THE DISEASES, OF CATTLE. 327 



and as cattle are apt to have thirsty throats, they should be 

 permitted to enjoy a luxury which costs but a trifle, and oper- 

 ates very favorably in promoting their health. All classes of 

 domestic animals have as great an aversion to impure, fillhy 

 water, as ourselves ; and the former will often turn away with 

 disgust from the filthy stuff called water, which is often found 

 in water troughs on the roadside, and within the precincts of 

 the barn, and in some pastures. The common, stagnated pond 

 water, which many poor creatures are compelled to imbibe, is 

 often the exciting cause of disease, especially in the western 

 states, where decayed vegetable matter abounds. Pure water 

 will never injure an animal. I do not believe the stories which 

 are told about horses becoming foundered in consequence of 

 drinking pure water. In a majority of cases Mr. Fastman is 

 blamable ; he has, probably, either overdriven or overworked 

 the creature, or else has suffered it, when heated, to cool off 

 without the necessary care and attention, which should always 

 be observed when animals are fatigued or perspiring freely. 



Hard usage, wilful neglect, and wanton cruelty, are more 

 likely to produce disease, than the " universal beverage " so 

 acceptable to the palate of a weary or thirsty horse. How 

 often do we see a " let** horse come into the stable all exhausted 

 and used-up^ scarcely able to advance one limb before another ! 

 Examine into the facts, and we shall find that the powers of 

 the subject have, perhaps, been overtaxed. He has been 

 driven too far, or at too rapid a rate, for the present state of 

 his constitution to endure ; and, perhaps, he has not had suffi- 

 cient nourishment to repair the waste incidental to the living 

 mechanism, under the states of rapid and protracted labor. 

 Is not this enough to account for the used-up condition ? Is it 

 not more rational to suppose that abuse of the respiratory 

 organs, and those of locomotion, operates far more unfavorably 

 on the horse than water? It is. But Mr. Fastman must, if 

 there be any blame rightly belonging to him, try to shift the 

 same from his shoulders, and therefore he avails himself of a 

 popular error, — '•'' He drank too much water'' Yet the indi- 

 vidual has no means of ascertaining the precise quantity needed. 



