reminds us of a very good
story we have somewhere read of a distinguished agriculturist
whose enthusiasm for rural pursuits had always been more
than a match for any skill he possessed in them, who was
once betraved into a mistake of a ludicrous nature. It was

©[^1[1E)© ©^ ©MLIlKP.

SOUTHDOWN SHEARLING RAM.

"Winnor of ChampioD Cup at the Windeor Khow of the RAS.E

PRIZE GROUP OF SHROPSHIRE SHEARLING EWES.

THE COLLIE.

533

at the time when the merits of the Merino breed of sheep
divided the suffrages of the wool-growers of England. The
gentleman alluded to, who was an advocate for the superiority
of the Spanish fleece, brought in his pocket to a meeting of
fleece amateurs a sample of Merino wool grown under an
English sun, with the intention of making an eloquent
speech in praise of the foreign breed, and then, by way of
proof, exhibiting the sample, to the utter confusion of the
partisans of the Blackfaces and Southdowns. A friend of the
Southdowns got a hint of the gentleman's design, and being
as much of a wag as a wool-grower, he hit upon a very
amusing expedient of putting the real knowledge of the
Merino advocate to the test.

Previous to the meeting he contrived to abstract from the
sample of wool in the gentleman's pocket a good handful,
which he silently transferred into his own. When the party
were all assembled the gentleman made his speech in favour
of the Merino fabric — a very confident and a very warm one —
and concluded with drawing it forth, saying : —

" But, gentlemen, I don't want you to take my word on the
subject ; here is a specimen of the wool itself. Only look at

Was there ever so fine a wool

it, and be convinced,
seen?"

The sample being handed round, the sly purloiner begged
to put in a word for tlie Southdowns.

" He was," he said, " no speechifier, but a plain matter-of-
fact man ; the Merino wool might be all that they were told,
but he had a handful of wool in his pocket, which he had
shorn that morning from the back of a Southdown wether
which he thought quite as fine, and he would appeal to the
judgment of the company if it was not."

On this he exliibited the stolen handful of Merino as genuine
Southdown. Most of the company were of opinion that it
was every whit as good as the Merino ; but the Merino grower
himself, seizing it, eagerly exclaimed —

" That he could not sufficiently express his surprise, that
gentlemen with their eyes open should talk so ; the difference
between the two wools was as obvious as the difference between
black and white." He went on in the same strain till the
witty hoaxer stopped him by letting out the secret, to the
great amusement of the company and the inexpressible
confusion of this nice discriminator of rare products.

THE COLLIE.

The name of the collie has at different times assumed
various forms. Chaucer writes of " CoUe-our-dogge ; " Ramsay
spells it "Colly;" Fergusson, "Colley;" and Burns, "Collie."
The latter term, which is of comparatively recent date, is
now the form usually written. The meaning and origin of
the word collie has also been a subject of controversy, and
it is still doubtful whether the proper derivation of the name
has yet been discovered. One writer asserts that the shepherd's
dog is called collie, because it has a fox-face ; and a fox being
a false, cunning, deceitful beast, it was in some places called
a coll, or a false animal. Another suggests that the name is
derived from cole, meaning marked with black, which is said
to have been the prevailing colour in the early days. The
author of a dictionary avers the term describes the dog as it
was the custom to treat it. The tail apparently had been
thought an incumbrance, and was commonly docked ; hence
collie means, according to this authority, neither a fox-faced,
nor a black and white, but a bob-tailed dog — cole being the
Scotch equivalent for cutting off an apendage. These defini-
tions are, however, contradicted by one who says, " Collie has
nothing to do with either the colour of a dog or with its tail.
I lived some years in the Highlands ; 1 heard there all young
dogs called collie, until they had some individual name given
them ; collie, then, is equivalent to whelp." A more probable
definition than either of these is given by one who says, " The
word collie is the Sassenach corruption of the Gaelic words,
Cu, luth — the th silent — hence Cu-lu, collie. Cu in Gaelic |

means dog ; and luth, active enduring power." Collie, there-
fore, means a smart active dog of enduring strength and power.
In considering the origin of the dog, it is still an open
question among zoologists whether the numerous breeds that
are scattered over the world arose from one common stock, or

PRIZE OOLLIE.

were derived from the admixture of a species of the wild dogs
and wolves of the prehistoric times; but the latter opinion
appears to meet with most support. The subject is, however,
80 veiled in mystery, as to defy the greatest scientists of the

534

THE COLLIE.

day. That it is so can scarcely be wondered at, when the
first illustration of a domestic dog appeared 3700 B.C.

It appears that the early Britons cultivated three varieties
of dogs, one called a mastiff, a dog used for hunting, and as
unlike the animal bearing that appellation in the present day
as it is possible to conceive ; another, termed a boarhound ;
and another, a large-sized rough greyhound, generally known
as a wolHiound. These three varieties were kept to guard
the flocks from wolves and other predatory beasts of prey,
and also for the chase. We are also told that these three
types had erect and semi-erect ears; dogs with pendulous
ears not being seen till near the decline of the Roman
Empire, at which time they were classed by the Romans
under three heads — house dogs, shepherds' dogs, and sport-

ing dogs.

In all truly wild dogs the ears are erect and the tail
pendent or drooping. The former characteristic is accounted
for by the animal being ever on the alert to secure its safety,
and the latter by the want of exercise of the tail, which in
the domesticated dog, from frequent expressions of pleasure,
becomes strengthened and encurved. These characteristics
are typical of the sheep dog (to which breed the naturalist,
Buffon, has given the priority of race), as, when in the act of
listening, it stands with ears nearly erect and tail drooping.
In the wild dog, the low carriage of tail is more to be attri-
buted to its stealthy nature, than to its inability to carry it
curled ; as with animals in the domesticated state, when fear
or distrust is betrayed, the tail is always lowered. In those
countries where the canine race has not been so thoroughly
reclaimed from the savage state as in Europe, the domestic
dogs have a striking resemblance to the wolf, the jackal, or
wild dogs which inhabit these regions. Darwin's opinion was,
that the domestic dog is descended from one or other of these
species, and there is every reason to credit his belief.

From whatever source the collie may have been descended,
the present types or specimens of the race are extremely
diversified in form and colour, which would suggest a vast
commingling of strange blood at one period or another. The
different kinds of dogs — we cannot call them breeds — now
em]5loyed by shepherds in tending their flocks, entirely
baffle description. They are of every size and colour, rough
and smooth coated, soft and hard haired, mostly representing,
faintly or strongly, a dash of nearly every known breed of
the canine species. This great diversity of type may be
accounted to the common influences of carelessness in
breeding and crossing with other breeds. In nearly all the
varieties, however, there are to be found sheep-dogs of superior
intelligence ; and to this fact, perhaps, may be ascribed the
cause of so much indifference amongst shepherds in cultivat-
ing any particular sort. Still, it cannot be denied, that while
an occasional good dog is found among the cross-bred species,
the great majority of the best and most useful collies are bred
from recognized pure strains.

In days gone by the collie was considered as a represen-
tative of all that is mean and servile ; but within the last ten

or twelve years he has been raised above the plebeian level,
and adopted as a fit companion for lords and ladies of high
degree, and has become an essential member of the fashion-
able establishment, more so as an ornament than for any
special services he is expected to render. This rage among
fanciers has given rise to special attention being devoted to
cultivating pure strains ; and now at agricultural shows, as
well as at special exhibitions of dogs only, the collie is usually
Le chien dujour, the dog of the day.

To describe what is at present considered the true type of
collie, the following scale of points, drawn up by the Collie
Club in July, 1885, will best fulfil the purpose : —

The skull of the collie should be quite flat and rather
broad, with fine tapering muzzle of fair length, and mouth
the least bit overshot, the eyes widely apart, almond shaped,
and obliquely set in the head ; the skin of the head tightly
drawn, with no folds at the corners of tlie mouth ; the ears
as small as possible, semi-erect when surprised or listening,
at other times thrown back and buried in the " ruff."

The neck should be long, arched, and muscular, the
shoulders also long, sloping, and fine at the withers ; the
chest to be deep and narrow in front, but of fair breadth
behind the shoulders.

The back to be short and level, with the loin rather long,
somewhat arched, and powerful. Brush long, " wi' upward
swirl " at the end, and normally carried low.

The fore-legs should be perfectly straight, with a fair
amount of flat bone ; the pasterns rather long, springy, and
slightly lighter of bone than the rest of the leg ; the foot with
toes well arched and compact, soles very thick.

The hind-quarters, drooping slightly, should be very long
from the hip-bones to the hocks, which should be neither
turned inwards nor outwards, with stifles well bent. The
hip-bones should be wide and rather ragged.

The coat, except on legs and head, should be as abundant
as possible ; the outer coat straight, hard, and rather stiff ;
the under coat furry, and so dense that it would be difficult
to find the skin. The "ruff" and "frill," especially, should
be very full. There should be but little " feather " on the
fore legs, and more below the hocks on the hind legs.

Colour, immaterial.

Symmetry. — The dog should be a fair length in the leg,
and his movements wiry and graceful ; he should not be too
small ; height of dogs from 22 to 24 inches, of bitches firom
20 to 22 inches.

SCALE OF POINTS.

Head and expression, ....... 15

Ears 10

Neck and shoulders, 10

Legs and feet, ..«•.•.. 15

Hind-quarters, ........ 10

Back and loins, ... .... 10

Brush, . 6

Coat with frill, 20

Size, 5

Total, . ... 100

The greyhound type is very objectionable, as theie is no

THE COLLIE.

535

brain room in the skull, and with this there is to be found a
fatuous expression and a long powerful jaw.

The setter type is also to be avoided, with its pendulous
ear, full soft eye, heavy feathered legs, and straight short flag.

The smooth collie only differs from the rough in its coat,
which should be hard, dense, and quite smooth.

In the north of England great interest is taken in the
breeding and training of the collie. Several years ago the
leading landowners in the district, acting upon the initiative
of the Countess of Bective, formed the Northern Counties
Association for the Improvement of Sheep-dogs. Under the
auspices of this society, working trials are held alternately
in Cumberland, Westmoreland, Lancashire, and Yorkshire, at
which handsome money prizes and silver cups are awarded.
At these trials it has been demonstrated that the pure bred
collie, from its vast intelligence, is better adapted for work
than the ordinary cross-bred strains. The shepherds have
been partially convinced of this fact, and are now bestowing
greater care in selecting their dogs than they formerly were
wont to exercise. Sheep-dog trials ought to be a branch
of every agricultural society in sheep-farming districts. They
would not only be interesting to many, but would materially
assist in perfecting the best type of dog for this special pur-
pose. One half of the sheep-dogs in actual work are very
unfit for their position ; and, besides, are often a source of
much annoyance to the farmer, from the abuse they not un-
frequently inflict upon his sheep. It is well known that there
are certain strains of the collie which take to work much more
readily than others, are easily trained, and more careful of
the flock. Now, were a little more attention given by far-
mers and shepherds to securing only those naturally possessing
these traits, instead of retaining mongrels and curs of every
sort, there is no doubt that both would be well repaid for
their trouble.

Dogs are best studied at work; and a day spent among
the hills with the shepherd and his dog is fraught both with
interest and instruction to an intelligent observer. Sitting
on a hillside, looking across a wide glen, the sheep of an
adjoining proprietor are observed crossing the boundary line
in search of richer pasture. The shepherd addresses a few
words to his dog, which darts off like a greyhound. We
watch him spanking across the glen, now clearing a wide
ditch at a bound, then fording the stream, half wading, half
swimming. He waits but a moment to shake the water from
his coat. His master calls to him. He raises his head and
ears to listen to the order which is repeated, and nimbly he
threads his way up the distant acclivity. He now comes in
sight of the sheep, and in getting ahead of them takes a
wide, circular course. The sheep have taken the alarm and
commence to run, but " Tyne " is too swift for them, and
presently he appears clear in front. The shepherd, by a
sharp whistle on his fingers, stops his dog, which, at the
moment, happens to be on a patch of thick heather; and
were it not for the splashes of white about his neck and
breast, his whereabouts would not be easily made out. The

sheep are slow to retreat; but upon receiving another com-
mand, " Tyne " moves smartly up behind them, and in a
few minutes the poaching flock are sent scampering back to
their own proper walk. The dog is seen leisurely retracing
his steps. He quenches his thirst as he re-fords tlie stream,
and, returning to his master's side, sits down composedly,
turning his keen eyes towards the opposite hill as if to "^ake
sure he has fully completed his task.

Such is a simple performance of the collie ; yet it serves
to show how quickly and well he accomplislies a piece of
work which, without him, would have occupied the shepherd
many hours. Tiie sheep may be scattered miles apart over
a wide range of hills, and he will collect thera in shorter time
than could a score of men. Alone he will drive the flock to
any part of the hill, or bring to the shepherd any sheep he
may want. Distance is no object to a well-trained collie;
and although he may be a mile away, a motion of the hand
is sufficient to command him when oral directions cannot be
heard.

Working at hand, he is equally expert, and will fetch, take,
or keep the sheep wherever wanted, in the gentlest manner
possible. The shepherd goes to a field where the flock he
wishes to collect are grazing, and giving a quiet word or look
his dog darts off around the field, following the fence to make
sure that not a single sheep will be left. After getting fairly
around the sheep he retraces his steps, and thus he runs back-
wards and forwards, every time reducing the circle, until he
gathers the flock to the point from which he started. During
this time the dog has been running fast, but he keeps a wide
distance from the sheep, which have all the while been moving
no faster than a walk. When the sheep are collected, by the
aid of his dog the shepherd can separate out any he may
want ; and should the flock be divided into two or three dif-
ferent lots, the active collie will keep them thus apart without
allowing one to mix. In penning the dog works closely to
the sheep ; and when much forcing is required, if his near
presence is ineffective in driving them forward, he barks lustily
at their heels. In such cases some dogs are often tempted to
bite ; but the well-trained animal will not do this, although
we have occasionally seen a dog which could " heel " them
quite harmlessly in his endeavours to urge on the sheep. To
drive a lot of newly weaned lambs is sometimes a rather diffi-
cult task, and severely tries the skill of the dog. Indeed it
not unfrequently happens, when the lambs are determined to
break, that they will completely get away from the very best
collie. When the lambs burst off in every direction, a single
dog has no chance to restrain them, as by the time he stops
one point he is wanted at another ; and so fast does the run-
ning become, that the willing dog, although he puts forth his
utmost speed and efforts, is sometimes fairly overpowered.
When a sensible collie gets beaten in this fashion, it is truly
ludicrous to see how ashamed of himself he looks. There are
not many dogs, however, that can govern lamba ; and unless
they have the art of turning quick, and know the exact point
to attack, the runaways will have it all their own way. At

536

THE COLLIE.

this work a small dog has less command over the sheep than
a large one, which comes round with a heavy swack, working
close to the sheep. A collie should always wheel with his
face close to the sheep, as one which turns the opposite way
takes double the time, and has far less power in keeping them
together.

The well-trained collie is able to perform not merely one
or two such points as we have mentioned, but to do and act
in a thousand different ways known only to those whom he
serves. He is ever on the alert, and always ready promptly
to fulfil the commands of his master. His whole mind is
devoted to his work ; and when fully experienced, his sagacity
tells him what work is required, and he anxiously awaits per-
mission to be allowed to perform it. But it must not be sup-
posed that every collie is thus endowed with a sense of his
duty. On the contrary, there are many with equal oppor-
tunities that never acquire a great liking for work among
sheep. They are fonder of, and have a desire for, other
pleasures — some preferring cattle, others various employments,
such as following a cart. But these fancies are generally
influenced by the surroundings of their puppyhood; and which-
ever circumstance predominates, that they will invariably
follow. As previously remarked, there are certain strains
which take more readily to work than others ; but at the
same time, even those naturally so inclined, before they can
become skilled performers must undergo a thorough training
for the business. Shepherd dogs are not picked up here and
there of any age, and put to work in a single day. They are
best bred on the farm, and the instruction begins with the
pup. A full course of training occupies, at the very least,
two years, sometimes longer, according to the smartness of the
animal. To educate a dog properly, one should commence
before his powers are fully developed, and carry his education
along with the development of said powers, so that when age
advances he is a satisfactory performer and a credit to his
owner.

The pup should have one master and one only; all the
other members of the family should be strictly forbidden to
give him orders or cultivate his affections. This applies
especially to the children ; they will eventually make a fool
of any dog. At six months old the young dog may be allowed
to accompany the shepherd in his daily rounds. If left about
the house at this age he is apt to fall into bad habits, especially
if in the company of other idle dogs. The first step in the
training of the pup is to gain his affection, and at the same
time teach him obedience — to come to heel — and on no account
must he be allowed to hunt. A dog that will break away
from his work in pursuit of a hare or rabbit is of no account,
as he may be absent at a time when his services are urgently
needed. The pup should be allowed to work as soon as he
has acquired strength and speed of foot to run easily around
or past the sheep. If he lacks speed in racing a sheep, he is
certain to acquire the bad habit of running straiglit when he
ought to take a wide circuit in getting to the front. Some
dogs begin to run very early, at six or nine months, and

others again do not commence until they are a year old or
more. But the age at which they commence to run has
nothing to do with what the dog will eventually become ; it
often happens that those which show the least intelligence to
begin with, turn out the best dogs in the end.

In his first attempt at working the young dog generally
tries to imitate an older one, and, reasonably enough, will
make some sad mistakes ; but for these he should not be
punished. Rather encourage him to run, even although he
may go wrong, and very soon lie will acquire such a liking
for the work that it is difficult to prevent him. After be-
coming fond of running, chastisement will not discourage the
dog, and there will be times when severe punishment must
be given. The master should always give his orders in an
even, calm voice, devoid of passion, so that the dog cannot
tell from his tone whether he is to be scutched or not. The
best of dogs are greatly tempted to run away when they know
from the angry bellowing of their master that they are to be
chastised. But some dogs are of such a sullen or nervous
disposition that they cannot stand a whipping, and the trainer
must study the temper of the animal he is dealing with. There
are dogs which require, and will submit, to a sound flogging
every day ; but, on the other hand, there are some that must
not be whipped at all.

A collie cannot be properly trained where only a few sheep
are kept. He must be constantly employed every day, and
have nothing to divert his attention from duty. Plenty of
hard work is the best way of bringing him to understand his
business ; and if that cannot be given, the training mu?t
necessarily be more tedious, and probably it will also be less
satisfactory. When the young dog has fairly begun to work
he should occasionally be well tired out, and he will then
show whether he is likely to be of any good. His training
afterwards only needs careful attention, to see that he per-
forms his work in an expert and steady manner.

A well-trained and experienced collie excels in sagacity all
others of the dog family. His is not the intelligence of the
trick dog ; one look into those " grey wise " eyes, will tell
you that for antics or pranks like those of the showman's troops
of canine artistes, your collie has the supremest contempt.
A dog's life is to him quite too serious to be wasted in such
frivolities ; his mission is hard work ; he has duties to perform,
as had generations before him. His one particular task is to
care for flocks of sheep ; and because he does this, and does
it well, he may take rank as the most useful of all dogs.
"Without him," writes Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, "the
mountainous land in England and Scotland would not be
worth sixpence. It would require more hands to manage a
flock of sheep, gather them from the hills, force them into
houses and folds, and drive them to market, than the profits
of the whole are capable of maintaining."

Anecdotes, telling of his deeds of daring and faithfulness
to mankind, are known around the world. For herding and
driving cattle and many other kinds of animals, including
goats and ostriches, the collie has been found of signal value,

but it is to the sheep-farmer he renders the greatest benefits.
Certain writers have also lately been extolling his great merits
as a sporting dog, ranking him, for this purpose, equal to the
setter and retriever. Such work for the collie, however is

taking h.m from his path of duty, and ought to be dis-
countenanced by all shepherds. A sheep-dog'with a stro g
olfactory nerve .useless, and one that inclines to retrieving
18 invariably a fool among sheep.

I. Composition of Foods,

Foods.

Be»n meal,

„ pods,

„ straw,

„ forage,

Brewers' grains

Carrots,

Clover, red, forage,

.1 i> hay

„ cowgrass, forage, . . .
II ,1 hay, ....

,, white, forage,

II „ hay,

„ yellow trefoil, forage, . .

II „ hay, . . .

Comfrey, prickly, forage, . . .

II II hay, ....

Cottonseed,

„ cake, nndecorticated, .

II „ decorticated, . .

Cow's milk,

Ensilage, clover,

Gorse,

Grasses, mean of 18 species, . . .

„ forage,

II hay,

„ meadow hay,

„ pasture,

„ rye grass, Italian, forage,
n „ „ hay, . .

II 1, perennial, forage, ,

n _ II „ hay,

,, timothy, forage, . . . ,

II II hay,

Heath, . .

Kohl-rabi, leaves,

,, bulbs,

Lentils, seed,

Linseed, cake,

„ meal, pressed,

Lucem, forage,

Maize, grain, ....
„ forage, ....

„ hay,

Mangold-wnrzel, leaves, .

„ „ roots, .

Mustard, forage, . . .

Oats, seed,

„ straw, ....

Oats and vetches, forage.

Palm-nut meal, pressed, .

„ cake, . . .

Pease, seed,

,, straw, ....
Plantain or rib grass.

Potatoes,

Rape cake,

Rice meal,

Sainfoin, forage, . . .
hay, ....

Seakale

Turnip, leaves, ....

I, swedes, bulbs, .

t, yellow, . . ,

„ white, ....

Vetch or tare, seed, . .

n forage, . .

» hay, . .

'\\Tieat, seed, ....

„ bran, ....

., straw, ....

Water.

14-5
15-0
160
87-2
76-4
85-0
78-0
15-0
77-4
15-0
80-0
16-0
800
16-6
88-4
16 0
7-7
11-3
10-0
86-8
79-0
72-0

68-8
15-0
16-6
80-0
73-2
14-2
70-0
14-4
70-0
14-4
64-7
85-0
86-0
14-3
11-7
9-7
69-9
16-7
14-0
82-1
15-0
90-8
88-0
86-3
14-3
14-0
84-0
9-0
9 0
14-4
160
84-7
75-0
15-0
10-6
80-0
16-3
93-0
86-5
89-4
87-2
92-0
14-0
82-0
16-4
15-0
13-3
14-6

Albumi-
noids.

25-6

10-5

10-2

2-8

5-0

1-4

3-2

14-2

2-2

8-3

3-3

15-7

3-6

14-6

2-7

19-6

22-8

24-5

34-3

3-9

2-2

3-2

3-4
9-4

13-5
3-5
3-6

11-2
3-6

102
3-4
9-7
3-7
2-7
2-3

24-0

28-3

34-2
3-8

160

100
1-2
5-7
1-9
1-1
2-8

12-0

3-5

2-4

18-5

16-3
22-4

6-5

2-1

2-2
30-3
11-5

3-2
13-3

2-4

3-2

1-4

2-8

VO
27-5

3-0
14-0
13-0
14-0

3 0

Fata.

1-4
1-2
0-6
0-2
0-4
0-2
0-8
3-1
0-9
3-3
0-8
3-6
0-5
2-0

27-3
5-5

100
3-8

il

0-9
2-6
1-2
0-4
0-4
1-4
0-3
0-8
0-5
1-4
10
0-4
0-2
2-2
9 0
3-9
0-8
0-9
4-8
0-5
2-3
0-2
0-1
0-4
4-8
1-4
0-2
3-3
130
1-6
0-5
0-6
0-3
7-7
8-6
0-3
1-6

0-2

01
2-4
0-3
1-5
12
3-5
0-4

APPENDIX.

Carbo-
hydrates,

44-0

34-6

35-2
6-2
9-4

11-0

9-6

37-2

10-0

37-6

7-2

36-7

8-5
36-2

6-8
49-1
11-7
14-0
170

4-6
10-6

8-2

14-1
38-8
43-1
10-0
12-4
41-4
12-3
35-2
15-0
43-4
15-5
7-4
8-9

46-5
29-0

29-3
13-6

31-0

57-8

10-0
4-7
4-0
91
4-0

41-8

37-6
7-0

33-3

33-3

50-0

33 5
6-0

20-3

18-7

39-5
8-0

36-0
3-6
4-3
7-1
4-0
S2

44-0
6-6

32-5

63-1
37-0
32-0

Ash.

30
5-5
4-6
1-0
1-2
0-9
1-7
5-7
2-7
10-1
2-0
6-9
1-5
6-0
1-9
13-7
7-7
6-3
7-7
0-8
1-8
2-0

20
5-7
6-0
2-0
2-7
7-8
2-0
6-4
2-2
4-4
3-7
1-8
1-0
3-0
7-7
7-3
30
6-7
IS
11

6-2

1-8

0-8

2-0

2-7

4-0

1-4

3-9

3-6

2-4

4-6

1-3

0-9

7-5

9-6

1-5

6-3

0-6

1-8

0-6

1-8

0-6

2-7

1-8

8-4

1-7

5-3

4-5

n. Albuminoid Ratio.
Ratio between the nitrogenous and the non-nitrogenous
constituents in the digestible part of the principal foods for

Cotton cake, decorticated, .
,1 tmdecorticated.

Linseed cake,

Beans

Pease,

Wheat bran, ....
Oats,

ToUl
Nitrogen
reclconed-

Maize, . ,
Barley, . .
Clover bay, .
Meadow hay,
Swedes, . .
Turnips, . .
Mangolds, .
Potatoes,
Oat straw, .
Wheat straw.

1-5
1-8
2-3
2-4

2-9

4-2

6-5

9-0

7-6

5-9

8-0

6-9

6-2

8-0

10-6

14-7

64-4

Amides, &c,
Oct reckoned.

7-0

12-4
131

31-8
17-7

m.

The following tables are compiled to show the different
proportions of the same ingredients which are digested by
sheep or cattle : —

Food.

Linseed cake.
Beans, . .
Oats, . .
Barley, . .
Maize, . .
Wlieat bran.
Meadow hay.
Clover hay, .
Lucem hay.
Oat straw.
Wheat straw,
Bean straw,

Digested for 100 of each Constituent supplied.

Total
Organic

Aibumin-

Fat

Matter.

80

84

90

90

88

93

71

79

84

81

77

100

88

79

85

67

75

50

69

66

47

59

55

56

59

76

38

61

38

30

46

20

36

60

51

65

Soluble
Carbo-
hydrates,

78
93
76
87
91
70
62
69
67
43
39
60

Fibre.

?

?
24

?

?

37
67
44
40
61
66
36

Albuminoid
Ratio of

Foods
actually

used.

: 1-7

; 2-1

; 6-5

; 8-2

; 7-9

4-5

9-2

6-2

2-8

14-7

44-1

6-2

DIGESTIVE POWERS OF SHEEP.

rood.

Pasture grass, ....

Meadow hay (very good),

„ (ordinary). .

Lucem,

Oats,

Beans,

Maize,

Proportion of each Constituent digested for 100
supplied.

Total
Organic
Matter.

75-8
61-7
68-7
69-1
72-9
896
88 6

Albumin- !
oids.

73-3

66'S
67-2
72-8
855
87-1
78-6

65-4
54-5
44-3
29-7
84-8
84-2
84-6

Soluble

Carbo-

hydratea

75-7
65-6
58-7
67-9
77-7
91-2
91-3

8 Y *

Fibre.

79-5
63 5
59-8
43-6
26-1
78-5
61-9

538

APPENDIX.

IV. Food Equivalents of 10 lbs. of Hat.

lbs.

Hay 10

Clover hay, 8 to 10

•- 60
50
40
40
15

Green clover, 45

Wheat straw, 40

Barley straw, 20

Oat straw, 20

Pea . '.T, 10

Potatoes,' 20

Old potatoes, 40

Red carrots, 25

30

White carrots, 46

Mangold, 36

Tomips, 50

Cabbages, 20 to 30

Pease and beans, .... 3 „ 6

Wheat, 6 „ 6

Barley, 6 „ 6

Oats, 4 „ 7

Maize, 6

Oa cake, 2 „ 6

V. Weight of Fat Sheep.

The oflfals of sheep weigh, in ordinary cases, as follows : —

Skin, without fleece, from 6 to 10 lbs.

Tallow, 5 „ 14 „

Head, 4 „ 6 „

Feet, If „ 3 „

Pluck, 4J „ 6 „

Stomach and entrails, 9 „ 18 „

Blood, 4 „ 6 „

Loss by killing, ' i " ^

Fleece . • ■ 3 „ 6 „

Homfl, 2 „ 4 „

The following table will lead to a tolerably close approxi-
mation to the truth in a majority of cases to which it may be
applied : —

Live weight Per cent of Mutton

in lbs. In wool. Newly shorn.

280 to 300, 71 to 72 to 76

260 „ 280 69 „ 70 73 „ 74

240 „ 260 67 „ 68 71 „ 73

220 „ 240 66 „ 66 69 „ 70

200 ,,220 63 „ 64 67 „ 78

180 „ 200 . . 61 „ 62 ,, 66

160 „ 180 „ 60 „ 65

140 „ 160 58 „ 59 „ 64

120 „ 140 „ 57 62 „ 63

100 „ 120 65 „ 56 60 „ 61

80 „ 100 63 „ 54 58 „ 59

60 „ 80 50 „ 62 „ 57

Another rale is — weigh the sheep alive, to ascertain weight
in stones (14 lbs.) ; double the number of stones which the
sheep weighs will give pounds weight per quarter if the sheep
is fairly fat. Thus a sheep weighs alive 9 stones ; 9 multi-
plied by 2 = 18, or 18 lbs. per quarter.

€\t giseases an& Crtalm^t at €Mt S^^^ji. anlr ^igs,

By JAMES IRVINE LUPTON,

riLLOW or THE ROTAL OOLLEQS or VSTERINART SUROEONS.

During the earliest days of the world's history, flocks and
herds constituted the chief wealth of individuals ; for payments
and presents were made in kine, and afterwards the prosperity
of nations was indicated by their large possession of stock.
With the fall of man came " death and all our woe ; " one of
which was disease, both that appertaining to man and the
lower animals. But to man was given dominion over every
" beast of the field and fowl of the air," or, in other words,
superiority of intelligence, rendering him capable of ascertain-
ing how, first, to provide for the wants and necessities of the
inferior animals in health ; and, secondly, to protect them
against the attacks of disease ; and, thirdly, how to tend them
during its progress. Owing to this providential gift, we learn
that, from the days of the Egyptian magicians to the present time,
the prevention and cure of disease has been a topic upon which
wise men have thought and written. Among those who have
handed down their works to posterity on this subject, we meet
with philosophers, historians, and poets — ever-living names,
ranking highly among the immortal dead. The pens of many
of these men were called in requisition by the existence, at the
time, of diseases which devastated the stock of their respective
countries, and in some instances nearly produced national ruin ;
so injurious pecuniarily as to have caused legislators, in at-
tempting the conservation of their countries, to seek advice,
and in so doing to have brought to light the works of Hippo-
crates, Virgil, and all such persons who by their wisdom have
prevented and cured disease.

Many authors, in treating the .iubject before us, wrote jointly
upon the cultivation of the soil and care of stock. The poet
Virgil evidently considered the two subjects inseparable, for
in the Georgics he has devoted equal consideration to both ;
as the first two books treat of crops and trees, the last two
upon the management and diseases of cattle and bees, the
last-named creatures being at the time Virgil wrote an im-
portant item in Italian agriculture. What circumstances led
to the foundation of the first veterinary school in Europe ?
Why, the inseparability of agriculture and veterinary science ;
and at the same time proved the importance of that art by
the results which it developed ; for Bourgelat, a French bar-
rister, observing that certain maladies were devastating the
French herds, forsook the bar and devoted his time and energies
in seeking out a remedy for the then pest, which resulted in

his founding a veterinary college at Lyons in 1760, from which
establishment he despatched students, with weapons in their
hands all-necessary for combating disease by science with
practice ; and in a short time from this period the plague was
stayed and the health of stock restored, through the assistance
rendered to agriculture by veterinary science and art.

INFLAMMATION.

As the medicines to be mentioned hereafter are alone of
benefit to animals when in a diseased state, it is my intention
to briefly enumerate those maladies to which the ox is liable,
the most important of which certainly is inflammation, for
with it some diseases commence and others terminate ; and,
moreover, this pathological state has not until very recently
been properly understood, and consequently has been impro-
perly treated.

John Hunter wrote on diseases of the fluids, and drew
particular attention to blood diseases, but never accounted for
the causes of the blood's coagulation. This was left for Dr.
Richardson, who asserted that blood remained fluid both
inside and outside the body, so long as it was in association
with the volatile alkali ammonia, and that immediately on its
escape the blood coagulated. This theory, it was contended
by Professor Sir Joseph Lister, did not fully account for
the cause of the blood's coagulation, but that blood remained
fluid so long as it was in contact with living tissue, and
coagulated immediately that tissue became devitalized, or died.

In order that I may clearly explain my views as to the
causes which bring about inflammation, it will be necessary
for me to explain why inflammation cannot take place unless
the nerves be first involved in diseased action, and the experi-
ments which led to the elucidation of the true nature of
inflammation.

Professor Sir Joseph Lister, whose lectures on pathological
anatomy and practical surgery I had the good fortune to
attend, performed the following experiments: — He applied,
previous to slaughter, two bandages firmly around and above
the knee joints of a sheep. The animal having been killed,
both legs were amputated just above the bandages, when the
skin was carefully dissected up from the leg, taken off the
right side, viz. A, in order to expose the metacarpal or leg
vein. This being done, the external coat of the vein was

THE D1SEA«EIS OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

painted with liquor ammoniae, and the skin was again replaced,
and this leg, together with B (the one taken from the left
side), was laid aside until the following day. After a lapse
of twenty-four hours the legs were reproduced, and B was
now placed on the table, and the leg vein was exposed, which,
be it remembered, had undergone no treatment with ammonia,
or otlierwise. The vein was now opened, and from it the
blood in a perfect state of fluidity was poured into a plate.
The coats of the bloodvessel whence this fluid was obtained
had not been killed or devitalized by the application of caus-
tics, blisters, or any other compound, calculated to destroy the
integrity of or paralyse tissue; but with the leg A the case
was different. This had been dressed with ammonia. By
it the coats of the bloodvessel had been paralysed, and there-
fore the blood within had coagulated, because it was in contact
with devitalized tissue. A was opened, and from it a thin
threa(^ of coagulated blood was obtained.

A small piece of mustard applied to the web of a frog's
foot causes the coagulation of blood, not only underneath, but
around the mustard. A burn, intense cold, the persistent
application of pressure to parts, as caused by the pressure
of a hat against the forehead, causes coagulation of blood,
because they temporarily destroy the vitality of the part
by removing nervous influence from it. Further experiments
and microscopical investigation have proved how the nerves,
primarily affected, involve surrounding tissue in pathological
results; how by irritating the spinal chord of a frog tem-
porary congestion will take place over the body generally,
markedly so in the web, which is easily noticed by the aid of
the microscope. From this and other experiments, too com-
plicated to be amusing to any save those engaged in physio-
logical research, we learn how beautifully nature works both
to protect animals from disease, and to set up curative pro-
cesses when it exists.

The blood — the vital fluid — is from the moment of birth to
the day of death continually and rapidly passing through the
bloodvessels, and by this means supplying the various organs
of the body with nutrition. Let the blood for a moment
carry in its current deleterious or poisonous compounds, and
immediately an impression is made upon the nervous system,
which sometimes involves the brain also in diseases. Inject
pus (bad matter) into the blood, and abscesses will ultimately
make their appearance in various parts of the body. Admin-
ister to an ox through the medium of his mouth, or inject into
his veins, white hellebore, and the symptoms of vomiting will
be produced. To a person unacquainted with physiological
inquiry the aoove may appear strange, but not so when we
consider the beautiful provision nature has made to purify the
blood. First, by supplying a chamber (the lungs) in which
to receive a purifying gas wherein chemical decomposition of
a very important nature may be carried on ; these important
functions being that a certain or fixed amount of oxygen
shall be conveyed during each inspiration to the lungs, in
order to keep up animal heat, decarbonize the blood, and
thereby sustain life, and that carbonic acid during expira-

tion shall be expelled from the lungs It will now be
readily understood that if oxygen deficient in amount be
inspired, an unnatural state of things will be produced ;
and further, that if carbonic acid gas sufficient in amount
be not expired,' a certain amount of poisonous gas must be
thrown back on the system, and as a consequence the blood
will become too strongly impregnated with carbon, and the
nervous system wiU suffer. But should disease occur to the
lungs — should certain tubes become blocked up, or should the
bloodvessels therein be implicated in disease — the due amount
of oxygen, owing in the latter case to mechanical obstruction,
cannot be inspired ; and therefore oxygen is not present in the
lungs in sufficient quantity to unite with the carbon existing
in the blood to form carbonic acid, and the consequence is,
the circulating arterial blood contains carbon in excess, and
the brain becomes afi'ected, owing to the fact that a too highly
carbonized blood is determined to that organ. In the next
place, it will be my humble endeavour to explain how nerves,
being paralysed or involved in diseased action, produce a
baneful efiect on parts : —

Firstly, mechanical injury produces local inflammation ;
scarcely an individual lives who has not noticed around the
edges of a wound, caused by the cut of a penknife, an inflam-
matory blush. This state is brought about by mechanical
injury to the nerves of the part, when by direct impression
their integrity is lost, their action impaired, and so they cease
to exert their all-necessary influence upon the coats of adjacent
bloodvessels, and the consequence is that local inflammation
is manifested.

Secondly, the mechanical application of pressure causes
congestion. The long-continued and repeated pressure of the
saddle or collar impairs nervous power, and creates inflam-
mation, noticed in the sore neck and galled back of colts
during the period of breaking. In these cases nature often
effects a cure by hardening or thickening the cuticle or outer
skin. By long-continued exertion on hard roads inflammation
of the feet is brought about, noticed in Laminitis.

Thirdly, mechanical impressions cause inflammation. The
persistent application of a piece of ice to a part interferes with
nervous action, and intense congestion supervenes, observed in
men suffering from frost - bitten feet. Great heat, blisters,
caustics, &c., all bring about local inflammation — i.e., cause
coagulation of blood in the parts over which they have been
applied.

Fourthly, external influences calculated to devitalize
living tissue produce inflammation by involving the nerves
in pathological states. How many horsemen during a run
with hounds have been compelled to pull up, in order, as they
call it, to save their horse from sufi'ocation. "When the rider
alights he observes the following symptoms: — The forelegs
out, the nostrils dilated, and he hears a deep, stertorous, and
laboured breathing. The animal at this time is suffering with
congestion of the lungs, caused by his being galloped at a
racing pace, during which period the lungs have been com-
pelled to dilate and collapse with unusual rapidity; and thus

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

by long-continued and excessive physical exertion the nerves
become devitalized, the lung tissue weakened by the withdrawal
of nervous force, and the blood, being in contact with injured
tissue, begins to coagulate, and congestion of the lungs results.
The application in medical practice and surgery of the law
suggested in tlie above remarks on the theory as to the cause
of inflammation in the treatment of diseases, and particularly
80 in cases of fever; the adoption of the rules which this
teaching necessarily involves — has rendered medicine rational,
and has been very conducive to successful treatment, by
causing practitioners to discard the depletive system of
purging and blood-letting, and in its place to adopt that
of supporting with stimulants animals affected with maladies
once considered to be the result of too exalted general or local
systemic force, but now proven to be of a depletive nature :
and for this reason an article has been devoted to the consider-
ation of the theory of inflammation.

AN.a;MIA AND PLETHORA.

That cattle, and especially those exhibited at shows, are
over-fattened, has for years past been recognized as a fact
by physiologists, who have equally described fat men and
fat oxen to be subjects of disease. That such is the case I
will attempt to prove. As anaemia, or the bloodless state,
is caused by imperfect assimilation, or by an insufficient
supply of blood to the various organs of the animal body, so,
on the other hand, plethora or redundancy of blood is pro-
duced by an excess or an undue appropriation of that fluid.
In the latter case, the bloodvessels become distended, and
the heart labours heavily under inordinate pressure. But
although such is the case, yet the plethoric subject considers
himself, and is said to be, in robust health : for he eats
and drinks well and sleeps soundly, proving that the func-
tions of digestion and assimilation are actively performed.
But unfortunately this very excess of health is constantly,
although insidiously, working onwards to his destruction ; for
as the blood-forming process is always in advance of the
assimilative, does it not naturally follow that if too much
blood is supplied to the organism, that such excess must
sooner or later mechanically break through its barriers by
rupturing some important organ ?

Plethora nearly always places the subject of it in danger-
ous case; in which state he remains until bleeding at the nose
or some unimportant haemorrhage relieves the system from the
high pressure imposed on it, or some ailment, such as gout
or bilious attack, &c., when the remedial measures demanded
necessitate tlie giving up of indulgences, and insist on a
course of living calculated to reduce the system generally, and
primarily the supply of blood. But often no warning as above
detailed is given ; for apoplexy, structural disease of the heart,
or rupture of some organ, as the liver or important blood-
vessel, cause death ; instances illustrative of which have lately
occurred among fattening cattle in a malady known as splenic
apoplexy, where oxen, after six or eight weeks' stall-feeding,
have become the snbjects of plethora, and as a result, of

ruptured spleen. Usually, the plethoric state is followed by
that of obesity (the end the stock feeder has in view) ; but
sometimes, as with the disease in question, the system refuses
to deposit the superfluous material, fat, yet cannot prevent the
redundancy of blood, and consequently rupture of the spleen
results, and death supervenes. The cause of this affection
has been investigated by Dr. Crisp and several eminent
veterinarians, who consider that splenic apoplexy is the result
of plethora brought on by overfeeding, " whether it be in the
stalls or from too luxuriant pastures;" and in answer to the
question, " Is splenic apoplexy of malarious origin ? " we
readj " It has been observed in malarious districts, but then
only among plethoric cattle, whereas lean ones have escaped."
This last sentence is significant; for in what position, or under
the operation of whatever baneful influences oxen may be
placed, it has been proved beyond doubt that the plethoric
have contracted the disease, whereas the " lean ones have
escaped."

Nature, ever economical in her means and wise in her ends,
is always attempting to avert fatal affections, and in acting
for the safety of the plethoric, brings about, as before stated,
minor diseases, which necessitate self-discipline, or self-
remedying haemorrhages, or sometimes causes fat to be stored
up in the system, as a means by which the excess of blood may
be diverted from the over-distended vital organs to the nourisli-
ment of this superfluous material. Lucky it is ; for Dives by
that indigestion is occasionally warned to seek medical advice,
to swallow his antibilious mixture and dinner pill: but the
dumb ox cannot inform his owner of these minor ailments,
although doubtless they often occur, until devastating inroads
have been made upon the system, until disease occurs easily
recognizable by a ploughboy; consequently the plethoric man,
to a certain extent, owing to his gift of communication by
speech, has at hand the means by which to avert fatal results,
which are denied to over-fed cattle. Obesity in man requires,
in many instances, years for its production, but in the lower
animals it is obtained rapidly; and why? Because the former
takes exercise and occasionally medicine, which tends to
check, for a time at any rate, the progress from plethora to
fatness; whereas the latter is fed upon aliment highly charged
with those constituents calculated to produce fat, and, more-
over, is placed in a yard or tied up in a stall, where no
exercise is allowed from the time he enters until the day on
which he is removed to the slaughter-house, and even then
is constantly conveyed to the shed in a van. But whether
the formation of fat be rapidly or slowly developed, the same
evil occurs to both. The man groans, complains, and if he
attend to medical advice is relieved ; and, on the other hand,
the ox endures his position without a murmur, and, as his
owner wills it, goes on from bad to worse, until th** oole-axe
terminates his sufferings.

From the foregoing, therefore, it will be readily understood
that if we have the means at our disposal for the production
of fat, we, on the other hand, must necessarily know how
to prevent its accumulation, by denying ourselves that food

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

which is capable of forming it The first remedy usually
presenting itself is partial starvation; but such a system,
although it may effect the desired end, will, as experience
proves, in nine cases out of ten injuriously affect the well-
being of those adopting it, and consequently must not be
resorted to, especially by those who have previously lived
generously. But in the further investigation of this matter,
it has been discovered, and practically proved, that certain
foods are fertile in fat-generating products, whereas in others
they only sparingly exist ; therefore common sense suggests
the propriety of discarding the former from our bill of fare,
and in their place substituting the latter. To prove this
assertion that certain foods are fertile in fat-generating
products, it will be necessary to consider, first, of what
compounds fat consists; and afterwards, the composition of
those foods which cause its development.

Fat is a chemical mixture in variable proportions of three
compounds — viz., stearine, oleine, and margarine, in associa-
tion with a sweet principle named glycerine — and when
resolved into its ultimate elements contains in 100 parts,
according to Chevreul —

Carbon, 79- 98

Hydrogen, HU8

Oxygen, 9-256

Tot»l, 100

It therefore will be observed that fat persons are themselves
in part hydrocarbons ; when it follows, as a matter of course,
that if such people deny their systems hydrocarbonaceous
foods, that obesity will vanish : in the same manner as when
fuel is added to the fire it bums, but when the supply
is stopped it goes out ; so if fat-producing materials be given
to the body it accumulates therein, but if such diet be
discontinued, then no more collection of fat can possibly take
place.

The food that contains hydrocarbonaceous fat-producing
compounds in large quantities, are those usually drank and
eaten by us daily — viz., potatoes, bread, pastry, butter, sugar,
alcoholic fluids, such as beer, wines, and spirits. Now all
these are made up with starch, sugar, oil, or alcohol, or both,
and are consequently fat-generators : for instance, starch and
sugar enter into the composition of potatoes, bread, and
pastry; and in butter glycerine and oil are found; and in
beer, wine, and spirits sugar and alcohol, one or the other,
are always present. Starch and sugar consist of the same
chemical elements, and nearly the same equivalent numbers :
for instance, the formula of starch is carbon 12, hydrogen 10,
oxygen 10; that of sugar, carbon 12, hydrogen 11, oxygen
11 ; from which it appears that the addition of one atom
of hydrogen and oxygen to starch changes it into sugar,
and during fermentation (the process of distillation) starch
becomes dextrine, dextrine sugar, and lastly, sugar is converted
into alcohol; and if this process be carried still further,
alcohol degenerates into acetic acid (vinegar); but in the
obtainment of alcohol this last operation is of course avoided.

Similarly, as fermentation can be conducted without, so it can
within, the living organism under the guidance of certain vital
functions; but this internal distillation, if it may be so called,
during its operation is hidden from the eyes of men, and is
involved somewhat in mystery, and therefore the varied changes
effected and how they are brought about are left for physiolo-
gists to discover by experiment; but although such is the
case, still it is a well established fact that starch, when within
the system, during the functions of digestion, &c., becomes
sugar, and is finally deposited throughout the tissues of the
body in the form of fat. That sugar existed naturally in the
liver, and was more abundant during digestion, was long
since proved by Magendie ; but it remained for Bernard and
Hensen to discover the existence of a sugar-producing sub-
stance in that organ, which, under the influence of saliva,
blood, &c., possessed the power of converting starch and
similar compounds into sugar ; and from the experiments of
Bernard and Lehmann on dietary, we learn that this sugar-
producing material is obtained from nitrogenous food, such
as meat, eggs, &c., but is greatly increased in amount by a
non-nitrogenous diet, such as potatoes, beer, bread, &c.; which
amount of increase Dr. Parry estimated at nearly double —
viz., with the former, 6"97 per cent, with the latter, 14'5.
Bernard, moreover, considers this transformation of starch
into sugar the result of fermentation; and, consequently, views
this sugar-generating material as a disease.

FELLON, EPIZOOTIC COLD, OR INFLUENZA.

The observations most worthy of notice in all diseases
relate to their causes. Cold generally proceeds from the
sudden change of the atmosphere — from a warm to a cold,
but more commonly from a cold to a warm medium. jLong
prevailing north or north-easterly winds at the spring time
often produce dangerous and sometimes fatal symptoms, by
injuricasly affecting the whole animal frame, by shutting up
the pores of the skin, and in a great measure putting a stop
to perspiration. In cases of this kind the hide becomes
thickened, the hair becomes pen-feathered, and stands the
wrong way on the animal's back. Heifers in calf, and cows,
are more subject to this malady than other stock, owing to
their being more tenderly managed, by being housed during
the winter.

Influenza will often in a few days reduce such animals from
the greatest state of perfection to mere skeletons. In such
cases the secretions generally are deranged, associated with
constipation, and sometimes foetid diarrhoea. Local conges-
tions may also set in and involve the stomach, intestines,
kidneys, bladder, and very frequently, symptomatically, the
brain. Hence arise diseases of different descriptions, which
will be discussed under their proper heads in different parts
of this treatise. The first symptoms that are produced by
taking cold are heaviness of the head, tardiness in motion,
suspension of milky secretion, weak pulse, with weeping
eyes, and if the hand be pressed in the region of the spine
the animal will immediately crouch on the application of audi

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

6

pressure. This state of disease was called in Clater's time
" Chine fellon," and was understood by that name in the
country. At other times, when the joints became more par-
ticularly affected, the disease was denominated " Joint-fellon."
Cows are most subject to this latter complaint, especially a
short time before calving. It is attended with considerable
pain and weakness ; if the animal lie down she is seldom able
to rise without some assistance, until after calving. In other
respects they appear well, and eat their food as usual. In
order to cure colds, the first attempt must be to attack the
cause, by giving the patient a warm cordial drink, which,
acting as a stimulant on the stomach and intestines, will give
fresh motion to these parts, and will thus enable nature to
resume her former functions. The following drinks may be
given with benefit — assafcetida and carbonate of ammonia,
of each one drachm, and half an ounce of nitrate of potash.
Give this in a pint of warm ale. In the course of two or
three hours, afte- administering the above drink, let the
animal hav a good mash, made of scalded bran or ground
malt In cases of cold during the summer the above drink
may be given to cattle while they pasture ; and where it
can be made convenient let them fast two hours afterwards,
and then graze as usual. It is also necessary to examine the
sick animals every day, to watch while they both dung and
stale, and see whether the body be of a healthy heat, and the
nose or muzzle of a natural breeze. If these be regular there
is not much danger. If, however, feverish symptoms should
appear, and the animals should become costive, give the fol-
lowing aperient drink : — Epsom salts, half a pound ; Ginger
in powder, one ounce. Put the ingredients into a pitcher,
and pour upon them two pints of thin and hot oatmeal gruel;
when new-milk warm, give the whole for one dose. If either
of these drinks fails in operation, after twenty-four hours let
one-half of the above be repeated. By the above simple
means a fever may be prevented, and the patient speedily
restored. After the efi'ects of the aperient draught have
passed away, the cordial drink may be repeated daily, until
the unfavourable symptoms have disappeared. In all cases
of the above, and if occurring in the winter, the patient
should always be placed in a warm shed, where good ven-
tilation is secured. This, together with a warm cloth thrown
over the loins, and plenty of clean litter, will greatly assist
nature in her attempts to cure.

PNEUMONIA, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS.

Pneumonic diseases are produced by a variety of causes : —
First, by the powerful effects of the elements upon the
animal frame — by dry, harsh, and north-easterly winds,
which, in shutting up the pores of the skin, check the tran-
spiration of it, the due performance of which is so essential
to the life and health of the animal. Secondly, it has been
brought on, in the ox, after drinking cold water when over-
heated; or it may result from too severe labour at plough or
elsewhere. In such cases the system becomes overtaxed,
when the nervous system refuses to send its all-important

influence to the lungs, and inflammation of the lungs results.
Thirdly, at other times it has attacked those which have
been turned out into fresh pastures, when their stomach has
been overcharged with herbage. Here, again, the digestive
organs have been overworked — have been asked to assimilate
food beyond their power — which has resulted in the withdrawal
of nervous force from the stomachs and lungs, thus causing
inflammation of them, which is manifested by difficulty of
breathing, attended with a troublesome cough and boosing.
These symptoms indicate the lungs to be considerably
affected. While the discharge from the nose and mouth
continues, the disease does not make such rapid progress as
when it is dry. Symptoms of an inflammatory character
taking place are discovered by the body becoming alternately
hot and cold ; the extremities for the most part cold, especially
the ears and horns. Clater states — " If the beast be in low
condition, weak, and much debilitated, bleeding is seldom
necessary; but if, on the contrary, the animal be in high
condition, the fever begins to increase, and the body feels
of a hot, dry, and parching heat, and the breath the same —
further, if the white of the eyes appears to be much inflamed
and tinged with a yellow hue, bleeding will become highly
necessary in this stage of the disease. From two to four quarts
of blood may be taken away, and a small quantity may be taken
every day, or every other day, according to the violence of the
symptoms." In prescribing the treatment of blood-letting,
Clater has evidently considered that in the disease under
notice exalted action has to be counteracted. Now, it will
be readily seen, from the symptoms above detailed, that the
opposite — namely, the devitalized or depressed state — demands
our remedial measures; and if so, certainly the depletive treat-
ment must be banished in toto a mensa et toro, and in its
place we must attempt to rebuild the injured fabric, and this
must be accomplished with the exhibition of stimulants, anr
perhaps afterwards by giving tonics.

Sometimes this disease puts on a flattering appearance,
the fever and heat appear small and scarcely perceptible ; at
other times it seems rapid in its progress. The cause of this
disease appears in a great measure to proceed from a deficiency
in the animal's nature of performing its regular course in
carrying on a due circulation through all the vessels. The
redundant state of the blood in the lungs becomes surcharged,
the liver ceases to secrete bile, which is not poured into
the intestines, but finds its way into other tissues, and into
the blood. Hence is produced jaundice, which is recognized
by yellowness of the eyes and on diflferent parts of the
body.

It is well known that in 1812 and subsequently the system
of blood-letting was resorted to in almost every case of disease;
even those of debility were compelled to lose quarts of blood,
and that, too, repeated at intervals of three or four days.
Since such times physicians, both human and veterinary, in
most cases of disease have discarded the use of the lancet,
and in its place have substituted more rational- treatment.
In cases of congestion of the limgs, if the bresathing be

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

laborious and the pulse high, it is good practice to immedi-
ately administer, in a quart of warm ale —

CarboEate of Ammonia, ... 2 drachms.

Ether, 1 drachm.

And tliis must he administered eveiy two hours, until the
symptoms have somewhat abated in intensity. The sides of
the chest should also be clipped, and over it a mustard
plaster can be applied, confined to this region by a blanket.
As the bad symptoms subside, it will then be advisable to
administer half an ounce of nitre in solution, to be followed
about three hours afterwards with three drachms of powdered
aloes in a pint of water. This latter dose acts very beneficially
after the stimulating, in correcting and in rousing to action
the animal secretions. The above treatment I have found
generally successful, and very often good nursing, without
more medicine, effects cure. Sometimes, however, the patient
evinces signs of weakness and loss of appetite, when daily
drachm doses of the disulphate of quinine usually succeed in
restoring the animal to health.

THE YELLOWS, OR JAUNDICE.

This malady is frequently a sequent to the former, in which
the secretions of the body are vitiated, and in this case are
diverted from performing their particular functions. This is
so with the bile. In jaundice this fluid is diflFused throughout
the whole body, and is favoured by everything that obstructs
its passage into the first intestine or duodenum. This disease
is first observable in the white of the eyes, which appears of
a yellow hue, and as it increases the whole skin becomes
impregnated with the same yellow tint; the ears, tail, eyes,
and mouth are the parts where it is most conspicuous to the
sight. In every stage of the disease the animals are attended
with weakness and great lack of nervous force, a listlessness
to move, and want of appetite. When in the pasture, they
wander about by themselves by the side of hedges or fences
in a dejected manner. These appearances sufficiently indicate
the malady. Milch cows are most subject to it in the spring
and fall of the year, although they are liable to it during other
seasons. The most dangerous state is when a scirrhous liver
is the cause; little hope can then be entertained of a permanent
cure. The fluctuating state of the weather has a powerful
efi'ect upon the animal frame in retarding or promoting the
cure; care should also be taken to house them dm-ing un-
favourable weather. As soon as this disease makes its
appearance administer —

Barbadoes aloes, iu powder,
Castor oil,

6 drachms,
2 oonces;

and six hours afterwards give, in a pint of warm beer, two
drachms of carbonate of ammonia; let this latter drink be
given thrice daily. Should, however, the aloes, as above
prescribed, fail to relieve the secretions, administer in a pint
of gruel —

Calomel, 20 grains,

Aloes. 2 drachms;

and repeat this dose every other day, not omitting, at the
same time, to continue the draught containing the two drachms
of carbonate of ammonia thrice daily. During this treatment
the patient should be kept in a loose box; and, if possible,
a Turkish bath, allowed twice weekly, would act as an adju-
vant in securing recovery ; as also food easy of digestion, such
as bran mashes, boiled caiTOts, and cut fresh grass, or, if in
winter, hay previously soaked in warm water. The patient
should also have easy access to water impregnated with nitre,
about two drachms of the latter to a bucketful of the former.

PLEURO-PNEUMONIA.

Pleuro-pneumonia (commonly called lung disease) is a
malady, as its name suggests, involving in inflammation and
its results the lungs and their tissue, and the membrane
investing them. But although such is the case, yet the
disease in question is a specific per se common to the bovine
tribe, and differs (if we may so express ourselves) from
pleuro-pneumonia, indicating merely inflammation of the
pleura and lungs, by its assuming chronic and typhoid
characters, and its tendency to exudation from, and to the
ultimate consolidation of, the lung tissue. This affection
for centuries has raged in Europe, but never made its appear-
ance in Great Britain until 1841, where it has prevailed more
or less ever since.

That it is of a highly contagious nature no one can deny,
if he considers, first, that it never was known in this country
until after foreign stock were imported; secondly, its being
satisfactorily and clearly traced to cattle imported from the
Continent ; thirdly, its prevalence amongst stock replenished
from open markets, where cattle, both foreign and British,
healthy and diseased, congregate ; and fourthly, its compara-
tive absence from those farms and localities which are iso-
lated, and upon which stock are bred and sold, but rarely,
if ever, are bought in. These reasons, if circumstantial
evidence avails anything, prove that pleuro-pneumonia spreads
through the medium of contagion, and such being the case,
we may conclude that a remedy is within our grasp for
its suppression and its ultimate eradication. But more of
this hereafter.

Symptoms. — The disease progresses rapidly, and makes,
generally, very injurious ravages long before the herdsman
notices "that anything is amiss;" and if a milch cow, his
attention is first drawn to the fact that the secretion of
milk is diminished, and on examination he discovers that
the udder is tender and flaccid. These indications of dis-
ease are suflScient to cause him to investigate matters still
further, when he discovers that the function of rumination
is irregular or suspended, that the extremities are sometimes
hot and sometimes cold, that the breathing is laboured, and
the pulse beats rapidly. A veterinary surgeon is called in,
who immediately diagnoses in his patient the disease under
notice; and on examination he discovers the right lung,
rarely the left, to be involved in disease, which ausculta-
tion makes manifest by a crackling sound called a crepitus,

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

which becomes louder as the disease progresses, and ulti-
mately, when the lung consolidates, becomes inaudible. At
this period the breathing is laboured ; the animal constantly
grunts and coughs; sometimes the mouth is dry, sometimes
a copious discharge is emitted from it (the latter being usually
the case in the London dairy sheds) ; the body wastes away ;
constipation, and sometimes the opposite, viz., diaiThcea, sets
in, and death terminates the scene.

Treatment. — Separation from the healthy must be imme-
diately obtained by placing the patient in a well-ventilated
and perfectly-drained loose box or clean shed, either having
been well littered down with clean straw, over which chloride
of lime should be carefully sprinkled. Having by this means a
necessitated cleanly lodging, and an atmosphere productive of
health, our treatment, as follows, can be commenced under
somewhat favourable circumstances: — During the early stage
of this malady it has been our practice to administer a mild
saline purgative, combined with nitre, carbonate of ammonia,
in order to cleanse the system and set up, if possible, healthy
action. The murmur heard in the lung (usually only one
lung is involved in disease) is a clear metallic noise, called
a crepitus, which, to a practised ear, indicates to how great
an extent the lung tissue and bronchial tubes are affected;
when it is good treatment to clip the hair closely off the
sides of the chest, and apply blistering ointment, made up
with biniodide of mercury and turpentine ; this application
must be repeated thrice during the week, both in mild
and severe cases, and after the effects of the purgatives
have passed off, administer, twice daily, drachm-doses of
the valerianate of iron, which we have given with great
success. ^*rofessor Lessona, of Turin, advises the exhibition
of daily drachm-doses of the disulphate of quinine in a quart
decoction of anchona. The decoction is made with thret.
ounces of bark to a quart of water. Mr. Finlay Dunn
recommends from twenty-five to thirty drops of the tincture
of aconite three or four times daily; and all the various treat-
ments advised both by British and foreign veterinarians
differ merely in the selection of drugs, but not in the principle
of treatment, which consists in the exhibition of stimulants
and tonics, viz., carbonate of ammonia, liquor ammoniae ace-
tatis, sulphuric, nitric, and hydrochloric acids, sulphate and
lodine of iron, &c.; and many other compounds could be
named, differing only very slightly from one another in the
effect produced upon the system. It therefore follows that
these medicinal agents should be placed under the control,
and in the hands of qualified veterinarians ; and we are sure
that the agriculturist and stock-owner wiU always consult
their interests best by employing, not the farrier with his
specific, but the veterinary physician. Another very im-
portant curative adjunct, and which has been highly extolled
by cninent writers, is the careful use of the Tm'kish bath,
which produces a very beneficial effect upon the grand emunc-
tory, the skin, by causing profuse perspiration ; through the
medium of which much of the poison existing in the blood is
carried off. We have seen several good effects result upon

the use of the bath, but have not ourselves been able to test
it as a remedial measure in treating pleuro-imeumoiiia ; still
we feel sure that its action is calculated to be of great benefit.
During the progress of the disease and the period of treat-
ment we have often alternately severe constipation, and diar-
rhoea, and loss of appetite, to contend with, and sometimes
by attempting to remedy one evil, we, by so doiiig, produce
the other ; therefore, great care must be exercised in avoiding
this Scylla and Charybdis. Never give hard or dry food
to pneumonic cattle, but moist mashes, and all provender easy
of digestion, and of that only a little, because the power of
secretion and assimilation is very feeble; and if your patients
eat too freely dangerous indigestion is nearly certain to
supervene.

The premonitory sign of returning health is the appetite,
together with the function of rumination, being restored, but
even now do not feed too lavishly; still give mash food,
to which add a little treacle and oil-cake, and also attempt to
remove the products of inflammation by administering three
or four ounces of nitre and common salt, and one drachm
carbonate of ammonia; the two former act upon excretory
organs, and the latter stimulates the organs to increased
action. By this treatment, together with early separation of
the diseased to a well-ventilated and healthy place at some
distance, even on a farm, the ravages of pleuro-pneimionia
can be stayed, health can be restored, and, in many instances,
the disease be cured.

Post Mortem Appearances. — On removing the lungs
from the thorax it will be seen that one or both, as
the case may be, have been involved in severe inflammation
and its results, which the physical fact of the lungs being
heavy, and, if placed in water, of their sinking to the
bottom instead of floating on the top, as is the case with
healthy ones, clearly manifests. On making an incision the
lung tissue presents a marbled and consolidated appearance,
intersected with patches of hepatisation, sometimes associated
with ulceration and abscess, and extensive adhesions between
the pleura appertaining to the sides of the chest, and that
proper to the lungs themselves, together with copious effusion,
is the constant result of this affection

Preventive Measures. — Dr. Williams, of Hasselt, in 1850,
proposed the inoculation of the virus of pleuro-pneumonia,
in order to produce a mild form of the disease, and by this
means prevent its occurring naturally with all its virulence.

The operation is performed as follows: — A portion of a
diseased pneumonic lung is selected, into which the point
of a lancet or large needle is plunged in such a manner as
to remove with it the lung-consolidating material, and this is
immediately plunged into the end of the tail; wlien the
animal operated upon is said to be inoculated. The operation
should always be performed with lymph that is recently
obtained, and that is not putrid; if the latter be the case,
extensive inflammation of the tail and dock supervenes,
which often involves the dock, rectum, and abdomen in indura-
tion and suppuration, terminating nearly always in the loss o)

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

the tail, and oftentimes in death. But sometimes, even with
all care, the same results occur as when putrid matter is used.
When the question occurs, " Is inoculation useful as a
preventive of pleuro-pneumonia ? we most distinctly aver
that it is useless; and why? because, in the first place, a
milder form of the disease is not produced; secondly, no
external symptoms nor internal sign follows, which would
lead us to believe that a disease in the slightest degree
similar to the one in question was produced — and conse-
quently the only benefit that can (which we deny) possibly
result from inoculation is of a derivative nature, or, in other
words, an injury to the tail might have the power of
detracting from the lungs a specific disease of them. The
bulk of scientific evidence, and of our practical experience,
leads us to the conclusion that the operation of inoculation
IS utterly useless and very cruel. What were the results?
Sheds full of cows with only two inches of tails, and in
answer to an inquiry relative to the stumps, the owner tells
you he has inoculated them, and the tails " have come off."
To what sufi'ering must these poor creatures have been
subjected, and most uselessly ! for pleuro-pneumonia is a
mahidy affecting the lungs, but inoculation only involves
intense inflammation of the tail and abdomen, and does not,
in the slightest degree, produce lung disease, not even a mild
form of it : consequently, if a milder form be not produced,
but only inflammation of a distinct and distant organ, how
is it possible, therefore, that this operation can insure an
immunitj from pleuro-pneumonia? We agree fully with
Finlay Dunn, who writes, " Inoculation, where fairly tried,
is found quite inefi'ectual." We shall recur to the matter
on a future occasion, but shall leave it for the present by
repeating that in inoculating for pleuro-pneumonia, a milder
form of the disease is not produced, and, moreover, that the
pneumonic virus possesses no protective power against this
malady.

tjome years ago, " Old Scratch," in a letter to the " Field,"
insisted upon the necessity of bi-weekly inspection of stock
at which each animal was to be carefully auscultated, when
he averred that any deviation from health would be dis-
covered ; and particularly so in the case of pleuro-pneumonia,
which even in apparently healthy cattle could be detected
by the indicative murmur or crepitus occurring to the lungs
in this malady even at its commencement; which, if taken
early, was amenable to treatment, but which, if allowed to
progress, proved usually fatal to the subject of it. This
system has been adopted in many instances, and has met
with success ; and even allowing that its preventive influence
cannot always be relied upon, yet the frequent inspection
of stock by experienced persons must lead to beneficial
results, by their being able to detect disease not perceived
by the uninitiated, and by adopting treatment and suggesting
plans which, if carried into operation, are calculated in some
instances to cure, and in others to prevent disease. The
same remarks made about the propagation and extension
of epizootic aphtha, relative to the travelling of cattle in

railway trucks, and their association at fairs, is equally
applicable to lung disease. One pneumonic ox once visiting
a fair or travelling in a car, becomes in these positions a
centre for the spread of contagion; consequently great care
should be taken, or power given, to qualified veterinarians to
prevent diseased animals from entering trucks, fairs, and
markets.

We feel assured that as years pass on the services of the
veterinarian will be sought to prevent, more often than to
cure, cattle maladies, and then upon a large scale in prescrib-
ing hygienic measures for large flocks and herds, when the
farmer wiU hail the veterinarian as his friend in having
suggested plans which, he having carried into effect, have
warded off disease; and he will then own that the agricul-
tural and veterinary sciences are inseparable. If the inspec-
tive system sends from the fair, or elsewhere, the cattle of A,
it, on the other hand, removes contagion and consequently
disease from B's stock : therefore in legislating for this
important subject, the immediate benefit of individuals must
not be taken into consideration ; but the ultimate service to
be rendered to the nation, and to the agriculturists and
stock-owners at large, must be the grand principle upon,
and from which, veterinary cattle inspectors must take the
initiative.

The Turkish bath, not only as a medicinal agent, but also
as a preventive of disease, deserves consideration; and we
cannot help thinking the hot-air chamber is almost as
necessary an adjunct to the extensive stock-keeper as to the
veterinary surgeon, and for the simple reason that in it we
have an agent which exerts a more powerful influence than
any derivative, ox-purge, or blister, without lowering vital
power; for it carries off, or at any rate diminishes, the amount
of any virus that may circulate in the blood, and by this
means cleanses the system, and renders it better able to
throw off disease, and to resist the attack of it

FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE,

named by Professor Simonds Eczema epizootica, and by Pro-
fessor Gamgee, Aphtha epizootica, is an affection of a highly
contagious nature, and consists of a vesicular eruption on
the tongue, mouth, teats, and between the digits of the feet,
which if neglected runs on to suppuration and ulceration
that, if occurring on the feet, causes sloughing of the
horn. It is, moreover, communicable from one animal to
another of a different species, as numerous experiments have
proved. For instance, it has been communicated to the pig
through the medium of food previously insalivated in the
trough of an aphthous ox. Calves and pigs have died after
drinking milk drawn from affected cows. Hertwig, Villain,
and Maun, for the sake of experiment, drank the warm
milk from an aphthous cow, and produced upon themselves
an eruption similar to that of epizootic aphtha. This fact
earnestly demands oiu- consideration, as, at the present
moment, hundreds of persons probably are daily consuming
milk taken from aphthous cattle, which is calculated, as above

THE DISEABEfcJ Oi^' CATTLE, iSHEEP, AND PIGS.

bhown, to produce disease, and, under certain circumstances,
capable of operating fatally. Fortunately, from the know-
ledge we possess of this disease, relative to its contagion,
we have the means within our grasp of cutting short its
further progress. For instance, the disease must be com-
municated from one ox to another until it has involved so
many in disease as to become epizootic. Animals, if placed
in sheds in which aphthous cattle have been previously
located, are nearly sure to become affected; and for this
leason we find many animals conveying disease from the
railway trucks in which infected ones have been placed; or
it may occur from the intermixture of healthy with diseased
stock in trucks during one and the same journey, and often
afterwards contact at fairs or on farms leads to its stiU
farther propagation. This disease, which runs its course
in about nine or ten days, usually easily yields to treatment,
which consists in washing the mouth twice daily with a
weak solution of sulphuric acid and water, and the affected
feet with carbolic acid and water. The lotion which we
are in the habit of prescribing for the diseased teats is
composed of nitre and water. Sometimes the vesicles are
broken down during the operation of milking, and sores are
created, in which case it is good treatment to keep the sores
clean, and to dress, after every milking, with glycerine.
Mild aperients and diuretics should be given every other
day during the progress of this malady. During the
last few years this disease has existed throughout Great
Britain, and in some instances has caused considerable loss
to stock-owners. I have above asserted that young pigs
have died after drinking warm milk obtained from aphthous
cows. Such unfortunately has occurred ; though during a

recent outbreak Professor B gave warm milk taken from

cows, the subjects of foot and mouth disease, to young pigs,
and failed to produce in them any symptom of this malady;
but at the same time such has happened, and therefore may
happen again. Pigs have undoubtedly been aflFected with
the complaint, and death has resulted. It is consequently
wise " to be on the safe side," which warns us to make away
with milk taken from cows when suffering with epizootic
aphtha.

