NATURE S NCEI). 4i) 



such horses can get any sign that makes tliem suspect wliiu is 

 coming on, they will often fast too long of their own accoi'd. 

 AVith many horses the trainer has to conceal his usual preparations 

 for a race to prevent them from going- ofl" their feed altdgetluT. 

 Coach horses should fast two hours before their one liour's 

 desperate exertion. The hunter usually gets his fast on rhe way 

 to his work, and the race horse comes to the post with his 

 contracted bowels more tucked up than usual. There is noduiibt 

 that all of them are the better for having no recently swallowed 

 food or water to dispose of under such excitement. 



1)8. — In everything connected with animal life we must 

 bear in mind that water is the fluid which must carry everything 

 necessary to build up or pull down every part of the body, and 

 that this is done by means of pipes which like the pipes of a 

 pump, can only act when moderately full. The torture which 

 an animal feels when thirsty is only a necessary admonition of 

 nature to attend at once to this necessary condition of life and 

 health. This is so necessary that when blood is let out of a vein 

 or artery, life is only sustained Ijy a rapid absorption of fluid 

 from the surrounding tissues, causing a strong sensation of 

 thirst. In this condition life has been saved or prolonged by 

 injecting warm water into a vein. The same remedy has 

 succeeded when a great sudden loss of fluid has taken place 

 through the blood vessels of the stomach, as in cholera. A 

 great loss in the volume of the blood, though a more gradual 

 one, is produced at hard work, through rapid perspiration and 

 respiration, and it is as important to health as to comfort that 

 the loss should be quickly supplied. As the hor^e does 

 not take drugs or spices, or narcotics with his water, his thirst 

 is a natural one, and never liable to mislead like a craving for 

 tea or spirits. 



