DISEASES* OF THE HORSE. 35 



horse should receive water at least three times a Sny, when at work, 

 more f requentl3\ The rule should be to give in small quantities and 

 often. There is a popular fallacy that if a horse is warm he should 

 not he allowed to drink, man}^ claiming that the first swallow of water 

 "founders" the animal or produces colic. This is erroneous. No 

 matter how warm a horse may be, it is alwaj^s entirel}^ safe to allow 

 him from six to ten swallows of water. If this is given on going into 

 the stable, he should be given at once a pound or two of ha}" and 

 allowed to rest about an hour before feeding. If water be now offered 

 him it will in many cases be refused, or at least he will drink but 

 sparingly. The danger, then, is not in the " first swallow" of water, 

 but is due to the excessive quantity that the animal will take when 

 warm if he is not restrained. 



Water should never be given to horses when it is ice cold. It may 

 not be necessary to add hot water, but we should be careful in placing 

 water troughs about our barns to have them in such position that the 

 sun maj" shine upon the water during the winter mornings. Y\^ater, 

 even though it be thus cold, seldom produces serious trouble if the 

 horse has not been deprived for a too great length of time. 



In reference to the purity of water. Smith, in his " Veterinary Hy- 

 giene," classes spring water, deep-well water, and upland surface water 

 as inJiolesome,' stored rain water and surface water from cultivated land, 

 as suspicious; river water to which sewage gains access and shallow- 

 well water, as dangerous. The water that is used for drinking purposes 

 for stock so largely throughout some States can not but be impure. I 

 refer to those sections where there is an impervious claj" subsoil. It 

 is the custom to scoop, or hollow out, a large basin in the pastures. 

 During rains these basins become filled with water. The clay subsoil, 

 being almost impervious, acts as a jug, and there is no escape for the 

 water except by evaporation. Such water is stagnant, but would be 

 kept comparatively fresh by subsequent rains were it not foi; the fact 

 that much organic matter is carried into it by surface drainage during 

 each succeeding. storm. This organic matter soon undergoes decom- 

 position, and, as the result, we find diseases of different kinds much 

 more prevalent where this water is di'unk than where the water supply 

 is wholesome. Again, it must not be lost sight of that stagnant sur- 

 face water is much more certainly contaminated than is running water 

 by one diseased animal of the herd, thus endangering the remainder. 



The chief impurities of water may be classed as organic and inorganic. 

 The organic impurities are either animal or vegetable substances. The 

 salts of the metals are the inorganic impurities. Lime causes hardness 

 of water, and occasion will be taken to speak of this when describing 

 intestinal concretions. Salts of lead, iron, and copper are also fre- 

 cjuentl}' found in water, and will be referred to hereafter. 



About the onlj- examination of water that can be made by the aver- 