RED-WATER AND BLACK-WATER.

This disease is common among neat cattle of every de-

j scription, but more particularly attacks milch cows than any

: other kind. Red water and black seldom occur separately.

j I The former, doubtless, is the original disease, and the latter

[ is occasioned by the retention of part of the blood about the

I j orifice of the leaky vessel, which coagulates, and in a short

I time the beast stales, and constitutes what is termed black-

|i water. The origin of this disease is ascribed by different

authors to different causes: for instance, the taking of cold

when turned into low pasture-grounds at the spring of the

year. Others attribute it to change of pasture or scarcity of

water in a long dry summer, and some to the changeable

^ state of the atmosphere. In some animals it appears to be

more hereditary than in others. " Clater " has known some
animals to have been attacked with this complaint once or
twice for two or three successive years, and at last literally
bled to death, defying all the powers of medicine and change
of diet. It will be difficult to point out the exact seat of this
disease, but the following observations will in some measure
enable the pracntioner to form his judgment in this respect: —
If red water proceed from external injury — such as a violent
strain across the loins, in consequence of other beasts jumping
on them, or from a severe blow on the part — our treatment
will be of a local nature; but when this disease proceeds from
other causes, as already mentioned, it produces a different
effect. An inflammation takes place about the neck of the
bladder, and produces the two different kinds above mentioned.
When the change takes place from red to black water, the
animal generally stales free from either for several times.
In slight cases, where the blood is passed away with the
urine, the beast does not appear to be much affected by it;
if a cow, she holds less quantity of milk, and seems no
worse. But when the blood passed away is considerable,
and continues for a length of time, it reduces the quantity of
milk, and likewise the animal, to a very low state. Tlie
chief symptom, therefore, of this afi'ection is the admixture
and consequent evacuation of certain constituents of the blood
with the urine. The cause of this blood disease is attributable
to the defective state of the assimilative system, which
indirectly exerts an injurious influence on the blood-forming
process, produced by bad feeding, or more properly by feeding
upon substances in which the elements of nutrition do not
sufficiently abound — such as coarse grass, watery turnips, and
all roots that have grown upon cold, damp, and badly-drained
lands; and, on the other hand, it is scarcely known upoi
farms where the lands are well drained, and where the stock
are allowed to partake only sparingly of turnips. The
symptoms usually evinced are loss of appetite, cessation oi
or irregular rumination, diarrhoea, followed by constipation,
when bloody urine is evacuated. Treatment : — By all means
avoid blood-letting, for in this malady support must be given
to the patient, by administering, three or four times daily,
carbonate of ammonia, one drachm; warm ale, one pint. If
constipation be persistent, use warm-water clysters, and give
a pint of linseed oil. Allow plenty of water, and let the
patient have access to common salt. If diarrhoea sets in,
and the urine be very abundant and black in colour, half a
drachm of powdered opium may be given daily. Roots must
be withheld, and gruel, mashes, and good hay given.

There is a totally different disease, known by the name
of black-water, which is very clearly described by Professor
John Gamgee, and which we transcribe — " It has been
believed due to the wild anemone by some, by others it has
been ascribed to the poisonous influence of Lolium temulen-
tum; but my experience proves that it constantly occurs on
pastures in the immediate vicinity of woods, and where cows
can partake of the astringent shoots of young trees, especially
of the oak. The symptoms are very similar to simple red-

b

10

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS,

water, but we sometimes find a discharge of blood by the
bowels. There is constipation at first, but diarrhoea towards
the latter stage — generally colicky pains and evident indi-
cation of intestinal irritation. There is great tenderness
over the loins, the urine is deeply tinged with blood, the
general disturbance is very considerable, particularly when
dian-hcea, with haemorrhage from the bowels, sets in. The
secretion of milk emits a bad odour, and is scanty in
quantity. Occasionally convulsions occur, and the animal
dies, in three or four days to a fortnight, in a state of great
prostration. Treatment: — Very similar to red-water, with
more active recourse to purgatives. Camphor may be used
as a stimulant when the prostration is great."

•NFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN — PHEENITIS.

This disease is one of the most distressing to which cattle
are subject, and is most prevalent during the hot months in
the summer season. It is sometimes idiopathic, or a primary
disease, and at other times it is symptomatic. Phrenitis
sometimes results as the sequent of other aiFections, par-
ticularly those of the stomachs. This malady is usually
ushered in with a shivering fit, bounding pulse, laborious
breathing, and listlessness. These symptoms are rapidly fol-
lowed with a kind of madness ; the animal appears in a very
fierce state; the eyes are much inflamed and ready to start
from their orbits; the beasts often fall suddenly down to
rise again as rapidly, until nature becomes exhausted, when
constant trembling of the muscles, with a dry harsh skin,
a suppression of urine, and grinding of the teeth, give evidence
of a fatal result. Phrenitis is sometimes occasioned by wounds
or contusions on the head, that are attended with intense
inflammation of the local vessels, which, if not speedily
relieved, may terminate in mortification. The administration
of a brisk cathartic, consisting of —

Epsom salts, 1 ponnd,

Nitre, 1 ounce,

cold applications of ice to the head, and bleeding from the
jugular vein, will in most cases reduce the intensity of the
symptoms.

Sometimes, after the recovery of the patient from phrenitis,
swellings take place upon the jaws and different parts of the
head. In cases of this kind there is a difficulty in swallowing;
as the inflammation increases the jaws become gradually
closed. This state of disease is termed locked-jaw, the
treatment of which will be discussed under that heading.
Professor John Gamgee, in his book on " Dairy Stock,"
mentions a case of phrenitis in a cow, which resulted from
the presence within the auditory meatus of a concrete mass
of wax, which induced inflammation of the ear, communi-
cating with the brain, and killing the animal with that
affection.

BLACK-LEG, QUARTER EVIL, OR BLACK-QUARTER,

This disease is called by a great number of other names,
but as they indicate the same disorder, it would be no advan-

tage here to repeat them. Quarter evil does not appear to
be either infectious or epizootic in its nature, and is almost
wholly confined to young cattle from one to two years old,
and chiefly affects such as are in the best condition; mUch
cows and lean cattle of all descriptions are seldom the sub-
jects of this malady, and during the winter it is unknown.
This disease, like many others, had received in some localities
the name of murrain. Quarter evil is a blood disease common
to young stock ; it prevails both at the rise and fall of the
seasons from over-feeding. At the former because the young
cattle, who generally have been ill fed during the winter, are
unable to resist the effects produced upon the powers of
digestion and assimilation by the too luxuriant pasture that
then springs up ; and in the autumn becaiuse, when removed
from scanty pastures to stall food, consisting of turnips and oil-
cake, &c., plethora is produced, blood is formed too rapidly,
the tissues instead of gaining strength lose power, the coats
of the bloodvessels are rendered incapable of supporting the
circulating blood within them, which in depending positions,
at the legs and joints, exudes, swellings result, and paralysis
and stupor supervene. So rapidly does this affection run its
course to a fatal termination that many of a herd in blooming
health at night may be found dead on the following morn-
ing. The symptoms manifested are usually dulness, failing
strength, stupor, a quick and weak pulse, associated with
extensive swellings of one or more parts of the body. These
external signs are, of course, modified according to the extent
of disease to which the patient is subjected.

It has been stated that too luxuriant food, whether it be
obtained by the animal itself from a rich pasture, or exhibited
to it when stall fed, is the fruitful source of this malady,
by its producing plethora; but although such is the case,
yet we must take into consideration the quality of the soil
and food taken from it, and upon which the subject of quarter
iU has been fed. It occurs, for instance, more frequently
upon farms "where the land is undrained, the herbage coarse,
rough, and innutritive, and has entirely disappeared from
others where drainage, top dressing, and better cultivation
has improved the quality of the pasture." These circum-
stances, therefore, which at first sight appear contradictory,
remain to be accounted for ; but in attempting to explain
this seeming incompatibility, luckily physiology comes to
our assistance by asserting that undue labour never can
\yith impunity be imposed upon the digestive apparatus ; for
by so doing the function of digestion is but inadequately
performed, the assimilative power is impaired, and, as a
consequence, the blood-forming processes do not thoroughly
pass under the operation of nature's laboratory; or the system
as a result becomes devitalized. " Est modus in rebus;"
nature cannot be compelled to overtask the animal organism ;
she can proceed thus far, but no farther, without necessitating
the occurrence of baneful results. If the stomach is per-
sistently overloaded with an excess of highly nutritive food,
even then the functions become overtasked and some part
of the organism gives way ; but if animals are supplied

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

11

with an innutritive and coarse grass, and allowed to feed
at pleasure, then to the evil of overfeeding is added that
of overstuffing: for be it remembered, we may overfeed with
a highly nutritious food, produce plethora, and afterwards
black-quarter; and so we can by overstuffing our cattle with
innutritions food, in which case such animals eat twice as
much of the latter before they can obtain the elements of
nutrition in abundance so great as to produce the plethoric
state, the dominant cause of this malady. Moreover, in
attaining this end, consider how much extra work has been
imposed upon the digestive and assimilative powers; so great,
indeed, as to devitalize the whole system, and with it the
coats of the bloodvessels, to such an extent as to permit
the escape of blood through them, forming externally soft
diffused swellings, which crackle with the gas eliminated
fi-om the decomposing blood within them. It is, therefore,
readily seen that this affection is attributable to a faulty
dietary system, which overfeeds, and in so doing upsets the
due balance between waste and supply, causing an excess
or deficiency of those albuminous constituents and saline
compounds all -necessary to the formation and elaboration
of that healthy blood demanded to resupply waste and to
develope corporeal size ; but if these items be obtained with
alimentary substances, as above considered, then, for a cer-
tainty, disease must occur. Such are the causes of this fatal
blood disease. Therefore, to prevent it, we must abstain
from placing our stock under the operation of circumstances
which experience has taught us to be productive of it. For
example, when taking animals up from grass to stall food,
it is never wise to commence feeding largely at first upon
roots, meal, &c., but little by little to increase the amount
from day to day, until the necessary maximum is obtained.
It will be good treatment, also, to administer a dose of Epsom
salts. A similar system can be brought into operation with
stock that have been turned out to grass in the spring, by
placing them for the first two or three weeks on pasture
where the herbage is scanty, before putting them upon a fuller
and richer one. The adoption of this plan alone will often
prevent the occurrence of black-quarter.

Treatment. — In the early stage, before the swellings have
appeared, and whilst the pulse is full, the abstraction of a
little blood is advisable ; at the same time administer half
a pound of Epsom salts, and one ounce of nitre; feed upon
a sloppy food, and by no means give any that is not
easy of digestion. In the more advanced stages treatment
is almost useless; the exhibition of a mild purgative and
diuretic draught, to be followed with two -drachm doses of
carbonate of ai monia, twice daily, may act beneficially.
Local relief can be afforded by lancing the swellings, and
by this means evacuating the decomposing blood. But in
these and all other similar diseases the cause should be
treated, and not the effect, as the former prevents, whereas
the latter constantly destroys. To a herd, among which
some have been attacked with this malady, give nitre and
rock salt in the food, and at all times allow pure and fresh

water, and plenty of it ; in short, adopt hygienic measures,
and consult common sense, for by so doing you will prevent
disease, save your cattle, and perhaps fill your coffers.

DIAKRH(EA.

This disease shows itself with frequent and copious stools,
which, according to the appearances they present, often leads
us to detect the cause. Its cause may arise from various
circumstances — from the eating of young and luxuriant spring
grass; by the presence in the intestines of acrid and indi-
gestible food; by perverted secretions and imperfect quality
of the gastric juice; by blood poisons, and from irritation
of intestinal mucous membranes. The diarrhoea, when of
long-standing, is always attended with danger ; tlie frequent
motion of the intestines to eject their contents quickly reduces
the animal to a very weak and debilitated state, attended
with loss of appetite; in consequence of which the foundation
of an incurable disease will be laid unless timely removed.
It is supposed by some authors to be occasioned by severe
effects of the north and north-easterly winds at the spring-
time. The time when cattle are most liable to be seized with
diarrhoea is in the months of April and May, especially if the
season be wet and cold, grass plentiful, and of a sappy nature.
The relaxed powers of the animal nature are not able to
perform the office of digestion, as they are too apt to overload
the stomach. Thus a large quantity of acid is formed in
the stomach, and is conveyed from thence through the in-
testines, which produces slimy stools. Here nature, by her
own effort, endeavours to check its progress by an effusion of
bile, which function is to correct acidity and assist digestion.
But in many cases it fails. Cows, after calving, are liable to
take cold when exposed in wet situations in severe weather,
which frequently causes this malady. The following are the
unfavourable symptoms: — The animal loses her appetite;
the dewlap hangs down and has a flabby appearance ; her
dung runs off with a putrid and offensive smell, and as it
falls on the ground, rises in bubbles; the coat is staring.
Cattle thus affected should be taken from grass and placed
in a large cow-house or open yard, where they can be
sheltered from the weather, and be kept on dry meat— such
as hay, ground oats, and beans. A proper quantity of the
above should be given three or four times daily ; but if they
are much reduced, and their appetite is quite gone, a stiff
gruel made of the same should be homed into them three
or four times daily. A strict attention to this method of
diet will convey a sufficient quantity of nutriment to the
animal, so as to enable it to undergo the operation of medi-
cine. The cure of this affection must first be attempted by
evacuating the stomach and intestines of those juices and
unhealthy secretions which irritate, and in some instances
destroy, the mucous membranes of these parts. This method
may appear inconsistent to the judgment of some; but its
good eflfect will soon be perceived if we consider that, unless
the offending irritant be removed, the same effort to remove

12

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

it — viz., diarrhoea — will remain. Administer in a pint of
warm gruel —

Aloea, 4 drachma,

Castor oil, 4 onnces,

Ginger, in powder, balf an ounce.

About twelve hours after the administration of the above, the
following may be given twice daily in a pint of gruel, made
up with oatmeal —

Opium, in powder 8 drachms,

Ginger, in powder, half an ounce,

Alum, in powder, .... . . half an ounce.

Bicarbonate of potash 4 drachms.

Should the above treatment, after some days' continuance,
prove successful, tonics — such as daily drachm doses of the
Jisulphate of quinine in strong ale — will tend greatly to
produce strength, and with it good condition.

INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER.

This malady frequently takes place. It does not seem to
be confined to any particular part of the liver. This organ
is a glandular substance, and the largest to be met with in
the animal body; its chief use is to secrete bile. Inflamma-
tion of the liver may proceed from various causes ; sometimes
from external, at other times from internal, but mostly the
latter. 1^'at beasts, or such as are in good condition, are
most liable to be attacked with this disease, particularly in
hot weather, when over-heated with driving, or from running
about the pastures on very hot days; drinking cold water, or
being exposed to sudden chill after the body has been so
heated. Inflammations occasioned by external causes chiefly
occur as the result of cattle goring one another with their
horns, or from violent blows or bruises inflicted by foreign
objects. The symptoms of this malady, especially when the
result of full condition, consist in violent pain and swelling
about the short ribs on the right side, attended with difficulty
in breathing, loathing of food, great thirst, with jaundice. If
the inflammation run high, induration and purulent deposits
are likely to occur; and, moreover, it is a fact worthy of
notice that cattle, apparently in perfect health, after slaughter
have been discovered to be the subjects of the above hepatic
depo.sitions. During the year 1869 I saw a case in Rich-
mond Park of a buck which died suddenly, previously to
which Mr. Sawyer, the head keeper, had never noticed
anything amiss. On opening the animal the liver was dis-
covered to be three times its natural size, and indurated ;
on its right side an abscess occurred. This malady in hot
climates often rages as an epizootic. Lessona, of Turin,
points to the fact that in 1827 it assumed this type in Italy.

Treatment. — Apply mustard poultices over the region of the
liver, and use clysters; and administer daily in a quart of
warm water —

Barbadoea aloes, in powde/, 3 drachma,

Epsom salUi, . 6 drachmSi

Carbonate of potash. 1 drachma.

Feed on bran mashes and roots, with a very limited supply
of hay,

INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS

is of frequent occurrence among cattle, and is often attended
with very fatal consequences. Small as the kidneys are
they are all-important organs; if their functions are interfered
with the life of the animal so attacked is in jeopardy. The
quantity of blood which passes through them is very great;
and whatsoever may obstruct the renal circulation, or impede
the workings of the renal organism in transmitting the urine
into the bladder, and to its after destination, or whatever
cause may come into operation to affect the constituents of
the urine or the structure of the kidneys, will invariably
bring on disease.

Inflammation of the kidneys may proceed from violent
blows inflicted across the loins, or a sprain to the part (in
which cases the treatment of the cause will usually cure the
effect) ; or from violent action, or from any circumstance which
will too forcibly drive the blood into the kidneys. The first
symptom the subject of this malady manifests is straining to
void urine, which only escapes in small quantities ; the loins
are hot, and on the application of digital pressure to the part
the patient flinches. As the disease progresses the difficulty
to urinate increases; the animal becomes dull, and refuses food ;
the urine now assumes a high colour — sometimes nearly red,
and often mixed with blood ; shivering of the whole body,
cold, clammy sweats, and the extremities grow cold.

The sudden cessation of nephritic pains, and urine dribbling
away in small quantities, of a black and foetid character, and
weakness, if not paralysis, of the hind quarters, are signs of
an unfavourable termination. The symptoms which indicate
a favourable result in this disease are the urine assuming a
high and coffee colour, is secreted in much larger quantities
than stated before, and at last is copious, thick, and mixed
with mucus. Our treatment must be so applied as to reduce
inflammation, and giving medicine which will allay renal
irritation; which is best effected by applying alternately hot
fomentations to the loins, by means of hot flannels, thickly
doubled, and kept continually moist with hot water, and by
the application of ice to the same part. This end is best
attained by forming a kind of cup, made with the assistance
of a flour-sack, in which the ice over the lumbar region can
be placed; warm water clysters will evacuate the rectum
and will also tend to lessen the intensity of the local inflam-
mation. Bad food, such as musty hay, and the administration
of diuretics, such as turpentine and nitre, often, doubtless,
bring on renal complications. Give linseed tea in large
quantities, and administer in a pint of it twice daily —

Barbadoes aloea, in powder,
Tincture of opium, . .

2 drachms,
half an ounce.

This medicine, if the symptoms subside, can be followed by
the administration of half a pint of linseed oil. Warm bran
mashes and food easy of digestion must alone be given.

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

13

Diuretics and all stimulating medicines must be strictly
prohibited.

SPLENIC FEVER OR ANTHRAX.

Splenic fever or anthrax has for its most obvious result
an enlargement and consequent rupture of the spleen. The
animals affected often bleed at the nose and mouth, and death
speedily supervenes. Although this malady was not recog-
nized until comparatively recently as a specific disease, yet
veterinarians and others have had their attention, during the
course of their practice, directed to maladies of this type ; for
instance, M. Fochentin, of Baden, writes — " The sheep are
said to die in a few hours, and sometimes suddenly ; the liver
to be partially decomposed, and the spleen enlarged and filled
with tubercles and ulcers."

Again, under the head Inflammatory Fever, " The spleen
is large and disorganized, the liver gorged, and the viscera
congested. Overdriving and luxuriant pasturage are supposed
to have been the causes."

In the "Transactions of the Veterinary Association, 1843,"
Mr. Meggins, Sussex, brought before the Veterinary Society
several cases of death in oxen and colts, evidently from this
disease. " The spleens were all enlarged, and their cells
filled with blood." And from other reports it is evident that
some years previous to 1859, splenic fever, although not
recognized under this term, existed in many parts of Europe,
and at the present time it is not unfrequent among cattle.
In this country it consists, according to Dr. Crisp, of two
kinds — viz. of a mild and a malignant form — the first being
sometimes amenable to treatment, and the latter generally
causing death in a few hours. In the malignant form, the
animal is dull, off its feed, the head is down, the back more
or less arched, the gait unsteady, the pulse quick- and feeble,
and towards the termination of the attack the breathing be-
comes difficult, and convulsive twitchings affect the muscles;
the urine and excrements are sometimes bloody, and occasion-
ally bloody froth appears about the mouth and nostrils ; the
animal frequently falls dead when standing, in from four to
eight hours from the commencement of the attack. In the
mild form, the disease manifests less dangerous symptoms,
although sometimes the subject of it, especially sheep, die
previous to the malady being detected — that is, before
symptoms of the disease have shown themselves. The
morbid appearances seem to arise from a disintegrated state
of the blood, so that without any rupture of a vessel the
blood exudes through the attenuated coats of them, causing
the exudation, &c., above mentioned. " In most instances,"
writes the doctor, " in oxen, sheep, horses, deer, and antelopes,
I have found the spleen large, soft, pulpy, with extravasation
of disintegrated blood from its proper vessels. Sometimes
the blood is exfravasated under the capsule of the spleen
as well as to the interior, and the skin and cellular and
muscular tissues frequently present a livid or violet-coloured
appearance, from extravasation of blood, which is generally
fluid and of a violet colour."

Mr. Thomas Crisp informs his brother that a Mi. A. lost.

from disease of the spleen, an ox which had been fed on
marshy ground. This spleen was two feet long and one in
width, was much ulcerated, bloody, and pulpy, and readily
fell to pieces ; and he indirectly blames the marshy soil.

Again, splenic disease occurred one April in a very healthy
district. The animals affected were all stall-fed upon oil,
cake, chaff, and beetroot. Eight heifers and four bulls
died, and only one (a bull) recovered ; and the man who fed
this fortunate animal said he had only eaten two bushels
of cut beetroot for his breakfast, instead of two bushels
and a half, his usual allowance. The root had been taken
from land that had been manured with ooze from the Saer
Water, together with five hundredweights of salt to the acre ;
and as all the animals fed upon the root taken from this soil
manifested the disease, it was considered that this food had
caused splenic apoplexy. It is a fact worthy of record, that
in the outbreak which took place in Northumberland during
1859, most of the animals that died had fed upon swedes
grown on a particular field.

Let us further consider the effects produced upon living
creatures by eating, or on man by handling, the diseased
parts taken from an animal the subject of splenic apoplexy.
The spleen, when removed from the body of Mr. A.'s ox,
was handled by the butcher, whose arm soon afterwards'
became affected to such an extent as to prevent him using
it for some time. Cats died after eating it, and a sow that
eat the paunch and part of the spleen also died. In another
instance, a man cut his finger whilst taking a diseased spleen,
weighing eighteen or twenty pounds, from the body of an ox,
in which case the wound did not heal for several weeks. In
addition to these, other similar cases could be cited ; but we
trust sufficient has been said to prove how important it is
for all persons to be careful in removing diseased flesh from
animals ; and, moreover, to show that all such refuse should
be burnt or otherwise destroyed, as matter utterly unfit for
the hog-tub, or for food of carnivorous animals.

Its cause was for many years a matter of conjecture, but
it is now generally agreed that it is due to the growth of a
minute organism or bacillus in the blood, which is called
the Bacillus anthracis. It is by far the largest of the known
pathogenic bacteria, and one of the most deadly. They grow
in enormous numbers, and are found after death filling all the
capillaries of the body. These bacilli, when growing exposed
to air, produce oval spores, which are extremely tenacious of
life, and are not desfroyed by the action of most disinfectants.

Those minute organisms called bacteria stand in a causal
connection with various diseases, such as splenic fever, septi-
caemia in mice, chicken cholera, septicaemia in rabbits, malig-
nant oedema in guinea-pigs, and tuberculosis in the lower
animals. This they do in two ways, either by producing
changes in the fluids in which they grow, leading to the for-
mation of poisonous products ; or by growing in the blood or
tissues of animals, and thereby leading to disease and death.
That the products of the gro th of bacteria in albuminous
fluids are of themselves poisonous was long ago made out by

14

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

Panum, who found that putrid fluids, boiled and filtered so as
to get rid of all bacteria, still caused fever, and, if injected in
large quantities, the death of the animal. Bergmann was able
to separate a substance from these fluids which was soluble in
water, and produced when injected into animals the same
symptoms as the original putrid fluid. Of late Koch has
found that if a large quantity of putrid material was intro-
duced into animals they died very quickly, as described by
Panum, but if the quantity was small the majority remained
anafi'ected, while a small proportion died after a day or two.
The minutest portion of blood from an animal which had died
inoculated into another animal of the same species infallibly
caused its death in twenty-four to thirty-six hours. The
blood of these animals, when dried on a piece of glass and
stained with certain aniline dyes, showed the presence of
numerous bacteria, all apparently of the same kind. Koch
was able to cultivate these bacteria on gelatinized meat infu-
sion or solidified blood serum, where they grew in large
colonies, and could be transferred from one flask to another
without undergoing any change in form or characters. The
minutest quantity of these bacteria, cultivated in this way
and inoculated into an animal, produced the original disease
in its full virulence. Such experiments prove that the bacteria
■growing in the blood were the real cause of the disease.

Splenic fever when once it has seized on an animal, seems
to be incurable. Therefore every precaution should be di-
rected against the spread of the infection. It is believed to
be communicated by pasture on which infected animals have
grazed, or by food which has been in any way in contact
with such animals or their droppings

Attempts have been made by various experimenters to
discover a material which would, by inoculation, render ani-
mals proof against this scourge. Toussaint first discovered
a method of inoculation for splenic fever which protected the
animal from a virulent attack. He heated the infected blood
to 126° Fahr. for from five to ten minutes, and found that
after injection of this blood the animals were protected.
Various degrees of strength in the attenuated virus could be
obtained by varying the length of time that the blood was
heated, but as the results obtained were rather uncertain,
Pasteur, after his success in the attempt to protect fowls by
inoculation from chicken-cholera, took up the investigation.

He found that by artificially cultivating the Bacillus an-
thracis with exposure during their growth to oxygen at a
somewhat elevated temperature, an attenuated virus was at
last obtained. Great hopes were at first entertained that
by the inoculation of animals with this, the disease might be
wholly eradicated, but such hopes have not been realized.
It was found that only sheep, and possibly cattle, are pro-
tected, but that horses and other animals are not. It was
also found that to completely protect sheep a virus of con-
siderable strength must be used, and that a certain number
(about 10 per cent.) of them die after the inoculation. As,
however, a much smaller percentage die in this country from
the natural disease, the general use of inoculation would not

ofi'er any advantages. But in certain localities splenic fever
tends to occur, and in these districts a much larger proportion
than 10 per cent. die. In this case the protective inoculation
of the animals, though accompanied with a certain amount of
loss, would, on the whole, be a material gain to the farmer.

FOG sickness; hove, or blown.

This disease, more properly known by the name of
Tympanitis, usually proceeds from a voracious and greedy
disposition incident to neat cattle, when permitted to satiate
their appetites with food of which they are most fond, such
as red clover, vetches, rich fog, or different kind of grasses ;
likewise turnips, potatoes, corn, and sometimes chafi". The
latter are more likely to choke the beasts, and the former
to blow them. In fact, any food which remains in the
rumen or first stomach for any great length of time, without
undergoing the process of rumination, is liable to decompose,
and in so doing to ferment, when gaseous eliminations occur,
which distend the stomach in question, and produce tympanitis,
associated with symptoms of sufibcation; or pieces of food may
be retarded in their passage down the gullet (oesophagus), and
may when there choke the animal, in which cases the rumen
becomes distended, and the disease " hove " is established.

Treatment. — When there is little food in the stomach the
introduction of the probang will remove the gas, and with it
also any impediment in the gullet can be readily removed.
If the above fail to remove the distension, but it rather
increases, and the animal's life is in danger, the canula
and trochar must be introduced into the paunch on the left
side, mid-way between the prominence of the haunch and
the last rib, and about eight inches below the transverse
processes of the lumbar vertebrae ; the trochar, having here
been plunged into the stomach, must immediately be with-
drawn, but the canula, or tube, must be retained within
the wound made until the gas has escaped and the swelling
subsided. In these cases, always send for a qualified veterin-
arian, who can alone successfully perform the above oper-
ations. On the first appearance of tympanitis, administer

Carbonate of ammonia,
Epsom salts,

3 drachms,
half a pound.

and use warm clysters. If the unfavourable symptoms do not
yield to the above, the after treatment should consist of two
drachm doses of carbonate of ammonia in a pint of water,
followed by giving a brisk purgative.

STAGGERS, VERTIGO, FAEDEL BOUND.

" Clater " evidently considered that this complaint arose
from " a large quantity of phlegmatic humours pressing upon
the brain and optic nerves, which caused the animal to have
a wavering and staggering motion of body." To those unac-
quainted with pathology this may seem to be the case ; but in
truth, the implication of the brain is the eflfect, the stomach
being the cause. The symptoms are attended with heaviness
and dulness, a constant disposition to sleep, which is mani-
fested by the beast attempting to rest its head upon any place

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

15

convenient for that purpose ; as the disease progresses the
patient becomes wild, trembles, foams at the mouth, and runs
at imaginary objects ; persistent constipation is also a pro-
minent symptom.

The above signs of the affection under notice may be
produced by overfeeding upon too luxuriant herbage, from
which the animals eat voraciously, or from partaking of
indigestible or innutritious food ; it is therefore more frequent
in summer and autumn, when there is abundance of rough
grass and when the leaves begin to fall. Rye-grass in seed,
and ripe vetches, and insufficiency of water in a dry season — in
fact, any food calculated to produce impaction of the stomachs,
particularly the third — may be accounted sources of fardel
bound ; poisons also, and particularly lead, have been known
to produce constipation and vertigo. Attention has been
drawn to the evils which were likely to accrue by dressing
land with the manure taken from large towns, where pieces
of lead, floor cloth, and broken paint-pots, found their way
to the pastures in the form of dressings. On such pastures
animals are allowed to graze, and in so doing to often lick the
sweet carbonate of lead from the above-mentioned substances,
besmeared or impregnated with it. The symptoms produced
by lead-poisoning are very similar to the above, only, per-
haps, the suffering animal exhibits greater signs of delirium.
In this malady we nearly always find the third stomach, or
" omasum " impacted with indigestible food. Our readers
will remember that the two first stomachs, viz., the rumen and
reticulum, are principally engaged in the function of rumina-
tion ; and that the food, after having undergone this process
is sent into the third stomach, there to be triturated, in order
that no nutritive matter may be lost. If indigestible food or
poison finds its way amongst the folds of the omasum, then
through the medium of the nerves the system soon becomes
deranged, the omasum refuses to send on deleterious com-
pounds to the fourth or digestive stomach, the third is, as it
were, locked up, constipation or a very scanty discharge of
liquid dung supervenes, and, as a result, the brain becomes
affected, vertigo is set up, and often the subject of it dies
in a state of delirium.

The treatment consists in removing the constipation with
purgatives ; these must be very powerful, as in this disease
no time can be lost, and experience proves that repeated
small doses are of little service. Administer, therefore, a
mechanical mixture which has proved very successful —

Epsom salts, 1 pound,

Croton braus, smashed, 20 in number,

Linseed oil, half a pint ;

and afterwards use warm-water clysters, and give three times
daily two-drachm doses of carbonate of ammonia; this will
assist the action of the purge ; allow large quantities of water
to drink, and prohibit food until the symptoms abate.

In cases of lead-poisoning, in addition to the above treat-
ment, antidotes must be sought. Sulphuric acid may be
given often in water or linseed tea, and two to four ounces

of the sulphate of soda exhibited; every two or three days
use clysters. " Opium is recommended to allay pain, if the
latter be intense ; sulphuretted hydrogen is a chemical anti-
dote, forming with the lead an insoluble black sulphuret ; "
alum, also, has proved useful. "M. MeKiens has found the
iodide of potassium the most effective antidote to poisoning by
lead compounds, the soluble iodide being formed, and elimi-
nated from the system by the kidneys. — " Veterinarians' Vade
Mecum," page 172.

COLIC, OR GRIPES.

Oxen and cows of every age are liable to this disease ;
it seems to arise from a spasmodic contraction of some part of
the intestines. Almost all pains of the belly go under the
denomination of colic, or gripes. It therefore will be neces-
sary to consider them under different head?. Flatulent colic
is, for the most part, occasioned by an animal's eating hard
and indigestible food; also, from drinking too large a quantity
of cold water when in a state of perspiration, or from stoppage
caused by impaction of ingesta or calculi of various kinds in
some part of the intestines, when, unless speedy relief be
afforded, flatulence results, and the disease (windy colic)
is set up. Colic is not so frequent nor so fatal among cattle
as with horses. The symptoms evinced in cases of this kind
are : — The animals frequently lie down to rise up suddenly,
and sometimes strike their horns and hind feet against their
belly. The pulse is not usually much affected at first ; but
if the disease continue for any length of time it becomes
much quicker and harder than usual ; this generally indicates
the commencement of inflammation, and is accompanied with
considerable abdominal tension. Spasmodic colic, for the
most part, proceeds from the former, which, if continuing
for any length of time, must terminate in inflammation of
some part of the intestines. Colic, as the foregoing remarks
indicate, is always attended with persistent constipation, and
may be, by the unscientific, mistaken for " fardel bound."
In fardel bound persistent constipation is not always present,
as frequently a very scanty discharge of very liquid dung
is a symptom of it. Considerable danger attends cattle in
this situation, as these deceitful appearances are often mis-
taken for purging. When these symptoms of costiveness
occur, no time should be lost in administering a purgative;
that dung is passed in a liquid state in some cases of fardel
bound is well known to veterinarians, but generally obstinate
constipation prevails as in cases of colic. In fardel bound an
animal may live for ten days or a fortnight, whereas, in colic,
unless decided relief be given within forty-eight hours, the
patient usually dies. The treatment of colic consists in the
frequent use of clysters, and in administering —

Epsom salts, 1 potind,

Linseed oil, . . . 1 pint,

to be followed by giving twice daily two-drachm doses of the
carbonate of ammonia in a pint of water

16

THE DitiEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

PUERPERAL OR MILK FEVER.

This is a disease peculiar to cows in high condition at the
time of calving ; both young and old are liable to be attacked
by it. This malady is better known now by the name of
" parturient apoplexy," and, among dairymen, as " dropping
after calving." It causes great loss to owners, owing to its
carrying off the flower of the herd, and especially the best
milkers. It generally occurs two or three days after par-
turition. When the object of it ceases to ruminate consti-
pation sets in, the lacteal secretion is suspended, congestion
of the brain and spinal marrow occurs, the serum of the blood
is thrown out, which causes nervous and cerebral pressure,
the breathing becomes laborious, stupor supervenes, and death
closes the scene. This affection is the result of overfeeding
before the period of parturition, which, in many instances,
is considered necessary in order to insure a large supply of
milk afterwards. So it may; but it must be remembered
that during the months of utero-gestation the blood is deter-
mined in large quantities to the foetus, which, after birth,
is rethrown, if we may so say, upon the system; but as
yet is not directed towards its new channels for the pro-
duction of milk. This I believe to be the most usual and
potent cause of dropping after calving. Other causes consist
in the absorption of pus from the uterus, and milk into the
blood. Mr. Finlay Dunn writes : — " One kind common to
most animals consists in inflammation of the membranes of
the womb and intestines, and is produced by exposure to
cold, by overdriving, or injury inflicted during parturition;"
but all operate detrimentally in a similar manner by devital-
izing the system, paralyzing the action of the nervous centres,
and, in so acting, by arresting the due performance of the
bodily functions.

Treatment. — Administer a purgative drink in a pint of
warm ale, viz., Epsom salts, one pound ; carbonate of am-
monia, two drachms ; assafcetida, one drachm ; nitre, half an
ounce. A similar amount of carbonate of ammonia should be
given in a pint of warm ale, thrice daily. Use clysters, and
apply ice persistently to the spine. As a preventive of this
afiliction, some ten days or a fortnight before calving, give
aperient medicine, under the advice of a qualified veterin-
arian, and in some instances blood-letting can be advantage-
ously resorted to.

ABORTION, OR SLINKING.

Abortion, or cows slipping their calves in the early period
of utero-gestation, is a great misfortune to the owner; it
appears that cows in the best condition are most liable to
it. It sometimes happens as the result of injury by cattle
haunchlng each other ; at another it assumes an epizootic
type, several having slipped their calves in the course of a
few days : in these cases it results from debility or relaxation
of the generative organs. This malady may occur any time
between conception and parturition, but usually takes place
about the fourth or fifth month of pregnancy. Cows are

most liable to slink their calves towards the latter end of
the year, whilst feeding on fog or autumnal grasses, or on
low, marshy, fenny grounds; at other times it has proceeded
from the smell of putrid flesh, which may have been exposed
on the pasture, or too slightly covered with earth. The
sense of smell with cattle is remarkably acute; " Clater " has
noticed them on a warm day, when in an open pasture,
collect in great numbers to a particular spot, where dead
carcasses had been buried for years, and with their horns
and feet tear up the ground in a surprising manner, at the
same time making a most horrid noise. Other authors also
have considered the smell of carrion to be productive of
abortion; but doubtless the chief cause exists in the food
or water, in which some deleterious agent exists, which
injuriously affects the uterus. In proof of this, and as most
authors have drawn attention to the fact that the disease
under notice usually occurs diu'ing the late summer or
autumnal months, the space cannot be better employed than
by reproducing a portion of an article from the pen of
Professor Tanner, which appeared in the Edinburgh Veteri-
nary Review.

" 1 shall not go into any notice of the general subject oi
abortion, but rather restrict my remarks to the cause which
is much overlooked, and yet probably is more influential than
all other causes combined. I refer to the growth of ergotised
seeds in our pastures. The action of the ergot of rye {Secale
cornutum) upon the womb is well known as an excitant to
powerful action, which usually terminates in expulsion of
the fcBtus. We have a similar disease appearing on the seeds
of our grasses, but especially on the rye-grass, and thus wc
have an ergot of the seed of rye-grass produced, possessing
similar exciting powers upon the womb to those produced by
this ergot of rye. Two conditions are necessary for the
production of this ergot upon the seed of rye-grass. The
first, the grass must be allowed to run to seed; and the
second is, that the climate must be favourable for encourag-
ing the development of the ergot. In practice we find that
on land which has been fed on during the summer, unless
it has been grazed upon with unusual care, much of the grass
throws up seed stalks and produces seed. In districts where
the climate is humid and rain abundant, as well as in very
wet seasons, these seeds become liable to the growth of this
ergot. Cattle appear to eat it with a relish, and the result
is, that abortion spreads rapidly through the herd. Heifers
and cows which, up to the appearance of the ergot, have
held in calf, are excited by consuming it in their food to
cast their calves. The abortion having once commenced,
we know that the peculiarly sensitive condition of the
breeding animal will cause its extension, even while the
original cause may not be in operation; but their combined
action renders the loss far more serious. If we add to
this the tendency which the animal receives from her first
abortion to repeat it when next in calf, we see how seriously
the mischief becomes multiplied."

The cause of abortion having been discovered, as indicated

I

THE DltSEAfcJES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

17

by Professor Tanner, the remedy is readily seen : it consists
in removing cows and heifers in calf to pastures devoid
of these seeds. These seeds are seldom met with until
after the end of July, or early in August: consequently,
lands may be deemed free from the ergot up to this time;
the mowing of grass, also about the end of June, or early
in July, is a guarantee against the formation of the seed,
and consequently the development of the ergot ; if, however,
mowing be commenced early, and a rapid growth of grass
afterwards occurs, the seeds may grow, and upon them the
ergot may appear, when cattle in calf feeding from such
pastures are liable to abort.

Treatment. — Remove cattle from the cause, such as bad
smells, &c., and if one cow abort take her from the herd,
having previously buried the calf in some place at a distance
from all pregnant stock. If an animal manifest symptoms
of premature labour and is in high condition, she should be
immediately placed in a loose box, and two quarts of blood
may be taken from her with advantage. Purgatives and
any irritating medicine should be avoided. Administer in
a pint of water, twice in the day, tincture of opium one
ounce. Chloroform also may be given under medical advice,
but is dangerous in the hands of any save persons possessing
extensive chemical knowledge. Feed also upon food easy of
digestion, and under all circumstances keep the remainder
of the herd from all exciting causes.

HOW TO EXTRACT A CALF WHEN IT PRESENTS IITSELF
IN A WRONG POSITION.

Persons who keep cattle ought to be well acquainted with
the manner in which a calf should present itself when in a
natural or proper position. All those positions are called
unnatural in which the calf presents itself otherwise than with
its head and fore-feet first, and its back towards the cow's hack.
It is well known to all those who have the management of
cows, or those who practise in medicine among them, that
calves are very commonly presented in a variety of different
postures, for which no just reason can be assigned ; and
whenever they lie in a wi-ong position, both cow and calf
are in danger, and the more or less so according to the
ability of the person employed to afford the necessary
assistance. In the first place, then, after the waters are
evacuated, and the head and only one foot present them-
selves, you must hold the calf's head and await an interval,
during which the throes are off; then gently push it back,
and bring forward the other foot. By this means a natural
presentation is obtained, and the calf may now be extracted
without danger. Secondly, if the head only presents itself,
and both feet are drawn back, the head must be pushed
back with a gentle hand, the utmost care at the same time
being exercised, in order to avoid wounding or tearing the
uterus. The head having been returned within the uterus,
the feet, one by one, must be drawn forward, and be thus
placed as in a natural presentation. Thirdly, if all four feet

be turned where the back ought to be — towards the top of
the uterus — in this situation it will be impossible to extract
the foetus until it be put in a proper position. In operations
of this kind much depends upon the management and activity
of the person employed in placing the beast in a favourable
position. The fore parts of the cow should be slightly raised
with straw, or otherwise filled with that or anything else that
is soft and easy to lie upon, and properly placed under her. It is
seldom, however, in this case that manipulation, without the
assistance of instruments, succeeds in extracting the foetus.
Therefore, if repeated manual efforts fail to remove the calf,
it will be necessary to secure the head with a rope, by passing
it underneath the lower jaw, and afterwards by fastening a
rope around both fore-legs, and by bringing both the ropes
that secure the legs out on one side of the calf's neck. This
done, the hand of the operator must be introduced, and be
pressed firmly against the calf's withers, which he must
endeavour to turn upwards towards the cow's back, and at
the same time an assistant, with the ropes in hand, must be
directed when, how, and in what direction to draw them. If
little or no impediment exists, the foetus will gradually turn on
itself, and a natural presentation will thi;s be obtained; when
the calf can be steadily removed. Fourthly, it sometimes
happens that the hind legs make their appearance. In this
case it will be found better to extract in that position than
attempt to turn them. Fifthly, frequent instances have
occurred where the shoulder has presented itself at the mouth
of the uterus, and requires the hand to be introduced in search
of the fore legs; or, if thought more proper, the hind legs
may be brought forward. This must be left to the judgment
of the person employed. Sixthly, instances occur of calves
being dropsical in the head. This may be discovered by its
size, in which case the other parts are generally small and
wasted. Under these circumstances, if the calf cannot be
extracted in the common way, nor with instruments, the head
must be reduced, or it must be cut away; and this can only
be effected with instruments proper for that purpose, and used
by a qualified and practical veterinarian. A description of
the operation would not be understood by the public generally,
therefore it wiU not be advisable to detail the processes
adopted in extracting a calf suffering under the above com-
plications. Seventhly, it sometimes happens, in cases where
a calf is dead, that instruments of necessity must be used.
In a few cases the dead foetus, if properly presented, can be
removed by inserting the hooked extremity of a long iron
rod — an instrument made for this purpose — into some part
of the calf's head, as the orbits, sockets of the eyes, mouth,
or any other part that may appear at the time most convenient
to the operator. Sometimes, however, the foetus is so enlarged,
and the womb so contracted, as not to admit of extraction by
this means. It will then be necessary to take it away by
pieces — i.e., limb by limb — and in so doing the abdomen
of the calf is often obliged to be evacuated in order to lesser
its bulk, and thus facilitate its exit.

Several cases of difficult labour, in addition to the aboTe-

18

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

mentioned, occur; but they are cases requiring great surgical
• skill and proper appliances, which are seldom met with
excepting in the veterinarian's surgery; and, moreover,
although these cases of unnatural parturition bear well-
known names, indicative of their nature, they often assume
varied forms of complication, which cannot be controlled
without anatomical knowledge and great practical skill.
Therefore, to write a description of the above would little
serve the stockowner, for the interest of whom this essay
is intended ; and to the scientific veterinarian it would be
repeating second-hand stories.

RETENTION OF THE PLACENTA, OR AFTER-BIRTH.

Some authors have stated that the placenta should be
removed immediately after the act of parturition is accom-
plished. To do so, however, shows great want of knowledge,
and in nine cases out of ten would injure the animal operated
upon. If, however, the animal does not cleanse at the proper
time, it is good treatment to administer thrice daily —

Carbonate of potash half an onnce,

Infusion of saTin, 1 ponnd — Bering;

and if the above does not assist nature — which sometimes
happens, owing to debility of the animal's system, or its
not possessing sufficient vital force to contract the uterus,
and thus to throw off the after-birth, or persistent contraction
of the 03 uteri may prevent its escape ; in either of the
above cases, and particularly if decomposition of the placenta
has occurred, it will be necessary for the veterinarian to
introduce his hand and dilate the os uteri, and extract the
placenta carefully, separating it from the cotyledons, one
after the other. Afterwards, if the fcetor be great, the uterus
may be well syringed out with a weak solution of Burnett's
disinfecting fluid. The following may be afterwards given
in a pint of warm ale —

Epsom salts, half a poonA

Powdered ginger, 1 ounce.

Carbonate of ammonia, 1 drachm.

Ergot of rye sometimes acts beneficially in assisting nature
to remove the placenta ; but it should be given always under
professional advice.

PROLAPSUS UTERI,

or, more properly termed, inversion of the uterus, is a very
frequent complaint among cows, particularly old ones, after
calving, and often proceeds from violent motions that attend
the extraction of the calf, and likewise from relaxation of the
uterine ligaments. Some cows are more subject to this
complaint than others, which in great measure is due to the
shape and make of the generative organs. Clater thinks cows
most liable to this complaint are those that rise considerably
on the small of the back in the form of a curve, and begin
to lower towards the tail; the hips, rump, and sirloin being
for the most part straight.

J. R. Dobaon, in his book on "The Ox: his diseases and

their treatment," writes — " A proximate cause of inversion
of the uterus is debility in the animal, proceeding from
badly got and innutritious provender. As a proof of this
in the spring of 1861, following the wet hay harvest of 1860,
inversion of the uterus was exceedingly common." Cows
tliat have been previously known to have been subjects
of this affection should be kept in a cow-house a short time
before the period of calving, the floor or pavement of which
must be level; and better still, an advantage will be gained
by compelling the cow to stand on an inclined plane,
extending from the hind extremities to the fore. By this
means the hind quarters will be raised higher than the
fore, and when down, the animal will be able to rise with
more ease and with less danger of straining herself If
inversion be suspected, the cow ought to be carefully
watched at the time of calving, and immediately after it
has taken place, Gowing's patent truss should be applied;
which consists of a collar which surrounds the animal's
neck, and from which two straps proceed on either side
of the neck, to be buckled to a pad on the top of a belly,
band. To this pad a saddle or backhand is attached, ending
in a crupper which surrounds the root of the tail; from each
side of the commencement of the crupper two pieces of
leather form as it were a second or outside crupper, from
which point a thick pad to press upon the vagina is obtained,
and is secured firmly to this part through the medium of
two straps which are passed up on the inside of each
hind leg, and on each side of the udder, to be fastened
to buckles on the backhand, about a foot behind the pad
or saddle above mentioned. This apparatus is very useful
in cases of inversion of the uterus, and ought to be in
the possession of all large dairy keepers. If, however,
as is sometimes the case, the inversion foils our endeavours,
a clean sheet should be placed under the uterus, which
must be carefully cleansed with water at a blood heat tempera-
ture from all particles of dirt or dung. The operator now,
with the aid of two assistants holding the uterus upon the
sheet, should use gentle pressure on the neck of the uterus,
and pass in as much as possible; and afterwards the lower
and vemaining part can with increased force be returned
to its natural position. Many ways of operating in this
injury have been recommended, but it is always wise to leave
it entirely in the hands of those skilled in such matters. In
severe cases, when all attempts to return the uterus prove
unavailing, very likely mortification of it will set in, when
it will be found necessary to remove it; a ligature should
be first tied around the neck of the uterus, when the uterus
below the ligature can be detached with a sharp knife.
The only medicine calculated to be of any use in this
affection, is to give, twice daily in thin gruel, half an
ounce of tincture of opium,

INFLAMMATION OF THE UDDEH,

or mammitis, known to stock-owners by the name of garget,
long slough, &c., consists in an inflammatory state of the

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

19

adder. Young cows in high condition are its frequent
subjects, and especially just after the time of calving.
The more aged ones are most liable to it during hot and
sultry weather, particularly those which are fattening for
the shambles; when this is the case the loss is considerable,
as a summer's keep is generally thrown away, to the loss
and disappointment of the owner. Cows of gross habit,
when overheated or when they have taken cold, or received
iny injury by blows, &c., or when allowed to remain
unmilked for twenty-four or more hours in order, as it is
termed, " to stock the bag " for purposes of sale, when
it ia to the interest of the would-be seller to prove that
his cow has a very abundant secretion of milk, are causes
most fruitful in the production of mammitis. In this last-
named case the udder appears distended, the teats jut out,
and from them large drops of milk may be seen dripping
on the ground, and sometimes quite a small pool of milk is
there collected. It can be readily understood that imme-
diately after parturition, and especially with such animals
as are of plethoric habit, that redundancy of blood is sent
to the udder, and that milk also in large quantities is deter-
mined to that organ for the support of the calf; at first
the calf is not able to take milk largely, and consequently
the udder becomes overstocked, inflammation sets in ; in
other words, mammitis occurs. The symptoms indicative
of the disease are increased heat of udder, attended with
swelling, hardness, and with evidence of much pain on the
application of pressure, and sometimes lameness of one hind
leg, will be premonitory symptoms of it. The above signs
are always associated with much constitutional disturbance —
viz., shivering fits, dulness, quickened pulse, laborious
brea*etiing, and in severe cases suspension of the function
of rumination, and refusal to eat. If the teats be drawn
(a process which is always advisable to attempt), a serous
fluid will make its escape; and if any milk, it will come
away in a curdy form; and if the disease has continued
for a length of time, thick matter mingled with blood may
make its escape. At a late stage of the disease the udder
becomes nodulated, manifesting the formation of matter,
and sometimes a large tumour filled with pus will form; but
more commonly mortification sets in, in which case death
usually terminates the scene.

Treatment. — During the early stage it is good practice
to administer

Epsom salts, 1 ponnd,

Nitre, I oonce,

and to strip the teats as clean as possible. Some practitioners
advise the abstraction of blood from the abdominal or milk
vein, hot and frequent fomentations to the udder; and if the
udder be very large, it must be supported by means of a
towel fastened by cords over the loins, when a linseed meal
poultice, mixed with bran and about two drachms of bella-
donna in it, will in many cases greatly relieve the sufferings
of the patient Should the above fail, and induration of the

udder supervene, or an abscess form, active means must be
resorted to. In the first case, stimulating embrocations muat
be applied daily to the part, viz.,

Linimentam saponis, \ pint,

Tincture of iodine, 2 ounces.

In the second, if the abscess points it must be carefully
opened, and afterwards be well fomented with hot water •
gentle pressure, in so doing, muat be used in order to
evacuate the pus.

If mortification occurs, powerful stimulants must be ad-
ministered twice daily —

Carbonate of ammonia, 2 drachms,

Assafoetida, 1 drachm,

in a pint of warm ale.

The last phase this malady assumes is induration of the
udder, generally on one side ; the only treatment for which
is to cause the diseased part to be repeatedly hand-rubbed,
and also to apply an ointment consisting of

Bin iodide of mercurj, 1 drachm.

Lard 1 ounce,

or the udder may be rubbed daily with linimentum saponis.
The administration of drachm doses daily of the iodide of potas-
sium in a pint of ale is recommended by some practitioners.
Feed sparingly at first, and upon easily digestible provender;
when abscess or mortification occurs, the patient muat be well
supported with food.

RHEUMATISM, OK JOINT FELLON.

The word felon is of frequent occurrence in the country,
and is chiefly applied to diseases proceeding from cold, and is
variously called as follows : — Cold fellon, joint fellon, and chine
fellon. This complaint chiefly affects milk cows and young
cattle at the spring of the year. It may proceed from animals
being kept in a state of poverty during the winter, and being
suddenly exposed in the early spring to the inclemency of the
north or north-easterly winds, in low situations : sudden at
mospheric change is also a fruitful source of it.

Symptoms. — The animals for the first two or three days
appear stiff in their joints ; afterwards tliey tumify or swell,
the inflammation being confined to the ligaments, tendons, and
synovial membranes of the joints. Rumination is suspended,
pulse accelerated, breathing disturbed, and suspension of the
lacteal secretion and constipation mark the extent at which the
disease has arrived. The sudden shifting of the pain from one
joint to other, and its concentration in the white fibrous tissues,
are very distinctive symptoms of rheumatism. Sometimes the
inflammation runs so high that disorganization of a joint may
occur, when bony depositions will grow on it to so great an
an extent as to impede permanently its action.

Treatment. — As soon as the disease makes its appearance,
the patient must be placed in a warm cow-house or stable in
which ventilation and drainage is properly secured ; and the
joints or parts affected should be placed in flannel bandages

20

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

and rugs must surround the body, which can he previously
well rubbed with a liniment consisting of turpentine and
olive oil, of each equal parts, and administer in a pint of warm
ale, twice daily.

Carbonate of ammonia, 2 drachms,

Aloes, 1 drachm,

Camphor, 1 drachm.

feed on barley flour and roots, and good hay.

SORE TEATS.

Injuries and obstructions in the teats are of frequent occur-
rence, and particularly during very cold weather, among cows
that have recently calved. Sometimes they are only inflamed,
owing to not being dried after milking, and exposed imme-
diately afterwards to the inclemency of the weather; this
inflammation often is associated with the existence of cracks,
which are very painful, and cause the animal to be very
fidgety during milking time. Small tumours and lacteal
calculi (stones), and strictures, occur in the teat and often
stop the fall of the milk, and impede its passage through the
duct. Warts are often a cause of great discomfort to the cow ;
but they are generally of such a shape as to enable us to
remove them by placing a ligature around the base of each
wart, and keeping it there until it sloughs oflf. If the base be
very wide, excision with the knife must be resorted to.

Treatment. — Administer in a pint of warm gruel —

Epsom salks half a ponnd,

Nitre, half an onnc«.

Well foment the udder and teats with warm water; after-
wards well dry them, and if cracked, apply glycerine : if in-
flamed only, apply a lotion, after every milking, consisting
of—

Tincture of arnica, 1 oonce,

Water, 1 pint.

In cases of lacteal obstructions their removal must be
attempted with a probe, when they must be extracted either
bodily or in pieces. Strictures must be dispersed by passing
up the duct a probe at first of small size, and gradually increas-
ing the size of them until a probe sufficiently large in diameter
has removed the constriction.

TO DRY A COW OF HEK MILK.

Old authors placed much reliance upon certain useless
medicines which they prescribed " to dry cows of their milk."
Every stock-owner of experience knows well that if a cow is
" to be let off her milk," she requires that it be done gradually,
by half milking at first, missing one milking, two, and so on.
A dose of Epsom salts and nitre may tend also to drain the
system ; and if the feeding of milch cows be attended to at
this time — namely, if only small quantities of food be admin-
istered— the milk will cease to be secreted, without any fear of
mammitis occurring. It has been proved that the adminis-
tration of iron compounds tends powerfully to arrest the

secretion of milk, and on one or two

occasions I have given
daily drachm doses of the iodide of iron to cows, for this
purpose, and have succeeded in producing the required result
within a week.

THE COW-POX.

This disease was never noticed by any author before Jenner
attempted to convince the world of its utility in protecting
the human race from that baneful disease — small-pox.
Vaccination, since this time, has been introduced throughout
Europe, the East and West Indies, besides many other
parts of the civilized world. Some persons conjecture,
(and Jenner was of their opinion) that grease in the heels
of horses is of the same nature as cow-pox ; but this is
evidently a mistake, as facts contrary to this belief have
proved. Variola of the cow consists in an inflammatory con-
dition of the udder and skin, and more particularly such parts
of it as are denuded of hair, associated with slight constitu-
tional disturbance. The disease, which is highly contagious,
commences with slight inflammation of the skin, indicated by
the appearance of small red patches on the udder or hairless
parts about the dock. Upon these papillse arise in four or
five days; small bladders or vesicles appear containing a trans-
parent fluid, the true vaccine lymph: at the expiration of
three days more the vesicles secrete a thick yellow matter,
and are then called pustules. In the course of a few days a
scab forms upon them, which, if not rubbed away, peels off,
leaving the skin underneath sound; should the scab be
removed in the act of milking, ulcers will supervene. A very
mild solution of alum water, however, will often put matters
right. In this affection the most simple treatment is de-
manded, chiefly consisting of warmth and good nursing : all
lotions and medicinal applications for the skin should be
avoided, as the disease will run its course. A mild aperient
may be administered at the onset ; afterwards good soft food,
such as bran, boiled carrots, oatmeal made into a mash, can
be given.

ANGLE-BERRIES

are cutaneous warty excrescences growing out above the
surface of the skin, and are of different sizes, and constitute
great eye-sores. Young cattle are most subject to them, and
sometimes when animals are well fed, and as age advances,
they fall off without any interference. Warts make their
appearance on different parts of the body, and on the udder
they are not only disagreeable to see, but cause the cow to be
very troublesome during milking time. These excrescences,
if narrow at the neck, are called angle-berries, and may be
removed by tying tightly round the neck a piece of tar string
when in a few days they will drop off, as the result of strangu-
lation. A wart with a wide base can be extirpated with the
knife, and the bleeding surface afterwards touched with a
heated firing iron ; or warts, if dressed with the following
ointment, thrice weekly, in two or three weeks slough off :
by this means hundreds may be removed : —

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

21

Aneniou acid 1 p^n.

Lard, < parW i

or they may be dressed with a paste made up with sulphur
and sulphuric acid ; this must be most cautiously used, and
should not be applied excepting by a professional man.

WARBLES

consist of small tumours existing in diflferent parts of the
skin, and owe their presence to the existence within them
of small grubs or larvae. The eggs producing the larvae are
deposited there about the latter end of the summer by a fly —
the (Estrus hovis, ox-fly — where they remain until the spring,
when the larvae having been matured, make their escape, and
are converted by metamorphosis into the gadfly. Warbles
are removed by pressing them between the finger and thumb,
or by puncturing with a red-hot needle. They seldom afiect
the health of animals infested with them.

THE MANGE.

This afi'ection is well known to most graziers; it is seated
in the skin, and poverty of condition seems to favour its
extension. Symptoms : — The skin all over the body appears
thrifty, and every time the beast rubs himself, which he is
constantly doing, a thick, white scurf, of a scabby natiire,
is to be seen on the spot where he has rubbed himself.
Scabies bovis is occasioned by the existence in the skin of
an insect — the Acarus bovis — which burrows beneath it, and
in so doing raises up raw-looking pimples. The mode of
cure is to destroy the parasites, which is easily effected by
dressing the skin all over, twice weekly, with a lotion —

Carbolic acid, 1 onnce,

Water 1 pint;

or an ointment may be rubbed into the affected part, con-
sisting of —

Iodide of anlphnr, 1 drachm,

Lard, ...,1 ounce.

Remove affected cattle from their companions, as this disease
spreads rapidly by contagion.

LICE IN CATTLE

require no description, as this filth is always visible to the
eye. The irritation caused by these creatures is so excessive
as to prevent animals infested by them putting on flesh.
Wash the affected parts with —

Carbolic acid, ... 1 oanoe,

Water, 1 pint,

and feed well, as low condition, like mange, seems to favour
the increase of these parasites. The author has known lice
leave the skins of animals, without any medicinal application,
in a few weeks after having been well fed, and after they had
improved in condition.

BULL-BURNT.

Gonorrhoea is not common to the horse and dog, but fer-
quently occurs amongst cattle ; it is a local disease affecting
the mucous membranes of the urino-genital organs of the bull
and cow. It is supposed to follow the act of copulation in an
animal of plethoric habit, and especially in hot weather. The
animal, the subject of it, evinces slight febrile symptoms,
associated with uneasiness, and the urine is emitted very
scantily, with evident pain.

The mucous membranes of the part expel a muco-purulent
discharge from small pustules, which ultimately develope into
ulcers and fungoid growths. Treatment: — Administer, thrice
weekly, half doses of Epsom salts, and, with a cow, well
cleanse the parts with warm water, and afterwards bathe the
parts with a lotion —

Acetat« of lead, 1 drsclim.

Water 1 quart.

On this disease happening to a bull, unless the case be very
simple, it will be necessary to cast him, in order to examine
the sheath and penis, and to apply the requisite remedies,
which consist of mild astringent lotions, such as —

Salphate of zinc, ^ OQDce,

Water I pint,

which must be injected up the urethra and over the parts
affected. If the disease extend to the development of warts,
or extensive ulcers, then such must be dressed twice weekly
with a rod nitrate of silver ; and in iong-standing cases
fungoid growths must be excised with the knife. In all cases
great cleanliness must be observed, which is an all-important
adjuvant in producing cures.

WOUNDS,
although not so common to cattle as horses, yet do sometimes
occur from injuries sustained in consequence of their breaking
through fences, or from blows inflicted with their horns whilst
fighting. Wounds, for the sake of description, may be divided
into four kinds, viz., contused, incised, lacerated, and punc-
tured. A contusion is simply a bruise; but, at the same
time, it may be of so extensive and complicated a nature as to
involve in injury adjacent parts, especially when occurring
near the region of the lungs, liver, &c.; and sometimes such
wound causes internal haemorrhage, which is always accom-
panied with a greater or less amount of danger. In treating
bruises warm fomentation should be resorted to, and the fol-
lowing lotion, by means of a bandage kept continually moist
with it, must be applied : —

Tincture of arnica, ........ 1 oanoe.

Nitre, 1 onnce.

An incised wound consists of a clean cut, more or less deep,
inflicted with a sharp instrument, through the skin and
muscles. In cases of this kind it is always advisable to

22

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PlGb.

Rend at once for a skilled veterinary practitioner, whose
attention will be immediately directed to the copious bleeding
which usually attends such accidents. This haemorrhage it
will be his duty to arrest, which, if only small vessels are cut,
may be stopped by sluicing the part with cold water: if, how-
ever, large vessels, or an important artery be divided, then
the bleeding end, or ends, must be secured with a ligature.
Having arrested the liaemorrhage, the only step remaining is
to draw the edges of the wound together, which is effected by
bringing the lips of the wound in close contact, and securing
them in this position by means of sutures. This is accomplished
with a curved needle, made for this purpose, and threaded
with strong silk cord, or wire, silver being the best; each
suture must be separate from the other, and, of course, must
necessarily be tied, or in the case of wire, be twisted, the one
independently of the other. Cold water applications, by means
of a wet bandage, will also afford the best dressing for the
injured surface; sometimes, however, to arrest the formation
of pus, syringe the wound carefully with a weak solution of
nitre and water. Lacerated wounds are the most severe the
veterinarian has to deal with, as they are usually inflicted with
a blunt instrument, and are sometimes associated with fractured
bones ; and if not, they usually consist of large rents of the
skin and muscles, and sometimes with loss of substance (as
a piece of skin and muscle is not uncommonly removed), or
is so much injured as to necessitate extirpation. The edges
of these wounds having been well examined and bathed with
warm water, must be brought in apposition with sutures, and
sometimes one or more quill sutures must be provided, which
consist of the quill end of turkey or flexible feathers, which are
secured to the lips of the wound with looped sutures. Should
mortification ensue, a lotion consisting of —

Carbolic acid, 1 onnoe,

Water, 2 pints,

can be syringed into the wound daily, and stimulants con-
sisting of two-drachm doses of ammonia in warm ale can
be given twice daily. Punctured wounds occur very often
among cattle, as such injuries are inflicted with the horns.
Sometimes the accident in these cases appears trifling; but
experience proves that sometimes they are attended with
disastrous, if not fatal consequences. A punctured wound
should always, even if the aperture is very small, be probed
in order to ascertain its depth, which must be kept open for
some time in order to prevent the occurrence of deep-seated
abscess, which, if allowed to form, will involve a simple
wound in other complications, such as fistula, &c. In this
case it is good practice to open with a knife the external
wound, and syringe into the more deep-seated disease a solu-
tion of nitric acid and water; half an ounce of the former to a
quart of the latter will cause a slough, which will destroy the
pus-generating membrane, and leave behind a healthy granu-
lating surface. When the bones are brokeu the detached
pieces should be removed ; but if not easily operated upon,
they must be left to exfoliate of themselves. During this

process the animal is to be fed well, and In some cases sup*
ported with strong ale and tonics, such as —

Disnlpbate of qninine, 1 drachm.

Warm ale, 1 pint.

It is advisable in all cases of the above to allow a skilful
veterinarian to attend, who will be able to diagnose coming
mischief, which those unacquainted with physiological research
would fail to recognize, and will therefore often preserve life,
which otherwise would be sacrificed for lack of skill.

WOUNDS OF THE JOINTS

are constantly associated with fractures, which are described
as simple, comminuted, and compound: simple, when a bone is
broken into two pieces; comminuted, when broken into several
pieces, or is crushed; and compound, when any portion or
portions of the broken ends protrude through the muscles and
skin. In cattle, simple fractures alone are capable of being set,
and this may be effected by placing the patient in slings, and
placing the injured parts in splints and starched bandages.
In cases of injury to the joints, where the synovial membranes
are opened, it is good practice to well wash the wound, and
afterwards sprinkle over it a powder, consisting of —

Powdered myrrh, . . .
" sulphate of iron,
" alnm, . . .

of each equal parts,

and place over the wood a pledget of wool, and confine the
joint, and the whole of the leg below it, in a linen bandage :
a pressure only sufficient to keep the bandage in its place,
and not so great as to impede circulation, must be insured.
Feed upon a nutritious diet, and allow plenty of it.

Strains of the joints, where evident pain and swelling
occur, are best treated by the application of light linen
bandages, kept constantly saturated with one of the follow-
ing lotions : —

(1.) Tincture of arnica 1 ounce.

Water, 1 pint.

(2.) Gowland'a extract, 1 ounce.

Water, 1 piut.

(3.) Tincture of opium, J ounce.

Tincture of arnica i ounce.

Nitre 1 ounce.

No. 3 should be applied when great pain is evidenced. A
mild dose of physic, also, can be given, viz. : — Epsom salts,
half a pound in a quart of water.

LOCKED JAW.

Tetanus, commonly called locked jaw, is an affection of
the nervous system, which causes contraction and spasm of
the muscles of voluntary motion, attended with tenderness
and rigidity of the parts affected. Tetanus arising from
injury — such as wounds — is called traumatic; and when from
a variety of causes, is denominated idiopathic. This malady
has received various names, indicative of the parts affected : —

1. Trismus, when the rigidity is confined to the flexor
muscles of the lower jaw or throat.

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

23

2. Eprosthotonos, when the flexor muscles are affected and
the spine is arclied, presenting a concave line to the ground.

3. Opisthotonos, when the extensors are involved and the
spine is curved downwards, presenting a convex line to the
ground.

4. PleurosthotonoB, when the body is drawn to one side.
Each of these states is very difEcult of cure, and if arising

from injury (traumatic tetanus) rarely yields to treatment.
Locked jaw is most commonly noticed in veterinary practice,
and is readily recognized, by the subject of it stretching out
its neck and nose. On placing the fingers in the mouth, it
will be immediately ascertained that the jaws are fixed almost
to immobility. Great nervous excitement prevails; the bowels
are constipated, and the excretions are constantly locked up.
The treatment for tetanus consists in first opening the bowels
with purgatives, which, in the case of trismus, will be ad-
ministered with difiiculty; and placing the patient in a loose
box, removed from all noise, and from the ingress and egress
of strangers: half-grain doses of strychnine given daily have
in some instances acted beneficially. I have seen good results
follow the inhalation of chloroform; but the influence of this
anaesthetic must be repeated. Perfect rest and quietude is
the great essential in the treatment of all kinds of tetanus.
Oils to rub into affected parts, and medicines, have been pre-
scribed. The Pharmacopoeia itself has been ransacked, but
to no purpose; no specific for this malady has yet been
discovered. I once heard Professor Spooner tell his pupils,
that the best treatment for tetanus was the " stable-key."
" Secure your patient in a loose box ; keep the key in your
pocket ; insist upon perfect quietude." This advice was
sound, and without comment is repeated to my readers.

THE FOUL IN THE FOOT

proceeds from full habit of body, or from any external cause,
by foreign agents insinuating themselves between the digits.
These should be at once extracted ; when the removal of the
cause usually cures the effect. Sometimes, however, it makes
its appearance in the form of a deep crack, either between
or around the claws, which is attended with considerable
inflammation, and in a short time will discharge an offensive
matter, similar to that noticed in horses the subjects of
grease.

Many have been the theories about " foul in the foot."
Youatt, in his book on " Cattle and their Diseases," clearly
sums up all evidence in the matter — " It is generally believed
that there is a constitutional tendency to diseases of the feet
in cattle, resembling the rot in sheep, but this has never been
satisfactorily proved ; and the simplest explanation of the
matter is, that inflammation was produced by some external
cause ; that it ran its usual course ; that suppuration followed,
and matter was formed ; that it burrowed in various parts of
the foot, and broke out on the coronet ; that sinuses remained,
and that the ulcer took on an unhealthy character; fungus
shooted up — in short, there was a quittor similar as in the
horse, but on a smaller scale, and more manageable."

