ON THE HAIR. 



179 



absolutely necessary to the production of a fine coat ; * 

 cleanliness, friction, and attention to the general health 

 contribute to this condition of the hair. Let me not, however, 

 in making this observation, be understood to be an advocate 

 for a hot stable ; on the contrary, I have ever, to the extent 

 of my power, inculcated ventilation, which I have always 

 found to be compatible with as much warmth to the skin as 

 was necessary to the production and preservation of a fine 

 coat." Mr. Percival, in a note appended to the foregoing sub- 

 ject, remarks : " There is so little information afloat on this 

 subject, that it behoves us to gather honey wherever it is 

 proffered. A writer in the Sporting Magazine of May last, 

 after asserting that a fine coat is necessary to condition, 

 (where, in my humble opinion, he has put effect for causation,) 

 and informing us that horses vary much in this particular, foi 

 which there is,' says he, l no ostensible reason,' concludes 

 with the following pertinent communication : 



" '- The Marquis of Hastings, while governor general of 

 India, being impressed with the idea that geldings would be 

 more efficient in the Indian cavalry, caused two troops to be 

 formed in each regiment, when it was unanimously decided 

 that geldings were very far inferior, and in this particular in 

 cold weather, when their coats were long and rough. In 

 furtherance of this experiment, many horses were castrated, 

 and it was observed that all those that were operated on im- 

 mediately previous to the commencement of the cold weather 



* We have already shown that heat and moisture combined will relax the 

 surface, and favor the exit of morbid accumulations in the tissues. Heat 

 alone would evaporate the natural moisture of the animal, and permit the 

 tissues to contract for want of that moisture. Thus the pores are closed, 

 and the circulation and perspiration are impeded. Let an animal be exposed 

 to a dry atmosphere, and a like contraction and the same effects take place. 

 When an animal is clothed with a blanket, or horse cloth, the insensible per 

 spiration is arrested, and finally condensed on the surface ; this furnishes the 

 elements we require, viz., heat and moisture. If this moisture cannot be 

 produced on the surface, as in common colds, catarrh, &c, owing- to the ret- 

 rograde course of the fluids, then that moisture may be artificially supplied 

 in the manner we have recommended. (See article Lockjaw.) 



