THE LIPS. 131 



.attei, made into a ball with linseed meal should be given, and green meat 

 or carrots, when circumstances will permit.* 



In the species of farcy attended with enormous swelling, it will be prudent 

 to bleed moderately as well as to physic. The iron will not be necessary, 

 but the same alterative medicine will be useful, and the leg should be 

 frequently fomented with warm water. In both cases, although the air 

 should be fresh and cool, the horse should be warmly clothed. 



The Water Farcy, confounded by name with the common farcy, and by 

 which much confusion has been caused, and a great deal of mischief done 

 is a dropsical affection of the skin, either of the chest or the limbs generally, 

 and belongs to another part of our subject. 



A tumour termed a Polypus sometimes occupies one of the nostrils. 

 It will grow to a very large size, obstructing the breathing, and sadly 

 annoying the horse. As this can only be removed by an operation, which 

 a veterinary surgeon alone is competent to perform, we do not describe it 

 particularly. 



THE LIPS. 



The Jips of the horse are far more important organs than many suppose. 

 They are in a manner, the hands of the horse ; and if any one will take the 

 trouble to observe the manner in which he gathers up his corn with them, 

 and collects together the grass before he divides it with his nippers, he will 

 be satisfied that the horse would be no more able to convey the food to his 

 mouth whhout them, than the human being could without his hands. 

 This has even been put to the test of experiment. The nerves which sup- 

 ply the lips were divided in a poor ass, to illustrate some point of physio- 

 logy. The sensibility of the lips was lost, aud he knew not when he 

 touched his food with them ; the motion of the lips was lost, and he 

 could not get the oats between his teeth, although the manger was full of 

 them ; at length, driven by hunger, he contrived to lick up a few of 

 them with his tongue, but when they were on his tongue, the greater part 

 of them were rubbed off before he could get them into his mouth. It is on 

 account of this use of the lips, that the faces of all quadrupeds are so 

 lengthened, that the lips may be brought into contact with the food, without 

 inconvenience or injury to other parts of the face. Several muscles go to 

 the lips from different parts of the jaw and face. Some of them are shown 

 in the cut, p. 119. The orbicularis or circular muscle, p, employed in 

 pushing out the lips, and closing them, and enabling the horse to seize and 

 hold his food, is particularly evident ; and in our explanation of the cut, 

 the action of other muscles, i, k, m, and o, was described. The nerves 

 likewise, y, taking their course along the cheek, and principally supplying 

 the lips with the power of motion, and those, z, proceeding from the foramen 

 or hole in the upper jaw, deserve attention. 



The lips are composed of muscles for the sake of strength, and of a mul- 

 titude of small glands, which secrete a fluid that covers the inside of the lipa 

 and the gums, in order to prevent friction, and likewise furnishes a por- 

 tion of the moisture so necessary for the proper chewing of the food. The 

 skin covering the lips is very thin, because, if these are the hands of the 

 horse, they should possess considerable feeling ; and for the same purpose 



♦ The Old farriers had a strangle and barbarous way of attempting- to cure the farcy 

 Thay mixed together a variety of stimulating- drugs, and sewed them in the horse's ear 

 and set him to bard -work on straw and water. 