This malady is most prevalent in low marshy grounds ,
when the hoof, from the continual presence of moisture,
becomes softened, and by this means is rendered more sus-
ceptible to disease, and less able to resist injury. When an
animal is noticed to be lame, it should be immediately placed
in a loose box or cow-shed, and the foot should be carefully
examined. Sometimes to effect this object it is necessary
to secure the animal with hobbles, when the horn should
be cut down at the seat of injury ; and if a stub or grit
be present, it must be removed, and afterwards a linseed-meal
poultice applied. If the operator fail to discover the seat
of mischief, then a poultice, as directed, can be applied for
two or three days, and sometimes a projecting red spot will
arise, which he must open ; and if any sinuses occur, they
should be well syringed out daily with a solution of hydro-
chloric acid and water — a wine glassful of the former to a pint
of the latter. If fungoid growths occur, remove them with
a knife, and afterwards reduce them still further with a rod
of nitrate of silver ; and also use caustic to any ulcer or
proud flesh which may appear, which is often the case in
this disease. Dress feet, from which a foetid discharge flows,
with Burnett's disinfecting fluid. If the diseased parts above
alluded to assume a healthy appearance, they may be dressed
daily with tincture of myrrh, and an aperient given, vis. : —

Barbadoes aloes, in powder, .... 4 drachms,
Iiase«d oil, | pint.

ON THE DISEASES INCIDENTAL TO
YOUNG CALVES.

THE METHOD OF TREATING THE NAVEL-STRING AFTER
EXTRACTION.

As soon as the calf has been properly cleaned by the
mother licking it, the navel-string should be examined, and
if it bleeds, a ligature can be passed round it, about two or
three inches from the belly. Secure it fast, and then clip
it off with a pair of scissors a little below the tied part.
Sometimes, fom- or five days after birth, swelling, attended
with inflammation of the navel, takes place; when hot
fomentations must be frequently applied, and if the tumour
points, it may be opened with a lancet; and an ounce of castor
oil in a wine-glassful of port wine will assist treatment.
Sometimes bleeding occurs fi-om the navel itself, caused by
the removal of the entire length of the cord, by the cow
biting it off, or as the result of accident. In this case the lips
of the wound can be brought together with a large pin; or
sometimes a pledget of wool inserted in wounds and confined
there by means of a bandage, will arrest the haemorrhage.
Haemorrhages of this kind often cause great prostration, and
the subject of them will derive benefit from the daily ad-
ministration of the following: —

Disniphate of quinine, 6 grain*.

Port wine, a wine-glassfbL

24

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

HOOSE IN CALVES.

This disease most commonly attacks calves during the
drst year, and generally seizes them while at grass in the
summer. In some dry summers it has carried off large num-
bers. The symptoms are a dry, distressing cough, caused
by the presence in the trachea (wind-pipe) of numerous
small worms (the Filaria hroncMalis) , sometimes collected
together in a bunch, surrounded with mucus, or dispersed
in the smaller branches of the bronchial tubes. This malady
causes the subject of it to breatlie laboriously and rapidly
waste in condition, and if prompt remedies be not applied,
death supervenes in a few days.

Treatment. — Administer an ounce thrice daily of the fol-
lowing:—

Linseed oil. .6 onncea,

Turpentine, 4 ounces.

I have found marked benefit derived from inhalation of
chlorine gas; it must be administered cautiously. All ani-
mals affected should be placed in a loose box, in which all
windows and apertures must be closed; and in such building
several plates, each containing chloride of lime, should be
distributed. The lime must be well saturated with water,
when a small quantity of sulphuric acid can be poured over
it, and the chlorine gas will be eliminated, when the patients
will breathe this atmosphere impregnated with the gas, which,
in passing to the lungs, will come in contact with the parasites,
and cause their death and ultimate expulsion. Repeat the
inhalations every other day. Should the above treatment
succeed, and the animals be left emaciated, of course nutritious
food will do much in obtaining good condition; but it can
be judiciously supplemented by administering daily ten grain
doses of the disulphate of quinine in half a pint of warm ale.
Clater writes — " In many instances where this complaint has
baffled the power of other medicines, tlie disease has instantly
given way on their taking one tablespoonful of spirits of
turpentine, without mixing it with anything. It may be
repeated every third day for three times."

DIARRHOEA, OR DYSENTERY,

This is a disease to which young calves are very subject,
at the age of from two to six weeks, and is chiefly brought
on by change of diet, or by scarcely allowing these young
creatures that subsistence which nature requires at so early
an age, and for want of which great numbers die. The milk
of the mother may not agree with the calf; it may be too
poor, when acidity in it is likely to occur, and to irritate
the mucous membranes, particularly of the fourtli stomach;
or it may be too rich, and act in too stimulating a manner,
and thus derange the digestive functions. The time of
changing the diet demands much caution; and if the calf
is to be fed by hand for the first fortnight, it should
be fed on the milk direct from the cow, and afterwards it
may be mixed with older milk; but in no case must it be

in the least degree acid, and a little porridge may be intro-
duced. The symptoms are great weakness, loathing of food,
a continual purging; everything it takes seems to turn acid,
and coagidates on the stomach. Towards the last stage ol
the disease the stools become bloody and foetid, and large
portions of the defensive mucus of the intestines is mixed
with them; after which mortification sets in, which terminates
in death.

Treatment. — Administer with a wine-glassful of port wine —

Castx>r oil. .... I ounce,

Tincture of opium half a drachm.

In cases of long standing there is always a continual motion
to dung, called tenesmus. The pain in this case appears to
be limited to the rectum, and may be removed by the ad-
ministration of warm water clysters. Administer also daily
a teaspoonful of tincture of opium and half a drachm of
carbonate of soda in the same quantity of port wine as above
directed. The calf also should be drenched with starch and
thick gruel.

COSTIVENESS IN CALVES.

The costive habit of some calves may take place at the
age of three or four days, and this occurs generally from the
mother's first milk, commonly called "beestings," having
been denied the calf by previous milking. The prompt
administration of the following usually relaxes the bowels —

Castor oil, 2 ounces,

Ginger, in powder, 1 scruple,

in half a pint of thin gruel, milk-warm.

Sometimes this disease occurs from over-feeding ; the calf
having been allowed to lie by the side of its mother in
a stall and take milk at its pleasure. This practice it.
good if the calf be allowed to follow its mother about the
pasture, for then exercise is necessitated, which assists
digestion; and in this case the young can be allowed with
impunity to take milk when it pleases, as it is only obeying
a natural law. But in the former instance no exercise can
be taken; the calf sucks, gets too full, and lies down. This
is repeated time after time, until the digestive powers are
overtaxed, and the fourth stomach becomes filled with
hardened curd, and a stoppage to the passage of the ingesta
is present. At other times, again, change of milk, especially
that of a foster-mother, will derange the secretions, and then
similar constipation supervenes.

Treatment. — Administer daily —

Epsom salts, 2 ounces.

Liquor ammonise, 4 drops,

in tt pint of warm water.

Calves are subject to this malady when first introduced
to dry feeding — viz., upon hay, &c., say, at about eight or
ten weeks old. This food becomes impacted, not in the fourth,
as above noticed, but in the third stomach, before this organ
has derived sufficient power to grind down the hard and
fibrous portions of food. This disease is indicated by cessatioc

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AMD PIGS.

Z6

of rumination, enlargement of the abdomen, and persistent
constipation.

Treatment. — Administer daily —

Barbadoes aloea, 2 drachmt,

Castor oil, 1 oanc«,

in a pint of warni ale.

After recovery, feed upon oatmeal and bran mashes, and
allow plenty of good water.

PCI80NS.

Poisons may be considered under two heads — external and
internal. A poison is defined to be " any substance which,
when applied externally or internally to the animal system,
is capable of destroying life." Poisons have differents eflfects
upon the system, according to the parts they are brought in
contact with. For instance, if injected into the veins, they
rapidly destroy life; and if absorbed into the stomach or
intestines, or exhibited to the serous and mucous membranes
in a fluid or gaseous form, they are sure to produce death.
Their action, however, is not so rapid when applied to the
skin, as the power of cutaneous absorption is not so great
as that of the mucous membranes. There are also poisons,
as that of the viper, which, if applied to a wounded surface,
prove fatal, but are quite innocuous when taken into the
mouth, the stomach, or intestines.

" The action of poisons may be considered as local and
remote. The local effects are of three kinds, viz., corrosion,
or chemical decomposition, as is seen in the effects of strong
mineral acids and alkalies ; irritation, or inflammation, vary-
ing from simple redness in its mildest to ulceration and
gangrene in its most severe degree; and a sympathetic effect
produced on the sentient extremities of the nerves, as is felt
on the local application of prussic acid, &c.

" The remote effects are those affecting an organ remote
from the part to which the poison has been applied. Various
narcotic poisons produce but little local change, though their
remote effects are very remarkable. Many substances have
both a local and remote action, as is well seen in the influence
of cantharides upon the part to which they are applied, and
their remote effect upon the urinary organs.

"Medium by which the remote effects are conveyed: — This
is by one of two modes, or, as some contend, by both; by
absorption, i.e., by the passage of poisonous particles into the
blood, or by sympathy, i.e., by an impression transmitted
through the nerves." — " Memoranda on Poisons." T. H.
Tanner, M.D.

Much evidence could be adduced proving absorption to be
the most potent agent in transmitting poison through the
system, i.e., in conveying its influence to remote parts; for
instance, prussic acid has been discovered in the blood of an
animal which died in thirty-five seconds after administration,
and prussiate of potash was evacuated in the urine within one
minute of its being swallowed on an empty stomach. As
absorption, therefore, is so rapid, it is somewhat difficult to

explain how poisons do act by sympathy ; the only argument in
its favour that has ever been adduced being the rapidity with
which death ensues after the administration of some poisons.
It has been shown above how rapidly absorption takes place,
so rapid, indeed, as to render it almost impossible to deter-
mine whether an animal has been destroyed by the action oi
poison, through the medium of absorption or sympathy ; fer-
rocyanide of potassium was injected into the jugular vein of a
horse, and was discovered in the vein on the other side of the
neck in nineteen seconds. And other experiments showing
the rapidity with which poisons are absorbed could be cited,
showing how quickly poisonous agents destroy life.

Poisons which injuriously affect the well-being of animal
life may be divided into two classes, viz., vegetable and
mineral. The former more commonly find their way into the
stomachs of the ox tribe; the latter also, as in the case oi
lead-poisoning, mentioned under " Colic," and when exhibited
for malicious purposes, produce death among cattle. In all
cases of poisoning it is good practice to effect the discharge of
the offending agent from the system, which is obtained by the
stomach pump or purgatives, or both, and by emetics. The
last-named agents wiU not answer our purpose in cattle prac-
tice, although useful in the treatment of carnivorous animals.
In a case of suspected poisoning, antidotes, if the nature of
the poison be somewhat accurately ascertained, can be admin-
istered in order to counteract the action of the supposed poison.
In cases of corrosive and irritant poisoning, linseed meal,
mingled with wheat-flour, as a thin gruel, can be given to
sheath the mucous membranes of the alimentary canal, and
immediately afterwards administer the following dose : —

Linseed oil, 1 pint,

Nitre, 1 ounce,

Carbonate of ammonia, 2 drachma,

in a pint of strong ale.

To describe the action of various poisons, and the antidotes
capable of counteracting their effects, would fill a volume, and
would, when detailed, be little understood by " every " stock-
owner. In cases of poisoning it is always wise to send for a
scientific veterinarian, who can detect symptoms, and with the
aid of a toxicologist, i.e., if not one himself, can suggest reme-
dies, or prescribe antidotes.

The Bite of Venotnous Reptiles. — In this country we have
but few poisonous reptiles compared with those found in
warmer climates, where they often prove fatal to man and
beast.

The viper and adder are most common in this country, and
the bite of these reptiles is often attended with dangerous
consequences. Neat cattle are more liable to be stung by
these reptUes than any other of the domestic animals. Some
instances have been known where the tongue of the beast
has been stung while grazing. Adders seldom attack cattle,
except the latter disturb them when grazing ; this is the chief
reason why so many of them are bitten about the head, and

d

IQ

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

Bometimes about the feet. The stings of the hornet, wasp, or
bee, are attended also with considerable pain and inflam-
mation, and require similar treatment to the former. The
following liniment Clater, informs us, he has found to be a
powerful remedy in checking the progress of the poison, and
in expelling it from the part efiected, viz.: — Take olive oil,
hsif a pint; strong spirits of hartshorn, four ounces; opodeldoc,
six ounces; spirits of turpentine and tincture of opium, of each
four ounces. Put them altogether in a bottle, and shake them
well every time they are used.

The above prescription is given in extenso, as it contains
medicinal compounds (viz., opium and olive oil) which we have
applied since we were children to " stings," but more especially
because Clater prescribes spirits of hartshorn, or liquor am-
monia;, which is said lately to have counteracted the effects of
snake-poison. An Australian physician informs us that, on
two or three occasions, he has injected into the wound caused
by a snake-bite three or four drops of liquor ammonise, and
that it has acted as an antidote to the poison; others also
bear testimony to the truth of this assertion. If future appli-
cations prove its efficacy, of course a very valuable antidote
to the poisonous effects of venomous bites inflicted by reptiles
has been discovered. Hot and fi'equent fomentations to the
affected part will also assist the above treatment.

THE CATTLE PLAGUE

or Kinderpest, is a malady that has defied almost every treat-
ment, and during its visit to our shores in 1865-66, the
pole-axe alone prevented its ravages. The rinderpest is
seldom absent from the steppes of Russia, and is said to spon-
taneously originate there — a statement which demands more
investigation, until this assertion can be received as a fact.
When once this disease makes its appearance in a district,
experience has proved that few cattle escape its infection, or
are able to resist its fatal termination ; consequently, this
malady acts heavily as a pecuniary subtracting influence to
the wealth of stock-owners. The opinions of many eminent
physicians and veterinarians will be detailed in the following
article, particularly because, during the outbreak in this
country in 1865-66, it became law, that when the disease
appeared, immediate slaughter was to take place.

The materies morbi, like other allied maladies, lies dormant
in the system for several days — about nine ; and during this
period the animal does not manifest sjmiptoms of ill-health.
The disease is first recognized by a slight cold, ushered in with
shivering fits and with spasmodic twitchings of the muscles,
especially of the shoulders ; the coat stares, the back is arched,
the appetite fails, and the patient ceases to ruminate ; as the
disease progresses the extremities grow cold, and pulse rises
to ninety The above symptoms, by themselves, would not
give sufficient evidence of rinderpest were they not followed
with others, viz., a discharge from both nostrils, consisting of
mucus mixed with flocculi of lymph, soreness of throat asso-
ciated with a distressing and husky cough ; the countenance
also gives evidence of pain ; the vessels of the eye-balls become

red and swollen, and discharge, mixed with blood and pus
(matter), escapes from their inner angles; the bowels are at
first constipated, but afterwards violent diarrhoea sets in ; the
stools at the same time being very offensive are mixed with a
jelly-looking substance, composed of mucus, flocculi of lymph,
and blood, and, in some instances, of smaU detached pieces of
the inner lining of the intestines ; the animal's strength now
rapidly fails, the twitchings of the muscles subside, and within
the areolar tissue of the same, emphysema occurs, caused by
the gas eliminated from the decomposing blood, and death
terminates all suffering.

It will, perhaps, be remembered that in December, 1865,
Dr. Murchison wrote a letter to the Lancet, in which he
asserted that the cattle plague and small-pox were similar
diseases ; to this statement many subscribed. Soon after Dr.
Murchison's letter came to my notice experiments were
immediately instituted, in 1866. Dr. Murchison argued, if
smaU-pox and cattle plague are identical diseases, then the
vaccination of healthy stock will prevent in them the occurrence
of rinderpest. Dr. Murchison, in his examination of cattle
the subjects of cattle plague, discovered in some instances
" circumscribed circular flattened vesicles, some as large as a
threepenny piece, on the udders of cows that had died of the
plague, resembling in every respect the vesicles of cow-pox."
This state of the malady was, of course, sometimes presented,
but was in my experience a very unususal pathological state ;
that is to say, during the examination of some two thousand
subjects of rinderpest, I only found three cases with vesicles
on any part of their bodies ; but as Dr. Murchison's is one of
the valuable contributions to medical literature, it is repro-
duced in extenso.

" On the points of resemblance between Cattle Plague and
Small-pox, by C. Murchison, M.D., F.R.C.P.

"The main anatomical characters of the disease are catarrhal
or croupal inflammation of the lining membranes of the digest-
ive canal and of the respiratory passages, and, in fact, of all
the mucous membranes; an unusually dark colour of the blood;
ecchymoses or haemorrhages in various parts — such as beneath
the skin and into its substance, beneath the mucous and serous
membranes of the third and fourth stomachs and bowels, and
beneath the endocardium; an aphthous condition of the mouth,
nostrils, and vulva; the exhalation of a peculiar offensive odour
from the whole body, but especially from the abdomen; and
an unusual proneness to decomposition..

"In my former communication, it was shown that the dog-
matic assertion that rinderpest was the precise pathological
equivalent of human typhoid or enteric fever, was devoid of
foundation. So far as I know, this opinion has been confirmed
by every subsequent observer who has dissected the diseased
cattle for himself, and published the results of his investiga-
tions. All agree in stating that the essential lesions of human
typhoid fever are abeent. A grave pathological error has thus
been corrected.

" Typhoid fever, however, is not the only human malady to
which cattle plague has been thought to be intimately related.

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

27

By different writers rinderpest has been compared to contagious
typhus, scarlet fever, erysipelas, influenza, and dysentery. A
careful study of the subject has satisfied me, that all these
affections are entirely distinct. It is not my present object to
enter in detail into the points of distinction between rinder-
pest and the several diseases now mentioned. This I have
done in a report which I have been requested to prepare for
the royal commission * On the Relation of the Cattle Plague
to Human Diseases.' In the meantime, I desire to impress
more particularly on the profession, that there is one human
disease which, as regards its relations to rinderpest, cannot be
dismissed so lightly. If this disease be proved to be the same
as rinderpest, not only will the benefits to pathological science
be enormous, but a certain means of preventing the cattle
plague will be placed within our power. The disease 1 allude
to is small-pox.

" The resemblance of rinderpest to small-pox is no new dis-
covery, although latterly it has been lost sight of. Upwards
of 150 years ago, Ramazzini, in his admirable account of the
cattle plague which pervaded Italy in 1711, enumerated among
the symptoms ' pustulae quinta vel sexta die per totum corpus
erumpentes, ac tubercula variolarum speciem referentia.'*
Lancisi likewise, in his description of the same outbreak, ob-
served, 'Semper autem phlogoses, pustulae, et ulcera linguam
et fauces summo cum ardore obsidebant.'f

" The physicians who described the outbreak of cattle plague
in Britain in the middle of last century, constantly refer to the
pustular eruption. Dr. Mortimer describes " scabby eruptions in
the groins and axillae which itch much ; for a cow will stand still,
hold out her leg, and show signs of g^eat pleasure when a man
scratches these pustules or scabs for her."} Dr. Brocklesby
remarks : " Frequently we may observe pustules break out
on the fifth or sixth day, all over the neck and fore parts.§
And lastly, in 1758, Dr. Layard writes thus : " Whoever will
compare the appearances, progress, and fatality of the small-
pox with what is remarked by authors of authority, as
Ramazzini, Lancisi, and other observers, relative to the
contagious distemper among horned cattle, will not be at a loss
one moment to determine whether this disease be an eruptive
fever like unto the small-pox, or not."|| The outbreak of
cattle plague here refen-ed to commenced in England in 1745,
and is generally said to have died out at the end of twelve years,
or about 1757, and not to have reappeared until the summer
of 1865. But in 1769 the disease was again so prevalent
and fatal that it was referred to by his Majesty George III.,
in his speech at the opening of Parliament in January, 1770,
as a great national calamity. It is a most remarkable fact,
that this last outbreak has been alluded to by most subsequent
writers as an undoubted epizootic of variola, and that Layard,
who described both this outbreak and the preceding one in
the Philosophical Transactions, regarded thera as identi-

• Opera Omnia, Genevse, 1716, p. 787.

t De Bovilla Peste, Romse, 1716, p. 155.

I Philosophical Transactiona, 1746, vol. xliii. p. 564.

J Essay on the Mortality among the Homed Cattle, London, 1746, p. 88.

I FbiloBophical Transactions, 1768, vol. 1. p. 631.

cal, recommended and practised inoculation in both, and in
support of his opinion quoted the following passage from a
letter addessed to him by Vicq d'Azyr, a great French
authority on Epizootics : ' II me parait comme S. vous que
c'est toujours la mSme raaladie qui a regnfe depuis 1711 ; et
qu'elle a des grands rapports avec I'eruption varioleuse."'
It is generally believed that it was the remains of this violent
epizootic that Dr. Jenner found in Gloucestershire, which,
being communicated to the milkers, rendered them insuscept-
ible of small-pox. With these and many like observationa
on record, it is surprising that the cutaneous eruption shotdd
have been so long overlooked in the present epizootic.

" Early in the month of September I was struck with the
occasional presence of circumscribed circular flattened vesicles,
some of them as large as a threepenny piece, on the udders
of cows that had died of the plague, resembling in every
respect the vesicles of cow-pox. In one specimen which
Professor Gamgee had the kindness to show me, this resem-
blance was most striking. Further observation has satis-
fied me that these large well-developed vesicles are only
present in a few cases, but that in almost every case, and
probably in all where death has not occurred within the first
three days of the disease, there is a papular or pustular
eruption on the skin, closely resembling the eruption of
small-pox. This eruption is not confined to any particular
part of the integuments, but is most abundant on the back
of the neck and shoulders, in the neighbourhood of the mouthy
on the udder and scrotum, and on the skin surrounding the
anus and the entrance to the vagina. A minute description
of this eruption is contained in my official report. At
present it will suffice to state that it appears to consist, in the
first instance, of minute pimples or elevations, which become
softened at their summits into pustules. These speedily dry
up, and form a scab, on detaching which the subjacent cutis
appears raw or supei-ficially ulcerated. Petechise are not
unfrequently interspersed through the eruption. This erup-
tion accounts for the spots and stains observed in the tanned
hides of cattle that have died of the plague.

" But the cutaneous eruption is not the only character in
which rinderpest resembles small-pox. Its close resemblance^
if not still more intimate relation to human variola, is borne
out by the following considerations : —

" 1. Small-pox is the only acute contagious exanthem in
man that assumes a pustular form. The eruption in rinder-
pest is also pustular. Any difference between the two eruptions
may readily be accounted for by differences in the skin of men
and cattle. In both cases, the eruption extends from the
skin to the interior of the mouth and nostrils ; and in both
the pustules are often interspersed with petechiae. iloreover,
in certain cases of rinderpest, the eruption on the udder
assumes the form of large flattened vesicles, indistinguishable
from those of ordinary cow-pox.

" 2. The other prominent symptoms of rinderpest are also
those of small-pox — viz., pyrexia, lumbar pain, running from

* Philosophical Transactions, 1780, ToL Ixx., p. (48.

28

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

the nostrils, alvine flux, albuminuria and haematuria, and the
' typhoid state.'

"3. The anatomical lesions of the two diseases are identical
— viz., inflammation of the mucous membranes of the air-
passages and digestive canal, dark-coloured blood, ecchymoses,
and a pustular eruption with petechias on the skin. This
will be apparent on comparing the post-mortem appearances
of human variola as detailed by Dr. Copland,* with those of
rinderpest described by me in The Lancet of August 26.

"4. In both diseases a peculiar offensive odour is exhaled
from the body, both before and after death.

" 5. In both the duration of the pyrexial stage is about
seven or eight days.

" 6. The two diseases resemble one another in their extreme
coatagiousness, and in the facility with which the poison is
transmitted by fomites.

" 7. Both diseases can be propagated by inoculation. This
can be said with certainty of no other human malady than
small-pox.

"8. In both diseases there is a period of incubation, which
is shorter when the poison has been introduced by inoculation,
than when it has been received by infection.

"9. Vaccinated persons are constantly exposed to small-pox
poison with impunity; and with regard to rinderpest, there
are numerous instances in which individual cattle, or entire
herds, appear to have led charmed lives in the midst of sur-
rounding pestilence. This last fact has never been explained;
but the immunity of the cattle in question would be readily
accounted for on the supposition .that they had previously
suffered from ordinary cow-pox.

" 10. It is a mistake to imagine that variolse vaccina is of
necessity a mild disease. Under ordinary circumstances it
undoubtedly is so. But there are many epizootics of cow-pox
on record f where the disease was of a malignant character,
and destroyed the cattle almost as extensively as small-pox
did the human race.

"11. It has been repeatedly stated of late years that
ordinary cow-pox had become so rare, that it was difficult to
obtain lymph direct from the cow for the purpose of human
vaccination. As a natural consequence, the majority of the
cattle in these kingdoms are unprotected from the invasion of
the disease in a more severe form.

" 12. Although it may be objected to the view that
rinderpest is simply small-pox in the ox, that there is no
proof that the diseased animals have communicated smaU-pox
to the human subject, and that in fact human small-pox is
far less prevalent in Britain than it was a few years ago
when there was no rinderpest, yet it is well known that there
is often a difficulty in transmitting small-pox from one species
of animal to another, and that when transmitted the disease
is modified, although essentially the same. The rinderpest

• CopUnd's Dictionury of Practical Msdicine, toL iiL p. 821.

t 8*6, for examples, " Report of the Section of the Provincial Medical and Surgical
Association appointed to inqnin into the present state of Vaccination," read at Liver-
pool, JtUy 25, 1889

itself, notwithstanding the assertions to the contrary made
when it first appeared among us, is transmissible to sheep,
goats, and deer ; yet there is more difficulty in communicat-
ing it to these animals than from cow to cow. The difficulty
ought to be still greater in communicating it to the human
species, than to animals so closely allied to cattle as sheep,
&c. Evidence, however, of the transmission of rinderpest
to the human subject is not altogether wanting. Through
the kindness of Dr. Quain, I had recently an opportunity
of seeing a man who had accidentally inoculated the back o*
his hand about ten days before, with matter from the hide of
a cow which had died of rinderpest. The result was a large
vesicle surrounded by a red areola, indistinguishable from a
vaccine pock on the ninth day. A surgeon in the country,
who had seen the man and sent him up to town, had no
hesitation in pronouncing the disease to be cow-pox ; and I
understand that this opinion has since been confirmed by no
less an authority than Mr. Ceely of Aylesbury. Moreover,
the general, as well as the local symptoms in this man, were
those of cow-pox. For a few days he suffered from a con-
siderable fever, headache, and pain in the back. He had
previously been vaccinated, but the protective power of the
former vaccination had probably become exhausted. Although
this is the only instance of the sort that has fallen under my
notice, I have reason to believe that it is not a solitary one.
It is to be borne in mind, however, that most of the inhabit-
ants of this country are protected from small-pox by vaccina-
tion during infancy, and thus possibly may also be protected
from rinderpest.

" These considerations may not be sufficient to establish
absolutely the pathological identity of rinderpest and variola,
but they unquestionably point to a very close analogy
between them. The object of this communication, however,
is not to insist that the two diseases are pathological equiva-
lents, but to enlist the assistance of the medical profession in
clearing up the matter. The mode of procedure is obvious
and sufficiently simple. It is to produce cow-pox in cattle
by inoculating them, on the one hand, with vaccine lymph,
and on the other with the matter of human variola; and after-
wards to ascertain if they be proof against the prevalent
plague, or if the course of the rinderpest be thereby modified.
If the results of these experiments turn out as I think there is
reason to anticipate, the vexed question of the pathological
nature of rinderpest will be finally settled, and mankind will
be fiimished with a certain remedy for arresting its ravages."

The Post Mortem Appearances. — The mucous membranes
from the mouth to the anus, of which sometimes prolapsus
exists, exhibit signs of intense inflammation, as also do the
respiratory passages. Ecchymoses and haemorrhages also occur
beneath the serous and mucous membranes of the third and
fourth stomachs, and ulceration of the fourth stomach and
intestines is usually a post mortem manifestation. In the
third stomach also the food is dry and hard; and the folds of
this stomach soon after death can be rubbed into powder be-
tween the finger and thumb.

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

29

It is difficult to prescribe treatment. The pharmacopoeia
has been ransacked for drugs, and almost every treatment has
been adopted, both the depletive, with the lancet, and purgative;
and the opposite, with its stimulant, its tonic, and gruel.
One system, viz., that of giving small doses of sulphuric acid
and water, seems to have answered better than any other;
and reports from continental authorities, especially the Dutch,
state they have always placed the greatest reliance on mineral
tonics, and have found them more beneficial than anything,
cases being cured at the rate of 45 per cent. To my know-
ledge, certain cases that were treated with mineral acids
recovered ; but whether the recovery resulted from the
use of the above medicine, or from the "vis medicatrix
naturae," I shall not venture to affirm ; but the author of the
"Principles of Organic Life," with whom I have often talked
the matter over, is very sanguine that the system advocated
by him, in his article on the remedies used for rinderpest,
would cure, not 45, but 90 per cent. ; and for this reason his
article is here transcribed : —

"I will now speak of inflammation, in which I include all
cases of inflammatory actions, whatever character they may
assume, but which produce in the system more or less a
febrile tendency ; also, all cases where sudden damages are to
be repaired, or reconstruction carried on.

"Inflammatory actions never exist without destroying the
balance of the inorganic and organic fluid elements in the
system. In fact, as heat and thirst prevail there must
evidently be a drought ; this drought therefore shows that
the natural inorganic fluids of the body are below par. The
organic elements may remain in the same proportion, but the
inorganic are considerably lessened. The very first natural
acts shown in these states are conservative, in order to get
these elements again. Thus, perspiration ceases, urinary
secretions are lessened, and constipation of the colon ensues.
No amount of foreign fluid taken into the system can possibly
supply what it now requires. Therefore, the conclusion must
necessarily arise that nature herself is unable to make up the
quantity for the due lubrication of her machinery, or to support
the chemico-vital principles of life. It is evident that the
three great conservative actions mentioned above are known
to all medical authorities, including also the veterinary.
Because, directly they occur, they all exclaim, 'Get a secre-
tion on the skin 1 Get the kidneys and bowels to act 1 '
The more these unnatural acts are pursued by equally
unnatural means, the farther off is the wished-for result. To
say that these make matters worse, is the mildest expression
that can be used. From the disappointment often experienced
in trying to eff'ect these objects, the great wonder has appeared
to me that the physiology of nature has not been more deeply
studied.

" There have existed in every generation of men practising
medicine keen observers, who have said, 'Do not give aperients
in fevers ;' yet they will give medicines which, in ordinary
circumstances, when inflammation does not exist, will pro-
duce renal actions and perspirations, but fail to do so when

inflammation is present. In our own day, men who have got
some credit for their works on fever have said, 'We seldom
see any benefit arising from cathartics in fever ; nay, we have
often seen great evils arise ; better then leave a little con-
stipation to »ome natural law — it seldom does an injury to
the system.' Again, 'Pneumonia is none the worse for having
allowed some conservancy of the bowels.' But inasmuch as
these are only opinions, backed up and supported by no law ;
other writers, equally esteemed, advocate aperients, and will
show cause for doing so by a number of cases where absolute
benefit is proved to have resulted by the proceeding, while in
a few they are candid enough to admit the reverse.

" This touches on my last section ; for it may so happen
that the fevers thus treated have been congestive, and could
stand this treatment to a certain extent ; while, on the other
hand, the authors who decry aperients may have had more
purely inflammatory ones. But inasmuch as neither party
knew the difference between the two, the dogmas of both
sects are seen to be only their opinions, totally unconnected
with any physiological law whatever. If, as physiologists
have said, the body depended upon the blood for all its
moisture, why does it not supply this now, in its utmost need,
when its organic elements remain the same, and even totally
unimpaired? Simply because the inorganic fluids are made
from totally different sources. Nature not being able to supply
fluid diluents to the organic reconstructing elements, she
retains in the system all those which she wants for these
purposes, but which the faculty try all they can to carry
away. This, forsooth, is called physiology, and the scientific
practice of medicine, when it is neither the one nor the other.

" Nothing shows the truth of these remarks more than the
dreadful pestilence called the rinderpest, which has lately,
with its 'scientific stamping out,' carried off millions of cattle,
and caused millions of money to be lost. I am in possession
of the Government report on this disease ; and a wonderful
production it is. It is a great lock, with the key lost, and
nobody seems able to pick it. Therefore, the rinderpest
must remain a mystery, and the Blue Book which records it
simply an oracle, which will answer no question or give any
sign. Now, I believe that the rinderpest is as capable of
being cured as the measles, if the oracle is only questioned in
the true spirit of physiology. We have all we want to enable
us to solve what is now a mystery ; but it must be done by
the greatest sacrifice, and that is nothing more nor less than
to throw overboard all our prejudices, all our dogmas, all
our false physiological theories. Can this be done ? We
have the disease now amongst our herds, and foreign herds
breed it still. Is it to remain in England as its habitat?
Is the pole-axe still to be the only safe nwdua medendif
Are we still to lose our cattle and their money value ; and is
every householder to be mulct in twopence a pound for all his
meat, because science is so helpless in this second half of
the nineteenth century? These are serious questions for the
community to have put to them ; and more serious, as well as
disgraceful to science, to be told it is powerless. All the

r

80

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

beautifully coloured pathological drawings of the Parliament-
ary Report leave nothing to be desired. The description of
the disease is perfect. What does it lack, then ? Only two
things — its true physiology and treatment. At present there
is nothing but what is either false in the one, or most
pernicious in the other; yet they are capable of being resolved
into the most marvellous simplicity.

"The physiology fully demonstrates the want of the inorganic
elements in the system ; and the treatment, the best means of
supplying these, and to assist nature to do so as well.

" The letter concluding this work ended with the year 1865.
In February, 1866, 1 received a letter from a surgeon in Shrop-
shire to the following effect: —

" February 25th, 1866.

" ' Dear Sir, — I much regret that you have discontinued your
most interesting and most valuable letters on physiology.
From the views which you have maintained on certain points,
it struck me, as soon as I saw the great outbreak of the
cattle plague, that you might break through the mystery
which surrounds it.

" ' All have tried their skill without any good results. Acting
upon your general physiology, designed only for human ail-
ments, I assisted a neighbour of mine six weeks ago in the
treatment of his cattle, which consisted in giving the sulphates.
The result has been most successful. My mode was to give
dilute sulphuric acid, two ounces ; sulphate of iron, three
quarters of an ounce ; sulphate of zinc, half a drachm.' (He
does not mention in what proportion of water, or how often
the dose was given.) * Then excessive purging came on,
sulphate of copper twelve grains, in a quart of water twice
a daj-. Barley, linseed, oatmeal, or rice gruel, to be the chief
article of diet. I have saved one in five ; whereas others'
treatment here has scarcely exceeded one in ten, or even
more. I wish to ask you whether you can suggest any better
treatment, that, according to your views, would be more
beneficial, as I have the disease a few yards from my house,
and have also two cows of my own at present free from the
disease. I may here remark, that from six post-mortems I
have seen, the contents of the first and third stomachs (rumen
and omasum) were as dry as dust. I may add, that brandy,
whisky, laudanum, chalk, &c., in any quantities, in my
experience are injurious, and that simply cold water is best.' "

" At the beginning of August, 1867, a friend of mine who
has often derived personal benefit from my principles in the
practice of medicine, as well as his horses and stock, was in
Bedfordshire. While there, he accidentally fell in with a dairy
farmer near Hutton. Speaking to him of his large stock and the
rinderpest, the farmer said he had no fear of the cattle plague,
for when it was most severe he bought cows at his own price,
and everybody thought he would be ruined; but he had heard
of a good thing for them, and he never allowed them anything
but acidulated drinks At first they did not seem to like
them, but afterwards preferred them; and the quantity of
sulphuric acid he used was enormous ; for it was cheap enough.

Directly he saw them lop their ears and their gums were red,
and they refused their food, he gave them drenches of it ; also
opium and chlorodyne, and so stopped all scouring and purging
immediately ; and in a few days they were all right, and he
never lost an animal. My friend asked him how he found
out all this ? ' Oh 1' he said, 'he heard it from somebody, and
wondered why others did not do the same.' Here, then, is a
proof of the singular benefit of the physiological treatment I
have laid down ; but whether this farmer got his knowledge
directly or indirectly from my betters on physiology, or from
other sources, I cannot say: I hope the latter, because others may
be engaged on these principles of treatment as well as myself.
" I may here add that I wrote a very long letter to my
Shropshire correspondent and several letters afterwards ; but
I never again heard from him, and can therefore give no
further account of his proceedings. To return to his post-
mortem cases. There is no way of accounting for the contents
of the first and third stomachs becoming as dry as dust, except
from the absence of naturally formed moistui-e; and I must
here say, that no amount of extraneous fluid would or could
have moistened them, for any time sufficient for natural uses.
The absence of power in the animals themselves to make their
own inorganic fluid elements, by the natural generation of
hydrogen from their own secretions and fasces, in order to
combine with the oxygen of the air taken in such large
quantities with their food and drink, was one most exciting
cause of this dry state of their aliment after certain processes
of digestion. The second, that no gases can exhale without
the presence of moisture ; and as the natural resisting gases
could not be formed in their bodies, the oxygen, as a sequitur,
finding no elements of combination, dried up the contents of
their stomachs. Attrition and friction, producing their due
amount of inflammatory actions, was the consequence "We
have only to see this fully and graphically described in the
Government report. What, then, does this bugbear the
rinderpest amount to? Simply this, that the self-supporting
action of the system is out of gear ; that the natural resistance
of the oxygen is taken away, or rather hydrogen in sufficient
quantities is not generated; therefore the animal, being un-
able to make the proper amount of inorganic fluids necessary
to life, a general and universal destruction of all tissues and
parts ensues. If an adult human being makes these inorganic
lubricating fluids to the extent of thirty pints in every twenty-
four hours, entirely independent of the blood and any fluid he
may drink, and uses them — how much more must animals
make ? Perhaps little short of one hundred ! I refer to the
fat obtained entirely in this way by inspissation of these
fluids; which, when deposited in its proper places, becomes
not only the natural oil can of their bodies, but the storehouse
of aqueous matter to be used — not by combustion, as our
present physiology teaches us, but simply by dissolution and
absorption. In the face of all the symptoms in this disease so
characteristic of rapid destruction, owing almost entirely to
the loss of inorganic elements, I shall quote from the Govern-
ment third report, which I shall now merely refer to, what

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

31

were the principal remedies administered for the disease: —
Vaccination ; inoculation from the humours of the diseased
animals; bleeding; injection of antiseptics into the veins;
injection by rectum of carbolic and cresylic acids ; sulphate
and bisulphate of soda ; inhaling the vapour of warm water
and vinegar The animals had given them, by the mouth,
brandy and opium in full doses; strong ale; hyposulphate,
sulphate, and disulphate of soda; common salt; water im-
pregnated with iron ; Worms' mixture of onions, garlic,
ginger powder, and assafcetida, to which cayenne pepper was
often added ; oil of turpentine ; carbonate of ammonia ; solu-
tion of acetate of ammonia and chloric ether; half-pound
doses of charcoal ; bichloride and chlorate of potash ; bark,
tinctures, and all kinds of diaphoretics ; linseed oil, in con-
stipation ; sulphate of magnesia, sulphur, and all their
aperients, such as saline laxatives, with diffusible stimulants.
Certain hygienic means and diet followed all these diflferent
treatments. Only now and then do I find by the merest
accident, and that evidently for the sake of experiment, that
the mineral acids were given. Again, although it was
constantly observed that diarrhoea, evidently from muco-
menbranous inflammation and irritation, always lowered
the animals, yet laxatives and aperients were nevertheless
given. I need scarcely add, what tlie Report is fully justified
in saying, that not only no good arose from any form of allo-
pathic treatment ; that little benefit was derived from the use
of drugs, but rather the greatest evil from them, every
symptom being aggravated ; and it could not well be other-
wise.

" To show that all treatment was founded only on supposition
and conjecture, a trial was set on foot between the three great
sects : the allopaths, the homoeopaths, and nature. One
hundred beasts were allotted to each. As a matter of course,
the natural sequence ensued between the two first, as to what
was, or what was not rinderpest. The animal quarrelled over
was then set aside for nature to determine ; and so something
was done to put an end to ' such unseemly disputes.' The
homoeopaths' treatment consisted of aconite ; ammonium
causticum and arsenicum ; belladona and phosphorus ; nux-
vomica; phosphorus and sulphur ; arsenicum and rhus ; Pulsa-
tilla; arsenite of iron ; mercurius corrosivus. These medicines
were sometimes given separately, and sometimes combined one
with the other, according to the fancy of the giver. Porter
entered into all their dietary. The treatment by this sect was
not more satisfactory than the other. Now for the Dutch
system of treatment. They have always placed the gi-eatest
reliance on the mineral tonics, and ' have found them more
beneficial than anything.' Muriatic acid in linseed tea ;
sulphuric acid, with quinine, gentian, ginger, ginger and
tormentilla, and other astringents and tonics, as natural
remedies; washing the eyes, mouth, nostrils, vagina, rec-
tum, &c., with solution of carbolic (phenic) acid, as well as
giving it internally as a prophylactic remedy. Preparations
of chlorine, for fumigating purposes, were found injurious, and
often affecting the lungs. Distillers' wash and stimulants

were found unsuccessful, and often hurtful. By this Dutch
method, we are informed, success at the rate of 45 per cent,
ensued. But nothing more than empiricism was mani-
fested in this treatment. They found it the ' most beneficial,'
and that is all they have to say on the subject. Neither
philosophy nor physiology of the disease, nor cause nor effect,
ever transpire. No reasons are given beyond the old, old
ones, of being found beneficial. I will now state what is done
in eastern Europe : —

" Odessa. — Vapour baths, nitre, linseed gruel, and gentian •
injections of tobacco water; bleeding; warm milk mixed with
garlic as drenches, which always failed, while repeated doses
of vinegar and cold water were of great service, when every
other remedy had failed. ' Hashha ' (or poppy-heads)
and ' huibia ' (or chicory) stopped flux and allayed pairi
In other cases, setons and mustard plasters are applied to
the chest ; the seton steeped every day in fresh turpentine.
' Burn all swellings with red-hot iron immediately they ap-
pear.' Four or five pounds of blood to be taken from
sanguine animals. A pint of infusion of linseed and olive
oil, as a drench, three times a day. When the disease aug-
ments, add enough sulphuric acid to extract of nux vomica
to the drinking water, to give a bitter taste. Half a drachm
of spii'its of ammonia in half a pint of water, three times a
day as a drench. Three ounces of glue dissolved in a pint of
tepid water will stop diarrhcea. This latter treatment iu
Southern Russia and Bessarabia has been found perfectly
efficacious, and caused the disease to disappear. At Jassy
they depend on acetate of ammonia, alternately with gentian,
quinine, and peppermint, every two hours during the
day. Black hellebore steeped in wine is given to the animal,
which is made to take active exercise immediately after-
wards, in order to cause sweating.

" At Ragusa. — Sulphur, mercury, and antimony are given,
and hypophosphate of soda. In all this treatment nothing
but usage appears to guide the administration of medicine,
like every other medical treatment, human or animal,
throughout the world; supposition and conjecture on the best
authorities, founded on hope, but neither physiology nor
philosophy entering into the question. Now, without these
the hope expressed in the report has small chance of fulfil-
ment, ' tliat the labours and views of so many minds brought
to bear upon the subject will go far beyond the cattle plague
itself, and point to the benefit of the human race for the pre-
vention of and cure of zymotic diseases.'

" This is just the point where fresh thought ought to come
in ; but it never will, while speculation is the sole act even of
the greatest experience. Disease, as a simple effect, is a myth ;
and instead of being treated specifically, as it has been, on what
is called the best authority — which is nothing more than the
opinion of certain men who in every age lead the whole com-
munity— the causes which produce it must be better under-
stood. So, when once philosophy and physiology go hand
in hand, those unseemly disputes so constant among our-
selves, as well as our theories and medical speculations on all

3i

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

medical subjects, will disappear, or will be resolved into the
one question of the best way of carrying out sound prin-
ciples.

" Let us find a germ in the rinderpest, which is only an
aggravated form of the rapid and sudden loss of inorganic
elements, leaving the organic as they were, and as they exist
when the inorganic are in their full integrity. Any impartial
reader will see if he has followed me from the commencement,
that the corrections by all the alkaline remedies are the best
when the inorganic elements are in excess, and the body in a
superfluous, or over-exuberant, or acid state ; that when given
they cause the highest state of combustion, and either lessen
or destroy them ; that caloric is produced, and rapid conver-
sion of the products formed from such treatment are again
acted upon by other elements ; and these again on freshly
developed secretions, until the whole system is relieved —
relieved because the organic elements are not interfered with
or lessened, but are ready in the body to come to the rescue,
and keep up the strength of all its general structures. It will
be found true that we can be almost heroic in our remedial
and prophylactic treatment of the inorganic elements, which
constitute 95 per cent, of the whole mass; but that we
must be cautious in what way we attack organic elements.
We must not tamper with these ; for they are only 5 per
cent., and we cannot replace them as we can their opposites.
The lamp of life may be represented by the oil and the wick,
the former by the inorganic, the latter by the organic elements;
80 that there may be plenty of oil and no wick, or plenty
of wick but no oil — in either case the lamp goes out. Now
the rinderpest, and all inflammatory fevers, choleras, and
most of the zymotic diseases, represent the lamp with
plenty of wick, but no oil. What will every one find, when
the alkalies are given in any form in all these inflammatory
diseases ? That things are made worse : for the few remaining
inorganic elements, which are the acid ones, are removed by
them. What when purgatives and cathartics are given? That
the hydrogens, the great resisters of the oxygen of the atmos-
phere, are carried away, leaving this latter gas to work
destruction, because it has no opposing element, and the system
is unable to form its own lubricating fluid. What when
bleeding is resorted to? That organic elements are being
robbed from the system ; so that if a beneficial change actually
took place, naturally or artificially, the bases of reconstruction
are cut away. What when counter-irritants are applied ?
Only putting animal life to greater misery ; because eruptions
are nature's legitimate counter-irritants in supervital states
and seldom or never come, certainly never in any form to
diminish natural powers, in inflammatory actions ; therefore,
aa nature does not point to their use, they should not be applied
artificially. What when the mercurials are used? Why,
nothing but a transfer of some inflammation firom one part to
another, causing only a temporary relief of the one for which
it has been given. What when alcoholic stimulants, such as
brandy, tinctures, and turpentine, are given ? That they in-
crease irritation on all present inflammatory surfaces, and

excite other parts which may yet be free from them to take
on these states. What when spices, peppers, and all similar
heating condiments, are administered? That they cause
greater irritations, and aggravate all the symptoms. What
when onions, garlic, and all these analogous bulbs, are used?
That they relax the mucous surfaces, and often promote
diarrhoea, as well as cause thir&t and absorb inorganic fluids.
What when diaphoretics and diuretics are given? That they
carry away the watery elements of the fat stores, wherever
these are deposited, when the object should be to retain them.
What when vaccination is performed? That doing this, on
the supposition that something exists which does not ; that
the disease is from some specific blood poison, when it is not,
and cannot be. What when inoculation is performed? That
the diseased elements, both inorganic and organic, will pro-
duce in the bodies of sound animals a similar inflammatory
state, which is most culpable; because, if any animal so having
the disease induced cannot be cured with any certainty — as
has been proved by the treatment of those who had it naturally
— it is only placing that animal in danger of its life, without
the slightest benefit likely to accrue. The administration of
charcoal cannot be of any service, because the animals are
already robbed of all elements which poison the system,
which are the inorganic in excess ; and therefore there is
nothing to be counteracted by this remedy. So much for the
allopathic remedies of the faculty and veterinary fraternity
in rinderpest.

" The homoeopathic remedies are more or less visionary
in their actions, and if administered homceopathically could
not possibly do either good or harm ; yet if given dishonestly
by them, that is, in similar doses which the allopaths would
use, some of them would be most injurious ; while those that
were beneficial carried no logical deductions with their admin-
istration. It would be certain that ammonium causticum,
and arsenicum and mercurius corrosivus, would go more
quickly to destroy life by aggravating the disease, and so
to save the use of the pole-axe, the knife, or the bullet.
Taking all these things into consideration, it will be clearly
seen that aU the foregoing remedies and measures went far
to aggravate the disease. On the other hand, what is
actually wanted is nothing more nor less than the restoration
of a balance of power of the inorganic elements; and this
object is only to be attained by the opiates in their crude
or aqueous, not in their alcoholic form, to arrest all secre-
tions, and the administration of the acids, which, in their
conversion into gaseous elements, help to make such resisting
ones, which the system always requires to oppose the action
of the oxygen. The Dutch and some others, as I have
shown, have fully established the empiricism of this treat-
ment; but science requires more than this: it wants to know
upon what principles it does good, both physiologically and
philosophically.

" I have proved for years, that in aU fevers and inflammatory
conditions of the mucous and serous membranes, opiates are
given for the express purpose of locking up the bowels, whicli

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

33

is done by detaining the natural secretions ; and that the
acids generate such gases as mix with and oppose the oxy-
gen, and furnish most rapidly the self-generated fluids, whose
duties are to assist the organic elements to repair and recon-
struct destroyed tissues. Having watched this in the human
family for many years, I cannot deny myself the pleasure I
felt in reading the following in * The Report of the Rinder-
pest,' p. 93, and which I can fully verify : —

" ^Rapidity of Repair in Diseased Ttasties. — It is very curi-
ous, considering the tendency there is to the formation of
sloughs, how rapidly parts heal, even during the progress
of the disease towards a fatal issue. In the abomasum,
shallow depressions have been seen in the mucous mem-
brane, which are manifestly the cicatrized or cicatrizing
excavations whence sloughs have recently separated. Again,
we find the edges of perforations of the folds of the omasum
cicatrized or healed, whilst sloughing is still in progress in
other parts of the folds. It is remarkable, too, how rapidly,
on the supervention of convalescence, the mouth and other
organs regain their original healthy condition.'

"All this is perfectly correct, as I can verify in thou-
sands of instances, and is constantly occurring in the colon
of the human being ; but this organ has been completely
ignored by the profession, except to purge it constantly
of its natural manure, or only to examine the faeces
coming from it ; and men think by doing so more assidu-

ously than others, that they ought to know its physiology,
while, nevertheless, all its true and noble duties are yet
to be discovered. The liver and many other organic
centres have had too much notice and importance, while
the colon and its uses, have been entirely overlooked. I
therefore conclude this section on the rinderpest, which has
only been incidental to greater conclusions, but is analogous
to many aS'ections to which the human frame is subject,
and which have been treated in precisely the same way,
and will be to the end of time, unless a physiology that will
serve us steps in to supersede one that does not. The con-
clusion, then, is obvious, that opiates, and mineral acids, and
tonics in such doses — mild at first when the disease first
shows itself, and bold when it advances — -in either man or
animals, are the only true prophylactic remedies, as they
restore the balance of power and the principles of life. And
I here repeat, that as there are very many diseases, such
as fevers, &c., showing similar symptoms, it will not do
to treat them all in the same way, simply because their
causes may be distinctively different : one set, where the
inorganic elements are in excess, requiring the alkalies; and
another, where they are deficient, requiring the acids and
opiates. They are easily distinguished, and when once known
their treatment becomes exceedingly simple, as well as effi-
cacious and scientific. — " Principles of Organic T.ife." R.
Hardwicke, 192 Piccadillv.

DISEASES INCIDENT TO SHEEP.

THE LAMBING SEASON.

One hundred and fifty-two days after intercourse with the
ram tne ewes commence lambing, which generally is so
arranged that they shall bring forth their young towards
the latter end of February or beginning of March. About
a month or six weeks previously to this period such ewes
as are in bad condition should be supplied with plenty of
food, in order that nature may provide for her offspring at
the appointed time ; but it is always better to feed ewes
during their pregnancy on moderately good pastures. Ewes,
if half starved at the time of parturition, are often sick, but
many, on the other hand, die of inflammation, as the result
of being overfed with too stimulating food ; and often lambs
have been destroyed from sucking overrich milk. A medium
course, therefore, should be adopted, in feeding moderately
during the period of pregnancy. f*reviously to the lambing
season a fold-yard suitable for the purpose should be pro-
vided, arranged in such a manner as to afford protection

from the north-easterly wind, with a suitable shed, close
by a shepherd's house, in which all the necessary conveniences
for assisting the parturient ewes should exist. Thus the
shepherd will be better able to attend them during the
night, to give assistance if required, and to take proper
care of them. By the adoption of these simple precautions
many lives, both among the ewes and lambs, will be
saved. After the birth of the first lamb the attention
of the shepherd must be directed to the remainder of the
flock ; each ewe should be carefully observed Interfer-
ence with those in labour is fraught with evil, unless the
ewe has remained in such a state for twenty or more hours,
and her strength is beginning to faQ; then the necessity of
immediate aid is indicated. This last case usually is brought
about by a false presentation, of what kind must be left
for the attendant to discover, who must use the same
means as directed for cows at page 17 ; but of course, ewes
are timid and much smaller animals, consequently require
very tender usage, and will not bear the introduction of

34

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

instruments similarly as the cow. In cases of dead lambs
the foetus must be extracted with the hand, if possible — if
not, with an instrument made for this purpose. Medicine
is little required for ewes after lambing, although the placenta
(cleansing) may not become detached for a day or two; some-
times, however, to check febrile symptoms, the following may
be administered in their gruel : —

Epsom salts 2 ounces,

Ginger in powder, . . 1 drachm.

ON THE DISEASES OF YOUNG LAMBS.

Young lambs are liable to a variety of different diseases,
either from insuflScient support, or from a redundancy of milk
on the part of the ewe. If they proceed from the former
support must be given them, either by allowing them to
suck other ewes, or by giving them cow's milk : when the
ewe has too much milk it is apt to coagulate in the stomach
of the lambs, and causes constipation, by which the best of
them are frequently carried off'.* At other times the acid
produced from the coagulated milk in the stomach brings on
diarrhoea, which, if not put a stop to in a short time, will
cause the death of many lambs.

Treatme7it. — Administer in a pint of warm gruel —

yastor oil, 1 table-spoonfol.

Ginger in powder, 1 drachm.

Coarse sugar, 1 table'Spoonfol.

This drink may be repeated once a day for two or three
times, imtil a proper passage is obtained. The quantity of
castor oil may be increased or diminished, according to the
size and strength of the lamb. A strong lamb, six weeks
or two months old, will require one table-spoonful and a
half ; but if only two or three days old, half a table-spoonful
will suffice. If the disease be permitted to continue for some
time, and no means to give relief be attempted, the diar-
rhoea increases, and the stools are attended with a copious
dejection of mucus from the intestines, and the young animal
pines away. After the bowels have been properly evacuated
with the above purgative drink, if the diarrhoea still con-
tinues, twenty drops daily of tincture of opium in starch
and oatmeal can be given, which often succeeds in effecting
a cure.

RED WATER.

This disease is of an inflammatory nature, and prevails
chiefly at the end of the year or during the winter, among
sheep feeding upon turnips or succulent grasses. Clater
writes: — "In the neighbourhood of Retford, 1812, this disease
has been common for several years past ; it seldom misses
a season ; it makes its appearance amongst some of the
numerous flocks that feed on vegetables of those kinds, and
for the most part attacks those sheep which are in best
condition ; and if no relief can be obtained they generally
die in the space of twenty-four hours, or less." Sometimes

* Administer every six hoors, until relief be afforded, half ounce doses of Epsom
eolts, and afterwards turn the ewes and lambs into a succulent pasture.

a change of pasture, from a dry to a moist and cold one,
will produce this malady, and prove as injurious as an
immediate change of food. This disease manifests itself
sometimes without giving any premonitory symptoms of its
coming : for instance, at night the flock may appear in good
health ; on the following morning several dead bodies may
be discovered lying in a natural position, with the exception
of protrusion of the head. At other times premonitory symp-
toms occur; the diseased sheep separate from the flock, stand
with protruded head, breathe with difficulty, and evidence
considerable dropsical enlargement of the abdomen, with fre-
quent watery stools, mixed with blood and mucus, giving
evidence of the true nature of the disease, " red water;" more
often, however, constipation is present. On opening such
sheep the disorder on examination has been found to proceed
from inflammation, either of the stomach, the intestines, kid-
neys, or neck of the bladder, associated with dropsy of the
abdomen ; and Clater says the intestines sometimes become
loaded with sand or gravel while feeding on turnips, by
which the inflammation is considerably increased. The last
post-mortem appearance I have never observed, and think
Clater must have mistaken this state for some systemic
disorganization. This malady is usually, in its last stages,
associated with peritoneal and hepatic inflammation, and
indicates a general break up of the organism.

Treatment consists in the removal of the flock to a dry
and warm ground, where turnips and succulent food must
be denied, and in its place oats and hay should be given.
The following medicine Clater has had an opportunity of
trying on a large scale, sometimes on five or six hundred
sheep, belonging to one man, in the course of the day: —

Epsom salts, 6 ounces,

Nitre, 4 ounces,

Boiling water, 8 pints.

Pour the water hot upon the salts, and when milk-warm
add —

Spirits of turpentine, 4 ounces,

Bole-anneric in powder, ^ ounce.

Mix and shake them well together. The dose is from three
to four table-spoonfuls.

When this medicine is intended to be given to a number of
sheep, they must be taken from the turnips, or whatever they
are feeding on, and put into a pen or fold- yard for two hours
before it is given ; then a small horn should be provided that
will just hold the proper quantity for each sheep. This method
of giving drinks to sheep will be found very advantageous
when many require it at one time. They must be kept from
food two hours after the medicine is given, either in a fold-
yard, or pen. The medicine should be repeated every other
day. The treatment the writer has prescribed on several
occasions, consists in the daily administration of —

Epsom salts, i ounce,

Disulphate of quinine, 3 grains,

Ginger in powder, ^ drachm,

in thin gruel, with a little starch added.

THE DISEASES OF OATTIiE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

36

Sometimes the dropsy must be evacuated through the
medium of the trochar, which operation can only safely be
entrusted to a veterinarian. Usually recuiTcnt dropsy inter-
venes, and consequently tapping fails in its purpose. The
system, however, if it has gained sufficient vital force, may
cause the absorption of the effused fluid, and thus effect a per-
manent curfi 4 very valuable medicine during this stage
consists in the daily administration of a table-spoonful of the
syrup of the iodide of iron, which acts as a tonic and absorbent,
consequently is a medicine indicated in this affection,

THE EOT.

This disorder has been more fatal to sheep than any other ;
and having at different times carried off great numbers, it has
occupied the attention of the learned, who have favoured the
public with a variety of opinions. Dr. Harrison was the
first person to scientifically investigate this malady, and to
draw attention to the true cause of its existence, and as his
views upon the subject are very carefully detailed, and the
post mortem appearances correctly described, his paper on rot
is here given : —

" When in warm, sultry, and rainy weather, sheep that are
grazing on low moist lands feed rapidly and some of them
die suddenly, there is reason to fear they have contracted the
Rot. This suspicion will be further increased if, a few weeks
afterwards, the sheep begin to shrink and become flaccid in
their loins. By pressure about the hips at this time a crackling
is perceptible. Now, or soon afterwards, the countenance looks
pale ; upon parting the fleece the skin is found to have ex-
changed its vei-milion tint for a pale red, and the wool is
easily separated from the pelt. As the disorder advances,
the skin becomes dappled with yellow and black spots. About
this time the eyes lose their lustre, and become whitey and
pearly, for the red vessels of the tunica adnata, conjunctiva, and
eyelids become contracted, or entirely obliterated. To this
succeeds debility and emaciation, which increase continually
until the sheep die, or else ascites, and perhaps general dropsy
supervenes, before the iatal termination. These symptoms are
rendered more severe by an obstinate purging, which comes on
at an uncertain period of the disorder. In the progress of the
complaint, sheep become what graziers call chockered, i.e.,
affected with a swelling under the chin, which proceeds from
a fluid contained in the cellular membrane under the throat.
In five or six days after contracting the rot, the thin edge
of the small lobe of the liver becomes of a transparent, white, or
bluish colour, and this spreads upon the lower and upper sides
according to the severity of the complaint. Sometimes it
does not extend more than an inch from the margin. In severe
cases, tht whole of the peritoneum investing the liver, is dis-
eased, and then it commonly assumes an opaque colour,
interspersed with dark lines or patches. The upper part of
the liver is sometimes speckled like the body of a toad, to
which it is said to bear a striking resemblance. Eound the
ductus communis choledochus and hepatic vessels jelly-like
matter is deposited, which varies according to the severity of

the attack, from a table-spoonful or less, to five or six times
that quantity upon boiling. The liver looses its firmness and
separates into small pieces in the water, or remains soft and
flaccid. Some graziers and butchers with whom I have con-
versed at different times, having observed that sheep are much
disposed to feed during the first three or four weeks after
being tainted, omit no opportunity of producing it to increase
their profits. When this stage is over, flukes begin to
appear in the pori biliarii, ductus communis choledochus, and
the gall bladder. At first the quantity of these creatures is
small, but, as the disease advances, they increase, and before
death are often very numerous. In the first part of the
complaint, they are sometimes found in the stomach, as well as
in the intestines and liver. This, like the visceral disorders
of the human body, may terminate in resolution, efiusion,
suppuration, or scirrhus. First, the complaint is said to
terminate in resolution, when inflammatory action goes off,
without destroying the state and texture of the parts. How-
ever, I am strongly inclined to believe, that every considerable
inflammation in the human body and in other animals, although
it ends in resolution, leaves behind it some remains which
may be discovered by an experienced anatomist. When
the vessels are thrown into inflammatory action for a few
days only, effusion commonly takes place, the coats become
thicker, and assume a buffy colour. These changes in the
sanguinary system often continue through life, and lay the
foundation of many chronic and incurable diseases. Sheep
that recover from the rot, exhibit very different appearances
after death, according to the severity of the attack ; but
the taint is seldom or never entirely removed. I was de-
sired within these few days to look at the liver of an old
ewe that died fat, and contained fourteen pounds of suet in
her body. The back part of the small lobe was dappled
with whitish spots, the coats of the ductus communis chole-
dochus and pori biliarii were considerably thickened and
more solid than usual. In colour they resembled the human
aorta of old people, and were full of flukes ; in other respects
the liver appeared to be sound and natural. The butcher
asserted that this was occasioned by a slight taint of long
standing, which had not been considerable enough to disorder
the economy, or impair the health of the animal sufficiently
to prevent its feeding. Secondly, when sheep die suddenly
in the first stage of the disorder, an effusion of serum, or of
wheyish-coloured fluid, may commonly be discovered in the
cavity of the abdomen, and then the peritoneum surrounding
the liver is generally covered vfdth a membrane or coat of
coagulable lymph. This form of the rot has been frequently
confounded with the resp, or red water, though it differs from
the latter disorder in the colour of the effused liquid, in being
much less disposed to putrefaction, and in several other par-
ticulars. Thirdly, abscesses in the liver exhibit another
termination of the malady. They are seldom considerable
enough to kill immediately, but in consequence of the absorp-
tion of purulent matter from them, the sheep frequently waste
away, and die hectical or dropsical. When the collections are

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

small, sheep will recover sufficiently to bear lambs for three
or four seasons, and afterwards become tolerable mutton.
Fourthly, the most common termination is in scirrhi, or what
shepherds call knots of the liver. I have seen the whole
substance of this important viscus so full of small roundish
lumps or scirrhous bodies, that it would be difficult to find any
sound part in it. The first attack is unfortunately so very
insidious, that the disorder is scarcely observable before the
animal begins to waste and lose flesh. In this advanced state
it is said to labour under rot, or pourriture, from overlooking
the commencement of the disorder." The fluke — the Fasciola
of Linnaeus, the Distomum hepaticum of Rodolphi, the Planaria
of Gosse — is met with in livers of many animals ; but the exact
method by which it finds its way there, demands further dis-
covery to elucidate the fact. Kiichenmeister thinks that in all
probability man and animals infect themselves with free
encysted young Distomata, either by devouring snails which
adhere to the grass on pastures, especially in moist ones, or
by drinking from impure stagnant pools, marsh or pond water.
Exactly the same thing would take place in man by means
of snails adhering to salad, fruit, or such other edible. Nay
such small snails might be introduced with dry fodder into
the stomachs of our domestic animals during the winter,
by their eating the small species passing their winter sleep
in closed sacks, in their closed shells, or the shell-less slugs
adhering to roots, protected from the frost in warm cavities
or cellars.

" Youatt considers the fluke is not often the cause of rot, but
that the tissues having become weakened by previous derange-
ment, the liver then is reduced to such a condition as to favour
the propagation of flukes ; or, in other words, if a sheep
in robust health becomes infected with the Distomata, the
chances are they would not find comfortable quarters in such
a body, and would die or leave it, owing to its being no habitat
for them. It is also well known that in wet seasons this
malady is very prevalent, whereas in dry ones it is not ; this
fact all veterinary writers and men of experience acknowledge ;
and Kiichenmeister accounts for it very clearly; as slug life
is favoured by a continuance of wet weather. Of course, grass
supersaturated with moisture is not the best food for sheep ;
but such keep may tend first to devitalize the ovine system, and
weaken those tissues into which the fluke, as above indicated,
finds its way. But whether the Distomum hepaticum be the
cause or effect of rot, when once it is established in a flock the
grazier well knows that some loss is inevitable, and his first
thought is how to prevent its occurrence in the remainder of
his flock. If wet ground favours the development of the rot,
the removal of the flock to high and dry lands appears to be
indicated, and is generally advised j or they may be brought
near home, and placed in a straw yard, and be fed on dry food,
such as oats and hay, and the following drink in a pint of
warm grael, can be given to each patient : —

Barbadoes Aloes, 2 draclims,

Ginger, 1 draokm.

Chloride of lime, J drachm.

Clater recommends the following, and states that he has
etiected numerous cures with it, and several farmers at this
day extol it as a valuable medicine in Sheep Rot : —

Nitre in powder, 6 oances.

Ginger fresh powdered, 4 oances,

Snlphate of iron, 2 ounces,

Common salt, 3J pounds,

Boiling water, 3 gallons.

Pour the water hot upon the ingredients. Stir them, and
when new-milk warm, add to every quart of the mixture three
ounces of spirits of tm^entine, and bottle it for use.

Directions for Use : — Keep the infected sheep from food
all night, and on the following morning give each sheep
two ounces or four table-spoonfuls of the above mixture.
To those which are weak or reduced by the disease, one-
half, or three parts out of four, may be sufficient for a dose.
Keep them from food three hours after giving the medi-
cine, and turn out into a dry pasture. It will be necessary
to repeat the medicine every fourth day for three times,
observing the above rules. But where only half the quantity
has been administered, it wiU be proper to repeat it every
second or third day for six times. Every shepherd should
be provided with a small horn, containing just the proper
quantity ; this will save considerable time and trouble, when it
is necessary to give the above drink to a number at the same
time.

THE SCAB
is a cutaneous affection very common to sheep, and is of a
very contagious nature, as one infected sheep will communicate
the disorder to a whole flock in which it is placed; much caution,
therefore, is needed by the grazier in introducing sheep pur-
chased from other districts among his own flocks, lest any of
them should be infected with the disease. It is first discovered
by the animals rubbing themselves against every post, gate,
bank, or any other convenient place suitable for this purpose,
and they are frequently seen to puU off the wool with their
mouths. Clater writes : — " This disease appears to be of a
cutaneous nature, and only affects the skin with a scabby
eruption; but if permitted to remain without attempting to
cure, it will enter the system, and unless great care be taken,
the sheep will sink under its pressvire." The scabby eruption
noticed by Clater has since been clearly traced to the exis-
tence of a parasite {Acartis ovis) which infects and burrows
under the skin, where it sets up great irritation and inflamma-
tion. K an acarus be placed on the wool of a sheep, it will
soon bury itself in the skin, scarcely leaving a trace of its
entrance; in three or four days a red spot appears; in five or six
days more a little swelling occurs, which soon developes into a
pustule which breaks, from which the parent acarus escapes with
a young brood attached to her feet ; the little ones immediately
enter the skin of the sheep, grow and propagate, and thus the
disease is kept up ; i.e., if the acari be not at once desfroyed,
the sheep will speedily die. The following sheep-dipping
mixtures will be found very useful in treating scab, as they
seldom fail in effecting cures : —

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

37

^1) Areenions acid, 2 poands,

Carbonate of potash, 2 pounds,

Boiling water 60 gallons.

Boil for half an hour : —

(2) Powdered Arsenioos acid, . . .... 2 poands,

Sulphate of iron, .... .... 200 pounds.

Water, 60 gallons.

Boil until the fluid is reduced to a third, and then add as
much water as has been lost by evaporation.

(3) Carbolic acid, 1 part to 20 parts of water.

In using dips 1 and 2, or any dipping mixtures contain-
ing poison, it is always necessary, in fact it is imperative, that
sheep on being removed from the dipping tub be placed in some
inclosed spot or yard, in which no food of any kind can be ob-
tained ; for this reason, that if sheep are allowed to go from
the dipping trough to the pasture, the drops of the solution
fall on the ground, and thus saturate the grass with poison,
which if taken with the grass into the stomach is sure to cause
death. The idea that sheep dips containing arsenious acid
can be absorbed by the skin, is erroneous, as the experiments
instituted by Dr. Stevenson Macadam, Professor Gamgee,
and Mr. Finlay Dun, clearly prove, and the author had the
good luck to see carried out. These experiments were insti-
tuted previously to the trial, Black versus Elliot; in which
Mr. Black, a farmer, sued Mr, Elliot, a chemist and druggist,
for loss sustained by him of 850 sheep, out of a flock of
869, after dipping the said animals in a dipping mixture com-
posed of —

Arseniooa acid 20 onnces.

Soda ash, . . ... 20 otmces,

Snlphnr 2 onnces.

