STUD BOOK. 85 



muscular and nervous system will interfere to restrain such 

 aggressions in future. The more we scrutinize the elaborate 

 and beautiful works of nature, the more we must admire the 

 wonderful order by which they are regulated. If one portion 

 of the animal frame in its influence over another subdues, 

 distresses, or injures it, some superior faculty interposes to 

 keep the machinery in order. Thus, in the event of extreme 

 exhaustion, the muscular powers of the animal having been 

 set in motion by the brain and nervous system, man in his 

 ignorance, by over-exciting the nervous system, causes the 

 muscles to be excited beyond the limits of convenience and 

 reason. The brain and nervous system participate in this, 

 being the primary agent acted upon, and in its turn acting 

 upon the body, of which it forms a part, on a future occasion 

 declines to exert itself; in a word, the generous temper and 

 high courage which previously adorned the victim is dispirited 

 and broken. If, however, the nervous system be more highly 

 gifted, so that it overcomes the muscular powers, the poor 

 creature becomes emaciated and weak, losing its condition 

 sometimes without an apparent cause. 



The great difference which is on most occasions apparent 

 in the condition of the stud-horse, and the brood mares, 

 requires a passing comment. The former is generally in the 

 highest state of excitement, his spirits bounding with gay 

 delight, so that he can hardly be restrained within moderate 

 subjection to the control of his attendant. This is the result 

 of high keep and the natural temperament of the animal 

 But how different the appearance of the poor mare she is 

 comparatively in woeful plight she is seldom seen bounding 

 in playful or joyous mood, but is seemingly contemplating, 

 with careworn anxiety, the troubles of a matron. To some 

 extent this is a state natural to the pregnant female, but in 

 many instances it is increased by the quality of the food, 

 which principally consists of grass. The keep of horses and 

 mares requires to be more nearly assimilated in order to 

 render more certain the state of pregnancy, and more perfect 

 the condition of the foetus. Part of the food which the mare 

 consumes is destined to afford nourishment to her embryo 

 offspring, and like herself, it will have imparted to it some of 

 the properties of that food; it is therefore most important 

 that the nutriment which she receives should be of that kind 

 which is calculated to establish a vigorous constitution. 



The judicious selection of proper crosses is one of the most 

 momentous considerations connected with the management of 

 a breeding stud. An intimate acquaintance with the proper- 



