296 Food, 



to the general rule, where the stomach has lost its powers, and yet, a 

 sort of false or depraved appetite, will, exhibit itself under dis- 

 ease, so that a Horse shall eat voraciously for some time before he 

 dies ; and this is more especially the case in those instances where 

 delirium comes on, for, then, it is by no means unusual, for the ani- 

 mal to die in the act of eating. But, in all these cases, vinegar is 

 found in great abundance in the stomach, which is commonly 

 found to be enormously distended, the food having undergone but 

 little change, and not exhibiting the smallest appearance of being 

 converted into chyme. So that taking all these circumstances into 

 account, I think I am justified in attributing a great part of the 

 success of Veterinary surgeons, in their treatment of the diseases of 

 Horses, to their passiveness with regard to the drenching system. 



I might strengthen the foregoing remarks by analogical reasoning, 



(which I am not over-fond of having recourse to) for, it is a fact 



pretty well known, and will be readily admitted by all medical men, 



that the violent flatulences and acid eructations which human invalids 



often experience, who have weak digestive powers, are the effects of 



fermentation which takes place in the stomach, solely in consequence 



of its diseased actions and diminished energy. Again, in the 



disease called the Hove in cattle, fermentation proceeds with immense 



rapidity, from sudden and over-distention of the stomach with green 



food, and so much air is speedily generated, that if an exit be not 



made for it, the organ bursts, and the animal dies. In these cases it 



is true, no acetous acid is formed, because there is not time for its 



development in the stomach. It is by no means absolutely necessary, 



however, for the food (as in the case of the Hove in cattle) to be of a 



green or succulent nature, in order to run rapidly into fermentation. 