Directions : — " Pour upon each packet three or four gallons
of boiling water, and stir well together for ten minutes ; add
about forty-five gallons of cold water, and dissolve in the
mixture four pounds of soft soap. The preparation will then
be completed, and the quantity suflBcient to dip fifty hogs."
Mr. Black, after dipping his flock, allowed them to pass from
the trough to the pastures, and the consequence was that the
above mixture dropped from the wool on to the pastures, and
thus saturated the grass, upon which the sheep fed, with
poison. Packages sent by Mr. Black, containing the above
ingredients, were chemically examined, and arsenious acid
was detected ; and in the stomachs of several sheep that had
died distinct traces of arsenious acid were discovered. Mr.
Elliot also sent sods taken from the pasture above alluded to,
to Edinburgh, to be chemically analysed, and they also were
found to be impregnated with this poison. The question,
therefore, arose by what means the poison had entered the
system of the sheep; it was contended on one side, Mr.
Black's, that it got there through the medium of absorption,
and, on the other, that the close-biting sheep had obtained
it from the pasture, and that proper care had not been used
by the plaintiff in suflSciently wringing the wool out, or in
preventing the sheep in a dripping state, after having been

dipped, to roam over the pasture. The truth was these
sheep partook of the grass impregnated with the poison; it
found its way into their stomachs, and death, as a conse-
quence, resulted. The absorption theory cannot be enter-
tained for a moment ; if it had taken place the poison would
have been discovered in the blood, and not in the stomachs ;
and, again, why had this dip, which had been previously so
extensively used, not caused death before ? Simply because
due precaution had been taken, as above indicated. The
following evidence given at the trial (1860), detailing the
experiments instituted, is reproduced on accoimt of its im-
portance : —

" Finlay Dunn. — I am not connected with practical
chemistry at present, but was so up to 1856. I am the
author of a work entitled, 'Veterinary Medicines,' &c. 1
have made, for the purpose of this inquiry, certain experi-
ments on sheep with various sheep-dipping solutions. 1
wrote down the results. On Saturday, 19th February, 1
made a mixture exactly like Mr. Elliot's. I had twenty-
three sheep brought up, and the whole I dipped in this
solution. The sheep were turned into a yard, into which
hay, loose straw, &c., had been removed. No mischief arose
to the animals. Besides that I made another experiment,
taking the same proportions of soda ash and sulphur, but
half the quantity of water. I immersed four sheep in this
solution, and again without injury. I made a third experi-
ment, taking 10 ozs. of arsenic, 10 ozs. of soda ash, 1 oz. of
sulphur, and 2 lbs. of soft soap. I dissolved that in six
gallons of water. In that I dipped four sheep. I also got
one of the sheep that had been previously dipped, and kept
it in sixty-five seconds. I consider Mr. Elliot's powder
perfectly safe."

"John Gamgee, Member of the Royal College of Veterinary
Surgeons, London, and Lecturer on Veterinary Medicine,
deposed : I have made some experiments on sheep. On the
10th of January, this year, I made experiment No. 1. I used
1\ lbs. arsenic, 1^ lbs. soda, and 2 ozs. sulphur. In this
solution I immersed two sheep. They were in no way
injured by that experiment. They are well now. I watched
them up to last Wednesday. Experiment No. 2 was made
on the 15th. I used one of the packets that I received from
Mr. Elliot's shopman. I used from thirty-seven to thirty-
eight gallons of water. I dipped in that solution four sheep.
I used three healthy sheep. The fourth was badly afiected
with scab. The three sound sheep were immersed five
minutes each. The other was in half an hour. No harm
came to those sheep ; on the contrary the unsound one was
cured. On the 25th of January I made a third experiment,
using 3 lbs. of arsenic, ? lbs. of soda ash, 4 ozs. of sulphur,
and 4 lbs. of soft soap. About thirty-seven or thirty-eight
gallons were used in this solution. I put into the solution
six black-faced sheep. They were not altogether sound.
One was affected with scab, and another with foot rot, in
which the vascular tissue is exposed. The healthy onea
remained in five minutes each, and the other two half an

38

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

hour. No injurious results followed; on the contrary, the
Bcabby one was cured, the other one considerably improved.
In experiment No. 2 I used ^ lb. of arsenic, ^ lb. soda ash,
without sulphur or soap. Four sheep were immersed in this
— two for five minutes, and two for half an hour each. The
result in this case was also uninjurious. Experiment No. 5
I made with Dr. Macadam on the 21st of February, using
1^ lbs. of arsenic, 8 ozs. of soda ash, 2 ozs. of sulphur, and
4 lbs. of soft soap. I am the author of the ' Veterinarian's
Vade Mecum,' published in 1858. I have recommended
baths for sheep as strong as Mr. Elliot's, as safe and proper
baths. I made an experiment to ascertain whether sheep
would eat matter saturated in arsenic. A dipping mixture
was prepared according to Mr. Elliot's prescription, in which
I aided in dipping two sheep — the head shepherd holding the
head, and I pressing the liquid out of the wool. The two sheep
were placed in covered shed, separated from other two that had
not been dipped. One oat sheaf and four quarts of oats were
saturated in that solution. The oat sheaf was placed in a tent
containing the two dipped sheep. The sheep were left there
all night. I have seen these sheep this morning, and they pre-
sent symptoms of the introduction of arsenic into the system."
" Henry Wilkinson, veterinary surgeon in Newcastle,
deposed — On the 27th instant I made some experiments for
the purpose of ascertaining whether sheep would eat food
impregnated with Mr. Elliot's powder. I spread the solution
over part of a field. I chose a piece of ground 24 yards by
23 yards, nearly square, and a piece of ground 23 yards by 3
yards. Over these I carefully sprinkled one quart of the
solution. There were four sheep left. They had their
option of other pasture, and they ate indiscriminately of either.
Of the four sheep, two had been dipped, and two had not. I
consider that they are suffering from the efiects of having
taken arsenic, and one of them is very likely to die."

The evidence given for the plaintifi' was not backed up
with experiment; it was asserted, that if the mixture was not
horned down the sheeps' throats, it must have found its way to
the stomachs and livers by absorption, and moreover that
they would not eat grass " seasoned with poison ; " they were
delicate animals both in taste and smell. This statement
was proved not to be correct, as the sheep experimented upon
ate grass, &c., " seasoned with poison," and a similar com-
position to that complained of, and for the supplying of which
the action was brought.

Every sheepowner using poisonous mixtures should be
careful, after dipping, to see the wool be well wrung out, and
the sheep confined to a circumscribed area for six or seven
hours, and in no case to allow the drippings to fall on the
pasture or feeding ground. The dip prescribed, the author
has been in the habit of recommending as a very useful one,
and if the above precautions are strictly attended to, there is
not the slightest fear of fatality occurring.

SHEEP LICE AND TICKS.

Sheep of every description are liable to this kind of filth,

but especially such as are not in a thriving state. The sheep
louse (Hippohosca ovina), is small, active, and of brownish
colour, and often swarms in thousands on young sheep. The
tick {Acarus reduvius) is nearly of the same colour as the
louse, but is much larger; they are furnished with a proboscis
and suckers, which dig into the skin of the sheep. They are
of great detriment to sheep, prevent them from thriving, and
cause them to scratch and tear ofi' their wool by rubbing
themselves against fences, and sometimes they will tear it off
with their mouths, to the great injury of the pelt and fleece.
In order to destroy these noxious vermin, a number of differ-
ent applications have been employed ; but the author has
found none so eff'ectual as —

Commercial carbolic acid, 1 pint.

Water, I gallon.

Apply as a dip ; use it once weekly, for three consecutive
weeks. In the application of all dipping mixtures care should
be taken, that the animals' heads be kept sufficiently above
the water after dipping ; the sheep must then be placed in a
second tub, and the liquor pressed from the wool with the
hands; this done, the pressed out liquid must be returned to
the former trough. By this method a considerable number
can be dipped in a short time. Many veterinary authors
recommend the application of mercurial ointment, common
turpentine, and linseed oil, as agents calculated to destroy
ticks and lice. "Ointment," writes Clater, "possesses a great
superiority over all washes; the former promotes the health of
the animal, as well as the growth of the wool, while the latter
produces the contrary eff'ect." This statement is contrary to
my experience; and I think sheep farmers will agree with
me, that washes are to be preferred to ointments for wooUy
sheep infested with ticks or lice.

TO PREVENT THE FLY, SORE HEAD, AND MAGGOTS.

Sheep during the summer, and especially about the month
of May, are constantly teased with flies, particularly those
kept in lanes or in woody districts. They give the animal
so much trouble at times, as to cause them to run into hedges
and the bottoms of ditches or dikes, to the detriment of their
fleeces and pelt, and otherwise by preventing them from
feeding at a time they ought to make the greatest progress.
Certain flies during the spring, being in quest of a convenient
situation to deposit their eggs, select various parts of the
sheep and wool for this purpose ; sometimes they choose
a sore place or the parts around the tail, especially if the
dung collected there be putrefied: The eggs having been
here deposited, soon hatch, and are called maggots, and imme-
diately begin to burrow in the skin, when they cause by the
severity of their bites continual annoyance to the sheep. If
the head be the part selected, the sheep, in order to ward off
their attacks, is constantly seen striking its head with its hind
legs until a sore is created, which spreads as the result of
continual injury. The removal of the cause will usually cure
the effect; to accomplish which, clip the wool off the diseased

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

39

part, and apply an ointment, once weekly for two or three
consecutive weeks, consisting of —

Iodide of sulphur, 1 ounce.

Commercial carbolic acid, 2 ounces.

Lard, . .1 ponnd.

Hogg asserts that the strongest kind of fish oil always
prevents the attack of the fly ; doubtless it will, and so will
any ointment containing strong smelling medicinal ingredi-
ents, such as carbolic acid, &c. Youatt recommends for
sore head a compound which, in its action, is similar to
carbolic acid, and consists of the following plaster : —

Pitch, 1 pound.

Bees' wax, ... . . . . . . 2 drachms.

Melt together, and spread, whilst warm, on soft leather or
linen, and apply to the head.

INFLAMMATION IN THE UDDER OF EWES.

This is a common complaint among ewes at the time of
yeaning or lambing. Those which have been well kept for
some time before they bring forth are most liable to this
disorder, as it is apt to cause a flush of milk at that time ; and
from the glutinous state of the first milk, and also from being
long retained in the udder, it blocks up the passages, and
soon brings on inflammation of that part. If ewes are
noticed to refuse their lambs to suck, they sliould be immedi-
ately examined, and often it is then discovered that tlie
udder is tender and inflamed, and that milk will not flow
from one or both teats. In this case it is necessary at once to
apply to it repeated hot fomentations, and to administer two
ounces of epsom salts, and the ewe and lamb should be con-
fined in a pen by themselves, in order to see that the lamb
does suck its mother ; if, after two or three days, the young
is not permitted to suck, it is better to remove it to some ewe,
if possible, that has just lost her lamb. Fomentations must
be still applied to the udder, and the following ointments can
be rubbed in twice daily —

Camphor, . 1 drachm.

Spirits of wine, 1 tea-spoonfuL

Goose grease, 1 ounce.

Should the udder continue to enlarge, and kernels make
their appearance of greater or less size, and should they after-
ward soften and contain pus, the matter must be evacuated
by plunging a sharp knife into the swellings at that point, and
by squeezing them well out, and reapplying hot fomentations.
If an ulcer occur at the point of operation, syringe it with a
weak solution of Burnett's disinfecting fluid. Resolutions
occur similar to those mentioned under Jilammitis in the cow,
and as those demand like treatment, the details need not be
repeated in this chapter.

THE FOOT HALT OR FOOT ROT.

These diseases in the feet of sheep appear to proceed from
one and the same cause; yet if any person wishes to make a
distinction, it may easily be done by considering the first

stage of the disease as the foot halt, and the last as the foot
rot. For rot is first observed by the subject of it being
lame; if caught, and the foot be examined, it will be found to be
hot and tender, the horn softer than usual, and at the part
between hair and hoof enlargements associated with slight
separation of hoof coronal bands from the horn will be dis-
covered ; sometimes, also, ulcers occur and excrete a thin fetid
discharge, and if allowed to increase often develop into
fungous granulations, which grow to such an extent as to
cause the entire separation of the hoof horn from the sub-
jacent tissues. In accounting for the occurrence of this
afiection, it will be necessary to consider, first, the situations
which sheep in a natural state select to live upon ; and
secondly, to detail the reasons why the artificial life in this
particular respect, and in the production of foot rot, interferes
with the health and well-being of flocks. In a state of
nature, the sheep, like the goat, was evidently intended for
mountainous and rocky districts, and was supplied with a foot
structure thoroughly adapted to travel over hard roads and
rocky precipices, and consequently such being the case, it will
be easily seen that in such an animal the hoof horn gprowth
would be rapid, in order to withstand its continual exposure
to the friction such localities would necessitate. The next
question which arises is. Do o"r flocks, as a rule, inhabit
localities similar to the above ? Certainly not ; they live for
the most part upon soft pastures, and seldom, if ever, travel
over a hard ro.ad. In such positions their feet being denied
necessary friction grow to an inordinate length; they become
sodden with the wet ground ; the tissues of the foot grow
weaker and weaker, until the connection of the tissue is so far
interfered with as to render it incapable of witlistanding ex-
ternal injury; for the difierent parts of the hoof being deprived
of their wear, grow out of all proportion, and thus throw the
foot out of its natural bearing, when pieces of hoof break off
or are irregularly torn away ; or by " overshooting the sole,"
cannot prevent the introduction to the hoof of sand and grit
and these, reaching the sensitive parts, set up inflammation
and its results, which, if not cured, ultimately cause slougliing
of the hoof horn. To bear out the truth of the statement of
a soft pasture being the chief cause of foot rot, we have the
fact, that sheep brought from the- uplands to marshy districts
frequently contract this malady; and this is easily accounted
for. On uplands, the growth of grass is commonly not very
luxuriant, and consequently the animals are subjected to
greater exercise in gathering their food than they would
be on lower grounds, where the herbage is generally more
plentiful. The hardness of the ground, again, would cause the
hoof horn to wear away as quickly as it grew, and by this
means any inordinate growth of the foot would be prevented.
It is well known to flockmasters that sheep, like goats, will
select the highest grounds in a field to lie upon, and in moun-
tainous countries always prefer the hills to the valley ; in
such countries the scarcity of food on the hill tops, the hard-
ness of the soil, and the exercise necessarily imposed upon the
animal in gathering sufficient food to keep it in good case, ar.f

40

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

markedly in preventing the occurrence of foot rot. The feet
of flocks feeding on low marshy lands should be examined
from time to time, and if any superabundance of horn exists,
it must be immediately pared down with a sharp knife, as
this simple precaution proves the truth of the saying, " Pre-
vention is better than cure."

Treatment. — Let sheep infected with disease be fetched
from their pasture, and put in a dry fold yard ; and let the
foot of each animal be carefully examined, when those feet
which are diseased can be well washed clean with a water
brush, every particle of giit and sand being at the same time
removed. Should an inordinate growth of hoof horn, large
excrescences, or proud flesh be present, cut them down with
a sharp knife, and afterwards use the following lotion, which
in some cases must be applied with a pledget of tow, and
confined in its situation with a piece of tape.

Hydrochloric acid, 1 onnce.

Water, i pint.

If the growth of proud flesh recurs, touch the part as often
as required with a rod of nitrate of silver. The ulcers on the
sensitive structui-e of the feet usually dry up after two or three
dressings with common commercial carbolic acid. The secret
in treating this malady is never to allow the hoof horn to grow
too long, for such growth takes away the natural bearing of
the foot, and moreover devitalizes the tissues of the foot, and
causes the irregular tearing away of the hoof horn, and injury
to the subjacent structure, which terminates in foot rot.

THE SCOUR, OR DIARRHCEA.

This disease occasionally attacks full-grown sheep, but is
not 80 prevalent among them as with lambs ; it generally pro-
ceeds from bad and scanty keep during the winter season, and
makes its appearance in the spring, as soon as the young
grasses begin to put forth their succulent qualities. The sheep
are not able to stand against so luxurious a change ; the fresh
grass acts as a too stimulating food, and diarrhcea sets in. This
discharge must not be checked too suddenly, for in five cases out
of six, in the course of twenty-four hours, without any treatment
on man's part, the dung regains its normal consistency; but
should the diarrhoea continue for a longer period than the above,
then it will be necessary to move the afiected flock to dryer
pasture, and one on which the herbage is scanty, and also allow
a little hay once a day, for a short time. This treatment is
usually sufficient to check the scour in sheep. Generally this
disease lasts only a few days; but if the symptoms should
continue to increase, the following powders must be given twice
daily to each sheep : —

Disnlphate of quinine, 10 grains.

Powdered ginger, .1 drachm.

Prepared chalk, 1 drachm.

Brandy, ... . . 1 table-spoonfol.

In some cases where the disease assumes a very severe type,
half a tablespoonful of tincture of opium can be added to the
above dose.

STURDY IN SHEEP

This disease luxuriates in many names, in tnrnsick, giddy,
goggles, &c. ; its existence is due to the presence on the brain
of a bladder worm hydatid, the coenurus cerebralis, which
varies in size from a hazel nut to a pigeon's egg, and in
this situation interferes most injuriously with the cerebral
functions. The subject of sturdy turns round, cannot walk
straight, and partial, and often total, blindness ensues; the
bones of the skull grow soft, and become pierced by absorp-
tion ; and if the parasite be not removed the animal so affected
dies in convulsions. Sturdy was long ago thought to be a
nervous afi'ection produced by the worry and fear inflicted on
sheep by the continual presence of the sheep dog when acting
as guardian over them ; but it has since been discovered by
Von Siebold, the German helminthologist, that the disease
existed owing to the presence on the brain of the hydatid
above named ; and further that the dog was to a certain
extent answerable for the damage. Von Siebold instituted
several experiments, and the results led him to the conclusion
that the coenurus cerebralis was not a complete individual, or,
in other words, that this hydatid would not develop into a com-
plete being until it had passed into the intestines or elsewhere
of some other animal, and experiments proved the truth of the
suspicion. Von Siebold gave the brain containing the coenurus
cerebralis to a dog, and some time afterwards destroyed the
animal, and found he was infested with numerous tapeworms
— the tsenia serrata. A few rings of this tapeworm were given
in milk to lambs, and within six weeks they exhibited symp-
toms of giddiness, and on opening the crania hydatids were
discovered on their brains. This experiment was repeated,
and has been again and again carried out by helminthologists,
and has led to the establishment of the fact, that the ccenuinis
cerebralis on the brain of the sheep if given to the dog or man
will produce in either of them tapeworm ; and again, if the
tapeworm be given to the sheep, it will breed in them the
coenurus cerebralis. It has therefore been most satisfactorily
proved, that the coenurus cerebralis which infested the brain of
the sheep lived in another form in the intestines of the dog.
In the latter habitat thousands of germs are developed, which,
strewn on the pastures and pools, are taken into the stomachs
of sheep, and from the stomach find their way through the
medium of the bloodvessels to the brain.

The tapeworm common to man is called the t«enia solium,
and that met with in the dog the taenia serrata ; but although
different names are given to them they are, according to Von
Siebold, identical worms, and have corresponding hydatids
existing in animals of another species. Every bladder worm,
therefore, on passing from the body of one animal enters that
of another to become a complete individual or tapeworm, when
it is supplied with organs of propagation for the multiplication
of its kind. Thus the hydatid on passing from the brain of the
sheep would die unless a proper habitat were found for it, in
which, by metamorphosis, it could develop into a taenia.
Kiickenmeister writes: — "Were I to bring forward all

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THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

<tl

the yarioua causes to which the origin of the ccenurus has
been referred, I should far exceed the limits of these pages.
That the doctrine of equivocal generation played a conspicu-
ous part therein will surprise no one, since there yet exist
veterinarians who adhere to that doctrine on all points."
The only mode of insuring the destruction and removal of
the worm, and hence the only efifectual cure for the disease
of sturdy, is trepanning. The operation is, of course, only
admissible when the ccenurus cerebralis is imbedded in the
anterior and upper portion of the ruminant's brain, whilst if,
on the other hand, it be deeply seated in the base of the
brain, or in the spinal marrow, it cannot be reached by tre-
panning. For this reason, therefore, we find cases reported
in which the hydatid has been successfully removed ; but
these must have been those in which the ccenurus was super-
ficially situated ; whereas, on the other hand, veterinarians
have lost credit for not having extracted from the brain the
hydatid when deeply seated, i.e., when so much imbedded
in the brain structure as to prevent even the possibility of a
successful operation. Many persons reading tlie above may
think that flocks can be preserved from the attacks of tape-
worm by not allowing the sheep dog to accompany them.
Perhaps fewer dogs might be kept ; but then even stray dogs
might also be the cause of mischief. The excrements of man
and carnivora should not be thrown on fields where sheep are
fed, because the tasnia solium of man, similarly as the taenia
seiTata of the dog, produce the sheep hydatid ; the flesh of
animals known to be aflfected with parasites should not be
eaten ; and lastly, meat containing worms must not be given
to dogs raw ; if well cooked, however, the germs of such
creatures are destroyed, and consequently food so treated can
be given to carnivorous animals with impunity. In trepan-
ning great care must be used in finding, first, the spot, which
often is soft, where the hydatid lies ; and secondly, in remov-
ing the bone above it ; and thirdly, in extracting the cyst
bodily in which the worm lives. This operation, as before
indicated, is rarely successful, and sturdy consequently is a
very fatal malady. The preventive measures, however, suggested
will, if thoroughly carried out, gradually reduce the number
of sturdy cases; and it is trusted that, in a few years, it will
be struck out of the list of diseases to which sheep are liable.

THE DISEASES OF THE EYE, COMMONLY CALLED BLINDNESS.

Ophthalmia attacks sheep as an epizootic at certain seasons.
In 1850 it was prevalent among cattle and sheep. Cattle
ibout a year old sufi"er most ; and during 1868 many
iattle in Richmond Park were subjected to the author's treat-
ment. In sheep the symptoms are closed eyelids, congested
eyeballs and conjunctival membranes, opacity of the cornea,
and great defluxion of tears, and sight almost lost, and some-
times the formation of pus in the eyeball itself. The treat-
ment for sheep consists in placing them in a dark place,
and bathing the eyes with the following lotion : —

Tincture of opium, .1 onnce.

Water . .... 1 pint.

and giving in gruel —

Nitre, .... \ aasmt.

Epsom salts, 8 ooooea.

If the disease increase in intensity use an eye lotion —

Goalard's extract, 1 ounce.

Distilled water, .... 1 pint.

and apply it twice daily ; sometimes a solution of caustic can
be employed ; it must be painted on the eye with a camel's-
hair brush —

Nitrate of silver, 6 grains.

Distilled water, .... 1 onnce.

and much benefit is derived by daubing the orbits with a
plaster of the extract of belladonna. In some cases, also,
the eyeball has to be punctured in order to evacuate the
pus therein formed. The above treatment was prescribed
and adopted by me in treating cattle in Richmond Park; and
even including three animals the eyeballs of which were
punctured, did not fail in a single case to effect a cure. The
exclusion of light, by placing a linen bandage over the eyes,
kept continually wet, and the exhibition of mild and laxative
food, will act as very important adjuvants in restoring the eyes
to health.

OVINA VARIOLA, SMALL-POX AMONG SHEEP,

may be defined to be an eruptive fever, in which there are
several stages through which it passes before the disease caii
be fully developed. First, the stage of incubation ; that is, a
period during which the seeds of the malady are latent in the
animal system, when the subject so infected gives little or no
evidence of suffering, and consequently is placed beyond the
limit of our observation. The incubative stage rarely ex-
tends over more than fom-teen days, and in some cases only
ten. The stage of incubation being passed, it will be noticed
that a general failure of health manifests itself, by the sub-
jects of the malady separating from the flock, by hurried
breathing, and by a feverish state of the whole system. On
catching, and closely inspecting these animals, on their bodies
will be observed several red spots, more particularly devel-
oped on the parts devoid of wool, such as the inside of the
thighs, arms, face, and lips.

In the second or papular stage of this malady small tumours
arise on the red spots above mentioned, which sometimes are
distinct one from the other ; at other times they are thickly
clustered together, this latter pathological state being recog-
nized as confluent smaU-pox. It is during the papular stage
that the greatest amount of mortality occurs, and particularly
so when it attacks the face, and assumes the confluent form
After three or four days, or at most six, the papular stage
passes off, which is indicated by the papulie parting with theii
previous redness, and becoming white, and by the appearance
of the vesicles or blisters on the papulae ; and for this reason
the last-mentioned period has been designated the vesicular
stage. These vesicles contain lymph, and from them veteri-
narians have been recommended to take material (lymph) for

/

42

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

purposes of inoculation, or, in plain words, to obtain lymph
by wliich they may be enabled to communicate small-pox
from one animal to another; this stage lasts about three
days, during which few animals die.

The vesicular is sometimes, although not always, succeeded
by the pustular stage, by the matter within the vesicles
degenerating into pus, at which period the face usually swells
to such an extent as to close the eyelids; and this pathological
state terminates similarly to the vesicular, in the formation of
scabs. In the progress of maturation the contents of the
vesicles undergo similar changes to those that are produced
by ordinary causes; at first they are distended with a clear
fluid, which becomes milky in colour, then turbid and straw-
coloured, and ultimately by drying hardens into a crust, which
is cast off with the epidermis or scarf-skin. As before said,
the vesicles sometimes degenerate into pustules; but this is by
no means a common phase of the disorder, and both Professor
Simonds and Mr. Ceely, who carefully watched the progress
of sheep-pox in 1848, have satisfied themselves " that it was
not essentially a pustular, but a vesicular disease." In 1862,
during the outbreak of ovina variola in Wiltshire and Berk-
shire, the author examined several hundred sheep, the subjects
of this complaint, and noticed that many affected sheep passed
through an attack of small-pox without the development of
the vesicle into the pustule; but doubtless the formation of
pustules indicates a more complicated form of disease, as this
stage often leads to the ulcerative, which extends more or less
into the skin proper, or dermis, and not unfrequently the sub-
jacent tissues, This state of course prolongs the existence of
disease, and as it often terminates fatally, is the most dan-
gerous form of the affection we have to contend with.

Jn a case of sheep-pox which has reached the vesicular
stage, our desire should be for the vesicle to dry up and form
a scab, which in six cases out of eight takes place. But as
before mentioned, sometimes the lymph within the vesicle
degenerates into pus, but if, even with formation of pus, our
case progresses favourably, both these pathological states ter-
minate in the formation of scabs ; the pustules remain as such
for about three days, and then terminate in the formation
of scabs ; these changes being known as the processes of desic-
cation and desquamation, which are always protracted when
suppuration takes place. The crusts forming the scabs are of
a brownish-black colour, and are thicker when cast from a
pustule than from a vesicle. The crustaceous stage is, if
matters progress favourably, accompanied by a subsidence of
the eruptive and feverish symptoms, and soon after the skin
regains its natural appearance. The above description details
the favourable termination of ovina variola ; but unfortun-
ately the vesicular and pustular stages do not always run on
to the crustaceous state, as both the vesicles and pustules
sometimes degenerate into ulcers (the ulcerative stage), which
usually attack the head, when we have a very dangerous
form of the malady to contend with, and especially so if the
disease has assumed the confluent type. Professor Simonds
gives the following summary of the gradations through which

small-pox in sheep passes : — The first 10 or 11 days are those
of incubation ; 12, 13, of invasion; 14—16, of papulation;
17-19, of vesication; 20-22, of desiccation and separation of
the crusts.

An attempt has been made above to describe the local mani-
festations of ovina variola, which of course are under the con-
trol, as it were, of the constitution, and I will now detail its
symptoms. While, as before suggested, the disease is incu-
bating in the system, the patient gives not the least evidence of
of ill health, no indication of failing appetite, humed breathing,
or any febrile state of the system — nothing, in fact, to lead one
to suppose that it was not in perfect health ; but it must be
remembered if a man were exposed to the infection of the
variola hoviinis, which is in many particulars closely allied
to that of sheep, he might, during the period the disease was
lying dormant in his system, complain of being a little out of
sorts; he might have pain in the head, his appetite might
not be good as usual ; but such slight symptoms as these are
not readily recognized in sheep, although no doubt they have
existed.

The incubative having passed, we notice that tne infected
sheep separate from the remainder of the herd, and lie down
in remote corners and secluded spots of the feeding ground.
They exhibit the following symptoms — dejected head with
pendulous ears, laboured breathing, swollen eyelids, associated
with a copious defluxion of tears ; the conjunctiva assumes a
deep-red colour, and a discharge of mucus, sometimes associated
with blood, flows from the nostrils ; the pulse beats ninety in
the minute, and as the disease progresses, becomes weak and
tremulous ; the patient refuses to feed, and the function of
rumination is suspended. The faeces are little changed at
fiist, but occasionally constipation sets in, to be quickly
followed by diarrhoea, which usually effects a fatal termina-
tion ; the temperature of the body varies, the extremities being
generally cold, but elsewhere the skin is hot. These symp-
toms continue unabated until the papular stage is succeeded
by the vesicular, when the patient manifests by its manner
that relief has been obtained. Of course, when the disease
assumes the confluent type, our prognosis is rendered unfavour-
able, as this phase is always associated with greater systemic
disturbance, which retards to a considerable extent the wished
for termination of the disease. The same remarks also can be
made when the fever continues high, for then the patient's
sufferings are immensely increased ; the breathing now grows
more laboured, the animal continually groans, frothy saliva is
now discharged from the mouth, the wool separates from the
skin, ulcers form on the conjunctiva, and sometimes the eyeball
itself becomes involved in disorganization, and the pulse
grows weaker and weaker, until it ceases to beat, and death
terminates all suffering.

Captain J. Carr thus describes tne symptoms, when ovina
variola takes on a malignant type : — " The pulse becomes
increasingly rapid, the mouth dry and hot, the breath foetid,
and the eyelids, and even the head, so much swollen, that the
creature can scarcely be recognized. The pustules being very

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

43

numerous become confluent, and form a mass of matter which,
especially in warm weather, is apt to assume a putrid character,
degenerating into malignant ulcers, by which the poor animal
is rendered blind, lame, or loses part of the lips, and is at
last carried off by violent diarrhoea."

Professor Simonds asserts that in the majority of fatal cases
of sheep-pox, " death occurs during the first week of the
eruption," but under ordinary circumstances the chief danger
has passed ; i.e., when the fever has not run very high, and
when the vessels of the skin have expelled the variolous
poison from the system ; but both Professor Simonds and the
continental authorities speak unfavourably of a recurrence of
fever during the period of suppuration.

Sacco states, that " this period is the most dangerous, and
that during it the patients abstain altogether from food, and
utter tones expressive of great pain ; they heave quickly at
the flanks, the eyelids and lips are tumefied, a viscid and
foetid mucus flows from the nostrils, and an augmented quantity
of saliva from the mouth ; they never move from the fold ;
the prostration of strength is great, and they lie principally
on their sides. The tenderness of the body is so extreme,
that a simple touch will produce convulsions ; the alvine
evacuations are copious and oflfensive, and the deranged con-
dition of the alimentary canal speedily carries them ofi"."

Regarding the post mortem appearances of small-pox, no
person has investigated the matter more fully than Professor
Simonds, consequently his report will be transcribed as fol-
lows:— "In most instances the mucous membranes, especially
of the respiratory system, are the principal parts aflfected, the
serous membranes, however, do not escape ; but for the sake
of perspicuity we describe seriatim the lesions of the diflferent
organs: —

" The condition of the common integument (skin) will de-
pend altogether on the time that the animal survives. If death
takes place in the early stages, papular elevations, a few of
them covered with vesicles, are abundantly spread over the
surface of the body; in the latter stages ulcers of various size
and depth are met with. The skin also varies in colour,
being in some parts of a red, in others of a blueish-black hue,
and everywhere the slightest force will separate the wool from
its follicles. The subcutaneous areolar tissue is more or less
engorged with blood, and purulent formations often exist
beneath the confluent papulae. Infiltration of albuminous
serum into the cellular tissue of the face and extremities is
occasionally present. The conjunctiva and transparent comeae
in many instances are free from disease, but now and then
give signs of approaching ulceration. The pituitary mem-
brane (Schneiderian, the membrane which lines the cavities
of the nose), always exhibits an abnormal condition, but in
various animals presents various degrees of sanguineous con-
gestion, and is frequently so much inflamed that disorganiza-
tion ensues. In many cases it is studded here and there with
mucous vari of a light copper colour; these vari are doubtless
internal papulae modified by the structure on which they are
developed ; these lesions are not simply confined to the nasal

portions of the respiratory system, but extend into the larynx,
trachea, and bronchi. Occasionally small ulcers are situated
on the epiglottis and other parts of the larynx, and along the
course of the mucous membrane; rarely, however, do they
extend as far as the bronch'. The smaller bronchial tubes
and air-cells of tlie lungs are mostly filled with dark-coloured
mucus, and are in general less engorged with blood than
other portions of the air-passages. Tlie serous membranes
of the thorax (chest) are comparatively free from disease
We have seen them, however, very much inflamed, and in
one instance the greater part of the surface of both lungs was
adherent to both sides of the chest by a tliick layer of colour-
less fibrin. The lobes of these organs were, in like manner,
glued together ; the outer portion of the pericardium was
coated with lymph, the heart was inflamed, and partially
united to its sac by bands of fibrin ; an efiusion of serouB
fluid also existed in the pericardial and thoracic cavities.
Such appearances are unfrequent, and in general the lunga
are congested, and liver-coloured spots, irregular both in size
and form, are seen immediately below the pleural covering.
The digestive system shows fewer traces of morbid action;
the buccal membrane and velum palati are sometimes in-
flamed; but we have not observed any lesions on the lining
membrane of the oesophagus (gullet), rumen, reticulum, or
omasum {i.e., the first, second, or third stomachs) ; the villous
coat of the abomasum (fourth stomach) is in some cases
infiltrated with blood, and ecchymosed. The cavity of the
abdomen occasionally contains an efi'usion of serum. The
peritoneal tunic is even more rarely inflamed than the other
serous membranes, and the intestines are free from disease,
except when the patient sinks from diarrhoea, in which case
they participate in the general morbid changes, and contain
fluid and foetid ingesta. The kidneys are sometimes softened,
and now and then similar spots to those seen on the lungs
exist beneath their capsules; for the most marked case of
which we are indebted to Mr. Ceely, who kindly forwarded
the morbid parts for the inspection of Mr. Marson and our-
selves. The bladder, and other urinary organs, are unaffected.
The generative system 'does not participate in the disease,
and, according to the French authorities, when an impreg-
nated ewe is carried off by the malady the foetus gives no
indication of it.

The spleen is often enlarged, and the liver soft in structure,
sometimes pale, but more frequently of a dark colour. The
condition, however, of this organ in sheep cannot be said to
afford correct evidence of the existence of small-pox in sheep,
for it undergoes a variety of structural changes from a multi-
plicity of causes, some of which are the very reverse of each
other. The brain and spinal marrow are affected in some
animals, and free from disease in others. Simple congestion,
either of the " meningis or substance of the encephalon, is the
morbid product usually observed."

ORIGIN OF OVINA VARIOLA.
As before stated, ovina variola is in many points similar to

44

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

small-pox of man, although it does not produce the same local
effects in the former as it does in the latter. This, however,
is move due to the special arrangement and structure of the
skin, than to any actual difference in the nature of the affection,
since both are governed by the same laws, i.e., both spread
through the medium of contagion and infection. Moreover,
the adoption of the same preventive measures equally protects
man and the sheep from the extensive ravages of small-pox.

Small-pox is considered by some medical investigators to
be of spontaneous origin. Of course, all disease must have
had a beginning ; but the origin of small-pox is of very remote
date. Homer, Livy, Ovid, and Virgil, all have described a
disease, if not identical, at any rate not very dissimilar to
small-pox; all attribute its origin to a vitiated air, and
Virgil also draws attention to the great extent to which
the disease involved whole flocks in its ravages. He
wrote, "Pecus languescit et omnis," and this proves that even
in his day its contagious and infectious nature was fully
recognized. Consequently, when small-pox has once made
its appearance, its extension is certain, unless in a district
where measures proved by experience to be preventives
are resorted to. From the above, therefore, it will be
observed that there is no need in the present article to argue
about the for and against theories of spontaneous origin ;
suffice it to say, that whatever combination of causes may
lead to the production of small-pox, when once it is estab-
lished it immediately spreads rapidly through the medium
of contagion and infection, and for all practical purposes
our remarks need only be directed to its existence, without
asking how that existence originated; as our arguments would
begin and end in hypotheses, neither history nor experience
affording an axiom in this department of medical research.

Simonds writes, " Whatever the combination of causes may
be which produces these maladies, certain it is that very many
of them assume an infectious nature : otherwise we cannot
account for animals separated and kept apart from those
which are diseased, frequently and sometimes altogether
escaping, while those are sure to become early victims that
are allowed to pasture and live with the affected. Moreover,
we can often succeed in producing the malady by inocu-
lating healthy cattle, thus showing how closely the spread
of the disorder depends upon contagion and infeclion. The
fact, however, of animals, when in health, if placed with
affected ones, contracting a disease of the same kind as that
which the latter are suffering from, is the best proof of the
infectious and contagious nature of a complaint. An ani-
mal escaping an attack, when such affections are raging in
the locality in which it is placed, may arise from a variety
of causes, as non-susceptibility, and also a possibility of the
exciting agents never having been brought within its sphere
of inhalation. For although each victim to a destructive
epidemic may be considered as adding new seeds or fresh
energy to the malady by the exhalations arising from its body,
we must not lose sight of the circumstance that very many
infectious diseases assume an endemic type, whilst others,

which are spread over a vast extent of country, are often
observed to take a particular direction. There are, however,
diseases of this kind that appear to be guided by no deter-
mined laws, breaking out again and again in the same neigh-
bourhood. But even here we may suppose that the deleterious
atmosphere floats, as it were, in nebulis, and is driven hither
and thither by currents, sacrificing fresh subjects placed in the
course of its passage."

Judging from our present experience and observation, and
the history of the past, we can arrive at no other conclusion
than that small-pox spreads both by contagion and infection.

The introduction of ovina variola to England has generally
originated from foreign importations, although in the out-
break dming 1862-63 its occurrence could not be satis-
factorily accounted for. The origin of the previous attack,
however, during 1847, was distinctly traced to Spanish sheep
purchased at Smithfield market by Mr. Statham, of Datchett,
who a few days after purchase noticed two or three of his
Spanish sheep affected with a cutaneous eruption, which he
considered to be the result of stings, and therefore the subjects
of the disease were not removed from the remainder of the
flock, and in consequence the disease was allowed to spread
with fatal result.

Mr. Statham, noticing the spread and fatality of the above-
mentioned skin disease, sought the advice of Professor Simonds,
who on his arrival at Datchett found the affected sheep
divided into three lots, which were placed in fields situated at
prescribed distances from each other. The first lot comprised
sheep supposed to be healthy ; the second, those recovering ;
and the third, those recently attacked. Professor Simonda
tlius reports upon the cases; — " Those in the first stage of the
affection were extremely low in condition; a mucous discharge
from the nostrils was present, the breathing was quick and
catching, the visible mucous membranes were inflamed,
particularly the conjunctiva, from which tears flowed in large
quantities ; all food was refused, rumination had ceased, the
ears were lopped, the head held low, and a disinclination was
evinced by the patients to associate with one another ; some
standing and having a dejected appearance, and others lying
down. The pulse was considerably accelerated, and scarcely
perceptible at the maxillary artery, but at the heart it gave
to the hand a jerking sensation ; the skin was hot, red, and
elevated in patches in the form of nodules or papulae, approxi-
mated to each other. The chief seat of the eruption was on
the inside of the arms and thighs, on the sides of the face, the
labia of the female and the praeputium of the male, parts
which are either nude or covered only with hair ; but on
separating the wool the whole skin was seen to be similarly
affected, although less intensely. In the second stage greater
emaciation and debility existed ; the discharge from the
Schneiderian membrane was increased, viscid, and adherent
to the alae of the nostrils, impeding the respiration ; the capil-
laries of the nostrils were in a highly congested state ; the
pulse was indistinct, even at the heart ; the ears and feet were
cold, and the wool came off easily, showing the skin underneath

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

46

it inflamed, the redness existing chiefly between the elevations,
although no distinct areola was present. The summits of
the nodules were blanched, arising from efi'usion of a very
small quantity of serous fluid beneath the cuticle, which
scarcely gave to it the character of a true vesicle. All the
papulae, however, had not taken on this change.

"In the third stage the vital powers were prostrate; the fever
had become of a typhoid character, the discharge from the
nostrils fetid, and the other general symptoms much aggra-
vated. The cuticle covering the majority of the nodules had
assumed a brown colour, and pus here and there was formed
on the margins of some of them, showing the ulcerative state
to have commenced ; in others simple desquamation of the
cuticle had begun to take place. In some exti-eme cases the
ulceration had extended to the subcutaneous structure, and
large unhealthy sores existed on the sides of the face, the
inferior parts of the abdomen, the prepuce, and the inside of
the thighs." On noticing these pathological states, Professor
Simonds was at once struck with the identity of small-pox
in man with this disease, and at once communicated with
several medical friends, among whom was Erasmus Wilson,
who similarly with Professor Simonds pronounced the disease
to be small-pox in sheep. From 1847 to the present
time much experience has been gained relative to the
existence and spread of small-pox in sheep, and particu-
larly so in the outbreak in this country during the years
1862-63. It was then stated by many farmers in Wilt-
shire, that as the disease broke out in Mr. Parry's flock,
one bred from home stock, and where sheep were never
bought in, it was impossible for small-pox to have occurred
otherwise than spontaneously. It must be remembered that
there is no record of small-pox in sheep in this country until
after the repeal of the law prohibiting the importation of
foreign animals. The first outbreak, as above mentioned, in
1847, was directly traced to the Continent. The attack in
1862 was said to be involved in mystery ; certainly it never
was determined that foreign sheep brought over the infection,
but at the same time the port of London, previously to this
outbreak, had seen imported cases of contagious disease,
including even small-pox in sheep; and it was then sur-
prising to me, that more disease among cattle, the seeds of
which were imported from the Continent, did not devastate
British herds. It was said, relative to Mr. Parry's flock,
that having been entirely bred upon the farm, it was impos-
sible for it to have come in contact with diseased stock, as
no fresh animals, either healthy or diseased, ever entered the
farm at Allington. In writing of the outbreak in 1862, 1 find
that Professor Gamgee, in a speech delivered at Devizes, drew
attention to the possibility of Mr. Parry's flock having been
infected by foreign importation : — " I first noticed that the
contagious diseases of this country did not receive that
amount of attention from veterinary surgeons that they
deserved. 1 have consequently devoted myself specially to
inquiries as to the geographical distribution of these disorders,
the sources of their origin, and their means of spread, m

the course of my travels it has been my lot to investigate
even the subject of small-pox in sheep, and I now propose
to state briefly my opinion as to the origin of this disease in
the county of Wilts, and afibrd you whatever information
I can on the subject of its prevention. In the first place, 1
wish you to understand that it is impossible small-pox should
have appeared amongst us spontaneously. What some people
call the contagion theory, I call a contagion fact. And this
disease has hitherto been at all times one of foreign importa-
tion into Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of those
disorders which we have unfortunately introduced into this
country since that memorable date the 9th July, 1842. Five
years elapsed before we were affected by it. It remained
amongst us for a short time ; and here we have it bursting out
among us in the most unexpected manner. Before reaching
Devizes I understood that the origin of the disorder was in-
volved in mystery. The only plausible statements afloat
referred to the malady having been communicated through the
canal, or from the flying of starlings from one flock to another.
But such far-fetched theories are not needed. I find that on
the Downs of Wiltshire there is a constant traffic in animals,
healthy or diseased, driven along the Wansdyke to avoid the
payment of tolls. At every step I have received confirmation
of the passage of animals along these Downs, and into the
very heart of Mr. Parry's farm. I do not mean to say that
the undoubted existence of this traffic demonstrates that the
disease was thus imported, but I wish to show that Mr. Parry's
flock has not been so privileged from any communication
with other animals as to drive us to imagine that the malady
must have been of spontaneous origin. The great cause of
the mystery attending this outbreak has been, the want of
direction in accumulating all the facts necessary to come to a
conclusion. I may illustrate my meaning in a very simple
manner. If a thief entered this inn to-night, and stole
some plate, the fact of the robbery would not be doubted,
notwithstanding that the man might evade the vigilance
of the police. But with regard to disease, we often
find efiects result where causes have operated in a most
mysterious manner. That is no proof that the causes have
not been in operation. When in the county Cork a few days
ago, I had a good illustration of the way in which contagious
diseases are communicated, notwithstanding the greatest care
on the part of the farmer to avoid contamination of his flocL
An extensive short-horn breeder, who avoided the public mar-
kets, and purchased with the greatest care, so as to prevent
an outbreak of pleuro-pneumonia, observed one fine morning
that a case had occuiTed among some cows that he had nursing
some of his high-bred calves. He was extremely puzzled to
know how the disease had enterea his domain, but, determined
to get at the truth, he instituted a searching inquiry ; and he
found that whilst he was comfortably asleep in bed a drover
had taken the opportunity of turning some cattle to feed upon
his land, and had removed before he (the farmer) was about
in the morning. That act of trespass was the cause of a loss
amounting to several hundred pounds."

46

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

SMALL -POX IN SHEEP — THE HISTORY OF ITS EXTENSION
DURING 1862.

The introduction of ovina variola to England during 1862
was never clearly traced to foreign importation, although it
is not unlikely that the suspicions suggested in Professor
Gamgee's speech go a long way in explaining this difficulty ;
but certain it is that small -pox spreads by contagion and
infection, and when once established involves with fearful
rapidity whole flocks in its ravages; such was the case during
1862. Mr. Parry's flock was the first to be attacked ; and as
this gentleman's farm was situated in the midst of an exten-
sive sheep district, extending over at least 70,000 acres, there
need be no surprise that the neighbouring flocks soon became
affected with variolous disease. When small -pox appeared,
Mr. Parry being then in ignorance of its nature, placed his
sheep in a field adjoining certain pasture lands tenanted by
Mr. Harding, of Etchilhampton, and in which this latter-
named gentleman's flock was feeding. Soon after this small-
pox broke out among Mr. Harding's sheep, and Professor
Simond's aid was solicited.

In order to make matters clear, it will be necessary to
inform my readers that, on a certain morning in the month
of May, 1862, Mr. Joseph Parry, of Allington, noticed several
of his sheep to be sick, upon which he sought the assistance
of a local farrier, who stated that the flock generally was
labouring under the baneful influence of a " chill " (a term
used to designate many diseases occurring in Wiltshire), but
that a draught or two would soon put them right again.
The prescribed treatment was consequently adopted, and
persisted in for some time, but unfortunately without benefit,
for the animals continued to die daily.

At this crisis, in July, Mr. Parry became alarmed, and
went to London to consult Professor Simonds as to the cause
of this ovine devastation ; the result of which visit was, that
the professor came to Allington on the 2nd of August, pro-
nounced the disease to be ovina variola, advised inoculation,
and consequently operated upon 800 sheep (lambs and ewes).
Mr. Parry's flock, prior to the date of the outbreak, consisted
of 1720 sheep, out of which number 920 were attacked in a
natural way, and of them fifty per cent, had died ; of the 800
inoculated cases only thirty-six terminated fatally.

The question which naturally arises, and has been proposed
over and over again, is — How did the disease first occur?
How could it have arisen as the result of contagion, since
Mr. Parry's flock were bred upon the farm, and when fresh
stock had not been imported for years? Doubtless there
is great difficulty in answering this question. Nobody has
been able to throw any light upon the subject, and as yet all
suggestions offered amount only to so many vague ideas ; still
it will not be unavailing to inform my readers that the
" spontaneous origin " theory met wkh many supporters
amongst flock-masters, and for this reason, that being unable
to find a cause to account for this sudden outbreak, they

embraced the " spontaneous origin " theory, as they bad no
other to choose from. Besides, they argued small-pox must
have had a beginning ; Abraham and Lot might have pos-
sessed animals the subjects of small-pox, and the disease
with them must have been spontaneous. It is admitted that
it occurs spontaneously in Africa. Why not, then, in Eng-
land ? Why should not a number of afflicting causes operate
in such a manner upon our flocks as to produce small-pox?
We know that certain devitalizing atmospheric influences
produce skin diseases, and facilitate the appearance of pus-
tular irruptions ; and in the case of Mr. Parry's flock, singu-
larly enough, such influences have had their sway: for it so
happens that his sheep were washed when they were over-
heated, that shortly afterwards they were sheared, and on the
night following they were exposed to the baneful effects of a
cold wind, accompanied by a heavy fall of rain. Soon after
this the "chill," as it was termed, attacked, or more properly,
small-pox commenced its ravages amongst them. But, be
this as it may, whether small-pox be of spontaneous origin,
or whether it arises as the result of contagion or infection,
it is certain that, having once established itself, it has a great
tendency to spread as an epizootic, and to cause a greater
amount of mortality than any form of disease affecting othei
sheep.

Not only did small-pox spread as an epizootic from Alling-
ton to Etchilhampton, but also to Mr. Neate's flock at
Allcannings, a farm adjoining the first-named village, the
disease being discovered in the following manner : — It
happened that Mr. Neate, then not entertaining even an idea
that his flocks were in any way diseased, sent 250 lambs
to Marlborough fair, which he sold to a Mr. Lowsley, a large
sheep-dealer residing at West Hayburn, Berkshire. On the
Saturday after the fair his shepherd, out of the flocks that
remained at home, noticed a ram to be sick. Mr. Neate,
being fully conscious of the spread of small-pox, asked Mr.
Parry (who necessarily had a good practical knowledge of the
malady) to examine his flocks for him — in which proposal
that gentleman readily acquiesced, and, after an inspection,
announced that several sheep were diseased similarly to his.
Upon which Mr. Neate, in a very praiseworthy spirit, started
for West Hayburn in quest of the lambs he had sold to
Mr. Lowsley, with the determination to repay and retake
possession of them, which he succeeded in doing two days
after the fair. On the Sunday following, thinking most
likely that the lambs were affected with the malady, Mr.
Neate sent a telegram to Professor Simonds, with intent
of securing his presence and advice. The professor came
to Allcannings, and an inspection demonstrated fourteen cases
of small-pox. Inoculation was advised and performed during
Tuesday and Wednesday on 1000 sheep, out of which num-
ber sixty-four died.

As may be naturally supposed, the farmers in and adjacent
to the districts where small-pox was raging, became alarmed.
In particular Mr. Hitchcock, a gentleman who had 300 sheep
located in the midst of the three diseased flocks before men-

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

47

tioned, owing to this fact, and to a belief that the disease
would spread to his flock as the result of contagion or infec-
tion, ard knowing of no treatment but inoculation, sent for
Professor (Simonds, who performed it and produced by arti-
ficial means small-pox amongst the 300 previously healthy
sheep, out of which number forty-six deaths occurred.

Soon after this, and during the period the disease was
gaining ground. Professor Gamgee arrived in Devizes, and,
in conjunction with Mr. Hussey, the local government inspec-
tor, visited several flocks, and amongst them one the property
of Mr. Giddings, of Horton, a flock 400 strong, said to have
been affected. '^hese sheep were inspected one after the
other, and only one was found to be diseased, which was
separated. Three days later the flock was again examined ;
no sheep, however, presented symptoms of small-pox. Three
days later four cases were discovered, and were immediately
separated ; one of the four unfortunately died.

The next flock that became diseased was Mr. Simpkins'
of Stanton, two out of 500 being attacked, as Mr. Simpkins
thought, with swollen lips; he sent for his veterinary surgeon,
Mr. Coleman, who pronounced the above cases to be variolous.
Mr. Simpkins, however, adhered to his own opinion, but
fortunately took the precaution to destroy and bury the two
sheep, the subjects of swollen lips. The following day, or
soon after. Professor Simonds, in his capacity of government
veterinary inspector, having been informed that small-pox
had broken out at Stanton, examined Mr. Simpkins' flock
(be it remembered the sheep examined by Mr. Coleman were
dead and buried), and pronounced them sound, and gave him
a " clean bill," bearing testimony to their healthy condition,
and thus enabling him to send to and sell at market. Ac-
cordingly, on a following Thursday, part of the flock to
which these two diseased sheep had belonged, and which
Mr. Coleman had pronounced to be afi'ected with small-pox,
were sent to Wilton fair, there to be exposed for sale, amongst
perhaps 70,000 others. In this matter, therefore. Professor
Simonds' opinion was seemingly directly opposed to Mr.
Coleman's, and the latter gentleman thought at that time that
hia professional knowledge was called in question. As might
be expected, it aroused his indignation ; for in a conversation
with Professor Gamgee he reiterated his former opinion, and
desired him to accompany him to Mr. Simpkins, in order
there to inspect the above (as he stated) variolous cases,
and to clear up the matter. In this Mr. Simpkins was
unwilling to acquiesce. The propriety, then, of digging
them up, was suggested and refused. To investigate
tliis matter they were determined , and it happened that on
the following night these two sheep were dug up without
permission, and proved to be the subjects of small-pox. One
head, covered with pocks, the author saw at Devizes, pre-
served in spirits, to satisfy those most unwilling to believe.
Professor Gamgee, having satisfied himself as to the correct-
Qess of Mr. Coleman's opinion, and having learnt that a part of
Mr. Simpkins' flock had left for WiltoR fair, telegraphed at
once to the mayor of that place and to Professor Simonds, to

acquaint them with the above circumstance, "early on Friday
morning," the day of the fair. " Unfortunately the message
did not reach them until the evening, after the sheep were
sold and driven away." They were traced, however, to
Woodford, and were returned to Mr. Simpkins.

The next, although slight sufferer, was Mr. Dark, of Ave-
bury Down. Here, again, the system of separation and
destruction was resorted to, and by this means the malady
was limited to only two cases.

My readers will remember that Mr. Neate's infected lambs
stopped (after they were sold at Marlborough to Mr. Lowsley)
at Mr. Church's farm, Aldbourne, on August 22, and doubt-
less during their sliort visit communicated the virus of small-
pox to Mr. Church's previously healthy flock, as, soon after,
thirty cases occurred, upon which the separation system,
without destruction, had been adopted ; and this early re-
moval of the diseased subjects from the healthy stopped the
progress of the malady ; only seven deaths occurred amongst
the thirty above alluded to, and no fresh cases in a flock of
nearly 400 ewes and lambs occurred. Prior, however, to the
outbreak of ovina variola at Aldbourne, Mr. Church sold 200
lambs on August 26 to Mr. Hulbert, of Langley Farm, New-
bury, Berks ; four days after purchase the disease manifested
itself in this little flock by eighty cases immediately breaking
out ; the larger number in a flock of 300, with which the
200 previously mentioned had been located. The whole of
this flock was inoculated by Professor Simonds. Mr. Drew,
the local veterinary surgeon of Ilsley, informed me in 1862, that
there had been a large percentage of death amongst the
inoculated cases, and that he should hesitate on a future
occasion to inoculate with a view to produce a benign form
of small-pox.

It is not difficult to understand by what meai.s small-pox
spread to the Aldbourne flock, when we remember that Mr.
Neate (then in ignorance of the fact) sent to Marlborough
fair 250 lambs infected, if not affected, with the malady, and
that these, after sale to Mr Lowsley, stopped for a night at
Aldbourne, on their journey to West Hayburn, and thus by
contact communicated small-pox to Mr. Church's flock. It
is fair to state that Mr Neate, on discovering his mistake,
did all that man could do to repair the mischief, by repaying
Mr. Lowsley and retaking his lambs to Allcannings; but
unfortunately Mr. Church, not knowing that his lambs were
infected, sent 100 to Henley fair, which were sold to Mr.
Hulbert, who, four days after purchase, noticed a lamb ill,
after which the disease spread through his other flocks. In-
oculation was practised, and great mortality occuiTed; but
fortunately, at this period, small-pox was confined to the
counties before alluded to, viz., Wiltshire and Berkshire.

Ovina variola was unknown in Great Britain until after
the repeal of the law prohibiting the importation of foreign
animals ; and moreover, its first appearance in this country —
viz., in 1847 — was directly traced to a flock of variolous
sheep imported from the Continent. These sheep were sold
in Smithfield to several buyers, by which means small-pojf

48

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIUS.

was distributed over the country, and soon manifested itself
in a flock near London, in the autumn of 1847. During the
three following years it spread through several counties, and
thus became the source of serious loss to British flockmasters.
In 1853 it again broke out in Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk,
and its origin was again traced to the Continent.

But, unfortunately, the outbreak of this malady in 1862 is
somewhat involved in mystery, when we consider that Mr.
Parry's flock was not increased from without: it had no
fresh animals, male or female, introduced into it.

Profesor Simonds, in attempting to account for this out-
break, writes, " We have regarded small-pox as spreading by
contagion ; now we must ask whether it can have a sponta-
neous origin ? "

From the above question it seems that the Professor
arrived at no satisfactory explanation, asserting, as he did,
that Mr. Parry's flock could not have taken the disease from
animals passing along the " drifts," it being fully established
that the said flock was located at least two miles from these
" by-paths" at the time they were first exposed to the infection.
In support of this theory all that can be advanced in its
favour is, that all disease must have had a beginning ; the
same afflicting influences which effected the manifestation of
the first variolous case, might have similarly operated in this
our day to produce disease, as they perhaps did in the time
of Adam Another suggestion, which somewhat strengthens
this idea, is attributable to the fact that in Mr. Harding's
flock at Etchilhampton, 400 ewes evinced symptoms of
infection, when being folded a mile and a half from Mr.
Parry's diseased sheep. The same remark, however, would
similarly apply to the Allcannings' flock ; to which point,
as before stated, the recent outbreaks were readily traced —
ravages attributable to contagion.

Having pointed out to my readers the reasons the suppor-
ters of the spontaneous origin theory assign, it will be my
endeavour also, on the other side, to state clearly the ideas
advanced and the arguments opposed to it. It is distinctly
stated by Professor Gamgee, and it is well known to the
Wiltshire farmers, that their downs are traversed by drift-
ways over which flocks from the Continent can travel on their
journey to the different parts of the country, and it is not
improbable that diseased flocks from abroad might have fed
off the downs in question, and (as the result of infection)
have communicated small-pox to healthy flocks.

Having previously drawn attention to facts referring to
the direction in which small-pox spread amongst the flocks
of Wiltshire and Berkshire, it is my intention at present
to consider how and in what manner the extension of this
malady was facilitated.

It will be remembered that the disease first broke out as
early as June, 1862, in Mr. Parry's flock (although it was not
then *liagnosed by him to be small-pox) ; that soon after-
wards about fifty per cent, of the natural cases died, and the
remaining 800 were inoculated ; therefore it is plain that
at one and the same time an enormous amount of disease

existed at Allington, in a centre from which it was likely to
spread as an epizootic to the neighbouring flocks. But the
question which first arises is. By what means was small-pox
imported to Allington ? Professors Simonds and Gamgee
were both opposed to the spontaneous origin theory, both
stating positively that it arose in Wiltshire as the result of
actual contact. To support this statement, it is well known
that there was no mention ever made in this country of
the existence of small-pox until after the repeal of the law
prohibiting the importation of foreign animals, and that the
first outbreak in 1847 was directly traced to the Continent.
The outbreak referred to was certainly involved in mystery,
as Mr. Parry's sheep were all bred on his farm.

Previously to 1862 cattle often afectedwith disease were to
my knowledge, allowed to pass from our ports into the country
to be sold, and this owing to the ignorance of the inspectors,
in many instances not veterinary surgeons, and therefore, in
every sense of the word, incapable of recognizing, and conse-
quently detecting, disease. But, for the sake of argument,
allowing that sheep affected with small-pox did leave our ports
for the country, let us consider how they could have arrived
in Wiltshire and infected the flock of Mr. Parry, at Allington.

It is a system with the Wiltshire farmers to feed their flocks
during the day on the downs from April to November, a shep-
herd being with them during that time, and at night to place them
in a fold ; it must also be understood that the down apper-
taining to each fann is not divided from the one adjoining it
by a fence of any kind, but merely a landmai-k indicating the
extent of range allowed on the one side to A, and to B on the
other. " Each farm has, therefore, a certain amount of arable
land in the vale, and a strip of down on the hill." Such being
the situation and position of the downs in Wiltshire, and
being so defenceless against inroads from without — so lax,
also, was the inspection of foreign stock at our ports — it is
not altogether difficult to account for the introduction of small-
pox amongst the Wiltshire flocks, when we consider that
this district is traversed in all directions by driftways, so
that drovers can pasture their sheep on the downs for days,
and go from Bristol to London without the payment of a single
toll, or from Southampton to Ilsley, &c., in the same way.
An extensive dealer has assured us that many a hundred
sheep, driven for several days along the Wiltshire downs,
cost, for ti-avelling expenses, 4s. a day. No money is needed
for food, shelter, or tolls.

From the above, therefore, it seems neither impossible nor
improbable that diseased flocks brought from Bristol might
have fed off the very downs during the night upon which Mr.
Parry's flock was to browse the following morning, and by
this means infection or contagion might have operated to pro-
duce small-pox amongst his flock.

This notion Mr. PaiTy disagreed with, because his flock,
previous to their being affected, fed upon a pasture close
beside the banks of a canal, and had not been on the downs ;
and be it observed also that this canal led to a superphosphate
of lime manufactory, by the banks of which pasture the bargee

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

19

containing bones and sometimes skins had to pass on their
voyage to the above establishment. Is it not possible, there-
fore, that these bones or skins might have belonged to bodies
the subjects of small-pox, and that by this means the infection
passed to the Allington flock?

From the above remarks, it seems not unlikely that small-
pox in sheep might have been produced by infection or con-
tagion from either of the above-assumed causes.

But diseased animals, having passed inspection — that is,
having been pronounced healthy by an examiner — are driven
to and perhaps across the Wiltshire downs ; during the day-
time no doubt the drovers keep them moving gently along the
roads, but at night they are allowed to range over the downs
appertaining to the several farms; perhaps a flock affected
with small-pox did range over Mr. Parry's, Mr. Neate's, and
others, and by this means infected the flock. This, however,
is speculative ; but still such introduction might have brought,
and perhaps did bring, small-pox into Wiltshire.

Secondly, as regards the bones and skins noticed on the
barges whilst passing near the banks of the canal close by the
spot where Mr. Parry's flock browsed : it is very difiicult to
trace the disease to them, and therefore I shall not attempt to
say more upon it. It is merely a suggestion thrown out,
which may at some future period be a means of casting some
light 'jn this mysterious subject.

HISTORY OF THE TREATMENT OF SMALL-POX IN SHEEP.

The first course to be adopted in the treatment of small-pox
in sheep is that of separation ; the next to be described is the
indication of the difierent medicinal agents prescribed. In 1863
H. C. Miles, F.S.S., assistant surgeon to the Royal Artillery, in
a paper on an Indian remedy for small-pox read before the
Epidemiological Society of London, advised the use of the
Sarracenia purpurea, vulgarly called Indian cup, or pitcher
plant, as a medicine calculated to be of benefit in the cure of
small-pox Professor Cleveland, U.S., makes the following
remarks on effects produced by it : —

" My experiments are confirmatory of the utility of the plant
in cases where there is a sluggish or torpid condition of
stomach, intestine, liver, kidneys, uterus, or various functional
derangements, and it must be evident that this plant possesses
valuable properties. It is even possible that a new salt,
similar in importance to morphia and quinia, may be extracted
from it, and thus a new and valuable remedy may be added
to our Materia Medica."

This remedy seems first to have been discovered by the
North American Indians, who, when small-pox broke out and
devastated their tribes, used a decoction of the root of the
Sarracenia purpurea, believing that it acted with prophylactic
effect.

An Indian authority on this matter asserts that the root of
this plant alone is beneficial in the treatment ot small-pos,
but that preparations made from the leaves are useless in that
malady. The directions for the preparation and use of this
decoction are as follows : — That the root, when fresh gathered

and divested of its thin fibres, should be slowly dried ; that
two oz. of the dried root sliould be cut into pieces and placed in
an earthen pot, upon which a quart of cold water should be
poured, and afterwards be permitted to simmer gently over a
steady fire for two or three hours, " so as to lose one-fourth of
its weight."

Observations. — 1. In the case of an individual Buspected to be under the
influence of small-pox, but with no dibtinct eruption upon him, a large wine-
glass of the infusion of the root of the plant Sarracenia purpurea, or pitcher
plant, is to be taken. The effect of this dose is to bring oat the eruption.
After a second or third dose, given at intervals of from four to six hours,
the pustules subside, apparently losing their vitality. The patient feels
better at the end of each dose, and in the graphic expression of the " Micmac,"
" knows there is a great change within him at once.''

2. In a subject already covered with the eruption of small-pox in the
early stage, a dose or two will dissipate the pustules and subdue the febrile
symptoms. The urine, from being scanty and high-coloured, becomes pale
and abundant, whilst from the first dose the feelings of the patient assures
him that "the medicine is killing the disease." Under the influence of the
remedy, in three or four days the prominent symptoms of the constitutional
disturbance subside, although, as a precautionary measure, the sick person
is kept in camp until the ninth day. No marks of the eruption (as regards
pitting, &c.) have been left in cases examined, if treated by the remedy.

3. With regard to the medicine acting (as is believed by the Indians) in
the way of a preventive, in those exposed to infection, it is curious to note
that in the camps where the remedy has been used the people keep a weak
infusion of the root prepared, and take a dose occasionally daring the doy,
go as to " keep the antidote in the blood.''

These observations by the Indian have been fully corro-
borated by Europeans, who have noticed that, consequent
upon the administration of the root Sarracenia purpurea to
persons covered with variolous eruptions, the following results
have manifested themselves —

1. Bapid diuretic action with immediate lessening of the febrile symptomg ;
and, more tardily, it acts as an evacuant on the large intestines.

2. On a repetition of a dose of the decoction (which perhaps should be
given after three or four hours, instead of at longer intervals), the mitiga-
tion and obvious improvement, should any symptoms of cerebral disturbance
be present.

3. Its extraordinary effect (within a brief period) in altering the character
of the cutaneous eruption. It seems to arrest the morbid process, and in-
duce a healthy instead of a diseased action. The pustules appear simply to
be deprived of their vitality ; they desiccate and fall away.

4. The prevention oi pitting, consequent, it may be supposed, on the whole
nature of the pustule being changed in the manner just noted.

The dried root of the Sarracenia purpurea can be obtained
of Messrs. Savory and Moore, London.

The fact of the prevalence of ovina variola in England
during 1862-63 elicited a letter from Dr. Rennie, of the 31st
Regiment serving in China. Dr. Rennie's theory is, that
small-pox is generated, like typhus-fever, owing to the neglect
of sanitary and hygienic measures, which neglect permits the
generation and elimination of fetid compounds; and they,
entering the animal economy, deleteriously affect it by con-
taminating the blood with this supposed malarious poison.
This foreign and injurious substance, when pervading the
system, devitalizes it, and consequently an effort on the part
of nature is called into operation, which attempts, by throw-

9

60

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

ing out a pustular eraption, to eradicate the virus from tlie
system.

The treatment prescribed in cases of cutaneous eruptions
is the external application of a liniment consisting of tartar
emetic and croton oil, the effect of which, the doctor stales,
is the production of a strong " galvanic or electric " action,
wliich causes the eruption to assume a " healthy and mild
form." The doctor considers that a further investigation of
small-pox will lead us to the direct use of electricity. The
report forwarded contains several cases successfully treated in
the human subject by the above means.

During the outbreak of ovina variola in 1862 and 1863,
it was asserted by some that the disease among sheep
was not small-pox, but a severe cutaneous eruption. And
what is ovina variola but a skin disease — an eruptive pustular
malady, having received the name of small-pox in sheep
because of its similarity, in external manifestation and in con-
stitutional effect, to the same disease known as small-pox in
man? Small-pox in sheep passes through similar stages to
the disease in man — namely, the incubative, when the malady
is latent in the system ; secondly, the vesicular, when spots or
vesicles appear ; thirdly, the papulated, when the papulae
often run into one another, i.e., coalesce and assume the
state known as confluent small-pox. Again, the malady will
run its course in sheep as in man ; and any attempt to arrest
its development is attended with most dangerous results.
Now, in the treatment of small-pox in man, the physician has
the means of cure under his control to a greater extent than
the veterinarian when attending the same disease in sheep —
that is, the physician can keep his patient in a bed, can have
the room well aired and heated if the day or night be cold,
and his patient has the sense to take medicine willingly ;
and therefore, by a strict observance of these means he can
facilitate the development of the pocks, and avoid everything
calculated to frustrate the operation of nature in producing
them J^^or the veterinarian quite an opposite state of things
exists : he often has to treat his patients when they are
located in ill-drained and badly ventilated stalls, in which
fetid effluvia, caused by the presence of impure gases, exert
their baneful influences on the inmates ; and sometimes in the
open fields, when atmospheric changes, heat and cold, act
injuriously upon animals labouring under disease. Perhaps
no malady to which the ovine race is subject demands greater
care and protection from the operation of bad weather, than
small-pox. For the sake of argument let us imagine a flock
to be infected with it ; that is, in the state of disease which
may be designated " incubative." The owner of the flock
fails to observe that any animal is sick, and they are allowed
to range, and are treated as formerly. Now, even during this
stage, a cold, wet night would not fail to injuriously affect
infected animals, by throwing (as the shepherds would say)
tli« lisease inwards, or more properly, by retarding the
development of the pock, and consequently keeping the
supposed virus of variola in the system for a longer period
than is usually ordained by nature; by which means the

system, owing to the presence of this poison, becomes devital-
ized, and the operation of vital powers necessary to the pro-
duction of the pock is interfered with. These remarks can
with equal force be applied to patients when passing through
the other stages of variola ; and especially so during the
papulated stage, when inclement weather often causes the
development of the form of small-pox known as confluent.
Both Messrs. Parry and Neate informed me that their sheep,
when in the latter stage of the malady, seemed sicker after
wet weather and extreme heat, and died in greater numbers ;
whereas during dry weather and a medium temperature, they
seemed less affected, and progressed more favourably. In
some of the cases in which post-mortem examinations were
made (the time when I carried out these examinations, being
after three consecutive days' rain), I found that the lambs
died as the result of congestion and hepatization of the
lungs ; in these instances cold had doubtless impinged upon
the system, previously devitalized by disease, and by attack-
ing the most vital organs, viz., the lungs, produced conges-
tion of them and consequent death.

