448 THE FARMER AT HOME. 



dropsy of the belly ; broken wind, supposed to arise from a rupture of 

 the cells in the lungs ; cracks in the heels, from gross habit or from 

 filth ; farcy, an infection of the skin ; foot-foundering, when a horse is 

 unable to rest on any of his feet ; greasy heels, from weakness or 

 overlabor ; lampers, a swelling of the bars in the roof of the mouth ; 

 mange, an affection of the skin, when the hair falls off; staggers, a 

 sort of lethargy, and mad staggers, a sort of frenzy from a pressure on 

 the brain ; strangles, a disease attended with a fever, cough, and run- 

 ning at the nose ; thrush, a discharge from the frog of the foot ; pole 

 evil, arising from friction of the collar at the back of the ears ; besides 

 inflammations, fevers, dysenteries, and other disorders which they 

 have in common with human subjects. It is desirable, that every 

 farmer and every person owning or having the care of horses and cat- 

 tle should have an elaborate treatise on the diseases and the treatment 

 of these animals. We recommend for this purpose Randall's edition 

 of Youatt on the Horse, and Stevens' edition of Youatt and Martin on 

 Cattle. As valuable as these, works originally were, the editors have 

 greatly added to their merits. Oftentimes by having such a work at 

 hand, and by timely reference to it, the life and usefulness of a 

 superior animal may be preserved to its owner. 



VITRIOL. A salt, of a very caustic taste. It is a sulphate 

 generally found in mines in a capillary state, or in a loose powdery 

 efflorescence. The three principal sorts are the green vitriol, cop- 

 peras, or sulphate of iron ; the blue vitrol, or sulphate of copper ; and 

 the white vitriol, or sulphate of zinc. 



VINE . Of all the productions of the vegetable world which the 

 skill and ingenuity of man have rendered conducive to his comfort, 

 and to the enlargement of the sphere of his enjoyments, and the in- 

 crease of his pleasurable gratifications, the grape-vine stands forward 

 as pre-eminently conspicuous. Its quickness of growth, the great age 

 to which it will live, sometimes to an unknown age, its almost total 

 exemption from all those adverse circumstances which blight and di- 

 minish the produce of other fruit-bearing trees, its astonishing vegeta- 

 tive powers, its wonderful fertility, and, especially, its delicious fruit, 

 applicable to so many purposes, and agreeable to all palates, in all its 

 varied shapes, combine to mark it out as one of the greatest blessings 

 bestowed by Providence to promote the comfort and enjoyments of 

 the human race. The native country of the vine is generally consid- 

 ered to be Persia, but it has been found wild in our own country, 

 and is now become naturalized in all the temperate regions of the 

 world. 



From the remotest records of antiquity, the vine has been cele- 

 brated in all ages as the type of plenty, and the symbol of happiness. 

 The pages of Scripture abound with allusions to the fertility of the 

 vine as emblematical of prosperity ; and it is emphatically declared, 

 in describing the peaceful and flourishing state of the kingdom of 



