a 



lIiK HOIISU, 



from other _causes operating against the laws of 

 nature; whereas, under different circumstances, it 

 might continue to prosper much longer. The writer 

 of this remembers the grief of a friend at the decline 

 of an ornamental and valuable timber tree, in con- 

 sequence of his driving a large spike nail into the 

 trunk, not thinking at the moment it would do the least 

 injury. In another instance, a person, in order to 

 improve his grounds, raised a bank of earth around 

 some elm trees, which, to his astonishment and regret 

 died. ^ So it is with men and other animals : climate, 

 soil, situation, and the nature of their employment, 

 have the most important bearings upon their health, 

 soundness, and capacity for usefulness. 



Our present object, therefore, is to recommend 

 the rnost judicious method of treating the horse, with 

 the view of correcting false notions and of increas- 

 ing the value of that beautiful animal. Analogy 

 will show us that this project is not so impracticable 

 as many persons might imagine. The gardener has 

 brought many tender plants from the East to flourish, 

 even in the rigour of a northern winter. Tlie 

 Ethiopian will live in Greenland; the Laplander in 

 Africa; but they would probably not do so, without 

 due attention to the change thus made in place and 

 circumstance. It is science that is their instructor. 

 ^ Morgan, in his Treatise on Horsemanship, pub- 

 lished about two centuries back, tells his readers to 

 " put one bottle of sheiTy into a pint of water, as the 

 ordinaiy drink of a horse, with much bread. The 

 blood being derived from horses originally brought 

 from the East, the wine is necessary to keep up the 

 heat of blood required in this country." This treat- 

 ment would now be laughed at as injurious ; and it 

 IS to be doubted whether the grooms of those days 

 did not appropriate the greater portion of the wine 

 to their own share, and no less to the advantage of 

 their horses. 



