140 DADDS VEIEKINARY MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 



horse c!in endure the depressing influences of a cold atmosphire, 

 because he has within the body a vast generator and non-conductor 

 of heat in the form of adipose matter. It has been proved that 

 the immediate cause of death in warm-blooded animals, when food 

 has been withheld, was their inability to keep up that temperature 

 mcessary for the integrity of vital operations. The animal locateil 

 in an air-tight stable is, probably, surrounded by an atmosphere 

 almost equal in temperature to that of his own body, and, conse- 

 quently, he does not require so much food as the former. Hence, 

 the amount of food necessary in the one case might be too much for 

 another, and, consequently, operate injuriously. A cold, bracing 

 wind is said to " sharpen the appetite." The inhabitants of north- 

 ern regions require more food than those of the southern. A horse, 

 therefore, of weak muscular organization, the subject of debilityj 

 requires a comfortable stable, and food that will develop muscles. 

 Kow, it has been ascertained that horse-beans contain more of the 

 nitro-albuminous principles than any other article of diet. Eng- 

 lish horses are very partial to the same, and in such the develop- 

 ment of muscle is very remarkable; consequently, a fat horse 

 requires less of the nitro-albuminous principle, and more of thfl 

 aqueous, in the form of carrots, potatoes, and beets. 



It must never be forgotten that some horses will keep in fair 

 working order on a moderate supply of aliment. In such cases, 

 we infer tliat the digestive organs are in a stateof activity capable 

 of extracting all the nutrient properties from the same. On the 

 other hand, a horse performs less Avork than the former, consumes 

 twice as much food, yet actually loses flesh. The digestive organs 

 ?Te then at fault. A horse, however, may lose flesh, become weak 

 in the legs, etc., in consequence of the laborious nature of his em- 

 plovment. Therefore, any derangement occasioned in this way 

 prevents the food from being converted into healthy chyme, chyle, 

 oi l)lood, and thus the necessary deposit of new matter is pre- 

 vented. 



Most voracious feeders are dyspeptic, and such are almost never 

 free from intestinal worms. Their breath becomes feted; saliva, 

 thick and tenacious; excrement, slimy; and should the subject be 

 fed on oats, the same would be found, after traversing the aliment- 

 ary canal, unmaslicated. The principal remedy for indigestion is 

 .-ihange in diet. Sometimes it may be proper to allow scalded oats, 

 although cookincrdoes not add to their nutritive quality, yet, mors 



