THE HORSEHYGIENE AND SANITARY CONDITIONS. 6G9 



So important is pure water in the animal economy that the 

 farmer can not safely neglect to provide against disaster to his 

 stables arid herds, ever ready to burst on him when the water 

 supply becomes low and impure. The average horse will con- 

 sume from four to twelve gallons of water per day, and neglect 

 to provide it pure and abundant entails on him great suffering, 

 and consequent loss to the owner. 



Grooming for Health. Because of the importance of 

 the function of respiration, nature has made the animal so if the 

 process is impeded on the outside by closing of the pores, by 

 changes of weather, or by filth, then the mucous membrane that 

 lines the throat and lungs and stomach and intestines must do 

 the work. Nutrition may stop by the food being withheld for 

 a long time, and the animal survive, but we have before shown 

 that depuration or the throwing off of impurities must go on or 

 death soon follows. If breathing can not go on by the way of 

 the nostrils it must go by way of the mouth ; so if respiration 

 can not proceed by way of the outer pores in the skin, then it 

 must go by the inner pores of the mucous membrane. So nature 

 has provided two ways of doing that which must be done or 

 the animal speedily dies. The mucous membrane is the relief- 

 pump to act when the pores of the skin are impeded. 



It is difficult to have the unintelligent horseman appreciate 

 the importance of cleanliness of the coat of all animals, and to 

 have the masses appreciate the healthful influences of bathing 

 and cleanly habits. Every part of the skin of animals exudes 

 either sensible or insensible perspiration, which is ever unload- 

 ing a supply of waste matter, which, in the case of the horse, 

 can best be removed by the brush or wisp of straw. If not re- 

 moved the internal organs are more liable to congestion. The 

 groom has the incentive to clean well and often his favorite 

 animal because he has learned that the coat looks better. 

 Nature rewards us by supplying at the root of the hair a finer 

 oil than chemistry has yet compounded. It is ready to dress 

 every hair of the animal as soon as by cleanliness and friction 

 the obstructions are removed from the pores. The careful and 

 observing horseman has learned that it is best to clean his 



