IMPROVED. 7i 



I think it is now high Time to afk Pardon for 

 thefe long, though neceffary Digreffions, and return 

 to the Text, 'vi^. of Surfeits in Horfcs. 



I have hinted under the firfl Page of this Chap- 

 ter, that Surfeits proceed moftly from foul Feeding, 

 and undue Exercife, or from both : For as in fuch 

 Cafes, a Horfe's Blood is either overcharged, or 

 too much exhaufted ; the fame Ills may, notwith- 

 ilanding flow from it, t-'/k. undue Secretions or Dif- 

 charges, which when brought a little to Rights, 

 and that the Blood partly recovers its proper Tex- 

 ture ; I fay, then it is, that Hemorrhages or Bleed- ^ he Sign'^; 

 ings at the Mouth, Nofe, l^c. happen by a Diftra-ofaSurtlic. 

 <5lion or Breaking of the fmall Fibres ; or otherwife 

 the Diilemper appears in little Puftules, or knotty 

 Tumours among the flair, which are for the moil 

 part accompanied with Sweats r And if fo, the Dif- 

 eaie will foon be at its Crifis or Height : But if the 

 Blood, by foul Feeding, has acquired a more than 

 ordinary Vifcidity or Clamminefs, it will be apt to 

 ftagnate or flop in fome particular Parts, and call off 

 the Enemy in larger Tumours, fuch as Boils or Ab- 

 fceffes, which require Cutting open, and topical or 

 outward Applications afterwards. 



Mr. Gib/on in his Book of Farriery, tells us a te- ^, . _..^ , 

 dioLis Story about '* the Excrement or Dung of Hor- opinion'of 

 ** fes refling fo long in the Guts, and thereby ere- a Si;rfeit 

 ** ating a more than ordinary Putrefa£lion ; from cenfurei. 

 ** which proceed acid and fharp Juices, which be- 

 ** come a Stimulus to the Guts, and at lafl end in 

 " a Loofenefs. " And this Mr. Gibfo-a imagines to 

 be one Degree (or rather Symptom) of a Surfeit: 

 But for my own Part, I cannot remember e^-er to 

 have feen fuch a Cafe as this Author defcribes ; nor 

 indeed are Horfes much afflifted with LoofenelTes, 

 becaufe the prone or horizontal Poflure this Crea- 

 ture's Body is form.'d in, guards him (as much as 

 jnay be) againll fuch Difcharges ; and this is obfer- 

 yable when v/e give a Horfe purging Phyfick ; for 

 it is the Pofture (before defcribed) which makes the 

 E z Medicine 



