TFIE SKIiV AND ITS DISEASES. 343 



least possible obstruction. The cutis is tliinnest, and most elastic, on tliose 

 parts that are least covered Av-itli hair, or where the hair is altoo-ether de- 

 ficient, as the lips, the muzzle, and the inside of the flanks. 



Over a great part of the frame lies a singular muscle peculiar to quad- 

 rupeds, and more extensive and powerful in the thin-skinned and thin- 

 haired animals, than in those Avith thicker hides. It reaches from the poll 

 over the whole of the carcase, and down to the arm before, and the stifle 

 behind. By its contraction the skin is puckered in every direction ; and 

 if it acts strongly and rapidly, the horse is not only enabled to shake off 

 any insect or fly that may annoy him, but sometimes to displace a great 

 part of his harness, and to render it difficult for the most expert rider to 

 keep his seat. This muscle also assists the skin in bracing that part of 

 the frame Avhich it covers, and, perhaps, gives additional strength to the 

 muscles beneath. It is called the panniculus carnosus, or fleshy panicle or 

 covering. 



The skin answers the double purpose of protection and strength. "Wlicre 

 it is necessary that the parts should be bound and knit together, it adheres 

 so tightly that we can scarcely raise it. 



It is tight along the muscles of the back and loins, and down the yet 

 more powerful muscles of the quarters ; but in other places it is loosely 

 attached, that it may not interfere "vvith the motions of the animal. 

 About the brisket, and within the arms and at the flanks, it hangs even 

 in folds. 



Of its strength we have abundant proof, both in the living and dead 

 animal. Its fibres are interlaced in a m^ost curious and intricate manner, 

 so as, when living, to be scarcely lacerable, and converted into leather after 

 death. 



It is, while the animal is alive, one of the most elastic bodies vnth which 

 we are acquainted. It not only perfectly adapts itself to the slow growth 

 or decrease of the body, and appears equally to fit, whether the horse is in 

 the plumpest condition or reduced to a skeleton ; but when a portion of it 

 is distended to an extraordinary degree, in the most powerful action of the 

 muscles, it quickly again contracts to its usual dimensions. 



Whien the horse is in health, and every organ discharges its proper 

 functions, a certain quantity of sebaceous matter is spread over the surface 

 of the skin, and is contained in all the pores that penetrate its substance, 

 and the skin becomes pliable, easily raised from the texture beneath, and 

 presenting that peculiar jT^elding softness and elasticity which experience 

 has proved to be the best proofs of the condition, or, in other words, the 

 general health of the animal. Then, too, from the oiliness and softness of 

 the skin, the hair lies in its natural and proper direction, and is smooth and 

 glossy. When the system is deranged, and especially the digestive system, 

 and the vessels concerned in the nourishment of the animal feebly act, those 

 of the skin evidently sympathise. This oily secretion is no more thrown 

 out ; the skin loses its pliancy ; it seems to cling to the animal, and we 

 have that peculiar appearance which Ave call hide-bound. This, hoAvever, 

 requires attentiA^e consideration. 



We observe a horse in the summer. We find him Avith a thin, smooth, 

 glossy coat, and his extremities clean and free almost from a single rough 

 ov misplaced hair. We meet him again towards the AA-inter, Avhen tlie 

 tliermometer has fallen almost or quite to the freezing point, and Ave 

 scarcely recognise him in his thick, rough, coarse, colourless coat, and his 

 legs enveloped in long shaggy hair. The health of the horse is, to a certain 

 degree, deranged. He is dull, languid, easily fatigued. He will break into 

 a SAveat with the slightest exertion, and it is almost impossible thoroughly 

 to diy him. He may perhaps feed as well as usual, although that will not 



