DEVELOP SPEED IN HORSES. 23 



the statements I am ,i^\'>nig to make I know to be correct. 

 They have been demonstrated by my practice, and since 

 I have followed my present plan of sweating I have never 

 had a horse become baked or feverish, which was fre- 

 quently the case when I sweated them without thinking 

 of the causes why it should be done, or was aware of the 

 results that might be expected to follow. 



The action of the heart is so closely identified with the 

 lungs that both have to be taken into consideration. 

 Quicken the motion of the one and you accelerate the 

 other, but not in the same proportion. For instance, 

 when a horse is breathing tranquilly the respirations 

 are from four to eight in a minute, and the pulsations 

 thirty-six to forty. As you increase the motion of the 

 lungs by fast work, the respirations will be multiplied 

 till the ratio wdll be as one to two, possibly two to 

 three. 'Suppose that, in driving your horse, you keep up 

 the rate of speed until he becomes distressed ; the respi- 

 ration? would probably be forty to forty-five times in a 

 minute, with the pulsations at seventy-five to eighty. 

 The inspirations at times-.would be a good deal longer 

 than the expirations, frequently sighing and " blowing 

 out " suddenly. This arises from the amount of adipose 

 matter interfering with the heart and lungs, restricting 

 the first and enfeebling the others, and it would be along 

 time before he would recover and the circulation and 

 breathing be restored to their natural condition. You 

 get rid of the superfluities, and drive him until he exhibits 

 great fatigue, having gone perhaps two or three miles, the 

 respirations have increased to two-thirds that of the heart. 

 Still the expirations and inspirations are nearly equal, and 

 there is very little if any. sighing. He blows out freely 

 and forcibly, recovering the natural breathing in much 

 less time than before. In the first case he would have 

 been " dead beat ; " in the second, by taking a pull he 

 would " come again ' and make another struggle. This 

 shows that rapid respiration and arterial action can be 

 kept up if the organs are in a proper state. The main 

 muscle acting on the lungs and assisting in respiration is 



