410 NAVIX ox THE HOESE. 



from running over. In the ears it is very abundant, and forms 

 the carAvax. It is most abundant at the heels, which are so 

 much exposed, and in which the skin is in such constant use. 

 In the disease known by the name of "grease," this oil is 

 throAvn out at the heels in great quantity and in an unhealthy 

 condition. 



The Absorbents of the Skin. — The skin, as well as most other 

 parts of the animal's body, is supplied with a sort of web of 

 little vessels, or apparently jointed tubes, which are called the 

 absorbents, whose open mouths, or pores, lie immediately under 

 the cuticle. They are called absorbents because they have the 

 power of soaking up, or absorbing, substances, and carrying 

 them into the system. They are capable of taking up water 

 or the confined sweat or perspiration, and even some medicines 

 applied to the skin, and carrying them into the system. 



THE HAIR. 



The hair is a thick coat, or covering, provided by nature for 

 the horse, to protect him from harm, from the severity or 

 changes of weather, season, or climate, and to give him that 

 beauty for Avhich, in a great part, he is so much admired. The 

 hair is an appendage of the skin. It consists of a horn-like 

 outside covering, called the bulb, which surrounds a softer in- 

 terior, pith-like substance, called the pulp. The root of the 

 hair is surrounded by its sheath, Avhich starts from the cellular 

 membrane beneath, and passes up through the true skin, and 

 which terminates at the surface in an open mouth, through 

 which the hair passes out. The hair grows from the bottom of 

 the cup-like sheath in which it stands, and is not attached to 

 it at any other place. 



There is no difference in the way the hair is produced on the 

 different parts of the animal. The hair of the mane and tail 

 only differ from that of the body in being longer, stronger, and 

 thicker. 



The appearance of the hair is a very important indication 



