GLAXDERS. 59 



And, moreover, the horse, nervous and excitable by nature, 

 freely gives himself up to such rapid movements, expending, 

 thereby, so much more strength, in any given time, than the 

 bullock in his slow movements. 



"lY. Excess of such kind of labor appears to be one of 

 the causes of the horse's deterioration and ivearing out. And 

 so glanders, viewed as the result of excessive action in the 

 living organ, is nothing more, in a great number of cases, 

 than the effects of exhaustion, induced by labor to which the 

 powers of the animal were inadequate. 



"Y. But how does this excessive work produce exhaustion 

 and premature wearing out of the machine? Modern science 

 furnishes us with an answer to this question, of a more pre- 

 cise and satisfactory description than formerly could have 

 been given. 



"YI. Animal life is sustained through veritable combus- 

 tion (burning). Pulmonary exhalation proves this. The air 

 expired from the lungs contains the j^roducts of combustion — 

 carbonic acid and water. The combustible matter enterino- 

 into the constitution of the organism (or living body) is 

 therein incessantly separated and eliminated (thrown out), 

 through the agency of the affinity of the oxygen absorbed 

 upon the pulmonary surface. It is the same with the incom- 

 bustible matter — azote (or nitrogen): that being separated 

 from its various combinations whenever the oxygen exerts its 

 affinity, and becoming eliminated through the urinary pas- 

 sages. 



"The effect of the air, then, introduced into the system 

 through the respiratory passages, is incessantly to destroy 

 organic combinations and eliminate their products, in a state 

 of combustion (carbonic acid and water), through the lungs 

 and skin. Those incombustible azotic matters, separated 

 from the blood in the form of urea^ pass through the urinary 

 channels. The oxygen of the air is continually producing 

 combustion and decomposition of the living animal fiber. 



