228 HOESE POETEAITUEE.' 



denouncing them as an ignorant, cruel set, unworthy of 

 ever seeing a horse. I have never yet known a case of 

 flatulent or spasmodic colic fail to be relieved by the use 

 of copious injections of warm water, if given in time. 

 While recommending the study of the pathology of the 

 horse, I would still more strongly urge the consideration 

 of his anatomy ; at least, so far as to obtain a correct 

 knowledge of the osseous structure. Knowing correctly 

 the position of every joint and articulation, we can arrive 

 with far more certainty at the solution of lameness, which 

 otherwise might be difficult to locate. 3?or instance an 

 enlargement of the coronary ligament is often taken for 

 ringbone ; and the effort to reduce this morbid growth in 

 the tissues, is the cause of hundreds being tortured in the 

 vain hope of curing an incurable disease. 



Acquaintance with anatomy would also be of good 

 service in determining the structural symmetry and equi- 

 poise of the parts that form the well-balanced whole. 

 This might be important knowledge when adjusting the 

 work to the supposed capability of the animal ; of course it 

 would be impossible to demonstrate from the form the work 

 a horse ought to have, and yet knowing the faulty place in 

 that horse's make-up, might lead to a variation in his 

 treatment, resulting favorably, when one might have gone 

 on a wrong track unguided. It is getting rather too late 

 in the day to discuss this question now ; at some future 

 time we will have a talk on the proper-frame work for 

 rapid locomotion. Considering the horse as a finished 

 piece of mechanism, it is essential that each part should 

 be in proportion to work in harmony, so that there need 

 be no waste of muscular power in moving it along. 