Looking at the above facts, the question suggests itself — 11
in treating small-pox in the human subject such care is
required to insure warmth, cleanliness, &c., both during the
continuance of the malady, and for some weeks afterwards,
why should not the same be demanded for the variolous
sheep ? It is well known, however, that sheep are gregarious
animals, and dislike being housed ; and often, if shut up in
confined places for ever so short a time, die, even though not
previously diseased. But although this is the case, why could
we not locate variolous sheep in places similar to those in use
at lambing time, with a shed around the yard ? This might
be adopted with benefit, because, as before indicated, it would
protect them against the injurious effects of bad weather, and
the too severe heat of the sun. During the outbreak in Wilt-
shire little or no protection was afforded to these miserable
sufferers, and, in my opinion, many died in consequence of
the inclemency of the weathei. Therefore if disease at some,
and, I hope, far distant period, should occur, let me advise
flockmasters to place their affected flocks in habitations pro-
tected from the weather, in a similar way to the folds used in
lambing time.

This place or infirmary would be the spot to which the
variolous sheep could be sent when separated from their
healthy companions ; and segregation should be resorted to
on the immediate appearance of disease. In bad cases, viz.,
those manifesting symptoms likely to be fatal, the animal.*
should be destroyed and burnt, and the ashes buried. Near
the infirmary, and with benefit, a Turkish bath might be con-
structed, as an adjunct to the treatment of small-pox in sheep,
but so built as also to accommodate larger animals upon the
farm. Scientific men, who have borne testimony to the
effects produced on the animal system by the use of the bath
as a curative influence, inform us that " at a temperature over
160 degrees infection is destroyed and fever is conquered."
Now if this be true, we have in the Turkish bath a very

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PlttS.

61

valuable agent in stopping the progress of this disease by
destroying infection, and it might be tried by my readers at
any future outbreak of small-pox. It should seem that in
treating skin affections the first course to be adopted should be
that of shearing, in order to obtain a surface capable of being
rapidly operated upon, and quickly dried afterwards ; and more
particularly would I recommend shearing previous to the
application of hot-air baths for small-pox in sheep.

It must be remembered that sheep are very timid animals,
and consequently great care must be exercised in administer-
ing medicine. A sheep, if caught and drenched three times
weekly for a fortnight, will often die, either as the result of
fright or of some derangement caused by the handling necessary
to be called into operation during such process. It will there-
fore be wise, in treating small-pox medicinally, to give nitre in
the water-troughs, and to feed the animals on an easily-digested
and at the same time nutritious diet, such as oil-cake, carrots,
&c. ; and after the disease has runs its course, to administer
tonics, and occasionally stimulants. This treatment during
the outbreak in 1862 was attended with success.

INOCULATION OR OVINATION.

The inoculation of sheep with the view of producing a mild
or "benign" form of small-pox, has for years past been
practised on the Continent, and at various periods since 1847,
in Great Britain. Professor Simonds, during the outbreak
among sheep in 1862, operated upon several flocks with
varied success, and from his book on Ovina Variola we learn
that he, together with many English authorities, recommends
inoculation as an artificial means, calculated to modify the
type of disease, and to lessen the mortality which usually
happens when-small pox occurs naturally. This being the
case, I will endeavour to explain the mode of operating, and
the period at which lymph should be collected from the small-
pox vesicle. It is of no consequence whether the lymph be
obtained from the vesicle which has occurred de naturd, or has
appeared as the result of inoculation ; in each case it must be
regulated by the duration of its incubative stage. The lymph
required for the operation must be obtained from the vesicle
when fully pregnant with the fluid, but on no account when
the smallest amount of pus has formed, i.e., when the vesicle
is assuming the pustular type. Professor Simonds considers
that the vesicles very seldom are sufficiently matured to yield
lymph before the twelfth or thirteenth day after inoculation.
Continental authorities state that lymph may be obtained from
inoculated sheep on the eighth or ninth day ; but this state-
ment is contrary to the experience of British authorities, and
especially of Mr. Ceely, who informs us that he has seldom been
able to obtain lymph before the twelfth day. He writes as
follows: — " On the fourth day succeeding the inoculation of the
animal which yielded the ichor, there were febrile symptoms,
and roseola and stigmata near the inoculated parts, which
were hard, elevated, and of a brick-red colour. The general
and local symptoms increased, and on the sixth and seventh
day of inoculation, large papulae appeared, chiefly in the

vicinity of the punctures. Subsequently papulae showed them-
selves near the mouth, and eventually the absorbents of the
groin, near to the inoculated places, became indurated ; yet it
was not until the eleventh day of the eruption, and sixteenth
of inoculation, that any lymph could be procured from either
the eruptive or inoculated vesicles."

MODE OF OPERATINa.

Having selected a sheep with the vesicles upon it, as above
indicated, and procured the necessary lymph, it will be wise
to confine the flock about to be inoculated, in a circumscribed
area, and to catch every animal one by one, until each has
been operated upon.

The places usually selected for the insertion of the ovine
virus, are the inside of the ears and thighs, the under surface
of the tail, or any other part devoid of wool or hair. Captain
Carr gives the following instructions for the performance of
inoculation : — " The places best suited are the inner side of the
flap of the ear, or the under part of the tail, close to the root.
The instrument employed is a kind of needle made for the
purpose, with a fine and somewhat flattened point, which
having been dipped in the virus is carefully inserted between
the upper and second skin, carefully avoiding piercing so
deeply as to draw blood, which is found to render the success
of inoculation less certain. Of course, in the absence of such
a needle, a lancet will answer the purpose."

The lymph may be obtained from the small-pox vesicle by
plunging a needle or lancet into it, as above mentioned, and
immediately inserting the charged point into the skin of the
sheep on the inside of the flap of the ear, inside of the leg, or
under the tail ; or, in other words, those parts devoid of wool
and hair. The number of punctures ought not to exceed three
or four, and should be about two inches apart, so as to prevent
the extension of inflammation from one to the other. Pro-
fessor Simonds writes — " It is better to have one incision on
either side of the abdomen, and a third on the inner part of
the thigh. The greatest care is required in making the
punctures, for, if deep, they are certain to be succeeded by
ulceration and sloughing of the surrounding integument, often
to the extent of two or three inches. They cannot be too
superficial. Indeed, with primary lymph, i.e., lymph pro-
cured from the vesicles of natural ovine-pox, we have found
that the slightest incision, even if it did not penetrate the
dermis, has been followed by an ulcer, varying in size from
that of a shilling to half a crown."

The experience of llr. Ceely agiees with that of Professor
Simonds, for he writes — " I find superficial scratches better
than punctures, and I place the lymph upon them by means
of a portion of moist cuticle recently removed from a
vesicle, and secure it with a piece of adhesive plaster : large
punctures are sure to be followed by extensive or deep and
dangerous sloughing." Professor Simonds, for the sake of
comparison between the effects produced by scratching and
by puncture, had recourse to the following experiment : —

November 29. — Three-year-old sheep, Irish breed, ovinated

52

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

by scratching the epidermis inside each thigh, and making a
slight puncture on the brisket. Dry lymph used to the
separate places.

November 30. — Swelling is present, associated with dif-
fused redness of the abraded integument. No change in
the incision.

December 1. — Small pustules are found on the scratches.
The red colour is declining.

December 2. — The pustules have discharged their contents,
the swelling has nearly subsided, and the cuticle is desqua-
mating. The puncture is marked by a deep red dye of variolous
inflammation.

December 4. — The absorbents surrounding the incision are
corded. The inflamed spot is larger ; but the animal's health
is scarcely affected.

December 6. — A few papulae have appeared. These subse-
quently passed through the regular stages, and on the 18th
the patient was convalescent.

The animals selected to be operated upon with the
variolous poison, should always be such as are in good health
and not less than six months old, as young lambs seldom
recover the efi"ects of inoculation. We must also be guided by
the weather in our determination of the period when to
operate. The extremes of hot, cold, and wet weather must be
avoided, but a dry and mild season can be wisely chosen; and
after a flock has been inoculated it will be good practice to
place it in a protected situation or shed, similar to those
used during the lambing season. Some persons advise, under
any circumstances, the gradual preparation of the flock selected
for inoculation by dieting, so as to produce a healthy state of
their systems; and in certain cases, the exhibition of
medicinal agents, to be given under the advice of a qualified
veterinarian.

It has been st;-ted by Hurtrel D'Arboval, that the
exudations from inoculated vesicles are not so efiicacious in
producing small-pox as those of the eruptive ones. In
opposition to this opinion, both Professor Simonds and Mr.
Ceely have succeeded in inoculating successfully with the
contents of both vesicles, and consequently have not noticed
the difference referred to.

The lymph used for inoculation is said by some, during its
transmission from sheep to sheep, to undergo degeneration
and ultimately to become effete ; by others it is asserted,
after several transits a lymph equally protective, but far
less virulent, is obtained.

Hurtrel D'Arboval writes : — " After the same matter has
passed through twelve or fifteen lots of sheep, it loses its
eflacacy, and requires to be renewed from sheep having the
natural pock." To this opinion Mr. Ceely is opposed, and
thus writes : — " If this be true when great pains are taken
to repeat inoculations with lymph in a proper state, viz., clear
and limpid, it is a very remarkable and highly interest-
ing fact, and well wo'thy the attention of the medical and
veterinary professions. We know that care and selection in
the transmission of the vaccine are necessary to prevent

degeneration, which has often taken place to the injury of
patients and the damage of the reputation of the vaccine ; but
we do not see, when proper care is taken to select good lymph
and fitting subjects, that such degeneration ensues, or we
should be in a sad state for want of fresh supplies. I should
like to be able to ascertain the truth of the statement made
by French inoculators or clavelizators ; and whether it be a
contingent or an unavoidable degeneration."

Again, it is said that the virus is not so good from the
inoculated as from the eruptive vesicle ; that is a point of
interest. It is very probable that the eruptive vesicles have
the lymph less blended with the adventitious products of
inflammation excited by the scratch or puncture of inocula-
tion, which will often in man, after vaccination, spoil one
or more vesicles. After all, I cannot but suspect that these
difficulties have been overstated, and might be met with
where large numbers have been clavelized. Where one or
two only are inoculated, as with vaccine in man, the sup-
ply may be lost, or degeneration ensue."

THE SELECTION AND PRESERVATION OF VARIOLOUS LYMPH.

Lymph should never be selected from very large vesicles,
as these are often filled with little else than serous exuda-
tion ; small ones, when distinct, are therefore to be preferred.

The author has had no experience in the preservation of
lymph, the reason for which will be sufficiently shown
hereafter, when the benefit to be derived from, and the
propriety of inoculating, will be discussed ; consequently,
for the use of those readers who believe in its prophylactic
effects, the following passages are selected from Simonds'
work on Ovina Variola : — " Various expedients have been
adopted to preserve the lymph, so that it might be depended
on for future ovinations ; all these, however, have failed more
or less. The method of collecting it in capillary tubes, and
afterwards hennetically sealing them at the end, is probably
the best. Mr. Ceely has long been accustomed to preserve
the vaccine lymph in this manner, and speaks highly of it.
Next to this plan, that of charging ivory points, and allowing
it to dry, is to be recommended. How long lymph will
retain its specific properties cannot be determined with accu-
racy ; probably it will be useless after being kept a few
months. The fresher the lymph the more it is to be de-
pended upon for ovination, as undoubtedly it is deteriorated
by age, and ultimately becomes inert."

Lymph, taken from a vesicle arising de naturd, primary
lymph, and used for the inoculation of sheep, is said to
produce intense inflammation, and to cause sloughing; and
consequently lymph of the first remove cannot be safely
used. Mr. Serres writes — " If the ichor is transmitted
through the systems of several sheep, we obtain by the
tenth remove a fluid which merely produces a general erup-
tion, so that the malady induced by inoculation is very
mild, and unattended with danger." But, of course, when
small-pox occurs naturally amongst two or three in a flock
of sheep, and the owner determines to inoculate the re-

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

53

mainder, he has no choice left him ; if he inoculates, he
must do so with primary lymph. To remedy this, which
by inoculators is considered an evil, many attempts years
ago were made to purify the lymph by first ovinatiiig
other animals, as the ox, and then bringing it back to the
sheep. The opinions of experimentalists on this subject,
however, are at such variance, that it is impossible to place
any reliance on their statements. Suffice it to say, that,
when possible, it is safer to use lymph of the ninth or
tenth remove; for when sheep are inoculated with primary
lymph very dangerous symptoms occur, which constantly
terminate in death. The above remarks on the ovination
of sheep have been written in order to inform my readers
of the modus operandi of the preventive influence said by
many authorities to follow such operation. Having closely
watched the progress of ovine small-pox during 1862 and
1863, I must state that my opinion is quite adverse to
the authorities alluded to in the foregoing chapters : but
that I do so with all respect to such, and particularly to
Professor Simonds, who has investigated this subject of veter-
inary pathology more perhaps than any person living, and
whose opinion is at all times much respected by the author.
It will not, therefore, be out of place to introduce certain
remarks made by Professor Simonds during 1862, in advo-
cating inoculation as a treatment for ovine small-pox : —

" He believed that there was nothing which they could
use so efi'ectually, no means at their disposal so good, as
that of artificially inducing the disease by inoculation. Sup-
posing, for example, that they had to deal with one hundred
sheep, five or six of which had given early evidence of the
afiection Let them bear in mind that they had only two
things at their disposal to arrest the progress of the dis-
ease, and lessen its fatality ; one, the early separation of
the diseased animals from the healthy, or apparently healthy;
the other, the artificial production of the disease. The dis-
ease, artificially produced, was exceedingly benign compared
with the natural form, and consequently this plan afi'orded
the means of saving a great number of sheep. He had no
desire to give utterance to a single expression which would
militate against the plan of isolation ; but he knew that it
was frequently altogether impracticable. If they had merely
to deal with tens, twenties, or even hundreds of sheep, there
would be little difficulty. The sheep might be caught every
day, turned, and carefully inspected ; but it must be remem-
bered that at the identical moment when it made its first
appearance on the skin the disease was infectious, so that
if the sheep were allowed to remain together ever so short
a time after the eruption made its appearance, it was impos-
sible to say how many would receive the infection. Early
removal, therefore, necessitated a daily examination. With
sixty or one hundred sheep such an examination was not
difficult; but with flocks of thousands it was impossible
that it could be practically or advantageously carried out.
This being the case, they were thrown back completely
upon inoculation. With regard to inoculation, certain rules

had been laid down, which it was absolutely imperative
should be well carried out so as to secure success. A great
deal had been said and written within the last few weeks
about inoculation ; and persons who were well known in the
agricultural world had thought fit to publish letters in the
Times condemning inoculation. Those individuals, however,
had drawn their deductions trom incorrect data. He liked
to be honest in these things, and he would say with regard to
the letter of Sir John Tyrrell, with reference to the disease in
Mr. Bramston's flock, that a greater mistake was never uade.
Sir John TyiTell said truly that Mr. Bramston had his flock
inoculated, and that he lost a great number of animals. But
the tact was, that the greater number lost were natural cases.
He did not lose any great number that were inoculated.
Although they were not inoculated by himself, they were
inoculated by an individual to whom he (Professor Simonds)
supplied the lymph ; indeed, the inoculation was carried out
under his own superintendence. He had letters in his pos-
session which would show, that Mr. Bramston did not lose
one-third as many of his inoculated animals as he did of those
sufi'ering from natural causes. He (Professor Simonds) was
therefore justified in saying, that Sir J. Tyrrell had drawn
his deductions from wrong data. It should be borne in mind
that one essential to success in inoculation, was that the opera-
tion should be performed in temperate weather. He stated
this here because he had to mention that Mr. Bramston's
sheep were inoculated at Christmas, a period when, as they
knew, so much protection could not be given to sheep as at
other times. The temperature was generally ill-adapted to
preserve the health of the animal, and consequently operated
against the success of inoculation. If, therefore, there was a
little greater fatality in Mr. Bramston's flock than in other
cases, it was partly, if not wholly, due to the period of the
year when the operation was performed Another rule to be
laid down was, that animals which were not pregnant were
the best to be inoculated. At the same time, if small-pox
should make its appearance amongst our ewes in lamb, they
must be inocialated, and the owner must take the conse-
quences. There was undoubtedly a greater likelihood of
fatal results in such cases ; and he might mention that, in
Mr. Bramston's case, the ewes were heavy in lamb at the
time of their inoculation. There was, therefore, a second
cause brought into operation to increase the fatality. But
there was still another point, and an important one, that
militated against inoculation in the case to which he had
referred. With fluid lymph he never thought of inoculating
in more than one place. One puncture was sufficient for the
purpose, and could not be too superficially made. If he
should be called upon to inoculate a flock of sheep to-morrow,
he should have the sheep from which he proposed to take the
lymph at one end of the table, and the sheep to be inoculated
at the other. He should dip the end of the inoculating needle
in the virus ot each vesicle, and then insert it very super-
ficially in the other animal ; just one puncture. But then he
must have a natural case to choose from, and he must have an

64

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

animal in a particular stage of the disease. Without such a
case the only plan would be to collect lymph upon an ivory
point, and use it in the same way as it was used upon a child.
The lymph dried on the point, and of course lost some of its
potency. So in the case of sheep. If they kept the lymph
for several weeks it became exceedingly weak, and therefore
it was important to make, not merely one puncture, but two,
three, and occasionally even four. Assuming, then, that they
made four punctures, and that all of them proved eflfectual, it
was not difficult to see that if there was danger of one pro-
ducing the death of the animal, there was more danger of four
producing it. The consequence was that dry lymph was less
successful in inoculation than fluid lymph, merely hecaiise the
operator had to produce more punctures."

From the above it will be learned that Professoi Simonds
advises, first, inoculation as a modifier of ovina variola;
secondly, how and in what manner he performs the operation;
and thirdly, his reasons for advocating it as a valuable treat-
ment for small-pox in sheep. In doing so, he remarks, you
have two courses at your disposal — one, the separation of
diseased animals from healthy ones, and the other, the
artificial production of the disease by inoculation.

One of the chief reasons given by the professor in advising
inoculation, was because a greater amount of time was
necessarily expended in examining a flock, the diseased sheep
from which were to be segregated, and afterwards to be
isolated. I must confess that it seems to me quite as easy to
examine 1000 sheep as to inoculate the same number ; and
moreover, more time would be consumed in inoculating 1000
animals than in examining them simply with a view to the
separation and isolation of those diseased. Admitting that
early removal demands daily inspection, which, when dealing
with hundreds we are told is easy enough, but with thousands
is impracticable, it therefore appears, that the only reason
assigned against the separation system is an assumed, by no
means great, difficulty. Did it not take Professor Simonds
more time to inoculate 800 sheep in one place and 1000 in
another, than it would have taken to have inspected each
sheep, and to have separated the diseased from the healthy?
Again, it is asserted that by inoculation a " benign " form of
small-pox is produced. In very few instances indeed during
1862 did benign cases, following inoculation, come under my
notice. In a flock, the property of Mr. Hitchcock — which I
carefully examined whilst suffering with small-pox, the result
of ovination — I met with the most virulent form of small-pox ;
there were animals with swollen faces standing outside the
fold, and about to die as the subjects of diseased lungs, the
result of inoculation, which we are told produces small-pox
in an " exceedingly benign " form ; but it could not have
been more virulent, so my experience teaches me. The in-
spection and separation system can be easily carried out,
provided a sufficient number of persons qualified are engaged
to inspect flocks, and to separate the diseased from the
healthy. This system Professor Simonds distinctly advo-
cates— "he had no desire to give utterance to a single

expression which would militate against the plan of isola-
tion " — but prefers inoculation, because it takes less time, and
consequently gives less trouble to the attending veterinarian.

No one will deny that inoculation propagates the disease,
consequently it increases the amount of danger to be dreaded,
and facilitates, by rendering more animals diseased, the
actual spread of the malady ; for who can predict that, out
of a flock of 400 inoculated sheep, one would have taken the
disease naturally, or how many would have died if they had?
or if, in cases of small-pox in man, inoculation is prohibited
because productive of such serious consequences, why should
not the same rule similarly apply to our domestic animals?
Again, inoculated sheep suffer almost as severely as those
that take tlie disease naturally, and therefore every animal
so situated is reduced to half its previous amount in money
value ; i.e., if a flock is worth £1000 before inoculation has
been practised, it is only worth £500 afterwards ; and besides,
there is always a certain amount of mortality; whereas
separation, immediate destruction, and burial in lime, or still
better, burning, diminishes the disease by, so to speak,
actually destroying it. In Norfolk, where small-pox raged
among the sheep during 1847 and 1848, a Mr. Bramston
inoculated a flock of 600, which resulted in his losing ten
daily. On the other hand. Sir J. Tyrrell possessed 500
sheep ; he separated the diseased ones from the healthy, and
he informed a friend of mine that £20 covered all his losses.
Certainly, therefore, when it is proved by reasoning from an-
alogy and from fact, that the effects produced upon animals by
inoculation are to be dreaded nearly as much as the disease
itself when occurring de naturd, such a treatment in my
humble opinion is to be deprecated ; from personal observa-
tion, I am positive that it is better to destroy and so to
suffer a slight loss at first, than to extend by inoculation an
area containing the disease, as inoculated sheep will infect
healthy ones as rapidly as those which have taken the disease
from natural cases.

The adoption of the system of segregation, i.e., the separa-
tion of diseased from healthy sheep, of course, is the first and
most reasonable plan which is suggested to the mind of those
even the most ignorant of the management of sheep. This
system was during 1862 in many instances carefully carried
out, and where isolation was early insured, several sheep
escaped and less mortality occurred, than among inoculated
flocks. The wholesale inoculation of flocks throughout a
district, because, perhaps, two flocks within it are suffering
from a contagious malady, can only have the effect of involving
the whole in such disease, and of infecting the surround-
ing neighbourhood, whereas, early separation must confine
the disease within certain limits, or at any rate we are
not in so doing attempting to spread it by artificial means.
One affected animal in a district is less likely to cause the
extension of the malady than twenty; now, the system of
isolation does all that is practicable to prevent No. 2
catching small-pox, whereas, by inoculation, we spread the
disease from flock to flock, and by this means increase the

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

fib

centres of contagious disease from one to an indefinite
number, each centre becoming a nucleus, from which the
malady is assisted in spreading to neighbouring flocks.
Early separation and isolation is therefore here prescribed.
This system worked well during 1862, and if it be carefully
and strictly carried out, will similarly answer ' during any
future outbreak, should it unfortunately ever again occur
in Great Britain. A letter from Mr. Rose is reproduced
here, as it clearly gives the opinions of a practical flock-
master : —

To the Editor of the Times.

Sir, — I learn through your paper that small-pox has broken
out among the sheep at AUington, and has already committed
lamentable ravages. I was situated in the very focus of the
epidemic when it occurred in West Norfolk in 1848, and I
paid some attention to the subject.

The following is the statistical result of my experience at
that invasion of the pestilence, having a knowledge of what
occurred in various flocks comprising 19,526 sheep : —

Of the sheep that took the disease naturally nearly one-
third died.

Of 9720 thai were inoculated 345 died.

Of 4800 sheep among which the disease broke out
naturally, and where the flocks were very carefully watched —
viz., examined, and the diseased immediately separated from
the unaffected (as far as could be judged of) — only twenty-
two were affected, and of those eight died.

From the above results I came to the conclusion that
separation would be the best plan of management on the
occurrence of a similar epidemic, for inoculation must in-
tensify and diffuse the poison, as every inoculated flock would
be a fresh focus of contagion, and vaccination, as practised
during the early period of the epidemic in Norfolk, was
worse than useless.

I therefore advocate neither vaccination nor inoculation,
! but separation, provided the watchfulness of the shepherd
can be depended on. — I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

C. B. ROSE.
Great Yarmouth, Aug. 14, 1862.

VACCINATION A PREVENTIVE OF SMALL-POX IN SHEEP.

Any sudden outbreak of disease amongst cattle, and the
consequent loss incurred by it, necessarily causes the pro-
prietors to consider what means can best be adopted to pre-
vent disease or lessen its intensity. As men directly protect
themselves against corporal aggression, so do they indirectly
against mercantile loss; and this same spirit leads them to
act on the defensive, and sometimes on the offensive, if cir-
cumstances demand it.

Now in the case belore my readers, ovina variola, it
will be remembered that the malady was not diagnosed in
Wiltshire until after Professor Simonds had inspected, pro-
nounced judgment, and prescribed treatment. Soon after-
wards other veterinarians appeared amongst the diseased

flocks ; but, while agreeing with Professor Simonds' opinion,
that the extant disease was small-pox, they deprecated the
system of inoculation, as calculated to extend rather than
circumscribe the area in which the malady existed. I, for
one, advocated a system of separating the diseased from the
healthy sheep, and destroying those in whom tlie hope of
recovery was small; and this plan undoubtedly answered.
For there were two farms, on each of which two variolous
sheep in the early stage of the malady were removed from
their companions, and in neither of these flocks did any fresh
case occur ; whereas the inoculated flock at Langley suffered
severely.

The first idea which is naturally suggested to farmers and
others when disease is devastating their herds, is, "What treat-
ment shall I apply to eradicate disease ? or, better still, what
means can I adopt to prevent it?" The treatment has been
alluded to above. When in Wiltshire, and bearing in mind
that " prevention was better than cure," I suggested to Mr.
George Brown, of Avebury, that although Professor Simonds
disbelieved in the utility of vaccination, it would be worth
trying a few experiments. In this Mr. Brown acquiesced;
at the same time adding that several medical men had
previously proposed vaccination as a preventive. Soon after
this conversation a meeting was convened in Devizes by the
Wiltshire Mutual Association for the Prevention of the Spread
of Small-pox in Sheep, at which my presence was requested.
At this gathering several matters were considered relative to
the wording ot certain rules to be printed for the guidance of
the association ; and afterwards the subjects of inoculation
and vaccination were freely discussed. I there stated that ii
was our duty to obtain proof, and not to take statements for
granted without investigating for ourselves. For this reason
I advocated the propriety of testing the effect of vaccination
as a preventive, on several sheep ; and, in the event of the
pock taking, to place such sheep in the midst of tlie previously
diseased flocks. If the vaccinated sheep failed to contract
the disease after a due time had been allowed for its produc-
tion, then these sheep might be considered exempt from small-
pox, and, consequently, vaccination might be looked upon as
a preventive agent.

During 1863, experiments on a somewhat extended scale
were carried on by the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng-
land, under the supervision of Professor Simonds ; and six
ewes were also vaccinated by Mr. Parker, surgeon, Shriven-
ham. Four of these ewes, after the effects of vaccination
had passed off, were allowed to remain eleven days with Mr.
Hulbert's flock ; the other two were placed during twenty
days in the midst of variolous sheep at Aldbourne, but werf
afterwards removed to Mr. Hulbert's flock, where they stopped
four days, without manifesting the slightest signs whatever
of small-pox, " although during the whole of that time small-
pox was raging in both flocks to a fearful and virulent extent."
On Monday, Nov. 3, the six ewes were inspected at Langley
by Mr. George Brown and Mr. Parker; they were found to
be perfectly healthy, and the only sheep amongst the flock

56

THE DISEASES OF CAlTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

free from small-pox : " the vaccinated ewes showed no symp-
toms of smaU-pox, and were, indeed, the only healthy ones
m the flock."

Mr. Hulbert's sheep were then examined, and one, consid-
ered to have passed through the various stages of small-pox
and to have recovered, was caught, and inspection revealed
the fact that the inside of its thighs was covered with
pustules in a confluent form. From this sheep Mr. Parker
obtained lymph, and inoculated the six previously vaccinated
ewes, and left them still with Mr. Hulbert's flock. On tlie
13th of November Mr. Parker wrote to Mr. Brown, informing
him that he had inspected the ewes and found them affected
by the inoculation, but not to the same extent as those which
had not been vaccinated.

The question is often asked " What is the difference between
inoculation and vaccination?" Inoculation is conveying
a disease from one animal to another of the same species ;
whereas vaccination is taking a disease from one animal to
another of a different species.

It seems that Mr. Webb, of Wick, in Gloucestershire, was
the first person who gave to the world a knowledge of the pro-
tective power possessed by cow-pox in preventing small-pox in
the human subject ; but be this as it may, it was left to Dr.
Jenner to prove beyond doubt that lymph taken from the
cow while labouring under variola, if injected into the human
arm, would produce a mild form of disease and act as a pre-
ventive to small-pox — or at least would modify the eruption.
It is proved that milkmaids and people engaged in dairies
have the power of resisting variolous poison, and this must
be attributed to their continued contact with the udder of
the cow, where the pocks occasionally occur (oftener than
is supposed) in a very mild form, and by this means with
these people an antidote to small-pox is continually exert-
ing its influence. As the subjoined points out clearly the
manner in which the operation for vaccination is performed,
it is reproduced.

It is most puzzling to know why inoculation has been
preferred, when vaccine lymph is so readily come-at-able.
Vaccinia, or cow-pox, is a most common disease, and enough
matter can be obtained from one vesicle to vaccinate many scores
of sheep. A hard colourless eminence is found upon a cow's
teat, upon the centre of which, when about three days old,
a concave vesicle appears, gradually increasing in size, when,
on the sixth or seventh day, it presents a tense, prominent
head — the surrounding surface of a deep red colour. Matter,
taken from the eruption at this latter period of its growth,
should alone be used for vaccination ; and it is a spurious
vesicle unless marked by the peculiarities above-named.

Vaccination, although a simple operation, requires some
little caution in its performance. Make a perpendicular
parting of the wool at the outside of the arm of the sheep •
take hold of the limb, including the wool round the inner
side, drawing the skin tightly ; and, with the other hand,
introduce the point of a lancet, charged with vaccine lymph,
into the skin, in an oblique direction, and allow to remain

in the same position for a moment or two, and then withdraw ;
the puncture should be compressed for a few seconds, in ordei
to prevent it from bleeding, and the operation is finished.

Report of the Wiltshire Mutual Association for the Pre-
vention of Small-pox in Sheep ; result of Vaccination as a
preventive. — Mr. Norris narrated as follows the result of his
experiments by vaccination instituted by the Association : —

Your committee would, however, but imperfectly have
discharged their duty, had their intention been limited merely
to the extinction of the disease where it was found to exist.
They therefore put themselves into communication, through
their secretary, with several gentlemen in Norfolk who had
had considerable experience of the smaU-pox of sheep, when
that disease was imported into England some ten years ago,
and, among others, with Mr. AUan Ramsay, who was said
to have tried with success the preventive effects of vaccina-
tion in several large flocks in that county.

The communications received from these gentlemen were of a
very encouraging nature, and your committee proceeded forth-
with to put the matter to a practical test. With this object in
view your chairman (Mr. George Brown) procured six healthy
sheep from Mr. Pritchard, of Loncot, near Swindon, and had
them vaccinated by Mr. Parker, a medical gentleman of
Shrivenham. Having taken the vaccine satisfactorily, two
of these sheep were, on the 9th of October, forwarded to Mr.
Church, at Aldbourne, where they were placed with two
very bad cases of smaU-pox — so bad that the animals
afterwards died in a most loathsome state of disease ; the
vaccinated sheep, however, appeared in no way affected, and
on the 29th they were removed to Mr. Hulbert's flock, at
Langley, where small-pox was raging in its most virulent
form, and where, it should be stated, the foui* other vaccinated
sheep had been previously sent on the 23rd of October. Here
the six vaccinated sheep remained until the 3rd of November,
mingling with a mass of diseased sheep, resisting all contagion,
and continuing all of them in a perfectly healthy state.

But Mr. Brown determined to put the experiment to the
most extreme test; and on Nov. 3 he accompanied Mr. Parker
to Mr. Hulbert's, and there had the six sheep inoculated.
That there might be no question about the matter, each sheep
was inoculated in two places, and on the following week there
was strong evidence of their having all taken the disease;
indeed, the fact was soon placed beyond doubt, for on the 13th
one of them died in a very bad state, followed by the death of
another on the 19th, two more being at the same time exceed-
ingly ill, with pustules fully out ; but the remaining two ap-
peared little affected, and, with the other two, have since
quite recovered.

It will be observed, therefore, that up to tne time of inocu-
lation— during the twenty-five days that a portion of the
vaccinated sheep were exposed to the small-pox in its most
virulent form — the resisting effect of the vaccine was com-
plete. How far the six sheep might have continued to escape
contagion it is impossible to say; and your committee cannot
but regret that the severe experiment of inoculation was not

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

67

limited to three of the sheep only, leaving the other three
to test the permanent effect of vaccination. The experiment
has, however, exemplified one result, that inoculation is not
always certain to produce the disease in a mild form, two of
the sheep thus artificially impregnated with the virus having
died in a shocking state; and in Mr. Hulbert's flock the
losses were greater, by about 14 per cent., among the inocu-
lated cases than among the natural ones.

Another good result has also, in the opinion of your com-
mittee, been satisfactorily established, viz., that separation,
and not inoculation, is the proper mode of dealing with
afiiected cases ; for in every instance that has come within the
knowledge of your committee, and there were many, where
separation was practised at the outbreak of the disease, its
efiects were confined to those animals only first afiected in
each flock, and these having been removed from the others,
in no single case did the disease extend further ; whereas, in
all cases, where inoculation was practised, the disease has
been extended, and its virulence and fatality have been as
great, and in some instances greater, than where it was
allowed to wear itself out naturally.

The inoculation or ovination of sheep was proposed by
Chalette in 1762, by Bourgelat in 1765, by Coste in 1797,
and by Simonds during 1847 and 1862. Hogg gives a
very clear description of ovine small-pox which devastated
French flocks on several occasions during the last century,
and in a very excellent article details treatment, and informs
us that both the proposers of inoculation and vaccination had
their supporters.

The vaccination experiments which were carried out during
1863, were, as far as they went, satisfactory ; but so small a
■number as six sheep was not sufficient to raise a theory into a
fact. Hogg informs us, that on the Continent vaccination
gave immunity to four-fifths of the sheep which were subjected
to it. The article, which is here reproduced, gives a distinct
description of small-pox in sheep, which received, it will
be seen, the name La Clavel^e, and was thought by many
continental authorities to be a disease possessing certain
characters which distinguished it from ovina variola. The
following will settle the question better than a theoretical
argument : —

" The sheep in France, and on the greater part of the Con-
tinent, used to be subject to a dreadful pustular disease,
principally propagated by contagion, yet thought by some
to rage at times as an epizootic. Scarcely a sheep escaped
its attack in some period of its life. It never reached Great
Britain, although it has thinned the sheep-flocks in every
district of France opposite to the English coast. It was
tenned La Clavel^e, and the virus by means of which it was
propagated was called Le Claveau.

"It was a peculiar eruption chiefly, and always at first
appearing on parts that are most denuded of wool, as the
inside of the arms, and the thighs under the belly and tail,
iOn the teats and scrotum, and around the eyes and nose,
'and not unfrequently spreading at last over the whole

surface of the body. These pustules contained a purulent
fluid, highly infectious, and when that is secreted they become
dry, and fall ofi'. La Clavel^e appears at all seasons of the
year, and attacks without distinction the strong and the weak,
selecting however, the lambs in preference to the adult slieep.
The animal in which the disease has once been fully devel-
oped, is ever afterwards free from its attacks; but a full half,
and frequently two-thirds of the flock, are destroyed by it.
The contagion was communicated in a variety of ways, or
in almost every possible way ; the slightest contact was suffi-
cient to accomplish the purpose. A portion of the virus seems
to be detached from the sick animal by everything wliich
it touched, and there it remained for an indefinite period,
detaining all its dangerous properties. Direct individual
communication did not seem necessary. If it broke out in
a flock, it was almost sure to be communicated, sooner or later,
to all that were within a few hundred yards of it. It might
be unknowingly conveyed, and probably was, by the butcher,
the shepherd, the dog, the sheep-merchant, and the medical
attendant. It spread by means of the transport of the wool
and the skins. If a sound flock was turned into that in
which a diseased one had been pastured two or three months
before, or if it was driven along the same road over which
an infected flock had lately travelled, the maladv was sure
to be developed. It was for many a century the sccarge and
the destruction of sheep. In the regular Clavel^e there were
four distinct periods : first, the symptoms which preceded the
eruption, as dullness ; loss of appetite and strength, and debility
marked by a peculiar staggering gait, the suspension of ani-
mation, and slight symptoms of fever. This continued during
about four days, when commenced the second period, or that
of eruption. Little spots of violet colour appeared in various
parts, and from their centre there sprung pustules, accom-
panied by more or less inflammation, isolated or confluented,
and with a white head. Their base was well marked and dis-
tinct; they were surrounded by a red areola, and their centre
was flattened; they were larger than an ordinary lenti' in
some animals they were confined to few spots, in others iney
spread over the whole body. Tliey were scattered here and
there, or disposed in form of beads, or congregated together
in a mass. When the disease was not of an acute character,
and the eruption was not considerable, and the febrile symp-
toms were mitigated as soon as the pustule was developed,
there was not much to fear. The eruption ran through its
several stages, and no serious disorganization remained ; but
in too many cases the whole of the integument became red-
dened and inflamed, the flanks heaved, the pulse, whether
strong or obscure, increased in frequency, the mouth was
hot, the conjunctiva red, the breath foetid, the head swelled,
the eyelids almost closed, rumination had ceased, the muscu-
lar power was exhausted, the pustules died away with littk
apparent fluid secretion, foetid diarrhoea ensued, and death
speedily took place. The progress of the eruptive stage ol
the disease was frequently, however, a very unsatisfactory
When the pustule had risen, and the suppuration had
h

one

58

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

commenced, a new state of febrile excitement ensued, accom-
panied by more than usual debility. It lasted from three to
four days, and during its continuance the pustules became
whiter at their summit, and the fluid which they contained
was of a serous character, yellow or red, transparent or viscid,
and by degrees it thickened and became opaque, and then
puriform ; and at this period, when danger was to be appre-
hended, a defluxion from the nose ensued, and swellings
about the head, as already described. This was the con-
tagious stage of the disease, and when it was too easily
and fatally transmissible by accidental contact or by inocu-
lation. Then came the last stage, that of desiccation ; and
about the twelfth day irom the commencement of the disease,
the pustules subsided or the integument gave way, and the
fluid which they contained escaped, and a scale was formed
of greater or less size and density, yellow or black, and which
detached itself bodily or crumbled away in minute particles
or powder. The contagion was now at an end, and the
animal recovered his appetite, and spirits, and strength. This
stage of desquamation frequently lasted three weeks or a month.
"A secondary eruption occasionally followed, of an erysipela-
tous character. There were no distinct suppurating pustules;
but there was a more serous or watery secretion, which soon
died. This was the regular and the fortunate course of the
disease ; but too frequently there was a fatal irregularity about
it. Almost at the commencement there was an excessive
fever, and prostration of strength and foetid breath, and
detachment of large patches of the wool, and more rapid and
bounding or inappreciable pulse, and strange swellings about
the throat and head, and difficult deglutition. There was
also a discharge of adhesive spumy fluid from the mouth,
and of ichorous, or thick and yellow, or bloody and foetid,
discharge from the nostrils, often completely occupying and
obstructing them. The respiration became not only laborious,
but every act of it could be heard at a considerable distance;
there was a distressing cough; the lips, the nostrils and the
eyelids, the head and every limb, became swelled; the pus-
tules ran together, and formed large masses over the face
and the articulations ; diarrhoea, that bade defiance to every
medicine, ensued; and the end was not far off. Medical men
were much struck with the resemblance between this disease
and the small-pox of the human being, and they believed
them to be identical; and every shepherd, of course, adopted
this opinion, and the Clavel^e of the sheep was supposed to
be the small-pox of the human being, modified by certain
differences of structure and function. This, however, was
very en-oneous. There was an evident difierence in the
pustule; that of small-pox was developed in the texture of
the skin, and surrounded by a rose-coloured areola; that of
the Clavel^e was evidently more deeply seated; it reached to
the subcutaneous cellular tissue, and it was surrounded by an
areola of a far deeper colour. The virus of small-pox was
usually contained in a simple capsule, which elevated the
scarf-skin. The virus of the sheep-pox seemed to be more
diffused through the cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue, and

there was abundantly more swelling and inflammation. The
matter of small-pox was first limpid, it then became turbid,
puriform, and at length assumed the form of white or yellow
or thick pus, which became concrete; and scab was formed,
which became at first yellow, and then brown, and then black,
and when it fell off it left an impression or depression, more
or less distinct, on the surface of the skin. The pustules of
the sheep-pox, before there was any appearance of pus,
degenerated into scabs, or formed a hard or thick crust under
which the pus accumulated; and when that scab fell off there
was a sore left behind, or sometimes a deep ulcer. There
were other particulars of disagreement, but these would be
sufficient to prove that they were not identical diseases.

" The treatment of this disease was necessarily very simple*
it consisted, first, in separating the sound sheep from the dis-
eased, and in being careful that having been thus separated they
were not subjected to the influence of cold or wet, or insuffi-
cient food. The diseased sheep were supplied with whole-
some food; during the febrile stage aperients of Epsom salts
were administered. The state of fever having passed, mild
tonics, as gentian and ginger, were administered ; the Epsom
salts being still retained, but in smaller doses Common
salt was a favourite and a very useful medicine, on account
of its antiseptic and tonic properties. About the end of the
seventeenth century it was discovered that the virulence oi
the small-pox could be modified and controlled by artificial
means, and by those which would appear at first sight to have
a kind of daring about them. The child was inoculated with
the virus taken from an otherwise healthy subject, and a
disease of a milder character, milder to a degree that was
scarcely credible, was produced. Half a century and more
passed before the experiment was tried on the sheep ; but
about the year 1760 it was attempted with the most perfect
success ; a disease with every character of the sheep-pox was
produced, but much more mild, which rapidly ran its course,
and left no bad consequences behind. This was not imme-
diately acknowledged; the operation was ridiculed and abused
at first; but experience has proved that it is an invaluable
one. It is now adopted by almost every continental sheep-
master. When the sheep-pox used to break out in a flock,
the owner lost a third, and sometimes half, and sometimes
three-fourths of his stock. He now inoculates, and he does
not lose more than one in a hundred. The professors at
the veterinary school at Alfort say, that not more than one
sheep in four hundred is lost. When it is seemingly followed
by disastrous consequences it is because it is delayed until the
Clavel^e actually breaks out in the flock, and then the loss ot
those that die of the natural disease is unfairly attributed to
the inoculation. Whenever the natural disease appears in
his neighbourhood, it is now acknowledged to be the duty of
the sheepmaster to subject the whole of his flock to inocula-
tion, and the greater part of the owners of sheep do inoculate
the whole of the lambs. The immunity lasts during the life
of the animal. The spring and the autumn are the most
favourable periods for inoculation, and the sooner after the

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THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

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weaning of the animal the better. The ear or the inside of
the forearm, or the thigh, are the parts usually selected for
the inoculation. In process of time inoculation with the
vaccine matter was introduced into Great Britain as a pre-
servative against the small-pox, and the French veterinarians
very naturally put the power of the vaccine matter to the test
as a preservative against the sheep-pox. It had power, and
to a very considerable degree. An experiment was made on
a very large scale; 1523 sheep were vaccinated, and the dis-
ease passed through its different stages ; they were all after-
wards inoculated with the matter of sheep-pox, and in 308 of
them the disease was produced in the usual mitigated form
after this operation Other experiments were made on a
smaller scale, and with a similar result ; and therefore the
vaccine inoculation is now abandoned on the Continent,
although it gives immunity to four-fifths of those that have
been subjected to it, for inoculation with the claveau, or the
virus of the sheep-pox, will give immunity to all. There
is one disadvantage attending the use of the claveau, that it
retains its power not more than a few days, whatever care
may be taken of it. The vaccine matter retains all its pro-
perties a much longer period."

THE AGE OF THE OX AS INDICATED BY
HIS TEETH.

PREHENSION OF FOOD.

Previously to explaining the dentition of the domestic
animals under notice, it will be necessary to consider briefly
the mode by which different animals, and particularly the
ox, sheep, and pig, select and collect their food. Everybody
knows that the act of prehension varies. Man, fo^ instance,
employs his hands and mouth, and is assisted in so doing by
artificial means ; the elephant by a prolongation of the nose,
"trunk," accomplishes this act; the horse selects food with his
lips, the ox gathers it with his tongue, the sheep collects the
herbage from the pasture between his teeth, (incisors) and dental
pad, and is assisted in so doing by his tongue. Consequently
it is readily seen that several distinct organs, comprising what
is commonly called the mouth, act either by themselves or in
association with each other in the prehension of food. One
animal first grasps his food with his teeth, which is imme-
diately moved within his mouth by his tongue ; another first
collects food with his tongue, which organ conveys it to the
teeth, and among other animals the lips constitute the pre-
hensile organs; but in every case each organ assists in placing
food in the mouth, to be afterwards conveyed between the
molar teeth for the purpose of mastication and deglutition.

THE MOUTH

is bounded in front by the lips, on each side by the cheeks,
below by the tongue, above by the palate, and terminates

behind in the formation of the fauces. The mouth is lined
throughout with mucous membrane, Immediately witliin the
lips and cheeks the dental arches occur, consisting of gums
and teeth, &c. ; the gums are composed of fibrous tissue, are
closely connected with the periosteum common to the alveolar
processes, and are in adult life surmounted by teeth.

THE DENTAL PAD.

The incisor teeth, although placed in the front part of
the mouth, are variously arranged in different animals : for
instance, the pig possesses, like the horse, twelve incisors, six in
the upper, and six in the lower jaw ; the wearing surfaces of
which immediately oppose each other in the act of collecting
food. In the ox and sheep, however, a different arrangement
is presented to our notice, as in them only eight incisors
occur, all of which are placed in the lower jaw, and conse-
quently cannot oppose their grinding surfaces to teeth in the
upper jaw, as none exist. To make up for this lack of teeth,
nature has provided for these ruminants a dense cushion, the
dental pad, in the upper, to abut against the incisors situated
in the lower jaw. The dental pad is formed by the bars of
the mouth, which thicken, as they reach its anterior part, until
they concentrate in the development of the pad. The pad,
however, is of a more fibrous, elastic, nature than the bars, and
of course in this position answers the purpose of teeth; in
fact, teeth in these ruminants could not be retained in the
mouth, as the incisors in the lower jaw possess small fangs,
and are otherwise very loosely implanted in their sockets.
Moreover, the shape of the teeth does not cause them to be
capable of withstanding the effects produced by dental attri-
tion ; the ox and sheep in gathering their food can and do
employ only that force which is sufficient, and can be easily
witiistood by the teeth when meeting the yielding substance of
the dental pad. The Stenonian ducts, two in number, pass
from the mouth to the nostrils, and open on the dental pad,
and are placed there as a means whereby the odour of plants
may be appreciated by the smell, to enable the creature
possessing them to select good food from bad or poisonous
substances. The ducts of Steno have not been discovered iu
the pig, but communications between the mouth and nostrils
equally direct exist, as in the pig there is a large plexus of
nerves running down each side of the nose and ramifying over
the nostril, in which resides the peculiar power which enables
the hog to detect (or, more correctly, smell out) food buried
many inches below the surface of the ground. The olfactory
nerve, too, is large ; and although it is smaller than that of the
dog, it is much larger than the same nerve common to the ox
and sheep ; in short, the omnivorous animal the pig holds, in
this particular, an intermediate position between the herbi-
vorous and carnivorous classes.

CLEAVAGE IN THE UPPER LIP OF THE SHEEP.

The prehensile organs of the sheep are his teeth and dental
pad, assisted by his lips in a very marked and peculiar manner.
Every sheepowner knows that a sheep wUI get fat where

60

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

an ox or horse would starve, i.e., the horse and ox would
waste in condition on a down, where a sheep would grow
plethoric; and this is owing to the cleft in the upper lip,
which by being pressed out from within outwards allows the
sheep to bring its teeth or dental pad much nearer to the
roots of plants than any other animal. The ox, perhaps,
with a similar division in the lip, might bite the herbage
nearly as close ; but then the thickness of the nose as com-
pared with that of the sheep, and the naked structure of it,
i.e, its being denuded of hair, would prevent that close
approximation to the ground which would be necessary in the
collection of food. Nature, however, has given to the upper
lip of the sheep a defence, in the shape of a dense coat of hair
covering the whole of the lip with the exception of the direct
fissure. By this beautiful arrangement it is almost impossible
for any foreign substance, whether it be dirt, any thick or
glutinous material, insect, or water, to penetrate to the skin.
The portion of the lip denuded of hair is small in the sheep,
as compared with the ox ; it consists of the nostrils above, and
terminates in a narrow channel which enters into the for-
mation of the cleft in the upper lip, and is usually bedewed
with moisture ; this, again, also materially assists in protecting
the lips, &c., against the invasion of foreign objects.

THE TEETH.

Generally in mammals two sets of teeth appear during the
lifetime of the animal ; the first which are put up constituting
the temporary or milk teeth, whilst those which replace them
or spring up afterwards, are named the permanent. Teeth,
although divided into several classes, present certain characters
in common ; for instance, each tooth exhibits a crown, or that
part of the tooth which projects above the gums, and immedi-
ately above and just within the gums, a constricted portion of
tooth occurs, which has been named the cervix or neck, and
below the cervix the tooth structure is lodged in the socket or
alveolus, and in this position has been denominated the fang.

The tooth fangs are accurately adapted to the alveoli; so
firmly are they fixed in their sockets, that a nail could not be
driven into a garden wall more firmly, and for this reason
the mode of union has received the name of gomphosis,
from the Greek yoficpo';, a nail. The alveolus and the fang
are both lined with a membrane which invests the external
surface of bones, and is called periosteum. This membrane
extends as high up as the neck of the tooth, and owing to its
dental arrangement, by some anatomists has been called the
periodontal membrane. Although for the sake of description
a tooth has been divided into its crown, neck, and fang, we
find in investigating the mouths of the horse, ox, and sheep,
that more than half the body of the tooth is imbedded in the
alveolus, and some of the molar teeth and tusks are in fact
destitute of fangs and necks. This fact is to be observed in
the incisors, &c., of the horse and pig.

THE TOOTH STRUCTURE.

Un making a section of a tooth, we discover that three
constituents, varying in density, and partaking somewhat of

tne character of bone, combine in forming the dental structure;
these are named — enamel, dentine, and crusta petrosa. Enamel
is the hardest; it is met with on the crown of the simple
tooth, and invests the body and sides of the compound one.
In the centre of a tooth a cavity occurs, which is called the
pulp cavity, which during life is filled with a highly vascular
and sensitive organism, the dental pulp, supplied with blood-
vessels and nerves which enter the tooth by means of a small
orifice at the point of the fang. The size of the pulp cavity
depends upon its age, being always large in young animals,
but decreases in size as age advances : this cavity is lined by
dentine. " On inspecting an incisor of an ox, we observe that a
white incrustation, having in the young subject more or less ot
a pearly white appearance, covers the crown of the tooth ; this
is enamel. If the tooth should have been recently put up, this
substance forms also its cutting edge. It is thicker on the
front surface of the crown than on the back, an arrangement
which tends to keep up a sharp edge to the tooth ; it extends,
also, downwards to the neck, where it ceases. The enamel
not only covers the exposed surface of a tooth, but in some
teeth it enters deeply into their interior. It matters not what
may be the size or shape of a tooth, or how numerous its
projections, the whole of these are originally covered with a
layer of enamel. Microscopically enamel has been discovered
to be composed of several rods lying side by side, named
enamel prisms or fibres, which always rest their ends upon
the dentine to which they are immediately attached. Minute
canals, also, have been detected in the enamel recently formed,
the use of which is explained by Professor Simonds : — " In
looking to the situation of enamel in compound teeth, it is
stated that this structure dips inwards, forming cups of greater
or less depth in different teeth, and which are always filled
with crusta petrosa. On the slightest reflection we perceive,
that the crusta here placed can only receive the fluid necessary
for its support through the layer of enamel which is interposed
between it and dentinal tubes ; and there seems no reason to
doubt that the tubes, from the boundary of the dentine, may
extend to the canals between the prisms, and thus supply
the materials of nutrition to the crusta petrosa within
the cup. Mr. Tomes, many years since, drew attention to
the fact that dentinal tubes passed in great numbers into the
enamel of the Kangaroo and other animals of this class.
From my own examinations I can also say that the dentinal
tubes penetrate the enamel in the Herbivora ; and it is more
than probable that in consolidated enamel the passages
referred to are united with these dentinal tubes, and thus
become consolidated with them."

Todd & Bowman, in their work on Physiological Anatomy,
support this view, that the enamel prisms " are arranged in the
most suitable manner for the percolation of the fluids derived
from the dentinal tubuli. These tubuli, indeed, may be seen
to commimicate directly with the interstitial passage of the
enamel." Enamel, when subjected to the action of dilute acids
yields scarcely any trace of animal matter, but contains carti-
lage, and not more than two-tenths of organic matter (apparently

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

61

membraneous tissue), in the enamel of the human tooth. Ber-
zelius found —

Phosphate of lime with flnoride of calciam, 88°6

Carbonate of lime, ..... 8'5

Phosphate of magnesia, . . . . 1'6

Membrane, alkali, and water, . . . 2'0

100

Nearly similar results have been obtained by Von Bibra and
Frfemy. The former chemist found as much as four-tenths of
fluoride of calcium in enamel.

Second in density to enamel is the ivory tooth substance, or
dentine, which principally forms the mass, and gives the gene-
ral configuration of the tooth structure. Dentine diflFers little
from bone in appearance, but is not identical with it in struc-
ture ; for although it appears to the unassisted vision to possess
a compact subsistence, by the assistance of the microscope it
is found to be composed of numerously arranged fine tubes
(the dental tubuli), which terminate at their inner ends by
minute orifices opening into the pulp cavity. These tubes
describe a wavy course, which split into branches ; first into
two, and by further separation numerous ones are formed,
which ultimately terminate in very fine inosculating branches.
" Towards the terminal portion of the fang the dentinal tubes
in some animals, of which the sheep is an example, are col-
lected into little bundles, having between them a comparatively
large space, which is occupied by the intertubular substance."*

The intertubular substance is translucent and finely granu-
lar. Henle describes the animal basis which remains after
the substance has been treated by an acid, " as separable into
bundles of pale, flattened, granular fibres, running in a direction
parallel with the tubes;" and Nasrayth "that it consists of
brick-shaped cells, built up as it were around the tubules."
Dr. Sharpey disputes both these assertions, which are in oppo-
sition to observations that have been made in reference to the
cachalot and sperm whale, in which the animal substance
can readily be torn into fine lamellae, " disposed parallelly with
the internal surface of the pulp cavity, and therefore across the
direction of the tubules." Moreover, the laminated structure
of the dentine has been noticed by Salter and Czermak in the
human tooth.

The chemical composition of dentine is very similar to that
of bone ; the quantitative ratio between the organic and inor-
ganic constituents approximating very closely to that occurring
in the denser bones, and averaging 28'72. From 3 to 8 tenths
of carbonate of lime has been found, with from 65 to 67 tenths
of the phosphate of lime, together with a little of the fluoride
of calcium and phosphate of magnesia.

The third substance entering into the tooth formation is
crusta petrosa, which closely resembles bone, both in its
physical and chemical character, althougli it is slightly modi-
fied in structure. Crusta invests the entire fang of the tooth,
and those parts of the dentine which are devoid of enamel.
The quantity of crusta present depends more upon the char-
acter than the size of the tooth, owing to which we find crusta

• Simonds on the Formation of the Teeth.

more largely developed on a compound than on a simple
tooth, for the reason that this substance covers only the fangs
in simple teeth, whereas it not only invests the fangs, but
also covers with enamel the interior organization of com-
pound ones.

As age advances the crusta grows thicker, especially at the
apex of the fang, and sometimes is developed then to such an
extent as to block up the orifice through which the nerves
and bloodvessels pass to the pulp, for the support of the dental
structure.

Under the microscope crusta is found to resemble bone, as
it possesses cells, " lacunae," from which minute canals emerge,
called canaliculi, which anastomose with the terminal tubules
of the dentine. Where the crusta is thick, numerous vascular
canals occur, similar to the Haversian canals of bone.

On the fangs of teeth recently cut, little crusta is discovered
when compared with that existing on old teeth. It may never-
theless be asked how the increased quantity upon old teeth
is accounted for? Professor Simonds accounts for this diffi-
culty as follows : — " I premise the explanation of this matter
by stating, that anatomists are generally agreed that, after a
given time, the pulp ceases to produce any more dentine, and
becomes converted by ossification into a substance which Pro-
fessor Owen designated osteo-dentine. This substance, there-
fore, would now fill the pulp cavity of the tooth. However
true this statement may be of man or many species of animals,
it does not appear to be positively correct when applied to our
domesticated Herbivora. In the horse, as an example, oblit-
eration of the cavity is gradually effected by the pulp continu-
ing to form dentine. This, as its normal action, goes on, and
is not supplanted by an abnormal or diseased one, as it would
be were the pulp to become ossified. As the producing organ
of dentine, the pulp simply gives way to its own product,
which is ultimately made to occupy its place in the cavity.
In proportion as the pulp diminishes, so is the supply ot
nufriment to the tooth lessened, and at length entirely cut ofl
from the interior. To provide for the vitality of the tooth
under these circumstances, the crusta increases in quantity on
the fang, at the expense of the perfectly formed dentine which
is lying in immediate contact with its inner surface. Through
the medium of the canals of the crusta, which open on its
border, the tooth now draws its nourishment from the blood-
vessels of the socket, and thus it continues, long after the
obliteration of its pulp cavity, to serve aU its purposes as a
part of the living organism."

Crusta petrosa chemically seems to be almost identical with
bone. The researches of Lassaigne and Von Bibra, on the
teeth of different animals, could detect no definite difference
between the teeth of herbivorous and carnivorous animals.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF TEETH.

In considering the mode by which the teeth are formed, it
is necessary to commence with a description of their creation in
foetal life ; for we find that, even so early as this period, indi-
cations not only of the temporary or deciduous te3th, but aUo

m

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

of the permanent ones, or those which succeed them, exist.
This process in the human foetus. Professor Goodsir asserts,
begins about the sixth week.

For the sake of description, we must first explain the origin
and gi-owth of teeth, and afterwards the mode by which their
eruption in two sets, namely, the temporary and permanent
sets, takes place. The process of dental formation has been
divided into four separate stages, namely — 1st, the papillary;
2nd, follicular ; 3rd, saccular; and 4th, eruptive ; and from the
researches of eminent physiologists it is certain, that teeth are
developed from the mucous membrane covering the bones in
opposition to them. Professors Goodsir and Arnold discovered,
independently of each other, that the first stage of development
consisted of certain changes in the mucous membrane, and
that about the sixth week in the life of the human foetus a
depression or groove, having " the form of a horse shoe," was
noticeable "in the mucous membrane of the gum," named
by Professor Goodsir the " primitive dental groove." This
groove is lined by the membrane of the mouth, which con-
sists of two layers almost identical with the epidermis and
dermis of the cutis, or skin proper. From the floor of the
dental groove papillae spring up, which constitute the early
formations of the dental pulps about to belong to the milk or
temporary teeth ; in the ox, for instance, eight papillae in the
lower jaw, and twelve in the upper and lower jaws, indicate
the situations of the eight incisor teeth in the former, and the
twelve temporary molars in the latter. Concurrently with
the growth of tlie papillae bony partitions spring up, which
form a " series of four-sided cells," and by subsequent growth
these cavities, called loculi, become established, when they are
named alveoli. This formation of the papillae constitutes the
papillaiy stage. The papillary stage is succeeded by the
follicular, which consists in the thickening and prominence of
the dental groove, and the prolongation of the mucous mem-
brane, which forms for each papilla a distinct cavity called a
follicle, and, as time advances, grows so deep as to hide the
papilla which corresponds to the shape of the future teeth ;
and now the edges of the dental groove begin to approach
each other, and ultimately join, and thus close up the entrance
to the cavity; and in so doing form a closed sac, at which
time the saccular stage is said to be completed.

The fourth or eruptive stage, as it occurs in the human
gums, is, as follows, very distinctly explained in Dr. Quain's
" Anatomy," edited by Doctors Sharpey and Ellis : —

" The dental sacs formed by the closure of the follicles con-
tinue to enlarge, as well as their contained papillae. The
walls of the sacs, which soon begin to thicken, consist of an
outer fibro-alveolar membrane, and an internal highly vascular
layer, lined by epithelium ; thin bloodvessels are derived
partly from the dental arteries, and partly from those of the
gums. The papilla, now the dental pulps, adhere by a wide
base to the bottom of the sacs, but are unattached elsewhere ;
and having acquired a perfect resemblance to the crowns of
the future teeth, the formation of the hard substance com-
mences in them. This process begins very early, and by the

end of the fourth month of foetal life thin shells or caps oi
dentine are formed on all the pulps of the milk teeth, and a
little later on that of the first permanent molar. The mode
in which it proceeds, taking a canine tooth as an example,
may be stated as follows : — A thin osseous shell or cap of
dentine appears on the point of the pulp; this increases in
extent by a growth around its edges, and in thickness by a
similar formation in its interior, the latter taking place at the
expense of the substance of the pulp itself, which accordingly
decreases in proportion. This growth of the tooth continues
until the crown is completed of its proper width, and then the
pulp undergoes a constriction at its base to form the cervix
of the tooth. From that time the pulp elongates, and con-
tinues to become narrower, so as to construct the fang.
During the whole period another process has been going on,
by which the outer surface of the crown is covered with
enamel. This substance is formed from a peculiarly organized
body lying on the pulp, and accurately adapted to its surface
and to its cap of dentine, and which was called by Hunter the
outer pulp. Sooner or later after the completion of the crown
this part of the tooth appears through the gum, whilst the
growth of the dentine to complete the fang is continued at
the surface of the elongating pulp, which gradually becomes
encroached upon by successive formations of hard substance
until only a small cavity is left in the centre of the tooth,
containing nothing but the reduced pulp, supplied by a slender
thread of vessels and nerves which enter by a little aperture
left at the point of the fang after the dentine is completed.
In the case of teeth having complex crowns, and more than a
single fang, the process is somewhat modified. On the sur-
face of the dental pulp of such a tooth, as many separate little
shells of dental substance are formed as there are eminences
or points; these soon coalesce, and the formation of the tooth
proceeds as before as far as the cervix. The pulp then
becomes divided into two or more portions, corresponding
with the future fangs, and the ossification advances in each as
it does in a single fang. A horizontal projection or bridge of
dentine shoots across the base of the pulp, between the com-
mencing fangs ; so that, if the tooth be removed at this stage,
and examined on its under surface, its shell presents as many
apertures as there are separate fangs. In all teeth the pulp
originally adheres by its entire base to the bottom of the sac;
but when more than one fang is developed the pulp is, as
it were, separated from the sac in certain parts, so that it
comes to adhere at two or three insulated points only, whilst
the dentine continues to be formed along the intermediate and
surrounding free surface of the pulp." From this descrip-
tion it will be readily understood, that immediately after the
crown of the tooth has penetrated the sac and gum, the erup-
tive stage has been established.

THE FORMATION OF THE HARD TISSUES OF TEETH.

The mode by which dentine is developed has been ex-
plained difi'erently by various investigators ; but the opinion
of the ancients, and which since their time has been re-intro-

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

63

duced by Schwann, asserts that dentine is in reality the
ossified pulp ; but the exact manner in which this change is
effected has not as yet been clearly exposed. It is well
known, however, that bloodvessels exist at the points of
commencing ossification, and that the exterior of the pulp is
surrounded by superimposed layers of rounded cells ; in addi-
tion to which, also, the pulp is lined by a thin membrane
called the preformative or basement membrane. Simonds
states that the dentine is first produced upon the apex of the
papilla, and that from this point it extends downwards upon
its sides, and thus inclospa it as with a cap. " This may be
better understood by supposing one's finger to be covered
with a thumb-stall, and looking to the finger as the papilla,
and the thumb-stall as the dentine. The papilla thus capped
with dentine is now called the tooth-pulp."

During the process of ossification, as detennined by Schwann,
the preformative membrane and cells before mentioned gra-
dually become impregnated with calcareous matter necessary
to the formation of dentine ; but in what manner the tubuli
and intertubular substance are developed, remains for future
investigators to discover. SuflSce it to say, that when the
dentine first appears it is very thin ; but it hourly increases
in thickness at the expense of the pulp, which decreases
in extent, as does also the pulp cavity. The gradual
diminishing of the pulp cavity can be seen in the trans-
verse section of an incisor taken from the mouth of a calf.
Simonds writes — " To the unassisted eye a preparation of
this description shows concentric lines, one within the other,
making fresh deposits of dentine. The varying size of these
rings, and sudden curvature of the dentinal tubes in these
places, would seem to indicate an irregularity in the rate
of the formation of the structure. In the lower animals a
similar disposition regarding the fangs of complex teeth,
commonly called double, is noticed ; for instance, a horizontal
projection of dentine (as in the human subject) shoots across
the base of the pulp, in order to cause the separation of the
fangs, and then there individual development, which is accom-
plished in the same manner as noticed in the human tooth,
and which has been explained above. On the surfaces of
compound teeth several projections occur, which are caused
by a similar formation existing on the papillaj previously to
their being incoated with dentine. At the same time several
indentations occur in the dentine, in which we find enamel.
By this arrangement of two cusps, between which enamel
exists, we find that the papilla divides and forms the points
for the future development of the two cusps, when each
becomes coated, first with dentine, and afterwards by enamel ;
between the cusps, therefore, it will be seen that a depression
or hollow occurs. Simultaneously with the formation of
dentine from the pulp, and immediately after the lips of the
cavity have united to establish the sac, its membraneous wall
grows thickened, and develops a soft pulpy mass which is
adapted, in the first place, to the dental pulp, and afterwards to
the dentine This structure is named the enamel membrane,
and by many authors is considered to be a distinct organiza-

tion for the formation of enamel ; but Professor Huxley dis-
putes this view. The enamel membrane " he conceives
to be altered epithelium of the basement membrane of the
pulp and sac ; and that, although for a long time considered
to be the enamel organ, it takes no part directly in the for-
mation of the enamel, but is merely a continuation of the
preformative membrane, previously described. Whatever
may be the nature of this substance, it is generally admitted
that the enamel is formed from a pulpy mass generated
within the sac, which was called the outer pulp by Hunter.
Enamel covers only the crown of a simple tooth, reaching
as far down only as its neck, and is consequently never
met with on the fang; the enamel membrane, however,
always dips down into the hollows formed between the cusps
of compound ones, and is not cut asunder, but merely f^dapts
itself to the shape of the subjacent dental structure.

Professor Simonds evidently agrees with Professor Huxley
that the enamel and preformative membranes are identical ;
" in fact, there are not two membranes, but only one. The
general opinion seems to be that the outer pulp produces the
enamel, and the inner surface of the sac ; that is, the tooth
capsule, the crusta which lies both upon the fangs of the tooth,
and also upon the surface of the enamel, where it covers the
dentine. This opinion is negatived, however, by the fact,
that " the capsule is not reflected into the enamel cups of
compound teeth, although these are always filled with crusta ;
and therefore it is evident that this crusta has some other
source, and this I am inclined to think is the outer pulp If
this pulp produces the crusta in one part, it necessarily would
do so in another ; if within the enamel cups, then on the outer
surface of the enamel, and also on the fangs of the teeth."*

From the above, therefore, it will be observed that the
enamel membrane becomes altered in condition as the tooth
grows, and that when the slightest layer of enamel is formed
a membrane can be detected around that part of the tooth
from which the fang takes its origin ; i.e., just below where
the enamel commences. This pulp. Professor Simonds con-
siders, is the " formative organ of the crusta," in which opinion
he is supported by other investigators ; others, however, assert
that the enamel membrane pours out a material which sub-
sequently becomes ossified. When the structures, dentine
enamel and crusta petrosa, are fully developed, then the cap-
sule becomes the lining membrane of the tooth and socket, and
thus establishes a firm bond of union in the gum ; and owing
to their respective positions, they have received the names of
the periodontal and periosteal membranes.

The dental constituents, therefore, in combining to form a
tooth, grow, 1st, the dentine, beneath the membrane of the
papilla ; 2nd, this membrane produces the enamel, and accord-
ing to Professors Huxley and Simonds, is identical with the
preformative and enamel membranes, " these two being one
and the same ;" 3rd, from the pulpy mass the crusta petrosa is
formed ; and lastly, the capsule is converted into the periodon-
tal and periosteal substances.

* Simonds on the Formation of the Teath.

1

64

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

THE ERUPTION OF TEMPORARY TEETH.

Previously to the appearance of temporary teeth in the
mouth, the gums become sharp ; as the tooth increases in size
they grow rounded and swollen, and present a congested
appearance, and when the tooth is sufficiently developed a
white speck marks the point at which it is about to protrude
through the gum. Concurrently with these changes, the fang
adapts itself to an alveolus, or bone socket, which is at the
same time formed for its reception. On the mucous mem-
brane of the gums Serres discovered numerous small pearl-
like bodies, which he considered to be glands, and consequently
named them " dental gland ." Their use has not been dis
covered. Meckel described them as abscesses resulting from
inflammatory action.

PERMANENT TEETH.

