156 ON THE STABLK. 



where I have had opportunities of examining 

 horses which have died of tlie stagger?, I liave 

 uniformly found the stomach distended with a 

 large quantity of dry undigested food. But as 

 it may appear extraordinary that this should oc- 

 cur to many horses in the same stable, it will be 

 necessary to assign some additional data to 

 strengthen this theory. The following are the 

 most prominent: If a carrier, or a proprietor of 

 post-horses, loses a horse in this way, it must fol- 

 low, that if he is not immediately replaced by 

 another horse, the rest must have their labour 

 proportionably increased. Hence debility fol- 

 lows increased fatigue, the digestion becomes 

 weakened, and the remainder may die succes- 

 sively in the same manner, without any infec- 

 tion whatever. It also frequently happens, that 

 if one horse in a stable dies of the staggers, the 

 same disease is attributed to all the rest which 

 die at the same time, although their deatlis 

 might have been occasioned by a very dif- 

 ferent disorder. Therefore proprietors of wag- 



