244 



FAULTS INSEPARABLE FROM STABLES. 



from thirty to forty degrees below the standard recognized as "blood 

 heat." Now, a certain warmth is imperative to the existence of vitality, 

 which is arrested so soon as the natural heat of the body is sensibly 

 diminished. The functions are stayed when any region has parted with 

 its calorie. Dentists take advantage of this fact when, after having 

 employed the chilling process, they extract a tooth without pain. Cold, 

 therefore, which can destroy sensation in the human jaw, likewise ren- 

 ders the foot of the horse insensible to agony. 



But why is the foreleg subject to a degree of cold which does not also 

 affect the hind extremity of the animal ? Because the stable permits the 

 hind limbs to enjoy the greater freedom of action. These maybe in 

 perpetual motion ; for the posterior members are situated at the boundary 

 of a circle, of which the ring of the manger represents the center or 

 fixed point. Has the reader ever beheld a column of soldiers move in 

 obedience to the officer's command, to " Wheel ?" The man at one end 

 of the line can hardly run quickly enough, while he who is placed at the 

 opposite extremity is troubled to be sufficiently slow in his movements. 

 Now, the hind legs of the horse represent the man who has to scamper, 

 and are sensibly exerted whenever the quadruped "comes over;" the 

 anterior extremities are types of the soldier who scarcely moves, for 

 Tery seldom are these members necessitated to change their position. 

 Their stable office is to uphold the body, and 

 to remain fixed while the toes are inclined up- 

 ward 1 Were the motion permitted to both 

 extremities equalized, the fore limbs would 

 naturally be the warmest, since the great dis- 

 tance from the heart and the greater angularity 

 of form must render circulation of caloric 

 within the quarters much more tardy. 



But why do not other parts become as cold 

 as the fore limbs, when all belong to the same 

 body, and all derive their heat from one com- 

 mon medium, or from the same circulation? 

 The veins in the legs have valves. Then, if 

 these Tcssels are so provided, and the distribu- 

 tion of warmth is one of the purposes of the 

 circulation, why do not the valves favor the 

 return of blood from the foot, and thus generate 

 heat within the member ? When answering 

 the foregoing inquiries, the reader's patience is entreated, since the reply, 

 to be intelligible, cannot also he concise. 



Anatomy affords the best explanation of the. peculiarity. On remov* 



VAliVES OF THE VEINS IN THE LEO. 



1. The Talves of the vein laid 

 against the side of the vessel by 

 the up^rard current of the blood. 



2. The valves projected from 

 the Bides of the vessel by the at- 

 tempted retrogresBion of the vital 

 stream. 



