PROF. VARNELI/S VIEWS. 163 



Prof. George Varnell, of the Royal Veterinary Col- 

 lege of London, the author of a series of articles "On 



substitute for grass, and in sick or idle horses render corn un- 

 necessary. They improve the state of the skin. At first they 

 are slightly diuretic and laxative, but the effect lessens with use. 

 Half a bushel is a large daily allowance. Swedish turnips and 

 raw potatoes are useful foods. Raw potatoes, sliced and mixed 

 with chaff, may be given to advantage, but it is better to boil or 

 steam them, as purging rarely ensues. For horses recovering 

 from sickness, barley in the form of malt is serviceable as tempt- 

 ing the appetite and recruiting the strength. It is best given 

 in mashes, water somewhat below the boiling heat being poured 

 upon it, and the vessel kept covered for half an hour. Rye is 

 used in Germany, but generally cooked as bread, which is made 

 from the whole flour and bran. It is not unusual in traveling 

 through some parts of Germany and Holland to see the postil- 

 ions help themselves and their horses from the same loaf. In 

 some northern countries peameal is frequently used, not only as 

 food, but as a remedy for diabetes. Linseed, raw, ground, or 

 boiled, is sometimes given to sick horses. Half a pint may be 

 mixed with the feed every night. It is supposed to be useful in 

 cases of catarrh. It is very useful for a cough, but it is too 

 nutritious for a fever. For a cough it should be boiled and 

 given in a bran mash, to which two or three ounces of coarse 

 sugar may be added. Tares, cut after the pods are formed, but 

 some time before the seeds are ripe, lucern, and sainfoin are 

 useful foods. Of the former the variety known as vicia sativa 

 is the best" 



On page 511 Prof. Youatt says " some greedy horses habitu- 

 ally swallow their food without properly grinding it." As a 

 remedy he recommends that chaff be mixed with the corn, oats, 

 or beans, which, being too hard and sharp to be swallowed with- 

 out chewing, compels the horse to masticate his food. He says : 

 " Chaff may be composed of equal quantities of clover or meadow 

 hay and wh eaten, oaten, or barley straw, cut in pieces of a quar- 

 ter or a half an inch in length, and mixed well together. The 

 allowance of corn, oats, or beans is added afterward, and mixed 

 with the chaff. Many farmers very properly bruise the oats and 

 beans. The whole oat is apt to slip out of the chaff and be lost. 



