jJEINTrnON AND DIET 143 



for hypeitrophy (which is an abnormal increase of fat or tissue), 

 or the opposite, which condition is known as atrophy — a wasting 

 of the same. But most frequently an overburdened stomach in- 

 ducer diseases known as staggers, cerebral congestion, softening 

 of brain, etc. 



Many horse owners are continually devising means to excite the 

 appetite of their horses, in order to get as much food as possible 

 into their stomachs. Some men seem to think that an error in 

 this direction can never occur; and should the animal refuse to 

 consume the abundance thus placed before him, the liberal owner 

 is apt to consider his pet sick, or think that he must have a poor 

 appetite. Xow, it were far better, for both man and horse if the 

 fv>rmer would only experiment in the opposite direction, and 

 as'iertain how small a quantity a horse may subsist on. A small 

 quantity of good food, well digested, answers the purpose of nu- 

 trition much better than a large quantity, imperfectly so. It ia 

 V';ry interesting to contemplate how efficient a little food proves 

 f:r the promotion of health and longevity. For example, a little 

 Durley and coarse fodder will suffice for the " courser of the desert." 

 Shetland and Welsh ponies will live and grow fat on the mere 

 vestiges of vegetation. The best cow in the world — the property 

 of J. H. Kelly, of Cleveland, Ohio, weighing 1,350 pounds— ia 

 fed exclusively on hay and straw. Very poor fodder some may 

 exclaim ; yet in the course of ten months the same creature yielded 

 4,921 quarts of milk, and during a single month, after calving, 

 she gave 620 quarts, and the least she gave during the winter 

 months was 562 quarts. A pig will grow fat on small quantities 

 r^ the right kind of food, and yet lose flesh when suffiired to gorge 

 himself with the same. Many swine, in the vicinity of coal mines, 

 consume both coal and charcoal, and little else, yet they thrive 

 well. 



Evidences can be furnished going to show that both the superior 

 and inferior orders of creation might subsist on much less foo:I 

 than they are in the habit of using, and without danger to them- 

 selves. Shipwrecked marmers have been known to exist s( vera] 

 weeks without food; aud there is a man now residing in Illinois, 

 who, during a period of thirty-two days, never tasted Ibod. The 

 3J8ei)ing man of Rochester is another example; and a case is 

 recorded in one of our medical journals showing that an individual 

 once lived for several months on nothing but j)ure water. Afl 



