66 



accunuilates fat, his legs swell, and his heels crack, 

 and at length become greasy, and which must ne- 

 cessarily be the case : for the receipts of the consti- 

 tution being great by the high feeding, so the out- 

 goings, by perspiration, &c. <S:c. ought to be large 

 likewise ; and if the secretions do not find their na- 

 tural vents, they will find themselves artificial ones. 



Tiie muscles are composed of fibres, having a con- 

 tractile power, by which all the motions of the body 

 are performed. These fibres act best when they are 

 in a right line to each other ; but it is not always 

 that they are so placed. Every one has seen beef, 

 where the fleshy fibres (which form the muscles of the 

 ox) were interspersed witii fat : it is the same some- 

 times with horses; and these rraiscles, therefore > 

 Jiaving their fibres separated from each other by the 

 fat, cannot act to advantage. 



Tiie absorbents of the body, or the vessels that 

 are continually taking up both solids and fluids, are 

 stimulated to act by various means. Exercise is one 

 of the strongest of these ; it is by these means, there- 

 fore, that fat horses are made lean : for this fat is 

 taken up from the interstices of the muscles, and 

 placeil where there is less pressure ; so that the horse, 

 if well fed, still continues lustv, but the fat becomes 

 more advantageously diir posed. Exercue enlarges the 

 mu&cles, for iN'ature endeavours to become equal to 

 her wants; therefore, when horses or dogs are trained 

 for hunting or racing, they should have regular and 

 lorig continued exercise. Exerche improves the 

 v^hid, by taking up the suiTOunding fat from the 

 heart and chest, and thus allowing the lungs to ex- 

 pand: it sdi>o enla-rges the air cells of the lungs; and 



