120 T/te Selection and 



the appetite is gone. The animal is overdone ; 

 and be careful as you will, the scene recurs after 

 each journey, and is sometimes supplemented by 

 irritation of the bowels, colic, &c. 



Several days are passed before the animal is 

 pronounced safe for work, or still further cause 

 for dissatisfaction appears in a variety of ways ; 

 and no other conclusion is justifiable, than that 

 the animal has been sold on account of these 

 faults. He is sold again quickly if death does 

 not prevent the opportunity. 



In the multitude of conditions which render 

 horseflesh (in a state of animation, not as cheva- 

 line a la mode) such a ticklish commodity, one 

 cannot but be surprised at the few opportunities 

 there are to avoid the disagreeable consequences. 

 Many purchasers, relying upon their judgment 

 alone, make fearful work. They know nothing 

 of the nature, form, or habits of the animal they 

 seek, and consequently become very lucrative 

 victims. To purchase horses in a profitable 

 manner requires much tact and judgment, and a 

 knowledge of their structural anatomy is indis- 

 pensable towards detecting blemishes of different 

 kinds. Much practice is also required, but this 

 alone will not do, as we have often known horse- 

 dealers of forty and fifty years' experience quite 

 as easily taken in as other people. 



Bribery in horse-dealing. Like horse-racing, 

 horse-dealing practice is carried on more for the 

 emolument derived, than for any desire always to 