The development of the permanent teeth is more complex
than that of the temporary ones, and consequently must be
separately described ; and to understand the matter fully, the
reader must carry his thoughts back to the follicular stage
of the temporary dental formation, when it will be noticed
that behind each follicle a small indentation occurs, from
which the sac and pulp, previously to birth, commences to
develope. These being attached to the temporary sacs were
thought to spring from them, until Professor Goodwin proved
that they originated from the dental groove, and consequently
existed quite independently of the milk sacs. These cavities,
named by him cavities of reserve, elongate and enter the sub-
stance of the gum behind the follicles, when the papillae appear;
and lips, similarly as those noticed in the temporary sacs, meet
and close the cavities, and in so doing divide them into two
parts, the upper or narrow portions of which become obliter-
ated, and the lower, containing the papillae, form the sac and
pulp of the future permanent teeth. As the dental stnactures
attain certain growth, the permanent sac is separated from the
milk tooth by a bony partition, and therefore the permanent
(,00th, in attempting its escape through the gum, must neces-
sarily press against this bony partition, and also against the
fang of the superimposed temporary tooth. Nature therefore*
in order to assist in the development of the teeth, causes the
absorption of the dental structures of the deciduous teeth, and
in so doing deprives them of their fangs, which, together with
the pressm'e from below (already explained), causes the expul-
sion of the temporary crowns. The absorption of the dental
substance commences at the fangs, and proceeds upwards
until nothing but the crown remains. The cement is first
attacked, the enamel last ; but the process is similar in each
tissue." The permanent molars, which do not succeed tem-
porary ones, spring up from successive extensions of the
dental groove placed behind the temporary teeth, and called
the " po-sterior cavities of reserve."

THE AGE OF THE OX AS INDICATED BY HIS TEETH.

In the foregoing chapters we have endeavoured to explain
briefly the microscopical character of the teeth, and the mode

by which they are developed, these remarks respecting them
being equally applicable to all mammals. The teeth of the
mammals under notice give evidence of their ages up to cer-
tain dates, in the changes to which their teeth are subjected
by the fall of the deciduous, in making room for the perma-
nent teeth, and in the gradual development of the latter to
maturity. Certain causes, such as the rapid growth of the
teeth, the enlargement of the jaws, the diversion of the nutri-
ment to the permanent sacs, the absorption of the fangs and
consequent partial loss of the dental structure, and the pressure
of the youthful teeth upwards, all combine in forcing the
deciduous teeth from their respective positions, and in their
places establishing their permanent followers. Many persons
experienced in the habits and management of the ox tribe
often assert that the horn manifests certain signs by which
the age of this animal can be determined. In some cases,
and up to a certain period, the horns may furnish such
indications, but they are never so distinctly marked that a
correct conclusion as to age can be established. The age is
told from the horn, as follows : — " Shortly after birth the
development of the frontal processes on each side of the head
indicates the position of the future horn, which appears through
the skin within the first month. At the age of four or five
months the little horn is firm, and protected by a scaly cuticu-
lar covering, which exfoliates when an animal is about one
year old. At this period the base of the horn becomes knotty,
and a circular depression between the skin and the bulging
horn is the sign that the animal has fully attained its first
year ; a second bulge forms, and a depression below it, by
the second year ; a third by the third, and so on as long as
the animal lives. But in calculating the age of a cow at five
or six, an error may be incurred by supposing that the first
marks can be readily perceived. It is only the third year's
circle which is very distinct, consequently we should count
from the ring nearest the point; and if we found six, one of
which represents the third year, the animal would be eight
years. *

The above representations relative to the age of the ox, as
evidenced by the markings on the horn, are considered by
many stockowners to be unerring guides; but, as before said,
there are others, and with them the author, who believe
them to be worthless. For instance, sometimes one or two
bulges become entirely obliterated, or so fused one into the
other, that it is impossible to draw a true line of demarcation
between them. Again, the castrated animal usually possesses
very long horns, upon which the marks are situated at longer
distances than noticed in the cow, and are often very faintly
discernible. Add to this the accidents which are likely to
occur to the horns, such as their entire or partial removal, and
we are obliged to conclude that little dependence can be
placed upon the horn-markings, as indications of age. Con-
sequently, the only sure guide, and that only up to a certain
age, is to be found in the teeth, the explanation of which we
will continue.

* Gamgee on Dut; Stock.

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

65

The absorption of the temporary fang is facilitated by the
pressure from below upwards of the permanent crown, and in
the horse and pig the pressure into the original socket is more
direct than that obtained in the ox and sheep; and for this
reason we notice that sometimes the permanent incisors
spring through the gums in an in-egular manner; i.e., the per-
manent teeth arrive in the mouth previously to the removal of
their predecessors, the deciduous incisors. This state happens
more readily in the ox and sheep than in the horse, owing to
the smallness of the fangs noticed in the teeth of the former
animals, and to the ease with which the bone of the jaw
seems to recede ; and for these reasons it often happens that the
permanent crown passes into the gum at the side of the tem-
porary socket, and by this means the said alveolus to a certain
extent escapes that amount of pressure of the coming tooth
which is necessary in obtaining its removal previous to the
appearance of the permanent tooth, which was destined to fill
its place Moreover, as the temporary teeth only serve their
purpose in collecting and masticating food for a limited period,
their formation is not so perfect as their followers, the per-
manent ; for the former are constantly hollow from above, and
to such an extent as to permit of slow decay, often lead-
ing to disease of the gums, which prevents the animal, the
subject of such disease, from gathering his food. Above we
have spoken of the tardy removal of the deciduous teeth ;
sometimes, however, these teeth are prematuiely removed by
disease or accident. This constantly happens to lambs when
feeding on heath plants, or those wherein the wood is hard,
and of which sheep delight to partake ; and this premature
removal has been said by many to hasten the development of
the permanent incisors, and consequently to throw investiga-
tors out of their reckoning in determining the age of animals
80 injured. But the examination from time to time of such
mouths leads to the conclusion, that the early removal of
temporary teeth does not hasten the development of their per-
manent successors.

The presentation ot teeth in the mouth varies ; sometimes
two, and sometimes even six, are in situ at birth, said to depend
by some on the period of utero-gestation having been exceeded
or prematurely ended. This is the opinion of Youatt, but Pro-
fessor Simonds does not think this sufficient to account for " all
the variations we observe;" for instance, a cow often carries a
bull calf longer than a cow calf, and yet, in examining their
mouths, it happens that often the development of teeth is as for-
ward in the one as the other, and sometimes more teeth appear
in the mouth of the female than in that of the male; conse-
quently little reliance can be placed on the " utero-gestation "
theory, and particularly so as it was advanced by Youatt, who
in his work on Cattle Diseases certainly could not have written
from personal knowledge, but from information received from
cattle-owners, who must have ventured opinions no.ver the
result of careful investigation or actual observation. Never-
theless, in Youatt's day, cattle, owing to lack of forcing, might
have come to maturity later than in ours, and when the teeth
might have participated in the general tardy growth ; but

even allowing such to have V)een the case, it is impossible to
imagine how the full development of the ox's mouth could have
been retarded until the age of five years. Such is Youatt's
statement, and moreover, he illustrates his book with drawings,
which are as incorrect and contrary to fact as are his asser-
tions. Until 1854 Youatt was an accepted authority in the
matter of the age of cattle, when Professor Simonds, after
years of careful research, gave publicity to his ideas on this
subject in a pamphlet printed at the request of the Royal
Agricultural Society, in which he entirely upset the teachings
of Youatt and others, and demonstrated most clearly how
easily, up to a certain date, the age of the ox could be deter-
mined by his teeth. Of course, difference in breed operates
largely in causing the early or later eruption of teeth, and
perhaps also climate may exert its influence in early producing
or retarding development. Professor Gamgee informs us, '■ we
must not imagine that the periods of eruption and change set
forth in his (Professor Simonds') tables are applicable all over
the world. Thus, in examining the herds of Brittany cows
recently sold in Edinburgh, I found that the whole indicated
a more tardy development of teetli than is observed in the finest
breeds of this country, and the tables framed by Girard and
others are substantially correct, according to my observa-
tions on these animals." Professor Bonley, in commenting on
Girard's work on teeth, writes, " In rendering animals more
precocious, in order to hasten the day of their death, and to
furnish more rapidly their flesh for the growing exigencies of
human consumption, agricultural enterprise has succeeded in
accelerating the development of all the organs; and the teeth,
which by periodic appearances, as by modifications in form
which they undergo, enable us to measure the duration of life,
participate also in the rapidity of growth. Thus, that whicli
was perfectly true in the days of Girard is not so for thost
animals which art has improved."

Two periods occur in the dentition of the ox, the first con-
sisting in the eruption of the temporary teeth, and the second
in their fall, in making room for their permanent successors,
and in the after development of the molars. The calf at birth
is usually possessed of four incisors, and in about a fortnight
afterwards two more, the third pair, make their appearance,
and within ten days from the latter period the two comer
incisors arc cut — making in all eight teeth. At the same
time that the dentition of the incisor teeth is being effected,
that of the temporary molars is progressing to completion,
which is obtained also within one month after birth It ia
therefore evident that within four weeks from birth the tempo-
rary dentition both of incisors and molars is completed ; but
although such is the case, yet the molars at birth are never met
with in the gum, their eruption, like the incisors, following
no special order, but usually the first in position; i.e. the
anterior molar tooth is cut last, or, about three weeks after
birth. The first and second temporary molars in the upper
jaw are larger than those situated in the lower, but in shape
differ very slightly from their permanent successors. This
however, cannot be said of the third temporary molar situated

66

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

in the lower jaw, as it is dissimilar to the other molars, and
also diflFers materially from the tooth which afterwards fills
its place permanently. Professor Simonds writes, " It is the
last of all temporary molars which, as a rule, is renewed, and
consequently throughout it furnishes much assistance in de-
termining a question of age. It occupies a space in the jaw
equal to, or even greater than, both the other molars together
which stand before it, in consequence of its increased width
from front to back, which however, would be mere correctly
called its long diameter. It is composed of three main parts
or lobes of a semi-cylindrical form, having in the hollows
between them, on the outer side, two smaller portions, which
also rise into asperities or cusps. The latter, when the tooth
is somewhat worn down, add to the strength of the body, as
well as to the irregularity of its grinding surface. Each of
the three principal lobes likewise rises into cusps, an inner
and an outer, of which the inner are always the higher. This
tooth, for brevity's sake, might be called a tricuspid tooth ; but
this, critically speaking, is far from correct, for originally, as
we have spen, it has six principal with two minor projections
or cusps.'

After tte tu'St month of the animal's life, i.e., when the
temporary dentition has become perfected, we have no change
occurring in the teeth, with the exception of slight wear;
consequently, until the calf is six months old, the general
appearance of the creature must be alone considered in deter-
mining its age. Many persons have asserted that the first
permanent molar, viz., the fourth in position, escapes through
the gum when its possessor is one year old. Youatt says,
"the fourth appears about the expiration of the eighth month ;"
but my examinations prove that these teeth are in situ at the
end of the sixth month, and sometimes before. Professor
Simonds' investigations relative to the fourth permanent molar
corroborate my statement, that sometimes this tooth is put up
"before the expiration of the sixth month after birth." He
writes, " I have found as a rule, that this molar in the lower
jaw is usually a little more forward than its fellow in the
upper, and that now and then it appears even before the sixth
month." This molar is wider than the third if measured from
side to side, but in length — i.e., from before backwards — is
much shorter. At nine months old these four permanent
molars, i.e., two in the upper and two in the lower jaw, have
grown to the same level with the temporary teeth placed just
anteriorly to them. At fifteen months old the fifth molar in
position, or second permanent, escapes through the gum ; it
does not differ much in shape from the fourth molar placed
anteriorly to it, and like its neighbour assumes the same level
with the other molars at the expiration of eighteen months
from birth When the ox has reached two years of life the
sixth permanent molar is cut, and attains its general con-
figiu-ation within three months; that is, when the animal is
two years and three months old. This tooth is dissimilar to
the two teeth just before it, but resembles in some particulars
the third molar, in that it possesses three cusps, in fact, is tri-
cuspid ; the prominences, however, ax" not so well delineated,

and the one situated farthest back in the jaw is often concealed
by the gum. This tooth is somewhat triangular in shape,
presenting its base towards the mouth, and its apex to
the fauces ; that is, it gradually decreases in width from
before backwards. Immediately after the temporary incisors
are well delineated, it will be readily understood that, as time
progresses, their surfaces during the process of feeding wear
down from attrition, and consequently become blunted; and
not only is such the case, but the mouth expands, and with it
the jaw, when the necks of the teeth present a separating
appearance, and sometimes are detained in the jaw by very
slight adhesions. This last fact is particularly manifest in
the central pair of incisors when the animal is about eighteen
months old, at which period these teeth usually possess little
or no fangs, and are about to vacate the gum in order to make
room for their permanent successors, which are just coming
into position. Sometimes even they are present before the
deciduous teeth have been shed, and give to the mouth, when
such is the case, a very irregular appearance ; but as a rule,
the centre temporary incisors are not replaced by permanent
ones until the animal is one year and nine months old, and
this occurs only amongst cattle that have been " forced," and
more properly amongst those breeds which years of careful
breeding and high feeding have forced to early maturity. Ex- '
amples of such are met with at our prize cattle shows in the
short horn and Devon and Hereford breeds, and all animals
similarly treated as above indicated ; but among cattle which
from youth are allowed to enjoy a less artificial life we find
that the process of dentition is more tardily developed, and
that in the mouth of an animal of this nature we notice, that
the central pair of deciduous teeth are not replaced by per-
manent ones until the expiration of the second year. This
proves that it is impossible to state the precise period {i,e.,
within two months) at which the teeth fall and rise; conse-
quently we must always take the average, when repeated and
careful examinations of the teeth will enable us to form a very
con-ect opinion of age.

The permanent incisors (central pair) soon after their
appearance in the gums often overlap each other; but as
they grow firmly within their sockets, and the jaw expands,
and dental growth is obtained, they separate from each other.
The gums recede from the bases of the crowns which they at
first surround, and become concentrated around their necks.
Of course the size and growth of these teeth, and the position of
the gum around the crown or neck (if around the crown base,
the animal is younger than if it be developed below, that is,
around the neck), must be carefully considered in determining
the age of the ox. The overlapping of the permanent incisors
is noticeable in all of them when first put up, as is also the fact,
that when fully developed they assume an upright and sepa-
rate appearance. This is markedly the case in the next pair
of permanent incisors, which usually cut the gums when the
animal is one year and three months. Professor Simonds
has observed very few cases in which the second pair of per-
manent incisors have been cut, and he has always found them

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AxMD PIGS.

67

in those animals certified at cattle shows to be two years and
two months. He writes, " My note-book furnishes so many
cases of the second pair of incisors being cut at two years and
a quarter, especially in short-horn and Hereford bulls, that I
have taken this date in the preparation of the table on early
dentition as the time of cutting these teeth. In our Devon
cattle there are fewer instances of this; but both they and our
other breeds furnish some cases of the same kind. I have
only met with about half a dozen cases where a second pair of
incisors was cut before two years and three months, and these
were in animals certified to be two years and two months old.
At an agricultural meeting a heifer was exhibited (in the
class for bulls and heifers under two years old) to which
objection was taken. The examination showed that there
were four incisors well up. Satisfactory proof of the correct-
ness of the certificate was called for, which having failed to
be given, the animal was disqualified." This animal, accord-
ing to the table of early average, was three years old ; but
doubtless its age only amounted to two years and a quarter.
This occurrence in the age of cattle proves beyond doubt that
two tables of dental development are demanded in classifying
the age of cattle ; for, as a rule, especially in the advanced
classes, an animal with four permanent incisors well up in the
mouth would represent the possessor to be two years and a
half old, whereas, in the coarser-bred creatures, the second
pair of teeth do not even appear in the mouth until the
expiration of this period.

At two years and nine months old, the third pair of incisors
are replaced by permanent ones. This is noticed in the forced
classes, and consequently finds a place in the early dentition
table. These teeth, however, among slowly developed animals,
do not escape through the gums until the age of three years
and so many months, and consequently are classified in the
late average table, at which very time in the higher-bred
animals, which I have termed " forced classes," the fourth or
corner temporary incisors fall out, to make room for their
permanent followers; whereas, in lower-bred cattle, their
appearance in the mouth does not occur until six months later.
Thus we observe, as regards the incisor dentition, that among
high-bred animals, namely, those prepared for cattle shows,
the temporary incisors are replaced by permanent ones as
follows: — The centre incisors at one year and nine months
old ; the second pair, at two years and three months ; the third,
at two years and nine months, and the last or corner pair, at
three years and three months. Among coarser-bred cattle,
those animals which have been compelled to rough it, and
to lead a less artificial life from their youth, develop their
teeth more tardily : i.e., at two years and three months the
centre pair of teeth are replaced by permanent ones ; at two
years and nine months the second pair appear ; at three years
and three months the third permanent pair are cut ; and lastly,
at three years and nine months the incisor dentition is com-
pleted by the escape from the gums of the fourth or corner
milk teeth, and by the development in their place of perma-
nent ones.

In referring to the fourth pair, or comer incisors. Professor
Simonds writes : — " By far the greater number of oxen will
not put up the corner pair of permanent incisors until aftei
three years and a quarter, and I have repeatedly examined
animaU whose ages ranged from three and three-quarters to
four years, and found these teeth to be in the act of cutting.
On the other hand, I have occasionally seen tliem in short-hor::
bulls fairly through the gum at three years and one month-
These things should guide the opinion of the examiner. H
an animal is certified to be three years old or wanting that
time by a week or two, and all the incisors are permanent, it
most certainly is a proper case for investigation, so few are the
exceptions to these teeth being cut before three years and a
quarter. In these early cases ot dentition the judgment will
often be assisted by the examiner noticing the amount of the
overlapping of the incisors, and which is best seen on their
upper surface. Thus the outer edges of the middle teeth are
partially covered by the inner edges of the second, the second
by the third, and the third by the fourth, or comer incisors.
This overlapping of the edges of these teeth arises from the
broad and flat crowns being at their height of development
when they penetrate the gums, and from the rapidity with
which one pair has been succeeded by another, the jaw not
having fully adapted itself to their larger size. In judging oi
age, also, the fulness and redness of the gumb, combined with
the extent of protrusion of the incisors last cut, is to be con-
sidered. In about two months from the appearance of the
first, second, or third pair, these teeth will have acquired their
full development, the second pair becoming nearly level with
the first, or the third with the second, as the case may be. The
corner incisors, however, although they more quickly acquire
their full size after being put up, rarely gain the proportionate
level of the others."

We must now return to the consideration of the molar
teeth, when it will be remembered that we left them having
six molars in position on each side of both jaws; the three
anterior ones being temporary, and the three posterior, per-
manent teeth. Now the changes which the three anterior
molars undergo in vacating their places for their permanent
successors, give us certain indications of the ox's age, even if
the incisors should present any irregularities in their develop-
ment; and for this reason, a careful study of these phases
is necessary. After the animal is two years and a half to
eight months old, we find that the two anterior temporary
teeth have been shed, and the permanent ones are filling their
places. These teeth follow no precise order in their removal;
sometimes the first in position gives way for its permanent
follower before the second ; and sometimes the second, which
is usually the case, has the start of the first in developing its
succeeding molar; and sometimes these teeth are replaced at
one and the same time. This, however, is the exception, the
rule being, that the second in position is a very short time
before the first in developing its permanent successor. During
the second half of the third year, i.e., when the ox is past two
years and a half old, the third temporary molar is shed and

68

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

exchanged for a permanent one ; and when this is eifected,
the dentition of the molar or double teeth is completed. It
has been before explained how, in many important respects,
the third temporary molar differed from all the other double
teeth, and the same may be said of its successor, as it resem-
bles it in every particular, with the sole exception of its
being much larger; in fact, of its being merely an enlarged
edition of its forerunner, as it is longer than the two anterior
teeth put together and is much wider than either. It more-
over possesses three divisions or lobes on its outer side, and
between the hollows formed by the three lobes two asperities,
called cusps, arise ; from the upper surface also of the lobes
three large cusps spring. This tooth, therefore, is readily dis-
tinguished from its. partners on either side, the fourth and
fifth, if it is remembered that the latter possess only two
lobes, and are much shorter, and not so wide. The molar
dentition may be thus again explained : at six months old
the fourth molar in position is cut ; at one year and three
months, the fifth ; and at two years, the sixth. At two years
and a half the two anterior molars are replaced by permanent
ones, and at three years old the third tooth in position makes
room for its permanent successor. When dentition is com-
pleted, that is, when all the permanent teeth are in position,
our judgment relative to the age of the ox must be guided
more by general appearances, than from any indications the
teeth themselves can afford; but, at the same time, these
organs will manifest certain signs. At four years old the
four centre incisors will present worn edges ; and at five years
old the hollows will increase, and will show to what an extent
attrition has enlarged and blunted the wearing surfaces ; at
this age also, the edges of the incisors will have ceased to
overlap one another. As age increases, the wearing surfaces
grow broader, anr" the teeth consequently become shorter,
and the dental constituents manifest discoloration. These
appearances in the teeth, together with the general external
configuration of the animal after the expiration of the fifth
year, will afford us certain data, upon which we are enabled
to found a moderately accurate guess relative to the age of
the full-mouthed ox.

Youatt, in his book on the management and diseases of
cattle — a work that for years was received as an authority in
this matter, and on the age of the ox as indicated by his teeth,
in particular — considered that an ox was not full-mouthed
until he was six years old. He wrote, " At the commencement
of the fifth year the eight permanent incisors will be up, but
the corner ones will be small, so that the beast cannot be said
to be full-mouthed, i.e., aU incisors up, until it is six years old."
This assertion does not, as will be seen by the foregoing,
coincide with recent investigations ; it does not even apply to
animals of common breed, as such animals are, with very few
exceptions, full-mouthed at four years old. That oxen in
Youatt's time might have exhibited later development of teeth,
or in other words, that the progress of dentition might have
been slower, is possible ; but that so late an average occurred
lould not have been the fact. Youatt, in framing his chapter

on dentition, must have trusted to information, instead of
relying on actual knowledge based on practical investigation
and diligent research — a process always demanded in examin-
ing intricate subjects. The development of teeth is doubtless
sometimes retarded beyond the natural period; this usually
occurs owing to the persistency with which the temporary
teeth cleave to the gums, and thus become obstacles to the
permanent in their progress upwards ; and as they constantly
will make an exit through the gums, we frequently find both
the temporary teeth and their succeeding permanent ones
side by side in the mouth at one and the same time, thus
causing great inconvenience to the animal during the act of
collecting herbage. This irregularity, Professor Simonda
Bays, applies more commonly to the third and fourth pairs,
than to the first or second ;" but the existence of this abnormal
appearance ought not to mislead a practical examiner ; and
even should it throw him somewhat out of his reckoning,
the molars will come to his rescue, and cause him tn form a
correct opinion of age.

THE AGE OF THE SHEEP AS INDICATED BY HIS TEETH.

In the preceding chapter attention was drawn to the incor-
rect statements made by Youatt on the age of the ox. The
same remarks may with equal truth be applied to his asser-
tions relative to the teeth of sheep; and as this is the case, por-
tions selected from his book on the management of sheep wiU
be reproduced, in order that this subject may be more fully
ventilated, and to show how injuriously to the exhibitors
of stock his inaccuracies must have operated. He writes :
— " The mouth of the lamb newly dropped is either without
incisor teeth, or it has two. They rapidly succeed to each
other, and before the animal is two years old he has the whole
of the eight. They continue to grow with his growth until
he is fourteen or sixteen months old, when the two central
incisors are shed; and attain their full growth when the sheep
is two years old. Between two and three years old the next
two incisors are shed, and when the sheep is actually three
years old the four central teeth are fully grown ; at four years
old he has six teeth fully grown, and at five years old all the
teeth are perfectly developed. This is one year before the horse
or ox can be said to be full-mouthed.

" In examining a flock of sheep, however, there will often be
very considerable difference in the teeth of hogs, or one shears,
in some measure to be accounted for by the difference in the
time of lambing, and likewise by the general health and vigour
of the animal. There will be a material difference in differ-
ent flocks, attributable to the good or bad keep which they
have had. Those fed on good land, or otherwise well kept,
will take the start of others that have been half starved, and
renew their teeth some months sooner than these. There are,
however, exceptions to this. Mr. Price says that a Romney
Marsh teg was exhibited at the show at Aehford, weighing
fifteen stones, and the largest ever shown there of that breed;
and that it had not one of its permanent broad teeth.
There are also irregularities in the times of renewing teeth,

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THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

not to be accounted for by either of these circumstances relat-
ing to the breed and keep of sheep. The same author remarks
that he has known tups have four broad and permanent teeth
when, according to their age, they should have had but two.
Mr. Culley, in his excellent work on Live Stock, says, " A
friend of mine, and an eminent breeder, Mr. Cliarge of Cleasby,
a few years ago sliowed a shearing-tup at Richmond, in
Yorkshire, for a premium given by the Agricultural Society
there, which had six broad teeth, in consequence of which
the judges rejected his tup, although confessedly the best
sheep, because they believed him to be more than a shear-
ing ; however, j\Ir. Charge afterwards proved to their satisfac-
tion that the tup was no more than a shearing. Mr. Price,
on the other hand, states that he once saw a yearling wether
which became quite fat with only one tooth, that had worked
a cavity in the upper jaw, the corresponding central tooth
having been accidentally lost."

Such are the opinions of Youatt, and others, which will be
referred to presently. From him it will be observed that the
sheep is said not to be full-mouthed until the expiration of
the fifth year; such late development not being the result
of dental irregularity or disease, but occurring as a natural
consequence. Mr. Youatt, in all his assertions relative to the
escape through the gums, progressive growth, and replacement
of ovine teeth, is incorrect, excepting in the detail given of the
lamb's mouth at birth, and within a month afterwards.

The sheep is usually born with no teeth: in some instances
however, two incisors are observed just cutting the gums; but
within a week after birth four teeth, namely, the two central
pairs, make their appearance, and three or four days afterwards
the third pair escape into the mouth, and before the animal is
a month old all the temporary incisors are cut. In this,
and this alone, Youatt's opinion is in consonance with that
of recent investigators; namely, that the eight temporary
incisors are developed when the lamb is one month old.
The incisors differ in size one from the other. The
central pair are longer and broader than the second pair;
and from the second to the fourth pair the teeth similarly and
gradually decrease in size. This fact is more marked in the
mouth of the sheep than that of the ox, perhaps owing to the
former animal possessing more semicircular gums than those
DOticed in the ox ; hence the more gradual slope from the
centre tooth to the corner one, and the decrease in size noticed
from the former to the latter tooth, and when these teeth
ars replaced by permanent ones, their successors although
much larger always observe the same physical exterior
and slope as noticed in the deciduous teeth. The sheep,
like the ox, possesses when full-mouthed thirty-two teeth —
eight incisors and twenty-four molars — twenty of which first
occur as deciduous teeth and are afterwards replaced by per-
manent ones; viz., eight incisors and twelve molars. The
temporary molars are always situated in front, viz., three
anteriorly on either side of each jaw. These teeth also, like
the incisors, are developed before the lamb is one month old, the
two anterior ones usually making their appearance before the

tliird or posterior molar. The permanent teeth that replace
them possess the same external features, and only are pre-
sented as a larger type of the same edition. The third molai
is composed of three divisions or lobes, and does not diflfei
materially from the same tooth noticed in the ox, and described
above as being longer, broader, lobular, &c. An interval o;
two months occurs between the development of the decidu-
ous teeth, and the appearance of the first permanent molar
namely, the fourth in position ; i.e., when the lamb is three
montlis old this tooth cannot be confounded with the tliird
temporary molar, as it possesses only two lobes, and is not so
long nor broad as its companion anteriorly situated. Between
the cutting of the fourth and fifth permanent molar, a period
of six months intervenes ; i.e., the fifth molar does not escape
through the gum until the animal is nine months old, con-
sequently we have at this time of life very marked signs to
rely upon, in determining the age of the lamb at this date.
The fiftli permanent molar very closely resembles the fourth
in its physical characteristics. Both the fourth and fifth
molar teeth consist of two main parts or lobes, which are
blended together. Each tooth, therefore, when first cut has
four cusps of enamel, of which the inner are always higher
in the lower teeth, and the outer in the upper. It is, however,
to be remembered that the points of tliese cusps are soon
worn away, and that consequently each of them is thus made
to form two ridges of enamel, and thereby to give to the tooth
eight elevations of this substance of varying height, instead
of four.

At eighteen months old the sixth permanent molar is cut,
when the six molars on each side of either jaw are in position,
the three anterior ones being temporary, and the three pos-
teriorly situated representing three permanent teeth. When
the sheep has reached the age of two years, the sixth molai
has attained the same level as those teeth placed before
it, viz., the fifth, fourth, &c. Soon after the appearance
of the sixth molar, the first and second temporary molars
are replaced by permanent ones, when sometimes the first
is displanted before the second, and sometimes the reverse
occurs. In fact, this exchange of teeth follows no direct
rule ; all that can be said is, that the first and second
molars, when the sheep is about one year and seven months
old, are shed to make room for permanent ones, and that
they are replaced at almost one and the same time, and
often simultaneously. The same indeed might be related con
ceming the third temporary molar, if it were not for the
almost invariable rule that this tooth never leaves the gum
until its anterior companions have been shed, although they
all three escape from their sockets, and are replaced by
permanent teeth in very immediate succession ; i.e., between
the age of one year and six months, and one year and seven
months, the sheep is provided with its three anterior and
permanent double teeth, and this change is effected within
the short spn^e of one month, when the molar dentition is
completed.

We must now recur to the incisors, which were left

Ji

70

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

when the lamb had completed its fourth week, from which
period, until the time the animal has lived eleven months,
no replacement takes place. The teeth, however, attain
their full size, aud giye evidence of the effects of attri-
tion by their edges becoming somewhat blunted. The jaw
expands, the fangs grow out of the gums and are consequently
exposed, and between them hollow spaces occur. At about
this time the central teeth possess only a slight hold within
the sockets, and give signs that they have served their
purpose, and that the permanent crowns are forcing them out
of their positions ; and such in reality is the case, for when
the sheep is twelve or thirteen months old the central pair of
deciduous teeth are shed, and are replaced by their permanent
successors. This change takes place, thus soon, only in such
breeds as have arrived early at maturity — those that have
been well fed and tended from infancy upwards ; whereas in
coarser-bred sheep — those that had to rough it, and have
been scantily provided with provender or herbage — the devel-
opment of the central teeth does not take place until four or
five months later. It has been asserted by many, that some
breeds of sheep arrive at maturity earlier than others, and
consequently the latter cut their teeth later than the former,
and that the ram lamb exhibits his two first permanent
incisors before the ewe of the same age. Professor Simonds
in considering this subject writes, " It is a matter of great
practical import for us to decide, if possible, whether any of
the established breeds of sheep are likely to cut the first
or central pair of teeth earlier than others, and what other
causes besides breed may hasten the process. With reference
to the former part of this inquiry, it may be affirmed that
Cotswold sheep as a rule, have their first permanent teeth
before either iSouthdowns, Shropshire, or Hampshire downs.
Leicesters tread so closely on the heels of the Cotswolds, that
it is only by comparing numbers that any decision can be
come to with regard to this question ; but when it is done,
Cotswolds are found to be earliest in their dentition. How
much of this may depend upon a naturally large frame, and
general increase of the size of this variety of breed over others,
and how much upon the efibrts that have been successfully
made to bring such animals to early maturity, are matters
requiring an extended series of experiments of feeding, &c.,
to decide. An opinion prevails pretty generally among sheep-
breeders, that the ram lambs cut their first pair of permanent
molars before ewe lambs. In our examinations this should
be borne in mind, and allowance always made in cases where
a point to be decided is a nice one, as it frequently happens
to be at this particular period of the animal's life. It must be
observed, however, that sex has not so great an influence as
is commonly supposed. I find in comparing Southdown
ewes with ram hoggets which have been bred and reared on
the same farm, that there is but very slight difierence in
favour of young rams."

At about one year and nine months, the second pair of
temporary incisors are replaced by permanent ones ; although
canes do occur in which these teeth are developed within one

year and six months from birth. In fact, this is the period
Professor Simonds gives as his early average ; but although
such is the case, on the other hand instances of later dentition
with these particular teeth sometimes come to our knowledge,
in which the second pair of deciduous teeth have been in the
mouth of an animal two years old. But we never have met with
them in the gums of sheep between two and three years of
age — the period assigned by Touatt for their fall, and six
months more for their full development, namely, when the
sheep has reached his third year. Simonds asserts, and such
is our experience, that one year and three quarters is the
average time when sheep will cut their second pair of per-
manent incisors. The third pair of incisors are replaced by
their successors when the sheep is two years and a half old ;
but instances are ot common occurrence in which, especially
among advanced breeds, these teeth are shed when the animal
has lived only two years and three months. This of course is
the early average, whereas the late average represents sheep
as not cutting the third pair of permanent incisors until six
months later, i.e., when the sheep is two years and nine months
old. The same latitude, or a period of six months, must
also be allowed in considering the time when the fourth pair
ot milk teeth make room for their succeeding ones ; the mean
average being when the sheep is three years and three months
old. Sometimes however, these teeth appear three months
earlier (the early average); at other times three months later
than the mean average, i.e., when the animal's life extends
to three years and six months. At the time the above
teeth are cut, the central and second pair of permanent
incisors will give indication of considerable wear, and not
uncommonly rise in their sockets to compensate for their
decreased height, which has been efi'ected by attrition. These
central teeth, also, are frequently broken whilst the sheep
is biting the wood of hard plants, which are constantly met
with on heath lands, &c. This gives to the mouth an old
appearance, and sheep with such injured teeth are often
said to be very old, and for this reason have been named
"crones " (old women), from the Greek word ■)(^p6voi, " time. "
In this consideration however, we are likely to be much mis-
taken, as this accident may occur, and sometimes does, before
the sheep is three years old. Such animals often lose con-
dition, and consequently require more care than those having
these teeth intact. " The Norfolk heath-land farmer has to
look well to his flock, and to draft such sheep. When removed
into other districts where they can live on good grass land
and have manger food, these animals, however, are profitable
for breeding purposes until they are ten, twelve, or fif-
teen years old, as we see in Leicestershfre and other counties.
There is this important difference, however, between the old
sheep of Leicestershire and the crones of Norfolk ; namely,
that in one instance the incisors have been gradually worn
down, while in the other they have been prematurely forced
out or broken oS'. A broken incisor often leads to the displace-
ment of other teeth. It will also occasionally lacerate the
dental pad, and not unfrequently works its way through the

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

71

substance of the pad to the bone itself." From the foregoing
it will be understood, that when the sheep is three years and
six months old, the permanent dentition of this animal is
completed, although sometimes the process terminates three
mouths before, and at times three months, or more, later. After
this period therefore, our judgment in determining the age
of the sheep must be guided, first, hj the wear and tear of the
teeth, and secondly, by the general appearance of the animal.
Although as a rule, the sheep is full-mouthed when three years
and six months old, yet a few instances are not wanting in
which the corner temporary incisors are in the mouth at four
years ; but this is an exception to the rule, which seldom varies,
in that the sheep, before the expiration of the fourth year of
life, possesses all its permanent incisors and molars, and con-
sequently is full-mouthed.

THE AGE OF THE PIG AS INDICATED BY THE TEETH.

Correct information relative to the age of the pig as indi-
cated by the teeth, was never given to the public by Girard
or Youatt, although these writers were received as authorities
on this important matter for years previously to the appear-
ance of Professor Simonds' work " On the Age of the Pig."
Zouatt doubtless translated from Girard, and in so doing
repeated his errors, which a slight examination of the den-
tition of this animal would have prevented. In fact, he
copied without investigating the subject for himself, and con-
sequently we find Girard and Youatt writing in the self-same
strain; the latter repeating all the mistakes of the former.
" The hog," writes Youatt, " has fourteen molar teeth in each
jaw, six incisors and two canines ; these latter are curved
upwards, and commonly denominated tushes. The molar teeth
are all slightly difi'erent in structure, and increase in size from
first to last ; they bear no slight resemblance to those of the
human being. The incisors are so fantastic in form as to
baffle description, and their destined functions are by no
means clear. Those in the lower jaw are long, round, and
nearly straight; of those in the upper jaw, four closely
resemble the coiTesponding teeth in the horse, while the two
corner incisors bear something of the fleur de lis shape of
those of the dog. These latter are placed so near to the
tushes as often to obstruct their growth, and it is sometimes
necessary to draw them in order to relieve the animal and
enable him to feed.

" The calculation of the age of the hog by means of reference
to the mouth has not yet been carried beyond three years —
no writer seems to have gone much beyond the protrusion of
the adult middle teeth of the lower jaw. The hog is born
with two molars on each side of the jaw; by the time he is
three or four months old he is provided with his incisive milk
teeth and two tushes. The supernumerary molars protrude
between the fifth and seventh months, as does the first back
molar ; the second back molar is cut at the age of about ten
months, and the third generally not until the animal is three
years old. The upper comer teeth are shed at about six or
eight months, and the lower ones at about seven, nine, or ten

months old, and leplaced by permanent ones. The milk
tushes also are shed and replaced between six and ten months
old. The age of twenty months and from that to two years,
is denoted by the shedding and replacement of the middle
incisors or pincers in both jaws, and the formation of a black
circle at the base of each of the tushes. At about two years
and a half or three years of age the adult middle teeth in
both jaws protrude, and the pincers are becoming black and
roimded at the ends. After three years the age may be com-
puted by the growth of the tushes : at about four years, or
rather before, the upper tushes begin to raise the lip ; at five
they protrude through the lips ; at six years of age the tushes
of the lower jaw begin to show themselves out of the mouth
and assume a spiral form. These acquire a prodigious growth
in old animals, and particularly in uncastrated boars. As they
increase in size they become curved backwards and outwards,
and at length are so crooked as to interfere with the motion
of the jaws to such a degree that it is necessary to cut oflF these
projecting teeth, which is done with a file or with nippers."

The above contains the views of Youatt respecting the
development of the pig's teeth ; these views were considered
correct until Professor Simonds found that little reliance could
be placed on Youatt's assertions, and therefore determined to
study the teething of the pig " from the period of ita birth
onwards until the permanent set of teeth should be completed,
and to mark the changes these organs might undergo, depend-
ing on wear or increasing age."

The incisors of the pig difi"er in their external outline from
those of any other domesticated animals. Their formatioi^
and arrangement in the upper jaw difiers from that noticed in
the lower ; for instance, the fangs of the teeth fixed in the
sockets of the former take a curved course backwards and
inwards, and their crowns pass down into the mouth almost
vertically, i.e., at right angles to the lower jaw, from which
the incisor teeth common to it run out almost in the same
straight line with the jaw. Their fangs, also, slightly curve
backwards and upwards, but are much longer than the fangs
of the corresponding teeth in the upper jaw. The fangs, how-
ever, common to the upper teeth gradually decrease in length
from the middle to the comer ones, whereas the fangs of the
middle pair of the lower incisors are not quite so long nor
thick throughout their entire length as the lateral teeth situ-
ated next to them. These last-named teeth possess fangs more
than double the length of the comer incisors, which are in
every respect much smaDer teeth, both as regards their fangs
and crowns. The pig is bora with four teeth in each jaw, in
all eight ; and by taking one side of the lower jaw for
examination, we find one tooth in the place of the comer incisor,
and another in that of the tush. Simonds has named these
teeth, respectively, the foetal incisor and foetal tush, owiug to
the place they occupy in the mouth during ibetal lifp- The
situation of these at the sides of the mouth leaves a space
between them in the middle of the mouth, and consequently
the nipple of the sow can be brought into the young pig's
mouth through the space created between the eight teeth

72

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

above mentioned. Moreover, the nipple of the sow ia yet
further protected from injury by the tongue of the sucking
pig, which in this act may always be seen surrounding and
firmly adhering to its mother's teat. This grasping power of
the tongue is greatly facilitated by the existence of a fringed
border which surrounds it when " in the act of sucking ; the
tongue is doubled along its middle, so that these fringes are
brought into such a position that they can partially overlap
the nipple, and thus produce the grasping power alluded to."
At one month old, four incisors being then situated in front of
the mouth, viz., the middle temporary teeth, two in the upper
and two in the lower jaw, appear in the gums, as also do the
two temporary molars, being the second and third in position.
The first or anterior deciduous molar sometimes is cut at the
expiration of the first month, but as a rule this tooth does not
make its appearance until five or six days later. The third
molar in the lower jaw presents a very similar configuration
to that noticed in the ox and sheep, described under their
respective headings as being composed of lobes and cusps,
and as occupying a much greater space both in diameter and
length than its two anterior companions. When the young
pig has reached the age of three months, four more temporary
incisors, the lateral teeth, issue from their sockets, and in
80 doing complete the temporary dentition of the pig,
both that of the incisors and that of the molars ; consequently,
before the pig is three months and a half old its mouth
exhibits (taking one side of a lower jaw for description) a
foetal tush, a foetal incisor occupying the situation of the
corner incisor of other animals, and two middle incisors and
two lateral ones; these last-named pairs occupying the
front part of the mouth. In addition to the above, three
temporary molars are situated anteriorily to the three per-
manent molars, which enter the jaw at a later period, after-
wards to be considered. From three months and a half to
six months, no new teeth escape into the mouth, neither does
any replacement of teeth occur. On the wearing surfaces of
the temporary teeth, however, signs of attrition indicate that
the pig is nearing the age of six months, soon after which
period, on each side of both jaws, just in front of the molars
and behind the fcetal tush in the lower, and directly in front
of the molars in the upper, two teeth are added to the
previously described set. These have been named by Professor
Simonds "Premolars," which appellation he has borrowed from
Professor Owen, but has mistaken the latter's reason for
naming certain teeth premolars. Simonds writes, " Professor
Owen has applied the term premolars to the teeth which
succeed the temporary or deciduous set of molars. He limits
the ordinary word molar to those teeth which are not preceded
hy similar ones. The term premolar therefore, is intended
to signify the pre-existence of other teeth in the situation of
these molars." Such is Professor Simonds' explanation of
the peculiarities of premolars; now the description given
of these teeth by Professor Owen leads me to believe that
by premolars he meant to signify that such teeth existed in
the jaw anteriorly to the permanent molars, and such would

be tne true meaning of the Latin preposition fprce, before,\,
4. fid not on account of such teeth being preceded by deciduous
ones. For instance, Professor Owen caUs the tooth now under
notice (the premolar of Simonds), the first premolar, and the
three molars situated posteriorly to it, respectively premolars
No. 2, No. 3, No. 4. Now, in further confirmation of my
view, it is known that the premolar of Simonds and the first
premolar of Owen is not a deciduous tooth ; it is never shed
to make room for a successor; consequently Owen would
not have called this tooth the first premolar, if he had
intended to convey the idea, that by premolar he meant to
signify the pre-existence of another tooth in the situation
of this molar. The word premolar is a very well applied
and distinctive term in describing the dentition of the pig,
especially so, as the terms temporary molars and permanent
molars in the present chapter have been used; and therefore
the first premolar of Owen can be called the premolar,
as no other tooth of this name has been mentioned in our
above nomenclature. In other animals, similar teeth to
the premolar of the pig exist. For instance, in the sheep
and ox these teeth are called supernumerary molars ; in the
horse they are named wolf's teeth. These teeth are permanent
ones, and consequently if removed by accident or as the
result of a surgical operation, are not renewed. At six months,
or soon after, the first permanent molar, viz., the fourth in
position, breaks through the gum. At from nine to ten
months the foetal incisor and the fcBtal tush are replaced by
permanent teeth ; these, it will be remembered, were existing
in the mouth at the period of birth, on each side of the jaws.
Just previously to the fall of these teeth, a slight inspection
of the mouth will demonstrate to how great an extent, during
the past nine months of life, they have been exposed to the
efi'ects of attrition, as they wiU appear nearly ground down
to a level with the gums. The tusk of the hog is the same
tooth as the canine of other animals, and holds in the mouth
a similar position. Professor Owen usually calls them canines,
and in describing their development in the wild boar, writes: —
" The upper canines in the wild boar curve forward, outward,
and upward, their sockets inclining in the same direction,
and being strengthened above by a ridge of bone which is
extraordinarily developed in the masked boar of Africa. The
enamel covering the convex inferior side of this tusk is longi-
tudinally ribbed, but is not limited to that part; a naiTow
strip of the same hard substance is laid upon the anterioi
part, and another upon the posterior concave angle forming
the point of the tusk, which is worn obliquely upward from
before, and backwards from that point. In the sow the
canines are much smaller than in the boar. Castration arrests
the development of the tusks in the male."

The lower tusks are much longer than the upper ones, and
take a direction upwards and backwards; their fimgs assume
a downward and backward course, but as age advances, they
become vertically disposed. From ten months we pass on
to twelve or thirteen months, at which period the middle
temporary incisors a'-e shed, and replaced by their permanenl

>-

OQ

-<

CO

CO

"-~»»^

-"^1

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

73

successors. The middle permanent incisors differ little from
their temporary forerunners. They are broader and flatter,
but their chief difference consists " in the existence on their
upper and inner surface, of a well-marked ridge running
parallel with their long axis, and bounded on either side by
a deepish hollow. In the recently cut incisor, these hollows
unite, at the apex of the tooth, giving a pointed extremity to
the ridge just described." The same remarks apply equally
to the middle permanent incisors, both of the upper and
lower jaws. At this period also it will be observed that the
corner incisors and tusks have considerably grown, the lower
tusks to nearly an inch long. Soon after the appearance of
the permanent middle incisors, the three anterior temporary
molars escape from the gums and are replaced by permanent
teeth; the two anterior teeth generally fall before the third,
and consequently their places are filled with permanent
molars. A short time before, a similar exchange is noticed in
the third molar, and that situated posteriorly to the second
(now) permanent double tooth. Before the pig has attained
the age of sixteen months, the permanent molars will be nearly
on the same level, the middle incisor will have become
almost fully developed, and the tusks also commence assum-
ing a circular course upwards and backwards. The only
temporary teeth now remaining in the mouth, it will be
recognized, are the lateral incisors; these, however, before the
animal is one year and seven months old, are replaced by
permanent teeth ; at the same period the last or sixth per-
manent molar makes its appearance, and before two months
have elapsed it will be on a level with the other double
teeth. The dentition of the pig is, as a rule, therefore
completed by the time the creature has lived one year
and seven months, and after this time its age must be
guessed at by its general appearance. In the boar, however,
the greater or lesser development of the tusks will afford
some guide in determining its age up to three or four years.
Professor Owen, in describing the molar dentition of the hog,
writes : — " The teeth of the molar series progressively increase
in size from first to last. The first premolar (the premolar of
Simonds), has a simple, compressed, conical crown, thickest
behind, and has two fangs. The second premolar (the first
molar of Simonds), has a broader crown, with a hind lobe
having a depression on its inner surface, and each fang be-
gins to be subdivided. The third premolar (second molar of
Simonds), has a similar but broader crown implanted by four
fangs. The fourth premolar (third molar of Simonds), has
two principal tubercles and some irregular vertical pits on
the inner half of the crown. The first true molar (fourth of
Simonds), when the permanent dentition is completed, exhibits
the effects of early development in a more marked degree
than in most other mammals, and in the wild boar has its
tubercles worn down, and a smooth field of dentine exposed
by the time the last molar has come into place. It originally
bears four primary cones with smaller subdivisions formed by
the wrinkled enamel, and an anterior and posterior ridge.
The four cones produced by the crucial impression, of which

the transverse part is the deepest, are repeated on the second
true molar (fifth of Simonds), with more complex shallow
divisions, and a larger tuberculate posterior ridge. The
greater extent of the last molar (third of Owen, sixth and
last of Simonds), is chiefly produced by the development of
the back ridge into a cluster of tubercles ; the four primary
cones being distinguishable on the anterior main body of the
tooth. The crowns of the lower molars are very similar to
those above, but are rather narrower, and the inner and outer
basal tubercles are much smaller, or are wanting.' The sixth
molar is, as stated by Owen, much larger than its tellows, and
consequently cannot be mistaken. It resembles aomewhat the
form of the third molar of the lower jaw, in that it possesses
three divisions, i.e., is trilobate; and that from each lobe two
cusps arise, which are intersected by small subdivisions. This
development is readily noticed on the newly cut tooth, but
in a short time daily attrition causes its obliteration.

THE PIG.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF PIGGERIL-b.

Nothing to those keeping or about to keep pigs can be
more important, if the well-being of these creatures is con-
sidered, than the selection of suitable ground whereon to build
proper habitations — " Principle sedes" porcis. Many persons,
in past years and even at the present time, think any hovel
is good enough for the pig's home, and that he delights to
wallow in his own mire. This is a most unfortunate mistake;
one that has retarded both the growth and fattening tendency
of such animals, and sometimes produced disease, and con-
sequently caused great loss to owners. The land suitable
for building piggeries on is not very different to that which
is required for other animals, viz., rising gi'ound from which
the drainage can flow naturally. The back of the sties, also,
should be so constructed as to afford shelter from the north
and east winds ; and if this arrangement be carried out, it is
obvious that the open parts and yards in front must face the
south or south-west ; it is also very important to insure
perfect ventilation. The above items mentioned aa being
necessary to the health of pigs, can with very little fore-
thought and expense be thoroughly and efiiciently obtained.
Having chosen a plot of rising ground, the extent of which
must of course be defined according to the size and number of
sties required, it will be our next endeavour *-> build the
dormitories and yard walls. It matters little of what material
these are composed, so long as they are impervious to wind
and weather (this remark particularly applies to the sleeping
compartments) ; but perhaps brick or stone, when these can be
readily and cheaply procured, recommend themselves more
particularly to our notice, as being likely to form the most
durable fabric. In order to explain the mode of constructing
piggeries and of keeping them clean, and of insuring easy
drainage and perfect viCtilation within them, it will be con-

74

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

venient for the sake of plainness to describe the construc-
tion and the system of hygiene to be adapted to one. Given
then a plot of ground, as above described, sufficient to build
one sty upon. The walls composing the sleeping shed
should be built of brick or stone ; but if these materials are
not of easy access, then rough wood covered outaide by mud
walls will form a perfect protection against wind and bad
weather. The walls at the back of the sty should be at least
five feet high, and those at the side should gradually slope
downwards to the yard, to about three feet and a half. The
roof always productive of the greatest comfort to the inmates
is found in good straw thatch ; for this substance tends not
only to keep the apartment warm in winter, but also forms
the best protection against the sun's rays during the excessive
summer heat. The floor of the sleeping compartment should
consist of boards resting on planks raised at least six inches
from the ground, when the sleeping chamber can be shut in
two-thirds of the way across, by boards, bricks, or any other
building material that is ready to hand. The sties in which
breeding sows are kept will be beneficially supplied with a
ledge running round the chamber, and raised about six
inches from the floor and extending over it about one foot.
This arrangement prevents the sow lying close against the
wall, an operation which she constantly performs when about
to suckle her pigs, and in so doing often crushes one or more
of them. The barrier above mentioned keeps the sow from
close proximity with the wall ; and forms a bridge under
which the young pigs can shelter themselves against the
crushing efiect likely to be produced by the heavy fall of their
mother's body, during the act of lying down.

THE TAED IN FRONT OF THE SLEEPING CHAMBER.

The extent of the yard, like the sty, must be large or small,
depending upon the number of pigs kept, but in either case
the floor should consist of some hard substance ; large flag-
stones about three or four feet square (like those noticed in
Oxfordshire) are best. These stones being large, do not
admit of so many apertures as those noticed in brick and
pitched floorings, which allow the moisture to pass between
them and thus undermine the structure. This, of course, is
constantly noticed where the drainage is imperfectly obtained.
To insure the rapid escape of all liquid from the sty yard,
it is necessary that the floor should be so arranged as to
gradually incline towards a middle, side, or centre drain,
which should be continued at some distance from the yard to
a main (liquid manure) tank outside. The drain in the best-
constructed yards generally runs up half the middle of the
yard, and is partially open at the top. Of course, when
the drain is 80 arranged the floorings slope down towards
it, as they shoold do to the side when the drain is there
situated, but to the centre when central drainage is intended.
The yard must be inclosed by a wall about four feet and
a half high, and can be built of brick or stone, when a wooden
gate either at the right or left hand comer will secure the
safe keeping of the inmates.

TROUGHS.

Pigmasters do not all agree as to the best position for
the feeding troughs. In our opinion troughs are better kept
outside the dormitory — in the first place, because the pigs
during the process of eating and drinking always throw over
some food and a large quantity of liquid, and by this means
saturate their beds with moisture; secondly, wash not dis-
posed of during a meal may ferment, when certain gases are
likely to be generated, which constantly prove deleterious to
porcine health; the only good to be derived from placing
pig troughs under the roof of the piggery, is that the rain
cannot find its way within them, and for this reason alone
many owners have thus placed them inside the sty. The
best position for the feeding trough is found in the front wall
not far from the door, where it must be a fixture, and should
(i f the wall be brick or stone) be placed on the ground in the
middle of the wall, which raised about two feet above it forms
a covering and an opening for the reception of the trough
and for the application of a door, or more properly, a falling
lid, which can be opened and shut as occasion requires. At
feeding time the lid can be raised, and the wash food can be
readily emptied into the frough. The lids, or as 1 may call
them trough doors, are sometimes (in fact, nearly always so
now) arranged that they can be closed either on the inside or
outside of the wall; i.e., when the pigs are to be fed the wash
can be poured into the trough whilst the lid is closed on
the inside. This prevents the usual porcine rush at the wash
bucket, which often wastes much of the spoil. When the
trough has been filled, the lid can be drawn forward until
it reaches the rim of the trough on the outside, where it can
be fastened until the meal has been completed. By placing
the trough in the wall it is sheltered from the rain, and the
escape of food or liquid from it will cause little or no harm.
By these means the evil mentioned by the advocates for
inside troughs is removed, and the existence of a dry and
clean bed is insured.

EXTRA YARD.

Pigs, as before stated, are naturally clean animals, and
when in a domesticated state they are otherwise, the fault
must be owing to the carelessness of the owner. How
constantly do we see the sty yard with filthy litter in it up
to the pigs' knees, in which during hot weather the inmates
are compelled to lie ; for in the period of intense heat it will
be noticed, if pigs are allowed to roam over a pasture through
which a rivulet runs, that they will seek such stream and
wallow in the mud at its banks ; and this they do with a
view to cool their bodies by the application of the cold water.
When confined within a piggery, a similar tendency to cool
themselves is noticeable in placing their over-heated bodies
on the dung and litter that has been previously saturated
with urine, which often proves a fertile source of disease, and
consequently we ought to use aU means at our disposal for
its prevention. This end can be attained by a very simple

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

76

and inexpensive arrangement, in the construction of an extra
yard. Aa I have never heard that the arrangement about
to be proposed was ever advocated previously, it will not be out
of place to narrate the reasons which operated in suggesting
the advantages likely to be derived from its adoption.
Some years ago I possessed four pigs, each about six months
old, that were placed in a piggery, the sty doors of which
opened one into the other. As the sty next to it was without
occupants, the door communicating from the one to the other
was removed, and the pigs were allowed the range of both
sties; and the result was that the animals used the sty A to
sleep and feed in, and the far end of sty B, namely, the one
from which the door had been removed, to dung and urinate
The result was that sty A was always clean and dry,

in.

whereas sty b was used as a urinal, &c., and was seldom entered
except for the purposes of nature just indicated. Such being
the case, at the side of each yard, and separated from it, a second
yard smaller in dimensions than the preceding, might run at a
parallel to it, an inlet into which could be made sufficient
to allow two pigs to pass through at the same time. This
yard should also possess a gate through which the dung could
be removed; in fact, there need be no other doorway through
which to enter than this. The doorway of each sty ought to

be so hung that it will open outwards or inwards, so as to
give the animals free ingress and egress; and to do this it
should be hung across from side to side, and the pig should
be able to push it in to effect its entry and out for its exit: for
if it were hung in the usual way, it would derange the litter
every time it opened inwards and be very liable to catch.
The construction of the extra yard has some advantages:
namely, Ist. Its presence causes pigs to perform the offices
of nature therein. 2nd. For this reason, it necessarily follows
that the feeding yard will always remain dry and clean.
3rd. The animal will be able to feed at a distance from
the dung yard, and, better still, in one quite clean and
consequently free from polluting gases. 4th. The sleeping
compartment and feeding yard will not so ft«qaently require
fresh straw nor cleansing; moreover, in an extra yard all the
droppings and dirty litter will be located in one spot, and can
therefore be readily removed, after which the floors of both
yards can with advantage be washed. It is a good practice
to sprinkle coal or wood ashes over the floor of the extra
yard, to act as a disinfectant, and purify the whole building,
as well as to help the dung heap.

The following diagrams will explain how the extra yard
can be arranged either for a single or double piggery :—

1.— SINGLE PIGGERY.

Liquid

Manure

Tank.

Dormitory.

Ed
O

<1

H

DRAIN.

Store, or
Boiling
House.

Extra

Yard.

ENTRANCE.

FEEDING TROUGH.

Yard.

H

2.— D OUBLE PIGGERY.

Liquid
Manure
Tank.

Dormitory.

Store, or
Boiling
House.

Dormitory.

Store, or
Boiling
House.

///

76

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

Where tfcaso ia unlimited space, as in large farm yards,
it is always wise to allow store pigs an extensive range,
to be met with in straw yards protected from the north-
east wind by sheds. In such locations the more elabo-
rate construction of a piggery is not required for swine
until the period when fattening is to commence arrives,
when, of course, the piggery comes into requisition. Some
persons, however, prefer, from the very first, keeping their
pigs within bounds, even if a large quantity are housed, when
the piggeries have to be constructed on a large scale, but
should always be built on the hygienic principles above
directed. The drain running through the piggery yards
should be washed out daily, and for this purpose a stream
can with advantage be admitted from without. This can be
effected either by causing the water from a brook to be
diverted from its course, when required, into the drain ; or it
may be obtained from a tank, through the medium of an
india rubber tube being directed into the drain at its highest
elevation. Of course, if these means are not easily pro-
curable, then buckets of water thrown through the drain will
suflSciently well answer the purpose of cleansing. As before
stated, the drain should run into the liquid manure tank, which
must always, where convenient, be situated at least five or
six yards, if tf^ farther, from the piggery. It is always well
to build piggeries near that part of the establishment from
which the supply of food can be readUy collected. Wash,
grain, and roots, can be stored under the dormitory roof of
the extra yard; in large establishments in one of these
a copper can be fixed in which to boil the various foods
intended for the pigs. — See Diagram.

FOOD FOE PIGS.

DAIRY REFUSE.

Sour milk, butter-milk, and dairy washings constitute,
with the addition of barley, oat, or pea meal, a very
nutritious food for fattening purposes. " Farmers are of
opinion that this mode of employing their sour milk is more
profitable than making cheese." But it must be remembered
that, when pigs have for any length of time been fed upon
milk, they will fall off in condition if it be afterwards denied
them. In the year 1846, Earl Radnor exliibited some very
handsome pigs, aged about six months, which had been
fattened on forty-eight bushels of barley meal and six bushels
of potatoes, with an adequate quantity of whey ; these pigs
were in prime condition, and no pig could have presented
better quality or quantity for the age. Dairy-fed pork —
namely, that produced from dairy refuse — is without doubt
more delicate and wholesome than that reared and fattened on
other aliments.

THE REFUSE OF BREWERIES AND DISTILLERIES.

Brewers and distillers, who brew extensively, often keep a
large herd of pigs for the purpose of having the wash and

grains consumed by them. This is constantly the case in the
country ; but in large towns, and especially in the suburbs
around London, there are classes who make a good living by
keeping pigs upon the wash purchased from the brewers and
distillers. Wash and grains by themselves do not constitute
wholesome food for pigs, as they are said to be too heating,
and consequently can with advantage be mixed with a little
water or kitchen wash, combined with pollard or barley meal.
Thaer "advises that the refuse of brandy distilleries should
always be diluted with water first, otherwise the animals will
reject it, or, if they take it, become giddy and unable to
keep their feet; afterwards the quantity of this food may
be increased until they are completely accustomed to it."
Neuenbahn says " that the refuse of the brandy distillery can-
not be given to pigs too warm, or too soon after removal from
the still, and that it never heats their blood ; but that, if it be
allowed to get cold and stale, it is rather injurious than
beneficial to them. On the other hand, many experienced
distillers, who fatten large numbers of hogs, assure us that it
requires great attention, and the employment of a man on
whose care we can rely, to prevent this residue from being
given to animals while too warm, for it is then that it injures
and materially retards their growth. It should be sometimes
thick, sometimes diluted with water, and at others mixed
with meal or pollard, in order, by thus varying the food, to
keep up the appetite of the animals."

REFUSE FROM STARCH MANUFACTORIES.

Thaer, in his "Principles of Agriculture," very clearly ex-
plains the advantages to be derived from employing the residue
from starch manufactories as food for pigs. He writes : —
"The residue of the manufacture of starch, the products of the
various washings which this precaution involves, and the
refuse of wheat, are far superior to brewers or distillers' grains.
Hogs fed upon these articles fatten more quickly, produce
firmer flesh, more substantial bacon, and a greater quantity
of lard. At first the animals will often eat these matters with
great avidity, and even to excess ; and when this is the case,
they invariably become disgusted, and refuse them after a
time. The quantity, therefore, must be carefully regulated,
and the troughs kept very clean. If this kind of food be
used alternately with one of a different nature, thb fattening
will be effected with greater certainty. The quantity of this
refuse collected at once, is often greater than can be consumed
at the time; and it is difficult therefore to store it, because
it so soon putrefies. The only mode of preservation is to dry
it, make it into cakes, and bake it." Starch, the first cousin
to sugar, contains within itself the fat-producing material,
and the residue from the starch manufactories, also, is
largely pregnant with fat- giving elements; consequently,
it may be readily seen that if the hydrocarbon starcL
be given as food to an animal, it will within it cause the
formation of the hydrocarbon fat. All the artificial foods for
fattening pigs contain such substances as starch and sugar,
combined with aromatics, materials which incite the animals

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

TV

to eat greedily. Starch and sugar stand prominently forward
as fat-producers; and as the residue of the starch manufacture
contains both, it is very plain that this refuse constitutes,
when mixed with meal, an excellent food for pigs during
the process of fattening.

ROOTS AND VEGETABLES.

Nearly every root and vegetable grown has been pressed
into the service for feeding pigs, and experience has proved
that cabbage and lettuce-leaves and turnip tops are of little
value as fat-producers. They form, however, a very good
food for store pigs, and for this purpose are largely used.
Roots, on the other hand, contain the fatty elements, as starch
and sugar largely enter into their composition. This is par-
ticularly the case with the starch-yielding potato, and among
the sugar-givers, such as the beet-root, carrot, and parsnip.
These roots, even in the raw state, are exceedingly nutritive,
but by cooking they are rendered more digestible, and their
nutritive and fattening properties are increased. This fact
has been attested by numerous experiments carried out during
more than a century. On the Continent, parsnips and carrots
are extensively used in fattening pigs, but these roots by
themselves are not sufficient to give tenacity to muscle. They
always require to be given in conjunction with barley or some
other meal ; yet such substances, and especially carrots, when
treated as above directed, are said to impart a very delicate
flavour to pork. For store pigs potatoes may form a staple
food, and in Ireland, upon this root alone, without the addition
of any other feeding material, hogs are constantly fattened ;
but in animals so tended, the flesh when boiled is liable to
shrink instead of plumping, which should occur, and always
does, when the creature has been fed upon corn in addition to
the potato.

Previously to giving potatoes as a food to pigs, they
should be boiled or steamed; the latter, perhaps, is the better
course to adopt with some kinds of potatoes, whereas others
require the former treatment, as steaming will never suflSciently
cook them. But whether steamed or boiled, when thoroughly
done the water in which they have been boiled should be
immediately strained off and thrown away, when the potatoes
can be well mashed up, mixed with meal or pollard in sour milk
or whey, and if these are not procurable, then in kitchen
wash, until the whole mass assumes a pulpy form. " This
root," writes Youatt, " should only be given for a short time,
as it is by no means a rapid fattener, and does not make good
firm fat, and never alone if it can be avoided." This assertion,
that the potato is by no means a rapid fattener, is contrary
to my experience. Both chemical science and practical
observation prove, first, that the potato contains a large
quantity of starch, a potent fat-produring substance; and
secondly, that this root, when given to pigs, not only acts
powerfully in developing fat, but in producing it rapidly. I
have fattened many pigs on potatoes and barley meal for five
consecutive months, and have always been satisfied with the
result ; and consequently have proved, that pigs always fatten

better on potatoes than any other known root, when they are
judiciously combined with some kind of meal.

GRAIN.

Without grain pigs cannot be kept at a profit, as it affords
both the means of bringing them to early maturity, developing
size, and when the period arrives of preparing them for the
butcher, of producing fat. Store pigs, if they are to be done
well, should be fed on wash, either that derived from the dairy
or the kitchen, mixed sparingly with pollard or finely ground
oats ; and where little wash can be obtained and no pollard or
meal is allowed, and especially wlien the range of a paddock
is permitted, turnip tops, cabbage leaves, &c., will prove
useful in filling the pigs' stomachs. Such food, however, alone
will not keep the animal even in good case without some
additional supply, and this should be selected from the grain
series. Beans and peas, especially the former, constitute the
best food for animals daily devouring green stuflf, as it tends,
as pigowners say, to bind (he lot together; therefore, half a pint
of beans given daily to each pig will assist markedly in devel-
oping its form, and in facilitating its growth. In rearing
pigs, it has always been my habit, at about ten months old, to
wean them and keep them for about a month in a large shed,
and feed them upon dairy refuse and oatmeal twice daily, and
during the daytime to turn them into a paddock or some place
where they could take as much exercise as was pleasurable
to them ; at the expiration of the month, to diminish the
quantity of oatmeal, and in its place to give each pig daily
half a pint of old beans or peas. I cannot too strongly advocate
the necessity of allowing growing pigs plenty of exercise.
Common sense tells us that they cannot breathe such pure
air within the sty as outside ; and particularly in a grass field
not only is pure air obtained, but amusement is afibrded and
exercise necessitated during the frolics which the creatures are
compelled to take whilst collecting the herbage, &c. Moreover,
the sty in which they are located during the night is all the
better for its daily airing; and besides, as the bulk of the urine
and dung is not deposited therein, the piggery is sweetened
by the adoption of the course recommended. Some people
are unable, owing to restricted space, to allow their pigs suffi-
cient range for exercise, when, of course, confinement to the
sty is compelled. Under these circumstances the sties should
always be kept scrapulously clean, and to effect this end
daily cleansing is necessary. Feeding similar to the above
may be resorted to, but the beans or peas, if given, should not
be thrown on the floorings, but must be placed in the troughs
after these have been well cleaned out Mr. Fermore
exhibited a conti-ivance he had for feeding his swine with
beans, which was like the hopper of a mill placed over the
sty, " into which a certain quantity of beans having been put
sufficient to fatten so many hogs, these continually descend
about half way down the sty in a large square pipe, which
there divides itself into six smaller ones, which terminate,
each of them, in a small trough just large enough to admit
the nose of the hog, and come all of them with their ends so

78

TBE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

near the bottom that there is never more than a handful of
beans in the trough at one time, which being taken away by the
hog, there follows another, and so on ; and he having drawn a
rivulet of water through the sty, the daily trouble of waiting
on the hog is saved, the animals are constantly kept supplied,
and are unable to waste or dirt their food."

In preparing grain for pigs' food, there are some who con-
sider it is better macerated; by which, they say, its fattening
properties are increased, and especially so if it be afterwards
allowed to lie and ferment, when it can be dried and
malted, and then placed in water until it turns sour. This
process does not answer, as pigs sometimes will not eat such
food, and moreover, it is not so digestible as meaL

The best mode of giving grain to pigs is in the form of
meal moistened with milk, or wash of any kind, which has been
previously mixed with potatoes or boiled roots of some sort.
The mass never should be given too warm, as, when in this
state, sometimes a recently boiled potato, and even hot meal,
will scald the internal coats of the stomach, and may thus act
as a proximate cause of death. The fluid medium, whatever
it may be, is better administered cold, or at any rate lukewarm,
as boiling liquid when poured on meal often causes the con-
glomeration of it into lumps, which never become intimately
blended with the mass, and consequently, if eaten in this form,
are likely to create indigestion followed by obstinate constipa-
tion. Arthur Young, in his book on fattening cattle and
swine, writes as follows : — " The most profitable method of
converting corn of any kind into food for hogs, is to grind it
into meal and mix it with water in cisterns, in the proportion
of five bushels of meal to 100 gallons of water ; stir it well
several times in a day, for three weeks in cold weather, or for
a fortnight in a warmer season, by which it wiU have fer-
mented well and become acid, till which time it is not ready
to give. It should be stirred immediately before feeding.
Two or three cisterns should be kept fermenting in succession,
that no necessity may occur of giving it not duly prepared.
The difierence in profit in feeding in this manner and giving
the grain whole, is very great; so great, that, whoever tries it
once wiU not be apt to change it for the common method."

There are many people who speak lightly of Indian com as
a food for pigs ; it certainly produces fat, but is not to be
depended upon equally with barley, beans, or peas, as maize
does not cause flesh or fat to be laid on so surely or rapidly as
the three species of grain mentioned. I have watched pigs
during the period they have been fed on rice, and from experi-
ence cannot recommend it as a fattener ; but at the same time
some practical pig-keepers speak in its praise. One in parti-
cular writes, " We fattened our pigs on rice, and such pork
[ never saw before or since ; the fat was as firm and solid as
'.he lean, and the flavour of the meat was superior. The way
the rice was prepared was as follows : — My copper held forty
gallons ; in the afternoon it was filled, or nearly so, with water.
As soon as the water boiled the fire was raked out, two pails of
rice were immersed in the water, and the whole covered closely
down and left to stand until the morning. On the following

day the copper was emptied of its contents, which consisted of
a thick jelly, so firm as only to be taken out with a shovel ;
and on these contents the pigs were fed. The effect was
perfect. As to the economy of the plan, that of course must
be a matter depending on circumstances ; we found it more
profitable than almost any other kind of food we could have
given, from the price at which we were able to purchase the
rice, and its goodness. From some slight experiences, I am
induced to think that equal parts of rice jelly and mashed
potatoes would constitute an excellent food."

