80 TKEATMENT OF DISEASES 



I don't believe one-half the multitude of stories that are told 

 about water '•'■foundering horses f in a great majority of cases the 

 blame rests with Mr. Fastman, who has either over-driven or over- 

 worked the poor brute, or else has suffered hira, when heatod, to 

 cool off without the necessary care and attention which should 

 always be observed when animals are fatigued or perspiring freely. 



Hard usage, willful neglect, and wanton cruelty, are more likely to 

 produce disease than the "universal beverage" so acceptable to the 

 palate of a weary or thirsty horse. How often do we see a "^e<" 

 horse come into the stable all exhausted and used-up, scarcely able 

 to advance one limb before another ! Examine into the facts, and 

 we shall find that the powers of the subject have perhaps been over- 

 taxed. He has been driven too far, or at too rapid a rate for the 

 present state of his constitution to endure ; and perhaps he has not had 

 sufficient nourishment to repair the waste incidental to the living 

 mechanism, under the states of rapid and protracted labor. Is not 

 this enough to account for the used-up condition ? Is it not more 

 rational to suppose that abuse of the respiratory organs, and those 

 of locomotion, operates far more unfavorably on the horse than wa- 

 ter ? It is. But Mr. Fastman must, if there be any blame rightly 

 belonging to him, try to shift the same from his shoiilders, and there- 

 fore he avails himself of a popular error, " He drank too much loater.''^ 

 Yet the individual has no means of ascertaining the precise quantity 

 needed. We might say the same as regards our dray horses, whose 

 labors are very fatiguing. They come from their work, and as soon 

 as unharnessed, go to the trough and imbibe from one to three buckets 

 without any bad effect. Some horses need more water than others ; 

 the kind of work, the temperature of the atmosphere, and the nature 

 of the food, whether it be wet or dry, all tend to diversify an ani- 

 mal's want. The domesticated horse requires a bountiful supply of 

 good water; his body is composed of seventy-five per cent, of the 

 same, and he can no more exist without it than he can without food. 



Consider for a moment the condition of the people of this city 

 during the sultry season. Thirst almost amounts to a disease ; to 

 allay the same, they are continually imbibing water, rendered cold, 

 hot, sour, sweet or alkaline, just as fancy dictates, or as fishion pre- 

 vails; cold ices and other fixings are called into requisition to 

 smother the fire of thirst that rages within ; everybody partakes 

 freely, the young and the aged, the exhausted and vigorous ; the 

 laborer, exhausted by a hard day's work, and the rich man, of no 

 work — each and all are doing their best to see the bottom of the 

 pitcher, and to pitch their bodies into the watery element; yet, after 

 all, how few persons complain of any bad effects from the same. 

 '. Inquire into the history of some of the acute maladies that are 

 supposed to arise from water-drinking, and it will be found that 

 many of the sufierers have a peculiarity of constitution, which ren- 

 ders them amenable to the laws of primogenial disease, which, 

 although latent, under oi-dinary circumstances, can, by disturbing 

 the life forces, through neglect, cruelty and over-Avork, be developed 

 at almost any time of life. 



At this stage, my argument as regards what water " will not do " 

 ends. I have at the commencement admitted that, under certain 

 circumstances, if a horse be permitted to imbibe too much, it may 



