28 CHAPTER 4. 



both sides, the sort of window to be adopted is not very material, because 

 the requisite amount of fresh air can at all times be obtained from the 

 windows on the lee side without causing an injurious amount of draught. 



52. Slings. 



A set of slings is a useful adjunct in a stable. When due and con- 

 stant care is used in their adjustment and frequent readjustment, they 

 are calculated to give great relief in some cases of severe injury ; but 

 without such care, they often do more harm than good. 



CHAPTER 4. 

 WATERING AND FEEDING. 



53. Course of the food. 54. Course of water. 55. Small size of 

 stomach. 56. How often is it necessary to feed? 57. Best limes for 

 feeding. 58. Regularity desirable in the hours of feeding. 59. Necessity 

 of good forage. 60. Of watering. 61. Quantity of water to be given at one 

 time. 62. Horses to be watered before being fed. 63. No objection to 

 watering horses when warm. 64. Dirty v. clean water. Hard v. soft 

 water. 65. Scouring. 66. Delicate feeders. 



53. Course of the food. 



IT may be useful in the first instance to trace very briefly the course 

 of food from its reception by the mouth to its final evacuation. 



Food is gathered by the lips and front teeth. It is worked about by 

 the tongue and cheeks, and is carried by their action to the back teeth 

 or grinders, which by a lateral and slightly rotatory motion of the lower 

 jaw reduce it to a pulp. During this process it is mixed freely with the 

 saliva and mucous secretions of the glands of the mouth. Saliva is 

 essential to the due preparation of the food for digestion. When it is 

 sufficiently prepared, it is" passed on in portions by the action of the 

 muscles of the tongue to the oesophagus or gullet, and thence to the 

 stomach. 



The stomach is a pouch lined for about one third of its surface with a 

 dense cuticular membrane, and the remaining two thirds is lined with a 

 soft reddish villous mucous membrane. 



The muscular coat of the stomach is furnished with three layers of 

 fibres, namely, the circular, longitudinal, and oblique. By the action of 



