HIDE-BOUND. 371 



slow growth or decrease of" the body, and appears equally to fit, whether 

 ihe horse is in the plumpest condition or reduced to a skeleton, but when 

 a portion of it is distended to an extraordinary degree in the most powenul 

 action of the muscles, it in a moment again contracts to its usual dimen* 

 sions. It is principally indebted for this elasticity to almost innumerable 

 little glands which pour out an oily fluid that softens and supples it. 

 When the horse is in health, and every organ discharges its proper func- 

 tions, a certain quantity of this unctuous matter is spread over the surface 

 of the skin, and is contained in all the pores that penetrate its substance, 

 and the skin is pliable, easily raised from the texture beneath, easily doubled 

 between the finger and thumb, and presenting that peculiar yielding soilness 

 and elasticity which experience has proved are the best proofs of the condi- 

 tion, that is, the general health of the animal. Then, too, from the oiliness and 

 softness of the skin, the hair lies in its natural and proper direction, and is 

 smooth and glossy — another proof of the condition of the horse. When 

 the system is deranged, and especially the digestive system, and the vessels 

 concerned in the nourishment of the animal cease to act, or act feebly, the 

 vessels of the skin immediately, and to a very marked degree, sympathize; 

 and this oily secretion is no more thrown out, and the skin loses its pliancy; 

 and it is difficult or almost impossible to take it up between the finger anc 

 thumb, and losing its pliancy, it seems seems to cling to the animal, and we 

 have that peculiar feeling which we call 



HIDE-BOUND. 



Hide-bound is not so much a diminution of the cellular or fatty sub 

 stance between the skin and the muscles and bones beneath, as it is an 

 alteration in the skin itself. It is a hardness and unyieldingness of the 

 skin from the want of the oily matter on its surface, and in its substance, 

 which has just been mentioned. It is precisely the ditTerence which is 

 presented to the feeling by well-curried and supple leather, and that which 

 has become dry and unyielding. 



The surface of the skin becoming dry and hard, the scales of the 

 cuticle no longer yield to the hair, but, separating themselves in every 

 direction, turn the hair various ways, and give that staring coat or irregu- 

 lar direction of the hair which accompanies the want of condition. This 

 state of the skin, by proving the impaired functions of the vessels of the 

 skin, shows the impaired function of the vessels every where, and particu- 

 larly those of the stomach and bowels. The horseman should remember 

 that hide-bound is not so much a disease as a symptom of disease, and 

 particularly of the digestive organs; and our remedies must be applied not 

 so much to the skin, (although we have, in friction and in warmth, most 

 valuable agents in producing a healthy condition of the integuments,) 

 as to the cause of the binding of the coat and the state of the constitution 

 generally. Every disease that can affect the general system is likely to 

 produce this derangement of the functions of the skin. Glanders, when 

 become constitutional, is strongly characterized by the unthrifty appear- 

 ance of the coat. Chronic cough, grease, farcy, and founder, are accom- 

 oanied by hide-bound; and diet too sparing, and not adequate to the work 

 exacted, is an unfailing source of it. If tlie cause be removed, the effect 

 will cease. 



Should the cause be obscure, as it frequently is — should the horse 

 wear an unthrifty coat, and his hide cling to his ribs, without any apnaren: 

 disease — we shall be warranted in tracing it to sympathy with the a6tual, 

 although not demonstrable suspension of some important secretion, and, we 



