DEVELOP SPEED IN HORSES. 35 



the most natural. The fat, in the first place, being depos- 

 ited by the blood, the loss of the oily portion in sweating 

 is replaced by the absorbants working on the surplus in 

 store, removing it from where the original deposit was 

 made, and, as the sweatings are continued, exhausting all 

 that we desire to get rid of. There are other changes, 

 probably, that take place in the blood, one being a greater 

 fluidity, perhaps occasioned by an increase of heat. It 

 would appear that the abstraction of the watery particles 

 would have a contrary effect, yet I am satisfied that this 

 is counteracted by an opposing force, which I cannot 

 explain, rendering the arteries and veins less liable to 

 engorgement than when the circulating fluid had proper- 

 ties which made it more difiicult to propel through them. 

 From the relief afforded by copious and repeated sweat- 

 ings, we might infer that the abstraction of the fatty 

 globules in the blood was the means of lessening the 

 labor of the heart, which is of the greatest importance 

 when the blood is sent bounding along more than twice 

 as fast as when the animal is at rest. The theory that the 

 pulsation keeps time to the step is, I believe, correct when 

 the action is much hurried. Hence, when a horse is mak- 

 ing a fraction more than two bounds in a second, the work 

 of the heart is greatly increased, and the labor of that 

 vital force-pump would be much lessened by the blood 

 being easier to urge through the tubing of the veins as 

 fast as the accelerated pace required that it should be. 

 It will be readily seen that nearly all the inside fat will 

 have to be got away before the respiratory organs are 

 capable of performing their functions in a manner that 

 will endure fast work. The heart is also facilitated in its 

 operations by the removal, and the diaphragm and abdom- 

 inal muscles can act with far greater force. The whole 

 internal economy is in a measure changed, the muscles 

 of the stomach are strengthened, and digestion is better 

 and more rapid. The gastric juices are more intimately 

 blended with the contents of the stomach, and the waste 

 for the bowels to carry off is less acrid and easier expelled. 

 We will also find that the same process will get rid of the 



