668 THE PEOPLE'S FARM: AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



off particles of moisture. This moisture is rapidly absorbed 

 from the surface by a dry, heated atmosphere, and when the 

 exercise is vigorous the horse sweats freely. 



Dr. Southard Smith has given some experiments, showing 

 that workmen at the Phoenix Gas Works lost by perspiration, 

 while drawing and charging retorts with a temperature of 90 

 degrees, during forty-five minutes labor, on an average, per man, 

 3 pounds 6 ounces. Now, this will help to estimate the amount 

 of water thrown off from the body of a horse, weighing ten 

 times that of the workmen. It will be at times as high as 30 

 pounds per hour. But as the amount thrown off by perspira- 

 tion is greatest after drinking, the average amount thrown off 

 during the period from the morning to noon drink, must be near 

 10 pounds per hour in warmest weather. Now, as the func- 

 tions of digestion and respiration can not be carried on without 

 the presence of a normal supply of moisture, it impresses us 

 with the importance of furnishing the horse with a regular and 

 abundant supply of water, and that free from all impurities. 

 Anything impure in the water has to be eliminated by respira- 

 tion or through the kidneys. Organic or vegetable matter that 

 ferments and decays speedily in the presence of moisture and 

 warmth are detrimental to health. 



Pure Water. The purity of water, as well as the regu- 

 larity and abundance of it, can not safely be neglected. There 

 is an impression that rain water is more pure than spring or 

 well water, but unless the rain water has been carefully filtered, 

 the average spring water is purer. Horses accustomed to either 

 can not safely be changed from one to the other without some 

 derangement of digestion or urination. 



The veterinary records show many instances where whole 

 stables have been disordered by the water supply containing or- 

 ganic impurities. In the season when the weather is dry and hot, 

 and the evaporation greatest, animals demand the greatest amount 

 of water. It is during this period, too, the supply is most likely to 

 become impure. The wells and cisterns get low and the impurities 

 abound near the bottom. Ponds and lakes, too, in the hot season 

 are liable to become low, stagnant, and dangerous sources of disease. 



