MG FiLirLTS INSEPARABLE FROM STABLES. 



The forejjoing statement also affords an explanation why the most 



valuable or the stabled horse is so frequently afflicted with contracted 



hoof, with brittle hoof, with an unhealthy secretion of horn, and with the 



various other ailments which may be classed under the diseases of the 



foot. It likewise supplies the most clear reason for the beginning of 



that disorder which has been denominated "the curse of good horse 



flesh" — Navicularthritis, or ulceration of the navicular bone. Bone is 



slow to take on morbid action, and ulceration is the accompaniment of 



low vitality. When the circulation is retarded, the animal powers are 



enfeebled. Ulceration, affecting a lowly organized structure, is that 



which a pathologist would anticipate as the consequence of prolonged 



inaction. It is impossible to say what evils 



the continuance of such a condition may not 



induce ; but sand-crack, seedy-toe, and various 



painful affections can be clearly traced to have 



thus originated. 



The effect of the stable, also, aceoimts for 



the farmer riding his nag for many years, while 



THE VEINS OF THE HORSE'S FOOT, fcw gentlemeu approvc of a horse for saddle 



The mesh-work of veins with- purposcs after it has passed the sixth sum- 

 out valves, which are situated im- ir sr i 



mediately under the secretive mem- j^er, notwithstanding their animals are bfetter 



brane of the hoof. ' " 



groomed and more carefully fed. In the coun- 

 try, farmers' quadrupeds are- generally turned into the field, and have to 

 walk for their living. Grass is a poor food ; but the constant exercise 

 keeps the creatures in sounder health than can be maintained by better 

 sustenance combined with perpetual confinement. 



An absolute necessity for the constant movement of the feet is to be 

 deduced from the arrangement of the vessels. The arterial blood falls 

 almost perpendicularly down the fore limb, while the venous blood has 

 likewise to ascend against gravity. This arrangement rendered impera- 

 tive some propelling force to return the effete fluid ; hence the necessity 

 for the perpetual employment of the squeezing or pumping action of the 

 hoof The habits- of the animal to graze only from choice portions of 

 the herbage occasion a vast distance to be traversed; but such leisurely 

 sauntering was, by nature, kindly intended to keep sound that portion of 

 the frame on the integrity of which the safety, the welfare, and the 

 pleasure of her creation was dependent. 



"Certainly," the reader may exclaim; "but if the warmth of the 



body is dependent upon arterial blood, the coldness of a part cannot be 



accounted for by stating the facility afforded for the oxygenating current 



•reaching that which is chilled. " Yery true. But before any substance 



can fall down, the space through which it has to pass in its descent must 