"Another person who tried rice as a food for pigs, put up
two weighing five stone each, and fed them entirely on equal
parts of boiled rice and steamed potatoes. At first they
progressed but slowly, but eventually attained the weigl t of
fifteen stones each. Their flesh was fine and delicate, the fat
white and firm, and the flavour of both excellent." It will be
observed from the above that, although rice was used to
increase the weight of pigs from five to fifteen stone, yet the
writer " from some slight experiments " is led to the conclu-
sion, that the addition to it of mashed potatoes would answer
better ; and we cannot find sufficient reason for this advocacy,
excepting it be found in the fact, that in the experiments
alluded to, the potatoes played an important part in producing
better fattened animals than those that were fed exclusively
upon "rice jelly." Of course, rice in combination with meal
or potatoes will fatten pigs to a great size; but unless rice can
be bought at a very moderate rate, its place can be more
advantageously filled by other species of grain, which fatten
both well and rapidly. Moreover, rice has a tendency to cause
constipation, and nearly always does, unless some laxative diet
consisting of vegetables be supplied ; for this reason, and for
others which experiments have proved, we cannot recommend
boiled rice as a staple food for fattening swine.

- FEEDING AND FATTENING.

In feeding pigs, either store to be fattened, regularity
should be the order for every day. Once, I remember, an
extensive fattener of oxen told me, that if cattle were not
fed until some time after their usual hour, they would fret
and become irritated, and he had known them lose condition
as the result of the herdsman's repeated neglect to attend
to them at the prescribed hours. The same remark applies
with equal force to pigs. Swine from habit learn to expect
their meals at certain times, at which the stomach is usually
empty and ready to be re-supplied with food ; consequently,
if this demand of nature is not attended to for hours per-
haps after the appointed period, it can be readily understood
that the animals grow irritated, and the healthy working of
their digestive powers is interfered with, which prevents the
due performance of that functional activity necessary in
causing perfect digestion. Consequently, as evils are likely
to occtir from irregularity in feeding, I cannot too strongly
impress upon my readers the importance of supplying pigs
with food at regularly appointed hours. When pigs are first
put up to fatten, they will eat more than they do after the

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

79

process has been continued, when they become plump. At
first, therefore, three meals a day can be given, provided they
always clean their troughs out previously to the second time
of feeding; but afterwards smaller meals, and those more
frequently supplied, can be allowed with advantage, as swine
if over plentifully fed are apt to gorge themselves, and thus to
impair the digestive functions and retard their progress to
obesity. It will be found that pigs, when advanced in fat,
eat very little. At such times, therefore, it is necessary to
give them a highly nutritious food, one that shall contain the
elements of nutrition in a concentrated form ; and sometimes,
as their appetites are capricious, to tempt them to eat with
delicate food, varied from time to time : that is, in the
place of barley-meal use pea-meal, &c., and instead of potatoes
employ carrots or beet-root, or any other vegetables the
animals may show a disposition to devour ; for when swine are
far advanced in fat, not only will such change tempt them to
eat, but, will be actually demanded, as one kind of food
will not supply all the nutriment required to develop the
fat, and increase the size looked for in the fattened hog.

THE PERIOD AT WUICH TO FATTEN SWINE.

The best time to commence fattening pigs is about the
month of August, but, of course, this must be regulated by
the period in which these animals are intended for the butcher.
Pork has in recent times been killed " all the year round ; "
to supply this demand it necessarily follows that certain
pigs must be fattened during every month in the year. But
the usual course adopted is to " shut " pigs up during July or
August, in order to make them into delicate pork by October
or November. Let it be remembered we are now considering
pigs calculated to grow into small porkers, not those animals
which appear as juvenile monsters at our cattle shows. These
latter are fed sumptuously from their youth to the day
of their slaughter; they require similar feeding and treat-
ment to other pigs, with this exception that they do not
demand the fattening process to be carried to so great an
extent. Porkers should not be fattened exactly in the same
way as bacon pigs, neither should they be allowed to accumu-
late too much fat ; and this rule should be strictly carried out
with those animals reared and intended for domestic con-
sumption. The pig-keeper who fattens for profit will tell
you, that fat represents weight, and weight yields profit; and
as long as such is the case he intends to make his porkers as
fat as possible. This course no doubt keeps a " good balance
at the banker's," but it does not produce that delicate pork
which the epicure pronounces to be toothsome. A porker, to
be properly prepared for the butcher, should not be made fat
to the extent of plethoric ; he should possess a plump form,
showing that plenty of firm flesh and suflScient fat exist, but
should not manifest that condition of body which scarcely
allows him to see, breathe, or move. The porkers intended
for domestic consumption should be placed in the fattening
sty about the end of August, as the weather at that time is
neither too hot nor too cold, and moreover, the slaughtering

period arrives at that time when it can be carried out with
the greatest advantage, and the flesh can be kept longer both
during the process of curing and for purposes of disposal.
In tlie summer, on the other hand, meat must be salted and
pickled without delay, or be sold immediately, as in hot
weather it soon goes into a state of decomposition. Various
opinions are entertained, by practical pig-feeders, as to the
best mode of preparing porkers for the table. Some advocate
shutting them up and allowing no exercise excepting that
obtainable in the sty yard, supporting this treatment by assert-
ing that if pigs are allowed to run about they will " run off"
their condition; and as condition is the prime object in view
they consider it their duty to remove any obstacle calculated
to defeat it : whilst others prefer allowing their pigs to
graze or run in woods during the day, saying that exercise
causes growth, and that the roots and earth they sometimes
eat correct any acidity that may occur in their systems.
Pigs thus given their liberty should be fed twice daily,
namely, in the morning before being turned out, and in the
evening on their immediate return. By the turning-out
system, doubtless, pigs are kept at less expense than by
that of housing, for by this plan one meal during the day
is dispensed with; and moreover, swine, as above stated, grow
more rapidly with than without exercise, and the medicinal
substances found in the ground are known to act beneficially
on the health of such animals. But whichever plan be
adopted, artificial food must be given to those housed three oi
four times, and to those grazed, twice daily ; when the ques-
tion arises what substances constitute the best kind of food
for fattening porkers. This cannot be better answered than
by recounting the result of my own experience and that of
practical owners with whom I have conversed on that subject.
Having selected out of a litter five or six pigs, about three or
four months old, place them in a sty and supply them with a
bed of clean straw. Having thus obtained a suitable habita-
tion for the youngsters, it should be our endeavour, in the next
place, to provide them with that food best calculated to cause
growth and produce a certain amount of fat. As grain con-
tains the elements of nutrition and the fatty principles in
abundance, it should always constitute the staple upon which
we feed ; but while this is the case, it is at the same time
better to gradually introduce the pigs to their new mode of
life necessitated by different feeding. This can be done by
feeding the animals, for the first month or six weeks, upon
milk mixed with pollard and mashed potatoes, and by giving
each pig twice daily half a pint of peas, and by allowing them
in the daytime a run in the field. By the adoption of this
plan it will be from day to day noticed, not only that the
animals grow, but that they both fatten and thrive, better
than tiiose subjected to permanent confinement ; and as they
increase in bulk they cease to run about and frolic so fre-
quently as when first put up, consequently the accumulation of
fat is little interfered with. This system, however, though
desirable at first, is by no means so after the expiration of
five or six weeks ; for then the animal likes to lie down more,

»0

TEE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS,

and will not, if turned out, hunt for roots, &c., so eagerly

as formerly. Therefore, at such time it is wise to close the

door of the sty against them, and feed more frequently than

twice a day upon a more highly nutritious diet ; which

consists in giving in the place of bran, and instead of the

peas scattered in the trough or on the ground, a mixture of

barley and pea meal, with can-ots or potatoes mashed in

whey, sour milk, or wash. Pea meal and carrots both give a

very delicate flavour to pork, and the change in the diet from

that given during the past five or six weeks causes the animals

to eat with a greater relish, and thus tends to facilitate the

fattening process. If after a time the latter-mentioned is not

devoured with avidity, the meal may be changed for some

other, such as oatmeal ; and the potatoes and carrots can be

supplanted by beet root or parsnips. In iact, any change of

food beneficially acts, both in creating an appetite, and in

giving a fresh impulse to the system to assimilate food, and

to appropriate it for the purpose of producing condition. Pigs

when shut up should always have fresh water before them,

both to drink and cleanse their snouts in ; and a piggery is

always better arranged that has a stream of water passing

through it, whether it it be obtained from a stream or by

artificial means. Pigs treated as above directed will be found

about the middle of November to be very plethoric, and

only a few touches of the feeder are required to make them

fat. At this time they will eat very little ; consequently

food must be given repeatedly and in very small quantities

until near Christmas time, when, unless "anything has

gone amiss," they will " be fit " for the butcher, to whom they

can be sold or killed for home consumption.

Pigs which are designed for bacon require a longer period
for the process of fattening ; and if large meat be desired,
they are better put up between their first and second year.
These require no liberty, but in other respects should be
treated similarly to those intended for pork. Patent foods
for cattle, carefully prepared by this or that Company, the
cattle-feeding public largely use. These foods contain, as a
rule, stimulating compounds, aromatics, and sometimes tonics
combined with various kinds of meal. Such compounds, nine
times out of ten, are not needed; as a change of food, as
above presented, would provoke the appetite and give that
fresh vigour to the stomach, which the patented foods pro-
fess to effect. When medicine is required, give it under
proper advice ; but to administer it to an animal in health
is most foolish, and very injurious in its efi'ect. By feeding
on " Aliquis's" food for cattle, you are always giving to the
animal some compound calculated to stimulate the stomach ;
in short, you every day administer medicine. Such a course
we have never adopted, and yet have been able to produce
as good, if not better pigs, than those fed on the various
patented foods We have seldom used medicine, but have
usually added a little salt to each meal. Cleanliness, both
as regards the sty and its appointments is a sine qua von,
and if this necessity be not strictly observed, pigs will
not thrive. Moreover, the skins of these creatures should

always be kept free from dirt or dust of any sort, as such
filth blocks up the pores, and prevents the performance
of their transpiratoiy function. To keep the skin clean
and the pores of it open, it will be necessary from time
to time to groom your pigs, and sometimes to wash them.
Tliis ablution can be better performed by the pigs themselves
in a tank, about one foot deep, situated on a level with the
floor of the yard ; in this, especially during warm weather,
they will lie and bask for hours, and will afterwards dry their
bodies on the clean straw placed in the dormitory or elsewhere
for that purpose. Indeed, if a tank be arranged in the sty, the
grooming can be dispensed with, as the washing cleanses, and
the rolling in the straw answers the purposes of the wisp.
Some people may consider the remarks relative to cleanliness
are out of place, as regards pigs. No more mistaken notion
exists than to suppose that swine like filth, and thrive better
in dirt. A Norfolk farmer instituted the following experi-
ment : — " He put up six pigs of almost equal weight, and in
equal health, to fatten ; treated them with one exception all
exactly the same; and fed them on similar food, given in equal
quantities to each for seven weeks. Three of these pigs were
left to shift for themselves, so far as cleanliness went, and the
other three were carefully curried, brushed, and washed.
These latter consumed less food by five bushels than the
other three, and yet, when killed, weighed more by two stone
four pounds on the average." From this experiment it is
evident that cleanliness of body insures health, and produces
weight, which represents profit.

During the period of fattening, even when a system of
hygiene has been fully carried out in the construction of
the piggery, and the greatest care has been bestowed on its
inmates, we find they aie occasionally troubled with slight
ailments, the most prominent of which are indigestion, often
caused by acidity on the stomach, and overgorging. The
former of these is usuall}- corrected by the administration of
a small dose of finely powdered charcoal and sulphur, mixed
together in a pellet of butter, when it can be thrown into
the trough, and in this form the pig will quickly devour it ;
a little lime added to the meal will also act beneficially.
" On the duke of Montrose's estate the pigs have ashes and
cinders given them occasionally to correct the acidity of the
stomach, and they are frequently turned out on a piece of
ground sprinkled with lime, which they root in and eat, or
else if this is not possible on account of the weather, a little
magnesia is now and then mingled in the milk. These simple
precautions are always more or less necessary to animals that
are highly fed and have little or no exercise, and we should
recommend them to the attention of all owners of pigs." The
above rules for fattening pigs will, if strictly attended to,
produce fat animals, but at the same time overfattening is
neither profitable to the seller nor buyer, neither is overfat
meat so useful for the table as that which is less so. Moreover,
animals in such a state are in reality diseased, suffering and
sometimes dying from the result of obesity; consequently, our
readers are recommended in this particular to take a medium

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

81

course, by preparing their pigs fairly fattened for the butcher,
remembering the motto, " Est modus in rebus."
In conclusion, observe the following : —

1. Feed at regular intervals, avoid foul feeding, and do not
overfeed.

2. Change the bill of fare when occasion requires.

3. Keep your sties clean and dry, and do not neglect after-
wards to sprinkle over the floors ashes or dry earth.

4. Cleanse the troughs previously to each feeding.

5. Do not forget to keep your pigs clean, dry, and warm,
either by allowing them a bath in the piggery, or by washing
and afterwards brushing.

BREEDINQ.

Before proceeding to consider the rules which should be
observed in obtaining parents likely to produce good pigs,
our investigation in this matter will be greatly assisted by
describing the laws generally which regulate the selection of
males and females, with a view to develop the strongest, and
in the case of our domesticated animals, the most profitable
ofispring.

LAWS REGULATING THE RESEMBLANCE OF PROGENY TO
PARENTS.

Walker, in his book on intermarriage, states that the laws
which regulate the mode in which the organization of parents
affects that of offspring are the most curious and interesting,
but somehow appear to have escaped the notice of philosophic
observers, although it requires very little analytical power to
detect them ; that in the propagation of organs from parents
to offspring organization is nearly indestructible, and that
each parent communicates a distinct series of organs ; or, in
other words, a portion of each parent may be said to live
again in its offspring.

I will now endeavour to explain the laws as laid down by
Walker. In the first place, " where both parents are of the
same variety," he assumes that either parent may com-
municate either system of organs. In this case, one parent
communicates the anterior part of the head, the osseous or
bony part of the face, the forms of the organs of sense (the
external ear, under lip, lower part of the nose), and the whole
of the internal and nutritive system (the contents of the trunk,
or the thoracic and abdominal viscera).

The resemblance to that parent is consequently found in
the forehead and the bony parts of the face, as the orbits,
cheek-bones, jaws, chin, and teeth, as well as in the shape of
the organs of sense and the tone of the voice.

The other parent communicates the posterior part of the
head, the cerebellum or little brain, situated within the skull,
just at its junction with the cervical vertebrse, and the whole
of the locomotive system — the bones, ligaments, and muscles.

The resemblance to this parent is consequently found in
the backhead, and the few more movable parts of the face —
aa the external ear, under lip, lower part of the nose, eye-

brows— and the external forms of the body, in so far as they
depend on muscles, as well as the form of the limbs, even to
the fingers, toes, nails, &c. " Several circumstances indicate
that with this series of organs go the skin and its appendages.
They evidently have much affinity with the osseous system."

Mr. Walker thinks that on an average the male and female
influence over their progeny is equal, but that sometimes the
male, and sometimes the female, predominates. Mr. Knight,
on the contrary, gives it as his opinion, that the influence of
the male and female is always very nicely balanced when
both parents are of the same species, size, and variety. In
confirmation of this theory, " that either parent may com-
municate either series of organs," Walker gives many illustra-
tions existing in man — that is, between parents and their
children — which it is needless here to detail.

Many authors, however, previous to Walker, have given it
as their opinion that the influence of the male predominated
over the exterior life, while that of the female predominated
over the interior life, of their offspring. Vicq-d'Azyr stated,
with regard to mules, that the exterior and extremities were
communicated by the father, and the viscera (internal organs)
by the mother. In this opinion he is also supported by
Buffon.

This theory does not coincide with that of Walker, in
which he states that either series of organs may be given by
either parent ; but in cross-breeding — that is, breeding from
a male and female of a different family, though of the same
variety — he states, greater vigour is given to the offspring
than when the parents are nearly related ; and in crossing,
when each parent is of a different breed, then the male com-
municates the backhead and locomotive organs, vhile the
female communicates the face and the nutritive organs. As an
example, he gives the cross between the male European and
female negro. The male here communicates the backliead and
general figure. Neither the bones of the thighs nor legs are
bent as with the negro, the heels long, nor the calves high ;
while the under lip and nose are less, and quite European in
character. The negro mother communicates the narrow
retreating forehead, high cheek-bones, the large eyes, the
long upper lip, and the remaining parts of the face.

Thus, in human crosses. Walker considers the male gives
the locomotive system, and the female the nutritive one. Of
the power of the horse to communicate his locomotive system
generally. Knight gives the following examples. He obtained
offspring from Norwegian pony mares and cart stallions, of
which the legs were very short, the shoulders and body
unusually deep. In attempting this experiment Knight was
very careful, fearing he might subject the female to a painful
death, owing, as he then thought, to the too great size of the
foetus ; but such did not happen : from which we learn, tiiat
the size of the foetus is governed by the size of the female.
Thus, in this equine cross, the male gave the locomotive
system, while the female gave the vital one.

As to mules. Knight says the fact, in mule quadrupeds,
that the influence of the male predominates over the female

rt2

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

in giving form to the offspring is beyond all doubt ; as also
the di6position and the mind of the beast.

Mr. Orton very nicely exposes this fact. The mule, says
Orton, the produce of the male ass and mare, is essentially
a modified ass. The ears are those of the ass, somewhat
shortened ; the mane is that of the ass, erect ; the tail is that
of the ass ; the skin and colour are those of the ass, somewhat
modified; the legs are slender, and the hoofs high, narrow,
and contracted, like those of an ass. In fact, in all these
respects it is a somewhat modified ass. The body and barrel
of the mule are round and full, in which it differs from the
ass and resembles the mare.

Tiie hinney, on the other hand, the produce of the stallion
and she-ass, is essentially a modified horse. The ears are
those of a horse, somewhat lengthened; the mane flowing;
the tail bushy, like that of the horse ; the skin fine, the legs
stronger, the hoofs broad and expanded, like those of the
horse. In fact, in all respects it is a modified horse. The
barrel and body of the hinney are flat and nan-ow, in which
it differs from the horse, and resembles its mother, the ass.

It is clearly evident that these two hybrid animals have
followed the male parent in all external characteristics. In
two respects, however, there is a striking departure from him.
First, in size, they both follow the female parent, the mule
being in all respects a larger and a finer animal than his sire,
the ass ; while the hinney is the reverse, being smaller and
less spirited than his sire, the horse. The mule also brays,
like its sire the ass ; whilst the hinney, on the other hand,
neighs, like its sire the horse. This is easily accounted for,
as the bone of the tongue (os hyoides) and the laryngeal
muscles cause the voice — parts given by Walker under the
locomotive system, and stated by him, in cross-breeding,
always to be communicated by the male parent.

Mr. Cline, speaking of crosses, says : — " The characters of
both parents may be observed in their offspring, but that
of the male more frequently predominates. This may be
illustrated in the breeding between a hornless ram and a
horned ewe, when the lambs will be hornless, and partake
more of the characters of the male than the female parent.
Also, if a hornless bull be put to a horned cow, the offspring
generally has no horns, and resembles its male more than its
female parent.

An offspring without horns may be obtained fi-om the
Devonshire cattle, by crossing with hornless bulls of the
Galloway breed. Mr. Charless Colling put a short-horned
bull to a hornless Galloway cow. The cross was successful,
and exists at present in the most improved short-horned cattle.
It is difficult to distinguish this cross firom the pure short-
horned breed, Mr. Vansittart used a well-bred short-horned
bull to well-bred Hereford cows. The produce had all the
appearance of the short-horned cattle.

Thus in crosses of cattle, as well as of horses, the male
(except when feebler, or of an inferior voluntary and loco-
motive power) gives the locomotive system ; the female the
srit&l one.

As to dogs, the breeder states that, in a cross between the
bulldog and terrier, if the bulldog be the father, the progeny
have the shape of the bulldog — that is, his locomotive system ;
if the terrier is the father, they have the shape of the terrier.
Mr. Helps states that, when a dog and bitch are both equally
vigorous, such is the case ; but if the dog is old and
enfeebled, and the bitch, on the contrary, young and vigor-
ous, the reverse is the case. The same rule applies to all
crosses of dogs.

Thus, in crosses of dogs, the male gives the locomotive
system, the female the vital one.

Respecting birds, the breeders state that, in the cross
between the male goldfinch and female canary, the shape and
the skeleton of the mule produced is always that of the male.

Sir. Nash states that in crosses, as in that between the
cock goldfinch and hen canary, the male not only gives the
beak and skull to the mule, but the longer neck, the wider
chest, the longer sternum, and the longer legs. Walker
makes the following remark on this circumstance : — " The
cause of this evidently is, that in a mule all growth contri-
butes only to individual life; and as to the sternum, we
know that it is always shortest in the female, to facilitate the
producing and laying of eggs ; and it is evidently longer in
mules, because they are incapable of the due performance of
any reproductive process.

Thus, in crosses of birds, the male gives the locomotive
system, the female the vital.

As to fish. Sir A. Carlisle's statement shows that in the
mule between the female salmon and male trout, the skeleton
is given by the male, as appears from the following letter
addressed to Walker : —

" More than thirty years since the breeding of trout was
tried by impregnating their ova in confined water cages, made
to protect the young against their natural enemies. As I had
some share in those experiments, I undertook to breed those
mule fishes known to be a produce between male trouts and
salmon-roe, or the reverse. I accordingly procured a quart
jug full of ripe salmon-roe from the fi-eshest fish just arrived
at Billingsgate, in the month of January ; and I proceeded
with them directly to Carshalton, where they were carefully
deposited by a man who waded the stream, and raked the ova
among the gravel in the trout-spawning gravel heaps.

" In the month of April a new sort of fish appeared for
the first time in that river, which proved to be the mules
called skeggers in the Thames, smelts in the north of Eng-
land rivers, and gravel last springs in many of the western
and southern counties. They were, in this case, very
abundant, and apparently their numbers corresponded with
the salmon-spawn deposited in the trout gravel hills.

" These mules never appear but where the salmon invade
the breeding gravel hills of trout ; and in my experiment the
impregnators were necessarily male trouts, because salmon
never pass the mills upon the Wandle The influence of the
male trout in this instance was, therefore, unquestionable.

" These mules partook of the character of trout more than

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

83

salmon. They had bright red spots on their sides, but the
black colour was shaded downwards, in bars, like those of the
perch. The tails were not forked like those of salmon, as I
have seen them in the Thames skeggers, from which I infer
the male salmon in that case to have been the impregnators.
They grew to the length of the male parent, and to the
weight of a quarter of a pound. They disappeared before
autumn. — Yours, &c.,

" A. Carlisle."

Mr. Knight says: "The naiural history of the mule between
the male trout and the salmon is, I suspect, very little known,
after the first nine months of that animal's life. Instead of
going off to the sea with the first spring floods, they remain
till autumn, when they go off; and nothing more is, I believe,
known respecting them. They are almost wholly males."

From all these cases it is evident that the locomotive
system in crosses is given by the male, and from the general
law it follows that the vital and nutritive system is given by
the female.

KEMARKS ON BREEDING FROM ANIMALS THE OFFSPEING
OF CROSSES.

Mr. Knignt says : " If I were to breed from a female and
male, both crosses between the Hereford bull and the Alder-
ney cow, the offspring would be extremely dissimilar to each
other. Some would appear nearly pure Herefords, and some
nearly pure Aldemeys ; and if such a stock were to become
the stock of a farm, some apparently perfect Herefords, and
some perfect Aldemeys, however begotten, would be produced
during a long succeeding period."

Sir John Sebright also says : " Although I believe the
occasional intermixture of different families to be necessary,
I do not by any means approve of mixing two distinct breeds
with the view of uniting the valuable properties of both.
This experiment has been tried frequently by others, as well
as myself, but has, I believe, never succeeded. The first
cross frequently produces a tolerable animal ; but it is a breed
which cannot be continued. If it were possible, by a cross
between the new Leicestershire and Merino breeds of sheep,
to produce an animal uniting the excellencies of both, that is,
the carcase of the one with the fleece of the other, even such
an animal, so produced, would be of little value to the breeder;
a race of the same could not be perpetuated, and no dependence
could be placed on such animals. They would be mongrels ;
some like the new Leicester, some like the Merino, and most
of them with the faults of both."

Now, according to Walker, the cross between the Aldemey
and Hereford is a reasonable one ; that between the Leicester
and Merino is not so, because the carcase and wool go together
with the locomotive system, and whichever animal gives
one, would, in reality, give both. Walker explains these
diflBculties thus : —

" A and B, who are more or less perfectly crossed, may
have very different vital and locomotive systems. Of their
immediate progeny, C may have the vital system of A, and

the locomotive system of B ; and D may, on the contrary,
have the locomotive system of A and the vital system of B
(for in feeble and imperfect crosses such variations may occur).
And of the progeny of these last, E may have from C the
vital system of A, and from D the locomotive system of A ;
and F may have from C the locomotive system of B, and
from D the vital system of B. Thus A and B may be
re-formed in the third generation."

In order to explain fully the principles of the physiology
of breeding, it will be necessary, in the first place, to briefly
explain the natural system of anatomy, by describing the
particular structure of organs, and dividing the body of the
vertebrate animal (after Bichat), into three classes of organs
possessing different functions : —

L The locomotive organs and functions, consisting of bones
and ligaments which connect them together — that is, " one
piece of bone to another," thus forming joints, and which,
as a whole, support the body and its parts — and finally of
muscles, which, together with other parts, form an apparatus
of levers which enable the animal to perform its various
necessary movements.

2. The vital or nutritive organs and functions, consisting
of fine tubular vessels (lacteals), which absorb nutritious
matter from the food taken into the intestines, and carry it
towards the heart to be converted into blood ; bloodvessels,
which circulate the blood thus formed ; and various glands,
which secrete or deposit not only the various substances com-
posing the different organs, but the fat, milk, hair or wool,
and other animal products.

3. The nervous or mental organs and functions, consisting
of the organs of sense, the eye, the ear, &c., which receive
impressions from external bodies ; the cerebrum, or brain,
which perceives, compares, &c.; and the cerebellum, or little
brain, situated at the back part of the cerebrum, which wills,
and consequently throws the muscles into those actions which
fulfil its purposes. Although these three systems thus exist,
they do not, like three distinct families, reside in separate
parts or stories of the body, but co-exist in one point, and by
their combination form a whole ; yet it is evident that each
of them has its peculiar station, when it more especially
unfolds itself and acts ; and if one of these systems was
injured, the two others would suffer with it; if one were
removed, the other two would perish — or in other words,
death would follow. The three systems, therefore, co-exist so
as to form one grand whole — a living animal.

The more perfect animals, as well as man, are not bom
with the faculty of immediate reproduction of their like. The
organs which at a future period perform that important func-
tion remain entirely torpid long after birth, and the appetites
connected with them do not exist. The longer the infancy,
the longer the period of puberty is delayed. Puberty, as a
rule, is earlier developed in the female than the male. Some
animals arrive at puberty before others — for example, the sow
arrives at puberty before the mare ; and in animals of the
same species the same thing occurs.

84

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

The temperature of the climate tends greatly to hasten the
period of puberty. Heat increases the vital energies in all
organized bodies, and renders their growth more rapid ; it
must, therefore, necessarily hasten the period of puberty. It
is notorious that warm climates increase the development of
the generative organs, and excite erotic desires in both sexes.

The quantity and the quality of aliment is a second cause
of hurrying on puberty. Very nutritious and stimulating
food, for instance, greatly accelerates it ; and horses having
a great development of nervous energy, namely, those of an
excitable temperament, arrive at puberty before those of a
more sluggish disposition. On the other hand, the period of
puberty may be retarded, its retardation being, of course,
attended with most disastrous results — more particularly
noticed in man. Retardation of puberty in man retards often
the intellectual powers, &c. Insufficiency of food, especially
dm-ing winter, tends to retard its development in animals.
The too early development of the reproductive functions is
equally disadvantageous; it diminishes stature, and causes
the body to fade and perish early. Citius pubescunt, citius
senescunt.

The following changes take place in the body, but more
especially in the reproductive organs of both sexes.

In the male, great development of the bones, and especially
the joints, takes place, which gives the animal a somewhat
awkward appearance. While growth is thus proceeding in
all directions, the weaker parts appear not always to receive
sufficient supplies, while the strong parts acquire an excess of
energy, which accounts for some portions of the animal at this
period being out of proportion : for example, a three-year-old
stallion will exhibit perhaps a big head with long ears, big
hocks and knees, &c. The same will apply to other domestic
animals, and to man.

At this period, also, the motive organs connected with the
voice are affected. The formation of the bone of the tongue
(the OS hyoides) is completed, and the muscles of the glottis
increase in growth, which renders the voice of the man deeper
than that of the youth, and the neigh of the stallion deeper
and more sonorous than that of the colt, and enables the
songbird to put forth his melodious note, indicating that the
period of puberty has arrived. In the female the same, as
regards the development of bones, takes place, but not
to so great an extent. The formation of the os hyoides is
accomplished, but the difference of the voice is not so well
marked as in the male ; there is great difference between the
bleat of a lamb and that of a ewe.

At the time of puberty the circulation is increased, the
vessels which enter into the secretory organs redouble their
action. The glands often swell, and become painful; this
tendency necessarily extends to the glandular parts of the
generative organs. That the blood is specially directed to
the parts subservien' to reproduction at this period is common
to both sexes.

In the male the flow of blood towards the reproductive
organs, accompanied by sensibility, turgescence, and heat,

causes the secretion of the reproductive fluid. While this is
going on internally, the external generative organs are further
developed, by the production of horn and of certain callous
protuberances.

In some animals the reproductive fluid communicates to all
the other liquids a strong odour, which causes both the species
and the sex to be easily distinguished. The effluvium is a
natural stimulant between the sexes.

In the female the ovaries, bodies in the uterus, secrete a
particular liquid, which concurs in furnishing elements for the
embryo. This is contained in vesicles, which are denominated
eggs (ova), as they occur in the ovaries. An excess of vitality
seems to pass to the parts which are sympathetically con-
nected with the ovaries. The organs neighbouring the
genitals swell, as also the labia, &c., and become sensitive.
The bones of the pelvis increase in strength and width.

Let me briefly describe how impregnation takes place : the
female at the time of puberty has, as before stated, ova
existing in the uterus ; these ova become ripe, and leave the
ovaries, and only require, in order to form the rudiment of a
foetus, contact with the male reproductive fluid, " semen,"
which the copulatory act accomplishes.

BREEDING AND REARING.

From the foregoing chapter it is evident that a slight
knowledge of physiology is needed by those who breed ani-
mals, either for purposes of show-exhibiting or for profit;
consequently, in breeding pigs, care and judgment must be
devoted to the selection of suitable parents. Sometimes even
a good sow and good boar, if brought together, will not
produce perfect progeny ; and, on the other hand, if an indif-
ferent sow be put to a good boar, the latter wiU often
supply, in the produce, the points lacking in the female, and
vice versa. Much practical experience, therefore, in this matter
is needed for those seeking to be successful breeders of stock.
Many mistakes are made in the purchasing of pigs by persons
ignorant of the properties of live stock. For instance, the vicar
of a country parish, possessing a large garden, thinks he must
keep a pig or two to eat the refuse, and thus turn it to account;
he sends his man John to market, to purchase the required
commodity. John, perhaps, who has never had any experi-
ence in such matters, goes to market and returns with two
animals, bony and poor, and of no particular breed. These,
with a smile of knowingness, are presented to the owner,
whose knowledge of such creatures does not appertain to
them in a live state, although perhaps in the flesh his
opinion might be taken for a connect one. John informs
the vicar they " wuss very cheap," and he likes " 'em
poor, 'cause they'll be sure to eat all the garden refuse,
and get fat on't." This view coincides with that previously
entertained by the masfr, and consequently both he and
his servant are mutually satisfied with the " day's deal."
Three or four days after the establishment of a piggery at the
vicarage. Farmer Dobs, who lives about a mile off, pays the
vicar a visit, who wishes at once for the opinion of Mr. Dobs,

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

85

who has bred pigs " all his life." Dobs inspects the animals,
declares them " not to be his sort," and states his reasons
why. They are too large of bone ; too long in the leg ; of a
large sort, that will not come early to maturity ; their coats are
too long, no well-bred animal could possess such long bristles ;
and, moreover, two hogs, he should think, would have an-
swered the vicar's purpose better than two sows. Oh ! the
vicar strictly enjoined John to buy sows for the purpose of
breeding. Dobs retreats, saying, " Well, sir, then you will
have a rum lot of young pigs, for the best boar in England
could not bring anything good from such sows. Give a
little more money, and ask some one who understands the
thing to buy for you. What does John know about pigs?
Why, he has been all his life, before he came to you, in
Farmer Jump's nag-stable, and don't know a good pig from a
bad one. How should he?" The vicar, however, having
laid out his money once, does not care to do so a second time ;
and as he thinks his pigs will eat the garden refuse with
greater avidity than purer bred ones, determines both to keep
his present stock and breed from them ; for whatever Dobs
may say, he feels convinced that the black and white sow is
decidedly handsome ; his wife thought so the moment she
saw \i. The above short story is founded on fact, and other
instances could be cited, bearing testimony to the evils likely
to result from selecting coarse and ill-bred animals to breed
from. Like begets like; therefore, if you seek the possession
of handsome pigs, buy, in the first place, and keep only
ever afterwards, parents of quality and of " good family,"
as the offspring from such will most likely inherit their excel-
lent properties, and perhaps in a superlative degree.

CHOICE OF PARENTS.

In commencing a stock from which to breed swine, it is
important not to be led a stray by a mere name, which denotes
a particular breed supposed to be held in high estimation,
for often a pig is said to be a pure Berkshire, when it possesses
neither the blood nor points of such animal ; and during late
years fresh breeds have sprung up, differing from former ones
more in name than reality ; consequently upon good form we
must chiefly rely in judging and selecting parents from which
to breed our future stock. Of course the history of particular
breeds should be taken into account ; that is, whether animals
coming to early maturity are required, whether small or large
breeds are desired, &c. ; but in whatever direction our wish
may preponderate, it is essential to procure animals with good
points. In this particular, different judges have their own
opinions as to what external configuration of body constitutes
good points ; and for this reason it will not be out of place to
enumerate the different ideas entertained on this subject by
others. " Good one-year bacon hogs being much in request,
we must do all ve can to obtain a breed well adapted for
producing them. Swine of such a breed may be known by
their long bodies, low bellies, and short legs. Long pendu-
lous ears are usually coupled with these qualities, and attract
purchasers." — Youatt. " Sufficient deoth of <'aroa.=!e, and such

an elongation of body as will insure a sufficient lateral expan-
sion. Let the loin and breast be broad. The bone should
be small and the joints fine : nothing is more indicative of
high breeding than this; and the legs should be no longer
than, when fully fat, would just prevent the animal's belly
from trailing the ground. The leg is the least profitable
portion of the hog, and we therefore require no more of it than
is absolutely necessary for the support of the rest. See that
the feet are firm and sound, that the toes lie well together,
and press straightly upon the ground, as also tnat the claws
are even, upright, and healthy. Many say that the form of
the head is of little or no consequence, and that a good pig
may have an ugly head, it being no affair to any one but the
animal himself, who has to carry it ; but I regard the head of
all animals as one of the very principal points in which pui-e or
impure breeding will be most obviously indicated. A high-
bred animal will invariably be found to arrive at maturity, to
make flesh earlier and with greater facility, and altogether to
turn out more profitably than one of a questionable or impure
stock ; and such being the case, I consider the head of the
hog is by no means a point to be overlooked by the intending
purchaser. The description of head most likely to promise,
or rather to be concomitant of high breeding, is one not
carrying heavy bone, not too flat on the forehead, or possessing
a too elongated snout ; indeed the snout, on the other hand,
should be short, and the forehead rather convex, recurving
upwards, and the ear should be white, pendulous, inclining
somewhat forwards, and at the same time light and thin. Nor
would I have a buyer pass over the carriage of a pig. If this
be dull, heavy, and dejected, I would be disposed to reject
him on suspicion of ill health, if not of some concealed dis-
order actually existing, or just about to break forth ; and there
cannot be a more unfavourable symptom than a hung-down,
slouching head, carried as it were about to be employed as a
fifth leg. Nor is colour altogether to be lost sight of. In the
case of pigs I would, in reference to any description of live
stock, prefer those colours which are characteristic of the most
esteemed breeds. If the hair be scant I would look for black,
as denoting connection with the delicate Neopolitan ; but if
too bare of hair I would be disposed to apprehend too intimate
an alliance with that variety, and a consequent want of
hardihood that, however unimportant if pork be the object,
renders such animals hazardous speculations as store pigs, from
their extreme susceptibility to cold, and consequent liability
to disease. If white and too small, I would like them as
exhibiting connection with the Chinese. If light or sandy, or
red with black marks, I would recognize our favourite Berk-
shire, and so on to every possible variety of hue." — Richardson
on the Pig.

Our choice in the selection of a breeding sow must be
guided by the class of animal we seek, and by the purposes
for which it is intended. She must consequently be selected
from a breed well suited to the requirements ; for instance, if
pork be our object, a cross between the Berkshire and Chinese
constitutes a sow likely to produce animals that come easily

86

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

to maturity, and at the same time grow into very delicate
pork, and therefore demand the attention of small owners who
rear pigs for domestic use. If, however, larger (and, as it is
generally considered, large meat represents larger profit than
small), then perhaps the pure Berkshire is the animal to
procure, as it grows into excellent pork, grows to a large size,
and arrives early at maturity. Whatever kind of sow we
select, it is essential that she be free from blemishes and
hereditary defects and bad habits, such as eating her pigs,
bringing forth dead ones, difficult and protracted labour, &c.
It is also important that a sow possess at least fourteen teats,
as a sow with only twelve nipples could not bring up a larger
number of pigs, as each pig has a teat to himself, and keeps
to it, so that one pig born beyond the number of teats on the
mother would stai-ve, and usually does so (when such occurs),
as numerous examples have proved. The habit of lying upon
young pigs, which some sows are prone to do, cannot be
reckoned under the title of bad habits, but is due more to the
lack of care than of a bad disposition. This evil can in a
great measure be obviated by placing around the wall, and
above the floor of the dormitory, a large boarding, as men-
tioned in the chapter on the construction of piggeries. (See
page 74.)

The selection of a good boar is quite as important as the
possession of a good sow, and in my opinion more so, as the
male, if vigorous, gives the stronger impress to the progeny.
A boar, to be good, should present a long cylindrical form,
small bones, broad back, shoulders, and neck, wide chest,
thick head between the ears, but short and small at the
snout, loose skin, slight quantity of hair, few bristles, and
small, short legs, with a belly rather pendulous than other-
wise. The ears, also, should be small and erect, not drooping
(a point which Richardson, as quoted above, admires in sows).
In my opinion neither in the sow nor boar is a long pendulous
ear a sign of superiority in any particular. Tears ago, when
pigs were not tended as now, and when coarse breeds existed
and had not been toned down by judicious crossing, then
doubtless instances occurred in which animals with these
elongated appendages proved themselves to be good breeders,
and producers of good pork and bacon. Such animals, in their
day, were considered best, because their owners, not knowing
any better — i.e., seldom being able to find pigs with fine,
short, and erect ears — rested satisfied with what they pos-
sessed ; and if a particular sow with a long ear proved to be
a'good breeder, &c., then the conclusion was arrived at that a
pig having a long, pendulous ear possessed one point indica-
tive of superiority. I have seen, especially in the west of
England, pigs with long, drooping ears, but such animals have
usually shown bad form, and generally been coarse and ill-
bred. Sometimes, of course, a good animal may possess a
pendulous ear, but it is the exception, and not the rule.

BREEDING.

In bringing the males and females together it is always im-
portant to determine that the one be adapted to the other ; in

other words, that any over or under development in the former
does not exist in the latter, else most likely the progeny from
such animals would manifest such defect to a greater degree
than either parent. It is, moreover, well to select animals from
a good stock, known to produce large litters. The system of in
and in breeding is much to be deprecated, and particularly so
with swine, as no other domesticated animal degenerates so
rapidly under the operation of this injurious custom Where
this course is persisted in, it is found that the litters gradually
decrease in size and number, until the sows become almost
barren. Should, however, degeneracy occur, even under
careful management, and where in and in breeding is not
resorted to, then the breed should be crossed from time to
time. " The Chinese and Siamese pigs will generally be
found the best that can be used for this purpose, as a single,
and sometimes even two crosses with one of these animals,
will seldom do harm, but often effect considerable improve-
ment. Selection, with judicious and careful admixture, is the
true secret of forming and improving a breed. Repeated and
indiscriminate crosses are as injurious as an obstinate adherence
to one particular breed, and as much to be avoided." —
Youatt.

In crossing, great care and knowledge of each particulai
breed is requisite, in order to insure success. This being
known, I trust that the chapter on the physiology of breeding
will afford sufficient information to enable the breeder to pair
his animals in such a manner, so as to obtain a " good cross."
By judicious crossing our present excellent breed of pigs has
been obtained, instances of which are met with in the Berk-
shire, Improved Essex, Suffolk, and Bedfordshire breeds.
Our improved swine in England owe their great merits,
not to a long line of ancestors of the same breed, but to
judicious crossing, carried into effect under the advice of
persons possessing scientific and practical knowledge on the
important subject — the physiology of breeding.

A sow is capable of conceiving at a very early age; but to
allow her intercourse with the boar at six or seven months old
is most unwise, as this course tends to retard growth, and to ,
spoil ever afterwards the breeding properties of such sow. ,
Thaer writes — " Sows are almost always in heat until they i
have received the boar. This state commences even as early
as at four or five months, but they are usually a year old -
before they are allowed to be put to the boar. About ten
months or a year old is quite early enough for a sow to be
allowed intercourse with the boar; and even at a later period, i
say two years old, she is more likely then to produce a
sti-ong, numerous litter than she would be if bred from a few
months sooner. There is only one reason which should
operate in making breeders put their sows to the boar when
very young, and that is when a sow shows an unusual tendency
to accumulate fat. This plethoric state of body is never a
good omen of a numerous litter, nor of easy delivery, and
consequently for young sows is not a desirable exhibition.
To prevent this state, as above indicated, it is a good plan to
put a sow about eight months old to the boar, and within two

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

87

or three days of the birth of her litter to introduce her to the
male, and so continue this course until it is deemed wise to
fatten her, when it will be found that she will with unusual
rapidity, and with comparatively little food, become prepared
for the butcher.

The period of utero-gestation continues sixteen weeks, and
very few instances have come under my notice where this
period has been curtailed or exceeded, although some author-
ities give rather an extended margin. Youatt tells us that
" the period of gestation averages from seventeen to twenty
weeks, according to age, constitution, &c., of the mother.
Young or weakly sows farrow earlier than those of more
mature age or stronger constitutions. It is commonly asserted
that three months, three weeks, and three days is the period of
gestation." From M. Tissier's observations on twenty-five
sows, it would appear that the period varies from 109 to 123
days. Be this as it may, experience tells me that sows carry
their young in utero not longer than sixteen weeks, certainly
never more than three days before or beyond this time — of
course, barring accident and disease.

A good breeding sow can produce with impunity two litters
in the course of the year; but for how many years she could
continue to breed at this rate can hardly be determined, as
few sows are allowed to have litters after they are three years
old. Cases, however, are on record where sows have for a
number of years been most prolific. White, in his " Natural
History of Selborne," cites a case in which a sow continued
to produce large litters until she was seventeen years old.
" For about ten years this prolific mother produced two
litters in the year, of about ten at a time, and once above
twenty at a litter; but as these were double the number
of pigs to that of teats, many died." Although sows will
continue to breed successfully until they are seven or eight
years old, it is generally considered more profitable to obtain
from them only five or six litters, and immediately after the
birth of the last pigs to shut them up to fatten. The plan I
adopted for some years always was attended with success, or,
more properly, by it strong and unusually large litters were
obtained, and the mothers, after they ceased to breed, always
grew into fine animals and fattened well. The sows bred
from were put to the boar when about ten months old, and it
was so arranged that the young pigs should be born during
the month of March. Immediately after the birth of the
March litter — i.e., as soon as the sow was in heat — she was
allowed to have intercourse with the boar. By this means
two litters were farrowed during the year. For the third
time the same sow was bred from during the next year, but
was then only allowed to have one litter, which was usually
born about the month of May. After suckling her pigs for
about two months, the sow was allowed to roam about a yard
and paddock until August, when she was put up for fattening.
The pigs bom in March were kept as stores ; the hogs some-
times were fattened for early pork, but more frequently were
kept until they were sixteen months old, when they were
"made into bacon." The second litter, immediately after

leaving the mother, was fattened, and usually obtained a good
price as delicate pork. My reason for always fattening the
pigs born during the latter half of the year was, because, 1st,
animals born just upon the approacli of cold weather never
grow into such good animals as those bom in the spring ; and,
2ndly, they never thrive so well as those early bred, unless
they are fed upon a highly nutritious food, which would be
too expensive for stores ; and, lastly, these young creatures,
during the process of fattening, receive nutritious food, which
amply remunerates the owner when they are sold to the
butcher. The pigs bom in May were fattened for pork or
kept as stores for a time, and afterwards put up for bacon ; of
course the sows, in either of the spring litters, if promising,
were retained for breeding purposes. The mother of the three
litters was, about the month of August, placed in a sty, with
a view of preparing her for the knife ; and such animal was
usually made into large bacon, and was fully developed in
flesh and fat about the end of February of the following year,
when she was sold. From the above it will be observed that
the sow, when killed, was about three years old, at which age
she was fully grown, and was at a good age to make into
bacon; in fact, sows treated as above described have, in many
instances, weighed at killing time over twenty-five score, and
even a greater weight than this has been recorded.

Instances do occur where it is advisable to keep sows for a
number of years, but only when they prove unusually prolific,
and at the same time produce good pigs. Some of our prize-
winners are the ofi'spring of old sows, which it would be bad
policy to kill, so long as they are able to stamp their excel-
lence on their progeny. The treatment advocated for sows
will, however, for the general owner, be found profitable.
The advice is based on the observations of practical men, and
an experience of many years.

PARTURITION.

During the period of pregnancy a sow requires good food,
gradually increased in quality untU a fortnight before parturi-
tion, when the diet should be somewhat limited in quantity.
She should never be left to suffer from thirst, and should
always be allowed daily exercise, which can easily be done by
turning her into a paddock or field during the daytime, where
she can roam about at pleasure. Pregnant sows should be kept
by themselves. About one month before farrowing time they
must be kept in separate pens, as at this period they are heavy,
and are consequently unable to withstr.nd the effects of blows,
&c., which they are in the habit of inflicting on one another.
The injury arising from such rough usage is by no means an
uncommon cause of miscarriage, and hence the necessity of
this precaution to prevent its occurrence. The sow gives
indication of her near approach of farrowing time by the
swelling of the vagina, depression of the back, increased
size of the belly, and distension of the teats ; and for a few
hours previously to the birth of the young pigs, the mother
will be seen carrying about straw and hay, or some substance,
wherewith to form her bed. When this is noticefJ she must be

B8

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

immediately placed in a sty, the dormitory in which should be
very sparingly supplied with litter, as young pigs constantly
burrow under the straw, and when unobserved in this position,
the mother is very apt to crush them with the weight of her
body during the act of lying down. The sow also should be
watched, and as the farrowing progresses each pig, as soon as
bom, should be placed in a warm situation. When the after-
birth has been removed the sucklings can be placed upon
the teats, the weaker ones upon those which contain the most
milk. If two or three be born beyond the number of nipples
possessed by the motlier, the weaker ones in excess should be
destroyed, or given to the care of a foster-mother, to suckle
them. Parturition, unfortunately, is not always effected
without danger to the sow or offspring. Sometimes before
the expiration of the period of utero-gestation, the pregnant
sow will manifest symptoms similar to those indicating ap-
proaching parturition, only more intense. There is generally
restlessness, irritation, and shiverings, and the cries of the
animal testify the presence of severe labour-pains. Some-
times the rectum, vagina, or uterus becomes relaxed, and one
or the other protrudes, and often becomes inverted at the
moment of the expulsion of the foetus, preceded by the
placenta, which presents itself foremost. This is not so
common to sows as to other domesticated animals, and is
usually in swine the result of injury from blows, shocks, or
other accident, which either directly or indirectly acts upon
the nervous system, and ultimately upon the womb, and
thus disturbs the connection between the uterus and foetus.
Youatt says, " there are various causes which will tend to
produce it — insufficiency of food, eating too much succulent
vegetable food, or unwholesome, unsubstantial diet. Blows
and falls will also induce it; and one very prevalent cause
arises from this animal's habit of rubbing itself against hard
bodies, in order to allay the irritation produced by vermm,
or cutaneous eruptions, to which some swine are subject."

Abortion is, in nine cases out of ten, the result of nervous
derangement. It may arise, as Youatt says, from improper
diet, but this acts directly upon the nervous system, ulti-
mately impairs the nervous influence of the uterus, and
consequently interferes with the health of the foetal life. The
same might be said regarding the irritation caused by the
existence of cutaneous disease and vermin. In cases of abortion
the foetal pigs are usually dead, and it is therefore necessary
to give some assistance to the sow in her efforts to remove
them. This done, the parts should be cleansed and the mother
treated in the same manner as after parturition. If a putrid
and unpleasant smell arises after a thorough washing with
warm water, a mild solution of disinfecting fluid (Burnett's)
can be used as an injection with benefit. Avoid adminis-
tering purgatives, and on no account bleed, which would only
be adding fuel to fiie. If abortion occurs from lack of nervous
force, we must endeavour to restore the due balance, which
depletive measures would reduce. A teaspoonful of sulphuric
acid in half a bucket of oatmeal wash will usually, in a short
time, allay all irritation, both uterine and systemic. A sow,

however, that has once aborted, is better placed in the fattening
than in the breeding pen, unless the cause can be traced to
some accident or direct injury, for a sow that has aborted
with her first litter is likely to do so with her second ; it is
therefore better for the owner to insure himself against a
recurrence of this mishap by preparing her for the butcher.
Accidents also occur to pregnant sows, at the end of the period
of gestation, in the form of false presentations, monstrosities,
diseased uterus, and debility, which render the expulsion of
the foetus difficult and often dangerous. Perhaps the most
troublesome disease the veterinarian has to contend with in
parturient swine is prolapsed or inverted uterus, both caused
by the violent efforts made by the sow in attempting the
expulsion of the foetus. The uterus, when protruded, should
be washed with tepid water, freed from all grit and dirt, and
then gi-adually, with the greatest care and with only slight
pressure, returned and kept in its proper position, through the
medium of an instrument similar to that used for cows, as
mentioned in my article on cattle. Youatt considers that
" the easiest, and perhaps best way, is not to return the pro-
truded parts at all, but merely to tie a ligature around them and
leave them to slough off, which they will do in the course of a
few days, without the effusion of blood or further injury to
the animal." Many persons, even now, immediately uterine
protrusion occurs, resort to the operation recommended by
Youatt, but it is much to be deprecated in cases of recent
prolapsus. In these cases we should use all means at our
disposal to reduce it. If the bandages and instruments applied
fail in this, then, and then only, as a last resource, should the
above operation be performed. The pessary, an instrument
for particular kinds of rupture, may be used with success
for preventing prolapsus of the uterus and vagina in the sow ;
but it cannot be applied except by a qualified veterinarian,
who understands the anatomy of the parts involved in the
malady. The judicious application of this instrument will,
however, as experience has proved, reduce uterine rupture
when all other means have failed.

THE TREATMENT OF SOWS AND THEIR SUCKLINGS.

The way a sow is fed when suckling her young is more
important than many would imagine. Sometimes immediately
after farrowing a sow shows symptoms of fever ; at other times,
and more frequently, she suffers from debility. In the former
case a scanty diet, consisting of a small quantity of oatmeal
and boiled cabbages, should be given for a few days, and fresh
water, with a little nitrate of potash in it, should be placed
in the sty, that the animal may sip of it from time to time.
In a case of debility our treatment must be conservative.
We must give a highly nutritive food in small quantities, six
or seven times daily, gradually increasing the quantity as
strength is gained. A sow should always be fed well, but not
to excess. " The more carefully she is fed the more abundant
and nutritious will her milk be, the better will the sucking
pigs thrive, and the less wiU she be pulled down by suckling
them." Regularity in meals should also be strictly insisted

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

8y

on, and these should be given five or six times a day, in rather
small quantities, yet at the same time sufficient. Oft-repeated
rueals are, in small quantities, to be preferred, as large ones,
given twice daily, injuriously affect the function of digestion,
and thus cause a vitiated secretion of milk, which, on finding
its way to the stomach and intestines of the young pigs, is
likely to produce diarrhoea and other concomitant diseases.
Where possible, sows should be turned out daily to exercise,
either in a paddock or field; but for the first fortnight the
young pigs must not accompany her, as at this early age they
are imable to follow her during her perambulations. About
weaning time, when the sucklings are about two months old,
the sow must be fed less plentifully, and the young should get
peas and other food in greater abundance. Sometimes, after
weaning, a dose of physic may with advantage be given to the
sow ; but, as a rule, if care be exercised in weaning, and the
supply of food be gradually diminished, little anxiety need be
experienced on this score. Young pigs, during the first two
or three weeks, can obtain all the sustenance they require from
the sow, but after this they require some food in addition
to her milk. A.t first warm cow's milk can be given, and
afterwards dairy refuse, thickened with oatmeal and bran, will
constitute a very substantial diet. It is never advisable to
allow the sucklings to feed out of the same trough as the
mother, for in nine cases out of ten she will scarcely allow
them a mouthful, and will often injure them in the act of
pushing them from the trough with her snout. Lastly, the
food proper foi the sow is of too stimulating a nature for her
family In establishments in which several breeding sows
are kept, apertures, just sufficiently large to admit one young
pig at a time, are made in the wall of the breeding sty, com-
municating with the one next to it. By this arrangement
the sucklings can be fed in the yard nest to the breeding sty,
and thus escape maternal molestation, and be dieted in whatever
manner the owner pleases.

Young pigs should not be taken from their mother until
they are about ten weeks old, and some two or three weeks previ-
ously to this they should be gradually weaned in the following
way : — The sow must not be fed too abundantly, and should
be removed from the pigs for two or three hours daily. As
time goes on this period of absence must be increased, until
the young are able to obtain sufficient food from the trough,
and seem to thrive with only a small quantity of the maternal
milk. Sucklings, after they are two weeks old, should be
allowed to follow their mother; and when she is removed
from them, during the process of weaning, they can be turned
into a paddock by themselves. By this means exercise, so
essential to their health and growth, is necessitated.

DISEASES INCIDENT TO PIGS.

Space will not permit our entering minutely into the subject
of the diseases incident to swine, but we shall endeavour to
give an account of the ailments most common to pigs, con-
sidering chiefly those which retard the progress of fattening,
or render the flesh unwholesome for human consumption : —

APOPLEXY,

This is a malady common to swine, which, in nine cases out
of ten, owes its origin to over-fattening. At the cattle show
at Islington, in 1870, two pigs died of this disease ; and that it
should frequently occur can surprise no one. As higli feeding
and lack of exercise produces plethora, the bloodvessels
become congested, particularly those of the brain, when,
owing to their distended state, they press injuriously upon tlie
cerebral substance, and thus produce torpor, leading to im-
mobility, which, if not quickly relieved, terminates fatally.
Sometimes, again, the bloodvessels of the brain become rup-
tured, and death immediately results ; in fact, of apoplexy we
are seldom able to prognosticate favourably. Youatt informs
us that sometimes it will run like an epizootic through a
whole piggery. If so, it is evident that some potent cause
(most likely to be found in the feeding) operates in producing
it. The prominent symptoms of this afi'ection are general
dullness, drooping head, staggering gait if locomotion be
attempted, congested eyeballs, associated with partial or entire
loss of sight, and insensibility to pain. When these symp-
toms are observed, our treatment must be directed to relieving
the distended bloodvessels, which may be accomplished
indirectly by bleeding at the ear, or any part the owner may
determine, and emptying the stomach and intestines of their
contents by administering an emetic (potassio-tartrate of anti-
mony) to induce vomiting, and afterwards by evacuating the
intestines through the medium of a brisk purgative, consisting
of two to three ounces of Epsom salts. The application, also,
of cold water, or still better, ice, to the head, in the region of
the brain, will be attended with benefit. If the patient
recovers, great attention must be paid to the diet ; no stimu-
lating food must be given, and from time to time small
quantities of nitrate of potash and sulphur may be mixed in
the wash with advantage. If this affection assumes an
epizootic type, the pigs within the piggery must be judiciously
dieted. Stimulating food must be withheld, and doses of
Epsom salts, about two ounces to each pig, must be given
occasionally until health is restored.

MEASLES.

This is a disease which injuriously affects pigs during lifC;
and, after slaughter, renders the flesh unfit for human food.
Many authors have described the symptoms and post mortem
appearances of this malady, but iew have " told the whole
truth " regarding it, simply because the knowledge they pos-
sessed of it was veiy limited. One, for instance, writes—
" The symptoms are redness of the eyes, foulness of the skin,
depression of spirits, decline or total departure of appetite,
small pustules about the throat, and red and purple eruptions
on the skin. These are more plainly visible after death,
when they impart a peculiar appearance to the grain of the
meat, with fading of its colour and distension of fibre, so as to
give an appearance similar to that which might be produced
by puncturing the flesh." M. Dupuy records a case of para-

90

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

lysis of the hind extremities, noticed in a pig the subject of
measles, which was produced by the existence in the muscles
{psoce) of " numerous cysts, inclosing hydatids ; these being in
close contact with the lumbar vertebras, had caused softening
of the spinal marrow in that region, and consequent para-
lysis." Youatt tells us that measles has been regarded by
many as a mild form of leprosy, and he considers this opinion
as not erroneous. But whatever may be in this, measles, it
is evident, are a subcutaneous disease, produced by inattention
to hygienic laws, and so injuriously interfering with the sale
of pigs, that in several parts of Germany a law has for many
years existed, which compels the vendor to give a " warranty
of four weeks against measles, and other cutaneous eruptions,
in swine." Youatt, although he was by no means confident
in his opinion, had an idea that perhaps this malady was of
a parasitic nature, as appears from what follows :■ — " It yet
remains to be discovered whether measles in swine is an
epidemic like that disorder in the human being, or whether it
is hereditary, or whether, as many suppose, it arises from the
development and presence of a variety of the cysticercus." It
has of late years been ascertained, and proved beyond doubt,
by the researches and experiments of Kiichenmeister and Von
Siebold, that measles in the pig is produced by the presence
of a vesicular worm, which invades the muscular tissue. This
hydatid, the Cysticercus cellulosa, is (like the Csenurus
cerebralis of the sheep, oefore described) an incomplete
individual ; i.e., the Cysticercus cellulosa, if eaten by the dog>
would develop in his intestines into a tape-worm, or complete
individual ; and again, if segments of this tape-worm were
devoured by the pig, they would cause the existence, in his
muscular tissue (the proper habitat), of numerous Cysticerci
ceUulosEe; in fact, would create measles. From this, there-
fore, it will be observed that, if no tape-worms existed, no
Cysticerci cellulosse could be created. The hydatid is, by
metamorphosis, converted into a taenia, which breeds the
cysticercus, or primary generation, which in the intestines of
another animal developes into a tape-worm. The ordinary
habitation of the cysticercus is the flesh of the pig ; and we
find the Taenia solium is almost entirely unknown where the
use of the flesh is avoided — as, for example, amongst those
whose religion forbids them to eat pork, the flesh, as they
consider, of an unclean animal. " The reason why we find
raenia solium so plentifully in butchers and their families is,
that the butchers contaminate their own hands in sausage-
making, and also the blades of their knives in cutting up and
selling beef. When they now wipe their mouths with the
hands thus contaminated, or place the knife bedaubed with
cysticerci in their mouths, or, lastly, transfer these cysticerci
from the knife to the bread or sausages which they cut up for
themselves, their families, or servants, the insignificant and
scarcely perceptible cysticerci are introduced into the mouth
and swallowed." These cysticerci, as before explained, in the
intestines of man produce the tape-worm known as the Taenia
solium, provided the meat infested with them be raw or par-
tially cooked ; for it appears from numerous experiments, that

during the process of roasting or boiling meat the cysticercus
is destroyed, and consequently rendered incapable of develop-
ing into the Taenia solium. ^

EXPERIMENTS OF FEEDING WITH TAPE-WORM.

Kiichenmeister administered to three sucking pigs the
segments of tape-worms on the 7th, 24th, and 26th of June,
and 2nd July. One of these pigs was killed on the 26th of
July, and " exhibited young cysticerci, corresponding with
the day's administration, of which the largest individuals
formed vesicles of the size of a hemp-seed, with a certain
turbidity ; i.e., the commencement of a head. The second
pig was killed on the 9th of August, when thousands of
cysticerci were found in all parts of the body. The largest
individuals were as large as peas, and exhibited a distinct
head, whilst the smallest were only of the size of hemp-seed.
The third pig, which was killed on the 23rd of August, was
uniformly set, throughout all parts of the body, with cysticerci
of various degrees of growth and development. I undertook
the examination of a weighed piece of flesh, and found 133
Cysticerci cellulosae in four and a half drachms of it. If we
calculate from this quantity the number of cysticerci which
would have existed in one stone of pork, we obtain the great
number of 88,000 individuals in this weight. A fourth pig
of the same litter, to which no tasniae had been administered,
exhibited no traces of the cysticerci on dissection.

EXPERIMENTS OF FEEDING WITH CYSTICERCUS CELLULOSA.

In order to discover from which kind of tape-worm the
Cysticercus cellulosa was produced. Von Siebold instituted
the following experiments: — 1st, a young dog was fed on
the 22nd of May with forty-four cysticerci; on the 24th,
fourteen more were given him, and on the following day,
thirty-five. Before the worms were given they were taken
out of their cysts. The dog was kiUed on the 3rd of July,
which was thirty-nine days after the last feeding, and forty-
two days after the first. Only four tape-worms of two inches
in length were found in the dog's small intestine. From
their appearance they were evidently the product of the
cysticerci which the dog had swallowed. 2nd, Having
procured two cysticerci fr-om a human brain, which when
put into water thirty-six hours after the death of the
subject, still moved, I would not, few as they were, allow
the opportunity to pass of making an experiment of feed-
ing with them. The young dog fed upon them, however,
when killed, showed not the slightest trace of tape-worm
or scolex. 3rd, On the 18th of June a young poodle
swallowed forty-two cysticerci from the pig, deprived o/
their cysts. Tiie examination of this dog on the 4th of
August, fifty-one days after feeding, showed eight tape-worm?
of different lengths. The smallest individual measured 1^
inch, a few others measured 5^ to 17 J inches, a larger indi-
vidual was 25J inches long, whilst the three largest had
attained the length of 51 inches. Notwithstanding the
length which the worms had attained, and the great number

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

91

of their joints, Von Siebold could discover no perfectly
developed eggs in any of the latter. 4th, To a young
pug dog thirty cysticerci without cysts were administered
on the 11th of July, and forty-five on tlie 17th. On the
21st of July the dog was killed. On inspecting the small
intestines forty-eight scolices were found, of which the short-
est measured one line, and the longest six. All bore the
characteristic scar on the posterior extremities. The smallest
individuals consisted of nothing else than the head and neck
of the Cysticercus cellulosa. The remaining and somewhat
longer individuals had a transversely wrinkled body, which
as yet bore no traces of joints. 5th, On the 8th of August,
a young setter was fed with forty-five cysticerci, which
were still in the cysts and inclosed flesh. On the 21st of
August this dog was likewise killed. In his small intes-
tines a few tape-worms were found in course of development,
of f of an inch in length.

From the recorded experiments, it is evident, first, that if
tape-worms, either the Taenia solium or Tsenia serrata, be
administered to pigs, they will produce within them the
cysticerci ; and second, if the cysticercus be given to dogs, it
will develop in their intestines into a tape-worm. The old
doctrine of spontaneous generation, caused by the accumula-
tion of filth and other causes, which the advocates of this
theory have from time to time brought forward, and par-
ticularly regarding measles in pigs, entirely falls to the
ground ; and as fresh light is thrown upon the important
subject of parasitic existence, I feel confident that not only
will it be proved that many intestinal worms commence life
as hydatids, but that other parasites of a microscopic charac-
ter are produced by a metamorphosis from some still smaller
creature, which the microscope has as yet failed to detect.

VON biebold's remarks on the experiments of feeding

WITH CYSTICERCI, AND THE SIMILARITY OF THE T^NIA
SOLIUM AND T^NIA SERRATA.

" I must here remark that the dogs I made use of for the
second, fourth, and fifth experiments, were troubled with the
distemper, a thing of common occurrence amongst young
dogs, and that the disease had probably had an injurious
sfiect upon the development of the tape-worms. Notwith-
standing these experiments of feeding the dogs with Cysti-
cercus cellulosa afforded no such completely favourable
results as the foregoing series, they nevertheless went far
enough to prove that the Cysticercus cellulosa may also,
in the intestine of the dog, become developed into a taenia.

" The few tsenia which were obtained from these cysticerci
were, moreover, a source of great perplexity to me; for when I
attempted to define the species to which they belonged, I
was doubtful whether to consider them as appertaining to the
Taenia serrata or to the Taenia solium. The head and perfectly
developed joints accorded with either species, only the neck
was longer and more slender than that of Taenia serrata, so
that I was inclined to regard them as Taenia solium. Owing
to the resemblance of these tape-worms. Taenia serrata and

solium, to one another, 1 was induced to submit the specimens
of Tsenia solium in my collection to a more searching examin-
ation, and to compare them with the examples of the Taenia
serrata taken out of the dogs. To my no small astonishment
I found individuals amongst tsenia which had been taken
from the human subject, that were not to be distinguished
from Taenia serrata. They had the short broad joints, with
transversely wrinkled integument and undulating posterior
edge, just like Taenia serrata ; the head, too, was formed
exactly like that of the latter, though the neck was more
elongated. Besides these, there were a few feeble individuals
amongst them which fully corresponded with some of the tape-
worms produced from Cysticercus fusiformis ; and the eggs of
the Tffinia solium were not distinguishable from those of the
Taenia serrata, so that I was forced to conclude that Taenia
solium and Tsenia serrata were identical. In order to obtain
a still clearer insight into the matter, I further compared the
heads, with their apparatus of hooks, of Cysticercus fusiformis,
longicollis, and cellulosa with one another, and in these also
I could find no difference.

" With regard to the length of the neck, and the circum-
ference and contour of the joints, though there are, as I have
already partly shown, discoverable differences, they are not
suiSciently marked to rank as distinctive characters of two
species of tape-worms, and I must therefore maintain that
Tffinia solium and Taenia serrata belong to one and the same
species; that they are the extreme forms of a single species,
connected by a series of transitional forms."

In the year 1857, Mr. Rainey presented the Royal Society
of London with a paper on the structure and development
of the Cysticercus cellulosa, in which he proved that this
hydatid's presence in the muscular tissue of pigs constituted
the " measled pork" of the London markets, and which,
owing to its importance, is transcribed below.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CYSTICERCUS CELLULOSA.

" The earliest indication of this species of cysticercus which
admits of certain recognition as a form of cystic entozoon,
is the presence of a collection of reniform corpuscles of about
l-2666th of an inch in length, and l-8000th in breadth, mixed
with very minute, highly refractive molecules, of different
sizes, in the substance of a primary fasciculus of a muscular
fibre, or between its sarcolemma and the sarcous elements.

" Though such a coUectiou of corpuscles has a moderately
definite shape, being somewhat fusiform, yet it has not a
complete investment. It soon, however, acquires a very
distinct membranous covering, which is first apparent at its
middle, and afterwards at its extremities. Its dimensions in
this stage of formation may be about l-loOth of an inch in
length, and l-1500th in breadth, but these are by no means
regular. The external investment at first appears as a bright
line of homogeneous substance, best defined on the side next
the sarcous matter. It soon, however, increases in thickness,
and afterwards becomes converted into short fibres, whicL
increase in size and distinctness as the animalcule grows

92

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

larger. These fibres are peculiar ; there is nothing that I am
acquainted with analogous to them. They have not the
sharp and well defined outline of true cilia, nor are they
pointed like setae, or curled like cirri. They have somewhat
the nature of white fibrous tissue, their distinctness being
impaired by acetic acid. They are of different lengths in the
same entozoon, and generally longer, though not thicker, in
the large than in the small ones. Their length averages
about l-2100th of an inch.

" The most remarkable circumstance connected with them
is the great uniformity of their aiTangement in different cys-
ticerci. They cover the whole of the outer surface of the
membrane, and on opposite sides of the same entozoon their
form, size, and direction are similar, so that the two halves
taken longitudinally are in this respect symmetrical. If the
direction of these fibres be examined about midway between
the two extremities of one of these animalcules, they will be
seen to project from the surface at right angles with the axis
of its body ; but if traced each way from this point, they will
be observed gradually to incline to this axis at an angle
which keeps diminishing as they approach the two extremi-
ties, so that the fibres nearest the two ends almost coincide in
their direction with that of the axis, and thus correspond
in their situation to the barbs situated on each side of an
extremity of an ordinary feather.

" As the first position of these animals is in the very sub-
stance of a primary muscular fasciculus, it is obvious that the
mechanical action of this apparatus will be to aid their longi-
tudinal development whilst new cells are in progress in their
interior. For it is scarcely possible that the muscular fibrillsB
by which they are suiTOunded can, when in action, fail by
their friction to urge the two extremities onwards in opposite
directions, whilst at the same time the fibres by which these
entozoa are covered, are in consequence of their direction
preventing the separated ends from regaining their former
position ; and thus the two ends beings always carried iu
opposite directions, without the possibility of a counter move-
ment, a general elongation must ensue. This apparatus also,
by splitting up the primary fasciculi, will serve a locomotive
purpose, and thus enable these animals to reach the cellular
intervals between the muscular fibres, where their further
development will be completed. That such is the effect of
the fibres in question is evident on a careful inspection of some
of the fasciculi in which these animalcules are contained, in
which a separation of the fibrillse can be seen to have been
produced by the pointed ends of the entozoon ; these fibrillse
having been obviously turned out of their original course, and
some directed to one side, and some to the other. This
explanation receives confirmation from the fact of these
cysticerci, which are developed in the muscular parietes
of the heart, being of a difi'erent shape from those formed
elsewhere, although the structure in all other respects is
precisely the same. These cysticerci, in the first or ver-
micular stage of their development, are very short and
thick, and of an oval shape. Their locomotive fibres, though

perfectly demonstrable, are very short, and in many instances
imperfect.

