22 TRANSITION FROM HEALTH TO DISEASE. 



dental circumstances, lick in and swallow matter of a con- 

 taminating nature : in either of wliich ways he may lay the 

 foundation of disease. We know that within the alimentary 

 canal is elaborated the chyle ; that the chyle feeds the blood ; 

 and that the blood nourishes and repairs every part of the 

 body : consequently it is natural to suppose that any hurtful 

 matters swallowed with the food will contaminate the chyle ; 

 the chyle, the blood ; and the blood, the system. In this 

 manner do medicines, given internally, affect the constitu- 

 tion : there are many whose presence can, a very short time 

 after their administration, be satisfactorily detected in the 

 blood. Madder has been mixed with the food of hogs ; and 

 on their being killed, it has been found to colour the inmost 

 parts of the animaFs bones. So pastures are known to 

 have their degrees of nutrition ; they all possess their salu- 

 brious and insalubrious properties. Although horses are 

 nice in their feed, culling the pasture where the grass is 

 sweetest ; yet, when turned out, they are inclined to be 

 mischievous, nibbling every shrub or tree whose branches 

 happen to hang within their reach. The yew-tree they are 

 said to be fond of, and it is poisonous to them : I once, how- 

 ever, gave twelve ounces of the fresh cuttings of yew, with- 

 out producing any perceptible effect. Oats or hay of bad 

 quality might prove deleterious : it is rare, however, in the 

 present improved state of agriculture, that we have to com- 

 plain of anything of this sort. Foxy oats and mow-burnt 

 hay call occasionally for our interference : and we find that 

 their use is apt to be attended with an increased flow of 

 urine, in some instances to such a degree, that the animal 

 rapidly declines in condition, and loses his strength. The 

 following account of a disorder that broke out among a 

 large stud of horses in France, affords an apt illustration of 

 the point, viz., that disease may be introduced into the 

 system through deleterious provender.^ 



' ** A disease, bearing the character of an enzootic, showed itself towards the 

 middle of last year among the horses of one of the largest proprietors on the 

 Somnie. M. Renault was sent for. He found the disease had prevailed three 

 months, and destroyed forty-nine horses, leaving fifteen then ill. It was a dis- 



