STATE OF NATURE. 6 



and corn ; when lie drinks a moderate quantity of water ; 

 endures his exercise well, without being faint or dispirited ; 

 when his exercise does not take him off his feed, but rather 

 quickens his appetite ; when his coat is smooth, and looks 

 wholesome ; we may reasonably suppose, nay, even conclude, 

 such a horse to be free from sickness :" provided, he should 

 have added, there be no signs of disease present at the time ; 

 for a horse may possess all these evidences of health, and 

 yet at the time manifest disease, and that even of a malig- 

 nant nature. As medical inquirers, therefore, we look 

 farther than this. We expect to find the functions of life 

 performed with a degree of ease and perfection consonant 

 with the well-being and comfort of the animal : at the same 

 time we are prepared to meet with considerable variety in the 

 performance of these functions in different individuals, and 

 under diversified circumstances. The animal may eat or 

 drink much or little in comparison with others ; he may be 

 naturally lively or naturally dull ; he may sweat from little 

 or much exertion ; his pulse may run thirty or fifty beats in 

 a minute ; his breathing may be perceptible at the flanks, 

 or it may not ; and yet we may have no reason to suspect 

 that he is out of health. 



In a State of Nature, animals can hardly be viewed 

 as the subjects of disease : " the pure stream their drink ; 

 the simple herb their repast; neither care disturbs their 

 sleep, nor passion inflames their rest.^' Within the course 

 of the year, however, though they may not be troubled with 

 disease, yet are their bodies subject to certain natural inward 

 revolutions, which render them, if not actually ailing, at all 

 events in a much less vigorous condition of health at one 

 season than at another. The process of shedding the coat 

 is attended with expenditure to the constitution. The ope- 

 ration is renewed in the spring; thus throwing horses twice 

 a year, at least, out of their usual health. The apparent 

 nonliability of horses to disease while roaming in their native 

 fields and forests, has impressed some people with the notion 

 that they are exempt from the evils flesh is heir to : so far 

 from this being the case, the moment they are subjugated 



