78 THE HORSE. 



does little good. It is almost as poisonous as it is 

 nutritious. Slow draught horses may not, indeed, 

 be greatly injured by it. But good wheat-straw 

 may be better. To fast, hard-working horses, such 

 as those employed in mails, it is a strong diuretic ; 

 and its diuretic power does not diminish by use. 

 Hay forms an important part of the horse's food, 

 particularly of those horses that receive no roots nor 

 boiled meat. Bad hay will change the horse's ap- 

 pearance and condition in two days, when he has 

 an unlimited quantity of corn. By bad hay I mean 

 that which is unwholesome. It may be poor, having 

 little nutriment, but sweet and digestible without 

 being pernicious. But good straw is better than 

 unwholesome hay for all kinds of horses. The kid- 

 neys are excited to extraordinary activity. The 

 urine, which, in this disease, is always perfectly 

 transparent, is discharged very frequently and in 

 copious profusion. The horse soon becomes hide- 

 bound, emaciated and feeble. His thirst is exces- 

 sive. He never refuses water, and he drinks it as if 

 he would never give over. The disease does not 

 produce death, but it renders the horse useless, and 

 ruins the constitution. Should he catch cold, or 

 take the influenza, which prevailed so much in Glas- 

 gow during the winter of 1836, glanders is seldom 

 far off.* One ton of good hay will, unless the men 

 be excessively careless, go as far as two tons of that 

 vv^hich is bad. To slow-work horses, mowburnt hay 

 may be given with less detriment, but it is less un- 

 profitable when consumed by cattle. 



Musty Hay is known by its bad colour, its un- 

 pleasant smell, and bitter taste. It is soft, and coat- 

 ed with fungi. Like all other hay, its smell is most 



* The influenza I mean was not at all similar to a disease 

 which went under the same name at the same time in England. 

 We had almost none of the English influenza till the last week of 

 May, 1837. In the month of June it was very prevalent. 



