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A DICTIONARY. 



Gullet, or (Esophagus. — A muscular 

 and membranous tube, by which the food, 

 etc., is conveyed from the mouth to the 

 stomach. The upper part, or funnel-like 

 cavity, is named pharynx. The gullet 

 passes down the neck behind the windpipe, 

 along the neck, through the diaphragm, and 

 terminating in the stomach. 



Gums. — The fleshy parts of the sockets 

 of the teeth. 



Habit. — By tliis term is meant the dis- 

 position, or temperament, of the body or 

 constitution, whether natural or acquired. 

 The term habit is also applied to any vice, 

 as starting, kicking, rearing, etc. All bad 

 habits, whether of the body, constitution, 

 temper, or disposition of animals, may be 

 in some measure corrected, if not entirely 

 put a stop to, by proper attention to break- 

 ing, breeding, and stable management. 



Halter Cast. — Owing to the improper 

 length of the halter, the horse is apt to get 

 his fore leg across it, falls down, and some- 

 times injures liimself considerably. 



Ham. — This is the name given to the 

 muscular part of the hind leg, terminating 

 in the great tendo Achillis, or hamstring. 



Hand. — The division in the standard for 

 measuring horses is thus named. A hand 

 is four inches. 



Haw. — (See Eye, part first,) 



Heart. — (See part first.) 



Heel. — A term applied to the back part 

 of the termination of the hoof. 



Hemlock. — A narcotic vegetable poison, 

 deriving its deleterious properties from an 

 alkaline principle, called conia. It has been 

 known to kill many horses who have par- 

 taken of it. 



Hemorrhage. — A flow of blood from 

 any part of the body, in consequence of 

 the rujiture of an artery or vein. Hemor- 

 rhage, from external injury, is most readily 

 stopped by taking up the bleeding vessel, 

 and tying it with saddler's silk ; but, when 

 this cannot be done, the bleeding may gen- 

 erally be stopped by pressiu-e, or styptics. 



Hepatitis. — Inflammation of the liver. 



Hide-Bound. — When horses are out of 

 condition, and have harsh dry coats, the 



skin will be contracted, and found tight 

 about the ribs. It is a symptom of disease, 

 and shows that the general health is im- 

 paired. 



Hip-snoT, — This is known by one of the 

 hip bones being lower than the other. It 

 generaUy depends on a fracture of the os 

 innominatum, or part of the pelvis ; the part 

 having formed an irregular kind of union, 

 so that the bone on that side is shorter than 

 the other. 



Hock. — The horse's hock is composed 

 of six bones. These bones are all con- 

 nected together by very strong ligaments, 

 which prevent dislocation, but allow a 

 slight degree of motion among them. The 

 surfaces that are opposed to each other 

 are thickly covered by elastic cartilage, and 

 by a membrane secreting the synovia, or 

 oily fluid, which guards against friction. 

 These bones are so strongly bound together 

 as almost to defy dislocation. 



Hoof-bound. — A dry, brittle, and mor- 

 bid state of the foot. A want of vital 

 action, occasioned, says Dr. White, "by in- 

 flammation," which he calls disease. Now 

 it is evident that no vital action, as that of 

 fever and inflammation, can be properly 

 termed disease. The only action that can 

 be properly termed disease, is the chemical 

 action manifested in suppuration and gan- 

 grene. This is the great popular eiTor that 

 we are laboring to overcome. It is that of 

 attributing disease and death to the action 

 of the powers of life. When a part has be- 

 come diseased, especially the foot (for from 

 it the blood has a kind of up-hill work to 

 perform, in returning to the heart by the 

 veins), there is a low state of vitality ; very 

 little can be accomplished by the vital pow- 

 ers, amounting only to a low form of in- 

 flammation. And, of course, the chemical 

 power of decomposition, always present 

 and never tired, gets the advantage and 

 decomposes the part ; we then have thrush, 

 which, if improperly treated, the hoof falls 

 off" by the process of decomposition, or, in 

 other words, mortification. It becomes sep- 

 arated from the living parts, for want of 

 inflammation, or vital supremacy, over 



