loO THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OF 



integrity of the living mechanism, they must Jiave nutritious 

 food and plenty of it. They are not, however, to have a large 

 quantity at a time, but little and often ; their stomach is small, 

 not larger than that of a man. Should it be over-distended 

 with coarse and innutritious food, the organs of respiration and 

 circulation become embarrassed, and the blood loaded with 

 carbon. They require food often, because the digestive organs 

 are very active, and soon dispose of an ordinary meal ; then 

 comes the sensation of hunger, which every one knows is hard 

 to bear. 



ANIMALS INTENDED FOR FAST WORK MUST NOT BE 

 ALLOWED TO ACCUMULATE FAT. 



The adult horse or ox should neither lose nor gain flesh from 

 day to day ; this is the case with a full-grown man in the phy- 

 siological condition. The amount of food should be in propor- 

 tion to the amount of labor performed, so that waste and nour- 

 ishment may be equally balanced and readily adjusted. A large 

 amount of food requires a relative amount of work. An ani- 

 mal fed liberally, and kept in the barn, must accumulate fat, 

 and consequently becomes dull, stupid, and " sleepy." 



The city of Boston own and employ some 150 or 200 horses 

 in removing street sweepings and offal. These animals are 

 seldom urged beyond a walk, and large, powerful horses as they 

 are, their labor is comparatively light. Such are fed with a 

 liberal hand, out of the city crib, abounding in the best kind 

 of fodder. They have comfortable quarters at night, and the 

 stables are celebrated for cleanliness and good ventilation. 

 Under such circumstances the reader will not be surprised when 

 I inform him that the recipients of City Stable bounty are as 

 fat as aldermen, and some of them clumsy as elephants. And 

 it almost invariably happens that when such are attacked by 

 acute disease, death is the result. Contrast the condition of 

 these animals with that of the Roxbury omnibus horses j the 

 latter are equally well fed and cared for, yet they seldom accu- 

 mulate fat ; this is due to the laborious nature of their work, 

 which requires quick respiratory and muscular movements, in 