" After these cysticerci have reached the spaces between the
muscular fibres, their subsequent development is the same as
in other situations, and the perfect animals formed in the heart
cannot be distinguished from those formed in other muscles.
I may also add, that while in the vermicular stage, the
cysticerci developed in the short muscular fibres of the tongue
are of a shape resembling very much those .of the heart.

" The investing membrane, which has just been described
as covered with cilia, is entirely filled with corpuscles, all of
one kind, remarkably characteristic, and diifering only accord-
ing to their states of development. The perfect cells are best
seen in the middle of an entozoon, but their mode of formation,
and the subsequent changes which they undergo, must be
examined in those parts which are increasing most rapidly, as
in the growing ends of an animalcule.

"The first appearance indicative of an increase in the
length of an animalcule is a thinning of the investing mem-
brane, and a separation or partial detachment of the cilia-like
fibres of the growing end. Next, a clear space, of the form
of the part which is about to be added, is perceptible a little
in advance of the extremity, apparently the result of a very
fine membranous protrusion. This contains numerous dark
molecules of diSerent forms and sizes, mixed with granules
more or less perfectly spherical : the most perfect of these
globular bodies are those which are nearest to the perfectly
formed part of the animalcule. These corpuscles, when com-
pletely formed, have a bright oily-looking aspect, and a
diameter of about l-5000th of an inch.

" These corpuscles have the appearance of being formed by
the coalescence of molecules which had existed in the clear
space before any corpuscles were apparent, by which they are
afterwards replaced. After a growing end has become thus
filled with these globular bodies the terminal membrane
becomes more and more distinct, and the cilia-like fibres are
afterwards added, which are generally neither so regularly
disposed, nor so distinct, as on other parts of the entozoon.
Next, these corpuscles lose their spherical form and become
flattened; and lastly, they assume their characteristic elliptical
or reniform figure before mentioned, which they retain as long
as the entozoon remains in its primary muscular fasciculus.
This shape, however, is not essential to those corpuscles, but
merely results from the rounded form of the masses into which
they are grouped together, each corpuscle, by its convexity,
forming a segment of the circular outline of its respective
group. These corpuscles contain very fine dark grantiles, so
variously disposed in different ones as to present a variety of
appearances, such as circular or oval spaces which might be
taken for nuclei or nucleoli. These collections of corpuscles
make up nearly the whole of an animalcule, and they fre-
quently give to it a lobulated, and sometimes an obscurely
annulose, appearance.

" The entozoa, as long as they remain m tne primary
fasciculi, retain all those characteristics which have so far

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

93

been described ; but these characteristics gradually disappear
after they have broken away from the cavity of the sarco-
lemma, and gained access to the spaces between the muscular
libres. In this situation they gradually lose their former
membranous clothing, studded with cilia-like fibres, which
can occasionally be seen partially deprived of its corpuscular
contents, though sufBciently perfect to .idmit of demonstration.
The reniform corpuscles, before aggregated together in cir-
cular groups, now gradually lose their distinctness of outline,
and imperfectly coalesce into confused, ill-defined masses,
having an oily aspect ; so that if, in this state, one of these
vermicules be crushed under the microscope, amorphous, oily,
and granular matter wiU be seen to have escaped from it,
similar to that contained in the ventral part of the adult
animal. Here, too, the restraint to the lateral growth of
these entozoa being very much diminished, their breadth
increases rapidly, and they present globular projections,
extending out very irregularly from their sides, giving them
an irregular figure. These projections gradually take on the
form of those which were described on the ventral part of
the perfect entozoon. The largest of the entozoa which I have
seen in this stage is about l-12th of an inch in length and
l-40th in breadth.

" The next facts requiring special notice are those connected
with that stage of development which takes place after the
animalcule has become surrounded by an adventitious cyst.
The -first indication of the formation of such a cyst is, the
turgescency of the capillaries, or some of the smaller vessels
in the vicinity of one or more entozoa. Granular bodies,
exudation-corpuscles, and fibres of different shapes, next make
their appearance. These at first only partially obscure the
entozoon, but afterwards completely conceal it. When the
cyst is first formed the animalcule can, by a good light and
careful examination, be obscurely seen within it, and by
dissection under the microscope it can be dislodged.

" The interior of the cyst being smaller than the animalcule
contained therein, it naturally follows that during its growth
one portion must be folded over another. By this means it
is adapted to the fine locality in which it is lodged during the
period of its development. Hence the ventral portions of all
cysticerci are, when first taken from their cysts, very much
plicated ; but these plicEe disappear after the ventral sac has
become distenc^.ed with the fluid brought into contact with its
aurface.

" Up to this point of the development of the cysticercus, it
is a simple cyst, growing by the assimilation of fluid imbibed
equally by every part of its surface, no one part difiering
sensibly in its structure from another. No portion of this
surface presents any indication of incipient booklets or suckers.
There is nothing on its surface, or in its interior, analogous to
the structure of an ovum ; nor is there any other anatomical
character which would raise its organization above that of a
simple acephalocyst. However, this so exactly resembles in
its structure that of the ventral portion of the cysticercus,
that it is impossible to doubt their identity of character. Its

size, too, is not much beneath that stage where the suckers
and booklets first begin to present obscure indications of the
part they are about to occupy.

" The first indication of the addition of the neck, with the
suckers and booklets, to the ventral part of a cysticercus, ia
the appearance about its centre of a slightly raised body,
depressed in the middle, with longitudinal folds proceeding
from each side of it towards the poles of the ventral cyst,
appearing as if at this part the parietes of the latter had been
drawn inwards. On two sides of this hollow there are dark
transverse lines, rather more distinct on one side than the
other, indicating the commencement of the transverse rugae of
the neck, mentioned in the description of this part of the
perfect animal, in which the laminated earthy bodies are con-
tained. About the central part of the cervical projection
there is an ill-defined oval space, having a granular appear-
ance, and containing some minute spherical particles of a dark
colour, consisting apparently of a highly refractive material.
In this condition of the entozoon there is nothing in this
space which has the slightest resemblance to the parts which
are there about to be developed, namely, the booklets, suckers,
and earthy concretions ; and it is only by the comparison of
these obscure appearances with the other specimens, in which
the development of the booklets is a little more advanced,
that their true signification can be learned.

" From the facts that have just been mentioned, the hook-
lets of the animalcule in question do not appear to be formed
by cell development ; for by the most careful examination of
these organs, both recent and after the application of acids, I
have not been able to distinguish anything that can be looked
upon as a cell or cell-nucleus, calculated to give the idea of
their being developed from previously existing cells, or in
dependence on cells ; but, on the contrary, all the various
forms which they present, during the process of their forma-
tion, simply indicate the coalescence of very minute spherules
of a homogeneous material, exceeding the number of a
complete set of booklets, into small globular masses, and
these again into larger pieces, and so on successively until
recognizable portions of booklets come into view, which,
coalescing, build up, as it were, an entire organ.

" It is worthy of remark that, if these structures had been
produced directly from the metamorphosis of previously
existing cells, the circumstances connected with their forma-
tion would have been the most favotu-able for observing both
the original cells and the changes which they pass through ;
indeed, so much so that it is almost impossible that they could
have escaped notice. First, because these parts are of such a
size and degree of ti'ansparency as to admit of examination
with the highest powers of the microscope, without the
necessity of disarranging them or disturbing their position
by manipulation. Secondly, because the material of which
they are composed is so dissimilar in appearance to that
forming the adjacent tissue, and so characteristic, that it
cannot be confounded with the structures in their immediate
vicinit}'. Thii-dly, because at one view, in a favourable

94

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

specimen, booklets can be seen in every stage of their
formation, from the first grouping together of the masses of
formative particles, to the blending of them into perfect organs.
And lastly, because it is not as if a mere thread of tissue
were formed amongst other threads, slightly diflfering in
appearance, as fibres of elastic tissue, for instance, in a mass
of connective tissue, but the objects referred to are perfect
organs, which possess an arrangement of parts connected
together with order and remarkable regularity ; so that, under
such circumstances, if these organs had been preceded by
nucleated cells, and the cells had been transformed into
booklets, neither these cells in their primitive state, nor in
their several stages of transformation, could have escaped
detection.

"The parts next to be noticed are the suckers. Indica-
tions of these are visible as soon as the booklets. They j
appear as four circular spaces, presenting a granular aspect
about the size of perfectly-formed suckers. The two sets of
6bres next make their appearance, the radiating and circular,
which have not at first the sharp outline which they after-
wards acquire, but still appear obscurely granular. As the
tissue of these organs possesses nothing characteristic, like
that of the parts just described, the progressive changes whicli
they undergo, during the different periods of their formation,
can be but imperfectly distinguished, an'' hence no further
description of them will be necessary.

'^ It has been observed, in the two sets of organs above
aescribed, that their size does not increase materially after
being once formed. Exactly the reverse is the case in refer-
ence to the part called the neck, and the quantity, though not
the size of the laminated bodies, which increase in number as
the cavity of the latter increases in size. These bodies appear
as soon as the booklets and suckers, and they are as large
when first formed as afterwards ; but there are indications of
the transverse wrinkles of the neck before either booklets or
muckers can be distinguished. The neck afterwards continues
to grow, so that its relative length, in respect to the ventral
portion, is some indication of the age of a cysticercus.

" It is probable that this part does not arrive at its full size
until after it has been protruded, which I have never seen to
be the case in any animalcules occurring in or between the
muscular fibres, and which perhaps is not effected until the
entozoa quit their confined locality between the muscular
fibres, and gain access to the free surface of a mucous mem-
brane, there, as physiologists generally believe, to be further
developed into a higher form of entozoon."

The ancients were in the habit of adopting a varied nomen-
clature for diseases whose origin was somewhat obscure, and
particularly those where a suspicion existed that they were of
a parasitic nature : for instance, measles in pigs sometimes
received the name of " leprosy," and when it assumed an
epizootic type it was designated " murrain," as appears from
the fact that the symptoms detailed as characteristic of the
one and the other are identical ; and the treatment recom-
mended for "measles," leprosy, and murrain, is not very

dissimilar. Youatt, in describing the symptoms and treat-
ment of leprosy, writes — " In the onset, all that is remarkable
is a certain marked stupidity or obstinacy in the animal, a
state of languor and apparent general debility, an evident
thickening of the skin, a slight adhesion of bristles, a ten-
dency in the hair to fall ofi'. In its successive progress this
disease attacks the animal economy more or less profoundly,
without the functions appearing otherwise troubled. There
is ulceration of the cellular tissue, and the animal does not
appear to be generally and seriously iU. Far from losing bis
appetite, be is occasionally voracious. He does not appear to
suffer in his lungs, his breath is not embarrassed, nor is bis
voice hoarser than usual. Such, at least, may be observed
when the vesicles are not numerous. It is when they increase
in quantity that they begin to afiect the health of the patient.
He then becomes indifferent to everything, moves about
slowly, totters as be walks, his eyes are dull, the buccal mem-
brane is pale, and sometimes strewed with violet spots.
Strength begins to abandon the patient, be can no longer
sustain himself on his legs, the posterior part of the trunk
becomes paralysed, and the body exhales an unpleasant smell.
This is a very obstinate disease, probably from its having
usually taken hold of the system before it is suspected, and
numerous have been the medicaments recommended for it.
Antimony, sulphur, small and repeated doses of Epsom salts,
and general bleeding, seem to be attended with success, and
these are aided by a strict attention to diet and cleanliness."
Numerous have been the opinions advanced relative to the
predisposing causes of measles. ■Some authors attribute it to
the inclemency of the weather, insufficient food, and damp
localities ; and support their views by asserting that the
disease is always more prevalent among swine when turned
into woods and forests, than when lodged in piggeries where
a judicious system of dietary is adopted. Others attribute
the disease to bad water — containing compounds injurious to
health — and to improper food. These opinions, as will be
apparent from the remarks made regarding the cysticercus^
did not tend to throw much light upon the origin of measles.
But the assertion that animals feeding in forests, &c., are
more prone than others to the disease, and that bad water
and improper food are causes of it, demands some considera-
tion; for no doubt, indirectly, the food obtained in these
locations furnished the media wherein the tape-worm (the
breeder of the cysticercus) existed. For instance, the Tasnia
solium existing in the excrement of man, or the Tsenia serrata
in that of the dog, might become deposited in the forest land,
and be devoured by the greedy pig, which might thus
impregnate itself with the cysticercus. Again, trough food,
consisting of blood and the entrails of other animals, might
contain segments of the tape-worm, which, eaten by swine,
would be sure to produce the disease.

The only rational treatment for this affection, where
existing, consists in the destruction and removal of the cysti-
cercus from the muscular tissue of the pig ; but to efiect this,
no medicine has been as yet discovered. Our endeavour,

CALCULOUS CONCRETIONS COMMON TO OX. SHEEP X PIC

I

•.^

»J^

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

90

therefore, should be to prevent its occurrence by feeding our
pigs upon aliment which cannot, by any possibility, contain
the segments of tape-worms. If no tiEnia existed, no cysti-
cerci could be bred ; therefore, by reducing the supply of the
former, we should be diminishing the means for the diflFusion
of the latter. It is a fact worthy of notice, that nations which
are prohibited from eating pork are seldom affected with tape-
worm ; and Tacitus states he considered that the Jews were
forbidden to eat pork because the flesh of the hog was liable
to become leprous. Doubtless the communities which obey
this law are to a great extent exempt from the attack of tape-
worm. The flesh of the hog affected with measles is soft,
flabby, and almost tasteless ; and whatever authors may say
to the contrary, is totally unfit for human food. As before
stated, thorough cooking destroys the life of the parasite ; but
some portion or portions of the flesh may escape the action
of the fire to the extent necessary to destroy the eysticercus-
Under any circumstances measly flesh should be biu-nt, and
not given to any animal. In man, soup made from it has pro-
duced vomiting and diarrhoea, and other evil consequences
which it is needless here to detail. Suffice it to say, measly
pork, containing living cysticerci, if eaten, will produce tape-
worms. If not thoroughly cooKed, it will, in like manner,
cause the development of tsenije ; and the flesh infested with
cysticerci, even if thoroughly cooked, is otherwise unwhole-
some, and totally unfit for the food of man or of any other
animal.

QUINPV OR STRANGLES, MALIGNANT SORE THROAT OF

THE pia.

According to ancient authorities, disease of the glands in
the region of the throat was in their time very prevalent
among swine. H. D'Arboval gives a long account of this
affection, which he designates by the names Foil pique,
maladie piquante or soie, and regards as the result of cutaneous
irritation, which, sympathizing with some internal ailment
induced by too stimulating food, hot or ill-ventilated sties,
and damp litter, determines this local disease of the glands.
Others believe that miasmatic influences produce it, and that
it rages as an epizootic. The disease consists of a swelling,
extending around the throat and down the line of the trachea •
great thirst, dullness, loss of appetite, accompanied with pain,
and general symptoms of fever prevail. As the malady
increases in intensity, laborious breathing, swelling of the
tongue, and difficulty in swallowing supervene, and often the
patient dies of suffocation. Sometimes the skin is raised
in hard swellings along the sides of the neck and trachea,
and at times between the fore legs. The treatment consists
in giving an emetic, as —

Potassio-tartrate of antimony 4 grains.

IpecacQanha . . 6 "

White hellebore, 6 "

If the animal will drink or eat a little, Gamgee recommends
that a purgative powder, consisting of two or three drachms

of castor oil seeds, should be given. A blister or hot rugs
applied to the throat also assists the treatment.

In carbuncular quinsy the tonsil on one side of the neck
is affected; the bristles in the skin of that part stand out
erect, and if pulled cause great pain. The post mortem
appearances give evidence of acute inflammation of the larynx
and pharynx, and of the tonsil on the affected side. As the
disease is of a contagious nature, it is necessary to separate
the healthy swine from those affected, and to keep the latter
scrupulously clean, as the spreading of the malady is said to
be favoured by dirty sties and neglect of hygienic measures.
Cold water with nitre in it should be placed before the
patients, in order that they may drink it at their pleasure,
and if constipation prevails, drachm doses of aloes can be
administered.

The diseased tissues, moreover, must be removed with the
knife or actual cauteiy, and afterwards the system must be
supported by stimulants and food easy of digestion, as oat-
meal gruel, &c.

CALCULOUS CONCRETIONS OCCURRING IN THE OX, SHEEP,
AND PIG.

The word calculus (derived from the Latin calx, " lime") is
a term used to designate certain concretions occuning in the
abdominal viscera of nearly every living animal ; they may
be divided, first, into calculi found in the alimentary canal ;
secondly, into urinary calculi, or those met with in the unnaiy
organs ; and thirdly, into casual calculi, which include those
found in various glands of the body, &c. Alimentary calculi
are of two kinds: those which occur in the stomach, and called
stomachical; and those which exist in the intestines, denomi-
nated intestinal.

STOMACHICAL CALCULI.

Globular masses of hair, called hair-balls, are commonly met
met with in the stomach of the ox. They are of different forms,
and vary in weight from a few ounces to seven or eight pounds.
Their composition also varies ; sometimes they consist solely
of hair matted together with mucus. This is the case when
they are found in the abomasum ; the animal whilst licking
itself takes the hair from its skin into its stomach, through
the medium of its mouth. Sometimes these hair-balls contain
a nucleus or centre, consisting of a small piece of wood, stone,
or iron, such as a nail, around which the hair aggregates.
Other concretions are met with in the rumen and reticulum,
which are generally composed of a mixture of food and earthy
matter and hair.

" When simple food," says Youatt, " mingles with the
hair, the ball seems to be formed by a succession of con-
centric layers, and in the centre a bit of nail or stone, or il
the beasts have access to running water, a piece of shell often
constitutes the nucleus." The existence of these concretions
in the stomachs of cattle seldom affects their health. Some
authors assert that lean cattle are more subject to them than
those that are well nurtured; but my experience tells me.

96

THE DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

that they are as constantly met with among fat stock as
others : in fact, their presence in cattle which during the pro-
cess of fattening have " done well," has never been detected
until after death, and it is therefore evident that in the stomachs
of ruminants they seldom produce injurious results.

INTESTINAL 'JALCULl.

These are of rare occurrence among cattle. Youatt informs
us that they are very seldom, but sometimes, found in the
large intestines. " They are not of great size, for the food
passes too rapidly over the smooth surface of these portions
of the digestive canal. There are no symptoms by which
. their presence can be recognized, nor is there any evidence
of their being a cause of disease; although it is not improbable
that the presence of these bodies, and the irritation produced
by them, may in some instances be the cause of colic, stran-
gulation, and other serious affections."

URINARY CALCULI.

Urinary calculi are of three kinds, viz., those found in the
kidneys, called renal; those met with in the bladder, or vesi-
cal; and those of the urethra, denominated urethral calculi.

The kidney.s, as the reader knows, secrete the urine, which
by means of two ducts called ui-eters is conveyed into the
bladder, and thence finds its way into the urethra. In these
positions, as stated, calculi occur, arising, it may be, from
an altered or vitiated secretion of urine, or from deranged func-
tional vigour Henal and vesical concretions are of common
occurrence among herbivorous animals ; they usually consist
of carbonate of lime, mixed with a small quantity of carbonate
of magnesia and a considerable portion of animal matter.
" Traces of phosphate, oxalate, and sulphate of lime, with
various saline ingredients of the urine, may often be detected."
Carbonate of lime concretions from the ox are seldom of large
size. Those from the kidney rarely exceed an inch in length,
while those in the bladder are usually about the size of peas.
The latter generally occur in great number, often amounting
to several hundreds. They are small rounded globules, usually
smooth and polished on their surface, but occasionally tuber-
culated, resembling mulberry concretions. Whether occurring
in the bladder or in the kidney, they are generally remarkable
as presenting a pearly, metallic exterior. When broken they
readily separate into thin concentric layers. The tuberculated
calculi, on the contrary, are exceedingly hard, and do not
separate into layers when broken.

The calculi met with in the bladder of the hog differ little
in their chemical character from those found in the urinary
organs of the Herbivora. They vary in size from " a pea
to a hen's egg." Their exterior is granular or tuberculated.

They are extremely hard, and when sawn through exhibit
a compact laminated structure, with the appearance of indis-
tinct lines radiating from the centre. Urethral calculi com-
monly occur among cattle and sheep, and their existence is
usually attended with great discomfort to the animals affected.
Several cases are recorded in which ruptured bladder has
resulted from their presence. Two oxen who fell away in
condition, and were otherwise unwell, were killed some years
ago in Norfolk, when at a post mortem examination the
cause was discovered. " In the urethra several calculi,
varying in size from a bean to a pin's head, were found."
This obstruction in the urethra prevented the free escape of
urine; the bladder, in consequence, became persistently
distended, until its walls grew thin and weakened, which
ultimately gave way (by rupture) to the pressure produced
by the presence of an inordinate quantity of urine.

CALCULI IN THE URETERS.

Of these Youatt gives the following description : — " There
can be no doubt that many calculi descend from the cavity
or pelvis of the kidney into the bladder, yet there is but one
case on record of it. The case is related by H. d'Arboval.
Gattoin sent to the Society 'of Agriculture a history of the
sickness and examination of a cow, in the left ureter of which
many calculi were found, that had produced considerable
dilatation of the canal. They were of a brilliant metalHc
brown colour ; they were polished and heavy." In cases of
this nature Chorbert recommends cutting through the rectum
and ureter, and extracting the stone.

CASUAL CALCULI.

Biliary calculi are found in the gall-bladder of oxen, and
are chiefly composed of the colouring matter of the bile. In
the catalogue of calculi at the museum of the Royal College
of Surgeons we find the following description of biliary
calculi : — " These concretions have been known for a very
considerable time, probably long before biliary calculi had
been discovered in the human subject. They are of a rich,
reddish brown colour. They are exceedingly light and friable,
and readily separate into concentnc layers. They vary in
size from that of a pea to that of a hen's egg, and are usually
of an ovoid figure ; but when t\\ o or more calculi are con.
tained in the gall-bladder they often present a very regular
cubic or tetrahednc figure. These calculi always possess a
musky odour, which appears to be peculiar to the concretions
of the ox." ITie chemical composition of biliary calculi,
according to Andral, consists of five concretions — p-ellow
colouring matter, resin, cholesterine, picromel, and phosphate
of lime.

INDEX.

Note. — This Index has been arranged in sections, each named
greatly facilitate reference to any particular subject.

in accordance with the variotu divisions of the work itself: a tyttem which iviU

VARIETIES AND MANAGEMENT OF THE HORSE.

Page

African Horses, 27

Age of the Horse prom his Mouth, . . 104

Indications of Age, 104

Strnctare of the Teeth, .... 105

The Teeth at Birth to extreme Old Age, . 106
Tricks of Dealers, . . . 104, et aeq.
What is " Age " in the Horse, . . .111

Anatomical Distinction between the Horse and the
Ass, ........

Arab Horse, The,

Arab Horse, Anecdotes of, .

Arab Horses sent as Rojal Presents, Description of
Two,

Arabia, Adventnre in, . . . . ,

Angnstenbnrg'a (Dnke of) Stad, ....

Australian Horse, The

Austrian Horses,

Barb, The,

Bavarian Horse" ......

Belgian Horses, .

Bit, Bridle, Saddle, and Stirmp, ....

Breaking the Horse for Saddle and Harness, .

Breeding for general Purposes, ....

Breeding Establishment at MezShogyes, near Carla-
burg, ... ....

Brewers' Horses, ......

BuTiMQ A Horse. — Choice of a "General Pur-
pose " Horse, &c,

Camanchee Wild Breed; interesting Acconnt of
" Charley," a noble Animal of that Breed,

Canadian Horse, The,

Cape of Good Hope Horse, The, ,

Carriage Horse, The, .

Central Asia, Horse of,

Circassian Horse, The,

Cleveland Bay, The, .

Clydesdale Draught Horse, The, .

Coach Horse, The,

Combat between two Tribes,

Conestogo Horse, The,

Confidence of a Horse in a firm Rider,
instance of, ...

Danish Horses, ....

Darley Arabian, The, .

Dartmoor Ponies,

Dongola, Nubian, and Abyssinian Horses,

Draught Horses,

Driving,

Driving a Pair, .
Driving a Single Horse, ,
Harness Horses, .
Harness, Parts of.
Harnessing and Putting-to, ,
See also Biding.
Dziggtai, or Tartary Horse, . .

remarkable

10
19
21

24
22
45
35
46
27
46
46
64
66
62

47
68

89

41

40
83
60
12
17
60
59
60
29
40

18

45

24

57

31

58

168

172

172

168

171

171

11

Page
Early Subjugation of the Horse : the Bit, the Bridle,

the Saddle, the Stirrup, ..... 64

Egyptian Horse, The, 32

English Pony, The, . . . . ■ . .68

European Horses 42-50

Exmoor Ponies 67

Finland Horses, 46

French Horses, . .... 47

Galloways and Ponies, ..... 56

Godolphin Barb, The, 28

Grecian Horses, ....... 43

Guacho, Skill of the, 37

Hackney, The, 61

Harness, Parts of, 171

Henry VIII. and the Breeding of Horses, . . 64
Hides of Wild Horses of Pampas of South America,

Large Quantity imported yearly to England . 11

Highland Pony, The, 68

Holland, Horses of, 47

Holstein Horses, 46

Horse, Age of. See Age of the Horse from

HIS MODTH.

Horse, Ancient History of. See Origin akd
Ancient History of the Horse.

Horse Bbbakino,

Breaking the Horse for Saddle and Harness, .
Principles of Horse-breaking,

Rarey's System,

Sullivan, the Wliispeier, ....

Horse, Buying a,

Horse, Distinctive Characters of the,

"Horse Frightened by the Lion," Stubbs's Pic-
ture of, 30

Horse Law, 113

DeUvery and AcceDtanc«, . . . .113

Earnest, . 113

French Law 120

Lien, ... ... 121

Sale, 113

Sales by Auction, 118

Signed Note or Memorandum, . . . 113
Uncertainty of the Law, .... 123

Unsonndncss, 118

Verterinary Certificates, .... 120
Warranty, 114

Horse, Natural History of the, .... 9

Horse, Paces of the, 77

Horse, Varieties of the, . . . .11
African Horses, . .... 27

Arab Horse, 19

Australian Horse, 35

Central Asia, Horse of^ .... 12
Circassian Horse, .... 17
European Horses, .... 42-60
Indian Horses, 17

P»f«

Horse, Varieties of the — Continued.

North American Horses, . . . .40

Persian Horses, 13

Pseudo Wild Horses, 11

South American Horses, ... 36

Toorkman Horse, . , , , .16

Turkish Horse, 16

Wild Horse, The, 11

Horses of Britain, History and Varieties of, . 62
Horses, Vices of, add their Remedies, . 148

Hungarian Horses, 44

Hunter, The, 387

Training the Hnnter, 391

Iceland Horses, 46

Indian Horses, ....... 17

Intelligence of the Arab Horse . . . .21

Italian Horses, ...... .60

Kiang, The (Wild Horse), 11

Eozakee, The (Indian Horse) . . . .17
Ladies' Horsemanship, ..... 166

Lapland Horses, 46

Lasso, Description of the, 38

Leaps, Immense, ...... 87

Leave-taking of a Horse, cnrions Arabian Custom, 21

Master of the Horse, 8

Mezobogyes, near Carlsbnrg, Great Breeding Estab-
lishment at, ...... .

Mnngo Park, Touching Incident which occurred to,

Napoleon's Charger, " White Arabian,"

Natural History of the Horse, ....

North American Horses, .....

North American Indians, singnlar Castom prevail-
ing amongst,

Norwegian Horses,

Onager, The (Wild Horse),

Origin and Ancient History of the Horse,
African Horse, Introduction into England,
Ancient Price of the Horse, ....

Barbs, Progenitors of, .

Battle, Horse trained to, ... .

Bible, Proofs from, to show that Arabia has
no Claim to number the Horse among the
native Animals, .....

Breed of Horses, systematic Attention paid to,

in Egypt, and adjacent Countries,
Bncephalas, the Charger of Alexander the
Great, .......

Buffon's assertion that Arabia is the Cradle of
the Race, proved by more recent Inquirers
to be mere Assumption, ....

Charioteering of the Celts, remarkable Dis-
covery in Scotland, throwing Light on.
Chariots or Biding, Questions as to which wu
the earlier Service of the Horse, . .
Dongola Horses, . ....

47
30
31
9
40

41
46
11
3
9
6
5
5

INDEX.

Page

Eqaestrian Warfare in Britain, Mode of, as

practised in the century before Christ, . 8
Grecian Horses, ...... 7

Hastings, Victor; of, in great measore to b«

ascribed to Cavalry, .... 8

Horse, Mare, and Colt, Fized Standards of

Valne with many of the Asiatic Nations, . 5
Horsemen of the Ancient World, The most

celebrated, 6

Horses made Prices of in the Field, Practice to

hamstring them, ..... 4
Jnlins Cssar the first to ordain Horses as a

Spectacle to fight with Wild Bolls, and to

kill them, 7

Koran, Kindness and Forbearance towards

Animals incnlcated by the, ... 9
Master of the Horse, . . . . .8
Mythologic Fables of the Ancients, prominent

Featm-e formed by the Horse in, . .6
Nations in which, at the earliest Periods, the

Horse was used in War and in the Arts of

Peace, .4

Nomber and Valne of Horses now in Great

Britain, .8

Original Country of the Horse, ... 8
Ostrich, Horse employed in the Chase of, . 5
Ploughing, First Use of the Horse in, by the

Anglo-Saxons, ..... 8

Ponies of Great Britain, .... 8
Price paid by Seuthis the Tbraaan for the

Steed which he rode dnring the Retreat of

the Ten Thousand, ..... 6
Source from which Solomon derived his

Supplies, ...... 4

Subjugation of the Horse, .... 6

Superstitions Veneration entertained by the

Saxons for the Horse, .... 8
" Thunder," The true rendering of the Term in

Job's poetical Picture of the War Horse, . 3
Trade for Horses established with Africa by

Solomon, 4

Page

Value of the Horse in the Time of Alfred the

Great, ....... 8

Pace at which the imparted Australian Race-horse

can travel, ....... 36

Paces of the Horse, ...... 77

Perilous Feat performed at the Cape of Good

Hope, ....... 34

Persian Horse, The, ...... 13

Petroffstri (Baron'), and his Stud, . . . .43

Polish Horses, 45

Ponies of Great Britain, ..... 8

Portuguese Horses, ...... 6U

Prussian Horses, ...... 45

Race Horse, The, ...... 377

Breaking and Training, .... 378

Breeding, ....... 377

Races, Winners of the Great, . . . 393-400

BiDLNO, 158

Mounting and Dismoanting, . . . . 158

Reins, Management of, .... 159

Riding to Hounds, ..... 162

Saddle, Bridle, and Stirmps, Proper Position of, 156

Seat on Horseback, ..... 160

Ladies' Horsemanship, and Choosing a Lady's

Horse, ....... 164

See also Dritiho.

Rnssian Horses, ... .... 43

Sale of the Royal Stud at Death of William IV., . 25

Shetland Pony, The 57

South American Horses, 36

Spanish Horses, 50

Stable, The, 124

Construction, ...... 124

Draining, ..."... 129

Lighting 129

Temperature, 125

Ventilation, 126

Harness Room, 133

Hunting Stables, and the Loose Box, . . 130

Modem Stable Fittings,

P»g«
. 181

Stable Makaoekeiit 134

Cleaning, 143

Clipping and Singeing, .... 137

Clothing, 144

Conditioning, 145

Exercise, 141

Feeding, 137

Groom, The, . .... 134

" Helper," The, 134

" Litter," . . . ' . . .136

Racking and Dressing, 135

"Stable Boys," 134

" Strapper," The . ..... 134

Stables of the King of Denmark, . . . .45

Swedish Horses, . . . , . .46

Swimming of Horses in South America, . . 39

Tattoo, or Native Indian Pony, . . .17

Tazee, The (Indian Horse), 17

Teeth, Age of the Horse from. See Aqe or the

Horse from his Mouth.

Toorkee, The (Indian Horse), . . .17

Toorknian Horse, The, . . . . .15

Treatment of a Horse os a Journey, . . 173

Care of the Legs and Feet, . . . .176

Cutting 176

General Medical Hints, .... 176

Stumbling, ....... 174

Trotting Matches, 79

Turkish Horses 16, 42

Varieties of the Horse. See Horse, Varieties

OF the.
Varieties of Horses of Britain, . . . .52
Welsh Ponies, ....... 66

Wild Horses, 11

Wild Horse of the Pampas of South America, . 11
Wild Horses of the Steppes near the batiks of the
Don and Wolga. ...... 11

Zebra, The, 11

Zetland, or Sbeltie Fonj, . . . • . t7

THE STRUCTURE AND ANATOMY OF THE HORSE.

Page

Abdominal Viscera, The, 210

Absorbents, The, 213

Arteries, The, ....... 204

Bladder, The 216

Blood, 'The, and its Circulation, . . , .206
Bone, Appendages of — PejHosteum^ MeduUa (mar-
row). Synovia (joint-oil), Cartilage, Ligament^ . 185
Bone, Components of, ..... 181

Bone, Growth of, 181

Bony Structure of the Horse, Description of the, . 181
Brain and Nerves, Description of the (See also

Sense, Organs of) 194

Capillary Vessels, 205

Cartilages 186

Caudal Bones, 183

Chest, Bones of the, 183

Chest, Viscera of, their Muscles, Membranes, and

Vessels, 204

Chyme and Chyle, 213

Circulation and Respiration, Oroans of, 204-209

Coat, Shedding of the, 193

Digestion, Assimilatioh,and Excbetioh, Or-
gans of, 210-215

Ear, The, and its Construction, .... 200

Ear, Muscles of, 200

Eye, The, and Vision, 196

Eye. Muscles of, 197

Face, Bones of, 182

Foaling, 219

Fore Leg and Foot, Bones of the, . . . 184

Fore Limbs, Muscles of, . . , . , 190

Gestation and Foaling, 218

Hair, Description of the 193

Page

Head, Bones of the, 181

Head and Neck, Mnscles of, .... 188

Hearing, How the Sense of, is excited, . . . 201

Heart, The 204

Hinder Leg, Bones of the, 183

Hinder Limbs, Mnscles of^ 191

Jaw, Bones of, ....;. . 182

" Knnckering," 208

Kidneys, The, 216

Ligaments, ..»•••. 186

Lips, The, 303

Liver, The, 214

Loins, Bones of the, 183

Lnngs, Larynx, Trachea, and Bronchial Tubes, . 207
Mastication and Swallowing ; the Physiology of

Digestion, 211

Medulla (Marrow), 185

Muscles, Description of the, .... 187

Muscular Motion, Voluntary and Involuntary, . 187
Nasal Organs, Physiology of, ... . 200

Neck, Bones of the, 183

Neighing, how produced, ..... 207
Nerves and Brain, Description of the (See also

Sense, Organs of), ..... 194

Nerves, Spinal, ....... 195

Nose, The, its Membranes and Sinuses, . .199

Palate, the, 203

Pancreas, The, 214

Parturition, 219

Pelvis, The, 183

Perception, Explanation of, .... 196

Periosteum (Bone-surronnder), The, . . . 185
Puberty, Time at which the Horse and Mare arrive at, 220

Page

Pulse, The, 205

Renal Capsules, The, 216

Reproduction, Organs of (Male and Female), . 21 7

Respiration, Chemical and Mechanical, . . . 208

Ribs, The 183

Sacrum, Bones of the, 183

Sense, Organs or, 196

Ear, The, and its Construction :— Hearing, . 200
Eye, The, and Vision, ..... 196
Nose, The, its Membranes and Sinuses: —

Smell, 199

Tongue, The, and its Organization: —

Taste, 202

Skeleton, The, 181

Skin and Hair, Description o^ • . . . 192

Sknll, Bones of, 181

Smell, The Sense of, 199

Spinal Nerves, The, 195

Spinal Vertebrae, The, 183

Spleen, The, 214

Sternum, The 183

Stomach, T^e, 210

Synovia (Joint-oil), 186

Tail and Anns, Muscles of, 192

Taste, high Sensibility of the Tongne of the Horse
with respect to, ..... . 202

Tongue, The, and its Organization, . . 202

Trunk, Muscles of the, ..... 190

Urinart Organs, The, 216

Veins and Capillaries, ...... 206

Vision, how it is effected, ..... 199

Vomiting, Structtiral Peculiarity in the Stoaach of
the Horse, which in all Ordinary Cases prevents, 214

INDEX.

Ill

THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

Page

Abscess, Appearance of, 255

Abscess in the Brain, 274

Abscess, Purulent, and its Treatment, . . . 332
Abscess, Serous, and its Treatment, . • . 333

Adhesion, Explanation of, 256

Air Passages, Diseases of the, . . 283-291
Amaurosis (Gutta Serena), . . . . .278

Ancemia, ... .... 295

Anasarca, .....••. 305

Anchjlosis (Stiff and Bent Joint), . . .351

Ascites, 305

Back-sinew, Rupture of the, .... 356

Bandaging and Ponlticing, 369

Barnacles, The, ....... 360

Biliary Calculi, ....... 317

Bladder, Diseases of, . . . . . . 321

Bleeding, and the Instruments used therein. See

Operations, Instrumehtb, &&

Blistering 368

Blood Vessels, Diseases of the, .... 295
Bots, Worms, and Parasitic Animals, Symptoms

and Treatment thereof, .... 306

Bowels, Inflammation, Intus-snsception, &c., of, . 310
Brain, Skull, and Nebvks, Diseabbs and

Injories of, 272-278

Breaking-down (Rupture of Suspensory Ligament), 341
Broken Wind, and its Treatment, . . . 288

Bronchitis, and its Treatment, .... 283
Bronchocele, and its Treatment, .... 290
Bronchotomy ; the Operation described, . . 310

Casting the Horse. See Operations, Iksted-

MENTS, &C

Castration, best Penod for, and Description of the

Operation, ....... 325

Cataract, and its Treatment, .... 280

Catarrh, Congh, Common Cold, Sore Throat, and

the Treatment thereof, ..... 287

Chlorofiirm, Advantage of, in severe Operations, . 360

Choking, 297

Cicatrization, Explanation of, ... . 256

Colic, Flatulent, 304

Colic, Spasmodic, its Symptoms and Treatment, . 302

Congestion, Sanguineous and Serous, . . . 296

Corns, and their Treatment, .... 347

Crib-biting and Wind-sucking, . . . .
Crown Scab and Rat Tails, . . . .

Curb,

Cystitis (InHammation of the Bladder),
Deposition, what it includes, . . . .
Diabetes, and its Treatment, . . . .
Diaphragm, Spasm and Rupture of, .
Diarrhoea, its Causes and Treatment, .
Diseases and their Treatment, Arrangement of.
Diseases, Specific See Specifio Diseases of

THE Horse.

Docking and Nicking,

Dropsy, ....

Dysentery (Molten Grease),

Embryotomy, Observations on,

Enteritis, and its Treatment,

Eye, Diseases of, .

Farcy, and its Treatment, .

Farcy, Water, and its Treatment,

Feet, Lamenesses, &c., of the. See Fork Leos

AND Feet, also Hock, Hind Leos and Feet.

Fetlocks and Pasterns, Injuries, &c, of the. See

Fore Legs and Feet ; also Hock, Hind Legs

AND Feet.

Fever, its Causes and Treatment. See Specific

Diseases of the Hobse.
Firing, ....
Fistulse, ....
Flexor Tendon, Division of the.
Flexor Tendon, Strain of the,
Fore Legs and Feet, Lakenesses,
AND Injuries of the.

The Arm and Elbow, .

The Feet,

The Knee, .

The Leg, .

The Pasterns and Fetlocks,

The Shoulder. .

. 367
. 305
. 311
. 324

. 310

278-280
. 268
. 332

Diseases,

366
333
366
340

336
338
342
338
339
341
386

Page
Galls, SitfastB, and Warbles, . . .331
Gastritis, and Chronic Gastritis, .... 299
Glanders and Farcy, and their Treatment, 261-272
Glanders, Communication of, to the Human Sub-
ject, 266

Glands, Disorders of the 317

Granulation, Explanation of, ... . 256
Grease, and its Treatment, ..... 354
Grogginess, Knuckling, &&, ..... 342

Gutta Serena (Glass Eje), 278

Halter-cast, ....... 356

Harness Galls, ....... 331

Heart, Pericardium, and Blood Vessels,

Diseases of the, 292-296

Haematuria (Bloody Urine), and its Treatment, . 320
Hepatitis (lofiammation of the Liver), and its
Treatment, ....... 316

Hernia, ........ 312

Hidebotmd, ....... 330

Hobbles for Casting the Horse, .... 358

Hock, Hind Legs and Feet, Lamenesses, Dis-
eases, AND Injuries of the, . . . 350
Anchylosis (Stiff and Bent Joint), . . 351

Dislocation of the Patella, .... 350

Fracture of the Patella, . . . .360

Haunch and Stifle, Description of, . . 350

Strain of the " Round-bone," . . . 350
Strain or Injury of the Ligaments of the Stifle,
or Patella, and its Treatment, . . . 360

The Hind Feet 356

The Hind Legs, Pasterns, and Fetlock-joint, . 353

The Hock, 361

Horse, Casting the. See Operations, Instru-
ments, &c.
Horse Medicines and Remedies, Doses, For-
MUL.B, AND Preparations, . . . 221-248

Horse, Slinging the, 369

Hydrocephalus (Water on the Brain), . . . 275
Hydrophobia, or Rabies, ..... 277
Hydrothorax (Water on the Chest), . . . 287
Indigestion, its ordinary Seat, Symptoms, and

Treatment, 300

Induration, Scirrhus, Hepatization, Ossification,

Explanation of the Terms, .... 256
Inflammation, its Causes, Terminations, and Treat-
ment, 263-257

Influenza, its Symptoms and Treatment, . . 259
Instruments, Operations, &c See Operations,
Instruments, &c.

Intestines, Calculi, &c., in, 314

Itch, &c., 328

Janndice, or "Yellows," its Symptoms and Treat-
ment, ... 316

Kidneys, Abscess, Softening, Induration, and En-
largement of the, ...... 319

Kidneys, Inflammation of the (Nephritis), its Causes,
Symptoms, and Treatment, .... 318

Knee, Injuries, &c, of the, ..... 338

Laminitis, 342

Lampas, . . . . . . . .281

Larvae in the Skin, ...... 830

Legs, Diseases, &c, of the. See Fore Legs and
Feet ; also Hock, Hind Leos and Feet.

Lcncorrhaea (Whites), 324

Lice 330

Lithotomy, Case illustrating the Operation of, . 321
Liver, Diseases AND Injuries OF THE, . 315-317
Locked Jaw (Tetanus), its Symptoms and Treat-
ment, ........ 275

tialignunt Epidemic, and its Treatment, . ■ 253
M dlenders and Sallendcrs, . . . 331,353

^'.inge. &c., ....... 328

M kdicines FOB Horses, and Remedies, Doses,

FoRMULJt, AND Preparations, . . 221-248
Megrims, and its Treatment, .... 274

Melanosis, . . 33 1

Metastasis, or sudden Shifting of Inflammation, . 255
'* Moon-blindness," ...... 278

Mortification, Explanation of^ . . . . 257

Mouth and Teeth, Injuries to, ... . 281

Nasal Gleet, 282

Nasal Polypus, . 282

Navicular-joint Disease, 345

Nephritis, 318

Nerves, Diseases of, ..... . 272

Neurotomy, and the Mode of performing the
Operation, ....... 366

Nicking and Docking, .... . 367

Nosology, Systems of rejected, .... 24&

Obstetrics, Observations on, .... 324

(Esophagotomy, How it efaould be performed, . 298

(EsopliaguB, Diseases and Injuries of the (Stricture,

Cbokmg), 29T

Operatio.ns, Instruments, &c.:

Barnacles, The, ..... 36(1
Bleeding, and Instruments used thereiL . 360

Blistering, 368

Bronchotomy, ...... 364

Ca!>ting the Horse, .... 358

Chloroform, 360

Firing, 366

Flexor Tendon, Division of the, . . 366

Hobbles, The, 358

Lithotomy, 321

Neurotomy, and the Mode of performing the

Operation, 365

Nicking and Docking, 3C7

(Esophagotomy, ...... 298

Periosteotomy, 364

Poulticing and Bandaging, .... 3t9

Rowels and Setons, 363

Side Lines, Single and Double, . . . 359

Slinging the Horse 369

Tracheotomy, ...... 364

Travis, The 359

Twitch, The 360

Ophthalmia, Simple and Specific, and the Treatment

thereof, 278

Palate, &c , Diseases of the, . . 280

Paralysis, and its Treatment, .... 275
Pasterns and Fetlocks, Diseases, &c., of the. iiee
Fore Legs and Febt ; also Hock, Hind Legs
AND Feet.
Patella, Dislocation and Fracture of the, . 360

Pericardium, Diseases of the, . . . 293

Periosteotomy, for the Reduction of Splints and

Ringbone 364

Peritoneum and Intestines, Diseases and

Injuries OF THE, .... 310-314
Pharynx, Disorders of the, ..... 282
Phlebitis, its Symptoms and Treatment, . . 294
Phrenitis (Inflammation of the Brain), Staggers. . 273
Phymosis and Paraphymosis, .... 323
Plethora and Ansemia, ..... 295
Pleuritis (Pleurisy), and its Treatment, . . 284
Pneumonia, (Inflammation of the Lungs), its Symp-
toms and Treatment, ..... 284
Poulticing and Bandaging, ..... 369

Prurigo, &c., 328

Putrid Fever, and its Treatment, . . 253

Quitter, and its Treatment, .... 345

Rabies, or Hydrophobia, ..... 277

" Red Colic," 310

Reproductive Organs, Diseases asd Injuries

OF THE, 323-328

Resolution, Signification of, .... 256

Ringbone, ........ 341

Ringworm, and its Treatment, .... 329

Rou-ing, and its Treatment, .... 288

Rowels and Setons, 363

Sand-crack, &c. ..... 344

Shoeing, and the Vabious Forms op

Shoes 370-376

Shoulder, Lamenesses, &c., of the, . 336

Side Lines. Single and Double, . 359

Sitfasts, Warbles, and Galls, .... 331
Skin, Diseases and Injikies of the, . 328-335

Sknll, Fracture of, 272

Slinging the Horse, . . . ... . 359

Sore Throat, 287

Spasms, ........ 278

Spavin, 362

Specific Diseases of the Horse :

Fever, its Causes and Treatment, . . 261

Glanders and Farcy, ..... 261
Inflammation, Causes and rarions Beeulti of. Hit

IV

INDEX,

Page
SpEcmo D1SEASE8 OF THE HoBSE — Continued.

Inflaenza, Epizootic or Catarrbkl Fever, its
Symptoms and Treatment, . . . 259
Speedy-cut, Overreach, ..... 341
Spleen and Glands, Diseases, and Injuries

OF the, 317

Splints, and their Treatment, .... 339

Staggers (Sleepy and Mad) and its Treatment, . 273
Staggers, Stomach, ...... 299

Stomach, Diseases and Injdbies of the, 299-310
Strangles, and its Symptoms and Treatment, . 290

Stringhalt, 277

Snpparation, Explanation of, ... . 255
Surfeit, and its Treatment, . . , 327

Symptomatic Fever, and its Treatment, ■ . 253

Page
Teeth, Palate, Tongue, Nostrils, and

Phaktnx, Diseases and Injuries of the, 280-283
Tetanus (Locked Jaw), its Symptoms and Treat-
ment 275

Thick Wind, and its Treatment, . . . .288

Thorough-pin, 353

Tongue, Injuries to, ..... 281

Tracheotomy, Mode of performing the operation, . 364

Travis, The, 359

Tread, ... .... 357

Twitch, The, 360

Tympany, 312

Typhns Fever, and its Treatment, . . . 253

Ulceration 253, 333

Urethritis (Inflammation of the Urethra), . . 323
Urinary Organs, Diseases and Injuries of, 818

Poge
Vaginitis snd Lencorrhoea (Whites), . . . 424
Vertigo (Megrims), and its Treatment, . . 274

Veterinary Art, Revival of, 249

Warbles, Sitfasts, and Galls 331

Warts, 331

Warts on the Eyelids 280

Water Farcy, and its Treatment, .... 332
Water on the Chest (Hydrothoras), . . . 287

" Watery Eye," 280

Weed, 855

Weights and Measures, with their Abbreviations, . 248

Windgalls, 296, 356

Worms, Bots, and Parasitic Animals, Symptoms

and Treatment thereof, 306

" Yellows" or Janndice, its Symptoms and Treat-
ment, ........ 316

MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE, SHEEP, ETC.

CATTLE, THEIR MANAGEMENT IN DAIRY,

FIELD, AND STALL.

Page
Age of Cow, Indications of, .... 411
Alderney, Points of Merit in an, . . . 404

Apoplexy, Parturient, . ... 417

Ayrshire Cow, M ilking Capabilities of , . .401

Bag or Udder, The, 406

Breeding Purposes, Selection of Cows for, . . 405

Breeds, Description of the Various, . . . 401

" Channel Island, ..... 404

" English, 402

" Hereford, 402

" Irish, 401

" Scotch, 401

" Welsh, 401

Breeds of Cattle and their Merits, . . .401

Buying Cattle, . 407

Calf, The, . .... 420

Fattening of, 422

Food for, 421

Great Care required first Fortnight, . . 420
Rearing of, . . . . . .422

Treatment of 420

" at Birth, . . . .421

Cattle, Breeds of, and their Merits, . . .401

Alderney, ....... 404

Ayrshire Cow, 408

Channel Islands, ..... 404

Cottar's Cow, 410

Dairy Cow, 417

Dairyman's Cow, ..... 407

Durham, 402

English Breeds, 402

Flemish Cow, 408

Gentleman's Cow, 404

Hereford, 402

Kerry, 411

Kerry Cow, 402

London Cow, 408

Longhoms, 403

Normandy Cow, 408

Pembrokes, 410

Scotch, 401

Shorthorn Bull, ...... 415

Shorthorns, 402

Suffolk Dun, 404

Welsh, 410

Cattle Raising, ....... 427

Cost of carrying Store, .... 428

Fattening in the Field, .... 429

" " Sheds 431

" Stall, . . . .430

Food, Feeding, ..... 432

Channel Island Breeds, 404

" Cow, 408

Cottar's Cow, 4IO

Cow, Age of, 411

" Care in Drying her of Milk, . . .419
" Constitution of the, ..... 409

Cow, Poor Blan's, ....
" Purchasing a, .
" Selection of, for Breeding purposes,
" What constitutes good qualities of,
Cow and Calf, Prize, .
Cowshed Drainage, .
" Ventilation,
Cravens, ....
Dairy, The,

Butter Worker, .

Cleanliness necessary.

Construction,

Creamer, .

Herd Recorder, The, .

Refrigerator,

Separator, .

Situation, .
Dairy Cow, Disposing of the,

" Food for,

" True Specimen of, .

Dentition of the Ox, .
Drainage of the Cowshed, .
Fattening in the Stall,
Feedingj Stall, ....
Food for Dairy Cows,
Food, Maunre produced by Varieties of.
Food-preparing Machinery,
Gestation, ....

Frights or Bad Smells to be avoided,

Nutritious Food necessary, .

Pure Water essential-
Quiet Field best .Lj

Spring Water to be avoided.

Treatment during.
Glands, Good Constitution of,
Grazing, .....
Heifers, Choosing,

Defects to be guarded agdnst,

Points in Purchasing,

Where to buy, .
Horns, Means of determining Age,
Macbinei7 for preparing Food, .
Mammary Glands,

Manure produced by Varieties of Food,
Milk, Constituent Elements of, .
" Veins, ....
Milking Cows, ....

" Kindness required in,

" Signs of Good,

North and South Wales Cow,
Ox, Dentition of the.
Parturition, ....

" Treatment during, .

" " of an aged Cow,

Shorthorn Cow, Points of Merit, .
Suffolk Dun, ....
Table showing the Milking Capabilities

shire Cow, . . ' .
Teeth, Means of determining Age,
Touch, The, in buying Cattle, .

of the

Ayr-

Page
. 410
. 413
. 405
. 402
. 421
. 431
. 431
. 403
. 423
. 426
. 423
. 423
. 425
. 426
. 424
. 424
. 423
. 420
. 417
. 409
. 412
. 431
. 430
. 420
. 417
. 418
. 431
. 414
. 416
. 416
. 416
. 415
. 416
. 414
. 406
. 429
. 413
, 413
. 413
. 414
. 411
. 431
, 411
. 418
. 419
. 406
. 419
. 419
. 417
, 402
. 412
. 416
. 416
. 417
. 402
, 404

401
411

407

Page

Udder, The, 406

Ventilation of the Cowshed, .... 431
Wrinkles on Horns indicative of Age, . . .411

PASTURE GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.

Agrostis alba, .
" dispar,
" stolon if era, .
" vulgaris, .
Aira ccespitosa,
" flexnosa .
Alopecams pratensis,
Annual Meadow Grass,
Anthosanthum odoratnm,
Anthyllis vulneraria, .
Arrhenathernm avenacenm
Avena ejatior, ,

" flavescens.
Bent Grass, Fine,
Black Grass, Seed of the,
Broad Clover, .
Brome Grass, Schroeder's,

" Grasses,
Bromus ar\*ensis,

" erectns,

" inermis,

" mollis. Seed of,

" pratensis,

" secniinus. Seed of,
Broom Rape, Lesser and Greater,
Bull Snout,
Canary Grass, .
Clover, Dodder, .
Clovers, the AJsike, .
Common Yellow,
Marl or Cowgrass,
Red, .

White or Dutch,
Cocksfoot,

Compositions of the most Important Grasses,
Cow-grass, Single cut.
Creeping Bent, .

" Rooted Meadow-
Crested Dogtail,
Crimson Clover,
Cuscuta trifolii,
Cynosurus cristatns, .
Dactylis glomerata, .
Dodder, Clover,
Dogbtail, Crested,
Dutch Clover, .
Ergot and Ergotism,
Fescues, .
Festuca bromoides, .

" calamaria,

" duriuscula, .

" elatior,

" erecta.

grass.

447
448

447
448
445
445
442
460
443
467
443
443
444
448
443
462
446
444
44£

. 44£

. 44f

. 445

, 445

. 445

. 441

, 437

461

. 441

, 462

. 465

. 463

. 462

464

. 448

471

463

447

451

446

468

441

446

448

441

446

464

439

449

463

460

449

451

445

INDEX.

V

Page

Page

Page

Festnca heterophylla, 450

Sinapis,

. 468

Fat Lambs, Rearing Early, . , . .607

" loliacea,

. 453

Smooth-stalked Meadow Grass, .

. 459

Feeding in Yards,

. 609

" ovina tenuifolia, .

. 450

Soft Brome Grass, Seed of, . <

. 445

Feeding Sheep, Implements used in,

. 499

" pratensis,

. 451

Sorghum halapeuse, . . . •

. 470

Flock Marks, ....

. 521

rubra, .

. 451

" vulgare, . . . .

. 470

Folds, Sheep, ....

. 600

" sciuroides, .

. 453

Spike of Rye-grass with the Spurs,

. 440

Food and Feeding of Sheep,

. 490

Fiorin or Creeping Bent, .

. 447

Spiked Meadow Grass,

. 453

" Analysis of RestUta of Feeding,

. 497

Forage Plants,

. 465

Sugar Corn or Sugar Grass,

. 470

" Beans and Hay,

. 497

Furze, ....

. 4fi8

Sweet Vernal,

. 443

" Comparative results,

. 497

Galega officinalis,

. 406

Symphytum asperr'imum, .

. 406

'* Different kinds of, .

. 492

Glyceria aqnatica,

. 4(iO

Table showing Seeds Weeds are capable

of produc-

" Experiments, .

. 497

" distans.

. 461

ing in one Season, . . . .

. 438

" Green Crops, .

. 496

Goat's Rue,

. 466

Tore, Common, . . . .

. 468

" Hay

. 493

Gorse, Whin, or Furze,

. 468

Timothy Grass, . . . .

. 457

" High Feeding, .

. 497

Grasses, The, .

. 442

Trifolium hybridnm, . . . .

. 463

" Low Feeding, .

. 497

" Chemical Analysis of,

. 471

*' incarnatum, . .

. 468

" Oats and Hay,

. 497

Green Bristle Grass, .

. 461

" medium.

. 463

" Pease and Hay,

. 497

Guinea Grass, .

. 472

" pratense perenne.

. 462

" Roots, ....

. 493

Hair Grass, Soft,

. 445

" repens, . . . .

. 404

" Silage, ....

. 493

" Wavy Mountain,

. 445

Trisetum flavescens, . . . .

. 444

" Straw, ....

. 493

" Hassock or Tufted,

. 445

Ulex europjeus, . . . .

. 408

" Table of Results of Feeding,

. 497

Hassock Grass,,

. 437

Various-leaved Meadow Grass, .

. 450

Food equivalents of 10 lbs. of Hay,

. 638

Haymaking, Some Points in,

. 472

Vetch or Tare, Common, .

. 468

Foods, Composition of.

. 537

Herd Grass,

. 448

Vicia sativa.

. 468

Grazings, Hill, .

. 510

Uolcus avenaceus,

. 443

Weeds, Creeping,

. 436

Herding, Hill, .

. 513

" lanatus,

. 453

Deep-rooted, . . . .

. 436

Hill Farm, Time to enter a.

. 511

Indian Corn,

. 470

Flat or Prostrate Weeds, .

. 436

" Farming, .

. 510

Lolium italicum,

. 453

Running, . . . .

. 436

" Herding, .

. 613

*' perenne,

. 454

Water Meadow Grass, . . •

. 460

" Sheep, Wintering,

. 614

Lucern, ....

. 465

Whin,

. 458

" " Storms iiurtfvil to,

. 516

Maize or Indian Corn,

. 470

Wood Meadow Grass,

. 459

Hoggets, Wintering and Fattenii

gi

. 608

Meadow Fescues — Tall Meadow,

. 451

Yellow Clover, Common, .

. 470

Judging Show Sheep,

. 528

Meadow, .

. 452

Zea mays,

. 473

Keel Marking, .

. 622

Squirrel Tailed, .
Yorkshire Fox, .

. 453

Lambs, Management of,

. 505

. 453

" Rearing Early Fat,

. 507

Meadow Foxtail,

Meadow Grasses, Flat-stemmed,

. 442
. 460

ENSILAGE.

Lambing Fold, The, .
" on the Hill,

. 503
. 512

Reflexed, .

. 461

American System, . . . .

. 473

Marking Sheep,

. 521

Water,

. 460

Analysis of Grass and Ensilage made fr

omit, . 476

Maturity, Eaily,

. 498

Wood, .

. 459

Brick-lined Silo, . . . .

. 473

Milking Ewes, .

. 529

Wood Reed,

. 460

Chain and Screw System, .

. 473

" in Iceland, .

. 530

Meadow Soft Grass, . .

. 453

Conference held at New York, .

. 476

" at Roquefort,

. 630

Medicago lupulina, .

. 465

Different forms of Construction,

. 473, 474

Mountain Breeds,

. 613

Medicago saliva, . ,

. 465

Ensilage Commission, Preliminary Rep

>rt, . . 477

Names of Sheep,

486

Melica ccerulea,

. 456

" Final Report, .

. 478

Pedigree, Canadian Plan of recor

ding,

522

Melic Grass, Blue,

. 456

Goffart on the Subject,

. 476

Pedigree Mark, .

. 621

MUIet, ....

. 461

Johnston's System of Pressure, .

. 475

Rams, Breeding,

. 523

Molinia ccerulea.

. 456

Lawes, Sir John, on the System,

. 476

" How to choose.

. 524

Mustard, ....

. 468

Lever System, . . . , .

. 475

Price, .

. 625

Oat Grass, Yellow or Golden,

. 444

Mechanical Means of Pressure, .

. 473

Scoring Numerals, .

. 623

Tall,

. 443

Pit System,

. 473

Eskdale,

. 523

Onobrychis sativa,

. 469

Silage Stack,

. 474

" Knaresborongl

. 523

Ornithorpus sativa, .

. 467

Silos and Stacks, . . . .

. 473

" Middleton,

. 523

Orobanche elatior.

. 441

System of in France,

. 473

" Nidderdale,

. 523

" minor.

. 441

" Hungary,

. 473

Shearing and Trimming of Show

Shee]

. 528

Ox-eyed Daisy, .

. 437

" Russia,

. 473

Sheep,

. 518

Panicum jumentorum.

. 470

Temperatures for Silos,

. 473

" " ty Machinery,

. 520

" miliaceum, .

. 461

Weights for Compressing. - .

. 473

Sheep, as Fertilizers, .

. 500

viride.

. 461

" Digestive Powers of.

. 637

Perennial Grass, Seed of, .

. 452

" Folding, Implements used

in.

. 6oa

Phalai'is arundinacea,
Phleum pratense.

. 461

. 457

THE PRACTICE OF SHEEP I

'ARMING.

" for Market, Preparing,
" for Show, Preparing,

. 529
. 626

Poa aqnatica.

. 460

Age Mark,

. 521

" Lands, ....

. 488

" annua.

. 460

Age Mark of Ewe Stock, .

. 522

" Scoring Numerals, .

. 523

" compressa, .

. 460

Arable Land, Sheep on, .

. 601

" Shearing,

. 618

" distans,

. 461

Breeding Rams, . . . .

. 523

" Weight of Fat,

. 638

" nemoralis, . ,

. 459

Breeding Stock Sheep, Selection of.

. 486

Sheep Sortings, ....

. 516

" pratensis, ,

. 459

Breeds of Sheep, ....

. 483

Australian system,

. 618

" sylvatica, .

. 460

Down,

. 483

Buisting, ....

. 522

" trivialis.

. 468

Hampshire Down,

. 484

Castrating and Docking,

. 621

Prickly Comfrey,

. 466

Lowland,

. 483

Dipping, .

. 520

Reed Canary Grass, .

. 461

Mountain,

. 483

Keel Mark,

. 522

Rough-stalked Meadow Grass,

. 458

Shropshire, ....

. 484

Marking, ....

. 621

Rye, Common, ....

. 464

Upland,

. 483

Pool washing, .

. 517

Rye-gi-ass, Italian,

. 453

Buisting, .....

. 522

Scoring Numerals,

. 523

" Perennial,

. 454

Castrating Sheep, ....

. 621

Shearing, ....

. 518

Sainfoin, Common, .

. 469

Dentition, . ,

. 486

Tub washing.

. 617

Secale cereale, .

. 469

Incisors and Molars at vfj-ions Sta

ges, . 486

Washing

. 616

Seed Adulteration Act,

. 439

Dipping, Receipts for.

. 620

Show Sheep, Feeding,

. 626

" Sale of Impure,

. 437

" Trough fc:, ....

. 621

" Judging,

. 628

" To judge, .

. 470

Docking Sheep,

. 621

" Preparing,

. 525

Serradella,

. 467

Ear Marks,

. 521

" Selecting,

. 626

Setaria viridis, .

. 461

Ewe Milking, .....

. 529

" Shearing and Trimming, .

. 628

Sheeps Fescues, Hard,

. 449

Ewes and Lambs, Management of.

. 505

Stocking, System of, on Arable Lands,

489

Fine-leaved,

. 450

Ewes, Autumn, "

. 601

" on Hill Farms, .

. 490

Red

. 461

" Winter, "

. 602

Table of Albuminoid Ratio,

. 537

VI

INDEX.

Page

Table of Composition of Foods, . , . 537

" Digestive Powers of Sheep, . . . 537

" Food Eqaivalents of 10 lbs. of Hay, . 533

" Proportions of Ingredients digested by

Sheep or Cattle, .... 537

" Weight of Fat Sheep, .... 538

Washing Sheep, 5I6

Pool, 517

Tnb,. . 617

Weaning, .....

Weight of Fat Sheep,

Winter feeding Hill Sheep,

Wool Growing, ....
" Differences in Qnality,

" Food for promoting,

" " Kempy," .

" Soil best for,

" Table of Clip of, .

Page

. 508

, 638

. 515

. 530

531

. 631

532

531

532

THE COLLIE.

Origin of, .
Performance of.
Point* in a Good,
Symmetry,
Training the Pup,
True Type of, .
Well-trained, .

Page
. 634
. 635
, 635
. 634
, 636
. 634
. 636

DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, AND PIGS.

DISEASES OF CATTLE.

Abortion, .

Treatment,
After-birth, The,
Age of the Ox as indicated by his Teeth,
Anaemia, .....
Angle-beiTies, ....
Anthras, .....
Bite of Venomous Reptiles,
Black Leg, ....
" Quarter, ....

Treatment,
Black Water, ....
Blown, .....
Brain, Inflammation of the,

Bull-burnt

Calculi, Casual,
*' Intestinal,
" in the Ureters,
" Stomachical, .
Calves, Costiveness of,

DiarrhcEa or Dysentery,

Diseases incidental to Young,

Hoose, ....

How to extract when the Calf
itself in a Wrong Position,

Metliod of Trealing the Naval
extraction of.
Cattle Plague, The,
Colic,

Concretions, Calculoi €
Cow-pox,
Diarrhoea,
Epizootic Cold,
Eprosthotonos, .
Fellon, .

" Joint, .
Fever, llilk,
" Puerperal,
" Splenic, .
Fog Sickness, .

Treatment,
Food, Prehension of,
Foot and lloutli Disease,

Treatment,
Foot, The Foul in the,
Fordel, Bound, .
Gripes,
Hove,

Infiammation, .
Influenza,
Intestinal Calculi,
Jaundice, .
Joint Fellon,
Joints, Strains of the,
" Wounds of the,
Kidneys, Inflammation of the.
Liver, Inflammation ol the.
Locked Jaw,

Lungs, Inflammation of the.
Mange, ....

String

presents

Page
. 16
. 16
. 18
59,64
. 3
. 20
. 13
25
10
10
. 11
. 9
. 14
. 10
. 21
. 96
. 96
. 96
. 95
. 24
. 24
. 23
. 24

after

23
26
15
95
20
11

4
23

4
19
16
16
13
14
14
59

9
23
14
15

14
1
4

96

19
22
22
12
12
22
5
21

Milk Fever,

Treatment,
Milk, to dry a Cow of her.
Mouth, The, .
Opisthotonos, .
Pad, the Dental,
Phrenitis,

Placenta, Retention of the.
Plethora,
Pleuro-pneumonia, .

Post-mortem Appearances,
Preventive Measures, .
Symptoms,

Treatment, , .

Pleurosthotonos, . ,
Pneumonia,

Poisons, ....
Prolapsus nteri, .

Puerperal Fever,
Quarter Evil, . . ,
Red Water,

Rheumatism, . , ,
Symptoms,
Treatment,
Rinderpest,

Post-mortem Appearances,
Treatment,

*' in Odessa,

" in Ragnsa,

Rapidity of Repair in Diseased Tissues,
Slinking, ....
Splenic Fever, .
Staggers, ....
Treatment, . ,

Stomachical Calculi, .
Teats, Sore,

Treatment,
Teeth, The,

Development of the,
" Eruption of Temporary,
" Formation of the Hard Tissues,
" Permanent,
Tooth Structure,
Trismus, ....
Udder, Inflammation of the,

Treatment,
Ureters, Calculi in the,
Urinary Calculi,
Vertigo, ....
Warbles, ....
Wounds, ....

Treatment,
Yellows, The, .

DISEASES OF SHEEP.

Age of the Sheep as indicated by her Teeth,
Blindness, ......

Cleavage in the Upper Lip,

Diai-rhoea, ......

Eye, Diseases of the, . . ,

fage

Pase

16

Eye, Treatment, 41

16

Fly, The, on Sheep, .

. 38

20

Foot Halt, The,

. 39

59

Foot Rot,

. 39

23

Treatment,

. 40

69

Giddy,

. 40

10

Goggles,

. 40

18

Lambing Season, The,

. 33

3

Lambs, Diseases of Young,

. 34

ti

Treatment,

. 34

7

Lice and Ticks,

. 38

7

Maggots on Sheep, .

. 38

6

Ovina variola, ....

. 41

/

Red Water

. 34

23

Treatment,

. 34

5

Eot, The,

. 35

25

Treatment,

. 36

18

Scab, The, ....

. 36

16

Treatment,

. 36

10

Scour, The

. 40

9

Sheep-dipping Mixtures, .

. 37

19

Directions for using, . .

. 37

19

Small Pox in Sheep, .

. 41

20

History of its Extension,

. 46

26

History of the Treatment, .

. 49

28

Inoculation,

. 61

29

Mode of Inoculating, .

. 61

31

Origin of, .

. 43

31

Report of the Wiltshire Mutual Association, 56

33

Selectionand Preservation of Variolous Lymph, 52

16

Vaccination, a preventative of Small-pox, . 50

13

Sore Head, 38

14

Sturdy in Sheep,

. 40

16

Ticks,

. 38

95

Turnsick, ....

. 40

20

Udder of Ewes, Inflammation in the.

. 39

20

60

61

DISEASES OF PIGS.

64

Age of the Pig as indicated by his Teeth, , . 71

62

Apoplexy, ......

89

64

Breeding, ......

81

bO

Diseases incident to, .

89

22

Fattening, Time for, ....

79

18

Feeding and Fattening,

78

19

Food for Pigs, .

76

96

Dairy Refnse,

76

96

from Starch Manufactories,

76

14

Grain, .....

77

20

Roots and Vegetables,

21

Measles, ......

89

22

Parents, Choice of, .

85

6

Parturition,

Piggeries, Construction of.

Single and Double,

Troughs,

Yards,

87
73
75
74
74

68

Qm'nsy, ......

95

41

Rearing, ......

84

64

Sore Throat, Malignant,

95

40

Sows and their Sucklings, Treatment of.

88

41

Strangles,

.

96