24 DISEASES OF ANIMALS. 



The sick often injure themselves by feasting, being 

 tempted by the excellent, rich dishes provided for them. 

 The following is an illustration : An invalid had a 

 favorite food prepared for his weak stomach ; aiid when 

 he had despatched the eleventh dumpling, and u-^is about 

 making an attack on the last, his little daughter ex- 

 claimed, " Oh ! dad, give me dat ! " when he replied, with 

 a most lugubrious countenance, and in a melancholy 

 lone, " Go away, child ; poor dad is sick ! " 



We give these cases as illustrations, as they show the 

 importance of abstinence, where we can and have judged 

 of its effects. By reasoning, we can see its bearing on 

 the health of domestic animals, and make the applica- 

 tion ; for, in this respect, all animals are much the same 

 whether two-legged or four-legged. 



UNHEALTHY MEAT. 



Great labor injures meat. A fat ox was overworked, 

 and then killed, and his flesh sent to market. Of twenty- 

 four persons M^ho ate of the meat, fourteen died, mostly 

 with diseases of the stomach and bowels. 



Driving animals rapidly in hot weather, so as to pro- 

 duce excessive fatigue and exhaustion, renders theii 

 meat unwholesome, as well as unsavory ; hence the 

 superiority of the meat of animals brought to market in 

 steamboats and cars, or allowed to travel leisurely, feed 

 by the roadside, and gain on the way, over that of ani 

 mals driven rapidly, and far, in hot weather. 



All very young meats are hard to digest, and of course 

 unwholesome. A calf at three weeks old is harder to 

 digest than an ox at ten. A young pig is more unwhole- 

 some than a piece of an old hog. A chicken one month 

 old is more difficult of digestion than a hen of one year. 

 Young animals, in this respect, are like fruits, that not 

 only lack maturity, but are only partially grown. With 

 this view of the subject, the authorities of Paris have 

 ordained that no veal shall be offered for sale, unless 

 the calf was six weeks old. 



Putrid exhalations produce obstructions and ulcers in 

 the livers of animals, which render them unfit for food ; 



